Fazny Zavahir: NASA is Building a ‘Solar Shield’ to Protect Power Grids from Space Weather

Solar Weather NASA/SDO

They’re out there, biding their time. Waiting patiently. And when you least expect it, they’re going to plunge you and everyone you care about into total darkness. Luckily, we can see solar storms coming from about 93 million miles away, and NASA is now in the process of creating a “Solar Shield” that should be able to minimize the damage to power grids caused by electromagnetic disturbances in the atmosphere and ground caused by foul weather on the sun.

The threat to power grids during bad solar weather is known as GIC, or geomagnetically induced current. When the sun ejects a huge coronal mass in our direction, the impact with our atmosphere shakes up Earth’s magnetic field. That generates electric currents from the upper atmosphere all the way down to the ground. These can cripple power grids, overloading circuits and in some cases melting heavy-duty transformers.

Those transformers are very necessary to keep the power flowing. They’re also expensive, irreparable in the field, and can take a year to replace. Meaning that a massive coronal ejection could knock down entire power grids for long stretches of time, grinding economies to a halt and making life more than a little inconvenient.

 But NASA has a plan to battle these blackouts with blackouts. If transformers are offline at the time the storm hits they will not be affected, so the trick is to figure out where and when a storm is going to hit before it reaches the atmosphere. To do that, NASA’s SOHO and two STEREO spacecraft identify a coronal mass ejection (CME) heading toward earth and create a 3-D image of it, allowing researchers to characterize its strength and determine when it will hit.

Depending on the intensity of the CME, the trip from sun to Earth can take 24-48 hours. NASA would track the CME across the sky, with the pivotal moment coming about 30 minutes prior to impact when the storm comes screaming past the ACE spacecraft, something like 930,000 miles from Earth. Sensors aboard ACE gather more data on the storm’s speed, magnetic field, and density that is fed into computer models at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

With less than 30 minutes until impact, NASA’s models calculate the places most likely to be impacted with dangerous GIC and utilities are notified so they can pull their grids offline. This will cause a blackout in the region, but only a temporary one. When the storm ends, the grids come back online and life goes on.

Solar Shield is experimental at this point, and its hard to know how successful it will be, mainly because it hasn’t had the trial by fire it needs to see if it works. Solar weather has been fairly quiet this year, so the team hasn’t been able to gather the data it needs. But considering we’re going into a period of increased solar activity (solar weather ebbs and flows cyclically) that will peak in 2013, Solar Shield will likely get its chance soon enough.

Fazny Zavahir: World’s No 1 energy player – GDF Suez’s Gérard Mestrallet

The boss of the largest utility company on the planet is sitting opposite me. He’s jolly, smiles a lot, French. We’re sitting in the Radisson Hotel at Canary Wharf. After he sees me, Gérard Mestrallet will journey to Stratford to the Olympic Park, where he will attend the unveiling of the new, super-green €90 million (£79 million) Energy Centre that will service the 2012 Games and beyond, all paid for by his behemoth of a company, GDF Suez.

The first company to sponsor the London Olympics, via its UK arm, was EDF, GDF’s archrival. Also French.

Two flag-wavers for London 2012, two global energy giants, both French. To rub it in, GDF just agreed last week to inject some of its foreign assets into International Power, the British firm. In the deal, GDF becomes a 70%-owner of the new International Power, making Mestrallet’s operation the world’s biggest, with annual turnover of $115 billion (£73.2 billion).

I cast my mind back, to the privatisations of the Eighties. Mrs Thatcher and her colleagues broke up our gas and electricity providers into lots of pieces. Gradually, many have been absorbed by larger foreign players. So today, we don’t have a truly major international energy player. And even our Olympics depend on French firms for some of their support.

“For the consumer, the UK system has not been so bad,” claims Mestrallet, in perfect but heavily French-accented English. “There’s been a completely open market where there is competition.” Behind his spectacles, his eyes twinkle and his lips form a grin. “But it’s true, most of the UK companies have been merged with foreign ones.”

Mestrallet has charm and dry wit in abundance. The middle of three brothers who all went into business, he originally trained as an aeronautical engineer, before attending France’s elite executive schools and joining what was Compagnie de Suez in 1984, helping to manage special projects.

