Kareena to play a spy

The actress plays a Pakistani character in Agent Vinod

Kareena Kapoor starts shooting for Agent Vinod in two weeks. She plays a negative character in it, while beau Saif Ali Khan plays the title role.

An insider reveals, "The first schedule will be in Mumbai. Kareena plays a Pakistani CIA agent in the film, and sports five different looks -- a first for her. She will be wearing different looks with prosthetics (think Hrithik's guises in Dhoom 2)."



'Very excited'
Kareena is naturally very excited about her role. She believes AV will be a cool and intelligent film. She calls it a very "Saif style" film. Currently, Bebo is shooting for a shampoo ad in Malaysia. She returns later this week and then heads to Goa for Golmaal 3, then joins Saif on set on May 25. In the meantime, she is in talks with designer Aki Narula for her various looks.

Kareena's character works for a bunch of corporate honchos who want to rake in the profits from a war-like scenario in the Asian subcontinent. But she is actually a spy for the Pakistani government. "What is interesting is that she and Saif are not romantically paired in the film."

Kareena says, "I am very excited to be a part of Shriram's film. It's a great script. I am happy that Agent Vinod is starting soon. I am working on my various looks for the film. It's something I haven't attempted before."

Agent Vinod: The plot unfolds
Agent Vinod's character has been moulded on 007, on Jack Bauer (the government agent in the American TV series 24) and on Jason Bourne, the CIA assassin in Robert Ludlum's novels and its film adaptations. Agent Vinod will be filmed at exotic locations all over the globe.
The plot unfolds with a caretaker being murdered and a grave being dug open in Uzbekistan. In Hamburg, a scientist is kidnapped, while in London, a painter is murdered. Elsewhere, an Indian agent is caught spying. He manages to flee and send a warning that someone is planning a conspiracy against India. This is when Agent Vinod steps in to save the country from disaster.

Manmohan Singh meets Pakistani PM Gilani in Thimphu

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is meeting with Pakistani PM Yousuf Raza Gilani in Thimpu currently. Their meeting began nearly 45 minutes late.

The Prime Ministers are meeting on the sidelines of the SAARC Summit; this will be their first meeting since Sharm-al-Sheikh in Egypt. (Read: What is the Sharm-al-Sheikh pact?).

But the big question as they sit down for talks once again is: Will there be a real thaw in Indo-Pak ties?

External Affairs Minister SM Krishna said that there was no fixed agenda for talks. (Watch: No fixed agenda for talks: Krishna)

But the divergence in their approach to today's talks is clear. While Pakistan is insisting that the Sharm-al-Sheikh document, which delinks terrorism from composite dialogue, should be the basis for talks, India is sticking to its position that there can be no composite dialogue but only a channel of communication open till Pakistan takes credible action against the perpetrators of the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai.

"Dialogue is the only way forward. And secondly the peace process should not be overshadowed by issues of terrorism," said Abdul Basit, Spokesperson, Foreign Office, Pakistan.

India is hoping to get some commitment from Pakistan to punish them.

India is keeping its expectations from this meeting low as it has a limited political mandate, especially after the Sharm-al-Sheikh disaster. The joint statement issued after those talks in Egypt had led to a major political confrontation back home, with the Opposition accusing the government of selling out to Pakistan.

There were rumblings even within the Congress. The drafting of the statement became a major controversy, as it seemed to indicate that India had agreed to delink the peace process from terrorism and accepted that it had a role in Balochistan.

The PM had to clarify personally in Parliament that India had only agreed to keep a channel of communication open and not delink the composite dialogue from terrorism.

Also read: Singh, Gilani meeting is good for region: US
Read: Are India, Pak to blame for failure of SAARC?

Caribbean beauty will help Indian boys to unwind

It is the end of another IPL and congratulations to Chennai Super Kings for winning the third edition of this tournament. I strongly believe Mahendra Singh Dhoni will definitely like to carry the winners luck from the IPL into the T20 World Cup. India’s last outing at the event was not up to the mark and I am sure Dhoni and his boys will definitely want to make amends and come out with flying colours this time, keeping in mind that they were the winners of the inaugural T20 World Cup.

The IPL would have given them a huge preparation for the T20 World Cup and the fact that India is not playing any warm-up matches before its first game against Afghanistan will not matter. The point of concern would rather be the back-to-back matches as it becomes very taxing for the body. Luckily, India is playing day time in West Indies, which will help the boys to recover earlier than while playing the night games. The body adapts better to the rule of the clock during day time and it is really tough to play a day-night game, recover and come back to play another the very next day.

The Caribbean is a beautiful place with lovely beaches, relaxed atmosphere and titillating music, which will help the Indian boys to unwind and get ready for the important game against South Africa. West Indies is one of the best places to play cricket. The cricket knowledgeable public loves the sport. Cricket is followed in the West Indies as much as it is done in India and it will be a fantastic two and a half weeks of cricket carnival.

Cricket will survive the latest setback

All the teams have reached West Indies and are gearing up, acclimatising themselves for the tournament proper. The facilities in West Indies have undergone a lot of change during the 2007 World Cup. The stadiums are prettier than what they were with good cricketing facilities but I have a strong feeling the pitches will be on the slower side.

