A load of crap from an idle brain

The final was well worth staying awake upto 2:30 in the morning.  Not to mention the hilarious tweets.  What a time for Dhoni to play the innings of his lifetime.  The stabilising innings from Gambhir & Virat meant that India didn’t feel the repercussions of losing Tendulkar & Sehwag cheaply.

The only silverware missing from Sachin’s trophy cabinet has been won.  6 attempts and what a way to sign off with a victory.  An end to another magnificent career of Murali.  Too much was made of the controversy at the toss.  Our conspiracy theorist media lapped it up.

It would not have been a well deserved win if India had won the cup the easy way.  To beat Australia, Pakistan and finally Sri Lanka en route to win the cup is probably the best written script.

Also that should settle the claim around Dhoni that he is plain lucky.  Luck only takes you so far.  Like it or not, he is a masterclass captain.  A T20 world cup win and now the 50 over World Cup and not to mention the numerous series wins both at home and abroad, Dhoni has proved to be the best ever player to have captained India.

The biggest party in the world is happening out there.  Enjoy it while it lasts.  For the next 4 years, We Are The Champions.

Above pictures courtesy: Cricinfo

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What a recovery it has been for the markets.  Just a year ago, the Sensex crashed to 8160 points.  Now its trading above 17000 points.  More than 100% growth in just a year.  No other sector (gold, PPF, debt, realty) would give you that kind of growth.  When the markets were down last year and i was talking about the opportunity to buy into some good companies, many of my friends dissuaded me from doing that.

“Buy when everyone sells and sell when everyone buys” is probably the only way to make money in the market.  Following the heard mentality is sure to give a lot of heart pain in the long run.

The exhilarating bounce from the lows that the Indian equity market touched on 9 March 2009 is now a year old—and what a year it has been. These 12 months have been a wildly profitable time for those brave souls who held their nerve and bought stocks, while it has been a missed opportunity for those who thought it was a short-lived bear market rally and thus preferred to sit on cash.

The benchmark Bombay Stock Exchange Sensitive Index, or Sensex, closed on Tuesday at 17,052.54, up 109% over a year ago, though just about nobody believes the next 12 months will be as good.

Read the full article here

Above picture courtesy: Livemint

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When Raj Thuggeray’s Thackeray’s security was scaled down, he cried mummy and hid inside his home.  Now, after waving black flags at Rahul Gandhi’s trip to Mumbai, some of the Shiv Sena’s leaders’ police protection has been withdrawn leading to cries of mummy again. Hahahaha…. i love the scums of Shiv Sena, their paper tiger’s empty threats and their panic the moment their security cover is withdrawn.

Three Shiv Sena legislators complained Monday that their police security cover had been withdrawn, and accused the Congress-NCP of getting back at them for their recent opposition to the government.

Two of the three lawmakers, Jogeshwari MLA Ravindra Waikar and Andheri MLC Anil Parab, were among the 342 Shiv Sena activists who were detained last week for waving black flags at Rahul Gandhi during his visit to Mumbai. Before that, Parab had led a march to Shah Rukh Khan’s home to protest the star’s statement that Pakistani players should have been part of the IPL.

The third lawmaker, Bandra MLA Prakash (Bala) Sawant, said he had not taken part in any protests but had visited police stations to talk to Sainiks who had been detained.

MLAs and MLCs in Maharashtra are provided security by the Protection and Security Department of the Mumbai Police, and are assigned policemen not above the rank of constable who carry a small weapon and work in 12-hour shifts.

Sawant complained he had been targeted despite his not having taken part in the protests. “I had only gone to meet activists detained at various police stations,” Sawant said. He added he would write to the police to ask them to restore his security. “My constituency is very sensitive and if anything happens to me the state government will be responsible.”

Read the full news here

I have always believed that all these morons dont deserve even a single police constable’s protection around them.  Since they have no qualms whipping up communal and regional feelings and exhorting their supporters to beat up innocent people, the police should also let them be at the mercy of people who want to take revenge from them.

Let them also be beaten into pulp while the rest of the world watches the fun.

Picture source: Moneytrader

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Prime Focus, the Mumbai based post production company has worked on significant portions of the recent blockbusters, Avatar and The New Moon.

Prime Focus played an essential behind-the-scenes role in two of the biggest Hollywood blockbusters of 2009 — Chris Weitz’s “New Moon” and James Cameron’s “Avatar.” The company established itself as one of the cutting-edge firms in the visual effects business by producing about 10 percent of James Cameron’s path-breaking 3D superhit and a whopping 80 percent of the shots for the second installment of the Twilight franchise.

“’Avatar’ obviously is the biggest of all,” Malhotra said. “We’ve done some exemplary work in ‘GI Joe’ and ‘New Moon’ as well. But when you’re working on ‘Avatar’ as one of the top five vendors you have got to a lot more credible space than working on just any movie.”

The London Stock Exchange-listed company’s portfolio of work runs the gambit from “Avatar” to top Bollywood hits like the Amir Khan starrer “3 Idiots” to Splinter Films’ DVD release of a live performance by Beyonce. The company already owns the lion’s share of the Indian post-production and visual effects market, and the international business is expanding rapidly.

Full article here

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With India playing only 2 test matches in the next 11 months, the ranking might not hold if South Africa manage to beat England and take the crown.  Still, its a golden letter day in the history of cricket in India.  For the first time ever, the Indian cricket team takes the crown of being the Number 1 test team in the world.  Its a long day coming from the earlier decades when India was regularly beaten by rivals.  Today they travel well and have won tests in Australia, South Africa, won series in New Zealand, West ?Indies, Pakistan, England.

Few things unite India like cricket, and on December 6, 2009, millions of Indians were united in celebration as their team ascended to the top of the ICC Test rankings.

Fittingly, the victory that made it possible was marked by standout performances from the men who have played a crucial role in India’s ascent. Virender Sehwag has scored more runs than any other Indian batsman over the last 25 Tests – played over a two-year period beginning November 2007. His innings of 293 – played at a pace that left the bowlers ample time to finish the demolition job – proved pivotal as India fulfilled its destined tryst with the top slot.

Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan have been India’s highest wicket-takers during this period. Both picked up six wickets apiece for the match, with Zaheer coming up with a five-wicket haul to polish off the tail on Sunday morning and take India to a comfortable win by an innings and 24 runs.

Full news here

Pictures source: Cricinfo

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