Ramakrishnan receives Chemistry Nobel

Tamil Nadu-born Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, one of the three winners of this year’s Nobel in Chemistry, on Thursday received the prize at a gala ceremony here along with other recipients.
The other Nobel laureates in literature, economics, physics and medicine also received their prizes from Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf at a formal event in Stockholm’s Concert Hall. A record five women were awarded the Nobel this year.
Born in 1952 at Chidambaram, Dr. Ramakrishnan, a senior scientist at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology at Cambridge, shared the Nobel with Thomas A Steitz (U.S.) and Ada E. Yonath (Israel) for their “studies of the structure and function of the ribosome.”
They “showed what the ribosome looks like and how it functions at atomic level,” the Nobel committee said in its citation. All the three used a method called X-ray crystallography to map the position for each and every one of the hundreds of thousands of atoms that make up the ribosome. Dr. Ramakrishnan earned his B.Sc. in Physics (1971) from Baroda University and Ph.D. in Physics (1976) from Ohio University, U.S.
He moved into biology at the University of California, San Diego, where he took a year of classes, and then conducted research with Dr. Mauricio Montal, a membrane biochemist.

A.R. Rahman bags two Grammy nominations

A.R.Rahman has done it again. After bagging two Oscars for his stupendous musical score in Slumdog Millionaire earlier this year, Rahman is now all set to bring home the Grammy. In case you are wondering what we are talking about, it's the big news that A.R. Rahman has been nominated in two categories at the 2010 Grammy awards.Rahman's chartbuster 'Jai Ho' from Slumdog Millionaire has been nominated for 'Best Song written for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media' while the second nomination for the music maestro is under the category 'Best Compilation Soundtrack Album for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media.' This is the first time that the Musical Genius has been nominated for the prestigious Grammys. The Grammy awards will be presented on January 31st 2010 at the Staples Centre in Los Angeles. We hope and pray that Rahman emerges victorious once again and brings home the Grammy.

Lata Mangeshkar Honoured with French Award

India’s most beautiful and enigmatic voice from bollywood is indeed that of Lata Mangeshkar. She is often addressed as India’s Nightingale due to the flawless rhythm in her melodious voice. This magical owner of the outstanding voice box has been honoured with the French Award ‘Legion D honneur.’ The honour was bestowed in Mumbai on the 3rd of December 2009.
She is the second Indian to be given this prestigious award by France. The first bollywood star to be given this honour was none other than Amitabh Bachchan.

Now, drunk drivers can lose licence in Delhi

Driving under the influence of alcohol can now cost you your licence. The Delhi High Court on Wednesday accepted the city transport department's new guidelines to deal with the menace of drunk driving, among which is the provision of cancelling the offender's driving licence. The stage is now set for the guidelines to be notified within four weeks.The new rules arm the Delhi Police with the right to confiscate the licence of a driver found to have consumed alcohol beyond the permissible limit. In such cases, a memo would be issued to the driver who would then have to make a representation before the transport department. The department would decide whether the offender's licence should be suspended or cancelled.

Siddharth Tiwari is new IMF Secretary

With a proven track record in managing complex work programmes, Indian economist Mr Siddharth Tiwari has been named as the IMF Secretary by its Managing Director Mr Dominique Strauss-Kahn.
Mr Tiwari, currently Director of the Office of Budget and Planning, is set to assume the position, which was held by Mr Shailendra Anjaria before his retirement from the IMF earlier this year.
“Mr Tiwari has the experience and skills’’ to promote consensus building, which is a critical goal of the IMF Board and Management, Mr Strauss-Kahn said in a statement.

Sheikh Hasina chosen for Indira Gandhi Peace Prize

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been chosen for the prestigious Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development this year.The selection was made by an international jury, chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust said in a statement on Thursday.

The award, carrying a cash prize of Rs.25 lakh and a citation, will be presented to her at a function to be held at a later date. Ms. Hasina is to visit India next month and is likely to sign a couple of landmark agreements that would strengthen ties between New Delhi and Dhaka.

Rajeev Rathore scores five goals

Rajeev Rathore fired five goals to power Aspen Crew to an 8-6 victory over Gunners in the semifinals of the Maharaj Prithi Singh Cup six-goal polo tournament at the Army Equestrian Centre, Delhi Cantonment, on Saturday.
Tarun Sirohi, Rohan Saharan and Sharuk Ullaha scored the other goals for the winner. Shailendra Singh Rathore (3), Bhawani Singh Kalvi and Raghav Rao scored the goals for Gunners which started with a goal advantage on handicap.
In the other semifinal, Dhruvpal Godara scored four goals to help Navy beat Sahgal Stud 6-5. A. P. Singh and Akhil Sirohi scored a goal each for Navy. Shamsheer Ali and Gaurav Sahgal scored two goals apiece for the loser which had started with a goal advantage on handicap.

India drop to third place in ODI rankings

Having begun the series with a genuine chance of becoming the top ODI team in the world, India slipped back to third position after goingdown 2-4 to world champion Australia in the seven-match home series that concluded on Wednesday.
As recently as September 20, the Aussies were ranked third behind India and the Proteas but now there are eight ratings points separating them from Graeme Smith's team. However, with a ODI series coming up against England and with Australia concentrating on Test cricket until the third week in January, there is the opportunity for South Africa to close that gap.

Kiwis win series

New Zealand beat Pakistan by seven runs to win the third and final one-dayer here on Monday, taking the three-match series 2-1.
A last-wicket partnership of 103 runs between Saeed Ajmal and Mohd. Aamer almost took the game away from New Zealand. Earlier, a haul of four wickets by off-spinner Saeed Ajmal helped Pakistan restrict New Zealand to 211.

