Airtel signs as the title sponsor of Champions League Twenty20 for 5 years

New Delhi, July 30, 2009: In a historic first, Airtel, Asia's leading integrated telecom services provider, today signed up as the Title Sponsor of Champions League Twenty20 for a period of 5 years starting with the inaugural season in 2009. Airtel signed the deal today with ESPN STAR Sports, the commercial partners of Champions League T20. The first edition of the Champions League will be played in India starting October 08, 2009. A total 12 teams from 7 test playing nations will participate in the inaugural edition. The 16 day league will have 23 Twenty20 matches.


As part of this deal, Airtel will have rights to on ground title sponsorship for a period of 5 years. The tournament would be played across three venues - Bangalore, New Delhi and Hyderabad and will now be called Airtel Champions League Twenty20.


Commenting on this partnership, Shireesh Joshi, Director, Marketing, Bharti Airtel said - "We are delighted to announce our partnership with ESPN on the title sponsorship of Champions League Twenty 20 cricket tournament. We have seen a great synergy between our brand and cricket, since both cater and connect to a wide spectrum of consumer segments. This synergy combined with the success of the Twenty 20 format and the growing popularity of club cricket in India makes this a great opportunity for us to partner."


Speaking on the occasion, RC Venkateish, Managing Director, ESPN Software India Pvt Ltd, said, "We are delighted to have Airtel come on board as the title sponsor of the league. It is our privilege to have one of the world's leading integrated telecom services providers join hands with us and I extend a hearty welcome on behalf of the entire ESPN STAR Sports family. We have always believed that this league will stand out as a premier international cricket property in the annual calendar of International Cricket and this landmark partnership vindicates that stand. I am confident that together we will create a wonderful experience for the cricket fan and help make this tournament even bigger in the days to come."


Speaking on the occasion, Sundar Raman, Chief Executive Officer, Champions League Twenty20, said, "I am truly happy to have Asia's leading integrated telecom services provider Airtel as the title sponsor for the Champions League Twenty20. The tournament will feature the best of the best in Twenty 20 teams from across the world and is sure to enthrall the cricket loving fans in India and across the world."


About Airtel Champions League Twenty20

An initiative of three founding members - the Board of Control for Cricket in India, Cricket Australia and Cricket South Africa - the Airtel Champions League Twenty20 is a platform where the best-of-the-best in domestic club cricket in the world will get the opportunity to pit their cricketing skills against each other. The Airtel Champions League Twenty20 carries prize money of USD 6 Mn. ESPN STAR Sports are the commercial rights holders for Champions League Twenty20 for a period of 10 years. The first edition of the league will be played at three venues - Delhi, Hyderabad and Bangalore starting October 08, 2009.


The 12 teams participating in this event are:

Three teams from India (2 finalists and the top league finishing team),
The top 2 domestic T20 teams from South Africa, England and Australia
Domestic T20 Champions from New Zealand, West Indies and Sri Lanka.
The teams that have qualified and are eligible to play in the inaugural Champions League Twenty20 include the IPL 2009 winner the Deccan Chargers and the losing finalists the Royal Challengers Bangalore, who will be joined by the top league finishing team of Season 2009 the Delhi Daredevils. Other 2009 domestic finalists and winners include: Victorian Bushrangers and New South Wales Blues from Australia, Cape Cobras and Diamond Eagles from South Africa, Otago Volts from New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago from West Indies and Wayamba from Sri Lanka. England's Twenty20 Cup finalists will be decided on August 25, 2009.

Airtel CLT20 set to be True Tournament of Champions

Mumbai, August 27, 2009: The inaugural Airtel Champions League Twenty20 is set to be the True Tournament of Champions following the naming of the preliminary squads.

Of the 234 players nominated by the 12 teams, 110 (more than 47%) have already played international cricket for their respective countries.

If all of these players then go on to be included in their team's respective starting XIs for the tournament from October 8-23, then more than 80% of players taking the field at the Airtel Champions League Twenty20 will have played international cricket.

