Sachin crosses 12000, Sensex drops below 10000

Ever since he made an unbeaten 326 in a school match, supreme greatness has been predicted and now, on the first day of India's second Test against Australia in Mohali, that karma has finally come to pass.
Having failed to break the record in Bangalore, Tendulkar needed to wait until the first ball after tea to exceed the 11,953 runs made by Brian Lara. Needing 15 at the start of his innings, he passed his old rival with a guide for three to third man off the relatively unknown seam bowler Peter Siddle, hardly a box office combination with which to crack cricket's blue riband feat.
Tendulkar's celebrations, a couple of glances to the heavens, no doubt to thank his peers in the vast pantheon of Hindu gods, were more muted than those around him. Otherwise it was firecrackers and a standing ovation from the adoring crowd and handshakes all round from the Aussies.

Sensex closes below 10K; Realty,power plunge

Equities ended sharply lower on Friday as traders booked positions ahead of the weekend. Stocks from Realty, power and metal sectors were amongst the worst performers. Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensex closed at 9,912.01, down 669.48 points or 6.33 per cent. It touched an intra-day low of 9,911.32 and a high of 10,786.93. National Stock Exchange’s Nifty closed at 3,054, down 6.58 per cent. The broader index touched an intra-day low of 3046.60 and an intra-day high of 3,335.96. BSE Midcap Index closed 3.24 per cent lower at 3,538.53 and BSE Smallcap Index ended 2.88 per cent down at 4,162.86. Biggest losers in the Sensex pack were Reliance Infrastructure (13.28%), Sterlite Industries (12.59%), DLF (12.22%), Jaiprakash Associates (11.44%) and NTPC (10.71%). There were no losers in the 30-share index. Market breadth turned extremely weak with 1853 declines against 742 advances on BSE.