IN PICS: Aishwarya Rai is back with a bang at Cannes! .......

New Delhi: Aishwarya Rai – who had set tongues wagging for her massive post pregnancy weight gain last year – has laid all the criticism to rest by her glamorous appearance at the 66th Cannes Film Festival.


Aishwarya wowed the onlookers in a white blouse and black mermaid skirt with a trail while giving interviews at the festival and her entire look put together – which flattered her figure amazingly - was very pleasing to the eyes.

Pune Warriors India withdraw from Indian Premier League...........

New Delhi: The scandal-hit IPL on Tuesday suffered yet another blow with the Sahara Group-owned Pune Warriors India withdrawing from the cash-rich event due to BCCI's decision to encash the team's bank guarantee following a prolonged financial dispute.

Sahara, which bought the franchise for Rs 1700 crore in 2010, said it was "disgusted" by the BCCI's attitude towards it and will not rejoin the league even if the entire franchise fee was waved off, giving a new twist to the already troubled league which has seen a spate of controversies since its inception.

"...We would not keep the IPL franchisee even if the entire franchisee fee is waved off. It is firm and final decision of Sahara to withdraw from IPL," the Sahara Group said in a lengthy statement which explained the reasons for their pull-out.

Sahara said it was peeved by BCCI's failure to initiate arbitration proceedings to lower their franchise fee despite several reminders.

"In 2010, Sahara had bid 1700 crore for IPL franchise on the basis of revenue calculation on 94 matches. It was tricky on part of BCCI to put the number in media as 94 matches for getting bigger amount. But we got 64 matches only," it added.

Sahara claimed that the BCCI turned a deaf ear to its pleadings for arbitration and reducing the franchise fee.

"We and Kochi Team immediately protested and requested BCCI to reduce the bid price proportionately for viable IPL proposition. Nothing was heard. We waited with confidence that such a sports body should have sportsmanship spirit," it said."We continuously requested BCCI for Arbitration from June 2011. But BCCI is only concerned about money and not about the genuine interests of the franchisee. Thus, (when) we could not penetrate BCCI's deaf ears, we announced our withdrawal in February 2012," it added.

Reacting to the development, IPL Chairman Rajiv Shukla said enchasing the bank guarantee were done as per rules.

"Yes, it (Pune Warriors) has pulled out. As per the rules and procedure of the BCCI if a franchise fails to pay the fee then we encash the franchise's bank guarantee. We are extremely sad by their decision to pull out. This should not have happened," Shukla said.

Asked if Sahara's pull-out will also affect the Indian team sponsorship, Shukla said, "I have no information regarding that."

Sahara's withdrawal will not affect their players since there will be an open auction for all the players in the next edition. All the Sahara Pune Warriors will be free to join the auction.

Sahara Group said it was tempted to withdraw from the Indian cricket team's sponsorship also but refrained from doing so in the interest of the players.

"There is a very strong urge in us to withdraw from the Indian Cricket Team Sponsorship from today only. But, interest of the players will suffer if we do so.”

"We share an excellent relationship with the players and will not want such dedicated and good human beings who serve the country so committed to get harmed financially due to unsporting attitude of BCCI," the Group said.

"So we have given time to BCCI to get the new sponsorship in place from January 2014, as we will continue the national team's sponsorship only up to December 2013 that's the expiry date of the present agreement."

Recollecting the 2012 withdrawals and the subsequent return, the Group said the BCCI did not keep its word with regards to arbitration.

"The BCCI approached us for a solution and requested us to not withdraw. After a series of discussions with the topmost BCCI officials including the BCCI President at Mumbai, a Joint Statement was issued by Sahara and BCCI in Feb 2012. The Joint Statement, amongst many other things, specifically mentioned the agreement to start Arbitration proceedings through immediate appointment of an Arbitrator," it said.

"...Sahara suggested the name of a Retired Hon'ble Chief Justice of India on the 5th March 2012 to be appointed as the Arbitrator. There was no response from BCCI for four months and after repeated prodding, finally on the 9th of July Sahara's advocates received a letter from BCCI rejecting the name proposed by Sahara without mentioning any reason and also without suggesting any alternatives," it added.

The company said the Board rejected all other names suggested by it for arbitration.

"...Despite our repeated efforts to have the Arbitration initiated, we sent other suggestion of names which too were turned down and instead meaningless communication was created to stall finalisation," it said.

"In the meanwhile, Sahara kept on paying the full Franchise Fee of Rs 170.20 crore annually, without prejudice to its rights and contentions, in the hope that this will be resolved soon. But unfortunately, it was not done," it added.

Sahara said its Chairman met BCCI President on numerous occasions but the matter remained unresolved.

