Two-Match T20 Ban on Afridi for Ball Tampering

Two-Match T20 Ban on Afridi for Ball Tampering

Pakistani all-rounder Shahid Afridi was on Sunday banned for two Twenty20 Internationals after pleading guilty to a ball-tampering
charge during the fifth and final ODI against Australia in Perth.

Pakistan coach Intikhab Alam confirmed that Match Referee Ranjan Madugalle has banned Afridi for two matches after holding a hearing on the complaint by on-field umpires Asoka De Silva and Paul Reiffel immediately after the match.

“It is unfortunate what has happened because Afridi was due to lead Pakistan in the Twenty20 match next week against Australia,” Alam said from Perth.

Afridi, who led Pakistan in the final ODI in place of the unfit Mohammad Yousuf, was caught on camera chewing on one side of the ball while walking to the run up with bowler Mohammad Asif.

Trying to change the condition of the ball through illegal means prompts strict penalties from the ICC.

In 2005, Afridi was banned for twisting his spikes and trying to change condition of pitch during a Test match in Faisalabad against England.

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After The Catcher in the Rye Came Fame and Then a Lifetime of Solitude

After The Catcher in the Rye Came Fame and Then a Lifetime of Solitude

J.D. Salinger was catapulted to fame in 1951 with the publication of a short novel, The Catcher in the Rye, which has become the treasured handbook of alienation for generations of angst-ridden teenagers.

With its themes of rebellion, young sexuality and lost innocence, it tells the story of teenager Holden Caulfield, who is both protagonist and narrator. Caulfield, apparently the victim of a mental breakdown, reflects on his expulsion from the privileged surroundings of his Pennsylvania boarding school and his subsequent experiences over three days in New York.

As well as being an immediate bestseller, the book continues to sell a quarter of a million copies annually. Salinger never wrote another novel, and in the next 12 years, before retreating to rural New Hampshire as a permanent recluse, published only three volumes of short stories and novellas. The three books after The Catcher in the Rye were For Esme – With Love and Squalor (1953); Franny and Zooey (1961); and Raise High the Roof Beam Carpenters, and Seymour: An Introduction (1963).

After 1963, Salinger spent the rest of his life successfully avoiding all but a minute circle of neighbours in Cornish, a New Hampshire hamlet. The other inhabitants gradually learnt to be defensive about their odd, uncommunicative neighbour.

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Toyota Tells Workers it has Found Fix For Gas Pedals, Update Coming on Friday

Toyota Tells Workers it has Found Fix For Gas Pedals, Update Coming on Friday

Toyota Motor Corp. says it has figured out how to fix a problem with sticking accelerator pedals and will update employees with details.

The company said in an email to workers Thursday night that it presented a remedy to federal regulators. The email obtained by The Associated Press says that plans are being developed on a variety of fronts. The company says it will update workers on Friday.

The company says its engineers are working around the clock to fix the problem in eight of its models, including the top-selling Camry midsize sedan.

Toyota says accelerators rarely stick. But earlier this week the company halted sales and production of the models. It has recalled at least 2.4 million cars and trucks in the U.S., Europe and China because of the problem.

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Shah Rukh Khan is ’scared’ of Getting into Relationships

Shah Rukh Khan is ’scared’ of Getting into Relationships

Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan has said he is ’scared’ of getting into relationships and finds himself socially and emotionally inept.

“There are days I feel lonely. I have never gotten into relationships, because I’m scared to. I lost my parents, so now I don’t like to lose relationships,” Shah Rukh has been quoted as saying in ‘GQ India’ magazine’s latest issue.

About his reported uncomfortable relationships with contemporaries and seniors in Bollywood, where he has spent nearly two decades, Shah Rukh said his fall-out with Salman Khan was personal and not work-related.

“With Aamir (Khan) and Amitabh Bachchan, there is no fall-out,” the 44-year-old actor said.

And while talking about her friend filmmaker-choreographer Farah Khan, Shah Rukh said, “I’ll be honest about Farah. Her work defines her. None of us owe anything to anyone. I always believe that.”

To a question on what has he learned in the film industry, he said, “Everyone doesn’t understand my humour. Happiness comes on a successful Friday. And all this happens if you’re happening. The industry is the nicest place to be because it’s straightforward.”
“If you believe you are a means to an end, you will always be successful in this industry. If you believe you are the end, you will feel cheated, unhappy, let down,” King Khan said

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Echoes of ‘Catcher’ Resonate in American Films

Echoes of ‘Catcher’ Resonate in American Films

The rebellious teen anti-hero is so common in today’s cinema it’s easy to forget that such a kid was not as prominent in American culture before Holden Caulfield.

