Rajasthan Royals in IPL final

 

Riding on a brilliant all-round display by Shane Watson, the ruthless Rajasthan Royals crushed Delhi Daredevils by 105 runs in a lop-sided semifinal to storm into the final of the Indian Premier League here tonight.
Watson powered his way to a 29-ball 52 with three sixes and four fours in his team's challenging total of 192 for nine after league table toppers Rajasthan Royals were asked to take first strike by Daredevils captain Virender Sehwag.
Later, Watson ripped out the top-order of Delhi with a triple strike to account for the top three Delhi batsmen Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir and Shikhar Dhawan cheaply to reduce them to 24 for three.
Delhi never recovered from this early body blows and lost wickets at regular intervals while the asking rate kept climbing before they were shot out for a paltry 87 in 16.1 overs.
Rajasthan Royals now await the winners of the second semifinal, to be played at the same venue tomorrow between Punjab King's XI and Chennai Super Kings, in the final to be played at the D Y Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai on June 1.
If Watson stole the major honours of the day, teammate Yusuf Pathan also played a key role and celebrated his Team India inclusion with a whirlwind 45 in 21 balls with four sixes and three fours.
The hard-hitting Pathan, named in the Indian 15 for next month's tri-series in Bangladesh and the Asia Cup in Pakistan earlier in the day, creamed the hapless Delhi attack, which included Glenn McGrath, to hit four sixes and three fours in his 21-ball knock.

Delhi in IPL semis with Roayals

A high-octane contest between two well-balanced sides is on the anvil when table toppers Rajasthan Royals take on the confident Delhi Daredevils in the first semi-finals of the Indian Premier League in Mumbai on Friday.

The two teams, which finished first and fourth in the preliminary 56-game phase of the Twenty20 league, look evenly matched ahead of what promises to be a top-drawer stuff in front of a capacity crowd at the Wankhede Stadium.

The team that holds its nerves better and grabs chances that come its way would go through to the summit clash against the winners of the second semifinal, on May 31, between Punjab King's Eleven and Chennai Super Kings.

The second semi-final is also to be held at the Wankhede while the final is scheduled on June 1 at the D Y Patil Stadium, having a bigger crowd capacity.

The Shane Warne-led Rajasthan, impregnable at home in Jaipur, had finished with only three losses from their 14 preliminary phase ties and have a 1-1 head-to-head record against the Daredevils, led by Virender Sehwag, who got into the last four with seven wins and 15 points to their credit.

Both had lost their matches to hosts Mumbai Indians when they visited this metro earlier and those ties were held in D Y Patil. Both must be wishing fervently that a change in venue for this knock-out tie would bring in happy tidings.

Rajasthan Royals

Despite its obvious English elements - player Dmitri Mascarenhas, and chairman Manoj Badale's bona fide British accent - few people know that the sucess story of the Rajasthan Royals was scripted in the pristine Queen's tongue, with strategies chalked out in idyllic County grounds where T20 has been a rage for the last five years.

The world is gushing over the Rajasthan Royals now, but its owners Emerging Media say they always knew their league-leading team would emerge as the IPL's finest. "It was a sound strategy from the beginning - right from the choice of captain to the selection of the squad. We knew we understood the T20 format since we were being based out of England where it is quite popular," says the team's CEO Fraser Castellino. "The biggest high-point has been how our strategy has yielded exact results," adds Ravi Krishnan, vice-chairman of the team.

The Leicester connection

Since 2005, Emerging Media holds the managing rights of Leicestershire Cricket Club - semifinalists in the 2003 T20 Cup in England, and winners in 2004. They brought with them key members from Leicester who now form the support squad - such as psychologist Jeremy Snape, who as a player had hit the winning boundary for the Leicestershire Foxes in the 2004 final against Surrey.

Rajasthan's choice of players at the auctions also had its roots in what they beleived would be a successful formula in the IPL. "We knew from the outset that we needed all-rounders. It was never about gathering superstars, only picking the right man for the right job," Castellino says.

Jaipur was sniggered at, but as the lowliest of all the franchises, they managed to not draw too much attention to their assembling squad, staying mum over the rumoured penalty they would invite for not spending enough. "What can I say, let others splurge as much as they want and get the same result," Castellino shrugs. The Royals made investments of $ 3.5 million, as against the nearly $ 5m bingeing by other francises.

Getting Warne on board

Shane Warne was brought on board as captain-coach - for both his international standing and for the rejuvenation he had brought about at Hampshire, which was earlier a losing unit. "Leadership was going to be a defining factor in the IPL. We needed a true leader who was acknowledged and respected by both the youngsters and our seniors," Castellino adds. "Warne was excited about coming to Jaipur. It's not always about money for retired internationals - sometimes the joy of raising a squad is more than satisfying."

With Warne, came other handy recommendations - notably Darren Berry from Victoria, who as director of coaching complemented the leggie's style of functioning.

Then, Rajasthan got their domestic drafts spot-on. "It was about carefully filling each slot," Castellino says. Fully aware that seven domestic players were too large a number to be dismissed to a fill-in-the-blanks game, the Royals backed up their international recruits with equally spunky home choices.

Research on players

"We did a lot of research on players from our 'catchment area'. Statistics and records were carefully assessed, we spoke to several state-level coaches before picking them. So, Swapnil (Asnodkar) was specifically picked as back-up opener. Yusuf Pathan fitted the all-rounder tag perfectly," he says, adding that under Warne's personalised leadership, even Munaf Patel, who had initially been written off, came on to deliver.

Gujarat Ranji coach Vijay Patel talks about how medium pacer Siddharth Trivedi, who missed the India bus when he was on the top of his game in 2005 before drifting for two years, found firm footing in the IPL. "Sometimes you know you are a good bowler, but need a boost. Warne has ensured that Trivedi gives it more than his best," Patel says.

While nerves reduced the best of mighty Mumbai to shreds on Monday night, Niraj Patel and Ravindra Jadeja coolly took Rajasthan home. They even sent back the drinksmen who came scurrying with messages at the beginning of that nerve-wracking final over, while Mumbai had half a dozen towels and bottles spread across the field.

"Niraj doesn't hit long, he just plans innings very well," Vijay Patel says. Under-19 World Cupper Jadeja, meanwhile, has reveled in all situations he has been thrown in, and grinned punch-pleased every time Warne has anointed him 'Superstar'.

Graeme Smith has merged happily in the jigsaw - using his heavy blade on the field, and his humour and banter off it - while Sohail Tanvir has turned into an unplayable proposition with his quirky action doing most of the damage.

Off the field too, Emerging Media benefited from their Leicester connection. "We brought experience of everything, from holding matches at stadiums, building on fan base to how to best treat players since they are our main assets," Castellino says.

As an extension, the Royals support-community has spread to not just the UK and Australia, but Rajasthan is eyeing the huge expat Marwari community. "Why limit it to Jaipur, don't forget that some big Marwari names like Laxmi Mittal and the Birla family to name a few have roots in Rajasthan," he adds, informing also of their partnership with premier institution BITS Pilani, to further broaden the base.

"Every team is as good as their next game," Warne has declared. Far from being a ragtag bunch, the Rjasthan Royals know precisely what they want next.

