Kolkata: Dwayne Bravo struck a last ball six as titleholders Chennai Super Kings scraped past the Kolkata Knight Riders by five wickets in a nail-biting Indian Premier League contest at the Eden Gardens here Monday to brighten their chances of a play-off place.
Replying to the Knight Riders’ 158/6, the Super Kings needed five off the last ball. But West Indies all-rounder Dwyane Bravo (11 not out; 7 b, 1×6) held his nerves to dispatch a low full toss from Rajat Bhatia over the long on fence as the visitors reached 160/5 and silence descended at the Eden Gardens.
The Super Kings had a cracker of a start, with man of the match Mike Hussey (56; 39 b, 4×4, 4×6) and Murali Vijay (36; 24 b, 5×4, 1×6) mercilessly belting the Knight Riders’ bowlers during a 97-run opening wicket stand off only 9.2 overs.
The floodgates opened as early as in the second over that saw Knight Riders pacer Lakshmipathy Balaji conceding 25 runs with both batsmen making a feast of fours and sixes.
However, mystery spinner Sunil Narine threatened to bring the Knights back into the game by plotting the dismissal of Hussey and Vijay within a space of three balls in the 10th over.
When Suresh Raina (8) got run out in the 13th over, the Super Kings needed 49 from 46 balls. With the ball turning and keeping low and slow, Faf Du Plessis (13; 16b) and M.S. Dhoni (28; 21 b, 3×4, 1×6) found it difficult to get the boundaries, and instead concentrated on singles.
Plessis then holed out to Manoj Tiwary, and the Super Kings were left to score 32 of 23 deliveries. But Dhoni then took charge, punishing Marchant de lange in the penultimate over with a sequence of 4-4-6. Eighteen came of the over, and the Super Kings needed 9 in the last over.
However, Bhatia skittled Dhoni’s stumps with a leg cutter off the second delivery, and kept a tight leash on the batsmen till the penultimate ball. But Bravo’s six ensured the Super Kings had the last laugh.
Earlier, put in to bat, Knight Riders skipper Gautam Gambhir blasted his eighth half century of the tournament, but the home side failed to follow up on an explosive start.
Gambhir (62; 43 b, 4×6, 3×6) and Brendon McCullum (37; 29 b, 4X4, 1X6) launched the Knights’ innings on a high rampaging a 69-ball 99, but loss of quick wickets led to a drop in the run rate as the Super Kings were set an asking rate of 7.95 runs per over. Gambhir, whose blade failed to fire in the game against Mumbai Indians two days back, was back among the runs, clobbering the bowlers to all ends of the ground.
The Super Kings finally broke the partnership in the 12th over when McCullum got out looking for a second run. The New Zealander’s departure triggered a collapse as Gambhir returned in the very next over giving the charge to Shadab Jakati, but only managing an inside edge to the pad before the ball kissed the stumps.
Jacques Kallis (4) never got going, Yusuf Pathan’s (11; 8b, 1×6) only significant contribution was a six over long on, while Manoj Tiwary (12)also disappointed, as the scoring rate slowed down. In the end, it was left to Debabrata Das (19 not out; 10b, 2×4, 1×6) to play a cameo that helped the Knight Riders cross the 150-mark.

Kolkata: Asking the fans to grow up, Bollywood superstar and Kolkata Knight Riders owner Shah Rukh Khan Tuesday tried to put to rest comparisons with Sourav Ganguly by stating that the fans should stop comparing the two. “The fans should grow up. This is sport. We should play it like a sport. We keep talking about Kings and Khans… This is crap, to be honest,” Shah Rukh said on the sidelines of the Kolkata Knight Riders post-match party.
“To be honest, if we don’t outgrow this, it is not only embarrassing for us, it is embarrassing for Dada too. We should get over this. Whenever I come to Kolkata, if you are going to bring this up then I think it’s a little unfair,” a visibly annoyed Shah Rukh said.
For the first three Indian Premier League (IPL) editions, Ganguly was an indispensable part of the Knight Riders, though their association was not controversy-free.
The prince of Kolkata captained the team in the inaugural year but lost the job in the second season which was marked by his run-ins with coach John Buchanan. Ganguly got back the captaincy in the third season, but his authority was much diluted amidst reports of growing differences with SRK.
Finally, Shah Rrukh dumped Ganguly from the team last year, and appointed Gautam Gambhir as skipper. After finding no takers in the players’ auction, Ganguly made a belated entry into the 22 yards for Pune Warriors as a replacement for Ashish Nehra. And this year, Warriors have anointed him captain-cum-mentor.
The May 5 match between Knight Riders and Pune Warriors was billed as Dada versus Shah Rukh grudge match. Shah Rukh said the regular comparisons were unfair on Ganguly. “Instead of making him small with these comparisons, we all should applaud the greatness he has achieved. I am the greatest fan of Dada as far as cricket is concerned. We wish him whenever he plays,” the actor said.
When asked whether Sourav will be brought in as the mentor of the team in the next session, Shah Rukh in a flippant way said: “I’m the mentor of this team. The owner of this team. The hero of this team. I’m the God of this team.”

