By Ashok Kumar: When India batted in the first innings of the 1st Test match against the West Indies, it looked like the repeat of England tour. But India came from behind to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat at the Feroz Shah Kotla, New Delhi. The main contributor was man of the match Ravichandran Ashwin who claimed 6/47 and made West Indies crumble when they were sitting in driver’s seat with a handsome lead of 95.
But the ball of the match was bowled by Umesh Yadav whose outside the off stump delivery left alone by Samuels swung in late to remove his off stump.
This made the task of chasing 276 for victory an easy task for India. But the performance of the first innings was lingering in the mind of Indians. Local boys Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir again gave the flying start India needed. Thereafter, Sachin and Dravid cautiously drove India closer to the target by the end of third days’ play.
Resuming at 152 for 2, India lost Dravid adding only 1 run to his overnight total and Laxman then joined Sachin to chase out the target. Both the veterans looked set to overhaul the target when a Bishoo googley beat Tendulkar to deny his 100th century. Realising there were just the enough runs left for Sachin’s landmark, Laxman tried to give him as much strike as possible. Sachin fell just 24 short of the coveted milestone.
But it was heartening to note that Sachin seems to be back in form when he looked like out of touch in England. Delhiites had the consolation of him reaching the milestone of 15,000 runs in Delhi. Then, Laxman took charge of the run chase and coasted India to victory with help of Yuvraj who contributed 18 before being bowled by Sammy.
The only century of the match was from a fighting 118 by Chanderpaul, his 24th in West Indies first innings.
Brief scores: West Indies 304 (Chanderpaul 118, Brathwaite 63, Ojha 6/72) and 180 (Chanderpaul 47, Sammy 42, Yadav 6/47) ; India 209 (Sehwag 55, Dravid 54) and 276 (Sachin 76, Laxman 58 and Sehwag 55)

Crowds reportedly increased on the second day of first test match between India and the West Indies when Sachin Tendulkar was about to bat. But he was out very soon. On the third day, Tendulkar compensated his fans by becoming the first batsman to score 15,000 runs.
Playing in his 182nd match, Tendulkar reached the landmarks when he scored his 28th run in India’s second innings with a single off leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo.

After crossing the coveted milestone, the batting maestro looked up at the heavens and acknowledged the standing ovation given by his teammates from the dressing room as his partner Rahul Dravid congratulated him.

The West Indian players also came up after the completion of the over to congratulate the iconic batsman.

Tendulkar was 35 runs short of 15,000 before this match and he scored seven in the first innings before being adjudged leg-before off Fidel Edwards.

With 14,422 crowd cheering him, Tendulkar, who came in at the fall of Virender Sehwag’s wicket when the team total was 95 for two, played cautiously with India needing 276 runs to win the match.

He hit just two fours after facing 76 balls to reach 28. The 38-year-old Tendulkar, the world’s most prolific batsman, now needs just one hundred to complete a historic 100 international tons. He has scored 51 Test tons and 48 ODI hundreds.

Rahul Dravid, who was batting at the other end with Tendulkar, is the second highest run-getter in Tests with 12,775 runs before this match while Australian Ricky Ponting is third on the list with 12487 runs.

Top run-getters in Test cricket (minimum 10,000 runs)

15,005* – Sachin Tendulkar (IND)

12,859* – Rahul Dravid (IND)

12,487 – Ricky Ponting (AUS)

11,953 – Brian Lara (WIS)

11,947 – Jacques Kallis (RSA)

11,174 – Allan Border (AUS)

10,927 – Steve Waugh (AUS)

10,122 – Sunil Gavaskar (IND)

