Aishwarya Gaining weight & losing style

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan seems to be battling with weight issues. And what’s worse: her choice of clothing is only adding fuel to her fitness pyre. What with her recent appearances, the bulge that should be cloaked, is accentuated by her dresses. Her appearance at an event in France earlier this week,
where she wore a peach coloured flowy day dress with a cape-styled jacket, has resurfaced the debate on her weight. Everyone from bloggers to fashion editors, fans and critics are voicing their concern over the 37-year-old’s weight gain.

A reader on a fashion blog posted, “Ash badly needs to lose weight. She looks like those plus sized models and I’m sure she’s not going for that look.” Other comments weren’t pleasant either. “The dress highlights what should be hidden,” posted another.

“Her body type is such that when she puts on even slight weight, it shows on her face, arms and legs. She has put on a few kilos. Hopefully, it is for a role, and like in previous years, she’ll shed these extra pounds quickly,” says fashion critic Umesh Jivnani.

Aishwarya Rai“The dress and the hat she wore in France were not put together well. It seems to be the case with all her recent appearances. It’s not that she can’t carry Western silhouettes, she just needs better styling,” says fashion editor Ekta Rajani. “She shouldn’t be bogged down by the weight, because in an attempt to hide the extra kilos she’s wearing wrong clothes. Like at Cannes, her gown  just made her look broader,” adds stylist Rin Jajo. Her fans too have noticed the change in her appearance.

Nevertheless, her representatives have brushed aside the weight issue. “In France, she wore the jacket because it was cold and the dress was a little more easy fitting. All this talk about her gaining weight is nothing but speculation,” says her spokesperson.

September 2010
Fit and toned, Aishwarya looks her usual stellar self  wearing a sweeping gown at an awards function in Mumbai.

October 2010
Her appearance on the ramp at the Mumbai Couture Week started whispers about her weight gain.

 December 2010
Three months on, as she gained more weight, some speculated that she might be pregnant, which is strongly denied by her publicist.

May 2011
Despite great reviews, her choice of tightly fitted gowns at Cannes end up highlighting her weight gain.

June 2011
A month later, Aishwarya appears to have put on more kilos, as is evident by her appearance at a promotional event in France.

Aisam and Bopanna win Gerry Weber Open

Pakistan’s Aisam ul Haq Qureshi and India’s Rohan Bopanna beat Hasse-Roanic 7-6, 3-6, 11-9.

The duo has been making gradual progress in recent years, making it to the quarters and semis of major tournaments.

Recently, they had crashed out of the men’s French Open doubles quarter final in June while reaching the semis of the Monte Carlo ATP Masters Tennis Championship in May.

Earlier this month, Aisam achieved his career best ranking of number eight in the ATP men’s doubles rankings, while rising to number two in the Asian men’s rankings.

Katich revealing truths about his employer and selectors

The selectors may have plunged one knife into him but the governing body does not dare lift another despite Katich revealing savage home truths about his employer and the selectors.

Katich and his manager, Robert Joske, considered legal action for discrimination on the basis of age after Katich, 35, was cut from CA's list of 25 contracted players last Tuesday.

The veteran opener will continue to captain NSW and is considering offers from English counties.

He took particular aim at part-time selectors deciding the future of million-dollar professionals.

"When you talk about money, you get the best in the business for paying. If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys," Katich said.
Cricket Australia's chief executive James Sutherland offered a limp defence of the four-man selection panel, chaired by Andrew Hilditch.

It also includes full-time selector and national development manager Greg Chappell and part-timers Jamie Cox and David Boon, who has resigned.

"I'm not happy about it," Sutherland said of Katich's damning critique.

"We understand Simon is bitterly disappointed."

He urged Katich to "grit his teeth (and) ensure he sends a very strong message to the selectors".

"I'm sure the door is not entirely closed. He is still a fantastic player with a lot to offer Australian cricket," Sutherland told reporters.

Katich has been the second highest run-scorer in world cricket for the past three years.

"There's been talk about that (full-time selectors) for a while now but nothing's been done about it," he said.

"It's a business, there's no doubt about that, that's just the way sport has gone. Being realistic, it's got to go that way because you're dealing with guys' careers.

