Jagan quits as Congress MP, to launch new party

Jagan Mohan Reddy, Congress MP and son of former Andhra Pradesh chief minister YS Rajashekhar Reddy, on Monday resigned as party MP. Jagan's mother Vijayalakshmi has also resigned from Andhra Pradesh Assembly.

He is likely to soon announce the launch of his new party - Youth Sramik Ryot (YSR) Congress - in Kadapa, his Lok Sabha constituency, sources close to him said.

Jagan has sent his resignation letter to Congress President Sonia Gandhi. His four-page resignation letter claimed that there was politics against him from his own party. He also faxed a one-line letter to Lok Sabha Speaker tendering his resignation.

"I resign from primary membership of Congress and Lok Sabha. The AICC has insulted me repeatedly in the last 14 months. I was not treated with the respect I deserve. My father's legacy was hijacked by others and I was not allowed to continue my Odarpu yatra," said Jagan in his letter.

He also claimed that Sakshi TV is an independent media organisation. "I am deeply hurt but have no option," he added.

Sources told CNN-IBN that Jagan and his mother took the decision to resign from the party on Saturday.

Reacting to Jagan's decision, Union Minister M Veerappa Moily, the AICC in-charge of Andhra Pradesh, termed it "most unfortunate and misguided" but said it would have no effect on the party in Andhra Pradesh.

Rajya Sabha member from Andhra, V Hanumantha Rao, said that Jagan had been given a long rope. He said that Congress was not scared of anyone and remained a strong party in the state. He also added that Jagan had no future outside the the party and claimed that Chiranjeevi always supported the Congress.

Jagan has been defying Congress leadership by going on 'Odarpu yatra' (consolation) in six districts of Andhra, reportedly to meet and console the family members of people who committed suicide of died of shock following the death of his father YS Rajashekhar Reddy in a helicopter crash on September 2, 2009.

Sakshi TV, a channel owned by Jagan, has also been very critical of Sonia Gandhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and party General Seceretary Rahul Gandhi.

In fact a Sakshi TV programme aired on the night of November 25 attributed Congress' debacle in Bihar to Rahul's depleting magic.

Why Jagan is important for Congress?

He is the inheritor of the late YSR Reddy legacy, the most famous Congress chief minister of Andhra Pradesh. He is a Reddy from Rayalaseema, the backbone of Congress in the state and controls the entire Rayalaseema region.

Jagan is young and very popular among the youth. His Odarpu yatra was a huge success.

With Jagan's exit Congress likely to lose majority Reddy votes in the Rayalaseema.

He also enjoys enormous financial clout and runs a huge media empire. If he launches a new party, it might unseat the Congress.
The Congress has 156 MLAs in Andhra Assembly. If 30-40 party MLAs go with Jagan, as he has been claiming, then the Congress government in Andhra will collapse.

Andhra Assembly has 294 MLAs and the halfway mark is 148.
 

's Praja Rajyan Party has 18 MLAs while MIM has seven members. These two parties are likely to support the Congress.

The Telugu Desam Party has 91 MLAs, Telangana Rashtra Samithi 11, Bharatiya Janata Party two, CPI four, CPI-M one, CPI-ML one and three are Independents.

Five-star Barcelona thrash Real Madrid in opening Spanish 'Clasico'

The championship isn't over today. There are lots of games left to play.

Barcelona ripped apart Spanish title rivals Real Madrid to take top spot in La Liga with an emphatic 5-0 home victory in the first "Clasico" of the season on Monday night.

Real coach Jose Mourinho suffered an embarrassing first defeat since taking over in May as defending champions Barca moved two points clear after 13 games following the Catalan side's fifth successive win over the capital outfit.

The visitors were rocked from the outset as Xavi and Pedro put Pep Guardiola's team 2-0 up inside 20 minutes, then David Villa scored twice in four second-half minutes to effectively end the game before Jeffren's late goal just rubbed salt in Real's wounds.