India lose by 6 wkts; concede series

Mike Hussey and Adam Voges saw Australia through to a six-wicket victory over India in the sixth one-dayer of the Hero Honda Cup here on Sunday. With their third win on the trot, Australia also sealed the series by taking an unassailable 4-2 lead in the 7-match series to render the final ODI in Mumbai inconsequential.Chasing a modest 171 runs for victory, the Australians overhauled the target in just 41.5 overs as the hosts were left ruing their batting collapse in morning, from which they failed to recover

Australia survives Sachin blitz

Sachin Tendulkar watched one of his most domineering ODI hundreds, a 141-ball 175, go in vain as India lost a cliff-hanger to Australia by three runs in the fifth match of the seven-match series in Hyderabad on Thursday.
Chasing Australia’s imposing 350, Tendulkar’s innings took India to within 19 runs of a win, before he tried to paddle-scoop Clint McKay, only to find Nathan Hauritz stationed at short fine leg who pouched it running back.
Earlier, when he reached seven, Tendulkar became the first cricketer to make 17,000 runs in ODIs. It was his 435th match.
Tendulkar’s knock included four huge sixes, two of which came off successive Nathan Hauritz deliveries and a swivelling hook off Shane Watson in the previous over.
“It was one of my best knocks,” said Tendulkar after receiving his man-of-the-match award. “The pressure to keep scoring runs was there and we took it very close.”
Suresh Raina gave the maestro good company with a run-a-ball 59. The two put on 137 runs for the fifth wicket in 19 overs.
Tendulkar’s innings is the joint second-highest individual score in an ODI chase, the highest being Indian skipper M.S. Dhoni’s unbeaten 183 against Sri Lanka at Jaipur in 2005.
Australian skipper Ricky Ponting said, “It was one of the amazing games and certainly one of the best innings ever from Sachin. You just have to keep hanging in there, you just have to tell your bowlers to keep bowling to the plan. Just one bad shot and we could come in but Sachin didn’t play many bad shots today.”

Agni-II may be launched tomorrow

Preparations are under way for the launch of India’s Agni-II ballistic missile from Wheeler Island, off the Orissa coast, on Friday.
“We are aiming for a launch on November 6 [Friday]. It will be a repeat firing to establish the reliability of Agni-II’s systems,” a Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) official said.
The Agni-II is an intermediate range ballistic missile built by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). It has two stages, both powered by solid propellants.
It can reach targets 2,500 km away and carry nuclear warheads.
The missile is 20 metre long and weighs 17 tonnes. It can carry payloads weighing one tonne.

Australia fights back, levels series

The evening began with a tinge of anticipation. Sachin Tendulkar’s march towards 17,000 One-Day International runs was much awaited.
Sadly as darkness descended, the fans were left frantically hoping that at least India would win at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium here on Monday night.
However, hopes were dashed as India suffered a 24-run defeat against Australia in the fourth ODI of the Hero Honda Cup seven-match series as Ricky Ponting’s men turned it around to draw level at 2-2.
India’s batting ineptitude ruined Ashish Nehra and company’s fine bowling effort that skittled out Australia for 250 in 49.2 overs.

Supreme Serena cruises past Venus to take WTA Championships title

Serena Williams won her second career WTA Championship title on Sunday with a commanding 6-2, 7-6 (7/4) victory over sister Venus, a triumph which earned her a cool $1.55 million.
It was Serena's second season-ending trophy to add to her 2001 success and made her just the second player after Justine Henin in 2007 to win two Grand Slam titles as well as the WTA Championship in the same year.
World number one Serena won all five matches at this event, including a group stage win over Venus and such was her dominance in the final that she gave up just seven points on serve.

Venus Willaims and Jankovic enter semifinals

Venus Williams reached the semifinals of the Sony Ericsson Championships on Friday with a little help from Svetlana Kuznetsova, and Jelena Jankovic also advanced by routing a tired Caroline Wozniacki.
Kuznetsova beat Elena Dementieva 6-3, 6-2 in their last round-robin match, which secured the American’s passage into the knockout round.
Dementieva would have advanced with a win but was dominated by her fellow Russian, less than 24 hours after a straight-set loss to Serena Williams on Thursday.
Venus, Kuznetsova and Dementieva all finished with one win and two losses in the Maroon Group, but the American won more sets. Serena won all three of her matches.

Former umpire Shepherd dies aged 68

Former Test match umpire and Gloucestershire cricketer David Shepherd has died from cancer at the age of 68, the Englishman's former county announced Wednesday.
Shepherd, widely regarded as one of the best umpires of his generation, stood in 92 Tests and 172 One-Day Internationals, including three World Cup finals, between 1983 and 2005.
He was perhaps best known to cricket fans around the world for his superstitious habit of standing on one leg when the score reached 'Nelson', England's supposedly 'unlucky' number of 111 or multiples such as 222.

Australia wins a thriller to go one up

The crowds beseeched the gods. The miracle however never happened as the aggressive duo of Harbhajan Singh (49) and Praveen Kumar (40 n.o.) suffered a heart-break as Australia snatched a four-run victory against India in the first match of the Hero Honda Cup One-Day International series at the Reliance Stadium here on Sunday.
Australia leads the seven-match series 1-0, but the victory was registered amidst frayed nerves and chewed up nails. Harbhajan (49, 31b, 4x4, 3x6) and Praveen (40 n.o., 32b, 5x4, 1x6) through their 84-run eighth-wicket partnership off 57 balls nearly upset Ricky Ponting’s plan.
However, in the end, chasing Australia’s 292 for eight in 50 overs proved to be a tough task for India after openers Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar were dismissed cheaply though Gautam Gambhir briefly offered hope through his dogged 68 (85b, 6x4, 1x6). India was eventually restricted to 288 for eight in 50 overs

