A Muslim mathematics teacher in a municipal school in Belgium won her legal battle to wear a veil in class on Thursday when an appeals court overturned a lower court decision.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki was in a tight contest to keep his job as he vied with ex-premier Iyad Allawi, initial election results from four of the country's 18 provinces showed on Thursday.

Israeli army prosecutors today charged two soldiers for using a young Palestinian boy to check for booby-traps during last year's fighting in Gaza, a military spokeswoman said.

Leena Peltonen-Palotie, one of the world's leading molecular geneticists, has died of cancer at the age of 57, the Academy of Finland said.

In its quest to achieve a world record of conquering the tallest mountains of all seven continents, an Air Force team of five mountaineers has successfully scaled Mt Aconcagua.

The Billabong School at Juhu and Garodia International School at Ghatkopar have hiked their annual fees by almost 40 per cent for the coming academic year, claimed parents.

Parents have claimed that schools are asking them to pay excess fees. A March 4 government resolution had stated that schools should charge the same fees that they did for the academic year 2008-09.

It’s better if you check whether the pub or lounge you plan to watch the Indian Premier League matches in will show them.

Take-offs at Mumbai airport were disrupted for more than five hours on Thursday after workers repairing the secondary runway damaged crucial cables. Most departures were delayed by an hour, reports Soubhik Mitra.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) Standing Committee, the body that takes policy decisions and plans the funding of city projects, has suggested that jogging and cycling tracks be built along open drains.

The Gujarat riots returned to haunt Narendra Modi when the SIT summoned him for questioning on March 21.

NEW DELHI: India and Russia will Friday tighten their strategic and economic ties by signing a slew of agreements, including an um..

Vladimir Putin arrived here on a 22-hour visit during which India and Russia are to sign over a dozen agreements.

The government Thursday said that some terror groups had plans to target Indian missions abroad.

RAIPUR: The Chhattisgarh High Court Thursday rejected the bail pleas of three Chinese engineers, arrested for their alleged role i..

MANAMA (Reuters) - India will be on next year's Formula One calendar, commercial supremo Bernie Ecclestone told the sport's governing body on Thursday.

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Afghanistan does not want a proxy war between Pakistan and India or anybody else fought on its soil, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said on Thursday during a visit to Pakistan.

(For other news from the Reuters Global Mining and Steel Summit, click http://www.reuters.com/summit/GlobalMiningandSteel10?pid=500)

COLOMBO (Reuters) - The court martial of defeated Sri Lankan presidential candidate General Sarath Fonseka will begin next week on charges of engaging in politics while army chief and procurement malpractices, officials said on Thursday.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - LyondellBasell won court approval on Thursday for a $450 million settlement to resolve litigation with creditors over its 2007 leveraged buyout, and pave the way for the big chemical company to emerge from bankruptcy.

Slot Zero, the first day of placements, saw 90 students getting placed. This is better than the 64 placements in 2009, but not better than the pre-recession Slot Zero offers of 133 seen in 2008.

NRI billionaire Lakshmi Mittal with a net worth of $28.7 billion ranks fifth while Mukesh's younger brother Anil Ambani is at the 36th spot with $ 13.7 billion.

The singer married Nicolas Sarkozy three months after meeting him, but said it 'wasn't possible' to be with him without getting married.

All the 18 players in the national team tendered their resignations in New Delhi, owning up moral responsibility for their shabby performance.

Supreme Court appointed special investigation team asks chief minister to record statement on Gulbarg Society massacre.

Setback for Gujarat Chief Minister; embarrassment for his party.

Congress MP Ehsan Jaffery was killed during the Gulbarg Society carnage.

He will raise awareness and harness support for environmental action.

Postmortem revealed she had been raped and then strangled to death.

He has donated $1.4 mn and divided the money up among charities.

IT’S IN KEEPING with the commitment we made last December. All year we would chase hard facts and interpret them, but at the very end, in the last issue of the year, we would turn to fiction, to remind our readers that a supple imagination is no less crucial to the concrete world.

ARUN K walked up the steps of the Metro station in Connaught Place and decided that, on balance, it had been a good day.

IN CHINA They Do It with Chillies’ is a racist song, but it’s ok for you to sing it in India because there are hardly any Chinese people here.

I will not be reconciled to the circuit of my veins; Blood is not blood until it drips from the eye. Ghalib

THE MAN who spreads like an extravagant tickmark across this mattress does not do so because he wishes to say something to you but because he has no other choice.

List of events from February 27 to March 5.

Here's the list of best-sellers of February 2010.

British Indian R&B singer Amar is crooning with Bollywood.

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Harpreet Aulakh, the estranged husband of Geeta, whose dismembered body was found in the streets of London, has appeared in court after being charged with her murder.

Britain has tightened immigration rules from January for Indian IT professionals seeking to move to the UK under inter-company transfers. From next year, workers in this category will need to have 12 months experience instead of six months as at present with their employer before they can be transferred to the UK, official sources said.

NDTV has met with Vikram Buddhi - the PhD student jailed in the US for allegedly posting hate messages against former President George Bush on the Internet in 2006. This is the first time Vikram is meeting with any journalist to tell us his side of the story since he was arrested three and a half years ago. Buddhi’s sentencing is due on December 10. He spoke with NDTV’s Sarah Jacob in prison today.

The Metropolitan Police have arrested a teenager for allegedly murdering Geeta Aulakh last week. 18-year-old Sher Singh of Southall was produced in court on Monday. Aulakh, a 28-year-old mother of two, was found battered in West London, with one of her hands chopped off. Six people including her estranged husband Harpreet Aulakh had initially been arrested for questioning, but were later let off.

With a proven track record in managing complex work programmes, Indian economist Siddharth Tiwari has been named as the Secretary of the IMF by its Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn.

An Indian-origin nutritionist claims to have invented an alcoholic cocktail that could prevent festive hangovers by "cleaning" the bloodstream.

Indian immigrants who have acquired British citizenship here have termed the Indian govt's refusal to allow dual citizenship as 'unfair'.

A South African Indian medical student has scored an academic first by graduating at the top of his class with two simultaneous degrees at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban.

A British citizen of Indian origin who had an 'obsessional hatred' for the legal profession has been jailed indefinitely for attacking a team of lawyers with acid.

