Irani Cup Drop is Intention Of My Decision -Dada

A day after announcing his retirement from international cricket, Sourav Ganguly said the decision came at the right moment. "I just felt it was time for me to go," Ganguly said on the eve of the first Test against Australia in Bangalore.

Ganguly said he had not rushed into the decision and had arrived at it after he was ignored for the Irani Cup. "Obviously I can't deny the fact that I was disappointed after the Irani Cup selection. To be honest, I felt I'd two outstanding years except the Sri Lanka series," Ganguly said. For the record, Ganguly has scored 1667 in 21 matches at 45.05 in the last two years. Still he undercut the sense of sadness with wit.

Asked as to why he was the most scrutinised among the Fab Five, Ganguly smiled and replied, "Probably people didn't like my face."

On Tuesday, after briefing the media, Ganguly made the surprise announcement to call it a day. He said he didn't want the attention focused on him since the series was the priority. "I didn't want to make much of a fuss and that's why I announced it at the end of the press meet because the series is more important," Ganguly said.

Asked if there was a sense of relief now, Ganguly said, "The pressure of doing well will always be there and that probably brings the best out of everyone. Whether it's a relief or not, all I can say is I've not been sad."

Ganguly also rubbished all the rumours about him intending to stick around for a couple more years. "I've not said anywhere that I wanted to play for two years. It was picked from an interview a year ago after I played against Pakistan," Ganguly said.

Well aware of the fact that a lot speculation will surface about his decision, Ganguly said he wasn't bothered about it. "I know what is the right thing and you will find out in due course," he said.

Picking his debut, at Lord's in 1996, as the best moment of his career, Ganguly said if there were any unfulfilled expectations, it was the India's loss in the 2003 World Cup final.

Sourav Ganguly has said he will retire after the upcoming Test series against Australia. His statement, a moment of unscripted drama at the end of a routine press conference in Bangalore, ends widespread speculation over his future.

"Just one last thing lads, before I leave, I just want to say that this is going to be my last series," Ganguly said after taking the last question of his press conference. "I've decided to quit. I told my team-mates before coming here. These four Test matches are going to be my last and hopefully we'll go on a winning note."

With that, he got up and walked out, offering no explanation for what led to the decision. Shortly after that Kris Srikkanth, the head of India's new selection panel, threw some light on it. "I think he's probably taken the right decision," Srikkanth said. "He had a good chat with me and my co-selector Narendra Hirwani. He wants a peaceful series without any troubles on his mind. As a player I can tell you that when you have an axe over your head it doesn't feel right."

India's selectors, headed by Srikkanth, picked Ganguly in a 15-man squad for the first two Tests against Australia despite his being overlooked for the Irani Cup match between the Rest of India and Delhi. Lacking top-quality match practice since the end of the Sri Lanka Tests, he was rushed to Chennai for an India 'A' match against New Zealand.

"To be honest I didn't expect to be picked for this series," Ganguly said. "But once I was chosen, I started preparing. Even when I was left out of the Rest of India squad, which was a bit of a surprise for me, I was still training with the Bengal boys."

Ganguly also dismissed speculation over a "voluntary retirement scheme" for the senior members of India's squad. "I don't think it's ever possible that anybody can offer you a VRS. You cannot do that to players like [Anil] Kumble, [Rahul] Dravid, [VVS] Laxman, me, Sachin [Tendulkar] or anyone.

"What is important is what you get to know from the board [BCCI] and as far as I, and some of the senior players, are concerned, we have not received any intimation from the board on anything."

Ganguly, 36, has scored 6888 runs in 109 Tests, with 15 hundreds. He played 49 Tests as captain, the most by an Indian. The 21 matches won during his tenure is also an Indian record, and his win percentage of over 40 is the highest for players who have captained India in more than one Test. Starting with a hundred on debut, Ganguly's Test average has never dipped below 40.

In 311 ODIs, he scored 11,363 runs at 41.02. He captained India in 147 ODIs. His last ODI was against Pakistan in Gwalior on November 15, 2007. He is one of only three players to complete the treble of 10,000 runs, 100 wickets and 100 catches in ODIs, Sanath Jayasuriya and Sachin Tendulkar being the others. Along with Tendulkar, he formed a prolific partnership at the top of the order, with 6609 runs at an average of nearly 50 per stand in 136 innings.

