Nelson Mandela, dies at 95

Former South African President Nelson Mandela died peacefully at his Johannesburg home on Thursday after a prolonged lung infection, President Jacob Zuma said. He was 95. In a nationally televised address, Zuma said South Africa’s first black president would be accorded a full state funeral. He ordered flags to be flown at half mast. Nelson Mandela guided South Africa from the shackles of apartheid to multi-racial democracy, as an icon of peace and reconciliation who came to embody the struggle for justice around the world. Imprisoned for nearly three decades for his fight against white minority rule, Mandela emerged determined to use his prestige and charisma to bring down apartheid while avoiding a civil war.

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was born on July 18, 1918, destined to lead as the son of the chief councillor to the paramount chief of the Thembu people in Transkei. He chose to devote his life to the fight against white domination. He studied at Fort Hare University, an elite black college, but left in 1940 short of completing his studies and became involved with the African National Congress (ANC), founding its Youth League in 1944 with Oliver Tambo and Walter Sisulu. Mandela worked as a law clerk then became a lawyer who ran one of the few practices that served blacks. In 1952 he and others were charged for violating the Suppression of Communism Act but their nine-month sentence was suspended for two years. Mandela was among the first to advocate armed resistance to apartheid, going underground in 1961 to form the ANC’s armed wing, Umkhonto weSizwe, or ‘Spear of the Nation’ in Zulu. He left South Africa and travelled the continent and Europe, studying guerrilla warfare and building support for the ANC. After his return in 1962, Mandela was arrested and sentenced to five years for incitement and illegally leaving the country. While serving that sentence, he was charged with sabotage and plotting to overthrow the government along with other anti-apartheid leaders in the Rivonia Trial. Branded a terrorist by his enemies, Mandela was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1964, isolated from millions of his countrymen as they suffered oppression, violence and forced resettlement under the apartheid regime of racial segregation. He was incarcerated on Robben Island, a penal colony off Cape Town, where he would spend the next 18 years before being moved to mainland prisons. He was behind bars when an uprising broke out in the huge township of Soweto in 1976 and when others erupted in violence in the 1980s. But when the regime realised it was time to negotiate, it was Mandela to whom it turned. In his later years in prison, he met President PW Botha and his successor de Klerk. When he was released on February 11, 1990, walking away from the Victor Verster prison hand-in-hand with his wife Winnie, the event was watched live by television viewers across the world. “As I finally walked through those gates … I felt even at the age of 71 that my life was beginning anew. My 10,000 days of imprisonment were at last over,” Mandela wrote of that day.

Rafael Nadal voted the greatest ever Spanish sports personality

Tennis ace Rafael Nadal was voted the greatest Spanish sports person in history Tuesday by readers of a Spanish sports daily.

The current Tennis World number 1 and the winner of 13 Grand Slam's received the award at the Gala for the 75th anniversary of the Spanish sports paper Diario Marca, reported Xinhua.

The Spanish player was voted for by readers of the paper ahead of five times Tour de France winner, Miguel Indurain and basketball star, Pau Gasol, who is without doubt the greatest Spanish basketball player of all time.

Nadal's feats had been recognised by Diario Marca's readers in 2007 when he won the Marca Legend award.

The tennis ace has enjoyed a fantastic 2013, coming back from a career threatening knee injury to win events such as the French Open, as well as claiming his 25th and 26th ATP Masters 1000 titles in Montreal and Cincinnati, before then winning the US Open, beating Novak Djokovic in the final.

Djokovic would have his revenge by beating Nadal in the China Open, but the fact he reached the final of the event meant Nadal ends 2013 back at the top of the world rankings once again.

Apart from the special award for Nadal, the Marca gala also recognised the performances of many other Spanish sports stars, such as Formula 1 driver, Fernando Alonso and rally driver, Carlos Sainz, Gasol and the former captain on the Spanish women's national team, Amaya Valdemoro, cyclist Alberto Contador, Spanish national football team coach, Vicente dl Bosque and Real Madrid goalkeeper, Iker Casillas, among many others.

There was also time to remember some of the stars who no longer alive, such as golfer Severiano Ballasteros, footballers, Ricardo Zamora and Telmo Zarra and former basketball coach Antonio Diaz Miguel.

Arrambam Movie Review

Arrambam has got a flying start at the Box Office with advance booking getting massive response from the audience. The movie has opened up to packed houses in the majority of theatres in Chennai and abroad.

The movie opens up with Mumbai witnessing a series of bomb explosions. AK alias Ashok Kumar (Ajith) is the man behind it. Soon he kidnaps Arya, a hacker, and includes him in his larger plan. A flashback is revealed, where we are told about Maya (Nayantara), Anitha (Taapsee Pannu), who is the girlfriend of Arya and an aspiring TV journalist. Ajith threatens to kill Anitha in order to make Arya to work for him. They successfully hack and bring down the server of a media company. Honest cop played by Kishore catches them and another flashback takes us to Ajith Kumar's past life in ATS (Anti Terrorist Squad) along with Sanjay (Rana Daggubati).

There are also shades of Hollywood movie Sword Fish. Nevertheless, it has been tuned to suit the Tamil audience. Arrambam is about the nexuses between politics and media, in which a cop becomes a victim. The base of the story is a bullet proof jacket scam and the script is well-crafted by Vishnuvardhan and SuBha.

There are interesting twists and turns, which come as a surprise to the audience, from the word go. The first half puts a perfect foundation for the movie to make the second half an interesting affair. Most part of the movie is engaging sans well-written comedy scenes. Arrambam is a serious movie and the comedy part has taken a backseat in the script.

People would have enjoyed the movie, if it had a lot of comedy scenes considering the serious nature of Arrambam. Arrambam is not crisp and it is one of the drawbacks of the flick. In the second half, the story becomes predictable to some extent after the motive behind Ashok Kumar's revenge is revealed.

Coming to performances, Ajith Kumar has given his best. Let me warn you, Arrambam doesn't project Ajith Kumar like a superhero. 

Please don't visit the theatres thinking that you will see a Billa in Arrambam. The director has not exaggerated the heroism of Ajith's character in the flick. This has to be praised.

Thala Ajith's Arrambam Movie Review

Arrambam has got a flying start at the Box Office with advance booking getting massive response from the audience. The movie has opened up to packed houses in the majority of theatres in Chennai and abroad.

The movie opens up with Mumbai witnessing a series of bomb explosions. AK alias Ashok Kumar (Ajith) is the man behind it. Soon he kidnaps Arya, a hacker, and includes him in his larger plan. A flashback is revealed, where we are told about Maya (Nayantara), Anitha (Taapsee Pannu), who is the girlfriend of Arya and an aspiring TV journalist. Ajith threatens to kill Anitha in order to make Arya to work for him. They successfully hack and bring down the server of a media company. Honest cop played by Kishore catches them and another flashback takes us to Ajith Kumar's past life in ATS (Anti Terrorist Squad) along with Sanjay (Rana Daggubati).

There are also shades of Hollywood movie Sword Fish. Nevertheless, it has been tuned to suit the Tamil audience. Arrambam is about the nexuses between politics and media, in which a cop becomes a victim. The base of the story is a bullet proof jacket scam and the script is well-crafted by Vishnuvardhan and SuBha.

There are interesting twists and turns, which come as a surprise to the audience, from the word go. The first half puts a perfect foundation for the movie to make the second half an interesting affair. Most part of the movie is engaging sans well-written comedy scenes. Arrambam is a serious movie and the comedy part has taken a backseat in the script.

People would have enjoyed the movie, if it had a lot of comedy scenes considering the serious nature of Arrambam. Arrambam is not crisp and it is one of the drawbacks of the flick. In the second half, the story becomes predictable to some extent after the motive behind Ashok Kumar's revenge is revealed.

Coming to performances, Ajith Kumar has given his best. Let me warn you, Arrambam doesn't project Ajith Kumar like a superhero. 

Please don't visit the theatres thinking that you will see a Billa in Arrambam. The director has not exaggerated the heroism of Ajith's character in the flick. This has to be praised.

Lionel Messi scores a hat-trick as Barcelona win Ajax 4-0

Lionel Messi marked his 80th Champions League match with a hat trick on Wednesday as Barcelona began their campaign in Group H with a 4-0 rout of Ajax. The Argentina forward opened the scoring at Camp Nou Stadium with a free kick in the 22nd minute, doubled the hosts' advantage in the 55th on the break and, after Gerard Pique's 69th-minute goal, added another 15 minutes from fulltime. The goals took his cumulative tally in the competition to 62 - nine short of Raul Gonzalez's all-time record of 71 goals in 144 appearances. Messi now stands alone as the only player to have scored a hat trick four times in the tournament.

