ninglun hanghal
THE death of 21-year-old Reingamphi Awungshi in Delhi on 29 May has once again brought into focus the plight of North-eastern communities, the youth and women to be specific, who struggle to make both ends meet while building a career in metropolitan cities.
Awungshi hailed from Choithar village in Manipur&’s Ukhrul district. A beautician, she came to Delhi recently after a short stint in Chennai with the dream of making it big in the capital. Sadly, it turned out to be just the opposite. She was found dead in a rented room in Chirag, South Delhi. 
Prima facie, the police registered a case of suicide under Section 306 of the IPC. They  claimed to have found empty medicine foil wrappers in a dustbin and near her body. Her  face and feet bore marks of rodent bites. The police reportedly broke open the door of her room after the houseowner informed them.
In contrast to the police version, the photographs that relatives of the deceased had taken showed bloodstains on the bedsheet. Suspecting murder, they requested the Delhi police to register an FIR but they turned it down. The relatives refused to accept the body unless an FIR was lodged. 
The scene outside the All India Institute of Medical Sciences was a classic case of the police&’s insensitivity and indifference. While trying to convince relatives and friends, the Malviya Nagar police station officer showed them a page of the post mortem report which had a few records showing that the  organs were intact. While the relatives insisted on an FIR, the police officer explained that “the case is under section 174 CrPc” which is normal police procedure and that they did not require another section or an FIR. When they argued, the police officer said, “Har case me FIR nahi hota.”
A female relative replied, “Itna bewakoof mat banao, hum ko bhi pata hain kanoon.”
Others asserted, “We are citizens of India, we have the right to file an FIR.”
The police officer insisted on relatives taking the post mortem report and sending the body for embalming, suggesting he was in a great hurry to wrap up the case so that he could attend to “other” business. Both sides stood their ground. 
Soon the frustrations of North-eastern communities turned into anger. Hundreds of them hit the streets and protested before the Malviya Nagar police station, demanding that an FIR should be registered. They shouted slogans like “Are we not citizens of India?”
The demonstration continued throughout the night and into the next day (31 May). Only after the Delhi minister for health, women and family welfare, Kiran Walia, came into the picture, was the case transferred to the Delhi Police Crime Branch. A second post mortem was conducted after five days — on 4 June — and section 302 (IPC) was added to the case and an FIR lodged.
 In any such incident, the first thing the common citizen will do is to seek police help. For the North-eastern communities who continuously face physical or verbal threats, there is no alternative but to seek police help. In fact, all North-east communities living in Delhi have an updated list of police stations and their officials. Perhaps a necessity, after experiences of numerous encounters or attacks by the locals.
Unfortunately, this is where the trouble, or rather, the politics begins. People repose faith in the protectors of the law but sometimes they are “cold” towards the people whom they are supposed to serve. It is more so if those involved in cases happen to be women and young girls from the North-east. Even before starting investigations, their first “impression” or  “opinion” is that they wear “provocative clothes”, and are involved in “drug abuse” and “relationship-related suicide”.
This sort of preconceived opinion was obvious in Awungshi&’s case. Immediately after her body was taken to the AIIM, the Malviya Nagar police station allegedly made an anonymous statement to the national media that they suspected drug abuse while maintaining that it was a case of suicide. As law enforcers, the police have a responsibility and a role to bridge the gap between North-east communities and mainland Indians. But they seem to be doing just the opposite by creating mistrust. Had the Malviya Nagar police station personnel showed some humane approach in dealing with the case, there would not have been any demonstration by irate North-east communities. Such a gesture would have helped  solve many a grievance of North-east youth in the capital.  
Whether collusion, reluctance or an unwilling to act, the police&’s “working style” is an advantage for local houseowners, who, in any case, are ever ready to “throw out” North-eastern tenants at the drop of a hat. Friends and relatives of Awungshi were allegedly threatened with dire consequences by locals of Chirag when they were holding a candlelight condolence two days after the incident. They were denied entry to the house where the incident took place. Besides, some of the participants in the condolence meeting told this writer that “pamphlets” in Hindi were distributed in and around the locality.  
It is also a fact that police and security agencies in most cases act on “pressure” and that, as admitted and revealed by the police themselves as well, there are higher authorities who give directions and commands. Was it bribe or was it cover-up, or was it that the police and security agencies perform their duty under instructions from faceless, anonymous authorities? These are provoking questions that demand answers.

The writer is a New Delhi-based freelance contributor

PARIS, 5 JUNE: Rafael Nadal cruised into the French Open semi-finals on Wednesday with a routine 6-2, 6-3, 6-1 win over Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland.
The win brought the Spaniard’s match record at Roland Garros to a remarkable 57-1 as he seeks to become the first player in history to win the same Grand Slam title eight times. But to get to Sunday’s final, he will have to defeat top seed and great rival Novak Djokovic, who won their last encounter on clay in Monte Carlo in April.
Djokovic had a slightly harder time of it against German veteran Tommy Haas, advancing on a 6-3, 7-6 (7/5) 7-5 scoreline.
The odds were firmly stacked against Wawrinka going into what was his first French Open quarter-final match in nine campaigns at Roland Garros. He had lost all nine previous matchups against Nadal, failing to win a single set, and had needed treatement for a leg strain during his five-set marathon win over Gasquet in the fourth round when he came back from two sets down. The odds looked spot on in the first set as Nadal broke the Swiss player’s serve in the opening game and then again in the fifth to take the first set 6-2.
Nadal then jumped out into a 3-1 lead with another break early in the second set before Wawrinka had a glimmer of hope with a break back to get to 3-3.
But that was as far as it got for the ninth seed as Nadal simply added extra muscle to his pounding groundstrokes, leaving Wawrinka reeling under their weight and precision.
Nadal ran off three quick games in a row to take a two sets to love lead and it was clear that Wawrinka’s chances of another major comeback were next to impossible.
 He did have a break point to savour as the third set got underway, but a thumping Nadal first serve erased that and then Wawrinka was broken again in the next game. Top seed Djokovic needs a Roland Garros title to become just the eighth man to complete a career Grand Slam.
It was a match too far for the 35-year-old Haas who was bidding to become the oldest semi-finalist at a major since Andre Agassi at the 2005 US Open and second oldest in Paris.
Djokovic has vowed to win the tournament in honour of his childhood coach, Jelena Gencic, who passed away at the weekend.
Meanwhile, Maria Sharapova and Victoria Azarenka set up a mouth-watering French Open semi-final on Wednesday with hard-fought wins in their quarter-finals.
The defending champion Russian survived a nightmare start to hold on to her crown for at least another day with a 0-6, 6-4, 6-3 win over tough Jelena Jankovic in a compelling quarter-final tie.
World number three Azarenka reached her first semi-final at Roland Garros when she defeated friend and former doubles partner, Maria Kirilenko of Russia, 7-6 (7/3), 6-2. afp