Illustrating the quality of the world-class squads that have been named, New South Wales Blues and the Delhi Daredevils will each be capable of playing a team wholly comprising of international players. Wayamba, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Victorian Bushrangers meanwhile have 10 internationals each in their ranks.

The other teams have equally impressive line-ups. Trinidad & Tobago and Sussex feature nine players with international experience, while the Cape Cobras and Deccan Chargers have eight, Otago has seven and the Diamond Eagles and Somerset have four apiece.

Lalit Modi, Chairman, Champions League Twenty20 Governing Council, said:

"The announcement of the preliminary squads ensures the first Airtel Champions League Twenty20 will be a true contest between the best of the best.

"A congregation of the world's best players, playing for the world's best domestic teams, vying for the ultimate prize to be crowned Champions - we could not have asked for anything more.

"The calibre of players named by the competing teams is extraordinary. We have World Cup champions, both in 50-over and Twenty20 cricket, international captains, legends of the game and some of the world's top-ranked players.

"I'm certain that cricket fans around the globe will be treated to truly amazing cricket at the inaugural Airtel CLT20 when the first ball is bowled on October 8 at Hyderabad."

Of the nine players eligible to play for multiple teams, only Dirk Nannes was nominated by two preliminary squads.

Dean Kino, Champions League Twenty20 Governing Council Member and Director of Legal and Business Affairs, said:

"Dirk Nannes who was nominated by both the Delhi Daredevils and the Victorian Bushrangers, has informed Airtel CLT20 that he will play for his 'away' team, the Delhi Daredevils, rather than his 'home' team, the Victorian Bushrangers."

"As a result, Delhi is required to pay US$200,000 compensation to Victoria according to Airtel CLT20 regulations.

"The other players who were eligible for multiple teams will compete for their 'home' teams in the tournament, while Dwayne Smith who was considered an 'away' player for both Deccan and Sussex, will represent his English team."

Teams now have until September 7 to trim their squads to 15 ahead of the tournament.

About Airtel Champions League Twenty20

An initiative of three founding members the Board of Control for Cricket in India, Cricket Australia and Cricket South Africa - the Airtel Champions League Twenty20 is a platform where the world's best domestic teams get the opportunity to pit their cricketing skills against each other. ESPN STAR Sports is the commercial rights holders for Champions League Twenty20 for a period of 10 years. The first edition of the league will be played at three venues -Delhi, Hyderabad and Bangalore -from 8-23 October, 2009.

