Sachin Tendulkar closer to get Bharat Ratna?

Sachin Tendulkar during the first Test Match(July - 2011) against England at Lord's in London

Sachin Tendulkar is a step closer to getting India's top award. Home ministry has recommended sports be made a category for Bharat Ratna consideration, as told to Time Now.

The home ministry has written to the Prime Minister's Office to include sports as a category in Bharat Ratna. The recommendation will pave way for cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar to be awarded India's highest civilian award.

If awarded, Sachin will become the country's first sportsperson to bag  Bharat Ratna and the clamour has specially grown especially after Sachin helped India lift the World Cup earlier this year.

Tendulkar deserves to get Bharat Ratna, says Deshmukh

Newly-elected president of the Mumbai Cricket Association, Vilasrao Deshmukh, on Friday said that Sachin Tendulkar deserved to get Bharat Ratna and no one would object if the champion cricketer got the country's highest civilian award.

"Sachin deserves Bharat Ratna. Being the president of Mumbai Cricket Association, I would talk to the sports minister, home minister and Prime Minister and request them to change the norms for the award to include sportspersons too in its category of recipients," Deshmukh said.

Deshmukh chaired the first managing committee meeting of the MCA after his election to the president's post at the biennial polls of the association held on July 15. The former Maharashtra CM had vanquished former India captain Dilip Vengsarkar comfortably in a straight contest to succeed another politician, NCP leader Sharad Pawar, as the MCA president.

List of 100 Records of Sachin Tendulkar:Its been 21 years since Sachin Tendulkar stepped in to the International arena of Cricket. Sachin has been breaking cricket records ever since his debut, and will surely break more records in the time to come. Following Sachin Tendulkar records list has been growing ever year, and will grow until he plays.

