Gambhir leads India to easy win over New Zealand

JAIPUR: Gautam Gambhir's bowlers responded well to his call of bowling first, restricting New Zealand with smart, accurate bowling, and the captain reciprocated with a fluent 138 off 116 balls to make the chase look easy.

Gambhir, capping off a return to form that began with a struggling Test fifty in Hyderabad last month, never let his strike-rate come under 100 once he crossed the mark in the sixth over. He had for company an equally hungry Virat Kohli, who now has two centuries and a fifty in his last three international outings.

Dew, expected later in the evening, was the reason why India put New Zealand in on a cracking surface, but the towels were conspicuous by absence in the second half of the game. Which is what made the bowling effort special.

The pitch played slow and low, and India cut out the pace and the room. There was nothing spectacular done with the ball, just accurate, wicket to wicket bowling for most of the part. Martin Guptill and Scott Styris tried to take New Zealand towards a fighting total with important fifties, but India pulled the visitors back every time they threatened to break free.

New Zealand began with three boundaries in the first two overs, but Sreesanth's late swing removed Jamie How. Guptill and Kane Williamson looked solid but subdued in a 50-run stand for the second wicket. Those runs took 12.5 overs coming - all but seven of those deliveries in the Powerplay.

The duo did little to upset the bowlers' rhythm. Munaf Patel was allowed to hit the same spot again and again, with slight seam movement either way. One of those moved a bit more than expected, and found a way through Williamson's bat and pad, taking the top of off. The pressure showed when Ross Taylor went to hit Yusuf Pathan's first delivery for a six, but found deep midwicket. Read more

Ramalinga Raju & Family had 111 accounts in HDFC

HYDERABAD: HDFC Bank's Begumpet branch manager Ch Srinivas on Wednesday told the trial court trying Satyam scam case that the prime accused B Ramalinga Raju and his family members maintained 111 accounts pertaining to several real estate companies run by them.

Srinivas also gave details of transactions, money held at various points of time in these companies. He also gave details of three Maytas company accounts with their bank.

In his deposition before the trial court here, Srinivas gave details on the banking transactions carried out by SCSL which maintained five accounts with their bank. Read more

104 services hit by HMRI staff stir

HYDERABAD: Around 5,000 employees of the Health Management Research Institute (HMRI) '104' service took out a 'Chalo Hyderabad' rally from Sundaraiah Vignana Kendrum to Indira Park on Wednesday demanding that the state government take over the rural health scheme. The staffers from all over the state have been boycotting their duties for the last 22 days and are firm in their demand that the government take complete control over the scheme. They even want that the name of the organisation 'HMRI' be knocked out and the health scheme be known as a state-run '104' service.

Apart from ante-natal check-ups for pregnant women, free medicines for people suffering from blood pressure, hypertension, diabetes, epilepsy and pulmonary disorders are being supplied through the 475 mobile health vans operated through this scheme on a monthly basis. Advice for HIV patients is also being dispensed and each van provides service on a fixed day covering 20 villages in a month. But due to this strike, healthcare services have been paralysed in the rural areas for a month. more

Allu Arjun's engagement

Tollywood heartthrob Allu Arjun got engaged to Sneha Reddy on November 26, 2010 at bride’s residence Jubilee Hills in Hyderabad, India. Chiranjeevi the superstar, his wife Surekha and son Ram Charan Teja were the major attractions except the bride and groom themselves.
According to the reports, Arjun’s family members, close friends and several politicians and several star from Tollywood Mohan Babu, Nagarujna, Shriya Saran, Ravi Teja, Rana Daggubati ,Raghavendra Rao Kodandarami Reddy, Kaikala Sathyanarayana Venu Madhav, Srikanth, Producer C.Kalyanand other celebs were present at Allu Arjun's engagement.

Reddy is the daughter of Sankar Reddy who is a Gen Sec of Science College of Engineering in Hyderabad. Sneha completed her MS in Computer Sciences in US. Sneha wore conventional pink nine-yard sari and Allu Arjun was in Silky pearl white traditional dress. Marriage ceremony will be held in February 2011.

India Eye win in jaipur

Young Virat Kohli will be the cynosure of all eyes as a new-look India seek to continue the team's dominating run at home in the current calendar when they take on New Zealand in the second one-dayer here on Wednesday.