robin scott-elliot
For Usain Bolt (in photo) all roads lead from Rome. Tomorrow night the world’s fastest man will begin his competitive preparations proper to reclaim the one crown he cannot currently perch on his head and they will take him from the Olympic Stadium in the Italian capital on a journey to another former home of the Games in Moscow two months down the line.
He will head for the world championships via a route to stretch the sat-nav, stopping off in Oslo, Ostrava, Kingston, Paris and London to run a mix of 100m, 200m and relays — tomorrow it’s the 100m — but the destination is very definitely Moscow. Bolt wants his world title back, the one he squandered so unexpectedly and shockingly when he leapt a moment too soon from his blocks two years ago in Daegu.
London is not the only city pondering a coronation at the moment. Rome is dotted with posters of Bolt dressed as a king, complete with large crown, a string of medals and, oddly, green trainers. He has brought his smile with him — this is a man who spreads smiles, yesterday joking and performing happily for the photographers in between questions. They love him here, they love him everywhere, but this Diamond League event has also become his serious starting point of choice for the new season and one in which for the last two years he has laid down a brisk marker. In 2012 here he ran 9.76sec, following a troubled opening to Olympic year. This year has begun similarly with injury niggles and an underwhelming run at a low key meet in the Cayman Islands where he failed to break 10 seconds. Post-Olympic malaise is a familiar diagnosis but Bolt is having none of it.
`I will treat it just like the Olympics because it is the world championships so I will be focussed, I will be ready,’ he insisted yesterday. `I am looking forward to the challenge. I strive on the challenges. Everybody has got to bring their A game to the [world] championships because running against the best for me is always a joy, to show the world I’m the best. And I always want to be the best.’ Winning back the world title is a major goal and offers an important focal point for that post-Olympic year when those who found success in London can struggle to shift focus forward, a problem that could affect a man who has six Olympic gold medals, the most coveted world record and the rest of his speedily acquired sporting bling hanging around his neck.
Bolt insists he has plenty to look forward to and there is no secret to be made of his ambition, what he wants, indeed expects, this year and the next and on to the Rio Games in 2016, which will be his last. I definitely have goals,’ he said. `I have accomplished all my dreams but I do have goals that I make myself. I have four more years in this sport so now it is about dominating for those four years. I am looking forward to the next Olympics to doing something that has never been done before. That is one of my biggest goals but for the next four years I want to dominate the sport, show people that it is possible to go year in, year out just being the best.’
Three more gold medals in Rio would take his total level with Carl Lewis and the flying Finn Paavo Nurmi. But more strikingly it would move the already unique double double he achieved in London, defending both his sprint titles, to an extraordinary level. the independent

indo-asian news service
NEW DELHI, 5 JUNE:  Some of the world’s top football stars David Beckham, Thierry Henry, Michael Owen and Raul Gonzalez could soon be seen in action during a franchise-based tournament to be launched by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and its commercial partner IMG-Reliance early next year.
Beckham, Henry and Raul are closely working with IMG in different projects to promote the game and the sports management group is pursuing them to be a part of the eight-team tournament that will be played in India Jan 14-March 13.
"IMG has professional contracts with some stars like Beckham, Raul and Henry and there is a high possibility that they can be seen either playing or promoting the new league that will be held next year," a top AIFF official told IANS.
Former England captain Beckham is contracted with IMG to promote football in China as its brand ambassador while ex-Real Madrid legend Raul and Henry work with the IMG Academy on a regular basis. IMG are also consultants to the Qatar Football Association for the 2022 World Cup.
IMG’s senior vice-president (football) Jefferson Slack is in talks with the international players to convince them to play in the league.
Each of the eight teams in the new league is expected to have a squad of 25 players, including half-a-dozen foreign recruits.
The official also said that teams will be up for grabs through a bidding process by August.
But the AIFF is yet to decide on the players’ transfer and club registration rules and may have to ring in some changes in its constitution for the tournament.
The AIFF wants all the eight clubs to be centrally registered but according to current rules clubs can only be registered with state associations. IMG-Reliance will also have to take players on loan from the I-League clubs for two months and players transfer rules also have to be amended.
In another developement, 14 I-League clubs today “unanimously” decided not to release players for an IPL-style tournament planned early next year by the AIFF and its marketing and commercial partner IMG-Reliance.
“It was unanimously decided that no club will release on loan or otherwise any player for the IMG-Reliance tournament and will not take any IMG-Reliance contracted players on loan or otherwise,” said a statement of the I-League clubs’ umbrella body — Indian Professional Football Clubs Association (IPFCA) — after a meeting here.

press trust of india
CARDIFF, 9 JUNE: New Zealand pulled off a nail-biting one-wicket victory in a low-scoring Group ‘A’ thriller against Sri Lanka ~ who very nearly defended a score of 138 ~ in the ICC Champions Trophy here today.
Chasing a paltry total, New Zealand made heavy weather of their chase as Sri Lanka put up a tremenduous fight on the back of a fiery spell by paceman Lasith Malinga. New Zealand were made to sweat for every run as they huffed and puffed on their way to victory with 13.3 overs to spare at the Sophia Gardens ground. The track was conducive to seam bowling as both sides reaped the benefits with Kyle Mills, Shaminda Eranga and Lasith Malinga extracting a lot of movement off the pitch.
Malinga bowled his heart out to finish with impressive figures of four for 34 from his 10 overs.  Earlier, the New Zealand bowlers stuck to a disciplined line to skittle out Sri Lanka for a paltry 138 inside 38 overs, their fifth-lowest total after choosing to bat first. Barring former skipper Kumar Sangakkara who stood tall amidst the ruins, scoring 68 off 87 balls with eight boundaries, others simply didn’t have any clue against the controlled seam bowling of  seasoned Kyle Mills (2/14) and young left-arm seamer Mitchell McClenaghan (4/43), who kept cutting short fledgling partnerships. The start for New Zealand was equally disastrous as they lost Luke Ronchi for seven when he was caught by Sangakkara behind the wickets off Eranga. Martin Guptill and Kane Williamson led the recovery  for the Black Caps with a 34-run stand for the second wicket and the Kiwis scraped through in the end for a crucial win.

