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A T E S T N E W S |
Kejriwal, aides detained;
teargas shells fired on protesters
NEW DELHI: Activist Arvind Kejriwal and hundreds of erstwhile Team Anna supporters were detained on Sunday when they marched to the residences of the Prime Minister and Congress and BJP chiefs on the issue of coal block allocation with police using teargas and water cannons to disperse them.
Kejriwal was detained for the second time on Sunday as he was picked up from outside the residence of the Prime Minister this morning.
The protest also brought to fore differences in the group over targeting BJP, with activist Kiran Bedi keeping herself away from Jantar Mantar.
Initially, police did not prevent protesters from marching towards the Prime Minister's residence though barricades were erected at several places. However, as they reached near the residences, they were stopped.
The protesters in separate groups marched from Jantar Mantar towards the residences of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Race Course Road, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi on Janpath and BJP president Nitin Gadkari on Tughlaq Road.
Police used water canons and lobbed teargas shells besides using force in Janpath, Akbar Road and Tughlaq Road to disperse the crowd.
Kejriwal, who was detained along with Prashant Bhushan, Manish Sisodia and Kumar Vishwas from various places, told reporters "Our intention was to show the nation that how BJP and Congress were hand-in-glove over the coal allocation issue.We have done our job, it is time we should go back."
The march was stopped at Janpath, Akbar Road and Tughlaq Road but as the protesters were tried to jump over the barricades to proceed, police warned them and later resorted to using water canons and lobbing teargas shells.
Some of the protesters also punctured the tyres of the buses and refused to move out of the place. Police then used force to remove them from the area.
Sporadic protests throughout the day were witnessed outside the residences of Prime Minister, the Congress president and the BJP chief and a number of protesters were detained and subsequently released.
Earlier, the day began on a dramatic note with Kejriwal and five others surfacing in front of the residences of the Prime Minister and Congress and BJP party presidents.
All the six — Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia, Gopal Rai, Kumar Vishas, Sanjay Singh and another person
— were later released from custody after being detained for about an hour at the Mandir Marg police station where their supporters staged a protest and prevented police from taking them to Bawana.
While Kejriwal and Gopal were picked up from outside Singh's residence, Sisodia and Vishwas were detained from outside 10 Janpath, the residence of the Congress chief Sonia Gandhi. Sanjay Singh and another person was detained from outside Gadkari's residence.
The activists had announced the gherao of the residences of these three leaders alleging that Congress and BJP were hand-in-glove in corruption and involved in the allocation of coal blocks.
Though the activists had announced that they will gather at Jantar Mantar and march towards the residences of the leaders, Kejriwal and his aides took others by surprise and came to the protest venues where they were detained.
"What wrong are we doing? We are just sitting quietly on the footpath. At least we should be told why we are being detained," Kejriwal said. A spokesperson for the protesters said they did not violate prohibitory orders as only two persons had gathered at the spot.
"When Raj Thackeray takes thousands of his supporters without permission for a protest, police provide protection. What kind of politics is this?" he said.
Kejriwal said, "we will gherao again. We want to give message to Congress and BJP". — PTI
India beat Australia to win Under-19
Cricket World Cup
TOWNSVILLE (Australia): Unmukt Chand led from the front with a magnificent hundred as India Under-19 lifted their third World Cup title after beating formidable defending champions Australia by six wickets in the final on Sunday.
This was India U-19's first triumph after Mohammed Kaif and Virat Kohli led their respective teams to victory in 2000 and 2008 editions, respectively.
Courtesy a magnificent unbeaten 111 by Unmukt and his unbroken partnership of 130 runs with glovesman Smit Patel, India overhauled a competitive target of 226 on a bouncy strip with 14 balls to spare.
It was one of the best centuries one could have witnessed at the junior level as Unmukt hit seven fours and as many as six sixes during his 130-ball knock.
He completed his century with a six over extra cover off Alex Gregory but the celebrations were very muted. The skipper knew that the job was only half done.
Once Smit, who hit an effective 62, slog-swept off-spinner Ashton Turner towards deep mid-wicket for a four a number of Indian supporters rushed to the ground along to celebrate with the team.
Though four wickets were lost in the chase, it never looked like an uphill task for the Indians, who were subdued in the middle overs but accelerated towards the end to get to the target with ease.
After Prashant Chopra was out chasing a delivery down leg side of Mark Steketee without troubling the scorers, Unmukt and in-form batsman Baba Aparajith (33) took the attack to the opposition.
