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Rhinebeck, New York.   William Jefferson Clinton, Ex President U.S.A., walked his daughter Chelsea down the aisle and  looked  full of confidence even though he might be holding back a tear or two. Chelsea Clinton married her long time friend and beau Marc Mezvinsky amidst a veil of secrecy in the small village of Rhineback. 

Shortly before 11 pm, the Clintons got down from a van outside the Beekman Arms Hotel. The former first lady, in a long, green dress, waved to the cheering crowd waiting behind metal barricades outside and quickly went into the hotel. 

Chelsea Clinton & Marc Mezvinsky

Bill Clinton and Hillary Rodham Clinton later announced in a statement that their daughter wed investment banker Marc Mezvinsky at a Beaux Arts riverside estate called Astor Courts.  Read the rest of this entry »

Melbourne:  An Indian student, who was hospitalised with multiple jaw fractures after being brutally beaten up by a group of six youths here, will not be able to eat for up to five weeks and also cannot talk properly, according to one of his friends.

Bharat Thapar, 24, who was assaulted on Monday night in South Oakleigh, is recuperating in a hospital with plates in his jaws and “bruises all over his body”.
     
Quoting Thapar’s friend Sumeet Khanna, ‘The Age’ reported today that the victim was unable to talk properly after a brutal confrontation with six youths that left him with four fractures in his lower jaw.

Khanna had earlier said that two of his friends, including Thapar, had been driving through the Oakleigh area when they saw another Indian man being abused by a group of youths. Read the rest of this entry »

 Muttaiah Muralitharan bid adieu to Test Cricket after taking 800 wickets in Test Cricket on Thursday at the Galle Cricket Ground.

 Murlitharan was the greatest spinner in the world of cricket. The smile, the eyes like headlights, the expectancy from every ball to do something different, he  had the hallmarks of a genius.

He announced his retirement after the test match in Galle, probably he had expected to reach the coveted 800 marks in test history, which he did. If I go into his statistics they cannot be incorporated in a blog, I would have to write a book.

He had been the wrecker-in-chief for SriLanka, the spear head of the attack in all forms of the game and called Mr. Dependable. Cricketing enthusiasts feel that  had he continued playing for some more time, he would have reached the 1000 wicket landmark. Read the rest of this entry »

‘Tendulkar opus’, the autobiography of Sachin Tendulkar, is in the pipe-line and due for publication next year. This will not only be one of the most expensive autobiographies in history but also, will include the blood and DNA sample of the master blaster. This is amazing, unheard of and gives his fans mixed feelings.

It will contain a page signed in his blood! This has led to criticism from some quarters.

Is this an advertisement gimmick? No. Sachin does not need anything or anyone to advertise for him. Then why did he agree to such an obnoxious request of the publisher?

It is well known that the “Tendulkar Opus” has been in progress; but a few copies would be signed in his blood and would be highly priced was a closely guarded secret. Read the rest of this entry »

MELBOURNE.  A young Indian student, Bharat Thapar, 24, has suffered “serious” facial injuries after being brutally attacked by a group of  people in Melbourne – the latest in a series of attacks on Indians in Australia.

Thapar was attacked by a group of six men Monday night after he tried to save another Indian from being thrashed in a Melbourne suburb, his friend Sumeet said.

The incident took place near Carinish Road, in Oakleigh South, said Sumeet.

On Monday night, Thapar was trying to save another Indian, a taxi driver named Ratan,  from being beaten up by six people on the streets of Melbourne. When he tried to intervene, the attackers turned on him.  The policemen who arrived at the scene summoned an ambulance, but let the six assaulters leave the location. Read the rest of this entry »

Sydney:  Two food vans belonging to an Indian restaurant were on Monday destroyed in a blaze, just few days after a nearby community restaurant was set on fire on the Cleveland street in Sydney. Police say that this is not a racial attack and could possibly be due to rivalry between two restaurants.

The food vans were destroyed in the fire which police and fire fighters believe to have been deliberately started. They found the vans belonging to Maya Da Dhaba on Cleveland Street burning at 2.30 am local time.

The fire fighters were able to extinguish the fire quickly but both vans were gutted.

The Police suspect that a “curry war” among several Indian restaurants is heating up in Sydney with two food vans firebombed early this morning.

Police said they are investigating whether the arson attack is an act of retaliation, following reports of Copper Tiffin Restaurant being torched less than a fortnight ago on Cleveland Street, the Daily Telegraph reports.

The Copper Tiffin and the Maya Da Dhaba restaurants are side by side, and local residents say there is a lot of competition between the two outlets..

“We are looking at both incidents and the possibility they are linked,” a police spokesman said.

