Winning In Sub-Continent Must For Becoming Number One: Arthur

MELBOURNE: Australia's first foreign cricket coach Mickey Arthur says consistent selections and triumphs in the sub-continent are the key to rebuilding a team which has gone from being an intimidating world champion to a struggling outfit.

"The key to ultimate success is strong leadership, clear role definition and consistent selection," Arthur, who was appointed to the job on Tuesday, said.

Arthur's first assignment would be next month's Test series against New Zealand.

"You take the little steps one at a time and hopefully we will then have a team capable to going to England and winning the Ashes there (in 2013)," he said.

"I'd like us to focus on the small little goals first," he added.

Talking about the bigger goals, Arthur, who was former coach of South Africa, said winning in the sub-continent is top priority.

"If you want to be number one you've got to win on the subcontinent," he said.

"Four teams play out of the subcontinent, you've got to have the ability to mix your style up at any given time," he added.

Arthur refused to be drawn into a discussion on veteran batsman Ricky Ponting's future in the team

"It's hard coming in from the outside not knowing what's going on in the team - that'll be a discussion and something for (chairman of selectors) John Inverarity to take up," he added.

The 43-year-old also advocated a more consistent approach in picking spinners, 11 of whom have been tried since the legendary Shane Warne retired.

"Select one and back him in to do a job, give him clear role clarity," Arthur said.

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Spain Top Fifa Rankings, England Up To No. 5

ZURICH: World and European champion Spain stayed atop FIFA's monthly world rankings on Wednesday, despite losing a friendly to England which climbed two places to No. 5.

The Netherlands remained second but third-placed Germany narrowed the gap after winning 3-0 in a friendly between the sides.

South American champion Uruguay closed on the top three, beating Chile in 2014 World Cup qualifying and No. 9 Italy in a friendly to remain unbeaten in 13 matches.

England was helped by its friendly wins against Spain and No. 18 Sweden to climb above sixth-placed Brazil, which gained fewer ranking points beating Egypt and Gabon.

Portugal and Croatia won 2012 European Championship playoffs and rose to seventh and eighth respectively.

Ivory Coast led African teams at No. 16 and 19th-placed Japan was the best Asian team.

Mexico rose two to No. 20 and headed CONCACAF members.

Oceania's best, New Zealand, did not play last month and dropped 14 places to No. 119. It will begin World Cup qualification next June.

The biggest risers were the Czech Republic, up 14 places to No. 33, and Ecuador, which climbed 10 to No. 42.

Three teams reached their highest position since the rankings started in 1993: Venezuela (No. 39), Cape Verde (No. 57) and Antigua and Barbuda (No. 83).

Qatar, the 2022 World Cup host, dropped three places to No. 95 despite being unbeaten in three matches, including two 2014 qualifiers.

The rankings weigh all international matches over a rolling four-year cycle.

FIFA took account of 131 matches in the past month, including 72 World Cup qualifiers.

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Classy Federer Routs Nadal To Make Last Four

LONDON: Roger Federer crushed old rival Rafael Nadal 6-3, 6-0 as the defending champion swept into the semifinals of the ATP World Tour Finals on Tuesday.

Federer went into the match knowing victory would guarantee his place in the last four after Jo-Wilfried Tsonga defeated Mardy Fish in the earlier Group B match.

The Swiss star seized the opportunity with a brutal demolition of the world number two in just one hour on court at London's O2 Arena.

The 30-year-old hadn't beaten Nadal since they met in the final of the ATP's season finale here last year, but he produced his most emphatic ever win against the Spaniard to ended a run of three successive head to head defeats.

While Federer can relax in his final group game against Fish, there is no margin for error for Nadal, who needs to neat Tsonga on Thursday to make the last four.

This was the 26th instalment of one of the great sporting rivalries and, while there wasn't a Grand Slam title at stake for once, Federer's masterclass made this just as memorable as some of their previous encounters.

Nadal has often had the better of Federer, winning 17 of their matches including the last clash at this year's French Open final, but the meetings on hard courts have always been much closer affairs.

