Two militants of Pakistan-based Lashker-e-Toiba (LeT) outfit, who were allegedly tasked to carry out fresh grenade attacks, were arrested in Baramulla district of north Kashmir, police today said a day after multiple terror strikes in the Valley.

At least 10 Afghan civilians were killed and 35 wounded on a road near a major US base after a small bomb punctured a hole in the side of a fuel tanker that was later engulfed by a large blaze, eyewitnesses and officials said on Wednesday.

The Pakistani Taliban have released two videos of a Swiss couple who were kidnapped from Balochistan nearly four months ago in which one of the abducted persons is shown asking authorities to release a Pakistan-American woman convicted for terrorism in the US.

A proposal to appoint a Commonwealth human rights commissioner to steer a more proactive rights agenda looks set to test a leaders' summit this week.

US Magistrate Judge Alan Kay sentenced Raymone Bain to five years' probation and payment of $202,422 in federal and local back taxes for the 2006-08 tax years.

An FIR was registered against the son of an SP MLA after an eight-year-old girl died due to a wall collapse in Misrikh area, police said in Sitapur today.

Punjab and Haryana froze as a cold wave swept the region with night temperatures falling upto 2 deg C below normal at some places in the region.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi turned 65 on Thursday with leaders of the party and its allies visiting her 10 Janpath residence to greet her.

Two persons were killed and 10 others injured when an overcrowded bus overturned near Tiyania village in Bihar's Bhojpur district this morning, a police official said.

hidambaram will visit Mangalkote in Burdwan district on Saturday which had witnessed clashes between TC and CPM.

Mayawati decided to start recruitment for setting up a police force to guard parks and memorials for Dalit icons.

Former Haryana DGP, found guilty in the Ruchika molestation case, is being stripped of his meritorious service medal.

Bal Thackeray flayed the tennis star for her decision to marry Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik.

Environment minister Jairam Ramesh asks why there cannot be a convocation with everyone sporting a simple dress.

LONDON (Reuters) - Pakistan's security service provides weapons and training to Taliban insurgents fighting U.S. and British troops in Afghanistan, despite official denials, Taliban commanders say, in allegations that could worsen tensions between Pakistan and the United States.

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - With both Formula One championships already wrapped up by Sebastian Vettel and his Red Bull team, India takes the starring role on its long-awaited grand prix debut this weekend.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Rajat Gupta, a former director of Goldman Sachs Group Inc and Procter & Gamble, was arrested on Wednesday on insider trading charges, making him the most prominent executive to be accused in a broad U.S. crackdown on illegal leaks of corporate secrets.

MUMBAI (Reuters) - The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will only consider easing monetary policy if inflation falls below 7 percent, its governor said on Wednesday, a day after signalling that a 13th interest rate hike in 19 months was likely to be its last.

LONDON (Reuters) - Nokia unveiled two sleek new Microsoft Windows phones on Wednesday in time for Christmas, a first step in the ailing cellphone maker's fightback against Apple and Google.

The disappointing thing about the film is not that it resorts to inane jokes, but that it had the potential to truly kick some - as G.One puts it - "fat ass."

The true inspiration behind the iPad, which has sold a combined total of 39.8 million units, has been revealed in the recently published Walter Isaacson's authorised biography.

After going down by 95 runs to India in the last ODI to finish on the wrong side of a 5-0 whitewash, England captain blamed his side's poor batting.

Dhoni Tuesday expressed his disappointment over the wicket at Eden Gardens and felt the team was fortunate to score 270 plus runs on the "ugly looking" wicket.

A computer operator and tutor by profession, Kumar is the first person to win the coveted prize in this season of the show.

Shah Rukh Khan plays the role of geeky tech-wiz dad who tries to become his young son's hero.

Condoleezza Rice in her book claimed that it was Natwar Singh who had pushed for the Indo-US civil nuclear deal.

An FBI spokesman said Rajat Gupta surrendered to FBI agents at his home in Connecticut.

The sixth case against Yeddyurappa relates to receiving a kickback of Rs 13 crore from a private firm.

Omar Abdullah last week announced that the AFSPA will be revoked from some areas of J&K within next few days.

Ratnadip Choudhury maps the mood in Jeraigaon, where the two cousins started one of the deadliest terrorist outfits in the country

Former Samajwadi Party General Secretary granted bail on humanitarian grounds, to surrender passport

A tussle between the Home and Defence ministries has delayed changes in the controversial and sweeping Act

TEHELKA rides the metro in Bengaluru, Delhi and Kolkata and discovers that sometimes the journey is the destination.

The ban on Ramanujan’s essay touches a sensitive issue: whether religion should have the upper hand when it comes to freedom of thought

The Catholic Church defies the state government and asks families to have more than two children.

Nitish gains maximum political mileage from Advani's anti-corruption yatra.

The Rs 5,000 crore that the Reddys salted away is of little use as the law makes them pay for their Bellary misdeeds.

Pakistan wants 50 Indian engines to tide over its shortfall.

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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.

Oz rights body terms Indian student's detention for violating visa rules as arbitrary.

