Venus Williams

Venus Williams

Venus Ebony Starr Williams (born June 17, 1980) is a former World No. 1 American tennis player and the reigning Wimbledon singles and doubles champion.

Williams has won 16 Grand Slam titles - 7 in singles, 7 in women's doubles, and 2 in mixed doubles. She has won three Olympic gold medals, one in singles and two in women's doubles. She is the older sister of former World No. 1 tennis player Serena Williams.

Williams is an aggressive baseliner and uses an attacking all-court game.

Williams has developed into a skillful volleyer and effectively uses her long reach and relative quickness around the net. She stated during an interview at the 2008 Australian Open that she was working to improve her volley. Her forehand drive-volley, a shot that she helped popularize, is one of the most effective in the women's game.

William's serve is among the most powerful on the women's tour. During the singles final at Wimbledon in 2008, Williams struck the fastest serve by a woman in the tournament's recorded history, at 129 mph. This equalled the record for the fastest serve in a WTA main draw event, previously set by Williams at the 2007 US Open. Also at Wimbledon in 2008, her average first serve speed was 115 mph in the quarterfinals, 116 mph in the semifinals, and 111 mph in the final.

Williams has always been a explosive hitter of the ball off the ground, but her double-handed backhand is more consistently reliable than her forehand. She can hit her backhand down-the-line or crosscourt. Her forehand occasionally breaks down under pressure; however, it is still one of the most powerful forehands in the women's game and yields many winners, from a variety of court positions. During the 2008 Wimbledon singles final, Williams struck a forehand winner measured at 94 mph.

Williams has excellent court coverage. Equipped with long arms, Williams is able to reach shots that many other players would not attempt to play. Williams also is able to play an offensive shot from a defensive position.

At the Olympic Games in Beijing, Williams was seeded seventh but lost to unseeded Li Na in the quarterfinals 7–5, 7–5. She did, however, earn a gold medal (with her sister Serena) in women's doubles. It was their second gold medal as a team, having won together in Sydney, Australia in 2000.

Williams is seeded seventh at the ongoing US Open and is scheduled to play Stosur in the first round. Barring upsets or injuries, Williams will play, for the third time this year, her sister Serena in the quarterfinals.

Serena Williams

Serena Williams

Serena Jameka Williams (born September 26,1981) is an American former World No.1 ranked female tennis player who has won eight Grand Slam singles titles and two Olympic gold medals in women's doubles. She is currently the top ranked American female player. She is the most recent player, male or female, to have held all four Grand Slam singles titles simultaneously. In 2005, Tennis magazine ranked her as the 17th-best player of the preceding forty years. She is the younger sister of another former World No. 1 professional female tennis player, Venus Williams. Serena currently resides at Ballen Isles in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.

Williams is primarily a baseline player. Her game is built around taking immediate control of rallies with her powerful serve, return of serve, and forceful groundstrokes that can come from both the forehand and backhand wing.

Her serve is widely regarded as the best in the women's game. She is known for having a very smooth motion and her serve is one of the most highly respected on the WTA tour. For example, Lindsay Davenport has said that Williams's serve is the best serve that she has faced on the WTA tour. Williams frequently hits serves over 120 mph and often varies the placement of her serve. She can hit flat, slice, and topspin serves to both corners of the service box. At the 2008 Family Circle Cup in her quarterfinal match against Maria Sharapova, Serena tied her sister Venus's record for the fastest serve by a woman on the WTA tour with a 129 mph serve.

Williams is capable of overpowering her opponents when returning serve, off both second and first serve.

Williams is also effective at the net, employing solid volleys (being especially effective on the drive volley) and powerful overheads. She also can produce good drop volleys, a shot that not many players use.

At the Beijing Olympics, Williams was the fourth-seeded player in singles. She defeated Olga Govortsova in the first round, Stosur in the second round, and Cornet in the third round. She then lost to fifth-seeded and eventual gold-medalist Elena Dementieva in the quarterfinals 3–6, 6–4, 6–3. Serena and her sister Venus were the second-seeded team in doubles. They won the gold medal, beating the Spanish team of Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual in the final.

Williams is seeded fourth at the ongoing US Open and defeated Elena Vesnina in the second round 6–1, 6–1. She is scheduled to play Ai Sugiyama in the third round. Barring upsets or injuries, she will play her sister Venus in the quarterfinals.

Amitabh Bachchan

Amitabh Bachchan

Born : Amitabh Harivansh Srivastav October 11, 1942 (1942-10-11) (age 65) Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, India.
Other name(s) : Big B
Occupation : Film actor, Producer,Playback singer
Years active : 1969 – present
Spouse(s) : Jaya Bhaduri (1973 - present)

Amitabh Harivansh Srivastav on October 11 1942, is an Indian film actor. He gained popularity during the 1970s and has since become one of the most prominent figures in the history of Indian cinema.