Since his recall in December 2006 and till the end of the home series against South Africa earlier this year, Ganguly scored 1571 runs at 50.67, including a maiden double-century. However, he managed only 96 runs in six innings during India's 2-1 series defeat in Sri Lanka this summer.

Price rise kills the festive spirit

magine an Onasadya (the traditional feast on Onam) with only half the number of food items. The common belief is that Malayalees will not think of cutting expenses, especially the feast, for Kerala’s most celebrated festival.

But, Coimbatore provides a different picture this year. Malayalees in the middle income group say that the feast was low-key on Onam on September 12. They attribute this to the increased cost in all the items used for the feast.

‘I had invited five families in my neighbourhood for the feast last year. But, I gave them all only one glass of payasam this time,’ says M.B. Babu, who works in a private company.

‘I was able to give a feast for 15 persons last year with just Rs.2,500. This year, the feast just for my family of three cost me Rs.2,000. This is besides the expenses on clothes,’ he says.

The festival phase in Coimbatore is long. After Pongal in January, the festival season picks up in September for Onam. The city has a Malayalee population because of the proximity to Kerala. Instead of going to their home State for Onam, these people prefer to celebrate it where they have settled for good: Coimbatore.

While Onam has revealed the pinch one section has felt because of the inflation, the others feel that another important festival ahead – Deepavali – will not be different if the current price trend continues.

‘Crackers and sweets will be less this time,’ says S. Murugan, a businessman. ‘But, we may not be able to cuts costs on other traditionally mandatory areas,’ he says.

If a girl had been married recently, her family will have to spend heavily for her husband as it will be the couple’s ‘Thala Deepavali’ (the first Deepavali after the wedding). ‘No one takes the risk of cutting expenses here, as it may lead to bad blood between two families,’ explains Mr. Murugan. ‘So, the cost-cutting will be done in other areas.’

Mr. Murugan says that the scaled-down Onam celebrations are a pointer to the situation ahead during Deepavali. ‘Onam has only increased our loan burden,’ says K. Karthikeyan, who heads a family of four members. ‘The inflation actually made Malayalees move away from Onam, their most important festival,’ he says. ‘Even the most scaled-down feast in a family cost Rs.1,000.’

Treasurer of Federation of Coimbatore District Malayalees’ Associations M.R. Das says that inflation reduced festivities and increased charity during Onam this year.

‘We did not have the annual procession with three caparisoned elephants. Forty member-associations of the federation decided to use the money for the procession to offer welfare assistance. We had a two-day programme at which economically backward students were provided assistance for their education.’

From Rs.6 lakh last year, the expenses on the celebrations were cut down to Rs.2 lakh this year, he said.

It is not as if everyone plunged into cost-cutting. Some people did not reduce the scale of Onam celebrations despite the rise in prices, he says.

K. Sreekumar, a businessman, says the celebrations had been more this time. ‘There was no compromise on the sadya (feast), dress and pookalam (the flower arrangement)’.

Malayalees say that whatever the cost cutting in other areas, the pookalam was a must item. There cannot be an Onam without the pookalam. It is like Deepavali without lights or crackers.

So, there was the usual rush for flowers at the city’s Poo Market.

As for Deepavali, the cost calculations seem to have begun. V. Kamalam, a home maker, says it is better to make sweets and savouries at home than buy these from stalls.

Families can cut cracker expenses if there are no young children who demand all kinds of crackers.

But, it is difficult to eliminate food items from the usual Deepavali menu. It is just a month to go for Deepavali and the budget preparation is already on.

Delhi Security reviews by Home Minister

New Delhi (PTI): Two high-level meetings, including one chaired by Home Minister Shivraj Patil, were held on Monday to review security arrangements in the national capital ahead of the festival season.

The meetings, which came in the backdrop of two blasts that rocked the capital in a fortnight, decided to increase the presence of security personnel in the city during the coming festival season.

A Home Ministry spokesman said Patil discussed the security scenario with Home Secretary Madhukar Gupta and other senior officials and asked them to put security on maximum alert.