Pakistan’s cabinet has unanimously approved the award of “most favoured nation” trading status to India.
Pakistan had previously linked trade liberalisation with India to a resolution of the dispute over Kashmir, over which the nations have fought two wars.
Correspondents say the move is a significant step towards boosting the peace process between the neighbours.
India has already extended most favoured nation status to Pakistan.
The status typically reduces tariffs and increases import quotas.
Bilateral trade is currently put at about $3bn (£1.87bn) and the two sides agreed at a recent meeting in Delhi to double that within three years.
Although India granted Pakistan most favoured nation status in 1996, Pakistan says it has suffered from strict Indian customs rules and quality standards.
‘National interest’
Pakistan Information Minister Firdous Ashiq Awan told a news conference in Islamabad: “Today after an extensive briefing by the commerce secretary, the cabinet unanimously decided to grant India most favoured nation status.”
He added: “This will bring economic benefits to us and this decision has been taken in the national interest.”
Mr Awan said some ministers had raised objections on the Kashmir issue, but added: “The prime minister reviewed all the objections and took the cabinet into confidence that it will not hurt our national security.”
The BBC’s M Ilyas Khan in Islamabad says that although India acknowledges the Kashmir dispute, it has insisted the two sides improve interaction in other fields while they search for a mutually acceptable solution.
Analysts say the Pakistani decision has come at a time when the country desperately needs trade concessions from international markets to prevent its economy from sinking further.
India and Pakistan resumed formal peace talks this year after they were broken off in the wake of the militant attacks in Mumbai (Bombay) in 2008.

