Google doodle celebrates George Ferris’ birthday and Valentine’s Day

For most of us, today, 14 February, is Valentine’s Day. But Google has chosen to remind us of another event with its ultra-cute and interactive doodle. 14 February is also the 154 th birthday of George Ferris’ the man behind the original Ferris wheel, better known in India as the ‘giant wheel’.

Google has posted  an interactive doodle on its homepage that shows over 10 different love stories . The doodle has an amusement park in the background with two Ferris wheels in the spotlight. These two form the two O’s in the word Google, while there’s a roll-coaster that represent the G, there’s also kart ride that looks like an eight but is the second G, followed by L in the form of a tower and the E in the shape of the Merry-go-round.

There’s a heart in the centre of the doodle as well and when you click on it, you can view different love stories of the 16 different animal characters. When  you press the button, the Ferris wheels rotate and a picture of one of the ‘couples’ appears with their love story.

Google Doodle for today. Happy Valentine’s Day.

There’s one featuring the Rabbit and Dolphin, which is super cute. The Rabbit pulls out a bouquet for the Dolphin from the hat, but the Dolphin doesn’t like that. So he pulls out a fish for the Dolphin, making it a perfect love story.

Another funny one is where the Bear takes the Octopus out on a date to a Sushi Bar. But the Octopus can’t eat with the chopsticks and sulks.

Sadly, the Fox is the only animal who has no date this Valentine’s Day and is happy watching TV at home. But that isn’t to say he’s not to happy with his choice.

Previously, on 29 February, 2012 Google had a  two-in-one doodle that commemorated the leap day and the 220th birth anniversary of the Italian composer Gioachino Rossini.

So who is George Ferris?

An American engineer, he is most famous for creating the original Ferris Wheel for the 1893 Chicago World’s Columbian Exposition. The directors of the exhibition wanted a monument for the fair that would surpass the Eiffel Tower and that’s how Ferris came up with his idea of a wheel which visitors would be able to view the entire exhibition. For more about George Ferris click here.

Valentine's Day: Cards say it all

Valentine's Day: Cards say it all
PATNA: Falling in love is easy, expressing it is difficult. Come Valentine's Day and lovers find themselves in a fix, thinking of the best ways to express their emotions, propose to their sweethearts and get the much anticipated Yes!

Traditional favourites to convey the lovey-dovey feelings include greeting cards, red roses, teddy bears, photo-frames and chocolates. Love letters have become a passe. SMSs, e-cards, showpieces with love quotation and, of course, hugs and kisses are the 'in things'. A CD of selected romantic songs or favourite movies, or an audiovisual made of old photographs is also a personalized gift appreciated by many couples.

Satyam wants to make this Valentine's Day special for his girlfriend Ritika he is in a relationship with for the past six months. The college going couple have planned to spend the day in one of the parks of the city. "I would gift her a bouquet of red roses, a specially selected 'I love you' card and a wristwatch that she has been intending to buy for long," Satyam confesses.

A candlelight dinner at one of the city restaurants is also on the wish list of many couples. Mohit Singh, a businessman, who got hitched in December last has already reserved a table at his favourite restaurant and plans to surprise his better half with a handmade greeting card and chocolates. "She just loves chocolates and I love her," said the newlywed playfully.

Florists say that most people prefer single roses to express their heart. "On V-Day, a single rose can be bought for about Rs 30-40. Since it is available everywhere in the city, very few prior bookings are made," said Satya Prakash of Prakash Vatika.

Gift shopowners said greeting cards have been the maximum in demand for the past few years. "Couples want to keep it simple and go for cards that tell their feeling the best way. Quotation showpieces and teddy bears are also sought by many," said Nikhil Kumar, a gift shopowner at Kurji. To each his own!

Out on Valentine’s Day: Micromax Canvas HD with quad-core processor

New Delhi: Micromax’s first quad core processor phone, A116 Canvas HD, will go on sale beginning Thursday. The phone priced at Rs 13,990 will currently be available only through the company’s website.

Shop online. Image courtesy Micromax

The phone which will have a 5 inch touchscreen, is powered by MediaTek’s MT6589 1.2 GHz quad-core processor and is run on Android Jelly Bean 4.1.

Its HD screen has a resolution of 1280×720 pixels and a colour depth of 16.7 million, providing the user with superior graphics and HD viewing experience. Supported by a 2000mAh battery, the phone will be delivered between 5-7 working days.