US honours the three 'extraordinary' scientists and with top medals for their pioneering work.

TVU was raided and shut down by US authorities earlier this year on charges of massive immigration fraud.

Julius Malema, who has been pulled up for hate speech earlier, called Indians 'coolies'.

Any citizen who was earlier residing in foreign country can own or transfer property in that nation: RBI

Ind won by 95 runs. MoM: Ravindra Jadeja. MoS: Dhoni. Eng 176-all out (37.0 Ovs), Ind 271/8 (50.0 Ovs). Dhoni 75(69), Kieswetter 63(64), Ashwin 3/28.

Pakistan 42/0 (9.0 Ovs), trail by 197, Hafeez 18(21), Umar 20(36), Partnership: 42(57). SL 239.

Zim won by 1 wkt. MoM: Malcolm Waller. MoS: Brendan Taylor. Zim 329/9 (49.5 Ovs), NZ 328/5 (50.0 Ovs). Ross Taylor 119(126), Williamson 100(69), Oram 3/44.

Match drawn. MoM: Sunny. WI 244, 100/2 (22.0 Ovs), Ban 350/9 decl, 119/3 decl. Rahim 68(145), Sammy 58(43), Tamim Iqbal 52(141), Sunny 6/94.

Michael Hussey said Australia felt confident despite losing the second ODI by 80 runs.

Cuttack, March 19: The Deccan Chargers playing their first ever IPL home game at the Barabati Stdaium in Cuttack tamed Kings XI Punjab by six runs to record their second win in Match 12 of the IPL 2010. The listless Kings XI Punjab made 164/8, chasing 170 for win falling short by six runs. But the contest was never as close as the scores make it out to be simply because the Kings XI Punjab kept loosing wickets at frequent intervals because of which they were never in the hunt. Kings XI Punjab have so far had a nightmare of a tournament losing all their first three matches while Deccan Chargers have finally notched a home victory. Kings XI Punjab were off to a disastrous start, as purple cap holder left-arm seamer Chaminda Vaas, the highest wicket-taker with seven wickets from three matches, swung the ball late and captured two top order wickets. Opener MS Bisla was run out, skipper Kumar Sangakarra was done in by a ball from Vaas which came in and hit the stumps to have Kings XI Punjab reeling at 11/2. It became 22/3 in the fifth over when left-hander Yuvraj Singh continued his poor form with the bat. He hit Vaas straight to Herschelle Gibbs at covers. England opener Ravi Bopara, Kings XI Punjab’s main run-getter, could score only a 32-ball 38 before he was caught in the deep of off-spinnner Rohit Sharma. West Indian opener Adrian Barath, who made his IPL debut for the Kings XI Punjab today, made only seven before falling to local hero Pragyan Ojha. However, it was left-hander Irfan Pathan (60; 29 balls, 3x4, 5x6) who fought a lonely battle to create some element of hope for the Kings XI Punjab with his lusty hitting. Pathan took the match to the last over. But his fine rearguard innings ended when the surprise last over choice bowler Jaskaran Singh had him caught at deep mid-wicket. The twentieth over that Jaskaran bowled was incidentally his first of the game. Deccan Chargers skipper Adam Gilchrist was on a song, as the Aussie left-hander slammed a whirlwind 12-ball 33 (4x4, 2x6). Gilchrist struck both the sixes off an inconsistent Sreesanth, who conceded as many as 51 runs today. But Gilchrist's innings was cut short when he top edged left-arm seamer Shalabh Srivastava and was caught at short mid-wicket by Jayawardene. Deccan Chargers suffered a setback when VVS Laxman got injured in a strange circumstance when Srivastava threw the ball wildly from mid-on that got Laxman’s forearm. The batsman had to retire hurt for 10. Although Rohit Sharma (run out) and left-hander Anirudh Singh were out cheaply, Herschelle Gibbs made a 23-ball 23 and Andrew Symonds struck his second successive half century before he was held in the deep for 38-ball 53 (3x3, 3x6). T Suman played a cameo knock of 26 (22 balls, 2x4, 1x6) as Decccan Chargers reached 170/7.