That led to Madrid defender Sergio Ramos being sent off after clattering into Lionel Messi and then shoving Barca captain Carles Puyol to the floor as passions boiled despite the cold, pouring rain.

Messi hit the post as early as the sixth minute with a delightful flick, and Xavi opened the scoring four minutes later as he cleverly controlled a slide pass from Iniesta with his heel and guided a volley over goalkeeper Iker Casillas.

The Real captain was caught out in the 18th minute as he let Villa's low cross slip through his hands to give Pedro an easy chance to make it 2-0 from close range.

The match threatened to boil over after half an hour when Ronaldo pushed Guardiola when the coach refused to give him the ball when it went out, resulting in Barca keeper Victor Valdes charging out of his area as players from both teams clashed.

Ronaldo and Valdes were both yellow-carded for their part in the melee, then Villa and Real defender Pepe followed them into the referee's book by the 36th minute.

Messi was also cautioned just before halftime after he went to ground following an incident with Carvalho -- television replays showed that the Portugal defender was lucky not to be sent off after raising his arm into the Argentine's face.

Mourinho brought defensive midfielder Lassan Diarra on at halftime, but just 10 minutes later Villa made it 3-0 as he beat the offside trap to collect Messi's clever throughball.

The Spain striker doubled his tally in the 58th minute with a calm finish with the outside of his right foot after a superb diagonal pass from Messi left the Real defense in tatters.

Mourinho responded by replacing leftback Marcelo with fellow defender Alvaro Arbeloa, before Carvalho was booked for handling when Pedro seemed set to run free on Casillas' goal.

Ramos was yellow-carded in the 73rd minute, and received his marching orders soon after Jeffren beat him to a teasing low cross by fellow replacement Bojan Krkic to make it 5-0 in time added on.

England dominate draw at Gabba

England opener Alastair Cook had finished unbeaten on 235, his highest Test score

Shell-shocked Australia must find a way to regroup ahead of Friday's second Ashes Test in Adelaide after their bowlers were embarrassed in the drawn first Test.

The merciless England had declared after lunch on Monday at 1-517 from 152 overs at the Gabba, their highest second-innings total in a Test match in Australia.

Set 297 to win from 41 overs, Australia eased their way to 1-107 from 26 overs before both captains agreed to end the match 15 overs early on a flat batting wicket.

Ricky Ponting was unbeaten on 51 with Shane Watson on 41 after Simon Katich was out for four.

England opener Alastair Cook had finished unbeaten on 235, his highest Test score, and Jonathan Trott hit 135 not out.

The Cook-Trott stand of 329 is the best partnership for England for any wicket in Australia, beating the 323 by Jack Hobbs and Wilfred Rhodes at the MCG in 1911-12.

Australia left-armer Mitchell Johnson's Test spot will come under review after his figures of 0-170, with Doug Bollinger and Ryan Harris contenders to take the strike bowler's place.

It was Johnson's first wicket-less Test in the 39-match career of the 2009 ICC Cricketer of the Year.

In his past five Tests, Johnson has taken 11 wickets at the inflated average of 58.90.

As both teams head to Adelaide on Tuesday, Australia are under pressure to find a winning formula and achieve victory in the five-match series to regain the urn.

Cook becomes only the fourth England batsman to score a double hundred in a Test in Australia.

Vice-captain Cook hit 27 fours and batted for 10-and-a-half hours, proving a point after coming to Australia with a Test average under 30 in 10 previous Ashes contests.

Trott notched his second century in two Tests against Australia.

Part-time spinner Marcus North (1-47) was Australia's only wicket-taker.

A clumsy Australian side dropped three catches on Sunday and two more on Monday.

England's fightback with the bat came after Australia took a handsome 221-run advantage on the first innings.

Mike Hussey (195) and Brad Haddin (136) shared a 307-run partnership for the sixth wicket in Australia's 481 in reply to England's 260 which included a hat-trick from Peter Siddle (6-54).