Write in English, read in Hindi

If you are to spy on the thousands of messages darting across Indian mobile networks at any given point of time, you may find some interesting linguistic patterns.
Indic Language computing enthusiasts believe — and are willing to bet on it — that the predominant SMS lingo of the average Indian is the local language. Then why must one be forced to SMS in English?
Tachyon Technologies, a Bangalore company, has released a midlet (a mobile application) ‘Quillpad’ that allows you to ‘transliterate’ or key in your thoughts (phonetically) in English and watch it being delivered in Hindi (Devanagari script). While online transliteration services have been around for some time now — with several home-grown companies and large email, chat and blogging services offering it for free — this is the first of its kind application on the mobile platform.
Quillpad’s web avatar, which (in 2006) preceded Google’s now popular transliteration tools by a year, registered no less than 1.16 lakh unique users in September. What makes it click? For starters, Quillpad’s predictive engine is far more intuitive (in interpreting the phonetics), offers more options and is more powerful than most home-grown technologies that clutter the Indi-webspace.
In its beta mobile release, Quillpad is a light-weight 355 KB application file that can be downloaded from the web site (or transferred through Bluetooth). Once installed, it offers a text-input mechanism — you can toggle between English, Hindi and numbers — and a full-fledged messaging menu. On typing the word phonetically in English, it offers multiple spelling options much like (and as powerful as) its online widget. It then encodes this into Unicode, connects to the phone and sends the message.

NSW Blues has the last laugh

Brett Lee could not have timed his allround performance better. Thanks to his brilliance, New South Wales Blues was crowned champion of the inaugural Airtel-Champions League Twenty20 championship with a clinical display to notch up a 41-run win over the crowd favourite Trinidad & Tobago in the final at Rajiv Gandhi Stadium here on Friday night.
There was an air of excitement in the stands when Kieron Pollard walked to the middle with his team reeling at 68 for five in 10 overs. Clearly, Trinidad needed another special effort from the dazzling stroke-maker.
And, Pollard definitely looked ominous pulling Doug Bollinger into the stands and later hitting off-spinner Nathan Hauritz for two more sixes which had the crowd on its feet. But, in his attempt for the third one in the 15th over, he ended up giving a skier to Brett Lee who judged well in the deep to the delight of his team-mates for they knew the value of that wicket

Three new species of legless amphibians found in northeast

Three new species of legless amphibians have been discovered from forests in Manipur and Nagaland by researchers led by Delhi University Associate Professor S.D. Biju.
The team’s find, published in the latest issue of Zootaxa (an international journal of zoological taxonomy), is unique as two of the new species have moustache-like stripes on the upper lip not found in caecilians reported from any part of the world before, a university release said on Tuesday.
Worldwide more than 170 species of caecilians (which are one among the three orders of amphibians known as Gymnophiona) have been reported so far. In northeast India, only four of these species were known to exist. The new find takes the number of known legless amphibians in this region to seven.

Three new species of legless amphibians found in northeast

Three new species of legless amphibians have been discovered from forests in Manipur and Nagaland by researchers led by Delhi University Associate Professor S.D. Biju.
The team’s find, published in the latest issue of Zootaxa (an international journal of zoological taxonomy), is unique as two of the new species have moustache-like stripes on the upper lip not found in caecilians reported from any part of the world before, a university release said on Tuesday.
Worldwide more than 170 species of caecilians (which are one among the three orders of amphibians known as Gymnophiona) have been reported so far. In northeast India, only four of these species were known to exist. The new find takes the number of known legless amphibians in this region to seven.

IIT aspirants must get 80% in Class XII

The eligibility for appearing in the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) entrance test could be raised from 60 per cent marks secured in the Class XII Board examination.
It will be applicable from 2011.Addressing reporters after a meeting of the IIT Council — the highest decision making body of the institution — Union Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal said this was done to ensure that students took their Class XII exams seriously and also to check the growth of coaching centres, which were thriving on imparting coaching to IIT aspirants.
Mr. Sibal said the present eligibility of 60 per cent marks for appearing in the IIT-JEE was not acceptable. “The minimum marks required could be raised up to 80 per cent,” he said.

Australia conveys to India concerns over security for CWG

Australia on Wednesday said it has apprehensions over security arrangements for the Commonwealth Games to be held in New Delhi next year, but maintained that India has assured that all precautions will be taken.
"We share the concerns on security arrangements. We have to be very cautious about extremists' activities. We don't want any innocent athlete to face any problem," Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith told reporters in the Capital.
Smith spoke to reporters after visiting Major Dhyan Chand and Talkatora stadiums.
He said he met his Indian counterpart S M Krishna on Tuesday and discussed the security arrangements for the games.
"It is a reality of modern world that you have to take precautions against these things. That is what the Indian government is doing. We always have to worry about terrorist activities. We are conscious of that and so also is India," he said.
Krishna briefed him about the security arrangements being made for the sporting event and has assured him thatthere would be foolproof arrangements.
"But whatever discussions we had, we are confident that all necessary precautions have been taken. But no one can guarantee, the Indian government cannot guarantee, Australian government cannot guarantee if terrorists will not cause attacks on people. But every precaution has to be taken," he stressed.

Barack Obama wins Nobel Peace Prize

U.S. President Barack Obama won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday in a stunning decision designed to encourage his initiatives to reduce nuclear arms, ease tensions with the Muslim world and stress diplomacy and cooperation rather than unilateralism. The peace prize was created partly to encourage ongoing peace efforts but Mr. Obama’s efforts are at far earlier stages than past winners’ The Nobel committee acknowledged that they may not bear fruit at all.
“He got the prize because he has been able to change the international climate,” Nobel Committee chairman Thorbjoern Jagland said. “Some people say, and I understand it, isn’t it premature? Too early? Well, I’d say then that it could be too late to respond three years from now. It is now that we have the opportunity to respond — all of us''.

