Was the India, Sri Lanka tie fixed?

NEW DELHI: When match-fixing reports are floating all around, a top Indian bookie has claimed that the India- Sri Lanka ODI played at Rajkot a year ago was also fixed. In that match, India put up a massive 414 runs in their allotted quota of overs after being put into bat by Lanka. However, Lankans almost pulled off a thrilling win with Dilshan’s heroic innings of 160 but eventually fell short by 3 runs.

“Sri Lanka were 401/5 with just 14 more runs needed from seven balls. The bets were coming in fast because punters wanted to balance the stakes. At the start, India looked firm favourites and there were almost no takers for Sri Lanka win. But towards the end, it all became a frenzy,” the bookie was quoted saying in the Times of India newspaper. Just then he received an SMS saying, “Cancel all deals and don’t take any further bets. India is winning the game.” The text message remains to be a mystery but the bookie claims that “money around Rs 28 crore ($ 7m) changed hands that night. It is for the relevant authorities to try and see if there was any truth to the allegations.” agencies

Bookie claims India-SriLanka Rajkot ODI was fixed

MUMBAI: Here's a lead for the International Cricket Council's ( ICC) Anti-Corruption Unit to probe into. A top bookmaker in India, who strictly maintains that he is not involved in the player-bookie nexus, says the December 15, 2009 India- Sri Lanka One-day match at Rajkot was suspicious. "Saaf nahi tha (it wasn't clean)," he told TOI on Friday.

Sri Lanka won the toss, elected to field and India ran amok scoring 414 runs on a placid track. In reply, Sri Lanka rode on Tillakaratne Dilshan's massive 160 and almost chased the target before falling short by 3 runs. Sri Lanka bowled 27 extras in the game, India bowled 21 and a total of 825 runs were scored at the Madhavrao Scindia ground that day.

"Sri Lanka were 401/5 with just 14 more runs needed from seven balls. The bets were coming in fast because punters wanted to balance the stakes. At the start, India looked firm favourites and there were almost no takers for Sri Lanka win. But towards the end, it all became a frenzy," says the bookie.

Right then, he received a text message on his mobile. The sender was a 20-year-old boy from Rajasthan who earlier used to work for him as a cleaner. He wrote: "Sab saude kaat do, aur call mat lena. India match le jar raha hai (Cancel all deals and don't take any further bets. India is winning the game)."

The bookmaker says instinct made him listen to his former employee and he turned out right. India won by three runs.

What was behind the SMS may never be known but the bookie continues to harp on the rumour of the amount of money that was transacted that night. "I am told that money around Rs 28 crore ($ 7m) changed hands that night," he says.

It is for the relevant authorities to try and see if there was any truth to the allegations. The bookie also went on to add a little more after his 'fixing' theory. "That was the last match that I heard was suspicious. I can also say that Indian players are clean. They're among the most impeccable, especially the senior players," he says.

With skeletons tumbling out of the Pakistan closet, while that may be of slight relief, it is still disturbing that there is talk a fixed game being played less than a year back in India. And one man, claims he has circumstantial evidence to prove it happened. Will the authorities probe this claim?

Read more: Bookie claims India-Sri Lanka Rajkot ODI was fixed - Top Stories - Cricket - Sports - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/cricket/top-stories/Bookie-claims-India-Sri-Lanka-Rajkot-ODI-was-fixed/articleshow/6488556.cms#ixzz0yeYnTFIj

 

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Taliban attack Pakistan amid devastating floods

Pro-Taliban Pakistani militants are trying to create a sectarian rift, Interior Minister Rehman Malik said on Saturday, as a new wave of violence piled pressure on a government already struggling with a flood crisis.
The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for bomb attacks on two Shiite rallies that killed 33 people in Lahore on Wednesday and 65 in the city of Quetta on Friday.
The attacks ended a lull after devastating floods that affected 20 million people. Pakistani officials said before the attacks that any major violence at such a difficult time was likely to cause deep popular resentment against the militants.

On Friday, Pakistan's Taliban also threatened to launch attacks in the United States and Europe "very soon," two days after Washington added the group, known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, to its "foreign terrorist organizations" list.
Malik said al-Qaida-linked militants were trying to whip up sectarianism after taking a beating in their strongholds in the country's northwest in a string of military offensives.
"Sectarianism that has been there for 62 years [since the creation of Pakistan], they stoked it again," he told reporters.
Warning that militants would launch attacks again "wherever there is a vulnerable situation," he said "they are using it as a weapon to terrorize people."
Thousands have been killed in sectarian violence by both majority Sunni and minority Shiite sects in the past two decades. Shiite violence has largely declined in recent years. The Taliban and al-Qaida are Sunnis.
"These militant groups think they can create conflict through sectarianism. But that has not happened," said political analyst Hasan Askari Rizvi.


