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Violence erupts at India Gate, protesters teargassed 

NEW DELHI: Violence erupted at India Gate on Sunday when protesters pelted stones and fought a pitched battles using rods with the police, which repeatedly lobbed teargas shells, resorted to use of water jets and used force to disperse the agitators. 

Amid reports that ‘some elements’ were inciting violence, clashes erupted for the second time within 90 minutes at around 2:30 pm when protesters pelted stones at the police which had barricaded Rajpath leading to Raisina Hills, but the reason for the provocation could not be ascertained. 

At 3:15 pm again, the police lobbed teargas shells and used water jets after the protesters resorted to stone-pelting. 

Some protesters also used rods to attack policemen, eyewitnesses said. 

However, most of the protesters remained peaceful and objected to the use of violence during the protests. They alleged that those who indulged in violence had motives. 

The police resorted to lobbing several teargas shells and use of force to disperse the crowd on Rajpath near the War Memorial, injuring several people including some media persons. 

The protesters damaged the barricades erected on the lawns for Republic Day functions next month, damaged vehicles and even blocked traffic around India Gate and its arterial roads for hours. 

Teargas shells were lobbed at the agitators near India Gate at around one PM as they tried to enter Rajpath to head towards Raisina Hills. However, later they were allowed to proceed in a bid to ease traffic on the radial road. 

The protesters then tried to cross the barricades and clashed with the police who resorted to the use of water cannons at 1:15 pm. 

This was the second successive day that the police resorted to lobbing teargas shells and spraying of waterjets besides using force to contain the protest demanding speedy justice and stringent punishment for the accused in last Sunday night’s incident. 

Meanwhile, doctors at the Safdarjung Hospital said the condition of the victim continues to be critical. 

A group of protesters also met Sonia and Rahul Gandhi during which the Congress top leaders assured speedy action while refusing to give a time-frame for it. 

Earlier, the police imposed prohibitory orders under under Section 144 of CrPC in New Delhi district banning the assembly of four or more persons to check the violence. 

Some protesters indulged in violence as they stopped East Delhi MP Sandeep Dikshit at India Gate, heckled him and damaged his car as well as a government jeep ferrying officials and clashed with the police while trying to march towards Raisina Hills, where Rashtrapati Bhavan and key government ministries are located. 

Central Delhi faced huge traffic chaos due to a security clampdown on Rajpath even as protesters blocked roads near India Gate. 

Early this morning, around 50-60 protesters, who stayed put at Raisina Hills throughout the night and some others infront of Sonia Gandhi’s 10, Janpath residence, were evacuated while high drama was witnessed at India Gate when agitators resisted police attempts to detain them for defying prohibitory orders. 

Eight Metro stations near India Gate and Raisina Hills were closed as part of police measures to contain the agitation. 

The police after clamping prohibitory orders in New Delhi district asked protesters to stage demonstrations either at Jantar Mantar or Ramlila Maidan. — PTI

Sachin Tendulkar bids adieu to ODIs

MUMBAI: One of the game’s all-time greats, Sachin Tendulkar, on Sunday announced his retirement from one-day cricket, bringing to an end a glorious 23-year-old career in the format during which he rewrote numerous batting records. 

“I have decided to retire from the one-day format of the game. I feel blessed to have fulfilled the dream of being part of a World Cup-winning Indian team. The preparatory process to defend the World Cup in 2015 should begin early and in right earnest,” the 39-year-old said in a statement released by the Board of Control for Cricket (BCCI) on Sunday. 

“I would like to wish the team all the very best for the future. I am eternally grateful to all my well wishers for their unconditional support and love over the years,” he added. 

Tendulkar, considered the most complete batsman in modern cricket and one who was considered next only to the legendary Sir Donald Bradman, retires from the ODI format at the top of the run-getters’ list. 

Tendulkar goes out after amassing 18,426 runs in 463 one-dayers at an average of 44.83. The diminutive right-hander has an astonishing 49 hundreds in the format, including a double hundred — the first in this form of the game. 

Tendulkar made his ODI debut against Pakistan way back in 1989 and interestingly he is quitting the scene just ahead of another series against the arch-rivals. 

The Mumbaikar, who made himself unavailable for Twenty20 after playing just one game in 2006, will now remain active in only the Test arena. 

The brightest moment of his ODI career came last year when he finally became part of a World Cup winning Indian team after five previous appearances. 

Speculation over Tendulkar’s future had grown after his continuing failures in the past one year. 

His last ODI hundred came in the Asia Cup in Bangladesh in March this year —— a feat that completed an unprecedented 100 international tons. 

He was stuck on 99 tons for quite a while after scoring two hundreds during India’s successful World Cup campaign. 

Tendulkar also has a mammoth tally of 96 ODI 50s to his credit. 

Despite the recent slump in his form, Tendulkar’s overall tally of runs is unlikely to be matched anytime soon given that the distant second-best in the list, former Australian captain Ricky Ponting, has already retired from the game with 13,704 runs under his belt. 

Sri Lanka’s retired great Sanath Jayasuriya occupies the third spot in the overall chart with 13,430 runs. 

Besides his batting, Tendulkar was an effective partnership-breaking bowler and finishes his ODI career with 154 wickets, including two five-wicket hauls. 

Tendulkar’s Test records are as awe-inspiring. The right-hander has 15,645 runs at an average of 54.32 in 194 Tests that he has played so far. The tally includes 51 hundreds and 66 half-centuries. — PTI

Plane with 9 on board crashes in Canada

SANIKILUAQ (Nunavut): Authorities say a plane en route from Winnipeg to the remote Arctic territory of Nunavut has crashed with nine people on board. 

The Canadian Broadcasting Corp., citing a Nunavut government official, reports that the Perimeter Aviation plane aborted a landing and crashed less than a km from the end of a runway in the community of Sanikiluaq. 

The CBC says the plane was carrying seven passengers and two crew and went down at about 6 p.m. eastern time. 

The CBC says the Nunavut government official indicated there were survivors, some of them injured. — AP

Fog disrupts flight operations at IGI airport