Mumbai Indians thrashes Delhi Daredevils

A splendid half-century by skipper Sachin Tendulkar, helped his Mumbai Indians to score a huge 98-run win over table toppers Delhi Daredevils in Match 9 of the IPL 2010 at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium. The Mumbai Indians posted a massive 218/7 in 20 overs, which incidentally is their highest score in the IPL thus far.

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In their defense Delhi Daredevils, did suffer a huge setback when their skipper Gautam Gambhir pulled a hamstring and did not bat. This incidentally was the first first defeat for the Delhi Daredevils in three outings in IPL 2010, while Mumbai Indians recorded their second consecutive win to be placed at the top of the leader board. Delhi Daredevils batting fell apart once T Dilshan and Virender Sehwag were back in the pavilion in the seventh over. Dilshan was done in by a slower one by Lasith Malinga to be bowled. Then the dangerous Sehwag, after hitting a typical 16-ball 26, was caught in the deep off medium pacer Dwayne Bravo. The tricky Bravo scalped his second wicket in the same over by bowling AB de Villiers, which pretty much took the wind out of Delhi’s sails. Bravo and Kieron Pollard, who did not get enough opportunity with the bat, made their presence felt with the ball Earlier, Tendulkar was in full flow. He cracked 11 dazzling fours to give the Mumbai Indians just the sort of start they needed. He drove and pulled on his way to a blazing 50 which came off only 23 deliveries, which saw the Mumbai Indians gallop to 50 in just 4.3 overs. Tendulkar’s innings came to an end when substitute fielder Yogesh Nagar, who came in place of the injured Gamhir, held a low catch off leg spinner Amit Mishra. Nagar had earlier pulled off a spectacular catch at mid-off to dismiss the Matara mauler and left-handed Mumbai Indian opener Sanath Jayasuriya, leaping high in the air to take a spectacular one-handed catch. After Tendulkar’s departure, the tall Saurabh Tiwary and the impressive Ambati Rayudu were involved in some lusty hitting. The fourth wicket pair stitched 71 runs in 34 deliveries before Rayudu was superbly snapped at long-on by Dilshan. However, the left-handed Tiwary completed his second successive 50, which came off only 31 deliveries. The dismissal of Rayudu (34, 21 balls, 1x4, 3x6) brought in the IPL’s costliest player Kieron Pollard to the crease for his IPL debut. The hard-hitting West Indian batsman was greeted by a dangerous beamer from left-arm Delhi Daredevils seamer Dirk Nannes and the next ball Pollard had a narrow escape when Mishra failed to hold a low catch at long on. Tiwary was run out in the 19th over for 37-ball 61 (4x4, 3x6). Leg spinner Sarabjit Ladda brought some cheers to Delhi Daredevils by dismissing the two West Indians Dwayne Bravo and Keiron Pollard in the last over. Farveez Maharoof, Pradeep Sangwan, Ladda and Mishra went for more than 40 runs. Dirk Nannes, the Aussie though was the best bowler for the Delhi Daredevils, conceding only 35 runs. The Mumbai Indians now take on the Royal Challengers Bangalore back home in Mumbai on March 20th, which should make for a mouth watering prospect, given the form of both the teams.

Police station gets modern building

Chennai police Commissioner T Rajendran today inaugurated a new, modernised premises for the Kotturpuram police station constructed at a cost of Rs 27 lakh on Gandhi Mandapam Road.

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The building to house the Kotturpuram police station was constructed by the Tamilnadu Police Housing Corporation early last year. Earlier, the police station was functioning from a building owned by the Tamilnadu Housing Board in the midst of a residential housing complex on Gandhi Mandapam Road. The new facility has a built-up area of 8,000 sq ft with ultra-modern facilities including a focus lamp at the two lock-up cells. Inaugurating the new building, Rajendran said the government had constructed a permanent building for it as part of the drive towards modernisation of the police force. He said the Kotturpuram police station was functioning from 1980. Since important institutions like Anna University, IIT, Central Leather Research Institute, Cancer hospital and Anna Memorial library fall under the (police) station limit, police personnel would also focus their attention on providing adequate security cover. Queried about film director Aravind’s case, he said with complaints pouring in against the person in question, the case is expected to be transferred to the CCB soon. Additional Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Shakeel Akthar, Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Ravi, Joint Commissioner Shakthivel and Deputy Commissioner Senthamaraikannan also participated.