Read more: http://www.theprovince.com/news/Taliban+attack+Pakistan+amid+devastating+floods/3484834/story.html#ixzz0yeWNF2JY

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Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation

You are here: Home > pakistan About Pakistan Pakistan in brief History Ancient Civilization People of Pakistan Diverse Culture Post Independence Leaders Profile Landscape Demographics of Pakistan Provinces Mountains, Valleys and Glaciers Society Language

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Toads and Frogs

Toads:  True toads are family of amphibians containing over 350 species and are distinguished from amphibians commonly known as toads, by their lack of teeth and generally warty skin. Many species can release toxins from their skin as a deterrent to predators that might otherwise try to eat them.

Scientific name: Bufonidae
Rank: Family

Common names:  Toad

Panamanian golden frogs: are critically endangered amphibians almost extinct in the wild. They are unique to the mountainous rainforests of Panama, where populations have been severely threatened by habitat loss, over-collection and, most devastatingly, by fungal disease. The use of semaphore for communication is most unusual in amphibians, yet these true toads 'wave' at prospective mates and rivals, possibly to overcome the noise made by fast-flowing rivers. Only seen by a lucky few, these precious frogs have become the national animal of Panama and a symbol of good luck.

Scientific name: Atelopus zeteki
Rank: Species

Common names:

• Golden arrow poison frog,
• Golden frog,
• Zetek's golden frog         

  

Darwin's frogs have a highly unusual method of brooding and rearing their young. The males have an enlarged vocal sac in which they brood their newly hatched tadpoles. The tadpoles remain there until they have developed into little froglets, when up to 20 are released by being spat out. Darwin's frogs are also masters of disguise. When threatened, they roll over and play dead until the danger has passed, looking like dead leaves. They were discovered, as you may expect, by Charles Darwin in the forests of South America.

Scientific name: Rhinoderma darwinii
Rank: Species

Poison dart frogs are so named because their poisonous secretions have been used by Amerindian tribes to poison blow darts for hunting. Only three species are dangerous to humans. One of those - the golden poison frog - is considered the most toxic vertebrate on Earth. The beautifully bright colours and patterns of these frogs are a warning to potential predators that they don't make good eating. There could be over 175 species in this family of amphibians, all found in the rainforests of Central and South America. Many species of poison dart frogs are classified as critically endangered. 

Scientific name: Dendrobatidae
Rank: Family

Common names:

• Dart-poison frogs,
• Poison arrow frogs,
• Poison frogs

Smoky jungle frogs are voracious feeders, eating almost anything they can catch in an ambush. Their tadpoles are pretty vicious too. Only a small number of eggs laid will hatch in the large foam nest. The rest remain as food for the cannabalistic tadpoles. If feeling threatened, the smoky jungle frogs inflates itself like a balloon, rising up on all four legs and emitting a high-pitched scream. If they are not too big to be swallowed, their noxious skin toxins might deter predators. They are one of the largest frog species, found in South America's tropical swamps and marshes.  

Scientific name: Leptodactylus pentadactylus

Rank: Species  
Common names:

• Central American bullfrog,
• Smokey jungle frog

 

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Pakistan cricket players face police amid continued scandal

British police Friday questioned three players from the Pakistani national cricket team at the center of an alleged betting scandal that has rocked the sport.

Their attorney, Elizabeth Robertson, said that Mohammed Amir, Mohammad Asif and team captain Salman Butt appeared at the Kilburn Police station voluntarily to answer questions.

"At no time were they placed under arrest. They were free to leave any time and they have answered all of the questions that were put to them and have been released without charge or conditions," Robertson said.

Metropolitan Police said that their investigation is not complete and that the three players could be called back for further questioning.

Police launched a criminal investigation after the British tabloid News of the World first reported the allegations Sunday. It claimed two players were involved in spot-fixing during Pakistan's Test series with England last week.

Spot-fixing involves deliberately throwing parts of a game, rather than the whole match. The paper alleged the players deliberately bowled "no balls," or fouls, at specific points in the game and that the alleged ringleader pocketed 150,000 pounds (about $230,000) in the scam.

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