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T20 World Cup: Australia is out

London 8-June: Australia suffered thier worst defeat in any world cup match when they lost their T20 match against Srilanka. Having lost to West Indies on Saturday, Australia are now eliminated, while Sri Lanka booked a place in the Super 8 phase of the competition.

Tillakaratne Dilshan struck a brilliant 53 before he was bowled by Michael Clarke but Kumar Sangakkara then took over and scored unbeaten 55. Late wickets from Brett Lee gave Australia hope, but just as the momentum appeared to be shifting he conceded a crucial six to Jehan Mubarak that just eluded the fielder on the boundary. Needing just one run to win off the last over, Sri Lanka reached its target when Johnson bowled a wide.

Earlier, Ajantha Mendis took three wickets as Sri Lanka restricted Australia to 159-9. Mendis took 3-20 in the game and late rally from Mitchell Johnson (28 not out) and David Hussey (28) took Australia to a competitive total.

Technology on the comeback trail

Ten years after the Internet boom, a mistrusted sector is winning new admirers
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- John Chambers, chief executive of Cisco Systems Inc., is turning 60 this year. Apple Inc. head Steve Jobs is 54. Larry Ellison, CEO of Oracle Corp., is pushing 65. The icons of Silicon Valley are older, grayer, and -- if you believe analysts who follow the technology industry -- wiser than they were a decade ago, when the Internet bubble inflated company share prices and corporate egos.

"It's different this time" was the retort back then to skepticism about tech stocks' lofty valuations and pie-in-the-sky earnings outlooks. Of course, it wasn't different at all. Earnings mattered. Price mattered.

Yet the landscape today is different for technology investors -- certainly the sector has consolidated since 1999. Survivors of the dot-com bust -- such as Cisco , Apple /quotes/comstock/15*!aapl/quotes/nls/aapl (AAPL 143.85, +0.04, +0.03%) and Oracle /quotes/comstock/15*!orcl/quotes/nls/orcl (ORCL 20.87, -0.08, -0.37%) -- are bigger businesses, in better financial shape, with broader market share and global reach.

And after years in the investment wilderness, the technology sector's thorough housecleaning and rebuilding, coupled with increasingly conservative management, higher-than-expected earnings growth and predictable, strong cash flow, is winning converts.

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Apple announced IPhone 3GS launch

Apple lifted curtains of its third generation Iphone called IPhone 3GS. Here S denotes speed. The launch was announced at the company's annual Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco.
According to Apple, Web pages will render in a fraction of the time and users can view email attachments faster in iPhone 3G S. Also, the new device's updated 3D graphics promise enhanced gaming experience.
Apple says everything you do on iPhone 3G S is up to 2x faster and more responsive than ever.

Apple added loads of new features in new iphone including the ones which were sorely missing in earlier versions. Some of these features are Video recording, capability to send MMS, Cut and paste feature, increased megapixel(from 2 to 3 MP), Voice control feature, built-in digital compass that will help users locate their way etc.
The new Compass app will automatically reorient maps to match the direction.

While unveiling the new operating system software, iPhone OS 3.0, Apple said that the iPhone will become a full-fledged GPS device with iPhone 3.0.

Another useful feature is Another most sought after feature in the iPhone makes its entry. The new model will let users surf the web from practically anywhere. This feature will let users share their 3G connection on iPhone with their laptop.
Users who are away from their Wi-Fi network will be able to use the iPhone's broadband connections to connect their laptop to the Internet. This feature will work via USB or Bluetooth.

It is expected to be launche din India sometime in August with a price tag of around 35 to 40 thousand rupees.

A credit Crisis of Massive size

Stock markets world over are falling since the beginning of this year. The fall is unprecedented in its scale and geographical spread. It started with sub prime lending crisis and spiraled to much of the banking and financial sector.

The first big kill of this crisis was Bear Stearns which was taken over by JP Morgan Chase in March. The crisis deepened in September when Lehman Brothers failed to raise capital and filed for bankruptcy. In same week Merrill Lynch was bought out by Bank of America. American International Group (AIG) was bailed out by Federal Government. One week before this the federal government took over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac which were quasi-government lending agencies.

Following failure of Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch etc Credit crisis deepened and spread to other countries. In Europe Belgium bailed out Fortis bank. On sidelines Icelandic bank become bankrupt. Everyday there is news of failure of one or another bank and such news are no longer headline news.
Read more at My Blog...

Revolutionary change by Barak Obama

Just think a black man occupying most prominent white house in world. Its not a dream anymore, its reality now. On 4th November 2008, American (or better world) politics changed fore ever.
The ascent of an African-American to the presidency — a victory by a 47-year-old black man who was born when racial segregation was still the law across much of America — is a moment so powerful and so obvious that its symbolism needs no commentary.

The change this victory bring forth is not only symbolic but it will have real, visible ramifications in coming days. The defeat of republican candidate John McCain by healthy margin of almost 6 percent and accompanying gains in congress for democrats will enable Obama administration to handle problems facing USA with much clout and influence.

