Clarke, Ponting top IPL auction list

Chennai: Australia captain Michael Clarke and former captain Ricky Ponting attracted the highest base price in the list of 101 players that feature in the 2013 Indian Premier League (IPL) player auction to be held here Sunday.

The Australian duo will go under the hammer with highest reserve price of $400,000 (approx Rs.2 crore).

Clarke played for Pune Warriors India in IPL 2012 after they bought him on a one-year contract outside of the auction. Ponting was part of the inaugural IPL season, in 2008, playing for Kolkata Knight Riders. He was released by the franchise in 2010.

Along with the two Australians, South African all-rounder Johan Botha ($300,000) and Indian medium pacer RP Singh ($100,000) form the list of four marquee players.

West Indies' World Twenty20 2012 winning captain Darren Sammy will feature in the player auction for the first time with a reserve price of $100,000.

The list of 101 players feature seven Indians, including Mumbai's Ranji Trophy winning all-rounderAbhishek Nayar ($100,000), who has been released by Kings XI Punjab.

Nayar's Mumbai team-mate Wasim Jaffer, who scored a century in the Ranji Trophy final, is also on the list at a reserve price of $50,000.

Pacers Sudeep Tyagi, Jaydev Unadkat, Pankaj Singh and Manpreet Gony are the remaining Indians to go under the hammer.

On the list that is dominated by the South Africans, Sri Lankans and the Australians, Ireland's all-rounder Kevin O'Brien is the lone representative of the associate countries.

S. No	First Name	Country	Type	Previous IPL Team(s)	Base Price (USD, 000)
1	Johan Botha	SA	All-rounder	RR	300
2	Michael Clarke	AUS	Batsman	PWI	400
3	Ricky Ponting	AUS	Batsman	KKR	400
4	RP Singh	IND	Bowler	DC / KTK /  MI	100
5	Darren Bravo	WI	Batsman	DC	100
6	Aaron Finch	AUS	Batsman	RR / DD	200
7	Hershelle Gibbs	SA	Batsman	DC / MI	200
8	Martin Guptill	NZ	Batsman		100
9	Philip Hughes	AUS	Batsman		100
10	Luke Pomersbach	AUS	Batsman	KXIP / RCB	50
11	Upul Tharanga	SL	Batsman		100
12	Adam Voges	AUS	Batsman	RR	100
13	Dinesh Chandimal	SL	Wk/Batsman	RR	100
14	Quinton De Kock	SA	WK/Batsman		20
15	Prasanna Jayawardene	SL	Wk/Batsman		50
16	Kusal Perera	SL	Wk/Batsman		20
17	Matt Prior	ENG	Wk/Batsman		200
18	Denesh Ramdin	WI	Wk/Batsman		50
19	Kaushal Silva	SL	Wk/Batsman		20
20	Dane Vilas	SA	Wk/Batsman		20
21	Matthew Wade	AUS	Wk/Batsman	DD	200
22	Ravi Bopara	ENG	All-rounder	KXIP	100
23	Daniel Christian	AUS	All-rounder	DC	100
24	James Faulkner	AUS	All-rounder	PWI	100
25	Moises Henriques	AUS	All-rounder	KKR / DD / MI	100
26	James Hopes	AUS	All-rounder	KXIP / DD / PWI	100
27	Glenn Maxwell	AUS	All-rounder	DD	200
28	Abhishek Nayar	IND	All-rounder	MI / KXIP	100
29	Thisara Perera	SL	All-rounder	CSK / KTK / MI	50
30	Jesse Ryder	NZ	All-rounder	RCB / PWI	100
31	Darren Sammy	WI	All-rounder		100
32	Doug Bollinger	AUS	Bowler	CSK	200
33	Fidel Edwards	WI	Bowler	DC	100
34	Manpreet Gony	IND	Bowler	CSK / DC	200
35	Ryan McLaren	SA	Bowler	MI / KXIP	50
36	Dirk Nannes	AUS	Bowler	DD / RCB	200
37	Vernon Philander	SA	Bowler		100
38	Ravi Rampaul	WI	Bowler		50
39	Pankaj Singh	IND	Bowler	RCB / RR	50
40	Sudeep Tyagi	IND	Bowler	CSK	100
41	Jaidev Unadkat	IND	Bowler	KKR	100
42	Devendra Bishoo	WI	Bowler		50
43	Cameron Boyce	AUS	Bowler		20
44	Akila Dananjaya	SL	Bowler		20
45	Paul Harris	SA	Bowler		20
46	Rangana Herath	SL	Bowler		100
47	Nathan McCullum	NZ	Bowler	PWI	100
48	Ajantha Mendis	SL	Bowler	KKR	50
49	Stephen O'Keefe	AUS	Bowler	KTK	100
50	Veerasammy Permaul	WI	Bowler		20
51	Aaron Phangiso	SA	Bowler		20
52	Suraj Randiv	SL	Bowler	CSK	50
53	Callum Ferguson	AUS	Batsman	PWI	100
54	Wasim Jaffer	IND	Batsman	RCB	50
55	Chamara Kapugedera	SL	Batsman	CSK	20
56	Richard Levi	SA	Batsman	MI	50
57	Jehan Mubarak	SL	Batsman		20
58	Tharanga Paranavithana	SL	Batsman		50
59	Ricardo Powell	WI	Batsman		50
60	Kieran Powell	WI	Batsman		50
61	Thilan Samaraweera	SL	Batsman		100
62	Lahiru Thirimanna	SL	Batsman		20
63	John Hastings	AUS	All-rounder	KTK	200
64	Danza Hyatt	WI	All-rounder		20
65	Farveez Maharoof	SL	All-rounder	DD	50
66	Jeevan Mendis	SL	All-rounder		50
67	Christopher Morris	SA	All-rounder		20
68	Seekkuge Prasanna	SL	All-rounder		20
69	Sachithra Senanayaka	SL	All-rounder		50
70	Scott Styris	NZ	All-rounder	DC / CSK	100
71	Tino Best	WI	Bowler		50
72	Ben Cutting	AUS	Bowler	KXIP	100
73	Shaminda Eranga	SL	Bowler		20
74	Dilhara Fernando	SL	Bowler	MI	100
75	Josh Hazlewood	AUS	Bowler		100
76	Clinton McKay	AUS	Bowler	MI	100
77	Jerome Taylor	WI	Bowler	KXIP / PWI	50
78	Lonwabo Tsotsobe	SA	Bowler		20
79	Joe Burns	AUS	Batsman		50
80	Henry Davids	SA	Batsman		20
81	Daniel Harris	AUS	Batsman	DC	50
82	Nic Maddinson	AUS	Batsman		100
83	Dilshan Munaweera	SL	Batsman		20
84	Ben Rohrer	AUS	Batsman		50
85	Rilee Rossouw	SA	Batsman	RCB	20
86	Jandre Coetzee	SA	All-rounder		20
87	Alistair Gray	SA	All-rounder		20
88	Kevin O'Brien	IRE	All-rounder		50
89	Dilruwan Perera	SL	All-rounder		50
90	Dwaine Pretorius	SA	All-rounder		20
91	Stiaan Van Zyl	SA	All-rounder		20
92	David Wiese	SA	All-rounder		20
93	Andrew Birch	SA	Bowler		20
94	Trent Copeland	AUS	Bowler		50
95	Nathan Coulter-Nile	AUS	Bowler		100
96	Rory Kleinveldt	SA	Bowler		50
97	Ben Laughlin	AUS	Bowler		20
98	Alister McDermott	AUS	Bowler	RR	50
99	Nuwan Pradeep	SL	Bowler	RCB	20
100	Dhammika Prasad	SL	Bowler		50
101	Kane Richardson	AUS	Bowler		100