Sensex gains further on buying spree; RIL surges

The Sensex continues to trade in the northward direction on sustained buying spree. All sectors are trading in green with oil & gas leading in the forefront followed by consumer durable, IT, banking, realty and capital goods. At 3.03 p.m., the Sensex was trading up 280.02 points or 1.46% at 19,416.63 with 23 components gaining. Meanwhile, the Nifty was trading higher by 78.90 points or 1.37% at 5,830.85 with 38 components gaining.

At 3.03 p.m., the Sensex was trading up 280.02 points or 1.46% at 19,416.63 with 23 components gaining. Meanwhile, the Nifty was trading higher by 78.90 points or 1.37% at 5,830.85 with 38 components gaining.

The 30-share benchmark index, BSE Sensex opened with a gain of 93.73 points or 0.49% at 19,230.34, while the broad based NSE Nifty started with a rise of 76.60 points or 1.33%, at 5,828.55.

Sensex Movers

Reliance Industries contributed rise of 84.19 points in the Sensex. It was followed by I C I C I Bank (43.66 points), Larsen & Toubro (24.47 points), Tata Consultancy Services (18.65 points) and Infosys Technologies (17.59 points).

However, Reliance Infrastructure contributed fall of 5.77 points in the Sensex. It was followed by I T C (5.51 points), Tata Steel (4.29 points), Reliance Communications (2.26 points) and H D F C Bank (1.59 points).

Biggest gainers in the 30-share index were Reliance Industries (3.73%), Wipro (2.88%), Bharat Heavy Electricals (2.76%), I C I C I Bank (2.64%), Maruti Suzuki India (2.59%), and TataConsultancy Services (2.48%).

On the other hand, Reliance Energy (3.30%), Reliance Communications (1.69%), Tata Steel (0.89%), I T C (0.48%), ACC (0.34%), and H D F C Bank (0.15%) were the biggest losers in the Sensex.

Mid & Small-cap Space

The BSE Mid and small caps underperformed their larger counterparts gaining 0.50% and 0.46% respectively.

The major gainers in the BSE Midcap were Allcargo Global Logistics (5.84%), Alstom Projects India (3.12%), Ackruti City (2.32%), Aban Offshore (1.66%) and Allahabad Bank (1.22%).

The major gainers in the BSE Smallcap were Alok Industries (4.38%), Allied Digital Services (2.78%), Aarti Industries (2.41%), A K Capital Services (0.42%) and Action Construction Equipment (0.09%).

Sectors in Limelight

The Oil & Gas index was at 10,122.73, up by 269.87 points or by 2.74%. The major gainers were Cairn India (6.6%), Bharat Petroleum Corporation (1.8%), Aban Offshore (1.66%), G A I L (India) (1.14%) and Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (0.4%).

The Consumer Durables index was at 6,316.07, up by 113.48 points or by 1.83%. The major gainers were Titan Industries (3.26%), Blue Star (3.04%), V I P Industries (1.27%), Rajesh Exports (1.26%) and Videocon Industries (0.39%).

The IT index was at 6,096.62, up by 87.51 points or by 1.46%. The major gainers were Tech Mahindra (1.03%), Infosys Technologies (0.97%), Mphasis (0.83%), Rolta India (0.76%) and H C L Technologies (0.01%).

The Bankex index was at 13,461.12, up by 178.02 points or by 1.34%. The major gainers were Bank Of India(4.59%), Indusind Bank (2.7%), I C I C I Bank (2.64%), Canara Bank (1.87%) and Bank Of Baroda (1.75%).

Market Breadth

Market breadth was negative with 1,387 advances against 1,584 declines.

Value and Volume Toppers

Sensex gains further on buying spree; RIL surges

L I C Housing Finance topped the value chart on the BSE with a turnover of Rs. 3,111.57 million. It was followed by State Bank Of India (Rs. 1,165.96 million), BGR Energy Systems (Rs. 939.73 million) and Reliance Industries (Rs. 846.08 million).

