Bathinda: Gidderbaha, an Akali stronghold, in Bathinda Lok Sabha segment is witnessing a bitter electoral contest where pride is at stake for Punjab’s two junior Badals, Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal and his estranged cousin and ousted finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal.
Manpreet Badal, running for the fifth consecutive time from here (but this time as a candidate of his People’s Party of Punjab), is facing a mighty challenge from the Akalis who have fielded Sant Singh Brar, a former Congressman, to take on the rebel. Brar switched Shiromani Akali Dal some time ago.
For both Sukhbir Badal and Manpreet, it’s a fight for honour.
Also posing a challenge to Manpreet in a triangular contest is Congress greenhorn Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, a businessman who was given a ticket this time by none other than Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi himself.
Warring, a local youth, has risen through Youth Congress ranks but had lost Youth Congress president’s first-ever election to now MP Ravneet Singh Bittu.
The Manpreet factor has made the Gidderbaha contest one of the most keenly watched, As a rural constituency, it has always been represented in the past by a member of the Badal family – four times in a row by Manpreet, the outgoing MLA and earlier by chief minister Parkash Singh Badal himself.
Only once in Punjab’s political history did this family seat go to Congress’ Harcharan Singh Brar. Manpreet had won the seat last time with a margin of 18,828 votes against his nearest Congress rival. Despite being a crucial segment where the honour of Badal cousins is at stake, the poll frenzy if missing here, with the main candidates restricting themselves to addressing political rallies in villages and street corner meetings in Gidderbaha town.
Manpreet is not going all out to malign his uncle and chief minister Parkash Singh Badal. However, for Akali workers in the area, it is a tough call to take clear sides this time.
While Akalis, in spite of having fielded a former Congressman, are banking on their traditional vote bank and playing the development card, Manpreet is seeking votes in the name of the Badal family, saying he was ousted for “speaking the truth”.
Congress nominee Raja Warring, on the other hand, is lashing out at both, saying nothing has been done for the people of the area and wants a chance to represent them.
Manpreet is playing up his sacrifice-of-power card, seeking voters’ support on the ground that he had quit as finance minister for “the sake of his ideals”. He says he could no longer see the state’s treasury being “plundered”.
“I have suffered because of speaking out the truth as I did not want to usher Punjab into further indebtedness. It is for you that I gave up my finance minister’s chair and I seek your support in building a new Punjab,” he tells voters.
He adds, “We have to change the face of Punjab and it is for the future of today’s children – our next generation, that I am seeking your support” while also making a veiled attack on the Akali government for “not curbing corruption, nepotism and favouritism”. Manpreet says, “I will not make lofty promises but will ensure that the state’s finances are good and the state is made free from various ills like corruption, nepotism and fovouritism.”
Asked why he is contesting from two seats Gidderbaha and Maur, Manpreet said that “it is part of an election strategy and not for anything else. I did not want to be cornered by my opponents who could conspire to ensure my defeat.”
Warring, in his emotional appeal to voters, is telling them that nothing has changed in the area after decades of Akalis’ hold. He is asking them to give him one chance.
“This is a fight for your rights, a fight for democracy,” he is heard telling the voters.
To counter the Akali Dal claim that they have nurtured the segment for years, Warring says “there is no cancer hospital, there are no good schools. What development are the Akalis talking about?”.
“Give me one chance and I promise I will give you the next 20 years of my life. I will ask Rahul Gandhi to get a big factory and a cancer hospital to the area,” he adds.
Warring also remembers to take on Manpreet Badal over his desertion of Akalis.
“If he (Manpreet) could not remain loyal to his uncle, how can he be loyal to you? He is running away from here as he is contesting the Maur seat too,” Warring says.
Sant Singh Brar, who left Congress sometime ago after failing to get party ticket, is banking on traditional Akali support in the area and on development plank. Also campaigning for Brar are the chief minister and the deputy chief minister, besides Bathinda MP Harsimrat Badal who are appealing to voters not to let them down. Brar had contested as an independent last time and polled 28,167 votes.
While Manpreet’s father Gurdas Badal and wife Veenu are campaigning for him, there are a host of NRIs from the US, Canada and Europe, who are working hard for Manpreet’s victory.