Tata launches Vista D90 at Rs. 5.99 lakh

Tata Motors has launched its premium hatchback, the all new Tata Vista D90 that delivering 90PS of raw power. Powered by a specially tuned Quadrajet diesel engine with Variable Geometry Turbocharger (VGT) technology, this new generation hatch comes loaded with a handful of features. Take a look.

Tata Motors launched its premium hatchback, the all new Tata Vista D90, an advanced & dynamic car, delivering 90PS of raw power, offering first-in-class high-tech features

SC quashes acquittals in Suryanelli rape case

The apex court said the Kerala high court did not look at the evidence properly and directed that the case be re-judged again within six months.

NEW DELHI: In a landmark judgement, the Supreme Court today set aside a Kerala High Court verdict acquitting 35 men accused of raping a 16-year-old girl from Suryanelli in Kerala in 1996. 

The apex court said the high court did not look at the evidence properly and directed that the case be re-judged again within six months.

The minor girl was abducted in January 1996 and raped by 42 men over 40 days and moved from place to place in Kerala, she was then told by the perpetrators to return home and keep mum.

Three years later, the tormented girl mustered the courage to talk of her experience, and the names of the high and mighty appeared as aspecial court named 35 accused and sentenced them to rigorous imprisonment.

On September 6, 2000, the trial special court convicted 36 people and sentenced them to rigorous imprisonment of varying terms. The Kerala High Court, however, acquitted all 35 convicts earlier and found only one of them person guilty of crimes related to the sex trade and sentenced him to five years jail term and a fine of Rs 50,000.

In 2005, however, the Kerala High Court acquitted all but one of those earlier named as accused. 

The victim's family and the state moved the Supreme Court in 2005 against the high court's verdict. 

All the accused on bail have been directed by the Supreme Court to secure fresh bail from the high court. The Supreme Court also expressed shock over the findings of the high court that the victim was a willing partner.

An appeal against the high court verdict has been pending at the apex court for eight years. On January 10, Chief Justice of India Altamas Kabir had assured that the Suryanelli and other pending cases of sexual offences would be fast-tracked.

The family of the woman now lives near Kottayam, and are treated by the local community as outcasts. The woman also suffers health-related issues on account of her 40-day ordeal 16 years ago.

FALSE CASE
On 6 February 2012, the police arrested the Suryanelli case victim in connection with an alleged financial irregularity case. The case pertains to the charge that the victim had engaged in multiple financial irregularities worth Rs 2,26,000 while working in the Sales Tax Department, Changanassery in 2010. 