Govt bus overturns, falls on passengers

three women and a teenage boy were crushed to death and 14 others injured when a lorry rammed into a stationary bus that overturned and fell on them under the impact. The accident took place at Koovathur on the East Coast Road in the wee hours of today, police said.

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The Nagapattinam-bound Tamilnadu State Express Transport Corporation (TNSTC) bus from Chennai was parked on the roadside after it ran out of fuel near Kalpakkam. Thirty-three passengers were travelling in it. As the driver boarded a passing bus to fetch diesel, the passengers in the stationary bus alighted from it and were sitting on the roadside when the Puducherry-bound lorry from Chennai rammed into their bus. The impact was such that the bus overturned and fell on the people sitting on the roadside. The deceased were identified as Banu (21), hailing from Nagapattiam, Rama (45) and her son Ranjith Kumar (17), both from Wallajahpet in Vellore district, and Lalitha (35) from Mangadu near Chennai. In all, 14 people, including those sitting on the road and those in the bus, sustained injuries. They were admitted to a private hospital at Kelambakkam on the OMR and at Government Chengalpet Hospital.

Gautham plans for a thriller before directing Ajith

At a time when many are of the idea that Goutham Vasudev Menon is busy with the preparatory work for the landmark 50th movie of Ajith, the filmmaker has cleared the air saying his next will not be an Ajit-starrer but a thriller starring newcomer Veera and Sameera Reddy in lead roles.

“It will be a quickie and a low budget thriller that will be over in 90 minutes. It's about the happenings in one particular night. Sameera and Veera will be the protagonists in the film. After completing this film, I will start the project with Ajit. It will be an wholesome commercial film catering to the taste of Ajit’s fans and regular movie-goers.”

Goutham, basking in the success of 'Vinnaithandi Varuvaya' and in particular delighted with a 3-page appreciation letter of the film received from veteran director K. Balachander, assures that the audience would get to see a 'different' Ajith in his film. He would sport a different look and would be admired by one and all, says Menon.

On the success of 'VTV', he says, “I had a little hesitation when I penned the script. There was some doubt in my mind as to whether audience would accept a full-length romantic film. Once the movie released and I started getting feedbacks, I felt overwhelmed by the response.”

Simbu to kick-start 'Vaaliban'

Actor Simbu is a very happy man nowadays. The actor, who had long been criticized for using his ‘fingers’ rather than facial expressions and body language to emote and act, has come in for wholesome praise from almost all quarters for his portrayal of a lover boy in his latest film ‘Vinnai Thaandi Varuvaaya’ opposite Trisha and directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon.

Simbu’s subdued yet appropriate performance has surprised many including him. In an effort at being humble, Simbu dedicates all that appreciation to Gautham Menon and says that he simply carried out what he was told by the director. The success of VTV appears to have rejuvenated Simbu who talks about launching his directorial venture ‘Vaaliban’ in the near future.

The sudden change which resulted in his opting out of K.V. Anand’s ‘Ko’ and the subsequent promotional work of VTV had kept him quite busy for the past month or so. Simbu now informs that he would very soon be launching his ‘Vaaliban’, which would be a romantic story with a patriotic twist to the proceedings. “There would be a subtle but distinct message for today’s youths,” he assures.

Either Varalakshmi Sarathkumar or Sruti Haasan or both of them would be booked as heroine(s), Simbu revealed and added that he was yet to finalize the cast. His friend and ‘Junior Maestro’ Yuvan Shanka Raja would be scoring the music of the film.

‘Vaaliban’ would be going to the floors by this month end and would be hitting the big screens on the eve of Deepavali, Simbu says.

