Obama a messiah for Chennai family

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US President Barack Obama may have won more hearts around the world while running for Presidency, but for a Chennai family, he became a messiah five years ago when he helped a woman get a US visa. For Sujatha Adsumilli, Obama has a special place in her heart.

She even prayed for the success of the Illinois Senator after the Democrat was named for the Presidential race. Sujatha wanted to fly to the US in 2004 for her son A Vijay Kumar's house warming ceremony, but officials at American consulate denied her a visa as she was a widow and they considered her a "potential immigrant", her elder son A Ramesh Kumar told PTI. "Officials feared she could end up living there with my brother Vijay Kumar, who has US citizenship.

Vijay wrote to then Illinois Senator Obama, telling him of the problem, who wrote to the State Department and the Consulate in Chennai asking them to consider the matter under Department of state guidelines," he said. This was enough to spur the officials into action to grant her a 10 year multiple entry visa to the US. Sujatha left for US in 2005 for the "grahapravesam" and also tried to personally thank Obama, but in vain.

She rues missing the opportunity to meet him "as he had just left his office." "But the staff at his office extended great hospitality and promised me that they would convey my greetings to him," Sujatha said.

Special incentive

Filed under: , by: Just For Blogging

Neither the decision by US President Barack Obama and his Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to appoint a special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, nor their choice of veteran American diplomat Richard Holbrooke for the assignment should come as a surprise to India. On the eve of the US presidential elections last November, this newspaper had reported on Obama's firm plans to appoint a high profile special envoy for the subcontinent. Nevertheless, New Delhi should note the speed with which the new administration has acted and the political capital it is investing in the project to bring order to the northwestern parts of the subcontinent.

Announcing the appointment on her very first day in the state department, Clinton emphasised the importance of "an integrated strategy" that treats the problems in Afghanistan and Pakistan as a single whole, and mobilises America's friends and allies from around the world to rejuvenate the faltering war on terror. To accomplish what many would consider mission impossible, Obama and Clinton have chosen Holbrooke, whose reputation as a diplomatic Rottweiler is well-established. With the stage now set for a major American diplomatic initiative in the subcontinent, New Delhi surely owes a wink and a nod to Obama and Clinton for not including Kashmir and India in Holbrooke's official mandate, despite the clamour for it among the think-tanks in Washington. The UPA government, which has been posturing against "third-party intervention" in Kashmir and went out of the way to put down the British Foreign Secretary David Miliband, has been saved the political blushes.

Having covered its political flanks at home, the Manmohan Singh government now must turn to the substantive issues underlying the Obama initiative. That Washington did not mention India does not mean the Obama team has given up on its understanding that the security dynamic on Pakistan's western borders is linked to the situation on its eastern frontiers. It is one thing for New Delhi to object to the so-called "re-hyphenation" with Islamabad, but entirely another to ignore India's massive security interests in Pakistan and Afghanistan. New Delhi knows that it does not have the power to unilaterally alter the internal dynamics in Pakistan and Afghanistan. If India elevates strategic outcomes above the formalism of the diplomatic process, it will find every incentive to engage and support the Holbrooke mission to transform the badlands between the Indus and the Hindu Kush.

Fifa 09

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Ex-stars back Tendulkar on neutral venues

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Batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar’s call to BCCI to do away with neutral venues for domestic matches received support from Mumbai coach and former Test star Praveen Amre and ex-India skipper Ajit Wadekar on Saturday.

Amre felt that the BCCI initiative of neutral venues was good but will not work in India due to lack of sporting wickets.

"I should say that the idea of playing domestic matches on neutral venues is good but I am afraid it will not work in India until and unless the board and the state associations prepare sporting wickets," Amre told Cricketnext.com on Saturday.

"If you see the wickets where we played our quarter-final match (Ahmedabad) and the semi-final match (Chennai) it was heart-breaking for the bowlers as none of the two venues came anywhere near to dishing out sporting wickets and only the batsmen flourished. Even the hardest of hard core fan would not like to sit and watch the bat dominate the ball as there can be only one result and that would be a dull draw," he added.

"To make the neutral venue concept successful we need to prepare sporting wickets where an outright result is possible. Till the wickets are relaid to the satisfaction of the players and the paying public, the board should stick to home and away matches as the spectators will surely not come to watch a dull and drab draw irrespetive of the biggest stars' participation," Amre observed.

Wadekar, who backed Tendulkar totally, said playing in front of the home crowd or in front of the opposition team’s supporters was a big incentive for the players as they would be pumped up to give out their best.

"I will totally go with Sachin’s views as cricket or for that matter any sport without fans support will fail to spur on the players," Wadekar said.

"I remember playing infront of packed home crowd against a full fledged Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Delhi teams during my playing days. The interest shown by the paying public than was amazing as they always left the ground satisfied as the matches used to throw up results more often than not as the wickets were result oriented," Wadekar observed.

"Probably the Indian board should think of going back to the old format till the nature of wickets improve in the country or else take a leaf out of English Premier League or Champions League (both football) and play home and away matches from knock-out stages onwards," he added.

Pranab rules out Israel type action against Pakistan

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India on Saturday virtually ruled out any Israel type action against Pakistan in the wake of Mumbai terror attacks, saying the situation is not comparable.

External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, however, maintained that "future course" will decide how India will deal with Pakistan if the latter does not comply with its demands about ending terrorism.

"I do not agree to that. Because this is totally wrong. The situation is not at all comparable," he said when asked whether Israeli type offensive against Hamas in Gaza Strip could be an option for the Government against Pakistan.

"I have not gone and occupied any (of) Pakistan's land which Israel has done (in Palestine). So, how the situation can be comparable," Mukherjee asked during an interview to CNN-IBN.

Maintaining that all options are still "open", he said India expects Pakistan to act on the evidence linking elements in the neighbouring country to Mumbai attacks.

"When I say all options are open, all options are open. There is no need of picking up option a, option b, option c, option d. No need of that. I am not responding to that. What I am responding to is options are open," he said.

"We have not reached the end of the road. Pakistan, what they have asked for, we have given them. We expect them to act on it," Mukherjee said.

"If they do not act on it, then what follow up steps we will take and in what space of time it will take place, future course will decide," he said.