Despite some lethargic moments late in the first half, Barcelona eased to the win thanks to Messi's goals and the team's near complete control of possession. When Ajax did manage to create a scoring opportunity, Valdes was there to keep a clean sheet.

Ajax's defeat was its ninth consecutive loss to a Spanish opponent. Ajax's last victory in Spain dates back even farther to the 1996-97 season when De Boer helped the Dutch team win at Atletico Madrid. The two four-time champions had never met before in Europe's top-tier competition. Even so, fewer teams from different countries have stronger ties. Dutch great Johan Cruyff led Ajax to three straight European titles from 1971-73 as a player before moving to Barcelona, where he would later return as a coach to guide it to its first European title in 1992.

Miss New York Nina Davuluri named Miss America 2014

Miss New York Nina Davuluri was named Miss America 2014 in Atlantic City, New Jersey, late Sunday night becoming the first woman of Indian heritage to win the legendary contest.

Miss Florida Myrrhanda Jones, a University of Florida journalism senior and Gatorette impressed on pageant night performing her baton twirling while wearing a knee brace decked out in jewels and the tattooed Miss Kansas Theresa Vail made the final 12, but it was Davuluri who took home the crown.

Fourth runner up was Miss Minnesota Rebecca Yeh, who won one of three nights of preliminary talent competition for her violin playing, third runner up was Florida's Jones, second runner up was Miss Oklahoma Kelsey Griswold and first runner up was Miss California 2013 Crystal Lee.

The 87th Miss America pageant was held in Atlantic City for the first time since 2005. Formed in 1921, the pageant moved to Las Vegas in 2006 for a seven-year run before this year's return.

Davuluri, 24, is an Indian-American, born in Syracuse, N.Y. She was named Miss Syracuse before winning Miss New York in July and now has won the $50,000 scholarship as Miss America 2014.

Her talent was a classic Bollywood fusion dance. She plans on becoming a physician.

Kimi Raikkonen to return to Ferrari in 2014 Season

Kimi Raikonnen is poised for a shock return to Ferrari for the 2014 season, despite their tumultuous past relationship.

Raikkonen, 33, who has tired of long-running talks with Lotus, has finally decided to join the Maranello team with whom he won his only F1 world championship in 2007.

Reports suggests, Ferrari is all set to sign Kimi Raikkonen after its president's Luca Di Montezemolo approved the deal which means that Felipe Massa's eight-year spell at the Italian outfit will finally conclude at the end of the 2013 season.

Ferrari are planning to partner the Flying Finn with double champion Fernando Alonso to create the most powerful line-up in Formula 1.

Interestingly, it was Kimi Raikkonen who had to make way for Fernando Alonso in 2009 after spending three years with Ferrari. Lotus will reportedly replace the Finnish driver with Nico Hulkenburg.

Fast & Furious 7 signs Deepika Padukone

We all knew that Deepika Padukone, Kangana Ranaut and Chitrangda Singh were screen tested for the seventh installment of Vin Diesel's franchise Fast & Furious.

Well, it is now looks like Bollywood's this year reigning diva, Deepika Padukone, has bagged the role. She will play a significant character in the racy-pacy thriller that also stars Hollywood tough guys Jason Statham and Dwayne Johnson. The film is expected to hit the marquee next year.

Deepika's paperwork is on and in keeping with Hollywood's professional stance, it is likely to take six months for the contract to be completed. She is currently shooting in Dubai for Shah Rukh Khan's Happy New Year dircted by Farah Khan. Neither she nor her domestic spokespersons are allowed to reveal a single word to the media about the project.

Interestingly, when scouting for talent in Bollywood, casting agents were reportedly asked for someone slender and statuesque or 'someone like Deepika Padukone'. Following this brief, she was also the first actress to be auditioned.

Aamir Khan's Dhoom 3 Teaser Released

Yash Raj Films unveiled the teaser trailer of this year's most awaited film - Dhoom 3 featuring Aamir Khan, Abhishek Bachchan, Katrina Kaif and Uday Chopra.

The action packed teaser shows a conniving Aamir Khan making an impressive statement highlighting the theme of the film.

Bande hai hum uske, hum pe kiska zor...apne haatho kismat likne aaj chale hai hum.

The film promises a 'fauladi' Aamir Khan doing some edge-cutting action sequences.

The second surprise package of the film surely is Katrina Kaif. But unlike the other Dhoom girls – Esha Deol and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan – Katrina doesn't seem to have gone down to size zero.

According to reports Katrina Kaif has done a majority of her stunts in the movie.
Meanwhile, Abhishek Bachchan who is reprising his role as ACP Jai Dixit, is flying high, literally, aiming at the anti-hero played by Aamir Khan.

Uday Chopra, who plays Abhishek Bachchan's sidekick Ali, is also zooming on his bike.

The teaser trailer of the film will also be released with YRF's Shuddh Desi Romance releasing September 6.

The film is set to release on December 20, 2013. And the teaser trailer supports, Yash Raj Film's promise that 'This year will surely end with a Dhoom.

Real Madrid buys Gareth Bale in world record transfer

It's now official: Gareth Bale joins Real Madrid. Real Madrid announced last Sunday that Gareth Bale had joined them on a six-year contract, and a person familiar with the deal said the fee was a whooping 100 million euros ($132 million), a world record of course. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because financial details are yet to be disclosed.

Bale will have his parade at Madrid's stadium on Monday after his medical examination. Tottenham manager Andre Villas-Boas said earlier in the week that Bale's move was set to be "the biggest transfer in history of world football," and the fee eclipses the 93 million euro Madrid paid by Manchester United for Cristiano Ronaldo in 2009. 

Madrid, whose annual revenue reaches 500 million euro, previously broke the transfer record in 2009 when Kaka joined from AC Milan for 65 million euros ($92 million). All three blockbuster deals were made under Florentino Perez, the Real Madrid president who built the "Galacticos" team which included David Beckham, Zinedine Zidane and Figo. 

The move for Bale, who had around three years remaining on his Tottenham contract, caps a rapid rise from White Hart Lane misfit to one of European football's most exciting players. The 24-year-old Welsh winger has dazzled audiences around the world with swerving free kicks, defense-splitting surges and mesmerizing footwork. 

But Bale was frustrated that Tottenham only qualified once for the Champions League, the stage where the world took notice of his talents for the first time in the 2010-11 season. Now he's joining a club that has won the European Cup nine times. 

Vijay’s ‘Thalaivaa’ finally to hit theatres on August 20, Tuesday

After high drama and much suspense, actor Vijay's 'Thalaivaa', which missed the release date on August 9, will finally be screened in theatres across the state on August 20. Close associates of the film's producer S Chandraprakash Jain confirmed to TOI the release date. Theatre owners in Trichy, Coimbatore and Salem confirmed that the film will be released on August 20 (Tuesday). The new release schedule was announced on Saturday evening after the actor got the nod from the government.

Sources said film producer and Vijay's father SA Chandrashekar had sent a letter to chief minister of Tamilnadu Ms.J Jayalalithaa on Saturday morning, in which he stated that he and his son had never made any political statements against her or the government and had only admiration for her administrative abilities. He sought her help to get the film released. It was also decided that a dialogue in the film between Vijay and comedian Santhanam regarding the actor's dance style, said to have a political innuendo, would be muted.

For more than a week, actor Vijay had tried to meet Jayalalithaa in a bid to seek her intervention to get the film released. After being turned away from her Kodanad retreat in the Nilgiris on August 8, the actor had issued two statements, including one through video, seeking the chief minister's help. In both statements, the actor sought her support and praised her government and its policies. Earlier, state DGP K Ramanujam denied that the police had a hand in the delay in the film's release.

On August 9, the release of the film was stalled after theatre owners in Chennai, Coimbatore and other areas said they received bomb threats from an unknown outfit called the 'Oppressed Students Forum'. It was screened in theatres across the country and overseas. The film's producer Jain failed to get an appointment with the CM to sort out the issue and his petition on Friday to the Chennai city police commissioner, seeking permission to stage a fast, was denied. On Saturday afternoon, the producer was admitted in a private hospital, family members said.