New Delhi, March 19: Man of the match Mathew Hayden came up with a stunning 93 (43 balls), which included nine fours and seven sixes, as Chennai Super Kings conquered Delhi Daredevils by five wickets in Match 11 of the IPL 2010 at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium here today. This was the second successive win for Chennai Super Kings, sans their skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, while Delhi Daredevils tasted their second defeat in a row. Chasing 186 for victory, Chennai Super Kings scored 190/5 in 19.1 overs.But the evening belonged to the burly Hayden and his Mongoose bat. After two failures with the bat, the former Aussie opener blazed away to play an aggressive knock with his Mongoose bat. The left-hander toyed with the hapless Delhi Daredevils bowlers. He launched into the attack in the fifth over hitting his first six off Rajat Bhatia and then in the eighth over, T Dilshan faced the wrath of Hayden’s bat. The Lankan off-spinner was clubbed for three sixes as the 50 for the Chennai Super King’s was raised in 5 overs and then the 100 came in 10 overs. Hayden and skipper Suresh Raina, who began his captaincy on a winning note, added 50 runs in 23 deliveries. Delhi Daredevils finally dismissed Hayden with Dilshan bringing off a superlative catch at long on. Chennai Super Kings lost two more wickets that of Justin Kemp (bowled) and Albie Morkel (caught at mid-wicket) but Raina, with his 34-ball 49 not out (3x4, 3x6), saw the team through with five balls to spare. Earlier Parthiv Patel, who kept the wickets as Dhoni was injured, was run out for six while S Badrinath, the batting hero of the previous match, was dismissed for 14. Delhi Daredevils bowlers looked ordinary but Nannes was outstanding as he finished with figures of 4-0-18-0. Electing to bat, Virender Sehwag (74; 38 balls, 10x4, 3x6) gave a sparkling start to Delhi Daredevils. The Indian opener moved into top gear from the first over even as he lost Australian explosive opener David Warner, who came in place of the injured skipper Gautam Gambhir, early. Sehwag, as usual, went hammer and tongs. Sehwag brought up yet another 50 in 22 deliveries (8x4, 2x6) while Delhi Daredevils’ 50 came in the fifth over. Delhi Devils were cruising along but at 102 - Muralitharan the Lankan veteran off-spinner provided twin breakthroughs at a crucial juncture of the game. Muralitharan forced Dilshan to play a false shot and the resultant skier was held in the deep and one run later Sehwag was caught by Kemp. Suresh Raina, leading the side in place of the injured Mahendra Singh Dhoni, brought in off-spinner R Ashwin, who obliged his skipper by sending back South African batsman AB de Villiers for 2. Delhi Daredevils lost three wickets in space of five runs. Chennai Super Kings were right back in the game as skipper Dinesh Karthik returned to pavilion, falling leg before to medium pacer Joginder Sharma. Mithun Manhas (32 off 22 balls, 5x4) and all-rounder Rajat Bhatia (21 off nine balls) batted fluently in the end overs as the Delhi Daredevils posted a challenging total of 185/6. For Chennai Super Kings, it was good come back as at one stage the Delhi Daredevils looked like scoring over 200.

Bengaluru, March 18: Praveen Kumar notched up the first hat-trick of the IPL 2010 to star in Bangalore Royal Challengers’ comprehensive ten-wicket win over the insipid Rajasthan Royals in match 10 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium here tonight. The 23-year-old Praveen Kumar (3/18) and skipper Anil Kumble (3/9) destroyed the Rajasthan Royals who were bundled out for the season’s lowest total, 92 in 19.5 overs. Praveen Kumar’s hat-trick came in the 17th over of the innings. The canny swing bowler’s first victim was Damien Martyn (bowled), debutant Sumit Narwal (caught in the deep) and Paras Dogra (bowled) with his second, third and fourth deliveries of his third over. This was the seventh hat-trick of the three-year-old IPL tournament. Orange Cap holder and man of the match Jacques Kallis (44 not out, 34 balls, 7x4), the tournament’s highest run-getter with198 runs, and young Manish Pandey (42 not out, 30 balls, 7x4, 1x6) completed the formalities with 56 balls to spare. Bangalore Royal Challengers have chalked up their second successive win to run into form, while the Shane Warne led 2008 champions Rajasthan Royals tumbled to their third defeat on the trot. Bangalore Royal Challengers face table toppers Mumbai Indians on Saturday at Mumbai. Injuries to South African captain Graeme Smith (finger) and England all-rounder Dimitri Mascarenhas (ankle) forced Rajasthan Royals to play Australian 38-year-old Damien Martyn and Yorkshire left-handed opener Michael Lumb against Bangalore Royal Challengers. There was a third change in the foreigner players list with out-of-form Shaun Tait making room for South African fast bowler Morne Morkel. There were totally five changes for the Rajasthan Royals today. Put into bat, the Rajasthan Royals batsmen struggled as Dale Steyn, Praveen Kumar, D Vinay Kumar and Kallis contained the openers Naman Ojha and Lumb. The batsmen could not break free against the more accurate Bangalore Royal Challengers attack. Rajasthan Royals scored just 27 runs in five overs. Ojha, in desperation, swung Kallis wildly and was caught by Uthappa. Lumb was foxed by the wily leg spinner Kumble and was stumped for 10. Kallis was denied a wicket by umpire Hariharan who was unmoved after a confident appeal for a caught behind decision against Abhishek Jhunjhunwala, which was rejected. The veteran seamer had his revenge two balls later when the batsman chopped the ball on to his stumps. Rajasthan Royals had the slowest start of the tournament so far, scoring 45/3 in 10 overs. The big-hitting Yusuf Pathan, who slammed a hurricane century against the Mumbai Indians, broke free by clubbing Vinay Kumar for two sixes in the 12th over. Pathan rode on his luck as he was dropped at 19 (Dravid). But he was back in the pavilion, run out for a 24-ball 26 as Kohli broke the stumps with a brilliant throw from covers. Martyn (19 off 24 balls), who was a pale shadow of his playing days, got his first boundary after 22 deliveries but was yorked the next ball by Praveen Kumar. The Shane Warne-led Rajasthan Royals innings was in disarray as debutant left-handed Sumit Narhwal pulled and Manish Pandey brought off a splendid catch at square leg. A pumped-up Praveen Kumar completed the first hat-trick of the tournament by clean bowling Paras Dogra in the 17th over.

