Live-in Concerts (27th March 2009).

General concerts / Drama:

• Ek Shyaam Shaayari Ke Naam (An evening with the poets): Organized by Jeevan Hospitals on Saturday 28th March at 6 30 pm at Chinmaya Heritage Centre, Harrington Road, Chetpet. (In support of Children with Blood cancer and Thallasaemia).

• Chocolate Krishna: Crazy Mohan drama on Friday at 7 pm @ Vani Mahal, G N Chetty Road, T Nagar Ph: 9884152200.

• Paint Massacre: @ Island Grounds. Ph: 9940052222 / 9962558345.

Carnatic Vocal concerts:

• 4:30 PM – Sumathi Narayanan (Vocal), Chandran (Violin), Shyamsundar (Mrudangam) @ Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Ashram Hall, Near Baby Nagar, Velachery (Nadha Sudha) **Free**

• 6:00 PM – Ramya Srinivasan (Vocal) @ Sravanam Hall, TTD Information Centre, Venkatanarayana Road, T. Nagar **Free**

• 6:15 PM – T.S. Pattabhiram Pandit (Vocal), M.A. Sundaresan (Violin), Bangalore Arjun Kumar (Mrudangam), G. Guruprasanna (Khanjira) @ Sri Thiagaraja Sangeetha Vidwath Samajam, 5, Thiagarajapuram, Mylapore (Laya Laavanyaa Fine Arts Foundation) **Free**

• 6:15 PM – Revathy Krishna (Veena – Thirai Isayil Sa Ro Ga Ma) @ Youth Hostel Lawns, 2^nd Avenue, Indira Nagar, Adyar (Hamsadhwani) **Ticketed**

• 6:30 PM – Trichur Dilip Kumar (Vocal), Rahul (Violin), B. Ganapathyraman (Mrudangam) @ Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Ashram Hall, Near Baby Nagar, Velachery (Nadha Sudha) **Free**

• 6:30 PM – Raji Gopalakrishnan (Vocal), R. Hemalatha (Violin), B. Sivaraman (Mrudangam), Nanganallur Swaminathan (Ghatam) @ Narada Gana Sabha Mini Hall, TTK Road, Alwarpet (Saraswathi Vaggeyakara Trust) **Free**

• 6:30 PM – Seerkazhi Jayaraman (Vocal), V.V. Srinivasa Rao (Violin), Trichur C. Narendran (Mrudangam), Srirangam Kannan (Morsing) @ Swamy’s Hall, 236, R.K. Mutt Road, Near Rani Meyyammai School, Mandaveli (Shanmukhapriya) **Free**

• 6:30 PM – R. Suryaprakash (Vocal), Kumbakonam M.R. Gopinath (Violin), Trivandrum R. Vaidyanathan (Mrudangam), K.V. Gopalakrishnan (Khanjira) @ Sringeri Bharathi Vidyashram, Venkatanarayana Road, T. Nagar (59^th Vardhanthi/ Rama Navami 2009 Festival) **Free**

• 6:30 PM – Anuradha Suresh Krishnamurthy (Vocal), M.A. Krishnaswamy (Violin), Melakkaveri K. Balaji (Mrudangam), Madipakkam Murali (Ghatam) @ Sri Varasiddhi Vinayakar Mahalakshmi Temple, West Mada St., Srinagar Colony, Saidapet (Sree Ramanavami Celebrations) **Free**

• 6:30 PM – Seetha Rajan (Vocal – Concert on Vivadi Ragas), Mullaivasal G. Chandramouli (Violin), J. Vaidyanathan (Mrudangam) @ Kasturi Srinivasan Hall, The Music Academy, TTK Road, Royapettah (The Music Academy) **Free**

• 7:00 PM – A.K.C. Natarajan (Clarinet) @ Smt. Narayani Ammal Kalyana Mandapam, Near Mandaveli MRTS Station, Jeth Nagar (Raja Annamalaipuram Bhaktha Jana Sabha) **Free**

• 7:00 PM – P.B. Srirangachari (Vocal), Anayampatti G. Venkatasubramanian (Violin), S. Venkatasubramanian (Mrudangam) @ Sri Ramanjaneya Trust, 98, GST Road, Tambaram Sanatorium.