Meanwhile on Tuesday, DMK MLA and Tamil film producer J Anbalagan offered to screen the movie in 300 theatres across Tamil Nadu. The MLA also posted the message on Twitter. DMK chief M Karunanidhi, among the first to take up for the actor, said he was upset about the filmmaker being denied the right to release the film. PMK leader S Ramadoss condemned the city police for denying Vijay and his team permission to stage a fast.

SideBySideStuff.com - Best place to buy Polaris RZR parts

There is nothing quite like the thrill of sailing through a mud bog, ripping across a field or challenging oneself on an exhilarating stretch of terrain on a Polaris RZR ATV. The Polaris RZR features everything one needs to get started down the trail in style. However, sometimes, consumers wish to take their RZR to the next level with the wide array of available accessories that can make the ride even sweeter. Fortunately, Polaris RZR fans can find all the parts and accessories that they need to detail and upgrade their vehicles in one convenient online location.

RZR owners that buy Polaris RZR parts at SideBySideStuff.com have the advantage of time saving online convenience and the highest quality parts that money can buy. They need not go to several different venues to find the parts that they need when all essential Polaris Ranger RZR parts and accessories can be found online at SideBySideStuff.com. The site managers keep an entire array of everything anyone could possibly want or need in terms of Polaris RZR parts.

The site has all kinds of seats and restraints, bumpers, hitches, winches, wheels and tires, doors and even windshields to fit all years and models of the Polaris RZR. All parts can be ordered from the site’s secure server in a matter of minutes, allowing one to fully accessorize the RZR quickly and easily with advanced checkout technology the provides consumers with secure, safe ordering 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. RZR owners that buy Polaris RZR parts at SideBySideStuff can have their vehicles outfitted in no time flat!

Thala Ajith's 53rd film titled "Aarambam"

One of the most awaited film in Kollywood, the Ajith - VishnuVardhan duo film, which was being referred as Thala 53 so far, has finally got a title "Aarambam". Producer of the fim Raguraman confirmed the news saying, "Yes, we have fixed "Aarambam" as the title. Ajith felt that the title should focus on the theme of the film rather than his character, and so, we have decided this title will be apt for the script."

The multi starrer action thriller featuring "Thala" Ajith Kumar, Arya, Nayantara and Taapsee Pannu was initially reported to be titled as "Surangani", and few months later to be "Valai". The team had been looking for a title for so long, and even released the film's trailer a few months back, without a title and made wonders in YouTube. Another news doing rounds is the film is scheduled for a release in the mid of September. Yuvan Shankar Raja has composed the music for the film & the audio may release at the end of August.

Osama Bin Laden Stopped for Over-Speeding

The global hunt for the world's most wanted terrorist Osama bin Laden could have ended eight years earlier had a Pakistani traffic cop spotted him in a car he had stopped for over-speeding.

Maryam, the wife of a Pakistani al-Qaeda operative, Ibrahim, has made a shocking revelation about how the tall Arab, once narrowly escaped unnoticed by police in Swat district.

The Abbottabad Commission report quoted Maryam as saying "She said that Osama bin Laden and his family were once stopped by a policeman in a bazaar in Swat. 'They (including Bin Laden) were stopped for speeding by a policeman".

But Ibrahim very quickly settled the matter and they drove away unnoticed, she was quoted as saying by the Express Tribune.

Ibrahim, his brother Ibrar and their family had been serving Bin Laden from the day he managed to sneak into Pakistan from neighbouring Afghanistan, according to the report.

The report reveals that Ibrahim's nine-year-old daughter, Rahma, once asked her father why "the uncle who lives upstairs (bin Laden)" in the Abbottabad compound never visited the bazaar.

Her father said: "He (bin Laden) was too poor to go out and buy anything". Since then, Rahma referred to bin Laden as 'Miskeen Kaka (poor uncle)'.

US Navy SEALs killed bin Laden on May 2, 2011 at his hideout in Abbottabad in Pakistan.

MOVIE QUOTES ABOUT GAMBLING ODDS

Are you a big fan of movies and Casinos? Have you ever watched movies with casino scenes in it? What will be the first thing that strikes your mind when you watch those scenes? The Style, the attitude, the tricks or the quotes they use while playing the game – which one of these have you tried yourself while you were in a casino.

Did it work? Happy, if it worked. But what if it didn't? Don’t worry, here is a site that will assist you to experiment all those you wish to do in Casino. This site has got a lot of movie quotes about gambling odds. It helps you to stay in your best condition, even if you are lost. You can also use some cool movie quotes to make your game more fun while playing casino. It can make your game so much better than before. Not only that, if you try to explore more on that website, you can find there is so much useful guidance that you can use while you are in a game. You can make your game so much fun and better.

This site is a free to access for all and you can open it anytime, anywhere and in any media. You can find many strategies and tips that help while playing casino. You can get what you want for your casino games here. Just try it once and it will make you to visit it again and again.

Andy Murray's Wimbledon Title Prospect Enhances

Andy Murray beat Lu Yen-hsun to reach third round at Wimbledon 2013 avenging an embarrassing defeat at the Beijing Olympics in 2008. Murray took just two hours to get past Lu Yen-hsun with 6-3, 6-3, 7-5, scorecard. He might have served a little more consistently but he hit 11 aces and 41 clean winners, with only 14 unforced errors.

While other players in the tournament seemed to be falling in an undignified heap, Andy Murray kept his nerve and his footing to advance to round three with a quietly efficient dismissal of Lu Yen-hsun on Court No.1, where Rafael Nadal made a shock exit on day one and Victoria Azarenka took the tumbles on day two that put her out of the competition.

Andy Murray'S chances of making history by breaking a 77-year British sporting jinx at Wimbledon have been dramatically enhanced by the shock exits of heavyweights like Roger Federer, the defending champion, Rafael Nadal and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. The decimation of the lower half of the men's singles draw leaves Murray with Nicolas Almagro, as his highest-ranked opponent on a route to the final.

Buy British Grand Prix Tickets at Gate

Undoubtedly the British Grand Prix is the best attended race on the Formula 1 calendar year.But Britain's lack of success on the track has caused a slump in ticket sales for the first time in a decade. The organisers of this weekend's grand prix which for the past two years has sold out, will sell tickets at the gate in an effort to boost attendance across all three racing days. The lack of a British driver winning a race so far this season combined with McLaren's poor form, is being blamed for the drop in ticket sales. But managing director of British Grand Prix, Richard Phillips, is not expecting to reach the record attendance levels of 2011 and 2012, still anticipates another big crowd at Silverstone this weekend.

Ticket sales were slower than usual during the early days, but have seen a significant upturn in interest and buying patterns since F1 returned to Europe. Also an improvement in the weather and a promising forecast for the weekend, will boost ticket sales to fans deciding to turn up on the day. This weekend’s attendance looks set to be one of our biggest in recent years. The British Grand Prix organisers have opened a new counter at Gate 1 to purchase ticket.
For more information, click here.

Nadal suffers recurring Wimbledon nightmare

For the second straight year, Rafael Nadal is leaving Wimbledon early after a stunning loss to a little-known player ranked in the hundreds.

In one of the tournament's greatest upsets, an ailing Nadal was knocked out in straight sets on Monday by 135th-ranked Belgian Steve Darcis. This loss is the Spaniard’s first loss in the opening round of any Grand Slam event.

The free-swinging Darcis defeated the two-time Wimbledon champion 7-6 (4), 7-6 (8), 6-4 on Court 1, ending Nadal’s 22-match winning streak and eliminating one of the Big Four of men’s tennis on the very first day of the grass-court Grand Slam.

After serving an ace down the middle on match point, Darcis conceded he was as surprised as everyone.

"Nobody was expecting me to win," he said. "So I had to play a good match, relax, and enjoy the game. That’s what I did."

There were no surprises for the other big names: Defending champion Roger Federer, bidding for a record eighth Wimbledon title, and second-seeded Andy Murray both won in straight sets on Centre Court.

Sun Labs

Sun Labs

Neymar signed by Barcelona for 57 million pounds

Brazilian footballerstar  Neymar has sealed a deal with Barcelona which cost the club 57 million pounds. Although Barcelona vice-president Josep Maria Bartomeu has put an end to the speculation about the transfer amount, he has not specified a particular amount that each party involved in the deal had received individually.