Also campaigning for Warring is Gur Ek Mann, the son of popular Punjabi singer Gurdas Mann who hails from Gidderbaha. The elder Mann will also be campaigning for him.Rahul Gandhi and PCC chief Amarinder Singh are also expected to chip in.
The Gidderbaha seat has an electorate of 1.4 lakh, with urban votes only about 30,000.
In Maur, Manpreet Badal, pitted against his kin and outgoing Irrigation Minister Janmeja Singh Sekhon, the Akali Dal candidate, appears to be drawing a good response from the rural electorate.
Sekhon has been shifted from Ferozepur to Maur and is considered an “outsider”.
The Congress candidate Mangat Rai Bansal, who is the outgoing MLA from Budhlada, is posing a challenge to Manpreet, but also carries the “outsider” tag with him, even though Manpreet himself is not from the area. The Maur seat is a newly-carved-out seat from the earlier Joga seat and also a rural dominated seat.
Badal cousins fight for honour in high-profile Gidderbaha
No Bharat Ratna for Sachin Tendulkar yet?
New Delhi: No Bharat Ratna for Sachin Tendulkar yet? The three names that the Sports Ministry has forwarded to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) to be considered for the first Bharat Ratna for a sportsman are those of hockey legend Dhyanchand, Olympic gold medalist Abhinav Bindra and the man who first conquered Mt Everest, Tenzing Norgay.
The Chess Federation had also recommended Vishwanathan Anand’s name, but the Sports Ministry said that they did not receive Anand’s recommendation from the Chess Federation till last night, hence his name has not been forwarded. The shooting federation was the first one to recommend Bindra’s name. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has not proposed Sachin’s name; it has suggested that the Sports Ministry make that recommendation.
“See in awards like these, individuals make their recommendations, and then the government panel makes the final decision. When Sachin got a Padma Shri, or Padma Bhushan, or Padma Vibushan, then also BCCI didn’t give any names. The decision was taken in the same way – individuals write in and then government on its part, takes a decision. BCCI doesn’t give any names for this, BCCI just writes in for the Arjuna award,” said BCCI vice-president Rajeev Shukla.
Last month, the government included sportsmen in the eligibility criterion for India’s highest civilian award; the Bharat Ratna can now be awarded in recognition of exceptional service/performance of the highest order “in any field of human endeavour”. It was earlier limited to recognising “exceptional services in arts, literature and science, and in recognition of public services of the highest order.”
The changes were brought about after Sports Minister Ajay Maken wrote to the Home Ministry last year. Mr Maken, when asked who he thought should be the first sportsman to get a Bharat Ratna, had said that Dhyanchand or Tendulkar would be his pick.
There has been much clamour over the last few years for a Bharat Ratna for Sachin, India’s most prolific run-getter.
Riot at Sri Lanka prison, inmates set records on fire
Colombo: Inmates and guards clashed at a Sri Lankan prison Tuesday, injuring at least 28 people before soldiers restored control after five hours, officials said.
Reporters outside heard gunshots from within the compound in Colombo, and police fired tear gas before order was restored. Prisoners also set fire to the records room.
The inmates were protesting a move to curtail drug smuggling into the prison, police spokesman Ajith Rohana said. He said 24 prisoners and four guards were hurt.
Rohana did not describe the anti-drug measures, but a man who lives near the prison who gave only his first name, Kumara, said there had been disturbances for several days after authorities banned food brought by relatives for the inmates.
Some prisoners were seen on the roof shouting slogans and holding a banner demanding the removal of the prison chief. Some threw stones at vehicles on a nearby main road, forcing police to close the road.
Dr. Prasad Ariyawansa of Colombo National Hospital said most of the injured prisoners had gunshot wounds. Three officers were hit by stones and another had a broken leg, he said, adding that the injuries were not life threatening.
Stricken ship captain blames company pressure: reports
Rome: The captain of the stricken Costa Concordia liner told a friend a day after the disaster that a manager from the cruise company pressured him to sail too close to shore, the Italian media has reported.
