Battle begins

 

The Indian Premier League (IPL) is the latest jackpot from the Board of Cricket Control in India.

 

Contemporary to the phenomenal English Premier League, the Indian Premier League is just the starting. Though a cricket league, the popularity and format is just the same as football has not gained enough popularity in the country as yet.

  

IPL is BCCI’s reply to ICL started by Kapil Dev. Earlier players who were part of ICL were banned from playing for India. But with IPL, they not only get to play with international players but also a strong arena to get into the national side.

 

There are eight teams in the league. Chennai Super Kings owned by India Cements, Shahrukh Khan’s Kolkata Knight Riders, Kings XI Punjab of Priety Zinta and Ness Wadia, Bangalore Royal Challengers owned by Vijay Mallya, Mumbai Indians by Mukesh Ambani, Hyderabad Deccan Chargers owned by Deccan Chronicle, Rajasthan Royals by Emerging Media and Lachlan Murdoch and Delhi Daredevils by GMR holdings.

 

This is another venture where Bollywood and cricket have come together. Two teams are owned by bollywood’s biggest names.

 

Large amount of money is involved. In the player’s auction, Mahendar Singh Dhoni was bought for the highest bid of 60 million rupees for the Chennai Super Kings.

 

Controversies always follow with something of this magnitude. Because the inaugural IPL season coincided with the County Championship season as well as New Zealand’s tour of England, the ECB and county cricket clubs raised their concerns to the BCCI over players.

 

The ECB made it abundantly clear that they would not sign No Objection Certificates for players-a prerequisite for playing in the IPL. Chairmen of the county clubs also made it clear that players contracted to them were required to fulfill their commitment to their county.

 

Currently, Knight Riders and Super Kings are the leading teams in the tournament, winning all matches played.

Yet another hurdle.

United Kingdom is second only to the United States for the number of immigrants and international student population. The number of students entering the country drastically increases every year.

 

Britain has announced a hike in its immigration fees to fund sweeping changes it plans to introduce to improve border security over the next 12 months.

 

Statisticians forecast that at least 70 per cent of the population rise over the next 20 years will be attributable directly to immigration and these also include the illegal immigrants.

 

Britain’s immigration minister, Liam Byrne said: “I am clear on our visa system, which is out of date. For many legitimate visitors-especially those who want to see loved ones, it’s too hard to get back together.”

 

The changes being considered in UK’s visa system are a part of the biggest shake up of the immigration system in 45 years.

 

Kalavati Ramachandran, 22, Preston said: “Most of the international students coming from India to study abroad are from middle class family background. The increase in the fees has caused an even greatest strain in their finances. Instead the home office officials can check for the accuracy of the documents and be stricter about the documents produced by the candidates.”

 

Many changes like the point system have been proposed to the UK’s visa system, including the proposal to reduce the current maximum leave for tourist visitors from six to three months.

 

Mr Byrne also said: “We welcome the contribution that legal migrants make to the economy and cultural life in the UK and we have ensured that these fees, which will usher in the biggest reforms to the immigration system in a generation, are at levels that will not damage our international competitiveness.”

 

Immigration from outside the EU is set to grow after the European commission announced it was introducing a “blue card” system aimed at recruiting upto 20 million African and Asians.

 

Winning Indian cricket, for a change

Fantastic day for Indian cricket again. The men in blue seem to be in a winning spree. Be it in ODIs or test. The batsmen have all but taken away the game from Pakistan’s reach. 352 in the first day is a very impressive performance. Surprises awaiting the pakistan team…

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