"Fed up with this stalemate our Hon'ble Chairman Saharasri ji had written to the BCCI president that the arbitration for downward revision of the fees has not progressed in 3 years time, hence, has requested for a proper meeting to personally discuss the way forward and explicitly said that if a downward revision is not possible then we would want to surrender the franchisee. This fell on deaf ear," the company claimed.

Sahara said it wanted to exit IPL at the start of this season itself and had requested the BCCI not to touch the bank guarantee.

"...This time we requested Rajeev Shukla ji, (IPL Chairman) that if BCCI cannot accept Arbitration, we then want to amicably exit IPL. Our Chairman in clear words was told again by Rajeev Shukla ji that Bank guarantee will not be touched, not be revoked since the expiry date of bank guarantee was 2nd May 2013," it said.

"Had we followed the legal advice of withdrawing at the start of the IPL season, this would have resulted in tremendous pressure on BCCI for resolving the issue whereas BCCI has shown no consideration towards the sport which we have been supporting for more than a decade," it added.

The Sahara group claimed that the BCCI threatened to take concerned bank to court if the guarantee was not paid immediately.

"We still tried to contact for amicable settlement, but could not get anybody on phone in time. But our bank people informed that even at 8 in the evening, the BCCI representative was still present in the Bank and threatened the bank that if money is not paid today to BCCI, they shall enter court to blacklist Bank.

"One should ask BCCI why they did not approach bank for revocation of our bank guarantee from 2nd May to 19th May. It is important to state that Sahara has never, ever defaulted in any of its due payment in last 13 years of team sponsorship etc," it said. 
"We put on record that there is not a single rupee outstanding towards the sponsorship of Indian Cricket Team and BCCI is even secured by a bank guarantee against the sponsorship.

"Rather during ICC Champions Trophy 2002, Sahara had paid full sponsorship amount even without Sahara branding on the player's Jersey...We now request BCCI to not to approach us this time for any discussion as they have done in February 2012."

The group, however, assured the players and the stakeholders that their dues would be cleared in time.

"Sahara assures its players and stakeholders that their Fees and other rightfully due payments will be protected and under no circumstances will they suffer.

"Sahara also assures its sponsors and other supporters who have shown faith in us that their obligations have and will be fulfilled and there will be no compromise on their status or rights," it said.

"Besides, we are in the process of building a Sports Foundation...There will be a Central National Sports Academy with numerous regional sports academies affiliated to it." 

Spot-fixing taint reaches Bollywood; Vindoo Dara Singh arrested........

Mumbai: Bollywood actor Vindoo Randhawa, son of late wrestler-actor Dara Singh, was today arrested in connection with the IPL spot-fixing scandal, a Mumbai Crime Branch official said.

"Vindoo was questioned after he was found to be in contact with the bookies and subsequently arrested today," an official said without revealing further details49-year-old Vindoo, winner of reality television show Bigg Boss season 3, was on many occasions spotted watching IPL matches and attending post-match parties.

His arrest is the first from Bollywood in connection with the latest scandal to hit Indian cricket.

It is not yet known if he was a link between IPL players and the bookies or was just into betting.

The Crime Branch, which is also probing the scandal apart from Special Cell of Delhi Police, had yesterday questioned a casting director who sent photographs of models to S Sreesanth and summoned a Telugu film producer having business links with the tainted India pacer.

The move came amid suspicion that honey traps could have been laid to lure cricketers into spot-fixing IPL matches.

The Special Cell of Delhi police had arrested Sreesanth, his Rajasthan Royals teammates -- Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan -- and Jiju on May 15 night for allegedly indulging in spot-fixing in at least three IPL matches.

Apart from electronic devices, including a laptop, Rs 72,000 cash, data card and diaries with entries in English and Malayalam, which appeared to be in Sreesanth's handwriting, were also seized.

Sreesanth's laptop had dozens of photographs of models e-mailed to him by the casting director.

Vindoo, booked under sections 420, 465, 466, 467 and 468 of IPC related to cheating and forgery, was later produced before Metropolitan Magistrate M N Saleem, who remanded him in police custody till May 24.

In its remand application, the Crime Branch said Vindoo was in touch with bookies and was himself into betting.

"We also want to find out if he was using his contacts with players to spot-fix IPL matches," it said.

The remand application said police had phone call data records which showed the actor was in contact with absconding bookie Jupiter, wanted by both Mumbai and Delhi police in connection with separate spot-fixing cases registered by them, besides Pawan Jaipur and others.

The Crime Branch insisted that Vindoo's custodial interrogation was needed to establish the chain of people involved in the racket as the actor was not only betting himself but was also aiding the bookies. 

Deal on Osama bin Laden evidence made in WikiLeaks case.......

Fort Meade (US): Lawyers in the court-martial of an Army private who gave US secrets to WikiLeaks say they've reached a deal on evidence involving Osama bin Laden. 

They announced the agreement at a pretrial hearing today for Army Pfc. Bradley Manning. 