Ramakrishnan ninth Nobel winner of Indian origin

Venkatraman Ramakrishnan becomes the ninth person of Indian origin or connection to win the coveted Nobel Prize.
Two Americans and an Israeli scientist won the 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry on Wednesday for atom-by-atom mapping of the protein-making factories within cells.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said Americans Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, Thomas Steitz and Israeli Ada Yonath's work on ribosomes has been fundamental to the scientific understanding of life and has helped researchers develop antibiotics

Floods kill 200 in Andhra, Karnataka; thousands affected

Floods triggered by heavy rains have killed at least 200 people in the past five days in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, and have An Indian Air Force helicopter rescues a man from a flood hit area in Raichur, Karnataka. Flash floods and landslides reportedly killed 200 people in south India.
At least 167 people have been killed in Karnataka, where several rivers burst their mud embankments following heavy rains and swept away houses.
In the neighbouring state of Andhra Pradesh, at least 33 people have died and more than 1.8 million people have been affected by the floods.

U.S. Award for Mallika Dutt

Indian-American human rights activist Mallika Dutt has won the American Courage Award for her work in the U.S. and India.
The 47-year-old, who grew up in Kolkata and left for the U.S. at the age of 18, will receive the award on October 1 from the Asian American Justice Center, a leading civil rights organisation.
In 1989, Ms. Dutt co-founded ‘Sakhi,’ an organisation that helped south Asian women suffering domestic violence in New York.
According to Ms. Dutt, the award highlights the need for effective immigration reform in a post-9/11 America. “Right now people can be detained and deported for very minor reasons. There has to be a fair and sensible way for people to enter this country.”

India-Australia ODI called off due to rain

India's semi-final chances on Monday suffered a big jolt as incessant rain led to the abandonment of their Group A Champions Trophy match against Australia, forcing them to split points at SuperSport Park.Now India will have to beat the West Indies by a big margin on Wednesday and pray that Pakistan too beat Australia by a good margin on the same day.

Lata Mangeshkar turns 80

Bursting into the music scene with the soul-stirring ‘Aayega Aanewala’ six decades back and following it up with romantic hits like ‘Pyar kiya to darna kya’ in Mughal-e-Azam, there has been no looking back for melody queen Lata Mangeshkar as she turned 80 on Monday.
“I want to continue singing till my last breath,” Lata, who has over 30,000 songs to her credit in 20 languages, said.

Morgan, Collingwood guide England to victory

Eoin Morgan steered England to a morale-boosting six-wicket victory over Sri Lanka with a solid half-century in the Champions Trophy on Friday.
England achieved a 213-run target on a lively track with five overs to spare in the day-night match, thanks to Morgan (62 not out), man-of-the-match Paul Collingwood (46) and Owais Shah (44).
England's win was set up by pacemen James Anderson (3-20), Stuart Broad (3-49) and Graham Onions (2-58) who bowled well to restrict Sri Lanka on a seamer-friendly track

Chandrayaan-I finds traces of water on moon

The Chandrayaan-1 probe had found traces of water across the surface of large parts of the moon, challenging the long-held view that the earth’s natural satellite is bone dry.
The spacecraft also found indications that water is being produced in the lunar soil through interactions with charged particles streaming out from the sun.
This major discovery is a vindication of the Chandryaan-1 mission, which encountered many problems and finally ended abruptly last month.
The Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3), a U.S.-supplied instrument that flew on the Chandrayaan-1, examined the intensity of different colours of sunlight bouncing off the lunar surface.

ISRO launches Oceansat-2, nano satellites from Sriharikota

India successfully launched its 16th remote-sensing satellite Oceansat-2 and six nano European satellites in 1,200 seconds with the helpof Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV- C-14) from Sriharikota on Wednesday.The launch was carried out as per schedule at 11.51 am and ended at 12.06 pm.
The 44.4-metre tall, 230-tonne Indian rocket Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) freed itself from the launch pad at the spaceport and lifted itself up, lugging the 960-kg Oceansat-2 and the six nano satellites all together weighing 20 kg.

Jet Airways to operate at full capacity from today

The five-day agitation by Jet Airways pilots owing allegiance to the National Aviators’ Guild was called off on Sunday morning after hectic talks between the management and Guild officials.
The pilots, including the four who were sacked, will resume duties. All international flights will resume immediately, and domestic flights by Monday afternoon.
A Jet Airways statement said an amicable agreement was reached and, effective Sunday, the airline would operate its full schedule of services in all sectors, with all crew members reporting for their normal rostered duties.
Prior to the stand-off, Jet’s revenue was around $8 million a day (Rs. 40 crore). It has lost Rs. 200 crore in five days. On an average, Jet carries 23,000 passengers a day, but bookings dropped to 14,000 on September 8, and further down to 7,000 by September 12

India beat New Zealand to reach tri-series final

No side has won a match at the Premadasa Stadium batting second in the last 13 ODIs played here. India broke that hoodoo on Friday, beating New Zealand by six wickets in the second match of the Compaq Cup tri-series and thereby ensuring a place in Monday's final against hosts Sri Lanka and also moving to the top of ICC's ODI rankings. India now take on the hosts in an inconsequential game on Saturday.

Additional 5 % DA for Central staff

The Centre on Thursday approved an additional 5 per cent dearness allowance for Central government employees and pensioners with retrospective effect from July this year.
Briefing the media after the Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni said: “The Cabinet has decided to release an additional instalment of DA to Central government employees and dearness relief to pensioners... representing an increase of 5 per cent over the existing rate of 22 per cent of the basic pay/pension to compensate for price rise.

Vijender in World Boxing semis

Olympic bronze medallist Vijender Singh has created history by advancing to the semifinals of the World Boxing Championships in Milan, thereby, ensuring that India wins its first medal ever at a world boxing championship. In his quarterfinal bout the top seed in the 75-kilogram category defeated Ukraine's Sergiy Derevyanchenko 12-4. It was an easy outing for Vijender. The 23-year-old was leading right from the start.

