Ambimama - India

Chennai Central

Two days back I went Chennai Central to receive my friend. There were more parcels from RMS, big parcels and bad smelling fish all over the station, passageways, near the coaches.

The passengers were in great difficulty passing through the parcels. Sure Railways must find a solution to this.

Really passengers have to wag their way around parcels (with luggage) and find the proper arrival/departure of trains by staring at the electronic board which is a useless piece of information.

KOCHI Railway station

The construction of the Railway booking office at Ernakulam Town Railway station is causing hardship to passengers and Railway employees. Heaps of sand has been dumped on the first platform leaving hardly any space to walk.

“It is difficult to walk here in the night. Many a time passengers trip on the sand. During rush hours it gets worse. The authorities turn a deaf ear to our woes,” said Satheesh, a passenger.

The sand pile is also affecting the transportation of goods. Porters are not able to load and unload properly.

Around 20 trains arrive here every day and we wait for the passengers to leave the platform to start work. Now with the heap of sand on the platform there is hardly any space,” said a porter.

Contractor VV Jose said that he was ready to remove the sand from the platform if the Railway authorities were ready to give him additional payment for it.

Coimbatore

It is worse in Coimbatore. There is always confusion which train will arrive in the platform announced. Many times my friends have boarded the wrong train and put into great difficulty.

As usual with other stations parcels pose a big headache for the passengers.

I think Lalu should solve this instead of supplying tea in clay cups, which is a failure.

And our elite from IIM’s from local and Harvard should learn about the services provided than the profits made by Railways. Profits are automatic due to large-scale travel habits of Indians and attachment of more unreserved compartments.

Marriage of Forest Minister C Chennigappa’s son held at Palace Grounds in Bangalore on Thursday, had an impact on the public transport system across the district with hundreds of commuters stranded at various KSRTC bus stations, till evening.

The passengers at Tumkur, Kunigal, Sira and Turuvekere bus stations were stranded due to unavailability of KSRTC buses, as the minister’s family took most of them away to Bangalore.

Regular commuters between Bangalore and Tumkur suffered the brunt to the maximum extent.

Many of them had failed to report to work on schedule. A group of passengers staged a protest at the Tumkur bus terminus demanding immediate bus services to various destinations.

Local CPI(M) leaders N K Subramanya and B Umesh who rushed to the spot, blasted the authorities for causing inconvenience to the poor passengers by cancelling regular services. They demanded that the KSRTC should stop sending buses to the marriages and other functions of VVIPs, at the cost of commuters.

The KSRTC regional traffic controller G G Hegade admitted that some 150 buses were sent to the marriage. But, all have returned to the respective base stations by 3 pm, he added.

First Bad News
Under pressure from general public who were made to wait for hours the AP Government took exception to the administration of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) extending ‘‘undue preferential treatment’’ to the Amitabh Bachchan family when they visited Tirumala on April 22 with the newlywed star couple — Aishwarya Rai and Abhisek — the TTD Board on Thursday asked its executive officer K V Ramanachary to conduct a probe and fix responsibility.

What irked the TTD Board members was that the administration went overboard, violated protocol and held up devotees, causing inconvenience to thousands of pilgrims waiting to have a darshan of Lord Venkateswara.

Even a few compartments of the Queue Complex were kept vacant for the VIP guests to have a ‘‘hassle-free’’ darshan.

The executive officer himself offered prasadam to the VIP guests though they are not covered by the protocol. In all, the Bachchan family spent a cool 45 minutes in the sanctum sanctorum.

GOOD NEWS
Free Laddu to Sarvadarshan pilgrims
The TTD Trust Board resolved to supply one laddu each, free of cost to the Sarvadarshan devotees entering temple for darshan through general queue.

At present, the TTD is providing one laddu at a subsidised rate of Rs.5 each and one extra laddu at Rs.10 to the Sarvadarshan devotees.

The board also resolved to supply a handbook or CD or audio cassette as pusthaka prasadams on devotional songs and works, to the pilgrims when they enter the temple for darshan.

