Sachin Tendulkar to retire after 200th Test

Sachin Tendulkar has announced his retirement from Test cricket and said his 200th match against the West Indies next month would be his last.

In a BCCI release, Tendulkar said: "All my life, I have had a dream of playing cricket for India. I have been living this dream every day for the last 24 years. It's hard for me to imagine a life without playing cricket because it's all I have ever done since I was 11 years old. It's been a huge honour to have represented my country and played all over the world. I look forward to playing my 200th Test Match on home soil, as I call it a day.

"I thank the BCCI for everything over the years and for permitting me to move on when my heart feels it's time. I thank my family for their patience and understanding. Most of all, I thank my fans and well-wishers who through their prayers and wishes have given me the strength to go out and perform at my best."

Nazriya Nazim complains to Commissioner of Police

Chennai: Actor Nazriya Nazim approached the city po­lice commissioner’s offi­ce on Tuesday to officially file a complaint agai­nst the director of the yet-to-be-released Dh­anush movie, Nayyandi, in which she features.

The 19-year-old actor had raised an is­sue by co­mplaining to the Na­digar Sang­am ag­ainst dir­ector Sar­gunam and pro­ducer Muru­ges­an for using a body double in a so­ng sequence, which in­volves skin sh­ow. She had alleged that the ma­kers didn’t ev­en inform her after she re­fused to shoot for the scene, which is ag­ainst her contractual agreement.

Director Sargunam, in a release, denied the allegation and said that they shot the wh­­ole song with Naz­ri­ya.

”While editing the song, we felt that the inc­lu­sion of an intimate cl­o­se-up scene would inc­r­e­ase the impact of the so­ng and I requested Na­zriya, who was in Kerala at that time, to come down and act for this pa­rticular scene for which the actor responded by sa­ying that she can’t co­me all the way from Ke­r­a­la and asked me to sh­oot that particular scene by using a body double,” the release said, adding that the actor was creating a needless issue, probably for publicity.

The director’s statement also said he was re­ady to remove that inti­m­ate close-up shot from the trailer if Nazriya fe­els uncomfortable. “Is she ready to sit with the media and see the film and assert that she hasn’t acted in the Inikka Inikka song?” the release said.

Kanya­kumari harbour to turn reality

Chennai: The demand of the fishermen in coastal Kanya­kumari district for establishing a harbour at Colachel is decades old. Chief minister J. Jaya­lalithaa’s allocation of Rs 87.75 crores after approving the revised project estimates has raised hope among the fishing community that the project would fructify soon.

The issue had echoed in the state Assembly on several occasions when Congress legislators raised the issue demanding that the state government initiate steps to pave way for developing a natural harbour in the historic town of Colachel, which is in existence since 1920.

At one stage, an exasperated Congress member J. G. Prince, who could not withstand the delay in commissioning the project, stood up and appealed to Jayala­lithaa to take a personal interest and ensure the project materialised.

The Chief minister promptly assured that the project would be taken up and also reminded him that the state government had to fund several major projects despite little help from the Centre on the financial front.

In the absence of good berthing facilities, over 1,500 mechanised boatmen of this tiny town on the west coast have been depending on Kerala ports and port at Rame­swaram for berthing. Some of them had even switched operations to neighbouring states and this often led to territorial disputes.