(Courtesy: Ramsabode)

Food Festivals (27th March 2009).

• Southern Spice by Taj Coromandel. Hidden Treasures of Tamil Nadu from 27th March to 4th April. Ph: 66002827.

• GRT Grand Anytme: Variety of cuisines anytime of the day. Ph: 28150500.

• Special Ugadi Offer: 10 % disconts on food bill. Vaigai Vegetarian Restaurant. Ph: 42606790 / 9942958389.

Special Offers / discounts (27th March 2009).

• Great March offer by Style Spa furniture: Bedrooms from Rs.28308. 25% off on Sofa. Ph: Egmore - 28528731. Anna Nagar - 26261828. T Nagar - 28156620. Velachery - 22551929.
  

• 30% discount on all slimming and beauty packages by VLCC: Alwarpet - 24671918. Velachery - 45114015. Anna Nagar - 43016661. Adyar - 4269520. Poonamallee High Road - 26680828.

• VIBA Loom Sale for Ugadi: Cottons, Sarees, Salwars. Alwarpet - 24357116.

• Mega sale of Shoes and Leather items: Ponds Exports, G N Chetty Road, T Nagar. Ph: 28345528.

• S K Electricals - Ugadi Secial sale of Fans and Water Heaters. Ph: Parrys - 25369714. T Nagar - 28152551. Adyar -24421687. Purasaiwalkam - 42661027. Vadapalani - 23623205. Tambaram - 22260402. N S C Bose Road - 42165824.

• Murugan Induction Cookers: $40 % discount on MRP under exchange offer. Mob: 9884075186 / 9176667826.

• India Imports and Manufacturers Trade Fair: @ Chennai Trade Centre, Nandambakkam from 10th to 13th April 2009. Mob: 9840834846 / 9841517729.

• Viveks Ugadi Special sale: Discounts on ACs. Adyar - 42952500. Anna Nagar - 42952700.Anna Salai -42952900 . Mylapore -42952100 . Nanganallur -42952800. Purasaiwakkam - 42952200. Tambaram - 42952600. T Nagar - 42952300. Vadapalani - 42952400.

• Wavetel's Ugadhi Sale: Exchange Mela. 50 % off on select models. Buy 1 get 2 Free on select models. Ph: 39144444.

• Furniture Mega Sale @ Zuari Furniture: 60 % off. Till 31st March. Ph: 9176151384 / 7 / 9940194497.

• Suchitra Kolkata Sarees: Exhibition @ Vimonisha Art Gallery, Nungambakkam. Mob: 09359912044. Today and tommorrow.

Other cricket news (25th March 2009).

• Nel retires: Andre Nel on Wednesday announced his retirement from international cricket after an outstanding career for both the Proteas Castle Test squad and Standard Bank ODI cricket in which he took more than 100 wickets in both forms of the game. Nel has signed to play for Surrey in the England county season. Nel took 123 wickets in 36 Tests for South Africa at an average of 31.86. He took five wickets in an innings on three occasions and 10 wickets in a match once. He played 79 ODIs and took 106 wickets at 27.68 with an economy rate of 4.63. He took five wickets in an innings once and four wickets in an innings three times. Currently he has 381 first-class wickets.

Other sports news (25th March 2009)

• CHESS - Anand draws with Topalov, loses sole lead: World champion Vishwanathan Anand played out two draws with Bulgarian world number one Veselin Topalov in the ninth round to surrender his sole lead in the Amber blindfold and rapid chess tournament here on Wednesday.

• TENNIS - Nadal wins Indian Wells ATP Masters title: World number one Rafael Nadal crushed Scotland's Andy Murray 6-1, 6-2 to win the Indian Wells ATP Masters series title.