Barcelona not only paid Neymar's former club Santos but also the investment companies, DIS Esporte group and Teisa who owned part of Neymar's economic rights. The report said that Neymar had been made to parade at the Camp Nou as a Barcelona player after the club signed the agreement with both Santos and Neymar. Barcelona had earlier anticipated that they might be able to seal the deal with Santos for around 40 million pounds in total but admitted that lately rivals Real Madrid had shown interest in Neymar which had made the deal more expensive.

According to Bartomeu, although it was said that Neymar will arrive in 2014 but to pre-pone the move, the club have had to pay 17 million pounds in surplus. Meanwhile, Barcelona's sporting director Andoni Zubizarreta said that Neymar's style will perfectly fit into the club and it is never a problem to have extra good players in a club.

Valai Thala Ajith's next movie Valai Trailer

Forum Vijaya Mall to open on May 1st in Chennai

Movie-goers are always blessed a lot. They have business houses at their service. They first build a mall, pull in branded shops, then add a multiplex, and top it up with family restaurants: a perfect gourmet meal for those who like it all at one place. Chennai is fast catching the mall-cum-multiplex fever, so much so that single-screen theatres have become a thing of the past. So Downtown tells its readers what is in store for people living in and around Vadapalani area.

Prestige Group's Forum Vijaya Mall coming up right next to Green Park hotel in Vadapalani is getting ready for its opening ceremony on May 1st,2013. The Mall is located on Arcot Road as well as Jawaharlal Nehru Road with a frontage of approximately 335 rft and 43 rft respectively. Built on eight acres of land it will house nine-screen multiplex along with one iMax screeb run by Satyam cinemas. It will have more than 100 shops and around 10 restaurants. It will also house a 8,000 sq ft Lifestyle showroom and 50,000 sq ft RMKV showroom. It will own Chennai's biggest Hyper market Star Bazaar built on an area of 1 lakh sq ft. Apart from the restaurants, the mall will also have a 500 seat food court with 15 kitchens. For Kids and gaming enthusiast, the Forum mall will have an arcade.

It will also have a 23-level multi-level car parking facility to accommodate about 2,500 cars and 3,000 two-wheelers. “It will be a single block 12 tower structure, with a floor plate size of 1.2 lakh sq ft each. The Mall is served by 10 elevators, 26 escalators and 4 autowalks. The Elevators have a capacity of up to 1600 Kg and speed of 1.75 Mps. The office block is served by 7 passenger and service elevators. The Elevators have a capacity of up to 1600 Kg and speed of 1.75 Mps. These elevators are equipped with 6 car group Neuros 201 controller with artificial intelligence and fuzzy logic system and are equipped with Fujitec's latest state of art technology. The mall will have two entry and exit gates, with access from Arcot Road and Jawaharlal Nehru Road.

Quick Facts:
Name of the mall: Forum Vijaya Mall
Group Company: Prestige Estates Projects Ltd plus Vijaya Productions.
Project Started: November 2011
Location: Vadapalani, Chennai
Launching Date: May 1st 2013
Total area: Super Built up area of the project 16,75,264 sqft
Anchor tenant/s: RMKv, Westside, Lifestyle, Satyam Cinemas, Star Bazaar
Number of outlets: 100 outlets
Number of Floors in the mall: Lower Ground Floor , Upper ground Floor, Ground floor , First Floor, Second floor and Third Floor.
Leased space in the mall: 60 %
Parking facilities for vehicles: four wheeler /two wheeler : MLCP , Basement & Surface Parking

Chelsea to seal Jose Mourinho return with Radamel Falcao

Chelsea have all but sealed a sensational double agreement to bring Jose Mourinho and Radamel Falcao to Stamford Bridge this summer, according to reports in Germany.

In an article carried by the Daily Mirror, German newspaper Bild reports that Jose Mourinho is set to be appointed Chelsea manager for next season, with Atletico Madrid frontman Radamel Falcao a €60m "special welcome gift".

Falcao has been a long-term target for the Blues, and they were linked with a move for the Colombian international in January.

And with interim Chelsea boss Rafa Benitez set to leave the club at the end of the season, there has been speculation Mourinho could return to the Stamford Bridge dugout.

Bild broke the news of Mario Gotze's transfer to Bayern Munich earlier this week, and have now claimed the summer's second big transfer will involve the Blues.

Mourinho has been widely expected to leave the Bernabeu this summer, and Real Madrid's shock 4-1 defeat to Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday night will not boost his chances of sticking around much longer.

He'd be a popular appointment among Chelsea fans after a hugely successful three year spell at Stamford Bridge between 2004 and 2007.

And the report now claims he's "almost certain" to re-join the Blues this summer, with Falcao to follow in a €60m (£51.7m) deal.

The Atletico Madrid man would join Fernando Torres and Demba Ba, strengthening Chelsea's hopes of mounting a renewed Premier League title challenge next season.

Chris Gayle Scores Fastest Century in Cricket History

West Indies' flamboyant batsman opener Chris Gayle slammed the fastest century in cricket history, reaching the triple digit mark in just 30 balls during the Royal Challengers Bangalore Vs Pune Warriors IPL T20 match on Tuesday, then went on to make the highest score ever seen in Twenty20, ending unbeaten with 175 off 66 balls.

The West Indian battered the Pune Warriors bowling attack with a century that included just seven dot balls, four singles, eight fours and 11 sixes, during the process, to send the crowd at Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore in delirium. By the end of his innings he had amassed 17 sixes and 13 fours as Royal Challengers Bangalore recorded a total of 263 for five, the highest innings total in a Twenty20 match.

Gayle has been having a hit-and-miss IPL in 2013 thus far, with low scores coupled with an 85 off 50 balls and a 92 off 58. But his assault on the Pune bowling attack on Tuesday was in a different category all together. This was Gayle's second ton in his IPL career.

Pakistan's Shahid Afridi holds the record of fastest century in ODI (37 balls) while, Gayle's fellow man Viv Richards is credited for scoring fastest ton (56 balls) in Test history. South African Richard Richard Levi holds the record for fastest international T20 hundred. Levi had slammed 45-ball century against New Zealand in 2011 at Hamilton. Gayle had, earlier, also scored record 50-ball 100 in T20I before Richard Levi surpassed his feat. Gayle also beat the previous 34-ball ton Twenty20 league record set by Australia's Andrew Symonds.

By the end of the innings, it was hard not to feel sympathy for the bowlers. "Life is all about taking the right decision," tweeted the India captain MS Dhoni, "seeing Gayle bat today I think I took the right decision of being a wicket keeper. Though, the milestone came in an IPL clash, and not in any international tie, Gayle's fireworks will be remembered by cricket buffs for long.

Kimi Raikkonen gets airborne in Motocross Riding

Lotus driver Kimi Raikkonen is someone who enjoys every second of life on and off the track in F1. This is probably the reason behind, why he has got a huge fan base following him & admire him a lot.

Kimi Raikkonen enjoyed the break between the recent Malaysian Grand Prix and next one in  China this weekend with a spot of motocross MX Riding.

Founded alongside his rallying team during his two-year Formula 1 sabbatical, Raikkonen's IceOne squad also includes a motocross arm.

So the Iceman pulled on his MX kits last week during the three-week break between Malaysia and China and headed to Belgium, according to the Finnish broadcaster MTV3.

There, the 2007 F1 world champion participated in the gravel practice session, with images depicting him in full airborne tilt.

Motocross riding would ordinarily be deemed too dangerous for Formula 1 teams to allow, but Lotus team boss Eric Boullier admitted last week that, "One of our drivers is famous for doing pretty much what he wants".

Sun Labs

Kimi Raikkonen to join Vettel for Red Bull in 2014

Kimi Raikkonen is on Infiniti Red Bull Racing's radar if fuming Mark Webber quits Formula One at the end of Formula One 2013 season. Mark Webber was livid after team-mate Sebastian Vettel ignored team orders to hold station in second place and not to overtake the Aussie to win the Malaysian Grand Prix.

Vettel subsequently escaped sanction for his insubordination, a situation which appears to have backed up Webber's post-race claim that the triple world champion enjoys 'protection' at Red Bull. Mrak Webber, whose contract with the team expires at the end of this season, refused to be drawn on his future after the Sepang showdown.

But the energy drink owned team owner Dietrich Mateschitz has revealed they are interested in Lotus' Kimi Raikkonen. He admitted Raikkonen would be a strong candidate to partner Vettel next season. The billionaire Austrian said: "Kimi is cool and fast and always a candidate."

Meanwhile, Webber has been linked with a switch to racing sportcars with Porsche. And Mateschitz admits he does not know what is in store for the 36-year-old. Mateschitz said: "Whether he retires, only he will choose, but Mark is definitely a candidate for 2014."