The bike is powered by a 110 cc engine which is able to deliver 8.5 BHP at the rate of 7,500 rotations per minute (RPM) coupled with a mileage of 72 km per litre.
The company said that the engine also comes with a new technology – ‘Honda intelligent ignition control system’ which changes ignition timings to attain ideal combustion, leading to improved power output and efficiency. “Entering a new era, Honda is committed to serve two-wheeler customers across every segment in India. We are confident that Dream Yuga will be huge success and create a new benchmark for mass mobility in India,” Yadvinder S. Guleria, vice president, sales and marketing, HMSI, said, adding, “In line with its development concept of a “true India specific mass motorcycle”, Dream Yuga at its attractive price is ideal for those who desire a robust, reliable, easy to maintain, highly fuel efficient yet stylish bike”.
Officials with HMSI said they are optimistic of selling around three lakh units of the motorcycle in the current fiscal.
The company already sells another 110 cc bike CB Twister which was launched in late 2010 priced at close to Rs.45,000. The bike has received an average sales response of just 12,000 units per month. “The Twister is aimed at the urban customer. While the Dream Yuga is aimed more at the rural customer. We plan to sell 300,000 units of Dream Yuga during 2012-13,” Guleria said.
The bike will face tough competition from industry leaders in sales like Passion and Discover which have on average sell more than a million units each year.
The company has also increased its sales outlook for the fiscal by 30 percent including those of scooters and will stand at 2.85 million from 2.2 million sold in the last fiscal.
On the revenue share of its Indian operations in the company’s globe kitty, top company official said was around 13 percent and is expected to rise by 30 percent.
“At the moment, India’s share is 13 percent (to global overall Honda revenues). We expect it to increase to 30 percent by 2020,” said Keita Muramatsu, president and chief executive, HMSI adding that he expected the company to become the largest two-wheeler manufacturer in India.
The two-wheeler manufacture further said that it also plans to launch another 100 cc bike aimed at capturing the mass market segment in India. However, the company did not divulge any details of its price or the launch time.
The company also launched its new new corporate direction and signed on to Akshay Kumar as its brand ambassador. “The new corporate direction is a step forward towards Honda’s objective to attain leadership position in India,” Muramatsu said.

New Delhi/Mumbai: A grounded fleet, ticket cancellations and unused labour have cost Air India Rs.100 crore in the seven days since the pilots went on strike, an official said Monday.

The airline scrapped 14 international flights on the seventh day of the agitation Monday while its low-cost international wing, Air India Express, cancelled four flights. The carrier’s domestic operations have been in disarray. “The total losses in the week is around Rs.100 crore. We had to face ticket cancellation, unused labour and an entire grounded fleet of our 777s. We also have to cancel 14 flights for the day,” a senior Air India official with the operations arm, said.
He said the contingency plan would be implemented “within two or three days” whereby a guaranteed minimum international operation will be on. “We are monitoring the situation and informing the passengers in advance.”
The airline has stopped bookings on some of its ultra long-haul routes till May 15, effectively cancelling more than 15 flights per day to major sectors such as the US, Europe, and some other destinations like Shanghai, Hong Kong and Singapore.
Air India had grounded the bulk of its 17 Boeing 777 aircraft. Maintaining the grounded aircraft add further to its expenditure.
Meanwhile, the five independent directors of the company met at a meeting here supported the management’s decision to sack pilots and derecognise their union, the Indian Pilots Guild (IPG).
Earlier during the day, Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh reiterated that the pilots should come back to work after which all their issues will be discussed.
Asked about the IPG pilots coming to meet him, Singh said: “There was no information, no meeting. My PA (personal assistant) told me they had come but there was no plan. I was not aware. I didn’t know they came and went away.”
Singh had Sunday regretted the move by the government to merge the erstwhile Indian Airlines and Air India and had said there should have been due diligence before that.
Trouble started for the airline May 8 when pilots belonging to IPG took mass sick leave protesting the move to provide Boeing-787 Dreamliner training to pilots from the erstwhile Indian Airlines.
The pilots had earlier said they were open to talks. But the government has not till now accepted the offer, saying there would be no negotiations till the pilots returned to work.
The airline has also moved petitions in the Supreme Court and Delhi High Court. The apex court will hear the petition along with special leave petition (SLP) filed earlier by the Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA), the union of erstwhile Indian Airlines pilots.