Australian Immigration and Citizenship Minister Mr. Chris Bowen addressed this evening the Australia India Business Council on the occasion of its Silver Jubilee. Congratulations to the AIBC on 25 years of work to promote closer economic and business ties between Australia and India, he said.
International chambers of commerce and business councils play a vital role in Australia’s trade performance and building key person-to-person links across international boundaries to the benefit of both nations. This Business Council is a particularly important one because business links between India and Australia are particularly important, said a Ministry media release today.
India, of course, has always been one of the world’s great civilisations. In 1947 India took its rightful place as one of the world’s great nations. And now, to complete the trifecta, India is taking its place as one of the world’s great economies.
And as India undergoes this transformation, your business council plays a key role in fostering and furthering our already deep people-to-people links.
The governments of both India and Australia are committed to deepening our relationship. Since 2008, there have been 21 visits by Australian ministers to India.
However, it is not just governments that will forge the close ties that are essential for the wellbeing of both nations, but people. I believe what unites us most is not our joint membership at the Commonwealth of Nations or our common lore of cricket, but the close links forged by the greatest cross-cultural and economic development program of all: immigration.
I’m proud of the fact that India is the third largest source of permanent migrants to Australia. Every single permanent migrant from India to Australia is an ambassador for both nations. Every one of the 350,000 Australians of Indian heritage is a driver of our close relations.
Equally important is temporary migration, particularly students.
Indians studying in Australia are important for our educational institutions and our economy. But perhaps more importantly, having thousands of young Indians furthering their education in Australia means that – if we get it right – they will go through life as firm friends of Australia with fond memories of their Australian education and all the positive implications for our long term bilateral relations that implies. I’ll talk more about Indian students in Australia in a few moments.
In 2010, Australia invested over $407 billion in India in a range of sectors, including manufacturing, telecommunications, hotels, minerals and food processing, oil and gas, and in the automotive sector.
While merchandise trade accounts for the major part of this figure, our role in providing services is growing. In 2010, Australia exported $3.1 billion worth of services to India, with 84 per cent of those exports in the education sector. New prospects continue to emerge, in areas like ICT, biotechnology, tourism, health, film, and insurance.
As you would expect with such a significant economic relationship for Australia, India features prominently in our skilled migration program.
Tonight I want to talk about the thinking behind the reforms to our skilled migration program undertaken by the Government over the past few years and the direction of the program as it becomes more responsive to Australia’s economic needs.
I would first like to discuss recent initiatives in the student visa space that Senator Chris Evans and I announced following Michael Knight’s review of the student visa regime.
Education sector links
As I have said, education presents one of the most valuable opportunities for both countries to lay the foundation for an enduring partnership at an economic, social and political level. It presents enormous opportunities to deepen collaboration between institutions across the education and training sectors, business and industry, and our governments.
There’s no doubt that India is a key partner for Australia in its international education engagement activities. Indeed, Australia has a long history of engagement with India in international education dating back to the Colombo plan of the 1950s.
In April 2010, Australia and India entered into a Joint Ministerial Statement to deepen the cooperative education relationship between the two nations. This Statement confirms our joint commitment to expand the current Education Exchange Program to achieve greater cooperation between the two countries’ education and training sectors.
The Joint Statement has been operationalised by both governments through the establishment of the Australia-India Education Council, the Bureau of Vocational Education and Training Cooperation, the new Australia-India Higher Education Exchange and the Shadowing Faculty Exchange pilot program.
Building on this, both countries’ Education Ministers agreed to a Memorandum of Cooperation on Student Mobility and Welfare, which puts special emphasis on measures to enhance the safety and welfare of students in both countries and strengthen the monitoring of education agent activities.
Given the strong cultural and economic value of our education links, it was with great concern that the Government observed problems emerging in Australia’s international education space a few years ago. In the rush to grow, some providers lost their focus on quality.
Courses geared towards migration outcomes emerged and it became clear that quality assurance mechanisms were struggling to cope. Individual student experiences suffered as a result. This had the effect of risking the benefits of quality education in our bi-lateral relationships and tarnishing the reputation of a great number of quality education providers.
Clearly action was required and the Government has moved address these issues. We adjusted our visa settings to respond to these concerns. We took action to introduce new national regulators and a tougher re-registration process to ensure quality in the education sector. We also introduced new legislation to safeguard students in the event of a provider default and good providers are also taking their role in ensuring the welfare of students more seriously.
In this context, Senator Evans and I asked Michael Knight to take a hard look at the way the Student visa program works; identify any impediments to quality, integrity and competition; and recommend measures to put the international education sector back on a sustainable growth path.
We want to grow the numbers of international students in Australia, but we want to do so within the framework of ensuring a quality experience and ensuring people coming to Australia come to undertake genuine study.
Michael Knight conducted a very comprehensive review of our student visa system and consulted very heavily throughout the education sector, including during a visit to India, as well as to China and Malaysia. The Government has decided to act on all of Mr Knight’s recommendations, with some modifications and additions.
Fundamentally, our reforms have two objectives: to enhance the integrity of Australia’s Student visa program and to strengthen the competitiveness of our international education sector.
The introduction of a new, more flexible genuine temporary entrant criterion will boost the integrity of the program by giving my department more discretion to look at a wider range of risk factors when deciding visa applications. This – together with the establishment of new national education regulation and quality assurance bodies – has provided the opportunity to start the move to what is essentially a provider-based risk management model.
That is, a model where we measure immigration risk based on an education provider’s past performance, rather than only focusing on student risk. A model where education providers have a clear incentive to take greater responsibility for their recruitment practices; a model that will support the competitiveness of quality providers and allow them to be more agile in their education offerings.
The first step in moving towards such a provider risk based framework is streamlined visa processing for students enrolled with universities. But let me be clear – this is not a free ride. In return, the universities must accept greater responsibility for selecting genuine students.
We also recognise that there are high-quality, low immigration risk providers across all education sectors. That’s why we are looking at ways to apply this principle more broadly through the fundamental review of the Student visa risk management framework – the Assessment Level review – which is due to report by mid-2012.
The Government is also introducing reforms specifically targeted at post-graduate students, including streamlined processing and enhanced work rights. These measures recognise that high quality human capital is essential to Australia’s ability to innovate and that the brightest students and researchers are highly prized in many countries.
We want to encourage the cream of talent emerging from our universities to stay on and contribute.
Skilled migration
While international education provides a foundation for long-term people-to-people links, it’s our skilled migration program that provides a more immediate gateway to building closer ties between India and Australia. There is no question that India is a major part of our skilled migration program. India is now consistently one of the top three source countries for skilled permanent migration and temporary skilled workers. Over the last two decades, 223,000 Indian nationals have arrived as permanent migrants to Australia, with over three-quarters of those in the skilled stream of the program.
It is a very positive indicator of our growing economic relationship that India has become such a substantial part of our skilled migration program.
Indian migrants are both welcome and successful in Australia, but their significant role in our skilled migration program, now and in the future, is not because they are Indian. Rather it is because they are skilled individuals who best suit Australia’s economic needs and consequently will have the best chance of success here in Australia. The fact is that our skilled migration program is designed not to favour any one country, other than Australia.
Latest reforms
This Government has undertaken some serious reform to our skilled migration program over the past few years, with some further key developments announced for implementation in the year ahead. Some of the key reforms include:
· rebuilding public confidence in the temporary skilled worker visa, known as the 457 visa;
· introducing flexible State Migration Plans to address the unique skills needs of different regions; and
· overhauling the independent skilled route, by focusing on key occupations and implementing a new points test last July.