Gupta later chaired another security review meeting with Delhi Police Commissioner Y S Dadwal and members of the Special Cell of Delhi Police. Intelligence Bureau chief P C Halder was also present.

Dadwal later told reporters that in view of the festival season, patrolling would be intensified in the capital with increased presence of security personnel.

He said para-military personnel will also be deployed at sensitive localities in the city.

Delhi Police has already asked the organisers of Ramlilas in the city to conclude their programmes by 10 pm taking the security situation into consideration, he said.

The Delhi Police will make special efforts to create general awareness among the people and circulate some do's and don'ts to avoid any untoward incident. Special Cell has been asked to keep extra vigil during the period of Eid, Navratri, Dussehra and Diwali.

PM Sign N-Deal With France....??????

September 29, 2008 08:28 IST

As Prime Minister Manmohan Singh left New York for Marseilles to attend the India-European Union summit and hold discussions with French President Nicolas Sarkozy he looked set to ink the Indo-French civilian nuclear deal.

Expressing satisfaction that the 123 agreement had been passed in the Congress and that "one more hurdle had been crossed," Dr Singh said he would wait for the final outcome and the end of the Congressional process.

With the Indo-US nuclear deal almost in the bag, the civil nuclear agreement with France also looks to be completed.

Speaking to reporters, the prime minister in a brief interaction said he was looking forward to the "possible signature" on the civil nuclear co-operation bilateral agreement with France.

In January this year the framework agreement had been initialed and the prime minister said, "It will certainly come up for review and possible signature during my visit."

The prime minister is meeting President Sarkozy as the chairperson of the EU in Marseilles and the two will meet again in Paris on September 30 when in the delegation-level talks the bilateral civil nuclear agreement with France would be firmed up.

It is significant that apart from Union Commerce Minister Kamal Nath, who is a part of the Prime Minister's delegation in both Marseilles and Paris, Anil Kakodkar, chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, is a member of the official delegation for the bilateral summit in Paris.

The prime minister gave brief details on the bilateral meetings he had during his five day stay in New York, which included Wen Jiabao of China, President Zardari of Pakistan, President Bush of the US, Prime Minister Gordon Brown of the United Kingdom and brief interactions with the prime ministers of Norway and Netherlands.

He said the visit to Washington was designed to review the state of Indo-US relations in the background of the July 18, 2005, statement. He said both he and the US president "expressed satisfaction at the way the relations have progressed".

A visibly relaxed and satisfied Dr Singh said he had just heard that the House had passed the bill and that it would now go to the Congress. "Well, I am happy that one hurdle has been crossed but it is not the end of the Congressional process and we need to wait for the final outcome," commented the prime minister.

Highly placed sources said that there were "concerns" about the language in the 123 agreement, but the Bush administration is said to have assured the Indian government that their concerns would be taken care of.

This could take the form of a presidential statement detailing which of the provisions passed by the Congress and Senate would not be binding on the administration and this sources say would satisfy the Indian government. It is similar to what happened when the Hyde Act was passed and is a procedure which the Dr Singh administration has no problem with.

Sources said the prime minister would be able to stand up and face Parliament in consonance with the assurances he had made to the people through arliament. The sources said the process was still at a sensitive stage and they would wait before making any further comments.

Sources also said that it is possible that the 123 agreement would be signed between External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice [Images] when she visits New Delhi [Images]. The details of the visit are being worked out.

Just before his departure from New York, the prime minister attended a reception of over 400 prominent and influential Indian-Americans where he announced to an enthusiastic and eager audience that the Indo-US nuclear deal is "nearing fruition" and that India is on the verge of securing a new status in the global nuclear order after being liberated from the constraints of technology for 34 years.

"The historic agreement on cooperation in the development of civil nuclear energy in India that President George Bush and I embarked upon is nearing fruition... India will be liberated from the constraints of technology denial of 34 years," the prime minister said at a reception at the Waldorf Astoria in Manhattan.

Dr Singh said the civil nuclear agreement, once concluded, would add an important strategic pillar to Indo-US bilateral relationship, '"e will widen our clean energy options," he said. Lauding the role of 1.73 million strong Indian community in the US in playing a major role for the success of the civil nuclear deal, the prime minister said, ''Your achievements fill my heart with pride.''