National Mission for Female Literacy launched

The National Mission for Female Literacy, a renewed effort to make 70 million people — 60 million of them women — functionally literate by 2012 and plug the gender gap that has persisted despite the two-decade-old literacy drive in mission mode, was launched here on Tuesday by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to mark the International Literacy Day.
Within minutes of Union Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal putting a billion dollar bill on the recast National Literacy Mission (NLM), the Prime Minister assured the nation that resources would not be a constraint in this endeavour. According to him, infrastructure development in the economic sector and female literacy in the social sector were the two critical factors that impede India’s steady climb to a higher and sustainable level of growth.
Stating that persistent efforts of the government had made elementary education accessible to all children, increased enrolment and reduced drop-outs — thereby checking further accretion to the population of illiterates — the Prime Minister stressed the need to renew the efforts of the 1980s and 1990s to address illiteracy among adults.
Further, Dr. Singh voiced the hope that the Saakshar Bharat Mission — as the National Mission for Female Literacy has been christened — would fully involve the community in its implementation and utilise the “potential and promise” of panchayati raj institutions and women’s Self-Help Groups.

Pankaj Advani wins World Billiards Championship

Pankaj Advani defeated nine times champion Mike Russell at the Northern Snooker Centre in Leeds to win the elusive World Professional Billiards Championship.

Advani beat the defending champion 2030-1253 after having a 800-plus lead at the break. Advani is the second Indian to win the title in its 139th years of history. Geet Sethi was the last Indian to win in 2006, his first being in 1992.

Dhoni is the world’s top earning cricketer: Forbes

Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni has topped the list of world’s 10 top earning cricketers compiled by Forbes, which also features four other players from the sub-continent Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly.
Raking in $10 million, Dhoni is at the top of the chart followed by Tendulkar at the second spot with earnings worth $8 million in the list of the world’s top-earning cricketers.
While Yuvraj Singh and Dravid are at the third and fourth spots, respectively, Ganguly and Australian cricketer Ricky Ponting share the sixth place.

Iran approves first woman Minister

For the first time since 1979 Islamic revolution, Iran will have a woman Cabinet Minister, as Parliament on Thursday approved 18 out of 21 nominees proposed by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for his new Cabinet.
Marzieh Vahid Dastjerdi, who will hold the Health portfolio, will be Iran’s first woman Minister. She is a qualified gynaecologist from Tehran University, and has been a well-known health activist.

Soon ,websites that talk to you

The next time when you log on to railway website to book an e-ticket ,don`t be surprised if it starts talking to you .many others will get chatty too- even you file your income tax –return .The purpose behind the sound effect is to help the disabled, especially for visually challenged. Government 5,000 sites will turn audible . ablind person can use the key board to respond –tab key will take him/her through the different links.

BHARTI TO LAUNCH 3G SERVICES BY OCT. 10

Till now, we aware about 3G services regarding NOKIA and RELIANCE but now , the CEO of BHART AIRTEL Manoj koshi announced plans to auction spectrum for 3G mobile services ,which India’s largest private cellular operator.
Bharti Airtel Has said it will launch the service by October next year. If all activities goes well on time with regarding to spectrum auction. Then it defiantly it will be launch till Feb to March. If we talk about 3G services then these equipments are GSM, GPRS, and EDGE.

Andhra Pradesh CM dead in chopper crash

Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy has died in an air crash, the Prime Minister’s Office said on Thursday.

The bodies of 60-year-old Reddy, who led his Congress party to a spectacular second consecutive victory in the Lok Sabha and Assembly polls, and his Special Secretary P Subramanyam, chief security officer A S C Wesley, pilot Group Captain S K Bhatia and co-pilot M S Reddy were found on Rudrakonda Hill, 40 nautical miles east of here, besides the mangled remains of the helicopter.

Indian cricketers lead nominees list in ICC Awards 2009

MS Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh and Sehwag are nominated in the ODI player category while Gautam Gambhir, Harbhajan Singh and VVS Laxman have got nomination for the Test player of the year award at the prestigious ICC Awards 2009.
Indian pacer Zaheer Khan has been nominated for best Twenty20 international performance of the year award.
Leg spinner Amit Mishra nominated for emerging player of the year award.
Indian skipper Dhoni has been nominated for all three categories—Best cricketer, Best Test batsman and Best ODI player of the year award.Dhoni, Gambhir, Harbhajan also nominated for cricketer of the year award.For Women's category, Indian Mithali Raj has been nominated for best cricketers of the year.

Moon mission over, Mars next for India?

A catastrophic power failure forced India to pull the plug on its moon mission. But that hasn't stopped the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) from dreaming big.On Saturday, ISRO confirmed that it had lost contact with Chadrayaan 1, India's first unmanned lunar spacecraft. Now, here's what it wants the government to sanction for the next 10 years.
In 2012 it wants to launch a second mission to the moon, Chandrayaan-2; followed with a mission to study the Sun; an unmanned mission to Mars before 2015. ISRO hopes to put an Indian in space from Indian soil in 2015; and then, in 2018, a mission to an asteroid.
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India third on global 'female smoking list'

Indian women are among the worst in the world when it comes to smoking. According to the latest Tobacco Atlas, the country ranks third in the top 20 female smoking populations across the globe. Only the US with 2.3 crore female smokers and China with 1.3 crore women smokers are worse off than India in this chart. However, as far as percentage of women smoking is concerned, it is below 20% for India.

After MSc at 12, child prodigy Tulsi completes his PhD in Physics at 21

A prodigy who had finished his bachelors' degree at 10 and masters at 12 amid media hype has now earned his doctorate in Physics from the Indian Institute of Science ( IISc) in Bangalore, spending around six years like anyone else.Avatar Tulsi, 21, once known as Tathagat, hoped to get his PhD four years ago and become the youngest professor at 17. But his moment came only on Tuesday.

