IPL 5: All-round Chennai beat Pune in tight finish

An all-round show by Chennai Super Kings helped them register a 13-run win over Pune Warriors in their IPL 5 match at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Thursday.
Pune managed to score 151 for 7 chasing Chennai's total of 164 for 5. Although a 44-run partnership between Steven Smith and Angelo Mathews brought back Pune into the game. At the end of 18 overs, Pune required 25 runs from two overs and it was quite possible with Smith and Mathews batting. But Doug Bollinger bowled a crucial penultimate over and gave only four runs and the wicket of Smith (23).

Still then Pune had chance of winning with 21 runs required off the last over, but Dwayne Bravo had other plans, as he cleaned up Mathews in his very first ball. After Mathews wicket, things were all but over for Pune and Bravo hardly gave any chance to the batsmen in the remaining five balls. Mathews top-scored for Pune with 27 off 22 balls and Chennai’s Nuwan Kulasekhara returned with figures of 2 for 10 in two overs.
When Pune Warriors came out for the run-chase, their openers - Robin Uthappa and Jesse Ryder failed to give a right start. In the second over, Kulasekhara dismissed Uthappa for 8 caught by R Ashwin, who ran in to take a catch at mid-off. Two overs later in-form Ryder (9), who held key to Pune's chase fell to Kulasekhara, while going for a pull shot but found Dwayne Bravo.
Manish Pandey and Sourav Ganguly looked to repair the damage done and seemed comfortable out there in the middle when Pandey couldn't resist the temptation of a pitched up ball and ballooned it over covers where Badrinath completed an excellent catch. It was a matter of time and Chennai got a grip and continued to put pressure on the Pune batsmen. Ganguly succumbed to the pressure and got out for 24 off 26 balls, when stepping out to Shadab Jakati, but played straight into the hands of mid-off fielder.
The Pune team had some decent allrounders down the order in the form of Samuels, Mathews and Smith, who can pull off a win on their own. Samuels was expected to fire when the chips were down, but could not continue till the end to see his team through. However, Samuels played an important cameo of 26 off 24 balls that included one six and two fours.
Earlier, Pune Warriors skipper Sourav Ganguly won the toss and asked Chennai to bat. Openers Subramaniam Badrinath and Faf du Plessis got Chennai off to a rollicking start and struck a half century each. Badrinath (57) and du Plessis (58) shared this edition's highest opening stand of 116 runs.
But after the wickets of du Plessis and Badrinath in quick succession, Chennai failed to lift the ante before MS Dhoni's (28 not out) lusty hits towards the end propped up their innings. For Pune, Marlon Samuels took 3 for 39 while Ashish Nehra claimed 2 wickets for 23.
After a slow start, Chennai picked up the tempo with Badrinath and du Plessis by taking the attack to the bowlers. Du Plessis continued his good form in the tournament as he reached his half century, his second this season in the 13th over. His fifty came off 42 balls and was studded with four fours and a six.
Badrinath survived a close run-out call in the last ball of the 13th over with the third umpire taking a long time to decide on it and he was lucky to continue as Pune wicketkeeper Uthappa missed out on an easy stumping chance off Murali Kartik. The record opening stand finally ended in the 16th over with du Plessis out for 58. Two balls later, Badrinath also departed as he tried to slog-sweep Samuels only to find Mathews again.

IPL chief seeks report over Preity Zinta's incident

New Delhi: Chairman of the Indian Premier League (IPL) Rajeev Shukla on Thursday said that he had sought a report from the match referee over the incident involving Kings XI Punjab’s owner Preity Zinta during her side's match against Kolkata Knight Riders in Mohali on Wednesday.
Zinta was seen visibly agitated and reacting vigorously against the controversial dismissal of Punjab’s Shaun Marsh. Shukla said that he had asked the match referee Roshan Mahanama to submit a report to him at the earliest on the incident. "I have sought a report from the match referee on the entire issue. I will also take Preity Zinta's version," Shukla told PTI.