India will be initially based in St Lucia, which has the prettiest beach and the best sea water in the world. The team will be far away from the hectic travel of the IPL, the hustle-bustle of the crazy fans, cooling its heels in the beautiful island. It’s an ideal situation to relax and freshen oneself and put behind the fatigue of the 45 days of IPL.

India has had a young T-20 team from day one and it hasn’t changed in the third year of the tournament as well. The team boasts of a very strong batting line-up with the likes of Gambhir, Yuvraj, Raina, Rohit and Dhoni. India’s success will depend on how much these match-winners fire. They are dangerous players and each one is good enough to take away the game from the opponent on their own.

More on T20 World Cup

But they will have to be ready to counter the short stuff which the opposition used effectively in the last T20 World Cup and will do again this year. I will be really watching out for Yusuf Pathan. He is a guy who can turn a match on his own but needs to be more consistent. He has to play differently as no quality fast bowler will let him hit every ball and he will not see much of the spinners when he bats.

India’s fast bowling, at least on paper, looks depleted. The captain will have to rely a lot on Zaheer and Ashish. They will have to push for some pace on the slow West Indian pitches. India has very good spinners in their ranks which will come in handy in West Indian conditions. Spinners like Ashwin and Pragyan Ojha have been successful in this year’s IPL and have missed the bus narrowly but even then India has enough firepower to bowl in West Indian conditions. It will be interesting to see whether Dhoni will play with the bowling like he did with the Chennai Super Kings bowlers.

Woman spy case: Doctor couple quizzed in Rajouri

Jammu: A doctor couple in Rajouri have been questioned by security agencies in connection with the sensational espionage case involving an Indian diplomat, who was arrested on charges of spying for Pakistan.

A team of officials quizzed Dr Khem Raj Sharma and his wife Dr Champa Sharma for nearly two hours in connection with the spying case at Sunderbani in Rajouri district last night, highly placed sources said.

During questioning, Champa Sharma told interrogators that diplomat Madhuri Gupta had visited her residence in Sunderbani on March 29 for a day after crossing from Pakistan via Wagha border in a Toyota vehicle registered in Pakistan.

Madhuri Gupta visited area near LoC this March

Another close friend of theirs Dr Prem Lata had also come to their residence during the same time and they had visited various places in Jammu.

She left for Pakistan after a day and later Dr Prem Lata too left for her residence in Delhi.

During their stay, officials of the Military Intelligence (MI) had visited their residence to verify the details of the vehicle in which Gupta had come.

Champa also told the interrogators that she knew Madhuri through her friend Prem Lata, her batch mate at Lady Harding Medical College in Delhi.

Woman spy case: Senior Army, RAW officials under scanner

She told interrogators that they used to call each other but no e-mails were exchanged between them, the sources said, adding Champa had opened an e-mail account 10-15 days back.

Referring to the Army officer whose name has figured during the investigation, they said the officer is brother of Dr Champa. He is a senior army officer posted in Meerut.

The couple had cooperated with the investigation but their involvement seems negligible, they said.

Exclusive: On the sets of Kavalkaran

In picture: Asin, the lead actress of Kavalkaran with Siddique and Vijay

Ilayathalapathy Vijay's Kavalkaran, which is directed by Siddique, is progressing at a brisk pace.

INTER ADVANCE TO CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL

BARCELONA, Spain(AP) Ten-man Inter Milan lost 1-0 at Barcelona on Wednesday but still reached its first Champions League final in 38 years by beating the defending champion 3-2 on aggregate.

© AP

The Italian champion braved continuous pressure from the slick-passing Catalans to line up a final against Bayern Munich on May 22 in Madrid after winning the first leg 3-1.

Defender Gerard Pique scored in the 84th minute after Inter had mostly frustrated Barcelona's attack.

Inter was reduced to 10 men from the 28th minute when Thiago Motta picked up a second yellow card after tangling with Sergio Busquets.

But Inter held on in front of a crowd of nearly 100,000 at the Camp Nou to give itself a chance of a third title - and first since 1965.

``It's the greatest loss of my life. This team deserved to draw 0-0. It was an extraordinary game,'' Inter coach Jose Mourinho said. ``It's tough with 11 players against Barcelona - with 10 it's a historic feat.

``We knew that if we defended well, we had our chances.''

Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola was stoical in defeat.

``It was tough, but the players did all they could,'' he said. ``But we couldn't do it this year.''

Barcelona took the lead just moments after substitute Bojan Krkic headed a clear chance wide. Pique received the ball inside the area before twisting past a defender and goalkeeper Julio Cesar and then drilling his shot on the turn into an empty net.

Barcelona star Lionel Messi was given little room to roam, but the Argentina winger had a chance in the closing stages after having delivered a perfect cross for Krkic in the 82nd minute.

Krkic found the back of the net in injury time but his strike was ruled out for a handball by Yaya Toure in the buildup.

