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/ 18 December 2005

Stampede at Indian relief camp leaves 45 dead

At least 45 people, mostly women, were killed and more than 50 injured on Sunday in a stampede for food coupons at a flood relief camp in the southern Indian city of Chennai. More than 3 000 people affected by floods had gathered at a government school in the Tamil Nadu state capital to collect food coupons early on Sunday.

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/ 10 December 2005

Southern India braces for cyclonic storm

Southern India braced on Saturday for the arrival of a powerful cyclonic storm expected to cross the Indian coast by noon (7.30 am GMT). The storm, named Fanoos, was expected to hit India’s south-eastern coastal state of Tamil Nadu with winds of up to 80kph and heavy rains, the Chennai weather office said.

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/ 5 December 2005

First ball of Test to be bowled on fourth day

The first ball of the opening Test match between India and Sri Lanka will be delivered on Monday, the fourth day of the match, as the sun came out to dry the outfield after three days of rain. Umpires Daryl Harper of Australia and Mark Benson from England inspected the ground at 9am local time and decided to take another look after an hour before determining when the match can start.

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/ 2 December 2005

Protests mark anniversary of Bhopal tragedy

Environmental activists were to kick off a series of protests and vigils in India on Friday to mark the 21st anniversary of the Bhopal gas tragedy, which claimed thousands of lives. In New Delhi, the global environmental group Greenpeace was to act out a recreation of the disaster which struck the central Indian town of Bhopal just before midnight on December 2, 1984.

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/ 2 December 2005

China arrests five Tibetan monks

Chinese authorities have arrested five Tibetan monks who refused to denounce their spiritual leader the Dalai Lama and recognise Tibet as part of China, an India-based pro-democracy group says. The five were expelled from Drepung Monastery in Lhasa and handed over to the Public Security Bureau on November 23.

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/ 1 December 2005

Storm clouds threaten Indian cricket again

A severe cyclonic storm building in the Bay of Bengal has threatened to curtail the first cricket Test between India and Sri Lanka in Chennai, India, from Friday. That will be bad news for fans in Chennai who have already seen the past three international matches here fall by the wayside due to bad weather.

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/ 29 November 2005

Dravid steers India to win against SA

Skipper Rahul Dravid’s composed half-century anchored India to a series-levelling victory by five wickets on Monday in the fifth and final limited-overs international against South Africa. Dravid’s unbeaten 78 steered India to 224 for five in 47,3 overs after South Africa had put on a challenging 221 for six from 50.

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/ 28 November 2005

SA set India challenging target

Jacques Kallis fell nine runs short of his 14th one-day century on Monday, but helped South Africa recover from a shaky start and set India a challenging target in the fifth and final limited-overs cricket international. Kallis posted a composed 91 to boost South Africa’s score to 221 for six in 50 overs.

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/ 28 November 2005

India coach to be censured after finger salute

India’s cricket chiefs plan to speak to national coach Greg Chappell over a rude gesture he reportedly made to crowds in Kolkata last week, an official said on Monday. ”We will certainly discuss the matter at the board’s annual general meeting in Kolkata on Tuesday,” said Inderjit Bindra, former head of the Board of Control for Cricket in India.

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/ 25 November 2005

South Africa wallop India by 10 wickets

South Africa trounced India by 10 wickets on Friday in their fourth limited-overs international in Kolkota on Friday. Proteas captain Graeme Smith led the charge with a smashing 134 not out at the jam-packed Eden Gardens. South Africa now leads 2-1 in the five-match series with the final match to be played Monday.

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/ 25 November 2005

Pollock, Hall help SA bowl out India

Shaun Pollock and Andrew Hall grabbed three wickets each to help South Africa bowl out India for 188 in the fourth one-dayer at the jam-packed Eden Gardens in Kolkota on Friday. Pollock struck thrice in his first four overs as India, sent in to bat on a seamer-friendly wicket, collapsed to 23-3 and later 71-5.

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/ 25 November 2005

Graeme Smith seeks fresh start

South Africa captain Graeme Smith expressed confidence on Thursday that his team can make a fresh start after its unbeaten streak was broken during the ongoing series against India. South Africa finished one short of Australia’s world-record sequence of 21 games without a defeat last week when it lost by six wickets to India in the second one-dayer of the five-match series.

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/ 22 November 2005

Rain washes out SA-India one-dayer

Heavy rain and a water-logged ground forced the third one-dayer between India and South Africa to be abandoned without a ball being bowled in Chennai, India, on Tuesday. The five-match series remains locked at 1-1 after South Africa won the first match in Hyderabad by five wickets and India drew level with a six-wicket win in Bangalore.

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/ 22 November 2005

Rain delays start of SA-India one-dayer

Heavy overnight rain and overcast skies delayed the start of the third one-day international between India and South Africa in Chennai on Tuesday. The incessant rain over the past two days soaked the Chidambaram Stadium and left the wicket and most of the outfield still covered 30 minutes before the scheduled start time.

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/ 21 November 2005

Rain threatens third SA-India game

Repeated showers threatened to wash out the third limited-overs cricket international between India and South Africa in Madras, but officials and the two team captains said they hoped play would resume if the rain stopped by the end of Monday. The five-game series is level at present.

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/ 21 November 2005

HIV cases pass 40-million mark

Progress has been made in tackling HIV infection in key African countries, but five million people were infected across the world in 2005 taking the total beyond a record 40-million, a United Nations report said on Monday. The grim HIV/Aids epidemic claimed about 3,1-million lives during the year, more than half a million of them children, the report said.

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/ 16 November 2005

Powerful car bomb explodes in Indian Kashmir

Four people were killed and 45 wounded when a powerful car bomb triggered by Islamic rebels ripped through a busy intersection in the main city of Indian Kashmir on Wednesday, police said. The morning rush-hour blast in Srinagar left people bleeding on the road and turned vehicles into twisted wrecks.

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/ 16 November 2005

South Africa grab lead against India

Jacques Kallis hit an unbeaten 68 as South Africa overcame a fighting India by five wickets in Hyderabad on Wednesday to grab a 1-0 lead in the five-match limited-overs series. The victory took South Africa’s unbeaten streak to 20 matches and left them just one short of equalling Australia’s world record of 21 consecutive wins in 2003.

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/ 16 November 2005

India recover from terrible start

Yuvraj Singh hit 103 as India recovered from a horrible start to post 249-9 in 50 overs in the first one-day international against South Africa in Hyderabad on Wednesday. India slipped to 5-3 and then 35-5 before Yuvraj’s fifth one-day century led a remarkable late-order fightback by the hosts.

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/ 15 November 2005

SA to face debonair Dhoni in India

When South Africa toured India last year for a Test series, Mahendra Dhoni was just another aspirant for the Indian cricket team and played a tour game against them. Exactly a year later, when they are visiting for five one-dayers starting on Wednesday, he is a more swashbuckling batsman than even the likes of Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar.

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/ 10 November 2005

Indian leader spoke up for minorities

Former Indian president Kocheril Raman Narayanan died in an army hospital on Wednesday, after being admitted almost two weeks ago with acute pneumonia, the Press Trust of India news agency said. Narayanan had been on life support since his admission to the hospital in New Delhi on October 29.

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/ 2 November 2005

Five killed in Kashmir car bomb blast

Five people including a suicide bomber were killed and more than a dozen wounded on Wednesday in a car bomb blast that Islamic militants said was a "gift" to Indian Kashmir’s incoming chief minister. Police said the explosion took place in the Nowgam area on the outskirts of the summer capital Srinagar.