Goa
experiences flood, more rain likely
Panjim:
Thousands of people crammed into houses, government
buildings and community centres in Goa where incessant rains
over the past two days have led to massive flooding. Entire
marketplaces and residential colonies in Panjim and nearby
Sankhlim town were inundated on Friday and people waded
through waist-deep water to reach higher grounds. The Mandovi
River, locals said, burst its bank late last night and its
fury caught many resident's unaware as its waters gushed
into their homes. The distraught families whose living rooms
and kitchens were in knee-deep water are now trying to salvage
whatever they can. "It has been raining incessantly since
last night. The water has been rising and even now there
is no let up. The water is still rising and it is still
raining," said Surendra, a resident of Sankhlim town. Weather
officials have said that the record rains were a result
of low pressure in Maharashtra, also reeling under floods,
and have predicted no let up in the rains. "In the last
two days over 30 cm rainfall has been recorded in Panjim
alone. There is a low-pressure area above Maharashtra and
the low pressure is still there. In the next 24 hours also
there are indications of moderate to very heavy rainfall,"
said Khus Veer Singh, Director of the Panjim Weather Observatory.
Goa has received a total of 3,030.5 mm rainfall in the current
season so far as against 1,845.1 mm for the entire season
last year. Large areas of Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh are
still inundated, even as a powerful storm in the Bay of
Bengal crossed into Andhra Pradesh. Officials have said
that they were bracing for more rain in the region although
the storm itself had substantially weakened. Storms and
cyclones formed in the Bay of Bengal lash West Bengal and
Orissa and Bangladesh around September and October months
almost every year, killing hundreds of people and destroying
cattle and crops.
Preeti
Jain, Pardesi sent to 14-day judicial custody (Go
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Mumbai:
A session court here today remanded Bollywood starlet
Preeti Jain and Naresh Pardesi, aide of gangster-turned-politician
Arun Gawli, to 14-day judicial custody in the conspiracy
case to kill filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar. The case came
for hearing to Metropolitan Magistrate A V Shete, who adjourned
the bail plea of the two to September 26, i.e. till their
custody ends. Seeking bail, the accused said the investigations
were over and police had recorded their statements besides
subjecting them to scientific tests. The judge, however,
maintained that optimum opportunity should be given to the
police to investigate the matter, and hence, it was necessary
to extend their custody. Discarding allegations that Jain
had given 'supari' to Pardesi to eliminate Bhandarkar, Defence
lawyer Nilesh Pavaskar argued that no case was made out
for the custody of Jain and Pardesi. Meanwhile, police had
claimed that lie detector tests performed on Jain revealed
deception in some of her replies to important questions.
Gawli's wife Ashatai, however, has alleged that her husband
is being framed by the police so that he could be imprisoned.
Pardesi, on the other hand, insists that Bhandarkar had
paid Gawli to frame Jain. On September 10, Mumbai Police
had arrested Preeti after questioning her for about five
hours in connection with a plot to eliminate film director
Bhandarkar.
The arrest was ordered after investigations revealed that
Jain tried to hire Arun Gawli to kill Bhandarkar. Gawli,
a member of the Maharashtra State Assembly, had later confirmed
that Jain had been trying to meet him. According to the
police, the matter was revealed to them by advocate Bagawe,
who is considered to be very close to Gawli. Bagawe had
alleged that Jain had paid Rs 70,000 (1,595 dollars) as
part payment to one of Gawli's aides in the last two months
in order to eliminate Bhandarkar. On September 16, the court
had extended Jain and Pardesi's police custody till September
21, which was further extended till September 23. Jain came
into limelight in July 2004, when she alleged that the filmmaker
had sexually exploited her in return of the promises to
give her a break in his films. She filed a case against
Bhandarkar alleging that the director had even promised
to marry her. However, the court acquitted Bhandarkar after
a thorough scrutiny of the case.
BCCI
AGM begins after a day's adjournment (Go
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Kolkata:
The Annual General Meeting of Indian cricket Board,
which was declared adjourned indefinitely on Thursday night,
has begun fresh proceedings from 10 a.m. today under the
supervison of three observers appointed by the Kolkata High
Court. Former Supreme Court chief justices K N Singh and
M M Punchi and one more poll observer, Justice S.P.Sen,
will oversee the deliberations that could result in the
announcement of new office-bearers for the country's richest
sporting body. The meeting is being held at the Taj Bengal
Hotel. Singh and Punchi had on Thursday said that they had
reached the venue of the meeting at 10.15 p.m. and were
ready to go ahead with the deliberations, but when Justice
Sen expresed his inability to attend the meeting at the
odd hours, it was decided to convene the meeting on Friday
morning. Friday's deliberations are not expected to go through
smoothly with the BCCI's ruling combine spearheaded by former
BCCI chief Jagmohan Dalmiya, who is a key supporter of BCCI
President Ranbir Singh Mahendra aspiring for the second
term in office, threatening to move court against the decision
of the observers.