PATNA, 3 JUNE: A new study by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) has found the Nitish Kumar-ruled Bihar growing faster than Gujarat, though Bihar lags behind the Narendra Modi-ruled state in investment and per capita income.
According to the report, Bihar is catching up with developed states in terms of fresh investment in crucial sectors like power, although it has a huge disadvantage of laggard development in the past.
“Bihar logged in a compounded average growth rate (CAGR) of 20 per cent in public investment between March 2003 and March 2013 while this was 14.1 per cent in the case of Gujarat.  Likewise, the CAGR of private investment in the same period was 104.5 per cent in Bihar and 31.9 per cent in Gujarat,” the study noted.
As per the report, the share of public investment in Bihar as on March 2013 was 50.3 per cent, while it was 27 per cent in Gujarat. On the other hand, the share of private sector in Gujarat was way ahead at 72.3 per cent while it was 49.7 per cent in the case of Bihar. sns
details on page 3

agencies
Birmingham, 9 June: Handed defeats in their respective tournament-openers, Pakistan and South Africa would be fighting to stay alive in the ICC Champions Trophy when they take on each other in their second group B match here tomorrow.
While Pakistan lost their opening match to the West Indies in a low-scoring cliffhanger, South Africa were beaten by India by 26 runs.
Tomorrow’s match will be a shootout of sorts for both the teams and it is the South Africans, who are looking more vulnerable, despite the well-known unpredictability of the Pakistanis.
The Proteas are faced with the challenge of playing Pakistan without two of their main strike bowlers as Morne Morkel has gone back home due to injury, while Dale Steyn remains a “work in progress” on the fitness front. The update on Steyn is still not quite clear after the the world’s No.1 fast bowler was injured during a warm-up match against Pakistan at the Oval last Monday after bowling just five overs. Pakistan went on to win the game by five wickets.
“Dale is a work in progress as far as recovery is concerned. We can only get him to start bowling once he is symptom-free,” Mohammed Moosajee, South Africa team manager and doctor, has explained.
Newcomer Chris Morris is almost certain to make his ODI debut against Pakistan. Morris replaced Morkel, who was forced to return home due to a groin injury against India.
“I’ve been with this team for two years. Morne has been injured once and Dale has never been injured. Now it’s come together. That’s a curveball,” admitted South Africa coach Gary Kirsten.
Pakistan may not have injury concerns to deal with, but Misbah-ul-Haq (in afp photo) still has plenty of worries on his plate.
Misbah was the lone batsman to put up a semblance of fight against the West Indies with a 96 not out after coming in at No. 5. He has since pleaded with his batsmen to play with more responsibility and stay on for at least the entire 50 overs.
“…even after losing three wickets (for 15 runs) at one stage, the game was under control, but then we made mistakes. So it’s just about taking responsibility and taking the games to the end. The batsmen need to be more responsible and just carry on,” said Misbah.
What Pakistan took confidence from was their bowling show which stifled the Windies, who made a hash of the chase before winning by two wickets.
“I think the biggest positive from this game was our bowling. All the seamers bowled really well and bowled their heart out and took wickets. And at one time we were really in the hunt, so it’s really a big positive, and it just creates pressure on the opposition,” Misbah said. If Pakistan manage to give their best in batting, they have a good chance of knocking out the 1998 champions.
Teams (from): South Africa: AB de Villiers (capt), Hashim Amla, Farhaan Behardien, Jean-Paul Duminy, Faf du Plessis, Colin Ingram, Rory Kleinveldt, Ryan McLaren, David Miller, Morne Morkel, Alviro Petersen, Robin Peterson, Aaron Phangiso, Dale Steyn, Lonwabo Tsotsobe. Pakistan: Misbah-ul-Haq (c), Nasir Jamshed, Mohammad Hafeez, Imran Farhat, Kamran Akmal, Shoaib Malik, Asad Shafiq, Saeed Ajmal, Junaid Khan, M. Irfan, Asad Ali, Wahab Riaz, Umer Amin, Abdul Rehman, Ehsan Adil.
Bailey fined
Australian captain George Bailey was fined 20 per cent of his match fee, while his teammates were docked 10 per cent of their earnings for maintaining a slow over-rate during their ICC Champions Trophy opener against England here.
“The Australia team has been fined for maintaining a slow over-rate during its Group A match in the ICC Champions Trophy 2013 against England at Edgbaston on Saturday,” the ICC said in a statement.
Akhtar&’s view
Shoaib Akhtar today advised Pakistan bowlers to be aggressive and go for wickets in their group matches against South Africa and India to remain in contention for a knock-out berth in the ongoing Champions Trophy.
“Both teams (South Africa and India) have strong batting line-ups, so our bowlers should not be thinking of containing them but about getting wickets,” Akhtar said.

agence france-presse
LONDON, 10  JUNE: Yorkshire’s 15-year-old pace bowler Matthew Fisher  (in photo) became English county cricket’s youngest post-War player after he was handed his senior debut on Sunday.
Fisher was named in the side to face Leicestershire at Scarborough in a 40-over match, having taken six for 25 against the Foxes in a second XI match earlier this week.
Yorkshire confirmed on Twitter: "Matthew Fisher will become the youngest player to feature in a competitive county match aged 15 years and 212 days."
Fisher was originally included in the match-day squad two days ago, at which point Yorkshire’s first-team coach Jason Gillespie said: "Matthew deserves his call-up into the squad.
"We monitor the progress of all our players and the feedback I have received from (second-team coach) Paul Farbrace on the way Matthew has been playing has been excellent."
Yorkshire already hold the record for fielding the youngest first-class cricketer after wicketkeeper Barney Gibson, aged 15 years and 27 days, played in the non-county match against Durham MCCU in 2011.

