Hindustan Times

Wanted: Kindred spirit for the great Tendulkar

noreply@blogger.com (PressMart Team) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 05:20:00 +0000

This was one of Sachin Tendulkar's best and, in many ways, the saddest innings. How could the Gods allow this; how could his mates not be inspired when thousands in stands and millions on telly were ready to step on the field and bat for him? This isn't time to coldly dissect the game. Instead, the storywriters must pick up their pens; the film-makers get behind their cameras; the playwrights roll out musicals in an ode to this heroism in an era when vested interests, thuggery and betrayals dominate our lives. It was as if Tendulkar wanted to cover up for all the mess of his mates: dropped catches, ordinary bowling and batting.

It's miraculous how his genius survived the mediocrity around him. Dare one club the timidity of some of his team mates, with the ingenuity of this champion. This stuff was beyond mortals; don't forget he is 36. After yesterday it was as if he is 16 going on 17.

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Sachin amazing feat in defeat

noreply@blogger.com (PressMart Team) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 05:35:00 +0000

For a team which couldn't chase 250 in perfect batting conditions about 72 hours ago, getting 100 more even on a batting beauty seemed too tall a task. So what if bowling was reduced to an exercise in futility and Australia were without all first-choice bowlers.

The target still looked Himalayan because more than 350 in a winning cause batting second has happened just once in an ODI, three years ago in Johannesburg. With nearly everything favouring an Australian win halfway through the fifth ODI, the cricket god turned his head towards this game. And the one blessed almost proved that wonders aren't restricted to the Wanderers only.

In an unforeseen twist to the script made possible by a sublime batting display that only a genius is capable of, Sachin Tendulkar almost single-handedly undid the brilliant job done by Australia's batsmen.

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An English village that only Google maps can see

noreply@blogger.com (PressMart Team) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 05:12:00 +0000

The world's eyes are focused on a small village called Argleton near Ormskirk, Lancashire, north west England. Camera crews have been dispatched. "Argleton" is fast becoming a popular hashtag on Twitter. There is even talk of merchandising opportunities.

The reason for all the interest is simple: Argleton doesn't actually exist. It is a phantom village that appears on Google Maps. You can search online for Argleton's local weather forecast, property prices (not much for sale at the moment) or for the number of a local plumber, but in reality the village's coordinates point to little more than a muddy field.

However, just a few hundred metres away stands the very real village of Aughton.

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Internet could run out of web addresses next year

noreply@blogger.com (PressMart Team) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 05:21:00 +0000

The world could well run out of Internet addresses next year, unless urgent action is taken to switch to a new generation of net addresses, the European Commission has warned.

According to the commission, businesses urgently need to upgrade to Internet protocol version six or IPv6, a new version of the Internet's addressing protocol, which will hugely increase the number of available addresses.

The IPv6 system has been ready for over a decade and is providing 340 trillion, trillion, trillionwebaddresses.But,notmany companies are actually ready to migrate to the new platform.

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Common Admission Test 2009 will offer 560 extra Indian Institutes of Management seats

noreply@blogger.com (PressMart Team) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 03:54:00 +0000

There will be 560 more seats on offer for students taking the common admission test (CAT) for entry to the Indian Institutes of Management this year.

Human resource development ministry sources said the CAT committee for 2009 had been asked to include these additional seats.

The cabinet had cleared the setting up of four new IIMs n Tiruchirappalli (Tamil Nadu), Ranchi (Jharkhand), Raipur (Chhattisgarh) and Rohtak (Haryana) in August.

But the institutes are yet to be established.

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Aamir for Kiran Bedi as watchdog body head

noreply@blogger.com (PressMart Team) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 04:41:00 +0000

Kiran Bedi, retired director general of police and Magsaysay award winner, should be made the new chief information commissioner, a number of well-known personalities have said in letters sent to the prime minister.

Heading the list is actor Aamir Khan, along with Magsaysay award winners Sandeep Pande and Arvind Kejriwal, apart from other noted social activists like Anna Hazare.

The position fell vacant after Wajahat Habibullah resigned on October 21 to take charge of the newly formed Jammu and Kashmir Information Commission.

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Huge blaze in Jaipur oil depot

noreply@blogger.com (PressMart Team) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 05:01:00 +0000

At least five people were killed and over 100 injured when a ferocious blaze, with flames leaping up to the height of three or four-storeyed buildings, engulfed an Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) depot at Sitapura Industrial Area, 16 kilometers south of Jaipur, on Thursday night.

The fire, beginning with an explosion at around 7.30 p.m., reportedly due to a leaking pipeline, spread to at least 12 oil tanks in the vicinity, the police said.

"Around 80 injured people have been admitted to hospital," said Kanhaiya Lal, Assistant Director General (Crime).

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Prime Minister reaches out to Jammu & Kashmir, Pak

noreply@blogger.com (PressMart Team) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 05:01:00 +0000

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday reached out to separatists in Jammu & Kashmir and made a renewed effort to resume talks with Pakistan, but with a caveat -- Islamabad must rein in anti-India terror groups operating from its soil.

