India’s oldest Test cricketer Madhav Mantri dies at 92

NEW DELHI: Tributes were paid Friday to Madhav Mantri, India´s oldest surviving Test cricketer and a former manager of the national side, after he died overnight at the age of 92.

Mantri, who was an uncle of former Indian skipper Sunil Gavaskar, acted as a mentor to the likes of Sachin Tendulkar during a long career as a player, national selector and administrator.

"Very deeply saddened to hear of the death of Madhav Mantri. Gentleman, disciplinarian and wonderful old world manners always put cricket first," the commentator Harsha Bhogle tweeted.

Ravichandran Ashwin, an offspinner in the current Indian side, also said he was "very sad to hear about the passing away" of Mantri. "May you rest in peace, sir," he added on Twitter.

Mantri, who played four Tests between 1951 and 1955, was best known as a wicket-keeper. Although his international record was modest, he was a prolific run-scorer in the domestic Ranji trophy competition.

After retiring in 1968, he held a series of positions in the Indian board, including as manager of the side that toured England in 1990 -- one of Tendulkar´s first overseas tours.

He died in a hospital in Mumbai after a recent bout of ill health, reports said. (AFP)

Modi in police trouble as India’s poll nears climax

AHMEDABAD, India: Police opened an investigation against Hindu nationalist Narendra Modi, tipped to be India’s next prime minister, after he flashed his party’s symbol and made a speech in a violation of election rules after he cast his ballot.
About 139 million people were registered to vote in the eighth round of a marathon contest pitting Modi against the ruling Congress party, led by the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty. Results are due on May 16. Voting in his home state of Gujarat, the opposition leader, whose pro-business policies have delighted investors, brandished a white cut-out of a lotus flower and made a scathing speech against Congress heavyweights - taunting them for shying away from the fight.

“The prime minister himself is not fighting the election. The finance minister is not fighting the election. All its top leaders have run away,” Modi said to cheers from a crowd at the polling station in the state’s largest city, Ahmedabad.

He snapped a “selfie” of the lotus and his finger painted with ink after voting, and posted the photograph on Twitter. Election rules say politicians must not make public rallies or use media to “display to the public any election matter” within 48 hours of an election.

Gujarat police chief PC Thakur said a preliminary case was launched against Modi at the request of the election commission. “The Ahmedabad crime branch has begun investigations,” he said. The maximum punishment for violating the rule is two years imprisonment, although Modi is unlikely to be charged.

Politicians in India routinely face criminal cases that rarely reach the courts. Standing in both the Gujarat town of Vadodara and the holy city of Varanasi, Modi has shaken up Indian politics with a campaign that has combined a social media blitz with up to five rallies a day. The 63-year-old has even appeared as a hologram campaigning in remote hamlets. Turnout in Gujarat was 62 percent on Wednesday, according to the election commission, a sharp rise on the state’s tally of 48 percent in the last general election in 2009.

India’s defence establishment opposed Manmohan Siachen initiative

KARACHI: India’s defenece establishment opposed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s desire to turn Siachen into “a mountain of peace” , Times of India quoted PM's ex media adviser Sanjaya Baru as saying.

According to report, Mr Singh was very keen for the initiative after his 2005 visit of Siachen but then Indian army chief JJ Singh, defence minister A.K Anthony and Pranab Mukherjee opposed his him.

The India paper published excerpt from Baru’s newly launched book "The Accidental Prime Minister" in which he said: "I was never sure whether Antony's hawkish stance was because he genuinely disagreed with the Siachen initiative or whether he was merely toeing a Nehru-Gandhi family line that would not allow Dr Singh to be the one finally normalizing relations with Pakistan.

After all, the Kashmir problem had its roots in Nehru's policies ... I felt Sonia would want to wait till Rahul became PM so that he could claim credit,” However, the ex-India army chief had rejected his remarks.