Class X boards to become optional from next year

From the coming academic year (2010-11), the Class X board exams will become optional in all CBSE schools. The board will make a formal announcement to this effect probably by Friday, once the blueprint of the new system to replace the board exams is frozen.CBSE said board chairman Vineet Joshi will, on Thursday, hold the last presentation and consultation session in Madhya Pradesh on the changes being brought about before the draft is finalized and made public.

Mother Teresa's 99th birth anniversary

Today is Mother Teresa's 99th birth anniversary and Missionaries of Charity across the world are holding special prayers to mark the day. In Kolkata's Mother House, world headquarters of the Missionaries and Mother Teresa's home, special prayers were held early Wednesday morning. Born in Skopje in Albania in 1910, Mother Teresa came to Kolkata in 1929 and founded the Missionaries of Charity in 1950. She won the Nobel Peace prize in 1979. Six years after her death in 1997, Mother Teresa was beatified by the Vatican for her service to the poorest of the poor.

T-90 Bhishma tanks add protection & attack!

Making Indian Army strengthened a bit more, the new T-90 Bhishma tanks launched by the Minister of State for Defence MM Pallam Raju.

The tanks are built at Heavy Vehicles Factory, Avadi, in Chennai. Armed with new technologies in mobility, fighting capabilities, protection, safety and communication, T-90 Bhishma has the capability to fire guided missiles. It can also use conventional ammunition from the same gun barrel.

The tank has 125mm smooth bore gun with Elevation and Azimuth. A 12.7mm anti-craft machine gun is also added to it. Even a 7.62mm co-axial machine gun with high accuracy levels as well as automatic loader to ensure a high firing rate.

Stefania Fernandez wins Miss Universe for Venezuela the second year running

Venezuela made history at the Miss Universe 2009 pageant by winning the crown for the second year running.
Miss India, Ekta Chowdhury, exited the contest without making it to the top 15.
Eighteen-year-old Stefania Fernandez was crowned Miss Universe 2009 by incumbent crown holder and compatriot Dayana Mendoza, on Sunday night.
Ms. Fernandez became the sixth Miss Universe from a South American country, known for its obsession with beauty. Venezuela has won five Miss Universe titles, five Miss World and four Miss International crowns — more than any other country.

England beat Australia to regain Ashes

England regained the Ashes with a 197-run win over Australia in the fifth and final Test at the Oval on Sunday.

Victory, achieved with more than a day to spare, saw England take the five-match series 2-1. Australia, set what would have been a record fourth innings victory total of 546, were bowled out for 348 with Michael Hussey last man out for 121, when he was caught close in by Alastair Cook off spinner Graeme Swann. "It's a special moment. It hasn't sunk in yet. We had to dig in and fight," said England skipper Andrew Strauss.

Levi’s India to sell blue jeans on installment plan

What to speak of refrigerator, car and washing machine even here India’s middle class family have been lapping such type of price which allow them to purchasing goods in form of installment.
Levi’s Strauss &co. has been decided to after blue pair jeans. Under this sachem customer will be able to pay for Levi’s priced at Rs.1,599($33) and which above in three installment ,and it is free from any interest.

Maruti takes possession of land at Rohtak

Maruti takes possession of land at Rohtak

Maruti Suzuki, the country’s largest manufacturer of cars, today took formal possession of 700 acres of land allotted to it by the Haryana government for a major research and development hub at the Industrial Model Township here, 70 km from Delhi.

The centre is slated to become Suzuki’s largest R&D centre outside Japan. Of the allotted area, 100 acres will house the company’s auto parts suppliers, while the rest will house the R&D units and the test tracks.The first phase of the R&D centre will be completed in 2012 and the second phase in 2015. A company official said

Maruti paid around Rs 500 crore to purchase the land

ISRO, NASA team up to locate water-ice on Moon

The Moon’s relatively unexplored North Pole became the subject of a unique joint experiment by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in their quest for locating water-ice on the floor of its permanently shadowed craters.The Mini-SAR (Miniature Synthetic Aperture Radar) on board Chandrayaan-I and the Mini-RF (Miniature Radio Frequency) on the LRO, both developed by NASA, are designed specifically to detect water-ice on the Moon’s poles.
At 00.30 hours on Friday, the two spacecraft, travelling at 1.6 km per second, passed close enough to each other so that they could share information.

Antakshari on the move for Reliance users

Reliance Mobile is launching a unique Antakshari service on its R-World platform. This service will allow a subscriber to play Antakshari with a selected community or his friend on the move. Reliance is creating a special marketing portal where a subscriber will be able to throw a challenge to the other and a recipient will be able to respond.
The service will offer the subscriber three lifelines to continue the game. These lifelines are Library, 50/50 and Ask A Friend.
Krishna Durbha, Head - VAS, Reliance Communications said, “Antakshari is one of the oldest music based games that Indians have known and played for generations. We have conceptualized the same for our subscribers who can now play the Antakshari with any other Reliance subscriber in the country.”
Reliance will offer this unique service for a subscription charge of Rs 30/30 days with 30 minutes free usage. Subscribers will be allowed to add players to his list and send them songs of choice in their own voice to play antakshari. Users will also be allowed to block other users at any given point in time as well as decide whom they want to play with at a given point of time. Reliance Mobile is launching this service on both its GSM and CDMA networks.

Antakshari on the move for Reliance users

Reliance Mobile is launching a unique Antakshari service on its R-World platform. This service will allow a subscriber to play Antakshari with a selected community or his friend on the move. Reliance is creating a special marketing portal where a subscriber will be able to throw a challenge to the other and a recipient will be able to respond.
The service will offer the subscriber three lifelines to continue the game. These lifelines are Library, 50/50 and Ask A Friend.
Krishna Durbha, Head - VAS, Reliance Communications said, “Antakshari is one of the oldest music based games that Indians have known and played for generations. We have conceptualized the same for our subscribers who can now play the Antakshari with any other Reliance subscriber in the country.”
Reliance will offer this unique service for a subscription charge of Rs 30/30 days with 30 minutes free usage. Subscribers will be allowed to add players to his list and send them songs of choice in their own voice to play antakshari. Users will also be allowed to block other users at any given point in time as well as decide whom they want to play with at a given point of time. Reliance Mobile is launching this service on both its GSM and CDMA networks.