The phone also sports an 8MP rear camera with LED flash, multiple camera settings, 4X zoom and auto focus. It is 3G enabled, with memory expandable up to 32GB.

Even as Samsung leads the Indian smartphone race with a 41.6 percent share, followed by Nokia (19.2 percent) and Research in Motion (12.1 percent), according to Cybermedia Research, Micromax with its aggressive strategy of launching 30 smartphones this year to expand the portfolio of handsets and tablet PCs is set to give them stiff competition.

The Canvas HD smartphone will be in the “phablet” category — a cross between a phone and a tablet.

Google Doodle celebrates Valentine's Day and George Ferris

Inventor of the ferris wheel was born on Valentine's Day 1859

Screenshot from the Valentine's Day/George Ferris Google Doodle Photograph: Google

Google is celebrating Valentine's Day and George Ferris's birthday with a two-in-one doodle.

Ferris, born on 14 February 1859 in Illinois, is most famous for designing and building the original ferris wheel for an exposition in Chicago in 1893. The directors of the World's Columbian Exposition wanted an exhibit that would rival or even surpass the Eiffel Tower, which had been built in Paris in 1889, and Ferris's wheel was chosen.

The interactive doodle features two ferris wheels with a fairground backdrop. Pushing a heart button on the doodle spins the wheels and brings up pictures of animals, who then appear going on dates.

In recent years ferris wheels have moved out of amusement parks and into city centres and they are getting bigger too. The tallest is the Singapore Flyer in Singapore, which reaches a height of 165 metres – 30 metres higher than the London Eye.

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day

Weather app by India Met Dept

The Indian Metrological Department (IMD) has launched a mobile application by which the latest weather forecasts will be available through mobile phones.
A team of experts at IMD have developed the application titled “Indian weather” which can be downloaded free of cost from Google Play on Android based smart phones and tablets.
This weather forecasting is location specific and in the next eight months, IMD hopes to make this service available on other phones also.
The IMD will also provide four-day forecasts from its met stations in Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata and Mumbai on a near real-time basis.
Congratulating the IMD on the occasion of the launch, Jaipal Reddy, minister of science and technology expressed satisfaction that agromet advisories provided through SMS were reaching 33 lakh farmers but maintained this information must be extended to all farmers.
Mr Reddy expressed the hope that Earth System Science Organisation (ESSO) take the lead in making Indian agriculture more resilient to changing weather patterns. He also hoped that the “Monsoon Mission of the organisation would take a leap forward since discernible improvement in prediction of monsoon would be a great support to the farmers.”
While the computing power of IMD’s weather prediction has increased at 25 km resolution which compares well with the European Centre which runs at 16 km resolution, it needed to get more error free, the minister said. Dr LS Rathore, IMD director general maintained that more value-added services would be added in the coming months.

Rainfall, hail and snow hit north India; MeT office warns of more

Rainfall, hail and snow hit north India; MeT office warns of more

New Delhi: Rain and snowfall continue to lash north India, pulling down the mercury with the inclement weather likely to continue in the coming days. It was a chilly day for Delhiites after a spell of relatively warm weather as intermittent rain lashed parts of the city and the maximum dropped to 19.3 degrees Celsius from 26.3 degrees on Monday.

In Kashmir, a fresh bout of snowfall lashed parts of the Valley while Srinagar witnessed rain which marginally brought down the minimum to 2.2 degrees Celsius as against 4.1 degrees the previous night. The summer capital received 2.6mm rainfall during the night. Picturesque Gulmarg in north Kashmir recorded a low of -5 degrees Celsius, two notches up from the previous night's -7 degrees, and received 11 inches of fresh snowfall.

The MeT office has forecast heavy snowfall across the Valley over the coming few days with road and air traffic likely to face disruptions. Himachal Pradesh was reeling from intense cold after another spell of heavy snowfall in the higher reaches of the state while the middle and lower hills, including state capital Shimla, were lashed by rain and sleet accompanied by icy, strong velocity winds.

Keylong in Lahaul and Spiti and Kalpa in Kinnaur district had received 35cm to 40cm snow by afternoon while the sprawling Dhauladhar and Churdhar ranges were covered under 75cm to 100cm of snow. The snowfall and rain has thrown normal life out of gear in several parts of the state including at Dharamsala.