Francesco Schettino told a friend he was following the advice of a manager about what route to take, saying “pass through there, pass through there,” media reported yesterday, quoting a recording of the call police secretly made the day after the January 13 shipwreck that killed at least 16 people.
“In my place, another would not have been so ready to pass there, but they got to me with their ‘Pass through there, pass through there’,” Mr Schettino said.
“The rocks were there, but the instruments I had weren’t showing them, so I went through,” he said.
Mr Schettino then reportedly said he thought he was about 450 metres (0.28 nautical miles) away, but the ship hit a rock. “So, here we are and it’s me who’s paying for everything,” he said.
The luxury line capsized off the tiny Tuscan island of Giglio with more than 4,000 people on board. Sixteen people are still unaccounted for.
Mr Schettino and first officer Ciro Ambrosio so far are the only two from the ship to face charges, including negligent homicide.
Kalraj Mishra denies reports about Uma comment
Lucknow: BJP vice-president Kalraj Mishra has denied reports that he had ruled out senior party colleague Uma Bharti as a contender for the post of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister since she was an outsider. Mr Mishra added that the party’s Parliamentary Board, which is the highest decision making body, will decide the Chief Ministerial candidate if it wins the UP Assembly elections.
PTI said that in an interview, Mr Mishra had said that Uma Bharti was “from outside… not from Uttar Pradesh”.
BJP President Nitin Gadkari seemed to have hinted at prospective CM candidates when he said that elections in the state were being fought under the leadership of Kalraj Mishra, Uma Bharti, former party president Rajnath Singh and state unit president Surya Pratap Shahi.
Speaking to PTI, Mr Mishra said, “But our party president has also said that Mr Shahi is the state unit president (and hence can’t hold two posts), Rajnath Singh has already said he is not in state politics now and Bharti is from outside… not from Uttar Pradesh”. He, however, said, “This does not mean that I am saying I am the chief ministerial candidate.”
The former minister of the erstwhile BSP-BJP government was also reported as saying that Ms Bharti was a national leader of the party and should not be seen only in the context of UP politics. “Moreover, she should also not be seen only as an OBC leader. She had been a Union minister in NDA government. She is a sadhvi who cannot be confined to a state. She is also a former chief minister of Madhya Pradesh,” Mr Mishra said.
Mr Mishra has, however, clarified that he was misquoted in the interview. Uma Bharti was a national leader who could contest elections from any state, he said. When it came to choosing a CM, the decision would be that of the party’s central committee since all the four leaders spearheading the BJP campaign in UP were equally qualified, Mr Mishra said.
The BJP has said that Ms Bharti will contest from the Charkhari constituency in Mahoba constituency, sparking speculation that the OBC leader may be projected as the chief ministerial candidate. Mr Mishra is contesting on a BJP ticket from Lucknow
India face uphill task to save 4th Test; 61 for 2 at stumps
India faced a gigantic battle to save the match following two early dismissals after Australia rode on double centuries by skipper Michael Clarke and Ricky Ponting to declare at a mammoth 604 for seven in the fourth and final cricket Test here today.
India were at a shaky 61 for 2 in reply from the 21 overs possible after Australia declared their first innings about half an hour after tea on the second day.
Gautam Gambhir (30) and Sachin Tendulkar (12) will carry the fight tomorrow while their team is still 543 runs in arrears.
Clarke, resuming on 140, made 210 and was out immediately after lunch when a Umesh Yadav delivery flicked his pads and crashed on to his stumps. Ponting departed much later for 221 when he pulled Zaheer Khan firmly but straight to Sachin Tendulkar at backward square leg fence.
The two put on 386 runs for the fourth wicket which is the second best ever by an Australian pair. Sir Don Bradman and Bill Ponsford put on 388 runs together against England at Headingley in 1934.
Replying to Australia’s monumental effort, Virender Sehwag (18) and Rahul Dravid (1) were the two early blows India suffered in their innings and neither the pitch nor the deliveries merited their dismissals.
The first ball of Peter Siddle was a low full toss on Sehwag’s leg stump. Sehwag aimed to play it on the onside but closed the face of his bat too early.