Suzuki Motorcycle India is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Suzuki Motor Corporation.
“We have started in a small way end of last year to export products to Nepal and Columbia, and possibly we will add on more countries to take it forward. There can be a possibility of looking India as a hub for two-wheeler export,” she said.
Anamika declined to divulge any details. “The plan is not detailed out as of now.”
She was in the city to launch ‘Hayate’, the company’s first motorcycle in the mass segment.
The company, which has an objective to have a product in possibly every target segment in the Indian two-wheeler market by end of fiscal year 2014-15, is planning to add two more models into its current product portfolio of five. “We are looking at taking this portfolio to maybe seven by 2014,” she said.
Suzuki, which stated its operation in India in 2006, has two 125 cc scooters – Access and Swish.
Asked whether the company will have more products in the mass segment, she said: “It will depend on how things go. As of now we have one product in the category and we are looking at 10,000 per month numbers at the starting. As we move on we need to launch more…we are looking at this segment seriously.”
The mass segment is 62 percent of India’s two-wheeler market.
Currently, the company enjoys 22 percent market share in scooters segment and 2 percent in the motorbike segment. It is eyeing 8 percent and 10 percent cumulative market share by 2014 and 2015.

Mumbai: Seeking to woo business leaders, Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy Tuesday said his state has the right ingredients to invest and nurture business, and underlined factors such as skilled manpower, low employee attrition rate and a large consumer market in support of his contention.

Chandy was addressing a gathering here of top business and corporate honchos besides heads of trade missions from abroad.
Kerala offers many advantages as an investment destination, including a transparent and responsive administration, high literacy rate, skilled manpower, low employee attrition rate, a consumer market of over 33 million people, top class infrastructure, and proximity to international air and sea routes, he said.
Chandy and his key ministers — Industries Minister P.K. Kunhalikutty and Finance Minister K.M. Mani — had earlier met top business leaders and overseas diplomats in New Delhi on April 20, signalling the launch of a six-month-long build-up to one of the biggest investment branding exercises the state has ever undertaken.
Tuesday’s meeting, organised in association with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM), was part of a string of national and international road shows the Kerala government has planned in connection with its ambitious “Emerging Kerala-2012′, which will be held at Kochi Sep 12-14.
The Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC) is the nodal agency for the summit, which is intended as a biennial event.
Addressing the conclave, Kunhalikutty said the state has a clear development agenda. “The government gives top priority to PPP (public private partnership) in the proposed mega projects, and it will facilitate land and other statutory clearances for these projects. We are laying more emphasis on industrial infrastructure at par with the global standards,” he said.
The industries minister said Kerala would promote private investments and foreign direct investments (FDIs) for development of world-class infrastructure. He said a new special economic zone (SEZ) policy was being finalised in line with the existing policy of Government of India.
Mani, on the other hand, said, “Collaborative efforts are needed to industrialise Kerala”. He assured industry leaders that land acquisition would not be a problem.
The meeting was attended by representatives of a number of companies from both the public and private sectors, including Reliance Industries ltd, Hinduja Group, SBI Epital Markets ltd, Tata International ltd, Kotak Mahindra Capital, Mahindra and Mahindra, JP Morgan, BPCL, Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd, Marico India ltd, Johnson & Johnson ltd, iGATE and Hirco Developments Pvt ltd.
The conclave also saw the presence of representatives from US Asia Business Forum, Consulate General of Argentina, Consulate General of Canada, Mexican Trade Commission (ProMexico), Export Import Bank of India, Yes Bank Ltd, IndusInd Bank Ltd, Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd and KPMG, among others.
Leading entrepreneurs from Kerala like B.K. Patodia, Chairman and Managing Director, GTN Textiles; Sanjaya Mariwala, Managing Director, Kancor Ingredients Ltd; and Navas Meeran, Chairman, Eastern Group, also shared their success stories.
Showing faith in Kerala’s business-friendly environment, a representative from Tata Consultancy Service (TCS) announced that it would set up a second training centre for 10,000 students in the state.