Eleven years later he was its chairman and chief executive. Since then, he says, “We’ve made six mergers: Lyonnaise des Eaux, three cross-border including a very big Belgian company, Gaz de France two years ago and International Power this year. Now we’re the world’s largest utility. Starting from our original business model we have spread and now we’ve reached critical size.” So no more takeovers then? “I never said that,” he replies laughing.

The heart of the Brit across the table sinks lower. You can forget your North-West this and Southern that. Somebody somewhere — probably among the legion of highly paid advisers and supposed visionaries that Mrs T employed — seriously screwed up.

For all his laidback persona, Mestrallet is calculating and deliberate. Combining with Gaz de France took him the best part of seven years to achieve and required the privatisation of Gaz de France which had been nationalised since 1945. The French government asked to have a 35% stake in the combined group.

Mestrallet, who was working on them with his dream of a French world-beating energy giant, readily agreed. “You know, it wasn’t the government’s idea to create an international energy champion. It was my idea. But the [French] government accepted it.” EDF is also part-owned by the French state.

To be fair, Mestrallet had been adviser to Jacques Delors but even so, would our lot at Westminster have agreed to such a deal? Would the UK government have kept a strategic hold? We had our “champions” too once, remember? British Telecom, British Airways, BP, British Gas, British Aerospace… None of them is now the world’s best in class.

It’s doubtful whether our City, too, would have tolerated the softly-softly approach of Mestrallet. That, plus the presence of the Government as a major shareholder would have been a significant turn-off.

The International Power marriage took two years of persuasion, talking and selling to investors. “We knew International Power very well because we were in the same parts of the Middle East together. We had lots of international bits in common. We pushed the idea to merge, to become one entity, with a still-listed International Power but under our control.”

Next in his UK sights is nuclear. GDF Suez is part of a consortium looking to build a nuclear plant at Sellafield, one of eight given the go-ahead this week by the Government.

His strategy for GDF Suez is simple. “We want to be the single energy provider to our customers, fulfilling all their energy needs, so we’re one-third electricity, one-third natural gas and one-third other forms of energy [hydro, nuclear] and environmental services. We consider that energy mix to be very important.” He displays a certain frustration when discussing European energy policy.

“Europe has not yet chosen what the future is to be for CO2 emissions. I’m not sure the Cancun summit [next month] will give the players sufficient clarity on future CO2. We’re ready to press ahead with whatever is required. But we can also wait several years where Europe is concerned, and in the meantime, we will invest somewhere else [such as Brazil where GDF Suez is building a huge hydro-electric dam].”

Adds Mestrallet: “We invest 11 billion a year worldwide. Where Europe is concerned we have time, we’re not in a hurry.” Either way, he is not bothered. “With respect, to quote what you said about me taking my time, I can wait.”

Europe, too, is suffering, compared with other parts of the world. “I’m relatively confident in the capacity of the Europeans to deal with the number of constraints they’ve brought upon themselves. Nonetheless, growth in Europe will be reduced compared with the emerging nations. It’s inevitable that countries such as China, India, Brazil and Indonesia are trying to catch-up. It does not mean that’s got nothing to do with companies in Europe — it means groups that concentrate on efficiency like ours have plenty to offer them.”

No longer is it the role of a company like his, he maintains, only to supply electricity or gas — they now have to provide systems for energy saving as well as supply. “At GDF Suez, we’ve got 80,000 people around the world in a special division dedicated to greater energy efficiency.”

To that end, he’s extremely proud of its “tri-generation” system installed in urban agglomerations around the world and now at the Olympic Park. Electrical power is produced from natural gas; the heat generated is recovered as hot water which is then circulated around the community. Surplus heat is also used to chill water, providing a cooling service
to buildings.

It’s all done by a network of pipes, thus removing the need for those ugly and inefficient air-conditioning boxes on the outside of buildings. “It stops the air conditioning contributing to the external temperature — in Chongqing in China, a city of 33 million people, where it reaches 40 degrees in summer, they reckon three degrees of that comes from the air conditioning.”