Bachchan has won numerous awards in his career, including three National Film awards and twelve Filmfare Awards. He holds the record for most number of Best Actor nominations at the Filmfare Awards. In addition to acting, Bachchan has worked as a playback singer, film producer and tevevision presenter, and was an elected Member of Parliament from 1984 to 1987.

Bachchan is married to actress Jaya Bhaduri. They have two children, Shweta Nanda and Abhishek Bachchan, who is also an actor and is married to Aishwarya Rai.

Sachin Tendulkar

Sachin Tendulkar

Tendulkar was born on April 24, 1973 in Mumbai, India. His father, Ramesh Tendulkar, a Marathi novelist, named Tendulkar after his favorite music director, Sachin Sachin
Dev Burman. Tendulkar's elder brother, Ajit, encouraged him to play cricket. Tendulkar has two other siblings: brother, Nitin, and sister, Savitai.

Tendulkar attended Sharadashram Vidyamandir (High School), where he began his cricketing career under the guidance of his coach and mentor, Ramakant Achrekar. During his school days, he attended the MRF Pace Foundation to train as a fast bowler, but the fast bowling trainer there, Dennis Lillee, suggested to him to "just focus" on his batting.

When Tendulkar was young, he would practice for hours on end in the nets. If he became exhausted Achrekar would put a one-Rupee-coin on the top of the stumps, and the bowler who dismissed Tendulkar would get the coin. If Tendulkar passed the whole session without getting dismissed, the coach would give him the coin. Tendulkar now considers the 13 coins he won then as his most prized possessions.

While at school, he developed a reputation as a child prodigy. He had become a common conversation point in Mumbai circles, where there were suggestions already that he would become one of the greats. His season in 1988 was extraordinary, scoring a century in every innings he played. He was involved in an unbroken 664-run partnership in a Lord Harris Shield inter-school game in 1988 with friend and team mate Vinod Kambli, who also went on to represent India. The destructive pair reduced one bowler to tears and made the rest of the opposition unwilling to continue the game. Tendulkar scored 326* in this innings and scored over a thousand runs in the tournament. This was a record partnership in any form of cricket, until 2006 when it was broken by two under-13 batsmen in a match held at Hyderabad in India.
When he was 14, Indian batting maestro Sunil Gavaskar gave him a pair of his used ultra light pads. "It was the greatest source of encouragement for me," he said nearly 20 years later after surpassing Gavaskar's top world record of 34 Test centuries. This was in the same year as his first-class debut. Tendulkar never played for any Under-19 teams, crossing straight into the seniors.

In 1995, Sachin Tendulkar married Anjali (born 10 November 1967), the paediatrician daughter of Gujarati industrialist, Anand Mehta. They have two children, Sara (born 12 October 1997), and Arjun (born 24 September 1999).

Tendulkar sponsors 200 underprivileged children every year through Apnalaya, a Mumbai-based NGO associated with his mother-in-law, Annaben Mehta. He is reluctant to speak about his charitable activities[citation needed], choosing to preserve the sanctity of his personal life despite media interest in him.[citation needed]

Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson

Michael Joseph Jackson (born August 29, 1958) is an American musician and entertainer. The seventh child of the Jackson family, he debuted on the professional music scene at the age of 11 as a member of The Jackson 5 and began a solo career in 1971 while still a member of the group. Referred to as the "King of Pop" in subsequent years, five of his solo studio albums have become some of the world's best-selling records: Off the Wall (1979), Thriller (1982), Bad (1987), Dangerous (1991) and History (1995).

In the early 1980s, he became a dominant figure in popular music as the first African-American entertainer to amass a strong crossover following on MTV. The popularity of his music videos airing on MTV, such as "Beat It", "Billie Jean" and Thriller—credited for transforming the music video into an art form and a promotional tool—helped bring the relatively new channel to fame. Videos such as "Black or White" and "Scream" kept Jackson as a staple on MTV into the 1990s. With stage performances and music videos, Jackson popularized a number of physically complicated dance techniques, such as the robot and the moonwalk. His distinctive musical sound and vocal style influenced numerous hip hip, pop and contemporary R&B artists.

Jackson has donated and raised millions of dollars for beneficial causes through his Dangerous World Tour, charity singles and support of 39 charities. However, other aspects of his personal life—including his changing appearance and eccentric behavior—generated significant controversy which damaged his public image. He was accused of child sexual abuse in1993, although the matter was settled out of court. Jackson then married twice and fathered three children, all of which caused further controversy. He has experienced health concerns since the early 1990s and reported financial difficulties since the late 1990s. In 2005, Jackson was tried and later acquitted of further sexual abuse allegations and several other charges.