Indian-Americans are up in arms against popular US television personality Glenn Beck for his alleged derogatory remarks about India, its doctors and river Ganges, demanding an immediate apology from him.

Match is scheduled to start at 09:00 AM IST in Chittagong, Bangladesh.

Match is scheduled to start at 08:00 PM IST in Mumbai, India.

Lalit Modi expressed his sincere thanks to the NBA for helping resolve the impasse and said that News channels would now broadcast the IPL.

Former skipper Steve Waugh has warned that Australia are not match-hardened heading into this year's home Ashes series because of a lack of competition from rival teams, reports said on Friday. Waugh said Ricky Ponting's team would be competitive when the first Test starts in November but stopped short of predicting a result similar to the 5-0 whitewash against England here in 2006-07.

Brian Lara said he would be happy if Sachin went on to surpass his score of unbeaten 400 in Test cricket.

Mumbai, January 5th: The closure of the trading window yesterday, saw three players being traded. The Delhi Daredevils and Kolkata Knight Riders are the only two teams to have used the trading window for IPL 2010.Formally kicking off the preparations for the IPL 2010, the eight franchises carefully weighed the balance of their teams and set about making trade enquiries for strategic player acquisitions. Finally, 3 players were traded. The Kolkata Knight Riders have swapped Australian all-rounder Moises Henriques for Owais Shah and Manoj Tiwary both from the Delhi Daredevils. Commenting on the acquisition of Moises Henriques, Amrit Mathur, Chief Operating Officer of the Delhi Daredevils, said, “We are very delighted to have signed on Moises Henriques. We see immense potential in this young and dynamic cricketer, who will help us strengthen our team. I am certain that our Delhi Daredevils fans will also love to watch this talented player”. Lalit Modi, Chairman Commissioner, Indian Premier League commented, “I know all the Franchises are putting in their best foot forward for the IPL 2010, the culmination of the trading window has set the ball rolling for all the teams to gear up and prepare for yet another exciting and competitive season, I wish all the eight franchises luck and may the best team win” Moises Henriques is widely considered to be one of the most prodigious young talents in Australian cricket. At just 16 years of age, he was selected for the Australian U-19 cricket team's squad for the Under-19 Cricket World Cup 2004 in Bangladesh. Moises then went on to captain of the Australian under-19 team for the 2006 U-19 Cricket World Cup in Sri Lanka, and performed to great acclaim as he led the Australians to a semi-final berth. He made his full international debut in a Twenty20 International against New Zealand in Sydney. Manoj Tiwary is one of the most promising youngsters in Indian cricket. An aggressive right-handed batsman, Tiwary has gained attention from selectors and fans through his strokeplay and high run scoring in the Indian domestic cricket season. Along with being a solid batsman, Tiwary also bowls useful part time leg-spin. The 24-year old is rated very highly and is seen as an international cricketer in the making Owais Shah made his first-class debut for Middlesex in 1996 but it took another decade for this opening batsman to make his Test debut for England. Playing some incredible innings Owais become a permanent fixture in the English one-day team. In July 2008, he helped Middlesex to win the Twenty20 Cup against Kent, scoring 75 in just 35 balls. The IPL 2010 player auction will take place on January 19, where Franchises will have the opportunity to purchase players to fill the remaining slots in their squad. IPL 2010 is set to kick off on March 12 in Hyderabad, with the finals to be played on April 25th in Mumbai.

Mumbai, Dec 5th, 2009: The stage for the Indian win had been set by Virender Sehwag’s heart stopping 293 which took him to edge higher than Don Bradman when it comes to triple-hundreds, Sehwag is the only who has got three triple hundreds. But this was no ordinary win, this win took India to the top of the charts. When Muralitharan was caught behind off Harbhajan Singh, signaling an innings victory and a 2-0 series win. Sachin Tendulkar’s face showed it all, as he called the support staff and reserve players on to the field to share the moment.Jubilant Tendulkar later said that he was inherently proud of team India’s achievements and was for the first time part of the team which was numero uno in test cricket. Tendulkar speaking to the media said “It is fantastic to be the number one Test team, I have been waiting a long time to get to this position. Not just me, but the entire country waited for it. The players have worked very hard over the last 18 months to get there and the coach has handled the team superbly. Sunil Gavaskar said “I think Sachin was probably dying for this day. He started in 1989 and has completed 20 years in international cricket. This is a big moment for Sachin. I would think this is as big as all his personal records.”Since November 2007, India have won home series against Pakistan, Australia, England and Sri Lanka, won an away series in New Zealand, and drawn at home against South Africa.Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said The real tough job starts now to maintain this performance. When we are pushed against the wall, we come out with special performances. It was a terrific team effort in the entire series. The batsmen got big scores, the bowlers bowled well in difficult conditions and our fielding was good.” He added The important thing is to maintain this consistency in future. Sri Lankan captain Jumar Sangakkara gave high numbers to team India in all aspect of the game. He said India outperformed us in all departments of the game in the last two Tests”. We nearly put 400 on the board, which is a good score, but Sehwag took the game away with his 293. The guys fought hard through the series but it was just not good enough.

Mumbai, November 14 2009: India celebrated the 20 years of test debut of Sachin Tendulkar, the greatest cricketer of 21st century. His achievements are no ordinary, 12,773 runs in 159 Tests at a average of 54.58 with 42 amazing centuries in it confirmed Tendulkar's greatness in the longer version of the game. He played 436 ODI’s and amassed 17,178 runs were gleaned at a healthy average of 44.50 with 45 centuries in the process. The master blaster started his cricketing career on November 15, 1989 when he walked out against Pakistan in the Karachi. A Waqar Younis bouncer left him with a bleeding nose but Tendulkar denied any treatment and continued batting. The next two decades saw him punishing bowlers all over the world..Tendulkar’s become batting ability and his off field demeanour, a man who has not had a single controversy in his 20 year old career. Never cursing his opponents, never arguing with the umpire, never let his emotions get ahead of himself.Harsha Bhogle, the Indian cricket commentator said “He hasn’t just survived, he’s left his imprint on every situation. It is a colossal achievement. On his first tour of England he batted against Eddie Hemmings, who had made his first-class debut seven years before Tendulkar was born. He now shares a dressing room with kids who were having their umbilical cord cut when he was scoring his first century.”