The volume chart was led by Cals Refineries with trades of over 57.60 million shares. It was followed by Hindustan Construction Company (13.96 million), Unitech (6.75 million) and I F C I (6.63 million).

Two cargo ships collide in river Hooghly

A cargo ship began to sink after it collided with another cargo vessel coming from the opposite direction in Hooghly river in West Bengal's South 24 Parganas district today.

The collision between the ships, Green valley and Tiger Singh, occurred at the confluence of the Hooghly and Rupnarayan rivers near Nurpur, South 24 Parganas superintendent of police L N Meena said.

"One of the ships is badly damaged and is sinking," he said.

Asked which ship sustained damage, Meena said, "We cannot say right now."

"So far, there is no report of casualty. The police have rushed to the spot," Meena said.

India nails New Zealand in Nagpur

There was one definitive vignette on Tuesday that encapsulated the spirit of a rejuvenated Indian side in the third Test. Jesse Ryder, twice in succession, pounded Harbhajan Singh on the off-side and on both occasions, Suresh Raina produced stunning stops at extra-cover.

And when Raina sent down his occasional off-spin in the next over, an increasingly frustrated Ryder lashed out to be held at mid-off. This, indeed, was a wonderful example of a team building stress.

Raina's batting form has dipped, his Test place is on the line and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni believes the cricketer needs a short break from international cricket. Yet, the moment highlighted commitment in a team sport. It was about not allowing one's shoulder to drop irrespective of personal fortunes, about everybody chipping in. Team India bristled with aggression and intent.

A buzzing Indian attack made short work of New Zealand at the VCA Stadium here on the fourth day to win the contest by a whopping innings and 198 runs. Dhoni's men clinched the three-Test series 1-0. Rahul Dravid's monumental 191 won him the man of the match award. And Harbhajan Singh was adjudged player of the series for his all-round display of 315 runs at 105.00 and 10 wickets at 42.00.

New Zealand crumbled to be dismissed for 175 in its second innings shortly after lunch. The surface provided encouragement to the spinners but was not a stark turner by any means. There was spin and bounce for both Harbhajan and Pragyan Ojha. To their credit, both spinners bowled in the right areas, varied their trajectory and harnessed the angles capably. Raina chipped in with useful wickets.

The lanky Ishant Sharma, the home side's major gain from the Test, operated at a lively pace, got his deliveries to straighten in the corridor and struck with telling off-cutters. Once again, he blew away the tail. Ishant added another dimension to the attack.

Although the verdicts would not have altered the eventual outcome - the Kiwis were outplayed - the visitors were at the receiving end of a couple of rough umpiring decisions. The calls for UDRS are bound to increase. The system - both sides are allowed two unsuccessful referrals in every innings - can remove blatant errors. However, the traditionalists will argue that the UDRS takes the human element away from the game.

New Zealand would be disappointed with its inept display here after offering stirring resistance in the first two Tests. The batting lacked belief when the ball spun and close-in fielders breathed down on the batsman.

Things happened quickly in the morning. By ending the inning late on day three, the host got the timing of its declaration right. This meant the ball would still be hard when play began on the fourth day. Sreesanth moved the ball away consistently from the right-hander. Ojha was spot-on from the other end; Dhoni relied on pace-spin combinations.

Ojha struck with a short-of-a-good length delivery that held its line. The in-form Brendon McCullum committed a fatal error in playing across. New Zealand slid into further trouble when umpire Simon Taufel made a dreadful mistake by adjudging Martin Guptill leg-before to left-armer Ojha. Replays revealed the ball clearly pitched outside leg stump.