agencies
BIRMINGHAM, 10 JUNE: Sri Lanka’s Tillakaratne Dilshan (in photo left) and Mahela Jayawardena (in photo right)have been officially reprimanded for their excessive appealing during the team’s Champions Trophy match against New Zealand in Cardiff.
According to the International Cricket Council, Dilshan and Jayawardena were found to have breached Article 2.1.5 of the ICC code of conduct, which related to “excessive appealing during an international match”. The charges were laid by on-the-field umpires Bruce Oxenford and Rod Tucker, as well as third umpire Ian Gould and fourth umpire Steve Davis.
Dilshan and Jayawardena were charged with excessive and prolonged appealing in the keenly-contested, low-scoring match that New Zealand won by one-wicket last night.
Both the players pleaded guilty to a Level 1 breach of the code and the matter was decided on by match referee Andy Pycroft.  “Irrespective of the outcome of an umpire’s decision, players are not entitled to making prolonged appeals as these can be construed as pressuring the umpires. Both the players accepted their mistake and apologised for their actions,” Pycroft later said.
All Level 1 breaches carry a minimum penalty of an official reprimand and a maximum penalty of 50 per cent of a player’s match fee. In Colombo, Ravana Balaya (Ravana Force), a Buddhist monks’ nationalist group, today staged a demonstration in front of the Sri Lanka Cricket headquarters in protest against an ICC faux pas during the opening ceremony of the Champions Trophy tournament in Cardiff. The group criticised SLC for its inability to lodge a complaint with the ICC for playing a Hindi song, discarding Sri Lanka’s national anthem, last week.
“This is a betrayal of the nation. SLC must explain why a Hindi song was played in place of our national anthem,” the group said. SLC told the monks that the ICC had already offered an apology to Sri Lanka.
Francis dead
Sri Lankan umpire K T Francis, who had stood in the islanders’ inaugural Test match in 1982, died of diabetes, family sources said today.
He was 73. He was a member of the ICC’s international panel of umpires and officiated in 25 Tests and 56 One-Day Internationals between 1982 and 1999.

SINGAPORE, 10 JUNE: Three Lebanese football referees pleaded guilty on Monday to accepting free sex from a gambling-linked global syndicate in return for rigging a match in Singapore, with two jailed and sentencing deferred for the third. 
A district court judge jailed assistant referees Ali Eid, 33, and Abdallah Taleb, 37, for three months, but deferred sentencing till Tuesday for referee Ali Sabbagh, whom state prosecutors said was the most culpable. 
The assistant referees broke down into sobs and repeatedly looked up as if to thank God after Judge Low Wee Ping said they could be freed by later Monday or Tuesday, after remission for good behaviour and due to time already served awaiting sentence. 
Turning to Ali Sabbagh, 34, the judge said: "I need time to consider your sentence. I don’t, for the moment, accept that you should be sentenced to six months." 
Deputy public prosecutor Asoka Markandu described Ali Sabbagh as "the most culpable" among the three as he was the one approached by the syndicate and the one who persuaded the two linesmen to accept the sexual bribe.  The three men were arrested for accepting sexual favours in exchange for agreeing to fix an Asian Football Confederation Cup match on April 3 between Singapore-based club Tampines Rovers and India’s East Bengal.  They were abruptly pulled out before the match began.  The three were denied bail and have been detained at Singapore’s Changi prison since 4 April.  Eric Ding Si Yang, 31, a Singaporean businessman who allegedly supplied the prostitutes, has also been charged with corruption and granted bail.  The judge lashed out at the FIFA-accredited referees for bringing disrepute to the sport, saying they were probably the first international football match officials to be charged with corruption in Singapore.  "That alone, the fact that you are international officials, in my view, is already an aggravating factor," he said.  "The Singapore public has an interest in preserving football as a professional sport in Singapore. This is because it has social, recreational and economic value," he added. 
State prosecutors have said Ali Sabbagh was approached by Ding in "mid-2012" in Beirut, indicating a "clear international dimension" to the offences.  Ding, described in Singaporean media as a nightclub owner who drives an Aston Martin sports car, is facing three counts of corruption charges but was freed after posting bail of Sg$150,000 ($121,000). 
Singapore has a long history of match-fixing, and syndicates from the wealthy Southeast Asian island have been blamed by European police for orchestrating a network responsible for rigging hundreds of games worldwide.  afp