"This is not just me, there's plenty of other guys out there as well who've gone through this. So maybe something good will come out of this situation."

Katich was strongly supported by former teammate Stuart Clark, who is now chief executive of the Sydney Sixers Big Bash team.

"I think it's a joke that they're part-time," Clark said of the selectors.

"At the moment, they have got some sort of accountability, but when was the last time you saw a selector sacked for a poor selection? I can't seem to remember one."

Katich also criticised a lack of consistency by selectors. "There's been rules for some and rules for others," he said.

Katrina voted the Sexiest Woman in the World 2011

Katrina Kaif yet again tops the list of the Sexiest Women 2011 conducted by the world’s largest men’s lifestyle magazine –FHM.

The FHM 100 Sexiest Women poll is based entirely on online polls and SMS with a whopping number of over 35,000 entries being cast this year.

Kabeer Sharma, Executive Editor of FHM India says “We’d love to say 2011 was a close contest…only Sheila made sure it was far from. A feat that becomes even more significant because no woman in the world across all 28 editions of FHM has ever won the Sexiest Woman in the World title three times in the last 17 years that we've been making the list. Her average is higher than Sachin Tendulkar’s and she replaces Deepika Padukone who won the crown in 2010,”.

Katrina Kaif has previously been voted the Sexiest Woman in the World by FHM India in 2008 and 2009.

Katrina Kaif is the toast of the season as not too long ago she was the only Bollywood Actress to feature on the India Today’s Elite Power list and has the most Google searches than any other Indian celebrity.If that wasn’t all Katrina was immortalized by Mattel who created a one-of a-kind ‘I Can Be a Movie Star’ Barbie Doll sketched on her image.
 

Ali using Katrina for fame

‘Tere Bin Laden’ fame Ali Zafar, who is currently shooting for YRF’ ‘Mere Brother Ki Dulhan’ has found a reason to come in news. Sources from the set revealed that Ali, who is a co-star of Katrina Kaif in the film, has been trying to get a bit too close to the lady while shooting on the sets. More importantly, Ali has also been telling people that he’s more than just friends with his co-star.

According to sources, Katrina is quite gullible by nature and so, she hasn’t realized about Ali portraying that they two are more than friends.

Moreover, people on the sets have also noticed a change in his attitude ever since the Pakistani-singer cum actress has got close to Katrina. The duo was also spotted spending time together in Ali’s apartment.

Meanwhile, insiders say that Katrina has no qualms bonding with Ali; they feel that he is merely using her as a medium to raise fame.

Li Na wins Grand Slam for China

China’s long wait for a Grand Slam champion ended Saturday when Li Na beat Francesca Schiavone 6-4, 7-6 (0) in the French Open final.

The Australian Open runner-up fell flat on her back in the red clay after Schiavone hit a backhand long on match point.

“I was nervous but I didn’t want to show to my opponent,” said Li, who appeared to be letting the match slip away after being up a break in the second set. “I was a little bit shaking.” The crowd at Roland Garros was dotted with red Chinese flags and a small vocal group supporting Schiavone. They watched as Li dropped her serve for the only time late in the second set, but then won the final nine points of the match to earn her first major title.

“I couldn’t really push forward from the baseline,” Schiavone said. “She deserved to win. One has to lose, one has to win. She deserves everything.” On Sunday, five-time champion Rafael Nadal will face Roger Federer in the men’s final.

The title was only Li’s fifth in her career, and first on clay.

She was broken only once by the defending champion, while she converted two of her eight break points — one in each set. She finished with 31 winners, while Schiavone had only 12.

Li took a 3-2 lead in the first when Schiavone sent a forehand wide. She held at love in the next two games, and then won the set when Schiavone sent a forehand long.

The Chinese player opened the second set with her second break of the match, and then saved Schiavone’s first break point in the next game with an ace. But Schiavone broke back in the eighth game to even the score at 4-4.

Both players held the rest of the way, but Schiavone came within two points of winning the set on five occasions, three times at 5-4 and twice more at 6-5.

The point that first put Schiavone that close was a bit awkward. Schiavone sent a backhand return straight at Li, but the ball skidded off the white baseline and under Li’s racket, causing her to take a big swing at nothing.

Schiavone raised her hand to apologize, and then lost the next point when she stretched for a forehand and sent it wide.

