Sri Lanka beat Australia to dump India out of CB Series

                                                              
Australia:India were finally knocked out of the tri-series as Sri Lanka brought a heart-breaking end to their nervous wait with a nail-biting nine-run victory over Australia in the last over of a must-win contest here today.
India needed an Australian win to qualify for the finals but it was Sri Lanka who secured a passage to the summit showdown as they scraped past the hosts in a match which saw fortunes fluctuating from one team to another till the very end at the MCG.
Electing to bat, Sri Lanka put up a modest 238 runs and then bowled out the hosts for 229 to win with five balls to spare.
In then nerve-wrecking final moments of the game, Australia needed 10 runs in the last over off Nuwan Kulasekara but David Hussey's mighty heave was caught by Tillakaratne Dilshan at long-off to trigger off wild celebrations in the Sri Lankan camp.
Both Australia and Sri Lanka now have 19 points each and will clash in the best of three finals, beginning at Brisbane on Sunday. 

Michael Hussey has proven a handy partnership breaker with his slow-medium bowling recently and this time he was on the end of a similar ploy, as Thirimanne drew an edge behind that was well taken by Sangakkara. It was Thirimanne's first international wicket and his second in all List A cricket, and importantly for Sri Lanka it was followed a few overs later by the departure of Watson.
 


The Australian chase was guided well by stand-in skipper Shane Watson, who scored 65 runs, and David Hussey's fighting 74, but they lacked the fire power in the end to overhaul the modest target.
For Sri Lanka Kumar Sangakkara (64), Dinesh Chandimal (75) and Lahiru Thirimanne (51) were the chief 
 contributors to the total.

India remained on 15 points and it marked the end of the a disastrous tour, in which they suffered a 4-0 Test series whitewash and had mixed results in the tri-series. 

Guntur:Meira Kumar to unveil Jagjivan Ram statue

                                                        

Guntur:Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar will unveil the bronze statue of her father and former Deputy Prime Minister Babu Jagjivan Ram on the Ring Road here on Friday.

The Speaker would also lay the foundation stone for a Road-under-Bridge (RuB) at Kankaragunta.

The bronze statue was put up by the Babu Jagjivan Ram All-India Samta Movement, Guntur unit.

Minister for Agriculture Kanna Lakshminarayana is overseeing the arrangements for the meeting scheduled to be organised after the unveiling of the statue.

According to the schedule, the Speaker would arrive by road from Vijayawada and reach Lakshmipuram centre by 11.40 a.m. After unveiling the statue, she would address a public meeting.

Later, the Speaker would drive through the Lakshmipuram Main Road, Kundula Road, and Kankaragunta RoB, from where the convoy would take a U-turn and head towards the proposed site of Kankaragunta RuB.

After the programme, the Speaker would have lunch at the Inspection Bungalow and drive to Mangalagiri. After unveiling a statue of Babu Jagjivan Ram there, she would proceed towards Vijayawada.

Traffic curbs

Vehicles coming from Arundelpet Main Road towards Lakshmipuram and Ring Road would be diverted at Lodge Centre via Water Tanks Road and joined near Reliance Fresh stores. Vehicles going to Arundelpet from Lakshmipuram would be diverted via Brodipet 14th lane. The restrictions would be in place from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The Guntur Urban traffic police have imposed traffic restrictions on Lakshmipuram Road and Arundelpet Main Road in view of the visit of the Speaker. The area in front of Hollywood-Bollywood cinema halls had been cordoned off.

YSR Congress takes a dig out at Anam

                                           
YSR Congress party leaders took strong objection to the remarks made by Finance Minister Anam Ramanarayana Reddy against the YSR family on the floor of the Assembly. The YSR Congress leaders challenged the Anam brothers to prove their strength in the Kovur by-election. YSR Congress party district convenor Kakani Govardhan Reddy, Udaigiri MLA Mekapati Chandrasekhara Reddy and Nellore town leader Kotamreddy Sridhar Reddy warned of serious repercussions.

1.6 lakh teak plants for Rayalaseema conversion

                                                               

Special Commissioner of Rural Development K. Vidyasagar said on Thursday march 1^st that 1.6 lakh teak saplings would be distributed free of charge among farmers in Rayalaseema region by March end, to promote afforestation.

He inspected a nursery raised by Ramana Reddy at Chinna Illugaripalle in Rajampet mandal, a nursery maintained by Forest Department at Mantapampalle in Vontimitta mandal and a cluster-level livelihood resource centre at Rajampet. Fifty thousand teak saplings would be given each in Kadapa and Kurnool districts and 30 lakhs each in Anantapur and Chittoor districts, he said.

The government would pay Rs. 56 per plant in the first year, Rs. 36 in the second year and Rs. 24 in the third year to plants that survive for three years. Farmers were evincing interest in raising teak plantations and 160 teak plants can be grown in an acre of land. Landless poor who benefited by Indira Jalaprabha programme would be given financial assistance for raising the plants.

The State government procured the teak plants from Tanjore in Tamil Nadu, raised them in nurseries and would supply to farmers, Mr. Vidyasagar said. DWMA officials would give suggestions to farmers and they should plant them on bunds along the border of the agricultural lands, as they would grow withstanding the summer temperature, he stated.

Rajampet Divisional Forest Officer Srinivasulu Reddy said the government proposed to raise red sander nurseries and it was taking stern measures to curb red sander smuggling.

Provide reservations to OBCs in advancements

Backward Classes (BC) leader Kolanukonda Shivaji submitted a memorandum to Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar urging her to take necessary steps to provide reservations to OBCs in promotions in State and Central government jobs. He also wanted her to ensure that a ministry was created for BCs at the Centre.

Ms. Meira Kumar was in the city to unveil the statue of former Deputy Prime Minister Babu Jagjivan Ram on Thursday. On the occasion, Mr. Shivaji apprised her of the plight of BCs and necessity for reservations to them.

The Parliament should take necessary steps to lift the cap on reservations (50 per cent). The creamy layer provision was being implemented only for the OBCs. Hence, the government should annul it for the benefit of lakhs of OBCs. The Parliament should make a Law providing 33 per cent reservations to OBCs in legislatures, he added.

He said OBC Sub Plan should be provided in the central government budget. On par with Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, social security should be provided to the OBCs also

High level of Uranium in Nalgonda

                                                             

Hyderabad, Mar 1  Andhra Pradesh Government today cancelled the lease for mining quartz and feldspar minerals granted to Timex Industries over alleged violation of rules. In 2001, the Government allotted 3 acres of land near Mallareddypalli village of Nalgonda district to Timex for a period of 20 years for mining the minerals. "The Government, hereby, declares the mining lease for quartz and feldspar in Mallareddypalli village of Nalgonda, held by M/s Timex Industries, as lapsed," an official statement said here. The Government earlier had issued a show-cause notice to the company as it found the mine was not working for the last three years and the lease holder had not erected the boundary pillars also. In reply, Timex said they were operating the mine continuously, the details of which can be verified from the monthly returns submitted to the Government. It requested the Government to ask the officials concerned to visit the mine so that the points raised in the notice can be verified. However, the Director of Mines and Geology Department, in a report, said the mine worked for a period of four years after execution of lease deed. Subsequently, it was kept under non-working condition for more than three years. As per the recent inspection report and observations by the department officials, it appears the mine again started working during 2011, the Director's report said. The company showed the mine was working continuously even in the non-working period. This clearly shows that the monthly returns furnished by Timex for the non-working period are fabricated one, the statement said, quoting the report. When contacted, the company said the project was not economically viable.