Airtel Champions League Twenty20 Preliminary Squads

Trinidad and Tobago	Victorian Bushrangers	Delhi Daredevils	NSW Blues	Otago Volts	Cape Cobras
Daren Ganga	Cameron White	AB DeVilliers	Phillip Hughes	Craig Cumming	Graeme Smith
Sherwin Ganga	Bradley Hodge	Tilakratne Dilshan	Simon Katich	Brendon McCullum	Hershelle Gibbs
Dwayne Bravo	Peter Siddle	Gautam Gambhir	Brett Lee	Nathan McCullum	J P Duminy
Darren Bravo	David Hussey	Dirk Nannes	Nathan Bracken	Aaron Redmond	Justin Ontong
Denesh Ramdin	Andrew McDonald	Dinesh Kaarthik	Michael Clarke	Neil Broom	Charl Langeveldt
Ravi Rampaul	Jan Holland	Daniel Vittori	Stuart Clark	Ian Butler	Claude Henderson
Amit Jaggernauth	Clinton McKay	Glenn McGrath	Burt Cockley	Dimitri Mascarenhas	Monde Zondeki
LendI Simmons	James Pattinson	Ashish Nehra	Peter Forrest	Greg Todd	Vernon Philander
Dave Mohammed	Darren Pattinson	Amit Mishra	Moises Henriques	Hamish Rutherford	Henry Davids
Keiron Pollard	Robert Quiney	Virender Sehwag	Nathan Hauritz	Darek deBoorder	Karl Nieuwoudt
William Perkins	Matthew Wade	Manoj Tiwary	Brad Haddin	Nick Baird	Lenert van Wyk
Richard Kelly	Aiden Blizzard	Paul Collingwood	Doug Bollinger	Warren McSkimming	Ryan Canning
Samuel Badree	Aaron Finch	Owais Shah	Aaron Bird	Neil Wagner	Rory Kleinveldt
Rayad Emrit	Shane Harwood	Pradeep Sangwan	Mark Cameron	Matt Harvie	Richard Levi
Kevon Cooper	John Hastings	Aavishkar Salvi	Stephen O'Keefe	James McMillan	Sybrand Engelbrecht
Navin Stewart	Michael Hill	Umesh Yadav	Ben Rohrer	Shaun Haig	Stiaan van Zyl
Daron Cruickshank	Damien Wright	Yogesh Nagar	Steve Smith	William Sommerville	Andrew Puttick
Sunil Narine	Bryce McGain	Rajat Bhatia	Daniel Smith	Anthony Bullick	Derek Brand
Adrian Barath	William Sheridan	Vijaykumar YoMahesh	Dominic Thornely	Leighton Morgan	Gurshwin Rabie
Imran Khan		Mithun Manhas	David Warner	Shaun Eathorne	Francois Plaatjies
Wayamba	Sussex Sharks	Diamond Eagles	Somerset	RC Bangalore	Deccan Chargers
Jehan Mubarak	Matthew Prior	Boeta Dippenaar	Justin Langer	Anil Kumble	Adam Gilchrist
Mahela Jayawardene	Dwayne Smith	Dillion du Preez	Marcus Trescothick	Rahul Dravid	VVS Laxman
Ajantha Mendis	Luke Wright	Morne van Wyk	Zander de Bruyn	Robin Uthappa	Rohit Sharma
Rangana Herath	James Kirtley	Mthandeki Tshabalala	Omari Banks	Jacques Kallis	Andrew Symonds
MF Maharoof	Piyush Chawla	Adrian McLaren	James Hildreth	Ross Taylor	Fidel Edwards
Kaushlya Lokuarachchi	Michael Yardy	Ryan McLaren	Craig Kieswetter	Dale Steyn	Chamara Silva
Jeevantha Kulathunga	Ed Joyce	Victor Mpitsang	Pete Trego	Manish Pandey	Scott Styris
Mahela Udawatta	Ragheb Aga	Abraham Pienaar	Arul Suppiah	Praveen Kumar	Chaminda Vaas
Thisara Perera	Joe Gatting	Charl Pietersen	Alfonso Thomas	Jesse Ryder	RP Singh
Sameera Soysa	Robin Martin-Jenkins	Ryan Bailey	Max Waller	Roelof Van Der Merwe	Ryan Harris
Shalika Karunanayake	Christopher Liddle	Wendell Bossenger	Charl Willoughby	Mark Boucher	Pragyan Ojha
Isura Udana	William Beer	Jandre Coetzee	Wes Durston	Vinay Kumar	Y Venugopal Rao
Ishara Amerasinghe	Andrew Hodd	Con de Lange	Mark Turner	Virat Kohli	T Suman
Chanka Welagedera	Carl Hopkinson	Cornelis De Villiers	Steffan Jones	Shreevats Goswami	DB Ravi Teja
Michael Vandort	Oliver Rayner	Dean Elgar	Jos Buttler	Pankaj Singh	Arjun Yadav
	Christopher Nash	Reeza Hendricks	Michael Munday	Akhil Balachandra	Abhinav Kumar
	Ben Brown	Alan Kruger	Adam Dibble	Bhuvneshwar Kumar	Azhar Bilakhia
	Rory Hamilton-Brown	Rilee Rossouw	David Stiff	Saurabh Bandekar	Harmeet Singh
	Yasir Arafat	Aubrey Swanepoel	Robin Lett	Abhmanyu Mithun	SM Shoaib
	Chad Keegan	Shadley van Schalkwyk	Ben Philips	K.P. Appanna	P Vijay Kumar

