New T20 look: Tricolour on the heart for Team India

Mumbai: An Indian cricketer will now not wear his heart on his sleeve. Rather, if he pulls on a Twenty20 India shirt, it will be tricolour that paints a swathe across the left half of his jersey. On Thursday, August 16, Nike, who are the Board of Control for Cricket in India's kit sponsor, unveiled the Indian team's first specialist T20 jersey.

Just as whites are indisputably linked to Test cricket, and blue to the 50-over game, the Indian team now has a shirt specifically for the T20 format. "Once I wear the national jersey, I automatically know that I have to give my best," said Virender Sehwag. "Having the national flag's colours close to the heart is a good idea. After all, someone like me, who plays from the heart, will only feel better for it."

The critical difference, apart from the visual, in this jersey, which is made from the equivalent of eight P. E. T bottles, is that it's 45% lighter than the kit the Indian team has been wearing thus far. "We're going to be playing T20s at home, in South India, and in Sri Lanka, where even when you bat 15-20 minutes and hit a couple of boundaries you break into a sweat. Any help we can get is welcome," said Sehwag.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni was welcoming of the new shirt. "It's a very good start. Even when people are swapping between channels on television they see white and know that it's Test cricket," he said. "Now there will be a strong association between this jersey and T20 cricket."

Dhoni also said that he was aware that expectations would reach typically high levels as India begin a packed season and that includes the ICC World T20. "We've had nearly a month and a half off and even when we played in Sri Lanka recently we have enough gaps between matches," said Dhoni. "The time off has given us a chance to be mentally and physically fit. If you look ahead at the packed schedule you will feel there is a lot of cricket ahead. The better thing is to take it a bit more short term and look at what you need to do in the next 15 days."

The biggest applause of the day was reserved for Yuvraj Singh, who will make his comeback to the Indian team in the first T20I against New Zealand at Vishakhapatnam on September 8. "I am feeling a bit nervous. I've been working really hard at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore for the last couple of months," said Yuvraj. "But I haven't played for India in a year. In some ways it will feel like I'm playing for India for the first time."

Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Irfan Pathan and Virat Kohli were the others who showed off the new jersey, and Yuvraj showed that he had recovered sufficiently from his illness to get up to his old tricks. "Virat has been in great form in the recent past," quipped Yuvraj. "I hope he can continue that both on and off the field."

While some questions have been asked about Yuvraj returning to international duty before getting some rigorous match practice under the belt, it was obvious that his team-mates were just overjoyed to have him back. "Yuvi is a very important character to have around, not just an important player," said Dhoni. "Without him the dressing-room is a bit boring, even though Virat was trying his best to keep things light and ensure that the newcomers settled in quickly. Now we'll have a healthy competition between Virat and Yuvi, to see who is the best at ragging, and that can only be a good thing."

While some questions have been asked about Yuvraj returning to international duty before getting some rigorous match practice under the belt, it was obvious that his team-mates were just overjoyed to have him back. "Yuvi is a very important character to have around, not just an important player," said Dhoni. "Without him the dressing-room is a bit boring, even though Virat was trying his best to keep things light and ensure that the newcomers settled in quickly. Now we'll have a healthy competition between Virat and Yuvi, to see who is the best at ragging, and that can only be a good thing."

'Ek Tha Tiger' Review

Cast: Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif, Ranvir Shorey, Girish Karnad, Roshan Seth
Director: Kabir Khan

To be fair, 'Ek Tha Tiger' is a very different beast from recent Salman Khan starrers, particularly his last two releases, 'Ready' and 'Bodyguard'. Now that could be construed either as good news or bad news depending on what you thought of those films. For those like me, who weren't fans of those blockbusters, it's refreshing to note that 'Ek Tha Tiger' isn't an over-indulgent one-man showreel. Hallelujah, this film has a plot. Unfortunately, however, it's a one-line, threadbare plot around which director Kabir Khan constructs the entire movie.

In a nicely done opening, with enough slo-mo shots for the fans to whistle at, we're introduced to RAW agent Tiger (Salman Khan), who, in a gritty Jason Bourne-ish action sequence, swiftly dispenses with a turncoat agent, then dodges armed assassins through the cobbled streets and dingy alleyways of a busy town in Iraq. Back home unscathed, Tiger, who we discover is just as comfortable with a ladle as he is with a gun, bribes his boss with homemade daal before begging for a new assignment.

