Sahara India withdraws sponsorship of Team India and Pune Warriors

New Delhi: Sahara India has withdrawn sponsorship of Indian cricket team and the Pune Warriors from the IPL.

"We are withdrawing from all cricket under BCCI," Sahara has said in a statement.

Sahara has requested the BCCI to pass on Pune Warriors team to some other interested party immediately.

Kareena Kapoor Pregnant? Kareena Kapoor Looking Pregnant, Really Pregnant??

Kareena Kapoor was spotted at the airport in an oversized T-shirt and from the look of it, she was trying to conceal something behind her tee. The actress was holding on to her belly with her hand. Yeh kya hai, Bebo?
So what you people think is she pregnant?
The speculations over the marriage plans of Kareena Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan continues. The media is now more interested on the wedding details of the stars than their upcoming movies, thanks to the wedding season in India.
Some of the recent reports say that the two are planning to get engaged on February 10, 2012. Kareena’s movie ‘EK Mian Aur Ek Tu’ opposite Imran Khan will also be releasing the same day.
A few days back, while talking to the reporters, the actress said that marriage is definitely on her mind but everything depends on their film commitments.
Kapoor said is busy promoting her upcoming movie ‘Ek Main Aur Ek Tu’, then ‘Agent Vinod’ and is also shooting for ‘Heroine’ at the same time.
Kareena denied that her wedding outfit will be designed by Ritu Kumar. The wedding reports have definitely put Saif and Kareena in the spotlight and even the actress expressed that everyone is interested in their personal life than their movies. Kareena is also shooting for the upcoming Madhur Bhandarkar movie ‘Heroine’, which was earlier dropped by Aishwarya Rai due to her pregnancy. Reports also say that Saif and Kareena will be getting hitched after the release of the movie ‘Agent Vinod’ which is produced by Saif’s home banner ‘Illuminati Films’.

Riteish-Genelia Wedding Photos: Riteish Deshmukh & Genelia D’Souza Marriage Photos

It was a Bollywood extravaganza when actor Riteish Deshmukh married girlfriend Genelia D’Souza. Almost the entire Bollywood fraternity was present to witness the first big wedding of the year.
The wedding was a traditional marathi ceremony. While the groom wore a cream sherwani, bride was dressed in a Nishika Lulla red saree. Genelia maharashtrian look was styled by Lulla’s daughter, Nishika.
The baraatis arrived at The Grand Hyatt, the wedding venue, around noon. Guests started flowing in soon after. Abhishek Bachchan came along with his mother Jaya Bachchan and Ajay Devgn and Kajol. The foursome wished the couple and were the first few to leave.
One of the first one to arrive was actor Jacky Bhagnani. Close pal Ashish Choudhary was seen hiding the groom’s shoes from the bride’s sisters. Riteish’s co star from ‘Heyy Baby’, Akshay Kumar and the film’s director, Sajid Khan were seen chatting up with Jackie Shroff.
Dressed in a white jacket and black trousers, Shah Rukh Khan walked in with wife Gauri and daughter Suhana. While Gauri matched her outfit with her hubby, and wore a white and gold lehenga, daughter Suhana chose to wear a bright pink lehenga.
Maria Goretti decided to stick to the wedding theme and arrived in a traditional paithani saree and looked like a typical Marathi mulgi.
Politician Raj Thackeray walked in with his wife and headed straight towards the mandap.
Asin looked breathtaking in a traditional white and gold saree. She accessorized her look with white flowers in her hair and gold jewelry.
Soon after the wedding, actor Shahid Kapoor tweetd, “And G is married !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Unbeleivable. (sic)”.
Riteish Deshmukh tweeted a picture of his and his new bride with the caption ‘Mr &Mrs Deshmukh’.
The wedding celebrations started on Tuesday with a grand Sangeet ceremony which was attended by the entire film industry and was hosted by filmmaker Karan Johar.
The party continued till the wee hours of the morning. On Wednesday, an impromptu party was thrown at Genelia’s residence which later shifted to the couple’s new flat in Juhu.
On Thursday, the pre wedding rituals took place at both the bride and the groom’s residence. While Riteish had his haldi ceremony, Genelia, who is a Christian, had the traditional rose ceremony where close friends of the bride pour coconut milk on her a day before the wedding.
Later in the evening, Genelia was spotted visiting a church in her friends. Dressed in jeans, shirt and black jacket, Genelia looked happy and glowing.
Speaking to DNA, a source said, “Yesterday Riteish had the haldi ceremony, after which he isn’t going to be allowed to step out of the house until the wedding today. But his friends kept him busy all day through and he was rather excited too.”
The excited groom tweeted on Thursday evening, “Saw the Last sunset as a Bachelor(sic)”.
Post wedding, a lavish lunch was organized for the guests. The reception will take place tomorrow.