21 October 2009: New Australian Twenty20 captain Michael Clarke has offered his support to the NSW team that takes on Victoria tonight in the semi-final of the Airtel Champions League.Clarke, who is currently recovering from injury and is hopeful of joining the Australian One-Day squad for some part of their upcoming series against India, wished the NSW team the best of luck for their match against old rivals Victoria later today: “I wish NSW all the best in their semi-final against Victoria. I have been watching the Airtel Champions League with great interest and have been proud of the way that the NSW side have gone about their cricket. I look forward to today’s match and hope that the boys can continue their form and reach the final”. NSW play Victoria in Delhi tonight at 8 pm local time (1-30 am time on Thursday morning in Sydney). The match will be broadcast live on ONE HD.

21 October 2009: Former Australian and NSW captain Steve Waugh has thrown his support behind the NSW team that will take on Victoria tonight (8pm local time) in the semi-final of the Airtel Champions League.Waugh, who was in India recently promoting his charities, is as passionate about his home State as ever: ‘I only ever wore one Green Baggy Cap during my Australian career and I only ever wore one Baggy Blue Cap for NSW, that’s how much they both meant to me’ Waugh said when asked about his feelings about tonight’s match. The winner of tonight’s game will take on either Trinidad and Tobago or the Cape Cobras in Friday night’s Final in Hyderabad.

England face Bangladesh in the first Test in Chittagong, having delayed naming their team because of injuries.

Australia beat New Zealand by six wickets in Auckland to take a winning 3-1 lead in their one-day series.

England will make a last-minute call on the fitness of Stuart Broad for the first Test against Bangladesh in Chittagong.

Pakistan cricketers Mohammad Yousuf and Younus Khan are banned indefinitely from representing their country.

England bowler Graham Onions is ruled out of the two-Test series against Bangladesh with a back injury.

Bull-headed focus or unnecessary stubbornness? I am probably not as famous as Tony Greig. In any case, my word does not hold as much ground as the former captain’s, and I am not sure whether Messr Ricky Ponting would even bother to read this garb; as he had so glibly put a lid to the illegal bookie controversy by making it clear that he had ‘other important things to think about.’ Had I been Greig, the captain may have even cheekily questioned my wisdom, akin to that infamous Sydney test match in 2007–08, when Greig had criticised Ponting’s decision to declare quite late. In reply, at the end of the game, Ponting had nudged Adam Gilchrist in an interview to ask Greig whether the decision was correct or no! Yet, I would like to push my neck out of my body vertical little and question his – and his crony selectors’ – decision to go ahead without a frontline tweaker in the playing eleven at Oval. The reason is quite simple; none of the following boxes allow a tick in front of them. Are the four speedsters an equivalent of the almost life-threatening West Indian quartet? Is the track so full of green that could entice Roger Federer into calling for a shift of venue for the Wimbledon? Is the pitch so rocky and tough that the head groundsman at WACA could learn a few tricks? Does the wicket possess so much moisture in it that the drought problem that has besieged most parts of India could be solved? Were the overhead conditions so windy that it could have given ‘Katrina-the Typhoon’a run for its money? Then, one can only infer that it is about the fear of shuffling around with a combination that had earned the Aussies a win, something that hasn’t been as commonplace as during the times of the McGraths and Warnes of the world. And that strategy, to me, looks seeped in a risk which could be compared with winning the toss and electing to field first because the openers have been struggling through the series. Trott will be under pressure: Ponting, Hussey & co. (yawn): It began with the Bradman-turned-Chris-Martin Michael Hussey calling for Ashes being a pressure-cooker-like situation to be making his debut, and was followed by another step towards the direction of their favourite pastime called ‘mental disintegration’, when Ponting spoke about England’s desperation in getting Jonathin Trott into the side. Dudes, the tactics worked when you possessed a rich list of line-up who could hurl and curl the cherry well enough to provide cover to your lip-service, but things have drastically turned around. It would be great if you could try something different, to try and scare someone away, even one making his debut. Oh yes, he will be under pressure, but not as much you, Mr. Captain, given that a failure for the Warwickshire lad could probably be attributed to his debut, but for you, a failure would most certainly assist the selectors in bidding your captain’s hat a goodbye. And yes, I am still surprised you have decided to go ahead without a spinner! --- For more articles and photos on Cricket visit oCricket.com.

So here we are. After a number of hits and misses, England and Australia are locked at one game each as we go into the decider at The Oval. The series began with Australia missing out on a fantastic opportunity to claim the early lead in the opener followed by a great comeback by England at Lord’s, only for them to surrender the advantage at Leeds without a fight. Up until then, they had dominated the series. But a creepy dose of overconfidence got the better of them and now they find themselves on the back foot as they look for resurrection. With virtue of having clamped England 5–0 in 2007, Australia do not need a result to reclaim the Ashes. And thus it will be the Poms who have to make all the running. First and foremost it is most essential that England get back to doing the basics right. This is where they excelled at Cardiff under pressure but floundered at Leeds. Their batsmen kept poking and prodding and never looked settled. Of course, the quartet of Johnson, Siddle, Clark and Hilfenhaus bowled exceedingly well and caused plenty of trouble. But as the Australian batters and the England lower-order themselves, in the second innings, proved, the pitch was not unplayable. That though is history now and the Englishmen need to start all over again. The pitch at The Oval is expected to be a sporting one and should reward hard work put in by both batsmen and bowlers, depending on what they want to get out of it. It is thus essential that England start well on both counts. Openers Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook as well as new-ball bowlers James Anderson and Stuart Broad must take up additional responsibility to ensure the same else England would find themselves in deep trouble. As it is, they are unsure about their combination. The thought process of including either Steve Harmison or Monty Panesar or both sounds like playing with fire. Neither has shown the consistency or potency required at the big stage lately and England would be better advised to stick with their performing though under-rated players like Graham Onions and Broad. The two big changes for the hosts would be the return of talisman Andrew Flintoff for his final dash at Test cricket glory and the inclusion of debutant Jonathan Trott in place of Ravi Bopara, who had a miserable four Tests and learnt a thing or two about Test cricket than he could not discover in the Caribbean. As any cricketer playing his farewell Test, Flintoff too would like to go out on a high but, like many others, he too has to make sure that the occasion does not get the better of him. In a different sense, Trott has to do the same. That said, he should not place excessive pressure on himself to do well. Easier said than done though. While the Englishmen have a lot of musings to mull over, Australia only need to carry on from where they finished at Headingley. The one perceptible change could be the comeback of paceman Brett Lee. However, that too seems a distant possibility considering the success of the four-pronged pace attack. On the other hand, if Australia decide to test out what Nathan Hauritz has picked up from Saqlain Mushtaq, it would mean Stuart Clark will have to sit out. This again is unadvisable as Clark had been one of the prime factors of Australia’s revival in the last Test. There aren’t too many qualms for the Aussies in the batting department. But how dearly they would love Michael Hussey to get a hundred and proper the side to another Ashes victory. Seems wishful thinking at the moment, however in cricket you just never know. Like England, the only thing that can get the better of Australia from hereon is arrogance, of which they have been guilty of in the past – assuming the Englishmen don’t come up with something sensational. The Ashes isn’t the right place to exhibit it and the players will be aware of it. Everything’s at stake for both teams and, unless weather intervenes, we should look forward to an intriguing finale. --- For more articles and photos on Cricket visit oCricket.com.