Although Li has said she is not a big fan of playing on clay, her power and precision worked well against Schiavone, who last year became the first Italian woman to win a Grand Slam singles title.

For Li, the year started well but soon took a dip.

After losing to Kim Clijsters in the Australian Open final, the 29-year-old Li lost her next four matches. But she recovered her form shortly before the French Open, reaching the semifinals in Madrid.

By winning Saturday, Li is expected to jump to No. 4 in the women’s rankings, equaling the record for the highest ranking by a woman from Asia. Japanese player Kimiko Date-Krumm has also been ranked No. 4.

Both Li and Schiavone came into the final with plenty of experience. Combined, they were the oldest pair in a women’s Grand Slam final since Wimbledon in 1998, when Jana Novotna, 29, beat Nathalie Tauziat, 30.

De Silva, Jayasuriya were involved in match fixing

Ex-Sri Lanka captain Hashan Thilekaratne has reportedly alleged that two former senior Lankan cricketers- Aravinda de Silva and Sanath Jayasuriya- and former Sri Lanka Cricket Board President Thilanga Sumathipala were involved in fixing international matches.
Hashan met with Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa and disclosed to him many details about the cricketing scene in the country that have not yet been revealed, Lanka News Web reports.
Rajapaksa continuously questioned about the fraud and corruption committed by Sumathipala when Hashan gave him details of corruption in cricket.
Hashan explained the role played by De Silva, Jayasuriya and Sumathipala in match fixing, the role played by a Pakistani business in the whole matter and the involvement of many well known international cricketers.
Hashan explained all these details to Rajapaksa by bringing out personal issues he has had to face as a Sri Lankan cricketer.
The report claimed former parliamentarian Ven Uduwe Dhammaloka Thero, a popular Buddhist monk in Sri Lanka, facilitated the meeting between Rajapaksa and Hashan.
The President called the IGP after the revelation and said: "IGP, Hashan malli is with me. Close the file on him."

India, Afghanistan to boost defence coop

India and Afghanistan have agreed to expand defence cooperation which may include deployment of Indian trainers in Afghanistan. According to reports reaching here from New Delhi India offered its “willingness to Afghanistan to help it build capabilities of its security forces in accordance with their priority.”

The commitment was reportedly conveyed by Indian Defence Minister A K Antony to his Afghan counterpart General Abdul Rahim Wardak when they met in New Delhi on Wednesday during a four day visit.

The two sides also discussed “security situation in the region” and possible joint cooperation against Afghan Taliban.

General Abdul Rahim Wardak heading a seven-member Afghan military delegation arrived in India two days earlier amid reports that a foreign power had given a tacit-approval for expanded Indo-Afghan military engagements.

Gen Wardak was quoted as saying: “We will welcome any cooperation (from India) in the field of training and helping of Afghan national security forces so that they are able to secure and defend the country.”

India and NATO-backed Afghan Government has held several military exchange since General Wardak last visited India in April, 2008 and Afghan Chief of General Staff, General Sher Mohammad Karimi visited India in October last year.

US to consider giving India further access to Headley

The US would consider giving India access to David Headley, who has confessed to his involvement in the Mumbai terror attacks, for additional questioning by its investigating agencies, the State Department has said.
"In the past we've given India full access to Headley, and I think that when a case is in litigation it's impossible to do that.
"But moving forward, I think we would look for, or consider further access," State Department spokesman Mark Toner said at his daily news conference.

Headley, a Pakistani-American LeT operative, has completed his testimony before a Chicago court conducting the trial of his childhood friend Tahawwur Rana, another key accused in the Mumbai attacks.

Headley has pleaded guilty to 12 terrorism charges related to Mumbai attacks and other plots in the wake of his 2009 arrest in the US.

However, Rana, a Pakistani-Canadian, has maintained that he is not guilty in the charge of "support to terrorism".

During Rana's trial, Headley testified that he had conducted a surveillance of the German Bakery in Pune and identified Chabad houses in Delhi, Pushkar and Pune as potential bombing targets.

Waqar denies interference in Afridi’s job

Pakistan cricket team’s coach, Waqar Younis denied interfering in former captain, Shahid Afridi’s job and expressed his surprise on his statement.