Separatists would also have to abjure violence, Singh said, as he inaugurated a 18-kilometre rail link to strengthen connectivity within the Kashmir valley.

"I appeal to Pakistan to strengthen the hand of friendship we have extended. It is in the interest of people of both nations," Singh said.

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Rajdhani held hostage in Naxal land

noreply@blogger.com (PressMart Team) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 04:20:00 +0000

The Bhubaneswar-New Delhi Rajdhani Express slowed down and stopped at Banstala, near Kharagpur, at 2.35 pm on Tuesday. About 300 flag-waving activists, armed with axes, swords, bows and arrows surrounded it. They had placed wooden logs across the tracks.

Activists of the Maoist-backed People's Committee Against Police Atrocities (PCPA), pelted stones at the train, breaking some glass windows and injuring at least one passenger.

They next abducted the train's driver K. Anand Rao and his assistant K.G. Rao, assaulted some passengers, and finally called up the office of the railway manager at Kharagpur, 145 km east of Kolkata. The driver and his assistant were released five hours later.

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Same pollution norms for home and factory soon

noreply@blogger.com (PressMart Team) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 04:51:00 +0000

By end 2009, India will set a uniform limit for pollution across the country, making no distinction between industrial and residential areas, sources in the ministry of environment and forests said.

At present, for instance, the amount of `Respirable, Suspended Particulate Matter' (RSPM), a major pollutant, allowed in industrial areas is 120 unit grams per cubic metre (ug/m3), while the maximum tolerated in non-industrial ones is only 60 ug/m3.

"When air quality norms were first notified in 1994 most industrial areas were far away from residential areas," said a top ministry official. "With both industrial and residential areas expanding, this is no longer the case. There cannot be two different air quality standards for citizens living side by side."

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`Dalai Lama honoured guest'

noreply@blogger.com (PressMart Team) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 04:59:00 +0000

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Sunday described Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama as India's "honoured guest", and said India and China agreed that they had an obligation to maintain peace and tranquility along the border.

Singh met his Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabao on the sidelines of the 10th Asean (Association of South East Asian Nations) summit at this Thai resort twice on Saturday.

Addressing a news conference on Sunday, the Prime Minister was asked if China had raised the issue of the Dalai Lama's forthcoming visit to Arunachal Pradesh. "No they did not.

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Congress beats divided Opposition...

noreply@blogger.com (PressMart Team) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 08:50:00 +0000

The Congress did not win as much as the opposition parties lost. But it has the mandate now to push ahead with its agenda on education, climate change and disinvestments.

The first round of assembly elections after the 15th general elections in May endorsed the Congress and showed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the principal opposition, continuing its downward slide.

The Congress is set to retain power in all three states that voted on October 13 -- sweeping Arunachal Pradesh, narrowly winning Maharashtra in alliance with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), and roping in independents to hold on to Haryana, having failed to win a majority on its own.

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Mathura train collision kills 22

noreply@blogger.com (PressMart Team) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 04:29:00 +0000

At least 22 people were killed mostly women and children and about 40 injured when a train rammed into another near Mathura in Uttar Pradesh, about 150 km southeast of Delhi, on Wednesday.

Both trains were Delhi-bound. At 4.30 a.m., the Mewar Express came to a halt after a chain was pulled. Forty-five minutes later, the Goa Express, coming from behind at full throttle, rammed into its brake van and general compartment for ladies and disabled persons.

Later, it emerged three policemen from Rajasthan had pulled the chain to catch a prisoner, who had tried to escape.

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Educated youth drive crime in Noida

noreply@blogger.com (PressMart Team) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 04:36:00 +0000

Across the lanes and streets of Noida and Greater Noida, the police are facing a new menace: youth in the 1825 age group, belonging to middle-income-group families and armed with crude weapons and professional degrees.

Unlike professional criminals, these troublemakers "rob, snatch and con to fund their high-roller lifestyle", said Deputy Superintendent of Police Rajiv Narayan Mishra.

"Since last October, about 75 per cent of petty street crimes in Noida and Greater Noida -such as robbing and snatching of wallets -- has been done by first-time offenders," he said

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Indian Institute of Technology entrance exam bar to be raised

noreply@blogger.com (PressMart Team) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 04:41:00 +0000

Students aspiring for the IITs will have to take their Class XII boards a lot more seriously now. They may have to score substantially more than 60 per cent to qualify to take the entrance test.

"A qualifying mark of 60 per cent is not enough," said Human Resource Development minister Kapil Sibal on Monday, announcing a plan to raise the qualifying percentage from the current 60 per cent.

"It should be 75 or 80 percent," Sibal said after a meeting with the IIT council, the apex decision-making body for the elite engineering institutes.

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Ganga family seeks Goddess Laxmi's blessings

noreply@blogger.com (PressMart Team) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 05:19:00 +0000

Outside the team hotel, the party is about to begin on Friday night. With beers in hand, dressed in the Trinidad and Tobago jerseys, waving the unmistakable red and black flags, the guests are ready. But the heroes of the night haven't arrived yet.

