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If sportsmen had made India proud by winning gold medals in Olympics this time, Indian writers are not far behind in bringing laurels to our nation. The latest star of Indian soil is Aravind Adiga. This 33-year-old Chennai-born Mumbaikar has won the Man Booker Prize for his debut novel, The White Tiger. Adiga is the fifth Booker winner of Indian ethnicity and the second youngest winner in the award’s 40-year history. He is also the third winner for a debut novel, the first debut novelist to win the Booker Prize being Arundhati Roy.

Booker Award

In an interview about his novel Adiga gave some insight about the book by saying, “The book is funny and provocative, and I guess that is what has clicked. Humour makes a stronger point. I tried to tell a very real story about India on the brink of unrest. I tried to challenge the assumptions that many in middle-class India hold about the poor: that they are stupid, easily manipulated, excessively religious and bound by caste and family.”

“India is dealing with great duality today. There are men with big bellies and men with small bellies’. It’s a metaphor to capture the duality (feast or famine) of human existence in India today. The world needed to see the other side of India.”

Adiga is a journalist-turned-writer and had worked with Time magazine. While working for this magazine he got the opportunity to travel throughout India, especially UP and Bihar. This brought him in closer contact with the rural life in India and gave him a glimpse of the problems poor people are facing in most of rural India. In his book he has tried to capture the sentiments of the colossal underclass and has also attacked the rotten political system that is stopping half of this country from achieving its potential.

I’m personally enthralled at Aravind Adiga’s achievement and wish him all the best for his future endeavors.

Tags: Adiga, Aravind Adiga, Arundhati Roy, Book, Booker Award, Chennai, India, Mumbai, Novel, Political System, The White Tiger, Time Magazine

After the first IPL was over with a lots of pim pom, it was reported that Mahendra Singh Dhoni who got the highest bid in the landmark IPL auction in February, worth nearly Rs 1.5 lakh for each of his run during the 44-day tournament.

Although Dhoni, the Chennai Super Kings captain has lost the IPL final against The Rajasthan Royals, the Chennai franchise owners has shelled out a whopping Rs six crore for the Indian ODI and Twenty20 captain. Dhoni tallied 414 runs at an average of 41.40 in 14 innings and thus each run was worth Rs 1, 44,927.

Shaun Marsh son of former Australia opener Geoff Marsh, who was tournament’s top scorer, was bought for a paltry Rs 12 lakh recorded an aggregate of 616 runs at a brilliant average of 68 runs which means Rs 1948 for each run.

In fact, none of the franchise owners showed any interest in the Aussies, who were simply overlooked in the first two rounds of bidding before Kings XI Punjab coach Tom Moody roped him in just nine days before the IPL got underway.

Marsh, however, can still draw some relief from the fact that his sterling show in the Twenty20 event at least won him an ODI recall in the Australian team.

Gautam Gambhir (534) trails Marsh in the run-getters chart with an average of 41.07 and the left-hander proved a good buy for the Delhi Daredevils, who had coughed up Rs 2.9 crore for him.

Tags: Chennai, Cricket, Dhoni, IPL, Marsh, MS Dhoni, Shaun Marsh

There is a hope to bring down the increasing price of emulsified fuels by the upcoming new technology invented and tested by the Chennai-based Hydrodrive Systems and Controls. This will also help in reducing India’s dependence on crude imports.

“The technology we have developed does not use any additives or surfactant,” Hydrodrive managing director and inventor Srinivasan Gopalakrishnan said.

“We do emulsification through a molecular engineering process, which has already been covered by a patent granted in several countries including Britain, Canada, India, the Philippines and patent pending in China, Japan and the US,” Gopalakrishnan told IANS.

An emulsified fuel is a mixture of water in fuels. It is used in internal combustion engines and for combustion in boilers, furnaces and external combustion equipment. As oil and water generally do not mix, costly special additives or surfactants are used for surface tension modifications to manufacture emulsified fuels by mixing them and to retain stability for a longer period without oil and water getting separated. Hence it is costlier than the conventional diesel fuel due to the use of costlier surfactants or additives. Due to the higher price compared to the conventional diesel fuel, the emulsified fuel marketing companies are unable to push the product and are dependent upon tax incentives.

A known technology since 1900, it is considered as eco-friendly because it reduces emission. Emulsified fuels are currently sold by five European manufacturers. The fuel produced for use in the internal combustion engines has minimum 10 percent to maximum 20 percent water in diesel.

“Our technology burns 25 percent water in 75 percent diesel as against the maximum 20 percent water in the diesel emulsion achieved by existing producers,” said Gopalakrishnan, a mechanical engineer with a management degree who set up Hydrodrive in 1981.

He added that the manufacturing process developed by his firm brings down the fuel cost to much below the cost of the conventional diesel or petrol or kerosene.

“India’s Super Auto Forge Limited which manufactures cold forged/cold extruded steel and aluminum components for the automotive industry has found after six months of testing that it saves fuel.

“Similarly the technology was tested in a tractor in the US and a vehicle in Canada. Both were found working without problem. More tests are also in progress,” he said.

“We are now commercially offering the on-demand emulsification plant on a 14-year license to individual industrial fuel users to cut down their fuel expenses,” Gopalakrishnan said.

The investment on the emulsification plant would be recoverable within 10 to 12 months through savings made in fuel consumption.

Gopalakrishnan said that the new technology could help reduce India’s dependence on costly crude oil imports and will help combat fuel crisis.

Tags: Chennai, Cost, Fuel, Fuel Cost, Hydrodrive

Mathew Hyden’s brilliant half century helped Chennai Super Kings to win against Kolkata Knight Riders by 9 wickets in Chennai on Saturday. It was the first loss of Knight Riders after two successive wins.

Elected to bat first Knight Riders were wrapped up at a modest score of 147 for 9 in 20 overs while the Super Kings achieved the target within 17 overs.

Losing a single wicket in the form of Parthiv Pate l(21), Chennai’s Captain Dhoni and Hyden remain unbeaten and shared a strong partnership of 86 runs.

Hayden hit three fours and as many sixes in his 49-ball innings and was well supported by captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni who hit a quick 43 off 27 deliveries including six fours and two sixes.

From knight Riders it was only Laxmi Ratan Shukla who held the innings together with a crucial innings of 42.

Jacob Oram (3-32) was the wrecker-in-chief as the Knight Riders’ big guns — Brendon McCullum (24), Ricky Ponting (0), David Hussey (0) and skipper Sourav Ganguly (12) — fell to indiscreet shots one by one. Ganguly’s 12 off 19 balls had just one four.

While Muttiah Muralitharan remained the most economical bowler with 4-0-12-0, P Amarnath claimed two wickets in four overs conceding 29 runs.

Tags: Chennai, IPL, Knight Riders, Kolkata, Super Kings

First test match of Future cup series in M A Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai ended after a dull draw between South Africa and India on Sunday. South Africa played cautiously in its second batting. At the end of the match South Africa scored 331 runs at loss of five. McKenzie with 155 runs and Boucher with 11 runs were remain unbeaten on the pitch as the match was finalized.

During the second batting of South Africa, the openers Smith and McKenzie gave a speed start. Smith was dismissed yesterday after making 35 runs and Amla joined McKenzie then. Before the team agreed to draw, McKenzie hit 13 boundaries and a six during his 445-minute stay at the crease. He hit a double century in his previous Test.

South Africa got its first stroke from India by losing Amla at Kumble’s ball. Amla delivered 81 runs to the team. Kallis and Prince couldn’t contribute much after Amla. Both were dismissed by Harbhajan after making 19 and 5 runs respectively. De Villiers gave his 11 and was claimed by Sehwag.

The pitch at the MA Chidambaram Stadium did not have any significant help for the bowlers on the first four days and was not expected to behave any different on day five.

The match will always be remembered for Virender Sehwag and Rahul Dravid. Sehwag, who smashed 319 in India’s first innings, was deservedly named man of the match. He broke his own record of 309 runs in 2004 in Multan against Pakistan, although he couldn’t cross Lara’s record of 400 runs. Sehwag had taken India to a mammoth 627 in reply to South Africa’s first innings total of 540.

