Dhoni`s six perfect end to match: Hrithik Roshan

Mumbai: Actor Hrithik Roshan was bowled over by the magnificent performance of Team India in the World Cup final against Sri Lanka and says skipper M.S. Dhoni`s winning six was the perfect end to the match.

"Last (Saturday) night, Indian team proved themselves to be the biggest heroes. They were up against one of the best teams. It`s the madness that carried them through. And the final winning six of Dhoni... I am a cinema guy so in my way I would say it was a perfect screenplay," Hrithik told reporters at the launch of Provogue`s new Spring Summer Catalogue at Novotel Hotel here Sunday.

India defeated Sri Lanka at the ICC World Cup final by six wickets to lift the World Cup after 28 years. India had last won the cup in 1983.

Actress Sonakshi Sinha accompanied Hrithik at the launch of the catalogue. The two endorse the brand`s respective female and male lines respectively. IANS

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Lohan`s mother fumes over CCTV footage sale

London: Lindsay Lohan`s mother Dina has lashed out at a California jewellery store for selling surveillance footage of the actress trying on a necklace she later allegedly stole from the shop.

Clips of the video have also emerged online at Necklacevideo, with fans being asked to pay $2.99 to view more of the recording, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

Lohan`s mother Dina is fuming about the release of the footage and she has branded the "pay-as-you-watch" scheme "ridiculous".

"It`s clear what this is about. It`s gotten to such a ridiculous point. They need to leave Lindsay alone," Dina told reporters.

Lindsay is also infuriated with the bosses at Kamofie and Company trying to cash in on her name. She has even threatened legal action claiming she never granted the store owners permission to use her image for profit. IANS

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Magic Johnson is Abhishek Bachchan`s fan!

Mumbai: If Abhishek Bachchan has one idol besides his dad Amitabh Bachchan, it`s the basketball legend Magic Johnson. Imagine his surprise when he got to know that Johnson too shared the sentiment, and was Abhishek`s fan!

Not too many people know this, but Abhishek`s most prized possessions are two jerseys signed personally by Johnson.

Such is Junior Bachchan`s undying affinity to Magic Johnson`s magic, that the joke at the Bachchan residence Jalsa is that give Abhishek an Amitabh Bachchan classic and a recording of a Magic Johnson game, and you`ve lost him for the whole day.

Abhishek, when he got to know about Johnson being on micro-blogging site Twitter, was persuaded by those close to him to tweet to his childhood idol.

Says a source close to Abhishek: "At first, Abhishek was hesitant. He is never demonstrative about his likes and dislikes. He kept agonising over whether he should let Magic Johnson know on Twitter about what a fan he is. Finally, Aishwarya convinced him to go for it. Abhishek tweeted a simple message to Johnson saying what a fan he is."

To Abhishek`s surprise, Magic Johnson tweeted back saying he is a fan of Abhishek`s!

Says the source: "Abhishek still can`t believe Magic Johnson tweeted back saying he is a fan. He has been pinching himself and bragging to all his friends about the compliment. The two Magic Johnson jerseys are out of the cupboard again."

Abhishek was so thrilled he threw an impromptu party for all his close friends.

Still sounding zapped, Abhishek says: "I`ve been a fan...no, a fanatic of Magic Johnson from childhood. To get such a complimentary tweet from him in reply to my tweet is a dream come true. You have to excuse me now, I`ve to go back to iron my two most prized possessions, the Johnson jerseys."

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42 dead, over 100 injured in Pakistan triple blasts

Islamabad: At least 42 people were killed and over a hundred injured on Sunday when three powerful blasts ripped through a crowded shrine in Pakistan's Punjab province. Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has strongly condemned the attack.

Hundreds of Sufi Muslims from different parts of the country had gathered at the shrine, called Sakhi Sarvar, near the Deraghazi Khan city for a three-day festival.

The first blast, which has been confirmed as a suicide attack, occurred around 5.40 pm in the front side of the shrine, followed by a second blast at the rear end. The shrine is located on a mountain some 40 km from the city.

The third blast occurred near the shrine where people were busy helping the injured. It could not be determined immediately if the second and third blasts were suicide attacks. Scores of people were killed and injured in the blasts, sources told Xinhua. Geo TV said at least 42 people were killed and over a 100 injured.

Police had reportedly arrested two suspected terrorists near the shrine prior to the third blast. One of them was wearing a suicide jacket. Local media reports said that the bomber in the first blast was aged between 17 and 22.

Rescue workers had difficulty in shifting the injured down from the mountain. It took about two to three hours to shift them to the nearest hospital, said a rescue officer. Many people have died on the way to the hospital, he said.