Neethu Joshi Mintathedi Kuyile

Manikantan Nakshathradeepangal

Ambili Prabhakaran Unarunaroo

Idea Star Singer 2008

                                                                                                                                       

Idea Star Singer 2008 was started on Asinet after Idea Star Singer 2007 become super hit in the Television industry. The show was officially inaugurated by Shree. Suresh Gopi. They are changed there permanent Judges Usha Uthup and Sharath for their 2008 show. and introduced Auseppachan and Unnikrishnan insted of Sharath and Usha Uthup. They also changed Idea Star Singer's anchor from Renjini to Remya.

 

Idea Star Singer 2008 Suresh gopi's Speach

 

It's first round was successfully completed and the second round is running. This show is telecasting on Monday to Friday 8.30 to 9.30 PM on Asianet. Prize of idea Star Singer 2008 is Two villas worth Rs.10,000,000.00 sponsored by confident group for Male singer and female singer.

Idea Star Singer 2008 : -

Judges : - M G Shree Kumar, Auseppachan, Unnikrishnan

Anchor : - Remya

Orchestra : - Nadabrahmam

Prize : - Villa worth Rs.10,000,000.00 for Male & Female Singer

IPL Matches, Schedule Dates & Location

Indian Premier League Match Schedule 2008

Date : Friday, 18th April,2008
Time : 7:00 PM, 1:30 PM GMT
Match : Bangalore Royal Challengers v Kolkata Knight Riders
Venue : M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore.

Date : Saturday, 19th April, 2008
Time : 3:00 PM local, 9:30 AM GMT
Match : IPL Mohali v Chennai Super Kings.
Venue : Punjab Cricket Assocation Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh.

Date : Saturday, 19th April, 2008
Time : 8:00 PM local, 1:30 PM GMT
Match : Delhi Daredevils v Rajasthan Royals
Venue : Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi.

Date : Sunday 20th, April 2008
Time : 3:00 PM Local, 9:30 AM GMT
Match : Mumbai Indians v Bangalore Royal Challengers.
Venue : Venue TBC, Mumbai.

Date : Sunday 20th, April 2008
Time : 8:00 PM local, 2:30 PM GMT
Match : Kolkata Knight Riders v IPL Hyderabad
Venue : Eden Gardens, Kolkata.

Date : Mon 21st, April 2008
Time : 7:00 PM local, 1:30 PM GMT
Match : Rajasthan Royals v IPL Mohali
Venue : Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur.

Date : Tue 22nd April, 2008
Time : 7:00 PM local, 1:30 PM GMT
Match : Hyderabad v Delhi Daredevils
Venue : TBC, Hyderabad .

Date : Wed 23rd April, 2008
Time : 7:00 PM local, 1:30 PM GMT
MAtch : Chennai Super Kings v Mumbai Indians
Venue : MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai.

Date : Thursday, 24th April, 2008
Time : 7:00 PM local, 1:30 PM GMT
Match : Hyderabad v Rajasthan Royals
Venue :Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal, Hyderabad

Date : Fri 25th April, 2008
Time : 7:00 PM local, 1:30 PM GMT
Match : IPL Mohali v Mumbai Indians
Venue : Punjab Cricket Assocation Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh

Date : Sat 26th April, 2008
Time : 3:00 PM local, 9:30 AM GMT
Match : Bangalore Royal Challengers v Rajasthan Royals.
Venue : M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore

Date : Sat 26th April, 2008
Time : 8:00 PM local, 2:30 AM GMT
Match : Chennai Super Kings v Kolkata Knight Riders
Venue : MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai.

Date : Sun 27 th April, 2008
Time : 3:00 PM local, 9:30 AM GMT
Match : Mumbai Indians v IPL Hyderabad
Venue : TBC ,Mumbai .

Date : Sun 27th April, 2008
Time : 8:00 PM local, 2:30 PM GMT
Match : IPL Mohali v Delhi Daredevils
Venue : Punjab Cricket Assocation Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh.

Date : Mon 28th April, 2008
Time : 7:00 PM local, 1:30 PM GMT
Match : Bangalore Royal Challengers v Chennai Super Kings
Venue : TBC ,Bangalore .

Date : Tue 29 th April, 2008
Time : 7:00 PM local, 1:30 PM GMT
Match : Kolkata Knight Riders v Mumbai Indians
Venue : Eden Gardens, Kolkata.

Date : Wed 30th April, 2008
Time : 7:00 PM local, 1:30 PM GMT
Match : Delhi Daredevils v Bangalore Royal Challengers
Venue : Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi.

Date : Thursday 1st May 2008
Time : 3:00 PM local, 9:30 AM GMT
Match : IPL Hyderabad v IPL Mohali
Venue : TBC,Hyderabad.

Date : Thu 1st May, 2008
Time : 8:00 PM local, 2:30 PM GMT
Match : Rajasthan Royals v Kolkata Knight Riders
Venue : Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur.

Date : Fri 2nd May, 2008
Time : 7:00 PM local, 1:30 PM GMT
Match : Chennai Super Kings v Delhi Daredevils
Venue : MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai

Date : Sat 3rd May, 2008
Time : 3:00 PM local, 9:30 AM GMT
Match : IPL Hyderabad v Bangalore Royal Challengers
Venue : TBC, Hyderabad.

Date : Sat 3rd May, 2008
Time : 8:00 PM local, 1:30 PM GMT
Match : IPL Mohali v Kolkata Knight Riders
Venue : Punjab Cricket Assocation Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh.

Date : Sun 4th May, 2008
Time : 3:00 PM local, 9:30 AM GMT
Match : Mumbai Indians v Delhi Daredevils
Venue : TBC, Mumbai .

Date : Sun 4th May, 2008
Time : 8:00 PM local, 2:30 PM GMT
Match : Rajasthan Royals v Chennai Super Kings
Venue : Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur.

Date : Mon 5th May, 2008
Time : 7:00 PM local, 1:30 PM GMT
Match : Bangalore Royal Challengers v IPL Mohali
Venue : M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore.

Date : Tue 6th May, 2008
Time : 7:00 PM local, 1:30 PM GMT
Match : Chennai Super Kings v IPL Hyderabad
Venue : MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai.

Date : Wed 7th May, 2008
Time : 7:00 PM local, 1:30 PM GMT
Match : Mumbai Indians v Rajasthan Royals
Venue : TBC,Mumbai.

Date : Thu 8th May, 2008
Time : 3:00 PM local, 9:30 AM GMT
Match : Delhi Daredevils v Chennai Super Kings
Venue : Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi.

Date : Thu 8th May,2008
Time : 8:00 PM local, 2:30 PM GMT
Match : Kolkata Knight Riders v Bangalore Royal Challengers
Venue : Eden Gardens, Kolkata.

Date : Fri 9th May, 2008
Time : 7:00 PM local, 1:30 PM GMT
Match : Rajasthan Royals v IPL Hyderabad
Venue : Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur.

Date : Sat 10 th May, 2008
Time : 3:00 PM local, 9:30 AM GMT
Match : Bangalore Royal Challengers v Mumbai Indians
Venue : M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore.

Date : Sat 10th May, 2008
Time : 8:00 PM local, 2:30 AM GMT
Match : Chennai Super Kings v IPL Mohali
Venue : MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai.

Date : Sun 11th May, 2008
Time : 3:00 PM local, 9:30 AM GMT
Match : Hyderabad v Kolkata Knight Riders
Venue : TBC,Hyderabad.

Date : Sun 11th May, 2008
Time : 8:00 PM local, 2:30 PM GMT
Match : Rajasthan Royals v Delhi Daredevils
Venue : Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur.