In the absence of the creme de la creme of Indian cricket, the dashing right-hander from Delhi gave enough indication of why he is the one to look for in future with a match-winning century in the opening match in Guwahati.

With regular stars such as skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh being rested for the first two one-dayers, Kohli stole the limelight with a fine hundred that paved the way for India's 40-run win in the series opener

The young Kohli, going through a dream run having scored two back-to-back tons in Ranji Trophy apart from his second successive ODI century, would be keen to bat the way he has been doing of late at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium on Wednesday.

India have a good record at this venue winning six out of 10 matches, the last being a humdinger against South Africa in February when the hosts won by one run.

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800 vehicles seized and 2 Held

HYDERABAD: Police have arrested two persons and recovered 80 vehicles from their possession.

In the first case, 38-year-old Hari Koti Lenin Babu was arrested on Monday for stealing vehicles. They recovered 75 two wheelers from his possession.

Addressing a press conference here on Tuesday, Hyderabad police commissioner A K Khan said Hari Koti Lenin Babu used to steal two-wheelers and park them at parking places in the city. Lenin Babu, a native of Vijayawada, came to the city in search of livelihood. Based on his confession, the CCS police have recovered 20 stolen two wheelers. During the investigation, 55 abandoned two-wheelers were also recovered from the parking lot at MGBS.

Khan said Lenin Babu used to carry a bunch of duplicate keys and steal two-wheelers, particularly Hero Honda motorcycles as it was easy to open their lock with a duplicate key, from parking lots in the city. After committing the offence, he used to keep the stolen vehicles at parking lots at MGBS, JBS & railway stations. Later, he would sell them at throw-away prices, the CP added. more

Spurt in applications seeking Occupancy Certificate

HYDERABAD: There is a spurt in applications seeking occupancy certificate (OC). As many as 183 building owners/builders have obtained OC from the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) so far this year. On the contrary, only 10 OCs were issued last year. Prior to that only two builders had taken OC from the GHMC.

Four years after the mortgage rule came into force for building permissions and occupancy certificate made mandatory for release of mortgaged portion with the GHMC, builders/owners are queuing up before the corporation for getting their mortgaged portion released.

In 2010, 322 builders have applied for OC after completing buildings, while 183 buildings were inspected and issued certificates. Another 107 applications were rejected and 12 builders were asked to provide some information. Interestingly, 86 buildings got OC in West Zone, which comprises areas like Kukatpally, Serilingampally 1 & 2 and Qutubullapur.

"Most buildings which were permitted after 2007 are getting completed now and applying for OC for release of the mortgaged portion. The other reason is any building permitted has to be completed within three years," as told by GHMC additional commissioner (Planning) K Rajendra Prasad.more

Jagan Mohan Reddy resigns from Congress

It's official. YSR's son, Jagan Mohan Reddy, has announced his resignation from the Congress in the first step towards launching his own party. Jagan was the MP from Kadapa. His mother, Vijayalaxmi, has also resigned as MLA from Pulivendula Assembly seat. Jagan has sent a five-page resignation letter to Sonia Gandhi in which he reportedly expresses his "hurt" over the party trying to divide his family - his father's younger brother, Y S Vivekananda Reddy, has been offered the position of Home Minister. In doing so, the Congress wants to force YSR loyalists to choose between the party and Jagan Mohan. The new cabinet headed by Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy will be sworn in later this week on Wednesday. Jagan has been at war with the Congress over the last few weeks. He has used his TV channel, Sakshi, to attack senior Congress leaders including the PM, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. In turn, the Congress has made it clear that it will not tolerate his habitual dissidence.more

India beat New Zealand by 40 Runs in 1st ODI

Virat Kohli's first century batting first, his fourth overall and second in a row, set up an eventually comfortable win for India, who are yet to lose an international in the current home season. India did lose their way in the last 10 overs of both innings. They lost their last six wickets for 26, and were given anxious moments by a 67-run stand ninth-wicket stand between Kyle Mills and Nathan McCullum.