Mourinho, who returns to the final for the first time since his Porto side lifted the trophy in 2004, sprinted onto the field with the rest of his squad to celebrate at the final whistle.

Just after Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdes tangled with Mourinho as he pointed up to the Inter section of fans, the water sprinklers at the end of the pitch where Inter players celebrated were turned on.

``I always say that he who wins so much doesn't know how to lose,'' Mourinho said.

Inter managed just one shot in the contest but still halted Barcelona's incredible run under Guardiola. Barcelona won a record six trophies under Guardiola but now has only the league trophy to play for.

Inter, meanwhile, is closing in on a historic treble as it leads the Serie A standings and has reached the Italian Cup final.

``We knew we would suffer in this marvelous stadium, but we did what we had to do tonight,'' said Inter striker Samuel Eto'o, who will play in his third Champions League final after winning the trophy with Barcelona in 2006 and 2009.

Bayern secured its place in the final after beating French club Lyon 3-0 on Tuesday and 4-0 on aggregate. Both teams in Madrid will be missing a player through suspension.

``Bayern is a team filled with great players, full of tradition,'' Mourinho said. ``It will be a great final. It's a pity Motta and (Franck) Ribery cannot play.''

Tensions ran high after Mourinho had stoked the rivalry before the game by stating Barcelona was ``obsessed'' with playing the final at bitter rival Madrid's home stadium.

Guardiola elected to start an attacking formation in front of a three-man defense where Gabriel Milito filled in for suspended center back Carles Puyol.

It meant that two brothers squared off as Diego Milito led Inter's attack alongside Eto'o and Wesley Sneijder, who had recovered from a thigh muscle injury.

Christian Chivu replaced Goran Pandev after the Inter midfielder aggravated a muscle problem during the warmup.

As expected, three-time champion Barcelona controlled possession while patiently pressing forward with the aim of finding a gap in Inter's tight defense, which closed down the middle of the pitch. That left the home side to surge forward mostly along the flanks.

``Each coach, each team plays as they want,'' Guardiola said. ``Congratulations to Inter.''

Pedro Rodriguez, who notched Barcelona's only goal in Milan, met a cross from Daniel Alves inside the area in the 23rd minute but could only send a good opportunity wide.

Minutes later, Motta received a second booking for a slap to Busquets' face.

``We suffered a lot to reach this final, we didn't have many chances after we lost Thiago Motta,'' Maicon said. ``But after that it was a question of desire.''

And grit, as Inter effectively dug in for the remainder of the game with Barcelona unable to exploit the extra space as Messi's runs were largely cut off before they reached the area. He had the Spanish champion's best chance of the first half in the 32nd minute but Cesar stretched to his right to tip the curling shot wide.

Barcelona continued to pressure in the second half, especially after Krkic came on for Zlatan Ibahimovic in the 63rd. Barcleona had several penalty appeals waived away before Messi led the final charge before Pique's goal, but the diminutive playmaker failed to get a foot on a pass at the near post. He then sent a shot straight into the arms of Cesar.

Guardiola didn't believe Barcelona was a victim of its own success.

``Reaching the semifinals of the Champions League, there's never a question of being a victim,'' Guardiola said. ``This club knows how to lose because it has lost a lot more than it has won.''

We're missing players who were good in IPL: Dhoni

The Indian cricket team arrived in West Indies after a long flight and skipper MS Dhoni found the bus ride from the airport to the hotel more tiring than the IPL.

"The two hour bus ride from the airport to the hotel was more tiring than the entire IPL...look we can't change the calender. It has been like this for a long time now and we have gotten used to it," Dhoni said.

India will be playing their league game in St. Lucia. The Men in Blue are not playing any warm up games, they simply don't have the time to do so.

The 2007 Champions play their opening match against Afghanistan this Saturday. Their real test is the next day itself when they play their second league game against South Africa this Sunday.

When asked if team missed players who performed well in the IPL but were not part of the squad, Dhoni said, "I have to admit that there were 3-4 guys who played very well in the IPL but are not part of our team, but then the ICC rules are such that we have to nominate our 30 member squad well in advance and so those guys missed out".

Dhoni also expressed his liking for the Caribbean culture and people.

"I love the people here and love playing cricket here, though I must admit that I am more of a mountain guy than a beach person but inspite of that playing cricket here is a great experience and I am looking forward to the next 15 days," he said.

Maruti adds glitz to Ritz

Maruti Suzuki has rolled out a new television commercial for its premium hatchback, the Ritz, which revolves around the theme of Ritz choices.

The campaign positions the car as one that offers the customer all he can ask for. As competition in the segment has picked up with a slew of new launches in 2009, and more lined up this year, Maruti Suzuki hopes the campaign will create a differentiator for the Ritz.

IPL will get bigger without Modi: Shetty

New Delhi: The success of the IPL was not because of Lalit Modi alone, according to a top BCCI official, who reckons the Twenty20 league will continue to flourish without the suspended commissioner as cricket sells itself in India.

The BCCI's chief administrative officer Ratnakar Shetty said that the Board has enough competent people to take the event forward.

