'Mischievous' AAP attempting to boost its chances through 'Udta Punjab': Subramaniam Swamy

'Mischievous' AAP attempting to boost its chances through 'Udta Punjab': Subramaniam Swamy

Questioning the release timing of Shahid Kapoor-starrer 'Udta Punjab', Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy on Thursday alleged that theAam Aadmi Party (AAP) was making mischievous attempts to boost its chances in next year's state assembly polls courtesy the drug abuse highlighted in the flick.

Swamy's remark came a day after Central Board for Film Certification (CBFC) chief Pahlaj Nihalani alleged that the movie's co-producer Anurag Kashyap has taken money from Arvind Kejriwal-led party to show Punjab in bad light.

Swamy told ANI the timing of this movie is wrong because it really makes out that the Punjab Government is responsible for drug abuse in the state.

"Nobody has doubts that drug is a big problem. Who says it started with Akalis? It started with the Congress. This appears to be a mischievous attempt to further the cause of the AAP. And with the AAP defending itself, that only confirms itself," Swamy said.

The BJP's Rajya Sabha MP further said there is nothing wrong if the movie is released after the Punjab elections are over.

Asserting that the 2017 Punjab elections would be fought on the grounds of the rampant drug abuse in the state, the AAP had yesterday accused Prime MinisterNarendra Modi of having the CBFC chief in his pocket and using him as a pawn to further his chances in the polls by playing politics over 'Udta Punjab'.

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IPL Gov Council to discuss moving 10th edition abroad: BCCI secretary

IPL Gov Council to discuss moving 10th edition abroad: BCCI secretary

The members of the Indian Premier League's governing council are likely to deliberate on whether the 2017 edition of the cash-rich tourney can be held abroad, BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur revealed Thursday.

"The IPL governing council will be looking at the venues in India and abroad. We have to check the availability of the venues and prevailing conditions," Thakur told a select gathering of journalists during an interaction at the BCCI's Delhi headquarters today.

Read more from our special coverage on "IPL"

• Citing drought, PIL seeks shifting of IPL matches from Raipur
• Problems related to IPL affect the franchises: Preity Zinta
• Bombay HC allows BCCI to hold May 1 IPL match in Pune
• Happy, united, young goes the IPL chant
• Branding googlies for late entrants

IPL has been twice played outside India both being assembly election years. In 2009, the league was moved for the entire duration to South Africa, while in 2014, it was shifted to the United Arab Emirates for the first 15 days.

That the BCCI top brass is deliberating on the issue was clear when BCCI treasurer Aniruddh Chaudhary had tweeted four days back: "Very soon IPL may be played outside the country, if this goes on. Loss to the GDP would not be insignificant."

The IPL has been rocked by one controversy after another from its inception year but during this edition, the spate of Public Interest Litigations (PIL) filed by various organisations has thrown the itinerary into disarray.

Already 12 IPL matches have been moved out of drought-hit Maharashtra on the Bombay High Court's directive after a PIL was filed claiming that a substantial quantity of water was being used in maintaining the various cricket stadiums in the state.

"I have asked the state units to check water-harvesting structure," Thakur said.

The BCCI secretary also said in no uncertain terms that if the Lodha Committee recommendations pertaining to curtailment of advertisement is implemented, then it will have a sharp negative impact on BCCI's revenue structure.

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Citing drought, PIL seeks shifting of IPL matches from Raipur

A public interest litigation (PIL) filed in the Chhattisgarh High Court here on Wednesday demanded shifting of the two matches of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) from the state capital Raipur because of the drought.

RTI activists Kunal Shukla and Abhishek Pratap Singh have filed the PIL which says Chhattisgarh is facing a massive water crisis and 117 tehsils are hit by drought.

There was water scarcity in 70 wards of Raipur Municipal Corporation (RMC) alone so it would not be right to use the water for IPL matches, said their lawyer Vimlesh Bajpayee.

Read more from our special coverage on "IPL"

• Problems related to IPL affect the franchises: Preity Zinta
• Bombay HC allows BCCI to hold May 1 IPL match in Pune
• Happy, united, young goes the IPL chant
• Branding googlies for late entrants
• Pune picks Vizag as home pitch, Mumbai to decide on Sunday

Besides the state government, the Board Of Control For Cricket In India(BCCI), RMC and Chhattisgarh State Cricket Association are the respondents. The date of first hearing is yet to be fixed.