The most pressing problems where Obama has to spend his energy is how to come out of current economic turmoil. Just think a black man occupying most prominent white house in world.

Underwater sea walking

Few days back we ventured on an adventure. The adventure was to see and feel under water life by walking under sea water. When a friend mentioned this outing option to me I liked the idea very much and started looking forward to it. Soon we made a plan for next weekend outing to go for this under water sea walking.

Read more at My Blog... .

Rajasthani Songs

Rajasthan is culturally very rich with long tradition of Folk music, dance and drama. Folk music and dances are part and parcel of Rajasthani festivals and parties. Folk music in Rajasthan is a mixture of different flavors. There are folk songs dedicated to religious customs, festivals, fairs and deities.

Many Hindi film songs are based on Rajasthani folk songs and now a days many folk songs are being recomposed with D.J. music and audio/video albums are being made on them. Enjoy a Rahasthani(marwari) song here.

Click here for More songs.

Chak diya India Ne! T20 world Champion

India defeated arch-rival Pakistan in the finals of first Twenty20 cricket world cup by 5 runs. The young Indian team has demonstrated that they can win big matches and they can win matches without big guns like Sachin, Rahul Saurav etc. Mahendra Singh Dhoni's team has entered into history by winning the first T20 cricket world cup. India defeated Pakistan second time in this world cup and interestingly India has won all the Indo-Pak world cup encounters.


Watch T20 world up match highlights here...India Pakistan Final Highlights

Read more here

My Annual Vacation

Last month I was in India for annual vacation from work. I was eagerly waiting for this vacation as last one year was particularly tough in office. Lots of work, lots of issues(real issues or wolf! wolf! cries) and lots of escalations in all directions.
Finally the day came when I(with wife and kids) had to take the flight to India to begin my vacation. But no, I had to wait! As often happens I was little late to airport but I think overbooking by airline spoiled the game for me and my place was given to someone else. Mood spoiled and sad we came back to home. Airline offered me to fly 3 days later, I had to accept.

Read more at My Blog... .

Volleyball at Forestry Park

In school days we spent lot of time in sporting activities but as we move to higher classes we get progressively less and less time to indulge in sporting activities. This is the time when family and social responsibilities start taking more and more focus in our lives. Once we start doing job our lives become more leisure and sport and physical activities take backstage.
VolleyBall
More pics...
 I love sports and active life but ever since I started my service I have never had enough time to indulge in these hobbies. In Cyprus life is little relaxed and it is easier to find some time for recreation. In addition to hobby and time you need company of like minded people(which is always in short supply) to enjoy the time. Fortunately I have such company. For quite some time every weekend some of us go to Limassol forestry park with families. We started forestry park trips for picnic but soon we discovered that there is good scope and interest for playing games especially Volleyball. Read more...

Investment

Money is not everything in life but it is still very important. I can't put it in stronger words than to say that that poverty is worst curse of humanity. It is root of all social ills and diseases. When one does not have enough money he/she has lot to worry about. On the other hand when one has surplus money there is still lot to worry about. The money should be put to some productive use where it can grow by itself.

In this section I will share my thoughts about investments. Now a days there are lot of investment options. Some of the most common investment options are as follows.
  • Banks - FDs
  • Mutual Funds
  • Stock markets
  • Options and Futures
  • Real Estate

Tip for the week: Rent or Buy

If you are currently looking for renting a house/apartment and having the dilemma whether to buy or rent a house then you should consider both the options with due diligence. In my opinion it should be decided on financial considerations and not sentiments. Of course owning a property has great emotional and personal significance and emotions and feelings are priceless. Incase you want to take a decision of pure financial considerations then I have something for you. On yahoo finance there is a calculator which gives you comparative analysis on both the options based on your inputs. Rent v/s Buy calculator

This calculator can also be used if renting is not an option and you are just buying property for investment or future use. In this case do not enter the data related to Rent Assumptions. In rent V/s buy scenario there are two main components through which you can gain, saving on rent payments and potential appreciation in property price. When you are buying property for investment of for future use then there is only one gain component that is property price appreciation. In either case loss component is depreciation in value of money that is inflation.

Do you know ?

The term emerging economies refers to the economies of developing nations which are growing at fast pace. The main economies of this group are usually referd as BRIC countries. BRIC refers to Brazil, Russia, India and China. These are the biggest economies from the emerging economies block and GDP growth in each of these economies is significaly higher than those of developed nation's GDP growth in general.
Stocks: GOOG and AAPL.

Vivid & Vividh

China beats Japan in purchasing power
Among casualties in the financial markets this year: the decoupling theory for Asia and emerging markets.
As Asia's stock markets and economies tanked along with the rest of the world, so too did references to the idea that vast foreign exchange surpluses and un-leveraged consumers would insulate the region from global economic chills.

Looking ahead to 2009, strategists see reasons for optimism in selected investment stories within Asia, and especially in China. One of them is that China's growth will slow but not stall, with the economy to overtake Japan as the world's second largest. ...