The duo added 73 runs for the second wicket playing the Aussie pace trio of Steketee, Joel Paris and Gurinder Sandhu with ease.
Unmukt, especially, was phenomenal in the closing stages hitting a couple of glorious sixes off Sandhu's bowling.
The first was over long-off while second looked even more spectacular as he presented a full face of the bat with a nice follow through.
Aparajith on the other hand hit a nice hook shot off Paris and some lovely cover drives that pierced the field.
However, Sandhu had the last laugh when he forced Aparajith to drive on the up and was brilliantly caught by Ashton Turner at short cover.
The Tamil Nadu all-rounder scored 33 off 38 balls with five hits to the fence. Hanuma Vihari (4) and Vijay Zol (1) didn't score much but some damage was done by the number of deliveries that were consumed in the process.
Zol's discomfort against the moving deliveries also frustrated Unmukt who didn't get much of the strike. The Indian captain finally completed his half century in 68 deliveries.
Zol's agony ended as he edged one off Paris to wicketkeeper Jimmy Peirson. The Bowling Powerplay proved to be useful for the hosts as they conceded only 11 runs in the five overs.
At 97/4, Smit Patel joined Unmukt and the circumstances were difficult. The boundaries dried up and so did the singles.
It was Smit, who hit fine straight drives as India got their first boundary after 44 deliveries.
Slowly, the two resurrected the innings with singles and twos. There were the occasional boundaries but only a few compared to the flurry of fours that Unmukt and Aparajith hit in first 15 overs.
Earlier, India frittered away the early advantage as defending champions Australia recovered from a shaky start to post a competitive 225/8.
Electing to field after winning the toss Indians had the Aussies on the mat at 38 for 4 before host skipper William Bosisto (87 not out) rebuilt the innings with the help of some notable contributions down the order from Tavis Head (37) and Ashton Turner.
Colts 'veteran' Sandeep Sharma who got four for 54 was the most successful bowler.
Both teams named the same XIs that had got them through the knockouts. While Australia, aiming for a fourth title, entered the final undefeated, India had lost one game in the first group stage to the West Indies. — PTI
We were confident of victory: Smit Patel
TOWNSVILLE (Australia): India’s Smit Patel, who hit the winning runs in the ICC U-19 World Cup final against Australia on Sunday, said he was always confident of victory.
“It was awesome batting with (captain) Unmukt (Chand). He is a match-winner,” said Patel, who remained unbeaten on 62.
“We kept discussing our strategy during our partnership. I was quite confident that if we continued (the way we were playing), we could achieve the target (even if) with difficulty.
“The situation was quite tentative when we lost the fourth wicket for 97 but we stuck to our basics. Our coach had told us whenever there is pressure we should just stick to our basics and that’s what we did,” added the wicketkeeper-batsman.
Australia had scored 225/8, which the visitors chased successfully with six wickets to spare in 47.4 overs.
This is India’s third title after having won in 2000 and 2008. — PTI
1st Test:
India beat New Zealand by an innings and 115 runs
Hyderabad: New Zealand were all out for 164 runs in their second innings to give India an innings and 115 runs win over them in the first Test in Hyderabad on Sunday.
Earlier, New Zealand were tottering on 146 for six at tea on the fourth day of the first cricket Test. During the second
session break on a rain-curtalied day, Krug van Wyk was batting on two from 19 balls while Doug Bracewell was on one after New Zealand resumed at 44 for one, following on in their second innings.
While Ravichandran Ashwin again had the best figures among the Indian bowlers with three for 50, it was Umesh Yadav who got the first breakthrough of the day getting a debatable leg before decision against Brendon McCullum.
Local boy Pragyan Ojha chipped in at the other end with two for 35 as it was just a matter of time for the Indians to wrap up the show with more than a day left to go in the match.
After a frustrating first-half, India got their first breakthrough of the day after lunch when a poor decision by Steve Davis ruled McCullum out.
The Aussie umpire missed an inside-edge of the bat before hitting McCullum's pad as he raised his finger to the Indians huge appeal.
Anger was writ large on McCullum's face as he walked towards the dressing room certainly not happy with the decision.
It was 72-run second wicket partnership and the absence of DRS definitely helped the Indians.
The hosts straightway began the proceedings with the spin duo of Ojha and Ashwin but there was little assistance in the morning as the Kiwi batsmen played them sensibly. — PTI
AK Hangal cremated; Bollywood biggies miss funeral
MUMBAI: With prayers on their lips, friends and family members bid a tearful adieu to distinguished character actor A. K. Hangal at his funeral
here today.