Sharukh Khan, Deepika, Katrina Kaif, Jennifer Lopez to Perform in IPL 6 Opening Ceremony

The Pepsi IPL 6 Season will be launched with a big bash on 2nd April, 2013 at the Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkata.

Sharukhan's Red Chillies Entertainments Pvt Ltd has been signed as promoter for the IPLT20 opening ceremony. "We are delighted to have tied up with Red Chillies Entertainment Pvt Ltd, which has a proven track record of organising and executing events on a grand scale. The Opening Ceremony of the Pepsi IPL 6 2013 season will be one of the most spectacular events ever witnessed, in keeping with what will follow in the tournament itself, over the following seven weeks," Rajeev Shukla, Chairman, IPL, said in a statement.

Bollywood stars Sharukh khan, Deepika Padukone and Katrina Kaif will be performing at the opening ceremony of Pepsi IPL 6. Latest buzz is that Hollywood actress and popular singer Jennifer Lopez will share the stage along with the Indian stars at the event.

Bollywood actress and co-owner of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) team, Juhi Chawla, has revealed that Jennifer Lopez will attend the launch event. "As of last night, its Jennifer Lopez...apart from her, we have our superstars...one to ghar ka jo hai, unko to dance karayenge hi (superstar in question: Shah Rukh Khan), Deepika (Padukone) and Katrina (Kaif) will also be there," The Telegraph quoted her as saying.

Every year, IPL's opening ceremony will be hosted by the team that won the previous season. Last year's event was held in Chennai, as Chennai Super Kings won the IPL 4. Bollwood actors Salman Khan, Priyanka Chopra, Prabhu Deva and Kareena Kapoor grooved to popular songs at the extravagant occasion.

American pop sensation Katy Perry crooned her popular hit numbers including "Teenage dream" for the packed audience. Kolkata Knight Riders clinched the IPL 5 season title. As per traditions, the 6th edition of IPL will be held in Kolkata. The season will take place from 3 April through 26 May, 2013.

More details about the launch ceremony will be announced in the next few days.

Manchester United ready to sell Wayne Rooney

Manchester United are ready to sell their star striker Wayne Rooney this summer. Rooney's omission against Real Madrid has signalled the beginning of the end of his Manchester United career.

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson no longer views Rooney as indispensable and is looking to offload the £35 million star striker this summer. Man u are willing to listen to offers for Rooney, with Manchester City, Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain poised to lead the chase to poach him.

Rooney was said to be "furious" at Sir Alex Ferguson for leaving him out of the side that lost 2-1 to Real Madrid to exit the Champions League. And the United manager's ongoing concerns over Rooney's fitness and overall condition are set to herald a parting of the ways.

Rooney has two years left on his ongoing contract at the end of the season, a point at which United would usually look to negotiate an extension. But it is understood there is no desire to do that this summer, with United open to securing a big fee for Rooney which can then be reinvested in the team.

With Rooney out of contract at the end of the 2014-15 season, the Old Trafford giants are mindful of letting his current deal run down to its final year. If they allowed that to happen, Rooney's market value would drop considerably, with United keen to maximise any potential fee for him.

Rooney has made 394 appearances for United and scored 195 goals since joining from Everton for £27million back in 2004. He had his sights on breaking Sir Bobby Charlton's 249-goal club record, but that target looks likely to elude him with his expected sale.

Manchester United held an emergency meeting with UEFA officials in an unsuccessful bid to stop Sir Alex Ferguson being charged. He breached UEFA rules by failing to show for his post-match press conference following United's 2-1 defeat to Real Madrid.

United secretary John Alexander went into a midnight meeting with UEFA officials at Old Trafford in order to plead Ferguson's case, but disciplinary proceedings were launched on Wednesday. The United boss sent assistant Mike Phelan to carry out his media duties as Ferguson was said to be too "distraught" to do so himself.

Ferguson is facing a fine of up to £10,000 for "non-fulfilment of post-match media obligations", in accordance with UEFA regulations. United boss Ferguson was incensed by Nani's controversial sending-off by Turkish referee Cuneyt Cakir for a high tackle on Alvaro Arbeloa.

Cakir had shown 31 yellow and two reds in the seven matches before he waved five yellows and Nani's red on Tuesday. Nani's dismissal will automatically go to a disciplinary review which will decide the length of ban the United winger will serve.

"There are no issues for us regarding the sending off," said a UEFA spokesman. UEFA's disciplinary panel will judge the case on March 21 although United players who angrily confronted the Turkish referee after the match look set to escape punishment.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez dies at 58

VENEZUELA is mourning the death of President Hugo Chavez, 58, who lost his battle with cancer. Its a great loss which has silenced the leading voice of the Latin American left and put the oil-rich nation on a path to early elections.

Vice President of Venezuela Nicolas Maduro, struggled to stifle tears when he announced Mr Chavez's death. Venezuela, still divided after an acrimonious election in October 2012, declared a week of national mourning.Foreign Minister Elias Jaua said Chavez's successor Mr Maduro would take over as interim leader pending the next election, declaring: "It is the mandate that comandante President Hugo Chavez gave us."

Hundreds of supporters crowded in front of the military hospital where Chavez died, weeping and shouting "We are all Chavez!" and "Chavez lives!" as soldiers guarded the gate. His body will be taken to a military academy, where he will lie in state until a memorial service with world leaders.

Soldiers brought the Venezuelan flag down to half-staff at the military hospital, where senior figures in Mr Chavez's 14-year-old administration gathered before the cameras of state television as Maduro broke the news. "Long live Chavez!" the officials shouted at the end of his announcement.

Defence Minister Diego Molero, surrounded by top military officers, said the armed forces would defend the constitution and respect Mr Chavez's wishes. Mr Chavez had checked into the hospital on February 18 for a course of chemotherapy after spending two months in Cuba, where in December he had undergone his fourth round of cancer surgery since June 2011.

The once ubiquitous symbol of Latin America's "anti-imperialist" left disappeared from public view after he was flown to Cuba on December 10, an unprecedented absence that fueled all manner of rumors. The government had sent mixed signals about the president's health for weeks, warning one day that he was battling for his life, yet insisting as recently as last weekend that he was still in charge and giving orders.

And the opposition repeatedly accused the government of lying about the president's condition. A new election could offer another shot at the presidency to Henrique Capriles, the opposition leader who lost to mr Chavez in October.

Cuba, Venezuela's closest ally, declared its own mourning period for a leader who helped prop up their country's economy with cheap fuel and cash transfers, and dubbed Mr Chavez a "true son" of revolutionary leader Fidel Castro.

But US President Barack Obama - often a target of Mr Chavez's anti-American scorn - was circumspect, pledging the United States would support the "Venezuelan people" and describing Mr Chavez's passing as a "challenging time."

British Queen Elizabeth II Hospitalised

Britain's 86-year-old Queen Elizabeth II spent Sunday night in hospital after being admitted for the first time in 10 years as a precautionary measure against the symptoms of gastroenteritis.
A Buckingham Palace spokesman said the monarch's planned visit to Rome this week had been called off. The British Queen hasn't made an overseas trip since October 2011. Known for her robust health and devotion to duty, Britain's head of state rarely misses engagements.

"The Queen is being assessed at King Edward VII's Hospital in London after experiencing symptoms of gastroenteritis. As a precaution, all official engagements this week will be either postponed or cancelled," the palace spokesman said.

He added that the monarch was in "good spirits" and was otherwise in "good health". "This is a precautionary measure," the spokesman stressed. "She was not taken into hospital immediately after feeling the symptoms. "This is simply to enable doctors to better assess her."

The Queen was reported to have been well enough earlier Sunday to present an award to a member of staff for her long service and also to attend a chapel service in Windsor. Broadcasters reported the monarch would remain in hospital under observation for about two days, and would likely be placed on a drip in order to combat dehydration.

It was also reported that she would not be taking visitors in order to minimise publicity. Prime Minister David Cameron on Sunday issued a statement saying: "We wish the Queen well and wish her a speedy recovery."

After coming down Friday with gastroenteritis -- an infection of the stomach and bowel with symptoms commonly including vomiting, diarrhoea and dehydration -- the sovereign missed celebrations in Swansea on Saturday to mark St. David's Day, the national day of Wales.