IPL matches are scheduled for May 20 and 22 at Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh Stadium in Raipur.

A petition on the same issue was filed in the Bombay High Court earlier this month. The court on Wednesday permitted BCCI to hold the May 1 IPL match between Mumbai Indians and Rising Pune Supergiants in Pune, a week after it ordered shifting to other venues all post-April 30 matches planned in drought-hit Maharashtra.More News About IPL.

Bombay HC allows BCCI to hold May 1 IPL match in Pune

The Bombay High Court today permitted BCCI to hold the May 1 IPL match between Mumbai Indians and RisingPune Supergiants in Pune, days after it ordered all matches post April 30 to be shifted to other venues instead of  holding them in drought-hit Maharashtra.

A division bench of justices V M Kanade and M S Karnik granted the permission while hearing an application filed by BCCI's general manager (games development) Ratnakar Shetty urging the court to let the cricket body hold the May 1 IPL match as scheduled in Pune.

Read more from our special coverage on "IPL "

• Happy, united, young goes the IPL chant
• Branding googlies for late entrants
• Pune picks Vizag as home pitch, Mumbai to decide on Sunday
• Sixers and fixers
• Bengaluru to host IPL final; Pune picks Vizag as home base

The application had been filed following an order passed by the high court on April 12 directing for all IPL matches from April 30 onwards to be shifted out of Maharashtra due to the severe drought situation in the state.

By the High Court order, a total of 13 matches were to be shifted to other states.

Shetty, in his application, sought the court to grant permission to allow the cricket board to hold the May 1 match in Pune between Mumbai Indians and Rising Pune Supergiants as they would not be able to make arrangements to shift the match in a single day.Read More.

Shift all IPL matches out of Maharashtra after Apr 30, Bombay HC tells BCCI

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday ordered that all Indian Premier League (IPL) matches scheduled in Maharashtra after April 30 be shifted elsewhere in view of the severe drought in the state.

This gives the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) 18 days to look for new venues for 13 matches in May, including the final in Mumbai on May 29.

The order came despite an assurance by the BCCI that IPL franchises of Mumbai and Pune had agreed to contribute Rs 5 crore to the chief minister’s drought relief fund.

The court said: “We agree that merely shifting of IPL matches out of the state will not be a solution but this can be a beginning to address the drought situation in Maharashtra. Several people are dying because of water scarcity in the state. This court cannot ignore the plight of such people.”

Sources close to both the Mumbai Indians and Rising Pune Supergiants said the team promoters were now waiting to sit with the BCCI to chart the way forward.

“In 2014, when the IPL matches moved to Dubai for the first leg of the season, the BCCI had, after consulting the teams, agreed to partly compensate the added expenses on the teams for travelling and staying abroad. Both teams expect a similar resolution,” said an executive.

The loss of revenue for the teams will become clearer when new venues are decided. As a rule, if a team is unable to play at its home stadium for any reason, the ground that the match shifts to becomes the team’s home ground for that period.

For example, if Mumbai Indians’ matches are held at Eden Gardens, the Kolkata ground will be treated as Mumbai Indians’ home ground and the proceeds from the gate revenues will go to the Mumbai team, as they would have at the Wankhede Stadium.

“One of the main things that the teams would want to discuss with the BCCI is the new venues. There has to be some following of the Mumbai and Pune teams at the new venues,” said another executive close to the development.

The court order came on a public interest litigation filed by non-government organisation Loksatta Movement, which challenged the use of more than six million litres of water for ground-management, despite Maharashtra facing drought. It had wanted all the matches shifted out of the state.

The court also noted that several districts in Maharashtra were not even getting water for sanitation and other purposes, and the non-potable water being used by the stadiums to maintain pitches can be of use in such districts. “In such cases, one would have expected the BCCI and other respondents (Maharashtra Cricket Association and Bombay Cricket Association) to come forward on their own and shift the matches out of Maharashtra. However, unfortunately, nothing has been done. This court has now no other option than to direct the BCCI to transfer matches out of Maharashtra.”

All matches to be held from April 30 onwards in Maharashtra will have to be shifted to another state. We are giving the authorities 15 days to make all necessary arrangements.”

After April 30, 13 matches were scheduled to be held in Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur.