A fight for $6 Million, Top Twenty 20 Champions teams from 5 Countries. Starting from 3rd Dec 2008, Twenty20 Champions League schedule has been announced and listed below: Dec 3rd - Middlesex Crusaders vs Victoria Bushrangers in Mumbai Dec 4th - Sialkot Stallions vs Western Rambal Warriors in Banglore Dec 4th - Chennai Super Kings vs Victoria Bushrangers in Mumbai Dec 5th - Middlesex Crusaders vs Pretoria Titans in Chennai Dec 5th - Rajasthan Royals vs Sialkot Stallions in Mumbai Dec 6th - Western Australia vs Natal Dolphins in Banglore Dec 6th - Victoria Bushrangers vs Pretoria Titans in Chennai Dec 6th - Chennai Super Kings vs Middlesex Crusaders in Chennai Dec 7th - Natal Dolphins vs Sialkot Stallions in Bangalore Dec 7th - Rajasthan Royals vs Western Rambal Warriors in Bangalore Dec 7th - Chennai Super Kings vs Pretoria Titans in Chennai
Dec 8th - Semifinal 1 (Group B Top team vs Group A Second placed team) Dec 9th - Semifinal 2 (Group A Top team vs Group B Second placed team)
Dec 10th - Final (Winner of Semifinal 1 vs Winner of Semifinal 2)
We’ve all seen “The Exorcist”, the infamous film based on William Peter Blatty’s equally infamous book. We also know that Blatty based his story on something that really happened, the exorcism of a boy in 1949 that took place at no less than four different places during the months-long exorcism. For years it was thought that a house in Mt. Rainier, Maryland was where it all started. Problem is, it wasn’t the place. For years the Mt. Rainier house sat vacant, presumably in part because of its “history”, where it was frequently broke into by teenagers who were undoubtedly scared out of their wits and the place became the brunt of god knows how many ghost stories. Ultimately, the local fire department burned the home in an exercise and that should have been the end of the story. It wasn’t. In 1998 writer Mark Opsasnick determined in an article for Strange Magazine that this home wasn’t just the wrong house, it was in the wrong city. The actual case began in a home located in Cottage City, Maryland. I am uncertain as to whether or not this house is still standing, but the other places associated with the exorcism are not. After moving the boy from Maryland to St. Louis, three places have gained notoriety for their involvement with the story. Two of them are gone. A rectory on the campus of St. Louis University that is no longer standing, and a demolished wing of the Alexian Brothers Hospital. Of particular interest is the room at the hospital. This was demolished in the 1990’s, and at the time, stories around St. Louis ranged from demolition workers opening the locked room and seeing a black figure escape, to inverted crosses being found painted on the walls of the room in dried blood even though supposedly no one had entered the room since 1949.
The validity of any of these stories, like anything else, are seriously questionable. But the last place associated with the exorcism still stands. Its a non-descript house in the North St. Louis County suburb of Bel-nor. Stories abound about this home, everything from the victim’s bedroom always being strangely cold, to talk of an otherworldly vortex that can be felt by sensitives on the upper floor of the home. This Halloween, a local radio program known for an annual show broadcast from a haunted location spent the evening there seemingly to much paranormal success.
India captain Anil Kumble has announced that he plans to retire from Test cricket after the third Test against Australia. In 132 Tests, Kumble took 619 wickets, the highest among Indians and third in the all-time list.
The champion leg spinner has decided to call it quits on a ground where he has tormented the best of batsmen and teamsn over the years. Kumble's illustrious career spanned nearly two decades.
It was at the Feroz Shah Kotl, where Kumble bagged all 10 Pakistani wickets in the February of 1999 and spun India to a magical win.
Over the last few months, Kumble has not had the best of time on the field and has come under criticism for his form and fitness. Kumble injured his fingers in the first innings of the Kotla Test when he tried to take cach to send back Matthew Hayden.
The gritty spinner came back to bowl with 11 stitches on his fingers.
England were demolished as the Stanford Superstars became dollar millionaires in the high profile Twenty20-for-20 contest. Chris Gayle's Caribbean collective cruised home by 10 wickets in typically flamboyant style after England were dismissed for a paltry 99 at Coolidge.
It will not go down in the official records but this clash for cash was one of the most humiliating defeats for an England team in history.
Although England captain Kevin Pietersen opted to bat first in Sir Allen Stanford's financial bonanza, only three men reached double figures during a regular tumbling of wickets.
