"England can beat India "every day of week": Former Eng fast bowler Darren Gough

England cricket team beat an Aussie team whose main batsmen,their captain and vice-captain are woefully out of form,with no proper openers,inconsistent middle-order,no proper spinner,inconsistent fast bowlers.

And people like Gough think they can beat any team every day.

Good luck to him,hope he gets well soon.

God knows what he will say,if by chance Eng becomes No.1  :)

Also hope Gough did watch the previous game.The game at Perth where even this poor Aussie team beat England by an innings.

Don't make tall,rash claims.Those who are in such habits had to eat their words,sooner than later..
History will tell you...

Time to dislodge CBI as an investigating agency ?

The Central Bureau of Investigation,India's premier investigating agency,which was once a pride of India is now in shambles,to say the least.

This is especially so,after its decision to close the murder case of thirteen-year-old Aarushi Talwar.They are saying that the case has been damaged beyond repair and that crucial evidence has been handled badly.

So what was needed?The murderer should make a courtesy call and tell them 'I am the murderer and here is the evidence???"
Is it not the job of CBI to find out who murdered and the evidence to nail the culprit??

The CBI took over the investigation into the murders of Aarushi and Hemraj on June 1, 2008, forming a 25-member team in a resolute attempt to crack the case.

The fact that they are now trying to wash their hands-off the case indicates a total failure of the agency.

Another recent failure of them is in the Ruchika molestation case which involved a senior police officer.

Their record in almost all other recent investigations they are handling also leaves much to be desired.

It's reported in the media that Indian Olympic Association president and the CWG chief Suresh Kalmaid had prior knowledge about raids by CBI on his premises..!!

As Mr.Arun Jaitley said ,the capacity of CBI to resolve even normal cases has been completely demolished.

The agency's sole purpose, it seems, is for doing the dirty work for whoever is ruling at the centre..!!

It's time to ponder whether India needs such an inefficient,incapable agency...


 Also read below an article that appeared in rediff (by B.Raman) :

Public confidence in the Central Bureau of Investigation, which had gone up in the wake of the successful investigation and prosecution of the cases relating to the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi  in May 1991 and the Mumbai  blasts of March 1993, has taken a series of beatings during 2010.

The government of Dr Manmohan Singh  has been watching helplessly as the CBI is coming to be viewed increasingly by growing sections of public opinion as a highly unprofessional and politicised agency with neither the will nor the capability to improve the quality of the investigation and prosecution of the cases entrusted to it.

The intriguingly belated response of the CBI to the investigation of the major corruption cases of 2010 entrusted to it has rightly or wrongly created an impression in the minds of the public that instead of guarding its reputation as the leading investigation agency of the country, it has let itself become the leading cover-up agency.

Neither the senior officials of the agency nor the Prime Minister's Office and the Cabinet Secretariat have come out with a convincing explanation as to why the CBI moved and continues to move with disturbing slowness in taking the necessary investigative steps such as raids of the houses and offices of the suspects, freezing of their bank accounts and their interrogation in the cases relating to alleged corruption in the conduct of the Commonwealth Games  and the handling of the 2G spectrum by A Raja, former minister for telecommunications.

The public cannot be blamed if it concludes that the CBI's objective seems to be not to find out the truth, but to cover up the truth for a sufficiently long time till public memory and outrage over the extent of corruption dissipates.

One saw during 2010 surprising instance of selective leaks to certain sections of the media of some of the tapped telephone conversations of Niira Radia , the lobbyist.

Those sections of the tapes which would have contained evidence of criminal wrong-doing have been carefully protected from leakage to the media, but certain sections which had no evidence of criminal wrong-doing, but merely contained material tending to damage the personal reputation of certain eminent persons were leaked to the media by unidentified elements with a suspect motive.

Though the tapping was reportedly authorised at the request of agencies dealing with tax evasion and money-laundering, the CBI most probably had an interest in the tapping in connection with its investigations.

It had an obligation to maintain the confidentiality of the intercepts in order to protect the right to privacy of innocent persons. By failing to meet this obligation, the CBI and other agencies involved have let their reputation for professionalism be damaged.

The end of the year saw yet another blow to the reputation of the CBI when it moved the Ghaziabad Special Court on December 29 for permission to close the case relating to the alleged murder, under mysterious circumstances, of Aarushi, the 14-year-old daughter of Rajesh Talwar and Nupur, a dentist couple living in Noida near Delhi  on May 16, 2008.

The case was initially mishandled by the Uttar Pradesh  police. It was handed over to the CBI on June 1, 2008. Public expectation that the CBI, being a reputed professional agency with better capabilities and investigating skills than the UP police, would unravel the mystery behind the murder and identify, arrest and prosecute the culprits has been belied.

The CBI has moved for the closure of the investigation on the ground that it has not been able to make any headway in the investigation and there are no prospects of its making any headway in the future even if it continued with the investigation.

The murder of Aarushi and the subsequent death under mysterious circumstances of a domestic assistant of her parents had shocked the public.

The public was equally shocked by the wildly contradictory accounts of the investigation by the police and the CBI that were leaked out to the media without any regard to the reputation of Aarushi.