New Delhi, March 17: Skipper Sachin Tendulkar (32-ball 62, 11x4) was on a roll as he led his Mumbai Indians from the front to a huge 98-run win over table toppers Delhi Daredevils in Match 9 of the IPL 2010 at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium here tonight. Firing on all cylinders, the Mumbai Indians posted a massive 218/7 in 20 overs, which incidentally is their highest score in the IPL thus far. It was also the Mumbai Indians second successive 200 plus score in IPL 2010. Delhi Daredevils, in reply, were never in the hunt as they were dismissed for 120 in 16.3 overs. In their defense Delhi Daredevils, did suffer a huge setback when their skipper Gautam Gambhir pulled a hamstring and did not bat. This incidentally was the first first defeat for the Delhi Daredevils in three outings in IPL 2010, while Mumbai Indians recorded their second consecutive win to be placed at the top of the leader board. Delhi Daredevils batting fell apart once T Dilshan and Virender Sehwag were back in the pavilion in the seventh over. Dilshan was done in by a slower one by Lasith Malinga to be bowled. Then the dangerous Sehwag, after hitting a typical 16-ball 26, was caught in the deep off medium pacer Dwayne Bravo. The tricky Bravo scalped his second wicket in the same over by bowling AB de Villiers, which pretty much took the wind out of Delhi’s sails. Bravo and Kieron Pollard, who did not get enough opportunity with the bat, made their presence felt with the ball Earlier, Tendulkar was in full flow. He cracked 11 dazzling fours to give the Mumbai Indians just the sort of start they needed. He drove and pulled on his way to a blazing 50 which came off only 23 deliveries, which saw the Mumbai Indians gallop to 50 in just 4.3 overs. Tendulkar’s innings came to an end when substitute fielder Yogesh Nagar, who came in place of the injured Gamhir, held a low catch off leg spinner Amit Mishra. Nagar had earlier pulled off a spectacular catch at mid-off to dismiss the Matara mauler and left-handed Mumbai Indian opener Sanath Jayasuriya, leaping high in the air to take a spectacular one-handed catch. After Tendulkar’s departure, the tall Saurabh Tiwary and the impressive Ambati Rayudu were involved in some lusty hitting. The fourth wicket pair stitched 71 runs in 34 deliveries before Rayudu was superbly snapped at long-on by Dilshan. However, the left-handed Tiwary completed his second successive 50, which came off only 31 deliveries. The dismissal of Rayudu (34, 21 balls, 1x4, 3x6) brought in the IPL’s costliest player Kieron Pollard to the crease for his IPL debut. The hard-hitting West Indian batsman was greeted by a dangerous beamer from left-arm Delhi Daredevils seamer Dirk Nannes and the next ball Pollard had a narrow escape when Mishra failed to hold a low catch at long on. Tiwary was run out in the 19th over for 37-ball 61 (4x4, 3x6). Leg spinner Sarabjit Ladda brought some cheers to Delhi Daredevils by dismissing the two West Indians Dwayne Bravo and Keiron Pollard in the last over. Farveez Maharoof, Pradeep Sangwan, Ladda and Mishra went for more than 40 runs. Dirk Nannes, the Aussie though was the best bowler for the Delhi Daredevils, conceding only 35 runs. The Mumbai Indians now take on the Royal Challengers Bangalore back home in Mumbai on March 20th, which should make for a mouth watering prospect, given the form of both the teams.

Kolkata, March 16: Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni smashed a superb 33-ball 66 (6x4, 3x6) to guide the Chennai Super Kings to a 55- run win over the Kolkata Knight Riders in match eight of the IPL 2010 at Eden Gardens here today.It was the first win for M.S. Dhoni’s - Chennai Super Kings who had lost to the Deccan Chargers earlier on Sunday. The win for Chennai put a break on the Kolkata Knight Riders two match winning streak as they had notched wins against the Deccan Chargers and Bangalore Royal Challengers. At the end of the match eight, Delhi Daredevils were at the top of the league points table have beaten the Rajasthan Royals in Ahmedabad. The Kolkata Knight Riders had a nightmare of a start with Chennai Super Kings’ Albie Morkel striking with with only the second ball of the first over to have opener Brad Hodge caught at mid-wicket for nought. Manpreet Gony then bowled Manoj Tiwary after the opener had hit two successive boundaries. Kolkata Knight Riders were 8 for 2 in 1.3 overs. Top scorer Wriddhiman Saha, dropped at two, cracked 13-ball 22 before being castled by Lakhsmipathy Balaji. The Chennai Super Kings medium-pacer took his second wicket when he had Owais Shah caught nicely by wicketkeeper captain MS Dhoni to reduce Kolkata Knight Riders to 46 for 4. It was a one sided trek all uphill for the Kolkata Knight Riders from then as they lost their way and wickets at regular intervals. Justin Kemp then struck in succession to send back skipper Sourav Ganguly (11), Angelo Mathews and Rohan Gavaskar. The Kolkata Knight Riders were finally all out at 109 in 19.2 overs Earlier in the day it was M.S. Dhoni that came up with a super knock of 33-ball 66 (6x4, 3x6) and his unbeaten 109 runs partnership in 10.5 overs with S Badrinath (43, 33 balls, 3x4), which helped lift the Chennai Super Kings to a respectable 164/3 in 20 overs after being 55 for 3 in 9.1 overs at one stage. Chennai Super Kings started on a shaky note. The burly left-hander Mathew Hayden was dismissed in the fourth over by Ishant Sharma. New Zealand fast bowler Shane Bond, who came in place of South African swing bowler Charl Langeveldt, was impressive in the first two overs. Laxmi Ratan Shukla castled Murali Vijay for 33 and when Suresh Raina yorked himself, Chennai Super Kings were in a spot of bother. But thereafter captain cool Dhoni and Badrinath repaired the damage with some sensible batting. Dhoni smashed Shukla for 14 runs in an over before the Chennai Supers Kings ended on a challenging total. Left-arm spinner Murali Kartik bowled the middle overs splendidly to return with figures of 4-0-21-0. Bond gave away 27 runs in the last two overs.

