stuff world

cricket

2008-11-25T09:08:00.000+05:30

A convincing series win for India

Indians have managed to shrug off the tag of chokers, writes L. Sivaramakrishnan

PULLING HIS WEIGHT: Spearhead of the Indian attack, Zaheer Khan, has taken up the responsibility of managing the final power-play overs.

India has wrapped up the series very convincingly. With it one can see the emerging confidence of a squad which believes in itself. From a group of brilliant individuals, they have transformed into a collective bunch who can finally call themselves ‘a team’. Indians have tasted victory and have discovered how addictive it can be. They have managed to shrug off the label ‘chokers’ and have grown in a short span from strength to strength.

The reasons may range from shrewd captaincy, to the coach’s ability to hold the team together or even exceptional individual performances. The bottom-line is that India is finally looking at a winning combination.

At a time when the senior most members of the team are looking to retire and young talents are being inducted, the team has managed to hold its own. There is a sense of wanting to make a contribution to the team — a contribution that counts.

In Bangalore, one could see Zaheer Khan given the responsibility of working with the bowlers. During the English batting power-play, Zaheer was seen talking to both Ishant Sharma and Munaf Patel, setting the field for them and pointing out the most effective line and length to bowl. He himself bowled a brilliant first spell restricting England to just 21 runs in the first six overs. Yuvraj Singh took over the fielding aspect pushing the boys to run faster and dive harder.

Realistically speaking, this was England’s best chance to win. Choosing to bowl first, when weather was always a factor, was absolutely the right thing to do. Well knowing that the Duckworth/Lewis method was going to come into play, chasing a target was a smart option. But the catch here was that India knew it too! So what India needed to do was get quick runs without losing too many wickets.

Brilliant batting

This is exactly what they did. They not only scored quick runs but lost only one wicket by the end of 17 overs. Constant rain interruptions can not only break your concentration but the momentum of play as well. Given the circumstances, they batted brilliantly almost as if all their collective experience from their Twenty20 matches and IPL combined to produce some scintillating cricket.

With complicated calculations, India’s 166 runs in 22 overs was deemed to be equal to 197 runs in 22 overs, thanks to India not losing too many wickets before 20 overs. Getting almost 10 runs an over was always going to be an uphill task.

Fast bowlers impress

It was only when Owais Shah and Andrew Flintoff got going that England posed any kind of threat. Rather than say that England did not make an impact, it would be fair to credit the Indian fast bowlers.

They choked the English batsmen and forced the runs to dry up when it counted the most. England managed to score only 14 runs off their power-play. With it they frittered away a chance of victory.

u.s economy

2008-11-25T08:41:00.001+05:30

Obama starts work on US economy

6 hours ago

Work on rescuing the troubled US economy "starts today" because "we don't have a minute to waste", President-elect Barack Obama said.

Mr Obama, who has named New York Federal Reserve president Timothy Geithner, 47, as his Treasury Secretary, said he had "assembled an economic team with the vision and expertise to stabilise our economy, create jobs, and get America back on track".

He said swift and bold action was needed and he wanted leaders "who could offer both sound judgment and fresh thinking, both a depth of experience and a wealth of bold new ideas".

"Even as we face great economic challenges, we know that great opportunity is at hand - if we act swiftly and boldly," Mr Obama said.

Just hours earlier, incumbent President George Bush stressed the need for the two leaders to work closely together as he told reporters he had talked with Mr Obama about the current administration's plans to rescue stricken US bank Citigroup.

At a press conference in Chicago, Mr Obama said he wanted to "bring together the best minds in America" to guide the country through "an economic crisis of historic proportions".

"If we do not act swiftly and boldly, most experts now believe that we could lose millions of jobs next year," he said.

"While we can't underestimate the challenges we face, we also can't underestimate our capacity to overcome them - to summon that spirit of determination and optimism that has always defined us, and move forward in a new direction to create new jobs, reform our financial system, and fuel long-term economic growth.

"We know this won't be easy, and it won't happen overnight."

