Latest news with #Meerut-based
Time of India
24-05-2025
- Time of India
Meerut bizman held for posting extortion letters to fund son's wedding
Meerut: A Meerut-based trader has been arrested for allegedly sending ransom letters via post to a local businessman, threatening to kill his son unless Rs 50 lakh was paid for his son's wedding, police said on Saturday. Naseer Ahmed, 55, a nail cutter manufacturer and resident of the Lisari Gate area, sent two extortion letters by speed post, which were delivered on May 13 and May 20, both warning of dire consequences if the demand was not met. Kotwali police station inspector Yogendra Kumar, said, "Ahmed, who was apprehended on Friday evening, sent the letters to Fazlur Rahman, who owns a furniture manufacturing shop. In the first letter, Ahmed referred to Rahman's past gifts of cars to his daughters during their weddings and demanded a similar gesture — Rs 50 lakh — for his son's marriage. He warned that failure to comply would result in Rahman's son being shot dead. " When there was no response, Ahmed posted a second letter, escalating the threat to kidnapping and murder. The letter instructed Rahman to shut his shop for two days to indicate his willingness to pay. "Otherwise, your shop will be closed forever," the letter warned. After Rahman approached the police, investigators contacted India Post officials and obtained CCTV footage from a local post office, which showed Ahmed mailing the letters. "This helped us trace his address and arrest him from his residence. Ahmed was charged under BNS 308 (extortion). He admitted that he needed the money for his son's wedding. He was produced in court and has been sent to judicial custody," Kumar said.
Time of India
22-05-2025
- Time of India
Patwari, aide caught red-handed taking Rs 1 lakh bribe in Modinagar
Ghaziabad: Meerut anti-corruption team apprehended a revenue accountant (patwari) and his assistant accountant from Modinagar Tehsil on Thursday for allegedly demanding Rs 3 lakh bribe from a Meerut-based farmer for processing agricultural land transfer documents. Sarit Kumar and his assistant, Kapil, were caught accepting Rs 1 lakh from the farmer, Parvez Ali. A case was registered against both the patwari and his assistant at the Modinagar police station. Ali , in his complaint to the anti-corruption team, said his brother Junaid purchased 4 bighas of agricultural land in Tyodi Terah Biswa village three years ago. After the registration, Junaid submitted a petition to the judicial tehsildar in Modinagar to update the land records. In his report dated April 8, 2024, Kumar noted that the land in question was originally allotted under a lease to a member of the scheduled caste. Based on this report, the records for Junaid were not updated. Hence, the case concerning Junaid's land records remained pending with the judicial tehsildar. Ali approached the tehsildar's office to inquire about the case and was advised to contact Kumar. However, Kumar demanded a bribe of 5 lakh rupees for updating the records. On May 5, Ali met Kumar again and reportedly recorded the conversation regarding the bribe demand. On May 3, he submitted an application during Modinagar's Tehsil Day for the land record update, and on May 17, he shared with Kumar his inability to pay the bribe amount. Kumar then asked Ali to bring Rs 1 lakh in cash by May 22, promising to file a favourable report. The anti-corruption team devised a plan to catch the accused red-handed. They treated the bribe money with phenolphthalein powder in the presence of independent witnesses, wrapped the notes in white paper, and handed them to the complainant with instructions to deliver them when demanded. Later, when Kumar took the money and counted it, the powder stuck to their hands. The team arrived and tested his hands with a chemical solution, which turned red, confirming their involvement. Based on a complaint by Inspector Durgesh Kumar, an FIR was registered against Kumar and Kapil under the corruption act at Modinagar Nagar police station.
