Kohli stars in India's third highest run-chase

India are always at their best when they have their backs to the wall and they come back hard at the opposition whenever they are cornered. Dhoni's men reserved their best performance for their final match of the league stage of the CB series. Needing to win with a bonus point to stand a chance of making it to the finals, Virat Kohli (133 off 86), Gautam Gambhir (63 off 64), Suresh Raina (40 off 24), Sachin Tendulkar (39 off 30) and Virender Sehwag (30 off 16) all came good with the bat as India chased down a daunting target of 321 in just 36.4 overs to win with a bonus point.

India, by reaching the target, equalled their third best score in a successful run-chase in ODIs. Their highest was against England when they chased down 326 at Lord's in 2002 and their second best came against the West Indies when the achieved the target of 325 at Ahmedabad in 2002. This also also the 12th time that India have won a match chasing of 300 or more.

India reached the target of 321 at a break-neck speed as they scored at a run-rate of 8.75 to reach the mark. Taking the run-rates into consideration in highest run-chases, this is the second best in ODI cricket. The best run-chase in terms of run-rate is the 438 that South Africa scored against Australia at Johannesburg in 2006. In that game, South Africa had scored at a rate of 8.78 per over to achieve the target.

Virat Kohli registered his best ever score in ODIs and his 133 not-out is also the third highest score in matches where India have successfully chased down totals of 300 or more. MS Dhoni tops that list with an unbeaten 183 against Sri Lanka at Jaipur in 2005 while Gautam Gambhir, who scored 150 not-out against the same opposition at Kolkata in 2009, is second on the list.

Tillakaratne Dilshan and Kumar Sangakkara would probably be the most disappointed of the Sri Lankan lot as their hundreds went in vain. Overall, there have been four hundreds in lost causes whenever Sri Lanka have scored 298 or more in the first innings but ended up losing the game. Sangakkara has two such three-figure scores.

While India might not be sure if they have ended their tour of Australia on a winning note or not, they will be hoping to take take this momentum into the finals provided Sri Lanka lose to Australia in their next game.

Homosexuality is to be seen in context of changing society: Supreme Court

New Delhi: Homosexuality should be seen in the context of changing society as many things which were earlier unacceptable have become acceptable with passage of time, the Supreme Court observed on Thursday. A bench of justices G S Singhvi and S J Mukhopadhaya, which is hearing a bunch of appeals filed against decriminalisation of gay sex, said that these things should be seen in the light of changing times where phenomena of live-in relationship, single parents and artificial fertilisation have become normal. "Recent phenomena of live-in relationship, single parents, surrogacy. There is a case where a man is unmarried but wants to be a father and engage a surrogate mother. Thirty-forty years ago it was against the order of nature but now artificial fertilisation is a thriving business," the bench said. It also pointed out that many things, which were considered immoral twenty years back, have become acceptable to society now. "The society is changing," the bench said adding that gay sex was not an offence prior to 1860 and referred to paintings and sculptures of Khajuraho. Senior Advocate Amrendra Sharan, who is opposing the Delhi High Court's verdict of decriminalising gay sex on behalf of the Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Right, submitted that social issues cannot be decided on the basis of sculptures. The bench, however, observed that it is a reflection of society of that time and homosexuality should not be seen only in terms of sexual intercourse. Earlier, the bench had asked the anti-gay rights groups, challenging legalisation of gay sex to explain how such acts are against the order of nature as submitted by them. The top court was hearing petitions filed by anti-gay rights activists and also by political, social and religious organisations which have opposed the Delhi High Court verdict decriminalising homosexual behaviour. The bench would continue hearing the case on Friday. On February 7 last, the bench had refused to implead the armed forces in the case on the contentious issue. People and organisations from different fields have come out in support of or against the path-breaking verdict of the High Court which had sparked a controversy. Several political, social and religious outfits have asked the Supreme Court to give the final verdict on the issue. Senior BJP leader B P Singhal, who had opposed in the High Court legalisation of gay sex, has challenged the verdict in the Supreme Court saying such acts are illegal, immoral and against ethos of Indian culture. Religious organisations like All India Muslim Personal Law Board, Utkal Christian Council and Apostolic Churches Alliance have also opposed the High Court's verdict. Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Right, Tamil Nadu Muslim Munn Kazhgam, astrologer Suresh Kumar Kaushal and yoga guru Ramdev have also opposed the verdict in the top court.

Happy Birthday Paris Hilton (Date of Birth: February17, 1981)

If America was a shocking pink luxury car parked behind a fast food joint, then Paris Hilton would be the gold plated ornament on its hood. Long before the celebutant hit the small screen with Nicole Richie in the rich-girls-do-real-work reality show, The Simple Life, Hilton was already famous for her wealth, party-hearty lifestyle and a home sex tape that launched a million plain brown mailing wrappers. Her ever-evolving feuds with other Hollywood party pack stars, ever-changing taste in pets and men and endless string of mishaps – having her sidekick hacked and her warehoused possessions displayed online – naturally make her every gossip magazine's dream. But love her or hate her, it's impossible to ignore Hilton.
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Happy Birthday Denise Richards (Date of Birth: February17, 1971)

