Sealand claims to be the smallest "country" in the world. It's not even made out of land.

The Principality of Sealand is officially a "micronation", which is "an entity that resembles a nation or a state, but which for the most part exists only on paper, on the Internet, or in the mind of its creator". Sealand earns the dubious title of smallest country, with only 550 square meters of area. It's really just an old WWII anti-aircraft platform 7 miles off the English coast.

The Principality of Sealand was founded in 1976 when British Army Major Paddy Roy Bates occupied the old platform and formally declared independence. The independent status of Sealand has never been recognized by any other nation, and it has only been consistently inhabited by Bates and his family. Bates and his wife go by Prince Roy and Princess Joan.

Despite the small size of Sealand, it has gone through a civil war in 1978. It also once burned down in 2006. Also, BitTorrent site The Pirate Bay once tried to buy Sealand in 2007.

SOURCE - (1, 2, 3, 4)

Khel Ratna award for Saina Nehwal

Panel recommends Dronacharya Awards for Bansal, KuttyKhel Ratna for badminton star Saina Nehwal and recognition for football after eight years were the highlights of the recommendations for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna and Arjuna Awards made by two specially-constituted panels here on Friday.

It must have been extremely disappointing for wrestler Ramesh Kumar, the only World championship medallist in the entire list of Khel Ratna and Arjuna award nominees. He had won a freestyle bronze at Herning, Denmark in September last year, a good 42 years after Vishambhar Singh won a silver in freestyle. World championship medals have been rare in Indian sport.

Hockey coach A.K. Bansal was recommended for the Dronacharya Award. The selection panel, headed by hockey great Ashok Kumar, also picked L. Ibomcha Singh (boxing), Subhash Agarwal (billiards and snooker), A.K. Kutty (athletics) and Capt. Chand Roop (wrestling).

Kutty got the award after many futile bids and mainly because of changed rules allowing for two life-time awards.

Popular choice

Saina's was obviously a popular choice as she edged out Ramesh Kumar and shooter Gagan Narang. Among the titles Saina won in the last three years were the Indonesian Open (2009), Syed Modi Grand Prix (2009) and World junior title (2009). She climbed to No. 2 in world rankings recently following three major titles in a row in Chennai, Singapore and Indonesia.

She also became the first Indian woman to reach the semifinals of the All England and Asian championships.

Deepak Mondal is the footballer recommended along with two athletes, Krishna Poonia and Joseph Abraham. Hockey also has two awardees in Sandeep Singh and Jasjit Kaur. Others recommended by the panel headed by athletics legend P.T. Usha are Dinesh (kabaddi), Rehan Poncha (swimming), Sanjeev Rajput (shooting), Kapil Dev (volleyball), Dinesh Kumar (boxing), Parimarjan Negi (chess), Jhulan Goswami, Rajesh Choudhary (yachting) and Jagseer Singh (Paralympics).

Among those who missed out were judoka Ram Asre Yadav, a silver medallist at the Asian championship last year and rower Sukhjeet Singh, also a silver medallist in the Asian championships last year.

In boxing, the verdict went in favour of Dinesh Kumar ahead of Suranjoy Singh and Jitender Kumar. Dinesh won a World Cup bronze in 2008 and made the quarterfinals of the World championships next year. He also won an Asian championship bronze the same year.

Suranjoy won a gold in the President's Cup (in Azerbaijan) and also an Asian championship title in 2009. Jitender reached the quarterfinals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics apart from winning a World Cup bronze.

Mondal makes it

Award for Mondal, a veteran defender, must be heartening for the football fraternity. After Bruno Coutinho (2001) and I.M. Vijayan (2002) footballers were not considered for the award due to poor standards of the game. But obviously, the panel members were impressed by India's success in the AFC Challenge Cup in 2008 and the Nehru Cup last year.

Rehan Poncha, the ‘medley man' of Indian swimming for the past decade, has become the first swimmer to be honoured since Shikha Tandon received the award in 2005.

Though his achievements in the International arena are not much to speak of, Poncha was among the four Indian qualifiers for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

In last year's National championship, in the absence of young talents like Virdhawal Khade and Sandeep Sejwal, Poncha hogged the limelight in the company of Richa Mishra.

Rajput had qualified for the Beijing Olympics. He had won the air rifle silver in a World Cup in Sydney this year.

He went on to win the rifle 3-position gold in the Commonwealth championship with a National record, apart from the team gold.

He has made the finals of six World Cups so far — three in air rifle and three in 3P. He had won the silver in the Asian championship.

