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.