The sky remained heavily overcast throughout the day and the local MeT has warned of more rains and snowfall in the next two days. Uttarakhand, too, saw snowfall in the higher reaches and showers in its plains as temperatures dropped at most places in the state.

The mercury in the state capital of Dehradun plunged by four degrees as most places were lashed by moderate to heavy rainfall with Joshimath receiving the maximum of 33mm followed by Chamoli at 21mm. Heavy snowfall occurred at heights above 3,000 metres at Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri with similar weather conditions forecast for the state in the coming 24 hours.

Several parts of Punjab and Haryana also reported light to moderate rainfall as minimum temperatures rose sharply by up to eight notches above normal in the two states. Chandigarh received rainfall of 3.8mm and recorded a minimum of 13.7 degrees while in Haryana, Bhiwani, with rainfall of 4.6mm saw the mercury settle at a low of 10.4 degrees Celsius.

The weatherman's forecast is for light to moderate rainfall to continue over the coming 48 hours with chances of hail or thunderstorm at isolated places across the two states. Light rain and thundershowers occurred at isolated places in western Uttar Pradesh although the weather remained mainly dry over eastern parts of the state.

Night temperatures rose markedly in Lucknow, Bareilly, Moradabad, Agra and Meerut divisions with rain and thundershowers expected at many places in western UP and at a few places in eastern parts of the state in the next 48 hours.

Rajasthan reported some relief today as the cold subsided in parts of the state where Sri Ganganagar recorded the lowest temperature at 11.2 degrees Celsius. Other places recorded minimum temperatures between 13 degrees to 17.3 degrees Celsius with the MeT department predicting light showers in isolated areas.

Record-Breaking Rains Lash Delhi

PTI PHOTO/ SHAHBAZ KHAN Record-Breaking Rains Lash Delhi

Moderate to heavy rains lashed north India today breaking a five-decade record in Delhi and disrupting normal life while a fresh bout of snowing in hill states cut off many high altitude areas.

Heavy showers accompanied by thunderstorms, which started last night in the national capital, broke all records for a single day's rainfall in the month of February for the last 50 years.

Waterlogging caused by heavy showers led to traffic snarls across the city with the MeT department predicting more rains in the coming two days in Delhi.

The city had received 50mm rain by 10 A.M. Today and MeT Director BP Yadav told PTIthat it was, "the highest rainfall in 24 hours (recorded) in the month of February over the last 50 years".

The minimum temperature was recorded at 13.5 degrees, five notches above normal while the maximum was at 18.6 degrees, which was four degrees below normal.

Rains also lashed Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh as well as hill states of Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, which received snowfall in the higher reaches.

It was a wet day in Kashmir as well as rains continued to lash Srinagar and other parts of the Valley along with snowfall at several places for the second day running.

Night temperatures across the Valley dipped further with Srinagar recording a low of 1.6 degrees Celsius as against the previous night's 2.2 degrees. The summer capital received 12mm rainfall during the night.

Gulmarg got a foot of fresh snowfall as well as 17mm rainfall and recorded a low of -5 degrees Celsius, same as the previous night.

In Himachal Pradesh, the higher reaches continued to receive heavy snowfall while the middle and lower hills were lashed by intermittent heavy rain and sleet accompanied by icy, strong velocity winds.

The heavy snowfall aggravated the avalanche threat and people in the high-altitude areas have been advised to stay indoors till the weather improved.

The rain and sleet, on the other hand, triggered numerous landslides which rendered several interior areas cut off from the rest of the state.

Road access to the tourist resort of Manali, too, was blocked after it received 60cm snow in the last 48 hours while traffic was curtailed on the Hindustan-Tibet National Highway.

Uttarakhand, too, was in for inclement weather as widespread showers in the plains and heavy snowfall in the higher reaches for the second consecutive day pushed down temperatures in the state.

Tehri received the highest rainfall in the state of 61.8mm followed by Dehradun and Mussoorie which recorded 43.2mm and 30mm, respectively.

Mukteshwar shivered at 1.2 degrees Celsius and the MeT office predicted similar weather conditions over the coming days, adding that temperatures could see a further drop of 4-5 degrees.