And when Ross Taylor was plumb in front after missing a sweep off Ojha, he was ruled not out by Taufel. India, though, continued to pick wickets in a dramatic session. Unable to cope with a sharp off-spinner from Harbhajan, nightwatchman Gareth Hopkins was held bat-pad by a diving Gautam Gambhir at short-leg.

Already in a hole, the Kiwis were undone by another umpiring blunder. Harbhajan, getting his off-spinners to fizz off the surface, turned one into Taylor and the ball bounced off the pad - the bat was nowhere near to substitute Cheteshwar Pujara at short-leg.

Harbhajan's appeal was mild, almost an afterthought. To his horror, Taylor saw umpire Nigel Llong's finger go up. Unable to build partnerships, the Kiwis were losing ground rapidly. Kane Williamson was done in by an off-cutter that kept a shade low from Ishant. Soon, the left-handed Ryder departed.

Skipper Daniel Vettori, who miscalculated by playing back, was prised out by a delivery that did not spin from Raina. Tim Southee struck some lusty blows but the Indians were celebrating before long.

Injured Michael Clarke declares: 'I'll play' in the first Ashes Test

Michael Clarke (right) speaks with teammate Ricky Ponting during an Australian nets session at the Cricket Australia

USMAN Khawaja was rushed to Brisbane as a standby for Michael Clarke but Australia's vice-captain said he was prepared to risk his injured back by playing in the first Ashes Test.

"If it's up to me, I'm saying let's risk it, get me out there," Clarke said after missing Australia's training session at Allan Border Field yesterday.

"But there's the rest of the series, there's the rest of my career, there's a lot of other issues to think about."

Khawaja was expected to board a 9pm flight from Sydney. He was omitted from the 13-man Test squad on Saturday, but Khawaja is held in the highest regard by those who matter, including captain Ricky Ponting and chairman of selectors Andrew Hilditch.

Clarke is on a collision course with medical staff.

The enormity of the Ashes makes him desperate to get onto the Gabba on Thursday but team physiotherapist Alex Kountouris is worried about long-term damage to his back.

Today's net session will reveal Clarke's condition. Ponting is prepared to give him until just before the toss.
"I want to play," Clarke said. "Unfortunately, it's not going to be about how much I want to play. That's a given."
 "That's where the expertise of Alex plays a part. Myself, the selectors and Ricky need to listen to what he says," Clarke said.

"We've got to make the right decision for the team, too. If I can't get out there and perform, I'm hurting the team.

"If I feel like I can perform at my best, and Punter is happy to go with me, I'm certain they'll let me out there. I'm pretty confident.

"Obviously, I'm still a little bit stiff and sore, hence me not training today.

"But the plan was always for me to have a good bat tomorrow and Wednesday.

"The goal is to get as close to 100 per cent, or 100 per cent for Thursday."

Clarke has managed a degenerative disc condition since the age of 18.

"I've played 64 Tests with it," he said. "I haven't missed a Test match with it yet and I hope that continues here.

"Waking up daily, like everybody, there are parts of your body that hurt more than others when I get out of bed.

"If it happens during the game, you do whatever you can to get through.

"I remember in 2005, it happened first ball when we were fielding at Old Trafford and I batted in those two innings.

"I don't want to miss a Test with injury. Once you're batting, once the adrenaline takes over, that takes away a lot of the pain."

Ponting said Clarke would be ruled out if he was unable to bat today.

Hilditch said: "As there is some doubt over Michael Clarke's fitness for the Brisbane Test match, it was felt prudent to bring a standby player into the squad.

"Usman has been added as a result of his strong recent domestic form and the belief that should the opportunity arise, he has the ability to perform well at the international level."

Sudan rivals vow to hold poll

Sudan rivals vow to hold poll

Officials from Sudan's north and south have said the they are committed to holding a timely, peaceful referendum on January 9 that will determine whether Africa's largest nation will split into two separate countries.

The reaffirmation comes days after Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general, expressed concerns over preparation delays. Registration for the referendum began on Monday.