• TENNIS - Sania slips to 100th spot in singles: An average outing at Indian Wells tournament cost Sania Mirza 13 places in the WTA rankings and the Indian ace now stands yet again on the verge of dropping out of top-100. With 646 points in her kitty, Sania stands at 100 in the singles and at 87, a loss of 16 positions, in the doubles in the list issued by WTA on Monday.

IPL News (25th March 2009).

• IPL2 in SA: It's final. South Africa has been chosen to host the IPL Season 2. According to IPL chairman Lalit Modi, it is the conducive weather conditions in South Africa as compared to that of England during April-May that has led him to make such a decision. The tournament will begin on 18th April 2009.
  

• IPL destinations: These are six: Durban, Cape Town, Bloemfontein, Pretoria, Johannesburg and Port Elizabeth.There are opinions expressed by some that the team named after Indian cities would not be very popular in a foreign country and none of these teams will get the feel of playing in their home destination.

• Ganguly sidelined or dethroned? Problemaic challenges never seem to end for Kolkata Knght Riders captain Sourav Ganguly as he has been virtually dethroned from that post. The decision was taken by coach John Buchanan. In their joint press conference, Ganguly expressed his contention over the move. Buchanan proposed a model of multiple captaincy wherein there will not be one captain in particular for the team. Instead there will be many captains for a single match. Buchanan explained his stand by highlighting that the move was not to sideline Ganguly, but was to enable him to concentrate on batting when he is batting and fielding or bowling when he is doing the same. Names of New Zealand wicketkeeper-batsman Brendon McCullum, West Indies captain Chris Gayle and Australian Brad Hodge are doing the rounds for the captain's role.

• Sony, WSG get IPL broadcasting rights: Multi Screen Media (MSM), formerly Sony Entertainment Television, and World Sports Group have been signed as the official broadcast partners for the DLF Indian Premier League in a fresh nine-year deal running through to 2017.

IPL News (23rd March 2009)

• IPL shifted out: In what is called a very big blow to Indian fans, IPL2 will be held outside India because of problems in scheduling matches because of elections. Now Indian fans will have to travel outside India to watch a tournament which is known to be purely domestic purely Indian. There is also an opinion that this may affect India's image as a safe sports venue.

• BCCI-Guv blame game: The blame game between the BCCI and government has started with Home minister P Chidambaram lashing out at BCCI for deciding to hold IPL2 outside India. BCCI has put the blame on government for the same. It is not only these two between whom there is such a tiff, even the politics on this issue has started with the ruling an opposition parties engaging in similar blame game.

• Home minister reiterates stand: Home minister Mr. P Chidambaram has reiterated his stand on security that India is any day a safe destination for sporting activities.

• Eng, SA possibles: England and South Africa are the possible next venue-head for the troubled tournament series. England seems to be a hot favorite as of now. Lalit Modi is yet to receive proposals from both the cricket boards.
  

IPL News (19th March 2009)

• AP says no to IPL: Andhra Pradesh government has not given clearance to IPL2. It's formal that iPL wil not be held in Andhra Pradesh.

• Jaipur not in IPL's revised schedule: Jaipur is not included in IPL's schedule submitted to the Home Ministry. So, as per the schedule, no matches are to be played in Rajasthan.

• Rajasthan Government Hits at Modi: Home minister of Rajasthan has hit out at IPL chairman lalit Modi saying that the Rajasthan givernment was never consulted. He went to add on that Modi had cheated the people of Rajasthan.

• Modi rubbishes allegations: Lalit Modi has rubbished allegations by Rajasthan Home minister calling them baseless and rubbish.

• IPL CEO says- Jaipur's exclusion inevitable: CEO of Indian PremierLeague, Mr. Sundara Raman said that for the schedule to satisfy all the criteria, the exlcusion of Jaipur from IPL2 was inevitable. He also said that the revised schedule has been submitted to the home ministry. He expessed hope that this schedule will be cleared.
  