Marsh was ruled out in a controversial manner when he edged a Brett Lee delivery, with KKR’s wicketkeeper Manvinder Bisla nodding that he had taken the catch cleanly, and the on-field umpire ruling him out, even though TV replays suggested there was enough doubt.
Earlier on Thursday, Punjab’s captain Adam Gilchrist said that he did not hear any adverse comments from the umpires for Zinta. Asked if there had been any violation of rules on Zinta's part, Gilchrist said, "For that you have to ask the match referee or the umpire. I don't know if she had any word with any umpire or not. I don't know what exchanges happened there on the sidelines. But, I have not heard any negative comment from either the match referee or the umpire. I can only assume that nothing has been transgressed there."
Gilchrist said he told Zinta that he would handle the situation and she happily agreed. "I was on the sidelines and asked her if she would allow him to control the situation and she happily did. She is a passionate supporter, a team co-owner and a fan of this game. I do not know what she was going to say to me when I told her that I will handle this after which she respected that and sat down," Gilchrist said.
He said going by the replays, even he was not convinced and thought, "There was a huge element of doubt there. A lot of uncertainty about whether the ball carried, but whatever the opinion was I just wanted to make sure that Preity [Zinta], the team and the rest of the support crew were simply abiding by the umpire's decision, who had given Shaun out.”

Kevin Pietersen ton carries Delhi to victory against Deccan

New Delhi: Kevin Pietersen smashed a match-winning century as Delhi Daredevils cruised to their fourth victory after crushing Deccan Chargers by five wickets in an IPL game at the Feroz Shah Kotla here on Thursday.
Pietersen (103 not out off 64) clubbed six fours and nine huge sixes as Delhi chased down a challenging 158 in 19.1 overs after Deccan’s skipper Kumar Sangakkara won the toss and elected to bat. Yogesh Nagar, with his unbeaten 23 off 15, provided good support to Pietersen. Deccan were in control when they reduced Delhi to 65 for 4 in the tenth over, but Pietersen, who was dropped thrice on 6, 68 and 94, took full advantage of the lacklustre Deccan fielding as the visitors succumbed to their fourth successive loss.

Medium-pacer Veer Pratap Singh, playing his first IPL match, gave Deccan the perfect start, getting Naman Ojha (1 off 4) caught by JP Duminy in his first over itself. Dale Steyn, after beating both Virender Sehwag (7 off 5) and Pietersen a couple of times, got the wicket of the former when the Delhi skipper edged an away-swinging delivery to Daniel Christian at first slip. Sehwag’s dismissal was followed by the departure of experienced Mahela Jayawardene (6 off 5), who was caught at mid-off by Sangakkara off Christian, and the run-out of Ross Taylor (13 off 11) pegged Delhi further back.
Unperturbed by the fall of wickets though, Pietersen continued his fluent touch, launching Amit Mishra for two sixes and a four in his very first over. After getting to his fifty in 42 balls, Pietersen went into an ultra-aggressive mode, smashing Duminy for three consecutive sixes. The first two came off full tosses, while the third was off a pitched-up delivery. Deccan's fielders did not help their cause and with Yogesh Nagar's 23-run cameo, Pietersen was able to take Delhi over the line with ease. The Englishman even reached his first IPL century - the second hundred of this tournament - hitting the winning runs by clearing the straight ropes off left-arm orthodox Ankit Sharma in the final over.
Earlier, Shikhar Dhawan and Parthiv Patel, with their 71-run partnership for the second wicket, threatened to take the game away from Delhi after Deccan lost skipper Sangakkara (1 off 7) in the third over. Dhawan was the more aggressive of the two left-handers, scoring on both sides of the wicket. But while trying a reverse sweep off Shahbaz Nadeem, Dhawan misjudged a straight delivery and was trapped lbw for 44 off 29. Another 25 runs were scored before Patel was caught brilliantly at square leg by Jayawardene. Like Dhawan, Patel also hit five fours and a six during his knock of 45 off 27.
Getting the wickets of two set batsmen, Delhi ran through Deccan’s middle order, taking four wickets for 28 runs. Duminy (4 off 5) gave Nadeem his second wicket, Christian (19 off 21) was caught off Umesh Yadav, Abhishek Jhunjhunwala (4 off 5) and Steyn (2 off 3) became the victims of Morne Morkel. A little cameo (25 off 17) by Bharat Chipli lifted Deccan at the end, however, taking them to a competitive score of 157 for 8.
With another three to his name, Morkel became the highest wicket-taker in IPL 5, with 12 wickets. Nadeem also continued his brilliant form, picking up 3 for 16 with his slow left-arm. But Indian pacers Ajit Agarkar and Yadav were taken to the cleaners by Deccan’s batsmen, going for 42 and 33 in their respective three overs.
It all ended well for Delhi though, and their win took them to the top of the table, level on points with Rajasthan Royals having played one game less. Deccan, meanwhile, were left to rue their fielding as they stayed bottom without a win in four games in the tournament so far.