The irregularities had surfaced during auditing, after which she was placed under suspension. Later she was given a 'punishment' transfer to Kottayam where she is now employed. 

She was produced before a court in Changanassery which remanded her to judicial custody. It was alleged that as her case was coming up for hearing in the Supreme court, vested elements had set her up.

Army intel nails Pak bounty hunters

The Pakistan Army has been offering as much as Rs 5 lakh in cash reward to these mercenaries to carry out the beheading of Indian soldiers.

New Delhi: At a time when efforts are on to defuse the recent escalation of tension between neighbours India and Pakistan in the aftermath of the barbaric killing of two Indian soldiers, there comes the chilling revelation of Pakistan Army’s sinister design to carry out more such attacks.

A note based on ground intelligence in the aftermath of the January 8 killing and subsequent beheading of one jawan shows that the Pakistan Army has been making lucrative offers to mercenaries, who are being called “local guides”, to launch an offensive against the Indian Army.

According to the intelligence input, the Pakistan Army has been offering as much as Rs 5 lakh in cash reward to these mercenaries to carry out the beheading of Indian soldiers. 

If the intelligence inputs are an indicator of the Pakistan Army’s plans, the recent offensive is unlikely to be the last one. The intelligence note claimed that the Pakistan Army, as incentives to mercenaries, has also announced rewards for carrying out different categories of attacks.

The intelligence input said that local guides who assist the border action teams of the Pakistan Army would be awarded Rs 5 lakh for beheading, Rs 10,000 for killing an Indian soldier in sniper fire and Rs 5,000 for planting a mine.

ALSO READ: Reports of Indian Army beheading Pak troops totally baseless, says Antony

Moreover, a guide can be paid between Rs 2,000 and Rs 12,000 for being part of the operation.

“Pak army units have been asked to recruit locals from villages near the LoC so that they can be trained and subsequently recruited for acting as local guides,” the note stated.

The input has been shared with intelligence agencies such as the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) and Military Intelligence. Keeping in mind the high threat perception, even the Border Security Force has been alerted about the possibility of infiltrations and similar attacks on the Jammu border.

What’s more, the man responsible for the beheading of one Indian soldier in Mendhar has been identified by intelligence agencies. The recent note claimed that “Anwar Khan, a local guide, was rewarded Rs 5 lakh by Colonel Siddiqui of Pak ISI”. Sources said this is not the first time Khan was involved in such a gruesome act. In 1996, he was responsible for the beheading of an Indian Army captain in the same area. 

Former Naval officer and security expert, Commodore Uday Bhaskar said such pacts between the Pakistan Army and non-regulars take place often.

“This was highlighted during the Kargil war when (Gen Pervez) Musharraf rewarded Ilyas Kashmiri for beheading an Indian soldier,” Commodore Bhaskar said.

According to the intelligence input, a meeting between senior officers of the Pakistan Army’s Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) and commanders of some terror groups was held at Rawalkote in PoK where the cash rewards were announced. Intelligence sources said besides LeT chief and Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed, Hizbul Mujahideen supremo Syed Salahuddin was also there.

Sunny Leone gets expensive

International porn star Sunny Leone, who made her Bollywood debut with Pooja Bhatt's erotic thriller Jism 2 and will be seen next in Balaji flick Ragini MMS 2, seems to be in much demand as far as filmmakers are concerned.


Buzz has it that Leone has demanded a whopping sum of Rs. 20 crore from Balaji Queen Bee Ekta Kapoor for working in Ragini MMS 2, the sequel to horror flick Ragini MMS. If Kapoor agrees to it, Sunny could very well join the list of one of the highest paid actresses in Bollywood-with just her second film!


Sunny, who had appeared on reality show Bigg Boss, where she was signed up for Jism 2 by Mahesh Bhatt and Pooja Bhatt, became a hot property after her raunchy scenes in the film sizzled screens all over.

Jayalalitha defends 'Vishwaroopam' ban, to sue Karunanidhi

 Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa said Thursday that Kamal Haasan's movie "Vishwaroopam" was banned in Tamil Nadu due to fears of violent protests and not because she had a grudge against the actor.

The chief minister also announced that she would file cases against DMK chief M. Karunanidhi and sections of the media that she said had maligned her on the issue.

Reeling out statistics, she said it would have been impossible to provide police protection to all 524 cinemas in Tamil Nadu where the multilingual film was to be released after Muslim groups announced a wave of protests.

"I have no personal grudge, no personal interest in banning the movie," the actor-turned-politician told the media, adding she knew nothing about the Rs.95 crore espionage thriller until it became controversial.

[ ALSO READ: Salman Khan supports Kamal Haasan ]

She said her government had the powers to ban a movie completely but it banned it only for 15 days so that tempers could cool down and both Kamal Haasan and Muslim groups could reach an agreement.

To make it clear that her government's decision was not without basis, Jayalalithaa pointed out that the movie had also been also banned in Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Singapore.

It was also banned in states neighbouring Tamil Nadu. "Was I responsible for all that?"