“As a coach I have my own domain and I know my job description and I never interfered in Afridi’s job nor in selection affairs “,he told reporters after a meeting with the Chairman, Pakistan Cricket Board, Mohammad Ijaz Butt here at Gadaffi stadium.

He said Afridi’s statement that coach intervened in his job comes as a surprise and he fails to understand why the former captain has stated so.

“I have my own mindset and I always try to concentrate on my job and I will follow the same in future as well as long as I am the coach of the team”.

Waqar said he had a positive and productive meeting with the Chairman PCB in which he submitted the tour report of West Indies and now it is upto to him (Chairman) whether to take action or not on it.

He said as a coach he is also under heavy load of responsibilities as if the team performs good he gets the credit and in case of its (team’s) failure he is blamed for that.

Team’s coach said Pak team players are playing cricket abroad for the past eight months and in such a situation minor differences are developed among them but they should not be made a big issue.

When asked to compare the captaincy of Afridi with Misbah ul Haq, he has it was not his job to make a comparison. “ Afridi was a good captain and I was satisfied with his captaincy”, he said when pressed to comment on Afridi’s captaincy.

Waqar termed team’s recent tour of West Indies a success and said it made a come back after suffering defeat in the first test before doing too good in the one day series.

He said Misbah justified in the role of captain in West Indies and in Ireland.

Team official had praise for young players including Junaid Khan and Azhar Ali saying they are the future of Pak cricket.

He supported the idea of having a batting coach with the team adding it was the responsibility of the PCB to look into that aspect. “Even without a batting coach our batting put up fine show in the recent tours.

Waqar rejected a questioner that Pak team was playing against weaker opposition. “I do not agree to it as we played against world’s best teams and now we are playing against those teams which are low in ranking but all these assignments are part of our tour programme”.

He said the coming assignments of the team are a mixture of strong and weak teams as Pakistan will be playing England, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe.

“In present day cricket considering any opponent weak or under strength is not a fair thought”, he said adding “ As a coach my responsibility is to lift the level of the team in every event and I am upto to that specific task”

Shania Twain honored on Hollywood Walk of Fame

Canadian country music singing star Shania Twain, a five-time Grammy Award winner, received the 2,442nd star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Thursday, capping a successful career as a singer and a songwriter.

Calling the dedication "a small miracle," Twain said at an event in front of the W Hollywood hotel that she still did not know "why I am here today."

"I mean, why is a girl from Timmins, Ontario, standing here, getting a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame?" she said. "I really don't know."

Twain, 45, was joined by actress Bo Derek, a Golden Globe nominee and model, and other entertainers and fans at the ceremony held roughly a month after the release of her best-selling memoir "From This Moment On" and the premiere of a documentary series "Why Not? With Shania Twain" on OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network on May 8.

Born Eilleen Regina Edwards on Aug. 28, 1965 into a poor family in Windsor, Ontario, Edwards changed her last name to Twain as she, along with her two sisters, was adopted by her mother's second husband. Twain began singing at bars when she was eight years old trying to help her family make ends meet. She wrote her first songs when she was 10 years old and performed on the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. television series the "Tommy Hunter Show" at the age of 13.

Twain, who changed her first name to Shania in the early 1990s, released her debut album, a self-titled production in 1993. The album, reached 67th on the U.S. country albums chart, received positive reviews from critics.

The singer first came to prominence with her second album, "The Women In Me." The 1995 album, unlike her first, featured songs she wrote herself and hit over 12 million copies, shattering the record previously held by "Patsy Cline's Greatest Hits," and winning a Grammy Award in 1996 for best country album.

"Come on Over," her third album which was released in 1997, sold 20 million copies in the United States, the most by a woman in any genre of music and the best-selling country album of all time.

Twain is also a successful songwriter with 27 BMI Songwriter awards. She is the second best-selling artist in Canada, behind fellow Canadian Celine Dion.

Sepp Blatter wins Fifa president election

Sepp Blatter, the only candidate running in the election, has won a fourth term as Fifa president. Joseph "Sepp" Blatter appeared headed for election to a fourth term as president of global football's governing body amid mounting concerns about corruption allegations voiced by corporate sponsors and the complaints of two football associations that called for Wednesday's vote to be delayed.