The guiding principle to these reforms is to better enable our skilled migration program to meet Australia’s ongoing – and often changing – skills needs. That is, to have a skilled migration program that is responsive to our economic needs and complementing efforts to develop our domestic skills base. Put simply, Australia’s permanent skilled migration program must be shaped by Australia’s needs rather than by the desire of prospective migrants to come to Australia.
In this year’s Budget, I announced a measured increase in the skilled migration program for 2011-12, up to 125,850 places, in response to the economic outlook for unemployment and growth over the year ahead. Setting a migration program is always a matter of balance between labour demands and the need to maintain opportunities for Australians.
Addressing short term skills shortages
Of course, the temporary skilled migration program, the 457 visa, continues to play a vital role in supporting business and meeting immediate skills gaps. Indian citizens now make up the second largest group to use the program, behind the United Kingdom.
These skilled workers are employed across a great variety of industries and work in many different occupations. The program has become international best practice in facilitating access to skilled labour.
Average processing times for 457 visa applications are also 30 per cent lower than they were in 2006-07 – down from 31 to 22 days. We aim to cut processing times even further. The new $10 million 457 visa centre in Brisbane will make substantial progress in improving 457 visa processing times. Our aim is to see 457 visas processed within 10 days.
It is important not to lose sight of the intent of our reforms to the 457 program. Overseas workers must be protected and employers using the program do carry obligations in this respect. The program also has to complement opportunities for Australians and not adversely impact on Australian wages and conditions.
Today I can announce the introduction of a new accreditation scheme for 457 visa sponsors from next Monday, 7 November that recognises businesses with an excellent track record of compliance with workplace and migration laws. This new scheme will give accredited sponsors access to priority processing for all future nomination and visa applications – resulting in the fastest possible processing times for those businesses. Accredited businesses will also qualify for double the regular sponsorship approval period, from three to six years.
Businesses will need to meet benchmarks to qualify for accredited status, including ensuring at least three-quarters of their domestic workforce is Australian; and being an active 457 visa sponsor for the past three years, with at least 30 overseas workers on 457 visas over the past 12 months.
This will continue to ensure that the 457 program is responsive to the economic cycle and provides a flexible avenue for employers to fill immediate and short-term skill vacancies, while maintaining opportunities and conditions for Australian workers.
Employer sponsored visas: the flagship program
To make the permanent skills migration program more responsive to labour market demand, the permanent employer sponsored options have assumed greater significance in the skilled program. These categories take up between 35 and 40 per cent of the program over the last three years, compared to around 15 per cent previously. Our research shows that employer sponsored migrants have excellent labour market outcomes, with employment rates of 99 per cent, more than 90 per cent of which is skilled employment.
I recently asked my department to review the employer sponsored category with a view to making it more streamlined, in particular looking at the transition from a temporary to a permanent visa. I expect to be in a position to say more about the outcomes of the review in coming months, with implementation by July next year.
SkillSelect
The introduction of SkillSelect is the final and most significant step in the Government’s skilled migration reforms.
SkillSelect will start from 1 July 2012 and apply to independent and state sponsored visas. That’s almost 60 per cent of the Skills program – or around 72,000 visas. It will be a major change in the way this program is managed.
There are two parts to SkillSelect – an internal process to select migrants and an external database that employers can also use.
The first part of the program is a two-stage process for the Government to select migrants.
Prospective migrants will initially submit their claims for migration through an Expression of Interest.
The Government will then invite people to apply for a visa if the points test identifies that they have the best combination of skills and attributes for Australia. This will ensure that the limited Skilled Migration Program places are allocated to the best possible candidates.
Through SkillSelect we won’t just accept the first applicant through the door – but the applicant who has the most to offer Australia.
Of particular interest to business is the SkillSelect external database that will contain information from the Expressions of Interest lodged with the department. This free, searchable database will allow employers to connect with, and if suitable, to sponsor through our employer sponsored programs skilled people interested in migrating to Australia. This is particularly useful for small businesses as it provides easy access to a database of skilled workers making the search easy and recruitment costs low.
Conclusion
In conclusion, can I thank you again for the work you do in forging business and trade links between Australia and India.
My eyes were first opened to the beauty of India, the beauty of the Indian people, and the massive potential of the Indian economy when I backpacked through India back in 1998. It was the beginning of my long standing interest in all things India.
Better links between Australia and India are something that will always find my support. It is important that our two great Commonwealth democracies never lose touch, and more particularly build even closer ties. With our strong migration program from India, with the strong joint commitment of both governments, and with the work you do, I’m confident that’s exactly what we’re doing.

