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Police tells Team Anna to hospitalise Kejriwal, 2 others

NEW DELHI: The Delhi police on Wednesday advised Team Anna to immediately hospitalise Arvind Kejriwal and two other fasting activists and warned that the organisers will be “squarely responsible” if anything untoward happens to them. 

In a letter to Team Anna member Neeraj Kumar, Additional Commissioner of Police (New Delhi) K.C. Dwivedi said doctors have advised that Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and Gopal Rai need immediate medical intervention and be shifted to a hospital. 

The fast of the three activists entered the eighth day on Wednesday and their health has worsened with doctors advising their hospitalisation. 

However, Anna Hazare and Kejriwal saw a conspiracy to take the activists to hospital to end the stir for a strong Lokpal and warned that they would not negotiate with the government if the activists are forcibly removed. 

Kejriwal also said that it is the responsibility of the supporters to ensure that he should be out of hospital in case of forcible eviction. 

The letter to Team Anna came following the tough stand taken by activists. 

Dwivedi said their continued fasting, resistance to accepting medical intervention and announcing from the dais at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi that there would be dire consequences following their forcible removal is not as per the terms and conditions that were mutually agreed upon and may lead to adverse law and order situation. 

“You are advised to follow the doctors’ recommendation and take steps for immediate hospitalisation of Arvind Kejriwal, Gopal Rai and Manish Sisodia to prevent harm to their lives and well-being failing which you would be squarely respobsible for any untoward incident,” the letter said. 

Dwivedi pointed out that Team Anna has given an undertaking on July 7, 2012 that they will abide by all lawful directions by any police officer at any stage of the agitation. 

“Being the organiser of this agitation, it would be your responsibility to ensure the well—being of the persons sitting on fast,” the letter to Kumar said. 

Dwivedi also said that Dr Vivek Arya and Dr Kanika of Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital and Dr Vipin Mittal and Dr Atul Gupta, attending to fasting activists, have examined Hazare and three other activists. 

“Today, Dr T.S. Sidhu, the Medical Superintendent of RML, forwarded the medical reports of Dr Arya for the past two days. 

“This team of doctors has advised that Kejriwal, Rai and Sisodia need immediate medical intervention of a hospital and should, therefore, be shifted to one. Dr T.S. Sidhu has endorsed this view,” the letter said. 

After the letter was sent to Team Anna, activist Shazia Ilmi alleged that they have information that Kejriwal will be taken by force in the night. However, police denied the allegation. 

Another Team Anna member Kumar Viswas said this is the conspiracy of the government and they do not believe in government-run hospitals. 

“We believe in the doctors who are 24/7 with us in this agitation. The government said they would not talk to us. This government would talk to separatists, with Maoists and Pakistan which sends terrorists to us. But not with us. 

“We appeal to the Delhi police that if they get an order from above, then think that this fight is not for stomach but for the country. The government does not have enough personnel and police to put all of us behind bars,” he said. 

Earlier in the day, Hazare warned the government that he will not negotiate with them if the fasting activists are forcefully removed from the Jantar Mantar protest site in New Delhi. 

With the government showing no inclination for talks to end their stir, a worried Team Anna held discussions on Wednesday morning among its members on the way ahead and decided to adopt a tough stand. 

Team Anna requested Kejriwal and Rai to end their hunger strike and let other members carry on with the stir but the activists refused to budge. 

After the meeting, Hazare told protesters that he will not call off his fast till a strong Lokpal Bill is passed. 

“A man may commit suicide when he is in trouble. What is troubling Arvind? He is fighting for the country. And this fight is creating trouble for the government and there could be a conspiracy to take them to hospital. But this won’t work. 

“If the government forcefully removes them, I will not talk to anybody in the government. Till we have the strength, we will carry on with the protest,” he said. 

Kejriwal said he does not have trust in the government doctors and refused to share medical reports with them from on Wednesday. — PTI

Olympics: Deepika Kumari misses the mark 

LONDON: Indian archers’ dismal show came to an end at the London Olympics on Wednesday as World No. 1 and medal hope Deepika Kumari bowed out of women’s individual event after suffering an upset defeat against Amy Oliver of Great Britain in the opening round. 

Deepika was completely off colour today and was no match for her British rival, who easily pocketed the encounter 6-2. 

In individual events, which is decided on best of five sets (three arrows each), one who wins a set irrespective of the margin gets two points. 

Even as both the archers ended up scoring a total of 104 each at the end, Oliver managed to win three sets. 

The 18-year-old Ranchi girl could bag just one set, and that too mainly because of the rare error made by her opponent, who ended up shooting a four in one of her three chances in the second set. 

Deepika, a double gold medal winner at the Commonwealth Games held in Delhi two years ago, failed to hit even a single perfect 10 in four sets. 

On the other hand, Oliver scored two perfect 10s, besides hitting the bull’s eye once. 

The Indians failed miserably in the men’s and women’s team events in the early of their lukewarm campaign and the trend continued in the individual events too with Deepika remaining the lone hope going into today’s competition. 

Three men — Rahul Banerjee, Tarundeep Rai and Jayanta Talukdar — formed the men’s team while Deepika, L Bombayla Devi and Chekrovolu Swuro comprised the women’s outfit. — PTI

Kashyap reaches quarters

LONDON: Shuttler Parupalli Kashyap on Wednesday reached the quarter-finals of the Olympic Games after securing a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Sri Lanka’s Niluka Karunaratne at the Wembley Arena here. 

The 21st ranked Kashyap had to bring in all his experience and craft into play to quell the strong challenge of his rival, ranked 27 places below him in the world chart, 21-14 15-21 21-9 in the pre-quarter final clash that lasted 66 minutes. 