Packed off to Dublin to keep an eye on a suspect missile scientist, Tiger falls in love with the old man's housekeeper, Zoya (Katrina Kaif), even as fellow RAW agent Gopi (Ranveer Shorey) advises him not to get distracted from the mission he's assigned to.

The romantic portions in 'Ek Tha Tiger' are warm and fuzzy, the humor thankfully clean and light-hearted, but as a thriller set in the world of espionage, it's ironic that the people least intelligent here are the intelligence officers themselves. The interval point reveals a twist that you'll probably guess a mile away; the only ones caught off-guard are the supposedly smart super-spies.

In his last film 'New York', director Kabir Khan delivered a watered-down mocktail version of a terrorism story. With 'Ek Tha Tiger' he appears to be going for James Bond Lite. The film's screenplay packs more holes than you're likely to find in a fisherman's net, and the clunky dialogue is the sort you'd expect from someone whose only research involved going through back issues of spy-themed comics.

What doesn't disappoint is the action in this film. Whether Salman's sliding down stairs on an upturned table firing at goons in a crowded marketplace, or using his jacket to stop a speeding tram from crashing into a populated street, the more ridiculous the sequence, the more cheers it inspires. A climatic sequence involving our injured hero on a motorbike, an airplane taking off, and lots of explosions, seems straight out of the 'Dhoom' films, but it's so cheerfully silly it's hard not to smile.

The film loses its pace during those pensive scenes in which Tiger must make a choice between head and heart, and in those portions where both protagonists must consider the implications of choosing love over duty. The over-simplistic Indo-Pak peace message is only further evidence of the fact that this film treats a serious subject lightly.

Salman Khan's performance in 'Ek Tha Tiger' is moody at best. He jumps into the action scenes whole-heartedly but seems lost in the film's dramatic portions, looking subdued even, like the birthday boy who's having no fun at his own party. The romance between him at Katrina Kaif is sweet, but almost awkward – this film could have done with a little more passion between its leads. Katrina, faced with a fair bit of action herself, commits herself to the role, but her character has a cardboardish edge.

Despite its obvious flaws, 'Ek Tha Tiger' is far from unwatchable. It's a welcome change from the harebrained films we've seen Salman Khan in lately, and for what it's worth he's playing a character and not himself for a change. The question you have to ask is – Is that enough?

I'm going with two-and-a-half out of five for director Kabir Khan's 'Ek Tha Tiger'. At best, it's a satisfying watch. Just don't go in with high expectations.

Rating: 2.5

Review by Rajeev Masand
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/masand-ek-tha-tiger-is-far-from-unwatchable/282601-47-84.html

Mutant butterflies found near Fukushima plant

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  Butterflies near Fukushima, Iwaki, and Takahagi showed wing size and shape deformations. (Hiyama et al, Nature.com Scientific Reports)

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2012/08/15/mutant-butterflies-found-near-fukushima-plant/#ixzz23dXUsuYWOne legacy of the Fukushima nuclear disaster last year has already become apparent through a study of butterflies in Japan: Their rate of genetic mutations and deformities has increased with succeeding generations.  

"Nature in the Fukushima area has been damaged," said Joji Otaki, a professor at the University of the Ryukyus in Okinawa, who is the senior author of the new study.
The abnormalities, which the researchers traced to the radiation released from the nuclear power plant, include infertility,deformed wings, dented eyes, aberrant spot patterns, malformed antennas and legs, and the inability to fight their way out of their cocoons. The butterflies from the sites with the most radiation in the environment have the most physical abnormalities, the researchers found.

"Insects have been considered to be highly resistant to radiation, but this butterfly was not," said Otaki.

