hotispot: 06/01/08

Sunday, 1 June 2008

Aarushi murder: Renuka convenes meet over cops' role

The Women and Child Development Ministry has convened a meeting of its advisory group on Monday to explore legal options against UP police officials for their alleged character assassination of murdered teenaged girl Aarushi Talwar.

“Yes, the minister has convened a meeting tomorrow to explore the available options,” a senior official of the Women and Child Development Ministry said.

The UP police, which are investigating the twin murder of Aarushi Talwar and domestic help Hemraj, is under fire from all quarters for using alleged derogatory language while describing the sequence of events.

Union Minister Renuka Chowdhary on Thursday demanded suspension of a senior Uttar Pradesh police official for his reported remarks insinuating that the murdered Noida school girl was “characterless”.

Monday’s meeting will be attended by lawyers, women activists and representatives of National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR). The NCPCR has also objected to the stigmatisation of the minor.

Meanwhile, even as the CBI took up investigations into the Aarushi and Hemraj murder case, on Sunday morning, scores of dentists from around the country flew in to join protests against what they called the “human rights violations of the murder accused”.

Among those who arrived on Sunday were the president of the Indian Dental Association (IDA), Dr Deepak Kamdar, the secretary general, Dr Ashok Dhoble, and the UP chief of the IDA, Dr Kul Adarsh.

According to Dr Kamdar, “All we want is that there are no human rights violations in the probe and no character assassination.”

Meanwhile, Dr Dhoble said that, on Monday afternoon, a large group of dentists will march from Delhi’s Maulana Azad Medical College to Rajghat.

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Smallest teapot of the world (Images)

Chinese master potter Wu Ruishen has created a mini teapot weighing just 1.4 grams. The ceramic teapot was revealed on Nov 15 and is claimed to be the smallest teapot in the world.

The 73-year-old Wu is a renowned pottery artist in China, specializes in creating teapots. His artworks can be found in various museums in China.

16 Abandoned & Decaying Hotels From Around The World

Bokor Palace Hotel and Casino,Cambodia: There is a small French town in Cambodia that was lively throughout much of the 20th Century but is now completely abandoned. Built in the 1920's, it became a partying hot spot for backpacking travellers during the 1960's. The centerpiece of these parties was the Bokor Hill Station, a hotel which now stands abandoned. Tourists interested in taking a major trek in Cambodia can go tour the ruins today.

Aptera Beach Resort,Crete: A series of beaches in Hania, Crete are welcoming to tourists from all around the world who are drawn in by the warm Mediterranean waters and the Greek way of life. However, a small beach called Aptera Beach has been abandoned and the resort that is left empty there is more than a little bit creepy.

Sinai Peninsula,Egypt: This part of the world is famous specifically because of the abandoned hotels that stand isolated here. At one time it was believed that this was going to be a booming area for growth and investment was made to start the construction of several elaborate five star hotels. However they never came to fruition, investment was abandoned and the hotels are just sitting there, half-finished in their concrete forms. Their only purpose has been as the architectural subject of a in Vienna. Investment was poured into the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula, but mostly around Sharm el Sheikh.

Hotel Fife,Scotland: Talk about eerie. This hotel in Scotland was abandoned specifically because the owners of the hotel kept experiencing what they could only describe as poltergeist activity. Built on the remains of an old hospital, it is said to be haunted. The still image slideshow (above) comes from a paranormal investigation completed there.

Randall Park Hotel,Ohio: There's a strange old hotel which was abandoned near Randall Park, Ohio back in the early 1990's. It appears to have been damaged in a fire but what's strange about it is that it's filled with items that are marked with price tags, probably after an inventory of items was made for an insurance claim. Significant fire and smoke damage can be seen throughout.

Budomel,Poland: In West-Central Poland is a city called Poznan which is one of the oldest cities in the country and a place where many historic landmarks can be found. You'll also find this abandoned hotel there.

Graham Hotel,Georgia: You don't normally think of people seeking out gold in Georgia but that's exactly what happened in the town of Auraria before everyone started to head west. When the California gold rush happened, Auraria became a ghost town just like many western towns eventually became. There remain a few 19th Century buildings there today, including the abandoned Graham Hotel sometimes just called the Auraria Hotel.

Shreveport Hotel,Louisiana: Visitors spending time in Shreveport, Louisiana have many opportunities to enjoy a stay in a historic hotel since there are a number of these hotels still operating in the area. There are, however, some hotels that didn't last through their heyday including this abandoned hotel.