That technology is now coming to the Olympic Park. If the games had gone to Paris, his company would have been a major backer. They’ve come to
London and it still is. “We’re very proud to be involved in London 2012,” he says, beaming.
It’s a win-win — of the sort that Mestrallet and his colossus of a company have become used to

Fazny Zavahir: First U.S. Offshore Wind Farm Gets a Step Closer

After nine years of political wrangling, the U.S. is finally getting its first offshore wind project. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar this week signed the 28-year lease for Cape Wind, a $1 billion, 130-turbine project in the Nantucket Sound that could provide up to 75% of all electricity for Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, and Nantucket. But the signing of the lease isn’t the last hurdle Cape Wind has to clear. It’s not even close.

Opponents of the 25-square-mile project argue that Cape Wind could raise electricity prices for local residents (because of the cost of electrical grid and transmission line improvements), block airplane radar, and ruin the local landscape. The Cape Wind project still has to deal with a number of lawsuits from these opposing groups, and developers still haven’t received approval for contracts to start construction by the end of the year. Meanwhile, the project is in the midst of a deal with the National Grid utility to buy half of Cape Wind’s power.

Assuming all those hurdles are cleared, the project developers still needs to get the Cape Wind operating plan approved by federal regulators before they can break out the shovels. But if the rest of the red tape can be overcome, Cape Wind will be online by 2012–potentially generating an average output of 182 megawatts, or enough to power 70,000 homes. We’ll still be lagging behind China, of course.

Fazny Zavahir | Solar industry shows it is gaining power

Studies point to a bright future as one of the industry’s biggest events draws thousands to the Los Angeles Convention Center.

The amount of electricity generated by new solar installations this year is expected to be twice as much as the capacity added last year, enough to power 200,000 more homes, bolstering the market for clean-tech jobs, according to several studies unveiled this week.

The studies — all timed to the solar trade show at the Los Angeles Convention Center, one of the industry’s largest — are painting a rosy outlook for the renewable energy industry.

One of them, slated for release Wednesday, said that over the next year more than half the solar companies expect to hire more employees, boosting the nation’s solar workforce 26%. The study by the Solar Foundation, a Washington, D.C., nonprofit group, said 93,000 people work in the solar energy industry in the U.S.

The report comes as at least 27,000 people are expected to pass through the Solar Power International convention, which organizers bill as the biggest solar trade show in North America. More than a thousand companies are exhibiting.

When the conference launched in 2003, just a thousand people showed up to visit 100 exhibitors. The event has boomed each year since, and last month it was named by Trade Show Executive magazine as the convention with the most dramatic growth.

The domestic solar market has grown more than 50% each year over the last decade, said Rhone Resch, president of the Solar Energy Industries Assn., a trade group co-sponsoring the convention with the Solar Electric Power Assn. “Now we’re reaching a scale where we make a difference,” he said.

Resch noted that the largest solar installations, which produced just 500 kilowatts earlier in the decade, now exceed 500 megawatts, or enough to power 100,000 homes. “There is literally no limit to the size and the growth rate of solar in the United States,” he said.

Much of the growth has occurred in California, according to the Solar Energy Industries Assn. Well over half the U.S. solar industry’s $6-billion value is based in the state, the association said. The trade group chose Los Angeles because “it’s the epicenter of the solar energy market,” Resch said.

But for the next three years, the convention is heading east, with plans to move to Dallas, then Orlando, Fla., and Chicago.

Other states are stepping up efforts to have solar companies locate projects and open manufacturing plants away from California. Global competition is heating up as well, with several Asian and German companies exhibiting at the convention.

Chinese and Taiwanese manufacturers, for instance, produced 80% of the crystalline silicon cells used in solar panels in the third quarter of 2010, a report from research group Solarbuzz said.

Pacquiao on why the Mayweather fight didn’t happen – Fazny Zavahir

Pacquiao on why the Mayweather fight didn’t happen

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/video/player/box/YSports_Boxing/18488636#box/YSports_Boxing/18488636 

Cricket World Cup Viewership Tops World Series Baseball

India beats Sri Lanka in 2011 Cricket World Cup. Over 66 million people tuned in to watch, more than four times the number of people who tuned into watch the 2010 MLB World Series.