Dalmiya
has reportedly raised three objections with the observers
announcement and said that he had handed over to them a
letter containing the ruling combine's reservations. "I
have also told them that we will (ruling combine) be going
to court on these three points," he said. Dalmiya said his
first objection was that as the AGM was adjourned sine die
earlier in the day, only the board secretary has the power
to convene it again "and it is for the president to conduct
the proceeding and I told them (observer) that they have
no power to convene the meeting." He said he also told the
two observers that as per the order given by the Kolkata
High Court all three observers have to be present at the
meeting. Dalmiya said that observers had told him that they
have already spoken to Sen over the telephone. Thirdly,
Dalmiya said, the role of the observers could begin only
when the AGM discusses the election of the board's office
bearer. "I told them that there role begin only when agenda
nine elections is discussed. On Thursday, the AGM was declared
adjourned indefinitely after the Board refused to start
the meeting unless all court procedures are over.
The day also witnessed a lot of drama staged by different
members of the cricket board present there. The rival group,
led by Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, expressed
its unhappiness over the development, and said that it would
challenge the decision of postponement of the meeting. Former
Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir and President of the
Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association Dr Farooq Abdullah,
who proposed Pawar's candidature for the presidency earlier
in the day, said former BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya-led
group's compromise formula that current president Ranbir
Singh Mahendra be allowed to continue for another year is
not feasible. Earlier, in the wake of a slew of court cases,
the BCCI's AGM was convened twice and adjourned both times
within a couple of minutes. Meanwhile, there was much uproar
during the proceedings of the meeting. Where a section called
the meeting unconstitutional because it lacked the presence
of Court's designated two observers. It all started with
Lalit Modi, the President of Rajasthan Cricket Association,
and Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) President,
Ranbir Singh Mahendra, engaging in a verbal duel over some
issue. As a result, Mahendra called for the adjournment
of the meeting. This step was opposed by the other factions
who were there for the AGM of the (BCCI). They termed the
adjournment "unconstitutional". Actually, it was Lalit Modi,
who had filed an application with the Kolkata High Court
for the appointment of three observers Coming out of the
'meeting', S.S.Bindra blamed the electronic media for telecasting
an erroneous report which said the AGM had taken place.
"The BCCI's AGM was never convened so it cannot be postponed.
A meeting can only be postponed only if it is first convened,
said Bindra. Adding to his argument why he considered the
meeting has not even taken place when actually it appeared
so, he said: "You cannot convene or ajourn it Sine Die until
the required observers are present. Otherwise, it will be
a contempt of court. Any judgement about adjournment has
to be taken by those three observers." While reacting to
the episode, Abdullah said, "This is most unfortunate thing
that can happen. We just need a body that can work together
and solve problems." On the question of the desginated observers
(judges) not arriving within the stipulated time, former
BCCI President, Jagmohan Dalmiya, who is representing the
Cricket Association of Bengal at the meeting, said: " If
the two judges do not arrive, at first it is the Court which
is supposed to call them. Otherwise, we will plan to do
so." While speaking about the next probable date of the
AGM, Dalmiya said : "It is upto the court's observers to
decide on AGM's date." "Our rules are floppy and do not
explain all aspects in detail. We have agreed over two months
time during which some amendments in our rules will be done,"
he added. Dalmiya had also expressed his annoyance over
the clubs going to court.
Sourav
Ganguly is mentally and physically unfit: Chappell (Go
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New
Delhi: Indian Cricket Coach Greg Chappell in a six-page
e-mail sent to Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI)
president has called Captain Sourabh Ganguly "mentally and
physically unfit". In the e-mail sent to Ranbir Singh Mahindra,
Chappell said that Indian skipper was mentally and physically
unfit, and he was the reason behind division in the Indian
team. Earlier, a rift between the two was exposed after
the second Test between India and Zimbabwe at Bulawayo when
Ganguly, hinting at Chappell, had publicly said that he
was asked to step down as captain just before the start
of the match. However, on the eve of second Test at Harare,
coach Chappell told the media that he had great respect
for Ganguly, and he had asked him to step down just to motivate
him before the start of the series.