"The IPL will continue to flourish. The success is not only because of Modi. BCCI will put up a good team to make IPL even more successful," Shetty said.

The high-flying Modi was suspended as the chairman and commissioner of the league after the final on Sunday because of alleged financial irregularities and rigging of bids.

Modi was charged on five counts, including irregularities in the bids of Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab and in the broadcast and internet deals.

Modi's removal has raised apprehensions among the franchises many of whom openly backed the embattled former commissioner during the raging controversy.

Cricket will survive the latest setback

"There is no need for the franchisees to be apprehensive. BCCI will ensure that IPL will be managed professionally. The BCCI president Shashank Manohar and interim chairman Chirayu Amin have already made it clear in this regard," Shetty said.

The scandal has tarnished the image of the BCCI to a great extent but Shetty said steps would be taken to protect the game and the Board's reputation.

"BCCI will take all steps required to protect the game and its own reputation. All these developments gave a bad name to the organisation but we will take all corrective steps," the chief administrative officer said.

Shetty, who has been given the responsibility of investigating all the missing documents related to bids and other IPL deals, said he would write to Modi to hand over all the original documents which are with him.

"We will officially write to Modi to hand over all the original documents held by him as they are the property of BCCI," he said.

Asked whether he felt the market value of IPL would go down due to the entire controversy and Modi's removal, he said, "IPL is a brand of its own and it is built around the game of cricket. It will grow further."

Shetty also vehemently denied that there was political pressure on the BCCI to take stern action against Modi after minister of state for external affairs Shashi Tharoor's resignation.

"I can tell you that there was no political pressure on the BCCI. Not at all," he asserted.

He also came to the defense of IPL Governing Council which failed to keep a tab on Modi's alleged wrong-doings.

Seamy side of IPL did not dent popularity

Asked how much blame the Governing Council should take for the entire fiasco, he said, "To be fair to the Governing Council, in most cases the papers came for ratification and Rajiv Shukla had written about this to Shashank Manohar."

On what prompted the council to appoint Chirayu Amin as the interim chairman of the league, the CAO said, "Chirayu Amin is an experienced cricket administrator, maintains a low profile and can handle the issues in IPL."

Shetty said that Modi's response to the showcause notice would be placed in front of the disciplinary committee.

"The reply to the showcause notice will be placed before the three-member disciplinary committee of BCCI," he said.

The Disciplinary Committee comprises of president Manohar and two vice-presidents -- Amin and Arun Jaitley. The disciplinary committee will then submit its report in the General Body Meeting.

On Modi's threat to expose some of the BCCI officials in the wake of the IPL furore, Shetty shot back, "He is free to do that."

On whether he considers the IPL scandal the biggest crisis in Indian cricket, he said, "It's certainly not bigger than the match-fixing scandal."

Katrina-Salman are 'the hottest couple of the decade'

They may not be official, but the Salman-Katrina pair is apparently a hit with the country.

Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif may be tight-lipped about their relationship status, but they have been voted the hottest couple of the decade in a poll by MSN India that also declared Shah Rukh Khan the actor of the decade.

The two have beaten the likes of Abhishek Bachchan-Aishwarya Rai, Bipasha Basu-John Abraham and Saif Ali Khan-Kareena Kapoor.

MSN India had conducted an online poll and invited its readers to vote for their favourite Bollywood actors under various categories as part of their Decade Special for Bollywood.

Of the 38,648 readers who responded for Hottest couple of the Decade category, 36 per cent opined that Salman and Katrina made for a greater couple than Abhishek-Aishwarya who got 27 per cent votes, followed by Bipasha and John with 13 per cent votes while Kareena and Saif got only six per cent votes.

Katrina also topped the 'Hottest Body of the Decade' poll with 33 percent votes and proved that her curves are more attractive than Bipasha, who got 13 per cent votes, Aishwarya Rai Bachcan (10 per cent) and Priyanka Chopra (nine per cent).

For the Actor of the Decade poll, Shah Rukh topped with 29 per cent votes followed by Aamir Khan with 26 per cent and Amitabh Bachchan with 16 per cent votes.

Ram Gopal Varma's Aag was voted Flop of the Decade and it won hands down with 48 per cent votes followed by Drona, Love Story 2050 and Tashan.

For the Hottest Lip Lock of the Decade poll 39 per cent thought that Emraan Hashmi and Mallika Sherawat's kissing in Murder was more sincere than Hrithik-Aishwarya in Dhoom 2 (21 per cent). It was followed by Saif-Kareena in Kurbaan (16 per cent) and R Madhavan-Vidya Balan in Guru (seven per cent).

1,000 guests and a single dish at Sania-Shoaib reception

Over 1,000 guests at the wedding reception of Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza and Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik were served just one dish and the celebrations at a hotel in this Pakistani city came to an end sharp at 10 p.m.

Sania was wearing a white gown while Shoaib wore a black suit at the 'walima' Tuesday attended by over 1,000 people including sportsmen, politicians, celebrities, businessmen and others, at the Pearl Continental Hotel here.