In the plains, moderate to heavy rainfall was reported in many places in western Uttar Pradesh and some places in the eastern districts with Muzaffarnagar recording 12cm rainfall followed by 7cm each in Bijnore, Hamirpur and Unnao.

Several places in Punjab and Haryana, too, complained of waterlogging and traffic snarls after being lashed by rains while minimum temperatures rose by up to eight notches above normal across both states.

Chandigarh received rainfall of 11.5mm and recorded a minimum of 13.1 degrees Celsius, which was up six notches from the normal.

Rajasthan, too, reported overnight showers with Pilani receiving 15.

Tendulkar takes over Mumbai Indians captaincy

IPL 2013 news

Tendulkar takes over Mumbai Indians captaincy

The Mumbai Indians captaincy passes between Harbhajan Singh and Sachin Tendulkar once again

Sachin Tendulkar will return as the Mumbai Indians captain for the sixth edition of the IPL, which will commence on April 3. Tendulkar, who will turn 40 during the course of IPL 6, had given up the Mumbai franchise's captaincy after IPL 2011 and his India team-mate, Harbhajan Singh, had taken over.

ESPNcricinfo understands that Tendulkar agreed to lead the team this year after Harbhajan, who had captained the franchise owned by the Reliance Industries Ltd in the Champions League 2011 and IPL 2012, expressed his inability to continue in the role.

The development on the eve of the player auction puts to rest all speculation that Mumbai Indians are likely to go all out for Ricky Ponting or Michael Clarke during Sunday's auction, as a captaincy candidate.

Tendulkar, who missed the first seven games of IPL's inaugural edition due to injury, was at Mumbai Indians' helm since its inception. After he passed on the reins to Harbhajan, Mumbai Indians won their maiden title when they claimed the Champions League T20 title in 2011. In IPL 2012, under Harbhajan, Mumbai Indians made it to the knockouts where they lost to Chennai Super Kings in the Eliminator.

Sachin Tendulkar appointed captain of Mumbai Indians

Sachin Tendulkar had led Mumbai Indians to the final of the 2010 season of IPL © AFP

Mumbai: Feb 2, 2013

Batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar will lead Mumbai Indians in the upcoming season of Indian Premier League (IPL).

According to IPL sources, Tendulkar will take over from Harbhajan Singh as the captain of the side, which effectively would mean the end of Michael Clarke's chances to lead one of the most popular frachises.

Tendulkar, who missed the first seven games of IPL's inaugural edition due to injury, was at Mumbai Indians' helm since its inception.

In IPL 2012, under Harbhajan, Mumbai Indians made it to the knockouts where they lost to Chennai Super Kings in the Eliminator.

There were a lot of speculations about Clarke taking over the mantle of captaincy as the team didn't have a leader of repute but once Tendulkar agreed to don the role, put to rest all the speculations regarding any chances that Clarke had whatsoever.

Tendulkar, who had recently retired from the ODIs, would ideally like to win the IPL Trophy having achieved almost all the other major milestones including World Cup, No 1 ranking in Test matches and 100 international hundreds.

Tendulkar captained the team for the first four seasons before giving up the captaincy. Harbhajan, who took over from Tendulkar in 2011 and led Mumbai Indians to Champions League victory in the same year, quit the leadership role earlier in the week.

Mumbai Indians reached the final of IPL in 2010 under the captaincy of Tendulkar.

This is one of the recent developments in the team after Anil Kumble was appointed as team mentor last month.

IPL 6: Sachin Tendulkar to replace Harbhajan Singh as Mumbai Indians' captain

New Delhi: Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar is expected to make a comeback as Mumbai Indians captain for the sixth edition of Indian Premiere League (IPL).
According to the sources, Sachin will apparently replace Harbhajan Singh, who is likely to quit captaincy to concentrate and improve his bowling. Earlier there were reports, that Australian cricketer Michael Clarke will lead Mumbai Indians this seaon.
Sachin handed over the captaincy to Harbhajan in 2011 in a bid to concentrate on his batting. Previously, Mumbai Indians roped in Anil Kumble as the chief mentor and John Wright as head coach to strengthen their team management. 
The sixth season of IPL is commencing on April 3.

