INDIA WIN BY 5 WICKETS!

  India beat England by 5 wickets.. Man of the match goes to Yuvraj sing, for his allround performance 38runs and 3wicketfor19....

VVS Laxman proud to mentor IPL's new Hyderabad franchise 'Sunrisers':

Kumar Sangakkara will lead Sunrisers in the sixth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Former India player and current mentor of the Indian Premier League (IPL)'s new Hyderabad franchise Sunrisers VVS Laxman said on Thursday that it was a proud moment for him to be a part of the team.

Laxman said, “It’s a proud moment for me indeed to be a part of such a dynamic team. With such a charismatic brand name the team comes imbued with a new sense of aspirations and passion. All of us are agog to see the invincible ‘SUNRISERS’ prove their mettle in the high-octane cricket field.”

The team is captained by Sri Lankan cricketer Kumar Sangakkara who took over the reins from Adam Gilchrist in 2011.

The Hyderabad franchise of the Indian Premier League (IPL) retained 20 players in their initial squad for the 2013 season of the cash-rich Twenty20 league.

Sun TV decided to retain six overseas players like Dale Steyn, Jean Paul Duminy, Kumar Sangakkara,Cameron White, Chris Lynn and Juan Theron. The new owners have spent $5 million and still have a budget of $7 million in their kitty.

Working with Rajinikanth is a costly question: Kamal Haasan

:15 hrs

Fans of both Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan have been waiting to see the two superstars re-unite on screen but the actor-filmmaker says their coming together for a film would be a costly affair.
They have done a few films together in the early stages of their career, notably 'Apoorva Raagangal', which was the breakthrough film for Haasan and the debut film of Rajinikanth.
When asked about him teaming up with Rajinikanth again, Haasan said, "Working with Rajinikanth is a costly question. If both of us starred together, there would be no money to make the film! If we have a lot of money, maybe then we can star in a film together."
Remakes and sequels are the order of the day, but ask him about revisiting his old hits like 'Sadma' and 'Ek Duje Ke Liye', Haasan says he won't fit into those films anymore.
"There are talks about making a part two of 'Sadma', where the female protagonist remembers him and comes back, but I don't think I would fit into the hero's role anymore. Moreover, a tragedy is best left at that, it is a tragedy because she doesn't return," said Haasan.
The 58-year-old actor is currently gearing up for the release of his new big-budgeted thriller 'Viswaroop', to release on January 11.
Haasan has written, directed and acted in the film, which also stars Pooja Kumar, Rahul Bose, Andrea Jeremiah and Jaideep Ahlawat.
"It is a fast-paced thriller with an international subject. It is very different from all the films that are being made in the genre of terrorism and spy thrillers. The way we have made the film is different," said Haasan.
The film will was shot simultaneously in Tamil and Hindi and also stars filmmaker Shekhar Kapur in a special role.
"Shekhar and I have been discussing about making a film togther. When I asked him to be a part of 'Viswaroop', he went about with the enthusiasm of an amateur and worked on this film," Haasan said at an event here today.
"We are also shooting a second part of the film, which will be out soon," he added.

Miss Universe 2012 is Miss USA:

Las Vegas: Olivia Culpo, Miss USA was crowned Miss Universe 2012. Miss Philippines held the second spot, followed by Miss Venezuela, Miss Australia and Miss Brazil.

India’s hope of winning the Miss Universe 2012 crown crashed as Shilpa Singh failed to make it to the list of top 10 contestants.

Presenters Andy Cohen and Giuliana Rancis along with Jeannie Mai took the world through the beautiful evening- an event that was being viewed by over one billion audiences across 180 countries!

Timomatic made the live audiences go crazy by singing the foot-tapping number ‘Set It Off’ as the Top 5 finalists walked in sync to celebrate their entry into the final list.

A while before the announcement of 5 finalists, the Top 10 hotties flaunted their toned frames in the evening gown round as Train rocked the stage with an incredible performance.

Miss China won the Best National Costume title.

