Delayed by late arrival of the Sheikh!

'There is a delay folks. The game will only start after the Sheikh arrives, so we'll just have to wait it out. We've seen matches delayed by rain, fog, a wet outfield - just add this to the last. An unprecedented stoppage this, as far as I know. Not because of weather, but because a dignitary is not on time.'

The reason why the T20 match between Australia and Pakistan started late in Dubai.

Ha!

Players in the cricket IPL2009 are not happy with the 7 1/2 minute break after 10 overs (ostensibly to strategise but in reality to advertise). But those playing in the Indian Political League should be happy, according to Deccan Chronicle.

दादागिरी/Dadagiri

The erstwhile Dada of Indian cricket is set to host a reality show on Zee TV Bangla. The Prince will continue to entertain!
Meanwhile, the Pathan brothers -Yusuf and Irfan, clinched victory for India yesterday in the Twenty20 match against Sri Lanka from a near hopeless position. A first, most probably, in Indian cricket history.

387 in the 4th innings

There were plenty of doubts voiced about the necessity of England's Test tour at this time. Cricket can never be a total healer but a record cricket win guided by the country's favorite Mumbaikar can surely put a smile back on many faces. The news channels finally have something fresh and exciting for another cycle.

Do we need this Test series?

The England Test cricket team is back in India after great persuasion. But frankly, do we Indians need a cricket tour, by anyone for that matter, at this time? Police and security forces will have to be mobilized (300 commandos, 1000 policemen!!!) just for cricketers' protection while that of ordinary citizens remains compromised. Of course, the fans will get even more shabbier treatment in the name of security. We could have done without this tour, much as England's decision deserves applause. It is a needless diversion when real serious issues have to be tackled.

Cricket, Inequity and Obama

Ian Chappell, former Aussie cricket captain and journalist, comments upon the post-Mumbai situation in world cricket. He sums the cricket world's dependence on India's huge market and the consequences as :

'Test cricket is shaping up as a mirror image of an Indian society that is often described as being made up of the have lots and the have nots.'

'The one big difference between the world situation and that of cricket is the lack of any leader with the potential and charisma of an Obama looming on the horizon in cricket.'

Perhaps, this is the moment to re-organize the lopsided priorities of all cricket playing nations who cannot manage a sport played by less than a dozen nations at the highest level.

First Indian female saint canonized by the Vatican

'Sister Alphonsa of Immaculate Conception ' from Kerala was canonized today in Rome by Pope Benedict XVI. For her biography, read here and here to learn more about how a person is canonized.

Deal done and dusted

Amidst the credit crunch that dominates all headlines, India and the US have inked the nuclear deal. Till 2 months ago, it was the lead story on all conveyor belt news channels and encompassed among other things an acrimonious break up of the ruling political alliance and a tainted confidence vote in Parliament. Now, it is just another bit of 'also in the news' - a mushroom cloud transformed into a puff of dust!

Greetings to all

Best wishes to all on the occasion of Vijay Dashami (Dusshera) and Bijoya.

At last, climate change has a Cabinet post!

A year after the United Nations Climate Panel was awarded the Nobel peace prize,the British government became the first one to appoint a full time minister for climate change. According to the environmental group, Green Alliance,

'Hallelujah. A department of energy and climate change.'

In other words, a recognition that it is a global phenomenon that could have very serious repercussions (that could last longer than the current financial crisis). On the other hand, the world's biggest carbon emitter, USA, has two sketchy plans(1,2) both still in the Presidential campaign stage.

A Nobel for the fight against AIDS

Probably no disease in recent history has been covered in the news as widely as AIDS ever since the first reports in the early 80s. The alacrity with which scientists responded and pinpointed the offending virus as HIV in 1981 was rewarded by the Nobel foundation today. The French duo of Françoise Barré-Sinoussi and Luc Montagnier were the first to do so in Paris. They share the prize with Professor zur Hausen, of the University of Duesseldorf, who dared to challenge prevailing conventional wisdom and proved that that a papilloma virus infection caused cervical cancer. Both these discoveries led to the development of effective vaccines and medicines within 25 years, a pace without precedent in human history.