A file has been reported by the Australian management with the ICC’s Anti-Corruption and Security Unit. This has developed after a player from the Australian team was loomed by a man who had “suspected” links with illegal match-fixing. According to Cricinfo, reports suggest that the approach was initiated at the team’s residing hotel, inside the bar of the London hotel, The Royal Kensington garden immediately after Australia’s historical defeat at Lords. The player immediately complained to the officials and subsequently, the team manager – Steve Bernard filed a report to the ASCU. This matter is under investigation at the moment. There is no substantial evidence of the player for doing anything wrong, and has in fact been praised by a senior official in the ICC for his quick treatment – The ASCU educates players to do just exactly. Sources from the Australian team as well as the ICC explained the approaching of such a bookie to international players was “concerning” and revealed that the book makers are back in the fold – to a higher exposure. According to the Chairman of the ACSU: the biggest threat for corruption within the great game of cricket lay in the twenty20 format. The ASCU is thoroughly investigating further approaches by bookmakers with other players, or any conduits performing on behalf during the ICC World Twenty20 Tournament held in England earlier this season. According to a source, the ASCU has been well advanced in investigating such occurrences. There is a rising concern that the illegal book makers are fluttering around team hotels and cricket venues to control matches according to their own will. After the 2000 debacle of Hansie Cronje and Mohammed Azharuddin’s sacking – the ASCU has tried to do their best in preventing any direct contact from bookmakers with the players. “This shows that our education programme is working,” an ICC spokesman told the Telegraph. “The player who was approached reported it straight away. We have the policies in place to try to ensure that we never go back to the times we were at a decade or so ago.” The spokesman was also quoted by Times as saying that the ACSU “was content that all the World Twenty20 matches were clean”. According to the Sunday Telegraph, an anonymous report from an ICC official claimed that cricket was once again under major threat of illegal activities being involved. It stated: “Those in charge in the ICC understand that Twenty20 cricket has the danger of going back to the bad old days.” After such major developments in match fixing scandals, Lalit Modi finally decided to recruit the ASCU for the third edition of the IPL – paying them 1.2 Million dollars. Pakistan were also involved in being contacted with match fixing bookies, but after thorough investigation, the ICC chief finally announced that “there was absolutely no substance of corruption within the Pakistan team” “The ICC and its members have a zero-tolerance approach to corruption and rightly so because the integrity of our sport with its spirit is one of its greatest assets,” Lorgat said. “On that basis it is entirely appropriate that any suggestions in relation to that subject are always reported to and properly investigated by the ACSU. I am pleased those investigations have indicated nothing untoward has taken place on this occasion but it is a reminder that all of us – players, officials and supporters – must maintain our vigilance to ensure we remain on top of the issue of corruption.” Cricket’s recent occurrences with bookmakers have divulged since February 2007 where Marlon Samuels was caught giving out disclosed team information to a bookie. In October 2008, two ICL players were suspended for match fixing. On the 9th of July 2009 the Pakistani players complained bookies trying to reach them. And now finally in August 2009 – a player has once again been approached by a bookie. This only shows that the ghosts of yesterday who destroyed the brilliance of irreplaceable players like Salim Malik, Hansie Cronjie and Mohammed Azharuddin still haunt cricket today. --- For more articles and photos on Cricket visit oCricket.com.

In rather startling news, the Board of Control for Cricket in India has offered the owners of the two Indian franchises which had made it to the finals of the IPL, 2008, a financial package of $5 million each. That equates to around 22 crores of rupees to Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals for, unbelievably, doing absolutely nothing! So, did the owners of the Chennai Super Kings or the Rajasthan Royals file for bankruptcy? As I see it, the performance of both the franchises, India Cements and Emerging Media hasn’t been anywhere close to being offered assistance by the government, and certainly not by the BCCI! One may argue that the sum of $10 million may be small change for a cricket body which is valued at more than $3 billion by some sources. Some others may talk about it being legal, given that the BCCI has only invoked a clause mentioned in the contractual document inked between all and sundry that allows the respective boards to dish out an amount which they deem it fit in case of a cancellation. Yet, the basic question that the critics – or even the fans – would need an answer to is probably not about why the compensation; though that too could be debated. It lies in the figure itself. The compensation has been offered as a part of the cancellation of a tournament in 2008, which had assured a guarantee money of $500,000 for all the eight teams, with the winner of the tournament being awarded $3 million. One needs to check the rule books about whether the guarantee money was said to be over and above the winners’ cheque, but even if that were to be the case, the sum that any side could have taken away from the tournament would have been $3.5 million. Even if one were to add the prevailing simple interest rates then of around 10% per annum, my mathematics tells me that the total sum comes to not more than $4 million. And lest someone forgets, that is to not feature in the tournament, not hold the bat or the ball, and probably to handle not more than a little marketing and promotion before the tournament. The overall costs that the franchises may have had to face would not have been more than a lowly six-figure mark, at the very outside of one’s imagination. Yet, the BCCI has agreed to pay out $5 million! One does not even have the exact details of how much of it would be pursed by the players themselves, but my sense is that most of it will be pocketed by the owners. After all, the players had not even begun practicing when the tournament had had been called off! It certainly has been rather unheard of, and baffles me to a large extent. It may just be pertinent to note that the owner of at least one of the two sides to have been offered the money is a part of the BCCI as well as the IPL and Champions League governing committee. And only recently had he increased his holding in the company by buying out the shares belonging to a family member! It could all probably be unrelated, and yet, it is hard to believe that there isn’t a clash of interest in this particular case of the franchise owner and the board member being the same entity. Even without alluding this particular case in question, it would rather simple for fingers to be pointed out on a regular basis against the BCCI if the financial benefits continue to be delivered as freebies for reasons which are rather beyond the fathomable. --- For more articles and photos on Cricket visit oCricket.com.