Federer, aiming for a record sixth Tour Finals crown, arrived on a run of 13 successive wins which brought him titles in Basel and Paris and he was quick to impose himself with a dominant opening service game.

The two heavyweights slugged away for the first five games until Federer suddenly produced the kind of sustained brilliance that has done for so many opponents in the past.

Federer unloaded a stunning cross-court winner to rock Nadal back on his heels and then brought up three break points with a perfectly timed smash.

That set the stage for one of the best rallies of the tournament as Federer worked Nadal around the court.

The Spaniard fought gamely to stay in the point but eventually drove a backhand wide as the capacity crowd rose to their feet to acclaim both players.

Federer had the bit between his teeth now and kept Nadal from threatening a comeback with some cleverly placed serves to close out the set.

For the first time in the seven years they have been played each other, neither player was ranked number one after Nadal lost that spot to Novak Djokovic.

Federer has slipped to fourth recently but the quality of his play in this mood remains unsurpassed.

The 16-time Grand Slam champion continued to take the attack to Nadal in the second set and the Spaniard was unable to find the right response.

A blistering exchange of ground-strokes in the first game ended with Federer producing a winner from a seemingly impossible angle to secure the break.

It isn't often that Nadal looks shell-shocked on court, but he was beginning to wear an increasingly exasperated expression and Federer, scenting blood, went for the kill in the third game.

Again Nadal had no answer as Federer blazed forehand winners at will to open up a 3-0 lead.

Federer's serve was working beautifully and Nadal never threatened a fightback.

The Spaniard was rendered impotent on his own serve as well and Federer broke again in the fifth game before serving out the match to complete a remarkable performance.

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Ind Vs Wi: Bravo's Sparkling 166 Puts West Indies In Command

MUMBAI: Darren Bravo continued his dream run with a third century in four Tests to help the West Indies post a mammoth 575-9 on the second day of the third and final Test against India on Wednesday.

Scorecard | Match in Pics

Bravo, cousin of former West Indies batting great Brian Lara, dominated the Indian attack with a superb 166 as the tourists scored 308 runs on a batsmen's day after resuming at 267-2.

Kieran Powell (81), who replaced injured batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul, and Marlon Samuels (61) also made merry on a batting track at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

The West Indies' batting flourished for a second successive day, with the top-six batsmen all scoring a half-century or more.

The left-handed pair of Bravo and Powell consolidated their team's position with a 160-run stand for the fourth wicket to virtually shatter India's hopes of making a clean sweep.

The hosts lead 2-0 in the series after winning the opening Test in New Delhi by five wickets and the second match in Kolkata by an innings and 15 runs.

Powell hit nine fours in his second half-century in four Tests before being caught behind off spinner Pragyan Ojha while Bravo became debutant seamer Varun Aaron's first Test victim, caught behind while attempting to drive.

The day belonged to Bravo, whose superb run in Test cricket began in Bangladesh where he scored 195 in Dhaka for his maiden hundred in his team's series-clinching victory early this month.

The 22-year-old then cracked a brilliant 136 against India in the last innings of the previous Test in Kolkata before scoring a second successive hundred on Wednesday.

Bravo, 57 overnight, completed his century in the morning with an aggressive shot when he square-drove off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin for a boundary. He hit 17 fours in his 284-ball knock.

It was another frustrating day for India on a pitch offering no help to bowlers as they could take just two wickets in the opening two sessions, with paceman Ishant Sharma and Ojha bagging one each.

India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni also pressed part-timers Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag into the attack in a desperate bid to break the Bravo-Powell stand before Aaron struck thrice in four overs in the evening.

Aaron also bowled Carlton Baugh (four) and had skipper Darren Sammy (three) caught by wicket-keeper Dhoni, who took five catches.

He nearly got another wicket but Dhoni missed a difficult chance off Samuels when the batsman was on 46.

Ashwin has so far taken four wickets, including two on Tuesday.