The Tohoku earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011, cut off power to the Fukushima Daiichi plant, leading to meltdowns that released radionuclides including iodine-131 and cesium-134/137.The researchers combined laboratory and field studies to show the radionuclides caused the deformities and genetic defects. Butterflies netted six months after the release had more than twice as many abnormalities as insects plucked two months following the release, the team found. The rise in mutations means radiation from the accident is still affecting the butterflies' development, even though levels in the environment have declined, the study concluded. [See Photos of Fukushima's Deformed Butterflies]
"One very important implication of this study is that it demonstrates that harmful mutations can be passed from one generation to the next, and that these might actually accumulate and increase over time, leading to larger effects with each generation," said Timothy Mousseau, a professor of biology at the University of South Carolina who studies the impacts of radiation from Fukushima and from the 1986 Chernobyl explosion in Ukraine.

Mousseau, who was not involved in this study, added, "It is quite concerning to see accumulated effects occurring over relatively short time periods, less than a year, in Fukushima butterflies."


Radiated butterflies
At the time of the disaster in March 2011, pale grass blue butterflies (Zizeeria maha) were overwintering as larvae. Two months later, Otaki and his colleagues collected adult butterflies from 10 locations. They observed changes in the butterflies' eyes, wing shapes and color patterns.

The researchers had been studying the pale grass blue butterfly for more than 10 years. The insects live in the same places as people – gardens and public parks – which make them good environmental indicators, and they are sensitive to environmental changes, said Otaki.
The team also bred the collected butterflies at the university's labs in Okinawa, 1,100 miles (1,750 kilometers) from Fukushima. They noticed more-severe abnormalities in successive generations, such as forked antennas and asymmetrical wings.

Last September the team collected more adults from seven of the 10 sites and found the butterfly population included more than twice as many members with abnormalities as in May: 28.1 percent versus 12.4 percent. The September butterflies were likely fourth- or fifth-generation descendants from the larvae present in May, the authors reported.

Deformities inherited
It is likely that the first generation of butterflies suffered both physical damage from radiation sickness and genetic damage from the massive exposure to radioactive isotopes after the disaster, the researchers reported. This generation passed on their genetic mutations to their offspring, who then acquired their own genetic defects from eating radioactive leaves and from exposure to low levels of radiation remaining in the environment. The cumulative effect caused successive generations to develop more serious physical abnormalities. "Note that every generation was continuously exposed," said Otaki.
Mousseau said, "This study adds to the growing evidence that low-dose radiation can lead to significant increases in mutations and deformities in wild animal populations."
The findings are consistent with previous studies in Japan and at Chernobyl, Mousseau added. "The ecological studies that we have conducted found that the entire butterfly community in Fukushima was depressed in radioactive areas, as were the birds, and that the patterns seen in Fukushima were similar to what has been observed in Chernobyl. If the plants and animals are mutating and dying, this should be cause for significant public concern."

The results were published Aug. 9 in the journal Scientific Reports.


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2012/08/15/mutant-butterflies-found-near-fukushima-plant/#ixzz23dXCugIJ

Vietnamese airliner hosts mid-air bikini pageant

London: Air passengers expect a meal and maybe an old movie in flight, but travellers on a Vietnamese plane got the surprise of their lives when bikini-clad women posed for a mid-air beauty pageant.
The women in Hawaiian bikinis marched through the cabin on the inaugural VietJetAir (VJA) flight from Ho Chi Minh City to the coastal holiday destination of Nha Trang, the Daily Mail reported.
The women performed a three minute hip-shaking dance, and male passengers reached for their phones to record the scantily-clad beauties, who were all contestants from a local beauty contest, Miss Ngoi Sao.

However, the airline has now been fined by the Vietnam Aviation Authority after a video showing the pageant was posted on YouTube.
A VietjetAir official said it was the first flight to a beach town. "So we came up with the idea of getting a number of girls in bikinis to dance and make passengers happy to improve our customer service."
VietJetAir was the first privately-owned airline to be established in Vietnam. It was granted approval to operate in November 2007. It officially launched in December 2011.

Arnold Schwarzenegger was jailed due to bodybuilding enthusiasm

Los Angeles: Hollywood action hero Arnold Schwarzenegger says he was once jailed because of his eagerness to pursue a career in bodybuilding.

The 65-year-old recalled his bodybuilding days in a new ESPN Films documentary in which he was seen put in an Austrian army prison at the age of 18, reported Aceshowbiz.

Schwarzenegger got punished when he left the army camp without permission to join the Junior Mr Europe contest in Germany while he was serving a mandated year in the army.