Sachin Tendulkar returns as Mumbai Indians captain Read more at: http://www.thatscricket.com/news/2013/02/03/sachin-tendulkar-returns-as-mumbai-indians-captain-066000.html

Sachin Tendulkar returns as Mumbai Indians captain

Bangalore, Feb 3: Sachin Tendulkar has returned as Mumbai Indians captain for the sixth edition of Indian Premier League (IPL 6), according to reports on Saturday night (February 2). Tendulkar, who gave up captaincy of the Mumbai franchise after IPL 4 in 2011, will lead the side in place of Harbhajan Singh, who recently relinquished the leadership role. There were speculations that Rohit Sharma would take over from Harbhajan. But Tendulkar, who will turn 40 during IPL 6 in April, has been given the job. Recently, Mumbai Indians appointed former India captain Anil Kumble as chief mentor and Kiwi John Wright as their head coach. Tendulkar retired from One Day Internationals in December 2012. IPL 6 will get under way on April 3.

Sachin Tendulkar seen enjoying a game of golf

Sachin Tendulkar seen enjoying a game of golf

New Delhi: The Master Blaster was at the Kensville Golf and Country Club in Ahmedabad on Friday and tried his hand at playing some golf strokes hitting nearly 25 balls. Tendulkar wielded the club like a cricket bat, and one has to believe it to see it, that his swings were as natural as that of a professional.

Facebook's 9th birthday: Milestones in the history of the social networking king

Facebook's 9th birthday: Milestones in the history of the social networking king

New Delhi: Facebook, the world's most popular social networking site, has turned nine today. With over one billion active users, the social networking giant still continues to grow, since its launch on February 4, 2004.

Some key developments in nine years since Facebook's creation:

February 2004: Mark Zuckerberg starts Facebook as a sophomore at Harvard University.

March 2004: Facebook begins expansion to other colleges and universities.

June 2004: Facebook moves headquarters to Palo Alto, California.

September 2004: Facebook introduces the Wall, which allows people to write personal musings and other tidbits on profile pages. Lawsuit filed against Facebook claiming that Zuckerberg stole the idea for Facebook from a company co-founded by twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss and a third person at Harvard.

September 2005: Facebook expands to include high schools.

May 2006: Facebook introduces work networks, allowing people with a corporate email address to join.

September 2006: Facebook begins letting anyone over 13 join. It also introduces News Feed, which collects friends' Wall posts in one place. Although that led to complaints about privacy, News Feed became one of Facebook's most popular features.

May 2007: Facebook launches Platform, a system for letting outside programmers develop tools for sharing photos, taking quizzes and playing games. The system creates a Facebook economy and allows companies such as game maker Zynga Inc. to thrive.

October 2007: Facebook agrees to sell a 1.6 percent stake to Microsoft for $240 million and forges advertising partnership.

November 2007: Facebook unveils its Beacon program, a feature that broadcasts people's activities on dozens of outside sites. Yet another privacy backlash led Facebook to give people more control over Beacon, before Facebook ultimately scrapped it as part of a legal settlement.

March 2008: Facebook hires Sheryl Sandberg as chief operating officer, snatching the savvy, high-profile executive from Google Inc.

April 2008: Facebook Chat introduced.

February 2009: Facebook introduces "Like," allowing people to endorse other people's posts.

June 2009: Facebook surpasses News Corp.'s Myspace as the leading online social network in the US.

August 2010: Facebook launches location feature, allowing people to share where they are with their friends and strangers.

October 2010: Release of "The Social Network," a movie about Zuckerberg and the legal battles over Facebook's founding. It gets eight Academy Awards nominations and wins three.

June 2011: Google launches rival social network called Plus. The Winklevoss twins end their legal battle over the idea behind Facebook. They had settled with Facebook for $65 million in 2008, but later sought more money.

September 2011: Facebook introduces Timeline, a new version of the profile page. It shows highlights from a person's entire Facebook life rather than recent posts.

November 2011: Facebook agrees to settle federal charges that it violated users' privacy by getting people to share more information than they agreed to when they signed up to the site. As part of a settlement, Facebook will allow independent auditors to review its privacy practices for two years. It also agrees to get approval from users before changing how the company handles their data.

December 2011: Facebook completes its move to Menlo Park, California Its address is 1 Hacker Way.

January 2012: Facebook begins making Timeline mandatory.

February 2012: Facebook files for an initial public offering of stock.

January 2013: Facebook announced the launch of Graph Search that allows users to search anything their Facebook friends have shared, including photos and posts.