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has strongly condemned the attack and ordered an immediate probe.

Meanwhile, media reports said that Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has claimed responsibility for the attack.

This was the first terror attack on a shrine in Pakistan this year. Last year, several suicide blasts occurred at shrines in different parts of the country, killing and injuring many people. In one such attack, 37 people were killed and over 170 others injured in the eastern city of Lahore last year.

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Two workers die at Fukushima plant

The Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) and the IAEA on Sunday announced the death of two workers at the site of the quake-and-tsunami-hit Fukushima Daiichi atomic energy plant. Neither side spelt out the exact cause of the deaths.

In a regular update on the Fukushima situation, the IAEA said, without comment, Japan's “Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency reported that the two employees were found dead” in the turbine building of Unit 4 on March 30. The plant was devastated by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

Tepco chairman Tsunehisa Katsumata said in a statement: “We lost two young employees who were working to protect the safety of the Fukushima power station after the earthquake and the tsunami …. We will work to avoid a similar tragedy in the future.” In yet another statement, the company said the two workers, assigned an inspection task, had been “missing” since the March 11 quake and tsunami. Tepco had previously reported an “explosive sound” and consequential damage at Unit 4 on March 15.

Continuous leakage of radioactive substances from the entire Fukushima Daiichi complex has been confirmed by the Japanese authorities for over two weeks now. And efforts to plug one of the detected outlets — a 20-cm. crack in the concrete wall of pit at Unit 2 — continued on Sunday, with senior officials expressing concern and declining to set a timeline for ending the radiation crisis.

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2G Spectrum Charge Sheet Has Left Out Core Issues: Jaitley

Thiruvananthapuram : BJP today said the CBI charge sheet in the 2G spectrum case had left out "core issues" without significantly dealing with loss to the exchequer and alleged that the timetable of investigation was influenced by the April 13 Tamil Nadu Assembly polls.

Arun Jaitley, who is Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, said, "The charge sheet has left out the core issues.  The issue of loss to the exchequer on account of allotting spectrum at 2001 price in 2008 has not been significantly dealt with."

Saying that there were serious allegations of favour shown to DMK, a UPA partner, he told a meet-the-press programme here that the timetable of investigation was influenced by the Tamil Nadu polls.

"I think CBI has bent backwards a little bit. They repeatedly said the Prime Minister was defied or misled. I don't think the charge sheet should give a political clean chit to anybody. It should deal with criminality," Jaitley, who was here to campaign for BJP candidates, said.

Jaitley said CBI had acted under legal compulsions as it was mandatory to file the charge sheet within 60 days after starting the investigation.

Claiming that "huge evidences" about large sums of money being transferred to the DMK channel (Kalaignar TV) had surfaced during the probe, he said there was no reason to postpone such vital issues.

Asked if he thought CBI had been politically influenced to leave out issues relating to DMK, he noted that CBI itself had taken up the case only after the Supreme Court intervention.

The investigating agency should avoid doing anything that would vindicate the charge of acting on political considerations, he said.

The CBI charge sheet filed in a Delhi court yesterday said former Telecom Minister A Raja had conspired with top bureaucrats, including a retired IAS officer, and corporate honchos in allocation of 2G spectrum that resulted in a loss of Rs 30,984 crore.

Raja was chargesheeted along with eight others and three Telecom companies in the scam. PTI

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No Constitutional Bar On Introducing Vidhan Parishad : Pranab

Kolkata :  Union Finance Minister and senior Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee has said there was no constiutional bar on introducing Vidhan Parishad (Upper House) as suggested by Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee in the event of Congress-TC alliance coming to power in West Bengal.

“The proposal first needs to be passed and sent to the Centre thereafter. Subsequently a bill is introduced in both houses of Parliament and passed with simple majority,” Mukherjee said to a question after releasing the party manifesto.

“No two-third majority is required for passing the bill so far as my knowledge about the Constitution goes,” the veteran leader said.

On Friday, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee said if the TC-led alliance came to power she would revive the Vidhan Parishad.

“If we (Trinamool Congress and Congress alliance) come to power we will revive the Vidhan Parishad where eminent personalities from different walks of life - economists, litterateur, artists, journalists, teachers and those from the unorganised sector and self-help groups would be made members,” Banerjee told a TV channel.

Banerjee said she had already told Pranab Mukherjee of her plan.

West Bengal had a bicameral legislature earlier, but it was abolished in August, 1969.

Trinamool sources said Banerjee was toying with the idea of reviving the Upper House as a number of eminent personalities from different walks of life had been drawn into her movement since the days of Singur and Nandigram stir.

Many of them were not keen on contesting the assembly polls, but Banerjee wanted to have their advice in running the government. PTI

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