1. Record number of matches played – 442 matches
2. First player to play a record 400 innings
3. Number of consecutive ODI appearances – 190 matches
4. Cricket grounds played on – 90 grounds
5. Highest individual score by a single player – 200*
6. Most runs in a cricket career – 17,598 runs
7. Record number of ODI centuries – 46 Centuries
8. Record number of centuries in ODIs against an opponent – 9 Centuries
9. Record number of centuries in tournament finals – 6 Centuries
10. Record number of centuries in all formats against an opponent – 19 centuries
11. On Sachin’s Debut, he was the second youngest debutant after Aaqib Javed of Pakistan
12. First player to score 10,000 runs
13. First player to score 11,000 runs
14. First player to score 12,000 runs
15. First player to score 13,000 runs
16. First player to score 14,000 runs
17. First player to score 15,000 runs
18. First player to score 16,000 runs
19. First player to score 17,000 runs
20. Only male player to score a double century in ODIs
21. Tendulkar has scored more than 1,000 runs against every major cricket playing nation
22. Sachin is the only player to score more than 3000 runs against a single opponent – Sri Lanka and Australia
23. Holds the record to score more than 1,000 runs in a single calender year. He has done this 7 times so far.
24. Most number of runs in tournament finals – 1833 runs
25. Most fours in an innings – 25 against South Africa
26. Record number of scores above 150  in an innings – 5
27. Most Half Centuries in ODIs – 93 Half Centuries
28. Highest number of scores over 50 – 139
29. Most Man of the Match awards in ODIs – 61
30. Most Man of the Series awards in ODIs – 19
31. Most half centuries in world cup matches – 13
32. Sachin Tendulkar holds the record for the most runs in ODIs in a calendar year – 1894 runs in 1998
33. Second Fastest to reach 8000 test runs. Record recently broken by Kumar Sangakarra
34. Fastest to reach 12,000 test runs
35. Fastest to reach 13,000 test runs
36. Record centuries in a calendar year – 9 centuries in 1998
37. Highest partnership for any ODI wicket – 331 runs with Rahul Dravid
38. Highest partnership for 2nd wicket in ODIs – 331 runs with Rahul Dravid
39. Highest partnership for 3rd wicket in ODIs – 237* runs with Rahul Dravid
40. Highest partnership aggregated by a pair – 8227 runs with Sourav Ganguly
41. Record opening partnership pair – 6609 runs with Sourav Ganguly
42. Most century partnerships – 26 partnerships with Sourav Ganguly
43. 4 wickets and Century in the same match – Against Australia in 1998
44. Sachin Tendulkar has been dismissed a record 3 times on 99 in ODIs
45. Sachin has been the most dismissed batsman in the 90s in International cricket – 24
46. Most 200 run partnerships in ODIs – 6
47. Most century partnerships by an opening pair – 21 with Sourav Ganguly
48. Record number of runs in a cricket world cup – 673 runs in 2003
49. Most runs in cricket world cups combined – 1796 runs
50. Most centuries in International cricket – 94 centuries
51. Most Test cricket centuries – 48 Centuries
52. First batsman to complete 31,000 International runs
53. Most test runs – 13447 runs
54. Most dismissals in the 90s in ODIs – 17
55. Most number of Test appearances - 169
56. Most fours in test cricket – 1734+
57. Most century partnerships in Tests – 17 with Rahul Dravid
58. Highest score by an Indian captain – 217 against New Zealand
59. More than 1000 test runs in a single calendar year – 5 times
60. Record number of man of the match awards by an Indian in Test matches – 14 times
61. First batsman to score 50 international centuries
62. First batsman to score 60 International centuries
63. Tendulkar holds the record for being the only batsman to score 70 International centuries
64. Tendulkar holds the record for being the only batsman to score 80 International centuries
65. Tendulkar holds the record for being the only batsman to score 90 International centuries
66. Sachin Tendulkar is the only player to have scored century on debut in the Irani trophy, Ranji trophy and Duleep trophy
67. Most Centuriess in World cup Cricket – 4
68. Most Half Centuries in World Cup cricket – 17
69. Most boundaries in International cricket – 3675
70. Most half centuries in International cricket – 149
71. Most runs in a single edition of the IPL – 618 runs
72. Most runs scored in test matches away from home – 7819 runs
73. Highest overall partnership runs, in all formats combined – 12,400 runs with Sourav Ganguly
74. Most matches in a career – 606 matches
75. Sachin Tendulkar has played for a record number of consecutive matches for India – 239 matches
76. Highest partnership for the 3rd wicket in World Cup – 237 runs with Rahul Dravid
77. Fastest to reach 10,000 Test runs
78. Sachin is currently second after Sanath Jayasuriya for the most ODI appearances, soon expected to overtake
79. Sachin Tendulkar scored 5 centuries before he turned 20
80. Most fours in ODI cricket – 1927 boundaries
81. Ranked by Wisden as the Best ODI batsman of all time
82. Ranked by Wisden as the Second Best Test batsman of all time
83. Highest Indian last wicket partnership – 133 runs with Zaheer Khan
84. Most number of Man of the Match awards in World Cup
85. Sachin Tendulkar and Vinod Kambli were involved in a 664 run partnership in Harris Shield game in 1988. A record broken this year
86. In 1992, Sachin became the first overseas player to play for Yorkshire at the age of 19
87. Has the least percentage of Man of the Match awards when on the losing side. Out of the 56 times, India has lost 5 times
88. Sachin has won the Padma Shri, Arjuna Award and Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna awards, and he is the only cricketer to receive them all
89. One of the few batsmen to have Centuries against all Test Playing countries
90. The first batsman to be given out by a Third Umpire TV reviewal system
91. Sachin holds the record for being the only player to have 40 wickets and 11000 runs in Test cricket
92. Sachin holds the record for being the only player to have 150 wickets and 15000 runs in ODI cricket
93. Sachin Tendulkar holds the best average amongst the batsman who have crossed 10,000 ODI runs
94. The highest run scorer in the 199 and 2003 cricket world cups
95. Sachin is the only player to have more than 100, fifty plus scores
96. The only batsman to have scored more than 2 centuries against all Test playing nations
97. Sachin has completed his Century by hitting a 6, on four different occasions in test matches, a record shared by Ken Barrington
98. Only cricketer to have done 10,000 runs, 100 wickets and 100 catches in ODIs
99. The only player to be in Top 100 of ICC rankings for 10 years
100. Sachin is the cricketer to have a record number of records.