Diaz Collection, Bed Design Ideas from Italians at Prealpi

Everyone could easily recognize that one of the most important element of a modern bedroom is the sharp statement of the contemporary designed bed, itself. Generated by talented folks over at Prealpi, the Diaz collection features a bunch of illuminated beds made of wood. Most of them come with a stylish reclining headboard and a very practical storage unit under, acting as additional support unit for the bed. They are available in Wenge oak, Cherry Oak, or Teak finished in white lacquer to sophisticatedly wrap it up, and other than looks, the beds are equipped with built-in lights to add to the room’s ambiance. –

Designing a bedroom could be a significant issue in re-designing your home. The problem might grow bigger if you have to do it for a child – a girl in particular. But worry no more, as we got some girls bedroom design ideas by the creative minds of those working with the Italian company, Pm4. They collaborate a charming classic ambiance into a contemporary manner through a unique color scheme. Most of the designs adopt an elegant but traditional design, with lovely curves and cushions, and lots of lacquered wood to set the a perfect mood for your little princesses. They look stunning!

Men With Angina Do Worse Than Women

Doubled rate of heart attack, tripled rate of death seen in study

THURSDAY, Aug. 6 (HealthDay News) -- New research shows that men diagnosed with the chest pain called angina did much worse than women, and neither artery-opening angioplasty nor coronary-bypass surgery reduced long-term mortality for either gender.

The study of 1,785 people newly diagnosed with angina at 40 primary-care practices in Scotland confirmed a previously reported difference between men and women that is something of a medical mystery, said Dr. Brian Buckley, a research fellow in the National University of Ireland department of general practice, and lead author of an Aug. 7 online report in BMJ.

The study, done in collaboration with physicians at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland, found that in the five years following the diagnosis, men were twice as likely to have a heart attack and three times more likely to die of a heart-related condition.

"A lot of practicing doctors would have a hunch that would be the case," Buckley said. "Reports of that difference actually go back about 10 years. We pretty well demonstrate that it is a reality."

Asked if he knew the reason for the difference, Buckley said, "I wish I did. We can't tell people why it is so. We need further research to get into the details of why men are doing worse than women."

Lifestyle factors clearly made a difference in outcome. Smoking doubled the risk of a heart attack and death from all causes, as did obesity, the study authors noted.

Men were more likely than women to have angioplasty or bypass surgery, but the study found no difference in survival for those who had either intervention.

"Bypass surgery does work for many people, there is no doubt about that," Buckley said. "Maybe people who have it should be chosen more carefully than they are. Angina is an early stage of heart disease. At that stage, maybe it doesn't have the effect that might help at a later stage."

The study does indicate the need for emphasizing "lifestyle risk factors and optimal medical [drug] treatment" after a diagnosis of angina, Buckley said.

"For many people, the important thing when they are diagnosed with angina is to look at their lifestyle and do what can be done about it," he said. "Medications to reduce blood pressure and cholesterol are good. If you could do that without drugs, so much the better. There are a lot of risk factors that can be managed, and when you do that you are avoiding heart attacks and deaths."

The findings should be interpreted cautiously, said Dr. Gregg C. Fonarow, a professor of medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles, and director of the Ahmanson-UCLA Cardiomyopathy Center. One reason is that a diagnosis of angina does not pinpoint the cause of the chest pain, he said.

"Angina is a lot of challenges," Fonarow said. "It can mean a lot of different things to a lot of different people."

And the study was observational, meaning that it dealt with all the people seen at the medical practices rather than being a controlled trial in which participants are carefully matched, he said. "Treatment was decided upon not by randomization but just by defining the condition," Fonarow said. "You need a randomized clinical trial to get definitive results."

But the difference in outcome between men and women appears real, although the reasons for it remain unknown, Fonarow said. "That simply hasn't been established," he said.