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By Ashok Kumar:

The proverbial it’s hard to beat India in India has come true with a comprehensive win at the Eden Gardens,Kolkata tonight.
By the 20th over of England innings, the Indian total of 271 looked an easy one. Cook and Kieswetter were on a roll and for the first time in the series both the openers crossed three figure mark and in the process both scoring their first half centuries in the series. But what happened after that was unimaginable. England losing ten wickets for mere 47 runs! A cakewalk turned into a steep uphill climb and India triumphing by 95 runs.
Their wrecker in chief was Ravindra Jadeja, who made a superb come-back into the side after failing to get a call for the World Cup and England tour.
This series was more of surprises than expectations. The prolific run scorer in England against India, Ian Bell had been sitting out for four matches and by the time he got the call, he had rusted. There was no century from English batsmen and Jonathan Trott was the only one who came very close to the three figure mark when he remained unbeaten on 98 at the Feroz Shah Kotla.
For the Indians, Vaun Aaron of Jharkhand became the second bowler to clock over 140 kmph consistently. Now with the Australian tour round the corner, India can expect to match their rivals. And, we can now say India has the bench strength with Rahane, Manoj Tiwary, Umesh Yadav, Vinay Kumar and Varun Aaron faring brilliantly, at least on home soil.
Another good news is that the chopper has started to fly again. Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni has rediscovered his helicopter shot in this series and made full use of it in all the matches.
This England team never in the series looked even a shadow of the side that beat India to embarrassment in England. India seemed to have forgotten that and picked up from where they left in World Cup finals.
India should not allow any complacency to set in as after England, the Australian tour will be the next test not that the West Indies tour is going to be of lesser consequence.

By Ashok Kumar:

Playing before the home crowd, Virat Kohli (112 from 98 balls) and Gautam Gambhir (84 from 90 balls) propelled India to a comfortable win over England in the second ODI at Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi tonight. India overcame a moderate England total of 237 losing only two wickets and with 76 balls to spare. In the process the local heroes produced best ever partnership of 209 for any wicket against England. Virat Kohli scored his 7th ODI hundred and the second against England and also became the third batsman to score over 1000 runs in a calendar year.
England never looked in the game right from the beginning. They lost both the openers in the first two overs without a run on the board. Then came three partnerships between Jonathan Trott and Kevin Petersen of 48, Kevin and Ravi Bopara of 73 runs and lastly between Samit Patel and Jonny Bairstow of 86 runs that looked to put up a respectable total. Some fine bowling by Vinay Kumar (4-30) and Umesh Yadav (2-50) backed up by Ravindra Jadeja and R Ashwin saw the England side folding up for 237 in 48.2 overs.
Indian fielding was very tight in the beginning. Praveen Kumar initially bowled a tight spell but he came in for severe beating when Trott hit him for 4 boundaries in his third over costing him 17 runs while Vinay Kumar continued to bowl a tight spell of 6 overs picking up two wickets of Keiswetter and Trott.
Yadav who replaced Praveen too proved to be expensive and was removed after his first over. But he was effective in his second spell bowling at a speed more than 145 kmph. It was heartening to see someone from India match the likes of Finns, Bollingers and Bresnans. Jadeja and Ashwin took a wicket a piece but were not as threatening as they were in Hyderabad.
The Indian innings started on a flamboyant note. Parthiv and Rahane went for their shots and paid price. India lost both the openers by the score of 29. And then, Gambhir and Kohli build a solid foundation to surpass the English total. Bresnan looked menacing in the beginning when he had both the openers. He laid a trap for Rahane by bowling two bouncers at him. The first went for a six but the second straight into the hands of Dernbach.
The same Bresnan who demolished the Indian side on several occasions in England looked off colour in Indian conditions. He is the lead bowler for this English side. England fielding was sloppy dropping easy chances and unable to stop runs. India now lead the 5 match series 2-0.
“It’s a long way back from 0 for 2,” says Alastair Cook. “We got a lot of 30s and 40s but we know that doesn’t win a game. Virat and Gambhir showed us how it’s done. Credit to the way they played. There was one half chance off Jade, but apart from that they gave us nothing. We prepared well in the practice games, but we haven’t translated that to the main games. We need to score more runs, and our fielding wasn’t quite to standard.”
“I’m glad we’re the winning side, it’s really good,” says MS Dhoni. “Well of course the series in England wasn’t a good one for us, but the team showed their character not to lose their temper and still be sociable on the field,” he says pointedly. “We needed a good start, Vinay and Praveen gave us that with early wickets. We never let them get a partnership together. Gautam played brilliantly, Virat is a strokeplayer. Gautam’s innings at No. 3 was crucial, the ball was still moving a bit when he got in. The pitch was a bit too placid, I’d prefer a bit more turn. I think a turning wicket is a sporting track in India. But this was a good ODI wicket. For us it’s all about winning one game at a time, improving ourselves as cricketers, especially with youngsters in the side.”