He thus miscued on the left of the bowler who somehow stuck his left hand out and caught it splendidly while still in his follow through.
… contd.
Global FDI defies economic crisis
Global foreign direct investment flows jumped by 17 per cent in 2011 despite worldwide economic turmoil and there is reason to be cautiously optimistic of another rise in 2012, a United Nations report said on Tuesday.
Most of the increase was due to cross-border mergers and acquisitions.
Rising FDI implies increasing globalisation and growing appetite for big projects abroad, which may lead to more trade and create more manufacturing capacity around the world. Set against the gloomy mood of the world’s financial markets, a returning appetite for investment could be a rare positive sign.
Global FDI flows rose for the second year running to an estimated $1.509 trillion in 2011. That is 28 per cent more than two years ago in 2009 but still 23 per cent below the 2007 peak.
Spending on cross-border mergers and acquisitions leapt by 49.7 percent to $507.3 billion in 2011 while greenfield investments, where an investor starts a foreign operation from scratch, slipped 3.3 percent to $780.4 billion.
“GDP growth is still positive, and although it’s lower than previously expected, companies still have cash in their pockets, and they have to invest anyway. But at the same time there’s uncertainty because of the fragility of the world economy,” said Astrit Sulstarova, an economist at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, which produced the report.
Developing countries received record inflows of FDI, mainly driven by greenfield investments. China, the second biggest FDI destination, received $124.0 billion of FDI, a record for the second year in a row. FDI to India rebounded 38 per cent after a big fall in 2010, but remained far behind China at $34 billion.
contd.
Apple returns to form, blows Street targets away
Apple Inc’s quarterly results blew past Wall Street’s expectations after U.S. consumers snapped up near-unprecedented numbers of iPhones and iPads, sending its shares up 8 per cent into record territory.
The world’s most valuable technology corporation returned to form after a rare miss in the previous quarter, assuaging investors’ worries that its sheer size meant it was headed into a period of slower growth.
It sold 37.04 million iPhones – its flagship product – and 15.43 million iPad tablets, doubling from a year earlier and easily outpacing already heightened expectations for a strong holiday season. That helped swell its warchest of cash and securities to almost $100 billion – more than enough to plug December’s U.S. budget deficit and level with California’s 2012/13 spending plan.
The company founded by late Silicon Valley titan Steve Jobs – who died in October after a years-long battle with cancer – smashed estimates on all its results including gross margin, which came in at 44.7 per cent during the quarter.
Apple reported a net profit of $13.06 billion, or $13.87 a share, handily outstripping an average Street forecast of $10.16 per share. The beat alone – by more than $3 a share, or $3.5 billion – would be a respectable sales figure for many smaller tech companies.
Going into 2012, I expect strength of iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad should carry on into the year. Apple still has some tailwind, including opening up new retail stores and expanding its distribution channels, said Hendi Susanto at Gabelli & Co.
… contd.
Slap ‘only option’ when power to tolerate graft ends: Anna
In remarks that could stoke a fresh controversy, Gandhian Anna Hazare has said a person is left with no option but to slap when his power of tolerance of corruption runs out.
“When a man’s power of tolerance runs out, then whoever is in front of you, if a slap is given, then the brain is put back in place. That is the only road open now”, Hazare told reporters last night after watching the Hindi film ‘Gali Gali Chor Hai’ based on the common man’s fight against corruption.
A special screening of the movie was held for the anti-graft crusader at Ralegan Siddhi in the presence of the film’s crew.
On November 24 last year, Hazare had sparked a row by appearing to approve of the slapping of Union Minister Sharad Pawar by a youth in Delhi. He had, however, later condemned the attack on Pawar.
Anna saw the entire film whose screening ended at around 10 PM and expressed satisfaction over it, Hazare’s aide Datta Awari said.
Actors Akshaye Khanna, Shriya Saran and Mugdha Godse, all part of the film, director Rumi Jafferey, and producers Nitin Manmohan and Sanjay Punamija, were among those who attended the screening held near the Shantiniketan ground, Awari said.