Incidentally, none of the prominent Bollywood personalities attended Hangal's last rites, performed by his son Vijay at the Pawan Hans crematorium in Vile Parle, Mumbai, at around 1
pm.
"It's a great loss ... I am saddened by his demise. He was very happy and lively about his work and life. I can't talk much now," Hangal's son Vijay told PTI.
Character artists, including Rakesh Bedi, Raza Murad, Avatar Gill, singer-actress Ila Arun and a few others, were seen at the crematorium uniting in grief at the demise of the man who played the role of grandfather, father, uncle or friend to various actors.
Hangal passed away early this morning due to brief illness aggravated by a fracture in his thigh bone at Asha Parekh Hospital in suburban Mumbai. He was 98.
"Though he was out of sight as he was not working in movies, he was not out of mind. He was my guru... he was an institution... I have learnt a lot from him," Raza Murad said.
"He has worked with all superstars but it is sad that no big star from the industry came here today," he said.
"He lived like a king. He was very active. He was never disheartened when he was out of work and money. He was not only an
actor ... he was a freedom fighter. It's a great loss," Ila Arun said.
Hangal is survived by his 74-year-old son Vijay as his wife Manorama predeceased him.
Avtaar Veenit Kishan Hangal, who was born into a Kashmiri Pandit family in Sialkot (Pakistan), came to the city of dreams — Mumbai — at the age of 21.
He made an impressive mark as the old man who gets up and joins the troupe in the song
'Ghanan ghanan", where he sang one line "Kale megha
kale megha pani to barsao" in Aamir Khan-starrer Lagaan.
The actor, who was honoured with the Padma Bhushan for his contribution to Hindi cinema in 2006, was in the news last year for living a life in penury.
His son Vijay, a retired still cameraman in Bollywood, appealed for help after failing to meet Hangal’s medical expenses. Several Bollywood celebrities like the Bachchans, producer-director Vipul Shah, and actors Mithun Chakraborty, Aamir Khan and Salman Khan came forward to help him.
Recently, he returned to face the studio lights after several years for TV series
Madhubala. — PTI
Violence continues to rock lower Assam
GUWAHATI: Violence on Sunday continued to rock lower Assam, where two persons were injured in a fresh attack in Kokrajhar.
Six persons, inmates of a relief camp, died in an attack at Amguri Bazar in Chirang district on Saturday night taking the death toll in the month-long mayhem to 86,
the police said.
State IGP (law and order) L.R. Bishnoi told PTI that unidentified persons attacked and left injured two persons near Salakati Railway Station in Kokrajhar at around 4 am.
The injured have been admitted to the Bongaigaon Civil Hospital.
Night curfew is continuing in the troubled districts of Kokrajhar, Chirang and Dhubri after violence that started from July 19, in which more than four lakh people have been rendered homeless with most residing in relief camps.
Army presence in the areas is continuing. — PTI
Neil Armstrong, first man to land on
the Moon, dies at 82
WASHINGTON: US astronaut Neil Armstrong, who took a giant leap for mankind when he became the first person to walk on the moon, has died at the age of 82, his family said on Saturday.
Armstrong died following complications from heart-bypass surgery he underwent earlier this month, the family said in a statement, just two days after his birthday on Aug. 5.
As commander of the Apollo 11 mission, Armstrong became the first human to set foot on the
Moon on July 20, 1969. As he stepped on the dusty surface, Armstrong said, "That's one small step for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind."
Those words endure as one of the best known quotes in the English language.
Some controversy still surrounds his famous quote. The broadcast did not have the "a" in "one small step for a man ... " He and
the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) insisted static had obscured the "a," but after repeated playbacks, he admitted he may have dropped the letter.
Attempts have been made using modern acoustic equipment to search for the missing letter, with one Australian scientist claiming to have found it. Armstrong has expressed a preference, however, that written quotations include the "a" in parentheses.
The Apollo 11 astronauts' euphoric moonwalk provided Americans with a sense of achievement in the space race with Cold War foe the Soviet Union and while Washington was engaged in a bloody war with the communists in Vietnam.
Neil Alden Armstrong was 38 years old at the time and even though he had fulfilled one of mankind's age-old quests that placed him at the pinnacle of human achievement, he did not revel in his accomplishment. He even seemed frustrated by the acclaim it brought.
"I guess we all like to be recognized not for one piece of fireworks but for the ledger of our daily work," Armstrong said in an interview on CBS's " 60 Minutes" program in 2005.