Date : Mon 12th May, 2008
Time : 7:00PM local, 1:30 PM GMT
Match : Mohali v Bangalore Royal Challengers
Venue : Punjab Cricket Assocation Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh.

Date : Tue 13th May, 2008
Time : 7:00 PM local, 1:30 PM GMT
Match : Kolkata Knight Riders v Delhi Daredevils
Venue : Eden Gardens, Kolkata.

Date : Wed 14th May,2008
Time : 3:00 PM local, 9:30 AM GMT
Match : Mumbai Indians v Chennai Super Kings
Venue : TBC,Mumbai.

Date : Wed 14th May,2008
Time : 8:00 PM local, 2:30 PM GMT
Match : IPL Mohali v Rajasthan Royals
Venue : Punjab Cricket Assocation Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh.

Date : Thu 15th May, 2008
Time : 7:00 PM local, 1:30 PM GMT
Match : Delhi Daredevils v IPL Hyderabad
Venue : Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi.

Date : Fri 16th May, 2008
Time : 7:00 PM local, 1:30 PM GMT
Match : Mumbai Indians v Kolkata Knight Riders
Venue : TBC, Mumbai.

Date : Sat 17th May, 2008
Time : 3:00 PM local, 9:30 AM GMT
Match : Delhi Daredevils v IPL Mohali
Venue : Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi.

Date : Sat 17th May, 2008
Time : 8:00 PM local, 2:30 PM GMT
Match : Rajasthan Royals v Bangalore Royal Challengers
Venue : Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur.

Date : Sun 18th May, 2008
Time : 3:00 PM local, 9:30 AM GMT
Match : IPL Hyderabad v Mumbai Indians
Venue : TBC,Hyderabad .

Date : Sun 18th May, 2008
Time : 8:00 PM local, 2:30 PM GMT
Match : Kolkata Knight Riders v Chennai Super Kings
Venue : Eden Gardens, Kolkata.

Date : Mon 19th May, 2008
Time : 7:00 PM local, 1:30 PM GMT
Match : Bangalore Royal Challengers v Delhi Daredevils
Venue : M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore.

Date : Tue 20th May,2008
TIme : 7:00 PM local, 1:30 PM GMT
Match : Kolkata Knight Riders v Rajasthan Royals
Venue : Eden Gardens, Kolkata.

Date : Wed 21st May,2008
Time : 3:00 PM local, 9:30 AM GMT
Match : Mumbai Indians v IPL Mohali
Venue : TBC,Mumbai.

Date : Wed 21st May,2008
Time : 8:00 PM local, 2:30 PM GMT
Match : Chennai Super Kings v Bangalore Royal Challengers
Venue : MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai.

Date : Thu 22nd May,2008
Time : 7:00 PM local, 1:30 PM GMT
Match : Delhi Daredevils v Kolkata Knight Riders
Venue : Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi.

Date : Fri 23rd May, 2008
Time : 7:00 PM local, 1:30 PM GMT
Match : IPL Mohali v IPL Hyderabad
Venue : Punjab Cricket Assocation Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh.

Date : Sat 24th May, 2008
Time : 3:00 PM local, 9:30 AM GMT
Match : Delhi Daredevils v Mumbai Indians
Venue : Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi.

Date : Sat 24th May, 2008
Time : 8:00 PM local, 2:30 PM GMT
Match : Chennai Super Kings v Rajasthan Royals
Venue : MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai.

Date : Sun 25th May, 2008
Time : 3:00 PM local, 9:30 AM GMT
Match : Bangalore Royal Challengers v IPL Hyderabad
Venue : M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore.

Date : Sun 25th May, 2008
Time : 8:00 PM local, 2:30 PM GMT
Match : Kolkata Knight Riders v IPL Mohali
Venue : Eden Gardens, Kolkata.

Date : Mon 26th May, 2008
Time : 7:00 PM local, 1:30 PM GMT
Match : Rajasthan Royals v Mumbai Indians
Venue : Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur.

Date : Tue 27th May, 2008.
Time : 7:00 PM local, 1:30 PM GMT
Match : IPL Hyderabad v Chennai Super Kings
Venue : TBC,Hyderabad.

First IPL Semi Final
Date : Friday, 30th May, 2008
Match : Semi-Final - TBC v TBC
Venue : Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai.

Second IPL Semi Final
Date : Friday, 31st May, 2008
Match : 2nd Semi-Final, Semi-Final - TBC v TBC
Venue : Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai.

Indian Premier League 2008 Final
Date : Sunday 1st June 2008
Match : Final - TBC v TBC
Venue : Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai.

IPL Mumbai Indians Today

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Needing nothing but wins in their last two league encounters to make the cut for the semi-finals, Mumbai Indians will face an uphill task when they face the rampaging Rajasthan Royals in an Indian Premier League match at the Sawai Man Singh stadium on Monday.
The narrow defeat to Delhi Daredevils on Saturday may have dented their smooth progress to the last-four stage, but the Mumbai team will be encouraged by the fact that earlier they have beaten the Royals in their own backyard.
Besides, the fact that Graeme Smith, centurion in the match against Chennai Super Kings on Saturday, is a doubtful starter will also brighten up the Mumbai Indians' eyes as they would apply every trick in the book to halt the Rajasthan Royals' juggernaut.

IPL Rajasthan Royals

Yet another alliterative name. Yet another bunch of unfit players. But the levels of fitness (or lack of it thereof) would have put anyone to Shane....err, shame. Owned by the least media savvy owners among the 8 teams (ironically named Emerging Media), the cricket was to do the talking for the team. Bad move. Shane Warne had lesser wickets than press conferences, Graeme Smith scored lesser than he spoke (yes, scored runs!). It did not really augur too well for the team as they constantly moved from nerve wracking close defeats to unmitigated disasters and they perennially failed to emerge from the shadows of the Emerging Media.

Team : -

• Shane Warne
• Aditya Angle
• Swapnil Asnodkar
• Ravindra Jadeja
• Mohammad Kaif
• Kamran Akmal
• Sumit Khatri
• Taruwar Kohli
• Justin Langer

• Dimitri Mascarenhas
• Parag More
• Morne Morkel
• Pankaj Singh
• Munaf Patel
• Niraj Patel
• Yusuf Pathan
• Mahesh Rawat
• Anup Revandkar

• Dinesh Salunke
• Jaydev Shah
• Graeme Smith
• Sohail Tanvir
• Siddharth Trivedi
• Shane Watson
• Younus Khan
• Darren Lehmann
• Shane Warne (AUS) (Coach)

IPL Chennai Super Kings

 

There are kings and there are emperors. But Chennai decided to introduce a caveat emperor - the Super Kings. This was probably due to the heavy Chennai slang influence (sooper). Chennai Super Kings lorded over the first few rounds of the IPL routing the Royal Challengers, the Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab (Note: This is a highly regal statement. Not in stature though). Ably led by stalwarts of the game such as Stephen Fleming who did not play a single match and M S Dhoni who played all matches they soon established themselves at the top of the league. Things began to go horribly wrong after that when star batsman, Matthew Hayden (of the 'obnoxious weed' fame) left the team for greener (weedier?) pastures of the international arena. Dhoni too had his hands full by trying to mediate between Harbhajan Singh and Sreesanth with an eye on the future harmony of the national team. His feelings on the matter were beautifully summed up in his classic hit song "Weed didn't start the fire". This diversion of focus due his role as mediator and wannabe rock star soon left the team in the lurch from which they were unable to recover.