associated press
PARIS, 10 JUNE: If Rafael Nadal truly was going to be challenged, if his bid for an unprecedented eighth French Open championship would be slowed even a bit, this might have been the moment. Leading by a set and a break 70 minutes into Sunday’s final against David Ferrer, another generally indefatigable Spaniard, Nadal faced four break points in one game. The last was a 31-stroke exchange, the match’s longest, capped when Nadal absorbed Ferrer’s strong backhand approach and transformed it into a cross-court backhand passing shot.
Ferrer glared at the ball as it flew past and landed in a corner, then smiled ruefully. What else was there to do? Dealing with Nadal’s defence-to-offence on red clay is a thankless task. His rain-soaked 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 victory over Ferrer on was Nadal’s record 59th win in 60 matches at the French Open and made him the only man with eight titles at any Grand Slam tournament.
"I never like to compare years, but it’s true that this year means something very special for me," Nadal said, alluding to the way he managed to come back from a left knee injury that sidelined him for about seven months.
"When you have a period of time like I had," he added, "you realize that you don’t know if you will have the chance to be back here with this trophy another time."On Saturday, Serena Williams won her 16th Grand Slam title and her first French Open championship since 2002, beating familiar foil Maria Sharapova 6-4, 6-4. The victory completed the No. 1-ranked Williams’ rebound from a shocking loss to 111thranked Virginie Razzano in the first round at Roland Garros a year ago. Since that defeat she’s 74-3, including titles at Wimbledon, the U.S. Open, the London Olympics and the season-ending WTA Championships.
Williams has won a career-best 31 consecutive matches. She improved to 14-2 against Sharapova, including victories in their past 13 meetings, with four of the wins this year. At 31, Williams became the oldest woman to win a major title since Martina Navratilova at Wimbledon in 1990 at age 33.As for Nadal, the question is how he does it, year after year.
He won four French Opens in a row from 2005-08, and another four in a row from 2010-13. "Rafael was better than me," said Ferrer, who had won all 18 sets he’d played the past two weeks to reach his first Grand Slam final at age 31. "He didn’t make mistakes."
A week past his 27th birthday, Nadal now owns 12 major trophies in all – including two from Wimbledon, one each from the U.S. Open and Australian Open – to eclipse Bjorn Borg and Rod Laver and equal Roy Emerson for the third-most in history.
Nadal trails only Roger Federer’s 17 and Pete Sampras’ 14.This was Nadal’s first major tournament after a surprising second-round loss at Wimbledon last June. Since rejoining the tour in February, he is 43-2 with seven titles and two runner-up finishes. He’s won his past 22 matches.
"For me, it’s incredible," said Toni Nadal, Rafael’s uncle and coach. "When I think of all that Rafael has done, I don’t understand it."
Let’s be plain: No one, perhaps not even Ferrer himself, expected Nadal to lose Sunday. That’s because of Nadal’s skill on clay, in general, and at Roland Garros, in particular .Nadal won a record 31 consecutive matches at the French Open until 2009, when Robin Soderling beat him.In 2010, Nadal started a new streak, which currently stands at 28.
Protesters briefly interrupted the French Open final Sunday between Rafael Nadal and David Ferrer, with one man jumping onto the court with a fiery flare spurting white smoke.
The spectator surged from the crowd near Nadal as he was about to serve for the second set, leading 5-1. Security personnel wrestled him to the ground and quickly dragged him away.
Another guard stood near Nadal, protecting him while the protester was subdued. Nadal later shook the bodyguard’s hand before resuming play. The match was delayed briefly.
Moments earlier, two people interrupted play by chanting while holding a banner in the upper deck of Court Philippe Chatrier until security led them away. Other protesters also brandishing red flares climbed to the top of the adjacent Court Suzanne Lenglen and unfurled a banner calling for the resignation of French President Francois Hollande.Christophe Fagniez, the tournament’s director of operations, later said: "The situation is under control, it’s in the hands of the police."

Rank slide after Grand Slam triumph

Rafael Nadal dropped from fourth to fifth in the latest ATP tennis rankings issued on Monday although he won a record eighth French Open title the previous day. With ATP rankings mathematics based on results over the last 52 weeks, Nadal merely defended the points from his 2012 success, allowing fellow-Spaniard David Ferrer to move ahead of him into a career-high fourth because he reached the final for the first time. But the in-form Nadal is expected to roar up the rankings over the next months when he has no 2012 points to defend owing to a long-term injury from June until February. French Open semifinalist Novak Djokovic remained top with 11,830 points, ahead of Andy Murray (8,310), who sat out the Paris grand slam injured. Roger Federer has 7,640, Ferrer 7,220 and Nadal 6,895. ATP top 10 as of 10 June (previous ranking in parenthesis): 1. (1) Novak Djokovic, Serbia, 11,830 points 2. (2) Andy Murray, Britain, 8,310 3. (3) Roger Federer, Switzerland, 7,640 4. (5) David Ferrer, Spain, 7,220 5. (4) Rafael Nadal, Spain, 6,895 6. (6) Tomas Berdych, Czech Republic, 4,515 7. (8) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, France, 4,155 8. (7) Juan Martin del Potro, Argentina, 3,960 9. (9) Richard Gasquet, France, 3,090 10. (10) Stanislas Wawrinka, Switzerland, 2,810. agencies

press trust of india
NAY PYI TAW (Myanmar), 10 JUNE: India needs another round of reforms for better GDP growth and rid itself of unnecessary regulations to reduce corruption, Paris-based think-tank OECD has said.
“Our basic view is that India needs another round of reforms,” OECD deputy secretary general Mr Richard Boucher said in an interview.
He was here to participate in the World Economic Forum (WEF) on East Asia.
India’s growth rate slipped to a decade’s low of five per cent in 2012-13. In the current fiscal, it is expected to improve to 6.1-6.7 per cent. The Reserve Bank, however, expects the growth to be 5.7 per cent in the current fiscal.
Asked as to what India could do to have improved economic growth, Mr Boucher said: “India needs to do things to increase government efficiency, smoothing the way for projects, reduce regulatory burden on companies and open up some more to competition. So, we think that another round of reforms is necessary.”

SNS & PTI
LONDON/NEW DELHI, 10 JUNE: India’s growth prospects continue to remain “below trend” even as most of the major economies are witnessing moderate improvements, Paris-based think tank OECD said today.
While economic activities are close to trend rates in China, growth seems to be firming up in the United States and Japan.
OECD’s conclusions are based on Composite Leading Indicators that are designed to anticipate turning points in economic activities.
“The CLIs for the United Kingdom, Canada, China and Brazil point to growth close to trend rates. The CLI indicates that growth is losing momentum in Russia, whereas for India, it continues to indicate growth below trend,” OECD said.
India’s CLI stood at 97.3 in April, same as in February and March. In January, the reading was better at 97.5.
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is a grouping of mostly rich nations.
India’s economic growth slowed to a decade-low of five per cent in the last fiscal from 6.2 per cent in the 2010-11 period.
Last month, OECD had scaled down India’s growth estimate to 5.3 per cent for 2013 from 5.9 per cent. It had also cautioned that structural bottlenecks could further constrain investment and growth potential.
“GDP growth is projected to rise gradually over the next two years… Significantly more growth would be forthcoming if structural bottlenecks were swept away by fundamental structural reforms,” the grouping had said.
Meanwhile, OECD today said that CLIs indicate moderate improvements in growth in most major economies while the United States and Japan are seeing firming economic growth.
“In the euro area as a whole, the CLI continues to indicate a gain in growth momentum. In Germany, the CLI shows that growth is returning to trend,” it noted.