Shoaib married Sania April 12 in India's Hyderabad city after settling a divorce case with his first wife Ayesha Siddiqui April 7.

However, the newly-wed couple seemed annoyed at the overcrowding by guests Tuesday, the Daily Times reported.

Hundreds of policemen had been deployed in and around the hotel while plainclothes policemen were also present at the function. Policemen also tried to maintain smooth flow of traffic.

Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer, Federal Minister for Population Welfare Firdous Ashiq Awan, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani's son Qadir were among the guests.

Earlier Tuesday, a case filed against the couple for allegedly violating the marriage laws was dismissed by the Lahore High Court.

Sheikh Hasan Sheraz, a resident of Gujranwala, had filed a suit Monday with the court stating that Malik and Mirza had violated the one-dish law, misused electricity and continued their walima ceremony till 1.00 a.m. in Sialkot, in total violation of the country's marriage laws.

Pakistan's provincial governments recently passed the one-dish law saying there should no be no ostentation at weddings that should be austere and keep in mind the present tough situation in the country.

Sania Mirza and Shoaib Malik set a new ceremony date of April 15

Best of IPL Season 3

Sania, Shoaib's reception in Pakistan

Tharoor and Modi are still 'friends'

Yes! That's true. Shashi Tharoor and Lalit Modi are certainly no longer seeing eye-to-eye after the rather colourful and bitter events of the last few weeks. But that is in real life. In the virtual world, where the controversy all began - Twitter - the two are still friends!

Former Minister of State for External Affairs, Tharoor, who after a lot of prodding from the senior leadership of the Congress finally resigned, still hasn't deleted his nemesis, the suspended IPL commissioner from his Twitter account. And the same is equally true for Modi. Effectively meaning, the two former pals are still keeping a close eye on what the other is saying.

Tharoor, nicknamed Twitteroor after his propensity to the new age medium, is following 31 people which includes - Brahma Chellaney, professor of Strategic Studies at the Center for Policy Research, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband, industrialist Anand Mahindra, director Karan Johar, author Chetan Bhagat, tennis star Mahesh Bhupati and several senior journalists.

Modi, on the other hand, has only joined the tweeting bandwagon recently and is keeping tabs on what 25 others are expressing. Most of them are known faces of the IPL "where cricket and Bollywood meet". However, Bollywood certainly scores over cricket here.

The cricketers Modi is following are: Yuvraj Singh, Damien Martyn, Michael Clarke and Shane Warne. The list from the glamour world is a little longer: Shah Rukh Khan, Preity Zinta, Shilpa Shetty, Sushmita Sen, Sameera Reddy, Celina Jaitley and even Kate Moss.

Meanwhile, even as the IPLgate gets murkier, the number of people following Tharoor and Modi has shot up dramatically in the last two weeks. Tharoor, of course, has always been very popular and had over 700,000 followers when the scandal broke out. Now, he has almost reached the 751,000 mark, with followers being added every time the page is refreshed.

Modi too hasn't been too behind. On April 11th, when he first revealed the Kochi consortium's shareholding pattern, he had 60,000 odd followers. Now, with everyone wanting to know what he will reveal next as promised, he is inching towards 117,000 mark.

But after all the washing of the dirty linen in public, the acrimony and the bad blood, all because of one little tweet, who knows, perhaps Twitter could also help translate the 'friendship' status from the virtual to the real world!

Must respect Sachin's decision, says Dhoni

Team India is West-Indies-bound for the T20 World Cup, but the most successful batsmen of IPL Season 3 is not boarding that flight. Sachin Tendulkar will be missed by every Indian, but India skipper MS Dhoni says, "we must respect Sachin's decision to retire from T20."

In an exclusive interview to NDTV, Dhoni, who also spoke about winning the IPL and lots more, said of course the team would miss Sachin, but "I respect his decision, whatever he says because he has done well, given his services to Indian cricket for the last 20 years, if he decides something than we should just respect it."

The Captain is sure the presence of his Chennai Super Kings teammate, opener Murli Vijay, will stand the team in good stead. The in-form Murli has come in at the last minute for Virendra Sehwag, who has dropped out of the tournament.
(Read: IPL needs more minds)

Dhoni is also bullish about his bowlers and is happy with the inclusion in the squad of young Piyush Chawla. "Pragyan Ojha has done relatively well in all three seasons of IPL, same is the case with Amit Mishra who has done really well, but you have to see in this format of t20 cricket, if you have somebody like Harbhajan Singh or Yusuf Pathan, Ravinder Jadeja, who have been doing this job of bowling with batting, in this equation Piyush Chawla gets an edge and he is the best fielder among the lot. We need somebody who can do a bit of batting at the same time. Captains get greedy by saying that you don't need a batsman at number 8 but there is no harm."

And can Team India reprise the thrilling win of three years ago so soon after a hectic IPL season? "This isn't the first time we are playing World Cup and not first time that we are playing so much. We should stop asking. We play throughout the year, five years before or after we will keep playing...the only factor is hopefullly we dont have any major injuries to any players," says the man in command.

Facebook, Twitter making people less intimate

More than 50 per cent of people in a survey have said they prefer a kiss and cuddle to sex in a relationship.