• Karnataka clears IPL: Police commissioner, Bangaore has approved all the security arrangements for IPL. So, IPL will be held in Bangalore.

• Mallya confident about IPL2: Bangalore Royal Challengers team owner Vijay Mallya said that he was confident about IPL season 2 hapening.

• Delhi police expresses security concerns: Delhi police, yesterday voiced its concerns over IPL being held in Delhi. It said that security cover cannot be given for the elections and IPL at the same time.
  

Other cricket news.

• SA Champions trophy host: ICC (International Cricket Council) confirmed that South Africa will be the host of this year's tournaments. It is interesting to note that this series was originally scheduled to be held in Pakistan.

It will be held from September 24th to October 5th. ICC chief expressed his hope that the
tournament will be a grand success.

• India has the edge: It's India in commanding position as of now in the first test being played in New Zealand with just a run of trail. India has already won the one-dayer 3-0.
  

• Sehwag in top 10 and Sachin in top 20: Sehwag has moved to the top 10 spot in the ICC ODI batsmen rankings after the ODI win in Kiwiland. Yuvraj rose to his career best 3rd spot in the same ranking. Yuvi is in the fufth spot in the all rounder rankings.

IPL News (16th March 2009).

• Get state nod: Home ministry earlier this day made its stand tougher by asking IPL to consult the individual state governments before conducting IPL season 2. A postponement would be very disadvantageous for IPL as the next available dates for playing are the same period next year with this year having a crammed schedule.

• Sony pulls up IPL: Sony TV has filed suit against IPL to put a stay on IPL's aproaches to any other broadcasting house. Earlier IPL was looking for better and prospective oprions in this regard.

Other cricket news (12th March 2009).

• India wins the ODI series in New Zealand. This is the first ever win in 43 years. This was the match of records. Sehwag hit the fastest ton in 60 balls (Indian record) and he partnered with Gautam Gambhir to create a new record of the first ever team in ODI history to not to have lost even a sngle wicket even after making 200 runs.

• Kumar Sangakkara replaces Mahela Jayawardena as Sri Lankan national cricket team captain.
  

IPL News (12th March 09)

Blow to IPL schedule: Andhra Pradesh police says that it is not possible to hold IPL matches during polling days as the police forces would be needed for providing security for the elections. The same has been expressed by Andhra Pradesh government to home minister Mr. P Chidambaram.

IPL News (6th March 2009)

• India safe: Home minister Mr. P Chidambaram said that India is a safe venue for cricket matches.

• Matches to be played in Rajsthan are most likely to be shifted to a different date.

• Decision on IPL match rescheduling is likely next week.

• Rescheduling unavoidable: Home minister PChidambaram said that rescheduling of IPL matches is inevitable because of the security concerns because of the elections overlapping.

• IPL, a domestic affair: IPL chairman Lalit Modi has rubbished reports and speculations of a possibility of IPL matches being held outside India. He asserted that IPL is an Indian tournament and a domestic affair and will only be played in India.

• Possible Lashkar link to attack: There is a possible link of terrorist organization Lashkar-e-Taiba in the attcck on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore near Gaddafi stadium. Reports in Pakistan are ruling out possibilities of involvement of Sri Lanka based LTTE and RAW (Research and Analysis Wing) of Indian intelligence.

• IPL duration the same: IPL supremo Lalit Modi has confirmed that theh duration of the second edition of IPL will be the same as was decided before. Only dates for some matches will be changed.

• No matches during counting day: Lalit Modi told that there would be no matches during the day on which votes will be counted. He said that whilst there can be matches during the election time during non-voting days, counting will be on nationwide. Thus the decision.

• Grateful to government: Modi said that he is grateful to government and home minister P Chidambaram for assuring security for IPL matches. He also ruled out the postponment of IPL tournament and said that there will be only some rescheduling.