Anti-Narendra Modi posters show him with Bollywood villainesses

 Ahmedabad: Narendra Modi is likely to be in Delhi today to stand by PA Sangma as he files his nomination papers for President of India. Mr Sangma is the candidate of Mr Modi's party, the BJP.
 
Back home, in Gujarat, new posters critical of Mr Modi have appeared in Rajkot, 200 kilometres from the state capital of Gandhinagar. The Gujarat chief minister is lampooned - his face has been morphed with that of a woman, and is shown alongside Bollywood actors Shashikala and Lalita Pawar, whose careers were built on their vicious depictions of angry and conniving spoilers, determined to drive a wedge between the ingenue lead and her love interest.
 
The slogans on the posters suggest that like them, the Gujarat chief minister is creating fault-lines within his party.
 Posters have been appearing against Mr Modi for the last few weeks - in cities like Ahmedabad, Nagpur, Lucknow and in Delhi, outside the BJP office. Nobody has accepted responsibility for them. 
Those close to Mr Modi believe they are the work of a group loyal to Sanjay Joshi, who has long served as one of Mr Modi's least-favourite people.  It was at the chief minister's insistence that Mr Joshi resigned first from the party's national executive, and then later, from the BJP.  
 
The dissent against the chief minister has been peaking, worryingly for his party, just months ahead of Gujarat's election.  Keshubhai Patel, a senior leader who was replaced as chief minister by Mr Modi, has been meeting with other Modi critics like Suresh Mehta.  In a blog earlier this week, Mr Patel wrote that Gujarat today is worse than the Emergency.  Mr Patel and others have accused the chief minister of being autocratic in his decision-making, and intolerant of any criticism.

Pranab Mukherjee files nomination for President polls, seeks blessings - heavenly & political

New Delhi: Dressed in his trademarkbandhgala, a smiling Pranab Mukherjee, the UPA's candidate, filed his nomination papers for the post of the 13th President of India today. Seated next to Mr Mukherjee as he signed his nomination papers were Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Rahul Gandhi. UPA allies, friends like Lalu Prasad Yadav and Mulayam Singh Yadav and senior Congressmen made up the rest of the party. 
 
Mrs Gandhi signed the register, Mr Mukherjee many papers, which were then scrutinised by the returning officer. There are 480 important signatures on his four sets of nomination papers. Notably, Janata Dal(United) chief Sharad Yadav is the first signatory on one set; Mr Yadav's party is an important part of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA). He was however not present at Mr Mukherjee's nomination photo-op. 
 
After staking claim, Mr Mukherjee sought blessings - heavenly and political. "I only wish at this time that we have the blessings of god and cooperation of all at this juncture," he said.
Mr Mukherjee is supported by parties like the BSP and calculations at present give him a comfortable advantage with about 56 per cent votes in the electoral college. Missing today was key UPA ally Mamata Banerjee, but others like the DMK's TR Baalu and Farooq Abdullah of the National Congress were there. So was Ram Vilas Paswan. Among the 480 MPs and MLAs that have proposed and seconded his nomination are Mulayam Singh Yadav and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati, union ministers, chief ministers and Congress Legislature Party leaders. Even the Shiv Sena is supporting his candidacy. Mr Mukherjee has wider support than mere political alignments would allow as he is expected to be a political president. His candidacy came not without drama - some brinkmanship from Mamata Banerjee which included heart-in-the-mouth moments as Mulayam Singh Yadav seemed to waver. His own party seemed undecided for long whether it could spare a man who wore many hats. In the end, however, Mr Mukherjee did not see a repeat of 2007 - when the Congress had said it could not spare him for Rashtrapati Bhavan - and was declared the UPA's candidate.  He has split not just the NDA, but has neatly sliced through the Left too - the CPM and Forward Bloc is supporting him, the CPI and RSP say they cannot and are abstaining. The UPA's one loss - Mamata Banerjee, who, however, has still not said an emphatic yes to Mr Mukherjee's challenger Purno Sangma either. Trinamool Congress sources say she will remain "equidistant."

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal, who is  Mr Mukherjee's authorised election agent, told NDTV that the former Finance Minister will not file an asset declaration as it is not required under law. He, however, added that it is for Mr Mukherjee to decide if he wants to declare his assets at a later stage. Polling will be held on July 19 and India will have a new President by July 22.  

Later this afternoon, Mr Sangma, who is supported by the Bharatiya Janata Party, the AIADMK and the Biju Janata Dal, will also file his papers in what is expected to be an equal show of strength.

The numbers don't favour the former Lok Sabha Speaker, but he is backed by the BJP, and two powerful Chief Ministers - Tamil Nadu's J Jayalalithaa and her AIADMK, and Odisha's Naveen Patnaik and his Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and he is expected to wear that support on his sleeve when he files his papers this afternoon. High-profile BJP leaders like Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, Ms Jayalalithaa and Mr Patnaik and Punjab Chief Minister and Akali Dal chief Parkash Singh Badal are likely to be present.

After today's grand photo opportunities as nomination papers are filed, both candidates will get into campaign mode. For Mr Mukherjee, that will mean consolidating his numbers. He will fly by a private jet arranged by the Congress first to Chennai and then to Bangalore and Hyderabad as he kicks off his campaign.

Mr Sangma is expected to ensure a high decibel contest. He quit his party, the NCP, which as a UPA ally is staunchly supporting Mr Mukherjee.