Ali Ahmed Karti, Sudan's foreign minister, and Pagan Amum, the secretary-general of the south's ruling Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), also told the UN Security Council that the north and the south would both abide by the referendum's results.

Thabo Mbeki, South Africa's former president and the EU envoy to Sudan, said Omar al-Bashir, Sudan's president, and Salva Kiir, his South Sudan counterpart, will meet next week to try to resolve differences over a separate referendum to decide whether the oil-rich Abyei region should belong to the south or north.

The January vote is the final phase of a 2005 peace agreement that ended two decades of war between the north and south.

The conflict is unrelated to the fighting in western Darfur where rebel groups took up arms against the government in February 2003.

Under the agreement, the south formed its own government, which has limited autonomy and in which the north has a small representation. South Sudan is nominally represented in the government of national unity, which is led by the Khartoum-based National Congress Party (NCP).

Despite many unresolved issues, world leaders have been urging the parties to keep to the January 9 timetable.

John Kerry, a US senator who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said last month that Sudanese leaders had assured him during his three-day visit to the country that they were committed to holding the referendum on time.

"I received a letter written in clear words confirming that the government of Sudan is committed to conduct southern Sudan referendum on 9th of coming January, and committed to its outcome," Kerry said.

During Tuesday's meeting many speakers said they were encouraged that voter registration began on time. Polls show the overwhelming majority of southerners favor independence. Northerners will not vote.

"All signs point to the fact that the people of Southern Sudan are likely to vote for independence in January," Amum told the 15-member council.

"We call on the council and on all UN member states to respect the choice of the people of Southern Sudan, as shall be reflected in the outcome of the referendum."

Karti, for his part, pledged the Sudanese government would abide by the results of the referendum.

There are concerns that any problems with the referendum could plunge Sudan back into civil war.

Speaking at Tuesday's council session, Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, called a return to civil war an 'unacceptable alternative".

She said US relations with Sudan would be "dramatically improved", if the referendum is successfully conducted.

The US has said it may remove Sudan from its list of state sponsors of terrorism as early as next July if the government in Khartoum meets numerous benchmarks, including a trouble-free vote.

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No decision on Kochi team yet: BCCI sources

Indian Premier League (IPL) Governing Council has not taken any decision on the fate of Kochi IPL team in its meet on Wednesday, according to a Board official.  Amidst indications that the investors group of the Kochi team is not too keen in running the franchisee, the Governing Council was likely to take a call on scrapping the team during its meeting. 

The BCCI last month gave a 30-day notice to the Kochi IPL consortium to sort out its internal differences and get its ownership structure in order.  However, the investor group of the consortium has reportedly not come to an understanding with the promoters Rendezvous Sports World Private Limited and is likely to request the BCCI to let them withdraw from the franchisee.

This is also likely to pave the way for the Cricket Board to have a discussion on inviting tenders for a new franchisee, which will ensure that at least eight franchisees participate in the next edition of the IPL.

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US envoy says Kashmir a bilateral issue between India and Pakistan

Kashmir a bilateral issue between India and Pakistan

Echoing the recent comments made by President Barack Obama, U.S. Ambassador Timothy Roemer, urged India to restart dialogue process with Pakistan.

Speaking to reporters here on the sidelines of a seminar, Roemer asserted increased communication between the two restive neighbours was in the best interests of both nations.

On Kashmir being excluded from the UN list of unresolved disputes, Roemer said it was an "internal issue" of India and should be resolved bilaterally through negotiations with Pakistan.

"This is an internal issue for India. It is a bilateral issue between Pakistan and India, to discuss term, scope, character and pace," he added.

Roemer also revealed that the US was working towards making India a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).

"He (Obama) is unequivocally and fervently in favour of India having a permanent seat in a reformed United Nations. It was one of the many highlights of the President's visit to India to make this historic announcement. We applaud that and now we will be working to see that happens," Roemer. (ANI)