By Ashok Kumar

Well, the payback has begun. India thrashed England by 126 runs in the first match of the Airtel ODI series played at the Rajiv Gandhi sports complex in Hyderabad today. India won the toss and elected to bat first. The pitch was slow and the ball was keeping low.
Indian batsmen used to the conditions and played cautiously scoring at 4 plus run rate till the side went for the batting power play. Gambhir and Kohli stabilised the innings after Patel and Rahane fell cheaply. Then Suresh Raina and skipper Dhoni brought up the scoring rate to over five and in the process the former hit the first two sixes of the match. The duo brought the fifth fifty in 22 balls.
After Raina holed out to Peitersen at long on for 61 and a quick fire 26 by Jadeja, Dhoni could be seen in World Cup finals avatar, making full use of his trademark helicopter shot. The skipper was unbeaten at 87 and took the team’s total to 300.
For the first time in recent months, England looked vulnerable and beatable. At the nets, it was reported that coach Grant Flower shouted at one of the batsmen when he was unable to handle low delivery that you are going to face this kind of pitch throughout the series. And, England batsmen failed to handle low deliveries. Jonathan Trott, Graeme Swann and Samit Patel were bowled by deliveries that kept low. Ashwin and Jadeja spun the web beautifully while for the first time, Swann looked ordinary. Both Jadeja and Ashwin struck vital blows, including caught and bowled by each one of them.
A late blitz by Finn was not enough to take England anywhere near India’s total. Once again, India displayed excellent team work and move closer to looking beyond Sehwags and Tendulkars. After Srinath, Umesh Yadav is the first bowler to have crossed the speed of 145 kmph.

By Ashok Kumar

Osama Bin Laden is history. With this the world equation has changed. The US had heavily relied on its partner in fight against terror and its mastermind, Pakistan but carried out an operation without the knowledge of the latter. This goes on to show that Pakistan was playing a double game, of an ally with the US and the terrorists at the same time.

A US official commented on a question why Pakistan was kept out of the operation that if Pakistan had been informed then bin Laden would have been moved to another destination and the hard work of so many days would have gone waste. Such was the level of (mis)trust the US had in its ally.

The mistrust stems from the fact that Osama was living under the nose of military and the government in a fortified palace and ‘no one noticed’. No one ever tried to find out what’s happening behind the high walls. This hard to believe when every third house reportedly belongs to retired police or army officers.

No wonder, the US had to go it alone risking the violation of air space charter or intervention by Pakistan forces.

Former President Parvez Musharraff used to say if people are saying Osama is in Pakistan then we ask them to come and show us where he is? And, they have shown to the likes of Musharraff that here he (Osama) is and we are taking him away from under your nose. What a slap on the face of Pakistan!