They managed only seven fours between them, a proportion of which were via edges - a total the opposition openers managed inside the first five overs of the reply.
Upon levelling that boundary count, home captain Chris Gayle then upped the tempo to pump up the volume levels in the stands, by turning his attention to sixes, cracking Steve Harmison over the rope at long-on and deep midwicket.
Gayle towered a third off spinner Samit Patel to overshadow his younger partner Andre Fletcher, who nevertheless laced the boundary boards himself to follow up an unbeaten 90 against Middlesex two nights ago.
If England were to have any chance of triumphing in the US dollars 20million match, they required early wickets.
But two spurned run-out chances in the opening overs involving Patel and Pietersen were coupled with two television consultations going against Harmison.
First a leg-before appeal against Gayle in the first over was annulled after the ball was shown to be pitching outside leg-stump, then Fletcher survived after inconclusive replays of a waft that looped through to wicketkeeper Matt Prior.
Failure to separate the first-wicket pair provided the licence the home team needed to provide the excitement associated with the 20-over format.
Gayle revelled in the limelight, depositing off-spinner Graeme Swann for another maximum on his way to a 33-ball fifty.
If Fletcher's early blitz of fours provided the impetus, Gayle took on the baton to the finish, which came when he blasted Flintoff for his fifth six in only the 13th over.
While the Superstars emphasised the value of executing classical cricket strokes with extreme power, England suffered for their improvisation.
Openers Ian Bell and Prior both paid the price for moving around in their crease in the same Jerome Taylor over, the fourth of the innings.
Bell attempted to give himself room and only succeeded in jabbing a yorker into leg-stump while Prior walked across his stumps two deliveries later and was spectacularly bowled. Such was the dominance of the Superstars' attack in the powerplay period, in fact, that only two boundaries were struck, both by Prior, a flowing extra-cover drive off Taylor and a pull over mid-on off Daren Powell.
With uneven bounce a feature of this week, cross-batted shots were potentially perilous as Owais Shah discovered.
In an attempt to haul the ball from outside off-stump, Shah skied a steepler to deepish square-leg where Dave Mohammed judged the catch perfectly despite team-mate Kieron Pollard almost causing a nasty collision.
England were deep in trouble when star man Pietersen missed an attempted sweep shot off medium-pacer Darren Sammy, which exposed and knocked over his leg-stump.
It triggered one of a number of extravagant celebrations from the West Indian players - Sammy lying on his back with arms aloft in an outpouring of emotion.
When Andrew Flintoff and Paul Collingwood perished in consecutive overs, England were 54 for six and struggling to set a three-figure target.
Flintoff, who had crashed Pollard for a straight four the previous delivery, swished too soon at a slower ball and was bowled. Then Collingwood swung giant left-arm spinner Sulieman Benn low to Ramnaresh Sarwan at deep midwicket.
Within two overs, England had also lost Luke Wright and Swann, who was preferred to fast bowler James Anderson when the XI was named yesterday morning.
Wright's attempt to hit the match's first six resulted in a failure to clear Sammy at long-on, who held a comfortable catch above his head off Pollard. Swann was subsequently outfoxed by Benn, bowled by a full toss.
The only respite for England against a Superstars side, who had been drilled during a six-week training camp, came when Samit Patel was given a life on five by Mohammed at deep midwicket off Pollard.
That came with Pietersen's men on 66 for eight and Patel, who scampered for two, followed up by pulling the next ball for four.
He edged another one during a 28-run stand with Stuart Broad, which came to its conclusion in the penultimate over when he was run out after attempting to steal a second run from Gayle's misfield.
Benn wrapped the innings up when he castled last man Harmison at the death.
Ajith starrer 'Billa' along with 'Kanchivaram', 'Kalloori' and 'Mudhal Mudhal Mudhal Varai' ('M3V') have been selected to be screened in the film festival.
The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has announced the Indian panorama films (feature and non-feature films) to be screened at the thirty-ninth International Film Festival of India 2008 (IFFI) in November-December in Goa. Ajith-starrer 'Billa' (directed by Vishnuvardhan) has gained entry in the feature film section. Priyadarshan’s 'Kanchivaram', which stars Prakashraj and Shreya Reddy, will be screened in the non-feature film section and will also compete in the film festival for the best film award. It is heartening to see Balaji Sakthivel’s 'Kalloori' which made Tamannaah a household name, in this festival. It is a big honour for director Krishnan Seshadri Gomatam as his first film, 'M3V', managed to grab the attention of the elite jury of IFFI.