India is still celebrating its Cricket World Cup victory against Pakistan on Monday and their media is full of stories of players “believing” in themselves, and of photos of Bollywood babes in dark shades cheering on the national team.  But while no “true” American has any idea what Cricket is, other than the fact it looks a helluva lot like Tee ball, the Cricket World Cup television ratings broke records.  Granted, India is a nation of 1.2 billion people, with more than 25% of them living on less than $2 a day. That probably means they have to go over a friends house or the local bar and watch cricket games on other people’s TV sets.  Still, it’s a lot of people.

Nevertheless…a record breaking 67.6 million of those people watched the four hour long final on Saturday, April 2.  It was India’s M.A.S.H. moment.

By comparison, just 15.5 million people watched game four of the 2010 World Series, which was the most watched of the five game series.  One of the most watched MLB World Series games in the 2000’s was game 7 of the 2001 New York Yankes vs  Arizona Diamondbacks series. Around 39 million people tuned in to watch an upstart Arizona team beat the Yankees.

Cricket is to American baseball what Rugby is to American football. And while Cricket title games command more viewers than our own unique version of the game, the NFL’s Superbowl Sunday is unrivaled. It’s watched by nearly 100 million each year.  The 2011 Superbowl between the Green Bay Packers and the Pittsburgh Steelers brought in 111 million viewers, a record.

US fans keeping up with cricket World Cup online

With interest in the cricket World Cup revving up Wednesday, the online video that’s a boon for fans in the United States slowed down.

Shiek Mohamed, webmaster for newyorkcricket.com, was watching the India-Pakistan semifinal when, for the first time during the tournament, he noticed the stream was a bit slow.

“There were just so many people looking at it,” he said.

For a sport not in the mainstream in the U.S., the onward evolution of technology makes all the difference. Fans can watch the World Cup on television if they order a package through a satellite provider.

Or they don’t need a TV at all. And when the event is on the other side of the world, with start times that aren’t exactly in prime time, those newfangled devices come in especially handy.

Fans can watch on their computers, but even that’s seeming a bit old-fashioned compared to the latest developments. They can now keep up with the action on smartphones and tablets. They can also use Internet video systems to follow the stream on their television sets.

Willow TV, which owns the rights to broadcast the World Cup in the U.S., has about 100,000 users with Web and mobile access, said Sagnik Roy, head of marketing and sales.

There are about 70,000 subscribers to the pay-per-view TV, which he believes represents many more people than that number because fans tend to watch in large groups.

Willow executives have been surprised by how much the mobile devices are being used, even when there other viewing options. It seems people will watch on a smartphone in bed in the morning instead of turning on the TV, Roy said.

“They’re not just watching for 15-20 minutes at a time,” he said. “People are watching for 3-4 hours.”

 

Hyundai Verna RB for every member of the Cricket World Cup wining squad!

Hyundai, the main sponsor of the ICC Cricket World Cup has announced that each member of the Indian Cricket Team shall be gifted the 2011 Hyundai Verna RB if they win the final. And now Hyundai keeps its commitment.

The Hyundai Verna RB, which is scheduled to hit the Indian roads in May this year, comes with power of 122 bhp and 156Nm of torque as is something worth looking forward to. And now with the Indian team winning the cup one can finally preview the car even before its launch here.

 

 

Nike Unites Behind Indian Cricket Team – Fazny Zavahir

If you haven’t heard, the Indian national cricket team recently won their sport’s World Cup. You probably didn’t care, as cricket is just baseball with more confusing rules, a lack of 500-foot homeruns and no steroid perjury trials. But this year, as ESPN carried coverage on its website and provided recaps on SportsCenter as well as Pardon the Interruption among other shows, there seemed to be an increased interest in the battle between India and Pakistan.

Well, Nike is doing its part to capitalize on the fanfare by teaming up with JWT Bangalore to knock out this ad just one day after India’s win. Directed by Green Dot Films’ Omri Cohen, the spot, called “United by Blue,” features shots of actual crowds watching the game as well as the celebration afterwards. We’re not sure if and when we’ll ever see real-time cricket excitement like this again. Oh wait, maybe 2015. Now can someone tell us the rules again? Credits after the jump…

Director: Omri Cohen, Green Dot Films
Agency: JWT Bangalore
ECD: Senthil Kumar
Production Company: Hello Robot, Mumbai, India
DP: John Jacob
Editorial/VFX Company: Hello Robot
Editor: Rachit & Armon

Fazny Zavahir: Don’t throw in the towel over dew problem, Swann told

West Indies skipper Darren Sammy has a rather elementary solution to the dew problem that is driving English spinner Graeme Swann nuts, get a towel.