Former captain Michael Vaughan believes England must change their approach to one-day cricket after their 5-0 whitewash against India.

Pakistan host Sri Lanka in Dubai in the second Test of the series.

England one-day captain Alastair Cook is shocked by the way his side's batting was "blown away" in Kolkata as India secure a 5-0 series whitewash.

England lose 10 wickets for 47 runs in a miserable 95-run defeat against India in Kolkata, ensuring a 5-0 loss in the one-day series.

Zimbabwe host New Zealand in Bulawayo for the third one-day international in the series.

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.

TOI checks out what it takes to be one in the industry and who have made the biggest noise as the ultimate item bomb in Indian cinema.

Master of romance Shah Rukh Khan is the man of the moment, thanks to his first ever superhero movie "RA.One

Producer Rakesh Roshan has approached the actress to essay the female antagonist in the Hrithik Roshan-Priyanka Chopra starrer

Jacqueline Fernandez is all set to be replaced by newbie Esha Gupta in Rakesh Roshan’s Krrish 2.

Bipasha Basu will be romancing Madhavan in their upcoming romantic comedy – “Jodi Breakers”.

Richa Gangopadhyaya’s fortunes seems to be changing in a rapid speed. The actress, who has entered the Tamil film industry with Mayakkam Enna, has impressed yet another Kollywood director, who is all set to introduce her to the Bollywood!Well, Richa

Jayam Ravi, who is directing his first movie outside his home banner, has clarified the rumours, which claimed that his Velayudham is a rip-off of Telugu blockbuster Azad. The filmmaker has said that the upcoming Tamil movie is not a remake

Silambarasan and Vetrimaran’s much-talked movie Vada Chennai is in the final stages of pre-production works. Now, the makers of the film have started finalising the cast and have already roped in Amala Paul to play one of the female lead roles

Dhanush seems to be on a roll. The actor, who is gearing up for the release of his forthcoming movie Mayakkam Enna, has signed as many as three movies in succession and it is interesting to note that big banners are

It is a double bonanza for the audience, who watches Velayudham movie in theaters. Well, Vikram has something to offer his fans during Diwali, as he has chosen the Kaavalan star’s film to promote his forthcoming film.Sources have it that the

Prakash Raj is an actor in demand not only in South Indian film industries but also in Bollywood nowadays. The actor, who was recently seen in Singham and Bbudah Hoga Tera Baap, seems to have bagged yet another biggie.According to reports,

The much-delayed project of Allu Arjun and Trivikram Srinivas seems to be ready to take off. The movie, which was supposed to start the shooting a few months ago, will hit the floors in November.According to sources, the forthcoming Telugu movie

Samantha might be the favourite choice of many top filmmakers in Tollywood but it is not the same in Kollywood. The actress, who has hit a hat trick with three consecutive films, has been rejected by maverick filmmaker Mani Ratnam for

After being in the news for all the wrong reasons, Naga Chaitanya’s ticket to action flick, Bejawada is finally hitting the headlines for a right reason. The overseas distribution rights of the movie produced by Ram Gopal Varma have been acquired

No, we are not talking anything about his film or any role from his forthcoming movies rather we are throwing light on his newfound interest. Well, the heartthrob of Kollywood, like his counterparts Nagarjuna and Junior NTR, is venturing into business.

Ramcharan’s latest flick ‘Orange’ with a tagline (Love in Fall) directed by ‘Bommarillu’ Bhasksar and produced by K Nagababu on the banner of Anjana Productions is getting ready for release.

‘Prasthanam’ directed by Deva Katta and produced by Ravi Vallabhaneni on the banner of VRC Media and Entertainments with Sharwanand and Ruby Parihar in the lead was selected for the Indian Panorama.