Police are still searching for two men seen running from near the building, moments before flames began leaping from the Copper Tiffin Restaurant.

Police said last night it appeared an accelerant may have been used to ignite the blaze in the food vans.

Ajay Raj, the owner of Maya Da Dhaba told media he’s shocked at the incident, “We have been here in Surry Hills for the past 11 years and nothing like this has happened. I would like to believe that this does not have any racial undertones. The police has acquired CCTV footage. There was a CCTV camera right above one of the vans that was burnt.  I have myself seen a few seconds of that footage where you can see a guy vaguely (his face cannot be seen properly) throwing something on the van and setting it alight. The detectives are investigating and I am hopeful they will be able to identify the culprits soon”.

The police was now looking at links between this incident and a blaze at another Indian restaurant The Copper Tiffin on July 5. The Copper Tiffin is close to the Maya Da Dhaba. On that occasion two people were seen running from the restaurant as fire engulfed the building.

If the Police are suspecting inter-restaurant competition as a cause of rivalry between the two incidents, then this will lead them nowhere. The Copper Tiffin Restaurant and the Maya da dhaba were running close to each other on Cleveland Street for the last more than ten years. Competition is the basic aspect in any business and is an essential ingredient for success.

Is it possible that there could be a racial angle between the two incidents, since there have been a series of attacks on the Indians residing there?  Only time will tell.

Ravi Matah.

Saina Nehwal has been ranked World No 2 badminton player by the World Badminton Federation as a result of a hat-trick of victories on the world circuit. She is now just one step away from the pinnacle of glory for which she is prepared and hopeful to achieve that target. 

Saina made history on June 21, 2009, becoming the first Indian to win a Super Series tournament, by clinching the Indonesia Open with a victory over higher-ranked Chinese Wang Lin in Jakarta.

During 2010, Saina has won all the three major events, the Indian Open Grand Prix, the Singapore Open Series and the Indonesia Open Series.

World number three Saina, seeded top in the tournament as defending champion, defeated Sayaka Sato of Japan to clinch the Indonesian Open, which is her third title in as many weeks. Read the rest of this entry »

Adelaide.   All is not well with the Indian community living in Australia. The news of burning down of a Copper Tiffin Restaurant owned by an Indian named Yash Desai,  in Sydney on Cleveland Street is still fresh in everyone’s mind. And now three cars belonging to Indian students were torched by a gang of teens in fire bomb attacks, which have been described by the Indian community as ‘racial’.

Acccording to ‘Adelaide Now’, the students lived in Greenacres suburb and said the early morning fire-bombs attacks have left them shattered and are scared of their lives now.

Yasif Multani, a 28 year old Indian student, claimed that a group of about fifteen neighborhood teenagers were responsible for the attacks on the Indian community. Read the rest of this entry »

Football is opium for the masses and the greatest spectacle of World Cup sport ended Sunday with Spain emerging victorious at Johannesburg Stadium. Netherlands were third time unlucky and Spain was lucky in their 13th attempt in the final. The figure of 13 is unlucky for some, but lucky for Spain. 

South Africa is a proud country now because the country as well as it’s people have shown the world what they are all about. This

World Cup Trophy

 land has managed to prove their critics wrong, by showing them that this magnificent Rain-Bow nation is much more then the usual and have far out-shone world’s expectations on the management of an event of this magnitude. 

There have been no terror threats. Adequate police protection was in place. The Stadiums are superb, the crowd appreciative, the crazy vuvuzelas noisy, enthusiastic people, perfect arrangements, all added to the beauty of the tournament. It won’t be an exaggeration to say that it was South Africa who won the World Cup 2010.  Read the rest of this entry »

Pundit Octopus Paul, who has predicted the outcome of six World Cup matches with absolute accuracy, has a competitor now. Paul has predicted Spain to win the World Cup 2010 and Mani, the parrot, has picked up Holland as the winner. The great battle will be held in Johannesburg on Sunday. 

It was a telecast live on TV News Channels that two glass tanks bearing the Spanish flag and the Dutch flag were lowered in the tank and Octopus Paul took his tummy-full meal from the Spanish glass box, thereby indicating the winner of the Sunday encounter. 

Octopus Paul

This octopus, which has already attained a celebrity status, completely ignored the Dutch tank at the German Aquarium in Oberhausen and indicated his Sunday winner as  Spain, by quickly polishing off the food from their tank. 

Paul has been predicting results involving Germany throughout the tournament and had predicted Germany’s loss to Spain in the semi finals as well, much to the dismay of the German fans. Some of his fans had said that they would have him for dinner as he had predicted Spain instead of Germany as the winner on Sunday in the World’s most prestigious encounter.  Read the rest of this entry »