Former Australian cricketer Damien Martyn is in serious condition in a Gold Coast hospital
Brisbane (AP): Former cricketer Damien Martyn, who played 67 test matches for Australia, is in a serious condition in a Gold Coast hospital south of Brisbane, Australian media reported Wednesday.
The 54-year-old former right-hand batter had fallen ill in recent days, with Nine Newspapers reporting he is in an induced coma and fighting a bout of meningitis.
“Lots of love and prayers sending (at) damienmartyn way. Keep strong and fighting legend. Love to the family,” former test teammate Darren Lehmann wrote on social media.
A spokesperson for Gold Coast Health said that Martyn “remains in a serious condition at the Gold Coast University Hospital.”
Speaking to News Corp., close friend and former Australian test wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist said: “He is getting the best of treatment and (Martyn's partner) Amanda and his family know that a lot of people are sending their prayers and best wishes.”
Cricket Australia chief executive Todd Greenberg wished Martyn a quick recovery.
“I'm saddened to hear of Damien's illness. The best wishes of everyone at CA and in the wider cricket community are with him at this time,” said Greenberg.
Martyn's seemingly effortless stroke play was his strength, averaging 46.37 with the bat in test matches.
Born in Darwin, Martyn earned a test debut at 21 replacing Dean Jones in the 1992-93 home series against West Indies and was Western Australia's captain at 23.
His high score of 165 came against New Zealand in 2005, one of his 13 test centuries.
Martyn played his final test at Adelaide Oval in the 2006-07 Ashes series before moving into commentary work.
Martyn played 208 one-day internationals, averaging 40.8. He was part of Australia's squad that won the 1999 and 2003 World Cups, scoring an unbeaten 88 in the final against India in 2003 while batting with a broken finger, and was also a member of the winning 2006 Champions Trophy squad.
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Constitution amendment bill defeat was BJP’s first embarrassment in Parliament: Margaret Alva
Bengaluru (PTI): Senior Congress leader Margaret Alva on Monday said that the constitution amendment bill's defeat in the Lok Sabha on April 17 was the first embarrassment faced by the BJP-led government in Parliament.
She also alleged that the BJP has no real concern regarding women’s reservation.
The opposition INDIA bloc defeated the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill that sought to facilitate the implementation of women's reservation by expanding the strength of the Lok Sabha, apart from making changes to delimitation.
"This is the first embarrassment and defeat faced by the NDA government in the Lok Sabha," the former Governor of Gujarat and Rajasthan said in a press conference here.
According to her, the women’s reservation has been under discussion since the time of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi.
"During Rajiv Gandhi’s tenure, a 14-member committee was formed, and I was appointed as its chairperson. We prepared a report after studying what needed to be done to enhance the dignity of women across 12 sectors. This was submitted to the government in 1989,” Alva, 84-year-old veteran Congress leader, said.
She said political empowerment for women was emphasised in that report, without which, empowerment in any other sphere is not possible.
“Many people in Parliament used to question me — should we vacate seats for women and stay at home cooking? Why insist on this? Has anyone written these seats in your name? This debate has been ongoing since 1975,” Alva explained.
The Congress leader said Rajiv Gandhi had introduced 33 per cent reservation for women in local bodies.
“At that time, all opposition parties united and defeated the Bill,” she pointed out.
Again, during the tenure of former Prime Minister late P V Narasimha Rao, the 33 per cent reservation Bill in local bodies was passed.
“It was the Congress party that first introduced women’s reservation. Now they are falsely accusing us of being anti-women,” Alva charged.
In 2023, the Women’s Reservation Bill was passed with much fanfare, but it was not immediately implemented.
According to her, a condition was imposed for its implementation that it would be enforced based on census data.
"Once it is in the statute book, what is preventing its implementation? Two years for the census and another two years for delimitation — this means it cannot be implemented by 2029. It was not given in 2024, and there is no possibility even in 2029," Alva charged the BJP-led government at the Centre.
The Congress leader said the BJP is saying that the Bill can be implemented based on the 2011 Census, but when the same suggestion was made in 2023, the BJP rejected it.
On increasing the Lok Sabha seats by 50 per cent, she sought to know the basis for it.
“Where did this (idea) come from? Whose advice was taken? Was it decided by the RSS? Or ordered by a court?” Alva asked.
The former union minister said the Constitution amendment bill, which was defeated on April 17 appears to favour certain North Indian states.
“We pay taxes, but they receive greater benefits and allocations. If seats are increased by 50 per cent based on their calculations, we would get only 14 additional seats, while they would get 40. How is this fair?” she questioned.
While 298 members voted in support of the bill in Lok Sabha, 230 MPs voted against it. Out of 528 members who voted, the bill required 352 votes for a two-third majority.
According to the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, Lok Sabha seats were to be increased to "operationalise" the women's reservation act before the 2029 parliamentary polls, following a delimitation exercise based on the 2011 Census.
Seats were also to be increased in state and Union territory Assemblies to accommodate 33 per cent reservation for women.
