Shilpa Shetty: Boy friend or a Husband?

After winning Big Brother, Shilpa Shetty is now the talk of India and UK. She is 31 and alone. So, naturally, it is time she gets married or a boy friend. The only problem is that any possible suitor would have to first get through her father.

Chennai Online reported:

Shilpa, who received overwhelming support from British viewers after being racially abused on the reality televison show here, said she planned to extend her stay in Britain, as her mother Sunanda is keen on looking for a match for her.

"I'm single and ready to mingle!" Bollywood's long-legged beauty said in an interview to the Daily Mirror, confessing she hasn't had a boyfriend for 18 months.

But potential suitors are likely to face a grilling from her businessman father Surendra, she quipped.

"If a guy wants to take me out, he must seek my dad's permission first. That's just the way it works. I secretly brief them about the best answers to give to my father's questions before they face him," the 31-year-old actress said.

But that hasn't stopped dad vetoing a good few.

"I try not to mind when that happens because parents are always right in the long run.

"Even when mum and dad give me permission to go out on dates, I must always go with a male chaperone and my sister and be home before 2am. I cannot attend a party alone," she said.

I wonder how she could go to UK alone? This is just a publicity stunt. Shilpa can go to UK alone and stay there for so many days and do many movies in Bollywood but cannot go out with a boy friend.

Eklavya: Amitabh Bachchan Saved by a Turban

I know this is old story and you have read it already. Yes, I found it interesting enough to write about. Amitabh Bachchan is lucky enough that he got miraculously saved by a long turban while shooting the flim.

Independent Online reported:

The 64-year-old actor, playing a royal guard in Eklavya, a period film about palace intrigue, was shooting a scene in which he had to pass through a herd of 400 camels.

The Mumbai Mirror newspaper said one of the camels suddenly landed a kick on Bachchan's head, leaving him dizzy for a few minutes.

"Mr Bachchan kept saying, 'The turban saved my life'," director Vidhu Vinod Chopra was quoted as saying by the daily.

"I would have never believed it happened, but then we spotted the camel in action on the monitor."

The headgear that Bachchan wore for the film is a traditional colourful turban worn by villagers in the western desert state of Rajasthan.

I am sure many people will be happy that Amitabh got saved. It will give another reason for the fans to go to the cinema halls to enjoy Eklavya.

Sonia Mehra Entering Bollywood Movies

Remember Vinod Mehra? How can we forget him? His daughter Sonia Mehra may be just 18 now but she is entering Bollywood movies.

Bollyvista reported:

18-year-old Sonia Mehra, daughter of late Vinod Mehra and Kiran Mehra. Soniya is all set to step into Bollywood in a film to be produced by Kamal Sadanah and directed by Anant Mahadevan. The film is a remake of 'Victoria No. 203' where Sonia will be playing the character that was played by Saira Banu in the original.

So, let us wish the best of luck to Sonia Mehra. I hope that she can perform very well and make her father’s name even brighter.

'Kebab Mein Haddee offer' and 'Salaam-e-Ishq'

Bollywood movies are very popular in India. So, many companies try to associate themselves with the movies. Now, if you are in India then you stand in a chance of meeting the stars of the movie 'Salaam-e-Ishq'. Here is a press release about it:

As the much-awaited multi starer bollywood blockbuster releases across theatres, tomorrow, Yatra.online Pvt. Ltd., a leading travel services company rolled out an innovative promotional campaign - 'Kebab mein Haddee'. The promotional offer will give the customers an opportunity to meet one of the six star couples from the film by simply loging on to www.yatra.com and making their travel booking.

This is the first time that Yatra.com has taken the bollywood co-branded TVC route and the activity will be promoted through television and online marketing. The television commercial (TVC) announcing the contest is currently being aired on more than 12 entertainment and news channels including Zee TV, Zee Cinema, Zee News, MTV, Channel V, ETC, Sahara One, HBO, CNBC Awaaz and CNN IBN.

Speaking on this promotional offer, Dhruv Shringi, Co founder, Yatra.com, said, " Yatra.com is extremely excited to partner with the first multi starrer blockbuster of 2007 and getting associated with some of the biggest stars of bollywood to spread awareness about Yatra.com. We are looking for innovative opportunities to interact with our customers to promote our brand , and we found Salaam-e-ishq as the most appropriate fit. The exuberance of the brand is also reflected in the Salaam -e -ishq."

