Delighted to get his maiden call-up to the Indian Test team, Saurashtra batsman Cheteshwar Pujara on Monday said the selection for the two-match series against Australia did not come as a surprise to him but it was a dream-come-true moment of his career.

"It's a dream-come-true for any cricketer. I was hoping for the call after my recent performances. I am really happy at my selection," said Pujara, who is currently playing in a tournament here.

Pujara made his way into the Indian Test squad in place of out-of-form Yuvraj Singh, who was today dropped from the two-Test series starting October 1 in Mohali because of his poor form and fitness.

Pujara, who was the lone new face in the team announced by the Cricket Board selection committee in Chennai, said making debut against Australia would a great challenge for him.

"It's going to be a challenge. They (Australia) have been the world's best team for years. I will try to deliver my best," he said.

Pujara has been a prolific run-getter in the domestic circuit and also for India 'A' in the last couple of seasons.

"I owe it to my parents and want to thank them, especially my father, who is my coach too," he said.

The right-hander said that he would like to fine-tune his skills and learn more tricks of the game from his seniors in the national team during the Australia series.

"I will try to deliver my best and perform according to the best of my ability and to my team's requirement," Pujara said.

Australia is scheduled to play a three-day practice match against the Board President's XI at Sector 16 cricket stadium here followed by the opening Test to be played at Mohali from October 1.

Posted in 0 comments Posted by VIDYA SHANKER PANDEY at 10:07 AM    

The Election Commission has announced the elections to the 243-member Bihar Legislative Assembly in six phases — on October 21, 24, 28, November 1, 9 and 20. Votes will be counted on November 24.
Over 5,50,88,402 electors were eligible to exercise their franchise through 56,943 polling stations. The model code of conduct comes into effect immediately and would apply to all candidates, political parties, the Union and the State governments. The notification for the first phase would be issued on September 27 and that for the sixth phase on October 27. The election process would end by November 26 and the term of the present Assembly would expire on November 27. Thirty-eight seats were reserved for the Scheduled Castes and two for the Scheduled Tribes.
The election would be held between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. In the naxal-infested areas and other sensitive segments, the closing of the poll hour is 3 p.m. Over 89 per cent of the voters were covered in the photo electoral rolls and 82.65 per cent issued Electoral Photo Identity Cards.

Posted in Labels: Bihar Assembly Elections 0 comments Posted by VIDYA SHANKER PANDEY at 2:42 PM    

The International Cricket Council announced the short-list of five cricketers for the LG People's Choice Award category at the LG ICC Awards that will take place in Bengaluru, India on 6 October. The event will be staged in association with Federation of International Cricketers' Associations (FICA).

The short-list includes Mike Hussey of Australia, Mahela Jayawardena of Sri Lanka, England captain Andrew Strauss, Sachin Tendulkar of India and AB de Villiers of South Africa.

This award, which has been included for the first time, will be chosen by cricket fans around the world who now have a chance to vote for their favourite player until 10 September on www.lgpeopleschoice.com

The cricketers have been selected on the basis of some really innovative parameters, in sync with the values that embody brand LG, by a five-man ICC selection panel. This panel was chaired by former West Indies captain and current chairman of the ICC Cricket Committee Clive Lloyd and includes former international players Angus Fraser of England, Matthew Hayden of Australia, Ravi Shastri of India and Zimbabwe's Duncan Fletcher.

Posted in Labels: Cricket News 0 comments Posted by VIDYA SHANKER PANDEY at 12:56 PM    

This has to go down as the quickest move that an actor has taken to turn into a producer. Neetu Chandra, who started off less than five years back as an actor in Priyadarshan's 'GARAM MASALA', has gone ahead and produced a movie. Titled 'DESWA', this is a Bhojpuri film for which the shooting has already been completed and plans are being firmed up to ensure a massive worldwide release.

"Somehow we are loosing touch with our own soil," says Neetu who has herself played a rooted character earlier in films like TRAFFIC SIGNAL and OYE LUCKY LUCKY OYE, "We continue to make films that have strong Hollywood influences but how about our own rich culture and tradition? I was sure that the first step in this direction would be to make something that instantly appeals to our own desi audience."

This is the reason why Neetu is unwilling to restrict DESWA to just Bhojpuri speaking audience. "This is a film set in Bihar but it would have a mix of Hindi, English and even Telugu. We have aimed at bringing in an altogether new dimension when it comes to Bhojpuri cinema."

Posted in Labels: Bhojpuri films, Bhojpuri News, Neetu Chandra 0 comments Posted by VIDYA SHANKER PANDEY at 4:30 PM    

Patna, Aug 21 : Salaries of teachers of government schools in Bihar will not be paid if they failed to ensure at least 75 percent attendance of their students, officials said Friday.

"The salaries of teachers would be held back if attendance in the school is below 75 percent," Ajit Kumar, an official of the education department, said.

Additional Commissioner, Human Resource Development department, K.K. Pathak said the government was serious about ensuring a higher percentage of attendance in schools and principals had been asked to ensure at least 75 percent attendance.

Pathak said the responsibility of maintaining attendance would be on teachers and they could face action if the percentage dipped below 75 percent.

Last month the government had offered Rs. 1 per day to poor children to encourage them to attend school and raise literacy levels, officials said.

Bihar's literacy rate is currently just 47 percent against the national average of 64.84 percent, as per the 2001 census.

Officials admitted that attendance in schools was less than 60 percent.

Posted in 0 comments Posted by VIDYA SHANKER PANDEY at 6:05 PM