Sachin
Tendulkar's biggest achievement is not the 100 international centuries.
Perhaps cricketer Sachin
Tendulkar's biggest achievement is not the 100 international centuries he
has scored for India or the matches he has won through his batting and
sometimes his bowling. It is his role in keeping some dubious cricketers
suspected of match fixing outside the team. When the match fixing scandal broke
in 2000, it was Tendulkar and at least three other senior cricketers who came
together and ensured that not just the players banned by the BCCI in match
fixing but even those whose performance and conduct was dubious were never
picked for the Indian squad again. They went about the job quietly, making no
public statements. But the cricket board was conveyed of their concerns and the
BCCI, which was afraid of spectators turning away from the sport, quickly
acquiesced. It is another thing that the BCCI, for reasons best known to it,
didn’t bother to pursue a case against a former Indian captain; this when the
then South African captain Hansie Cronje had claimed that he had been
introduced to bookie MK Gupta by the Indian player. The CBI also claims that it
had proof against the player.
The
other cricketers involved were not charged with match fixing by the CBI which
was then investigating the case, as the agency couldn’t find strong evidence
against them. However, while captains got changed over the years, the said
cricketers were never picked again to play for India. Sachin & Co were not
on a vendetta mission. In fact the players who were ‘unofficially’ barred from
playing for India again had been under suspicion even before the match fixing
scandal broke. For instance one cricketer, known to be one of the fastest
runners between the wickets, had also figured in the most run outs. Then there
was a wicketkeeper who was the only one on the field to not appeal for a catch
in spite of the ball being clearly nicked by the batsman. There was also a
batsman who got out carelessly in a Test in spite of being asked to bat
cautiously by the team management. In fact a couple of these cricketers even
publicly wondered why they were never picked for the team. Ironically these
cricketers and even those who were believed to be involved with match fixers
and bookies are now in television studios giving their views on the current
spot fixing scandal and dissecting the performance of cricketers who are
currently playing for India. For those who are wondering how spot fixing and
match fixing continue despite cricketers having been banned on this account in
the past, this is your answer-banning a player or erasing his records is not a
deterrent enough; what is needed is that the cricketers be prosecuted. The spot
fixing controversy is also a lesson for those players who slog all day playing
cricket in Shivaji Park and other grounds in Mumbai that there is no substitute
for hard work. Yes, cricketers like Dhoni have a huge number of bikes that cost
lakhs of rupees and everyone may want to own them, but they have not come the
easy way. The takeaway from the Sreesanth affair is that there are no short
cuts to success and no matter how secret your involvement in match fixing, you
are bound to get caught sooner or later. Chavan shows he is no pushover
When he was sworn in as Chief Minister of Maharashtra, everyone expected
Prithviraj Chavan to be made mince meat of by the NCP leadership in the state
especially by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar. However, Chavan has proved his
critics wrong. Not only has he managed to hold his own, he has even put Chavan
and the NCP on the defensive with a host of scams involving them coming out in
the open. Maharashtra traders who have been on strike for almost a month over
the Local Body Tax (LBT) had a glimpse of his astuteness a few days back.
Sharad Pawar who was touring the state had frowned on the traders strike,
saying Mumbai being the financial capital could not afford to have shops shut.
The message was clearly meant for Chavan who has been adamant that there would
be no rollback of LBT. However Chavan did not respond to Pawar’s comment. He
said that he was ready for talks but the government won’t succumb to blackmail.
A fortnight later the strike continues, but it is the trading community which
is in trouble as many of its members have begun reopening their shops. Last
heard the state and the traders have come to an understanding. While the LBT
will stay its contentious clauses have been tweaked. "Maharashtra textbook
makes Arunachal gaffe" The Maharashtra government’s Education Department is
in the pits; it is not able to conduct its exams on time, and its exam papers
have been leaked. Which is why few were surprised when the geography textbooks
of class 10 showed Arunachal Pradesh to be part of China – something that is
sure to gladden visiting Chinese Premier Li Keqiang who was in Mumbai on Tuesday.
After the issue was brought up the government ordered stopping the sale of the
text books, but to its horror found that 16.5 lakh copies had already been
sold. So it has now decided to put stickers made of Arunachal on the missing
area. To know how incompetent the board is one just has to hear what Sarjerao
Jadhav, state board chairperson feels about the error. Jadhav, according to a
newspaper has said, “such mistakes do occur in a world map; it should not be
taken seriously. The purpose of the map is not to show the Indian states but to
give a general outline of the country. Ahem excuse me, but how do you give the
correct outline of the country by excluding states from Indian territory? With
such an attitude it was no wonder that a few days later another similar error
was discovered. This time Lakshadweep, and Andaman and Nicobar Islands had been
excluded from a map in the History textbooks of class 10. The question being
asked is: would the government now start printing stickers of Lakshadweep and Andaman
and Nicobar Islands to be distributed to students? The glaring errors occurred
after the state education department set up a committee of academicians and
teachers to revise the syllabus and make it on par with the central boards.
They had one year to revise the text books and proof read them. Turns out that
the academicians and teachers were as smart as the state education board
officials.There is always a mad clamor for homes built by
Maharashtra Housing and Development Authority (MHADA) in Mumbai. While the
construction quality of the buildings is quite bad, what makes people rush to
participate in a MHADA lottery for houses are their low prices. Not this time
however. For the 1,200 homes that it advertised it got only 29,000 applications-
the figure would have been more than five times earlier. One of the reasons why
not many have turned up is because MHADA is charging a whopping Rs.50
to Rs.75 lakh for a home, that almost being the price charged by private
builders. Questions are now being asked as to whether MHADA is into affordable
housing or profit making.
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