Watch Madonna’s “Give Me All Your Luvin” Unreleased Music Video Online

Madonna’s new music video for ‘Give Me All Your Luvin,’ the song she’ll debut at her Super Bowl halftime performance.

The Martin Solveig-produced track also features rappers Nicki Minaj and M.I.A., who both make pretty minimal appearances in the clip below. We’ll reserve our final judgment for when the entire video is released, but for some reason this clip recalls an Old Navy or Kohl’s commercial. Perhaps it’s that Madge keeps slipping in and out of jackets.

Also confusing is the scenery, which appears to be a suburban street filled with football players and taxi cabs sawed in half. The lyrics do demand that we “step into [Madonna's] world,” so we’ll just go with it.

Madonna, for one, seems excited for the weekend’s performance. The singer even brought out some salsa dancing at a press conference on Thursday when she was asked to comment on Giants team member Victor Cruz’s unique postgame celebrations.

What do you think of the clip — does it make you want to hear the rest of the track or hit the mute button this Sunday?

I dare PM to resign, says Narendra Modi on 2G verdict

Mandvi:  Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi today said that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had no right to continue in the office in view of the Supreme Court's ruling in the 2G spectrum case.

"When the Supreme Court has given a clear verdict, Manmohan Singh has no right to stay in the post even for a minute," Modi said, addressing a Sadbhavna fast meeting here.

"I dare the Prime Minister to give up his silence and resign," he said.

Modi also targeted Union Home Minister P Chidambaram, saying that "the court has established charges against Chidambaram. The Supreme Court has directed the lower court to hold a trial".

"After the apex court's directives, Congress has come out in the open to save him," Modi said.

"This raises a suspicion that entire Manmohan Singh-led government is making all these efforts not to save Chidambaram but all those people who are behind him and whose names have still not cropped up," Modi said.

"In the history of the country, we have not seen such a scam where the country's exchequer was looted to the tune of Rs. 1.76 lakh crore."

The apex court today cancelled 122 telecom licenses granted during the tenure of former telecom minister A Raja, saying that first-come-first-served policy was wrong. As to Chidambaram, the Court left it to the trial court to decide on the demand for investigation of his alleged role in the 2G scam. 

For NDTV Updates

Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/i-dare-pm-to-resign-says-narendra-modi-on-2g-verdict-172782?pfrom=home-otherstories&cp

Raja's first year in jail includes badminton, canteen snacks

New Delhi:  Having spent a year behind bars for his alleged involvement in the 2G scam, former communications minister A Raja seems to have adapted to life in Tihar Jail, officials said on Thursday.

"After a few weeks of initial sullenness and shock, Raja seems to have adapted to jail life. He was not talkative or interacting with other inmates, but now he seems to have become friendly with others in his ward," a jail official told IANS on condition of anonymity.

Raja was arrested February 2 last year, taken into Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) custody and then brought to Tihar Jail on February 17.

Jail sources said Raja has never thrown any tantrum at any point of time.

"Raja is lodged in a 15 by 10 feet cell, ventilated with a grated iron aperture near the ceiling at jail number one, ward number six. He spends most of the time reading books, newspapers and prepares notes on his court hearings. He sticks to the routine," the official said.