Happy birthday, Facebook! You're nine today!

The biggest and most densely populated social networking website ever, Facebook turns nine today. What began as a website for a closed user group within Harvard University has grown manifold – so much so that it has a billion active members from around the globe today.

Facebook began its life as Facemash, a website where Harvard students could rate each other on hotness quotient, based on their photographs. How Mark Zuckerberg took Facebook from an invite-only Ivy League college website to this level is no secret with popular culture featuring the story in movies and books like The Social Network and Accidental Billionaires.

If there is one thing that’s remained constant on Facebook all these nine years is change. Zuckerberg and co. have made sure path breaking features – some even outlandishly so – are added to the website on almost a daily basis. Oh yes, we’re talking business pages to relationship status to likes to social networking games and everything in between. 

Happy birthday, Facebook!

In recent years, Facebook has taken to spreading its supremacy over the mobile platform too. With the number of smartphone users growing by the day, the social networking giant has made sure that its mobile applications are as far as possible at par with its website. Besides creating native apps for iOS and Android from scratch, Facebook has also launched a new app called ‘Poke’ recently that self-destroys messages instantly after the receiver has seen it.

Facebook’s relentless efforts towards gaining users worldwide paid off in a huge way in September last year when it hit the unprecedented milestone of one billion active users. With this milestone, Facebook had reached heights other social networking websites like MySpace, Twitter and Orkut have only dreamed about. According to a report by GlobalWebIndex, in Q4 alone last year, Facebook saw 693 million users globally, with a growth rate of 33 percent. Facebook rules the roost with other social networking websites fighting for second place.

Of course, controversies have played a huge part in Facebook’s journey from being an eight-year-old to nine.

While last year was a huge one for the social networking website, with it being the first one ever to go public with an IPO, Facebook’s shares have fluctuated heavily in the past year. Zuckerberg has indeed made sure that he salvages the situation every single time though. 

Facebook brought over photo editing app Instagram last year and found itself in hot water thanks to it too. Besides having to face a Federal Trade Commission enquiry over its acquisition of the app, Instagram kept running into trouble while trying to change its Terms of Services and Privacy Policies.

As for year nine for Facebook, the future looks bright for the birthday website. Facebook has taken 2013 head-on with the launch of its newest feature Graph Search. Like it or hate it, you cannot deny the fact that Facebook always sticks its neck out with new features like these that make it different from other websites that stick to the tried and tested.

Facebook has also clearly shifted its focus towards building a solid presence on several mobile platforms for not just social networking but also messaging. With no sign-up required to use Messenger for Android and the rolling out of free calling features using the app, Facebook is working its way towards giving apps like Whatsapp and Skype a tough time. Knowing Zuckerberg’s penchant towards treading unknown paths, we’re looking forward to Facebook surprising us with newer features this year.

On a different pitch, but the master still in control

On a different pitch, but the master still in control
Taking stance at the Kensville Golf and Country Club made it obvious that it was a different pitch, but the ability to strike the sweet spot (of the driver in this case), showed that a change of turf had had little impact on Sachin Tendulkar's ability.

The grip and follow through did not adhere to the manual, but striking off a high tee he touched the 200-yard mark. Watching the ball soar may have thrilled but the inability to middle it rankled.

In came a suggestion to push the tee deeper, the alteration added to his striking prowess with the ball going past 250 yards, and “the sound of the ball connecting with the (middle) of the club” continued to ring several hour later.

“It was fantastic,” he gushed. He was speaking in a new capacity, and though for a while, the transformation was complete.

Gone was the dark-blue tee and replacing it was a similar-hued outfit with the club logo.

That wasn't all; the rest of the gear was spanking new too. Clearly, Tendulkar had blended into his day-old role of a golf ambassador.

Much before his arrival on Friday, the diktat of “no cricket questions” had resonated several times through the portals.

“It is in respect of the 120 golfers assembled here (for the Gujarat Kensville Challenge),” was the organisers' argument.

Cricket was a no-no, but a query did have Tendulkar drawing a parallel between cricket and the sport he is open to embracing.

The talk was on mental toughness, and he remarked, “There are sessions when a bowler gets the better of you but to hang in there and see off that phase requires planning and mental strength. Similarly, playing out 18 holes requires vision.”

Deadline was approaching, but Tendulkar ensured he fulfilled his commitments with the golfers (a putting contest for charity) and fans before leaving.