Ricky Ponting is no exaggerator – so when he claims the upcoming Ashes final at the oval as his most important test match in life, you have to take it seriously. The batsman is the highest run getter in Australian test cricket – and ranks amongst the list of the highest run getters in all time Test cricket. Ricky Ponting declared this in a column, stating how he endured the depression and pain of losing the Ashes back in 2005 – and that he would use it as a positive motivation this time up. He also suggested reverse swing could play a vital role at the oval. But what’s most important is the fact that Ricky Ponting is taking this Ashes series larger than life. It holds great personal significance for the veteran. Imagine the most important test match for a man, who has been batting day and day out around the globe for the past fourteen years, who’s won three world cups in a row – white washed England at home in the Ashes in the previous edition, has played over 135 test matches: He regards the upcoming Oval test match has the most important he’s ever played. And I think there’s a factor behind this. One of the many reasons is the booing of the English crowd. Ricky is a fighter – he’s called the punter and maybe that urges him to show the public he’s not the right person to be boo’d at. The second reason could be the posters all across United Kingdom, which mock Ricky Ponting and his side claiming they’ll lose the Ashes this summer. In the poster Ricky Ponting almost looks like a cartoon, with his facial features being mocked by the cartoonist. “I have played in 135 Test matches but never played in a match as big as this one,” Ponting wrote. “There is nothing bigger than playing a deciding Test in an Ashes series, and you have to grab these moments when they present themselves because you may never experience such a match ever again. “That kind of excitement adds a bit of zip to your training and when that starts happening it generally spills over into the week of the game. There has been a very positive feel about our training during the last couple of days. We enjoyed a few days of rest in Leeds but since arriving in Canterbury we have trained very hard and I’m happy with where we are at the moment.” Previously, Ricky Ponting never admitted the 2005 Ashes defeat hurt him – but ever since Australia’s major turnaround’s been revealed – Punter’s talked a lot more about it. He says he still remembers Michael Vaughan holding the Ashes urn, and that is a sight he cannot forget. “The only motivation I need this week is the memory of having to search out Michael Vaughan, congratulate him and shake hands at the end of the Ashes series of four years ago,” he wrote. “We were off the field when we lost the match due to bad light and the fact that we never had a chance to have a crack at chasing down our target left a bitter taste in the mouth. “I also remember we made sure we stood outside and watched the ticker tape, the popping of champagne corks and the fireworks. We made sure we took it all in to make us better and stronger for the next time we played in 2006–07. But heading to The Oval this week it is clear that roles have been reversed completely since 2005. “Then we were the team facing questions over selection. They had a settled line-up and just come off a victory in the fourth Test at Trent Bridge. Now it is us who have the momentum gained from comprehensively winning at Headingley. We are comfortable with what we have achieved in the last Test-and-a-half.” With Brett Lee coming back in to the side – according to many cricket analysts, Ricky Ponting has kept a fifty percent probability of the world’s fastest bowler’s comeback. Nevertheless, Reverse swing may play a major role at the oval – which could eventually decide the conclusion of one of the most exciting and breath taking Ashes tournaments ever played – adding to that Brett Lee is a veteran at reverse swing, and with his pace… he could only prove to be lethal – if given the right body language and frame of mind. The paceman is working very hard to get into the side, and he bowled well at Worcester, reverse swinging the ball. “In 2005 reverse swing dominated the series. This year it has probably been a damper summer and we have only seen conventional swing. The Oval is the one ground where that may change, especially if we have a dry, hot week.” --- For more articles and photos on Cricket visit oCricket.com.

Sajid Nadiadwala legally forbids Priyanka and Ranbir from talking about Anjaana Anjaani on social networking websites.

When it comes to planning a filmi career, no one knows it better than Aamir Khan.

Preity Zinta, co-owner of the Indian Premier League (IPL) team Kings XI Punjab, Thursday said her team has "strong will" and "enough fire" to win the third edition of the T-20 tournament.

Sonam Kapoor charmed everyone with her song Massakali in Delhi-6. For Sonam, it wasn’t just a melodious song, she also developed something of a bond with the pigeon in it during the shooting of the film.

Mexican beauty Barbara Mori, in an exclusive interview, talks about her co-star, the action stunts she’s done in the film and her desire to be part of Bollywood

Director Bala is well known for presenting his actors with new-dimensional looks and it has been illustrious with his films with Vikram, Surya and Aarya. This time, it’s about Vishal, who seems to have gone for a stunning makeover for Bala’s

When it comes to releasing the films, many filmmakers and producers have struggled a lot for the mere accomplishments. Seemingly, the makers of Yathumaagi too have likely gone through speculative phase of releasing the film.Produced by Sakthi Sangavi and Mohana Sangavi

P. Vasu’s recent release Aaptha Rakshaka has witnessed an unexpected triumph at box office. Since, it happens to be the last film of late actor Dr. Vishnuvardhan; his ardent buffs have been repeatedly watching the film. It’s worth mentioning that a

Have you ever imagined about requesting the villagers to vacate their village for 5 days to shoot a film? Naturally, it’s something more of an unimaginable question. Maybe, there are chances of getting scourged for putting forth a hard request. But

Leading actress Sneha will be paired with Sarath Kumar for the first time in her career. Titled Vidiyal, the film is directed by Selvaraj, one of the office bearers of Nadigar Sangam. According to Selvaraj, the film will be launched on

Directed by Arunakant and produced P Arunakumari on the banner of Arunodaya Film Works, Tick… Tick… Tick… is getting ready for release on March 12. The film, basically a suspense thriller, is coming up with a novel subject and refreshing movement.