Apart from watching television, Raja also plays badminton with other inmates in the evening.

"He usually takes a one-hour walk from 5 a.m. to 6 a.m. inside the ward premises. Initially, he used to talk only to jail guards from the Tamil Nadu battalion, but now he speaks with everyone in broken Hindi," the jail official said.

Raja is also much more disciplined as compared to other high-profile prisoners.

"The only special demand he made was for some Tamil newspapers, which have been provided to him," the official added.

Sources added that his ward is changed every two days for security purposes, as he is a former minister.

Raja, who was initially getting home-cooked food, is now eating meals prepared in the jail.

"He is eating jail food and two times a week, he gets home-made south Indian dishes and shares it with other inmates," the official told IANS.

Raja seems hooked to snacks from the Tihar canteen, which he shares with fellow inmates as well.

"He usually gets omelette, biscuits and namkeens from the canteen," the official said.

Raja became the communications minister in 2007. He is accused of cheating, criminal conspiracy and corruption in the selling of scarce second generation (2G) telecom airwaves to favoured companies at a fraction of their actual cost, causing huge losses to the exchequer. 

For NDTV Updates

Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/rajas-first-year-in-jail-includes-badminton-canteen-snacks-172760?pfrom=home-otherstories&cp

Telcos get approval to share spectrum but with conditions

NEW DELHI: The Telecom Commission, the apex decision-making body of the communications ministry, has decided to allow mobile phone companies to share spectrum, but has limited this facility to 2G airwaves alone. Second generation (2G) spectrum is largely used for offering vanilla voice services.

This means, telcos cannot share 3G spectrums. Incumbents such as Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, Aircel and Idea Cellular, who have taken the government to court, after the telecom department asked these companies to terminate their 3G roaming deals, had hoped that policy changes permitting the sharing of airwaves, would put an end to this controversy. These companies have signed up 3G customers across the country riding on bilateral roaming agreements that allow these firms to use each other's airwaves and offer high-end data services even in regions where they do not have thirdgeneration spectrum.

Leading operators said they were not aware of the TC decision, as the government had not announced it.

The TC has also decided to introduce a slew of riders to govern spectrum sharing. First, only those operators that have airwaves in a particular region can share it. For instance, Uninor or Tata Teleservices which does not have 2G spectrum in Delhi, cannot share airwaves with any other operator that has radio frequencies here and launch GSM-based cellular services. "Spectrum can be shared only between two spectrum holders.... In other words, a non-licensee or licensee who has not been assigned spectrum as yet cannot be party to spectrum trading," said the minutes of the latest TC meeting.

It also adds that two companies can share airwaves only if their combined holdings do not exceed the limits prescribed in the M&A norms. The TC had recently approved sector regulator Trai's recommendation that during mergers, the combined entity be allowed to have up to 25% of the total airwaves in the region. Spectrum sharing deals will also have to be renewed every five years.

When operators share spectrum, both companies will have to pay usage charges on the total airwaves held jointly, the TC said. Currently, operators share between 2% and 6% of their annual revenues based on the quantity of airwaves they hold. For instance, an operator that has only 4.4 MHz of airwaves in a circle shares 2% of its annual revenues towards spectrum usage charge. Now, if two telcos that have 4.4 MHz each of 2G airwaves in a region were to share them, both operators will have to share 6% of their annual sales towards this levy.

The TC also said that telcos sharing spectrum must pay the government the commercial value of the airwaves it is using. This means, an operator that has 4.4 MHz of airwaves, and is sharing radio frequencies with another telco that has the same amount, must pay 'current prices' for additional 4.4 units of spectrum it is using.

"In order that payment of current price does not act a disincentive, licensees may be permitted to pay the current price applicable on the date of permission, on an annual basis, instead of for five years at a time, and this payment will cease if the sharing agreement is annulled midway," the minutes of the TC meet added.