IPL 5: Tendulkar practices again, may play KXIP game

Mumbai: Sachin Tendulkar practiced for about 90 minutes on Thursday, raising hopes of his availability for Mumbai Indians’ next match against Kings XI Punjab here on Sunday.
Tendulkar, who sustained a finger injury in season’s opener against Chennai Super Kings on April 4, played a variety of strokes and did not appear to be in any kind of difficulty while facing the regular bowlers in the Mumbai ranks during a net session at the Bandra Kurla Complex Ground. Tendulkar’s absence was a telling blow for Mumbai as it affected the team's balance at the top of the order. Tendulkar although started practicing on April 14, prior to the home game against Delhi Daredevils, he did not feel comfortable enough to take the field on April 16.

"It will be nice to have Sachin Tendulkar back. I'm sure he will be back for the next game if nothing goes wrong here. If he bats with any of the foreigners [players], it makes easier for them to score runs. He can take a lot of pressure off other partner," Harbhajan Singh, Mumbai’s captain, had said after team’s humiliating defeat against Delhi.
While things looked bright for Mumbai as far as Tendulkar's availability is concerned, uncertainty still looms over Lasith Malinga's participation. The Sri Lankan speedster missed the game against Delhi because of back pain and did not practice with other team-mates on Thursday. Meanwhile, Australian pacer Mitchell Johnson is expected to join the team in a couple of days. The 30-year-old Queenslander was bought at his base price of $300,000 by Mumbai at the players’ auction in February.

PL 5: It was a special innings, says Kevin Pietersen

New Delhi: Kevin Pietersen on Thursday described his swashbuckling unbeaten century as one of his favourite knocks, which helped his team Delhi Daredevils register a five-wicket win over Deccan Chargers in an IPL 5 match here.
"It is an amazing feeling to score a century in T20 cricket. This is my first in this format, so it has to be my favourite," Pietersen said after he smashed 103 off 64 as Delhi registered their fourth victory of the season. “It is good to get a century in T20 cricket. It was a good wicket to bat on and also good for the pacers who bent their back, not much for the spinners. In Twenty20 you need entertaining wicket," he added.

The former England skipper, who was adjudged Man of the Match for his whirlwind ton, said he tried to play according to the situation. "I played as per the situation. Once you get yourself in there, you can get the boundaries. I was in good form against Sri Lanka and it is all about backing yourself in the field," Pietersen said.
"When you lose a wicket, you slow down and Ross's [Taylor] wicket put the pressure on me. They [Deccan] played good cricket," he added. Pietersen, 31, also heaped praise on young spinner Shahbaz Nadeem, who returned with figures of 3 for 16 in his four overs. "He bowled a good spell in the last match, taking 3 for 9 against Mumbai [Indians]. He was fantastic today as well. He changes his angle and is a clever bowler. There were talks of who could be the spinner of IPL 5 and he is turning out to be a superstar," Pietersen said.
When asked about Deccan’s performance, Pietersen said, "I feel sorry for Deccan. They played good cricket. They are a good team and could have won in Mumbai, but I think it is still a long way to go and nothing is lost for them."
Deccan’s coach Darren Lehmann blamed his butterfingered fielders for the loss and said the three dropped catches of Pietersen proved costly for his team. "Our fielding is not good enough. You can't drop Kevin. It was one of the best innings that we have seen and when you drop someone like him, it costs you the game," he said. "We bowled well early on but Kevin took the game away from us. In the 12th-13th over we lost our way because of some poor decisions," he added.
Lehmann said his team was 20 runs short at the end. "We were probably 20 runs short with the bat. We are playing 90 per cent but we need to put another 10 per cent. But I am not disheartened yet. We are playing good cricket. It is a young side but we are not finishing well," he added.