Sachin Tendulkar Rare Photo Collections:

 

Also see:

Cricket Legend Sachin Tendulkar's Wallpapers High Quality

http://www.spoonfeeding.in/2011/08/cricket-legend-sachin-tendulkars.html

Sachin Tendulkar Name For Bharat Ratna Award
http://www.spoonfeeding.in/2011/04/sachin-tendulkar-name-for-bharat-ratna.html

Sachin Tendulkar Birthday World Cricket Day - 24 April
http://www.spoonfeeding.in/2011/04/sachin-tendulkar-birthday-world-cricket.html

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Russia launches 'largest telescope ever made'

To look at the Russian RadioAstron spacecraft, which launched from Kazakhstan this Monday, it doesn't seem particularly record-breaking. Its 10-meter (33-foot) antenna is certainly no match for those on earthbound radio telescopes, which can be up to 300 meters (984 feet) across. Once in orbit, however, its signal will join forces with those from ground-based telescopes to form one giant virtual telescope. Using a process known as interferometry, they will form the equivalent of a single radio telescope dish that at over 350,000 kilometers (217,480 miles) across is almost 30 times wider than the Earth. Although it's not actually one physical object, it is nonetheless being heralded as the largest telescope ever created.
itself is nothing new, having been around since the 1960s. Very basically speaking, it involves combining the output of two or more geographically-separated telescopes to obtain one image with a resolution higher than either telescope could achieve on its own.
While radio telescopes have been sent into space for this purpose before, the plan is for RadioAstron's oval-shaped orbit to take it up to ten times farther than any of those other spacecraft have traveled, at 10,000 to 390,000 kilometers (6,214 to 242,335 miles) from Earth. Working with telescopes in locations such as West Virginia, Germany and Puerto Rico, it should be able to capture details at 10,000 times the resolution of the Hubble Space Telescope.
Plans for its use include the observation of a huge black hole at the center of a nearby galaxy, M87.

Russia's recently-launched RadioAstron spacecraft is intended to become part of the largest telescope ever created (Image: Russian Space Agency)

Although already launched, it will still be a few months before the spacecraft reaches the starting point of its orbit, and then goes through a check-out period with its ground control team at Russia's Lebedev Physical Institute Astro Space Center. Once it starts receiving and transmitting data ... well, there will be a lot of it. It's estimated that RadioAstron will be taking in up to 144 megabits per second, which will be continuously relayed to the ground.
So far, however, there is only one 22-meter (72-foot) dish set up to receive that data, near Moscow. This means that much of the data will simply be lost. It is hoped that throughout RadioAstron's five-year mission, more receiving stations can be set up.

Source: New Scientist

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Space shuttle Atlantis landing brings 30-year program to a close

In the faintest glimmer of dawn, Atlantis safely touched down Thursday (21/07/2011), ending the flawless final mission of NASA's space shuttle program.

With Commander Chris Ferguson at the helm, Atlantis landed at Kennedy Space Center at 5:57 a.m. on a cloudless, windless morning. When the orbiter's wheels stopped a minute later, NASA saluted 30 years of triumph and tragedy for a shuttle program that has kept the United States at the forefront of manned space flight since 1981.

"The space shuttle changed the way we view the world and changed the way we view the universe," Ferguson said. "We have emotion today, but one thing is indisputable: America is not going to stop exploring.

"Thank you Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Endeavour and our ship Atlantis," Ferguson continued, acknowledging the other orbiters. "Thank you for protecting us and bringing this program to such a fitting end. God bless all of you. God bless the United States of America."

The mission, Atlantis' 33rd and the shuttle program's 135th, carried a year's worth of supplies to the International Space Station. It equipped and stocked that space lab to become the new centerpiece of NASA's manned space flight program until the agency can develop the deep-space rockets it wants to build. That could take a decade or more.

"Everything worked just flawlessly," NASA Associate Administrator Bill Gerstenmaier said of Atlantis' final mission.

The $100-billion space station, with a six-member international crew — currently three Russians, two Americans and one Japanese — has been the crowning achievement of the shuttle, which was first launched in April 1981 as a do-all space truck capable of science, military, commercial and exploration missions.

The five shuttles launched satellites and space probes; they deployed some of humanity's great observatories, including the Hubble Space Telescope.

There was also heartbreak. In 1986, Challenger exploded shortly after liftoff, killing seven astronauts, and in 2003 Columbia broke up reentering Earth's atmosphere, also killing seven astronauts.