Instead of that engagement, she had been resting at Windsor Castle, west of London, where she and her husband Prince Philip usually spend the weekend. The fact that she was then taken to the royals' regular hospital in central London suggests her condition did not warrant finding a hospital close to Windsor.

Queen Elizabeth was last admitted to hospital 10 years ago. She had an operation at King Edward VII's Hospital to remove cartilage from her left knee on December 12, 2003 and had some benign facial lesions removed at the same time.

Kimi Raikkonen's ice driving in Russia

Kimi Raikkonen lived up to his name "The Iceman" as he and Caterham F1 driver Charles Pic stared in an ice race in Russia. The phlegmatic Iceman is not a man to turn down the chance to drive something unusual, and just hours after wrapping up the second Formula One test in Barcelona, the Finn was on a plane to Russia to take part in the ice race.

Raikkonen was competing, along with Charles Pic, at The Race of Stars, a Russian ice-racing event that's the frozen equivalent of the Race of Champions, and which has previously hosted guest stars including F1 Champion Alain Prost, David Coulthard and Sebastien Loeb.

The F1 pair initially battled each other in Renault Dusters, with Raikkonen's World Rally Championship experience helping him to easily overcome the young Frenchman, who was on his first outing on ice.

The pair then switched to Renault Logans to take turns at beating Russian World Touring Car driver Kirill Ladygin in a two-way shootout around the Moscow track. But the Russian proved too strong in his natural habitat for either driver to overcome and notched up a fourth successive win in the race.

"It's nice to have fans from here and hopefully they will come when a race will be here," said Raikkonen, referring to the plans of having a Russian Grand Prix on the F1 2014 calendar.

Raikkonen will return to Barcelona on Thursday, Feb 29 for the third and final pre-season F1 testing, ahead of the first race of the 2013 season in Melbourne which kick starts on March 17th.

Paddy Lowe leaves McLaren to join Mercedes F1 team

McLaren's technical director, Paddy Lowe, will not be in Melbourne, Australia with the team for the opening Formula 1 race of the season on 17 March and will join Mercedes at the end of the season.

Last month, the Mercedes team principal, Ross Brawn, responding to questions about his own future with the German team, categorically denied Lowe would be joining as long as he remained in charge.

He said: "Paddy is not coming. I want to see how things go before I make a final long-term commitment. If I choose to leave the team then Paddy will come. We've got a plan. We have a fall-back plan. It's as simple as that."

But McLaren today announced that Paddy Lowe's move to Mercedes is a done deal and he will be replaced with Tim Goss immediately. Lowe will join Lewis Hamilton in time to oversee the massive changes for 2014, when the engines will downsize from V8s to V6 1.6 litre turbo charged units.

Lowe's arrival will not necessarily lead to Brawn's departure. It now seems that tensions between Brawn and the team's new non-executive chairman, the occasionally fractious Niki Lauda, have eased under the calming influence of Toto Wolff, who joined Mercedes as the director of motorsport from Williams at the start of the year, replacing Norbert Haug, and has since battled to establish stability. That has been his repeated theme. Wolff recognises that his arrival, together with that of Lauda and Hamilton, has created enough turbulence at the team's Brackley headquarters.

Lowe will continue to be employed by McLaren through 2013, in accordance with his contract. But he is not expected to be seen around the team and "will be performing a different role" within the organisation, according to the team principal Martin Whitmarsh, albeit undefined and understood to be away from grands prix weekends. The last thing McLaren want is Lowe taking their secrets to Mercedes.

However, the future of Brawn will remain the subject of speculation. He will be 60 next year and unless Mercedes make significant progress by then he is likely to move on, with Lowe taking charge of technical operations.

Brawn is a wealthy man who enjoyed phenomenal success, first with Benetton, then Scuderia Ferrari and then with his very own Brawn GP team, which Mercedes took over at the end of 2009 season. He has nothing to prove. When Mercedes moved in, Brawn and the chief executive officer, Nick Fry, sold their shares. Lauda's share ownership amounts to 10%. But Wolff, with 30%, is the dominant figure.

The departure of Lowe is another blow for McLaren, who had already lost their star driver, Lewis Hamilton, to the same team.McLaren are under immense pressure to produce wins this year after a disappointing in  2012 season. They started and finished the 2012 season with the quickest car, which was also often the best in the course of the season.

They also had Lewis Hamilton, the fastest man on the grid driving at the peak with all his powers. Yet they contrived not to win either the drivers' or the constructors' championship and also to lose the services of the man who remains the sport's top box-office attraction.

McLaren also have a headache with their engine supplier next year. Their contract with Mercedes expires next year. After the 2013 season, Mclaren will just be a team like Force India for engine. But Mercedes, making their own engines, will have a massive advantage to build their car around the new Turbo V6 engine and so will Ferrari and Red Bull Renault.

Meanwhile McLaren are considering another engine supplier for 2014 or 2015. And that could well mean a return for Japanese Honda, renewing a partnership that served them so well in the ultra successful era of Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost.

K.V.Anand to direct Superstar Rajinikanth next film

The latest buzz in Kollywood is that K V Anand of Ko fame will be dircting Superstar Rajinikanth's next film. Eros International which is producing Superstar current project "Kochadaiyaan" will be producing this film as well. The news has been confirmed by Kamal Jain, the chief financial officer of Eros International in a recent interview.

Rajini's on going "Kochadaiyaan", directed by his daughter Soundharya is in its final stages and is gearing up for summer release. Bollywood Diva Deepika Padukone will share the screen with Superstar this time. Sarath kumar, Aadhi, Rukmani, Nasaar form the rest of the crew. Rajini will then commence "Raana" to be directed by K.S.Ravikumar.

There has been a lot of speculation on who will direct Rajini post "Rana". Shankar, A.R.Murugadoss, K.V.Anand and Rajamouli were said to be hot favourites, ready with the script. And finally K.V.Anand has been roped in to helm the project. K.V.Anand has already worked with Rajini in Shankar's Sivaji as Cinematographer. Rajini apparently likes Anand's lens and lights work.

However, when contacted K.V.Anand, he stated that he has not signed on the dotted line yet. He says, "As of now, I'm working on three different subjects with three script writers. Three production houses are in touch with me, and I've approached three heroes for each subject. Depending on the availability of dates, I will sign my next film. I will get a clearer picture in the next 20 days."

Sony Launches PS4!

Japanese electronic giant Sony has announced its next-generation gaming console, the PS4, PlayStation 4, at an event in New York City. The new gaming console will succeed the PS3, which went on sale in 2006 and has sold about 75 million units worldwide.

The Sony PS4 will eventually compete against Microsoft's still-to-be-unveiled Xbox 360 successor and Nintendo's Wii U. PS4 will not have any boot-up time according to system architect Mark Cerny. Pressing "on" will bring you directly to the home screen.

PS4's new hardware is designed to offer extreme graphics as well as new features such as sharing of recorded gameplay clips.Meanwhile, downloads can take place in the background, even while the system is off / playing games.

The system will also go much further than current generation systems toward integrating a social media experience. There's a great deal of talk about a social network for games. I get the feeling that Sony is hammering home social a bit too hard, though it's possible that the new "Share" button on the PS4 controller will allow Sony to really push eSports.

Interestingly, you will also be able to hand over control of your game to people remotely via the Share button as well, or send in drops (such as health packs) via the social system. Better than any talk of social, the PlayStation Store will now include every possible title as a digital download According to Gaikai's David Perry.

The Vita will also be tightly integrated with the PS4. "Our long-term goal is to make every PS4 title playable on the Vita," says Perry. Sony is also working on a long-term goal to make the entire catalog of PS3 games available on any device, according to Perry. Ideally they will make all PS1 and PS2 games available as well.

Sony also confirmed a range of big-name software for the machine including Bungie's upcoming "shared-world shooter" Destiny, which will include exclusive content for the PS4. According to the report, Sony said the console 'coming holiday 2013' suggesting it will go on sale in at least some countries in or around December. It did not give any indication of its price nor did it show what the console would look like, the report added.

Robert Kubica loses seat to Daniel Juncadella in Mercedes DTM 2013

Robert Kubica will not join the DTM 2013 season after Mercedes announced a six-car 2013 line-up with European Formula 3 champion Daniel Juncadella.

Last month, the Pole tested one of the German marque's cars, with Mercedes newly appointed Toto Wolff saying it was a "proper test in a proper race car".

"Let's see how it goes," said Mercedes' new motor racing director.

While now successful in lower-tier rallying, former Renault and BMW driver Kubica is still unable to drive a powerful single seater due to the limitations of his right arm, which was almost severed in an early 2011 rally crash.

