Vaughan announces his retirement

England's most successful test captain Michael Vaughan, well known for his excellent leadership qualities, told that he was retiring from the game, after failing to regain his place in the team for next month's Ashes series against Australia. "It has been a hard decision," Vaughan, 34, told a news conference at Edgbaston.

"The decision came to me two weeks ago. I thought about it in December but I wanted to give myself one last chance of playing against Australia but I haven't been playing well enough and my body is not reacting how I would like it to be." Vaughan, who has been troubled by a chronic knee injury, has not played for his country since resigning as captain last year and passed 50 only three times in 22 innings for Yorkshire.

He was forced to leave the field frequently to rest his troubled knee, raising fresh doubts about his ability to last a five-day test. Vaughan made his test debut for England during the 1999-2000 tour of South Africa and quickly established himself in the team, scoring his maiden test century in 2001 against Pakistan. However, the knee injuries that were to plague his career surfaced in 2001 and he was ruled out of the entire home Ashes series that was won convincingly by Australia.

After more knee problems he returned in time for the 2002-03 Ashes series in Australia, making 177 on the first day of the second test in Adelaide and 145 in Melbourne, knocks that helped him to rise to the top of the International Cricket Council (ICC) batting rankings. In July 2003 Vaughan took over the England captaincy from Nasser Hussain, beginning what was to become the most successful reign of an England skipper with a 2-2 home draw with South Africa despite his own lack of form with the bat.

Vaughan led by example in Sri Lanka later that year when he batted for seven-and-a-half hours to score 105, his first test century as captain and an innings that enabled England to save the second test in Kandy. He then led England to their first series victory in the West Indies for 30 years, but the moment that defined his captaincy of England came in 2005 when he outsmarted opposite number Ricky Ponting to win back the Ashes.

Century at Chennai - The best

SachinTendulkar rates his century at M.A. Chidambaram stadium at chennai as his best knock ever. This century was just some time after 26/11 attack. "I think the one against England in Chennai last year," says sachin, without hesitation when asked about his most important innings played so far for India.

"After what happened in Mumbai, the mood of the entire nation was low. Something was needed to put smiles on people's faces. I am by no means suggesting that the people who lost near and dear ones could forget their terrible loss, but if we as a team were able to make them smile for just a couple of seconds, that was an achievement," The Independent quoted Tendulkar, as saying. "And thanks to the England cricket team who came back very graciously and played against us. You know, cricket in India brings the entire nation together, from the poorest child to a billionaire. We are in a position to make everyone happy, which is very special for me and the whole cricketing fraternity," he said.

He pointed other innings which he considered important were played during his school days. "I would say that there were a couple in my schooldays that changed my life. In the semi-final of an Under-17s tournament I scored 326 not out, which is when everyone in Mumbai took notice of me. I then scored 346 not out in the final, with Dilip Vengsarkar and Sunil Gavaskar watching."

July 22 - Total Solar Ecplise

On july 22 wednesday morning the total solar eclipse of this century is going to occur. This infact is the longest duration solar eclipse of this century. This eclipse is of special interest for the scientists and general public as its path of totality passes through thickly populated regions of west, central, east and north-east India.The maximum duration of totality of 6 minutes 44 seconds occurs at 8:05 a.m. in the North Pacific Ocean where the width of the path is about 258 km. The 'rest of the path does not pass through major land areas.

Consequently, it provides a rare opportunity to view and study this grand spectacle of nature. The partial phase of the eclipse will be visible throughout the country. In general, the partial phase can be seen in the regions of eastern Asia and Pacific Ocean. Considering the Earth as a whole, the eclipse begins at 5:28 a.m. when the shadow of the Moon touches the Earth at local sunrise at a point in the Arabian Sea close to the western coast of India.

The eclipse ends at 10:42 a.m. when Moon's shadow finally leaves the Earth at local sunset at a point in the South Pacific Ocean. At approximately 6:23 a.m., the central path of the eclipse will touch the Earth at sunrise at a point in the Gulf of Khmbhat in the Arabian Sea near the southern coast of Gujarat. At this time, the path of totality will be about 200 km wide and the duration of totality at the central line will be about three minute 30 seconds.

The shadow crosses over central India, passes through south-east of Nepal, crosses North Bengal, southern part of Sikkim, most of Bhutan and north-western tip of Bangladesh. Then the shadow enters Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, touches Myanmar and enters China.

Cloud Computing!