He had come "home" and on the way back, the numerous billboards screaming, “Welcome home, Sachin Tendulkar,” would have brought on a smile.

Tendulkar's tryst with Golf: Master blaster shows he can swing a golf club as expertly as a bat

Tendulkar's tryst with Golf: Master blaster shows he can swing a golf club as expertly as a bat

Master batsman Sachin Tendulkar is known to be keen on racquet sports, but if one watches him swing a golf club, one will be convinced that he could be good at any sport.

Tendulkar was at the Kensville Golf and Country Club in Ahmedabad on Friday and tried his hand at golf as he hit nearly 25 balls. He wielded the club like a cricket bat, and his swing was as natural as that of a professional.

The large galleries surrounding the cricketing ace were amazed to see that each of his shots was crossing the 200-yard mark, which is some achievement even for a weekend golfer.

"I like to hit the ball, whether it's cricket or golf," joked Sachin at a media interaction. "I have played golf only a few times, once with teammates when we were on a tour to South Africa. But I want to play golf more in times to come," said the maestro, who was on a visit to his villa at Kensville.

Former Test cricketer Rahul Sanghvi also tried his hand at golf.

There is an adage that golf is addictive. Tendulkar said: "Some of my friends play golf. They say the more we play golf, the more our appetite for it grows. Probably it can happen to me also once I start playing more golf."

At present, it seems that associating with golf has become a style statement for cricketers with Kapil Dev owning the Chandigarh team at the Rs.1.25 crore Louis Philippe Cup and Harbhajan Singh co-owning Uttarakhand Lions at the inaugural Golf Premier League next month.

Asked if he has a similar plan, he said, "As of now I haven't decided but probably in future I may think over it. Cricket and golf are associated with a bat or ball so golf seems to be an obvious choice for cricketers these days."

Tendulkar was full of praise for the layout.

"I have been to many golf courses and even had an occasional attempt at the driving range, but visiting a golf course, while a tournament is in progress was a new experience.

"I really enjoyed it and the golf course is a lovely one. I have seen other courses, but I really liked this one," said Tendulkar. He said that what separates golf from other sports is its peaceful nature.

"I have played cricket throughout my life and there is a lot of cheering in the stadium even before I take strike. But in golf, you can feel silence even after making a shot, and it helps you think more clearly," said Tendulkar.

Coincidently, his son Arjun is also in the city at the Motera cricket stadium, where the u-14 Mumbai XI is playing Gujarat in the West Zone League. However, Tendulkar didn't visit his son.

"I don't want to intervene in his career. I want to leave him alone to enjoy life and cricket," he said.

Sachin Tendulkar takes Kensville by storm; enjoys putting and driving

Sachin Tendulkar takes Kensville by storm; enjoys putting and driving

The Golfing community got a taste of super celebrity as Sachin Tendulkar paid a visit to the Kensville Golf and Country Club on Friday. Tendulkar, who has a Villa at the Kensville Golf and Country Club, took time out to go around the golf course and also interact with the players.

The Golfing community got a taste of super celebrity as Sachin Tendulkar paid a visit to the Kensville Golf and Country Club on Friday. Tendulkar, who has a Villa at the Kensville Golf and Country Club, took time out to go around the golf course and also interact with the players.

The players, fans, officials and members of Kensville virtually swarmed the legendary cricketer, who seemed to enjoy himself in the midst of sportsmen and fans.

Tendulkar tried his hand at driving and then putting, too, alongside many of the internationals, like Shiv Kapur, Gaganjeet Bhullar, Rich Beem, Rahil Gangjee and Rhys Davies, who are participating here this week.

"I have been to many golf courses and even had an occasional attempt at the driving range, but visiting a golf course, while a tournament is in progress was a new experience. I really enjoyed and the golf course is a lovely one. I have seen other courses, but I really liked this one," said Tendulkar.

When asked if he would take up golf seriously sometime, Tendulkar said, "I enjoy racket sports and have not been able to play golf. My focus has been cricket, maybe golf will come sometime in the future."

Asked what was special about the course, he laughed added, "I liked the bunkers. They look great but don’t get into them. The greens is where you should play. They are great."