Under the agreement, both the prosecution and defense teams would acknowledge at Manning's trial next month that there is digital evidence indicating bin Laden saw some of the material Manning released. The raid team member, presumably a Navy SEAL, was expected to testify that the evidence was recovered during a May 2011 raid on the al-Qaida leader's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. 

Manning has acknowledged sending the cable to WikiLeaks after he found it on a secure government computer network while working as an intelligence analyst in Iraq. 

Manning, a 25-year-old Oklahoma native, is charged with indirectly aiding the enemy by causing classified material to be published on WikiLeaks. To prove that charge, punishable by a maximum life prison term, prosecutors must show that he knew the material would be seen by al-Qaida members. He has already admitted he downloaded the files from supposedly secure government networks and sent them to WikiLeaks while working as an intelligence analyst in Baghdad in 2010. 

PM to table UPA II govt’s last report card today.....

New Delhi: Under attack from the Opposition over corruption and lack of governance and with its own allies calling for course correction, Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh will on Wednesday present the fourth and last report card of the UPA-II government highlighting its achievements so far. 

According to sources, after presenting the report card of the UPA government’s performance on its fourth anniversary, the Prime Minister will host dinner for the allies and supporting parties. 

The report is the last one for the second edition of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government as there would be a new Lok Sabha by May next year. 

According to sources, the report is expected to highlight the rollout of the Direct Benefit Transfer scheme, and foreign equity in multi-brand retail and insurance as the Congress-led UPA government’s major policy initiatives. 

It will also list the Food Security Bill and the Land Acquisition Bill as pro-poor and pro-reform legislations. 

The report is also likely to mention a bill relating to the time-bound delivery of services as another step to bring more transparency in the functioning of the government, said the sources. 

The three bills are yet to be passed by Parliament. 

UPA-II, which started off with a resurgent mood in 2009, has spent most of its tenure battling charges of corruption related to the 2010 Commonwealth Games, allocations of 2G spectrum and coal blocks and a perceived misgovernance. 

The report is expected to create a positive impression among the people and Congress workers, said the sources.As it prepares for the 2014 General Elections, the UPA appears to have been weakened after two key allies, the Trinamool Congress and the DMK, quit the alliance in the past one year. 

While the Trinamool Congress left in September 2012 against the move to allow FDI in multi-brand retail, the DMK parted ways in March 2013 on the issue of Sri Lankan Tamils. 

This has made the ruling combine more dependent on parties like the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party, which help prop it. 

It would be interesting to watch if SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, who shared the dais with the Prime Minister and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi during the release of the report to the people last year, is also present on the occasion. 

For the Prime Minister, the recent exit of two tainted ministers considered close to him, has dented his image of ‘Mr. Clean’, when he took office for the first time in 2004 and again in 2009. 

Sonia Gandhi, who has backed the Prime Minister all along, may indicate her continued support to him, said the sources. 

Meanwhile, an opinion poll survey conducted on the eve of the fourth anniversary of UPA-II has not brought any cheer to the government, predicting slide in the ruling alliance's tally amid rising dissatisfaction among large sections of urban voters over its performance. 

Sanjay Dutt shifted to Yerwada Jail in Pune.......

Mumbai/Pune: Actor Sanjay Duttwas shifted to Yerwada Jail in Pune from Mumbai’s Arthur Road jail early on Wednesday. 

"Sanjay Dutt was escorted to Pune jail at about 4 am from Mumbai. There were three police vans that took him to the Pune jail," the official said. 

He was secretly shifted to the Pune jail early in the morning due to security reasons and to avoid media glare, the official said. 

The 53-year-old Bollywood superstar is serving three-and-a-half-year sentence after being convicted in the 1993 Mumbai blasts case. He has been allowed home-cooked meals and medicines from home for a month. 

There was suspense over where Dutt will be kept as the Arthur Road jail is usually used to keep undertrials, while convicted criminals are shifted to the a central prison in Maharashtra. Incidentally, Dutt had earlier appealed to surrender at Pune's Yerawada jail citing threat to his life. But later withdrew his plea and accepted the court order. 

Dutt had surrendered before TADA Court in keeping with the Supreme Court's deadline to complete his remaining 42-month sentence. He has already spent 18 months in jail. 

He was allowed to take with him copies of the Bhagwad Gita, Ramayan and Hanuman Chalisa besides his toiletries including toothpaste, shampoo, slippers, kurta, pyjama and mosquito repellants. However, TADA Judge G A Sanap rejected Dutt's request for an electronic cigarette (Dutt is a chain smoker). Instead, the judge advised him to quit smoking. 

Sanjay Dutt was convicted by the TADA court for illegally possessing 9 mm pistol and AK-56 rifle, which were part of a consignment of weapons and explosives brought to India for coordinated serial blasts that killed 257 people and injured over 700 in 1993. However, the apex court had reduced the sentence to five years from the original six-year jail term.