RSS Feed (xml)Phew. Believe it or pass out, that's the figure that producer Sajid Nadiadwala is koolly demanding from Eros International if they wish to acquire his kick. Sorry, 'Kick'.
The Salman Sonakshi starrer, slated for mid year or Eid release next year, has already turned newsy, courtesy the whopping figure.
Eros frontlined both 'Veer' and 'Dabangg', and although the former didn't stand emerge a valiant winner at the cine stakes, the latter has amply compensated for it by turning out to be a bigger grosser than '3 Idiots'.
Producer Sajid Nadiadwala, steering clear of all controversy, states cautiously in a media quote, "I haven't spoken to Eros International as yet. We have yet to lock the script and work on our budget."
An insider close to Nadiadwala, however, squealed that the producer did demand Rs. 75 crore for 'Kick'.
Says the close source, "It's too early to quote a price of Rs. 75 crore for 'Kick.' One cannot judge what Salman Khan's market position will be next year. However, Salman has been very close to Eros and one is still considering the amount."
Salman's Pricey Big Kick: Rs. 75 crore!
The World's Top Universities
But when it comes to higher education, no one on Earth does better than the U.S., according to a new study by Times Higher Education (THE), a London magazine that tracks the higher ed market. Its 2010-'11 annual World University Rankings is dominated by U.S. schools. They hold 72 places among the world's top 200, including all the top five. Great Britain is a distant second, with 29 universities making the cut.
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"Money talks," says THE's rankings editor, Phil Baty. He points out that the U.S. spends 3.1% of its gross domestic product on higher education, which is more than any other of the advanced nations in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and twice as much as the average. However, spending by the U.S. on primary and secondary education, as a percentage of GDP, is on par with most developed nations and lags behind Belgium, Denmark, Sweden and Britain.
THE's top-ranked school is Harvard University, which is the oldest U.S. institution of higher learning, having been established in 1636 (Harvard ranked No. 8 in Forbes' own annual ranking of colleges). Harvard finished first on THE's teaching component and also scored highly on the impact of its research, which is calculated by looking at the papers produced at each institution and counting the number of citations they get.
THE revamped its methodology this year, with reduced weightings for the subjective results of a reputation survey, and more than doubled the number of metrics in the ranking, from 6 to 13. THE says its goal is to measure the three main missions of a university: teaching, research and knowledge transfer (for complete details on the methodology, click here).
The ranking clearly favors big research institutions. "Research institutions are the key to the knowledge economy," Baty says. Thus, for example, six of the eight schools in the Ivy League rank in the top 20 overall, but Brown and Dartmouth, smaller Ivies with fewer postgrad programs, lag well behind, at 55 and 99, respectively. Brown fared poorly when it came to research citations. Dartmouth got dinged for its lack of diversity among students and faculty and low scores for research reputation.
Size wasn't an issue for California Institute of Technology, ranked No. 2. Enrollment at Caltech was only 2,130 last year, including both undergraduates and graduate students. Yet the school ranked first for citation impact (tied with MIT and Princeton, which ranked Nos. 3 and 5 overall). The school's focus on sciences and engineering attracts some of the brightest minds in the world. It counts 31 Nobel Prize winners among its alumni and faculty.
The big loser in this year's ranking is the United Kingdom. There are 29 U.K. schools on the list of 200, but whereas last year the U.K. had eight in the top 50 and three in the top five, the corresponding numbers this year are five and zero. "In previous years some [British] universities have been ranked higher thanks to heritage and reputation rather than academic excellence."
Baty says that is a "wake-up call" for higher education in the U.K. The government there plays a much bigger role funding higher education than the U.S., but it is contemplating cutting funding up to 30% as it deals with a budget shortfall. The top ranked U.K. schools are the University of Cambridge and University of Oxford, which tied for No. 6.
Other countries well represented in the top 200 include Germany, with 14 schools (although none in the top 40), the Netherlands with 10 (none in the top 100) and Canada with nine (the University of Toronto ranks No. 17 overall).
China leads Asian countries with six schools in the top 200 (Peking University ranks No. 37 overall). "Asians are taking higher education seriously and investing heavily," Baty says. South Korea has four schools on the list, headed by No. 28 Pohang University of Science and Technology. It spends 2.4% of its GDP on higher ed, third among OECD countries, behind only the U.S. and Canada. THE says that spending has put Korea's higher education system on par with Japan's, Hong Kong's and mainland China's.
Mumbai Indians crash out despite win over Bangalore
Durban: Mumbai Indians pulled off a sensational two runs win over Royal Challengers Bangalore in a crucial Group B match on Sunday but still got knocked out of the Champions League Twenty20 cricket tournament on net run rate.
Although Mumbai registered their second victory in the tournament, the Sachin Tendulkar-led side will have to pack their bags and return home as Bangalore and Highveld Lions have a better net run rate with one match still to go. Mumbai's prospect has also been marred by South Australia Redbacks, which has already booked their place in the last four stage from Group B with three out of three wins.