Priyanka, Sonam bond on Twitter; Kajol in a short film

Mumbai: Didn't know that Priyanka Chopra and Sonam Kapoor were such great buddies. The two stars have resorted to their micro-blogging sites to display their friendship. Sonam states, "Priyanka Chopra and me are high school mean girls apparently! Peecee what say you?" While PC tweets, "I say people need to start doing real journalism than actually making up things for the lack of news! Hey... at least they were hot!" The cause of their ire was the buzz about how they behaved at an awards event with each other. Apparently when Sonam was on stage, Piggy Chops was cracking jokes at her expense and when Priyanka went on the dais, Sonam decided to say her goodbyes and walk out.
Kajol shoots for a short film about education and literacy
Kajol recently shot for a film with a children's charity Pratham primary school in Hanuman Basti in Mumbai. The short film about education and literacy in India will be screened at the Pratham UK gala later in the year where the star will be the guest of honour. "I believe that literacy is the way forward for India and children are our future," says the actress who has pledged her support to the charity. "I just love to read. It helps me through the bad moments in my life. I was at boarding school for five years and that's where my love of reading began. We had a fabulous library and I was the one who took out all the books!" She adds, "I love kids. I think they were just amazing and wonderful."
John feels SRK's detention is 'good as well as bad'

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John Abraham was in New Delhi recently for a media meet of his upcoming production. When asked about Shah Rukh Khan’s detention at a US airport, he said it's a good as well as a bad thing. After reading reports that he justified SRK's detention, Johnny boy sure found himself in a soup! He states, "The US is doing whatever they can to make their country safe, so it is justified. It all depends on how personally you take the issue, and Shah Rukh handled it with a lot of grace." Wonder why he did not make himself clear by what he meant was 'good' and 'bad' at the event itself? He adds, "I have been in that detention space where the Federal Bureau of Investigation was called in because I had Afganistan mentioned in my passport, as I had shot there for two months for my film 'Kabul Express'. And of course, Shah Rukh would agree that racial profiling could be a pretty much correct term for it (interrogation) because it's mostly coloured people who are detained."
Soha Ali Khan's staffer orders beer for her hair!
Soha Ali Khan was shocked to find a big bill for hard drinks during her stay along with her staff at a hotel outside Mumbai. Considering that she is a teetotaller, she was wondering if there had been a mistake. But the actress was surprised to find that one of her staffers had ordered for bottles of beer to wash her tresses. Beer is a good conditioner for the hair so her staffer was in a mood for some hair care!
Mallika Sherawat lives it up in Los Angeles
Mallika Sherawat was with the Sheriff of Los Angeles, Lee Baca and his wife Carol lately. The actress was invited to dine in Beverley Hills and the conversation ranged from philosophy, India's take on Pakistan, Hinduism and globalisation!

Friday Release: 'Vicky Donor' has a new subject

New Delhi: TV presenter Ayushmann Khurana, who plays the role of a sperm donor in his debut Bollywood film 'Vicky Donor', is happy to begin his career with an unconventional project. Khurana, 27, acted in theatres for five years and says he was waiting for the right opportunity for the past four years.
"I always wanted to be an actor. After I won 'Roadies', I got many offers of second lead or lead in many films. But those scripts didn't excite me. I waited for four years. Then Shoojit Sircar approached me and I thought this is the one which I was waiting for," Khurana told PTI.
After winning 'Roadies', he shifted to radio and video jockying and thereafter he took off as a commercial television anchor with multiple-talent based reality shows like 'India's Got Talent', 'Music Ka Maha Muqqabla', and ' Just Dance'.

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Actor John Abraham's first production venture, 'Vicky Donor' is directed by Shoojit Sircar. The film also features Yami Gautam.
The inspiration behind a film on sperm donation actually came from the producer John Abraham's close friends, who were married for several years but they had to rely on sperm donation to have a baby.
Though the songs have not become chartbusters but discos and pubs are playing the peppy tunes such as 'Rum whiskey' and 'Chaddha'.
The film is likely to gain profit from the fact that no other big film is releasing alongside 'Vicky Donor'.

Friday Release: Erotic thriller 'Hate Story'

Mumbai: Actor Nikhil Dwivedi who will be seen in 'Hate Story', which is said to have a lot of bold content, says it's not right to question whether Indian audiences are ready for a film of this kind.
"All the adults will be ready for it ('Hate Story'). If you are an adult, you are allowed a lot of privileges by even the law of the nation because you have attained a certain sense of maturity," said Dwivedi.
"I think somewhere by talking like this we are insulting the intelligence of the people of this country. Of course, they are ready and mature enough to watch a film like this," he added.

A Vikram Bhatt production, 'Hate Story' also features Gulshan Devaiah of 'Shaitan' fame and controversial Bengali actress Paoli Dam.
Paoli Dam makes her Bollywood debut in 'Hate Story', however her posters are being painted blue in Kolkata to hide her bare back following orders of the Calcutta High Court.
After 'Shaitan', actor Gulshan Devaiah will once again be seen exploring his negative streak in forthcoming film 'Hate Story'. Unlike others, Gulshan doesn't fear getting typecast and says he is enjoying playing the bad guy.
"There is a possibility that I might get typecast but I don't feel threatened. I am not bothered about playing negative roles. My role in 'Shaitan' was also negative but Siddharth in 'Hate Story' takes very calculative risk," Gulshan told IANS.