The books and cassettes would be in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and Hindi, the chairman explained.

Bounce me, if you can says Jayasuriya

Sri Lanka’s marauding opening batsman Sanath Jayasuriya has thrown down the gauntlet at the Australians to bounce him if they can in Saturday’s final of the cricket World Cup.

“It doesn’t matter what they bowl to me. I have been around long enough in international cricket to face any sort of bowling. If they bounce me, I can pull and hook as well,” said Jayasuriya with characteristic modesty.

Australians have tried to bounce Jayasuriya in recent times, suggesting the left-hander is vulnerable to fast, rising deliveries.

Ponting is especially upbeat about the Kensington oval pitch which, by all accounts, should favour pace and bounce.

Jayasuriya was almost lyrical in his praise for captain Mahela Jayawardene whose century guided Sri Lanka to win over New Zealand in the first semi-final in Kingston on Tuesday.
————————–
McGrath wants to destroy Jayasuriya

Glenn McGrath has singled out his prey Sanath Jayasuriya for the World Cup final against Sri Lanka on Saturday.

McGrath says he has enjoyed a upper hand against the left-hander in bouncy tracks, something the Barbados pitch will have in plenty.

“I have probably bowled a bit more aggressively in this tournament than I have in the past and that’s the reason why I have a few more wickets.

“The fact that I have decided to retire is probably one of the reasons why I am bowling so well because I am just going out there, trying to enjoy it. There is no pressure, no fear, no anything” he said.

The 37-year old bowler undermined the South Africans early in the innings with three for 18 off eight overs. South Africa could make only 149 off 43.5 overs after winning the toss and opting to bat.

Australia then cruised to their target in 31.1 overs to win handsomely at the Beausejour Cricket Ground on Wednesday.

Australia will now meet Sri Lanka in the final at Kensington Oval in Barbados on Saturday, in a repeat of the 1996 final when Sri Lanka won their first-ever World Cup title.

“There is quality bowling in their camp based on the way (Lasith) Malinga is bowling and (Muttiah) Muralitharan can turn it on too, so we’ll hopefully be preparing as well as we did for the semi-final,” he pointed out.

Mean while may interrupt the game - Cup final

Light showers could interrupt the World Cup final between holders Australia and Sri Lanka on Saturday.

The Barbados capital had been bathed in sunshine for more than two weeks but overcast skies and outbreaks of rain were forecast for both Friday and Saturday. Temperatures are expected to reach 31 degrees Celsius (88 degrees Fahrenheit).

Organisers have the option of completing the final on Sunday should the match be interrupted on Saturday or use the Duckworth-Lewis system to adjust the number of overs/target for the teams if bad weather comes into the equation for the tournament finale.

Ponting prepares for unique Malinga

Australia captain Ricky Ponting practised against a bowling machine set to simulate deliveries from Sri Lanka express bowler Lasith Malinga on the eve of Saturday’s World Cup final.

Malinga, who took four wickets in four balls in the second-stage Super Eights match against South Africa, returned after an injury break to bowl with ferocious pace against New Zealand in the semi-finals.

‘TOP-UP WORK’
“Malinga’s action is pretty unique,” Ponting told a news conference after practice.

“He will be a key with the new ball, that sort of wicket will probably seam as well with a bit of extra bounce and carry.”

Ponting said he was not concerned that his team had been given no serious, sustained challenge throughout the seven-week tournament.

Australia are undefeated in the World Cup since losing a group stage match to Pakistan in 1999, a run of 28 matches.

I have written and enjoyed the comments of many in my World Cup Cricket.

Always my predictions go wrong.

One of the comments I received was, I posted an article without heading.

I said that New Zealand would win. It went wrong.

And there were comments about throwing the ball by Malinga.

I have nothing against any player or country.

It’s Cricket. India lost – so what? Cricket is there.

Sure this time I am going to break my habit of judging who is going to win.

Whatever I write goes wrong. So this time I am going to write a wrong thing:

Australia will win the World Cup 2007.

(Either way I win)