Indian news round-up

Govt awaiting advice from ministries on match-fixing:The Union Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs, Uma Bharati said in the Lok Sabha that the Government will decide the future course of action on the match-fixing issue after getting advice from the concerned Ministries.

In a written response to two Members of Parliament, Uma Bharati said that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will take a final decision by the end of this month on the fate of the players named in the CBI report. She added that a copy of the report has been sent to the concerned Ministries seeking their advice on the future course of action.

The Union Minister said the CBI had also indicated in its report that an inquiry into the bunglings in the award of telecast rights was being initiated separately. PTI reported on Sunday that the agency will soon question five senior Doordarshan officials and three from private television channels in this regard.

Former Indian opener and present sheriff of Calcutta, Pankaj Roy is critically ill. Roy suffered a cardiac attack on Sunday night at the Anandalok Nursing Home in the city. He had been admitted to the nursing home on Saturday after complaining of uneasiness.

Roy's personal physician Dr.P Mondal said on Monday that the cricketer was being given oxygen. He also added that Roy cannot be proclaimed out of danger. The last few months had been hectic and full of stress for the 75-year old Roy and doctors feel the stress has finally taken its toll. However Roy survived mainly because he was already in the Intensive Care Unit when the cardiac attack occurred.

Police officers and personnel of the Special Branch are feeling peeved at the refusal of the five tainted cricketers to come down to Calcutta citing lack of security. Mohammed Azharuddin, Ajay Jadeja, Nayan Mongia, Ajay Sharma and Manoj Prabhakar were scheduled to appear in front of the disciplinary committee of the Board on Tuesday but, at their insistence, the venue of the meeting was changed to Delhi.

Mr. Narayan Ghosh, a Deputy Commissioner of Police said, "Calcutta, is possibly the safest place for any cricketer. We always have a foolproof security system chalked out for them. So they should not complain about security here. In fact, if they feel insecure in Calcutta, they will never feel secure anywhere else. Here, even the public protects the cricketers."

In fact, for the cricketers an elaborate arrangement had already been made at the Taj Bengal Hotel in the city. All the five had been booked on the same floor with the police and a commando unit blocking off the entire corridor. Plans had already been made to scrutinise each and every visitor to the hotel from Monday onwards. The police had also decided to place mobile patrol vans on the route from the Calcutta Airport to the Hotel. One senior police official said, "We had virtually made the same security arrangements that we have for a superstar from any profession. In spite of that if they feel insecure then my best wishes for them."