Welcome to The Children’s Project International

Delhi, India—November 11, 2010—Members of the international community will convene in New Delhi for the World Health Organization’s Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health forum. Representatives of The Children’s Project International (TCPI) will be there to speak of their experiences, learn from their colleagues and advocate for sustained action on the ground.

The recently released Human Development Report shines a spotlight on the significant progress the world has made improving life for its most desperate inhabitants. Since 1990 the number of children who do not live to see their fifth birthday has decreased by 30%. The proportion of children who are underweight has also dropped significantly. According to the United Nations report, fewer people are contracting HIV, dying of tuberculosis or succumbing to water-borne illnesses. When joined together under the banner of the Millennium Development Goals, the world community has been successful at tackling some of the world’s most intractable challenges and the world’s children are living longer, healthier lives for it.

The UN report, however, also underscores the basic premise that there is no universal cure for the world’s ailments and there is yet much ground to cover in achieving all the health-related MDGs by 2015. Presenters at the WHO forum will address the challenges posed by these multidimensional phenomena and highlight innovative approaches while also challenging the development community to extend the value of limited donor funds and implement sustainable health solutions. “The WHO Forum is a unique marketplace of ideas for development organizations,” said Raj Luhar, CEO of TCPI and a delegate to the WHO forum. Reviewing a list of his organization’s most successful programs, including mobile medical units in India and orphan care in Ethiopia, he continued, “With life-or-death issues on the agenda, it is important for us to remain innovative and not only contribute to the discussion, but also implement the lessons we learn.” The WHO forum runs until November 14, India’s observance of Children’s Day, “a fitting day to set forth and achieve our goals,” Mr. Luhar opined.

About The Children’s Project International
The Children’s Project International undertakes charitable activities dedicated to improving the lives of the world’s children by providing life-sustaining goods and personally enriching tools. By leveraging the social consciousness of today’s youth, TCPI seeks to work with existing organizations which share in TCPI’s goals to provide underprivileged and disenfranchised children with material relief and the belief in a better tomorrow. TCPI is led by an Board of Directors of outstanding national figures representing all sectors of the globe.

Triumph America

America is Triumphs version of the classic American cruiser, which truly lives up to its name. Made in England, the design is eye catching and what really give it its sexy appearance are the fuel tank and fenders. Chrome treatment on the bike stands out with chrome on the case sides, rims, headlights, rear shocks, and the readouts on the front of the bike. Even the tank features chrome badges. It has a striking similarity to the 1969 version of the Triumph Bonneville.

Scoring high on the comfort section, the bike is no less than any of the other bikes up for sale today. The saddle height is about 30.5 inches and thin and long and allows the rider to change their position on long rides. It is thus a great option for beginners and for traditional bike lovers. The padding on the seat is good enough for long runs and would probably attract a lot of people. The handlebars too are adjustable and would suit a lot of people. The whole seating arrangement is blended pretty well. The breaking and suspension are very comfortable for long rides too as they don't put too much strain on the rider.

The Triumph America comes with a powerful 865 cc, parallel-twin engine and delivers a power of 61 bhp @ 7400 RPM and 74 Nm torque @ 3300 RPM. It is expected to give a mileage of about 20 to 25 kmpl. The engine with an electronic fuel injection assembly installed can accelerate from 0-100 kmph in about 5 seconds which is very good for a cruiser of this class.

The suspension in particular is a stiff, dual downtube frame and mild stell with a rectangular backbone. A traditional non-adjusted telescopic fork of 40mm with 4.7 inches travel controls the 19 inches front wheel while the rear wheel is of 17 inches. The provided suspension at both ends is solid yet not callous, which makes it great at handling. Both the tyres are made of Aluminium that makes it more attractive.

The Front suspension of the coming masterpiece Triumph America are 40mm telescopic fork, non-adjustable 40mm, while the rear is pre-load adjustable, dual shock that being associated with the front and rear tires gives you an unforgettable experience of riding while you are on a long-go.

Being fitted out with the truly powerful engine, great suspension and stiff body fittings, the new Triumph America becomes great to ride, control and handle even if you are on the rough roads, whereas the weight of this bike is comparatively lesser than other cruiser, which makes it much more comfortable in riding on city roads too. 