The young Heena Sidhu, a student of dentistry, stood a better chance with her World Cup silver in Beijing last year, the best medal ever by an Indian pistol shooter, male or female, on the global stage but was pipped perhaps because she does not have the variety of achievements of the seasoned Rajput.

The recommendations for Dhyan Chand awards were Satish Pal (athletics), Kuldeep Singh (wrestling) and Anita Chanu (weightlifting).

The awards will be presented on August 29.

Gautham Menon’s VTV Hindi remake goes on floors

Gautham Menon has begun shooting the Hindi version of his recent hit, Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa in Chennai today. Trisha is all set to reprise her role as Jessi in Hindi as well. Prateik Babbar is going to step in Simbu’s shoes as Karthik. He was last seen in Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na, in which he played Genelia’s brother. Earlier, IN Entertainment group had bought the Hindi remake rights of Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa. The untitled film in Hindi is being directed by Gautham Menon and he’s also co-producing the film under RS Infotainment banner along with Photon Kathaas and Mumbai's Purple Arts. Gautham Menon had earlier directed the Hindi version of Minnale titled Rehna Hai Tere Dile Mein back in 2001 and after almost nine years, he’s making his second film in Hindi. Trisha had recently made her debut in Hindi in Priyadarshan’s Khatta Meetha which had Akshay Kumar in lead role. After the release of her debut film, Trisha has already moved on to the Hindi remake of Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa and told the media, “I’m really excited about doing the VTV remake in Hindi. It is a challenge and you will see me in better focus than my debut film in Hindi.” While Oscar Winner A R Rahman has teamed up with Gautham Menon for this film, the other prominent technicians like art director Rajeevan, cinematographer Manoj Paramahamsa and editor Anthony Gonsalvez are reprising their roles. We wonder what the title of the film is going to be in Hindi! Gautham Menon is currently directing a thriller titled Nadunisi Naaigal (Midnight Dogs) which has Sameera Reddy and Veera Bahu in lead roles. He’s also going to produce Suseenthiran’s next film after Naan Mahan Alla on his home production, Photon Kathaas. The film has been tentatively titled Azhagar Saamiyin Kuthirai. Not only that, the newly established production house has put its weight behind a new film, Veppam which will be directed by Anjana, who’s an assistant of Gautham Menon. Earlier this week, the remake rights in all languages of the surprise hit Kalvaani were sold to Photon Kathaas. Looks like there’s no stopping this ace director, for now!

Haaris Jayaraj, Mahesh and Shankar for 3 Idiots

Cast and crew for director’s Shankar’s remake of Bollywood blockbuster 3 Idiots are being finalized. Shankar remakes the movie in Telugu and Tamil with separate cast and crew and some common technicians. Mahesh Babu is the hero for Telugu version, while Vijay is doing Aamir Khan’s role in Tamil.
Now, two chief technicians have been finalized for this film. Haaris Jayaraj who scored superb music for Shankar’s Aparachitudu once again works for him. Manoj Paramhamsa who won praise for his work in Ye Maaya Chesave has been selected as Director of Photography. Gemini Film Circuit is producing it in both the languages.

In Japan they have square watermelons.

They get square watermelons by growing them inside of square glass cases. That way they can fit easily into a refrigerator, and you can stack things on them. Square watermelons are expensive though (10,000 yen or about $82). Compare that to regular round watermelons which cost about $15-20 in Japan.Farmers in the southern Japanese town of Zentsuji have figured out how to grow their watermelons so they turn out square. It's not a fad. The technique actually has practical applications. "The reason they're doing this in Japan is because of lack of space," said Samantha Winters of the National Watermelon Promotion Board in Orlando, Florida. A fat, round watermelon can take up a lot of room in a refrigerator, and the usually round fruit often sits awkwardly on refrigerator shelves. "You can find two-inch cubes" in groceries, Winters said. "They have watermelon that's cut in quarters and halves. And you can find clamshell containers with fresh-cut watermelon in there as well." Watermelon also can be pureed and poured into ice-cube trays for freezing.