FIFA President Sepp Blatter appeared unconcerned about talk of scandal and corruption when he opened the annual conference of world football's governing body in Zurich on Tuesday.

The Fédération Internationale de Football Association, or FIFA, has been engulfed in turmoil in recent days by allegations that both its decision to award the 2022 World Cup tournament to Qatar and its Wednesday presidential election are tainted by improper payments. Two senior FIFA executives—including Mohammed bin Hammam, who had been Mr. Blatter's only rival for the FIFA presidency—have been temporarily suspended by the FIFA ethics committee related to allegations about the election.

Mr. Blatter, who is left with no opponent in Wednesday's leadership election, has shooed away criticism of the organization, telling a news conference late Monday: "Crisis? What is a crisis?"

A FIFA spokeswoman said Tuesday the organization has not said whether the election would be postponed.

But some of FIFA's most important patrons—its corporate sponsors—have stepped forward to express concern about scandals at the Zurich-based organization. By late Tuesday, four of FIFA's six most significant partners had raised the issue, with Visa and Emirates Airlines following concerns raised earlier by Coca-Cola Co. and Adidas AG.

"The current situation is clearly not good for the game and we ask that FIFA take all necessary steps to resolve the concerns that have been raised," Visa said in a statement.

Emirates Airlines said it was "disappointed with the issues that are currently surrounding the administration of this sport," the Associated Press reported.

Adidas, which provides the official ball for the World Cup, said "the repeated accusations [of corruption] are neither good for the sport of football nor for FIFA as an institution and its partners."

An FIFA ethics panel ruled Sunday it would launch a full investigation into claims that two top officials—Mr. bin Hammam, a Qatari who is president of the Asian Football Confederation; and Jack Warner, president of the North, Central American and Caribbean Football Federation—offered $40,000 payments to Caribbean football leaders ahead of the FIFA presidential election in which Mr. bin Hammam was a candidate. Mr. bin Hammam withdrew his candidacy hours before being suspended on Sunday, but both he and Mr. Warner have denied and plan to contest the allegations.

The suspensions came on the heels of another incident last year, when two other executive committee members were banned after they allegedly offered to sell their votes for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to undercover reporters for the Sunday Times.

Controversy over the presidential election grew on Monday, when one of the suspended officials, Mr. Warner, released an email from FIFA General Secretary Jerome Valcke that appeared to suggest Qatar had "bought" the 2022 World Cup hosting rights with bribes. Mr. Valcke denied that he meant to imply any wrongdoing.

Nonetheless, the English Football Association has called for Wednesday's election to be postponed, a move that was later supported by the Scottish Football Association. English FA Chairman David Bernstein said Tuesday he was concerned about a lack of accountability and transparency within FIFA, and called for the delay to allow an alternative reform candidate to emerge.

Scottish FA chief executive Stewart Regan said: "The events of the last two days, in particular, have made any election unworkable."

England's association also said it wanted an independent external party to make recommendations regarding improved governance and compliance procedures and structures throughout the FIFA decision-making processes.

Mr. Blatter must win a majority of the votes from football association members around the world. There are a total of 205 voters.

Even as Mr. Blatter dismissed the notion that FIFA is in crisis, he conceded Monday that the group's reputation has been damaged. One place where that could hurt is in the sponsorship arena, an area that generated $342.9 million in marketing rights for FIFA in 2010, according to FIFA's 2010 financial report reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.

Simon Chadwick, professor of sports business strategy and marketing at Coventry University, warned sponsors could potentially pull out and they are implicitly demanding change at FIFA driven by consumers' concerns.

Companies "want to sponsor the World Cup because it is global, glamorous, exciting and they want these images or qualities to reflect on them," Mr. Chadwick said. "The problem starts when FIFA starts having an image of being a corrupt organization with poor governance. He added: "If consumers see these companies are complicit and are condoning this, their sales and bottom line could suffer. Sponsors could potentially pull out from the World Cup."

Another marketing analyst, however, said the leverage of current sponsors was limited because they fear losing the tournament to rivals.

"For that reason, it's very difficult for them to exert pressure," said Shaun Whatling, CEO of the London-based Redmandarin agency. He recommended a collective letter from sponsors calling for an independent inquiry "to clear the name of FIFA and its president."