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| Telangana: UPA allies voice apprehension |
NEW DELHI: The Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA) on Tuesday urged the people and political parties of Andhra Pradesh to maintain peace and harmony.
The appeal came after the CCPA met in the evening to take stock of the situation in the State, which has been on the boil for over a fortnight now over the creation of a Telangana State.
At the meeting, Congress Ministers briefed the key allies on the developments and the factors that dictated the Union government’s announcement last Wednesday on Telangana formation.
The Trinamool Congress is understood to have opposed the bifurcation even as questions were raised about the manner in which the government handled the situation following the 11-day fast by Telangana Rashtra Samiti leader K. Chandrasekhara Rao.
Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar (NCP), Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee (Trinamool Congress) and Textiles Minister Dayanidhi Maran (DMK) attended the meeting.
There has been apprehension among the allies and within the Congress too that the government’s bid to contain the TRS protest aggravated the situation, as now the entire State is agitated and the divide between Telangana and Andhra-Rayalaseema has widened.
Though the Andhra-Rayalaseema MPs hoped for a formulation from the CCPA that would calm the frayed tempers in their region — particularly since Congress president Sonia Gandhi had informed them of the meeting and raised their expectations — nothing to this effect was forthcoming.
For now, some of them are pinning their hopes on a possible statement in Parliament, but there was no official word.
Having taken the view that any forward movement on Telangana will be made only after the Assembly passes a resolution, the Centre is reluctant to come out with any fresh formulation stating that bifurcation has been put on hold as demanded by MPs from Andhra-Rayalaseema. |
| India wins by the skin of its teeth |
Rajkot: Hundred overs of indiscriminate hitting ended in a thrilling narrow three-run win for India at the Madhav Rao Scindia Stadium on Tuesday.
Chasing India’s mammoth record total of 414 for seven, the Sri Lankan batsmen made a match of it with some fearless batting, before losing their way towards the end.
Virender Sehwag overcame One-Day cricket’s limitations and its many intrusions to take India to its highest ever ODI score — bettering the previous highest of 413 for five set against Bermuda in the 2007 World Cup.
But little did anyone expect Sri Lanka to put up such a chase.
If Virender Sehwag showed if he could carry on being the uncluttered destructive force he was in the Tests, Tillakaratne Dilshan and Kumar Sangakkara were equally ruthless.
Sri Lanka was cruising at one stage, needing just 124 from 15 overs with nine wickets in hand, thanks to the efforts of Dilshan and the skipper.
Spectacular chase
Dilshan and Upul Tharanga began in caution, but found nothing in the bowling to deny them a spectacular chase.
Ashish Nehra varied his length to Dilshan, but the batsman was suitably prepared to deal with it.
He cleared mid-off, pulled the follow-up short delivery, and scooped cheekily to notch up three boundaries in the eight over.
He got to his half-century in just 38 balls, drove Zaheer Khan confidently through covers, clubbed Ravindra Jadeja for maximum and reached his hundred in a blink, in 73 balls.
Tharanga kept himself entertained with two sixes over Jadeja’s head, bringing up his half-century.
On Tharanga’s departure, Sangakkara batted with a singular mission — to clear front foot and clobber over mid-wicket or long-off. The left-hander’s placement was splendidly in sync with his intent.
Against Zaheer, Nehra, Harbhajan and Jadeja, his execution was similar. His 43-ball 90 very nearly took the match away from India.
Sangakkara’s wicket — a miscued effort off Praveen Kumar, taken at deep square leg — looked like it would briefly halt the torrent of boundaries.
Dilshan had brought up his 150 and looked set for plenty more. But Sri Lanka then began losing it.
Quick dismissals
Dhoni quickly replaced Zaheer with Harbhajan Singh to bowl to the left-handed Jayasuriya.
The left-hander was stumped, and Dilshan was bowled going for a big one off Harbhajan.
The dismissals — in the 38th and the 40th overs — were both in the batting Powerplays.
Thilina Kandamby and Angelo Mathews brought it to within hitting distance, but some splendid, restrained death-bowling from Zaheer and Nehra proved the difference at the end.
India’s catching was dismal, with plenty of easy chances grassed, but the ground-fielding redeemed the side at the end with crucial run outs.
India’s bowling very nearly ruined the spectacular 102-ball 146 of Sehwag.
His innings had it all. Casually dismissive daring, majestic near-misses and moments when it appeared it would meet a tragic-comic end.
Sangakkara’s decision to bowl might have worked — for there was definite movement for the bowlers upfront — if it wasn’t for Sehwag’s ability to render strategies redundant. |
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