The survey claims sex comes after commitment, companionship and humour in a successful relationship. Surprisingly, it is men who are more than happy to smooch on a sofa rather than romp in the bedroom, reports express.co.uk.

Researchers for healthcare giant Bayer even blame social networking internet sites such as Facebook and Twitter for making people less intimate with each other as they conduct long-distance relationships.

Meanwhile, Christine Webber, a sex and relationships expert has warned that the lack of intimacy can endanger any relationship.

Which is India's Twitter capital?

Mumbai and Bangalore are in a race yet again and this time for the crown of the Twitter capital of India. Interestingly, two surveys conducted recently give contradicting results - one which puts Mumbai in the forefront, while the other favours Bangalore.

And this has predictably made Tweeple from both cities question the authenticity of the surveys.

According to the first survey conducted earlier this week by Twitter Grader, Bangalore ranked 23rd in the list of cities across the world with the highest number of Twitter users in the country, while Mumbai appeared 27th on the list.

The second survey conducted by tweeple.in along the same lines shows that Mumbai has the highest number of users of the micro-blogging site in India - 34,082 - and Bangalore comes a close second with 28,457 users.

However, Tweeple from both cities feel that the surveys are unreliable.

Shakthi Salloager (25), a writer based in Mumbai, and an avid Twitter user said, "I don't trust these surveys."

Vibrant users

Tinu Cherrian (29), a member of the Bangalore Twitter Community agreed. "I don't think the surveys are authentic. Both cities have vibrant Twitter users," he said.

According to Philip Abraham (24), a software engineer, there could've been a mix up.

"These surveys have to be conducted better," he suggested.

Added Netra Barikh (43), a networking addict, "The number of users go up and down regularly. This could be why such surveys cannot produce the exact numbers."

World ranking

Internationally, London has the most number of Tweeple in the world. It is followed by Los Angeles and Chicago, according to both surveys.

IPL row - Shahrukh Khan, Gauri get notices from RoC

Actor Shahrukh Khan and his wife Gauri, who promote IPL franchise ‘Kolkata Knight Riders’, and Jaipur IPL Cricket.

That promotes ‘Rajasthan Royals’ have been issued show-cause notices for alleged violation of the Companies Act."

After expiry of notice period, criminal proceedings will be filed against the companies and the directors," the Registrar of Companies (RoC), Mumbai, informed the Ministry of Company Affairs.

The notices were issued to the companies and their promoters, directors for not filing mandatory yearly returns.

The MCA, on Wednesday last, had directed the RoC to collect within a week all details on IPL franchisees, including.

The bidding process, sweat equity and memorandum of association. "My ministry is merely collecting information that we should have in.

The normal course of those companies that are franchisee companies," Corporate Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid had told reporters.

On Monday, clarifying that this was not a probe. The RoC-Mumbai, which inquired into the details of Red Chillies Entertainment and Knight Riders Sports, and Jaipur IPL Cricket.

In a communication to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs on April 22, said that "after expiry of the notice period, criminal proceeding will be filed against. The companies and their directors." The RoC said that these companies have not been filing balance sheets and annual returns.

Red Chillies, headed by Shahrukh Khan and Gauri Khan, is the promoter of IPL franchise Kolkata Knight Riders, while Jaipur IPL Cricket owns the Rajasthan Royals franchise. According to an official sources, the companies have been given 15 days to respond to the notices given by.

The RoC Mumbai. E-mails sent to Red Chillies Entertainments and Knight Riders Sports remained unanswered, while the Jaipur IPL Cricket remained silent on the RoC notice. Red Chillies Entertainments, promoted by Shahrukh Khan and Gauri, holds 55 per cent stake in Knight Riders Sports has been charged for not filing balance sheet for 2006-07 with the RoC, as required under the Companies Act, 1956.

The directors of the Knight Rider Sports, which owns the Kolkata Knight Riders, include Gauri Khan and Jay Mehta and Sanjiv Desraj Chawla (husband and brother of Bollywood actress Juhi Chawla respectively). Knight Rider Sports has not filed annual returns for the period up to September 2008 and September 2009. As regards Jaipur IPL Cricket, its directors Raghuram Natrajan Iyer and Ranjit Rabindranath Barthukar, as named by the RoC, have been issued notices.
--Agencies

NASA confirms possibility of sun rising from the West

The science of astronomy states that the speed of planet Mars has been decreasing in its course toward the eastern direction in the past few weeks to the level we notice the "waver" between the east and the west and on Wednesday the 30th of July the planet movement stopped going toward the eastern direction.

Then in the months of August and September...Mars changed its course in the opposite direction to the West- and that until the end of September which means the sun will rise now from the west on Mars!! And this weird phenomena of the opposite movement is called "Retrograde Motion" Most scientist state that all the planets will go through the same once at least and our planet Earth is one of them. Planet Earth will move in the opposite direction some day and the sun will rise from the west!!