Kiran Rao's 'Dhobi Ghat' to be premiered at Toronto fest

'Dhobi Ghat', directed and produced by Aamir Khan's wife Kiran Rao, will have its world premiere at this year's Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), organizers announced here Tuesday. Aamir Khan, who plays the lead role of a painter in his wife's directorial debut, and Om Puri will also be feature in galas and special presentations at the festival. Set in Mumbai, 'Dhobi Ghat' revolves around four people who are separated by class and language but drawn together in compelling relationships. Shai, an affluent investment banker on holiday, strikes up an unusual friendship with Munna, a young and beautiful laundry boy with ambitions of being a Bollywood actor, and also has a brief dalliance with Arun. As they come closer together, their complicated relationship no more remains a secret. The 35th film festival, which runs from Sep 9 to 19, will have 15 galas and 35 special presentations this year. Apart from Kiran Rao, films by Robert Redford, Michael Winterbottom, Guillaume Canet, John Cameron Mitchell, Mike Mills and Andrucha Waddington will have their world premiere here. Top filmmakers like Woody Allen, Sylvain Chomet, Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, Tran Anh Hung, Mike Leigh, Julian Schnabel and Im Sang-Soo will also make their North American premieres here this year. Apart from Aamir Khan and Om Puri, galas and special presentations will also feature performances by Robert De Niro, Dustin Hoffman, Ben Affleck, Javier Bardem, Marion Cotillard, Clive Owen, Colin Firth, Juliette Lewis, James McAvoy, Ewan McGregor, Helen Mirren, Edward Norton, Christopher Plummer, Natalie Portman, Ryan Reynolds, Sam Rockwell, Amy Ryan and Hilary Swank. "On the occasion of our 35th anniversary, we are thrilled to announce this selection of important and notable films," said Piers Handling, director and CEO of TIFF, at a press conference here Tuesday. "The richness and diversity of this year's galas and special presentations programmes reflect the abundance of exciting works from established and emerging filmmakers in the world of cinema." Added Cameron Bailey, festival co-director: "We are honoured that filmmakers choose our Festival to premiere their films to the world." The world's top audience-driven film festival features about 300 films from more than 60 countries each year. The festival will move into its new headquarters - Bell Lightbox - in the heart of Toronto this year.

Sachin Tendulkar made 48th century

Master blaster Sachin Tendulkar today made his career 48th Test century against Sri Lanka on Day 3 of the 2nd Test match. He scored unbeaten 108 run before close of the Day 3 at SSC, Colombo on Wednesday. Sachin Tendulkar is the only player who holds the record of highest centuries in Test cricket. Due to this records of Sachin Tendulkar, Ponting vs Tendulkar fight is continue seeing in Test cricket. Ricky Ponting who scored 39 Test centuries in his career and hold the 2nd position to make most centuries in Test cricket. Sachin and Raina keep hopes alive for India. Sachin made unbeaten 108 runs in 188 balls with the help of 14 boundaries and one six. Suresh Raina hit half century (66 runs) including eight boundaries. On the day three India must needing 200 runs to avoid the follow on situation but now India just need 61 runs more to avoid follow on with six wickets remaining. Sachin’s catch was dropped by Prasanna Jayawardene on 29 runs off Dilhara Fernando. On the Day 3 India score was 382 in 108 overs by lost of 4 wickets. Sachin and Raina will be resume on tomorrow morning at 10 a.m.

The Invisible Computer Mouse

Can an invisible computer mouse be a more useful alternative to the real one?

This virtual mouse can be used the way one would use the real one, except that some of the interactive gestures are different. Users rest their palms and fingers on a flat surface and perform the actions. The ‘Mouseless' device has been developed by the Fluid Interfaces Group at the Media Lab of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Pranav Mistry of Sixth Sense fame, who leads the project, says it is made up of an infrared laser beam and an infrared camera. The laser beam module is fitted with a filter which converts the laser point into a laser line, and an infrared layer of sorts is created just above the surface on which the computer is placed.

Motions of the hand are detected by the infrared camera and then interpreted in terms of cursor movements and mouse clicks.

Both the laser beam module and camera are embedded in the computer.

A fully functional prototype of ‘Mouseless' cost $20 to build.

But what are the chances of an invisible mouse catching on in a world dominated by the real mouse? What about the ease-of-use factor?

Mr. Mistry says: “We haven't done any long-term user study with ‘Mouseless' yet. But it is certainly more ergonomically relaxing to use. The reason is that one can use the pose one wants to use. We did some preliminary studies, and the results are amazing.”

Library of gestures

With improved computer vision algorithms, “an extensive library of gestures” could be implemented, apart from the common ones related to the mouse movement and clicks.

For instance, gestures to zoom in and out, as well as novel ones such as balling one's fist, could be included. A wider range of free hand motions would be possible if multiple laser beams were used. The resulting gestures would be indicative of action that a hardware mouse could not typically support.

