Formula One: Nico Rosberg to start from pole, Lewis Hamilton second in Suzuka

Nico Rosberg seized pole position for the Japanese Grand Prix ahead of team mate and Formula One championship leader Lewis Hamilton, who completed a front-row lockout for Mercedes in qualifying on Saturday. Rosberg, who relinquished the championship lead to Hamilton after retiring from the last race in Singapore, lapped the 5.8 km Suzuka Circuit in one minute 32.506 seconds to claim his first pole since the Belgian Grand Prix at the end of August. 

“I’m not thinking about Singapore at all,” Rosberg, who trails Hamilton by three points after a steering wheel failure led to an early retirement at the Marina Bay Street Circuit, told reporters.

“It was a great day today( Saturday), it is only one step on the way — but really great. “The car is so amazing to drive,” he added. Hamilton, who had been fastest in the opening session of qualifying, failed to better Rosberg’s benchmark after locking up on his final attempt and missed out on scoring a hat-trick of pole positions by just under two tenths of a second. “Not too much really,” Hamilton said when asked what went wrong on his lap. “Nico was extremely quick today (Saturday), I did the best I could. “Just wasn’t really feeling it, don’t know why, but tomorrow (Sunday) is the day when you get the points,” added the Briton, whose car had to be hurriedly repaired after he crashed in Saturday morning’s practice session. Despite his error, Hamilton’s time was quick enough to secure Mercedes an eighth front-row lockout of the season. The team have looked dominant all weekend and could leave Japan with the constructors’ title wrapped up if results go their way. VETTEL NINTH Valtteri Bottas took third for Williams ahead of team mate Felipe Massa, with the Grove-based squad taking over from Red Bull as the best of the rest on a circuit that suits their car. The reigning world champions had scored a double podium behind Hamilton in Singapore but were unable to carry that form over to Japan. Sebastian Vettel, set to leave the team at the end of the season for Ferrari, only managed a disappointing ninth fastest at a circuit where he has won four of the last five grands prix. Issues with the car had curtailed his final practice session and the German continued to struggle throughout the qualifying hour. Fernando Alonso, who Vettel is expected to replace at Ferrari next year, set the fifth fastest time on what is likely to be one of his final few Saturday appearances for the Maranello-based squad. Daniel Ricciardo was sixth in the Red Bull ahead of Kevin Magnussen and Jenson Button in the McLarens. Kimi Raikkonen, who had also lost track time in final practice, rounded out the top-ten in the other Ferrari. While Mercedes have topped the timesheets in every session this weekend, rain from Typhoon Phanfone could make things tricky for drivers on Sunday, 

Vishal Bhardwaj’s ‘Haider’ to get banned in Pakistan?

Amid reports that Vishal Bhardwaj’s Kashmir-based drama ‘Haider’ may not get a release, the Pakistan’s censor board today said that the film is yet to come before them.
Dawn reported that the movie may not get the much-needed No Objection Certificate by the censor board.

The film, starring Shahid Kapoor, Tabu, Kay Kay Menon and Shradha Kapoor in key roles, is Bhardwaj’s adaptation of ‘Hamlet’ and is set in the Kashmir of 1995 when militancy was at its peak.

The newspaper cited sources saying that the film was previewed and sent to the censor board for approval. After watching it, the body decided not to go ahead with the release because of some controversial elements related to Kashmir.

However, when contacted, Zareef Abbasi, the spokesperson of Central Board of Film Censors in Pakistan, said ‘Haider’ has not been presented to them so far.
“The question of banning any film or allowing its screening arises after it is presented to the board,” he told PTI.
When contacted, the producers were unavailable for a comment.

‘Haider’ was slated for release on October 2 with ‘Bang Bang’, but while the shows for the Hrithik and Katrina starrer are scheduled in Pakistan, there was no information on the screening of ‘Haider’.

The newspaper said the distributors in the country had already anticipated that ‘Haider’ may not be released in Pakistan.