‘Jhapad mara, bhadaak se’: Rahul uses the right words
He used “bhaiyya” all through, and then graduated to “jhapad” and “bhadaak se”. Rahul Gandhi used the local dialect more and more frequently when he toured Bundelkhand, UP, seeking to strike a chord with voters.
His speeches across his 19 public meetings in the region were also full of rhetoric. “In choron ko bhagao” (drive out these thieves), he said on one occasion. Rahul addressed meetings at Lalitpur, Jhansi, Jaluan, Hamirpur, Banda, Mahoba and Chitrakoot during the tour that ended on January 21.
At Mauranipur in Jhansi, for instance, he used rhetoric local style to explain to his audience how little their region had gained after they had voted for the bicycle or the elephant, the election symbols of the Samajwadi Party and the BSP.
“Kabhi hathi, kabhi cycle. Pehle cycle bhadaak se puncture ho gayee, ab hathi paisa khane laga” (Sometimes the elephant, sometimes the cycle. First the bicycle suddenly had a puncture, now the elephant has started to gobble money).
It was not the first time voters were hearing such a remark about the elephant. What was new to them was the fact that Rahul was using “bhadaak se” to express “suddenly”. They burst into laughter.
He went to Tindwari in Banda with his homework done, not only on the politics of the seat, where the BSP had fared miserably in 2007, but also on the language to stress his point: “Aapne yahan hathi ko joote markar nikala” (You booted the elephant out of here). And a few young supporters chanted, “Phir marenge” (We will boot it out again).
… contd.
SC agrees to hear Amit Shah’s plea to return to Gujarat
The Supreme Court today agreed to hear the plea of former Gujarat Home Minister Amit Shah, who was forced to leave the state during pendency of his trial in Sohrabuddin fake encounter killing case, for permission to return.
A Bench headed by Justice Aftab Alam said that it would hear his plea along with the CBI’s petition seeking cancellation of Shah’s bail in the Sohrabuddin case.
Shah, who was directed by the apex court to leave the state during the pendency of the trial in Sohrabuddin fake encounter case, had yesterday approached the apex court saying living outside his home state for the last 16 months has caused “irreparable hardship” to him and his family members.
The apex court had on October 30, 2010, directed Shah to leave the state and ordered him to stay out till further order.
Pleading with the apex court to modify its order, Shah said, “He will suffer irreparable injury and hardship if an appropriate order to the effect of modification of order of October 30, 2010, is not made.”
“The applicant has remained outside his own state for approximately 16 months resulting into a situation where one of the largest assembly constituencies in the country, which has reposed faith in the applicant since four consecutive terms, is deprived of its representatives,” he said.
Shah, a close aide of Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi, was arrested by CBI on July 25, 2010, and he had spent over three months in Sabarmati Jail in Ahmedabad. Shah had to quit the Modi government in July last year after being slapped with charges of murder and kidnapping in the fake encounter killing of alleged gangster Sohrabuddin Sheikh and his wife Kauser Bi in 2005.
… contd.
Bombay High Court asks Nimbus to deposit Rs. 305 crores
Mumbai: The Bombay High Court has given Nimbus Communications four weeks to deposit Rs. 305 crores (approx. US$61 million) with the court as security for the amount the BCCI claims it is owed by the company.
The order, issued by Justice SJ Vazifdar on January 19, 2012, came after the board had moved the court asking for Nimbus to provide a security for the outstandings.
The BCCI argued that the amount is due to them for the telecast of India’s recent home one-day series against England and the West Indies series, and asked that the amount be taken from the advertisement revenue earned through Nimbus’ sports channels – Neo Sports and Neo Cricket.
The lawyers for Nimbus and Neo Sports, however, claimed that the terminated contract was between BCCI and Nimbus and did not involve Neo Sports. Therefore Neo was not liable to pay the board anything. Neo, they argued, was an independently-run business and though it was a subsidiary of Nimbus, there were no legitimate grounds to use its revenues to pay off the debts of its parent company.
However, the court disagreed with Nimbus’ argument and ruled that “the respondents [Nimbus and Neo] should deposit all monies which they have already received from the advertisers as consideration for broadcast of advertisements on the television channel/s owned and operated by the respondents in relation to the 2011 cricket series.”