A eulogy for the Fab Five

Many believe that the upcoming India-Australia Test series is the last occasion to watch the Fab Five in the same team. This column by Rohit Brijnath on Cricinfo is perhaps the most elegant piece on the subject so far and deserves a full read.
'We met the Great One in 1989, when he introduced himself to us with high notes hit by bat and vocal chord. Then the rest came. In 1990, The Precise One, a scholarly warrior who unveiled his spinning craft with devotion; in 1992, The Defiant One, a steely, stylish man of amusing, aristocratic belligerence; in 1996, The Intense One, cricket's student who batted like a monk upholding a vow of discipline; and finally The Elegant One, who was a Japanese haiku master in a previous life.'

'I am less enamoured of world cricket these days. It is a noisy game, full of boastful official chatter, where manners on the field have become disposable, and Twenty20 threatens to derail everything else. The best love affairs, anyway, come in our youth, and these men I grew up with. Always I watched them. Now especially, even though occasionally it is painful to see them lurch and stagger, feet mixed up and bat late. But I have to watch. Because they're Great, Precise, Defiant, Intense, Elegant. Because soon enough, a few months, a year, whether they walk away or must be pushed, there will be an Indian team without the names Tendulkar, Ganguly, Dravid, Laxman, Kumble. Imagine that? I'd rather not. '

Durga Puja in Rome 2

Id Mubarak

The place to be in these couple days would have to be Hyderabad - near the Charminar. Excellent kababs and all night रौनक with shops open throughout.

Durga Puja in Rome

Land of stark contrasts

India and France signed a nuclear commerce agreement yesterday. Another step forward in international diplomacy. Sadly, while India's control over its nuclear programme is acknowledged, it is also recognized that Indians have no idea of crowd control. How else can anyone explain yet another temple stampede,this time in Jodhpur, right at the start of the festival season, the fourth major one this year to claim more than a 100 victims? Hundreds of small and big holy places are visited by millions of people everyday and yet there are no coherent public laws on crowd management. The next step up in the comity of nations will only come if such basic issues as public safety are addressed.

Festival season

Sharad Navratri has begun, so has Rosh Hashanah or the Jewish New Year, Ramzan is ending and it will be Id-ul-Fitr in a couple of days - it is that time of the year when tradition, family and delicious food occupy prime space. We will keep you up to date with events/celebrations in the days to come.

A huge prime (no sub)!

For numbers enthusiasts, a big piece of news. The frontiers of prime number research have been pushed back even further. A new 13-million digit prime number has been found by researchers at University of California,Los Angeles. Apart from the sheer pleasure of the discovery, they are also in line for a $100,000 prize.

TIPping point

Economists invariably use that phrase when describing a period, such as last two weeks in the financial sector, that causes decisive far-reaching changes. Could a similar similar situation be developing in science and technology? A report by the NGO, The Innovation Partnership (TIP)suggests that the patent system needs drastic overhaul. They argue that endless circles of patent protection have stifled innovation, sharing and co-operation. It has achieved the reverse of what it set out to do, namely, create novel products and services by assuring investors that strong intellectual property defences would protect thier investments. Instead, it has created isolated fortresses of patents that cannot be linked to develop new products such as cancer treatments.

Friend,guest,guide,invader

10 years ago, Google was founded in a garage in California. Today, it is most unlikely that you would browse the Web and not use a Google product or service on every visit. The rise of the company has been extraordinary - tomes of literature are available on this subject - and like all great businesses, it is based on the simplest of thoughts. The thirst for knowledge, the desire for information and the quickest way to find it drives every individual on the planet. What started as a simple Websearch tool has become a gargantuan network that many complain invades personal (and confidential) space. Perhaps it does. But think back and imagine if outstanding engineers like Visvesarayya or architects like Corbusier and Lutyens had Google maps at their disposal - the mind goggles!