Monday, May 30, 2011

UEFA Champions League

The UEFA Champions League is a cup competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe.
The tournament consists of several stagesand in the present format it begins in mid-July with three knockout qualifying rounds and a play-off round. The 10 surviving teams join 22 seeded teams in the group stage, in which there are 8 groups consisting of 4 teams each. The 8 group winners and 8 runners-up enter the final knockout phase, which ends with the final match in May.

The title has been won by 21 different clubs, 12 of which have won the title more than once.

The all-time record-holders are Real Madrid who have won the competition 9 times.

UEFA Champions League Cup

Champions League logo

The 2011–12 UEFA Champions League was the 57th season of Europe's Premier Club Football Tournament and the 20th under the current UEFA Champions League format.

The 2010–11 UEFA Champions League was the 56th season of Europe's Premier Club Football Tournament and the 19th under the current UEFA Champions League format. The Final was held at Wembley Stadium in London on May 28,2011,

where Barcelona defeated Manchester United 3–1.Both teams entered the competition having won it 3 times previously.
Manchester United in 1968,1999 and 2008
Barcelona in 1992,2006 and 2009

Barcelona won the match 3–1, with goals from Pedro Rodriguez,Lionel Messi and David Villa

Wayne Rooney scored for Manchester United to level the score going into half-time.

Pedro scores the opening goal for Barcelona against Manchester United

Wayne Rooney celebrates scoring the equalising goal with teammates

Lionel Messi celebrates scoring his teams second goal against Manchester United

David Villa celebrates scoring the third goal for Barcelona against Manchester United

Barcelona players celebrate after victory in the UEFA Champions League final

Winners Barcelona celebrate with the Champions League trophy, their second triumph in three years

Prize Money For Winners of the UEFA Champions Cup

€30.7million – the total prizemoney the winning club will pick up from UEFA

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Australia

The world australia is derived from Latin australis, meaning "southern".
The country has been referred to colloquially as Oz since the early 20th century.
Australia is officially the Commonwealth of Australia.

Australia is a country comprising the mainland of the Australian Continent the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans.Australia is the world's smallest continent and 6th largest country in the world by land area.

History

The first inhabitants of Australia were the Aborigines, who migrated there at least 40,000 years ago from Southeast Asia.A British penal colony was set up at Port Jackson (what is now Sydney) in 1788, and about 161,000 transported English convicts were settled there until the system was suspended in 1839. Free settlers and former prisoners established six colonies which later become states and in 1901 federated into the Commonwealth of Australia. In the 2006 Australian census, the most commonly nominated ancestry was Australian (37.13%), followed by English (32%), Irish Scottish (8%), Italian (4%), German (4%), Chinese (3%), and Greek (2%).

Most of the estimated 22 million(as per 2011 population estimate) Australians are descended from colonial-era settlers and post-Federation immigrants from Europe.Nearly three quarters of Australians live in metropolitan cities and coastal areas.Fewer than 15% of Australians live in rural areas.

States and Territories

Australia has 6 States namely -

New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, and Western Australia

Australia has 2 major mainland territories—the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory (ACT)

Each state and the 2 major mainland territory has its own parliament—unicameral in the Northern Territory, the ACT, and Queensland, and bicameral in the other states.

Main Cities

(1) Sydney(NSW) - is the largest and most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales.The three commercial television networks (Seven, Nine, Ten), as well as the government national broadcast services (ABC and SBS) are headquartered in Sydney.Sydney is home to some of Australia's most prominent educational institutions.The University of Sydney, established in 1850, is Australia's oldest university.

University of Sydney

(2) Melboune (Victoria) - is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia.

The Royal Exhibition Building in Melbourne is the 1st building in Australia to be listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2004

Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG)

The first ever official cricket Test match was played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in March 1877 and the Melbourne Cricket Ground is the largest cricket ground in the world.