Dravid who completed his 10,000 runs in Test, is the third Indian and world’s sixth batsman to achieve the milestone. With this, the former Indian captain has also completed his 25th century.

The second Test will be played in Ahmedabad from April 3-7, with the third Test in Kanpur from April 11-15.

Tags: Amla, Boucher, Chennai, Dravid, First Test, Future Cup, Ganguly, India, Kallis, Sehwag, South Africa, Test

Triple Century of blasting batsman Virendra Sehwag led India to beat the huge score of South Africa. Today on the fourth day of the first test match of Future cup Series, India scored a brilliant record of 627 runs, 87 points more than the rival team. Sehwag was dismissed by Ntini at a mammoth record of 319. he crossed his own score but unable to beat Lara’s record of 400 runs.

Dravid has achieved the milestone of 10,000 runs in test. Dravid also gave his century with 111 runs and was knocked out again by Ntini after lunch. He became the sixth player to tally 10,000 Test runs reaching the milestone in the first Test against South Africa. He is the third Indian player after Sachin and Sunil Gavaskar to achieve this target.

South Africa scored 540 runs in its first inning and India replied the rivals with 468 runs on second day at only one loss. South Africans seemed very helpless in front of the star batsman Sehwag. He gave the opponent team a hard nut to crack. Sehwag is the second player who achieved the milestone of making two triple centuries in test matches after Brain Lara.

Other players including Sachin Tendulkar, Ganguly and Dhoni couldn’t use their bats much. They all got dismissed one by one very soon. Dhoni gave only sixteen and Ganguly contributed 24. Sachin, Harbhajan and R P Singh were sent to pavilion without opening their account. Laxman gave 39 while the captain (Kumble) couldn’t achieve more than 3. Sreesanth was the last player with only 4 runs in hand.

In the second inning of South African team, the players have recorded 131 runs in 33 overs at the end of the day at one loss. Smith had made 35 runs and was knocked out soon. McKenzie and Amla are now the overnight players with 59 and 35 runs respectively.

Tags: BCCI, Bhajji, Chennai, Chepauk, Cricket News, Dhoni, Dravid, Ganguly, Golden Ball, Harbhajan, India, Ishant, Kumble, Laxman, Live Score, live update, News Live, Rain, South Africa, Symonds, Team India, Test Match

After scoring 304 runs at a lose of four wickets in the first test against India on March 26, opening batsman Neil McKenzie told that South Africa will be looking to add another 100-150 runs on Thursday to push for a possible win in the series.

McKenzie who contributed sparkling 94 runs was happy with the start of the team scoring huge inning score but conceded that a lot of cricket was left in the match. But he is confident of getting big score by the remaining quality batsmen of the team.

“Still a long way to go. We have no illusions. Once the wicket gets to wear down, it will be difficult to bat on. I think another 100 to 150 runs tomorrow will be a good total and anything above that will be a bonus,” McKenzie, who added 132 for the opening wicket with Captain Graeme Smith, said after the match.

“We have dependable batsmen in Mark Boucher and AB De Villiers. If one of them comes up with a good individual score, it should be enough to fight our way for a possible win.” He added.

McKenzie said that it was a challenge to face high class spinners like Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh but his previous experience of conditions in the sub-continent helped him to fight but was a little disappointed

“I had toured the sub-continent (before). It is all down to experience,” the opener said.

“Paul Harris is a quality spinner, maybe not to the standards of Kumble or Harbhajan. If the same level of bounce that was there this morning continued in the Indian innings, Nitini and Morkel can be penetrative and trouble Indian batsmen,” he said.

“RP Singh bowled well in Australia but the Indian seamers did not get assistance from the wicket here today, though they played well as a unit,” he added.

The docile nature of the pitch rendered India’s pace bowlers largely ineffective, McKenzie said.

