Indians ready for Twenty-20 Party....

"Well done Tendulkar, you are a youngster," complimented Virender Sehwag as the 34-year-old sprinted across, bent down to field the ball with just one hand and brought about a flat throw.
One can sense that liveliness in this batch, that extra zest, those little jokes against each other, those huge peals of laughter; the serious men have all left and the boys are all having a big party. This is India's one-day team, a unit of all youngsters geared in blue, and Tendulkar- with all his child-like enthusiasm for the game, and in his ability to pull a fast one still intact- fits in very neatly.
The Indian team arrived in Melbourne today afternoon with Harbhajan Singh being 'protected' by policeman on his way out of the airport-the Indian team management denied any extra security requests and soon after arrival, rushed for practice.
There has been enough off-field drama and Mahendra Singh Dhoni would want his boys to concentrate completely on cricket now. All 14 except Munaf Patel and Ishant Sharma were there. Munaf has yet to arrive from India after replacing injured RP Singh, and fast bowler Ishant Sharma was given a day off from practice.
It's nice and cool here in Melbourne. But dark clouds are hovering and there is possibility of light showers through the evening. Team India sweated it out in a prolonged and concentrated fielding session that followed the light nets.
On Friday night, a 90,000 sell-out crowd is expected to watch the Twenty20 match between T20 world champions India and one-day champions Australia at the MCG-interestingly, in this format India have a reputation to live up to while Australia come with a point to prove.
Tendulkar though, looks unlikely to make his Twenty20 debut yet-there are indications that Tendulkar might opt out of the shortest version of the game, take a break and keep himself fresh for the ODI tri-series while the team goes back to its original T20 batting order of opening with Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir with Robin Uthappa at number three.
However, there can be a change in that, especially since Yuvraj Singh has been ruled out after failing to recover in time for the T20 fixture, leaving the No. 4 spot vacant in the batting line-up.
Dinesh Kaarthick, India's first Man of the Match in this format, is also a prime contender to fill in for Yuvraj. The Indian vice-captain, who trained lightly with the team before consulting a knee specialist here today along with physio John Gloster, has been declared available before the second ODI.
Harbhajan Singh, relieved at being freed of racial charges, looked calm, despite the local media hitting out at his acquittal, and was ignorant of what Justice John Hansen had said in his findings. The off-spinner, however denied there was any celebration. "Why celebrate? We haven't won the series. I am happy that's it," he said.
There are reports that Harbhajan Singh would be spoken to by BCCI officials to keep his behaviour and on-field conduct appropriate, but the team management denied knowledge of that.

SRK says no to minister's plea!....

Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss' appeal to movie stars not to smoke on screen as it encourages the youth to pick up the cancerous habit has been rejected by superstar Shah Rukh Khan.
Ramadoss recently appealed to matinee idols Shah Rukh Khan and Amitabh Bachchan to stop smoking in movies. However, King Khan Sunday rejected the appeal, saying cinema was all about creative freedom and it should not be curbed by censorships.
'I think there is a huge amount of creative freedom and in the field of art and cinema we should be allowed that. One should not go around picking on little things - because that's just cinema, its make believe and we should not have huge censorship on that,' Shah Rukh was quoted as saying.
'I wish Ramadoss prays that I stop smoking in real life because that's worse. In movies, we just do it for make-believe,' Shah Rukh added.
But the health minister begs to differ. 'The movies are most responsible (for encouraging smoking). When I said movies should not have smoking scenes, we have statistics to show that 52 percent of children have their first puff of a cigarette because of movie celebrities,' the minister told a private news channel.
He was also critical of Shah Rukh for smoking at a cricket match.
Sources close to the actor say he is an incorrigible smoker. The 'Chak De! India' star says those who want him to stop smoking will have to make smoking illegal so that he can be penalised.
'Tell me how many people you have sued in the last two years for smoking in public. I would like to know the number. I feel very bad that I am an icon for the youth and I have a bad habit,' Shah Rukh said.
'I would like to tell people not to do it, but having said that, it is my life, if you want me to change it then make it illegal. I don't do drugs; I don't drink, I don't run red lights; I don't do anything that is illegal,' the actor told a newspaper last year before his birthday.

Aussies are fuming for letting Bhajji off the hook!...

