oppn parties Cloud Over IPL As Bio-Bubble Is Burst

News Snippets

  • Supreme Court questions the continuing relevance of two-child norms. The Court observed that falling fertility rates have weakened the population-control rationale behind laws disqualifying people with more than two children from contesting local body elections. It referred the issue to a larger Bench for consideration
  • Supreme Court declines to shift Tirupati laddu case outside Andhra Pradesh. The Court rejected a plea seeking transfer of the trial, despite arguments that political statements by Andhra Pradesh's Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister could affect the fairness of proceedings
  • Supreme Court transfers Azam Khan's fresh ED bail plea to Allahabad High Court. The apex court declined to consider the Samajwadi Party leader's bail request in a fresh Enforcement Directorate case and directed that it be listed before a division Bench of the High Court on November 16
  • Two killed in Delhi building collapse; contractor booked. Two bodies were recovered after a building collapsed in Chawri Bazaar. Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said the contractor had been booked and the concerned junior and assistant engineers suspended
  • Uttar Pradesh voter rolls show a 2.4-crore discrepancy. A difference of approximately 2.4 crore names has been reported between the state's panchayat and rural Assembly voter lists. The Election Commission has ordered the two sets of rolls to be matched
  • Gujarat announces 3% dearness allowance hike. The state government announced a three-percentage-point increase in dearness allowance for government employees and pensioners ahead of Diwali
  • Sensex and Nifty post their strongest single-day gains in months. The Sensex surged 2,008.61 points, or 2.60%, to close at 79,310.01, while the Nifty 50 climbed 576 points, or 2.40%, to 24,536.60. Financial and automobile stocks led the rally, supported by falling crude prices and renewed foreign investor buying
  • Maaya Rajeshwaran reaches WTA-level quarter-final. The 17-year-old Indian defeated Poland's Weronika Falkowska 6-4, 6-3, becoming the first Indian woman since Sania Mirza in 2012 to reach a quarter-final at a WTA Tour-level singles event
  • Tanvi Patri reaches Youth Olympics badminton final. The 15-year-old defeated Japan's Yuzuno Watanabe in the semi-final, assuring India of a medal and becoming the first Indian badminton player to reach the girls' singles final at the Youth Olympics
  • India beat Pakistan 3-2 in SAFF Championship. India defeated Pakistan in a closely contested match, having led 3-0 before conceding two late goals. The victory was reported as a significant result for India's second-string side
  • India beat Japan 4-1 to win a record sixth Asian Champions Trophy. India recovered from an early deficit to defeat Japan in the final at Mohali, extending its record as the tournament's most successful men's team
  • The Supreme Court issued notice to the Centre and the Election Commission on a petition challenging Section 16 of the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners Act, 2023, which grants the CEC and Election Commissioners protection from legal proceedings for acts performed in their official duties. The petition argues that such blanket immunity could leave citizens without an effective remedy for alleged wrongdoing by the Commission
  • The Supreme Court told voters whose names were deleted from Delhi's draft electoral rolls not to be apprehensive about seeking re-enrolment through Form 6, after the Election Commission assured it that such applicants would not be prosecuted merely because their names had appeared in earlier rolls
  • Congress leader Rahul Gandhi opened the party's campaign for the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections with an Insaaf rally in Sangrur, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann's home district, accusing the AAP government of failing to control drugs, gangster violence and corruption. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge outlined six commitments, including a drug-free Punjab, protection of farmers, employment for young people and action against corruption
  • Rahul Gandhi accused the AAP government of running Punjab through a remote control from Delhi and questioned Bhagwant Mann's ability to tackle drug abuse, making personal allegations about the Chief Minister's conduct during their time together in Parliament
Stock markets on fire due to US results, Sensex gains 2008 points to reach its highest level in 8 months
oppn parties
Cloud Over IPL As Bio-Bubble Is Burst

By Slogger
First publised on 2021-05-04 06:39:03

About the Author

Sunil Garodia Holding an extreme view and carting the ball out of the park is what interests him most. He is a hard hitter at all times. Fasten your seatbelts and read.

As reports come in of CEOs, ground staff and players testing positive for Covid, doubts are being expressed over the so-called water-tight bio-bubble of the ongoing IPL. It has been reported that CSK CEO Kashi Vishwanathan, bowling coach L Balaji and a bus cleaner, five ground staff at Firoz Shah Kotla and two players of KKR, Varun Chakravarthy and Sandeep Warrier have tested positive. This has put the future of the tournament in jeopardy with the match between KKR and RCB, scheduled for May 3 at Ahmedabad being rescheduled.

It has been reported that all players, Indians and foreign, are unwilling to travel to Kolkata and Bengaluru, two cities where the second wave is laying havoc. Most foreign players wish to return home as they are not comfortable in the face of rising Covid cases in India. Some commentators have already left. While the BCCI has, as of now, denied reports that the remainder of tournament will be cancelled, rescheduled or shifted elsewhere, its options are getting reduced as fear sets in.

The best option for the IPL to continue would be to hold it in one city and rule out travel. That would make the bio-bubble stronger and assure the players that there would be little chance of their getting infected. The best city as of now would be Chennai. For, if foreign players leave en masse, the tournament will lose a lot of its shine. It would be better if the BCCI takes decisions fast, both to ensure the safety of all those involved in the running of the tournament as well as to save the IPL itself from being abandoned.  

Once it is decided that the rest of the tournament will be played in one city, the BCCI must ensure that all players and staff are tested on daily basis and enough test kits are available for that purpose. It has been reported that the 4 medical officers attached to each teams have been ineffective in the face of shortage of kits. This must not happen. The safety of all those involved in the running of the IPL is of utmost importance and the BCCI must ensure that.