Glamour heroine Charmy Kaur is playing the title role in Indu directed P Vasu of Chandramukhi fame, presented by Tailam Srinagavarma and produced by Murarisetti Lakshman on the banner of BBS Studios. The film had completed all the shooting and post-production

It seems news will never dry up about super lass Priyamani. The movie Sadhyam may have failed to impress the audience, but Priyamani with her sensuality and with her superb performance has mesmerized the audience. Now the latest buzz is Priya

Dr.Dasari Narayana Rao’s 149th film, Young India had completed its shooting recently. A total of 81 new faces are being introduced to the Telugu film industry in this movie. The film, presented by Smt Dasari Padma and produced by Ramakrishna Prasad

The first copy of Kalachakram with Navneet Kaur in key role, directed by Vikram and produced by S Govind and S Anil on the banner of Amma Bhavani Creations is ready. The producers are making efforts to release the film during

Ram Charan Tej will sport a brand new look in his next film, Orange (tentative). The hair style has been styled by Aalim Hakim, the famous hair-stylist from Mumbai. The makers of Charans film are hopeful that the hair-do will not only work in the favour of the actors image, but also help Charan to entrench himself as a new-age actor.

After a tough fight for acquiring the rights of the sequel of Apthamithra (Kannada version of Rajinikanth’s Chandramukhi) , ‘Aptharakshaka’, producer Bellamkonda Suresh has finally chosen his hero. IndiaGlitz discovers who!

Finally, Pawan Kalyan and team are done with the talkie part of Puli. Three more songs, SJ Suryah can wrap up the longest project of his career, and think of re-making it in Tamil, casting himself as the tiger.

The suspense about Varudus bride will only be revealed on the 26th of March, when the film sees grand theatrical release worldwide. The makers have made it a point to not show the brides face. Thus, we do not know who the heroine is.

Kollywoods sensational director Shankar, promises that Yanthram (Endhiran, in Tamil) will be releasing this year. The film has been in the making for more than two years now

This particular wannabe star puts on a no-show.

This is a casual drive, short enough to not mind, long enough to leave you slightly tired.

Atithi Tum Kab Jaoge is a lighthearted entertainer that tickles your funny bone.

Ponyo reconfirms Miayazaki's genius as a writer and director.

Teen Patti is worth a watch just for Amitabh Bachchan and Ben Kingsley.

Top cop Sunny Deol is injured in a shoot-out and confined to a wheel chair. Dejected with his future prospects, he asks his wife, Isha Koppikar to end his life. She readily agrees so that she can carry on her adulterous affair with her husband's step brother. Does Sunny know about the sordid secret? More importantly, is his team mate, cop Irrfan Khan, friend or foe?

Six friends have a disastrous Christmas eve party which ends in tragedy for most of them. Twelve years later, they are forced to meet in a deserted mall, where an invisible assassin tries to settle old scores. Who's tainted and who's innocent? Take your pick....

Rahul Aggarwal, a north Indian, comes to Mumbai from a small village in Uttar Pradesh and begins to live with Ravi Kissen, a local goon who happens to be an archetypal Maratha manoos. Soon, his wife, Narayani Shastri, his father, Om Puri and mother, Nina Gupta also join him in the little tenement room. Total integration or is it war between the culturally and regionally distinct people?

Muncipalty Ghatkopar, a street kid in Mumbai, finds a two-month baby abandoned on the steps of a children's home. He begins a hunt for the infant's mother because he does not want him to grow up motherless like him. His friends, other street kids, help him in this towering mission.

Vishnu has a bleak future before him. He must join his father in the family's oil business and try and boost the sales of the stinking oil in small town India. He sees his chance to escape by offering to transport a ramshackle truck, with a make-shift cinema, to a distant museum that lies across the expansive desert of Kutch. His companions: a chai-wallah chokra, a gypsy girl and a burlesque mechanic.

Gautam Vasudev Menon's "Vinnai Thaandi Varuvaaya" is a clean romantic story without any deviation or sub-plots.

Theeradha Vilaiyattu Pillai is immature

It's very difficult to find a story in Ajit's latest offering "Asal".

If you just want to see Goa beaches full of semi-clad women, go for it!

The film is the 'first-ever' full-length spoof on Tamil movies. To some extent, it has turned out to be good.

'Ye Maayam...' refreshing, pure love story

Nagarjuna is the only saving grace in Kedi

For those who have loads and loads of tears to shed, don't miss watching "Raju Maharaju" which reminds one of the films frequently made in the '80s. The only difference is that this movie passes off as more sophisticated than those films.

Neither Vishal's acting, nor does the story have anything worthy writing about.

Prayanam is squeaky-clean entertainment and for those that believe in true love and love at first sight this is the movie of the summer.

Founders are raising cash to strengthen control over Bajaj Holdings by boosting their stake to 50%

Rising NPAs are also forcing card issuers to shift focus from the mass market to the premium segment

Prior to this, Fortis had acquired Escorts Heart Institute in Delhi for Rs650 crore in 2005

International trade body projects 5.1% growth for India this year, says increase in service tax may hurt the industry

Another deal, one on which India has dragged its feet so far, is that of developing the fifth generation strike fighter

'Now's the time to buy Asian stocks'Stocks should be bought outside Japan before sentiment strengthens further. Views on NMDC FPO | Top gainers, losers | Fortis a potential bet

'Infosys may have seen 4,000 staff exits in February'The normal attrition numbers in India's second-largest software exporter is around 1,200 employees a mth. Media must end fixation with salaries | Reality check at IIMs

Mukesh Ambani, LNM among world's 5 wealthiestMukesh Ambani and LNM among 5 world's wealthiest individuals in the annual billionaire rankings by Forbes. Facts about Carlos Slim | World's top 10 billionaires

IPO-bound cos may get relief on float capTemporary breather for cos that have filed DRHP for a minimum public holding of 25% in their companies. Quote: NMDC | Experts view on NMDC FPO | Top gainers, losers