He declined to put a figure on his new economic stimulus package, but said a recovery plan was needed "for both Wall Street and Main Street" - "a plan that stabilises our financial system and gets credit flowing again, while at the same time addressing our growing foreclosure crisis, helping our struggling auto industry, and creating and saving 2.5 million jobs"

the hindhu

2008-11-25T08:30:00.002+05:30

Economy will grow at 7-8%: Chidambaram
Security, terrorism to dominate India-Pakistan talks today
Islamabad (PTI): India will take up wide range of security related issues, including terrorism and extradition of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, in crucial talks with Pakistan here on Tuesday. Terrorism, drug trafficking and circulation of fake ...
BUSINESS
‘Action will bolster Citigroup’s morale’
The bold move is the latest in a string of high-profile U.S. government bailout efforts
I was tortured, says Purohit
Mumbai: Malegaon blast suspect Lieutenant-Colonel Prasad Purohit on Monday levelled allegations of torture against the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) in court. He was produced, along with six other suspects — Pragnya Singh ...

Congress harps on corruption, BJP focus on development in Madhya Pradesh
Mayawati’s BSP and Uma Bharti’s Bharatiya Jan Shakti Party may throw up surprises

India may share Samjhauta probe details with Pakistan
Madhukar Gupta to hold talks with Interior Secretary Kamal Shah today

India seeks doubling of World Bank aid
NEW DELHI: Finance Minister P. Chidambaram on Monday indicated that India was seeking doubling of World Bank aid to $6 billion (Rs. 30,000 crore) each year to tackle the slowdown in capital inflows and spur economic growth through higher ...

All-party meet on Tamils issue today

INTERNATIONAL
High death toll in Kilinochchi battle
LTTE marshals reserves to save administrative capital

IFFI
Husain’s film dropped from public show
Decision follows pressure from activists of Hindu Janjagruti Samiti

IFFI
Film highlights farmers’ plight
PANAJI: The in-depth coverage of the farmer suicide incidents by The Hindu has resulted in a rare Hindi film highlighting the problems of the Vidarbha farmers. The film Summer 2007 was screened at ...

CRICKET
Duckworth/Lewis method explained
The Duckworth-Lewis method, which is used for revising targets in abridged ODIs, is an intricate solution — certainly the best at the moment — to a complex problem. The Hindu attempts to throw light on it by answering ...

NEWSCAPE
Back home from a sea of troubles
Five of 22 crew members of Stolt Valor arrive in Mumbai amid scenes of joy

Hackers go for surgical strikes
SAN JOSE: Internet criminals have been getting more “professional” for years, trying to run their businesses like Big Business to get better and more profitable at selling stolen data online. Now the bad guys of the ...

Art needs to be made part of school curriculum
Aanmajothi’s National Music and Dance Festival inaugurated

Solar panels on graves give power to a town
MADRID: A gritty, working-class town outside Barcelona has placed a sea of solar panels atop mausoleums at its cemetery, transforming a place of perpetual rest into one buzzing with renewable energy. Flat, open and sun-drenched land is ...

Bodies mixed up at government hospital
CHENNAI: The bodies of two patients who died on Sunday at the Government General Hospital here were mixed up on Monday, leading to relatives of one of the deceased staging a protest at the hospital. A mortuary attendant has been ...

Other Stories

Now, it’s rat fever in Bangalore, 40 cases treated this month

Additional manpower for airport security

YSR’s pet sector may take a hit

Tamil Nadu politicising Neyyar issue: Minister

Canal scheme to be ready by April

Abhaya case: High Court flays CBI

First batch leaves for Jerusalem

Permanent NCC camp site to come up

France, Germany to help car industry

Case filed against Navjot Singh Sidhu

Five crew members of Stolt Valor arrive

Air India likely to cut fares

Mehbooba Mufti escapes attack

Obama unveils economic team

Qureshi to hold talks with Pranab

Won’t use nukes first, says Zardari, but adds a rider

2008-11-23T12:10:00.000+05:30

Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari said today that Pakistan will never be the first to use nuclear weapons but then quickly added Islamabad’s traditional rider: that India should sign the South Asian Non-Nuclear Treaty to free South Asia of nuclear weapons.