Presented by Gangapatnam Sridhar, directed and produced by Osho Tulasiram on the banner of Mantra Entertainments, ‘Mangala’ with Charmme playing the lead, is coming up as a variety entertainer.

Indian Panorama of International Film Festival of India – 2010 selected Films

Latest lover boy of Tollywood, Varun Sandesh had a hit film like ‘Kotha Bangaru Lokam’ and after that his films like ‘Evaraina Epudaina, Kurradu, Maro Charitra, and Happy Happygaa’ failed to shake the Box Office.

Like viewers in India, the NRI audience did not enjoy the film either.

Velayudham doesn't take itself seriously and doesn't expect you to either, says Pavithra Srinivasan

Even as Shah Rukh Khan flies over buildings, jumps over cars and even stops an out-of-control train with his bare hands, his valiant efforts to wow his audiences somewhat fail thanks to a weak storyline, some rather juvenile acting and a poor screenplay.

Arjun Rampal is the best thing in the biggest budget Indian feature of all time, says Raja Sen.

'I wish Ra.One had more of the evil character played by Arjun Rampal. I wish we could have seen some more sparks of evil from Kapoor. But Ra.One is mostly about Shah Rukh Khan.'

Goofy gaming expert, Shekhar Subramaniam (Shah Rukh Khan) wants to be a super hero for his son Prateik (Armaan Verma).

Katie and Kristi are two sisters who live happily in their house only later to realise there is an invisible third entity all through. What next? Time to befriend the paranormal. Simple? Not really....

Juanna and Michael are a picture perfect couple till Juanna thinks her husband's having an affair with eternal predator Eva Mended.

Back in the seventeenth century, the inseparable trio -- the three musketeers -- give up their task of protecting the kingdom for reasons personal and professional.

Kathy Bolkovac is a Nebraskan cop who is most willing to spread the good news in post-war Bosnia. Her mission, according to her, is simple: spread the message of peace and humanity.

A perfect thriller with its heart in the right place

Zillion Films' 'Vellore Maavattam' is an action film without much of violence and gore.

Vedi- A loud cracker

A simple yet different film

Aayiram Vilakku is awful.

'Pilla Zamindar' is a mundane effort that lacks excitement

Oosaravelli stands a class apart but fails to finish as a winner

Madatha Kaja may be illogical, but it is a laughter riot

'Dookudu' an out and out Mahesh Babu film

Mahesh shines in Dookudu but movie falls short

Central bank raises rates by 25 bps, may keep away from further hikes if price pressures ease after December

The main objective of a national manufacturing policy is to increase the sectoral share of manufacturing in GDP to at least 25% by 2022, to create 100 million additional jobs by the same time

RBI also says that banks will have to implement the 10 action points that were adopted at the annual conference of banking ombudsmen

Trading in Pilani Investment and Industries Corp. Ltd, which restarted on the NSE, put the MP Birla Group’s “25%-plus stake” in the Birla family’s principal holding company at upwards of Rs 450 crore

An FBI spokesman said Gupta, 62, surrendered to agents at his home in Connecticut and he was driven to the New York FBI office, where he was placed under formal arrest at 05:45 pm

Nextdoor.com allows neighbors to form online groups to share info on babysitter recommendations, leaf collection, and events in the community.

Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc said its reorganization plan has the backing of creditors who hold more than $160 billion of claims.

The dollar touched a record low against the yen, heightening a risk that Japanese authorities might intervene. The euro was down 0.5 percent at $1.3838.

Gold is on track for its fourth consecutive day of gains, and it appeared to reprise its traditional role as a contrarian indicator.

Eurozone gets ECB boost, summit deal uncertainThe incoming head of the European Central Bank Mario Draghi signaled the bank would go on buying troubled states' bonds to combat market turmoil.

Allowing foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail will not impact the fortunes of small shop-owners, claims

Even as Maharashtra cracked down on the so-called ‘oil-mafia', Government employees across the State on Thursday did not do any work or clear files. This was their protest against the murder of Mr Yashwant Sonawane, Additional District

We recommend a sell in the stock of Tata Chemicals from a short-term perspective. It is seen from the charts of the stock that after encountering long-term resistance (May 2008's peak) around Rs 440 in October 2010, it changed direction and began

DLF: The stock tumbled 5.4 per cent accompanied with above average volume on Wednesday. We recommend a sell with stiff stop-loss at Rs 246

The redesigned Web site of  The Hindu Business Line (http://www.thehindu businessline.com) will be launched on Friday afternoon. The Web site, designed by Mario Garcia Jr. of Garcia Media, Tampa, Florida, will provide for an elegant layout,

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One of the biggest of life’s big questions is the debate over the existence of God. The concept of a single supreme being, all seeing, all knowing and all powerful, is the basis for many different religions for billions of people around the world. Believers, called theists, insist that at least one God exists, while atheists don’t [...]

At first glance, he might seem to be the typical Indian young-adult, preparing for his IIT exams. But no, he isn’t. Meet Harsha Iyer, a chennai-based 19 year old self-confessed Beatles fan who quite school(at least mentally) at the age of 15 to pursue his passion of Music full-time.  Typical Indian parents would even disown [...]