Patni to set up software delivery unit in MexicoSoftware firm Patni Computer Systems is setting up a software delivery facility at Queretaro in Mexico. Top acquisitions in BPO space | More Infotech Stories

Fortis Healthcare Ltd on Thursday announced the acquisition of a 23.9 per cent strategic stake in Singapore-based healthcare service provider, Parkway Holdings Ltd. The deal size is estimated to be about $685.3

The global economic crisis does not seem to have affected the fortunes of some Indians including the Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries, Mr Mukesh Ambani, and the NRI steel magnate, Mr Lakshmi

Traders with short-term trading perspective can buy the stock of Bombay Rayon Fashions. Since August 2009, the stock has been on a broad sideways consolidation in the range of Rs 180 and Rs 220. Though the stock tested the upper boundary in

We re-affirm our prior view that fresh long position can be initiated if the stock moves above Rs 319, with tight

Banks have started offering higher deposit rates to shore up resources as they anticipate pressure on liquidity in the coming

There was a time when I loved “The Times of India”. In the late 90’s when coloured printing was introduced and the invitation price of Re.1, Deccan Herald & Indian Express had finally got competition in Bangalore. The light hearted Bangalore Times was a welcome change from the heavy reading of the Hindu. And people [...]

Geologists in southern India say they have found hundreds of dinosaur egg clusters which could be about 65 million years old.

Experts say Obama is heading towards an assassin's bullet. What do you think?

But Barney Stinson does!

Roshni went in to be critical and came out loving the movie. She ends her post with this message for the Shiv Sena As I part, a quick word to the popular Shiv Sena: Get Over It. What did you ever think? That you could take the Bollywood gene out of us with your threats to [...]

Times of India pastes a picture taken by Kalyan Verma at its front page, lifted it out of Wikipedia. And before that they picked up a picture taken by PlaneMad. But then what is new!

Over at Smoking Apples, Milind is the latest casualty of Apple India’s indifferent service When the Magic Mouse was launched, I figured it was just a mouse, so it had to show up within a week or two (I remember the Mighty Mouse took three weeks to get here). Friends offered to send me the mouse; [...]

Shrinidhi is not happy with the sudden changes in the paypal India policy. Neither am I. The worst thing according to me, is that Paypal has enforced this policy change without any prior notice, any warning and is autonomously back dating the policy and enforcing it on already completed transactions, reversing them and causing huge inconvenience/loss to [...]

Anju Gandhi overhears the conversation of two girls who had recently seen Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam and Love Aaj Kal A , “ I don’t understand why did Ash get married to Ajay Devgan, when she was already in love with Salman? Why didn’t she run away from her house? B ,” how could she? She [...]

The much anticipated summons from the Supreme Court appointed Special Investigation Team, SIT have finally arrived at the office of Gujarat Chief Minister and BJP leader Narendra Modi. As anticipated the summons have sent the Indian media on a circus m...

India is ideally suited to provide the military trainers that NATO needs in Afghanistan. Afghanistan needs more military trainers — NATO has been able to provide only 541 out of 1278 trainers needed for the growing Afghan Army and Police forces &...

  Or rather, these should be called dangerously buttery buckwheat nibby cookies. I’ve made this cookie recipe a few times ever since my friend Kishi sent me a bag of Valrhona cacao nibs and they’ve been a hit every single time. These buckwhe...

I’m a big who-dun-it fan. Poirot is my favorite detective of all, followed by Precious Ramotswe and Sherlock Holmes. Poirot is Poirot because of all his eccentricities, so when I read of a desi equivalent, it piqued my curiosity. In this book, Tarqui...

A backgrounder on this series of posts in the run up to the Open Call to Debate on Challenging Left Liberalism, can be found here. The first in this series of posts defining Left Liberalism can be found here. To recap from the last post, it was propose...

Voting for the Indibloggies has started and exit polls indicate that the voters are hopelessly in splits. So some of us candidates have decided to form a united front with a common, extremely minimum programme. Presenting – The Progressive Union of Bloggers. While the PUB has many happy hours, we understand that you, dear reader, have [...]

Put what, you ask? Put vote, I say. Indibloggies, as you all know, is a highly prestigious award, which, after recent developments, has overtaken even the Nobel Peace Prize, in terms of credibility & importance. Like its cheap imitations (Grammys, Oscars, etc.), Indibloggies too has various categories in which awards are given out. There are some technical [...]

The announcement of Obama as the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize has raised a few eyebrows, shaken a few heads, and drawn a lot of ridicule. After all the committee had 205 nominations to choose from. So why pick a man whose formula for success is supposed to be 99% aspiration & 1% inspiration? [...]

Dear Dr. Mallya, I hope this missive finds you in the pink of health and the black of wealth. I notice that you have been making attempts to help JPSK Sports get government funding for F1. But you must be aware that the sports ministry has firmly declared that anything expensive & entertaining cannot be called [...]

Arun Shourie’s “Humpty Dumpty” outburst reminded me of some stuff I had written many months back and had completely forgotten to post – The second installment of new Indian nursery rhymes. You can check out the first part here. So I dug them out and here they are. I know they are a bit dated (they [...]

A while back, Sangeetha Kodithala (@skodithala ) told me that Slacker’s dilemma turned out to be a useful comic to introduce Web 2.0 to n00bs in companies. Now, why someone would want to do that is questionable, but what she did do is give me ammunition for a series of “visual guides” to Web 2.0, [...]

Sometime last week, I wrote a column for the New Indian Express that I felt deserved a bit more visual treatment. It also needed the “Ramesh Srivats” treatment. All icons used here are from Icon Finder

Here is part 1 and part 2. Barring the occasional edit, this is more or less untouched, although I have cut out an entire section from the end to keep the length manageable. This is the final part. Chapter 3: Break up The sugar syrup vending machine now had a security guard who was checking ID cards before [...]

Here is part 1. As I was transcribing part 2, I realized that the ponderious dadabudality of Ashok from 7 years ago was getting rather tiresome. So I decided to brutally hack long sentences and banish every GRE word to 14 years of exile. Also made it a little more contemporary. Chapter 2: Check up After managing [...]