Many have been arrested in connection with the ongoing probe into the IPL spot-fixing scandal that has left the nation in shock. Gurunath Meiyappan, the son-in-law of BCCI President N Srinivasan, was arrested by the Mumbai Police for allegedly indulging in betting from Srinivasan&’s farmhouse in Kodaikanal. The arrests opened a Pandora&’s box and the controversy reached the doorstep of Srinivasan, who has already distanced himself from Meiyappan.
As a damage control act, the BCCI President announced the setting up of a three-member commission to probe the allegations against his son-in-law and Chennai Super Kings official, in which he will have no role. However, BCCI chief&’s statement that Meiyappan was seen around the CSK dugout during IPL matches because of his enthusiasm, seems like a bad omen.
The BCCI chief is under tremendous pressure to step down on moral grounds, but has remained defiant so far. “I have no knowledge of his (Gurunath&’s) activities. I do not go for Chennai Super Kings’ matches and I hardly watch Twenty20 cricket,” Srinivasan has said. As a last resort to cling to power, the BCCI chief would refer the ICC&’s Code of Ethics, according to which there is a specific clause pertaining to gambling, gaming and betting where a ‘Director’ or equivalent and his family members cannot indulge in any activity pertaining to “betting business”, but there is no specific mention of son-in-law in that particular clause. A BCCI source is reported to have said, “Interim arrangement can only happen if Srinivasan voluntary quits or two-thirds of the BCCI governing body&’s members (24 out of 31) want him to go.”
There is no threat to his position at this moment. Unless the BCCI chief resigns on moral grounds, it will hardly be possible to unearth the big guys behind the scene. Morality and responsibility are two words confined to the dictionary. It doesn’t work in the Indian Parliament and it never worked in the BCCI.
s s paul,
27 may, nadia.

Ban IPL
The arrest of Gurunath Meiyappan, the son-in-law of the BCCI President, has changed the whole scenario. It proves that the malady is deep-rooted. Congratulations to the investigating team for having nabbed the mastermind.
It was known that spot-fixing by three junior players would not have been possible had there been no involvement of the big boys and the truth has come out. These big boys were fooling the public under the garb of presenting the game in a colourful manner to attract cricket lovers.Now that the modus-operandi of the big boys has come to the surface and the public outcry is palpable, perhaps it is time to ban the IPL to uphold the sanctity of the game.
saswato gupta,
27 may, kolkata.

Spirit at stake
The arrest of Gurunath Meiyappan may act as a deterrent in match/spot-fixing; it is learnt that the tip of the iceberg has been noticed and a lot of sordid affairs are still behind the curtain. The arrest of the son-in-law of the BCCI chief speaks volumes about the involvement of many big shots in the scandal.
Just two years ago, the Scotland Yard nabbed three Pakistani cricketers red-handed for match-fixing. But the lessons have not been learnt.
There are many other instances where the spirit of the game has been vitiated. By getting involved in such nasty affairs, players deceive their teams, the audience and the spirit of cricket. Is it desirable? Certainly not.
As long as the small fries are getting caught, no eyebrow will be raised. But if the Pandora&’s Box gets opened, there will be hue and cry and no stone would be left unturned to suppress the offenders. This is where the corruption index of our country is pointing. After all, cricket is a gentleman&’s game and the players entering into this form of infamy should be expelled for good.
Everyone will find it difficult to believe that betting worth a whopping Rs 40,000 crore goes on in the IPL. What else could be more shameful?
Once the involvement of the big boys is revealed, efforts will be made to turn the table to safeguard the interest of actual offenders.
We have seen many big scams where committees are formed to look into allegations. Prolonged judicial procedures add to the rut and errant persons roam freely. If the faith on the spirit of the game is lost, will it be easy to revive? Will the offenders bother to pay any heed to this?
indranil sanyal,
28 may, kolkata.

Temporary reprieve
Few things have been more disturbing in this cricket-crazy country than the spot-fixing scandal, which threatens to tarnish the image of the gentlemen&’s game. With the arrest of Gurunath Meiyappan, son-in-law of BCCI President N Srinivasan and owner of Chennai Super Kings, the pressure on the latter for his resignation appears to have been mounting; several of his rivals have already started gunning for him. Srinivasan, though, has sought to distance himself from Meiyappan due to tactical reasons, and said Meiyappan is neither the owner, nor the CEO or team principal of CSK. Besides, the NCP&’s demand for immediate resignation of BCCI president N Srinivasan in the wake of Gurunath&’s alleged involvement in the IPL scam assumed significance as Mr Pawar is known to be a formidable force in India&’s cricketing establishment.
Despite the BCCI president&’s rivals plotting a strategy to seek his ouster, Srinivasan has remained defiant. The dinner meeting at the CAB President Jagmohan Dalmiya&’s place in Kolkata on 25 May perhaps ensured a reprieve for him; the BCCI officials who attended it did not appear to be too keen to press for a change of leadership, and a consensus seems to have emerged at the meeting against seeking his ouster.
Moreover, it appears that Srinivasan needed eight votes out of 31 to be able to stay on as president, and it would be difficult to dislodge him.
Police probes into the IPL scandal lack cohesion, as there is evidence of different arms working at cross purposes.
arun kumar bhaduri,
27 may, kolkata.

