'No one should tell me when to retire' Tendulkar

  Sachin Tendulkar said that he does not intend to retire anytime soon no matter what the critics have to say.
"I feel that when I retire is something that I would decide because when I started was not decided by someone else. Those who are advising me about retirement did not bring me in the team.
"I get my strength from my coaches and family. When I feel I don't have that, on that day, I will think of retirement. I feel those who say you should retire at the top are selfish because when you are at the top, you should serve the country instead of retiring," he said.
Tendulkar does not want to predict whether his seemingly unconquerable record of 100 international centuries would ever be broken, but hopes that as and when it happens, the feat is accomplished by a fellow Indian."I don't know. I guess all the records are meant to be broken but I hope it's an Indian. I don't think you can predict that (whether it will be surpassed) but I hope it's an Indian whenever it happens," Tendulkar, who reached the milestone during the recent Asia Cup, told reporters.
For a player who has virtually every batting record that is there to be taken, Tendulkar said the biggest compliment for him was when the legendary Sir Don Bradman included him in his all-time Test XI.
"I think the best compliment was from Sir Don Bradman when he announced his all-time Test XI and I was part of that squad. That would be the best compliment," he said.
Talking about his journey so far, Tendulkar, the highest run-getter in both Tests and one-dayers, said his late father Ramesh Tendulkar was his idol growing up.
When asked about India's early exit from the Asia Cup, Tendulkar said credit should also go to the rivals who played better than them.The diminutive right-hander said he does not have to prove anything now and would continue as long as he enjoys the game.

                                                                                                                   Source:HindustanTimes

Parliament passes bill to change Orissa's name

   The Rajya Sabha Thursday passed a bill to change the name of Orissa to 'Odisha' and an amendment in the constitution to rename Oriya language as 'Odiya'."The name of the state specified as Orissa in the First Schedule of the Constitution be changed as Odisha," Home Minister P. Chidambaram said while introducing the bill in the Rajya Sabha. The Orissa (Alteration of Name) Bill, 2010, and the Constitution (113th Amendment) Bill, 2010, for the change of the name of the language were moved by Chambermaid on the basis of resolutions passed by the Orissa assembly.Both bills were passed by the Lok Sabha in November 2010. "The government of Orissa forwarded to the central government in December 2008 the resolution passed by the legislative assembly of Orissa on 28th August, 2008," the home minister said. "As required by the provision to Article 3 of the Constitution, the president referred the bill to the legislature of the state of Orissa for expressing its views thereon," he said. The state assembly adopted a unanimous resolution agreeing with the bill, the home minister said.


                                                                                                                                       Source:NDTV

India votes for resolution against Sri Lanka

India voted for a US-sponsored resolution at the United Nations' top human rights body censuring Sri Lanka for its alleged rights violations during the war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

India,s reluctance to vote on a nation-specific resolution ,changed its stand after political parties in Tamil Nadu exerted pressure on the United Progressive Alliance government to go with the resolution. The DMK threatened to pull out its Ministers from the UPA government on the issue.With 24 votes for, 15 against and 8 abstentions, the 47-member United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) adopted the resolution, which noted with concern that an internal inquiry report in Sri Lanka did not adequately address “serious allegations” of violations of international law. The resolution asked Colombo to present expeditiously a comprehensive action plan detailing the steps to implement the recommendations of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) and to address the alleged violations of international law.

Informed sources said India decided to vote after persuading the sponsor to make two changes in the draft so that it became “non-intrusive” and contributed to a political reconciliation process in the island nation.

India did not participate in the debate, but voted with countries like Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Italy, Spain, Switzerland and Uruguay. However, Indian sources pointed out that New Delhi was successful in bringing about the change in the resolution to add a paragraph that said “recalling Council resolutions 5/1 and 5/2 on institution building of the Human Rights Council” to give a context.

The other change was in reference to the wording of the last para, which speaks of providing advice and technical assistance in implementing the steps suggested in the resolution. The amendment makes it clear that advice and technical assistance will be provided “in consultation with and with the concurrence of” the government of Sri Lanka that made the resolution “non-intrusive,” the Indian sources said. 

                                                                                                                                       Source:The Hindu

Sachin Gets Hundredth Hundred

  

Sachin Tendulkar on Friday made history by becoming the first cricketer in the world to score 100 international centuries .Tendulkar, who already has a lot of runs and records to his credit, achieved the incredible milestone when he turned in the Asia Cup match against Bangladesh here.The star batsman first looked heaven-wards and then acknowledged the cheers of his teammates and the crowd by lifting his bat.

He had gone 33 innings and a year without a century. The right hander made his 99th international ton in a World Cup match against South Africa in Nagpur on March 12.Since then it had been a long wait for him,

and his fans.

He is also the first batsman in the world who has scored a double ton in ODIs, a feat he achieved in Gwalior against South Africa in February. This feat was included in ’Time’ magazine’s top 10 sports moments of the year.

His father’s death had a deep impact on him and Tendulkar still looks heavenwards whenever he crosses a milestone to seek his blessing.

Google Plus to have over 400 million users by the end of 2012: Research

Google’s social networking site, Google Plus will have over 400 million users by the end of 2012, an American researcher has predicted."Based on the accelerated growth I’m seeing and all the dials and levers Google can still utilise, and the developer ecosystem that will be developed, I predict that 2012 is going to be a breakout year for Google Plus and that it will end next year with more than 400million users,” The Daily Mail quoted Paul Allen, as saying.Though Facebook users outnumber Google Plus subscribers by 400 million, the figure comes as a setback to CEO Mark Zuckerberg.Allen pointed out that Google already has 62 million users, with a quarter of them signing up in December.He said 625,000 members are signing up to Google Plus daily partly due to Android devices, which facilitate registration and through power of word of mouth.

According to Allen, ‘it may be the holidays, the TV commercials, the Android 4 signups, celebrity and brand appeal, or positive word of mouth, or a combination of all these factors’ that led to large number of users subscribing to the site in December.His research methodology is, however, not based on actual figures and is only a ‘guestimate’.He arrived at the data by tracking a list of unusual names in the U.S. on the recruitment site Elance and noting the number of those people being Google Plus users as well.Allen’s research comes after the Global Web Index had earlier announced that Google Plus has 150 million active users.Google declined to comment on the research.

                                                                                                                                        Source:The Hindu

Govt. not keen to see a corruption- free India: Hazare

Anti-corruption activist Anna Hazare left Ralegan Siddhi for Mumbai on Monday afternoon amidst a rousing farewell in his hometown. Speaking to the people just before leaving, Mr. Hazare stated that he was fit for the agitation. He said that it was the government that had forced him to go on another fast.

''The common man is suffering, the government is blind to see that. I have been accused of being against the party ( Congress) but this wouldn't have happened if the party had worked for the people. I am not fond of fasting, I have been forced to do it because of the incompetent government,'' Mr Hazare said. He accused the government of not being keen to see a corruption- free India. ''Political power runs on money, and money runs on the same power,'' he stated.

He assured the people that he was not for the three-day fast. ''I was not well for three days, but now I am fit to fast,'' he said.

Mr. Hazare reiterated that he will stage a dharna outside Sonia Gandhi's house on December 30.''They promised us a strong Lokpal bill and then did a U-turn,'' he said.

He stayed that he didn't fear death and was ready to face anything. ''We have all seen how they (the police) attacked protesters in Ramlila Maidan during Baba Ramdev's agitation. I don't fear death,'' he said.

Mr. Hazare stopped at Alandi, the place of Sant Dnyaneshwar's 'samadhi', en route to Mumbai to seek blessings.

 
                                                                                                                         source:The Hindu