Before Dr Singh spoke, the Indian ambassador to the US announced the just breaking news that the US Congress had passed the 123 agreement. He said the prime minister had made history and it was a privilege for all of them to be a part of that history. The announcement was received with loud cheers, claps and cat calls of satisfaction.

Silambattam Stills

New Skipper For Deccan Chargers in IPL

VVS Laxman has been replaced as the captain of the Deccan Chargers team by Australia's Adam Gilchrist to "re-unite the outstanding talent" of the Hyderabad side, which ended at the bottom despite its star-studded line-up.

Laxman had drawn criticism from his team team member Shahid Afridi , who said Twenty20 was not the forte of the Indian batsman after the team managed only two wins from their 14 matches with the likes of Andrew Symonds , Herschelle Gibbs , Scott Styris and Rohit Sharma in its ranks.

"Adam Gilchrist commands respect within the team and right around the cricket world. He has redefined the role of wicketkeeper/batsman in modern cricket," said Tim Wright, Chief Executive of Deccan Chargers in a statement issued in New Delhi

"I am confident Adam Gilchrist will unite Deccan Chargers' outstanding talent. Four members of our squad were on the India tour of Sri Lanka , more than any other IPL team, and the quality of our overseas players is well known. These players will play for Gilchrist," he added.

Gilchrist, who averaged 47.60 runs in 96 Test Matches and 35.89 runs in 287 One-Day Internationals, helped Australia win the World Cup three times.

The wicketkeeper-batsman holds the world Test record for number of sixes hit (100) and has claimed 472 dismissals behind the stumps.

Adam Gilchrist said "It's a tremendous thrill and honour to become captain of the Deccan Chargers. I look forward to working hard with everybody towards making the team successful."

Sachin Exclusive About Australia Test Series

Sachin Tendulkar has said the India-Australia series is about more than just how the Indian seniors play. "It's India versus Australia, it's not certain individuals versus certain individuals in their team," he said, responding to a question whether the seniors were under extra pressure, especially after Sourav Ganguly was not picked for the Irani Cup.

"It's about performing, and that is what the whole team should concentrate on doing," Tendulkar said. "We would just like to focus on our performance. It is both the countries competing against each other, so every little thing matters."

Tendulkar, however, avoided commenting on the Ganguly issue. "I would leave that to the captain, the coach, and the selectors. They have certain ideas in their minds and we have to abide by that."

Tendulkar, and the rest of the middle order, had an ordinary series in Sri Lanka, creating a debate over whether, and when, to phase out the Fab Four. Tendulkar started the Sri Lanka series needing 172 to become the world's leading run-getter in Tests, and three matches later he still needed 77.

"I just have to go and play my best," Tendulkar said. "Records will come if you keep playing well, and the focus will be on playing well. My mind is not on 76 runs, and it's not as if I can relax after getting 76 runs. For the four Tests, the team has some targets, and I am more focused on those."

The good news for India is that he is back to full fitness - he had injured his elbow in the last Test in Sri Lanka and missed the Irani Cup - and is feeling good about it. "Obviously coming back to the team you feel an energy like no other," Tendulkar said. "I have been working with our trainer, and it has worked out very well. Last two-three weeks have been quite good and I have been pleased with the way things have gone."

Tendulkar was speaking after India's first training session at the pre-series camp in Bangalore. "The first session we had has been very good. It was mainly a fitness-targeted session. We enjoyed it quite a bit."

The session went for over two hours, and focused on fielding and fitness. The team will go through more specific sessions - nets, open-wicket practice, and match simulations - in the coming days. The first day of the camp was attended by most of the Test squad that played in Sri Lanka. The players missing from those 16 were Ganguly, the wicketkeepers Dinesh Karthik and Parthiv Patel - since Mahendra Singh Dhoni is back - Rohit Sharma and Pragyan Ojha, who will play for Board President's XI against the Australians. The additions at the camp were Mohammad Kaif, who took Ganguly's place in the Rest of India team for the Irani Cup, and Dhoni.

The squad for the Tests is yet to be announced, and the players present at the camp are believed to have been called by the captain and the coach. India's new selection committee will meet on October 1 to pick the team for the first two Tests, which means the tour game in Hyderabad will have no bearing on the team for the first Test in Bangalore.