Mr. Mistry had earlier won global attention with his ‘Sixth Sense' project, a ‘wearable gestural interface' that projects a digital interaction plane into the immediate physical environment and lets users interact with it by way of gestures.

The ‘Mouseless' project fits in well with the kind of research that he has been doing on virtual interfaces. It remains to be seen whether it will make its way to the desktops, and hearts, of users.

Nagarjuna’s film titled Gaganam

The new film of Nagarjuna with director Radha Mohan is given the title Gaganam. Made on Sri Venkateswara Creations banner, it is produced by Dil Raju. A media briefing was arranged in Hyderabad about the film’s progress. Nagarjuna said: “The film brought me a varied experience, which I would never forget. During the time of Josh shoot, Dil Raju narrated the story to me. I had watched Akasamantha then. The film unfolded on the screen in a marvelous manner. I believed that Radha Mohan would do it again for this film. The audience will also get a new experience with Gaganam." He said that though the title and the still looks like a thriller, the movie is a complete entertainer. "My younger son Akhil liked the title and wrote about it on his Twitter account. The title also got the maximum response from the audience." Nagarjuna praised the airport set at Ramoji Film City. "There are a good number of episodes between me and Prakash Raj. I learnt several things from him now. I got the opportunity to compete with him all through the film. Most important, my forthcoming three films would have Telugu titles (unlike King, Don, Kedi and Mass).” Prakash Raj said that the film would made with great expectation that audience would never ditch a movie with such variety. Dil Raju said: “At present, the postproduction work is in progress with the dubbing work nearing completion. We are planning it as Vijaya Dasami release in October.” Brahmanandam, Sana Khan, Poonam Kaur, Bharath Reddy, Rishi and others took part in the press meet. The film has cinematography by KV Guhan, while art work is by K. Kabir.

Sehwag retains No.1 spot in ICC Test rankings

DUBAI: India may have flopped in the opening Test against Sri Lanka but opener Virender Sehwag held on to the number one spot, while Sachin Tendulkar gained a place to be seventh in the latest ICC rankings for batsmen issued on Friday. Sehwag, who scored 109 and 31 in the Test which India lost by 10 wickets, has opened up a 14-point gap over second-placed Kumar Sangakkara. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka's iconic off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan, who spent a record 214 Tests and 1,711 days in the number-one spot, retired from Test cricket at the third spot in the bowling chart. The 38-year-old, who finished with 800 wickets from 133 Tests, bowed out in third position behind Dale Steyn of South Africa and Pakistan's Mohammad Asif after climbing two spots in the latest rankings following figures of 5-63 and 3-128 which set-up a 10-wicket victory for Sri Lanka in the first Test of the three-match series in Galle. The bowlers dropping in the latest rankings include off-colour Indian pacer Ishant Sharma, who was down one spot to 22nd, Rangana Herath (31st, down six places) and Pragyan Ojha (58th, down by nine places). In the Rankings for Test batsmen, Indian opener Gautam Gambhir, middle-order batsmen Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman, and captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni have failed to retain their places. Gambhir has slipped six places to 10th position, Laxman has fallen two places to 15th position, Dravid has dropped one place to 18th place while Dhoni has fallen four places to the 40th spot. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara has swapped places with his predecessor Mahela Jayawardene.

Our sun is so big that 1 million earths could fit inside of it.

Our sun is so big that 1 million earths could fit inside of it. On the other hand, the largest star known to man is called VY Canis Majoris which could house 9,261,000,000 Suns. If VY Canis Majoris were put in our sun's place it would extend past Saturn. VY Canis Majoris can also fit 7×10^15 Earths inside of it (that's 7 with 15 zeros after it.) VY Canis Majoris (VY CMa) is a red hypergiant star located in the constellation Canis Major. At between 1800 and 2100 solar radii (approx 2,500,000,000 to 2,900,000,000 km across or 1,550,000,000 to 1,800,000,000 miles), it is the largest known star and also one of the most luminous known. It is located about 1.5 kiloparsecs (4.6×1016 km) or about 4,900 light years away from Earth. Unlike most hypergiant stars, which occur in either binary or multiple star systems, VY CMa is a single star. It is categorized as a semiregular variable and has an source Wikipedia