 

Team : -

• MS Dhoni
• Viraj Kadbe
• Palani Amarnath
• Manpreet Gony
• Srikkanth Anirudha
• Ravichandran Ashwin
• Subramaniam Badrinath
• Lakshmipathy Balaji
• Einstein Napoleon

• Stephen Fleming
• Matthew Hayden
• Michael Hussey
• Shadab Jakati
• Joginder Sharma
• Arun Karthik
• Suresh Kumar
• Albie Morkel
• Abhinav Mukund

• Muttiah Muralidaran
• Makhaya Ntini
• Jacob Oram
• Parthiv Patel
• Suresh Raina
• Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan
• Sudeep Tyagi
• Chamara Kapugedera
• Kepler Wessels (SA) (Coach)

IPL Kings XI Punjab

"One king to rule them all,

One king to market them all,

But the day you have more than one king,

Heralds a disaster with no inkling,

And down will come kings, kingdom and all"

So goes the famous Swa-Hillee limerick (shamelessly flicked from a number of sources). Though the true import is lost in translation. Much like the Pink Floyd song. These words of wisdom were unfortunately given a miss by the Mohali team owners with a deft "Bah!" and dimpled smile (pause to reflect on the Herculean task of saying Bah and smiling at the same time). Mohali, led by their non-playing captain (in a manner of speaking. And in a manner of playing), Yuvraj Singh soon began to dominate the bottom of the league and was soon competing with Mumbai for the bottom rung of the IPL. When questioned about the uninspired performances, Yuvraj replied "We need to pull up our socks", thus once again effortlessly changing the topic from cricket to his sartorial habits. "Practice makes a man perfect", he said. However, no amount of sock pulling could change their fortunes, but Sreesanth did receive an extra sock from fellow Indian team mate Harbhajan Singh for his efforts.

Team : -

• Yuvraj Singh
• Ajitesh Argal
• Piyush Chawla
• Pankaj Dharmani
• Rishi Dhawan
• Karan Goel
• James Hopes
• Mahela Jayawardena
• Simon Katich

• Uday Kaul
• Sahil Kukreja
• Brett Lee
• Kyle Mills
• Wilkin Mota
• Irfan Pathan
• Luke Pomersbach
• Ramesh Powar
• Nitin Saini

• Kumar Sangakkara
• Ramnaresh Sarwan
• VRV Singh
• Sunny Sohal
• Sreesanth
• Tanmay Srivastava
• Shaun Marsh
• Gagandeep Singh
• Tom Moody (AUS) (Coach)

IPL Delhi Daredevils

One of the rare teams to start with a mistake. The mistake of making Sehwag an icon player instead of choosing "Sehwag ki Maa" as the iconic figure. Despite this flaw, Delhi boasted of an extremely well balanced side consisting of strike batsman Gautam Gambhir and top class bowlers such as Glenn McGrath and Daniel Vettori. This balance though made it extremely difficult to pin the blame of repeated losses on any single player and post match team meetings soon degenerated into a series of brawls causing Gautam Gambir to lose his customary seriousness. They were also one of the first teams to declare bankruptcy as the team owners, GMR claimed that the fine print was too fine thus successfully obtaining tax breaks for the ridiculous Delhi airport.

 

Team : -

• Virender Sehwag
• Rajat Bhatia
• AB de Villiers
• Shikhar Dhawan
• Tillakaratne Dilshan
• Gautam Gambhir
• Brett Geeves
• Dinesh Karthik

• Glenn McGrath
• Farveez Maharoof
• Yo Mahesh
• Mithun Manhas
• Amit Mishra
• Mohammad Asif
• Yogesh Nagar
• Pradeep Sangwan

• Shoaib Malik
• Mayank Tehlan
• Manoj Tiwary
• Daniel Vettori
• Tejashwi Yadav
• Greg Shipperd (AUS) (Coach)

IPL Bangalore Royal Challengers

Given the amount of alcohol sales that went into building the team, it is ironical that Bangalore had the most watered down team for the 20-20 format. Full of veterans of the domestic game such as Sunil Joshi and coached by express pace bowler Venkatesh Prasad the team looked hopelessly out of sorts from the very beginning of the tournament. The notable exceptions were Rahul Dravid (in brilliant form as usual. No sarcasm here) and Jacques Kallis (of "Who the F$#@ is Kallis" fame, see previous post) who soldiered on in a dignified manner for the entire duration of the tourney. Sorely missing strike bowler Anil Kumble to a sore shoulder and Wasim Jaffer who's batting is definitely not a sight for sore eyes, Bangalore could never really muster enough strength to beat legendary tennis player Thomas Muster let alone any of the other IPL teams. The presence of the cheerleaders of the Washington Redskins however, was enough to guarantee 100% attendance for their matches thus proving owner Vijay Mallya's foresight into the actual interest behind the hype of the IPL.

Team : -

Rahul Dravid
Balachandra Akhil
Dale Steyn
Jagadeesh Arunkumar
Misbah-ul-Haq
Ross Taylor
Sunil Joshi
Wasim Jaffer
Abdur Razzak
Bharat Chipli
Devraj Patil
KP Appanna
Nathan Bracken
Shivnarine Chanderpaul
Vinay Kumar
Zaheer Khan
Anil Kumble
Cameron White
Jacques Kallis
Mark Boucher (wk)
Praveen Kumar
Shreevats Goswami (wk)
Virat Kohli
Ashley Noffke
Venkatesh Prasad *(Coach)

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IPL Deccan Chargers

Birds flock. Cows herd. Bulls charge. But after the initial euphoria, the Deccan Chargers neither charged nor were they heard of. This was primarily attributed to the deficiencies of their main non-iconic player Vangipurappu Venkata Sai Laxman who was an early supporter of nicknames on the back of cricket shirts. Despite not having played 20-20 cricket before and on the fringes of the one day team for India, VVS led the Hyderabad side with great vigor and vim only to be vanquished with vindictiveness by visiting teams. In his autobiography - "East of Eden" (after his inspirational knocks there and 'inspired' by the John Steinbeck novel of the same name), Laxman however attributes the failure of the team to external sources and maintained that "the boys played really well", subconsciously repeating the favorite line of his idol and former India captain, Mohammad Azharuddin. When questioned on the failures of the batting stars such as Andrew Symmonds, Adam Gilchrist and Shahid Afridi, Laxman replied "Taare zameen par" in an enigmatic fashion before disappearing into the boardroom of the Deccan Chronicle (owners of the Deccan Chargers) where he still currently holds the post of independent director for previous loyalty to the company.