STUTTERING START
Modi must repair, then build
EXAGGERATED and palpably orchestrated were the BJP&’s efforts to project an image of solidarity and fervour after Narendra Modi&’s “elevation”: so over-hyped they only confirmed that divisions ran deep, and there might be more snide efforts at preventing the anointed leader of the 2014 campaign taking the next logical step. For all the popular support the man enjoys among the party&’s grassroots workers he will first have to assuage in-house resentment. L K Advani, Uma Bharati, Jaswant Singh and Yashwant Sinha might be the face of the resistance to Modi, they have their backers too. The once-famed discipline of the party (RSS enforced?) might prevent open revolt, but they can inflict serious damage by not involving themselves wholeheartedly in the Modi-directed campaign. But it must be admitted that the party had few options other than Modi. While Advani may have nursed ambitions, he could not in his mid-80s have expected that voters would accept him. Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley lead the party in the two Houses, but have severe limitations. Modi truly is the only person the party could have picked, once it had reconciled itself to his personality and the baggage he carries.
It is in this context that the dissent may have a positive dimension: it will compel the authoritarian, bulldozing Chief Minister of Gujarat to learn to carry others with him. That may appear incompatible with his track record, yet will serve as his first challenge to prove he is more than a bully in a small sphere and possesses “national” capabilities that go beyond forceful media interactions. He may have contrived to create an image of development-oriented effectiveness; he is yet to dispel his other image of an arrogant, ruthless and insensitive megalomaniac, brazenly contemptuous of the minorities who do matter on the national stage. Only if he can bring himself to put his pride in his pocket and build bridges with detractors will he have graduated to prime ministerial aspirations. Such is the political jigsaw puzzle that it would be bravado for the BJP to think it can do without the rest of the NDA ~ it is more than a Modi-Nitish face-off (or a “look through each other” as they did in the Capital last week) ~ and recent history will confirm that the “iron man” had less national appeal than the gentle-giant that Vajpayee was during his active political innings. Will the fact that the BJP&’s campaign did not start firing an all four cylinders force Modi to think differently, accept that both for him and the Gir lions, there is more to India than Gujarat?
The jocular comments from the Congress’ loudmouths over the last few days only confirm they are jittery. Indian politics has ever been personality-driven ~ the BJP has chosen a charismatic, if divisive, campaign spearhead, the Congress has a reluctant Rahul, a spent bullet in Manmohan and an “iffy” Sonia. It&’s best hope would be that fears of Modi might translate into support for it. That could well be the game-changer.

NASTY, BRUTISH AND…
Trinamul assault on the media
THE goons of Mamata Banerjee&’s party have struck again, and the hideous attack on press freedom has seldom been so gut-churning.  There are at least two additional facets of last Friday&’s outrage at Barrackpore, near Kolkata. One was the intra-Trinamul conflict leading to murder that the party&’s footsoldiers wanted hushed up. This is testament to the degree to which the party has slid in the two years it has been in power. Those of the electronic media who nonetheless ventured to report the murder were beaten up with iron rods. Nay more, even doused with petrol! Indeed, Trinamul activists attempted to burn at least one journalist alive. It was fortuitous that the journalist&’s desperate cry for help was heard by a police party. Mercifully, the mockery of press freedom didn’t turn out to be mortal; yet such travesty must be without parallel even under repressive regimes. It would be no exaggeration to suggest that  under the Trinamul dispensation, the Right to Information or very simply the citizen&’s right to know is on course to be reduced to ashes… whatever the Central Information Commission might decree. Is intolerance of criticism and embarrassing coverage inching towards a fatal conclusion? The brutal assault on the television journalists shall not airbrush the crisis within.
The other issue must be the piffle, dutifully articulated by minister Partha Chatterjee ~ “Carrying Trinamul flags is no proof that the men belong to our party.”  This is once again a feeble defence of a painful truth and the spin-doctors have tied themselves up in knots. The vacuous reasoning is of a piece with Chatterjee&’s statement in the aftermath of the Trinamul vandalism at Presidency University in April, indeed a bluff that has now been called by the inquiry committee appointed by the state Human Rights Commission. In Barrackpore, the industry minister&’s bluff has been called at the threshold by the police ~ those arrested have confessed that they were Trinamul activists. And this knocks the bottom off the minister&’s thesis. He could have spared us such expressions of injured innocence ~ “Our party doesn’t allow anyone to beat up others.” Oh, really?  The reign of terror, perpetrated by the party&’s goons, stretches from Garden Reach to Barrackpore. The 14 arrests in Barrackpore have extended the loop ~ Arabul Islam, Mohammad Iqbal, Sambhunath Kow et al. To put it bluntly as we must,  the Trinamul Congress rule has thus far has been nasty and brutish. Will it turn out to be short as well?

IMPROVED SITUATION
Tripura showing pragmatism
TRIPURA has come a long way since the days of killings, kidnappings for ransom, rampant extortion and growing belligerency by numerous tribal militant groups that made the border state one of the most ungovernable and volatile in the 1990s. Both the Congress, which ruled from 1988-1993, and the Left Front had lost grip on law and order. The All Tripura Tiger Force had instilled fear of an ethnic war by serving notices on aliens in mixed areas to leave. The tribal chief minister, Dasrath Deb, felt no particular urgency in chastening militants and took an indulgent view that the armed rebellion was the result of both economic deprivation and cultural invasion of the tribal areas and that his government was trying to bring them back to the mainstream. The Centre wanted the situation to degenerate so as to justify invocation of more areas under the Disturbed Areas Act, to enable it to deploy the Army. The Act then covered 19 of the 44 police stations.
The Left Front council of ministers’ recent decision to withdraw the Act from nine police station areas is indication of further improvement in the law and order situation. In fact, Tripura has been comparatively peaceful after the dominant National Liberation Front of Tripura signed a ceasefire with the Centre in 2004. Tripura police have even claimed that there are no permanent rebel camps in the state. The credit for restoration of the people&’s confidence must go to Chief Minister Manik Sarkar who, since taking over in 1998, has been able to successfully intensify political and administrative efforts in the rural areas. The government must only see that no new ones come out for fun and games to take advantage of the attractive government rehabilitation scheme.

