Fastest triple century (balls faced)

278 – V Sehwag, India v South Africa, Chennai, 2007-08
362 – M L Hayden, Australia v Zimbabwe, Perth, 2003-04
355 – W R Hammond, England v New Zealand, Auckland, 1932-33 (estimated balls)

Two triple hundreds

Don Bradman 334 – Australia v England, Headingley, 1930, 304 – Australia v England, Headingley, 1934
Brian Lara 400 no – West Indies v England, Antigua, 2003-04, 375 – West Indies v England, Antigua, 1993-94
Virender Sehwag 309 – India v Pakistan, Multan, 2003-04, 309 no – India v South Africa, Chennai, 2007-08

Veeru 300

Indian opener Virender Sehwag has struck his second career triple century on day three of the first Test against South Africa in Chennai.

The 29-year-old Sehwag, who made 309 against Pakistan at Multan in 2004, became only the third player to achieve the feat of two triple hundreds, matching Australian Don Bradman and West Indies batsman Brian Lara.

Indian were battling back after South Africa recorded a first innings total of 540, Hashlim Amla their top scorer with 159.

Sehwag dominated the morning's play, supported by fellow opener Wasim Jaffer, as the home team reached 176 without loss at lunch. That became 309-1 at tea, although Paul Harris had Jaffer caught at first slip by Jacques Kallis for 73 in the 53rd over to bring to an end a 213-run opening partnership.

Rahul Dravid joined Sehwag in the middle and was more than content to play second fiddle as the opener posted his fourth Test double century. The landmark triple hundred came shortly before the close and was the fastest in Test history, Sehwag having faced 278 deliveries in which he had struck 41 fours and five sixes.

India closed the day on 468-1, with Sehwag still unbeaten on 309 and Dravid 65 not out off 181 balls.

Tips for good night sleep

Stick to a schedule. Erratic bedtimes do not allow for your body to align to the proper circadian rhythms. Mum was right when she set a time we always had to go
to sleep as kids. Also, make sure you try to keep the same schedule on weekends too, otherwise the next morning, you’d wake later and feel overly tired.


Sleep only at night. Avoid daytime sleep if possible. Daytime naps steal hours from nighttime slumber. Limit daytime sleep to 20-minute, power naps.



Exercise. It’s actually known to help you sleep better. Your body uses the sleep period to recover its muscles and joints that have been exercised. Twenty to thirty minutes of exercise every day can help you sleep, but be sure to exercise in the morning or afternoon. Exercise stimulates the body and aerobic activity before bedtime may make falling asleep more difficult.


Taking a hot shower or bath before bed helps bring on sleep because they can relax tense muscles.

Avoid eating just before bed. Avoid eat large meals or spicy foods before bedtime. Give yourself at least 2 hours from when you eat to when you sleep. This allows for digestion to happen (or at least start) well before you go to sleep so your body can rest well during the night, rather than churning away your food.


Avoid caffeine. It keeps you awake and that’s now what you want for a good nights sleep. We all know that.

Read a fiction book. It takes you to a whole new world if you really get into it. And then take some time to ponder over the book as you fall asleep. I find as I read more and more, regardless of the book, I get more tired at night and so find it easier to fall asleep. Different for others?


Have the room slightly cooler. I prefer this to a hot room. I prefer to turn off the heat and allow the coolness to circulate in and out of the windows. If I get cold, I wear warmer clothes. It also saves on the bills as you’re not going to require the heat all night long.

Sleep in silence. I find sleeping with no music or TV on more easy and restful. I guess others are different, but sleep with no distractions is best for a clearer mind.



Avoid alcohol before bedtime. It’s a depressant; although it may make it easier to fall asleep, it causes you to wake up during the night. As alcohol is digested your body goes into withdrawal from the alcohol, causing nighttime awakenings and often nightmares for some people.