 

Team : -

VVS Laxman
Arjun Yadav
D Kalyankrishna
Herschelle Gibbs
PM Sarvesh Kumar
RP Singh
Shahid Afridi
Adam Gilchrist (wk)
Chamara Silva
Dwaraka Ravi Teja
Nuwan Zoysa
Pragyan Ojha
Sanjay Bangar
Venugopal Rao
Andrew Symonds
Chaminda Vaas
Halhadar Das (wk)
Paidikalva Vijaykumar
Rohit Sharma
Scott Styris
Robin Singh *(Coach)

IPL Kolkata Knight Riders

Armed with jazzy uniforms and jazzier cheerleaders instead of a sword and lance (not to be confused with Lance Klusener) the Kolkata based team soon made a favorable impression on the IPL scene. However, there was soon a rift in the lute as the team management decided to rope in David Hasselhoff as brand ambassador since their market surveys showed a favorable recall of Hasselhoff in the TV series Knight Rider apart from his stellar role in Baywatch. Kolkata captain, Sourav Ganguly however took exception to this move considering Hasselhoff a threat to the bare chested antics he was planning to unleash on the unsuspecting crowd. Unable to handle two bare chested men at the same time, the team desperately looked towards banned Pakistani player Shoaib Akhtar for providing the much needed team spirit and unity. With the aid of a cricket bat, if necessary. This unfortunately did not provide any succor to the team and the team owner, Shah Rukh Khan was forced to employ them as extras in his movie tentatively titled "Kehna Kya Kricket Ka" with Karan Johar as the director (obviously!). Affectionately shortened to 4K, we hope this movie will teach Shah Rukh the 4Ks of movies since he evidently hasn't learned the 4Ps of marketing.

 

Team : -

Sourav Ganguly (C)
Ashok Dinda
Cheteshwar Pujara
Debabrata Das
Laxmi Shukla
Rohan Banerjee
Saurasish Lahiri
Tatenda Taibu (wk)
Wriddhiman Prasanta Saha
Aakash Chopra
Brad Hodge
Chris Gayle
Iqbal Abdulla
Mohammad Hafeez
Ricky Ponting
Siddarth Kaul
Umar Gul
Ajit Agarkar
Brendon McCullum (wk)
David Hussey
Ishant Sharma
Murali Kartik
Salman Butt
Shoaib Akhtar
Yashpal Singh
John Buchanan *(Coach)

IPL Mumbai Indians

Named with the intent of gathering support from across the country, the Mumbai Indians soon suffered from an early identity crisis. Within the first few days itself, star players such as Sanath Jayasuriya were often found roaming the streets of Mumbai confusing Breech Candy with the Sri Lankan city of Kandy. The supporters of the Mumbai Indians were equally confused showing up for matches in the hope of a raunchy exhibition and were treated to the batting of Luke Ronchi instead. Missing their inspirational captain for most of the season, the team relied heavily on the Innocent Sledging school of thought which was vociferously championed by the stand-in skipper, Harbhajan Singh. Being versatile in Hindi, English, Punjabi and possibly Greek he later added Marathi to his repertoire of languages which enabled him to proclaim his innocence by saying "F%$@ the bowlers" and then claiming it was Marathi for "only bowlers" (Phakt: Marathi for 'only'). Unfortunately, given the ICC's strict stance against sledging, this tactic soon fizzled out and the players left for more lucrative contracts in the Zimbabwe league leaving cricket star of yesteryear, Vinod Kambli to shoulder the captaincy. As of now, he is planning to revive attendance levels for the IPL matches by displaying his different hair colors.

Team : -

Sachin Tendulkar
Ankeet Chavan
Dhawal Kulkarni
Dwayne Bravo
Harbhajan Singh
Luke Ronchi
Pinal Shah (wk)
Rohan Raje
Shaun Pollock
Vikrant Yeligati
Abhishek Nayar
Ashish Nehra
Dilhara Fernando
Dwayne Smith
Lasith Malinga
Manish Pandey
Rajesh Pawar
Sanath Jayasuriya
Siddharth Chitnis
Y Vijay Takawale (wk)
Ajinkya Rahane
Ashwell Prince
Dominic Thornely
Gaurav Dhiman
Loots Bosman
Musavir Khote
Robin Uthappa
Saurabh Tiwary
Swapnil Singh
Lalchand Rajput *(Coach)

Mumbai Indians's 6 th Win

After their thumping victory over Kolkata Knight Riders, a spirited Mumbai Indians will look forward to garner some vital points in their Indian Premier League clash with hosts Deccan Chargers on Sunday.

In their last two matches, Mumbai Indians have rode on Sanath Jayasuriya's explosive batting to notch up valuable wins and the Sachin Tendulkar-led side will want to repeat it again against the Chargers at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium to move one step closer to the semifinals.

The pitch is expected to be a favourable one for the batsmen and the strong batting line-up of the Mumbai Indians would like to put up a big total on the board by batting first if they win the toss.

Apart from the envious opening pair of Jayasuriya and Tendulkar, Robin Uthappa and West Indian Dwayne Bravo are the other key members of the visitors' batting line-up.

The team's bowling attack also looks decent. Led by South African Shaun Pollock, whose three-wicket haul devastated the Kolkata Knight Riders on Friday, it has bowlers like Ashish Nehra and Bravo in it.

The Mumbai team has won five of their 10 matches it has played so far and now requires at least three wins out of the five remaining matches to book a semifinal berth.

For the Deccan Chargers, led by Australian stumper-batsman Adam Gilchrist, the match is an opportunity to regain some pride as the team has not won a single match at home so far.

Their star-studded batting line up -- consisting of Gilchrist, Rohit Sharma, Herschelle Gibbs, Shahid Afridi and Scott Styris, Venugopal Rao -- will be encouraged with their performance against the Delhi Daredevils though they lost the match narrowly.

In the bowling department, RP Singh, Sri Lankan Chaminda Vaas, Styris and young left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha will have to click if they want to register their second win before the home crowd.

Deccan Chargers: Adam Gilchrist (capt), Sanjay Bangar, Haldhar Das (wk), H Gibbs, Scott Styris, D Kalyan Krishna, Pragyan Ojha, D Ravi Teja, PM Sarvesh Kumar, Shahid Afridi, Rohit Sharma, RP Singh, Chamara Silva, Chaminda Vaas, Y Venugopal Rao, P Vijay Kumar, Arjun Yadav, Nuwan Zoysa.

Mumbai Indians: Sachin Tendulkar (captain), Sanath Jayasuriya, Luke Ronchi (wk), Ajinkya Rahane, Robin Uthappa, Dwayne Bravo, Shaun Pollock, Loots Bosman, Dominic Thornely, Manish Pandey, Abhishek Nayar, Ashish Nehra, Aniket Chavan, Siddharth Chitnis, Gaurav Dhiman, Dilhara Fernando, Musavir Khote, Dhawal Kulkarni, Rajesh Pawar, Saurabh Tiwary, Ashwell Prince, Rohan Raje, Pinal Shah (wk), Swapnil Singh, Yogesh Takawale (wk) and Vikr Yeligati.

Laser Invention Day

In 1960 Maiman invented the first functioning laser while working at Hughes Aircraft Company. Hughes's managers had previously assigned Maiman to build a more practical version of the maser using microwave emission from chromium atoms in synthetic ruby crystals.

Maiman created a new maser design that eliminated the external magnets in favor of a magnet inside the Dewar, thereby reducing the weight from 5,000 to 25 pounds.

In 1962 Maiman established his own enterprise, Korad Corporation, which undertook the development and manufacture of lasers. In 1968, after selling the company to Union Carbide Corporation.

LASER

Any of several devices that emit highly amplified and coherent radiation of one or more discrete frequencies. One of the most common lasers makes use of atoms in a metastable energy state that, as they decay to a lower energy level, stimulate others to decay, resulting in a cascade of emitted radiation.

Sci-Tech Encyclopedia: Laser

A device that uses the principle of amplification of electromagnetic waves by stimulated emission of radiation and operates in the infrared, visible, or ultraviolet region. The term laser is an acronym for light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation, or a light amplifier. However, just as an electronic amplifier can be made into an oscillator by feeding appropriately phased output back into the input, so the laser light amplifier can be made into a laser oscillator, which is really a light source. Laser oscillators are so much more common than laser amplifiers that the unmodified word “laser” has come to mean the oscillator, while the modifier “amplifier” is generally used when the oscillator is not intended. See also Amplifier; Maser; Oscillator.

