Indian News Headlines...(21/10/08)_

Sachin Tendulkar adjudged best Asian ODI batsman
Indian batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar was named the best Asian one-day batsman at the inaugural Asian cricket Council (ACC) awards ceremony in Karachi on Saturday night.Tendulkar, who is recovering from a groin injury, could not make it to the ceremony and India ODI captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni collected the award on his behalf.Three Sri Lankans walked away with top awards with wicketkeeper-batsman Kumar Sangakkara receiving the best Asian Test batsman award while country-mates Muttiah Muralitharan and Farveez Maharoof named the best Asian Test and ODI bowlers respectively.Former India and Pakistan captains Sunil Gavaskar and Imran Khan were also honoured with special awards named "legendary cricketers" of both countries.The ACC also gave away a special award of "best administrator" to Colonel (retd) Nur Khan, former President of the Pakistan Cricket Board, who played a significant role in forming the ACC.The septuagenarian Nur Khan who took his award from former Sri Lankan captain Arjuna Ranatunga got a standing ovation from the gathering at the ceremony.Khan, who had also remained President of Pakistan Hockey and Squash Federations, is credited of playing a big role in promoting Pakistan and Indian cricket at the world level and also producing a lineage of great sportsmen.PCB Chairman Nasim Ashraf, who took over as ACC President, said the awards were meant to honour and recognise the outstanding performers of the continent."Our sportsmen need to be recognised and rewarded for their achievements specially when Asia has now become a powerhouse in world cricket," he said.

Arrest of political leader sparks protests in Mumbai
Police in the western Indian state of Maharashtra have arrested the head of a local right-wing party after attacks on north Indian migrants, sparking protests around the state capital Mumbai.Raj Thackeray, who heads the small but vocal Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), was arrested earlier Tuesday in Ratnagiri, a police spokesman said, and was being brought to Mumbai, India's financial hub.MNS supporters had attacked north Indian railway job aspirants in the city Sunday. They want more jobs for locals in the state, and have protested the presence of north Indian migrants who come to the state in search of work.Thackeray's supporters were following the police convoy to Mumbai, TV channels reported. There were also reports of attacks on taxis in Mumbai and at toll booths in the suburbs, and a heavy police presence on the streets and in train stations.The police spokesman said everything was "under control."There have been growing calls for checking MNS, which has previously attacked migrant taxi drivers as well as workers in construction and manufacturing sites in the state, driving many away and causing delays to projects.Thackeray, who was briefly arrested in February for inciting violence against migrant workers, formed MNS in 2005 after splitting from Shiv Sena, a Hindu nationalist party headed by his uncle, the controversial Bal Thackeray.Shiv Sena, best-known for its anti-immigrant rhetoric, believes Mumbai belongs to the Hindu Marathi community, but it has been less millitant recently than the MNS.Recently, MNS was reprimanded by a city court for forcing shops to display signs in the local Marathi language.Monday, the state parliament was adjourned after noisy protests by members calling for the arrest of Thackeray.Maharashtra has long been a magnet for migrants from other states, including Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, two of India's poorest states. Less than half of Mumbai's 17 million residents are from the state