He once was asked how he felt knowing his footprints would likely stay on the moon's surface for thousands of years. "I kind of hope that somebody goes up there one of these days and cleans them up," he said.
A very private man
James Hansen, author of "First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong," told CBS: "All of the attention that ... the public put on stepping down that ladder onto the surface itself, Neil never could really understand why there was so much focus on that."
The Apollo 11 moon mission turned out to be Armstrong's last space flight. The next year he was appointed to a desk job, being named
NASA's deputy associate administrator for aeronautics in the office of advanced research and technology.
Armstrong's post-NASA life was a very private one. He took no major role in ceremonies marking the 25th anniversary of the moon landing. "He's a recluse's recluse," said Dave Garrett, a former
NASA spokesman.
Hansen said stories of Armstrong dreaming of space exploration as a boy were apocryphal, although he was long dedicated to flight. "His life was about flying. His life was about piloting," Hansen said.
Born on August 5, 1930, in Wapakoneta, Ohio, Armstrong was the first of three children of Stephen and Viola Armstrong. He married his college sweetheart, Janet
Shearon, in 1956. They were divorced in 1994, when he married Carol Knight.
Armstrong had his first joyride in a plane at age six. Growing up in Ohio, he began making model planes and by his early teens had amassed an extensive aviation library. With money earned from odd jobs, he took flying lessons and obtained his pilot's license even before he got a car license.
In high school he excelled in science and mathematics and won a US Navy scholarship to Purdue University in Indiana, enrolling in 1947. He left after two years to become a Navy pilot, flying combat missions in the Korean War and winning three medals.
Flying test planes
After the war he returned to Purdue and graduated in 1955 with an aeronautical engineering degree. He joined the National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics
(NACA), which became NASA in 1958.
Armstrong spent seven years at NACA's high-speed flight station at Edwards Air Force Base in California, becoming one of the world's best test pilots. He flew the X-15 rocket plane to the edge of space
— 200,000 feet up (61,000 meters) at 4,000 mph (6,435 kph).
In September 1962, Armstrong was selected by NASA to be an astronaut. He was command pilot for the Gemini 8 mission and backup command pilot for the Gemini 11 mission, both in 1966.
On the Gemini 8 mission, Armstrong and fellow astronaut David Scott performed the first successful docking of a manned spacecraft with another space vehicle.
Armstrong put his piloting skills to good use on the moon landing, overriding the automatic pilot so he and fellow astronaut Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin would not have to land their module in a big rocky crater.
Yet the landing was not without danger. The lander had only about 30 seconds of fuel left when Armstrong put it down in an area known as the Sea of Tranquility and calmly radioed back to Mission Control on Earth, "Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed."
Aldrin, who along with Armstrong and Michael Collins formed the Apollo 11 crew, told BBC radio that he would remember Armstrong as "a very capable commander and leader of an achievement that will be recognized until man sets foot on the planet Mars."
Armstrong left the NASA a year after Apollo 11 to become a professor of engineering at the University of Cincinnati.
Declines offers to run for office
After his aeronautical career, Armstrong was approached by political groups, but unlike former astronauts John Glenn and Harrison Schmitt who became US senators, he declined all offers.
In 1986, he served on a presidential commission that investigated the explosion that destroyed the space shuttle Challenger, killing its crew of seven shortly after launch from Cape Canaveral in January of that year.
Armstrong made a rare public appearance several years ago when he testified to a congressional hearing against President Barack Obama administration's plans to buy rides from other countries and corporations to ferry US astronauts to and from the International Space Station.
Armstrong also said that returning humans to the moon was not only desirable, but necessary for future exploration
— even though Nasa says it is no longer a priority.
He lived in the Cincinnati area with his wife, Carol. "We are heartbroken to share the news that Neil Armstrong has passed away," the family said in their statement. "Neil was our loving husband, father, grandfather, brother and friend."
His family expressed hope that young people around the world would be inspired by Armstrong's feat to push boundaries and serve a cause greater than themselves.
"The next time you walk outside on a clear night and see the moon smiling down at you, think of Neil Armstrong and give him a wink," the family said.
Obama said that Armstrong "was among the greatest of American heroes - not just of his time, but of all time. ...
"Today, Neil's spirit of discovery lives on in all the men and women who have devoted their lives to exploring the unknown
— including those who are ensuring that we reach higher and go further in space. That legacy will endure
— sparked by a man who taught us the enormous power of one small step." — Reuters
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