The huge responsibility of giving the world its next Miss Universe was at the hands of Diego Boneta, Kerri Walsh, Scott Disick, Nigel Barker, Brad Goreski, Cluadia Jordan, Pablo Sandoval, Lisa Venderpupm & Jiggy, Chef Masaharu Morimoto and Ximena Navarette. 89 drop-dead gorgeous women had lined to own the crown that is currently adorned by Angola’s Leila Lopes.

India’s entry was the smart and ravishing Shilpa Singh from Bihar who, along with her ‘I Am She – Miss Globe International 2012’ title, also has a B. Tech. in Computer Science to her credit. The ravishing beauty is currently an Infosys Technologies’ employee.

But Singh wasn’t India’s original entry as Uttarakhand’s Urvashi Rautela, the original winner of the ‘I Am She’ title, had to withdraw because she was found to have been 25 days below the minimum age limit of 18 years.

Indian beauty Shilpa Singh could not make it to the Top 10, though she succeeded in making it to the top 16 list.

Koreans elect first female president:

South Koreans elected a new president today. But will the country's first female President who is also the daughter of the country's former military dictator, be able to deliver on her promise to revive the economy and improve the relationship with the north? Andrei Lankov, a specialist in Korean studies at Kookman University in Seoul joins the World Today

Scientists find five new planets close to Earth:

 

Scientists using an intra-galactic speed gun have detected five new planets, relatively close to Earth, and one of them is orbiting a star's habitable zone, where conditions are suitable for life.

It would take only 12 years to reach the planets when travelling at the speed of light.

Scientists analysing about 6000 measurements of the star Tau Ceti's velocity, believe that slight inconsistencies in its speed and direction are being caused by the gravitational pull of other celestial bodies.

"We believe the star is going very slightly backwards and forwards and shows the evidence for doing that at five different periods," said Professor Chris Tinney of the University of New South Wales.

"We think five different planets are going around that star tugging on it making it move backwards and forwards," Tinney said.

An international team of researchers from Australia, Chile, the United Kingdom and the United States believe one of the five planets orbiting Tau Ceti is within the star's habitable zone, where conditions are suitable for life.

The planet in the habitable zone has a mass about five times that of Earth, making it the smallest known planet orbiting in the "Goldilocks" zone - where conditions are just right - of any Sun-like star. Tinney said scientists believe smaller, rocky planets have the best chance of hosting life.

The finding comes after 14 years of research and analysis, and it might take that long again before scientists are certain of what lurks in Tau Ceti's neighbourhood.

"But if somebody else could prove that we're wrong, I'd be more than happy with that," Tinney said.

The planets, of which the smallest is at least twice the size of Earth, are too far away to send probes to explore.

"Even if we could send something at the speed of light, it would take 12 years to get there and 12 years to send a signal back," Tinney said.

"At the moment we have no way of even getting close to a 10th of the speed of light," Tinney added.

Obama named 'Person of the Year' by Time; Malala is runner up:

 
 US President Barack Obama has been named Time Magazine's 2012 Person of the Year, with the US publication calling him the 'Architect of New America'.

This is second time in four years that Obama has been named person of the year by the publication.

He had received the title in 2008.

Coming closely behind Obama is young Pakistani education activist Malala Yousafzai, who is recuperating in a British hospital after being shot by the Taliban in October in Pakistan for speaking out about girls' right to education.

Apple CEO Tim Cook is also among those shortlisted by the publication for its annual honour while Egypt's first democratically elected President Mohammad Mursi also founf a place among the runners up.

Under fire Dhoni evades questions on captaincy:

 Under-fire Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Wednesday refused to be drawn into a debate over split-captaincy theory as suggested by former greats after his team`s humiliating 1-2 Test series defeat against England.

"Your question on my view about split captaincy is good but let`s stick to T20 format as we have a T20 game tomorrow," was Dhoni`s curt reply when a local reporter asked him about the hotly debated topic.

That Dhoni was trying to sidestep the issue became evident when he gave the same answer in a roundabout manner to a British journalist.

"Before the start of an important series, I don`t want to comment on that. Because when it comes to Indian cricket, if it`s not going the right way, questions pop up about captaincy, senior players, junior players, the kind of talent we have got, the bench strength we have got. Everything will pop up and if you keep answering, I think we will be short of time," was the Indian captain`s reply to his query.

He was trying to repeatedly evade tough questions on India`s failure.