The 25-year-old Hyderbadi thus emulated the feat of Saina Nehwal, who became the first-ever Indian to reach the last-eight stage in the Beijing Games four years ago. 

Kashyap survived a scare from the 5 feet 8 inch tall Sri Lankan in a match that witnessed several long rallies. 

The Indian was made to work hard for every point as the Sri Lankan showed excellent retrieving power and engaged his opponent in long rallies. 

In the first game, Karunaratne went ahead to a 7-4 lead but Kashyap got the measure of his opponent quickly and showed flashes of experience to first narrow down the gap and then build a healthy six-point lead at 17-11. 

Kashyap delighted a packed audience with some beautiful cross-court winner and his trademark drop shots to pocket the first game with a powerful smash. — PTI

Bhupathi, Bopanna crash out of doubles

London: Indian seventh seeds Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna crashed out of the Olympics on Tuesday after suffering a shock 6-3, 6-4 second round defeat by France's Richard Gasquet and Julien Benneteau.

Bhupathi and Bopanna were regarded as the country's best hope for a tennis medal, but their challenge came to a premature end on Court 11 at Wimbledon.

The defeat is a bitter finish to the duo's Olympic campaign, which was marred by a selection row that broke out in the build-up to the Games.

Bhupathi was furious when All India Tennis Association (AITA) chiefs ignored his request not to be paired with Leander Paes following the breakdown of the successful doubles pairing's relationship.

The controversy turned ugly when Bhupathi accused Paes of lying to him on several occasions and changing his partner during a tournament in November 2011 without informing him.

After several weeks of tension, Bhupathi, who wrote to the AITA to protest against their decision, finally got his wish to play with Bopanna at the Games, while Paes was paired with Vishnu Vardhan.

But, while Paes and Vardhan remain in the men's doubles, Bhupathi and Bopanna have been consigned to an early exit.

8 shuttlers face match-throwing probe

LONDON: Eight women badminton players were charged by the sport's governing body on Wednesday with "not using one's best efforts to win a match" after two matches at the Olympics ended in controversy. Four pairs in the women's doubles competition - one from China, one from Indonesia and two from South Korea - could face disciplinary action after the Badminton World Federation (BWF) took action.

The players in two matches were booed off court at Wembley Arena in London on Tuesday after they appeared to deliberately serve into the net, or hit the shuttlecock long or wide.

It was apparently an attempt to manipulate the final standings in the first-round group stage with two pairs who had already qualified from the group stage jockeying to play against weaker opponents.

The match between the powerful Chinese pairing of Yu Yang and Wang Xiaoli and unseeded South Korean pair Jung Kyung and Kim Ha Na came under scrutiny after the Chinese lost heavily.

There were no rallies of more than four shots in the match.

Their defeat meant Yu and Wang avoided playing their compatriots Tian Qing and Zhao Yunlei, who had finished second in their group.

Yu said afterwards: "We've already qualified, so why would we waste energy? It's not necessary to go out hard again when the knockout rounds are tomorrow."

A later match in which South Korean third seeds Ha Je and Kim Min-Jung beat Indonesian pair Meiliana Juahari and Polii Greysia is also being investigated by the BWF.

Tournament referee Torsten Berg came on to court during that match to warn the players about their conduct and was thought to have shown a black card -- meaning a dismissal --but it was apparently rescinded.

Berg said after the match: "We have looked seriously into the case and as referee I have taken a decision and made a report to the BWF which will be known in due course." —AFP

We’ll work out strategy to stabilise grid: Moily

NEW DELHI: The newly-appointed Power Minister Veerappa Moily on Wednesday refrained from blaming states for overdrawing electricity that may have led to the collapse of the three grids on Tuesday and said he will focus on combating the many troubles that are facing the sector.

Moily, who took charge of the ministry on Wednesday morning, said that he would take stock of the situation and start working on clearing the hurdles facing the sector.

“First thing is to stabilise the grid and it has to sustain. For that we will work out a proper strategy,” he told reporters.

Refraining from blaming the states for overdrawing the electricity from grids and not adhering to a discipline, Moily said he did not want to start his innings with a blame game.

“I don’t want to start with the blame game...at the appropriate time, we will find out short-term and medium-term solutions,” he said.

Taking over the reins of the ministry at a time when it is steeped in crisis, Moily will have to address the issues ranging from the failure of the three grids that plunged 21 States into darkness, to fuel shortages and the financial health of the distribution companies.

“I always like challenges in life...these things (electricity transmission and fuel issues) are very sensitive rather hyper sensitive in the sector, problems will crop up at the same time how we combat these problems that becomes a challenge,” Moily said. — PTI

Northern, eastern and NE grids restored: Power Grid

NEW DELHI: More than 20 hours after the country’s worst power failure, the three major electricity grids that had collapsed have been restored, Power Grid said on Wednesday. 


The northern, eastern and north-eastern grids were restored by around 09.30 hrs on Wednesday. 


Triggering a massive power crisis, which brought most parts of the country to a grinding halt, the three grids collapsed at 13.00 hours on Tuesday. 


According to state-run Power Grid, 100 per cent supplies have been restored in all the three regions. 

“System restored to normal state,” Power Grid said in a statement. Full power supply of 30,081 MW has been restored in the northern region, including Delhi. 

Eastern region, which caters to 10 states and has the largest infrastructure in the country with at least 25,000 MW generation capacity, was the last one to be restored. 

“In the eastern region, 100 per cent or 11,052 MW supply has been fully restored,” it said. 

Even though the exact reason is yet to be ascertained, officials said that problems started in the eastern grid and there could also have been overdrawals by some States. — PTI