On the eve of Diwali, the team has given them the perfect present in the form of a stunning win against New South Wales Blues here. The Trinidadians were just thrilled being part of Champions League, let alone beating three big teams. The party people inform that back home, in the tiny Caribbean island, they have stopped work and are celebrating even if it's only midday. "Trinidad is in a mess right now. People have one foot in a rum shop and the other in the office!" exclaims one gentleman. "

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Pakistan terror wave kills 39

noreply@blogger.com (PressMart Team) — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 03:59:00 +0000

Five militant attacks in quick succession rocked Pakistan on Thursday with Lahore bearing the brunt. The wave of violence left 39 people dead.

Four of the attacks targeted law enforcement facilities in Lahore and Kohat, a town in North West Frontier Province while the fifth target was a colony for government officers in Peshawar in the northwest.

The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility for the Lahore strikes, which coincided with Pakistani warplanes bombing their suspected hideouts and some civilian areas in south Waziristan, killing 17 militants and some civilians.

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Bt brinjal gets the green signal

noreply@blogger.com (PressMart Team) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 05:10:00 +0000

The Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC), India's biotech regulator, on Wednesday cleared Bt brinjal the country's first genetically modified (GM) food for commercial use.

However, the Centre will take a final decision on whether this will be allowed.

"The GEAC, after considering reports of two review committees, has given its approval to Bt brinjal," environment minister Jairam Ramesh said.

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Cancer can be passed on from mom to baby in womb

noreply@blogger.com (PressMart Team) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 04:59:00 +0000

Scientists have established the world's first case of cancer being transmitted from a woman to her baby in the womb, at the Institute of Cancer Research, University of London.

They used genetic fingerprinting techniques to show that leukaemia cells of a 28 year old mother had crossed the placenta and infected her unborn baby.

Usually, when cancer cells cross the placental barrier, the baby's immune system recognises them as foreign invaders and destroys them.

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Time's short, so talk less, work more, say Games chief

noreply@blogger.com (PressMart Team) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 05:05:00 +0000

The Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) on Monday delivered a loud and clear message about the state of Delhi's preparedness to host the 2010 edition.

"It is not time to debate what needs to be done, but time is now to recommend to do what is recommended and get done with it," CGF chief Michael Fennell told the media.

He spelt out a host of measures to address Delhi's deficiencies, while maintaining that it did not mean taking over the preparations from the Games's Organising Committee (OC).

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Twenty20 tickets going at discount

noreply@blogger.com (PressMart Team) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 04:36:00 +0000

Outside the ticket counter at the Ferozeshah Kotla ground, hours before the Sussex vs New South Wales match on Sunday, three men were seen trying to sell tickets they had bought in bulk earlier.

This is a common sight outside cricket stadiums in India. But here's the catch: the tickets were being sold at a price lower than marked.

Turnouts at Champions League matches have been ground. With the tournament not getting the kind of response organisers had hoped for, tickets in Delhi are being sold at a discount.

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Embassy in Kabul bombed, 17 locals dead, Indians safe

noreply@blogger.com (PressMart Team) — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 04:47:00 +0000

For the second time in 15 months, the Indian embassy in Kabul was attacked by a suicide car bomber.

The blast killed 17 people, all Afghans, and injured nearly 80. Three Indian paramilitary soldiers on guard duty were hit by shrapnel. Unlike last year, the Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack on a website.

Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao said the attack had clearly targeted the Indian embassy.

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Indian Institute of Science professor wins Chemistry Nobel

noreply@blogger.com (PressMart Team) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 07:59:00 +0000

Indian-American Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, 57, has won this year's Nobel Prize in Chemistry, the Nobel Foundation announced on Wednesday. He shares it with Thomas Steitz, an American, and Ada Yonath, an Israeli.

Well known as `Venky' in India's scientific circles, Ramakrishnan, has been a visiting lecturer at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bangalore, for many years. He was born and schooled at Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu and graduated from M.S. University in Vadodara, Gujarat, before moving to the United States for his Ph.D. from Ohio University.

He is the seventh person of Indian origin to win the Nobel.

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Ravaged by Rain

noreply@blogger.com (PressMart Team) — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 05:19:00 +0000

The government on Monday stepped up its relief and rescue operations, as torrential rains that have left 271 dead and more than 2.5 million homeless in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra, spread to new areas.

In Gujarat, cyclonic winds and thunderstorms killed 12 people, while heavy rains came down in Goa, western Madhya Pradesh as well as the northeastern states.

But the brunt of nature's fury continued to be borne by Andhra and Karnataka.

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Orissa High Court judges want `corrupt' colleague out

noreply@blogger.com (PressMart Team) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 05:37:00 +0000

An additional judge of the Orissa High Court has been recommended for removal for rigging a selection test for subordinate judges, according to documents seen by HT.

The judge, to be confirmed as a full-fledged judge next January, had "wrongly increased the marks of two candidates", says a letter written by the high court to Chief Justice of India K.G.Balakrishnan and the Union law ministry.

The judge's name is being withheld as efforts by HT to seek his view got no response.

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