"No point looking too much into the past. That I have always said, whether you do well or do badly, it is important to stick to the present and the coming format is very different. Let`s stick to it."

"It`s a completely different format, so I don`t think there`s any point carrying anything from the Test series. It`s a very different format altogether," the Indian skipper said, presenting a dead bat to anything and everything asked about Tests.

Dhoni saw some positives to emerge from the Test loss to England.

"It was disappointing that we did not win the series and also after a long period at home. But in the last Test match (at Nagpur) we did pretty well. The wicket was quite flat. Still there were plenty of positives (from the series).

"Youngsters like Cheteshwar Pujara, who I think is the future for us along with Virat Kohli, did well. You saw the bowlers did well, especially the spinners, when there was not much assistance from the wicket."

Dhoni said there have been no indications from senior batsman Sachin Tendulkar after the drawn game at Nagpur about his future.

"No, nothing at all," he said to the English scribe.

Dhoni said though it was demanding to switch over so fast from the longest to the shortest format of the game, the professionals that they are will have to make the shift.

"It`s demanding to switch formats as Test cricket is totally different from T20 matches, but as international cricketers we are supposed to stand up to the demands of the game. Maybe one more practice session would have helped but this is the only one we have. So we have to make the most out of it."

The dew factor may come in, said Dhoni, which may negate the effectiveness of the spinners as the ball tends to skid and not grip the dew-laded surface.

"England are a balanced side irrespective of the format. It (condition) may be slightly different this time of the year with a bit of dew which may mean the spinners may not be that effective, but these are all speculations."

Dhoni said that after last season's IPL ties at this venue, a lot more matches had been held in the domestic tournaments and the wicket, that sported some uneven bounce when it was newly laid, must have settled down now.

"The stadium is fantastic with excellent facilities. A fair amount of cricket has been going on and the wicket must have settled down. It will be a good track for the batsmen to score runs. Not a big outfield (boundaries) and the big shots will come into contention."

"The last time we played in IPL, there was variable bounce. If the wicket has settled, that shouldn't be the case," he remarked.

Dhoni said the fact that India have won both their T20 games against the visitors in World Twenty20 Championships and lost the other three bilateral games did not point out to any specific pattern.

"We have won a few games and lost a few. In this format, it's just about a couple of players really changing the game. It's about enjoying the game, just getting that one run or making that one run-out which changes the game. I don't think it's proper to analyse the patterns in this format," he said.

He was also not bothered by the fact that India can go to the top of the ICC T20 rankings for the first time since it was introduced in 2011 if they win both their T20 games against England, here and in Mumbai on December 22, and the upcoming two games against Pakistan later this month.

"We are never bothered about the rankings. If we do well on the field the rankings take care of themselves. It's like I am repeating myself but that's what I have always said."

Asked about absence of many England players from IPL, Dhoni said the visitors had many talented players for the format but the issue was their availability for the entire duration of the tournament lasting 45-55 days.

"There are many talented England players for this format. But not many of them are available for the entire duration of the tournament which is what the francisees are concerned about."

Asked about Kevin Pietersen in particular and the demand for his services in the cash rich league, Dhoni said not everyone can be KP.

"KP is a special player. Franchisees are willing to take a gamble even if he's available for 7 or 8 games in a season. You have to be that special (for franchisees to run after that player though he may not be available for the major part of the season)," said the India and CSK captain.

Harley’s Goan anniversary bash:

Harley-Davidson India is getting set for their first ever National H.O.G Rally, to be held at Goa from Jan 31- Feb 1, 2013. The rally will mark Harley-Davidson’s 110th anniversary, and be a small part of a series of several other worldwide events. H-D will bring together existing customers from all over India along with their families for this occasion. Harley-Davidson are sponsors of the India Bike Week carnival taking place in Goa between Feb 2-3, and motorcycle enthusiasts can witness many Harley-Davidson motorcycles on display at the event from the H.O.G. 

 

This year is coming to an end with over 2000 Harley motorcycles already on Indian streets and three new dealerships, Bengal Harley-Davidson in Kolkata, Coromandel Harley-Davidson in Chennai and Spice Coast Harley-Davidson, Kochi.