One of the few artists to have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice, his other achievements include multiple Guinness World Records—including one for Thriller as the world's best-selling album-13 Grammy Awards, 13 number one singles in his solo career—more than any other male artist in the Hot 100 era—and the sale of over 750 million units worldwide. Jackson's highly publicized personal life, coupled with his successful career, has made him a part of popular culture for almost four decades. In recent years he has been cited as one of the world's most famous men.

Sania Mirza

Sania Mirza

Sania Mirza (born November 15, 1986) is an Indian tennis player. She was born in Mumbai, brought up in Hyderabad. Coached by her father, Imran Mirza, (as well as her other family members) she began playing tennis at the age of six, turning professional in 2003. She is the highest ranked female tennis player ever from India, with a career high ranking of 27 in singles and 18 in doubles. She was ranked 31st in the singles category and 21st in the doubles category in the WTA rankings of April 7 2008.

Sania Mirza holds the distinction of being the first Indian woman to be seeded in a Grand Slam tennis tournament when she was seeded 26th in the 2007 U.S. Open. Earlier in 2005, she had become the first Indian woman to reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam tournament at the 2005 U.S. Open, defeating Mashona Washington, Maria Elena Camerin and Marion Bartoli. In 2004, she finished runner up at the Asian Tennis Championship. In 2005, Mirza reached the third round of the Australian Open, losing to eventual champion Serena Williams. On February 12, 2005, she became the first Indian woman to win a WTA singles title, defeating Alyona Bondarenko of Ukraine in the Hyderabad Open Finals.

Mirza won the 2003 Wimbledon Championships Girls' Doubles title, teaming up with Alisa Kleybanova of Russia. Mirza does not enjoy playing on clay. Her best performance in French Open singles was a second round appearance in 2007.

She represented India at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, in the women's singles and doubles events. In singles, she retired in the round of 64, while she was trailing 1-6, 1-2 against Iveta Benesova of Czech Republic. She teamed up with Sunitha Rao for the doubles event. They got a walk-over in the round of 32, but lost to Russia's Svetlana Kuznetsova and Dinara
Safina by 4-6, 4-6, in the round of 16.

She has stated that two of her best friends are fellow WTA tour players, Anna Chakvetadze and Bethanie Mattek.

Mirza said in January 2008 that she considered quitting the sport because of undue controversy surrounding her actions. Mirza was pictured resting her feet during a press conference at the 2008 Hopman Cup, with an Indian flag in close proximity. She faced possible prosecution under the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act after a private citizen complained. Mirza protested that, "I love my country, I wouldn't be playing Hopman Cup otherwise", and said that she meant no disrespect. On February 4, 2008, Mirza said that she would stop appearing in tennis tournaments held in India, starting with the 2008 Bangalore Open the following month, citing the series of controversies and upon advice by her manager.

Bill Gates

Bill Gates

Bill Gates launches Windows Vista and Office 2007 at New York's Times Square (2007)

William Henry Gates III (born October 28, 1955 in Seattle,Washington, USA) is an American business magnate, philanthropist the world's third richest person (as of 2008), and chairman of Microsoft, the software company he founded with Paul Allen. During his career at Microsoft, Gates held the positions of CEO and chief software architect, and remains the largest individual shareholder with more than 8 percent of the common stock. He has also authored or co-authored several

Gates is one of the best-known entrepreneurs of the personal computer revolution. Although he is admired by many, a large number of industry insiders criticize his business tactics, which they consider anti-competitive, an opinion which has in some cases been upheld by the courts. In the later stages of his career, Gates has pursued a number of philanthropic endeavors, donating large amounts of money to various charitable organizations and scientific research programs through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, established in 2000.

In 1980 IBM approached Microsoft to make the BASIC interpreter for its upcoming personal computer, the IBM PC. When IBM's representatives mentioned that they needed an operating system, Gates referred them to Digital Research (DRI), makers of the widely used CP/M operating system. IBM's discussions with Digital Research went poorly, and they did not reach a licensing agreement. IBM representative Jack Sams mentioned the licensing difficulties during a subsequent meeting with Gates and told him to get an acceptable operating system. A few weeks later Gates proposed using 86-DOS (QDOS), an operating system similar to CP/M that Tim Paterson of Seattle Computer Products had made for hardware similar to the PC. Microsoft made a deal with SCP to become the exclusive licensing agent, and later the full owner, of 86-DOS. After adapting the operating system for the PC, Microsoft delivered it to IBM as PC-DOS in exchange for a one-time fee of $80,000. Gates insisted that IBM let Microsoft keep the copyright on the operating system, because he believed that other hardware vendors would clone IBM's system. They did, and the sales of MS-DOS made Microsoft a major player in the industry.