This might occur soon and we are unaware! The rise of the sun from the west is mentioned in the hadith and this is the major sign of the day of judgement, most if not all, the minor signs have occurred. Wake up. Our beloved messenger Mohamed (Peace Be Upon Him) said: "One of the signs of the hour the sun will rise from the west, where no longer tauba (forgiveness) will be granted"

!!And the strange thing most of our Shariah scholars mentioned that the rise of the sun from the west occurs only once on that day the sun will rise from the west then again from the east and continues until Allah wishes and this is similar to what is happening to Mars it stops, then it changes its course of direction for a short period of time then returns to way once it was.

And Abdullah Bin Amro (R.A.) said: (I memorised from the messenger (SAW) a hadith I will never forget I heard the messenger of Allah (SAW) say: The first aya to come the rise of the sun from the west) [Ahmad]. And the messenger SAW "Allah places HIS hand at night to forgive his morning sinners, and places in the morning to forgive his night sinners until the sun rises from the west" [Muslim].

This piece of news is very important as it brings with it a great sign of warning and remembrance of the coming of a new WORLD - the world of he Hereafter When we show this hadith that was told 1400 years ago about this miracle..you will see InshaALLAH, a lot will revert to right path...And the Muslims if they see this phenomena happening in Mars who knows maybe it would bring them closer to our CREATOR. May Allah keep all of us in the right path and provide us with success in this world as well as in the hereafter.

Courtesy: Business Recorder

Khushboo pre-marital sex comments: All cases dismissed

Actor Khushboo has won a long and tough legal battle with the Supreme Court ruling in her favour.

The Supreme Court has dismissed 22 cases filed against her in various parts of Tamil Nadu for remarks that she made about pre-marital sex in an interview to a magazine in 2005.

The Madras High Court had ordered that the different cases against her be consolidated and dealt with in a joint trial.

Speaking to NDTV, Khushboo said, "When you look around, every celebrity is pinned down for no rhyme or reason...and that is quite a harassment. I knew what I had spoken...it's not an easy task for a woman to stand alone and say 'I believe in what I have spoken'."

Khushboo says that her original interview to a magazine was misquoted in a Tamil newspaper, and this incorrect report provoked the different cases against her. She said her remarks about pre-marital sex and living together were made as part of a discussion on AIDS and HIV.

"A woman and actor combined together made a statement that made sense...and that was the problem, I think," she said.

Lina Marulanda Commits Suicide

Lina Marulanda, a top Colombian Model committed suicide on Thursday, according to The Hollywood Gossip. She 29.

Lina Marulanda was a TV host and one of the top fashion models in Colombia.

Police confirmed that the Latina model jumped from her apartment that’s located in northern Bogota.

According to the site, Marulanda recently separated from her second husband and was going through a really difficult time dealing with the divorce.

Marulanda first began modeling at the young age of 12. She’s best known for being in fashion magazines and hosting the news on Caracol television. She graduated from the University of Jorge Tadeo Spirited of Bogota and made her debut as a news anchor back in 2002.

'Sex Swami is also a smuggler'

CID sleuths reveal that Swami Nithyananda would routinely smuggle 24 carat gold from the US

There seems to be no end to the number of crime that sex swami Nithyananda is believed to be involved in.

The CID sleuths revealed that the 33-year-old Swami Nithyananda used to smuggle 24 carat gold weighing several kilograms from the US.

According to the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), Swami Nithyananda used visit the US quite often. During his visits, he used to carry objects that looked like gold.

Soon after reaching there, he used to get models the objects made out of pure 24 carat gold and brought it to India.

"He usually got things made in form of rosaries and sandals that he used to wear while returning to India," reads a DRI letter that was sent to the Bangalore airport authorities, a copy of which is in possession of MiD DAY.


The letter also mentions that Swami Nithyananda misused his image of a spiritual guru to smuggle gold.

According to the officials, the swami believed that he'd be never caught, as the custom officials never bothered to check him when he used to go on spiritual trips.

DRI officials had also issued a look out circular to all the airports soon after sex swami went into hiding.

The DRI sleuths suspect that Nityananda could have used the same technique for smuggling precious stones as well.

Besides, the officials suspect that Ma Nithyananda Gopika, sex swami's personal assistant, helped him in the smuggling racket.

Let ICC supervise IPL from now on: Miandad

Former Pakistan captain Javed Miandad is not surprised by the mess the IPL finds itself in and wants the International Cricket Council to 'supervise' its organisation in future.

Miandad said keeping in mind the huge stakes involved in the so called domestic event of the BCCI, the world governing body of the game must intervene.

"Just to say the IPL is a domestic event does not work. IPL has too much foreign participation and interest at stake. ICC must supervise its organization from now on," he said.

Miandad, who is Director-General of Cricket in the PCB, said that he was not surprised at the turn of events in the IPL or the suspension of its commissioner Lalit Modi.

"It is not surprising because when you allow a private enterprise to deal directly with players bypassing the boards there is always bound to be trouble.

"I have been saying from day one that the ICC can't allow any Board to operate such private enterprises without a proper system of check and balance," Miandad said.

He contended that by allowing the IPL to deal directly with players, a wrong trend was set.