Although Triumph hasn’t included the America in their current Indian line-up, but expect the bike to be very well there in their next line-up which should be here in the first quarter of 2012. The bike will be priced very competitively to compete with the existing bikes of the segment expect it to sport a price tag of around 7.5-8.5 lakh.

Six cricket umpires involved in match-fixing: Report

New Delhi: A television sting operation on Sunday claimed to have uncovered six international umpires allegedly willing to fix matches for money in the just concluded Twenty20 World Cup and Sri Lanka Premier League matches.

The channel India TV showed video clips purportedly taken by their undercover reporters in which the umpires were shown to be allegedly willing to give certain decisions in exchange for money.

The six umpires, who are purportedly shown in the TV sting willing to fix matches, are Nadeem Ghauri and Anees Siddiqui of Pakistan, Nadir Shah of Bangladesh, and Gamini Dissanayake, Maurice Winston and Sagara Gallage of Sri Lanka.

Ghauri and Shah have rubbished the allegations while Bangladesh Cricket Board President Mustafa Kamal said it will investigate the matter after getting the details.

The International Cricket Council(ICC) said the Council and its relevant members have been made aware of the allegations made by India TV and asked the Channel to turn over any information which can assist the ICC's urgent investigations into this matter.

In a statement, the ICC reiterated its zero-tolerance towards corruption whether alleged against players or officials.

The ICC also said that none of the umpires named were involved in any of the official games of the ICC World Twenty20 which ended yesterday.

Rajat Sharma, Chairman and Editor-in Chief of India TV, stood by the channel's expose and said it was open to any inquiry or public scrutiny of their journalistic work if the authenticity of the tapes is in question.

The fact that the umpires were willing to do a "criminal" thing is unfair to cricket, he said.

Ghauri, who is an ICC International Panel umpire, has rubbished the allegations against him and claimed he has never officiated outside Pakistan.

Bangladesh umpire Nadir Shah has also strongly refuted the allegations against him.

Bangladesh Cricket Board President Mustafa Kamal said it will investigate the matter after getting the details.

"I also came to know about it from the media. So, I am not in a position to make any comment. But if it (the allegations) are true. We will definitely investigate into it. But we have to wait until and unless we have the full details," Kamal said.

Shah on his part said "I never fixed any match."

"Absolutely rubbish. If I am going to fix match, I will be caught some day by the ICC. They had posed as sponsors and had approached me. But I did not agree to them. No umpire fixes matches," he said.

The Channel showed visuals of its undercover reporters with the umpires, some of whom are purportedly making promises to give favourable decisions in lieu of financial benfits.

According to the channel, Shah offered to give decisions like "out", "not out" in any format of the game. He has officiated in 40-plus ODIs, six Test matches as TV umpire and three Tests as reserve umpire.

Ghauri, according to the Channel, agreed to help Team India in all ways. As a quid pro quo, he agreed to take all amounts underhand in "black". He has stood in 43 ODIs, 14 Test matches and four T20 matches.

Gallage, a Sri Lankan premier panel umpire who was the fourth umpire at India-Pakistan T20 World Cup warm-up match on September 17, agreed to give information on the match pitch report, weather and even the playing elevens of both teams for a payment of Rs 50,000, according to the channel.

T20 final a perfect tribute

Two of the most consistent teams have made it to the final of the World T-20, challenging the myth that anything can happen in this format.

By Boria MajumdarThe current tournament is evidence that the best do progress to the title round and teams that are inconsistent, including our very own India, fall by the wayside. And consistency, it is important to point out, does not only mean the end result. For example, West Indies may have lost to Australia in the initial stage of the tournament because of a rain interruption, but even in that contest they had scored a healthy 191, thanks to half centuries from Gayle and Samuels.

They are the only side to have crossed the 200 mark in the competition in the semi-final against the very same opponent. India, on the other hand, struggled to reach 160 every time they went in to bat.

The stand-out feature in both the finalists is the completeness in these teams. To start with, the West Indies: surely they have in their ranks the best T-20 bating line-up in the world. Gayle, followed by an in form Samuels, Pollard, Bravo, Sammy and a host of other lower-order hitters, it is a batting line-up, which, even on a relatively bad day, will get to 150. And in bowling they have the express pace of Edwards, the swing of Rampaul, the guile of Bravo and the spin of Narine and Badree. Sammy and Pollard are more than fill-in bowlers.