It is the tenth largest stadium in the world and holds the world record for the highest light towers at any sporting venue.On 30 January 2009, the MCG was named as one of the seven wonders of the sporting world

An aerial view of the Melbourne Cricket Ground

(3) Brisbane (Queensland) - is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane is named after the river on which it sits which, in turn, was named after Sir Thomas Brisbane, the Governor of New South Wales from 1821 to 1825.

(4) Perth ( WA) - is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia.

The Round House built in 1830 is the oldest remaining building on mainland Western Australia.

Burswood Entertainment Complex where the Resort, Dome, Theatre and Casino venues are located.

(5) Adelaide (SA) - Capital of Australia and most populous city of the Australian state of South Australia and is the fifth-largest city in Australia.Road transport in Adelaide has historically been comparatively easier than many of the other Australian cities, with a well-defined city layout and wide multiple-lane roads from the beginning of its development. Historically, Adelaide was known as a "twenty-minute city", with commuters having been able to travel from metropolitan outskirts to the city proper in roughly 20 minutes.

Adelaide at night, viewed from Mount Lofty

Language

Australia has no official language.

However,English is the only language spoken by 79% of the population.

Australia has a sign language known as Auslan, which is the main language of about 5,500 deaf people

Religion

In the 2006 census, 64% of Australians listed themselves as Christian, including 26% as Roman Catholic and 19% as Anglican. About 19% of the population cited "No religion" (which includes humanism, atheism, agnosticism, and rationalism)

Australian Flag

The koala and the eucalyptus form an iconic Australian pair

The Super Pit gold mine in Kalgoorlie

Parliament House Canberra

Sydney Opera House

Panoramic view of Melbourne

The Houghton Highway is a 2.74 km (1.7 mi) reinforced concrete viaduct, shortening the road distance between the cities of Redcliffe and Brisbane in Queensland, Australia. It is one of the longest bridges in the country

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Woman Chief Ministers of India

Sucheta Kriplani ( Congress )
The 1st Woman CM of any State in India.She was UP's CM during October 1963 to May 1967

Nandhini Satpathy ( Congress )

She was chief minister of Orissa from June 1972 to March 1974 and from March 1974 to December 1976

Shashikala Kakodkar( Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party )
She was the CM of Goa during August 1973 to April 1979

Syeda Anwara Taimur ( Congress )

She was CM of Assam from December 1980 to June 1981

Janaki Ramachandran ( AIADMK )

The widow of the legendary MGR, who founded the AIADMK, she was chief minister of Tamil Nadu for less than a month - from Jan 7 to 30, 1988

J Jayalalithaa ( AIADMK )

Film actor-turned-politician, Jayalalithaa was CM of Tamil Nadu in
1991-96;
2001-06 and
in 2011

Mayawati ( BSP )
She was UP's CM
during June to October 1995
during March to September 1997
during May to September 2003 and
from May 2007 to till date

Rajinder Kaur Bhattal ( Congress )

She was CM of Punjab during April 1996 to February 1997 .She was the First Woman CM of Punjab

Rabri Devi ( RJD )

She was Bihar's CM during July 1997 to February 1999 and
during March 1999 to March 2000 and
during 2000-05
She became the first woman CM of Bihar

Sushma Swaraj ( BJP )

She was Delhi's CM during Oct 13 to Dec 3, 1998

Sheila Dikshit ( Congress )

She was Delhi's CM during 1998-03;2003-08 and from 2008 till date.She is the only Woman CM to lead a government for a 3rd consecutive terms

Uma Bharti ( BJP )

She was Madhya Pradesh CM during December 2003 to August 2004

Vasundhara Raje ( BJP )

She was Rajastan's CM during 2003 -08

Thursday, May 19, 2011

58th National Film Awards

This year's Feature Films jury was headed by JP Dutta,
the Non-Feature Films jury by AK Bir and
Best Writing on Cinema jury was headed by Ashok Vajpeyi

Best Feature Film:Thenmerkku Paruvakkatru(Tamil)

President Pratibha Patil presenting Best Tamil Film Award to director Seenu Ramasamy for his film 'Thenmerkku Paruvakkatru' during the '58th National Film Awards Function