Experts said linking the two is a non-starter and Zardari’s comments do not appear to represent a doctrinal change.

Addressing the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit via video-conferencing from Islamabad, Zardari said, “I am against nuclear warfare altogether.” When asked if Pakistan would adopt the policy of no-first-use of nuclear weapons, he said, “Most definitely, yes, we hope we will never get into that position (of using nuclear weapons). I am for a South Asian Non-nuclear Treaty.”

“I can get my Parliament to agree to it right away,” he said. “Can you (India) get your Parliament to agree to it?”

India, which announced a no-first-use policy soon after the 1998 nuclear tests, has proposed a no-first-use treaty to Pakistan but Islamabad rejected it arguing that its nuclear weapons programme is India-specific and it would keep its options open for parity given India’s superiority in conventional arms.

In turn, Pakistan has always pushed for a South Asian treaty to freeze nuclear weapons in the region, aimed at locking the Indian nuclear programme. New Delhi has rejected it saying it has a wider concern which includes China. Former Indian Ambassador to the UN Arundhati Ghose, who played a pivotal role in New Delhi not signing the CTBT, told The Sunday Express, “It seems that it’s a general answer and is not a change in the nuclear doctrine of Pakistan’s establishment. He is not speaking of no-first-use policy, and by making it dependent on the South Asian treaty, it’s rhetoric. This is nothing new.”

Zardari, during his half-hour interaction, made all the right noises. To loud applause, he said: “There is a little bit of Indian in every Pakistani and a little bit of Pakistani in every Indian and I speak today as a Pakistani, as much as the little Indian in me.”

2008-11-23T12:07:00.001+05:30

NEW DELHI: Painting a rosy picture in the current grim scenarioglobally, Securities and Exchange Board of India Chairman C. B. Bhave on Friday maintained that India would be among the first few countries to recover the fastest from the ongoing crisis and the interregnum period should be utilised to focus on institutional reforms that would be required to handle bigger markets.

Global meltdown

Speaking at the HT Leadership Summit here, the market regulator pointed out that the current global financial meltdown was a crisis in the credit market and not in equity markets and stressed the need for introducing more exchange-traded products to bring about transparency in their transactions.

On the unprecedented slump in the country’s bourses since October, Mr. Bhave made it clear that the recent meltdown was not owing to any market manipulation or a scam. The prime cause was the fact that those FIIs (foreign institutional investors) who had borrowed huge amount of funds for investment were leaving the markets even as long-term investors such as pension funds and retail investors were actually picking up stocks. “We have not found anything in the market that would give us suspicion that something had seriously gone wrong with the market itself,” he said.

Elaborating further, Mr. Bhave noted that only leveraged FIIs such as hedge funds were going out of the market while pension funds and university funds were buying stocks. “Equity is going into the hands of people who have patience,” he said. According to SEBI’s analysis of the market, if four FIIs sold stocks during September 1 to November 14 this year, three others bought them during the same period which indicated minimal net selling.

Sale by brokers

The net stock sale by FIIs during September 1 to November 14 was worth Rs. 22,000 crore, while the sale by brokers was worth another Rs. 700 crore on proprietary accounts. On the contrary, the net purchase of stocks by mutual funds was worth Rs. 1,000 crore while domestic institutional investors and others, including retail investors, accounted for another Rs. 16,000 crore and Rs. 5,600 crore, respectively.

The market regulator pointed out that smart investors were, in fact, picking up stocks in the current slump. “If you think Indian investors don’t have money, if you think Indian investors are running away, think again. There are some smart guys sitting out there, who think that this market is giving valuations,” he said.

Word of caution

Mr. Bhave, however, had a word of caution for retail and institutional investors. While he warned retail investors against borrowing for investing in equities and advised them to keep aside funds for emergency situations, he also cautioned institutional investors against overleveraging to levels that lead to systemic risks in the market.