Sharma was rewarded for his hard work in the opening session when he had Kirk Edwards (86) caught behind with a delivery that moved away.

Edwards, 65 overnight, looked set for his third century in six Tests as he began on an impressive note, flicking and pulling Aaron for two fours in the opening hour.

He hit 13 fours in his 165-ball knock and added 164 for the third wicket with Bravo.

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126 Iraqi Civilians Win Legal Bid In Uk For Torture Inquiry

LONDON: Over 120 Iraqi civilians today won a major legal battle in their bid to force a new public inquiry into allegations of torture and inhuman treatment by British soldiers.

The UK high court had previously backed government claims that an inquiry into whether abuse was systematic was not needed as a team had already been set up to look into the allegations.

But three judges of the UK Court of Appeal ordered the ministry of defence (MoD) to reconsider its decision.

The MoD said it would examine the judgment "very carefully", the BBC reported.

Some 128 Iraqis have complained of torture and inhuman and degrading treatment by British soldiers and interrogators in Iraq between March 2003 and December 2008.

Lead claimant Ali Zaki Mousa, from Basra, alleges he endured months of beatings and other abuse in the custody of British soldiers between 2006-07.

Last December the high court ruled a fresh inquiry was unnecessary as the government had set up the Iraq Historic Allegations Team (IHAT) to investigate.

But appeal judges ruled that the IHAT lacked "practical independence" because it included members of the military police, who might themselves be accused of wrongdoing.

They also found that other inquiries had failed to fully meet Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which protects against inhuman and degrading treatment.

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: "We will examine the judgment very carefully and consider next steps."

Defence Secretary Philip Hammond has until 30 November to decide whether to challenge the ruling in the Supreme Court.

Phil Shiner, lawyer for Iraqi claimants, said the MoD was "deploying every dirty trick in the book" to avoid accountability.

"There must now be a judicial inquiry into the UK's detention policy in south-east Iraq. It is something we have been calling for since 2004.

Two public inquiries have already been launched into similar claims. The first inquiry, into the death of 26-year-old hotel worker Baha Mousa in UK military custody in 2003, reported in September and blamed "corporate failure" at the ministry of defence for the use of banned interrogation methods in Iraq.

In November, 2010, the MoD announced details of a second public hearing into allegations that 19-year-old Hamid Al- Sweady and up to 19 other Iraqis were unlawfully killed and others ill-treated at a British base in May 2004.

Posted in: Day To Day World News

Pakistan Amongst Most Violent, Unstable Nations: Republican Presidential Candidates

WASHINGTON: Republican presidential candidates have criticised Pakistan, calling it one of the most violent and unstable nations but remained sharply divided over whether the US should continue to provide aid to Islamabad.

While Texas governor vowed to cut down US aid to Pakistan to zero till it helped US meet its national security interests against terrorists, two other Republican candidates Jon Huntsman and Newt Gingrich argued in favour of more drone attacks against terrorists inside Pakistan.

Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, however, argued in favour of continued engagement with Pakistan given that it was a nuclear weapon state.

"Pakistan is a concern. That's the country that ought to keep everybody up at night. You have not (Pak) President (Asif Ali) Zardari in charge but (its Army Chief) General (Ashfaq Pervez) Kayani, over the military, which also is responsible for the ISI.

"You've got the youngest demographic of 160 million people in Pakistan. You've got a madrassa movement," Huntsman said.

"You've got over 100 nuclear weapons. You've got trouble on the border. You've got a nation-state that is a candidate for failure. I say it's a haven for bad behaviour, it's a haven for training the people who seek to do us harm," Huntsman said adding that he was in favour of expanding drone program which would serve US national interests.

Acknowledging that Pakistan has been "the epicentre of dealing with terrorism" Congresswoman Bachmann said that the country has training centres for terrorist outfits.

"They also are one of the most violent, unstable nations that there is," she said.

A member of the intelligence committee in the House of Representatives, she said 15 of the nuclear sites in Pakistan are available or are potentially penetrable by jihadists.

