Umpire Hair breaks silence

Darrell Hair said his decision to ask for $500,000 to quit his role as an umpire following the Pakistan ball-tampering furore is not a panic reaction to events at the Oval last week.

Hair has been heavily criticised since the International Cricket Council (ICC) revealed details of an email he sent to officials requesting a one-off payment in return for quitting their elite panel of umpires after the row.

"It wasn't a spur of the moment thing. I didn't do it off the cuff," Hair told Australia's Sunday Mail.

But Hair, who has been vilified in Pakistan's media over his decision and a perceived bias against Asian teams, said he meant no harm with the shock offer to stand down revealed on Friday.

"This correspondence was composed at a very difficult time and was revoked by myself after a period of serious consideration," he said in a statement. "There was no malicious intent behind this communication with the ICC. I am anxious the code of conduct hearing takes place as soon as possible so these matters can be resolved and allow me to move on with my umpiring."

Hair insisted his request had fallen on some sympathetic ears before he retracted it following an intervention from ICC Chief Executive Malcolm Speed.

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Update: India state bans Coke and Pepsi

This is related to India state bans Coke and Pepsi.

“If Pepsi is banned in India, I would go to the US and drink it,” says the much-in-news-superstar Shahrukh Khan. He was answering questions to the media personnel at a press conference as a Watch Company’s brand ambassador. “ My intention is not to defend the brand I endorse. But I would like to ask the agency (which tested the soft drink for pesticides) whether they have analysed the how safe is the water we drink or if mother’s milk also contains harmful chemicals?”

If Pepsi really gets banned in India (I believe that it will not) then SRK does not need to go to USA to drink it. He can drink it in any neighboring country like Bangladesh, Pakistan or Nepal. I wonder that if Shahrukh Khan was sponsored by Coke and what he would say! Would he still say that if Pepsi was banned he would go to USA to drink it?

I visited the website of Coca-Cola India to find Facts on Pesticide Allegations in India

Many people including me have the feeling that Coke and Pepsi are playing a game of hide and seek. They are saying that their products are safe and that's it. Normally, when this kind of accusations arises, the companies try to portray themselves as transparent as possible and provide a lot of scientific evidence in details about their products. It seems that in India, Coke and Pepsi only care for one thing- spending money after advertisements. They did the same thing during the recent crisis. They published huge ads in the newspapers.

Google to Invest $1 Billion In India

A few days after it announced plans to set up a R&D Center in China, Google has now decided to invest up to $1 billion on a back office in Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, according to news reports. The proposed center, which the Indian government just approved, will likely be spread over a million square feet in what is called a ’special economic zone’ in the southern state. Dell’s and Accenture’s investments were also given the go-ahead.

Google currently operates a development center in Bangalore. Google’s India office was responsible for coming up with Google Finance. About half a dozen technology companies have announced plans to invest a billion dollars or more in India.

India state bans Coke and Pepsi

The southern Indian state of Kerala on Wednesday banned the sale and production of Coke, Pepsi, Sprite and other soft drinks made by the Indian subsidiaries of Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, an official said.

Four Indian states have already banned the sale of Coke, Pepsi and other soft drinks at schools, colleges and government offices after a research group in New Delhi last week claimed the beverages contained high levels of pesticide residue.

But the state of Kerala was the first to impose a total ban on production and sales.

Coca-Cola and PepsiCo together account for nearly 80 percent of the $2 billion-a-year soft drink market in India.