Muttiah Muralitharan reaches 800 Test wickets landmark

Muttiah Muralitharan became the first bowler to take 800 Test wickets on the final day of his Test career in Galle.The Sri Lanka off-spinner, 38, who made his Test debut in 1992, began his final match against India on 792 wickets. He ousted record Test run-scorer Sachin Tendulkar on Tuesday and went on to take 5-63 as India had to follow on. Team-mate Lasith Malinga took 5-48 but with the last pair together, Murali had last man Pragyan Ojha caught by Mahela Jayawardene at slip to reach his 800. Team-mate Lasith Malinga took 5-48 but with the last pair together, Murali had last man Pragyan Ojha caught by Mahela Jayawardene at slip to reach his 800. It left Sri Lanka needing to score 95 to win the game and take a 1-0 lead in the series, but Muralitharan's achievement - reached in his 133rd Test - will overshadow the game. Earlier in July, the BBC Sinhala Service revealed Muralitharan's retirement plans - and he later confirmed that this Test in Galle, the first of a three-game series, would be his last. He is expected to continue to play limited-overs internationals until next spring's World Cup, which will be staged in Sri Lanka, India and Bangladesh.

Indian youths spend 2 hours daily on social networking sites

Tech-savvy Indian youths in major cities are spending at least two hours a day to connect themselves with others through social networking websites like Facebook, Twitter and Orkut, a new survey has found.

The “Social Media” survey by Indiabiz News & Research Services (INRS) also found that about 30 per cent of the youths access networking sites from their mobile phones rather than sitting before computers, an indication of how the generation next is taking advantage of the ever-converging technology and communication space.

Among the popular social networking sites, Facebook emerged as the most sought-after website for the youths, while LinkedIn is the second most popular site, according to the survey conducted in major cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and Bangalore.

When asked about their favourite networking site, majority of the youths preferred Facebook while about 45.8 per cent voted in favour of LinkedIn, over 36 per cent voted for video-sharing website YouTube and 29.6 per cent said they liked Twitter.

The study attributed the growing popularity of LinkedIn to business networking.

It found that about 37 per cent of the respondents fall in the age group of 26-30 years and almost 35 per cent of them are professionals with mid-level jobs.

“Perhaps, that explains the importance of LinkedIn, a business networking platform that helps its users in establishing contacts and connections related to jobs and business opportunity.” the INRS survey said.

However, the popularity of micro-blogging site Twitter seems to be limited to celebrities -- mostly from the film and entertainment industry.

According to a recent study by audience traffic and demographics research firm Vizisense, Facebook has around eight million users in India, while professional networking site LinkedIn boasts a subscriber base of six million in the country.

Another similar study by research firm Nielsen had claimed that about 70 per cent of social media users in India identify Orkut as their preferred social media site although Facebook and Twitter are experiencing exponential growth in India.

While social networking sites are blamed for bullying and online abuse of teenage users, the INRS survey found that most of the users seem to decide things on their own and do not follow trends.

The report said, “About 63 per cent of those who took the poll have never engaged with Communities, Groups and Fan pages on networking sites. Among these, more than half join on their own will and a minuscule (11 per cent) would only follow brand endorsements by their friends and only 15 per cent said they trust the information provided.”

“Despite the efforts of companies trying to push their brands in the social media space, nearly half of the respondents do not associate themselves with any brand or product.” the report added.

Even as more and more people are joining the online networking space for professional reasons, the most dominant reason to join the club is to stay in touch with friends.

Almost 90 per cent of the users join such sites to follow or stay in touch with their friends, while nearly 80 per cent follow their friends for their pictures.

A large number of users (45 per cent) are reading or writing blogs to express ideas and opinions.

The study found that almost 70 per cent of bloggers spend at least half-an-hour daily, mostly for gaining information.

The top five categories of blogs are entertainment, current affairs, personal, fashion and technology.

Cracker of a farewell for Muralitharan at Galle

Firecrackers went off in the stadium as Muttiah Muralitharan stepped out to bat in his swansong Test and players from both India and Sri Lanka also did their bit to make the spin wizard’s farewell match a memorable affair.

The rain-marred match has risen in profile as it is Muralitharan’s final Test at the end of which, he would bid adieu to his 18-year career.

The weather gods dampened the atmosphere on the first two days but when Muralitharan finally got a chance to come onto the field to bat, firecrackers went off in the stadium to salute the veteran off-spinner.

The emotional quotient rose further when the visiting Indian players, in a touching gesture, formed a guard of honour as Muralitharan stepped out, a rare sight for a tailender.

The warmth did not end, and when the Indian innings began, it was the Sri Lankans who formed a guard of honour for their legendary teammate after stepping out to field.