Compare the West Indies to India, Australia and Pakistan and the difference is palpable. While the Indians are way thin in bowling, the Australians are particularly over reliant on Warner and Watson at the top of the order. Pakistan, on the other hand, has a fantastic bowling line-up but aren’t up to the mark in batting with a fragile middle-order letting them down.

If the West Indies are the most complete side in the competition, Sri Lanka isn’t very far behind. And with home advantage and a 30,000-plus crowd to cheer for them at the Premadasa, they are more than a match for Gayle and team. In Mahela they have the best player in the world in big match situations. Perhaps not as celebrated as many of his contemporaries, Mahela’s record speaks for the Sri Lankan captain.

In the semi-final of World Cup, 2007, in the Caribbean, captain Mahela had scored one of the best hundreds in the fifty-over format to propel his team to the final. He bettered it with an even better hundred in the final of World Cup, 2011. And in the semi-final of the World T-20 against Pakistan on October 5, it was his innings that made the difference between the two sides. Ability to handle pressure and bring out his best in high pressure situations is the hallmark of the Sri Lankan skipper, making him one of the standout performers of our times.

If it is Mahela, Sangakkara and Dilshan in batting, in bowling it is Malinga, Mendis, Herath and Kulasekara in these conditions. Each of the four are capable of chipping in with match-winning performances on their day and a couple of examples will help illustrate the point better. In the Super Eight encounter against the West Indies, Kulasekara picked up Gayle with an absolute beauty, which hardly ever reached Gayle and finally caught the toe end of his bat before landing in the wicket-keeper’s gloves.

And in the semi-final against Pakistan, Herath bowled an absolute beauty to pick up the inform Shoaib Malik. The ball landed on good length, beat Malik’s lunge forward, spun past his bat and uprooted the off stump, bringing to an end Pakistan’s resistance.

From the evidence at hand there is little doubt that the final will be a high-intensity affair. Having lost three major finals in the last five years, the Sri Lankans are definitely looking to overcome the final jinx. West Indies, on the other hand, has been fighting hard to regain their lost status in world cricket and a win in Sri Lanka will give their cricket a huge boost.

I am in fact tempted to say that it is great for world cricket that these two deserving teams have made the final, giving the game a fillip in islands across the world. Time then to call play with Gayle taking strike to Kulasekara and Malinga.

US Open: Errani-Vinci win women`s doubles title

New York: Italian pair Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci have clinched the US Open women`s doubles title.

The second-seeded Italians beat third-seeded Czechs Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka 6-4, 6-2 Sunday for their second Grand Slam championship and second in three months after they broke through at the French Open, reports Xinhua.

The two players faced each other in women`s singles quarterfinals with the 10th seeded Errani outlasting her friend and doubles partner 6-2, 6-4.

"Good thing is we can celebrate together," Errani said.

In singles, Errani was the runner-up at Roland Garros and Vinci made her best Grand Slam run by reaching the quarters here.

IANS

Ferrer dumped out in Kuala Lumpur

Top seed David Ferrer was dumped out of the ATP Malaysian Open by seventh seed Julien Benneteau in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday.

Ferrer - aiming to qualify for the ATP World Tour Finals in London - on Friday rallied from a set down to topple Dutchman Igor Sijsling, but had no answer when Benneteau assumed control in the last-four encounter. The Frenchman won 6-4 6-1 in one hour 38 minutes.

Benneteau broke the world number five's serve three times in a topsy-turvy first set in which he also lost his own serve twice. He then made the most of the two break points he established in the second set, and held firm to save all nine earned by Ferrer.

The world number 37 will face Juan Monaco in Sunday's final after the Argentinian second seed ousted Japan's Kei Nishikori 6-2 2-6 7-6 (7/4) in two hours 43 minutes to advance to his fifth ATP Tour final of the year.

Third seed Nishikori responded well after Monaco breezed through the first set and comfortably took the second to force a decider.

Monaco, ranked joint 12th in the world, saved a match point at 2-5, though, and then made Nishikori rue his missed chance by battling back to win on a tie-break.