Indian Express
15-05-2025
- Sport
- Indian Express
The physics behind Hardik Pandya's curved bat that enables his signature no-look sixes
There's a nonchalance about Hardik Pandya when he hits his trademark no-look sixes; his timing, skill and power make it look easy. Aiding the star in clearing the rope is his bat with a curve in the front – a radical innovation that has been around for a while now but has largely gone unnoticed. The revolutionary 'bat tweak' originated in the 1990s when Sachin Tendulkar came up with a query for his bat manufacturer. He had noticed that his bats would develop a nice sweet spot – the wood would get compressed, giving the willow a 'good dent' – when used over a period of time. 'Was it possible to have a readymade sweet spot?' was Tendulkar's question. And the answer was 'yes' and the bats were no longer flat as a chopping board. They were also convex. With time, the dent got deeper and broader and the process more scientific. Researchers would bank on the laws of physics, carve the bat keeping in mind the principles of the angle of incidence and reflection. The result is constantly evolving game-changing cricket equipment that is silently and methodically putting cricket on steroids, making six-hitting a frequent event. The 'bats with arc' are T20's unsung heroes, the anonymous crowd-pullers. Hardik's skills, his training, aided by his bat, make him a front-runner in the arms race among six-hitters. His bat has nearly 200 percent more curve than the competition, claims Meerut-based manufacturer Sanspareils Greenlands (SG). Behind the scenes, in this drive to stay ahead, is a collaboration between researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, mechanical engineers at SG, and Hardik himself. It isn't unusual for the India star to travel to Meerut and ask questions, and give suggestions, to the engineers poring through bat dimensions. Hardik has a couple of demands: the ball hitting the curve's sweet spot, and its take-off being at the precise angle that would make it travel the farthest. As an SG engineer points out, it is all physics. For the trajectory of the ball to make a perfect parabola in the air, and thus cover the longest distance, the take-off from the bat needs to be at 45 degrees. With a curved willow, the batsman's chance of getting the ideal angle increases. SG CEO Paras Anand gives a golf analogy to explain his bat with an arc. 'If you look at golf clubs, the pitching wedge has an angle and gives you elevation. What we have done with the help of the curve is give a very good angle. A 45-degree hit with the right force takes it almost 90 metres. That is the science here. The curve helps loft the ball. Hardik figured that out,' Anand said. Curve and sweet spot link The SG engineers scribble diagrams on their notebooks and take help of 3D animation on their laptops to explain the mechanics behind their Arc series bat. Few are old-timers having spent over a decade at the company and aren't keen to be named. In a highly-competitive market, they are assets that the company can't afford to identify or lose. Listening to them makes one understand why T20 cricket has become a batsman's game. They talk about how by increasing the degree of the curve, the surface of the bat gets longer and the sweet spot bigger. 'A bat with a longitudinal curve has a longer surface if you measure along the curve, like with a string, compared to a flat bat. Because of this extra surface area, the sweet spot or the high-performing zone becomes bigger. This means the bat has more 'forgiving space' to hit the ball well, even if the timing isn't perfect. So, curving the bat helps increase the area where you get powerful, clean shots,' a mechanical engineer, who is Hardik's sounding board, says. The curve, as compared to a flat surface, makes the bat a better tool for a batsman, but execution of big hits requires exemplary skill. Digging out yorkers, in a batsman-friendly game, has also become easier. 'A flat bat sends the ball in a straight line. But a curved bat helps lift the ball better because of the angle it creates when the ball hits it. This can be useful in hitting sixes, especially when playing shots like scoops or hitting yorkers. The curve helps improve the launch angle of the ball… around 45 degrees is usually ideal for distance,' the engineer explains. There's a catch. The curve can result in an uppish cover drive. Anand brushes off the fears of a batsman getting caught in the circle. 'It is not that the ball won't go along the ground. The chances of getting caught are not that high,' Paras says. Then he delivers the punchline. 'Ultimately, they all want to hit sixes. chhakka hi marna hai.' The latest curved bats are machine-made but finished by hand to ensure that the weight is exactly what top players like Hardik want. 