England pip India to become top ODI side
Dubai,May 2: England leapfrogged India to gain the No.1 spot in the International Cricket Council's (ICC) One-Day International (ODI) rankings after the annual update which saw the men-in-blue losing a point to be positioned at second in the latest rankings released here on Wednesday.
England, who last topped the ODI rankings in January 2013 have gained eight points and moved to 125 points after the performances in the 2014-15 season has been dropped from the latest calculations while those from the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons were weighted at 50 percent.
India, who were at the top before the update, have lost a solitary point to slip to No.2 with a total of 122 points.
South Africa, who were second, have dropped down to third place after losing four points, from 117 to 113, leaving them nine points adrift of India and only one point ahead of fourth-placed New Zealand.
The remaining places remain unchanged, meaning that the current top 10 ranked sides are the ones who will be playing in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019.
However, there have been some significant changes in points.
World champions Australia have lost eight points to go down to 104 in fifth position and are only two points ahead of ICC Champions Trophy 2017 winners Pakistan, who have gained six points.
In other changes, Bangladesh (93 points) have gained three points, Sri Lanka (77) have lost seven points, the West Indies (69) have lost five points, Afghanistan (63) have gained five points, Zimbabwe (55) have gained four points and 12th-placed Ireland (38) have lost three points.
Meanwhile, in the ICC T20I rankings led by Pakistan, there is no change in the top seven places but Afghanistan are now ahead of Sri Lanka in the eighth slot.
Pakistan (130) and Australia (126) remain in the top two positions without a change in their points total while India have gained two points to reach 123.
New Zealand (116) are unchanged on points while England (115) have gained a solitary point.
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Savarkar remarks: Rahul Gandhi appears in Pune court via video link in defamation case, gets bail
Pune, Jan 10: A special court in Pune on Friday granted bail to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in a defamation case related to his alleged objectionable remarks on Hindutva ideologue V D Savarkar.
The MP/MLA court granted bail to the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha on a surety bond of Rs 25,000 after he appeared before it through video conferencing, his lawyer said.
Senior Congress leader Mohan Joshi stood as surety for Gandhi (54) before the court presided over by Amol Shinde, judicial magistrate (first class) and special judge for MP/MLA cases.
Advocate Milind Pawar, representing Gandhi, said soon after his client appeared before the court, they moved a bail application.
The judge allowed the plea and granted bail to the former Congress president on a surety bond of Rs 25000, he informed.
The advocate said the court also granted permanent exemption to the Lok Sabha MP from Rae Bareli from appearing before it.
The case was filed on a complaint by V D Savarkar's grandnephew Satyaki, who alleged Gandhi had made defamatory remarks against the Hindutva icon at a programme he attended in London in March 2023.
Earlier, advocate Sangram Kolhatkar, representing Satyaki Savarkar, objected to Gandhi's application seeking virtual appearance.
There was no provision that allows an accused to appear in court through video conferencing before securing bail, Kolhatkar argued.
The court, however, permitted Gandhi to attend the proceedings online.
Wearing a bottle green sweater, the Congress MP appeared before the court and stated his name when the judge asked for it.
The matter will be next heard on February 18.
As per the complaint, Gandhi, while speaking at the London event, stated that Savarkar had written in a book that he and five to six of his friends once beat up a Muslim man and he (Savarkar) felt happy.
According to the complaint, the freedom fighter had not written this anywhere and the Congress leader's remarks were aimed at defaming him.
At the time, the court had asked the Pune police to investigate the allegations and file a report.
The Vishrambaug police, after an inquiry, submitted that there was prima facie truth in the complaint.
Gandhi had skipped the previous court appearance on December 2 citing the winter session of Parliament which he was attending.
His lawyer Pawar had then assured that the opposition parliamentarian will appear in the court on January 10.