"Six attempts have already been made on nuclear sites. This is more than an existential threat," Bachmann said.

"We have to take this very seriously. The US has to be engaged. It is complicated. We have to recognise that the Chinese are doing everything that they can to be an influential party in Pakistan. We don't want to lose influence," she said.

"...A nation that lies, that does everything possibly that you could imagine wrong -- at the same time, they do share intelligence data with us regarding al-Qaida," she said.

"We need to demand more. The money that we are spending right now is primarily intelligence money to Pakistan. It is helping the US," Bachmann said thus arguing that it was not in the national security interest to snap ties with Pakistan.

"At this point I would continue that aid, but I do think that the Obama policy of keeping your fingers crossed is not working in Pakistan," she said.

However, Texas governor Rick Perry advocated against any aid to Pakistan.

"Until Pakistan clearly shows that they have America's best interests in mind, I would not send them one penny," he vowed.

But Bachmann still argued in favour of engaging Pakistan as the consequences otherwise would be very dangerous for the US.

"We have to recognise what's happening on the ground. There are nuclear weapons all across this nation, and potentially al-Qaida could get a hold of these weapons," she said.

Perry said that US needs to engage in India and Afghanistan.

"We've got Afghanistan and India working in concert right now to leverage Pakistan," he said.

"I think if we would create a trade zone in that part of the world, where you have all of those countries working together, that may be the answer to getting Pakistan to understand that they have to work with all of the countries in that region," the texas governor said.

Gingrich, the former Speaker of the House of Representatives, took a tough approach against Pakistan.

"You tell the Pakistanis: Help us, or get out of the way, but don't complain if we kill people you're not willing to go after on your territory where you have been protecting them," he said.

Posted in: Day To Day World News

Tea Should Be Declared As The National Drink : Kalam

JORHAT: Tea got a new ambassador, when former President of India, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam said that the brew can be the official drink of India on Tuesday.

Even as the chief minister of Assam, Tarun Gogoi declared tea as the State Drink, Kalam said that on the basis of the size of its consumers tea can be declared the national drink of India. Kalam was inaugurating the three-day World Tea Science Congress at Tocklai Experimental Station (TES), Jorhat, Assam.

Over 51% of India's tea and 13%of global production comes from Assam. The tea industry in the state is a source of about five lakh permanent employment and five lakh seasonal workers. Another 10 lakh are dependent on it for employment and services.

Gogoi said that declaring tea as the state drink would help increase its value and promote Assam tea as a brand. "Moreover, my government will persist with its effort to secure the recognition of tea as our National Drink," said Gogoi.

On the occasion Dr Kalam released a number of souvenirs, a documentary titled 'Young at 100' directed by Charukamal Hazarika, a tea table book titled, "Tocklai and Tea" and a tea soft drink at the function.

Giving his inaugural address and presenting a blueprint for the tea industry, Kalam proposed formation of tea cooperatives so as to address the problems of the small tea planters and their workers.

In order to boost the industry and give it a global edge the former President also stressed on diversification and development of value-added products such as medicinal tea, organic tea and flavoured tea.

Envisaging a leading role for TES in tea research and helping the tea industry develop a futuristic vision, Kalam suggested it to be named 'Tocklai Research Centre.'

Kalam further advocated for genetically modified varieties of tea to protect the crops from pests, instead of use of chemical pesticides. He also said that a multi-dimensional research will help tea occupy the world market with its exotic products.

Promising state government's support to the tea industry, Gogoi thanked Kalam for supporting the call to grant national drink status to the beverage. While urging the industry to follow the roadmap presented by Kalam, the chief minister said the industry need to diversify, prepare for the changing business environment worldwide, upgrade the skills of the workforce and carry out research on the impact of climatic changes on the tea industry.

Tea Research Association chairman D P Maheshwari said the organisation had acquired world class infrastructure for the station and formed a corpus fund of Rs 6 crore for setting up centenary chairs from the Rs 20-crore grant given by the centre to the organisation on Tocklai's centenary.