The protagonist of the J.D. Salinger novel “Catcher in the Rye” shook the literary world when he debuted in 1951, full of angst and railing against the adult world. He also ushered in a disillusioned demographic of movie characters who wear their nonconformity as comfortably as a T-shirt.

“What J.D. Salinger achieved with Holden Caulfield is he really invented a voice that became the voice for a lot of disaffected youth,” said Gregg Kilday, film editor for The Hollywood Reporter. “Slangy, suspicious of adults, looking to call out ‘phonies’ wherever he saw them.”

From James Dean’s Jim Stark in “Rebel Without a Cause” to Matthew Broderick’s character in “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” and beyond, Holden’s legacy resonates in Hollywood. There was even a 2001 film titled “Chasing Holden” about a troubled young man who embarks on a journey to find Salinger.

Syracuse pop culture professor Robert Thompson points out that rebellious youth existed in literature before “Catcher” in the works of James Joyce, Ernest Hemingway and others.

The emergence from the post-war era marked a shift in attitudes, said Thompson, and there was an emerging baby-boom generation ripe for disaffection and protests.

“I think probably Salinger actually caught something that was afoot in the culture anyway with Holden Caulfield,” Thompson said. “He created a character that I think was kind of predictive in ways that all kinds of people were going to feel about in the subsequent generation and generations after that.

“I think he gets credit for beautifully nailing a certain piece of emotional and literary real estate and doing it really early.”

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FAQ: What We Now Know About the iPad

FAQ: What We Now Know About the iPad

After the blood-in-the-water, Tiger shark-like frenzy leading up to the unveiling of Apple’s new tablet this week, it’s understandable that you might feel, well, a tad underwhelmed. Even the Apple rumor mill can’t peg every nut and bolt, so there’s always something that was touted by the gossip, but didn’t show in the real deal.

No, the iPad — a name that’s struck some as offensive — doesn’t make popcorn. It won’t recharge by setting it in a sunny spot. It won’t even run Flash, for cryin’ out loud.

What will it do? What’s inside? And most important, what’s it going to cost?

Surprisingly, there were some surprises yesterday when Apple CEO Steve Jobs — still looking thin but no longer sickly gaunt — showed off the iPad, beginning with its price, which was lower than most had predicted.

To get going, we’ve answered some of the first round of questions about what Jobs called “magical” and “revolutionary,” but which a lot of pundits called much more mundane.

How much will it cost? $499 at the bottom, $829 at the top, with four more configurations in between.

Here’s the deal … the iPad comes in two models: One with WiFi connectivity only, the second with both WiFi and 3G. For each model there are three configurations based on the amount of flash RAM storage.

The WiFi-only models costs $499, $599 and $699 for the 16GB, 32GB and 64GB configurations, respectively. Add $130 to each of those prices for the WiFi+3G model and you get $629, $729 and $829.

Some experts have said the $130 surcharge for 3G is “ridiculous,” noting that a 3G chipset adds less than $10 to the materials cost of the iPad. Other hardware in the model, such as GPS, would add a few more dollars.

When can I get one? Apple’s saying “late March” for the WiFi-only model, “late April” for the WiFi+3G iPad. And no, you can’t order one yet.

The company isn’t taking pre-orders at the moment. Instead, Apple’s only accepting names and e-mail addresses, which it will use to notify customers when the online store is ready to take credit card numbers.

I’ve heard some say the iPad is fast. What’s that about? The tablet’s powered by what CEO Steve Jobs yesterday called an “Apple A4″ processor, which he also acknowledged was Apple-designed. Jobs didn’t come out and say it, but everyone is assuming that the chip was created by P.A. Semi, the Santa Clara, Calif. boutique microprocessor design company Apple acquired in 2008.

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Chidambaram Likely to Visit Pakistan

Chidambaram Likely to Visit Pakistan

The government has yet to take a call on Home Minister P Chidambaram’s visit to Islamabad for the South Asian Association for Regional
Cooperation (SAARC) interior ministers’ conference next month, but indications are that he could make the trip, government sources said on Friday.

“Obviously the home minister himself needs to make up his mind in the first place after consultations with the ministry of external affairs. But given that he has been doing some tough talking against Pakistan, it may be worthwhile to test the waters there,” said a senior government functionary.

There has been no ministerial visit from India since the 26/11 terror strikes. The last visit was by Pranab Mukherjee in May 2008, who was then the external affairs minister.

Chidambaram’s constant refrain, after India submitted seven terror dossiers to Pakistan for action, has been that Islamabad needs to do more to punish the 26/11 accused.

On Thursday after Pakistani investigators named Zaki-ur Rehman Lakhvi as the mastermind behind the Mumbai attacks, Chidambaram said that Pakistan was still dragging its feet.