press trust of india
NEW DELHI, 4 JUNE: In an unusual use of the RTI route, the main accused of over Rs 1,500-crore ‘StockGuru’ scam has tried to get complaints and other information against him with Sebi, but his request has been rejected.
The information sought by Lokeshwar Dev, who is said to have used different names, including that of Ulhas Khaire, for various fraudulent schemes, included copies of complaints against him, and also other details including Sebi’s opinion and clarifications on matters concerning the case. Not satisfied with Sebi’s response to his RTI query, Ulhas approached the regulator’s Appellate Authority in April this year, but his appeal was dismissed through an order passed yesterday.
Lokeshwar Dev and his wife Priyanka Dev, both of whom have used numerous names and were arrested by Delhi Police’s Economic Offences Wing in November last year, are facing a multi-agency probe for allegedly duping lakhs of investors of more than Rs 1,500 crore.
The agencies probing the matter include CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED), while Sebi passed an order in January this year against the couple and other entities associated with them, wherein they were barred from the capital markets for 10 years and were asked to refund the money collected fraudulently from the gullible investors.
The entities floated by the two for their dubious schemes included Stock Guru India (SGI), SGI Research and Analysis and StockGuru.com.
Subsequently, Sebi, in March this year, received an RTI application from Ulhas or Lokeshwar Dev, seeking replies to his 27 queries related to his company, SGI Research and Analysis Ltd.
Sebi replied to the RTI query on 3 April, but the appellate filed an appeal with the Appellate Authority on 15 April against Sebi’s response and said the information given by the regulator was “incomplete and incorrect” and not what he was seeking for.
“I feel they (Sebi) are deliberately and intentionally hiding the information so that justice is denied to me,” he said in his appeal.
Hearing his petition, the Appellate Authority said Sebi had told Ulhas “the information sought by him was in the nature of seeking opinion/clarification/explanation from Sebi and did not fall within the definition of ‘information’ as defined under the RTI Act”.
The Appellate Authority also concurred with Sebi’s view that said the information sought in 19 out of the total 27 queries were indeed “in the nature of seeking clarification, opinion, explanation, etc from Sebi” and therefore the regulator cannot be obliged to provide a response to such request for information through RTI.
With regard to one of the queries, the authority said Sebi had refused to provide the appellant with copies of complaints against him, as Sebi had received them in its fiduciary capacity and they were treated as ‘confidential’. “In his response, I note that the respondent (Sebi) had informed the appellant that information relating to complaints, which were received by Sebi in its fiduciary capacity, were treated by it as confidential and may contain personal details of complainants, the disclosure of which may result in revealing the complainant’s identity and endanger his/her safety.
“Further, I note that it was informed that such information, if disclosed may also reveal the source of Sebi’s information about the alleged violators.

agencies
Paris, 2 June: Top seed Novak Djokovic inflicted a 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 defeat on Grigor Dimitrov to reach the second week of the French Open, while Rafael Nadal was bogged down in drama before securing his own hard-fought win on Saturday. 
Djokovic calmly destroyed his young Bulgarian opponent for the second time in four weeks on clay with the excitement factor barely moving the meter. He did need treatment on his right elbow late in the third set.  “I played well from the start. I came out aggressive,” Djokovic said. “I know from Madrid (last month) that Grigor is a tough opponent. I’m pleased with how it went for me.” It was totally the opposite story for Nadal, who struggled for nearly three hours to get a grip on the unpredictable, dangerous game of Fabio Fognini before finally salvaging a 7-6 (7-5), 6-4, 6-4 win. 
“If I want to have any chance, I really need to play better,” the Spaniard said. “It&’s always the same: when you win without playing your best, you have the chance to play better.” Nadal was made to work, with the first two sets lasting a combined two hours. Even in the third, with Nadal starting to take control, the result was not assured. The third seed was broken to love while serving for victory and needed to break Fognini for a fifth time to escape with the win.  “If I was playing the right way all the time, I wouldn’t have suffered as much as I did today. But that&’s the sport,” Nadal said.
“I didn’t play my best. I played for moments well, and in other moments I didn’t play well.” Nadal will face Kei Nishikori, who beat Frenchman Benoit Paire 6-3, 6-7 (3-7), 6-4, 6-1 to become the first Japanese man to reach the Paris fourth round since 1938. 
 The day&’s real excitement was generated in the marathon won by 35-year-old Tommy Haas over John Isner 7-5, 7-6 (6-4), 4-6, 6-7 (10-12), 10-8. The four-hour, 37-minute epic was highlighted by a Haas fightback after dropping the fourth set despite earning a dozen match points — all saved by Isner.
But Isner, whose serve is his strong point, ran out of fitness as the fifth set progressed and bowed out wearily with a lazy return wide. Isner played the longest match in history at Wimbledon 2010, which ended 70-68 in the fifth set to the American.French seventh seed Richard Gasquet advanced over Russian Nikolay Davydenko 6-4, 6-4, 6-3, while Mikhail Youzhny knocked out eighth seed Janko Tipsarevic 6-4, 6-4, 6-3. Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka, the number nine, beat Jerzy Janowicz 6-3, 6-7 (2-7), 6-3, 6-3. Women&’s holder Maria Sharapova dodged a bullet as she made a second-set comeback to hold off China&’s Jie Zheng 6-1, 7-5.  The second seed found herself in the danger zone against Jie, a 29-year-old ranked 43rd.  Sharapova stormed through the opening set but suddenly began making enough errors to find herself down 1-4 in the second. But the four-time Grand Slam winner engineered a storming fightback, overcoming another hiccup as she dropped serve again after breaking her opponent for 5-4.  But a final break assured Sharapova a place in the fourth round, where she faces Australian Open semi-finalist Sloane Stephens, a 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 6-3 winner over New Zealand&’s Marina Erakovic.
“1-4 is not a score that I want to be in, but I am happy with the way I fought back, and I found a way to win that second set without having to go into a third.” There was a scare for third seed Victoria Azarenka, with the Belarus player defeating France&’s Alize Cornet 4-6, 6-3, 6-1.
Azarenka dropped the first set but began the second with a break, slowly turning the tide on the way to the third-round win.
Two seeds lost, with American Jamie Hampton beating number seven Petra Kvitova 6-1, 7-6 (9-7) and Serb Jelena Jankovic putting out former finalist and ninth seed Samantha Stosur 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Mirza advances
Indo-American pairing of Sania Mirza and Bethanie Mattek-Sands advanced to the women’s doubles second round at Roland Garros here Saturday.
Playing on Court No.1, the seventh seeds defeated French duo of Alize Cornet and Virginie Razzano in straight sets in the first round. Sania-Bethanie won 6-3, 6-4 in one hour and 28 minutes.
Serves were regularly broken in both the sets, with the seventh seeds breaking one more than their opponents.
Sania, who had earlier lost in the first round of mixed doubles, along with her American partner broke the French girls five times in the match.  The winners will next face unseeded American pairing Lauren Davis and Megan Moulton-Levy in the next round.