Posted in: Day To Day National News

Local Train Derails In Kashmir, Dozens Injured

SRINAGAR: Over two dozen people commuters were injured on Wednesday morning when a local train coming from Qazigund to Srinagar station derailed near Sadoora near Kulgam in south Kashmir.

Railway police inspector Sandeep Kour said that the train started at 11am from Qazigund station and derailed due to some miscalculation by the driver near Sadoora at about 11.15am.

two of the bogies and the engine derailed. "All the injured commuters were shifted to hospital and administered first aid," inspector Sandeep said.

Hundreds of commuters travel by train to north and south of Kashmir every day since 2008. The travelers are mostly government and private employees.

SP Kulgam Mubashir Latiffi said the accident occurred due to the brakes failing. "We are however investigating the matter," he said.

The divisional administration has asked chief area manager Northern Railway, Upinder Singh, to enquire into the matter and furnish a report.

Singh who visited the spot said that a comprehensive report would be prepared to avoid such incidents in future.

Posted in: Day To Day National News

Tamil Nadu Engineering Students Design 'Nano Bike'

NAGAPATTINAM: A group of final year mechanical engineering students of a private university in Tamil Nadu claimed to have designed a 25-kg single-seater 'nano'motorcycle that could give a mileage of 97 km per litre of petrol.

The students of PRIST University, Thanjavur, have designed the motorcycle under the guidance of their professors and in collaboration with Hi-Tech Project Industries, a private engineering services company at Porayar in the district.

Demonstrating the motorcycle, named 'Nano Bike' at the Hi-Tech Project Industries campus yesterday in the presence of the company's research wing staff, the students claimed the vehicle can touch a maximum speed of 45 kmph and carry one person.

The main frame of the motorbike is made of steel while the wheels are made of aluminium alloy and the petrol tank is made of plastic. To reduce noise, belt drive has been used instead of the traditional chain drive mechanism, the students said.

The students claimed that commercial production of the motorcycle was viable and would cost only about Rs 8,000 per unit.

Posted in: Day To Day National News

Tamil nadu cinema owners not to screen 'dam 999'

CHENNAI: Theatre owners in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday decided not to screen controversial movie 'Dam 999', saying it was against the interests of the state, after political parties, including DMK, raised the pitch against its release.

The decision came as the film generated considerable heat in political circles, with DMK, MDMK and PMK calling for its ban, contending that it was based on the Mullaperiyar dam, over which Tamil Nadu and Kerala have a long standing dispute.

"The film justifies breaking of the (Mullaperiyar) dam (since the plot revolves around the collapse of a dam). It is against interests of Tamil Nadu. We have decided not to screen the film to express our concerns," Tamil Nadu Theatre Owners' Association general secretary R Panneerselvam told PTI.

The 116-year old dam, located in Iddukki district of Kerala, is under the Tamil Nadu Government control and meets the irrigation needs of farmers in southern districts.

Citing safety concerns, Kerala has proposed construction of a new dam to replace the old structure, but Tamil Nadu has been opposing it, saying it would affect the state's interest.

DMK chief M Karunanidhi said in a statement today that if the film was released in the state, it would affect cordial ties between people of Tamil Nadu and Kerala and pose a law and order problem.

"Considering this, it becomes imperative that the release of the film should be avoided in the state," he said. Karunanidhi said while the Mullaperiyar dam issue remained unresolved for many years, some people have made the film giving it a "motivated title", an apparent reference to the 999 year rights held by Tamil Nadu over Mullaperiyar dam.

MDMK chief Vaiko has said the film, financed by Keralites, starring Indian and Hollywood actors and directed by Sohan Roy has been named 'Dam 999', referring to the legal rights held by Tamil Nadu over the dam for 999 years.

He warned of protests in theatres if the film was released. MDMK workers were yesterday arrested after they staged a protest outside a preview theatre in the city where a screening of the movie had been arranged, besides damaging the the film roll.

Posted in: Day To Day National News