Earlier, Pakistan had banned the release of Salman Khan starrer ‘Ek Tha Tiger’ and Saif Ali Khan starrer ‘Agent Vinod’ because it had references to India’s external intelligence agency RAW.

Hong Kong protesters shelve talks with govt

Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters have shelved plans for talks with the government on electoral reforms after mobs of people tried to drive them from the streets they have occupied for a week. The Hong Kong Federation of Students, one of the groups leading the protests that swelled to the tens of thousands earlier this week, said they saw no choice but to cancel the talks.

Hong Kong’s leader, Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying, proposed the talks late Thursday, seeking to defuse the standoff, the biggest challenge to Beijing’s authority since China took control of the former British colony in 1997.

The scuffles in Kowloon’s crowded Mong Kok district and other areas were the most chaotic since police used tear gas and pepper spray last weekend to try to disperse the protesters.

Pushing and yelling, hundreds of Hong Kong residents tried to force pro-democracy activists from the streets they were occupying on Friday as tensions rose. The protesters said that if authorities do not act to protect the unarmed, peaceful demonstrators, they would retract an agreement to hold talks with the city government. “Stop the violence or we call off the talks,’’ the groups of students and other activists said in a statement. Police were hard-pressed to keep order as the two sides tussled in a tense standoff. The visibly older people trying to force the vastly outnumbered protesters out were yelling, shoving and at times trying to drag the younger protesters away. The democracy activists linked arms and held hands as they tried to stand their ground against the huge crowd. Police formed cordons and escorted some of the protesters away as hundreds of onlookers chanted, “Go home!’’ - See more at: http://indianexpress.com/article/world/asia/fights-break-out-between-hk-protesters-beijing-supporters/#sthash.zWuWLVpc.dpuf

Mary Kom has shown India is not a single-sport country

Written by Harsha Bhogle | 

Many years ago I had expressed the thought that the gloomier the front pages became, the more inspiring the back pages would seem. There is now competition for gloom, occasionally anger seems the more appropriate sentiment amongst those that watch the news a lot! Maybe as an outcome of that, and doubtlessly it is one of many reasons, there is greater interest in sport now than ever before. A far more important reason though is the growth in television and more sophisticated packaging and indeed, a more wired generation that sees the best in sport from around the world.

It is a benefit, and a challenge, to Indian sport as I suspect the new football league (the Indian Super League, ISL) is going to discover. More people than ever before are watching sport but more critically, they are supporting teams as well. As team loyalties grow, and as sport is placed in a context, the need to watch the very best, while still important, no longer becomes the only reason to watch sport. The ISL will hope that is true.

Every day the football fan in India has the opportunity to see the very best in action. He, and increasingly she, can see Barcelona and Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Juventus and of course the English Premiership. Almost every top player is on view, television brings quality presentation and commentary, social media creates fan groups, forums for discussion, there is a whole world in itself out there. In such a situation, can football go local? Will fans, used to the very best, be willing to watch a completely different standard of football?