Mahesh unveils the first look of his next - Khaleja

Mahesh Babu’s long hiatus from onscreen is going to come to an end this year. His latest film in Trivikram Srinivas’ direction is soon in the offing. After days of speculation about the film’s title, Mahesh Babu revealed the first look of the film, a poster on Twitter. The film has been titled Khaleja. Singanamala Ramesh is producing the film on Kanakarathna Movies banner. Anushka is the lead heroine and Prakash Raj is playing an important role. The film wrapped up entire shooting except for a song and some scenes. Recently, a major portion of the film including the climax was shot near Pune. Two songs were later shot in Mumbai in Ahmed Khan’s choreography and the buzz is that Ahmed Khan has charged a bomb. Mahesh hasn’t appeared on big screens in almost three years since Athidhi and for Khaleja he’s teaming up with Trivikram Srinivas who had directed Mahesh’s Athadu. The buzz surrounding the film has been growing day by day. Geetha Film Distributors is going to release the film while Gemeni TV has already bought the satellite rights of the film for a huge amount. Even the prices being quoted for distribution in various regions of the state have been quite encouraging. It’s the first time that Mahesh and Anushka will be seen in a film together. Mahesh has committed himself to do several films including Surendar Reddy, Sukumar and Rajamouli’s films in near future. On the other hand, Anushka is on cloud nine after her recent films Vedam and Singam made her the most sought after star in both Telugu and Tamil film industries.

Siddharth's bilingual film 180 goes on floors

Nithya Menon play the lead roles in the film which will be directed by Jayendran Panchapakesan. The erstwhile ad film guru had made a film ‘Margazhi Ragam’ based on Carnatic concert which earned rave reviews. 180 is his first feature film and it is going to be produced by SPI Cinema Pvt. Ltd.
The film was launched earlier last week while Siddharth was busy shooting for his Telugu movie Bava in Rajahmundry. After completing a 28 day long schedule in Araku and Rajahmundry, Siddharth will finally join the team of 180 today. The story of 180 has been kept under wraps by Jayendran who’s the mentor of Siddharth. However, he has revealed that the film will be shot in Hyderabad, Chennai and USA and Red One Cameras will be used for filming 180. Sarath Vasudevan, who had composed music for Kalavaramaye Madilo, is the music director of 180. Balasubrahmanyan, who had shot Sainikudu earlier, is cranking the camera for 180.
Jayendran has been instrumental in introducing Avid Systems and with it Non-Linear Editing in India back in 1993 while he was working for Real Image Media Technologies. The same firm was responsible for bringing DTS, the digital cinema sound system in India. With plenty of experience behind the camera, Jayendran has worked on the script of 180 for almost two years. Siddharth immediately agreed to do the film and he revealed on his twitter page that he will be shooting for both 180 and K Prakash Rao’s fantasy film simultaneously. On the other hand, he also revealed that he has declined a crucial role in the Telugu and Tamil remake of 3 Idiots citing non availability of dates in near future. Priya Anand was recently seen in Leader and Rama Rama Krishna Krishna and Nithya Menon has made quite a name for herself with Malayalam films like Kerala Café, ‘Akakasha Gopuram’, ‘Vellathooval’ and ‘Angel John’. She has also signed another Telugu film Ala Modalaindi opposite Nani.

James Milne Wilson was born on Leap Day, February 29th and died on Leap Day.

Wilson served as the Premier of Tasmania. He held this position until the day he died, February 29, 1880. Even though Wilson was 68 years old, he died on his 17th birthday.

Every 4 years in our calendar there is a Leap Year (2008 was a Leap Year, and 2012 will be the next one). On a Leap Year, there is an extra day, known as Leap Day, on February 29. Normally February is only 28 days long, so if you are born on a Leap Day your birthday technically comes once every four years.

India takes on Srilanka as Murali looks on for a fine finish

For one last time in Test cricket, that most controversial bowling arm of our times will release the ball. For one last time, many of us will enjoy the experience of watching the greatest offspinner the world has seen. For one last time, some of us will call him a chucker. For one last time, every one of us will laugh as we see him slog joyously to the on side. For one last time, the slow motion replays will linger on his conspiratorial smile, on that whirring right arm, on those eyes that almost pop out at release, on that final shudder of the body after he pivots and comes to rest, and on his eager face that follows the trajectory of the ball. In the years to come, it will be something to say that we have seen Muttiah Muralitharan bowl.

If two pieces of metal touch in space, they get stuck together PERMANENTLY.

In space, if unprotected pieces of metal touch each other, they stick together permanently.This doesn't happen on Earth, because the oxygen in our atmosphere forms an extremely thin film of oxidized metal on every exposed surface.
The oxidization layer acts as a barrier that conveniently prevents chunks of metal from sticking to other chunks of metal.