As the Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi was hunted down in a bunker in Sirte by the present Libiyan governments army, the next question which arises in every ones mind is about the future of Libya. Libya is an African nation which is too rich in its oil wealth and all the colonialist nations have always [...]

The world is witnessing yet another slow down, pushing many people to unemployment and poverty. The signs of slowdown has been seen in many developed and developing nations. There has been many job cuts in many top companies and many of them cutting their budgets and business targets. The world has just recently recovered from [...]

For Some One working at the Intentional Monetary Fund Annual Meetings is a time to look forward for a long weekend however  I ended up spending more than 80 hours the whole week, thanks to my Volunteering spirit. Its the Finances cultural meet, governors with different tags meet with each other and ask how is the economic weather out [...]

Globally higher education seems to be in a flux. In UK there are fee protests and in the US axe to many traditional courses like classics, Latin etc. Professor Gregory A Petsko writes disrespectfully to the president of SUNY Albany after the decision to axe a lot of traditional departments there. Even though it is [...]

The eminent lawyer Naina Kapur writes about the Sexual Harassment Bill 2010- At the end of the seminar, the young woman from the minority group and the male student raved about the session. From the corner of my eye I spotted the electrician wrapping up the wires, gesturing me in his direction. I [...]

Dear Blogbharti readers, We return with some joy and some sorrow at heart. We are happy to start this effort again: all of us volunteers from across the globe trying to bring you hidden gems from the Indian blogosphere. Like every new adventure, or an encore gig, this is a thrill we all wish to experience. We are [...]

I dont represent any international peace agency. Nor do i have a professional degree or training in broking peace. One fine day i decided to follow, what the heck is actually happening there. The reason for the dawn of that “fine” day being, i saw a picture of one pink salwar clad lady, throwing stones [...]

India, one of the most secular countries in the nation, is routinely shaken by communal violence. Headlines that rip your heart: Thirty-eight people burnt alive, 12 among them were children. Property worth lakhs of rupees gutted down to ashes. Shops looted and vehicles torched. Vikram Patel, Swastik Mehta, Joy Lobo, Heeralal Shah, Brian Phillips, Iqbal Mehmood, Aslam Khan – casualties [...]

Part I – Base Camp Part II – The Ascent On the 20th (3rd day) we woke up bright and early with expectation heavy in the air. After double checking our backpacks and packing our lunch we got a pep talk from the director of the camp. YHAI gav...

I should rightly call this piece ‘how not to go to Hogenakkal falls’. For this is an account of a trip to Hogenakkal on a route that did not exist. Early September, very early Sunday morning, mid-monsoon. Three cars, twelve people, three cameras. N...

I shot my second narrative film at NYU on the Canon 5D. Here's a recap (pre, production and post) of what I learned from shooting on the amazing new HDSLRs. [...] .

With so much baking going on The Purple Foodie, how could I not have a baking essentials list? A lot of people have asked me about “must-haves” and emailed me questions about the basics of baking so I think I ought to give it some attention with th...

A new award — Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction — will be awarded on June 19th at the Borders Book Festival. Sarah Dunant, one of the finalists, explains why Historical fiction is the genre of the moment. Toni Morrison’s astonishi...

Hello again. And here’s Part 2 of MMXredux, which incidentally, has a high probability of being the Latin term for “2010 Revisited”. Which goes to show that there is, in turn, a high probability that I am a classical scholar, who’d be at home in Rome. A persona grata indeed. Part 1 was a selection [...]

What a nice time we’ve had in 2010 (Or MMX according to Romans). It’s been a great year with much to jeer. 12 months of strikes & bandhs. 52 weeks of scams and leaks. This was the year in which Kalmadi made a killing, Assange did some spilling, CBI kept grilling, while Manmohan was just [...]

If you follow me on Twitter or are connected with me on Facebook, you have no doubt been subjected to repeated plugs for this article of mine that appeared as “Mum, I Shrunk The Workplace” on Outlook. For the others, I’m sorry, there’s no escape. Here it is… The nice folks at Outlook wanted me [...]

The title says it all. Here’s the link. Like it? Share it.

Yawn. What a boring press conference our PM had earlier this week. Read the transcript if you want. Note : It’s partly in Hindi. Everybody knew what the questions would be. The usual stuff – Pakistan, terrorism, inflation, Naxals, corruption, Rahul, Sonia, and so on. And everybody knew that there would be no real answers. [...]

Hello everyone. Just in case you thought I was wasting my time on Twitter, starting pointless Tumblr memes, whiling away precious hours recording corny music and writing columns for newspapers instead of blogging, well, you’d be right! I am not given to Web 2.0 prognostications like “Blogging is dead” because that would be like saying [...]

Single celled organisms swimming around in the primordial ooze met up with each other for dates, eventually forming multicellular organisms that then evolved the ability to move around and meet up with other like minded organisms to be fruitful and multiply into early fishes that, several million years ago, walked on to dry land on [...]