“Where the system is getting overleveraged and the risk becomes too great for financial markets, we as regulators must intervene and tell them to bring it down,” he said.

‘Smart investors picking up stocks’

2008-11-23T12:07:00.000+05:30

Global meltdown

Sale by brokers

Word of caution

“Where the system is getting overleveraged and the risk becomes too great for financial markets, we as regulators must intervene and tell them to bring it down,” he said.

Fiat way to tackle market slowdown

2008-11-23T12:02:00.002+05:30

MUMBAI: In a bold move amid dipping car sales and all-around production cuts in the automobile industry, Fiat India has announced that it is launching two new models in India — the Linea sedan in December and Grande Punto in February 2009.

The company on Friday rolled out the Linea from the Ranjangaon plant near Pune in Maharashtra where commercial production was announced. The Ranjangaon facility was set up as a Rs. 4,000-crore, 50:50 joint venture between Fiat and Tata Motors and has a capacity to make two lakh cars three lakh powertrains (engines) annually. Linea is positioned in the C plus segment and is to be launched in the third week of December. Linea was first launched by Fiat in Istanbul, Turkey, in May 2007. Grande Punto, a hatchback, has been a top seller in Europe, clocking annual sales of around 3.50 lakh units.

Addressing the media, Fiat India Automobiles Chief Executive Officer Deepak Kapoor said “the best way to tackle a market slowdown is to launch attractive products. Linea is probably the best car in its segment and would certainly be accepted by Indian buyers.”

Fiat plans to step up exports of Palio, which is being made at Ranjangaon. According to Mr. Kapoor, “Exports of the 1.2 Palio petrol both AC and non-AC variants have commenced. The 1.2 Palio petrol is being exported to South Africa and the company will look at prospective right hand drive markets for export of other products. The products exported from the Ranjangaon plant will include versions of Palio, Linea and Grande Punto. FIAL also supplies automobile components to other Fiat facilities.”

Fiat was rolling out the car from a brand new platform and according to Mr. Kapoor, “Fiat is launching a car from its own manufacturing facility after 2001 when Palio was rolled out from the Kurla plant. The new car will help Fiat establish our brand in a new avatar.” The Kurla plant has since been shut down and disposed of. Tata Motors’ new version of the Indigo sedan will also be made at Ranjangaon. Linea will be sold with diesel (1.3 litre) and petrol (1.4 litre) engine options and with three versions each — Active, the basic model and Dynamic and Emotion being the higher end models.

The current level of localisation of Linea was around 55 per cent but this would rise to 90 per cent by December 2009, said Mr. Kapoor.

stills

2008-11-23T11:54:00.011+05:30

2008-11-23T11:41:00.006+05:30

vidya balan

2008-11-23T11:34:00.002+05:30

The Vidya Balan Laughter?
Yeah, we hit upon this interesting tidbit about Vidya Balan. The other day a unit member from one of Vidya’s movie gave us this rather interesting insight on her. “You should hear her mimic. She can imitate other actors with utmost ease! It’s a treat to watch her take-off on them. She’s the life of our night schedules.

She is in good spirits even in the wee hours of the night. She never gets and let other get bogged down by boredom and is always smiling, cracking jokes and imitating other people. The gruelling schedules don’t seem tough when she is around.” Hmmm, it will be interesting to watch who does she mimics well. How about hosting your own laughter show, huh?

2008-11-23T11:29:00.004+05:30

Nayan here and there.

It looks like back-to-back duds like Kathanayakudu and Salute have dampened the spirits of Telugu filmmakers. “Her fancy price tag is definitely one of the reasons,” says an industry source.

With a string of hits like Laxmi and Dubai Seenu, the dusky actress was in the race for the top slot and was also billed as a lucky mascot. However, her manager Ajith disputes this view.