Meanwhile, the US is giving hard knocks to Pakistan over harbouring the most wanted terrorist. India had on several occasions alerted the US on the double game Pakistan is playing. ‘Officially, it is an ally in war against terrorism on the hand harbouring terrorist outfits like LeT and Tehrik-e-Taliban. With this, visions of getting Dawood Ibrahim and other terrorists who have found a safe haven in Pakistan have also been raised while that country would keep on denying their presence.

Flabbergasted by the US strike, the Pakistan government is looking for alibi and that came in the shape of ‘illegal’ attack on its soil by the Americans. Two things that Pakistan is good at are right public relations and politics of denial. The accused Pakistan will turn the things around make itself look like a victim.

In another development, the US administration has changed the original version of the killing theory. It now says that Osama was unarmed but resisted capture and hence was shot dead. The change has triggered severe criticism by the media and international community thereby the Administration losing the trust of its own community. In fact, they should have waited for the Defence Administration to come out with details of the attack.

By Ashok Kumar

Osama Bin Laden is history. With this the world equation has changed. The US had heavily relied on its partner in fight against terror and its mastermind, Pakistan but carried out an operation without the knowledge of the latter. This goes on to show that Pakistan was playing a double game, of an ally with the US and the terrorists at the same time.

A US official commented on a question why Pakistan was kept out of the operation that if Pakistan had been informed then bin Laden would have been moved to another destination and the hard work of so many days would have gone waste. Such was the level of (mis)trust the US had in its ally.

The mistrust stems from the fact that Osama was living under the nose of military and the government in a fortified palace and ‘no one noticed’. No one ever tried to find out what’s happening behind the high walls. This hard to believe when every third house reportedly belongs to retired police or army officers.

No wonder, the US had to go it alone risking the violation of air space charter or intervention by Pakistan forces.

Former President Parvez Musharraff used to say if people are saying Osama is in Pakistan then we ask them to come and show us where he is? And, they have shown to the likes of Musharraff that here he (Osama) is and we are taking him away from under your nose. What a slap on the face of Pakistan!

Meanwhile, the US is giving hard knocks to Pakistan over harbouring the most wanted terrorist. India had on several occasions alerted the US on the double game Pakistan is playing. ‘Officially, it is an ally in war against terrorism on the hand harbouring terrorist outfits like LeT and Tehrik-e-Taliban. With this, visions of getting Dawood Ibrahim and other terrorists who have found a safe haven in Pakistan have also been raised while that country would keep on denying their presence.

Flabbergasted by the US strike, the Pakistan government is looking for alibi and that came in the shape of ‘illegal’ attack on its soil by the Americans. Two things that Pakistan is good at are right public relations and politics of denial. The accused Pakistan will turn the things around make itself look like a victim.

In another development, the US administration has changed the original version of the killing theory. It now says that Osama was unarmed but resisted capture and hence was shot dead. The change has triggered severe criticism by the media and international community thereby the Administration losing the trust of its own community. In fact, they should have waited for the Defence Administration to come out with details of the attack.

By Ashok Kumar

Osama Bin Laden is history. With this the world equation has changed. The US had heavily relied on its partner in fight against terror and its mastermind, Pakistan but carried out an operation without the knowledge of the latter. This goes on to show that Pakistan was playing a double game, of an ally with the US and the terrorists at the same time.

A US official commented on a question why Pakistan was kept out of the operation that if Pakistan had been informed then bin Laden would have been moved to another destination and the hard work of so many days would have gone waste. Such was the level of (mis)trust the US had in its ally.

The mistrust stems from the fact that Osama was living under the nose of military and the government in a fortified palace and ‘no one noticed’. No one ever tried to find out what’s happening behind the high walls. This hard to believe when every third house reportedly belongs to retired police or army officers.

No wonder, the US had to go it alone risking the violation of air space charter or intervention by Pakistan forces.

Former President Parvez Musharraf used to say if people are saying Osama is in Pakistan then we ask them to come and show us where he is? And, they have shown to the likes of Musharraf that here he (Osama) is and we are taking him away from under your nose. What a slap on the face of Pakistan!