Simbu croons for ‘Jeyam’ Ravi in Thillalangadi

The next film from the family of ‘Jeyam’ Ravi would be ‘Thillalangadi’, which would again be a remake of a Telugu film (titled ‘Kick’). The film, as usual, would be produced by ‘Jeyam’ Ravi’s father ‘Editor’ Mohan and would be directed by his elder brother Raja. The film pits the talented Ravi opposite the beautiful Tamannaah.

Incidentally, this would be the fifth film from the brothers, after their highly successful ventures in ‘Jeyam’, ‘M. Kumaran, S/o Mahalaxmi’, Something Something’ and ‘Santosh Subramaniam’. ‘Thillalangadi’ has Shaam, who has been playing only the hero’s roles, playing a ‘negative’ role for the first time in Tamil films.

Check Out : Thillalangadi Movie Gallery | Actor Shaam In Thillalangadi

Others in the cast include Vadivelu, Santhanam, Mansoor Ali Khan, Manobala, Livingston, ‘Kadhal’ Dhandapani, Latha Rao and Chandra Lakshman. While Radharavi appears in a guest role, Prabhu plays the significant role of Ravi’s father inthe film. Yuvan Shankar Raja would be the music director of the film and it would be the first time he would be working with ‘Jeyam’ Raja in a film.

One of the songs in the film, a fast-paced duet, has been sung by Simbu for Ravi. It was Ravi, who incidentally proposed Simbu’s name as the singer and as Simbu and Yuvan are already great friends, the recording went off smoothly. This song was penned by Naa. Muthukumar. The song sequence would be shot soon in the coming week, one learns.

‘Thillalangadi’ is set to hit the screens on Tamil New Year eve on 14th April!

Are you ready for the Anushka wave?

Actress Anoushka is the most sought-after actress in Tamil and Telugu films at present. Producers and directors are said to be queuing up outside the actress’ residence to book her for their films, as she has earned the tag of a ‘lucky’ actress, a trait which is of foremost need in the film industry.

Anoushka has three Telugu films on hand presently with Mahesh Babu, Allu Arjun and Manoj. She has also committed to doing a film for V. Samuthra which has been tentatively titled ‘Panchakshari’. She has also agreed to play the lead role in ‘Kanchana’ which would be directed by Raghava Lawrence. The script is said to be a heroine-oriented one on the lines of Anoushka’s earlier film ‘Arundhati’.

In Tamil, she plays the lead role in ‘Singam’ opposite Suriya. Though she’s been approached by many Tamil film directors, they are said to be put off by her above-normal height which makes it tough for the heroes. There are, of course, some producers and directors who are ready to bring in high-heeled slippers and shoes for their heroes to ‘qualify’ them to star opposite the sexy yoga trainer-turned-actress Anoushka!

Vijay or Suriya - who would make it on April 14th?

Two mega projects involving two big stars are gearing up for summer release: the first one is the Vijay-starrer ‘Suraa’, which would incidentally be the 50th film of his career spanning close to one-and-a-half decades, while the other one is ‘Singam’, the Suriya-Anushka starrer directed by Hari, known for his pacy screenplay and sleek narration.

Surya - Vijay

Both the biggies are expected to hit the screens on the eve of Tamil New Year on April 14th. However, there has been some skepticism among theatre-owners and distributors that in case it was to happen that way, it might not be profitable to them and that one among the two may not hit the bull’s eye. Queries with the respective Units revealed that one of them will get postponed as Sun Pictures produces both of them.

Check Out : Singam Movie Gallery

Sun Pictures, which has expectedly emerged as the market leader in production and distribution of films, has acquired the rights of both films. As per the existing system followed by them, the first copy is seen by a competent team of studio executives who would then make suggestions like additions, deletions or modifications in the script (if need arises) which would have to be carried out by the production side.

So, the question as to which among ‘Singam’ or ‘Sura’ would be releasing depends entirely on the basis of who would be submitting the film’s ‘first copy’ to Sun Pictures for its scrutiny first. An unofficial race is on between producers of ‘Sura’ and ‘Singam’ targeting April 14th.