We have received a bunch of offers from Telugu makers, but we couldn’t allot dates as Nayanthara was busy with two Tamil films,” reveals Ajith, who says that Telugu makers sometimes demand immediate dates which is difficult to adjust.

michael jackson converted to islam

2008-11-23T10:52:00.003+05:30

Michael Jackson 'converts to Islam and changes name to Mikaeel'

Michael Jackson has reportedly become a Muslim and changed his name to Mikaeel.

The singer, who was raised as a Jehovah's Witness, converted to Islam in a ceremony at a friend's house in Los Angeles.

He is said to have sat on the floor and worn a small hat while an imam officiated.

According to The Sun, the ceremony took place while Jackson, 50, was recording an album at the home of Steve Porcaro, a keyboard player who composed music on his Thriller album.

The former Jackson 5 star was counselled by David Wharnsby, a Canadian songwriter, and Phillip Bubal, a producer, who have both converted.

A source said Jackson had appeared a "bit down" and added: "They began talking to him about their beliefs, and how they thought they had become better people after they converted. Michael soon began warming to the idea.

"An imam was summoned from the mosque and Michael went through the shahada, which is the Muslim declaration of belief."

Last year his brother, Jermaine Friday, suggested Jackson would convert having taken an interest in Islam since Friday's conversion in 1989.

"When I came back from Mecca I got him a lot of books and he asked me lots of things about my religion and I told him that it's peaceful and beautiful," said Friday.

"He read everything and he was proud of me that I found something that would give me inner strength and peace.

"I think it is most probable that Michael will convert to Islam.

"He could do so much, just like I am trying to do. Michael and I and the word of God, we could do so much."

us senate;

2008-11-23T10:42:00.000+05:30

Obama to name Geithner, Summers to economic posts

NEW YORK – President-elect Barack Obama will announce the leaders of his economic team Monday, naming Timothy Geithner as treasury secretary and Lawrence Summers to direct the National Economic Council, transition officials said.

If confirmed by the Senate, Geithner, 47, president of the New York Federal Reserve, would be the top Cabinet official in charge of leading the administration's response to the global economic crisis. Word of his likely selection Friday helped send the Dow Jones Industrials soaring 500 points after several days of steep losses.

One top Democrat said John Podesta, a leader of Obama's transition team, had told Senate aides on Friday that Obama hoped for speedy confirmation so the new administration could get to work quickly thereafter.

Geithner (pronounced GITE-ner) served as a Treasury Department official during the Clinton administration, where he played a major role in negotiating assistance packages for South Korea and Brazil.

Summers, 53, a former treasury secretary under President Bill Clinton and one-time president of Harvard University, will advise Obama from the White House. Officials said he would coordinate the federal response to the economic meltdown across several agencies, including a plan Obama announced Saturday to create or save 2.5 million jobs by rebuilding infrastructure and modernizing schools while developing alternative energy sources and more efficient cars.

During the Clinton administration, Summers helped craft the U.S. support program for Mexico during its 1995 financial crisis. He later helped lead the U.S. response to the Asian financial crisis of 1997.

Geithner and Summers were scheduled to appear with Obama at a press conference in Chicago Monday morning.

The announcement comes as Obama moves quickly to fill slots for his incoming administration. On Saturday, he named longtime spokesman Robert Gibbs as White House press secretary.

Ellen Moran will be director of communications in charge of getting Obama's message out. Her deputy in the White House will be Dan Pfeiffer, the communications director for Obama's presidential transition team.

In other positions, Obama is virtually certain to offer Congressional Budget Office chief Peter Orszag the job of directing the White House Office of Budget and Management, and Orszag is likely to accept, Democratic officials said Saturday.

New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton also is in line to become secretary of state, while Obama's choice for attorney general is Eric Holder. He held the No. 2 slot in the Justice Department in President Bill Clinton's administration.

Officials said New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson had emerged as a likely pick as commerce secretary, although he had hoped to be secretary of state. Like Clinton, he was a rival of Obama's for the Democratic presidential nomination last winter. He dropped out after the early contests, though, and soon threw his support behind the eventual winner. The officials spoke only on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the anticipated appointments.