Mercedes announced on Wednesday that it has entered six German DTM cars in the 2013 series, but none of them will be raced by Robert Kubica.

Instead, Mercedes' lineup features Micheal Schumacher's bro Ralf Schumacher, Gary Paffett, Roberto Merhi, Christian Vietoris, Robert Wickens and Formula 3 champion Daniel Juncadella.

The marque said Mercedes F1 driver Nico Rosberg will mentor the youngsters.

"I am looking forward to following their progress this season and can maybe give the young guns a tip or two," he said.

Formula 1 Pre-season Testing Live timings Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain

Click here to find out the Formula 1 Pre-season Testing Live timings Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain

Microsoft launches Outlook.com Features stuns rivals

Microsoft made a huge leap in its effort to take on Google's Gmail. The company's new flagship product Outlook.com, a free Internet email service, has grown to 60 million users since its launch at the end of July, 2012.

A third of the 60 million users represented users who switched from Gmail to Outlook.com owing to its clear, easy to use,  fast user interface, exciting tools for maintaining a spam-free inbox, integrations with other social networking sites and built in viewers for things like videos and documents. To further boost its growth, Microsoft also removed the beta tags from Outlook.com and made it open to the public last weekend.

You can get your own account at Outlook.com, with a new @outlook.com email address. Users of Hotmail will also benefit from Outlook.com's features: They can simply log in at Outlook.com to get the new interface, and if they don't, they'll be updated automatically by summer 2013.  Existing users of Hotmail, MSN Mail, and Windows Live Mail will still be able to keep their @hotmail, @live, or @msn addresses, even though they'll be using the improved interface.


Taking Hotmail as its foundation the new webmail design echoes the clean, simple look of Microsoft's major re-thinking of its flagship OS product, Windows 8.

Features that makes Outlook.com say a "WOW!":

• Allows attachments of size up to 300MB, compared to Gmail's 25MB.
• Ad-free webmail services - Microsoft does not scan the contents of your mail to display ads.
• Right-panel, with the mail sender's images from a connected social network, including Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, to view the mailer's latest tweet, Facebook profile.
• Keyboard shortcuts - One new very handy shortcut is /, which takes you to the search box. Similarly, Tab key now takes you to the Send button when you're composing.
• A preview panel which separates the inbox from the preview below - something not offered in Gmail.
• Right-click menu choices for replying, forwarding, and so on.
• 'Instant Actions' show up as icons next to a message's subject when you hover the mouse over it, letting you mark the message as read/unread, delete it, or flag it. 
• Outlook has all of Hotmail's slick integrations—photos, videos, and documents can all be viewed right in the inbox. This includes viewing Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents without launching the Office app in question.
• Well-designed, black-framed Image viewer letting you play slideshows on-page whether the images were attached to your incoming email or simply linked to from a photo sharing site like Flickr.
• Multiple Inboxes -  Allows you to hook Gmail(or other mail services). As well as just reading mail from all the connected accounts, you can send from any of them within Outlook.com, simply by choosing your From address from a dropdown in the new mail view.

Nico Rosberg's Mercedes quickest F1 pre-season test at Barcelona

Mercedes Nico Rosberg took the top spot on the opening day of the second pre-season test in Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain on Tuesday.
The Mercedes driver managed to clock 1:22.616 a lap, just seven thousandths quicker than Kimi Raikkonen in the Lotus.
Both times came on the medium compound tyre toward the end of the session after Sebastian Vettel had led for much of the morning, before dropping to fourth behind Fernando Alonso.
The Spaniard made the most of his first day behind the wheel of the F138 by posting 110 laps, almost 30 more than his nearest rival.
Pastor Maldonado who debuted the new Williams FW35 for the first time went fifth fastest with a lap just over 1.1 seconds slower than Rosberg.
The session saw two red flags thanks to Esteban Gutierrez' s low fuel run, which saw him stop on circuit. Meanwhile Charles Pic stopped with a mechanical issue. He finished 11th behind Max Chilton in the Marussia.

Rafael Nadal loses in Chile Open Final

Clay King Rafael Nadal suffered a shock defeat in the final of the Chile Open to Argentina's Horacio Zeballos last night. The Spaniard comeback tournament after seven months out with a torn tendon in his left knee.

The Spaniard was an overwhelming favourite in Vina del Mar against the world no.73. But Zeballos looked every bit the equal of the seven-time French Open champion.

It was only the fifth singles final Nadal has lost on clay to go with 36 victories and he had looked on course to make that 37 after winning the first set on a tiebreak.

However Zeballos, 27, claimed a tight second-set tiebreak and then took the decider 6-4 to win the first singles title of his 10-year career 6-7, 7-6, 6-4.

Nadal will continue his comeback this week in the Brazil Open in Sao Paulo, and later this month plays again on clay in Acapulo, Mexico all aimed at getting him ready for a run at this eighth French Open title.

Petro De la Rosa's debut for Ferrari short lived as F138 catches fire

It was a dramatic Ferrari debut for veteran Pedro De La Rosa when, after just two installation laps, he was forced to stop his F138 due to a fire under the engine cover on the fourth and final day of Formula 1 testing at Jerez, Spain.

Ferrari wrote on Twitter: "Difficult start of the day for De La Rosa: F138 stopped on track after the second installation lap."

The incident took place just over an hour into the morning session.

On 16 January 2013, Petro de la Rosa was announced as the Ferrari development and reserve driver for the 2013 Formula 1 season.

Kimi Raikkonen splits up with Jenni Dahlman

Kimi Raikkonen has split with his beauty queen wife after almost nine years of marriage.
During his earlier days as a McLaren driver, the Icemen married the then Miss Scandinavia Jenni Dahlman in 2004.

The Finnish entertainment magazine 7 Paivaa reports that they have split.
"It's true, they have grown in different directions," confirmed the now Lotus driver's personal assistant Ridu Kuvaja, according to Finnish daily Ilta Sanomat.

The newspaper has reported that Jenni moved out of their $40 million home in Switzerland several weeks ago.

Broadcaster MTV3 reports that divorce could be "very expensive" for Kimi Raikkonen, given his estimated fortune is more than $160-million, including a portfolio of properties.

Viswaroopam Movie Review

After watching Viswaroopam, one thing that kept on poping in my mind is why the hell the movie was dragged into so much controversies by some people. This will be the mindset of almost everyone who watches the film.

Viswaroopam is a first of its kind film in Tamil Cinema. The making of the film is very rich, stylish and cinematography by Sanu Varghese makes this film a action-spy thriller with international standards in true sense. Kamal Hassan excels as an actor, director and writer in this film.

The plot of the film is how a life of an ordinary couple changes when one hires a detective to spy the other and they get involved in extra-ordinary situations when the detective gets killed by a terrorist gang. The film has two tracks one Kamal Hassan's past and the other present in America.

The entire film takes shot in US and Afghanistan and it is made to portray in a very authentic way. Kamal Hassan has worked very well on the screenplay, the film is rightly paced once when all the elements of plot get untied we are thrown into a thrill ride. As a director he has skillfully etched each and every frame of the film which is evident right from the title card.

Every shot in the film is important and Kamal has conveyed a lot of messages visually rather than through dialogues which is very noteworthy in the entire Afghan sequence.

All the actors have done a very good job. Rahul Bose, Pooja Kumar, Andreah, Nasser and rest of the cast come through as the characters very well. The guest appearance by Shekar Kapur is well utilized.

This film is a sure multiple times watchable film, do catch it only in Theatres and DTH, a film of this kind needs the support of the audience.

Pros: Cinematography, Kamal Hassan performance, Rahul Bose acting, Rich Production values

Cons: Moderate visual effects, Music & Background Score, Screenplay

Verdict:- It’s a Kamal Show all the way as an Actor, Writer and Director. His guts to choose a movie on terrorism is appreciable, but he failed in executing the movie in a more convincing way to get it accepted by all section of audiences.

Happy Birthday Facebook!!!

Today marks the 9th birthday of Facebook, a social media giant so ubiquitous that it seems it must have been around forever instead of less than a decade.

Facebook has grown from a handful of users in 2004 to more than one billion active users(as of September 2012), more than half of them using Facebook on a mobile device and more than 4,000 employees as of December 2012.

Facebook was created by Mark Zuckerberg with his college roommates and fellow Harvard University students Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Moskovitz and Chris Hughes in a dorm room. It was originally intended to serve just the university's student population.