Innovation of sixth sense device - Genius"Pranav Mistry"

We grew up interacting with the physical objects around us. There is an enormous number of them that we use every day. Unlike most of our computing devices, these objects are much more fun to use. When you talk about objects, one other thing automatically comes attached to that thing, and that is gestures: how we manipulate these objects, how we use these objects in everyday life. We use gestures not only to interact with these objects, but we also use them to interact with each other. A gesture of "Namaste!", maybe, to respect someone, or maybe -- in India I don't need to teach a kid that this means "four runs" in cricket. It comes as a part of our everyday learning.

So, I am very interested, from the beginning, that how -- How our knowledge about everyday objects and gestures, and how we use these objects, can be leveraged to our interactions with the digital world. Rather than using a keyboard and mouse, why can I not use my computer in the same way that I interact in the physical world?

So, I started this exploration about eight years back, and it literally started with a mouse on my desk. Rather than using it for my computer, I actually opened it. Most of you might be aware that, in those days, the mouse used to come with a ball inside, and there were two rollers that actually guide the computer where the ball is moving, and, accordingly, where the mouse is moving. So, I was interested in these two rollers, and I actually wanted more, so I borrowed another mouse from a friend -- never returned to him -- and I now had four rollers.

Interestingly, what I did with these rollers is, basically, I took them off of these mouses and then put them in one line. It had some strings and pulleys and some springs. What I got is basically a gesture interface device that actually acts as a motion-sensing device made for two dollars. So, here, whatever movement I do in my physical world is actually replicated inside the digital world just using this small device that I made, around eight years back, in 2000.

Because I was interested in integrating these two worlds, I thought of sticky notes. I thought, "Why can I not connect the normal interface of a physical sticky note to the digital world?" A message written on a sticky note to my mom on paper can come to an SMS, or maybe a meeting reminder automatically syncs with my digital calendar -- a to-do list that automatically syncs with you. But you can also search in the digital world, or maybe you can write a query, saying, "What is Dr. Smith's address?" and this small system actually prints it out -- so it actually acts like a paper input-output system, just made out of paper.

In another exploration, I thought of making a pen that can draw in three dimensions. So, I implemented this pen that can help designers and architects not only think in three dimensions, but they can actually draw so that it's more intuitive to use that way.

Then I thought, "Why not make a Google Map, but in the physical world?" Rather than typing a keyword to find something, I put my objects on top of it. If I put a boarding pass, it will show me where the flight gate is. A coffee cup will show where you can find more coffee, or where you can trash the cup.

So, these were some of the earlier explorations I did because the goal was to connect these two worlds seamlessly. Among all these experiments, there was one thing in common: I was trying to bring a part of the physical world to the digital world. I was taking some part of the objects, or any of the intuitiveness of real life, and bringing them to the digital world, because the goal was to make our computing interfaces more intuitive.

But then I realized that we humans are not actually interested in computing. What we are interested in is information. We want to know about things. We want to know about dynamic things going around.

So I thought, around last year -- in the beginning of the last year -- I started thinking, "Why can I not take this approach in the reverse way?" Maybe, "How about I take my digital world and paint the physical world with that digital information?" Because pixels are actually, right now, confined in these rectangular devices that fit in our pockets. Why can I not remove this confine and take that to my everyday objects, everyday life so that I don't need to learn the new language for interacting with those pixels?

So, in order to realize this dream, I actually thought of putting a big-size projector on my head. I think that's why this is called a head-mounted projector, isn't it? I took it very literally, and took my bike helmet, put a little cut over there so that the projector actually fits nicely. So now, what I can do -- I can augment the world around me with this digital information.

But later, I realized I wanted to interact with those digital pixels, also. So I put a small camera over there, that acts as a digital eye. Later, we moved to a much better, consumer-oriented pendant version of that, that many of you now know as the SixthSense device.