highest paid actor and actress

The best-paid actors and actresses

Actor Age 2005 income Actor Age 2005 income Jennifer Aniston 37 $18 million Nicole Kidman 38 $14.5 million Drew Barrymore 31 $22 million Jennifer Lopez 36 $17 million Sandra Bullock 41 $10.5 million Tobey Maguire 30 $32 million Tom Cruise 43 $31 million Brad Pitt 42 $25 million Matt Damon 35 $17 million Julia Roberts 38 $8 million Johnny Depp 42 $37 million Ray Romano 48 $36.5 million Cameron Diaz 33 $13 million Adam Sandler 39 $28 million Will Ferrell 38 $40 million Will Smith 37 $35 million Jennifer Garner 33 $14 million Denzel Washington 51 $30 million Patricia Heaton 47 $9 million Naomi Watts 37 $11.5 million

Kuselan-Rajinikanth

No sooner than the pooja of the superstar starrer ‘Kuselan’ was complete news has been flowing on this front from left, right and centre. Yesterday we got you news that Rajini has conceded to the fans’ request and will have a bigger role in ‘Kuselan’ and now we have more interesting news on the ‘Kuselan’ stands.

A few days back actor Prabhu was unwell. Our superstar and the director and the film ‘Kuselan’, P. Vasu, had paid a visit to Prabhu’s home. After the initial pleasantries Rajini had a request for Prabhu. It was more like a loving compulsion. The superstar is reported to have asked Prabhu to act in ‘Kuselan’ in a very vital role done by Mukesh in the original movie ‘Katha Parayumbol’ .

For Prabhu, who lovingly addresses Rajini as ‘anna’, this was a request he could not topple. After giving this some thought Prabhu is said to have yielded to Rajini’s loving compulsion. Though nothing about the role of Prabhu has been divulged till now, it is for sure that he too will be seen in some important frames in this film. The last film that Prabhu starred with the superstar was ‘Chandramukhi’ which was an all-round hit.

‘Kuselan’ seems to be getting bigger than its Malayalam counterpart ‘Katha Parayumbol’ in terms of story size and cast, and if this continues we will soon have the who’s who of Kollywood associating with this flick.

Keep coming back right here for more interesting news on the Kollywood front.

Costliest Mobile in the world

Here is something that will bring you out of the illusion of owning the priciest of mobile phones. We are talking about the Diamond Crypto Smartphone, designed by luxury accessories maker Peter Aloisson. This unique object de art is priced at a crisp $1.3 million and is tagged as the costliest in the world.



This one features a cover adorned with 50 diamonds, 10 of which are the rare blue ones. Apart from this, it also features s few sections made in rose gold as well.



Apart from the enticing looks, this phone manufactured by Moscow-based JSC Ancort Company uses powerful encryption technology to provide special security. This technology is used with an aim to secure the user’s identity together with keeping intact the info about kidnapping, technological blackmail, financial racketeers and corrupted state officials.



Together with this, the phone is built on the lines of Windows CE operating system, and features a high-resolution colour TFT display and stores upto 4000 numbers in it’s memory.



So if flaunting your riches is your hobby...then why not do it the real way by flaunting the costliest Diamond Crypto Smartphone.

Beautiful home in the world

This autobiographical tale is my personal favorite. In a compelling narrative, the architect and scholar describes how he started out to build a boat shed and ended up with a new home. Along the way, Rybczynski sweeps through 2,000 years of architectural history, hopping from ancient Greece to Renaissance Italy to 20th century America.

Look Inside An Architect's Mind

If you're looking for a quick course in architectural history, you may wind up a bit confused. "The Most Beautiful House in the World" is a story about the creative process --and creativity can be chaotic.

Peering inside Rybczynski's consciousness, we are taken on a giddy ride through childhood memories, adult passions, and conflicting desires. We leap from metaphor to mundane domestic decisions and back to metaphor. Moving back and forth through centuries, we explore ideas that influence the ways we build. Scattered through the text are a sketches which illustrate Rybczynski's thinking processes as he designs -- and redesigns -- his structure.

Witold Rybczynski is a professor and an architect who has published several best-sellers in recent years. His books include "City Life, Home: The Short History Of An Idea," and the Frederick Law Olmsted biography, "A Clearing In The Distance." Written in Rybczynski's usual, lyrical style, "The Most Beautiful House in the World" reads like a novel. This is a book that's sure to appeal to anyone who ever started building one thing and ended up with -- uh -- something else.

Yogi B back in kuruvi

This is a time for remix songs and one of the best remix of the recent times is the song ‘Eengeyum Eepodhum’ from the film ‘Polladhavan’. One person who comes to our mind when we remember this song is the one who sang the remix song Yogi B.