In the vacuum of space, however, there is no oxidation layer. If the atoms of two metal objects come in contact with each other, what you suddenly have is one continuous metal object, and a lot of explaining to do to your mission commander.

This is an issue on the space station. Metal tools used outside the station have to be coated with plastic or other materials that will not stick.

If you consider the Universe as a whole, metal objects sticking together at the drop of a hat is the norm. It's only in special places like Earth, with our highly caustic oxygen-rich atmosphere, that we can carry around bare pieces of metal to hit each other with and not have to worry about how inconveniently sticky they are.

Manoj not in 'Vaanam'

Manoj Manchu who has been flying high ever since the release of Vedam, may not do the Tamil remake, Vaanam alongside Simbu. Manoj is suffering from a shoulder injury and it is heard that his doctor has advised full rest. And his parents insist he doesn’t work until he is fine. In a recent interview, Mohan Babu expressed his concern that Manoj has been going to extreme levels to do all the stunts by himself, much to his discontent.
Manoj made a big splash with his daredevil stunts while shooting Nenu Meeku Thelusa which released in 2008. And later repeated such stunts in films like Bindaas, Vedam and Jhummandhi Naadam. The actor shared this information about his shoulder injury on his twitter profile and said, "I injured both my shoulders while shooting for Nenu Meeku Thelusa but concealed this fact from my parents. But they got to know about it during Bindaas shoot. I injured the shoulder again while shooting for Jhummandhi Naadam. The pain is unbearable now." He adds further and says, "I may not do Vaanam. The doctor has advised me to take four months rest and strictly warned me - No shooting. I hate taking rest; have never done this before. I can't believe I have put on 12 kilos in the past few days."

While Manoj's chances to reprise his role in Vaanam seem bleak, we wonder who will fill into his shoes. Simbhu is playing the role of Cable Raja, a role which was donned by Allu Arjun in the original film Vedam. Anushka has given her final nod for the film and Krish is going to direct the film in Tamil as well. R B Chowdary of Super Good Films banner is producing the film.

Darling to be remade in Kannada, Vedam goes to Tamil

Two recent Telugu films, Darling and Vedam have spread their wings to the neighbouring states. Although, Telugu films being remade in Kannada or Tamil isn’t a new phenomenon, the buzz surrounding the Tamil remake of Vedam has been deafening over the past couple of days.
Vedam, a multi-starrer had Allu Arjun, Anushka and Manoj in lead roles and it was directed by Krish. Prasad Devineni and Shobu Yarlagadda produced this film on Arka Media Works banner.

After having impressed the audience and critics alike, Vedam was touted as a trendsetter. The film narrated five different stories of people who come from different walks of life and how they criss cross each other at some point or the other. If the performances of the lead actors infused the much needed power into the film, the first of its kind screenplay gave the film a new meaning. Now, the film is going to be remade in Tamil. R.B.Chowdary of Super Good Films has bought the remake rights of the film for a whopping amount. Although no official announcement has been made about the star cast of this film, buzz is that Manoj, Anushka and Simbu might be the lead actors. Both the actors, Manoj and Simbu revealed this information on their twitter profiles that they will be doing the Tamil remake; however an official announcement is yet to be made. The rest of the crew, including the director for the Tamil remake hasn’t been confirmed yet.

On the other hand, Prabhas, Kajal starrer Darling will soon be remade in Kannada. Directed by A.Karunakaran, Darling was a romantic comedy which went on to become one of the biggest hits in Prabhas’ career. Challenging star Darshan has bought the remake rights of the film from BVSN Prasad, who produced the film in Telugu. In the recent few years, quite a few Telugu films have been remade in Kannada. Darshan himself had starred in Porki, which was a remake of Mahesh Babu starrer Pokiri. The film will go on floors later this year after Darshan completes shooting for Prince, Chingari and couple of other films which were recently launched.

RGV announces a new comedy film with Sunil

Ram Gopal Varma has announced that he would direct a comedy film in Telugu, soon. He hasn’t directed a Telugu film since 1999, Prema Katha being his last. After almost 11 years, he’s making a big comeback in Telugu with a film titled ‘Katha Screenplay Darsakatvam: Appalaraju’ with Sunil as the lead hero.
The film’s title which means ‘Story Screenplay Direction : Appalaraju’ in English, is a black comedy on film industry. The film narrates the story of Appalaraju from Amalapuram, who’s crazy about films. He comes to Hyderabad with a dream of becoming a popular film director.