But the most interesting thing about this particular technology is that you can carry your digital world with you wherever you go. You can start using any surface, any wall around you, as an interface. The camera is actually tracking all your gestures. Whatever you're doing with your hands, it's understanding that gesture. And, actually, if you see, there are some color markers that in the beginning version we are using with it. You can start painting on any wall. You stop by a wall, and start painting on that wall. But we are not only tracking one finger, here. We are giving you the freedom of using all of both of your hands, so you can actually use both of your hands to zoom into or zoom out of a map just by pinching all present. The camera is actually doing -- just, getting all the images -- is doing the edge recognition and also the color recognition and so many other small algorithms are going on inside. So, technically, it's a little bit complex, but it gives you an output which is more intuitive to use, in some sense.

But I'm more excited that you can actually take it outside. Rather than getting your camera out of your pocket, you can just do the gesture of taking a photo and it takes a photo for you.

(Applause)

Thank you.

And later I can find a wall, anywhere, and start browsing those photos or maybe, "OK, I want to modify this photo a little bit and send it as an email to a friend." So, we are looking for an era where computing will actually merge with the physical world. And, of course, if you don't have any surface, you can start using your palm for simple operations. Here, I'm dialing a phone number just using my hand. The camera is actually not only understanding your hand movements, but, interestingly, is also able to understand what objects you are holding in your hand.

What we're doing here is actually -- for example, in this case, the book cover is matched with so many thousands, or maybe millions of books online, and checking out which book it is. Once it has that information, it finds out more reviews about that, or maybe New York Times has a sound overview on that, so you can actually hear, on a physical book, a review as sound. ("famous talk at Harvard University ...")

This was Obama's visit last week to MIT. ("... and particularly I want to thank two outstanding MIT ...") So, I was seeing the live [video] of his talk, outside, on just a newspaper. Your newspaper will show you live weather information rather than having it updated -- like, you have to check your computer in order to do that, right?

(Applause)

When I'm going back, I can just use my boarding pass to check how much my flight has been delayed, because at that particular time, I'm not feeling like opening my iPhone, and checking out a particular icon. And I think this technology will not only change the way -- Yes. (Laughter) It will change the way we interact with people, also, not only the physical world. The fun part is, I'm going to the Boston metro, and playing a pong game inside the train on the ground, right? (Laughter) And I think the imagination is the only limit of what you can think of when this kind of technology merges with real life.

But many of you argue, actually, that all of our work is not only about physical objects. We actually do lots of accounting and paper editing and all those kinds of things; what about that? And many of you are excited about the next generation tablet computers to come out in the market. So, rather than waiting for that, I actually made my own, just using a piece of paper. So, what I did here is remove the camera -- All the webcam cameras have a microphone inside the camera. I removed the microphone from that, and then just pinched that -- like I just made a clip out of the microphone -- and clipped that to a piece of paper, any paper that you found around. So now the sound of the touch is getting me when exactly I'm touching the paper. But the camera is actually tracking where my fingers are moving.

You can of course watch movies. ("Good afternoon. My name is Russell ...") ("... and I am a Wilderness Explorer in Tribe 54.")

And you can of course play games. (Car engine) Here, the camera is actually understanding how you're holding the paper and playing a car-racing game. (Applause)

Many of you already must have thought, OK, you can browse. Yeah. Of course you can browse to any websites or you can do all sorts of computing on a piece of paper wherever you need it. So, more interestingly, I'm interested in how we can take that in a more dynamic way. When I come back to my desk I can just pinch that information back to my desktop so I can use my full-size computer.

(Applause)

And why only computers? We can just play with papers. Paper world is interesting to play with. Here, I'm taking a part of a document and putting over here a second part from a second place -- and I'm actually modifying the information that I have over there. Yeah. And I say, "OK, this looks nice, let me print it out, that thing." So I now have a print-out of that thing, and now -- The workflow is more intuitive the way we used to do it maybe 20 years back, rather than now switching between these two worlds.

So, as a last thought, I think that integrating information to everyday objects will not only help us to get rid of the digital divide, the gap between these two worlds, but will also help us, in some way, to stay human, to be more connected to our physical world. And it will help us, actually, not be machines sitting in front of other machines.