Party will decide on prime ministerial candidate: BJP

Hyderabad: Senior BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu on Thursday said his party would decide and announce its prime ministerial candidate ahead of the 2014 general elections, after due discussions.
"We will announce at the time of polls who is the prime ministerial candidate. Congress, which is in power, itself has not announced. Today, the situation is such that we have to say who is the leader. People see who the leader is... the party will decide," he told reporters in Hyderabad.
The string of losses suffered by Congress in the Assembly elections of Uttar Pradesh and other states, the local body polls in Mumbai and Thane in Maharashtra, and now in Delhi reflect the public anger against the ruling party, Naidu claimed.

"The minorities are said to be pro-Congress. But the results in Goa and now in Delhi show that they are moving away from Congress. In fact, Congress has lost the confidence of all sections of people in the country," he said.
The main reasons for the so-called disenchantment against Congress are the alleged massive corruption, the misgovernance in the form of faulty policies and harassment of non-Congress ruled states and its failure to check price rise which has broken the back of common man, Naidu maintained.
Noting a 'third alternative' cannot emerge in the country, he said BJP and NDA is the only alternative to UPA.
"The Communists who usually talk about Third Front, they are also not talking about it these days," he said.

India welcomes Kayani's statement on Siachen

Hyderabad: India on Thursday welcomed Pakistan Army Chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani's remarks on resolving the Siachen issue and demilitarisation there and said the money spent on deployment of troops can be spent on development of the two countries.
"I am glad that our neighbouring country Pakistan is also realising the challenges and the economic problems of maintaining troops on the Siachen Glacier," Minister of State for Defence MM Pallam Raju told reporters in Hyderabad.
Observing that the deployment of troops in glacial heights take an economic toll, he said both the countries have their concerns.

"They have their concerns and we have our concerns but it does take an economic toll. This money can be better spent on development of both countries," the minister said.
Official sources in Delhi also termed the remarks as a "positive development" since they are made by none other than Pakistan Army Chief, reflecting the readiness of the military to resolve the issues between the two countries.
"One has to see who has made the remark, when it is made and the place. All this is very positive," they said.
Kayani, while visiting Skardu in Northern Pakistan on Wednesday, after the region was hit by avalanche resulting in deaths of a number of civilians and military personnel, had spoken in favour of resolving issues between India and Pakistan and their peaceful co-existence.
"All issues should be resolved and peaceful co-existence is very necessary for both countries. There is no doubt about that," he had said, hoping that the Siachen issue is "resolved so that both the countries don't have to pay the cost".
"There will be a resolution and we want that there should be a resolution (of the Siachen issue). There should be a resolution of Siachen and other issues," Kayani said in response to questions during a rare media interaction.

The first Intel inside smartphone Lava XOLO X900 launched at Rs 22,000

Full tech Specifications
Network
 Frequency Bands
 GSM: 850/900/1800/1900
 UMTS/HSPA: 850/900/1900/2100
 HSPA+: 850/900/1900/2100

 Edge/GPRS
 Class 10

 WCDMA
 Yes

 HSPA+
 up to 21 Mbps (DL)


 up to 5.7 Mbps (DL)
 Processor
 Chipset
 Intel Medfield

 CPU
 1.6 GHz Intel Atom with Hyper Threading
 Graphics core
 Clock speed
 400 MHz

 Triangles per second
 40 million/second
 Design
 Dimensions
 123 x 63 x 10.99 mm

 Weight
 127 grams

 Hard Keys
 Power key


 Volume key


 Camera key

 Slots
 SIM card slot


 micro USB


 micro HDMI


 3.5 mm audio jack
 Display
 Display Size
 4.03"

 Resolution
 1024 x 600

 Colours
 16M

 Display Technology
 TFT LCD Capacitive touch


 Corning Gorilla Glass
 Operating System
 Android 2.3 (Gingerbread)
 (upgradable to Android 4.0)

 GPS
 Yes

 Camera
 Rear camera
 8 MP

 Front camera
 1.3 MP

 Flash support
 Yes, single LED

 Auto focus
 Yes

 Touch focus
 Yes

 Digital zoom
 16x

 HD recording rear
 1080p

 Video chat front
 480p

 Burst Mode
 15 fps, 10 images in <1 sec

 Modes supported
 Auto, Sports, Portrait, Landscape, Night, Night Portrait, Fireworks, Text
 Sensors
 Accelerometer