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Shahid Afridi assaults fan at airport, claims daughter was pushed

Karachi: It was a not a very happy homecoming for Shahid Afridi after Pakistan's Asia Cup triumph as he got into a scuffle with a fan at the airport, claiming that he reacted angrily only when his three-year-old daughter was pushed to the ground by eager admirers.

"I know what I did was wrong. I should have controlled myself. But I couldn't take it when my daughter was pushed to the ground," Afridi said. 

Afridi, who was adjudged Man of the Match in the Asia Cup final against Bangladesh that Pakistan won by just two runs, insisted that he had lot of love and respect for his fans and always tried to be pleasant with them.

"But when my daughter who was waiting for me near my car got pushed by fans trying to get near me I lost my temper," he said.

Afridi's brother Mushtaq insisted that the man involved in the incident was not a fan.

"I wouldn't describe him as a fan Shahid can never think of hurting a fan," he said.

The popular allrounder was caught on camera attacking a fan by pushing and slapping him at the Karachi airport soon after his arrival from Dhaka after winning the Asia Cup title.

Minutes after he had spoken to the media waiting for him at the airport, where a large number of fans had gathered to welcome their heroes, Geo News and other channels flashed footage of a visibly angry Afridi attacking a fan dressed in a blue T-shirt and pushing him to the ground. 

According to the channels, the fan, who was badly roughed up, had pestered Afridi for an autograph.

But another channel said the Pakistani all-rounder lost his temper as his little daughter who was with him was pushed around by the fans clamouring for an autograph from Afridi.

"Whatever the reason for him losing his temper but Afridi's actions cannot be justified at all," one channel said.

Afridi appeared very angry and upset and as he was getting into his car, he turned around and attacked the fan first pushing him to the ground and than trying to kick him before his brother Mushtaq got in the way and prevented the situation from getting out of hand.

Afridi was also seen scolding another fan and threatening to slap him before he got into the waiting car.

The incident which was repeatedly flashed by channels is likely to come as a shock to his countless fans who have always backed him in all situations.

"We don't know what happened but certainly Afridi should not have lost his temper in this way," a board official said. 

Federer named greatest player by a tennis channel

Los Angeles: Roger Federer has been named the greatest player of all time by America's Tennis Channel.

The television network's "100 Greatest of All Time," a five-night series, aired this week and culminated on Friday.

Federer edged Rod Laver for the top spot. Rounding out the top 10 were Steffi Graf in third, followed by Martina Navratilova, Pete Sampras, Rafael Nadal, Bjorn Borg, Margaret Court, Chris Evert and Billie Jean King.

 The rankings were determined by an international panel 

Dhoni going to be back in his long hair look

Indian Cricket captian Mahendra singh Dhoni will soon have his long locks back.

Dhoni, who was in Kolkata for a promotional event, chose not to speak about cricket and mostly talked about his passion for bikes and his hair.

Sporting a white shirt, Dhoni told the gathering that his bald look, immediately after winning the World Cup last year, was in no way related to some offering to God.

"I'm growing my hair again. People said that I shaved my hair because of some 'mannat'. But actually I wanted a lean look with the summer approaching so I decided to go bald," Dhoni said.

Former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf had become a Dhoni admirer during India's tour of 2006 and had suggested that he should not get a haircut since he looked good in long hair.

At the event, Dhoni also revealed how his fascination for bikes started. 

"There used to be the old Rajdoot motorcyles in 'Hero'... I really liked the model. I still have about eight of them," he said.

Known for his cool demeanour, Dhoni further said that the team discusses petty things even during matches.

"People often ask what we discuss in the middle of a high-voltage match. But we generally talk about what's there for food at hotel...," he smiled.

Dhoni also stumped the gathering with his rendition of 'Main pal do pal ka shayar hoon' from the movie 'Kabhie Kabhie'. 

Top 10 Most Beautiful Eyes in the world

10. Charlize Theron

She’s got stunning eyes, but what else? She won an Oscar for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in monster.

9. Sophia Loren

She’s got sexy eyes, but what else? She won an Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role
in Ciociara, La.

 

8. Kristin Kreuk

She’s has gorgeous green eyes, but what else? She has starred in “Smallville” as Lana Lang and has kissed Superman

7. Giada De Laurentiis

Okay, her eyes are amazing, but what else? She is a professional chef and has her own cooking program, Everyday Italian, which has been broadcast on Food Network since 2003

6. Sharbat Gula

Her sparkling green eyes are mesmerizing, but what else? She is known as the cover girl for National Geographic because Steve McCurry was fortunate enough to take her photograph while on assignment for National Geographic. Her photo is the most popular that the magazine has published

 

5. Audrey Hepburn

Her eyes are beautiful, of course, but what else? Audrey won the Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role
in Roman Holiday.

4. Elizabeth Taylor

Her blue eyes make the sky look pale, but what else? She won two Oscars, one for each beautiful eye. She won for Best Actress in a Leading Role in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? & Best Actress in a Leading Role in Butterfield 8.

3. Lynda Carter

Azure blue eyes that sparkle are nice, but what else? Lynda was the superhero Wonder Woman and won the 2004 TV Land Award for Superest Super Hero for “Wonder Woman” which aired in 1976.

2. Angelina Jolie

Okay her eyes are drop-dead gorgeous and her lips are incredible, but what else? She is the daughter of Jon Voight and won an Oscar Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Girl, Interrupted in 2000.

1. Aishwarya Rai

Her eyes are truly the most beautiful eyes in the world, and that is enough, but just for kicks, what else? Aishwarya was chosen by Time magazine in 2004 as one of the World’s “100 Most Influential People” and she is widely considered the most beautiful woman in the world and with eyes like that you can “see” why.