"It's been an extraordinary spacecraft," said Marion Blakey, president of the Aerospace Industries Assn. "And I think it's fair to say has pioneered work in a variety of areas beyond simply accomplishing what is an extraordinary feat, that is building the International Space Station."

Atlantis — which will go on exhibit at Kennedy Space Center — will join Discovery and Endeavour in retirement. Endeavour will become the centerpiece of a new wing at the California Science Center in Los Angeles.


11 Incredible Photos of the Space Shuttle on Its Final Mission

Taken by astronaut Ron Garan, who’s serving a stint at the International Space Station, this pic shows Atlantis about 600 feet below the ISS, with the Bahamas as a backdrop.

Atlantis pilot Col. Doug Hurley snapped this pic of Garan during a spacewalk, with the Earth “upside down."

It looks almost like a model, but this pic from ISS engineer Satoshi Furukawa shows the Atlantis on final approach to the ISS.

Garan took this photo during a spacewalk; it shows the ISS and Atlantis (its nose is peeking out on the right).

ISS crew member Mike Fossum shot this photo of Garan “standing on top of the world" during a spacewalk. Note the shuttle’s Canadarm and fin to the left of Garan.

The blurred clouds on the earth below give the illusion of motion in this amazing shot of Atlantis, packed and ready for its return journey, from Fossum.

Atlantis’ wing peeks into this great photo, from Furukawa, of green auroras over Australia.

From Furukawa, a photo of the shuttle docking to the ISS taken from the Cupola, the “ultimate" observation deck.

Yet another picture of Garan, shot by Fossum. You can see Atlantis in the background, with Earth’s terminator line between night and day making for a dramatic background.

Garan shot this photo of Atlantis’ rear with the French and Italian rivieras in the background.

Taken from the shadow side of the shuttle, it’s the contrast that gives this photo of Atlantis pointing “down" its impact. Shot by Garan from engineer Sergey Volkov’s window.

Space Shuttle Atlantis Final Landing at Kennedy Space Center

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This government peon owns assets worth Rs 2 crore

Bhagyadhar Das, who works as a peon at the collector's office in Cuttack, amassed a fortune worth crores of rupees in a very short span.

Incredible though it may sound, vigilance sleuths on Wednesday discovered that a class-IV employee Bhagyadhar Das, who works as a peon at the collector's office in Cuttack and earns less than Rs 10,000 per month is the proud owner of assets worth above Rs 2 crore. Such was the meteoric rise of Bhagyadhar Das (55) of Upula village in Jajpur district, who works as a peon at the collector's office in Cuttack.

Sources said Das amassed a fortune worth crores of rupees in a very short span. He owns palatial houses in Chatia, Upula, Duburi in Jajpur and Joda in Keonjhar district, besides other places. He also owns huge amounts of property, including land, cash and jewellery, as the vigilance sleuths found out on Wednesday during a surprise raid of his houses. The officials also found about 450 gm of gold along with huge amounts of cash from his houses.

Das earlier worked as a chainman in the land consolidation department at Chatia for 20 years. Two years ago, he was transferred to the record room of the collector's office in Cuttack as a peon.

The vigilance officials and police were surprised at the amount of money Das had spent on the construction and decoration of the houses in Upala, Chatia and Dubari."Based on a complaint, the officials of the state vigilance department raided his houses and were surprised when they found that the former chainman had assets worth more than Rs 2 crore," said Bhrata Chandra Sethi, the deputy superintendent of police (vigilance) in Jajpur.

Das owns various movable assets like expensive household articles, two luxury cars and gold ornaments weighing about 450 gm. He also owns four trucks. Moreover, a car for his personal use and two-wheelers were found to be in the possession of the peon, whose retirement age is nearing, said the official. Deposits made by him in different banks have been seized. Investigation in the matter is on, said the official.

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The Benefits of Eating Green Peas and How to Prepare a Green Peas and Carrot Salad

Green Peas nutrition facts

Starchy, sweet and succulent green peas or garden peas are one of the ancient cultivated vegetable grown for their nutritious green pods. Peas are probably originated in the sub-Himalayan plains of north-west India. Now, they are one of larger commercial crops grown all over the temperate and semi-tropical regions.