New Delhi: German luxury car maker Mercedes-Benz Tuesday launched its third generation sports utility vehicle M-Class priced at Rs.56.9 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi). “At the start of this year, we had promised to introduce exciting new models into the market. We are proud to present today the new M-Class,” Peter Honegg, managing director and chief executive, Mercedes-Benz, said, adding, “We are confident that the quality drive and the luxurious experience it can deliver will be a big hit with the customers and it will be warmly received.”

The off-roader comes with technologies such as customised settings for engine performance, automatic transmission, anti-lock braking system, electronic stability programme and electronic traction system.
The company has so far sold 1,500 units of the vehicle, launched in 2008, in the country. The latest model has a price cut of nearly 15 percent from its previous editions and will take on BMW X5 and Audi Q5.
Another variant of the new vehicle, the AMG edition of 100 units, priced at Rs.66 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) was completely sold off through pre-bookings even before the launch.
According to Honegg, the company expects a boost in sales after the launch of compact segment brands such as A-Class and B-Class enters the market. He, however, did not divulge any price details or the launch time of the vehicles.
“We expect to become number luxury sellers of luxury cars in India by 2020, the growth will get a boost when the compact models enter the Indian market,” he said.
The company sold around 7,500 units in 2011, which was a growth of 30 percent over 2010, but in 2012, it expects to grow at a much slower pace of 20 percent due to the existing market environment.
Mercedes-Benz was the second-largest luxury car seller in 2011 with sales of around 7,500 units. The market was led by BMW with sales of over 9,400 cars. Audi was the third-largest seller with 5,511 units.

New Delhi: Veteran Congress leader N D Tiwari was asked by the Delhi high court to inform it within two days as to whether he wants to voluntarily give his blood sample for a DNA test in a paternity suit or police force be used for obtaining it.

Justice Reva Khetrapal also told the counsel for 86-year- old Tiwari that his client will not leave India till he gives his blood sample for the requisite DNA test in the matter in the wake of orders of the Delhi high court and the Supreme Court.

Tiwari, former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, was earlier directed by the high court and the apex court to furnish a blood sample for the DNA test.

“It is deemed expedient that the time of two days be granted to defendant no. 1 (Tiwari) to inform whether he voluntarily wants to give blood sample for the DNA test or the court will have to take recourse to police force. List the matter on May 16,” Justice Khetrapal said.

The court, meanwhile, also directed the Hyderabad-based Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics (CDFD) to send “requisite kits” for the DNA test to the registrar of the court.

The court rejected the plea of Tiwari’s counsel that a week’s time be granted to him for taking instruction in this regard from the Dehradun-based Congress leader.

“I cannot keep the matter pending as the issue has finally been decided by a division bench of this court and by the Supreme Court and nothing remains to be decided,” the court said, adding, “Either you make a statement that Tiwari will not leave the country or I will restrain him.”

The court’s directions came on an application of 32-year-old Rohit Shekhar seeking to compel Tiwari to furnish his blood sample at the earliest to decide the four-year-old paternity suit.
The court was hearing a fresh plea by Shekhar against Tiwari, a former governor of Andhra Pradesh, seeking that he be asked to give the blood sample to ascertain whether he was the biological father of the petitioner.

The veteran leader had recently suffered set backs in the high court and the Supreme Court in his bid to avoid giving his blood sample.

A two-judge bench of the high court had said that even police force could be used for compelling Tiwari to comply with the earlier order in the case as non-implementation of judicial orders would make courts a “laughing stock”.

Tiwari had moved the apex court against the order but he could not get the desired relief.

“Enough is enough. You (Tiwari) were not present on earlier occasions. Having regard to your age, we had told you to give sample in a sealed cover. We gave you protection under Article 21, but enough is enough,” justices Aftab Alam and C K Prasad had said.

Shekhar had moved the fresh plea seeking that the court should appoint a commissioner to take Tiwari’s blood sample with assistance from the police, as mandated by the April 27 order.