The film is going to be a hilarious take on the struggles one has to go through to make a film. RGV is currently wrapping up his trilingual film Raktha Charitra which has Vivek Oberoi and Suriya in lead roles. Both the parts of Raktha Charithra are going to release in September. His new film with Sunil will go on floors after the completion of Raktha Charithra. Meanwhile, Sunil will soon be seen in Maryada Ramanna, an S S Rajamouli’s film. The film is set to release on July 23. It’s been a long time since RGV has done a comedy film and his latest film with Sunil in lead role comes as a big surprise. The rest of the cast and crew is yet to be revealed.

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The Europian Champion Spain hold their nerve in FIFA 2010 Final in South Africa

Now the 2010 World Cup is over. Winner teams are celebrating and the losers are mulling over their strategies. There are other issues also at the center of attraction, like fair play. In this tournament for the first time referees came under attack.
Skeptics had called for other measures so as to neutralize made by them. However, the football governing body FIFA has defended the referees saying that they were bang on target. This means that 96 percent of their decision was right.
FIFA's referees' committee came to this conclusion after studying their key decisions like free kicks, penalties and goal decisions. But minor decisions were not taken into consideration.
Jose Maria Garcia-Aranda, head of refereeing for the sport's governing body, said: "We are working very hard and we are not surprised with the results we have gained because the level of refereeing is much, much better. We have been working with the referees for many years; we have prepared them as well as possible with new technology and video de-briefing."
For the first time such data has been released. This is only proves the point that FIFA was under tremendous pressure to clear the stand.
"Even without the formal data we can say that the number of good, difficult decisions has been up this year. We are talking about thousands of decisions made in 62 games, some of them very, very difficult decisions and the vast majority of them were correct," Garcia-Aranda said.

Nagarjuna, Anushka's new film launched in hyderabad

The launch of Nagarjuna’s new film at the new office of Kamakshi Kala Movies production house was a hush-hush affair. The low key affair began at 9:30 AM and Nagarjuna, Akhil, Amala, Veeru Potla, Sarvesh Murari, Sivaprasad Reddy and Vishwacharan graced the event. Veeru Potla is going to direct this film and Sivaprasad Reddy is producing the film. Anushka and Priyamani are the lead heroines in the film.

Veeru Potla tasted success with his debut Bindaas which had released earlier this year in February. In the same month Nagarjuna, Mamtha Mohandas starrer Kedi had released. Soon after the release of Kedi, Nagarjuna began shooting for a Dil Raju production, Gaganam and it is nearing its completion. After a brief hiatus, Nagarjuna is back in action in Veeru Potla’s film. The film is touted to be a complete mass entertainer. Nagarjuna will be using Rayalaseema dialect for this film. Nagarjuna and Anushka had earlier acted in Super and Don. This is their third film together. Priyamani has been flying high with prestigious films like Raavanan, Raktha Charithra and this is another feather in her cap.
Sarvesh Murari is the cinematographer. The regular shooting of the film will begin from July 16 onwards. The film’s going to be shot in Luxor and Cairo, Egypt and Prague, Czech Republic.

Naga Chaitanya heads to Philippines for his next film

After the success of Ye Maya Chesave, Naga Chaitanya signed two films which have already been launched. The first of these two is an action comedy which will be directed by Ajay Bhuyan and produced by Sivaprasad Reddy on Kamakshi Kala Movies banner. The second one is a Geetha Arts film, which will be directed by Sukumar. The shooting of Ajay Bhuyan’s film has already commenced and the team came back from a 20 day long schedule from Bangkok earlier this month. Kajal is the lead heroine in this film and this is the first time that Naga Chaitanya and Kajal are acting together.
The latest news is that the second schedule of this film will be in Philippines. It’s a 37 day long schedule which will begin from July 23 onwards. Major portion of the film will be shot in Manila and Boracay Island in Philippines. This is the first time that a Telugu film is going to be shot in Philippines. Few action scenes will also be shot in Bangkok in this schedule. Sriram, who was last seen in films like Aadavari Matalaki Ardhaale Verule and Police Police, is playing an important role in the film. The film also has Samyuktha, Mukesh Rishi, Kelly Dorjee, Rahul Dev and Brahmanandam in lead roles. Gnanasekhar is the cinematographer of this film. He had recently cranked the camera for Vedam. An IIT, Delhi grad who later went on to do his MBA from IIM, Bangalore, Ajay Bhuyan had earlier directed a film Houseful, which hasn’t had a theatrical released. This is his second film.