Sonia Gandhi,Kochhar in forbes Top 20 powerful women list

Congress President Sonia Gandhi and ICICI bank CEO and MD Chanda Kochhar ranked in top 20 of the world's 100 most powerful women list complied by Forbes.
women ranked according to Forbes;
Angela Merkel - 1
Indra Nooyi - 3
Sonia Gandhi - 13
Chanda Kocchar - 20
Hilary Clinton - 36
Queen Elizabeth - 42
Kiran Mazumdar-shah - 91

Bolt wins 200 in another record time at worlds

Usain Bolt extended his stunning domination in the sprints Thursday, adding the 200-meter gold to his tally at the world championships with
yet another world record.

Gritting his teeth and pointing to the clock as soon as the record flashed, Bolt is now 5-for-5 in major sprint events, winning gold each time with a world record.

His time of 19.19 slashed .11 seconds of the mark he set last year, four days after breaking his 100 record by the same margin.

BJP expels Jaswant Singh over Jinnah remarks

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday expelled senior leader Jaswant Singh from the primary membership of the party
BJP president Rajnath Singh told reporters here that the party's parliamentary board decided to expel the former external affairs minister from the primary membership of the party. BJP had on Tuesday dissociated itself from the book written by Jaswant Singh praising Mohammad Ali Jinnah, saying the "painful" part of history cannot be wished away for which the Pakistan founder was responsible.

BSNL employees go on two-day strike from today

The BSNL Union has decided to go on 48-hour long strike on August 19 and 20. The union is demanding acceptance of long-pending demands relating to promotion and wage revision.
Balbir Singh, circle secretary, Punjab, and Balwinder Singh, district secretary, Ludhiana, while addressing a press conference here today said, “The management is delaying the promotional policy and wage negotiations deliberately by violating the agreements made with the recognised union. The agreement for the promotional policy was reached upon eight months ago but not implemented so far. The wage revision for non-executives is due wef January 1, 2007 but management is not serious about implementing the same.”
They said group C and D employees of the union will take part in the strike. They said their other demands included pay fixation on promotion, annual increment @ 5% on basic pay be granted cumulatively for non-executives along with the revised pay scales wef January 1, 07 and merger of 50% IDA for pensioners.

Hamid Karzai's house attacked in Kabul

Terrorists launched rocket attacks on the house of Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai and the main police headquarters on Tuesday morning.
The first rocket caused some damage inside the heavily fortified palace compound in the city centre. The second hit the main police headquarters nearby, Reuters reported.

Usain Bolt breaks the 100 meter world record

Usain Bolt, the athlete who was quoted as saying "I want to become recognised as the greatest athlete in the history of athletics" is dutifully keeping his word.
This superb Jamaican sprinter is a sight to see, that is, if you can even catch him with your speed camera. Usain Bolt, or the "lightning bolt" as the media aptly calls him, stunned the world when he broke his own 100 meter record at the IAAF's World Championships in Berlin on Sunday, August 16.
Winning the 100m gold championship medal, (his first) in an astonishing world record time of 9.58 seconds, this lightning bolt is indeed an electrifying sight to behold. He is expected to win more medals and to break even more records. Bolt is competing next in the 200 meters on Tuesday, August 18.

ISRO Bhuvan needs major improvement site tests revealed

Bhuvan (meaning earth in Sanskrit) a web tool just like Goggle Earth was launched by Indian Space Research Organization last week. It Promises to give a gateway to explore and discover virtual earth in 3D space with specific emphasis on Indian region. Many people has given her a nick name as ‘Google (NSDQ: GOOG) Earth killer” people has commented that Bhuvan promises to show better 3-D satellite imagery of India in comparison to the US-based software giant plus a host of India-specific features like weather information and even administrative boundaries of all states and districts.
Bhuvan also provides tools for measuring, drawing, saving, printing and visualizing thematic information. The resolutions currently on offer are good enough to view a vehicle moving on a road quite clearly. The ISRO has revealed that the beta version is under testing on the site since yesterday and the fact revealed that it won’t pose a challenge to Google’s popular service anytime soon.

India completes design of Chandrayaan-2

India has completed the design of Chandrayaan-2, its next mission to the moon this time in collaboration with Russia that would have a lander and rover which can collect samples of the lunar soil and analyse them and send back the data.

"Right now, the design has been completed. We had a joint review with Russian scientists here," Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation, G Madhavan Nair, said.

According to the Bangalore-headquartered space agency, the Chandrayaan-2 mission would have an orbital flight vehicle constituting an Orbital Craft (OC) and a Lunar Craft (LC) that would carry a soft landing system up to Lunar Transfer Trajectory (LTT).

The target location for the lander-rover would be identified using data from instruments of Chandrayaan-1, India's own and first unmanned mission to the Moon launched on October 22 last year. While ISRO will be developing the orbiter, it will be Russia's job to make the lander and rover. Additional scientific payloads would be acquired from international scientific community.

"Next (now that design has been completed) we will go towards prototype building, which will be taken up next year," Nair, also secretary in the Department of Space, said.0 Nair said ISRO has learnt plenty of lessons from

Chandrayaan-1 mission, particularly on the thermal and redundancy management fronts and would seek to improve systems in Chandrayaan-2, slated towards the end of 2012.