That's all. Thank you.

(Applause)

Thank you.

(Applause)

Chris Anderson: So, Pranav, first of all, you're a genius. This is incredible, really. What are you doing with this? Is there a company being planned? Or is this research forever, or what?

Pranav Mistry: So, there are lots of companies -- actually sponsor companies of Media Lab -- interested in taking this ahead in one or another way. Companies like mobile phone operators want to take this in a different way than the NGOs in India, [who] are thinking, "Why can we only have 'Sixth Sense'? We should have a 'Fifth Sense' for missing-sense people who cannot speak. This technology can be used for them to speak out in a different way with maybe a speaker system."

CA: What are your own plans? Are you staying at MIT, or are you going to do something with this?

PM: I'm trying to make this more available to people so that anyone can develop their own SixthSense device because the hardware is actually not that hard to manufacture, or hard to make your own. We will provide all the open source software for them, maybe starting next month.

CA: Open source? Wow.

(Applause)

CA: Are you going to come back to India with some of this, at some point?

PM: Yeah. Yes, yes, of course.

CA: What are your plans? MIT? India? How are you going to split your time going forward?

PM: There is a lot of energy here. Lots of learning. All of this work that you have seen is all about my learning in India. And now, if you see more about the cost-effectiveness: this system costs you 300 dollars compared to the 20,000 dollar surface tables, or anything like that. Or maybe even the two-dollar mouse gesture system at that time was costing around 5,000 dollars? So, we actually -- I showed that, at a conference, to President Abdul Kalam, at that time, and then he said, "OK, we should use this in Bhabha Atomic Research Centre for some use of that." So I'm excited about how I can bring the technology to the masses rather than just keeping that technology in the lab environment.

(Applause)

CA: Based on the people we've seen at TED, I would say you're truly one of the two or three best inventors in the world right now. It's an honor to have you at TED. Thank you so much. That's fantastic.

(Applause)

TN Govt inks pact with SCE for Cooum river cleaning

Chennai, Mar 18: With a view to use Singapore's expertise in cleaning up the highly polluted Cooum river in the city, Tamil Nadu government today inked a pact with the Singapore Cooperation Enterprise (SCE).

The Memorandum of Understanding with SCE, an agency formed by the Ministry of Trade and Industry and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Singapore, will allow the latter to share inputs in project development, sharing expertise with local engineers and advise the state government on various aspects of Cooum revamping.

The SCE team is on a three-day visit to the state and scheduled to make field visits tomorrow, a government release here said.

Deputy Chief Minister M K Stalin had visited Singapore last year to study the cleaning up process of Singapore river and submitted a report to Chief Minister M Karunanidhi.

Later, the Chennai River Authority was formed with Stalin as the head to take up the cleaning up of the 65 km long river originating from the nearby Tiruvallore district.

Letting in of industrial polluntants and other wastes into the river had turned the river into one of the most polluted water bodies in the state, with successive governments initiating various projects for its clean up. - Agencies

Dhoni taken for X-ray but expected to play in next IPL match

Kolkata, Mar 16 : Chennai Super Kings captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni today underwent an X-ray test after being hit by a rising Shane Bond delivery in CSK's IPL match against Kolkata Knight Riders here but coach Stephen Fleming ruled out any major injury to the India skipper.

Fleming said Dhoni is expected to play in CSK's next Indian Premier League match against Delhi Daredevils on March 18.

"He (Dhoni) has gone for an X-ray on his arm. We are hopeful that it's nothing more than a bruising and that he is available. You have just seen how important he is," Fleming said after Dhoni led the team to a 55-run win over Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens here.

Dhoni, who was awarded Man of the Match, resurrected the Chennai Super Kings innings with a 33-ball 66 to help them score 164 for three that proved to be a tall order for KKR who were shot out for 109 in 19.2 overs.

-Agencies

Mumbai Indians crush Dare Devils by 98 runs

New Delhi, Mar 17 : Mumbai Indians beat Delhi Daredevils by 98 runs in their Indian Premier League match at Ferozshah Kotla ground here today.