Gautam Gambhir, leading India for the first time, soothed the nerves when 41 runs were needed in five overs with a lovely catch running backwards to remove McCullum. R Ashwin provided reasons why he can replace Ravindra Jadeja in the Indian line-up in the longer run with the big wickets of Martin Guptill and Ross Taylor. Ashwin showed he could be an attacking option, operating inside the Powerplays, bowling big offbreaks, and slipping in the carrom balls. With the asking rate climbing, he got his wickets regularly.

The pitch had little of the early-morning demons it is famous for, and all the Indian batsmen got starts. Kohli wasn't as flashy as the others, but only he converted the start. Not flashy didn't equate to not quick in his case. Just that he hit only 10 boundaries in his 104, as opposed to Yuvraj Singh's seven in 42, Gambhir's six in 38, and Murali Vijay's five in 29. And Kohli ran hard. And he placed the ball well, creating opportunities to run hard.

It took Vijay and Gambhir a couple of overs of caution to realise this was an easier pitch than the one that had them at 27 for 5 in the last ODI here. Vijay started off by cover-driving what was called a no-ball for four, and then pulling the resultant free-hit for another. Gambhir matched him in aggression, charging at the bowlers, creating his own driving length, and getting two fours off Daryl Tuffey in the sixth over.

Inexplicably, though, Vijay switched from classical shots to a slog that ended his knock in the eighth over, with the score at 44. Eight overs later Gambhir flirted with what would have been called a wide, and perished with India 92 for 2.

Yuvraj took time getting started. India's run-rate dipped below six as he scored seven off his first 28 balls. Then he started timing well, hitting boundaries at will. By the time he fell to Tuffey's remarkable knack of picking up wickets in the first overs of new spells, India were 179 in the 35th over. Unnoticed, Kohli had reached 63 off 73.

Unlike the others, Kohli didn't need periods of dramatic acceleration, nor did he need time to settle in. The only hiccup was the big shout for an inside edge from Kyle Mills. There was a sound, but no deviation. If we were not sure after watching replays, it is fair to assume the umpire couldn't have been either.

Soon Kohli started finding gaps, using his wrists to play into the on side. The pull to cow corner off deliveries not really short remained his favourite shot, getting four of his boundaries. Upon Yuvraj's dismissal, he did take charge, but didn't seem to make any drastic change, getting 42 off the last 31 balls he faced.

Kohli hit two boundaries in the 90s. The Powerplay had been taken, and it had to be made use of. The celebration upon reaching the century was representative of the growth of Kohli the batsman. There was no anger in his reaction on making the landmark, unlike in the past. He just had the smile on, enjoying the moment, more sure of his place. That the century would come seemed just as sure.

Andy McKay and Mills, though, were fantastic in the Powerplay, bowling the slower bouncers - and the quicker ones - well. McKay, in particular, got the ball to leave the right-hand batsmen from round the stumps. When Martin Guptill beginning the chase with five boundaries in the first six overs, it seemed New Zealand had shifted the momentum.

Ashish Nehra responded by shortening his length, getting Jamie How's wicket with one that got a bit big. Gambhir introduced Ashwin early, and the bowler delivered. He beat Guptill in the flight, getting him to hit straight to the deep fielder, signalling a start of a period where India choked the run flow.

The accurate Munaf Patel, and the spinners - Ashwin and Yuvraj - hardly bowled a bad ball for the next hour or so, and Taylor had to take his chances against Yusuf Pathan, hitting back-to-back sixes in the 23rd over - a pull and a slog-sweep.

However, the asking rate read 6.4 even after that over. Gambhir immediately brought back Ashwin, and New Zealand had to now attack Yuvraj, who was bowling well. A middle-overs collapse ensued, and when Taylor fell to another carrom ball in the 32nd over, he had left the tail too much to do for too long. more

Congress in no mood to act against Jagan

With his television channel showing no signs of relenting on sniping at Congress leadership, criticism mounted against rebel Andhra Pradesh MP Y S Jaganmohan Reddy but the party appears to be in no hurry to take any action.

The new Andhra chief minister Kiran Kumar Reddy was in the capital today for discussions with the high command on constituting his new cabinet and the issue of Jagan's revolt came up in the meetings.

Senior party leader from Andhra Pradesh and union minister S Jaipal Reddy today said Jagan was violating party discipline but added it was for the high command to decide any action against him. more