Pines Hotel,Catskill Mountains: Whereas the Sinai Peninsula is a case of hotels that were never completed, the Pines Hotel is an example of a hotel which was once vibrant with activity and is now desolate. Located in New York's Catskill Mountains, it was once a bustling ski resort complete with an ice skating rink and multiple swimming pools. It was closed ten years ago and has been sitting empty ever since. The video (above) gives you a close-up look at what the hotel has turned into since that time.

Baker Hotel,Texas: This hotel in Mineral Wells, Texas was a favorite of numerous celebrities in the first part of the 20th Century including Lucille Ball, Clark Gable, Judy Garland and President Lyndon B. Johnson. The owner closed the hotel in 1963 on his seventieth birthday, leaving all of the employees out of a job and all of the people who loved the place out of a hotel. The hotel was re-opened for a short time but then closed again; eventually it re-opened for tours which have since been cancelled. No one knows for sure what will end up happening to this place over time.

Ryugyong Hotel,pyongyang: This hotel in North Korea is an example similar to the hotels of Egypt's Sinai Peninsula where construction began on a building that never ended up being used. Three thousand rooms and seven revolving restaurants were planned for this massive concrete structure which has been dubbed 'The Worst Building in the History of Mankind' as a result of its failure to ever open for business. Construction was deadlocked in the 1990's so the outer structure is complete but it's an unsound building that doesn't have any windows or interior to speak of. At 105 stories, it would've once been the tallest hotel in the world and is certainly the tallest abandoned hotel standing today.

Disney's Pop Century Resort,Florida: Legendary Years: Travel to Florida and you'll find a set of Disney 'value resorts' which includes the Pop Century Resort. You can stay at this resort today in the rooms that were constructed in the first phase of the building process. However, there is a visible hotel on the property on which construction was halted in 2001 and never resumed. Reportedly Disney felt that after 9/11 there wasn't enough tourist interest to justify completing the hotel.

Hundseck Hotel,Black Forest: In Black Forest, Germany is a stunning hotel that looks worthy of reservations today except for the fact that there are no people there to operate it. The eeriness of it makes it seem as though it could be something straight out of a Stephen King novel.

Yashima,Japan: Yashima is a plateau on the Japanese island of Shikoku. A temple there draws in tourists, a fact which encouraged significant investment in building up tourist infrastructure there in the 1980's. Several hotels were built and used for a short period of time but the area was never realised as a major tourist destination and the hotels are now abandoned.

Lake Mutirikwi,Zimbabwe: In Zimbabwe is a small town called Masvingo which derives its water from Lake Mutirikwi. Sitting on the shore of that lake is an abandoned hotel complex. It was likely once used by tourists visiting Great Zimbabwe and the Lake Kyle Recreation Park but now they stay elsewhere if they trek to the area.

Betoota Hotel,Queensland: Built in the 1920's, the Betoota Hotel was operational until 1997 when the owner decided to retire and leave the area. It's no surprise that he didn't want to live in this Queensland, Australia city anymore considering that it has only a seasonal population and he was the last remaining permanent resident in the area.

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Rajasthan Royals wins the IPL T20 Final Against Chennai Super Kings(IMAGES)

Rajasthan Royals beat Chennai Super Kings [Images] by three wickets (and off the last ball) in the final of the inaugural Indian Premier League at the D Y Patil Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday.

Chasing a target of 164, Rajasthan began on a disastrous note, losing three wickets inside seven overs with just 42 runs on the board.

Niraj Patel (2) was cleaned up by Manpreet Gony in the fourth over and Swapnil Asnodkar (29) and Kamran Akmal (6) were dismissed in the space of three balls (of an Albie Morkel over), the latter needlessly run-out.

However, the in-form duo of Shane Watson (28) and Yusuf Pathan (56) put on 65 runs in just 45 balls for the fourth wicket in a partnership that brought Rajasthan back in the game.

Watson was impressive in his 19-ball knock, which had three hits to the fence, before he was cleaned up by a beautiful delivery from Muralitharan.

The Sri Lankan also snapped up Mohammad Kaif (12) off his final delivery (the last ball of the 17th over) and Morkel dismissed Ravindra Jadeja (0) with the very next delivery to brighten Chennai's prospects.