Struggling to grip a wet ball during Friday’s defeat by Bangladesh, Swann swore in frustration and went on to complain about the dew factor.

Ahead of Thursday’s World Cup Group B match against the English side who badly need to win it to stay afloat in the tournament, Sammy said his spinners would not have any such complaints.

“Dew or not, the way my bowlers have been performing, I think they managed it quite well,” Sammy told reporters at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Wednesday.

“To the complaining part of Swann…if there is dew, just get a towel and wipe the ball, simple,” he said, with a chuckle.

The all-rounder spoke highly of the English off-spinner but insisted his batsmen would not let him dominate Thursday’s proceedings.

“He has been England’s premier bowler and is in the top 10 in the world. Obviously what he has done in the past two years, nobody can question. We have utmost respect for what he does,” he said.

“We will play him accordingly, showing the respect he deserves. But at the end of the day, he’s still a human and we have batsmen equally capable of dominating. All in all, it will be a good contest.”

Sammy, whose side are in the running for a quarter-final spot after three successive wins, also wondered if some of the English players were not homesick after a long season.

“It’s good time to play England,” he said, flashing an illuminating smile.

“Obviously they have been on the road for a long time … That’s something that would be on their mind. In order to stay in India, they got to win, or maybe some of them want to go home to their families,” he said, chuckling again.

The West Indies captain said Chris Gayle, who missed the victory against Ireland with an abdominal strain, has been cleared for Thursday’s match.

“It’s a massive boost for us to have him back. He’s a key player for the team. The physio said he should be fit to go. We welcome him back in the squad,” Sammy said

ICC – CWC 2011 Points Table – 18th March 2011 | Fazny Zavahir

TEAM STANDINGS – 18th March 2011

Group A
Team          P    W    L    T    NR      PTS     NRR           CI*
AUS            5    4    0    0    1           9          +1.693     201
NZ              5    4    1    0    0           8          +1.957     169
PAK            5    4    1    0    0           8          +0.729    188
SL              5    3    1    0    1            7         +2.705     185
ZIM            5    1    4    0    0            2         -0.669      122
CAN           6    1    5    0    0            2         -1.987       57
KEN           5    0    5    0    0           0          -3.005      60

Group B
Team         P    W   L     T   NR        PTS        NRR             CI*
SA              5      4   1     0      0          8          +1.606         183
IND           5      3   1      1      0          7          +0.768        173
ENG          6      3   2      1      0          7          +0.072        181
WI             5      3   2      0     0          6           +1.650         112
BAN          5      3   2     0      0          6            -0.765         146
IRE            5      1   4     0      0          2           -0.881           42
NED          5      0   5     0      0          0           -2.386          55

*CI: Castrol Index. The Castrol Index objectively analyses and ranks player and team performance adopting a comprehensive approach towards the game

http://cricket.yahoo.com/

CWC 2011 VENUE

Eden Gardens – Kolkata
Established in 1864, the world-famous ground is the country’s biggest cricket venue and had initially a seating capacity of 120,000 before renovations reduced it to its current capacity of 90,000. It hosted its first Test in 1934 between India and England, and the first ODI was played here between India and Pakistan in 1987.

The ground is famous for its passionate and vocal crowd and has previously hosted the ICC Cricket World Cup in 1987 and 1996. The venue was witness to some famous individual feats including Harbhajan Singh becoming the first-ever Indian bowler to capture a Test hat-trick against Australia in March 2001 and Kapil Dev’s ODI hat-trick against Sri Lanka in January 1991.

Feroz Shah Kotla – Delhi
Established in 1883, the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium, formerly known as Willingdon Pavilion, is run by Delhi & Districts Cricket Association (DDCA) and is named after Feroz Shah Tughlaq of the Tughlaq dynasty from the 14th century. It held its first official match on November 10, 1948 between India and West Indies. The stadium with a seating capacity of 48,000 has also hosted the 1987 and 1996 ICC Cricket World Cups.