Zuckerberg originally named it as "Facemash," but, thankfully, the name evolved.

Later, membership included other colleges and universities in the greater Boston area. From there, it expanded to all colleges and universities, then to all high schools and, finally, to anyone in the world over the age of 13.

The statistics on Facebook are staggering, usually measured in terms of millions and billions at the end of 2012:

• 618 million - daily online users.
• 680 million - monthly online users who use FB mobile products.
• 30 billion - pieces of information are shared each month.
• 250 million - photos are uploaded daily.
• 700 minutes - Facebook user spends at the site per month
• 1 million - links are shared every 20 minutes
• 2 million - Friend requests are made every 20 minutes
• 3 million - messages are sent every 20 minutes
• 165 million - Users in United States (most users per nation)
• About 70 percent of all Facebook users are outside the U.S.

Needless to say, Facebook's pervasive presence has its supporters and detractors.

Facebook is either a heaven sent platform for linking the world together or a tool of the devil designed to eliminate privacy and fracture national cohesiveness.

Pepsi IPL 6 auctions - Aussies Hot Favourites - Glenn Maxwell Top Paid

The lucrative Indian Premier League (IPL) auction started this morning with bang. Mumbai Indians paid a whopping $1 million (Rs.5.3 crore) to get Aussie all-rounder Glenn Maxwell had a base price of $200,000 to play for their side.

While MI also bought the retired Australian skipper Ricky Ponting for base price of $400,000 (Rs.2.1 crore), Vijay Mallaya owned, Bangalore-based Royal Challengers paid the same amount to cement the place of Indian pacer RP Singh in its squad. Pune Warriors bought current Australian skipper Michael Clarke for base price of $400,000 (Rs.2.1 crore).

Delhi Daredevils paid a whopping Rs2.3 crore for South African all-rounder Johan Botha. Aussie batsman Luke Pomersbach, who had a base price of $50,000, was bought for Rs.1.5 crore by Kings XI Punjab.

Australian all-rounder James Faulkner, with a base price of $100,000, was bought for four times that amount (Rs.2.1 crore)by Rajasthan Royals, while Indian all-rounder Abhishek Nayar would play for Pune Warriors for a fee of Rs.3.5 crore ($675,000).

Rahul Dravid and Mary Kom to be awarded Padma Bhushan

Sources have indicated that former India cricketer Rahul Dravid and London Olympics bronze medalist boxer MC Mary Kom are likely to get Padma Bhushan, India's third highest civilian honour.

Reports from New Delhi say that these illuminating sportspersons are being considered for the Padma Bhushan awards.

Both the sportsperson have an illustrious career and "The Wall" retired last year.

In recognising the innumerable achievements and accomplishments of this star cricketer, the Indian Government is considering to honor him with Padma Bhushan awards. He played 164 Tests and 344 ODIs scoring over 24,000 runs in international cricket. He was conferred Padma Shree award in 2004.

Five-time world champion Mary Kom added to the Olympics medals tally for India winning a bronze at the London's Olympics.

Other recommendations for the Padma Awards:

Padma Bhushan: Sushil Kumar (wrestling).

Padma Shri: Vijay Kumar (shooting), Yogeshwar Dutt (wrestling), HN Girisha (para sports), Gautam Gambhir (cricket), Dingko Singh (boxing), Alok Kumar (cue sports).

Novak Djokovic blast disgraced Cyclist Lance Armstrong on Doping Confession

World number one Novak Djokovic led fellow Serbian Janko Tipsarevic into the second week of the Australian Open with a 6-4, 6-3, 7-5 defeat of Radek Stepanek and went on to blast disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong who on Thursday confessed to doping.

Tipsarevic, the eighth seed, came through his second consecutive five-set test, defeating Frenchman Julien Benneteau 3-6, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 for a place in the last 16.

Djokovic then exploded when asked about Lance Armstrong and his confession to doping in every one of his seven Tour de France wins.

"He cheated the sport, he cheated many people around the world with his career, with his life story. I think he should suffer for his lies all these years," Djokovic said.

The holder said that he had not been blood tested for half a year, but was still giving urine samples when anti-doping teams came calling.

"Anti-doping regulations a little bit maybe more strict (in tennis) in the sense that you have to fill the whereabouts documents and you have to basically give an hour or two in every day of your life in a whole year, where you are."

"On the other hand, it gives them an opportunity to test you. And you know it is the same for the other players. At least from that point of view, it's fair.

"I have nothing against the anti-doping federation, association, testing me 10, 20, 30 times a year."

AL Vijay and Ilayathalapthy Vijay’s upcoming film titled 'Thalaiva'

Ilayathalapthy Vijay and Director AL Vijay's romantic-thriller finally has now been titled 'Thalaiva' with the tag line - "Time to Lead". A statement from the production house has said Vijay, Director A.L Vijay, and the producer have unanimously zeroed in on the title.

Actress Amala Paul who plays the lead opposite Vijay in the film, confirmed the news on her micro blogging page. The film’s music is scored by GV Prakash cinematography is handled by Nirav Shah and editing by Anthony. The film is produced by Chandra Prakash Jain under the banner Mishri Productions.

The first schedule of shooting was completed recently. The second schedule will start March onwards in Spain. The cast and crew will be heading to Spain after 50 days of non-stop shoot in Mumbai, which included two songs and three fight sequences.

Recently AL Vijay crooned for a song under GV Prakash’s composition. The film has Santhanam for comedy relief, and Sathyaraj plays an important role while Suresh, Mano Bala and Abhimanyu make the rest of the crew.

The title song "Thalaivaa Thalaivaa" was recently shot in Mumbai in the presence of 500 junior artists. With Thalaiva as its title, Vijay's fans must be thrilled for its mass appeal! The film is likely to hit theatres in May.

Lionel Messi wins the FIFA Ballon d'Or for the fourth successive year

Lionel Messi added yet another record to his stellar list of achievements over the past one year on Monday when he won an unprecedented fourth, consecutive, Ballon d'Or at a FIFA gala in Zurich.

The accolade seals Messi's status as the greatest player of his generation after he saw off Real Madrid rival Cristiano Ronaldo and Barcelona teammate Andres Iniesta for the prize.

Messi received a vote share of 41.60 percent to 23.68 for Ronaldo and 10.91 for Iniesta.

Messi and former French star, UEFA president Michel Platini, had prior to Monday been the only players to win three straight Ballon d'Or awards while Dutch greats Johan Cruyff and Marco Van Basten both won the accolade on three occasions.

Spain's Vicente del Bosque was named coach of the year for 2012, seeing off competition from Real Madrid's Jose Mourinho and former Barcelona coach Josep Guardiola.

Messi's success crowned another landmark year for the Argentine who is already the top scorer in La Liga for the ongoing season with 25 goals, having also broken Gerd Mueller's 40-year record for the most goals in a calendar year.

He finished 2012 with an astonishing 91 goals in all competitions.

But Messi has insisted his scoring records will mean nothing if Barcelona do not go on to take the La Liga title off Real or fail to win the Champions League.

"It is incredible to receive this prize once again and it's impressive it makes it four in a row. I would like to share this with my Barca teammates - particularly with Andres, who is here with me," said the ever unassuming Messi.

"I am proud to be able to train alongside him every day. I am also thinking of my teammates in the Argentina squad," he went on.

"Thank you to all those who voted for me, skippers, coaches and national coaches.

"Thank you too to my family, my friends and of course my wife and son, who is the best thing that ever happened to me," said the 25-year-old from Rosario, who in November became a father to son Thiago.

Beforehand he had said winning for Barcelona outweighed any personal glory.

"It's nice to beat records but the win for the team is what is important. My goals are to win titles with the team, the Spanish league, Spanish Cup or Champions League is more important than any personal records."

Barca coach Tito Vilanova had already eulogised his player in advance of Messi's win.

"Leo's great quality is that he plays as if he is still a child," Vilanova opined.

"He was always good as a youngster and you didn't need to be a coach to say that. It was a joy to see him play as a 15-year-old and that continues now."

Portugal captain Ronaldo at least has the consolation of having won in 2008 before Messi's hegemony began while Iniesta can for his part bask in the knowledge that he has won a World Cup and two Euros - including Euro 2012 - whereas Messi still has to replicate such achievements at international level.

Until he can lift top honours with Argentina, some observers will insist he cannot be classed as the greatest player ever, moving ahead of Pele and Diego Maradona.