The process of stimulated emission can be described as follows: When atoms, ions, or molecules absorb energy, they can emit light spontaneously (as with an incandescent lamp) or they can be stimulated to emit by a light wave. This stimulated emission is the opposite of (stimulated) absorption, where unexcited matter is stimulated into an excited state by a light wave. If a collection of atoms is prepared (pumped) so that more are initially excited than unexcited (population inversion), then an incident light wave will stimulate more emission than absorption, and there is net amplification of the incident light beam. This is the way the laser amplifier works.

A laser amplifier can be made into a laser oscillator by arranging suitable mirrors on either end of the amplifier. These are called the resonator. Thus the essential parts of a laser oscillator are an amplifying medium, a source of pump power, and a resonator. Radiation that is directed straight along the axis bounces back and forth between the mirrors and can remain in the resonator long enough to build up a strong oscillation. (Waves oriented in other directions soon pass off the edge of the mirrors and are lost before they are much amplified.) Radiation may be coupled out by making one mirror partially transparent so that part of the amplified light can emerge through it (see illustration). The output wave, like most of the waves being amplified between the mirrors, travels along the axis and is thus very nearly a plane wave. See also Optical pumping.

Continuous-wave gas lasers

Perhaps the best-known gas laser is the neutral-atom helium-neon (HeNe) laser, which is an electric-discharge-excited laser involving the noble gases helium and neon. The lasing atom is neon. The wavelength of the transition most used is 632.8 nanometers; however, many helium-neon lasers operate at longer and shorter wavelengths including 3390, 1152, 612, 594, and 543 nm. Output powers are mostly around 1 milliwatt.

A useful gas laser for the near-ultraviolet region is the helium-cadmium (HeCd) laser, wherelasing takes place from singly ionized cadmium. Wavelengths are 325 and 442 nm, with powers up to 150 mW.

The argon ion laser provides continuous-wave (CW) powers up to about 50 W, with principal wavelengths of 514.5 and 488 nm, and a number of weaker transitions at nearby wavelengths. The argon laser is often used to pump other lasers, most importantly tunable dye lasers and titanium:sapphire lasers. For applications requiring continuous-wave power in the red, the krypton ion laser can provide continuous-wave lasing at 647.1 and 676.4 nm (as well as 521, 568, and other wavelengths), with powers somewhat less than those of the argon ion laser.

The carbon dioxide (CO₂) molecular laser has become the laser of choice for many industrial applications, such as cutting and welding.

Short-pulsed gas lasers

Some lasers can be made to operate only in a pulsed mode. Examples of self-terminating gas lasers are the nitrogen laser (337 nm) and excimer lasers (200–400 nm). The nitrogen laser pulse duration is limited because the lower level becomes populated because of stimulated transitions from the upper lasing level, thus introducing absorption at the lasing wavelength. Peak powers as large as 1 MW are possible with pulse durations of 1–10 nanoseconds. Excimer lasers are self-terminating because lasing transitions tear apart the excimer molecules and time is required for fresh molecules to replace them.

Solid-state lasers

The term solid-state laser should logically cover all lasers other than gaseous or liquid. Nevertheless, current terminology treats semiconductor (diode) lasers separately from solid-state lasers because the physical mechanisms are somewhat different. With that reservation, virtually all solid-state lasers are optically pumped.

Historically, the first laser was a single crystal of synthetic ruby, which is aluminum oxide (Al₂O₃ or sapphire), doped with about 0.05% (by weight) chromium oxide (Cr₂O₃). Three important rare-earth laser systems in current use are neodymium:YAG, that is, yttrium aluminum garnet (Y₃Al₅O₁₂) doped with neodymium; neodymium:glass; and erbium:glass. Other rare earths and other host materials also find application.

Semiconductor (diode) lasers

The semiconductor laser is the most important of all lasers, both by economic standards and by the degree of its applications. Its main features include rugged structure, small size, high efficiency, direct pumping by low-power electric current, ability to modulate its output by direct modulation of the pumping current at rates exceeding 20 GHz, compatibility of its output beam dimensions with those of optical fibers, feasibility of integrating it monolithically with other semiconductor optoelectronic devices to form integrated circuits, and a manufacturing technology that lends itself to mass production. See also Integrated optics.

Most semiconductor lasers are based on III–V semiconductors. The laser can be a simple sandwich of p- and n-type material such as gallium arsenide (GaAs). The active region is at the junction of the p and n regions. Electrons and holes are injected into the active region from the p and n regions respectively. Light is amplified by stimulating electron-hole recombination. The mirrors comprise the cleaved end facets of the chip (either uncoated or with enhanced reflective coatings). See also Electron-hole recombination; Semiconductor; Semiconductor diode.

Monochromaticity

When lasers were first developed, they were widely noted for their extreme monochromaticity. They provided far more optical power per spectral range (as well as per angular range) than was previously possible. It has since proven useful to relate laser frequencies to the international time standard (defined by an energy-level difference in the cesium atom), and this was done so precisely, through the use of optical heterodyne techniques, that the standard of length was redefined in such a way that the speed of light is fixed. In addition, extremely stable and monochromatic lasers have been developed, which can be used, for example, for optical communication between remote and moving frames, such as the Moon and the Earth. See also Frequency measurement; Heterodyne principle; Laser spectroscopy; Light.

Tunable lasers

Having achieved lasers whose frequencies can be monochromatic, stable, and absolute (traceable to the time standard), the next goal is tunability. Most lasers allow modest tuning over the gain bandwidth of their amplifying medium. However, the laser most widely used for wide tunability has been the (liquid) dye laser. This laser must be optically pumped, either by a flash lamp or by another laser, such as the argon ion laser. Considerable engineering has gone into the development of systems to rapidly flow the dye and to provide wavelength tunability. About 20 different dyes are required to cover the region from 270 to 1000 nm.

Free-election lasers

The purpose of the free-electron laser is to convert the kinetic energy in an electron beam to electromagnetic radiation. Since it is relatively simple to generate electron beams with peak powers of 10¹⁰ W, the free-electron laser has the potential for providing high optical power, and since there are no prescribed energy levels, as in the conventional laser, the free-electron laser can operate over a broad spectral range.

Modern Science: laser

laser

A device that produces a very narrow, highly concentrated beam of light. Lasers have a variety of uses in such areas as surgery, welding and metal cut ting, and sound and video recording and reproduc tion. The name is an acronym for light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation.

Computer Desktop Encyclopedia: laser

(Light Amplification by the Stimulated Emission of Radiation) A device that creates a uniform and coherent light that is very different from an ordinary light bulb. Many lasers deliver light in an almost-perfectly parallel beam (collimated) that is very pure, approaching a single wavelength. Laser light can be focused down to a tiny spot as small as a single wavelength.

Laser output can be continuous or pulsed and is used in a myriad of applications. Gas lasers are used to cut steel and perform delicate eye surgery, while solid state lasers create the ultra-high-speed, minuscule pulses traveling in optical fibers traversing the backbones of all major communications networks. Light traveling in an optical fiber is impervious to external interference, a constant problem with electrical pulses in copper wire. See optical fiber.