In addition, the court directed Nimbus to petition the advertisers who still owed them money for the same series to deposit that money with the court as well, with the stipulation that the total amount placed with the court was not to exceed Rs. 305 crores.
Nimbus and the BCCI are locked in a battle over the television rights for cricket in India. The board terminated the contract between the parties last month, claiming Nimbus had defaulted but were stymied by the courts when it came to encashing bank guarantees worth Rs. 1600 crores (approx. $320 million). ESPNcricinfo understands that the dispute over the contract is now under arbitration.
Sehwag open to batting in the middle ‘when time is right’
Adelaide: Virender Sehwag, the India opener, has not ruled out shifting down to the middle order once some of the senior batsmen retire. Sehwag began his career as a middle-order batsman, scored his first Test century there, but had to naturalise to the opener’s position because the middle order was packed.
He has come to be known as the man who revolutionised how Test innings are opened. However, even at the highest points of his career, Sehwag has maintained he would love to go back to the middle order, where he doesn’t always have to negotiate the moving new ball.
Sehwag said such a move would not happen in the Adelaide Test, in which he is captaining India. “No, not in this team because, you know, we have a very good middle order so when they retire then I’ll think about it,” Sehwag said.
When the fact that there will be vacancies over the next year or so was pointed out to him, Sehwag said: “It depends on the combination, and who’s the captain, and who’s going to retire.”
There has been a lot of criticism of MS Dhoni’s captaincy – defensive or pragmatic, depending on how you see it – over the past two away series, and against that backdrop Sehwag was asked if he saw himself as a full-time Test captain. Sehwag played the rare leave outside off. “Right now, no,” he said. “Right now I’m just concentrating on this Test match. It’s not in my hands; it’s just the selectors’ job and BCCI’s job.”
Sehwag’s press conference ahead of the Adelaide Test was as much about the past as about the future. He was asked if the century he scored the last time he played in Adelaide gave him confidence. “Tomorrow is a different day, different game, different tour,” he said. “Last time when we came here, I didn’t play the first two games, and I was out of the team for some time, and I was fighting for my place. But now it’s a different story, a different thing, so I think it’s good to play in Adelaide because when you score a hundred on the previous tour you look forward to going and playing on the same ground and trying to make another hundred.”
Sehwag has had a poor run on the Australia tour, with just 128 runs from six innings. He gave credit to the Australia bowlers, saying it was probably the best Australia attack he had faced. “I think they are bowling good areas. They are not giving easy balls to hit boundaries, and they are playing with your patience, so I think this is the best bowling attack I’ve ever seen. Against Australia, generally when I played in the past, I’d get a couple of balls in the early overs to hit to the boundary; but from this attack I hardly get a ball to hit, so I think it’s one of the best bowling attacks.”
India vs Australia, 4th Test: Statistical highlights
Michael Clarke has produced his best performance in a Test series – 519 at an average of 173.00 in five innings, including a career-best, an unbeaten 329 at SCG.
# Clarke has totalled 400 runs or more in a Test series three times – the earlier two instances are 448 (ave.64.00) runs in five Tests against England in 2009 and 400 (ave.57.14) in four Tests against India in 2004-05 (his debut series).
# Clarke is the fourth Australian captain to amass 500 runs or more in a Test series against India, joining Don Bradman (715 at an average of 178.75 in five Tests in 1947-48 in Australia), Kim Hughes (594 at an average of 59.40 in six Tests in 1979-80 in India) and Bobby Simpson (539 at an average of 53.90 in five Tests in 1977-78 in Australia).
# Clarke, in the course of his superb hundred (140 not out), has completed his 1,000 runs as captain – 1105 at an average of 65.00 in 19 innings, including five hundreds and a fifty.
# Clarke’s fifth Test hundred against India is his 19th in Tests – his eleventh in Australia.
# Ricky Ponting (13056 runs at an average of 53.07) became the first Australian player and the third overall to complete 13,000 runs, joining India’s Sachin Tendulkar (15,432) and Rahul Dravid (13,262).
