Happy Newyear 2017...

Thu Mar 7, 2016; Maria Sharapova reveals she failed a drug test for meldonium at the Australian Open in January.

Dec 7, 2016; Cho Ramasamy, Actor, Editor, Thinker, passes away.

Maria Sharapova;

Maria Sharapova, a five-time Grand Slam champion and the world's highest-paid female athlete, announced Monday that she had tested positive for the recently banned drug meldonium at the Australian Open.
The tennis antidoping program confirmed the positive test, which occurred Jan. 26, the day Sharapova lost to Serena Williams in the quarterfinals. Sharapova, who has not played since because of a forearm injury, will be suspended provisionally , pending a ruling in the case.
The commercial fallout was swift. Nike, one of Sharapova's longtime sponsors, announced in a statement that it was suspending its relationship with her "while the investigation continues." Sharapova has her own clothing line with Nike, with whom she signed an eight-year extension in 2010 that could reportedly be worth up to $70 million.
Sharapova, a 28-year-old Russian who is one of the world's most visible sports figures, is by far the most prominent athlete to be barred for meldonium, a drug originally developed in Latvia for heart patients that aids blood flow and is not approved for sale in the United States.

Maria Sharapova Admits Taking Meldonium, Drug Newly Banned by Tennis

Sharapova said she received an e-mail from WADA linking to information that meldonium would be banned ahead of the 2016 season but did not read the information at the time. Sharapova says she has been taking the drug for 10 years for numerous health issues.

Here are some things to know about meldonium:
What Does It Do?
It is also marketed as mildronate. The website of the drug's Latvian manufacturer Grindeks says meldonium gives sufferers of heart and circulatory conditions more "physical capacity and mental function" - and a similar boost to healthy people. Meldonium was banned because it aids oxygen uptake and endurance.
Who Takes It?
Meldonium is most commonly used in Eastern European and ex-Soviet countries as a drug for people with heart conditions, but it's also offered for sale online. There are also signs that a sizable minority of athletes were using before it was banned. In October, the U.S.-based Partnership for Clean Competition, an anti-doping group, said meldonium was found in 182 of 8,300 urine samples from athletes as part of a study part-funded by the PCC.
How Was It Banned?
The World Anti-Doping Agency monitored the effects and use of meldonium before announcing in September that it would be declared a banned substance from Jan. 1, 2016. WADA declared the decision on its website more than three months before the ban, and it was also announced by the Russian anti-doping agency.

She has been serving a two-year suspension for violation of anti-doping regulations since January 26. However, the Swiss-based Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled October 4 to reduce her suspension term from 24 to 15 months.
The right-handed player is now eligible to officially return to the tennis courts from April 26, 2017.

Dec 7, 2016; Cho Ramasamy, Actor, Editor, Thinker, passes away.

Actor, political analyst and founder-editor of Thuglak magazine Srinivasa Iyer Ramaswamy passed away at Chennai's Apollo Hospitals at 3.58 am on Wednesday due to heart failure. He was 82 and is survived by his wife, son and daughter.Popularly known as Cho Ramaswamy, he was a close friend of Tamil Nadu chief minister and AIADMK leader J Jayalalitha who passed away at the same hospital due to heart ailments on Monday 05,Dec 2016 night. Cho was suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD). Reports say he was watching Jayalalalithaa's funeral procession on TV till yesterday (6/12) afternoon. Later, his condition deteriorated and he had to be put on a ventilator.
Cho and Jayalalitha
There were few friends, politicians or journalists that former chief minister J Jayalalithaa sought views from.Cho Ramasamy, was probably the only person she consulted on politics and social life. Cho never hesitated to point out the mistakes of the Jayalalithaa government, but vouched for her as the best administrator Tamil Nadu could have.
Their friendship goes back to the days when they started their film career, about five decades ago. The two kept in touch, with Cho keenly watching Jayalalithaa's meteoric political rise and the former CM consulting her friend during periods of political turmoil. Cho's outspokenness may have strained their association on a few occasions, but the two remained firm in their friendship.
When Cho was in a critical condition in April last year, Jayalalithaa visited him in the hospital. Their interaction, caught in a video clip by Jaya TV , went viral. While police arrested a visual editor of the AIADMK sponsored channel for leaking the video, the clip gave an insight into the easy
Jayalalitha Meets Cho at Hospital on Aug 29, 2015

camaraderie they shared. "There was mutual trust and deep friendship between them," said Thuglak chief reporter S Ramesh, who worked with Cho for 27 years. They ( Cho and JJ) differed on several issues, including her sudden turnaround on the Eelam issue and her criticism of the Rajapaksa government after the civil war ended in Sri Lanka.
But, Cho continued to play mentor, helping her with alliance formations for several elections. For the 2001 assembly election, he brought TMC leader G K Moopanar to her camp and in 2011 assembly poll, he got a reluctant DMDK leader Vijayakant to her side. He branded DMK as a family party , giving Jayalalithaa a strong campaign plank for the 2011 assembly election. Neither Jayalalithaa nor Cho liked to publicly acknowledge their roles in each other's lives.