Shekhar, in his application, has said that the Congress leader be asked to bear the cost of the execution of the order and be restrained from leaving the country to avoid complying with the judicial order.

Earlier, a single-judge bench had said that the order asking Tiwari to undergo the DNA test for ascertaining the paternity of Shekhar was “un-implementable and unenforceable” and, hence, he could not be forced to give his blood sample for this purpose.

Setting aside the order, the division bench of the high court had said “…police assistance and use of reasonable force for compliance thereof” can be taken as judicial orders needed to be executed.

Shekhar had in 2008 filed the paternity suit seeking to declare Tiwari as his biological father and a single judge and a division bench of the high court had asked Tiwari to go for the DNA test.

The Supreme Court also did not stay the order and had opined that Tiwari should abide by the court orders as vital evidence may be lost for forever considering his old age.

Tiwari, who had also held key ministerial portfolios at the Centre, was forced to resign as the Andhra Pradesh governor in 2009 amid allegations of sexual misconduct against him following the airing of a sting operation in news channels.

New Delhi: Shaken by the violent clash between officers and jawans of an artillery regiment at Nyoma in eastern Ladakh, the Army on Saturday started a court of inquiry (CoI) into the breach of discipline and “relieved” the commanding officer of his charge.

The Army also began to “move back” the 226 Field Artillery Regiment to its “permanent location” at Durbuk from the Mahe field firing range, where the brawl on Thursday evening had led to Colonel Prasad Kadam, Major A K Sharma and sepoy Suman Ghosh, among others, being hospitalized with fractures, bruises and other injuries.
Sources said Colonel Yatinder Nandal has been temporarily given the command of the artillery unit in place of Colonel Kadam.
The CoI, headed by a brigadier, will establish the chain of events and the “complicity” of the officers and jawans involved, who would then face a court-martial and dismissal from service. The 226 Field Regiment itself will be “disbanded” at a later stage, with the around 550 soldiers being posted to different units.
All this came amid defence minister A K Antony directing the Army to present a “detailed report”.
The Army on Saturday continued to maintain that the Ladakh clash on Thursday evening was “an isolated act of indiscipline”, insisting it could “in no way be termed a mutiny”. “Neither were any arms and ammunition used during the incident, nor did the jawans capture the armoury,” said a senior officer.
The Army also denied that the stand-off was still in progress with the jawans, who got agitated after sepoy Suman Ghosh was mercilessly thrashed by young officers for daring to complain about the behaviour of a major’s wife during the firing training camp at the Mahe ranges. “The situation was defused on Friday itself after 3 Division commander Major General A L Chavan and the artillery brigade commander rushed to the spot and interacted with the troops,” said the officer.
The startling free-for-all in the highly disciplined environs of the Army has sent shock waves down the ranks, with the episode being viewed as “a complete failure of command and control” in the unit.
Earlier, an extensive study conducted into the high suicide rate in the 1.13-million-strong Army by the Defence Institute of Psychological Research had held that “perceived humiliation and harassment” at the hands of their superiors often served as the final “trigger” for jawans to take their own lives.

Hafiz Saeed, founder of the Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group, is accused of masterminding the 2008 Mumbai terror attack in which 166 people, including foreigners, were killed by 10 terrorists from Pakistan.
The US last month announced an award of up to $10 million for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Saeed and $2 million for Hafiz Adbul Rahman Makki, under the Rewards for Justice programme, for information on the two terrorists.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, during her three-day trip to India earlier this month, said she had authorised the award for Hafiz Saeed who was responsible for the attack in Mumbai. “It may take longer than we like but we will stand with you and trying to make that happen,” she had said.
Gilani also said that Egyptian cleric Ayman al-Zawahiri, who became the Al Qaeda chief after the killing of Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad town May 2 last year, was not in his country. “Why should I think he (Zawahiri) is in Pakistan?” he asked. “You have claimed that somebody has said that he is in Pakistan: if there is any information, please share with us,” he was quoted as saying.
When asked for his own view on whether the Al Qaeda chief was in Pakistan, Gilani said, “We don’t think so.”
Clinton had said that Zawahiri was in Pakistan. “We want to disable Al Qaeda. We believe Zawahiri is in Pakistan. You have to go over those who are trying to kill you. You have to be focused on that,” she said May 7 during her India trip.