The Austria-born actor was later released because the officials felt "uncomfortable."

His dream as a bodybuilder was also disapproved by his parents, but his superiors in the military later on gave their full support.

The "Terminator" star said he always had a clear vision of what he wanted to do including movies. When he faced an obstacle, he saw it more of a challenge than a hindrance.

"I never saw a 'no' as a 'no.' I always heard 'yes'," he said.

His documentary "Arnold's Blueprint" will premiere on September 26

Eleven-year-old Indian girl rated with highest IQ in the world

On the face of it, she is no different from other children her age – she loves riding her bicycle, watching cartoons and playing her favourite games. But K. Vishalini of Palayamkottai, Tirunelveli isn’t your average 11-year-old.

Blessed with exceptional IQ, the Standard 8 student is an IT whiz kid who can come up with solutions to the trickiest of technical problems. Yes, she spends three hours a day learning about computers. But that is no big deal.

Vishalini has the highest IQ in the world, but she will be eligible for an entry in the Guinness only after she turns 14 (Photo: The Sunday Indian)

Vishalini has just returned home from an international seminar held at the National Institute of Technology Karnataka (NITK), Mangalore, where she was a special guest. Such invitations are pretty routine for her these days.

Her syllabus has been wrapped up well in advance. So this child prodigy has the time to visit engineering colleges to deliver lectures to B.E. and B.Tech students on the intricacies of computer science.

At seminars, many an IT expert has been foxed by this chit of a girl who has answers to complex questions.

Her amazing achievements include cracking the Microsoft Certified Professional and Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) courses with ease.

Vishalini’s IQ is around 225. It is higher than that of the Guinness record holder, Kim Ung-Yong, whose IQ is around 210.

“She did not find a place in the Guinness Book because the minimum age requirement is 14 years,” says her electrician-father, Kumarasamy.

Vishalini’s mother, Ragamaliga, and the girl herself had to struggle to tide over a speech impairment that the latter suffered from as a small child. Today, Vishalini is a wonder girl that her parents can be immensely proud of.

An anchor with All India Radio at Tirunelveli, Ragamaliga says: "Vishalini’s speech impairment caused us great consternation.”

The irony was that the mother spoke incessantly on radio while the daughter had difficulty in articulating herself. “People would point that out to me all the time,” says Ragamaliga.
A local doctor came to her aid. “Dr Rajesh advised me to talk continuously to Vishalini in order to help her improve her speech ability,” says Ragamaliga.

She was preparing for her Group-1 exams at that point. So she began reciting questions and answers of the syllabus in front of her. “Moreover, I used to recite religious verses as well,” she adds.

“All this might have looked a little pointless but I persisted. Suddenly one fine morning, after nine months, Vishalini started speaking."

The girl’s parents heard of a boy who had secured admission in an engineering college after his Standard 8 exams.

"We approached Kalasalingam Engineering College. They asked us to bring a certificate from CCNA. Vishalini took the exam and got 90 per cent marks. It was a world record. She was only 10 years old. Earlier the youngest student to pass this exam was a 12-year-old boy from Pakistan, Irtaza Haider,” says Kumarasamy.

Both NITK of Mangalore and Kalasalingam Engineering College are now more than ready to welcome Vishalini. But her parents want the girl to enjoy her childhood for the next three years before thinking of entering a college campus.

Their only disappointment now is that the state and central governments have failed to recognise and appreciate Vishalini's extraordinary achievements.

UFO spotted among fireworks at Olympics Opening Ceremony

As fireworks lit up the heavens above the Olympics opening ceremony, watched by around a billion people, something else was seen among the whizz-bangs in the night sky... a UFO.
It may have ticked all the cliche boxes - saucer-shaped, bulge in the middle, metallic - but no one has yet stepped forward to explain the slow-moving object.
The incident came right at the close of last Friday's spectacular at the Olympic Park stadium in Stratford, east London at around 12.30am.
And it was just as Nick Pope, one of the UK’s top UFO experts, predicted only weeks ago - that mass summer events would be a prime time for crafts from other worlds to present themselves to mankind.
Scroll down for video

This UFO was seen at the Olympics opening ceremony in Stratford, east London

Enlarge  

It may have ticked all the cliche boxes - saucer-shaped, bulge in the middle, metallic - but no one has yet stepped forward to explain the slow-moving object

One theory is that the 'spaceship', whose presence was reported by Examiner.com, was a blimp used by a news channel to gather footage.
But while NBC Olympics - a division of NBC Sports - has picked Goodyear blimps for all of its 2012 Olympics aerial coverage, the object does not look like one of the floating airships.