Gates married Melinda French from Dallas, Texas on January 1, 1994. They have three children: Jennifer Katharine Gates (1996), Rory John Gates (1999) and Phoebe Adele Gates (2002). Bill Gates'house is a 21st century earth-sheltered home in the side of a hill overlooking Lake Washington in Medina, Washington. According to King County public records, as of 2006, the total assessed value of the property (land and house) is $125 million, and the annual property tax is $991,000. Also among Gates's private acquisitions is the Codex Leicester, a collection of writings by Leonardo da Vinci, which Gates bought for $30.8 million at an auction in 1994. Gates is also known as an avid reader, and the ceiling of his large home library is engraved with a quatation from The Great Gatsby. He also enjoys playing tennis and golf.

Vijender

Vijender

Boxer Vijender Kumar created history on Wednesday after he became India's third medal winner at the Beijing Olympics.

Vijender defeated Carlos Gongora of Ecaudor, assuring him an entry into the semi-finals as well as at least a bronze medal. Wrestler Sushil Kumar had won a bronze in the freestyle event earlier in the day.

Vijender, competing in the 75 kg middleweight category, dominated the entire bout, eventually winning 9-4. The win has ensured that India will come back from Beijing with its biggest ever-Olympic medal haul.

Vijender had earlier stormed into the quarter-finals of the 75 kg middleweight Boxing event on Saturday after he outclassed Thailand's Champuphuang Angkhan 13-3 in a one sided match.Vijender thoroughly dominated his bout to tame Angkhan Chomphuphuang of Thailand 13-3 to sail into the quarterfinals of the 75kg category event.Making most of his height advantage and long reach to unnerve the Thai who looked confounded, Vijender unleashed mostly upper cuts and jabs and the rival had no clue as to what was going.It was a sweet revenge for Vijender, who had lost to the Thai in the Asian Championship in Ulan Bator, Mongolia, and had to be content with silver.

Michael Phelps

Michael Phelps

Michael Fred Phelps (born June 30, 1985) is an American swimmer who has won 13 Olympic gold medals, the most of any athlete of the modern Olympic era.

He shares the record with Mark Spitz of seven gold medals at a single Olympics. He also shares the record with Soviet gymnast Alexander Dityatin of the most medals (of any type) at a single Olympics - eight medals at Athens 2004. He also holds seven world records.

Overall, Phelps has won 15 Olympic medals. He won 6 gold and 2 bronze medals at Athens in 2004, and 7 gold at Beijing in 2008, six of which were in world record time. He currently ranks second in total career Olympic medals, after Larissa Latynina, who accumulated 18 medals (nine gold) spanning three Olympic Games. Phelps' international titles, along with his various world records, have resulted in him being awarded the World Swimmer of the Year Award in 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007 and American Swimmer of the Year Award in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007.

So far, Phelps has won a total of 47 career medals: 39 golds, 6 silvers and 2 bronze. This includes all the Championships he has competed in The Olympics, the World Championships, and the Pan Pacific Championships. Phelps has qualified to compete in eight swimming events at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

2008 Beijing Olympics

Bindra booked his place in the 2008 Olympics by winning the gold medal at the 2006 ISSF World Shooting Championships with a score of 699.1

At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Abhinav Bindra won the gold for the Men's 10m Air Rifle final after shooting a total of 700.5. He scored 596 (fourth) in the qualifying round and out-scored all other shooters in the finals with a round of 104.5. In the finals, he started with a shot of 10.7, and none of his shots were below 10.0. Bindra was tied with Henri Häkkinen heading into his final shot. Bindra scored his highest of the finals - 10.8 while Hakkinen came with 9.7 to settle for Bronze medal. Again, Abhinav Bindra won the gold in spite of his gun being allegedly fiddled with. The winning of the gold with the last shot hitting the bulls eye (10.8 points) only proved to show, how good a shooter Abhinav is.

This was India's first individual gold medal at the Olympics, and the first gold in 28 years, since the Men's Field Hockey team won the gold at the 1980 Moscow Olympics. Bindra was rewarded by various Indian state governements and private organizations for his achievement. These include the state governments of Punjab - Rs 10 million (approx. $250,000), Harayana - Rs 2.5 million, Maharashtra - Rs 1 million, Karnataka - Rs 1 million, Tamil Nadu - Rs 0.5 million, Madhya Pradesh - Rs 0.5 million and Chattisgarh - Rs 0.5 million. Other organization that rewarded Bindra includes Chandigarh civic administration - Rs 0.5 million, BCCI - Rs 2.5 million, Indian Railways - lifelong free pass for Bindra & one companion in First AC, Spicejet Airways - lifelong free flight ticket to Bindra and Samsung - Rs 2 million.and Bihar Government Rs.1.1 million