Nikhil Advani's Salame Ishq releases on 25th January with 12 key characters portrayed by Salman Khan - Priyanka Chopra, John Abraham - Vidya Balan, Akshaye Khanna - Ayesha Takia, Anil - Kapoor - Juhi Chawla, Govinda- Stephanie and Sohail Khan - Isha Koppikar.

'Salaam-e-Ishq' is not doing that bad in the box office. So, this is a good offer and many people will try to make use of it.

Should Virender Shewag be Selected for the Upcoming ICC Cricket World Cup 2007

Robin Uttappa and Gautam Gambhir have made the task hard for India’s benevolent opener Virender Shewag to regain his place at the team. As Sourav Ganguly has come back in his own form and Sachin is getting well at the number four position, the competition of getting the place of Ganguly’s opening partner is now rounded up among Shewag, Uthappa and Gambhir.

Uthappa has showed his aggressive batting as an opener in the recent series against West Indies. He has the ability to demolish any side but the only thing that he needs to show consistency at this level of cricket. I have seen his batting in the Under 19 world cup and I am sure that he has the potential to flourish as world class opener. For Gautam Gambhir, I think, though he has a lot of talent, he needs to show consistency in his batting. However, considering the recent performance, Uthappa is a bit ahead of Gambhir. However, the coming series against Sri Lanka will be very crucial for both of them to show their performance to be selected for the final squad of India for the cricket world cup.

On the other hand, Virender Shewag’s story is different than both Gambhir and Uthappa. Shewag has nothing new to prove as he has proved all of his batting talent in both ODI and Test cricket. He has over four thousand runs in both crickets which can not well-prove his batting talent. His hard hitting batting can be the real amusement to the fans and can boost up the team’s total within few balls. Moreover, he is an effective occasional spin bowler. However, the problem is that he is now in off-form and was out of the team in the last series against West Indies. The series against Sri Lanka would be the last chance for Shewag to get back to the team.

At last, I think, the competition of these three openers will create much news among themselves. However, considering the experience of Virender Shewag and the ability of his bowling can make him ahead of the others. Now, lets see what happen to the fate of all of the batsmen.

Should India Go for Four-Bowler Strategy in the Upcoming ICC Cricket World Cup West Indies 2007

India was one of the two finalists of last ICC World Cup Cricket South Africa 2003. That was the first world cup final for India since Kapil Dev’s world champion India in 1983. Team India showed some of their best performance in the tournament playing like the favorite from the beginning of the last world cup. However, unfortunately the Ganguly and Co. could not live up to the demand of many Indians in the final as India could not even stand to the former world champion Australia.

Many have searched the reason behind such a shameful lose and many also tried to find out the reasons which helped them to reach to the final stage uniting and influencing the players to play as a team. However, I think India had one advantage in the last world cup in South Africa which played an important role behind their excellent performance. As India took four bowlers in almost every match and Rahul Dravid played as a wicket keeper, India had the provision of playing two extra specialist batsmen in the best eleven which in many cases made the difference between India and their rival teams. Javagal Srinath, Ashis Nehra, Zaheer Khan and Ajit Agarkar were the pace bowlers and Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble were the spinners in the squad. In most of the matches India followed the three pacer and one spinner strategy which worked well. With the four bowlers, there were some occasional but effective spinners as well such as Yuvraj Singh, Virender Shewag, Sachin Tendulkar. All the supporting bowlers were also very effective and showed their best at the tournament.

Now, another world cup is knocking at the door and rumors regarding the final squad are just roaming around. Is India going to follow the four bowler strategy again? Well, the time can tell the best answer of it. However, I think India can again go for the four bowler strategy in the coming world cup.

Let me be first clear the thing. India could go for the four bowler strategy as they have some inform occasional bowlers who could often give brake through during the last world cup. Moreover, the strike bowlers were also in their good form such as Srinath, Nehra, Zaheer, Harbhajan Singh and Kumble. However, if you look at the Indian squad of the world cup 2003, you can see that there was not any good all-rounder in the team. Bangar who was included as an all-rounder, could hardly contribute for the team during the tournament. For the coming world cup, I can see that there are some potential all-rounders in the first 30 member world cup squad. For sure, I am very much interested to see Suresh Raina at the squad as he is an excellent middle order batsman and effective off-spinner. I saw him playing in the Under 19 world cup and I am sure he can be of a reliable one in the batting line up and can curtail some runs as a very good fielder. For bowling, I think he can effectively check the runs in the middle of the innings.