Poi Solla Porom-Tamil Movie Review

Starring: Karthik Kumar, Preethi, Nedumudi Venu, Mouli, Nazer, Delhi Ganesh

Direction: Vijay

Music: M G Shree Kumar

Production: Priyadarshan
Rating:****(Out Of 5)



Interesting title, that’s the first thing that you notice about the movie. Has it got anything to do with Jim Carrey’s Liar Liar, one might be tempted to ask. Take a look at the trailer and one is left even more confused. What is Nasser doing with a hack saw, hacking away at Nedumudi Venu’s torso, or what is he doing in a boxing ring surrounded by a bevy of beauties? Questions that cannot be answered easily. One thing is for sure, the movie is definitely not the kind that releases every Friday. It might be a rib tickling comedy, a comedy of errors, or satire on some contemporary social scenario full of black humor, or it could be anything else.


The interesting thing here is the cast. Nasser and Nedumudi Venu need no introduction, but we don’t see them playing funny parts very often. Nasser has been stereotyped in recent times with an air of seriousness while Nedumudi Venu moves routinely in and out of Iyer or Iyengar roles in select films. But here, they get a chance to explore their more lighter sides. Then there are Haneefa and Delhi Ganesh who can bring the house down, given the right chance. Then, the most interesting part, the bald man of TV, Bosskey. We have seen him at his nonchalant sarcastic best in talk shows, what can he deliver on the big screen? We are not forgetting that Karthik Kumar plays the lead here.

The intriguing thing here is that Priyadarshan has produced the movie. He is generally known to direct rib ticklers and produce down to earth films. This script should have had something special to get him to produce it. Another interesting aspect is the director. He debuted with Kreedom and who thought that after all the critical acclaim and moderate box office success, he would have chosen a relatively low profile production. In his hands, one believes the film would have shaped up well.


The music by playback singer M.G.Shreekumar doesn’t seem to have made much of an impact and this might detract a bit from the movie. The trailers too gives the movie an up market ‘niche’ which could work both ways, but the makers know what best to do with the movie.

Download Free Mp3 Tamil Songs

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Sa-Ro-Ja Movie Review

With almost everyone of the cast and crew of Chennai-28 are there in the movie at least in a small role, Saroja takes us back to the cricket story while taking Tamil cinema front in terms of film making and story telling.Dialogue is simply superb by venkat prabhu

The story is so simple. The screenplay is straight forward. And the execution is honest. It starts with four youngsters Jagapathi Babu (S P Charan ), Ganesh Kumar (Premgi), Ajay Raj (Shiva) and Chinni (Vaibhav) leave for Hyderabad to watch a cricket match.

They lose their way due to a tanker mishap on the National Highway they travel and enter the ‘den’ of a rowdy gang, which had kidnapped Saroja (Vega), the daughter of a rich entrepreneur Vishwanathan (Prakasraj).

With Vishwanathan and his friend Assistant Commissioner of Police Ravichandran (Jayaram) taking steps to get Saroja back, the four-member team rescues her and escape from the kidnappers after all travails.

However, when they are about to reach a safe place, they are into a sudden shock, which turns entire things upside down. What’s it is the interesting climax, which is interesting, gripping and of course breathtaking.

All four lead actors- Charan, Premgi, Shiva and Vaibhav have come out with their best. No need to talk about Prakashraj and Jayaram, both synonyms with apt performance. Nikitha oozes glamour while Vega emotes well.

The real strengths of the movie are Yuvan Shankar Raja’s music and Sakthi Saravanan’s cinematography. Both do magic from the beginning till end, not to forget about the editing by Praveen K L and Srikanth N B.

In short, Saroja shines and sizzles and undoubtedly a trendsetting movie like Chennai-28. And all credits should go to

King Khan's Smoking Controversy

Denying reports that Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan was found smoking on the campus of a Sikh institution in Amritsar, the Punjab government said it knew nothing about the matter and had not complained about it to the union Health Ministry.

"No report had been sent by the Punjab government to the union Health Ministry," said Punjab's Health Minister Laxmi Kanta Chawla.

"I don't know where these reports are coming from. We have not filed any complaint (against Khan). I have again just checked with the health director. I cannot even say anything about whether he smoked there or not," Chawla said.

