The International Cricket Council (ICC) Tuesday vowed to keep the game alive despite a terror attack wounding six Sri Lankan players in Lahore but scratched Pakistan out of the list of venues for international matches in the foreseeable future.'The world is a dangerous place but cricket must go on. It will go on. It's a great game and a great solace to so many people,' declared a somber-looking ICC President David Morgan at a hurriedly-convened news conference here.Morgan and ICC Chief Executive Haroon Logat, under sustained questioning from reporters, indicated the 2011 World Cup, set to be staged in the Indian subcontinent may now be held in only three countries - India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.'The World Cup is due to be staged in the Indian subcontinent shared between four countries. That is the current plan, but the ICC board will have to think very carefully about the extent to which Pakistan will be used for that event,' Morgan said.'I think it's difficult to see international cricket being played in Pakistan in the foreseeable future,' Logat said, and spelt out the choice for Pakistani cricketers: 'It's better that Pakistan chooses to play cricket in neutral venues rather than not play at all.'The ICC board is to meet in mid-April for a detailed discussion on the World Cup with the Organising Committee headed by ICC Vice President Sharad Pawar.However, Logat insisted that security arrangements for bilateral tours, such as the one between Pakistan and Sri Lanka, were the direct responsibilities of the two playing countries rather than the ICC, which can only get involved if specifically asked.Logat revealed that the Sri Lankan cricket board had been specifically warned about the risks of playing in Pakistan, but had overruled the advice after its own risks assessment.'I know for a fact that post the regime change in Pakistan, once Musharraf went', the advice the ICC then got from its security advisers was that they had more confidence under the previous regime.'And that's one of the reasons why we were not confident about holding the Champions Trophy' in Pakistan.Logat said the advise was passed on to the Sri Lankans, but that the Sri Lankans held their own security assessment and they were 'satisfied with the intelligence that they gathered about the security that they were provided'.Morgan and Logat said all ICC board members were made aware of that information.Morgan dismissed suggestions that the subcontinent was a more dangerous place to stage international cricket matches, saying: 'It (the attack) has completely changed the landscape, but it's changed the landscape full stop - not just in the Indian subcontinent.'
Obama administration says rescue plan 'on track'
An official in U.S. President Barack Obama's administration said on Saturday the announcement of a rescue plan for the financial system was running on schedule."We are on track," the administration official said in response to a question about a CNN report the plan's announcement would take extra time due to its complex nature.
The official said the administration had never announced a formal date for the roll-out of the plan to bolster the banking system and credit markets that have been battered by the collapse of the U.S. housing market and a spike in mortgage failures. The official declined to provide further details.A source familiar with the administration's thinking said the plan could be announced as early as next week.
But CNN, citing administration officials, said the announcement of the plan would be pushed into the second week of February as officials sort out details.
"Administration aides are saying that they want to get the details right, that there are a lot of moving pieces, and so it's going to take an extra week," CNN said.
Key lawmakers such as Democratic Representative Barney Frank are expected to meet with Obama over the next few days to discuss the financial services rescue plan, according to the source.One of their priorities is to ensure there is more transparency in how banks use the government funds, the source said.Obama said earlier in the day the plan would be announced soon and would help lower mortgage costs for homeowners and spur the flow of credit to businesses and households.
So far, about half the $700 billion of the Treasury Department's Troubled Asset Relief Program has been used up since it was rushed out late last year to tackle the crisis, and economists have said a lot more money may be needed to fund the next phase of the rescue.Mohamed El-Erian, chief executive of bond firm Pacific Investment Management Co, or Pimco, said a long delay in announcing the plan would be badly received by markets.
Australian cricket captain Ricky Ponting and other senior players will seek to boost the confidence of the younger players following Australia's 4-1 one-day series loss to South Africa.Ponting said it is important that the team starts afresh for their five-game series against New Zealand, which begins in Perth on Sunday."I think it's a mindset thing at the moment. Confidence in the group is down a little bit on our last couple of performances. With the younger guys in and around the group and coming in for their first series and losing it the way we have, it's important for me as a senior player, and some of the other guys, to really get to them in the next 24 hours and let them know that that series is gone now and we have to look forward to the New Zealand series. It's important we start off this series against New Zealand on a positive note," Ponting said.Ponting is even looking at going on the front foot against the visitors by unleashing fast bowler Shaun Tait to reopen some old scars.Tait terrorised the Black Caps in a Twenty20 match at the WACA Ground in 2007, snaring 2-22 in four breathtaking overs as he unnerved the Kiwi's line-up with his sizzling pace.New Zealand are set to recall pacer Tim Southee, who sat out Thursday's loss to the Prime Minister's XI with a groin strain, while captain Daniel Vettori is also contemplating including spinner Jeetan Patel.Jesse Ryder will miss the opener due to a shoulder injury but wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum, who blasted a century against the Prime Minister's XI, appears to have overcome a hip injury.Ponting said opener David Warner, who averaged just 22.25 against South Africa in the one-day series, would play all five games against the Kiwis.
Obama a messiah for Chennai family
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.
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.
http://rapidshare.com/files/174739541/elmejorjuego.part01.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/174931617/elmejorjuego.part02.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/175010998/elmejorjuego.part03.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/175109004/elmejorjuego.part04.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/175149297/elmejorjuego.part05.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/175343095/elmejorjuego.part06.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/175406333/elmejorjuego.part07.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/175442352/elmejorjuego.part08.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/175594774/elmejorjuego.part09.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/175615588/elmejorjuego.part10.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/175672153/elmejorjuego.part11.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/175908921/elmejorjuego.part12.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/175915088/elmejorjuego.part13.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/175907239/elmejorjuego.part14.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/175968012/elmejorjuego.part15.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/176125690/elmejorjuego.part16.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/176129597/elmejorjuego.part17.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/176317151/elmejorjuego.part18.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/176367848/elmejorjuego.part19.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/176758566/elmejorjuego.part20.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/176831499/elmejorjuego.part21.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/176897598/elmejorjuego.part22.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/177179297/elmejorjuego.part23.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/177186725/elmejorjuego.part24.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/177343177/elmejorjuego.part25.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/177442025/elmejorjuego.part26.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/177525906/elmejorjuego.part27.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/177638078/elmejorjuego.part28.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/177982279/elmejorjuego.part29.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/178052108/elmejorjuego.part30.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/178334437/elmejorjuego.part31.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/178333814/elmejorjuego.part32.rar
Ex-stars back Tendulkar on neutral venues
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.