In India, we do things differently. And in keeping with the rich tradition of orally imparted knowledge and MMS scandals, we rarely like to write things down, and that is why when we go to “foreign”, we spare no chances in pontificating, elucidating and prognosticating on the Great Indian Difference. In India, we have history. [...]

Like most kids, I used to love sketching. And like most kids, I gave it up the moment I realized that I wasn’t very good at it. This whole business of wanting to do only things one is good at is one of the first adult corruptions of a child’s mind. But I recently bought [...]

It is rather uncommon of me to spend more than a couple of days in any city I visit on work. There’s usually only enough time to grab a Baja Chalupa (beans instead of beef) at a Taco Bell for nostalgia purposes in between the time spent commuting to the Chennai airport, standing at the [...]

AngelPrime is an incubator launched by Sanjay Swamy (earlier CEO of mChek), Bala Parthasarthy and Shripati Acharya (cofounders of Snapfish, which was acquired by HP). Essentially, AngelPrime will co-ideate the business plan with entrepreneurs and work like cofounders. The idea … Read More » » AngelPrime–An Incubator From Sanjay Swamy (ex-mChek) and Snapfish Cofounders @Pluggd.in.

There have been a lot of speculation regarding the latest valuation and series D funding of Flipkart. While a billion dollar valuation has been talked about and also been ridiculed, there wasn’t any credible name that came forward until now. A Reuters report … Read More » » Flipkart Raising $200Mn From Carlyle And General Atlantic? @Pluggd.in.

TRAI has released an amendment to its existing regulation around the telemarketing spam in India. The amendment makes 2 major changes: 1. In order to further deter the sending of promotional SMSs, the Authority has now prescribed ‘a promotional SMS charge’ of Re. 0.05 (five paise) payable … Read More » » TRAI SMS Regulation – 5p Termination Charge For Promotional SMS; eCommerce Exempted @Pluggd.in.

It’s an Indian tradition to cleaup one’s house during Diwali – people do it inside out (white washing etc etc) and following the same trend, startups too need to clean up their house. That is? Features: P1>P2>P3..? Many a times … Read More » » Dear Entrepreneurs – Happy Diwali! [Cleanup The Mess] @Pluggd.in.

What happens when group buying meets touch, with a tinge of interactivity (and game theory)? Well, Touche Diner is a Bangalore based restaurant that offers interactive menus on guest’s tables and is interestingly, world’s fifth and India’s first touch table … Read More » » Interactive Group Buying Meets Touch At Touche Diner, India’s First Touch Table Restaurant @Pluggd.in.

Earlier this month, the official Facebook application for the iPad was released amidst a lot of speculation and anticipation. This was in huge demand since the day iPad was launched. But Facebook took it’s own sweet time to release the official app. The sister app, the Facebook app for iPhone was launched a long time [...]Looking For A Social Media Agency?? - Contact WATConsult - India's Leading Social Media Agency

Dear Readers, On this auspicious festival of Diwali, may your lives be filled with light, laughter and love.  The WAT Family wishes you all a very Happy Diwali and a prosperous New Year.  WATBlog is 5 years old and still growing strong thanks to immense support from you all. We would also like to wish [...]Looking For A Social Media Agency?? - Contact WATConsult - India's Leading Social Media Agency

The IAMAI or the Internet and Mobile Association of India have just released a report on Internet Usage in India. The result throws up some interesting results on the split-up of internet users throughout the country. With a sample size of over 2 lakh people, it is one of the largest surveys to be formally conducted in [...]Looking For A Social Media Agency?? - Contact WATConsult - India's Leading Social Media Agency

Popular Instant Messaging Client Nimbuzz, which helps users keep up with friends and family across an array of platforms and has over 50 million users, has released an update for their iPhone App. What is notable about this release is the addition of two new features: Voice Calling and Video Chat. Mr. Jamshed Rajan, country [...]Looking For A Social Media Agency?? - Contact WATConsult - India's Leading Social Media Agency

In what is known to be a slowly rising trend, Indian Business Process Outsourcing firms have a new vertical on their hands. Indian e-commerce companies are emerging as the new source of business for BPOs. This trend follows the footsteps of the USA based counterparts like Amazon & eBay, who have always outsourced a major [...]Looking For A Social Media Agency?? - Contact WATConsult - India's Leading Social Media Agency

Xavi celebrated setting a club record for La Liga appearances when he netted a superb free kick to give an otherwise listless Barcelona a 1-0 win at Granada on Tuesday in a scrappy game in which the home side finished with nine men.

Indian ace Saina Nehwal started her campaign at the French Open Super Series on a positive note, thrashing Jie Yao of Holland in straight-games to reach the second round of the women's singles event at Paris on Wednesday.

Manchester United beat League Two Aldershot Town 3-0 in the League Cup fourth round on Tuesday to begin the road to recovery after their humiliating 6-1 defeat by Manchester City on Sunday.

John Terry has welcomed the Football Association's (FA) decision to launch an investigation into an allegation of racist abuse during Chelsea's ill-tempered west London derby at Queens Park Rangers.

Honda Gresini have pulled out of the season-ending Valencia Grand Prix following the death of Italian MotoGP rider Marco Simoncelli in Malaysia on Sunday.