Furthermore, you can not think that as Rahul is no more a wicketkeeper for the team, India will loose the chance of playing one extra batsman because Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the present wicketkeeper, is well enough to be a specialist batsman for the team. With his hard hitting quality he will be able to add some extra runs in the slog overs. Besides, if Pathan is included in the squad, he will show his batting talent as he did for many times beforehand.

Now you may think about the forms of the specialist bowlers of the team. First, Zaheer Khan, I think, is in his best form now as he has showed excellent performance in the last series against West Indies. Kumble and Harbhajan are going well. Though Pathan has just come back to the team after having some bad performance in the recent series, I think, he will be able to show his best in West Indies. Sachin, Ganguly, Yuvraj are still in the team and all of them have the ability to serve their team as a part time bowler. SHewag may also join in the row. Raina will add some extra dimensions to the bowling line up. So, it is worthless to say that India has a number of options in terms of bowlers than that of last world cup cricket.

You might think that playing four bowlers may create a pressure on the side and cannot work well all the time. For example, you can indicate the final match of the last world cup where the Indian bowlers were totally washed out by the devastating batting of the Australian batsmen. Well, it is also true that it was not only India who was destroyed by the Australian batting; rather almost all of the teams could not stop the aggressive batting of the Aussies throughout the tournament.

However, it is Mr. Chapple and the Indian selectors who will take the final decision regarding the final squad but I will not be astonished, if India follows the four bowler strategy as they did in the last world cup cricket in South Africa.

Some New Laws Accepted ahead of the ICC Cricket World Cup West Indies 2007

The upcoming cricket world cup 2007 is introducing many new things in order to be held without having any unwanted thing. Recently four new laws related to travel and security, have been accepted at the legislation ahead of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007. The laws are specially submitted for acceptance in order to have more flexible law for travel and to make a strong security. Stabroke news reported:

“The bills, which were laid in parliament for the first time and had their second reading, debate and passage at yesterday's sitting of the National Assembly, were the Immigration (Amendment) Bill 2007, Caribbean Com-munity Special Visa Agreement Bill 2007, Pre-Clearance (ICC Cricket World Cup West Indies 2007) Bill 2007 and the Customs (Amendment) Bill 2007.

Shortly after the passage of the bills they were assented to by Prime Minister Sam Hinds, who is performing the functions of President. The single domestic space among ten Caricom member states to facilitate Cricket World Cup 2007 comes into being from today.

n general the Immigration Amendment Act makes provisions for the introduction of the Advanced Passenger Information (API) system. It also makes it obligatory on the part of the master of any vessel, whether aircraft or ship, arriving at any place in Guyana to transmit passenger information to immigration authorities in Guyana within the time specified.

Failure to transmit the information required or transmitting incomplete or false information is an offence and is liable to a fine of $20 million.

While PNCR-1G MP Basil Williams described the fine as being "excessive and arbitrary", Minister of Home Affairs Clement Rohee explained that it was meant to be a deterrent and was in keeping with the fines set out in the sunset legislation passed in November last year.

The Caricom Special Visa Agreement Act provides for special visas to facilitate travel to host venues from February 1 to May 15, 2007 after which they become invalid.

The Act gives legal effect to the Caricom Special Visa Agreement which came into force on December 12, 2006. The agreement provided for state parties to adopt a common policy on the arrangements for a Caricom special visa and the harmonisation of policies on the Caricom Special Visa.

In view of the volume of passengers anticipated for CWC 2007, the pre-clearance of passengers, goods and aircraft crew by another state's immigration, customs and public health, food inspection and plant and animal health authorities will facilitate travel between the countries who are parties to the agreement. Penalties under the pre-clearance laws may be enforced by pre-clearance officers in Guyana but the local authorities reserve the right to enforce laws in the pre-clearance area.

The Customs (Amend-ment) Bill 2007 was presented by Minister of Finance Dr Ashni Singh. This law makes provision for the Minister of Finance to make regulations requiring any master of an aircraft or ship expected to arrive in Guyana or expected to depart from Guyana to furnish advance information relating to any passenger or cargo or both on board such craft in the form and manner as may be provided in the regulations.”

The laws seem to be very effective for the tournament but the success of these laws lie behind those who will enforce the laws. I hope the laws will have good impact on this biggest stag of world cricket.