Anil Kumble famously took his 10 Test wickets in an innings on this ground in 1999 against Pakistan. In 1983-84, Sunil Gavaskar scored his 29th century to equal Don Bradman’s long standing record for the highest number of hundreds in Test cricket. In 2005-06, Sachin Tendulkar broke Gavaskar’s record of most centuries with his 35th Test century in this venue.

Wankhede Stadium – Mumbai
Established in 1974, the stadium is located less than a mile away from Brabourne Stadium. Its seaside proximity assists swing bowlers during the early part of each day. It is currently being rebuilt ahead of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011.

The first Test in the ground was played in January 1975 between India and West Indies. The venue has played host to ICC Cricket World Cup 1987 and 1996.

M. A.Chidambaram Stadium – Chennai
The venue, better known as Chepauk Stadium, was established in 1916, and has a capacity of 50,000. The first Test was played here in February 1934 between India and England and the stadium has also hosted the 1987 and 1996 ICC Cricket World Cups. The first-ever Ranji Trophy match between Mysore and Tamil Nadu was also played here.

Pakistan’s Saeed Anwar scored his famous knock of 194 against India in the Independence Cup match in 1997 at the same venue. India’s Virender Sehwag produced his classic triple-hundred at this venue in the 2008 Test between India and South Africa.

The stadium is also recognised for the sporting behaviour of its crowd, which is reputed to be one of the most knowledgeable and appreciative in the country.

Punjab Cricket Association Stadium – Mohali
The 30,000-seat venue was established in 1993, and was transformed from a swamp with deep ravines into one of India’s top sporting venues in the space of just two years. The first official match played here was an ODI between India and South Africa in November 1993. It was the venue for the thrilling ICC CWC 1996 semi-final in 1996 when Australia beat the West Indies by five runs.

The pitch initially assisted pace bowlers, especially in Test matches, but it has subsequently settled down to become a batsman’s paradise. West Indies’ Jimmy Adams has fond memories of the ground , in 1994, he scored 174 not and 78 not out, leading his side to victory by 243 runs.

The venue is considered to be one of the best in the country, with world-class facilities for practice, spectators as well the media.

Vidharba Cricket Association Stadium – Nagpur
This stadium, with a seating capacity of 45,000, was established in 2008 and boasts some of the best facilities in the country for players, spectators and media. Built over 35-acres of land, the venue is located 20 kilometres from the city center.

The first official match played here was the fourth Test between India and Australia in November 2008. The Vidarbha Cricket Association subsequently installed floodlights in the stadium for the day and night ODI series against Australia in 2009-10. The ground also hosted the second ODI between India and Sri Lanka in December 2009 when the venue was shifted from Vishakhapatnam due to security reasons.

Sardar Patel Stadium – Ahmedabad
Also known as Motera, the stadium was established in 1982 and is built on the banks of the Sabarmati River on the outskirts of Ahmedabad. Located on a 50-acre site, it took only nine months to construct the 48,000-seater stadium.

The first match played here was the third Test between India and West Indies in November 1983. The venue also hosted the first match of the ICC Cricket World Cup 1996 between India and Zimbabwe in October 1987.

The venue has witnessed some memorable Indian feats including Sunil Gavaskar achieving 10,000 Test runs against Pakistan in 1986-87, and Kapil Dev claiming his 432nd victim to break Richard Hadlee’s record as leading Test wicket-taker.

M. Chinnaswamy Stadium – Bangalore
Established in 1969, the venue was originally named as Karnataka State Cricket Association Stadium and eventually renamed after M Chinnaswamy, who was the president of the Indian board from 1977 until 1980.

The stadium was given Test status in 1974-75 and hosted West Indies in the opening match, although the stadium was only half-built. That match was also the debut of two West Indian greats, Gordon Greenidge and Viv Richards.

The venue, with a capacity of 50,000, has also hosted ICC CWC matches in 1987 and 1996 including the fierce CWC quarterfinal between India and Pakistan in March 1996.

R. Premadasa Stadium – Colombo
Established in 1986, the venue, named after former Sri Lanka president Ranasinghe Premadasa, was earlier named Khettarama Stadium. It is the biggest stadium in the country and was built on swampland previously used by monks ferrying across to the Khettarama temple adjacent to the stadium.