Rajasthan were precariously placed at 139 for six, needing 25 runs with 17 balls left.

Then the worse happened. Pathan, who surived three chances to post his fourth half century of the tournament, saw his luck run out finally.

Pathan, whose 39-ball knock contained three hits to the fence and four huge ones over it, was run-out to a direct hit by Suresh Raina.

But Rajasthan captain Shane Warne was not to be denied his moment of glory.

Rajasthan needed 18 runs off the last two overs and eight from the final over, bowled by Lakshmipathy Balaji.

Warne (9 not out) and Sohail Tanvir (12 not out) took their team home, the latter hitting a boundary off the last ball.

Earlier, Rajasthan Royals used their bowling resources intelligently to restrict Chennai Super Kings to a modest 163 for five wickets.

Royals skipper Warne won the toss, asked the rival team to bat first and then captained the side imaginatively with his field placings and bowling changes, never allowing the Super Kings to settle down on a slow-pace track.

The Super Kings owed their score mainly to an enterprising 43 by in-form one-down batsman Suresh Raina, who faced only 30 balls while hitting two pulled sixes and a four.

The UP left-hander, back in the Indian one-day team, built on a decent start of 39 in 5.2 overs provided by Parthiv Patel (38 in 33 balls) and Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan (16 in 14 balls).

But his dismissal in the 17th over, when he threatened to cut loose, derailed Chennai's plans for a more healthy total.

The most impressive bowler for the Royals was off-spinner Pathan, who grabbed three for 22 in two spells, while Watson accounted for the wicket of Raina.

The Super Kings, who had lost their two home and away ties earlier in the tournament against the same opposition, began their innings on a cautious note on a slow-paced track of low bounce on which the ball did not come on freely to the bat.

Parthiv and Sivaramakrishnan played it safe against Tanvir, who had grabbed six for 14 against them on May 4 at Jaipur.

Seeing the mood of the two openers, Warne removed the Pakistani left-arm pacer, the most successful bowler in the tournament, after only one over.

The run-rate perked up when Vidyut played an inside-out cover drive off Watson and then was lucky when his top-edge flew over the third man fence for a six.

Parthiv, coming into the match on the back of an unbeaten 51 last night in the semifinal against Punjab King's XI, was content to see off Tanvir by facing five dot balls and then hitting his first four. He was also lucky to see his top edge off Munaf Patel race to the fence.

Warne replaced Watson with Pathan after five overs, in which 39 runs were scored, and the move paid off immediately when Vidyut pulled a short ball for Jadeja to bring off a fine front-diving catch at mid-on.

Warne rung in quick bowling changes to unsettle the second wicket duo of Parthiv and fellow left-hander Raina, who had powered their team to a nine-wicket win over Punjab King's XI with an unbeaten century stand.

The 50 of the innings was raised in the seventh over and then Parthiv, after pulling off spinner Pathan for his fifth four, departed. He edged an attempted off-glide to wicket keeper Akmal who juggled with the ball before completing the catch.

In-form Raina, who made 54 not out against Deccan Chargers in his team's last preliminary phase tie and followed it up with 55 not out against Punjab, continued his good run by stroking the ball well. He was hardly troubled by the spinners and pulled the great Warne for a six.

Morkel (16) also pulled Warne disdainfully for a six into the stands in the 12th over after the first 10 had yielded 75 runs. The South African all-rounder also swung Pathan over mid-wicket for his second six before he got out in the same over, 13th of the innings.

In trying to repeat the shot he ballooned a catch to stumper Akmal who took a tumble over Mohd Kaif, who also went for the ball, while managing to hold on to the sphere to provide Pathan his third wicket.

The 100 came up in 80 balls after which Raina swung Siddharth Trivedi, bowling his second spell, for a six. Later skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (29 not out in 17 balls) lofted Warne, bowling his last over, over the straight field for another six to take Chennai Super Kings to 117 for three with five overs remaining.

Raina fell in trying to clear the long off area and was caught just inside the rope by Jadeja after which Dhoni and Chamara Kapugedara added 20 runs before the latter holed out to the deep off Tanvir in the last over.

Dhoni, who hit a straight second six in Tanvir's last over, and S Badrinath (6) remained unbeaten at the end of the innings.

Rajasthan were without opener Graeme Smith and made two changes to the side which won the semifinal against Delhi Daredevils while Chennai retained the side that won them the semi final against Punjab King's XI.