"Who is there to stop Modi from telling a player, 'Your country pays you so much I will pay you thrice as much' and this leads to conflict of interest for the players."

The former Pakistan captain and coach said lot of hype was created around the IPL for a purpose but realistically it did nothing for the betterment of cricket.

"Already there is so much T20 international cricket being played these days. Why should we have the IPL and one week later the World Cup. What is more important," he said.

No Pakistani player participated in the just concluded IPL-III as no franchise bid for them at the auction. As many as 11 players, including Pakistan's T20 captain Shahid Afridi, were part of the auction but went unsold.

Rajasthan Royals: Shilpa-Raj stake is legitimate

After questions were raised about why they're not mentioned in ownership documents for the Rajasthan Royals, Shilpa Shetty and husband Raj, along with their co-owners, have said they're legitimate stakeholders in the Jaipur team of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

On Monday, Shashank Manohar, president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), said that the parentage of the Royals seems uncertain. "We are asking Modi, how can he sign an agreement with A when the bid came from B. Modi made a statement that the entire world knows who the shareholders are but the fact is that not even the Governing Council members know about Rajasthan Royals. I did not find the names of Shilpa Shetty and Raj Kundra in the papers and they claim to be stakeholders."

An alarmed Shilpa Shetty tweeted on Monday "Woke up & heard on TV that we're not co-owners of RR! There's no doubt Raj is a stake holder & I'm the brand ambassador."

Forty per cent of the Royals franchise is owned by Suresh Chellaram, Modi's wife's brother-in-law. The board says that if shares were transferred to Shilpa and her husband after they invested in the Royals, no transfer fee has been paid. (Read: Shilpa Shetty tweets allegations untrue)

Sania on Shoaib: Ours is not a great love story

Annoyed by the hype over his marriage with Indian tennis star Sania Mirza, Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik has appealed to the media to practice some restrain.

Malik said due to the continuous attention, he and Sania cannot live like a normal couple. (In Pics: Sania-Shoaib - The Wedding Album)

"I am pleased to know that people are happy with our marriage but I think now it is time to stop this hype and let us live like a normal couple. I would request the media to leave alone both the families," Shoaib said when he and Sania appeared together for the first time on a Pakistani channel last night. (Read & Watch: Newlyweds Sania, Shoaib Talk to NDTV)

"Two people from different countries got married and it should only be treated as a marriage nothing more," Malik told 'Ary News'.

Malik said he was happy at the celebrations in Pakistan but he was now tired of playing bodyguard to his wife.

"I would ask the media to reduce the hype let our families enjoy this occasion as any family would celebrate a marriage. Because of all this hype I couldn't even meet with my friends and relatives properly at the reception in Sialkot, it was a mad rush," he said.

Malik, who is presently serving a 12-month ban by the Pakistan Cricket Board, was also disappointed by the negative stories about them.

"I can only laugh at stories in the media that invitation cards for our wedding reception were sold. This thing about our wedding cards being sold it is laughable. Please don't turn wedding cards into credit cards," Malik said.

Sania Mirza said she was surprised by the hype in the media over their marriage.

"It is not like ours is a great big love story.

Strangely we were introduced by a common friend from the media then I met him in Hobart and our families also met and we decided to get married," she said.

There are reports after unruly scenes at the reception in Sialkot on Sunday night, Sania's father Imran is personally supervising all security arrangements for the Valima reception in Lahore.

Woman Indian diplomat was spying for Pakistan

A spy. Check. Love. Check. Money. Check.

The damning basics of Madhuri Gupta's story are the must-haves of any spy story. Which is what this is. For real.

The 53-year-old was posted at the Islamabad High Commission. The Indian Foreign Services B-Cadre diplomat was the Second Secretary for Press and Information at the highly-sensitive Islamabad embassy. She allegedly fell in love with Rana, her Pakistani handler, and began selling secrets to him. Sources say that in her confession to the police, she said she also wanted revenge - she had been overlooked for promotion, and was unhappy with her service conditions.

In other words, she did it for love and money.

She was arrested in Delhi on Tuesday, after being summoned from Pakistan on the pretext that she was needed for the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) meet, now underway in Thimphu.

Eight months ago, Gupta's colleagues at the mission became suspicious of her motives, and alerted her seniors.

"We have reason to believe an official of the Indian High Commission in Islamabad had been passing info to Pakistan intelligence agencies. The matter is currently under investigation. The officer is cooperating with us," said Vishnu Prakash, a spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs.

Officials confirm that as a second secretary, Gupta's access to classified information may have been limited.

Gupta, who was known for her proficiency in Urdu, is accused of having shared the identity of undercover Indian officers, and of sharing details of their assignments.

To the Pakistanis who she worked for, however, she bragged that she had intimate access to the station chief of India's intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), in Islamabad. RAW has investigated emails she sent, but say much of the information she gave, quoting or citing the RAW chief, is incorrect. So far, RAW has no evidence against him.

When asked about Gupta's arrest, Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, who is at the SAARC meet in Thimphu said, "My information is as good as yours because it is based on media reports."