OPERA has released a new Web Browser “Opera Unite”. It uses Cloud Computing Technology.Opera Unite allows you to easily share your data: photos, music, notes and other files. You can even run chat rooms and host entire Web sites with Opera Unite. It puts the power of a Web server in your browser, giving you greater privacy and flexibility than other online services.

Cloud computing is a style of computing in which dynamically scalable and often virtualised resources are provided as a service over the Internet. Users need not have knowledge of, expertise in, or control over the technology infrastructure in the "cloud" that supports them.The term cloud is used as a metaphor for the Internet, based on how the Internet is depicted in computer network diagrams and is an abstraction for the complex infrastructure it conceals.

With Opera 10, we are introducing a new technology called Opera Unite, radically extending what you are able to do online. Opera Unite harnesses the power of today’s fast connections and hardware, allowing all of us to help define the future landscape of the Web, one computer at a time. It's time to enjoy cloud computing!

Air France Crash Incident

Air France Plane Crash incident is now closely observed and those type of terrible incidents should never happen again. The Officials with France’s accident investigation bureau told reporters Wednesday the teams will be dedicated to finding the plane’s flight recorders and analyzing the history of the plane. However, they said they are not confident about finding the flight recorders deep in the Atlantic.

The head of the agency, Paul-Louis Arslanian, says there are no signs so far that the plane had problems before takeoff. Military planes from France and Brazil have been sent to the wreckage of Air France Flight 447, found Tuesday in the south Atlantic. The big Airbus A-330 disappeared from radar early Monday, about four hours after taking off from Rio de Janeiro Sunday night on its way to Paris.

Brazilian search planes spotted airplane seats, metal parts, and a jet fuel slick floating about 1,000 kilometers off Brazil’s northeast coast. There was no trace of any survivors. French investigators say an initial report into the crash is due at the end of the month. The cause of the crash remains a mystery. Before it vanished from radar, the plane transmitted automatic signals reporting multiple failures in its electric and pressurization systems.

Air traffic controllers heard no distress call or any other unusual message from the pilots, however. The plane’s flight path took it across an equatorial zone where weather systems collide and often spawn severe thunderstorms. Modern airliners usually have no trouble passing through such weather conditions.

Google Vs Microsoft!

Microsoft network cannot still go beyond the Google, the search engine giant, in the Internet search market. Its new Bing Internet search engine, which it showed publicly for the first time will still provide search results for any term an online user types into it. But Bing is initially designed to provide a much richer search experience for people looking for information in four categories: shopping, travel, health and local businesses.

The strategy could give Microsoft a shot at peeling away users from rival search engines in some popular search areas that also offer lucrative opportunities for selling related advertising. But even if Microsoft is successful, it still faces the problem that Google and Yahoo could simply duplicate Bing’s features. Search engines have a long history of copying each other’s interface changes. In recent years, for example, all of them have begun suggesting related search terms and blending more photos and videos into their search results. “If some particular feature becomes particularly popular, it wouldn’t be terribly difficult for Google to mimic that feature,” says Greg Sterling, an Internet analyst with Sterling Market Intelligence, a research firm.

Bing faces another challenge as well: Microsoft’s own research shows that more than 60% of consumers say they are satisfied with existing Internet search engines. That doesn’t bode well for the company’s efforts to eat into Google’s 64% share of the U.S. search market, which far outstrips Yahoo’s 20% share and Microsoft’s 8%, according to comScore Inc. Microsoft’s approach of going after the four search categories mirrors attempts others have made to compete with Google by building so-called “vertical” search engines, which specialize in showing results in categories where Google’s results are perceived to be weak.

Will Viru's absence affect India?

Virender Sehwag, one of the most explosive indian batsman, is out of the ICC World Twenty20. Sehwag with his fine form has given a lot of good starts to India. But it was totally a bad news when Indian team manager V. Chamundeswarnath at Trent Bride on Tuesday revealed Sehwag injury. Sehwag batted for two overs at the nets on Tuesday and felt some pain in his shoulder.

Although the Indian team management refused to commit itself on the aggressive opener’s place in the squad during a stormy pre-match press conference, a BCCI release confirmed that Sehwag would indeed be flying back. Virender Sehwag has been ruled out of the ongoing ICC World Twenty20 due to a shoulder injury. He will return to India after consulting medical experts in England. Sehwag’s replacement will be Wicket-keeper batsman Dinesh Karthik. Karthik was in fine form with the willow for Delhi Daredevils during IPL Season-II in South Africa.