SOURCES: Brian Buckley, M.D., research fellow, National University of Ireland, Galway; Gregg C. Fonarow, M.D., professor, medicine, University of California, Los Angeles; Aug. 7, 2009, BMJ, online

HealthDay

Open heart surgery

This is a surgery in which the patient's chest is opened and surgery is performed on the heart. The term "open" refers to the chest, not to the heart itself. The heart may or may not be opened depending on the particular type of surgery. Surgeons realized the limitations of hypothermia - complex intracardiac repairs take more time and the patient needs blood flow to the body (and particularly the brain); the patient needs the function of the heart and lungs provided by an artificial method, hence the term cardiopulmonary bypass. Dr. John Heysham Gibbon at Jefferson Medical School in Philadelphia reported in 1953 the first successful use of extracorporeal circulation by means of an oxygenator, but he abandoned the method, disappointed by subsequent failures. In 1954 Dr. Lillehei realized a successful series of operations with the controlled cross-circulation technique in which the patient's mother or father was used as a 'heart-lung machine'. Dr. John W. Kirklin at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota started using a Gibbon type pump-oxygenator in a series of successful operations, and was soon followed by surgeons in various parts of the world.

Dr. Nazih Zudhi worked for four years under Drs. Clarence Dennis, Karl Karlson, and Charles Fries, who built an early pump-oxygenator. Zudhi and Fries worked on several designs and re-designs of Dennis' earlier model from 1952-1956 at the Brooklyn Center. Zuhdi then went to work with Dr. C. Walton Lillehei at the University of Minnesota. Lillehei had designed his own version of a cross-circulation machine, which came to become known as the DeWall-Lillehei heart-lung machine. Zudhi worked on perfusion and blood flow trying to solve the problem of air bubbles while bypassing the heart so the heart could be stopped for the operation. Zudhi moved to Oklahoma City, OK, in 1957, and began working at the Oklahoma University College. Zudhi, the heart surgeon, teamed up with Dr. Allen Greer, a lung surgeon and Dr. John Carey, forming a three man open heart surgery team. With the advent of Dr. Zudhi's heart-lung machine which was modified in size, being much smaller than the DeWall-Lillhei heart-lung machine, and with other modifications, reduced the need for blood down to a minimal amount, and the cost of the equipment down to $500.00 and also reduced the prep time from two hours to 20 minutes. Dr. Zudhi performed the first Total Intentional Hemodilution open heart surgery on Terry Gene Nix, age 7, on February 25, 1960, at Mercy Hospital, Oklahoma City, OK. The operation was a success; however, Nix died three years later in 1963.[7] In March, 1961, Zudhi, Carey, and Greer, performed open heart surgery on a child, age 3 1/2, using the Total Intentional Hemodilution machine, with success. That patient is still alive

Listening right kind of music lowers blood pressure?

Listening to the right kind of music can slow the heart and lower blood pressure, a study has revealed. Rousing operatic music full of crescendos and decrescendos is best and could help stroke rehabilitation, say the authors. Music is already used holistically at the bedside in many hospitals. Not only is it cheap and easy to administer, music has discernable physical effects on the body as well as mood, journal reports. Music with faster tempos increases breathing, heart rate and blood pressure, while slower-pace music does the reverse. Music induces a continuous, dynamic - and to some extent predictable - change in the cardiovascular system. What is your experience and observation?

Golf: Pakistan qualifies for World Cup, makes history

Muhammad Shabbir and Muhammad Munir etched their names in the history books as they guided Pakistan to their first Omega Mission Hills World Cup on Saturday. The unheralded Pakistani duo shot a superb three-under-par 68 in the final round foursomes at Seri Selangor Golf Club to finish third at the Asian qualifier, which was won by pre-tournament favourites Singapore.