The allegations, if true, made by her parents that they were not kept informed by the CBI of its decision to move for the closure of the investigation has shown shocking insensitivity on the part of the CBI.

The lethargic handling of the cases relating to corruption has created strong suspicions in the minds of the public that the CBI's investigation has been influenced by political considerations.

If true, this indicates a politicisation of the agency to a degree unsuspected till now. The CBI's apparent cluelessness in the Aarushi case speak of a worrisome deterioration in the investigation skills of the agency and in the quality of the supervision over its work.

What is even more disturbing is the seeming indifference of the government to public criticism of the functioning of the CBI in relation to these and other cases.

There has been no attempt on the part of the government to take the CBI to task for the way it has handled these cases and to convince the public that it has tightened up the monitoring of the work of the CBI.

The CBI has come under criticism from time to time since the days of the State of Emergency imposed by the Indira Gandhi  government in 1975.

The enquiries ordered by the Morarji Desai government after it came to office in 1977 brought out many instances of serious misdeeds by the CBI during the emergency.

The CBI's performance again came in for strong criticism during the enquiry into the Bofors scandal in the 1980s. There were allegations even then as there are now that the CBI acts not as an investigating agency, but as a cover-up agency doing the bidding of the party in power.

These criticisms have not led to a comprehensive enquiry into the functioning of the CBI either by a group of eminent professionals with untarnished reputation or by a Joint Parliamentary Committee.

The CBI reportedly submits every year a report on its work during the year. These reports hardly figure in debates either in the public or in the Parliament.

The Chinese government has issued a White Paper -- the first of its kind -- on December 29 on corruption in China and how the government has been dealing with the problem. Even in an authoritarian country like China, the government has felt the need for convincing the public that it is aware of their concerns over corruption and that it is alive to the need for dealing with the problem in a manner that brings satisfaction to the people.

Despite India  being a democracy with its government supposedly being accountable to the people, the government has shown a shocking lack of concern over public criticism of the functioning of the CBI and over evidence of a general institutional decay which has permitted corruption to thrive.

Public opinion should force the government to institute a comprehensive enquiry into the functioning of the CBI and initiate measures to restore its image in the eyes of the public. The indifference of the government to the institutional decay should not be tolerated by the public.

Ponting on the verge of being history ?

Australian Captain Ricky Ponting is on the verge of being the first Australian captain to loose an ashes series in Australia in 24 years..!!
With 2 days still remaining Australia has only 4 wickets standing and is still in deficit of 246 runs.So an innings defeat seems likely.
His own personal form this series is nothing much to write about.Averaging less than 20 for a world class player like him,suggests he either needs to retire gracefully or relinquish captaincy and concentrate more on his batting,so that he can contribute to Australian cricket for a couple more years.

The problem is ,the choice may not be his.The public outcry and the media frenzy for his head has been over the top.His own bad behaviour on the field against umpire Aleem Dar certainly has not helped him one bit..

Let's hope Cricket Australia gives Ponting the option to choose for himself what he wants to do.He deserves it,he has been a great player.But one thing is sure,if Ponting is given the option to choose the way ahead,the outcome of his decision cannot be 'status quo'...

Another thing that needs particular mention is the mood swing of the Australian media.They have gone from one extreme to the other extreme,like a violent swing,an ugly one at that..!!

When England had early success in the series,the media was hammering the team and Ponting in particular.

Then came the test win for Australia at Perth,which the media hailed as if they are back to greatness.Even some of the arrogance of the past came back in the media and in some of the players.

With the imminent loss of the ongoing test,each and every one who is nobody is attacking Ponting ..!!


Guess that's what life is,he was once the leader of a seemingly invincible,all-conquering Australian team..
But then which team can withstand the loss of players like Mathew Hayden,Glenn McGrath,Adam Gilchirst,Shane Warne..

In the final analysis,SUCCESS is everything...

Classic Double standards

BJP leader L K Advani said the UPA government was "indifferent" to corruption.

Well said Sir.And you are correct if we look at the number of scams unearthed recently be it in CWG,Adarsh or in spectrum allocation.

Fine.So the opposition led by the BJP is blocking proceedings in parliament,demanding a JPC probe,which the government is unwilling to relent.Till today only a 'negligible' 95 crores is the loss due to non-functioning of parliament...only 95 crores..

If you look at the big scam amounts recently,this is minute indeed..!!

So we do need to fight corruption tooth and nail,by stalling parliament..!
no other way..

But Sir,the doubt is :why don't you show how corruption can be eradicated by giving an example in Karnataka?

You cannot force Congress to change.But you and your party can very well do some thing about the corruption and noptism indulgded-in by Karnataka CM Yedyurappa,who is of the BJP..

One thing to note is : Please look around.You are also sitting in a glasshouse.Throw stones,sure.But don't throw stones or claim moral highground when you yourself is sitting ina glasshouse..!!

You have lost a big oppurtunity to corner the UPA in the eyes of Indian public.Atleast Congress was forced to make the tainted members resign (CVC Thomas is still pending though).

You have not done even that.You have surrendered meekly to the threats given to the central BJP leadership by Yedyurappa.

Or is it that BJP leaders indulging in corruption is ok???