IFFI is a very prestigious international film festival that takes place in Goa in November-December every year. It is organized by Indian Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. Films from all over the world are screened at this festival. This is a competitive event and the best film will be awarded a cash prize, a trophy (Golden Peacock) and a citation. IFFI also includes a special Indian Panorama section for Indian films which carries great prestige and is divided into two sections – feature and non-feature. Any Indian filmmaker can send his or her entry provided it satisfies the regulations of IFFI. The IFFI jury selects some entries (usually 25 feature and 25 non-feature films) for the Indian Panorama section. This is not a competitive section; all the selected films will be promoted at various international film festivals in India and abroad. They will also be a part of cultural exchange programmes organized by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
If the jury deems it appropriate to permit a film entry into the competitive section, it can always do so. This year, Priyadarshan’s 'Kanchivaram' has been selected by the 7-member jury headed by K. Sastry to compete in IFFI’s competitive section. It might not be surprising if it wins the Golden Peacock as it came close to winning awards at several film festivals worldwide, including the Toronto Film Festival.
Few days back I predicted that soon one dollar would become equal to 50 rupees. Just after one week, my prediction became correct. Now one US dollar is around 50 rupees. Now I think it is right time to tell you the history of Indian currency, rupee. The origin of the word “rupee” is found in the Sanskrit word rup or rupyah, which means “wrought silver,” originally “something provided with an image, a coin,” from rupah “shape, likeness, image.” Before independence, India was a land of hundreds of princely states. They used to run their own coins and currency notes.
After Independence in 1947, the Indian government brought out the new design Re. 1 note in 1949. The Lion Capital of Asoka was used for the design of that note.
Devaluation of Rupee started in 1960s due to war with China and Pakistan, large government budget deficits and drought there was problem of inflation in India. There was sharp rise in prices. So Indian Government was forced to start some liberal policies to stabilize the economy which finally resulted into huge devaluation of Rupee.
During mid eighties, India started having balance of payments problems and by the end of 1990, India was in serious economic trouble. Our foreign exchange reserves had dried up to the point that India could barely finance three weeks’ worth of imports. Once again, the government decided to devaluate the Rupee. By the start of 21st century, the Rupee stopped declining and stabilized at 45. However in mid-2007, the rupee started gaining strength one dollar came below 40 Rupees. Now again due to recent economic crisis in world economy, one dollar has started touching the historical figure of 50 Rupees.
Through this post I am sharing the most viewed YouTube video in India. This video is on Tsunami. A tsunami is a series of waves created when a body of water, such as an ocean, is rapidly displaced. The effects of a tsunami can be devastating due to the immense volumes of water and energy involved. Check out the effect of tsunami in this video.
I am not joking. It is now possible to get a free laptop in India. Just you need to get an internet connection. Reliance Communication has launched a nice plan for internet users. Just subscribe to their net connection for Rs 1500 every month only and get a free laptop. Moreover, there will not be any hidden cost. You will have to pay this amount only for two years and the laptop will be yours. For giving free laptop to its internet users, Reliance Communications has done strategic agreement with five leading laptop manufacturers of India - HCL, Intel, Acer, Asus and Lenovo. According to company’s spokesperson more details regarding availability, schemes and pricing are expected to be released shortly.
“
The growth of Internet services in India is one of the key visions of Reliance Communications. The next phase of growth of Internet penetration in the country is linked to the growth in PC and Laptop penetration offering an opportunity to empower all Indians by making the overall cost of Internet access more affordable,” said Mahesh Prasad, President - Reliance Communications.
Reliance NetConnect is India’s one of the leading wireless internet service providers,with over One Million customers, available across 20,000 towns and 4.5 lakh Indian villages. I am very happy with this new plan of Reliance, this will definitely boost the growth of internet users in India.
Hmmm... bout me...
am a straight 4ward practical guy wud do wat ever i think(hop i never get in2 bad ideas) n hardly gets in2 others words.... vl do nythin 4 ma dignity n never wanna let it down.. vl try ma best 2 do my fullest 2 ma friens.. mainly never like n likes 2 b betrayed! vl luv 2 hav fun.. n pals try 2 adjus wit me if u can.... lolz...