"Pakistan have played in the cricket World Cup, hockey World Cup and squash World Cup, but never before in our history that we've been in golf's World Cup," said a delighted Munir. "I don't know how to describe how we feel right now. I'm sure everyone in Pakistan will be very happy," he added. Pakistan mixed their scorecard with four birdies against two bogeys before nailing a crucial final birdie on the 18th hole to seal a historic debut against the world's best.

Represented by Lam Chih Bing and Mardan Mamat, Singapore carded a closing 72 for a four-day total of 15-under-par 269 to finish one shot ahead of Philippines pair Mars Pucay and Angelo Que. The top three qualify for the World Cup, which takes place in China in November. A World Cup appearance continues to elude the Malaysian pair of Iain Steel and Danny Chia as they ended fourth after a battling 71 while Myanmar finished a further three strokes behind following a 74.

Pakistan to set up atomic power plants

Updated at: 1242 PST, Tuesday, April 28, 2009

KARACHI: Pakistan will set up power plants to produce 8800 Megawatt electricity, Chairman Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission Ansar Pervez said.

He said 585 acres land has been acquired in Karachi to build four power plants. The nuclear power plant project will be completed till 2030 for which funds have been allocated.

Review: Sansa Clip+ MP3 player

Back in November 2007 we reviewed Sansa’s first generation Clip MP3 player. At the time we found the size and sound quality to be solid and named it as a great competitor to the shuffle. Since that time SanDisk has continued to innovate in its Sansa line with products including the slotMusic player and slotRadio. Of course, Apple has also been innovating with the iPod shuffle.

While Apple continues to innovate on the shuffle front, even in its 4th generation, it fails to include an LCD screen. In addition, it’s still lacking any kind of memory card support.

Now we come to present day where today SanDisk announced the successor to the Clip: the Sansa Clip+ MP3 Player. Like its predecessor, the Clip+ still plays stored MP3s, but this time around the Clip+ ships with not only a variety of capacities (2GB to 8GB) but also the ability to support Sansa’s slotRadio and slotMusic cards, and also allow the user to use their own microSDHC cards in the device.

The Clip+ also received a makeover and this new version includes a power button instead of a power slider, a square navigation pad instead of a circular one, a dedicated home button, and a more rectangular look all around. As with its predecessor, it includes a built-in clip, hence its name.

For my test I took it out of the box, plugged in the included headphones and then powered it up. The manual recommends charging it first via the included USB cable, but my test unit came fully powered. I then navigated around and immediately started listening to some of the songs already stored on the device. I then cycled through the menu and tuned in an FM station and then performed a voice recording.

Throughout all of my testing the sound quality was spot on. The included headphones do a great job reproducing the sound, and even the voice recordings were acceptable. I did notice a high pitched noise but these aren’t meant to be professional recordings so even with the noise, the recording was more than adequate.

Of course, the biggest new feature of the Sansa Clip+ is its ability to play SlotRadio and slotMusic cards. SanDisk was kind enough to include the DailyMix slotRadio card, but unfortunately, because of its tight packaging, I actually snapped the microSD card in half, rendering it useless.

Luckily I had another slotRadio card available so I popped that in and was listening to it in moments. I also was able to navigate through the pre-propulated card using its themed playlists, including Workout, Country, R&B, and more. The LCD clearly displayed both the playlist title and the song title, which made for a great user experience.

The only complaint I have is in the packaging of the slotRadio cards. SanDisk includes both a case for the microSD card and the microSD card itself in the packaging, but doesn’t ship the microSD card in the holder itself. Instead, it’s floating at the top of the package in its own area. This is why it snapped in half since I had to open the package to get at this tiny little card. I think someone needs to take a closer look at the packaging since if someone who opens packages daily can snap it so easily, I can only imagine that the average consumer would snap it, too.

They should have shipped the slotRadio card inside the case (pictured above)

Overall, the Clip+ is a fantastic new entry from SanDisk and with it starting at just $39.99 for 2GB, and sporting the ability to use not only SanDisk’s slotRadio and slotMusic cards, but also your own microSD cards, it makes this a solid competitor in the MP3 space.