Cricket Australia bore scathing attack from its furious players and local media for bowing down to the BCCI's "money power" and letting Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh off the hook with minimal punishment.
The ICC-appointed appeals commissioner John Hansen on Tuesday overturned the charge of racial abuse against Harbhajan but held the Indian guilty of using offensive language against Australia's Andrew Symonds.
"The thing that pisses us off is that it shows how much power India has. The Aussie guys aren't going to make it up. The players are frustrated because this shows how much influence India has, because of the wealth they generate.
Money talks," an unnamed Australian player was quoted as saying by the Sydney Morning Herald.
The BCCI had on Tuesday threatened to pull out of the tri-series if the racial abuse charge levelled by Symonds on the Indian spinner during the Sydney Test were not withdrawn.
'Cricket's Day of Shame' cried a headline in the paper and the report said the players were dismayed to hear "Harbhajan had avoided any meaningful punishment".
The report also said that CA caved in to India's muscle flexing as it was anxious to save the tri-series because it feared to be sued for a figure understood to be about $60 million if India quit the tour.
India's broadcast partner, ESPN, owns the lucrative contract to beam cricket from Australia into the subcontinent.
The report claimed that CA told the cricketers that "if ESPN sued successfully, it could take 10 years to recoup the losses."
The Australian also said "the players wanted Harbhajan convicted of something because he had allegedly broken his word, lied and twice called Symonds a "monkey".
"When the offer for Harbhajan to apologise in return for the lesser charge was made to the BCCI it was rejected out of hand."
"Billionaire superpower of world cricket threatened for the second time in a month to go home if it didn't get its way, while its players refused to continue with the tour and remained in the luxury team hotel in Adelaide.
"The Indians also held the tour to ransom by pulling the same stunt after the Sydney Test, when Harbhajan was convicted," the report in The Australian said.
Another leading newspaper The Daily Telegraph said "India executed an astonishing political power-play when they achieved a courtroom compromise in the Harbhajan Singh race row in Adelaide".

Aamir Khan is Vadivelu’s fan!

“I don’t have fan clubs. Each and every family is my fan club. Their ration card is the ID card of the fan club”, says Vadivelu, who enjoys being the most lovable comedian of our times.
Vadivelu, who met the media persons in a press meet organised on January 28, informed the reporters about his new fan. It is none other than Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan.
The distinctive actor has the habit of relaxing himself amidst hectic work schedule by viewing Vadivelu’s comedy scenes. Mind you, Aamir doesn’t know Tamil but that doesn’t prevent him from enjoying the amazing facial expressions and hilarious body language of the comedian. Aamir Khan has shared this information to Murugadas, who directs his Gajini in Hindi.
Even censor board members have become his fans. The officers, after seeing his ‘Indiralogathil Na Azhagappan’ have appreciated him for his awesome performance in three different roles in the film. The film has been given U certification.
The leading comedy actor is quite excited about his forthcoming film ‘Indiralogathil Na Azhagappan’ that is to be released on February 1. He is confident that the people would appreciate his and the team’s hard work.

Ash to pair with Rajnikanth in 'Robot'

Aishwarya Rai opened up to the media first time on her upcoming Tamil project – 'Robot' to be directed by the renowned craftsman Shankar. She would star against Superstar Rajinikanth.
Readers might remember that most of the heroine roles in Rajini's last few projects starting from Nilambari in 'Padayappa' were offered to Aishwarya Rai, only to be turned down owing to the date issues of the actress.
Talking on Shankar and Rajinikanth, Aishwarya Rai expressed, "They are super entertainers, independently and together; it can be a problem saying no to them. I did get an enquiry last year when I was away on Pink Panther. This time I am happy that we could work out our schedule." On heroines getting sidelined in a Rajini movie, Aishwarya was quick to refute the claim, "I don't think it's a fair statement. You can't but be fascinated by this phenomenon called Rajini sir. He is so super fascinating and intriguing to his audience. I don't think it's a deliberate attempt by any director to sideline any actor / character working along with him."
She went on to add, "Rajini Sir is such a wonderful human being. He has been so close to the family too. I am glad and honored to be working with him" With Shankar finally managing to rope in Aishwarya Rai into his dream project, the expectations on 'Robot' would now touch sky high. The project to be produced by Ayngaran and Eros International has A.R.Rahman for music and will be the second film for Aishwarya Rai under Shankar's direction after 'Jeans'.

Top 10 ways to increase your tarffic!