Reports in a section of the media said the union Health Ministry, following a Punjab government complaint against the actor's smoking in the Khalsa College, had issued notice to him.

College functionaries, who did not want to be identified, said they were shown a picture of the superstar smoking but were not sure if the campus in the background was of their college.

"We pointed out that the photograph did not look like that of the college. We have nothing more to say on this," a functionary said.

Despite the reports, no Sikh organisation in Amritsar or elsewhere in Punjab has protested against Khan's alleged act. Smoking is prohibited in Sikh religion and also in all Sikh institutions.

Khan has been shooting in the holy city of Amritsar for his next film Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi.

Wipro Reduces 1000 Employees For Low Performance

Wipro Technologies, an IT solution firm, is screening around 2,400-3000 employees (4-5 percent of the total workforce) on the grounds of non-performance. According to sources, around 1000 employees are being given the pink slips, while about 2000 are allowed to move on.

As per a report in The Economic Times, the company will provide some of the employees with counseling for boosting up their performance. Pratik Kumar, Wipro's Corporate VP (human resources), confirming the move, said, "It's a regular annual exercise. As the appraisal cycle gets over, a multi-layer review happens. Following that, people who have fallen in the lower quadrants of performance are put on watch. Some are asked to pull up and others are asked to move on." It includes all the 60,000 global IT services employees from the senior leadership team down to the person with one-year experience.On the number of the employees who had been asked to move on, Kumar said the company did not disclose the number. But it was "significantly lower than 2,000" as company sources said about 1,000 employees were being asked to leave.

The employee base in Wipro has also come down from 62,070 to 61,345, as seen in the quarter ended June. But the company refutes it to be related to the slowdown and rather emphasizes it to be industry driven move. Kumar says, "It's not just our view, but the industry's view, that we have to be thoughtful of additions and drive productivity. We took a closer look at our hiring and realized that we did not need to hire more, since there were people on the bench."

However, the companies who have recently adopted the trend of giving off pink slips at anytime, decline it as a move to push through the slowdown era. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), the country's largest IT services firm, had given pink slips to 500 non-performers. IBM, too, had asked about 700 employees in India to leave, citing non-performance. In July, Patni Computer Systems had shown the door to 400 employees.

Thamana photos

India Sounds About Nuclear Deal

India is intrigued by President George W Bush's observations that the fuel supply assurances were "not legally binding" and is expected to discuss the issue with the US to seek a clarity.

The observation made by Bush in his determination to the US Congress while presenting the 123 agreement for consideration is seen here as interpretation of the pact "differently".

Official sources said that the observation is intriguing as the 123 agreement clearly specifies the responsibility of the US to ensure uninterrupted fuel supplies, even if it terminates its own cooperation with India due to some reason.

The 123 agreement makes it incumbent upon the US to supply fuel by itself and by working with "friends and allies" to enable India to obtain "full access to the international fuel market, including reliable, uninterrupted and continual access to fuel supplies from firms in several nations," the sources said, referring to the pact reached last year.
Bush's observations come close on the heels of unveiling of a State Department letter in which the US has made it clear that it will stop fuel supplies and other nuclear cooperation if India conducts a nuclear test.

New Delhi is expected to take up the matter with Washington to seek clarity on these which have the potential of creating uncertainty over the fuel supplies issue, the sources said.

Squad For Test Series Against India

Ricky Ponting (captain), Michael Clarke (vice-captain), Doug Bollinger, Stuart Clark, Brad Haddin, Matthew Hayden , Michael Hussey, Phil Jaques, Mitchell Johnson, Simon Katich, Jason Krejza, Brett Lee , Bryce McGain, Peter Siddle, Shane Watson.

Symonds dropped for India tour

All-rounder Andrew has been dropped from Australia's cricket squad for their tour of India and replaced by Queensland team mate Shane Watson.Symonds was left out of the one-day side for the three-match series with Bangladesh in Darwin earlier this month after he missed a team meeting and went fishing instead."Andrew Symonds was stood down for disciplinary reasons in Darwin and is now going through a process...designed to give him time to assess whether he is fully committed to all of the things needed for a cricketer to be a member of the world's number one team," chairman of selectors Andrew Hilditch said in a statement.