While you cannot force anybody, especially where so many options are available, I believe they will. And they must. And the key to attract the fan lies in the creation of localised competition and support. In many countries in the world, the fans throng stadiums to express support for a club even when aware that they are nowhere near the best in the world. They come to watch for a different reason. South Africa is a good example where they struggle to make an impression even in the African Cup of Nations but have a very decently supported local league. The Kaiser Chiefs are big without being a Real Madrid. That is what I hope the Indian Super League will achieve. There is a wider reason I want the ISL to do very well, which is the same reason I wanted the Hockey League to do well and was delighted with the response to the first edition of the Kabaddi League. While I make a living from cricket, and I love the sport dearly, I cannot accept India being a single sport country. When the Olympics and the Asian Games come around we find heroes in Abhinav Bindra, in Sushil Kumar and, to my great joy, in Mary Kom. It tells me that India can be competitive if the right infrastructure and the platform is provided. Each of those three has had to overcome apathy in administration to succeed but if they, and many others like them, were provided a vibrant platform, where their achievements were taken to the public more often and more dramatically, we could have many more sporting stars. Sport could become a profession for many more. Arrogant federation National federations, armed over the years with arrogance and apathy, can hardly do that. If they cared, they would have done it long ago. And so, private enterprise must do the job of providing the platform, creating the buzz and producing stars. Once people see stars, they want to follow. As more people follow, the chance of finding the best increases. But the best will emerge as a by-product of creating a popular, competitive platform. Sport is about watching the best. But sport is also about watching what is yours. When people watch the Chennai Super Kings or the Kolkata Knight Riders they are not always watching the best in the world. But they turn up in numbers because they think the team is theirs. We have seen the beginning of that in kabaddi. I thought we missed out on a great opportunity in the early years of the Premier Hockey League but hopefully local football will create the “my team” culture. Eventually, sporting leagues must create local sporting cultures and live in proximity with the best in the world. Australia, Japan and South Africa have done it. Now India must aspire to do it. I believe the time is right for India to move strongly towards becoming a multi-sport nation. - See more at: http://indianexpress.com/article/sports/sport-others/mary-kom-has-shown-india-is-not-a-single-sport-country/99/#sthash.QYWeM3Hv.dpuf

"Happy New Year was written keeping Dubai in mind." Says Farah

"Happy New Year was written keeping Dubai in mind." Says Farah

Choreographer-turned-director Farah Khan says she
wrote the script of her upcoming Shah Rukh Khan-starrer
'Happy New Year' keeping Dubai in mind.
"I wrote the script of Happy New Year with Dubai in mind
and the entire climax is shot around New Year's Eve at
Atlantis, The Palm," Farah said, adding she will always
cherish shooting the movie in Dubai.
Happy New Year also stars Abhishek Bachchan, Deepika
Padukone, Boman Irani, Vivaan Shah, Sonu Sood and
Jackie Shroff. The film will premiere internationally at
Atlantis, The Palm in Dubai on October 22 and the entire
cast will travel to Dubai to attend the event.

Produced by Red Chillies Entertainments, the film, which
releases on October 23, was shot at Atlantis, The Palm in
conjunction with Dubai Department of Tourism and
Commence Marketing and Dubai Film and Television
Commission for almost a month in September last year.
"I would like to thank Atlantis, The Palm and DTCM for
being such gracious hosts to us," Shah Rukh said in a
statement.

"Dubai is like home for me and I have loved every bit of
my experience of shooting for Happy New Year here," he
said.
In the lead up to the Diwali premiere, October has been
declared as a Bollywood month at Atlantis, The Palm,
with a number of activities planned to create excitement
for guests around the resort.
The attractions include a designated fan zone, with
memorabilia from the film, special dining menus at
Atlantis' restaurants and much more.

GRACE Satellites See a Drying California

GRACE Satellites See a Drying California

This trio of images depicts satellite observations of declining water storage in California as seen by NASA's Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment satellites in June 2002 (left), June 2008 (center) and June 2014 (right). Colors progressing from green to orange to red represent greater accumulated water loss between April 2002 and June 2014. California's Sacramento and San Joaquin River basins, including the Central Valley, have suffered the greatest losses, in part due to increased groundwater pumping to support agricultural production. Between 2011 and 2014, the combined river basins have lost 4 trillion gallons (15 cubic kilometers, or 12 mil

Read more from JPL Photojournal at
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA18816

Read more from the Los Angeles Times at
http://lat.ms/YXLdco

BCCI has announced a 14 member Indian Cricket Team

BCCI has announced a 14 member Indian Cricket Team for the first 3 ODIs against West Indies. The series starts from October 8.
Squad: MS Dhoni*, Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Ravindra Jadeja, Amit Mishra, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammad Shami, Mohit Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Murali Vijay, Kuldeep Yadav.