How Does It Work?

A laser is an optical oscillator, which is made out of a solid, liquid or gas with mirrors at both ends. To make the laser work, the material is excited or "pumped," with light or electricity. The pumping excites the electrons in the atoms, causing them to jump to higher orbits, creating a "population inversion." A few of the electrons drop back to lower energy levels spontaneously, releasing a photon (quantum of light). The photons stimulate other excited electrons to emit more photons with the same energy and thus the same wavelength as the original. The light waves build in strength as they pass through the laser medium, and the mirrors at both ends keep reflecting the light back and forth creating a chain reaction and causing the laser to "lase."

In simple laser cavities, one mirror has a small transparent area that lets the laser beam out. In semiconductor lasers, both mirrors often transmit a beam, the second one being used for monitoring purposes.

Who Invented It?

In 1957, the laser was conceived by Gordon Gould, a graduate student in physics at Columbia University. When Gould filed for patents in 1959, he found that Columbia professor Charles Townes and Arthur Schawlow of Bell Labs had already filed for them. The year before, AT&T had, in fact, demonstrated a working laser at Bell Labs. In 1977, after years of litigation, a court awarded Gould rights to the first of three patents and later to all of them. He finally reaped millions in royalties.

Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: laser

Device that produces an intense beam of coherent light (light composed of waves having a constant difference in phase). Its name, an acronym derived from "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation," describes how its beam is produced. The first laser, constructed in 1960 by Theodore Maiman (born 1927) based on earlier work by Charles H. Townes, used a rod of ruby. Light of a suitable wavelength from a flashlight excited (see excitation) the ruby atoms to higher energy levels. The excited atoms decayed swiftly to slightly lower energies (through phonon reactions) and then fell more slowly to the ground state, emitting light at a specific wavelength. The light tended to bounce back and forth between the polished ends of the rod, stimulating further emission. The laser has found valuable applications in microsurgery, compact-disc players, communications, and holography, as well as for drilling holes in hard materials, alignment in tunnel drilling, long-distance measurement, and mapping fine details.

Architecture: laser

A device that emits a powerful beam of coherent light in an intense beam; used, for example, on building projects to provide a means of ensuring that construction is along a straight line, or to ensure that the construction is carried out to precisely the same height.

Columbia Encyclopedia: laser

[acronym for light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation], device for the creation, amplification, and transmission of a narrow, intense beam of coherent light. The laser is sometimes referred to as an optical maser.

Coherent Light and Its Emission in Lasers

The coherent light produced by a laser differs from ordinary light in that it is made up of waves all of the same wavelength and all in phase (i.e., in step with each other); ordinary light contains many different wavelengths and phase relations. Both the laser and the maser find theoretical basis for their operation in the quantum theory. Electromagnetic radiation (e.g., light or microwaves) is emitted or absorbed by the atoms or molecules of a substance only at certain characteristic frequencies. According to the quantum theory, the electromagnetic energy is transmitted in discrete amounts (i.e., in units or packets) called quanta. A quantum of electromagnetic energy is called a photon. The energy carried by each photon is proportional to its frequency.

An atom or molecule of a substance usually does not emit energy; it is then said to be in a low-energy or ground state. When an atom or molecule in the ground state absorbs a photon, it is raised to a higher energy state, and is said to be excited. The substance spontaneously returns to a lower energy state by emitting a photon with a frequency proportional to the energy difference between the excited state and the lower state. In the simplest case, the substance will return directly to the ground state, emitting a single photon with the same frequency as the absorbed photon.

In a laser or maser, the atoms or molecules are excited so that more of them are at higher energy levels than are at lower energy levels, a condition known as an inverted population. The process of adding energy to produce an inverted population is called pumping. Once the atoms or molecules are in this excited state, they readily emit radiation. If a photon whose frequency corresponds to the energy difference between the excited state and the ground state strikes an excited atom, the atom is stimulated to emit a second photon of the same frequency, in phase with and in the same direction as the bombarding photon. The bombarding photon and the emitted photon may then each strike other excited atoms, stimulating further emissions of photons, all of the same frequency and all in phase. This produces a sudden burst of coherent radiation as all the atoms discharge in a rapid chain reaction. Often the laser is constructed so that the emitted light is reflected between opposite ends of a resonant cavity; an intense, highly focused light beam passes out through one end, which is only partially reflecting. If the atoms are pumped back to an excited state as soon as they are discharged, a steady beam of coherent light is produced.

Characteristics of Lasers

The physical size of a laser depends on the materials used for light emission, on its power output, and on whether the light is emitted in pulses or as a steady beam. Lasers have been developed that are not much larger than a common flashlight. Various materials have been used as the active media in lasers. The first laser, built in 1960, used a ruby rod with polished ends; the chromium atoms embedded in the ruby's aluminum oxide crystal lattice were pumped to an excited state by a flash tube that, wrapped around the rod, saturated the rod with light of a frequency higher than that of the laser frequency (this method is called optical pumping). This first ruby laser produced intense pulses of red light. In many other optically pumped lasers, the basic element is a transparent, nonconducting crystal such as yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG). Another type of crystal laser uses a semiconductor diode as the element; pumping is done by passing a current through the crystal.

In some lasers, a gas or liquid is used as the emitting medium. In one kind of gas laser the inverted population is achieved through collisional pumping, the gas molecules gaining energy from collisions with other molecules or with electrons released through current discharge. Some gas lasers make use of molecular dissociation to create the inverted population. In a free-electron laser a beam of electrons is “wiggled” by a magnetic field; the oscillatory behavior of the electrons induces them to emit laser radiation. Another device under development is the X-ray laser, which presents special difficulties; most materials, for instance, are poor reflectors of X rays.

Applications of Lasers

The light beam produced by most lasers is pencil-sized, and maintains its size and direction over very large distances; this sharply focused beam of coherent light is suitable for a wide variety of applications. Lasers have been used in industry for cutting and boring metals and other materials, and for inspecting optical equipment. In medicine, they have been used in surgical operations. Lasers have been used in several kinds of scientific research. The field of holography is based on the fact that actual wave-front patterns, captured in a photographic image of an object illuminated with laser light, can be reconstructed to produce a three-dimensional image of the object.

Lasers have opened a new field of scientific research, nonlinear optics, which is concerned with the study of such phenomena as the frequency doubling of coherent light by certain crystals. One important result of laser research is the development of lasers that can be tuned to emit light over a range of frequencies, instead of producing light of only a single frequency. Work is being done to develop lasers for communication; in a manner similar to radio transmission, the transmitted light beam is modulated with a signal and is received and demodulated some distance away. Lasers have also been used in plasma physics and chemistry.

Jimmy

Not every star-son is cut out to be a hero. Sad but true, Mithun Charkraborty ’s son Mimoh seems like one such.

With his broad-shouldered, beefy physique, his long hair and, worst of all, a face devoid of much expression or emotion, Mimoh turns out to be a vain star-son with Bollywood dreams gleaming in his eyes. But dreams alone don’t guarantee fame. It takes a combination of talent, hard work and luck.

Mimoh’s first movie Jimmy seems like a film from a bygone era. It is as if the writer found an obsolete script – with a few pages missing, at that – and pepped it up with twists and turns borrowed from more than one source. To add to the proceedings, the director ( Raj Sippy ) decided to have a number of songs in the film solely to showcase the newcomer’s dancing skills. And voila! A dream launch is ready for Mimoh. Only, it is a launch that doesn’t promise a successful take-off.