 Gyroscope


 Magnetometer


 Ambient light sensor


 Proximity sensor

 Audio
 Dual Speakers
 Yes, 0.3 W each

 Digital Microphones
 2

 Ambient Noise Cancellation
 Yes

 Voice Recording
 Yes, 3GPP

 Audio codecs supported
 MP3, MIDI, WAV, WMA, 3GPP
 Video
 Video recording & playback
 Full HD 1080p@30fps

 Video codecs supported
 MPEG4, 3GPP, WMC, H.264, VP8

 Video Player
 Android Video Player, doubleTwist
 Sync
 Drivers for Windows XP
 Yes

 Drivers for Windows 7
 Yes

 OTA support
 Yes

 Firmware download via PC
 Yes
 Connectivity
 USB
 2.0 Hi Speed

 Bluettoth
 v2.1

 Wi-Fi
 802.11 b/g/n

 NFC
 Yes

 NFC Antenna
 13.56 MHz

 WLAN support
 Yes
 Memory
 Internal Memory*
 16 GB

 RAM
 1 GB
 Browser
 HTML5

 Messaging
 MMS
 Yes

 SMS
 Yes

 Email
 Yes



Document Viewer
 Yes

 Battery
 1460 mAh, 3.7V


 Talk time (2G)
 up to 15.5 hours

 Talk time (3G)
 up to 7.8 hours

 Music playback (earphones)
 up to 43.9 hours

 Video playback (earphones)
 up to 6 hours

 Total standby time
 up to 14 days

Samsung halts production of Galaxy Tab 2 to give it a quad-core upgrade

New Delhi: Samsung has reportedly stopped the production of its upcoming Galaxy tab 2 10.1 for a change in the processor.
Samsung had announced 7 inch and 10.1 inch variants of the Galaxy Tab 2 tablet during the Mobile World congress earlier this year. The tablets, which will feature the latest Google Android Ice Cream Sandwich operating system, are expected to go on sale in the USA first.
According to Notebooknews.de, the production for the Galaxy tab 2 10.1 tablet has been halted as Samsung is upgrading the 1 GHz dual core processor to a quad core processor which is expected to be in the 1.2 - 1.5 GHz range. Though reason for this sudden change in the strategy has not been reported, it is obvious that improved processor would give the Samsung tablet a clear edge over its competitors.

The Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 currently features a dual core 1 GHz processor coupled with a 1 GB of DDR 2 RAM for better multitasking and performance. The tablet features the all new PLS (Plane to line switching) technology based display, which allows it to display better colours, contrast and even wider screen viewing angles than the existing IPS technology based displays. The 10.1 inch display features a capacitive touch and a 1204 x 800 pixel native resolution.
The tablet comes with HSPA+, 3G connectivity allowing it to get data download speeds of up to 21 Megabits per second which will come in real handy while accessing social media websites or while sharing content on various websites online. The tablet is powered with the latest Android ICS 4.0 operating system that offers functionality as a tablet while it also can be used as a regular smartphone for communications as well. The tablet features a 3 megapixel rear camera that is capable of video recording in HD 720p resolution while the front VGA camera allows video conferencing and video calling.

Andy Murray, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga advance in Monte Carlo

Monaco: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga celebrated his 27th birthday by saving all six breakpoints in a 6-2, 6-4 win on Tuesday against Philipp Kohlschreiber to reach the third round of the Monte Carlo Masters. Andy Murray started his clay-court season in style by beating Viktor Troicki 6-0, 6-3. Tsonga, who was serenaded with a brief rendition of 'Happy Birthday' from the crowd, served five aces and broke his opponent three times.
"I had some worrying moments because I was almost broken several times. But I played well on the important points, said Tsonga." The Frenchman will play 13th-seeded Fernando Verdasco of Spain, who rallied from a set down for the second straight match in winning 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 against Ivan Dodig of Croatia.
Murray will face either Jurgen Melzer of Austria or Julien Benneteau of France. "Normally when I come here I usually find I need a few matches to get adjusted," said Murray, who lost to seven-time defending champion Rafael Nadal in last year's semi-finals. "But I played very well, it was a very good first match." Murray had spent a few days practicing on clay in Florida before heading to the Mediterranean.