Will Viru's bsence affect india???

Kanthasamy Story Line

Kanthaswamy stars Vikram and this film is expected to be a big treat to all vikram fans. This film is directed by Susi Ganesan and produced by Kalaipuli S. Thanu under the banner V Creations, has been in the making for nearly two years. Following the news scoops and snippets regarding the crew's various activities, everybody in tinsel town is excited and eagerly awaiting its release. Kanthaswamy stars Vikram and Shriya in lead roles, and there is liberal dose of glamour, heroism, a well-defined story, romance, edge-of-the-seat suspense and some foot-tapping music in it.

The story is about the economical differences that prevail between different classes of the Indian population. The film's protagonist is an investigating officer of high rank. While handling problems related to the country's security and development, the officer goes through specific property details of affluent businessmen and NRIs. On further investigation, he finds that the wide gap between the rich and the poor is the root cause for so many problems.

He tries to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor. How? By using his position and power, Vikram identifies and unearths crores of rupees of unaccounted money tucked away by the bigwigs in strange nooks and corners of the globe under varied names and ownerships and distributes them legitimately to the middle class and lower middle class people. All the adventures he goes through on his mission is what makes the film fascinating.

Let us wish that this film to be a great success!

Tree Plantation Drive by TATA Motors!

Tata Motors is looking forward to start a huge tree plantation drive across India and other south Asian countries on World Environment Day that falls on friday. 'The tree plantation drive is part of its endeavour to constantly improve its carbon footprint,' the spokesperson said, adding that the company has set itself a target of planting 200,000 saplings across over 1,100 locations in India and abroad this year, beginning June 5.

Tata Motors has already planted over 10 million trees.'This massive campaign is driven across the company - at plant locations, offices and its dealerships, authorised service centres, and spare parts distributors.' 'This massive campaign is driven across the company - at plant locations, offices and its dealerships, authorised service centres, and spare parts distributors.' In addition, the firm is also organising a free PUC (Pollution Under Control) check-up for its commercial vehicles Friday at over 100 service centres across the country. As part of the PUC check, emission related components would be checked and rectified.

It is great to know that even the business oriented companies are coming forward to spend their precious time on environmental issues. Let us wish their campaign to be a great success!

Preventive Measures to avoid Swine Flu

Swine Flu is a new killer virus that is affecting many parts of Europe. Follow these preventive measures to avoid swine flu!

1.As there are chances of spreading this Flu viruses when people with influenza cough or sneeze, everyone should make a special effort to avoid contact with potential virus carriers.

2. Cover your mouth and nose with tissues when you sneeze or cough and dispose them properly. Practice good personal hygiene and make sure you use surgical masks and gloves and other sanitary products when you are stepping out of your home.

3. Those who travel abroad have to be alert about the epidemic situation. Especially those who travel to California, Kansas, New York, Ohio and Texas have to be very cautions avoiding crowded groups because confirmed human cases of the swine flu virus are found in these cities.

4. Better stay at home if you are sick and take the advice of your physician if illness continues.

Melting Greenland

Due to increase in global temperature Greenland is melting at a faster rate and so it seems that it may drive more water to the coastlines of North eastern united states and Canada. If the Greenland melt continues to accelerate, we could see significant impacts this century on the northeast U.S. coast from the resulting sea level rise. Major northeastern cities are directly in the path of the greatest rise.

"To assess the impact of Greenland ice melt on ocean circulation, Hu and his coauthors used the Community Climate System Model, an NCAR-based computer model that simulates global climate. They considered three scenarios: the melt rate continuing to increase by 7 percent per year, as has been the case in recent years, or the melt rate slowing down to an increase of either 1 or 3 percent per year.

If Greenland's melt rate slows down to a 3 percent annual increase, the study team's computer simulations indicate that the runoff from its ice sheet could alter ocean circulation in a way that would direct about a foot of water toward the northeast coast of North America by 2100. This would be on top of the average global sea level rise expected as a result of global warming. Although the study team did not try to estimate that mean global sea level rise, their simulations indicated that melt from Greenland alone under the 3 percent scenario could raise worldwide sea levels by an average of 21 inches.

If the annual increase in the melt rate dropped to 1 percent, the runoff would not raise northeastern sea levels by more than the 8 inches in the earlier study in Nature Geoscience. But if the melt rate continued at its present 7 percent increase per year through 2050 and then leveled off, the study suggests that the northeast coast could see as much as 20 inches of sea level rise above a global average that could be several feet.