More...

• The truth is north of the border: UFO sightings in Canada reach record high of THREE a day
• Edinburgh University offers course on searching for aliens (...maybe they can teach UFO hunters how to take a good photo?)

Some commentators on YouTube believe it is actually a helicopter - or simply a fake.
Mr Pope, who worked at the Ministry of Defence for 20 years, investigated reports of UFOs between 1991 and 1994.

One theory is that the object was a blimp or helicopter used to gather aerial footage

Aliens may be visiting Earth for military reconnaissance, scientific research, or just to enjoy the scenery and partake in some tourism

SO WHAT WAS THAT IN THE SKY?

Here are some of the theories regarding the Olympics UFO...

• A blimp (above)
• A helicopter
• A fake
  
• Or simply an alien spacecraft

He began his research as a sceptic, before becoming convinced that the sightings raised important defence issues for national security and air safety.
Speaking earlier this month, he said: 'It has been a widely held belief in Ministry of Defence circles that "aliens" have been able to detect us for decades via TV and radio broadcasts.
'What once seemed like science fiction is steadily being realised by central governing bodies as distinctly real.
'If aliens have studied our psychology, they may choose to appear in our skies on a significant date.
'The closing ceremony of the Olympic Games is one date being widely circulated by conspiracy groups.’
The footage is believed to have originated from a web user known as 'MrScipher'.

UFO expert Nick Pope (above) predicted the London Olympics would be a prime time for extraterrestrials to make an appearance.

Tony Blair and the 'UFO cover-up'

Two weeks ago, it was revealed that former prime minister Tony Blair received a briefing about UFOs from the Ministry of Defence because of his concerns over the disclosure of classified information on alien life-forms.
Downing Street requested the advice for the PM in 1998 as the Freedom of Information Act was being introduced, which allowed the public to obtain information on alien mysteries.

Ex-PM Tony Blair received a briefing about UFOs from the Ministry of Defence because of his concerns over the disclosure of classified information on extraterrestrials

Mr Blair's concerns were raised after he received a letter from a member of the public referring to a 'cover-up' and asking him to make UFO reports and other information available.
According to The Daily Telegraph, Mr Blair sought advice from the MoD for its policy on the issue.
He was told by staff at the ministry that it has 'only a limited interest in UFO matters' but that they ' remained open-minded' about 'extraterrestrial life forms'.
Details of the briefing emerged ahead of a release of files on July 12 by the Government of more than 6,700 pages detailing seemingly close encounters with UFOs over the last 30 years.
Among a series of UFO sightings in the files is a  policeman's report of a mystery cluster of lights darting across the sky during an FA Cup replay between Chelsea and Manchester United.
The mounted officer's claims to have seen the bright object hovering over Stamford Bridge in March 1999 for almost 15 seconds, slowly changing shape, were corroborated by a colleague.
The ‘credible witness report’ is one of a series investigated by the Ministry of Defence, whose top-secret files are being released in sections by the National Archives following the closure of the ministry’s UFO desk in 2009.
One confidential 1995 report by the defence official responsible for manning the desk says the presence of extra-terrestrial lifeforms is ‘possible’, although there is ‘no direct evidence’.
It also speculates on the reasons why aliens may be visiting Earth, including for military reconnaissance, scientific research, or just to enjoy the scenery and partake in some tourism.
The policeman claimed that he saw something ‘unlike anything I’ve seen before’ at Stamford Bridge while Manchester United beat Chelsea 2-0 in the FA Cup quarter final replay.

He said a ‘square to almond shape’ yellow object with four lights floated silently above his horse.
Another file describes a West Wales hotelier who saw a UFO landed in a field. Two ‘faceless humanoids’ in silver suits emerged and took measurements.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2181066/Olympics-2012-UFO-sighted-Games-opening-ceremony.html#ixzz22A5hwlQA