# Ponting has reached 13,000 runs in 275 innings – the second fastest in Tests behind Sachin Tendulkar’s 266 innings. Dravid took 277 innings to reach the milestone.
# Ponting took 162 Tests for his 13,000 – the second quickest, next only to Dravid (160). Tendulkar had taken 163 Tests to reach the coveted feat.
# Ponting has overtaken Clive Lloyd’s tally of 2344 (ave.58.60) in 28 Tests against India. Ponting, with 2411 runs at an average of 52.41 in 29 Tests is now the top run-scorer against India in Tests.
# Ricky Ponting is the second batsman to amass 400 runs or more in the series – 400 at an average of 100.00 in five innings, including two centuries and two fifties.
# Since registering 378 runs in three Tests at an average of 63.00, including a hundred and two fifties, against Pakistan in 2009-10, Ponting has managed 300 runs or more in a Test series for the first time.
# Ponting became the first player to make 1500 runs at Adelaide Oval – 1579 at an average of 60.73 in 16 Tests. Allan Border has the next best tally at this venue – 1415 (ave.58.95) in 16 Tests.
# Ponting, with his 41st Test hundred, has emulated Jacques Kallis’ tally. Only Sachin Tendulkar has recorded more hundreds (51) than Ponting and Kallis.
# Ponting’s tally of 23 hundreds in 89 Tests in Australia is a record for most hundreds by a batsman at home, obliterating the 22 centuries each by Tendulkar (82 Tests) and Kallis (82 Tests).
# Ponting has registered two hundreds in a Test series against India for the third time – the first two instances being the 1999-00 and 2003-04 Test series in Australia.
# Since recording two hundreds in the 2006-07 series against England in Australia, Ponting has posted two hundreds for the first time in a Test series.
# Ponting has extended his record for most hundreds (6) at Adelaide, emulating his century tally at SCG. Sir Donald Bradman had recorded 9 Test hundreds at MCG – the most by an Australian player at one venue.
# Ponting has registered a hundred each in all the four Tests at Adelaide Oval against India – 125 & 21 in 1999-00; 242 & 0 in 2003-04, 140 in 2007-08 and 137 not out in 2011-12.
# Ponting is averaging 133.00 against India at Adelaide Oval - 665 in four Tests (six innings).
# Ponting has equalled a record for posting eight hundreds in 29 Tests against India. He has joined Garry Sobers (8 in 18 Tests) and Vivian Richards (8 in 28).
# Clarke and Ponting, with their 251-run stand (unbroken), have set an Australian record for the highest partnership for any wicket against India at Adelaide, outstripping the 239 between Ponting and Steve Waugh for the fifth wicket in 1999-2000.
# Clarke-Ponting pair has posted five stands of 100 or more in Tests – three against India and one each against South Africa and Pakistan.
# For the first time in successive innings, Clarke-Ponting pair has recorded stands of 200-plus. In their previous innings, the pair had put on 288 at SCG. The highet by the pair is 352 against Pakistan at Hobart in January 2010.
# Marsh has averaged 3.40 in the present series – 17 runs in five innings.
# For the first time in a Test series against India, Australia have recorded four partnerships of 200 or more – two at SCG and one each at Perth and Adelaide.
# Of the 15 double century stands for Australia against India, 4 have been recorded in the present series followed by two each in 1947-48 and 1979-80. Pakistan was the first team to register four stands of 200 or more in the 1982-83 series.
# Australia have recorded four stands of 200 or more in a series three times – the first two instances being against the West Indies – in 1954-55 in the West Indies and 1968-69 in Australia
# For the sixth time, Australia have recorded 300 runs or more in a day’s play against India at Adelaide – the highest being 400 for 5 in 2003-04
Assembly polls: Punjab declares public holiday on January 30
Chandigarh: The Punjab government has declared a public holiday on January 30 when election to the 117-member state Assembly will be held.
All offices of the state government, boards and corporations, educational institutions and other offices would remain closed on the day of polling, an official spokesman said.
The offices of the Punjab government located in Chandigarh Union Territory would also remain closed, he added.
The holiday has been declared under Section 25 of Negotiable Instrument Act, 1881, which is applicable to banks and financial institutions.