Tags: BCCI, Bhajji, Chennai, Chepauk, Cricket News, Dhoni, Dravid, Ganguly, Golden Ball, Harbhajan, India, Ishant, Kumble, Laxman, Live Score, live update, News Live, Rain, South Africa, Symonds, Team India, Test Match

There is only 48 hours left to start test series against South Africa but some team India players are busy in shooting an Ad film in place of practice at the ground.

After giving a tough competition to Australia, team India is set to defeat South African team in the upcoming series. They are practicing hard in the Chennai to win. But the captain of the team, Anil Kumble was busy in shooting a promotional Ad along with the bold batsman Rahul Dravid and the opener of the team Vaseem Jaffer. These players give more importance to modeling in place of pouring sweat in the ground.

Actually these players have cut off their time of practice and shoot a promotional Ad for IPL’s Bangalore Royal Challengers team in Nehru Stadium. First test match will be played on March 26 on Wednesday. The crucial series have only 48 hours left to start. And these players are busy in shooting directly tells how much they are concern about the series and how is there preparation going. When these Indian players are sparking the screens in front of cameras, the South Africa team players are busy in pouring sweat on practice grounds.

But only the players are not responsible for the matter, the rules and regulation of BCCI are also responsible. BCCI is more concerned in making IPL successful at nay cost. It is even sacrificing the main cricket game for it.

A very crucial series is interrupted for this Ad, although the players are in India for many days and IPL team is already announced many days back. Couldn’t the players called for Ad shoot before the camp? Yes, they can. But board asked them today and reduced the one day time of practice. Is it not a joke with Indian Cricket? Is it not like an interruption in the mounting steps of the team?

It’s a golden chance to win the top position in international cricket. After defeating Australia if Indian team would be able to win against South Africa then we can be at number One. But the approach of Board suggests that to make a record is far, we will not be able to hold a respectful place on the ground.

Tags: Ad, Chennai, India, Kumble, South Africa

One million fresh jobs have been predicted this year in India by a leading human resources consultancy firm. Maximum of which is supposed to be provided by Mumbai followed by Delhi, Chennai and Kolkata.

Ma Foi Employment Trends Survey (METS), conducted by Ma Foi, one of India’s largest HR consultancy firm has predicted a 3 % increase in employment in the current year, which promises to offer jobs for the freshers and other interested for a good change in their work.

According to the survey, maximum job opportunity jobs will come from hospitality sector which is presently at the top because if increasing tourism in the country. According to the survey, this sector is going to generate approximately 426,668 jobs. Next to it can be health sector with 295,829 jobs followed by education training and consultancy sector offering around 166,005 jobs.

“The boom in the tourism industry has had a cascading effect on the hospitality sector, which was a result of the increase in the occupancy ratios and average room rates. With the demand continuing to surge, many global hospitality majors have evinced a keen interest in the Indian hospitality sector,” says K Pandia Rajan, managing director, Ma Foi Management Consultants Ltd.

With an estimate, $11.41 billion is expected to be seen to be invested in the hospitality sector in the next two years. India is likely to have around 40 international hotel brands by 2011.

Economic growth rate may be moderate this year but employment growth is definitely going to be at a hike. While, information technology (IT) and information technology-enabled services (ITES) sectors continue with high growth in recruitment at 7.3 and 7.2 per cent, the health sector will show the highest growth in recruitment at 8.9 per cent.

According to the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, the healthcare industry has emerged as one of the most challenging sectors in India. As per industry reports, the Indian health services sector is estimated to be around Rs 75,000 crore (Rs 750 billion) and is expected to grow by 170 per cent by 2012.

The survey also said that the real estate and construction industry records the highest percentage of work outsourced with 19 % followed closely by hospitality at 18.5 per cent. Survey said that Energy generation and supply sector will experience the highest average salary increase of 16.8%. IT, real estate and construction, trade and hospitality are other sector with a considerable increase in salary.

The study is conducted on 22 different sectors across 2006 units spanning all major industry segments from all over the country for predicting future employment trends for this year.

Tags: Career, Chennai, India, Job, Jobs in India, Kolkata, Mumbai