After seeing India's brilliant performance in one-day cricket, former skipper and prolific right hand batsman Kevin Pietersen believes that the IPL is the reason behind men in blue's success and said if English players were to lift their game, they too must play in the Twenty20 tournament.

Speaking with BBC, Pietersen said, “I think the reason why India has gone through the roof is because of the Indian Premier League (IPL).”

''After missing out last year, there is no way we can get up there if we don't play,'' he said.

A phone helpline, named ‘Manasu’ has been launched in Tamil Nadu for transgenders on Friday.

The helpline number '044-25990505' will assist transgenders, whose population is about 50,000 in the state.

The Tamil Nadu AIDS Initiative is being administered by Voluntary Health Service (VHS).

Dr. Lakshmi Bai, Project Director, TAI –VHS, said, “For those who want to understand the issues related to transgenders, this helpline will serve as a gateway of information and counselling.”

In a bid to combat the problem of the current global economic crises, the fast moving consumer goods major, Unilever Group has decided to step up its cost cutting drive at the global level where it will concentrate more on protecting the cash flows.

Speaking with the media persons here on Friday, Paul Polman, Unilever’s CEO said that the company has appointed a Global Procurement Officer to handle this task. A common global procurement platform has also been drawn to meet the requirements of the FMCG major across the globe.

In a crucial move, Tube Investments of India Ltd (TII), a Murugappa group company, on Friday announced that said it has invested 1.5 billion rupees (Rs 150 crore) in Cholamandalam DBS Finance by subscribing to 1 per cent fully convertible cumulative preference shares (FCCPS) of DBS.

A top official working for the company said that the shares have since been allotted to both Tube Investments and DBS.

The World Bank entered the advanced stage of sanctioning $2.6 billion under a special loan scheme to India.

Out of $2.6 billion, Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) will get a $400-million loan, India Infrastructure Finance Company (IIFCL) $1 billion and Power Grid Corporation a $1.2-billion loan.

Here’s something to wake you up.

A recent report prepared jointly by Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH) and National Institute for Research in Reproductive Health (NIRRH) presents the grim picture of Indian women.

According to recent report published online in ‘The Lancet’ (a reputed international medical journal), nearly 44.5 per cent of girls in the age group of 20-24 years were married before they reached 18 years of age.