The president-elect has largely stayed out of public view since his election on Nov. 4, preferring to work quietly with aides and Vice President-elect Joe Biden in a suite of offices in downtown Chicago.

Obama faces unusual challenges and has moved quickly in assembling his team. Former President George H.W. Bush made his first Cabinet pick the day after his election in 1988, but former President Clinton did not name any members until after Thanksgiving. President George W. Bush's transition was delayed by the contested result in Florida.

While speculation has been rampant about most top-level appointments, there has been relatively little about Obama's choice for defense secretary. His aides encouraged speculation before the election that Robert Gates, who now holds the position, would remain in office for an interim period.

Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota has been chosen as secretary of health and human services and Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano is likely to be named as secretary of the Homeland Security Department.

Napolitano was an early supporter of candidate Obama among the ranks of Democratic governors, as was Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas. Sebelius has figured prominently in recent days in speculation as possible secretary of labor.

Additionally, retired Gen. James Jones, a former Marine Corps commandant and NATO commander, was among those under consideration for national security adviser. James Steinberg, an Obama campaign aide who served in Clinton's White House, was another possibility, according to officials.

Obama has repeatedly referred to the economic crisis as the top priority for his new administration.

Geithner held posts in the Treasury Department under three administrations and five secretaries before moving to the New York Fed in 2003. He also held positions at the International Monetary Fund and was employed at the private firm of former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.

obama

2008-11-22T18:02:00.002+05:30

Barack Obama was raised by a single mother and his grandparents. They didn't have much money, but they taught him values from the Kansas heartland where they grew up. He took out loans to put himself through school. After college, he worked for Christian churches in Chicago, helping communities devastated when steel plants closed. Obama turned down lucrative job oﬀers after law school to return to Chicago, leading a successful voter registration drive. He joined a small law ﬁrm, taught constitutional law and, guided by his Christian faith, stayed active in his community. Obama and his wife Michelle are proud parents of two daughters, Sasha and Malia.

Early Years

Barack Obama was born in Hawaii on August 4th, 1961. His father, Barack Obama Sr., was born and raised in a small village in Kenya, where he grew up herding goats with his own father, who was a domestic servant to the British.

Barack's mother, Ann Dunham, grew up in small-town Kansas. Her father worked on oil rigs during the Depression, and then signed up for World War II after Pearl Harbor, where he marched across Europe in Patton's army. Her mother went to work on a bomber assembly line, and after the war, they studied on the G.I. Bill, bought a house through the Federal Housing Program, and moved west to Hawaii.

It was there, at the University of Hawaii, where Barack's parents met. His mother was a student there, and his father had won a scholarship that allowed him to leave Kenya and pursue his dreams in America.

Barack's father eventually returned to Kenya, and Barack grew up with his mother in Hawaii, and for a few years in Indonesia. Later, he moved to New York, where he graduated from Columbia University in 1983.

The College Years

Remembering the values of empathy and service that his mother taught him, Barack put law school and corporate life on hold after college and moved to Chicago in 1985, where he became a community organizer with a church-based group seeking to improve living conditions in poor neighborhoods plagued with crime and high unemployment.

The group had some success, but Barack had come to realize that in order to truly improve the lives of people in that community and other communities, it would take not just a change at the local level, but a change in our laws and in our politics.

He went on to earn his law degree from Harvard in 1991, where he became the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review. Soon after, he returned to Chicago to practice as a civil rights lawyer and teach constitutional law. Finally, his advocacy work led him to run for the Illinois State Senate, where he served for eight years. In 2004, he became the third African American since Reconstruction to be elected to the U.S. Senate.

Political Career

It has been the rich and varied experiences of Barack Obama's life - growing up in different places with people who had differing ideas - that have animated his political journey. Amid the partisanship and bickering of today's public debate, he still believes in the ability to unite people around a politics of purpose - a politics that puts solving the challenges of everyday Americans ahead of partisan calculation and political gain.