Dravid returns, Sehwag to miss tri-series and Champions Trophy

Rahul Dravid is a prominent member of the Indian ODI squad for the tri-series in Sri Lanka and the ICC Champions Trophy. The national selection panel, which met here on Sunday, picked the same 15 for both the tournaments.
Dravid last figured in an ODI — against Australia at Nagpur — in October 2007. His return will add quality to the Indian top-order.

The squads (for Sri Lankan tri-series and the Champions Trophy): M.S. Dhoni (captain), Yuvraj Singh (vice-captain), Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Suresh Raina, Yusuf Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Aashish Nehra, R.P. Singh, Ishant Sharma, Dinesh Karthik, Praveen Kumar, Amit Mishra and Abhishek Nayar.

Green Anthem by NDTV TOYOTA

The song has been penned down by the creative genius, Gulzar and composed by the famous trio, Shankar- Ehsaan- Loy.
NDTV-Toyota environment campaign will release its green anthem on Thursday.
Campaign ambassador Priyanka Chopra is urging people to do their bit to save the environment even if it is a tiny step.

“It is a happy song with a message. I hope people like it,” said Shankar

Delhi Metro: major accident averted

NEW DELHI: A major mishap was averted on Wednesday when the front bogie of a Delhi Metro running from Dwarka to Yamuna Bank derailed. Preliminary inquiries revealed that the incident occurred because of the train operator’s negligence. He has been suspended.
The mishap occurred at 3.20 p.m. when train no. 5015 starting from the down platform of Dwarka station and going towards Yamuna Bank, overshot the signal while changing tracks. Four wheels of the front bogie, D-313, burst through the point, derailed and travelled about 30 metres.
The train operator did not wait for the tracks to be ready before crossing over.

Bhat loses close contest, Kashyap has it easy

Aravind Bhat, who is anything but a tantrum-thrower, could be excused his rare venting of frustration when he flung his racquet wildly and uncharacteristically onto the side of the court at the end of his hour-long match on Tuesday. Playing his opener at the World Championships, Bhat had staved off three match points against ninth seed Yu Hsing Hsieh of Taipei, frittered one of his own on a risky net-dribble, and gone on to half-assuredly smash disastrously into the net to lose 21-14 19-21 24-22.



The 29-year-old had been brave to hold onto his lead in the second set after losing the first 14-21 from the disadvantageous side of the drift on court. When the Taipei shuttler racked up five straight points at 17-all in the second, Bhat had stepped up his own attack, and forced the matter into the decider. Drawing level at 20-20 after trailing 4-11, Bhat had a chance to seal the game at 22-21, but a tight net shot proved to be his undoing.

Tsunami warning that wasn't

The residents of Chennai had a sleepless Monday night. They were woken up by tremors caused by a powerful earthquake off the Andaman islands a little past midnight. Tremors lasting about 20 seconds were triggered by a powerful 7.8 magnitude earthquake in the Indian Ocean about 270 kms north of Port Blair.
The tremors brought back memories of the 2004 tsunami.

New Vice-Chancellor of UPTU appointed

Former Deputy Director of IIT Kanpur Dr. Kripa Shankar was on Friday appointed the new Vice-Chancellor of Uttar Pradesh Technical University (UPTU), Lucknow for a tenure of three years.

Governor TV Rajeswar appointed Mr. Shankar, who will replace Prem Vrat whose term is expiring on July 31.

Prof Shanker is a scholar of repute and has won several awards during his student life as well as professional career. A gold medalist in mechanical engineering from the Benaras Hindu University, he is also the recipient of National Merit Scholarship and Government of India scholarship for studies abroad. In addition, he was awarded ISTE National Award for outstanding academics (2001) and distinguished alumnus award of BHU in 2007.

Typhoon forces evacuation of 1 million Chinese

TAIPEI, Taiwan: Typhoon Morakot churned toward China forcing the evacuation of nearly 1 million people Sunday, a day after lashing Taiwan with A hotel building leans before falling into a river after typhoon Morakot hit Taiwan. torrential rains that caused the worst flooding on the island in 50 years.

Twenty-nine people were missing in southern Taiwan, the Disaster Relief Centre said, and a woman was killed when her vehicle plunged into a ditch in Kaohsiung county in heavy rain Friday.

Morakot was centred 42 miles (70 km) off China's southeastern Fujian province Sunday morning. Taiwan's Central Weather Bureau said the storm had winds of up to 67 miles per hour (108 km per hour) and was headed northwest toward China at a speed of 7 mph (11 kph).

Australia crush England to level Ashes

Australia thrashed England by an innings and 80 runs as they won the fourth Test at Headingley on Sunday inside three days to level the series at 1-1 and revive their bid to retain the Ashes.

Death for all three accused in 2003 Mumbai blasts case

A special Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) court has awarded the death sentence to all three accused in the 2003 twin Mumbai blasts at Gateway of India and Zaveri Bazaar.

Mohammad Hanif Syed, his wife Fehmida and third conspirator Ashrat Ansari were convicted for planting the bombs on August 25, 2003 that left 54 dead and 244 injured.

This is for the first time that a married couple is being convicted by a POTA court for their involvement in carrying out blasts.

High chemical content in drinking water causing alarm in Surpur

GULBARGA: The results of the laboratory test of the drinking water samples taken from all the villages in Surpur Taluk (population 3.36 lakhs)in Gulbarga district has some shocking revelations. A large number of drinking water sources contain high levels of harmful arsenic, nitrate and fluoride content. While high arsenic content in the drinking water can cause skin disorders including skin cancers, the high presence of nitrate in the drinking water can cause cardiac diseases, blue baby syndrome among the children, kidney stone formation and diarrhoea, according to Dr K Vijaykumar, Professor in the Zoology Department in Gulbarga University.

First Swine flu victim in India

There are total 525 cases of Swine Flu in overall India.The number of cases in Maharastra is about 150 and in Pune its about 100.
And the First Victim, Reeda Sheikh,a 14 year old girl died in Pune's Jahangir Hospital on Monday 3rd August'2009.