Botanically, pea plant is a herbaceous vine. It belongs to the family of Fabaceae of the genus, Pisum. Scientific name: Pisum sativum. Some of common names include english peas, sweet peas, garden peas, pease...etc.

Pea is a very rapid-growing annual plant requires trellis as support for growth. It flourishes well in well drained sandy soil with adequate moisture and cool weather conditions. Short stalked green pods which appear during late winter or spring. The pods measure about 2-3 inches long, swollen or compressed, straight or slightly curved, filled with single row of 2-10 light green color smooth edible seeds.
Pea tendrils are also edible. They are tender top shoots of young pea plants, have similar pea taste and favored in cooking as well in salads.
Snow peas or sugar snap peas are different species of peas where the whole immature green pods are eaten.

Health benefits of green peas

• Peas are one of the most nutritious leguminous vegetable, rich in health benefiting phyto-nutrients, minerals, vitamins and anti-oxidants.
• Peas are relatively low in calories when compared with beans, and cowpeas. 100 g of green peas provide only 81 calories, contain good amount of soluble and insoluble fiber but contains no cholesterol. 
• Fresh pea pods are excellent source of folic acid. 100 g provides 65 mcg or 16% of recommended daily levels of folates. Folates are B-complex vitamins required for DNA synthesis inside the cell. Well established research studies suggest that adequate folate rich foods in expectant mothers would help prevent neural tube defects in the newborn babies. 
• Fresh green peas are very good in ascorbic acid (vitamin C). Contain 40 mcg/100 g or 67% of daily requirement of vitamin C. Vitamin C is a powerful natural water-soluble anti-oxidant. Vegetables rich in this vitamin helps body develop resistance against infectious agents and scavenge harmful, pro-inflammatory free radicals from the body. 
• Peas contain phytosterols especially ß-sitosterol. Studies suggest that vegetables like legumes, fruits and cereals rich in plant sterols help lower cholesterol levels in the body. 
• Garden peas are also good in vitamin K. 100 g of fresh leaves contain about 24.8 mcg or about 21% of daily requirement of vitamin K-1 (phylloquinone). Vitamin K has found to have potential role in bone mass building function by promoting osteo-trophic activity in the bone. It also has established role in Alzheimer's disease patients by limiting neuronal damage in the brain. 
• Fresh green peas also contain adequate amounts of anti-oxidants flavonoids such as carotenes, lutein and zeaxanthin as well as vitamin-A (provide 765 IU or 25.5% of RDA per 100 g). Vitamin A is essential nutrient which is required for maintaining healthy mucus membranes and skin and is also essential for vision. Consumption of natural fruits rich in flavonoids helps to protect from lung and oral cavity cancers.
• In addition to folates, peas are also good in many other essential B-complex vitamins such as pantothenic acid, niacin, thiamin, and pyridoxine. Furthermore, they are rich source of many minerals such as calcium, iron, copper, zinc and manganese.

Selection and storage
Green peas are winter crops. Fresh green peas are readily available from December till April. However dry seeds or products of seeds like split peas, flour...are made available in the markets all around the year.

While shopping for green peas look for fresh pods that are full, heavy in hands and brimming with seeds. Avoid those with wrinkled surface or over-matured, yellow colored pods.

Peas are best eaten immediately after their harvest since the sugar content in the seeds rapidly converted in to starch. If you have to store at all, then place them inside the vegetable compartment of home refrigerator set with high relative humidity where they keep fresh for 2-3 days.


See the table below for in depth analysis of nutrients:

Green peas (Pisum sativum), fresh, raw, Nutrition value per 100 g
(Source: USDA National Nutrient data base) 

 

Preparation of Green Peas and Carrot Salad:

Green Peas and Carrot Salad

Serves: 4
Cooking time (approx.): 5 minutes
Style: North Indian Vegetarian

2 big carrot(s) chopped
1 cup(s) green peas shelled
1 big onion(s) finely chopped
1 green chilli(es) crushed with salt
A few mint leaves chopped.
Salt, pepper and lemon juice to taste.
Fresh coriander or parsley to garnish

1. Boil the carrots and peas with water on medium / low heat for about 5 minutes or till they are cooked but firm. Cool.
2. Now add the chopped onions, chillies, mint leaves, salt, pepper and lemon juice. Mix well.]
3. Garnish with finely chopped fresh coriander / parsley.

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