Brief Scores:

Mumbai Indians: 218 for seven in 20 overs. (Sachin Tendulkar 63, Saurabh Tiwary 61, Ambati Rayudu 34; Farveez Maharoof 2/49).

Delhi Daredevils: 120 for nine in 16.3 overs (F Maharoof 28; Dwayne Bravo 2/11). - Agencies

IPL III: RCB pacer Praveen Kumar gets 1st hat-trick

Bangalore, Mar 18: Royal Challengers Bangalore pacer Praveen Kumar became the sixth player in the history of the Indian Premier League - first in season III - to record a hat-trick during his team's third IPL match against Rajasthan Royals here today.

Brought back into the attack in the 17th over, Praveen removed Damien Martin, Sumit Narwal and Paras Dogra off successive deliveries to join the elite league.

Delhi Daredevils' Amit Mishra, Chennai Super Kings duo of L Balaji and Makhaya Ntini, Kings XI Punjab's Yuvraj Singh (twice) and Deccan Chargers' Rohit Sharma had achieved the feat in the previous editions of the event.

Praveen did not have a particular good start to the over as he began with a wide and followed it up with a delivery that was put away for a boundary by Martyn. - Agencies

Royals Challengers crush Raj Royals by 10 wickets

Bangalore, Mar 18 : Praveen Kumar recorded the first hat-trick of Indian Premier League III as a dominant Royal Challengers Bangalore mauled a sorry-looking Rajasthan Royals by 10 wickets to notch up their second consecutive win in the Twenty20 tournament here today.

Praveen (3/18) notched up the seventh hat-trick in the tournament's history, while skipper Anil Kumble and Jacques Kallis (2/20) ably supported him from the other end to restrict the Rajasthan side under the three figure mark.

Delhi Daredevils' Amit Mishra, Chennai Super Kings duo of L Balaji and Makhaya Ntini, Kings XI Punjab's Yuvraj Singh (twice) and Deccan Chargers' Rohit Sharma had achieved the feat in the previous editions of the event.

With a meager 93 to chase, in-form Kallis and young Manish Pandey bulldozed the Rajsathan bowlers to all parts of the ground from the onset to complete a facile win in just 10. - Agencies

State-wide public hearing on Power Tariff hike

Chennai, Mar 18: Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission (TNERC), which has recieved a proposal from the TNEB on power tariff hike, will hold state-wide public hearing in four major cities of the state starting March 30 in this regard.

As part of the consultative process, public meetings will be held at Chennai (Mar 30), Madurai (Apr 8), Coimbatore (Apr 13) and Tiruchirappally (Apr 15), TNERC said in an official release here.

Recently, citing "huge losses" and non-revision of tariff for the last seven years, the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB) had made the proposal for hike with TNERC for revision of tariff but said that a majority of consumers would be spared.

Those who could come under the revised power tariff regime would include domestic consumers consuming more than 200 units a month, educational institutions, cinema studios and theatres. - Agencies

Tamil Actor Goundamani Dead: Is it a Rumor or the Truth?

Tamil comedian Goundamani is rumored to be dead after some news services have some ‘unconfirmed’ reports that he died of a massive heart attack.

It is true that Goundamani was admitted in a private hospital but, it is still not sure whether he is alright or not, since there has not been any official statement regarding his health just about yet.

Some sources allege that doctors tried all they could to save him,but he died. There have been many changes made to Wikipedia stating that the actor was dead but none has been confirmed yet.

However, Kollywood Movie says: “The news turned to be shocking news for all the celebrities and socialites across the state as they rushed to the hospitals. The doctors have now confirmed that theactor has nothing worry as the condition is quite normal now.”

So who is Goundamani ?

Goundamani is a very famous Tamil film actor and comedian in South India and is well known for his roles with Senthil in the Tamil cinema. He will be making a comeback with his new movie Jagghubai which also stars anotheractor Sarath Kumar.

So is the Goundamani Dead news a rumour or a fact? Check back here for latest updates on his health.