1.Write more content: If you want traffic, you’ve got to write content. People will not visit your site if you don’t write a decent amount of good quality content, and new visitors definitely won’t come back. So keep writing great posts!
2. Have a good design and layout: If your site or blog’s design is messy, sloppy, hard to navigate, a rainbow of colors that don’t match or are hard on the eye, or full of errors, you will instantly go down the drain.
3. Get your own domain: I promise that if you have your domain, you will get more traffic. You will linked to more and people will more easily remember your URL. Try to get your own domain and have it from the start.
4. Guest blog: Offer to write a post on someone else’s site. Even better, have the post already written up and then let the blogger know you have a post ready to guest blog on their site, if it’s okay with them. When you write your guest blog post, find a post on your own blog that’s related and link to in your guest blog post. A link for you on their blog, and more traffic.
5. Begin tagging your images: When you have an image in your post, it should always be tagged properly. Make sure the width and height are clearly defined. But most importantly, fill out the alt and title tags with the image’s keywords. To learn further and learn how this helps, click here.
6. Respond to your comments and email: People love a blog whose owner is interactive and thoughtful, an owner who gets back quickly with response to their comments and emails. If you can do this, except more loyal readers who will love you. Then expect more traffic and more linkage.
7. Pay attention to your stats: Pay attention to your stats and Google Analytics. See what keywords are getting you the most traffic and what posts your readers like and don’t like. Use this knowledge to keep writing more popular posts filled with great keywords.
8. Write list posts: Everybody loves list posts. This post is a list post. Examples are "Top 10 Blog Themes", "25 Uses for Vinegar", and "5 Helpful Website Tools". List posts are usually linked to a lot more and get a lot more traffic than normal posts.
9. Establish relationships with fellow bloggers: Develop relationships with all kinds of bloggers, especially those also in your niche. Comment on their blogs, have conversations, link to them, make friendships. And before you know it, they’ll be linking to you too and maybe sending some traffic your way.
10. Link to your other posts as often as you can: Link internally to posts on your own blog. This helps your rankings and also helps your traffic. If people who come to your your blog have nothing else to see, they will leave. When you link to your other articles, they will most likely choose to go read those as well before leaving, and will stay on your blog longer.

10 Signs if u r in love!

1. You walk really slow when you are with him/her..
2. You feel shy when he/she is around..
3. You smile when u hear his/her voice..
4. When you look at him/her you cant see any other people around..
6. You start listening to slow songs..
7. You realise you are always smiling to yourself when you look at him/her..
8. You would do anything to see him/her..
9. You were busy thinking about him/her that you failed to notice point 5. missing..
10. Now you scrolled up and saw and you are laughing at yourself..:)

India's First Space Tourist! - Hardik

“Bingo Bindass” is finally going to space. Hardik Gajjar, a science undergraduate from Ahmedabad, has won UTV’s “Bingo Bindass Go to Space Contest” to become the country’s first space tourist.


UTV, which launched its entertainment channel called Brand Bindass last August, started the contest to find India’s first space tourist. After a seven-city hunt and ground auditions, it zeroed in on Ahmedabad-based Hardik.

“Honestly speaking, I was attracted by the prizes of watches and iPods! I thought, if not the space ticket, I’ll at least win an iPod,” said Hardik.

“When I entered the contest, I had a gut feeling that I would win. I also have my mother’s blessings. My father left us five years ago. We don’t even know where he is. My mother toiled hard and supported me pursuing not just my studies, but all other interests as well.

“Somewhere deep down in my heart, I wanted to show my father that I could make it without him. With this win, I’m happy that I’ve made my mother proud and given a fitting reply to my absentee father,” said Hardik, who wants to make it big in Bollywood.

“Ever since I was in 11th standard, I’ve dreamt of a career in Bollywood. I want to make it big in the media as an entertainer. I want to entertain the world, rob the world! I’ve been into dance, music, mimicry and anchoring.”

Hardik bagged a trophy in 2004 in a dance competition organised by Mallika Sarabhai’s academy and the Divya Bhaskar newspaper.

“I’ve also won many inter-college and inter-university events in mimicry and acting.”

Ask him what he looks forward to in space, and Hardik says: “I’m extremely excited about going to space and also training at NASA. I’m so proud of the fact I’ll be one of the few Indians at NASA. It’s something one can dream of.

“But now, for me it’s real! I’d love to take pictures of the earth from space and show my friends. It’ll be great to look at our earth from such an immense distance. As for apprehensions, none! And if at any point I do experience fear I’ll transform it to courage. But I won’t tell anybody about it!”