The 35,000-seater venue hosted its first official match with the ODI between Sri Lanka and New Zealand played on April 1986. The first Test was played between Sri Lanka and Australia in September 1992.

A new training centre was developed behind the stadium with 16 practice pitches and dormitories for the Academy which started in 2003.

Pallekele Cricket Stadium – Kandy
The venue is being built exclusively for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 and will host three CWC matches.

Pallakele was acquired by SLC in 2006 for developing it into an international venue with lights so that international cricket matches can be hosted. The venue has already hosted an U19 match between Pakistan and Bangladesh, during the tri-series in late 2009.

The project, to be built at an estimated cost of $3.93 million, will have a capacity of 25,000 and would also be beneficial for schools around the area.

Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium, Sooriyawewa, Hambantota
Established in 2009, the venue is being built exclusively for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 and will host two CWC matches. Sri Lanka Cricket considered building new venues when existing grounds like Galle, SSC and P Sara Oval, did not qualify for having capacity crowds of less than 20,000.

The project to build an international cricket stadium in Hambantota with lights was approved in 2006 by Sri Lanka Cricket. The entire cost of the stadium is estimated to be US$7.86 million and is expected to be ready by August 2010.

Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium – Chittagong
The venue is also known as Chittagong Divsional Stadium and previously known as Bir Shrestha Shahid Ruhul Amin Stadium. Situated about half-an-hour outside the city centre, the stadium was one of the five purpose-built cricket grounds established in the run-up to the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2004.

Spectators can enjoy both cricket and breathtaking beauty of the Bay of Bengal simultaneously for the wonderful location of the stadium. It was granted full international status in January 2006, ahead of Sri Lanka’s visit to the country.

Sher-e-Bangla Cricket Stadium – Dhaka
Established in 2006, the venue was named after AK Fazlul Haque – the country’s renowned leader and has a seating capacity of 25,000. The stadium will host the opening ceremony of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011.

The first official match played here was the ODI between Bangladesh and Zimbabwe in December 2008 and the ground was granted as Test venue status in 2007

Fazny Zavahir: Miracles And Mediocrities, Shocks And Shockers In A Tale Of Two Groups

We have finally reached the half way point in the group stages and this World Cup is shaping up to be a tournament of contrasts, the most obvious of which is that between the two groups.

 

Currently group B resembles a seven man all-in wrestling bout that the Dutch, as conscientious objectors, are boycotting. This scrap could go all the way. After all, the Irish have beaten the English who edged past the South Africans who walloped the West Indies who trounced Bangladesh who overcame the Irish. Only India are unbeaten but they still contrived to tie with England.

 

England, briefly top of the group, can be sent packing if they lose to Bangladesh and West Indies. Ireland can still qualify if they beat the Netherlands and West Indies. Bangladesh have turned in some dreadful performances themselves both on and off the pitch (if the supporters can’t even identify the right bus to stone it’s a bit rich to have a go at the players), but can still go through if they beat England and England in turn lose to West Indies. Had Ireland not thrown away a winning position against Bangladesh they would be virtually in the quarter finals already. I’m sure India will have much easier games ahead than the one they endured on Sunday at Bangalore.

 

In short for those of you not keeping up, Group B is thrilling and a testament both to the beguiling powers of the lesser nations and the enduring appeal of cricket played over the longer limited overs format. Who knows? At this rate the cricket authorities may even come up with some mad cap crazy idea to lengthen the sport even further; maybe to five days and scrap the limitation on overs altogether. Think how much fun that could be.

 

By contrast, Group A has been a marathon yawn-fest. True, Pakistan did spring a surprise by overturning Sri Lanka in Colombo, but Zimbabwe, Canada and the epically dreadful Kenyans have produced cricket of such startlingly woeful quality that any sense of jeopardy, sporting thrill and tension is almost entirely absent from their matches against the test playing teams notwithstanding Pakistan’s generous attempts to make a game of it for half the match against Canada.

 

There is, I suppose, a certain curiosity in watching the mightily proportioned Canadian, Balaji Rao, propel his tweakers off an energy saving four pace “run up”. And Zimbabwe’s battery of spinners seem to span the generations from the baby faced Utseya, through 80′s look a like Graeme Cremer all the way up to the craggy Ray Price who I swear was hawking nylons and black market butter to struggling housewives between air raids in the London blitz of 1940. But Kenya appear to be going nowhere with a team kept in cold storage since the last World Cup.