Although Mumbai have fours points, they ended their campaign with a net run rate of +0.22, while Bangalore (+0.85) and Lions (+0.72) are in a better position with still a game to go. Incidentally, the match between Bangalore and Lions have turned out to be a decider as whoever wins the encounter will progress to the semi-finals along with Redbacks.
In Sunday's Indian Premier League derby, Rahul Dravid's unbeaten 58-ball 71 and Virat Kohli's 24-ball 47 went in vain, as chasing a competitive 166, Bangalore managed 163 for five in their allotted 20 overs, thereby falling short by two runs. Needing 13 runs off last over, Kohli struck two fours off Zaheer Khan but in the end it was not enough to guide Bangalore home as he was caught in the final delivery by Ambati Rayudu.
Bangalore produced a disciplined bowling performance upfront before Saurabh Tiwary and Dwayne Bravo stitched a quickfire 64-run sixth wicket stand to take Mumbai past the 150-mark. In deep trouble, Tiwary (38 not out) and Bravo (29 off 23) came to Mumbai's rescue with the 64-run stand after the Sachin Tendulkar-led side were down 84 for five at one stage. The duo's pyrotechnics helped Mumbai piled up 65 runs off the last five overs.
Tiwary hit three fours and a six in his 30-ball unbeaten stay while Bravo decorated his innings with three boundaries and two sixes. For Mumbai opener Shikhar Dhawan top-scored with 41 off 37 balls which was studded with two fours and as many sixes. Dale Steyn was the pick of the bowlers for Bangalore with figures of three for 26.
Chasing the competitive total, Bangalore started on a positive note with Dravid and Kallis picking up 40 runs of the first five overs. Dravid was at his elegant best, picking up boundaries at ease with classical cricketing strokes while Kallis (15) complemented him well before debutant pacer Abu Nechim Ahmed caught the South African plumb in front of the wicket.
Bravo gave Mumbai more reasons to cheer in the next over when he had Robin Uthappa caught by Dhawan at deep square leg but not before the right-hander was dropped by JP Duminy in the previous delivery. The two quick wickets stemmed the run flow and resulted in the downfall of another batsman.
Needing 95 off 10 overs, the pressure seemed to have crept up on Ross Taylor (9) as he went for a huge heave over midwicket only to give a skier to Ambati Rayudu behind the stumps off Bravo. But Dravid was rock solid at the other hand as he brought up his fifty in 39 balls.
However with boundaries drying up, the pressure finally crept up on Bangalore batsmen as Cameron White departed cheaply, clean bowled by Harbhajan with a gem of an yorker. With 40 needed of last three overs, Virat Kohli closed the gap with a huge six off Nechim's first ball. But the right-arm pacer from Assam came back strongly to concede just six runs of the next five deliveries.
But just when it seemed that Bangalore were going out of the encounter, came in a brilliant Kohli who struck three consecutive fours off Lasith Malinga to reduce the equation to 13 off the last over. Kohli nearly pulled off the match for Bangalore, but a a clever Zaheer spoiled his heroics as the Bangalore outfit eventually fell short by just two runs.
Praveen Kumar gave a perfect start to the Bangalore innings with a maiden over. However, it did not take much time for the Mumbai Indians to get off the grove as Tendulkar (11) opened the scoring with an elegant pull to the mid-wicket fence off R Vinay Kumar. But the table turned around in the next two overs as Mumbai lost two crucial wickets within a span of four balls.
Tendulkar was the first to depart, nicking one to Robin Uthappa behind the stumps off Praveen and then Ambati Rayudu followed suit giving a regulation catch to Rahul Dravid at the first slip off Vinay Kumar in the next over. Mumbai went into a shell and found runs hard to come by as Praveen and Vinay Kumar dished out a tight opening spell.
And to add to Mumbai's agony, Jacques Kallis scripted countryman JP Duminy's downfall in his first over, caught at long by Dale Steyn as the left-hander went for a big shot. Dhawan hanged in there for 12 overs, scoring 41 off 37 balls before perishing in search of quick runs caught by Dravid at midwicket off Steyn.
If that was not enough, Anil Kumble's shrewd tactics of introducing Steyn late into the attack paid off as the right-arm pacer spelled the doom of big fish Keiron Pollard , caught at extra cover by Ross Taylor. For Mumbai Dwayne Bravo cut loose, hitting Kumble for back-to-back boundaries in the 15th over to somewhat up the tempo for the Tendulkar-led side.
Saurabh Tiwary followed his partner with a flat six off Steyn to finish off the 17th over in style. And then Bravo launched an all out attack on Kumble with two sixes and as many fours, including a bye, to pick up 22 runs off the next over. If that was not enough, Tiwary dispatched Steyn for consecutive fours to bring Mumbai closer to the 150-mark. But Steyn got his man in the form of Bravo, who was caught inside the circle by Virat Kohli as the West Indian went for a huge heave.
Harbhajan Singh opened his account in style, with a boundary to the third man fence and then the feisty spinner hit Kallis for two fours the the final over.