Space tourism is going to take off at the end of 2009 or the beginning of 2010 and Hardik is expected to travel then.

Kumble retains sixth spot in ICC rankings

Captain Anil Kumble was the lone Indian among the top 10 bowlers as he retained his sixth position in the International Cricket Council (ICC) Test rankings announced here Tuesday.
Among the batsmen, Rahul Dravid slipped one place to 16th while his teammates Sachin Tendulkar (14th), Sourav Ganguly (17th) and V.V.S. Laxman (18th) retained their positions as they go into the third Test against Australia, starting Wednesday in Perth.
Kumble, with 761 rating points, is lying sixth in the list that continues to be topped by Sri Lankan off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan (907). South Africa pacer Dale Steyn (832 points), who last week moved up one place to the second spot by virtue off an excellent series against West Indies, also retained his position.
Steyn, 24, took 20 wickets in the three-match series at an average of 19.10 to top Australia’s Stuart Clark, who slipped to third place. However, Clark, who is just two rating points behind Steyn, has the opportunity to regain the second place during the Perth Test.
Australian speedster Brett Lee is at fourth spot and his South African counterpart Makhaya Ntini is at fifth.
Among the batsmen, Kumar Sangakkara of Sri Lanka continues to lead the pack with 933 points, followed by South Africa’s Jacques Kallis.
Australia captain Ricky Ponting, who seemed to be returning to form during the controversial Sydney Test, is at third position. He has a chance to climb up to be among the top two in the two remaining Tests against India.
Among all-rounders, New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori, by virtue of his magnificent 94 in against Bangladesh in the second Test, returned to the third position with 337 points. The 28-year-old spinner-turned-all-rounder overtook South African Shaun Pullock, who retired after the third Test against West Indies in Durban.
ICC rankings:
Batsmen:
1. Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka, 933 rating points)2. Jacques Kallis (South Africa, 917)3. Ricky Ponting (Australia, 901)4. Mike Hussey (Australia, 900)5. Mohammad Yousuf (Pakistan, 880)6. Matthew Hayden (Australia, 858)7. Mahela Jayawardena (Sri Lanka, 835)8. Shivnarine Chanderpaul (West Indies, 816)9. Kevin Pietersen (England, 804)10. Yunus Khan (Pakiatan, 799)
Bowlers:
1. Muttiah Muralidaran (Sri Lanka, 907 rating points)2. Dale Steyn (South Africa, 832)3. Stuart Clark (Australia, 830)4. Brett Lee (Australia, 773)5. Makhaya Ntini (South Africa, 768)6. Anil Kumble (India, 761)7. Shane Bond (New Zealand, 709)8. Shaun Pollock (South Africa, 702)9. Mathew Hoggard (England, 695)10. Shoaib Akhtar (Pakistan, 684)
All-rounders:
1. Jacques Kallis (South Africa, 527)2. Andrew Flintoff (England, 340)3. Daniel Vettori (New Zealand, 337)4. Shaun Pollock (South Africa, 323)5. Chaminda Vaas (Sri Lanka, 276)

Princess Diana wanted son William to be made king

Princess Diana wanted the British monarchy to “skip a generation” and make her son William king - instead of Prince Charles, her ex-husband and heir to the throne.
Maggie Rae, the princess’ divorce lawyer, said Diana told her in the mid 1990s that she believed Queen Elizabeth II would abdicate in 1996.
Rae told the inquest into the deaths of Diana and Dodi al-Fayed in London that the princess felt she was up against a “big machine” during her divorce proceedings from Prince Charles, and had frequently expressed fears for her life.
Later Tuesday, Paul Burrell, Diana’s former butler, was due to be cross-examined by lawyers at the inquest.
Burrell said during evidence Monday that Diana had planned to marry Pakistani heart surgeon Hasnat Khan, and that her relationship with Dodi al-Fayed, the Harrod’s heir, had not been serious.
Diana and Dodi died in a car crash in Paris Aug 31, 1997.

Bird flu outbreak in India confirmed

India Tuesday confirmed an outbreak of bird flu in two districts of West Bengal.
“We have confirmed from the samples that the poultry died of the bird flu virus,” said Pradip Kumar, secretary of the animal husbandry department in the ministry of agriculture.
“The Bhopal-based High Security Animal Disease Laboratory has confirmed the outbreak and we have sent 60 rapid response teams to the state for the initial ground work,” Kumar told reporters here.