“Lakhvi is one of the masterminds. There are others. We know their names and we think Pakistan also knows their names. If they do not bring others to trial, then I would have to conclude reluctantly and regrettably that they are still dragging their feet,” he remarked.

The SAARC conference scheduled from Feb 20 will be attended by ministers from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka and is expected to discuss regional cooperation for dealing with the menace of terrorism, narcotics and organised crime.

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Ryan Harris Stars Again as Australia Beat Pakistan

Ryan Harris Stars Again as Australia Beat Pakistan

Ryan Harris took his second consecutive five-wicket haul as Australia won the fourth one-day international in Perth by 135 runs to take a 4-0 series lead.

Australia made 277-8 batting first, with Mike Hussey hitting 67 and Nathan Hauritz 53 not out from 39 balls.

Pakistan were reduced to 39-4, and only 38 from Umar Akmal and 29 from 10 balls from Shahid Afridi allowed them to reach 142 in 37.5 overs.

Harris, who took 5-43 in Adelaide, took 5-19 in only his third ODI.

There is only one game remaining in the series, also in Perth on Sunday.

Queenslander Harris had Salman Butt (0) and Younus Khan (6) caught behind and at one point had figures of 2-0 from 13 balls.

Kamran Akmal (17) and Mohammad Yousuf (10) briefly threatened to steady the Pakistan ship, but Peter Siddle removed both men to leave Pakistan in deep trouble.

Umar Akmal (38) and Fawad Alam (21) produced a painstaking 60-run partnership that was more a battle for survival than any meaningful attempt to overhaul the total.

But when Alam was sensationally run out by Hauritz in the 28th over, Pakistan’s chase received a much-needed shot in the arm from Afridi.

Afridi pummelled Hauritz for 17 in one over and hit three fours and two sixes in a typically-flamboyant cameo.

Afridi, though, could only look on from the other end as Harris was brought back into the attack to dismiss Umar Akmal and Rana Naved in consecutive balls.

The explosive all-rounder followed in the next over, Afridi miscuing a delivery from Clint McKay and Hauritz taking a simple catch at third man.

With Afridi gone it was only a matter of time before Australia wrapped up the tail, Hauritz (1-48) taking Saeed Ajmal’s wicket before Harris completed the slaughter when he had Rao Iftikhar Anjum spectacularly caught by a diving Brad Haddin.

Pakistan had produced their best performance in the field of the summer, ensuring that most of the Australian top order merely made starts without going on.

Australia certainly appeared to be treating the encounter like the dead rubber it was as they cruised to 190-6 by the 40th over.

But Hussey and Hauritz soon turned that around, laying the platform for another convincing Australian victory.

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Veer for Vendetta

Veer for Vendetta

“Hum Sirf Angrezon Ka Khoon Peetey Hai,” (We only drink blood of the British) roars Mithun, when offered Angrezi sharaab (English liquor), and goes on to chop off Jackie Shroff’s arm. And we rub our hands in glee, all set to watch another over-the-top entertainer by the notorious Anil Sharma, the guy behind laugh riots, including Gadar and Hero: The Love Story of a Spy.

The film made news about creative differences between Salman Khan and Anil Sharma. After watching it, we have a few theories on where they didn’t see eye to eye.

1. Period setting: When Salman said the historical was set in the 1880s, Anil Sharma decided that the film needed to have the Eighties look. In fact, it even looks like it was shot in the 1980s. The wardrobe department appropriately came up with orange jeans, leather pants, gowns for the Princess etc. Upset with the director’s negligence, Salman decided to boycott shirts for most of the film. This also helped him remain under the skin of the character he was playing — himself. Which also explains what Sohail is doing in the film… fooling around with his bade bhaiyya.

2. The Katrina factor: Salman wanted a fat girl to play princess because “there was no concept of Size Zero those days.” Given that he was playing himself in the film, he wanted the girlfriend too. Since Katrina couldn’t afford to put on that much weight, Anil Sharma found a replacement. Reviewers were quick to spot the similarities and crowned her Fatrina instantly. But if you grew up in this part of the world, you would know that Zarine is more Ramba than Katrina. Salman went on record to say that Zarine looked nothing like Katrina and Anil Sharma responded by making Zarine bite Salman’s wrist in the film.

3. Dead or Alive: Salman wanted to die and do a Braveheart. He even got the locks and sword to pose for the poster but Anil Sharma wanted him alive because fans would expect a Happy Ending. So they settled for a compromise. That they will do both. Again, Salman didn’t want to throw Mithun into the well (maybe because he sort of felt he was playing himself with brother and girlfriend-look-alike for company) but Anil Sharma thought it would make such a cool shot. So yes, they shot both and used both. To justify, there are two Salman Khans in the movie. Yay!

