ABRACADABRA

92 from 4 balls: Incredible cricket

Dhaka: A Bangladeshi cricket team conceded 92 runs in just four balls to deliberately lose a match in what they called a protest over biased umpiring in their league.

In the 50-over match of Dhaka Second Division League, Lalmatia Club were dismissed for just 88 off 14 overs before opponents Axiom Cricketers reached 92-0 off just four balls.

Lalmatia's opening bowler Sujon Mahmud sent down 13 wides and three no-balls in the first over and all of them raced to the boundary, costing his side a further 80 runs.

Axiom opener Mustafizur Rahman struck three fours in four legitimate boundaries to take his side home in just 0.4 overs to complete a 10-wicket win in the capital's City Club ground.

Lalmatia Club secretary Adnan Rahman said his player bowled the wides and no-balls deliberately as a mark of protest for poor umpiring.

"Throughout the league we were subjected to poor umpiring," Adnan said.

The secretary alleged the umpires did not even allow the team captain to see the coin after toss.

"They tossed the coin and said: Okay you bat. Very soon we found our team had lost five wickets for just 11 runs inside seven overs," he said.

Another club official claimed to AFP on condition of anonymity that umpires were biased against Lalmatia throughout the season, as at least one of its leading lights is linked to the main opposition party.

The match angered the Bangladesh Cricket Board, which organises club cricket in Dhaka. The president of the BCB is a lawmaker in the ruling party and is close to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

"This is very unusual ... so many wides and noballs," BCB spokesman Jalal Yunus told AFP.

"We have asked match officials to submit a report in this regard. Once we've received the report, we will launch a formal investigation."

5 Teachers for 1 student

Chandigarh: A back-of-the-beyond government school in Himachal Pradesh presents a picture in contrast to the rot that exists in school education in the state and neighbouring Punjab.  The Himachal Pradesh government spends close to Rs 13.50 lakh annually on 5 staff, including 3teachers, to educate the lone student studying in the Kardang High School in snow-clad Lahaul and Spiti. 

Sparsely populated: The district is the largest in geographical area, but is sparsely populated. In fact, this place has the lowest population in the hill state.

In neighbouring Punjab, there are as many as 1,170 primary schools functioning with a single teacher in each school. This despite several students enrolling as day-scholars. There is more to worry, the strength of students in classes 1 to 7 in the government and aided schools in Punjab has declined by almost 60% over the past 6 years. Another school in the hill state shares the similar laurels. The Yurnath Government Middle School has just 6 students who are taken care by 7 staff, including 5 teachers. 

The lone student in the Lahaul Spiti school, Sonam Angmo, was recently promoted to the next class, it is learnt. The school is the only hope for students in the snow-clad region. Even if it is a single student during the entire academic session, the government will not shut the school despite the heavy costs involved. The annual salary of the three teachers adds up to about `13 lakh. The school had two students in the last academic session. The education department hopes that more will turn up this year. 

12th pass fails ‘Hindi test’

Uttar Pradesh: It was meant to be a simple test in Hindi language, his mother tongue, and yet he failed and had to face the humiliation of rejection from the would be bride.

The bizarre incident occurred in Uttar Pradesh’s Mainpuri district, about 300 kilometers from here.

According to the reports, the marriage of Ranjana (name changed), who was a fifth standard pass out, had been fixed with a boy, who had cleared intermediate (12th) last year, from the neighbouring Farrukhabad district.  

What’s in a name? asked Shakespeare. But China….!

Beijing: China has banned dozens of Islamic names like ‘Saddam’ and ‘Jihad’ for babies belonging to the  restive Muslim-majority Xinjiang province, in a move that would prevent children from getting access to education and government benefits.

Xinjiang authorities have recently banned dozens of names with religious connotations common to Muslims around the world on the basis that they could “exaggerate religious fervour,” the Human Rights Watch (HRW) said. Islam, Quran, Mecca, Jihad, Imam, Saddam, Hajj, and Medina are among dozens of baby names banned under ruling Chinese Communist Party’s “Naming Rules For Ethnic Minorities,” an official was quoted as saying by Radio Free Asia.

Children with banned names will not be able to obtain a “hukou,” or household registration, essential for accessing public school and other social services, it said. The new measures are part of China’s fight against terrorism in this troubled region, home to 10 million Muslim Uyghur ethnic minority. This is the latest in a slew of new regulations restricting religious freedom in the name of countering “religious extremism,” the HRW said. Conflicts between the Uyghur and the Han, the majority ethnic group in China who also control the government, are common in Xinjiang.

On April 1, Xinjiang authorities imposed new rules prohibiting the wearing of “abnormal” beards or veils in public places, and imposing punishments for refusing to watch state TV or radio programmes.

Passenger asked to leave flight for going to toilet

Washington: A Delta Air Lines passenger was asked to leave the flight in the US after he wanted to go to the toilet when the plane was getting ready for takeoff, according to media reports. The flight 2035 was getting ready to depart from Atlanta to Milwaukee in the US state of Wisconsin on April 18 when passenger Kima Hamilton, 39, tried to use the toilet. The Delta Air Lines quick take on this incident is that federal law requires passengers to comply with crew instructions or run the risk of being seen as s security threat, the Atlanta Journal reported.