I recently unearthed an old diary of mine that, to my surprise, contained a few short stories I had written a really long while ago. I found one that I thought will make a good digestive pill after the Mile Sur post, a post that, despite the 400+ comments, I am not a big fan [...]

In this piece on UID, Pratyush & I discuss on some Hygiene issues that would make or break the UID system. And we will definitely refer to the Technical Scope of the recent tenders as well. In our last post, we had someone from the UID team telling us about the sarcasm in [...] Related posts:UID Project Details Leaked Indian Government’s ambitious Unique ID project that will impart unique... National Government ID Project – Leapfrog or Catch-up? SIM card vs Smart Card? [Guest article by Sanjay Swamy, CEO of mChek. Sanjay shares... UID Project plans to introduce micro-payment platform for Rural India UID Project plans to introduce micro-payment platform in order to...

ClipWeave.com is a Noida based video analytics startup that helps extract information from videos so that it can be used for better targeting and monetization. Clipweave claims to use proprietary technology to extract text (credits, ticker, subtitles etc), convert speech-to-text, detect a change of scene etc. from videos. Such information can be used for better [...] Related posts:VidTeq – Video Maps for Bangalore [Fancy or Need?] Vidteq is a Bangalore based startup that has launched video... Introducing SneakCast – the first video search engine from India SneakCast is the first video search engine from India, focusing... Of Flickr video, user loyalty/riot and community management Flickr users love Flickr and any forced change/disruption in usage...

Good hiring is always a tough task for any startup. And receding recession could mean even more challenge in the situation, when talent within starts looking at options outside. For greener pastures or simply for the sake of change. Operationally speaking, the cash pay-out of hiring goes way too higher than the recession days and [...] Related posts:Recession and What does it mean for Startups? Recession is in and US slowdown is impacting the Indian... Notes from Unpluggd Event (August Edition) – ‘Hiring Strategy for Startups’ Ever wondered what could make a Saturday memorable. As readers... Strategic Hiring for Startups – Planning vs. Execution Conundrum “I hired him as President thinking he would transform my...

SMSGupshup recently announced the formal launch of its Appstore, Appshup and since we have been receiving a few queries from our readers, we just passed on the questions to SMSGupshup team. Here is a short QnA with the team on Appshup: Qn: What is the revenue share percentage between SMSGupshup and Developers? 70-30 (70% for the developers, 30% [...] Related posts:SMSGupshup Formally Launches its App Store, AppShup We covered the launch of SMSGupshup’s developer platform earlier and... SMSGupShup opens up..launches developer platform [SMS based widgets] SMSGupshup, India's Twitter has launched developer platform for developers to... SMSGupShup Raises $12mn From Globespan Capital Partner, CRV and Helion SMSGupshup has closed funding for a $12 million (Series D)...

The Google Apps Marketplace offers products and services designed for Google users, including installable apps that integrate directly with Google Apps. Installable apps are easy to use because they include single sign-on, Google's universal navigation, and some even include features that integrate with your domain's data. Related posts:Zoho Launches Marketplace for Apps, Pokes Google Zoho is moving fast and after aggregation of all it’s... Zoho adds Google Apps Sign-in Integration Zoho adds Google Apps Sign-in Integration.... Zoho Projects Integrates with Google Apps Zoho Projects has announced an integration with Google Apps and...

IPL will begin from tomorrow and if you are a gamelover specially cricket then you must play this new official IPL T20 game. Developed by Indiagames. To play this game online, you just need to have IE6 (or higher) or Firefox 3.6 (or higher) and a Facebook account. After login through Facebook connect, you will be [...]Follow us on: Twitter | Facebook | Linkedin | Orkut Our Network: WATShow.com | WATJob.com | WATGame.com | WATPR.com

Are you looking for good discount offers to shop, spa or place to hang around with friends? It seems the web would be the perfect place to find out about such discounts. There have been almost half a dozen group discount sites that have been launched in the last 6 months. We feature some of [...]Follow us on: Twitter | Facebook | Linkedin | Orkut Our Network: WATShow.com | WATJob.com | WATGame.com | WATPR.com

Pantaloons – India’s largest cloth retailer – leveraged the power of the Facebook Platform to take it’s top class fashion show live on the internet. The Panatloons’ Fashion Show had top business honchos walking the ramp. The live web cast on Facebook was available on the Pantaloons Facebook page at 6 pm [...]Follow us on: Twitter | Facebook | Linkedin | Orkut Our Network: WATShow.com | WATJob.com | WATGame.com | WATPR.com

Updated: We spoke to Elizabeth Linder (International Communications and Public Policy)for Facebook and got the following responses from her on the questions: Q . What is the latest statistics for Facebook usage by brands and corporates in India? (both ads and fan pages) ? How many Indian brands or companies are there on Facebook? We do not [...]Follow us on: Twitter | Facebook | Linkedin | Orkut Our Network: WATShow.com | WATJob.com | WATGame.com | WATPR.com

Apps marketplace seems to be the new fad be it mobile apps or web apps. The latest one to join this bandwagon is none other than Google Apps for enterprises. Google Apps  in the last three years has reached over 2 million businesses across the globe and hence this new app marketplace is an important [...]Follow us on: Twitter | Facebook | Linkedin | Orkut Our Network: WATShow.com | WATJob.com | WATGame.com | WATPR.com

Images from the two semi-final encounters of the 12th World Cup Hockey in New Delhi on Thursday.

While Germany, the defending champions, stayed on course for a historic hat-trick of World Cup crowns with a 4-1 victory over England in the first semi-final, the Aussies, who lost to the Germans in the last two editions of hockey's showpiece event, got the better of The Netherlands 2-1 in a closely-contested match later.

Upset over Pakistan's worst performance in a hockey World Cup, the national federation sacked its selection committee and team management while the entire 18-man squad resigned, owning moral responsibility for the shoddy show in the 12th edition of the tournament in Delhi.

Substitute Vimal Pariyar's injury-time goal helped reigning champions Churchill Brothers, Goa, escape defeat and hold a spirited Viva Kerala to a 1-1 draw in thier ONGC I-League football match in Kozhikode on Thursday.

Saurav Ghosal and Dipika Palikal did India proud by winning the Mixed Doubles title in the Chennai Open Squash tournament on Thursday.