 

The only mildly diverting cricketing issues yet to be settled in Group A remain the final placings for the pre-ordained top four. Sri Lanka, by losing to Pakistan and having their match against Australia rained off will now struggle to make the top 2 unless New Zealand overcome the Pakistanis. How that will affect the final matches in Group B is anyone’s guess.

 

As an England fan I would far rather face NZ or Pakistan in the quarter finals than Sri Lanka so finishing third in Group B might best be avoided if possible.

 

Of the major nations the surprises for me have been New Zealand’s general frailty with the bat, the West Indies’ consistency and Australia’s continuing dominance; though perhaps I should also add England’s startling propensity for producing the best matches and Pakistan’s failure to lose at least one game through terrible fielding.

 

New Zealand on paper look a tough one day outfit but Ryder, Taylor and McCullum have failed to click. My colleague on Test Match Sofa, Jarrod Kimber, wrote off the Kiwis from day one, but then he’s Australian. Annoyingly he looks to be right.

 

Kemar Roach is covering up a lot of mediocrity in the West Indies’ bowling attack but with Darren Bravo and Chris Gayle finding the big shots, they could be the surprise package of the tournament.

 

As for Australia they just keep rolling on despite an unbalanced and inappropriate side for the conditions. They are also burdened with some of the zaniest selectors outside North Korea. In a stunningly bizarre move, the injured left arm fast bowler Doug Bollinger has been replaced in the squad by the previously hamstrung left handed middle order batsman and President of The Society For Earnest Foreheads, Mike Hussey. Like for like? Well, I suppose they’re both Australian, both left handed and both play cricket.

 

So far they’ve barely been tested, of course, with South Africa and India absent from their group and the heavens opening in Colombo. But whilst an India v Sri Lanka final would satisfy the advertisers and neutrals alike, natural pessimism tells me they could yet go all the way, much to the bottomless chagrin of an already troubled world.

 

source: http://cricket.yahoo.com/cricket/blog/danielnorcross/30/30danielnorcross

 

Fazny Zavahir: LinkedIn starts social news service today

LinkedIn Today is the latest feature the company is rolling out to make its website more popular as it prepares to go public. The service will let users tap into articles that are being shared by their connections.

LinkedIn Corp. unveiled a social news service Thursday in an effort to broaden its appeal to the more than 90 million people who use the professional network as it prepares to become the first in what is likely to be a string of high-profile social networks going public in coming months.

LinkedIn Today is the latest feature the Mountain View, Calif., company has rolled out to make its website a more popular destination. The service will let users tap into articles that are being shared by their connections or by people in their industries.

LinkedIn, which makes money through advertising and by offering premium services, is popular with job hunters, but user activity on the site has lagged behind that of others. In its prospectus for an initial public offering, LinkedIn warned that a “substantial majority” of its users don’t visit the website on a monthly basis.

The company is betting that offering users a personalized stream of news will lure them to spend more time on the site.

LinkedIn says it will have an edge in aggregating news for time-strapped professionals as it goes up against heavyweights such as Google Inc. Already professionals have been sharing content on the website by connecting their Twitter account to their LinkedIn account.

“When we make truly life-changing decisions, we don’t use search; we rely on the people we trust,” said Deep Nishar, LinkedIn’s senior vice president of products and user experience.

LinkedIn filed for the public offering in January but did not say how much it planned to raise or when it planned to do it. The move heightened expectations for the professional networking site, which is under pressure to demonstrate that it can engage its users as other social networking sites such asFacebook Inc. and Twitter Inc. compete for their time and attention.

LinkedIn’s chief executive, Jeff Weiner, said his company was rolling out products aimed at “changing the way people work” by becoming their “professional profile of record” and offering tools that deliver information that is relevant to their professional lives. Those tools include a mapping service that shows users their professional connections.

“It’s a big change for LinkedIn because they have always been really good at collecting data but haven’t been as good at presenting insights to their users,” said Susan Etlinger, a consultant with research firm Altimeter Group. “Now they are trying to understand the implications of the data they are collecting and use that to provide value back to their users.”