Meanwhile, the US is giving hard knocks to Pakistan over harbouring the most wanted terrorist. India had on several occasions alerted the US on the double game Pakistan is playing. ‘Officially, it is an ally in war against terrorism on the hand harbouring terrorist outfits like LeT and Tehrik-e-Taliban. With this, visions of getting Dawood Ibrahim and other terrorists who have found a safe haven in Pakistan have also been raised while that country would keep on denying their presence.

Flabbergasted by the US strike, the Pakistan government is looking for alibi and that came in the shape of ‘illegal’ attack on its soil by the Americans. Two things that Pakistan is good at are right public relations and politics of denial. The accused Pakistan will turn the things around make itself look like a victim.

In another development, the US administration has changed the original version of the killing theory. It now says that Osama was unarmed but resisted capture and hence was shot dead. The change has triggered severe criticism by the media and international community thereby the Administration losing the trust of its own community. In fact, they should have waited for the Defence Administration to come out with details of the attack.

VVS Laxman

What a day for India! The Team India clinched a thriller of a match by beating Australia by one wicket in the first of the two test matches Mohali while Gagan Narang and Abhinav Bindra won the first gold medal for the country followed by another gold by Anisa Sayyed and Rahi Samobat in shooting event of the Commonwealth Games in Delhi.

 VVS Laxman overcame his sore back to become the hero of a nail-biting one-wicket victory for India, who retained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in dramatic fashion in Mohali. In one of the most memorable finishes in recent history, Pragyan Ojha picked up two leg-byes off Mitchell Johnson to seal the result, which until that delivery could also have been a tie or an Australian win. Australia 428 and 192; India 405 and 216 for 9.

Ricky Ponting: “It was one of the exciting test matches I have played. Full credit to India; they outplayed us today. We tried our best. It was satisfying effort from the boys. I told them to just take out the scorecard out of the mind. The partnership between Ishant an Laxman was great and it made the difference I guess. Bollinger’s injury probably didnt help us there; we needed a fresh bowler to give it a shake but that’s the game.”

Dhoni: It was one of the best. This game was full of emotions. We lost Ishant in the first innings; the way we bowled in the second and third session was remarkable and that got us back. We could have got the first-inings lead but we didn’t. The bowlers again did well to bowl them out in teh second innings. Our batting collapsed but Laxman and Ishant . . Laxman is a remarkable batsman, whatever a field you set, he can keep scoring. He did a very good job for us. For me it was a very special (innings). We just wanted teh dressing room to be calm and cool. Ishant played loads of deliveries and in between got boundaries as well. It worked out well for us. Frankly speaking, when the game started no one expected we will have a result in 4 and half days. The bowlers from both sides have done well to get a result in this game.”

Man of the match is Zaheer Khan: “Winning is very important; it was a great game of cricket. Both teams fought hard and we did just enough to end up on the winning side. I was just waiting for the ball to reverse; that’s what MS was also waiting. And it did. It worked for me. 250 wicets .. tis been hard work. I am happy that the hard work that I have put in on my fitness over the last 6 weeks has paid off. Everyone were nervous in the dressing room; we tried to remain calm and hoped that the two batters would gets us through.”

In the Delhi Commonwealth Games, Indian men and women shooters on Tuesday hit the bull’s eye to give the country two gold medals. The men also won a silver in the shooting event.

The Abhinav Bindra and Gagan Narang pair bagged the first gold by shooting a total 1,193 points, breaking their own pair bagged the first gold by shooting a total 1,193 points, breaking their own record of 1,189 points scored at Melbourne games four years ago in the 10m air rifle pair event.

This was followed by the pair of Anisa Sayyed and Rahi Samobat shooting to a gold in 25m pistol event for women. The men’s pair of Omkar Singh and Deepak Sharma took home silver in the 50 metres pistol pair event.

With these three medals, India’s tally goes up to 7 – two golds, three silvers and two bronzes behind the top of the table Australia with 4 gold and 3 silver medals.

Sonia Chanu and Suken Dey had bagged silver and Sandhya Rani and V. Srinivas Rao bronze in weightlifting event on Monday, the first day of the competitions.