The end to the deportation drama was familiar. Bombay blast accused Anis Ibrahim could not be brought back to India from Dubai, he was released on bail and reached Karachi in Pakistan instead. But this time, unlike in the Abu Salem episode, the Indian authorities did their best. What spiked their case was that their influence was limited to Abu Dhabi authorities, while don Dawood Ibrahim took the short cut to Dubai. Abu Dhabi was all for cooperating with the Indian Government, but as CBI sources say, "Dawood has close links with people at the top in Dubai."

FRIENDS IN RIGHT PLACES: Anis Ibrahim (centre)

A week after Ibrahim's arrest, Dubai Police ruled out deportation on December 11, saying that he was to be tried for the 1998 murder of Mumbai gangster Irfan Goga, whose remains were found in Dubai this November. Ibrahim was then released on bail. Even as Indian officials tried to secure his extradition, Ibrahim was spirited away by Pakistan's ISI bypassing immigration norms.

Apart from the demarche that Indian Ambassador to UAE K.C. Singh presented in Abu Dhabi, Delhi has taken up the violation of the 1999 extradition treaty with the UAE. Abu Dhabi has to take the flak for Dubai's sins.

-Shishir Gupta

An Eye-Opener

Tournaments make winners and losers, but the Petro World Cup Cricket for the Blind made everyone a winner. Held in Chennai from December 4 to 14, it was an unqualified success. All the big teams-South Africa, Australia, England, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka-were there challenging all odds. "It's a testimony to the zest the sport inspires," says George Abraham, chairman, Association for Cricket for the Blind in India. The sight of the batsman waiting, his ears straining for the rattling sound of the white plastic ball with tiny ball bearings inside, spoke volumes for the players' enthusiasm. And they won many hearts, what with schoolchildren queuing up for autographs at the nets. Pakistan received the winner's trophy from former Sri Lankan skipper Arjuna Ranatunga.

The Petro Cup was the second such World Cup and now Abraham plans to get BCCI approval for blind cricket. The Chennai series could well be an eye-opener for the cricket authorities.

-Arun Ram

No to CBI

The S.M. Krishna Government, it appears, is allergic to the CBI. Krishna and his Home Minister Mallikarjuna Kharge have decided that the CBI will not be given "blanket permission" to investigate in the state.

So when the BJP and the JD leaders demanded a CBI probe into the death of Veerappan's hostage, H. Nagappa, the Karnataka Government instituted a judicial probe-that too after a week. At a cabinet meeting in Bangalore last week, it was decided that a high court judge would head the probe.

Information Minister Kagodu Thimmappa says the Government will soon draft the terms of reference for the inquiry. "The high court will decide whether the probe will be conducted by a sitting or retired judge," he added.

Ordering a judicial probe into a case of murder is unprecedented, but Thimmappa is sure that "there is no need for a CBI investigation". The police have registered a case of murder under Section 304 of the IPC. Not something to bother the CBI with.

-Stephen David

MARKED: 100 years of existence, by Taj, Mumbai.

CELEBRATED: Golden Jubilee, by the Indian Army's Parachute Regiment.

BANNED: Protest strikes by lawyers, by the Supreme Court.

AWARDED: Roshan Prabhu, 17, New York student, the Siemens Westinghouse $100,000 Award, for identifying a crucial segment of the rice genome.

DIED: Shakila Banu Bhopali, 60, qawwali singer, in Mumbai.

APPOINTED: Pawan Kumar Munjal, ceo of Hero Honda Motors and pgai chief, chairman of the Asian pga Tour Board of Directors.