Tendulkar hit about 25-30 balls on the driving range and not once did he mis-hit or shank. "I enjoyed the sound of some of the shots," he said of the ones, which hit the sweet spot. His former Mumbai colleague, Rahul Sanghvi, a former India spinner, also had a few shots.

A good number of drives sailed past the 200 and 250 yards when he teed up a bit high. But after adjusting the height of the tee, his shots went past 250 and some even touched 300 yards.

Tendulkar later took part in the putting challenge with his teammates being Shiv Kapur and Gaganjeet Bhullar. They were up against a team, which included Rich Beem, Rahil Gangjee and Rhys Davies. Kensville Golf Living presented a cheque of Rs. one lakh to Tendulkar’s Charitable Trust.

Sachin Tendulkar plays golf in Ahmedabad

Sachin Tendulkar plays golf in Ahmedabad
Ahmedabad, Feb 1: It was one of the rare sights on Friday at Kensville Golf and Country Club in Ahmedabad. Sachin Tendulkar was not wielding his favourite cricket bat but a golf club. Master Blaster Tendulkar, who is Gujarat Kensville Challenge golf tournament's brand ambassador, attended the event on Friday and tried his hand at golf. Sachin Tendulkar playing golf in Ahmedabad on Friday The European Challenger Tour tournament started on Thursday in Ahmedabad. The event is hosted by India golfer Jeev Milkha Singh. Jeev said Tendulkar's presence will give a boost to the event and also hoped that the senior cricketer will take up golf after retiring from Tests. "It is good to have Sachin (Tendulkar) in the event. He is a brand ambassador besides me and Amitabh Bachchan and I hope he likes the sport and starts playing golf and join the likes of Kapil Dev, Madan Lal and Ajay Jadeja. He is a winner and I am sure he will do well," Jeev was quoted as saying before the start of the tournament. Tendulkar, who retired from One Day Internationals in December, 2012, was recently involved with the Mumbai team and won the Ranji Trophy at Wankhede Stadium. Mumbai defeated Saurashtra in the final for their record 40th Ranji Trophy title. The 39-year-old Tendulkar will now play in the Irani Cup for Mumbai against Rest of India from February 6 in Mumbai. After this, he will be playing the four-Test series against Australia starting from February 22 in Chennai.

Rains break seven-decade record in Delhi

Rains break seven-decade record in Delhi
New Delhi: Heavy showers lashed the national capital breaking a seven-decade record for highest rainfall in a single day in February and triggering massive traffic jams due to waterlogging across the city on Tuesday. 

The rain gauges measured 46 mm of rainfall from 8:30 AM yesterday till this morning. In total, Delhi received 57.1 mm of rainfall till 5:30 PM today. 

"Delhi received 46 mm of rainfall in 24 hours ending 8:30 AM which is the highest rainfall in a single day in the month of February in the last 70 years," Met Department Director BP Yadav told PTI. 

According to Met figures, the city had received 104.1 mm of rainfall on February 21, 1942 which is the highest single-day rainfall in recorded history. On February 11, 2007, Delhi had received 40.4 mm of rainfall. 
The Met office said the city is likely to receive more rains in the next couple of days. The minimum temperature was recorded at 13.5 degrees, five notches above normal but the wind chill factor led to cold conditions. 

The maximum temperature was recorded at 18.6 degrees which is four degrees below normal. 
Heavy overnight rains, accompanied by thunderstorms, resulted in waterlogging in areas across the city and office goers and school students faced lot of inconvenience because of traffic jams.

Vehicular movement was affected across the city including ITO, Vikas Marg, South Extension, Mahipalpur, Hari Nagar, IIT crossing to Adchini, Moti Bagh Yusuf Sarai Market and Munirka. 

Areas such as Badarpur border, Wazirpur industrial area, Ashok Vihar, Laxmi Nagar, Mahipalpur, ITO, Bhogal, Jungpura, Lala Lajpat Rai Marg, Dhaula Kuan, Janakpuri, Patel Nagar, Khajurikhas and Moolchand also witnessed heavy traffic snarls. 

The situation was compounded by non-functioning traffic lights in various areas. Waterlogging was reported from the carriageway from Naraina to Dhaula Kuan on Ring road, Najafgarh and Mehrauli-Badarpur road. 

The Met department said cloudy weather conditions are likely to continue for the next couple of days. It said minimum and maximum temperatures are likely to be around 12 and 19 degree celsius respectively tomorrow.