Getty Images
"The sooner I can get on this surface for me the better," Murray said. "It was good that I stayed in the States and actually got sort of four or five days on the clay there before coming (here). I was sliding pretty well on the court. Normally that's the thing that takes time to get used to.
Murray didn't face a single break point in improving to 6-0 against Troicki. Murray is being helped with his clay game by coach Ivan Lendl, who won three French Opens in eight Grand Slam titles plus two Monte Carlo Masters among his 94 career victories.
"He only arrived this morning so he's getting no credit for today," Murray joked. "But he'll help me (over) the next five, six weeks." Italian veteran Andreas Seppi's reward for a 6-3, 6-1 win against Victor Hanescu is to play top-ranked Novak Djokovic in the second round on Wednesday, when Nadal plays Finnish veteran Jarkko Nieminen.
Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan reached the second round after beating 14th-seeded Florian Mayer of Germany 3-6, 6-1, 6-3.
Also in the first round, Fabio Fognini beat Michael Llodra 7-5, 6-3, Thomaz Bellucci downed Kevin Anderson 6-4, 6-4 and Filippo Volandri defeated Alessandro Giannessi 7-5, 6-3.
Kei Nishikori advanced with a 6-2, 7-5 win against Albert Ramos, who lost in the Grand Hassan II final last Sunday to Spanish countryman Pablo Andujar. Andujar had to rally from a set down to get past Federico Delbonis 3-6, 6-4, 6-2. Juan Monaco of Argentina limped out of his match against Dutchman Robin Haase with the score at 7-5, 0-6, 2-3 after turning his right ankle.
He was on the clay for several minutes, with Haase making a pillow for him with a towel. Monaco finished the fifth game but then had to quit.

John Isner wants Serena Williams for Olympics mixed doubles

Message to Serena Williams from John Isner: Keep an eye on your mailbox. Isner, America's highest-ranked men's singles player, said he'd like to put himself in the sweepstakes to play mixed doubles with Williams at the London Olympics this summer. He's not the only one. Andy Roddick who teamed with Williams at the Australian Open, and the Bryan brothers are among the other top candidates who could team up with the two-time Olympic gold medallist.
"I may be the odd man out," Isner said on a conference call on Tuesday to preview the London Games. "But I'm pretty good friends with Serena. Might need to bribe her, maybe send a gift in the mail to get her to play with me." Mixed doubles has been added to this year's Olympic programme and many players are considering adding doubles and mixed to their schedules, giving them two more ways of bringing home an Olympic medal.
Williams teamed with her sister, Venus, to win the women's doubles at the 2000 and 2008 Olympics. "Obviously, she's one of the most dominant players ever," said Isner, who is ranked ninth in the world. "To have her on my team would be a big advantage." Earlier this year, Williams said she knew she'd have various options for this year's Olympics, where the tennis tournament will take place at Wimbledon.

"A girl loves to have choices," she said. "Obviously the Bryans are like the world's best doubles players. Andy and I are super, super close. Personally I love John. You're not going to break the guy. It's an automatic I-don't-know-how-many games. I think it's so hard to choose. I don't know if you just throw everyone's name in a hat and figure out what happens next. Regardless, we want to do really well and take home a medal for the country. That's what it's all about."

Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic advance in Monte Carlo

Monaco: Seven-time defending champion Rafael Nadal and top-ranked Novak Djokovic began their clay-court seasons with comfortable wins in the second round of the Monte Carlo Masters on Wednesday. Djokovic opened with a 6-1, 6-4 win against Andreas Seppi of Italy, while Nadal followed with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Jarkko Nieminen of Finland.
"I played a really normal match, nothing special. Nothing very bad, but nothing very good," said Nadal, who improved his overall record here to 40-1, including 38 straight wins. "First match on clay after long time without touching a racquet."
Nadal's last match was against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the Sony Ericsson Open quarter-finals. He pulled out of his semi-final against Andy Murray to get treatment for a knee tendon problem, having skipped a chunk of the season to rest his knees following the Australian Open.
Nadal broke Nieminen's serve four times, and the Finn had a double-fault on match point. The Spaniard next plays Kazakhstan's Mikhail Kukushkin. "I need practice, and today was a good practice," Nadal said. "Tomorrow (is) going to be another tough match against a player who is dangerous." Since 2005, Nadal has won at Monte Carlo and Roland Garros every year except 2009.