In the Illinois State Senate, this meant working with both Democrats and Republicans to help working families get ahead by creating programs like the state Earned Income Tax Credit, which in three years provided over $100 million in tax cuts to families across the state. He also pushed through an expansion of early childhood education, and after a number of inmates on death row were found innocent, Senator Obama worked with law enforcement officials to require the videotaping of interrogations and confessions in all capital cases.

In the U.S. Senate, he has focused on tackling the challenges of a globalized, 21st century world with fresh thinking and a politics that no longer settles for the lowest common denominator. His first law was passed with Republican Tom Coburn, a measure to rebuild trust in government by allowing every American to go online and see how and where every dime of their tax dollars is spent. He has also been the lead voice in championing ethics reform that would root out Jack Abramoff-style corruption in Congress.

As a member of the Veterans' Affairs Committee, Senator Obama has fought to help Illinois veterans get the disability pay they were promised, while working to prepare the VA for the return of the thousands of veterans who will need care after Iraq and Afghanistan. Recognizing the terrorist threat posed by weapons of mass destruction, he traveled to Russia with Republican Dick Lugar to begin a new generation of non-proliferation efforts designed to find and secure deadly weapons around the world. And knowing the threat we face to our economy and our security from America's addiction to oil, he's working to bring auto companies, unions, farmers, businesses and politicians of both parties together to promote the greater use of alternative fuels and higher fuel standards in our cars.

Whether it's the poverty exposed by Katrina, the genocide in Darfur, or the role of faith in our politics, Barack Obama continues to speak out on the issues that will define America in the 21st century. But above all his accomplishments and experiences, he is most proud and grateful for his family. His wife, Michelle, and his two daughters, Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7, live on Chicago's South Side.

sachin-the don

2008-11-22T13:28:00.001+05:30

Profile
Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar
Born: 24 April 1973, Bombay
Major Teams: Mumbai, Yorkshire, India.
Known As: Sachin Tendulkar
Batting Style: Right Hand Bat
Bowling Style: Right Arm Off Break,
Leg Break, Right Arm Medium

Profile: Sachin Tendulkar

By popular vote, the greatest batsman in the world today, Sachin Tendulkar has the cricketing world at his feet. The adulation he commands world over is unsurpassed, perhaps since the days of Don Bradman, to whom of course he has been compared, by no less than the great man himself. While he may not end with a Test career average of 99.94, there is little doubt that based on his vigorous style of batsmanship and his insatiable appetite for runs and big scores, he is the most complete batsman since Vivian Richards. In many ways though he has surpassed even that outstanding West Indian batsman.

When Tendulkar is on song, there is no more majestic sight in the cricketing world. The spectators at the stadium are on their feet cheering while all over the world, TV audiences are glued to the screen. He has scored heavily on all kinds of wickets the world over, in conditions which lesser mortals have not been able to master and against bowlers whom other batsmen have found it difficult to score off. Immensely gifted and blessed with an impeccable technique, Tendulkar's batting is a dream, combining timing, elegance and power. Mentally very strong, Tendulkar is best when confronted by a challenge - as he showed when mowing down Shane Warne in India in 1998. Captain during two short stints, Tendulkar has made it clear that he would prefer to concentrate on his batting and indeed, he seems to be getting better with every passing year. Scoring two double centuries in successive seasons and being the first to cross the 10,000 run barrier in ODIs is clear proof of this. The best thing from the fans' point of view - if not the bowler's - is that the entertainment, courtesy Tendulkar, is still at the intermission stage. Long may
`The King' continue to regale his willing subjects!

While his batting ranks him among the best in the world, he is also a part-time bowler and has played a crucial role as a leg spinner or a medium pace bowler who tends to break partnerships. He has more than a hundred wickets in ODIs and 35 in tests, though his bowling averages are above 40. He continues to perform well under the massive weight of expectation of hundreds of millions of cricket followers, in India and around the world, and most recently was named Player Of The Tournament in the 2003 Cricket World Cup.Incidentally, Sachin is the first batsman to be declared run out by third umpire in 1992 in South Africa.

intro

2008-11-22T12:02:00.000+05:30

i m back.......................