This song has proved to be a craze among the present day youth and was received with as much enthusiasm as that of its older version.

The latest buzz on Yogi B. is that he is going to sing for the film ‘Kuruvi’ which is in the making, starring Vijay and Trisha.

Yogi B. is a famous Malaysian-Tamil pop singer and this time he is going to shake a leg with Vijay for ‘Kuruvi’.

This Vijay-Yogi pair is expected to be a hit but we have to wait patiently to know if this is going to be another remix until further news on this is out.

Obama beats Clinton in Wyoming contest

Democrat Presidential hopeful Senator Barack Obama has won the Wyoming Caucus defeating his rival the New York Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Illinois Senator Obama received 58 per cent of the caucus vote polled yesterday while Clinton got 41 per cent.

Nearly 60,000 registered Democrats participated in the event in some 29 counties all over the state.

Obama's win in Wyoming means that he has so far won 13 Democuses as opposed to a mere three by Clinton.

Wyoming has 18 pledged delegates to the Democratic National Convention in Denver this late August and yesterday's event picked 12 of them. The other six will be selected in the State Democratic Party Convention to be held in May.

Prior to Wyoming's event Senator Obama has the lead with the pledged delegates with 1520 and Senator Clinton has 1424 delegates. The New York senator, however, has a small lead in the number of Super Delegates.

Wyoming was not a major contest by any stretch of imagination but it does give the Obama Camp some breather in the light of some heavy blows it has received by way of losses in the primaries of Ohio, Texas and Rhode Island on March 4.

Clinton and Obama's battle for the Democratic presidential nomination took on new energy after Clinton's comeback victories in the delegate-rich Ohio and Texas.

A win by Obama in either Ohio or Texas would have raised serious questions of the candidacy of Senator Clinton and could have even forced her to end her campaign.

Next Tuesday Democrats in Mississippi will be holding their political event and here again the favourite is Senator Obama. The state of Missssippi, which would choose 33 delegates, has nearly 40 per cent African-Americans, a group that has overwhelmingly voted for him in the past primaries.

World smallest PC

It’s only 2×2x2.2 inch! It’s called the Space Cube and it’s supposed to be the smallest personal computer in the world. It has a built-in 300MhZ processor and it’s also equipped with 64MB of SDRAM. There are a bunch of ports visible in the picture, such as USB, Ethernet, a monitor output port, serial connection and even a microphone slot.

The monitor is capable of displaying up to 65k colors at a resolution of 1280×1024 pixels. Less than a year ago, this fancy piece of equipment was retailing ~$325/piece. Isn’t that cool?

Highest ranking camel

The world's highest ranking law-enforcement camel is Bert, who was accepted as Reserve Deputy Sheriff for the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, San Dimas, USA on April 5, 2003 and regulary goes on patrol with his handler Nance Fite (USA).

Budget Highlights

Govt focussed on farms, jobs, fiscal devolutionManmohan Singh Govt's agenda was changeEconomy grew at 9% for 3 straight yearsPer capital income growth at 7.4% per annum for 4 yrsInvestment as % of GDP rose to 39% in 2007-08 from 27.6%Gross domestic savings rate at 37.7% during 2007-08
Foreign trade at 35.5% of GDP during 2007-08FY'09 outlook encouraging if rainfall normalForecasts indicate 2009 may be worse than 2008India cannot remain immune to the global financial crisisMukherjee: Growth rate of exports down to 17.1% in 9 mthsIndia still the second fastest growing economyPackages in Dec-08, Jan-09 aimed at stoking demandGovt okayed 37 infra projects between August'08-January'09Refinance to banks for long term credit to infra projectsIIFCL to refinance 60% of commercial bank loans for PPPIIFCL can raise Rs.10,000cr by Mar'09; extra Rs.30,000crFRBM targets relaxed to boost consumption demandGovt may consider additional fiscal measures in budgetMukherjee: Need to accelerate pace of policy reformsGovt will need to return to deficit targets after revivalGovt to expand employment generation schemesMukherjee: Steps to bring back 9% growth needed at earliestPlan allocation for agriculture increased by 300% in 08-09India got record $32.4bn FDI in FY08