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Djokovic took a 4-0 lead after 19 minutes before Seppi rallied in the second set. But Djokovic closed out the match on serve to improve to 7-0 against Seppi. "I haven't played a match on a clay court since Roland Garros last year, so I'm happy with how I played," Djokovic said.
The Australian Open champion next plays Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine, who had 11 aces in his 6-2, 5-7, 6-1 win against Australian Bernard Tomic, against whom Djokovic 'expects' the 'unexpected'. "He's a very talented player, comes up with some shots that are not really typical for a tennis player," Djokovic said. "He comes up with some drop shots, changes the pace very much. That's why he's very dangerous on clay."
The 23-year-old Dolgopolov is confident of causing an upset. Although he lost in straight sets to Djokovic in the fourth round of last year's US Open, the Serb had to work hard to take a tight first set 7-6 (14). "After that, I think I can compete with him," Dolgopolov said. "I mean, he's No 1, I'm No 21. Obviously, he's higher in the ranking. He's playing more consistent. But I think I have my chances."
Also, Gilles Simon of France beat Frederico Gil of Portugal 6-3, 6-0 and awaited seventh-seeded Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia or Albert Montanes of Spain. Frenchman Julien Benneteau will play Andy Murray in the third round after beating Jurgen Melzer of Austria 6-4, 6-3.

UN urges action against nuclear trafficking

United Nations: The UN Security Council is calling on all countries to improve measures to detect, deter and disrupt illicit trafficking in nuclear materials.
A presidential statement approved by all 15 council nations and read at a formal meeting on Thursday also encouraged countries to strengthen export controls in order to prevent the transfer of information and technology that could be used for weapons of mass destruction or the missiles to deliver them.
The council reaffirmed that the proliferation of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons "constitutes a threat to international peace and security" and said it remains "gravely concerned" that such weapons could get into the hands of terrorists.

It welcomed commitments made by countries at the 2010 and 2012 Nuclear Security Summits to increase nuclear security.

Hillary wants tougher UN move on Syria

Paris: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has called for a new UN resolution authorising an arms embargo and other stronger measures against Syria if it fails to abide by UN-backed cease-fire aimed at ending the bloodshed on its soil.
Hillary spoke on Thursday at a meeting of top Western and Arab diplomats in Paris. She stopped short of calling for outside military intervention in Syria but said the time has come to impose more consequential measures.
Her address made clear the United States has little faith in the success of the cease-fire plan set forth by special envoy Kofi Annan and that it does not want other nations to settle for weak measures or lose focus on the severity of Syrian President Bashar al Assad's crimes.

US policy has largely amounted to an acknowledgement that Assad is entrenched and that there is little appetite for a foreign military attack to dislodge him. But the UN mandate Hillary seeks would give backbone to a range of measures to assist Syrian rebels fighting the Assad regime.
The Syrian government's crackdown on a popular uprising over the past 13 months is estimated to have killed more than 9,000 people.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said earlier on Thursday that Syria was not honouring the cease-fire, which took effect last week, and that violence was escalating in the Arab country.
Still, any attempt to push for UN sanctions on Syria could meet resistance from Russia and China, which hold vetoes on the UN Security Council and have already twice shielded Syria from UN penalties.
Hillary noted that she laid out the case for UN Security Council resolve in a meeting earlier on Thursday with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
"We have to keep (Syrian President Bashar) Assad off balance by leaving options on the table," Hillary told colleagues at the Paris meeting of members of the so-called "Friends of Syria.

Poor start by Olympic hopefuls in archery

Kolkata: It was a none-too-impressive beginning to the Olympic calendar year for Indian archers as they finished with a solitary silver medal in the World Cup Stage I, which concluded in Shanghai on Sunday.
The women's compound team lost to Italy in the bronze play-off to end their campaign with only one medal - the silver that was earned by the women's recurve trio of Deepika Kumari, Laishram Bombayla Devi and Chekorvulo Swuro.
India had a poor ninth-place finish in the 12-team medal standings that was topped by the USA with five gold, one silver and one bronze, while Korea (2-0-1) and France (1-2-1) finished second and third respectively.

The London Olympics-bound trio of Deepika, Bombayla and Swuro had lost to their Korean counterparts on Saturday in the team final to settle for a silver, India's only medal from the season-opener.
India had a ray of hope on Sunday in the compound women's bronze play-off but Gagandeep Kaur, Parveena and Jyothi Surekha were thrashed by the Italian trio of Anastasia Anastasio, Laura Longo and Marcella Tonioli.