The relatively unknown beauty Denise Richards made an indelible impression on male audiences with her infamous onscreen threesome with Matt Dillon and Neve Campbell in 1998's Wild Things.With her lusty image in tow, Richards became a Bond girl in 1999's The World Is Not Enough, and after working with Charlie Sheen on Spin City, she married him. While several months pregnant with their second child, Richards filed for divorce, later requesting a restraining order against Sheen.Tabloid attention grew when she soon began dating Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora, who at that time was married to her former friend Heather Locklear. Although she and Sambora didn't last, Richards continued to battle Sheen for custody of their two daughters. While her ex-husband married Brooke Mueller in May 2008, Richards let E! document her life in the reality show, Denise Richards: It's Complicated.
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Apple chief Timothy Cook unveils a new product: Himself

New York: When he was alive, Steven P Jobs, Apple's former chief executive, treated investors as if they were biohazards, rarely deigning to meet with them. The disdain was not mutual, as an Apple stock chart for the last 10 years shows. Timothy D. Cook, Apple's new chief, showed on Tuesday how he planned to do things differently from his predecessor. Mr. Cook, who long handled the investor relations chores Mr. Jobs avoided, spoke at a Goldman Sachs conference on a wide range of topics, all the while displaying a bit more personality than he has in public presentations in the past. His appearance amounted to his most extensive public comments since he became chief of Apple in August, just weeks before the death of Mr. Jobs. Mr. Cook devoted a significant part of a question-and-answer session with the Goldman analyst Bill Shope to addressing Apple's attitude about workplace conditions among its overseas suppliers, a topic that has begun to receive scrutiny after an investigative article in The New York Times last month. Mr. Cook said Apple had no tolerance for suppliers that violate Apple's labor and human rights standards. He called the use of under-age labor "abhorrent" and said that although it occurred rarely among Apple's partners, its complete elimination was a "top priority" for the company. To help combat a more common violation at its suppliers, excessive working hours, Mr. Cook revealed that Apple every month will publish data on its Web site about the portion of its suppliers who are complying with Apple's workweek standards. He said that figure currently stands at 84 percent. Apple has typically included its findings on excessive work hours as part of an annual report detailing violations it discovered in the factories where its products are made, most of which are in China. The company will still publish that annual report. Apple has begun stepping up its efforts to reveal more about the conditions in factories where iPads, iPhones and other Apple products are made. Apple said the first inspections of those factories by an outside group commenced on Monday, when a team from the Fair Labor Association visited a Foxconn factory in Shenzhen. "We know people have a very high expectation of Apple," he said. "We have an even higher expectation of ourselves. Our customers expect us to lead and we will continue to do so." Mr. Cook reiterated earlier predictions he has made about sales of tablets like the iPad eventually eclipsing those of conventional personal computers. He added acerbically that if a meeting were held of developers working on cool PC applications, no one might show up, while it would be tough to accommodate all of the iOS developers working on cool apps in one hotel ballroom. Mr. Cook did not come bearing gifts for investors thirsting for more information about what Apple intends to do with its nearly $100 billion cash hoard, though he repeated previous comments he has made about actively discussing the matter with Apple's board, suggesting stock buybacks or dividends were distinct possibilities. He offered only a tantalizing clue about bigger plans on the horizon for Apple in the television business. Mr. Cook played down the company's Apple TV product because it had not approached the magnitude of Apple's mobile phone, computer and tablet businesses. But he hinted that it might. "We've always thought there was something there and that if we kept following our intuition and kept pulling the string, we might find something that was larger," he said. Mr. Cook was also asked about how his leadership of Apple might differ from that of Mr. Jobs. He said that Mr. Jobs "drilled" into all Apple employees how everything at the company should revolve around making great products, and that he wouldn't tamper with that. "Apple is this unique company, unique culture that you can't replicate," Mr. Cook said. "I'm not going to witness or permit the slow undoing of it."

Happy Birthday Darrick Doerner (Date of Birth: February16, 1957)

Darrick Doerner's Sea Adventures: Surfing for over 46 years, research and development for some of surfing's best board shapers such as Dick Brewer, Gerry Lopez, Kiwi Allan Byrne, and Peter McCabe, just to name a few. Educational background in heavy water safety procedures and overseeing safety measures in many different aspects with the ocean. SEA Adventures is based off a lifetime of experience translated to better guide the novice to pro or corporte team building wave of the future. askganesha.com

Bangladeshis hack 20,000 Indian websites

A Bangladeshi hacker group Tuesday claimed to have attacked 20,000 Indian websites, including that of the Border Security Force (BSF), after the alleged killing of Bangladeshis by Indian border guards. The group calling itself 'Bangladesh Black HAT Hackers' wrote on its Facebook fan page: "India hacked our 400 sites in total, we hacked 20,000 sites in total since the war started." According to Xinhua, the group claimed the BSF website was damaged after being hacked. Last week, a group of hackers named "Indian Cyber Army" attacked the websites of five ministries in Bangladesh and that of a trade organisation. The Bangladeshi hackers said their action was in response to the alleged killings by BSF along the more than 4,000-km-long Indo-Bangladesh border. "We don't have any personal issues with Indians. But the brutality of BSF as well as Indian government has forced us to do this," the hackers wrote on Facebook.