The basic problem with ‘Jimmy’ is that its story is so beaten to death that you wonder how could it be used to give birth to a new acting career.

The movie has Mimoh playing an automobile engineer who is so passionate about music and dancing that he works at a night club as a deejay, albeit a Dj who dances more than he handles the discs.

Now, this chubby, innocent-looking fellow gets embroiled in a murder case, and to everyone’s surprise he even accepts that he is the killer.

The confession is obviously a lie. And Jimmy is lying for a reason. But soon he realizes that he is being used as a puppet in a bigger play.

One of the many tragedies of ‘Jimmy’ is that it purports to showcase Mimoh’s dancing skills with songs that hardly sound appealing. However, to be fair, Mimoh’s quite a dancer, but the fact doesn’t stand out because the dances have been choreographed and shot in a way that fails to capture the power or the spirit of the music.

Enough about dancing, now let’s get to something serious.

Acting-wise, Mimoh has a long way to go. You see dedication in his performance, but you don’t see much thought or natural aptitude. His facial expressions are superficial, and his dialogue delivery, his husky, thin voice leaves a lot to be desired. And lastly, he really needs to chisel away fat from his body.

Newcomer Vivana just about manages to get herself noticed, more because of her looks than acting. Zulfi Syed is just about okay. So is Rahul Dev .

Boothnath

Directorial debut for Vivek Sharma. Making a movie based on uncommon tale of bonding between a spirit and a child and that too with top notch stars includes names of Amitach Bachchan and Shahrukh Khan, both are the icons of Indian Cinema, is no less than a courage. Movie is about a family and encounter of Ghost with one member of that family ie. Banku (Aman Siddiqui), the child of two ie. Juhi Chawla and Shahrukh khan. The family took a mansion on rent in Goa which is said to be haunted. As the family moves in, the father ie. Shahrukh moves away for work and now its only mother (Juhi) and Banku (Aman Siddiqui) in the house.

However, the Boothnath (Amitabh Bachchan) tries every trick to scare the child but he did not get affected. He, when asks his mother about existence of Bhoot (Ghosts) then she just denies and this makes child impossible to believe that he is actually a Ghost ie. Bhoothnath.

As the movie moves on, we see various aspect which includes comedy and emotions too, the first half is about the Kid and the Ghost including various funny ecounter like in School with principal but the second half moves start going to flashbacks of Boothnaath and starts involving fest of emotions. To add to this, Boothnaath's son from USA decides to sell off the mansion. Overall, movie is fun to watch, both for kids and elder (though a little bit more fun for kids).

The debuting director Vivek Sharma starts movie with a bit scary atmosphere but actually instantly you will realize that movie is more about fun and the bond between the KID and the Ghost. It is clear that director focused on presentation, the way presented this simple story is interesting and is the one of the positive part of the movie.

Rest Amitabh Bachchan, whom we have seen in variety of roles, creates a good atmosphere in this role too as a Ghost. His performance is again to surprise you that how much caliber Mr. Amitabh still has. The child ie. Aman is outstanding. He is pretty comfortable and this all goes to the director who was able to extract best from the child.

Juhi Chawla looks like all time fit now. Did nice role. Shahrukh Khan, having around 20-25 minute roll in the movie has done his part without any flaws.

However, I found soundtrack hindering the flaw of movie and they are not really impressive too. Rajpal Yadav as drunken is not much impressive, its just OK and there wasn't much scope for him. Satish Shah, is good as he always in such roles.

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Tashan

Hindi movies have undergone a sea-change in terms of content. From crude, been there seen that, done to death kind of movies, to films with substance, the audience tastes have changed over the years. Even though we've have grown up on the staple diet of desi food, we've cultivated a taste for Italian, Chinese, Thai and Mexican cuisine.

The experience with Tashan is like, you enter a posh restaurant, waiting for a sumptuous meal to be served, but what's served on your plate is vada-pau. Tashan takes you back to the 1970s Bollywood, when illogical situations, blood and gore, for no rhyme of reason, were the main ingredients that made the junta break into taalis. Sorry, the formula doesn't work anymore!

Seriously, what was debutante director Vijay Krishna Acharya thinking when he wrote this apology of a script? It's perfectly okay to revisit the classics and pay homage to the masala films of yore, but the new interpretation has to be contemporary, you need to change with the times.

The one thing that you realize after watching Tashan is, no amount of gloss, glam and top notch stars can ever substitute for a riveting script. Great stars, great styling, great songs and great visuals work as long as the script is great.

So what's the verdict then? If you genuinely miss the 'Kamine, main tera khoon pee jaaonga' and 'Bhagwan ke liye mujhe maaf kardo' kind of movies that dominated the 1970s, pick up a DVD of those hits instead. Tashan is regressive cinema with a capital R.

A call centre executive Jimmy [Saif Ali Khan] is entrusted the responsibility of teaching English to a gangster, Bhaiyyaji [Anil Kapoor]. But Bhaiyyaji's key help Pooja [Kareena Kapoor] uses Jimmy to swindle Bhaiyyaji of Rs. 25 crores. Obviously, Bhaiyajji wants his money back and also Jimmy and Pooja's heads.

He settles for Bachchan Pande [Akshay Kumar] to carry out the job of tracing Pooja, once Jimmy surrenders himself to Bhaiyyaji. What happens next?

Actually, Tashan starts off very well and the first hour unwinds at a feverish pace. Besides, there're interesting twists and turns in this hour that make you jump with joy. Akshay's entry in the movie is the turning point and the actor only takes the film to a new level.

Alas, the joy is short-lived. The writer-director goes completely off the mark and loses focus. Instead of coming to the point right away, what the writer does is makes you run in circles and circles. It's like boarding a direct flight to London, but the pilot suddenly decides on having stopovers in Ahmedabad, Dubai, Budapest, Munich, Berlin, Amsterdam, before landing at London. You're exasperated!

What ails the film? Various factors. The film goes on and on and on. Unwanted scenes, the outdated love angle, the lenggggggthy fight sequences [people showering Akshay and Saif with bullets, but, well, nothing happens], the confrontation between good and evil in the climax… you actually pinch yourself, were you watching the same movie in the first hour? Or did the reels get changed?

Another minus factor is Vishal-Shekhar's music. Seems like the composers have run out of tunes and what they offer is best suited for the music systems in their cars only. With such impressive names on and off screen, the music directors should've ensured that they come up with tunes that remain etched in your memory… in this case, at least that could've been a redeeming aspect. But the music is awful. The picturisation of some songs is, however, quite eye-filling.

Debutante director Vijay Krishna Acharya seems to have taken the audience for granted. Cinematography is excellent. The locales are a visual treat. Dialogues are good at places.

Tashan belongs to Akshay Kumar completely. No two opinions on that. Take Akshay out of this film and the movie is a big zero. He's the lifeline of this project and his performance will be loved by elite and masses, both. Kareena Kapoor is fantastic. She looks gorgeous, acts very well [her role is similar to the one she essayed in FIDA] and yes, she carries off the bikini with elan.

Saif Ali Khan is relegated to the backseat. What did Saif see in this role? He's hardly there in the second hour. Anil Kapoor entertains at the start, but after a point, the Hindi-English bhasha gets on your nerves. Also, it's very difficult to decipher what he's speaking most of the time.

On the whole, Tashan is one of the weakest films to come out of the Yash Raj banner.