'Only a machine can get the curve accurate to the degree that Hardik wants. It is that specific,' Anand says. SG's latest series of curved bats were launched in the market in December. To democratise six-hitting, Hardik insisted the curved blade bats be budget-friendly. The starting price is Rs 12,000, going up to Rs 60,000 for the top end. Customised bats for top cricketers creep towards the six-figure mark. 'Last two or three years, we have been doing a lot of work. To have that curve at a mass scale needed a lot of R&D. We started by doing less than 100 bats a day, now we have the capacity for 1,200 bats a day. The plan is, if we have to produce 5,000 bats per day in the next two to three years, we should be able to do it. We have placed orders for machines and expect growth in the market,' Anand said. Tendulkar, an early mover While talking about the history of bat-making, Paras goes back to the Tendulkar era. 'What used to happen with the old bats was that you kept playing and because the ball used to keep hitting the bat, a slight depression formed on the blade. Sachin got fascinated by that. Because he played so much, there was more compression over a period of time. Once you keep playing, the rebound improves. 'It's like a sweet spot being created. What was happening was automatic pressing at a very slow pace. He was probably the first one who picked out his old bat and said he wanted the same curve in the new bat. He was pushing bat manufacturers. When the Australians came to India in 2001, they were curious as to how Sachin had a bow in his bat,' Anand recalled. The early versions of the curved bats were created using jugaad (makeshift technology); clamping down bats overnight to make the wood flex. But the science behind the effectiveness of a curve in a bat is only being explored now, by players as well as bat manufacturers. A 100-metre walk within the SG factory can narrate the story of cricket bats' size from S to XL. Just beyond the reception area, is a showcase and photo-wall with black and white images of Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Sunil Gavaskar, the batsman who made SG a household name. An old English willow Sunny Tonny bat on display catches the eye, for the lovely grain on the wood and because of the edge or the smallness of it. A floor up is an enclosed room at the end of the hallway, where a skilled worker is shaving off wood from a 'Hardik Pandya sample bat' before putting it on a digital weighing scale. The finishing touches are being given to his bats. Paras rewinds to the playing days of Gavaskar to contrast two bat-manufacturing eras. The original story was told by his uncle. 'We used to give Gavaskar two bats, and he used to play the full season with them. After six months, he would come back and say this one was good and this one not so good. Two bats for the season. If a bat broke, we would send a replacement, but there again he would have no say.' To the naked eye, Hardik's bat is as thick as at least two Sunny Tonnys. Keep the two willows separated by decades face down and spine up next to each other. They look like two athletes – one lying flat, the other doing push-ups. The SG factory is a place buzzing with activity. The engineers lead the way to the dispatch department where the bats are being packed. The bats with prominent arcs wait to be loaded on trucks. The engineer picks one of the shining willows and asks for a wooden hammer. 'Bats are like a tabla, they have an area of percussion and its centre,' he says as he bangs the hammer on the bat. When he hits the sweet spot, it makes a sound that is music to a batsman. It's the one that Hardik hears when the ball hits the centre point of his bat's area of percussion. Once that magical ping hits his ears, he doesn't bother to check the flight of the ball. The no-look six. Why a bat with curve helps six-hitting The sweet spot The centre of mass is the point where the bat is perfectly balanced. So if you place your finger there, the bat wouldn't tip either way. The center of percussion is slightly below the center of mass. When the ball hits this point, the bat doesn't shake in a batsman's hands and most of the energy goes into the ball. This makes the ball travel farther. The centre of percussion and the area just around it is known as the sweet spot. Advantages of a curved bat A bat with a curve has a longer surface than a flat one. The difference can be measured with a string run along the curve. Because of this extra surface area, the sweet spot becomes larger. The 45 degree angle To hit a six, it helps if the ball leaves the bat at an angle — 45 degrees is ideal. A flat bat sends the ball in a straight line. But a curved bat helps give an angled lift to the ball. The curve also helps to scoop out yorkers.