4. Pindari Power: Salman saw the freedom-loving Pindaris as folks who were tough as nails. Anil Sharma’s interpretation: Make the father drench the newborn in pouring rain. The Pindari father also, from time to time, must beat up his son and throw him into the well at regular intervals. In fact, Anil Sharma’s research shows us that killing and throwing the other into the well was the favourite pastime of the Pindaris. So what if they are fighting a war in the desert, the well’s just the place to throw the dead body. And you thought that the opening lines of the Pindaris used to drinking blood was just rhetoric! Unaware of Anil Sharma’s portrayal, Salman, with righteous indignation, scowls at the British teacher when he refers to the Pindaris as barbarians.

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Sundance Film “Bhutto” Sheds Light on Pakistan

Sundance Film “Bhutto” Sheds Light on Pakistan

Westerners seeking to understand the volatility of modern Pakistan are getting a good look at the country in a new movie examining the life and legacy of slain leader Benazir Bhutto, screening at the Sundance Film Festival this week .

Documentary “Bhutto” has earned solid reviews with its tale of the former prime minister, her family and husband, who is currently facing calls to step down as president of the nuclear-armed nation.

Bhutto, the first female leader of a Muslim country, was killed by a suicide bomber in late 2007 after returning from exile to seek the country’s leadership for the third time.

Her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, took over the presidency shortly after, and opponents are calling for him to step down due to corruption charges dating to Bhutto’s reign.

In looking at the Bhutto family’s legacy, the producers hope westerners might better understand a country dominating headlines with tales of political strive and Muslim extremism.

“The importance of Pakistan, the strategic importance as the only Muslim nation with nuclear weapons capability, and roiling in turmoil…it absolutely can’t be ignored,” said Duane Baughman, who along with Mark Siegel conceived of and produced the film.

Siegel, who appears extensively in the documentary, was working on Bhutto’s campaign as a U.S. spokesman when she was killed and quickly sought to show the significance of her life to U.S. audiences.

“Benazir was truly the modern face of Islam,” said Siegel.

BHUTTO’S VIEW OF PAKISTAN

Using archived news clips and interviews with Bhutto’s family, allies and even opponents, “Bhutto” is in many ways a history of Pakistan itself, told through the lens of the Bhutto family’s politics for most of the country’s 62-year existence.

Directed by Jessica Hernandez and Johnny O’Hara, the film focuses early on the influence of Bhutto’s father, former Prime Minister and President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who defied convention by insisting his daughter get an education and not forcing her to wear the traditional Muslim burqa.

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Designer Publishes ‘Leaked’ Apple Tablet Photos

Designer Publishes ‘Leaked’ Apple Tablet Photos
These wonderful fake tablet photos come from user interface designer Dustin Curtis. they supposedly show the Jesus Tablet sat atop a 15-inch MacBook Pro, Unlike many blurry-cam spy-shots, Dustin has put his faith in his Photoshop abilities and posted these pictures sharp and clear.
It’s a sweet looking design, with dual dock ports for horizontal and vertical charging (and movie-watching). Even the bezel, although thin-looking on a large tablet, is wide enough for fingers to grip without obscuring the screen.
But the telltale signs are there. A bad, overly soft drop shadow (most obvious in the close-up), an off-looking reflection (the glowing Apple and the screen edge on the main shot) and the rather pale reflection of the MacBook keyboard in its own screen (again on the close-up). Still, it might be my favorite mockup so far, if only because the super-simple slab-like design fits with my idea of what the actual tablet will look like. For more debunking and analysis, head to Dustin’s blog, where these images were posted. Good try, Dustin!

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Shahrukh Khan on the moon

Shahrukh Khan on the moon
For those who thought that the fans of Bollywood (Tamil film industry) were one crazy lot, we are sure that this piece of news will just not be a ‘Moonwalk’ (quite literally) for them. It’s general knowledge that Shahrukh Khan is called the King Khan for enough reasons that would fill many pages of an Encyclopedia. And the fan following that he has is nothing short of hysteria.
Well, if that wasn’t enough, here is a piece of news that is bound to make you sit up and take notice. The news is that one of SRK’s biggest fans had purchased (you read it right) a piece of land in SRK’s name on the Moon. And the good news is that, the International Lunar Geographic Society (ILGS) has now approved of the same. The crater in question is located on the moon’s Sea of Tranquility and is the largest of the four Arago craters, positioned directly south of the main crater.
It is said that the crater was named after SRK on his 44th birthday in November last year, and was only recently approved by the International Astronomical Union following a spate of petitions from SRK fans worldwide.
With this, SRK has proved quite literally, as to what ‘feeling over the moon’ really means. Way to go, SRK!

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