Three more deaths in Kashmir today

Three more people died on Tuesday as crowds defying curfew orders clashed with security forces, taking the toll to 25 in the last five days of unrelenting violence in the Kashmir Valley.

An official said the security forces have been instructed to firmly tackle violence in the Kashmir Valley, but ensure that firearms are not used unless all other preventive measures are exhausted.

Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who returned after meeting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and union Home Minister P Chidambaram in Delhi, chaired a meeting in Srinagar late Monday.

The meeting was attended by senior officers of the army, state police, central and state intelligence agencies and paramilitary forces.

The valley has been on the boil due to violent protests against civilians being killed in firing by security forces since June 11. Thirty-seven civilians have been killed in the last six weeks, with 23 of them dying since Friday.

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Sushma attacks government in Lok Sabha on price rise

Both houses of parliament were adjourned Tuesday as opposition MPs disrupted proceedings over the Belgaum district dispute between Maharashtra and Karnataka and alleged diversion in Commonwealth Games funds.

The Lok Sabha was adjourned for half an hour after leaders from Maharashtra and Karnataka gathered near Speaker Meira Kumar`s podium over the disputed district of Belgaum.

The boundary row suddenly came to the limelight last month following the central government’s affidavit in the Supreme Court that the disputed areas could not be made a part ofMaharashtra merely because a majority of the population there speak Marathi.

Trouble began as soon as the house assembled in the morning. Shiv Sena members from Maharashtra sought Prime Minister Manmohan Singh`s intervention in the matter, with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) members divided on the issue along state lines.

Deputy Leader of Opposition Gopinath Munde supported the cause of Maharashtra, while BJP leader from Karnataka Ananth Kumar raised his voice in support of Karnataka.

Shiv Sena MPs gathered near the speaker`s podium waving placards, prompting BJP MPs from Karnataka to do the same.

There was chaos in the Rajya Sabha too. The upper house was also adjourned till 12 noon as opposition party members protested against the diversion of funds meant for Scheduled Castes towards Commonwealth Games expenditure.

As soon as the house met for question hour, opposition MPs were on their feet protesting the diversion of funds.

MPs from the BJP, Left, Samajwadi Party and others shouted slogans against the government.

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Vivek Oberoi’s wife-to-be

She’s the one Vivek Oberoi is set to lead to the altar this October. Finally, after having had his share of love affairs and heart breaks, the Bollywood actor is ready to tie the knot with 28-year-old Priyanka Alva from Bangalore. Priyanka comes from an influential family. Her father is Karnataka Minister and senior Janata Dal leader Jeevaraj Alva. Her mother is social worker and danseuse Nandini Alva. Priyanka has studied Business Management from London. Catch her stills below and ahead:

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Salman to host Big Boss 4

After all the buzz that superstar Shah Rukh Khan is going to host the next season of "Bigg Boss", it is now confirmed that his arch rival Salman Khan has been roped in to replace megastar Amitabh Bachchan for the fourth season of the popular reality show.

"Salman Khan has been finalised as the host of the next season. We will announce the development officially soon," a source from entertainment channel Colors told IANS.

Earlier, grapevine was rife that either Shah Rukh or Akshay Kumar are being zeroed in on as the "Bigg Boss 4" host since Amitabh gave a nod to the upcoming season of "Kaun Banega Crorepati", to be aired on Sony. But now Salman's entry on the show will be officially announced at an event in Mumbai Tuesday evening.

Considering that the channel has plans to launch the show in October, there might also be a clash with "Kaun Banega Crorepati 4", the promos of which have already gone on air.

However, the source said: "We are not sure when exactly will the show go on air, but we plan to launch it in October for sure. The dates are still to be worked out."

"Bigg Boss" is the Indian version of popular British reality show "Big Brother". It has celebrity contestants locked in a house under the surveillance of multiple cameras for a period of three months without any contact with the outside world.

Its past three seasons were hosted by Arshad Warsi, Shilpa Shetty and Amitabh, respectively.

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When Aamir almost turned down Peepli Live

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There is a story about the making of director Anusha Rizvi's Peepli Live and it sounds hard to believe.

According to the story, Rizvi was looking for funding for the film. She somehow managed to get Aamir Khan's email and wrote to the star. The subject line of the email was "The Falling" -- Rizvi's first choice of title for the film. Khan received the email while he was on the set of The Rising: Ballad of Mangal Pandey and he opened the email because of the subject line. He thought someone was playing a joke on him.

"It is true," Khan said recently as he visited New York City to promote his home production -- Peepli Live. "When I read the email I thought someone was being cheeky with me. So I didn't take it seriously. But she kept writing to me and told me that she was a journalist from NDTV. So that's when I started to take her a little bit more seriously."

Later when Khan was in New Delhi for the Rang De Basanti shoot, he called Rizvi (who is based in India's capital city) for a script narration meeting.

"I really loved it," Khan said. "I thought it was really funny, fast pace, thought provoking and heart breaking."

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Test milestone for Tendulkar

Sachin Tendulkar became the most capped Test player in history on Tuesday, a fitting record for the Little Master to achieve at the back end of a wonderful career.

The milestone was achieved as Tendulkar strode out for the third Test against Sri Lanka at the P. Sara Oval in Colombo - marking the 169th time he has taken the field for a Test match for India.

A talismanic figure for his country over the years, Tendulkar made his Test debut against fierce rivals Pakistan in Karachi at the tender age of just 16 and has gone on to become arguably the best batsman ever seen.

Now 37 years old, Tendulkar shows no signs of slowing down and he scored 203 in the second Test against Sri Lanka a couple of weeks ago.

With his latest Test appearance, the Little Master moves above former Australian captain Steve Waugh in the standings.

Dream

"It's been a privilege to play for India for so long, because it was my dream to represent the country," Tendulkar said. "Cricket is my passion. I think it is a gift from God that I have been able to live that passion for so many years. It's just fantastic."

Indian fans believe Tendulkar is a gift from God and he is worshipped in his cricket-mad homeland - no wonder given the length and quality of service he has given them over the years.

Tendulkar also holds the record for the most Test runs with 13,742 and the most Test centuries with an astonishing 48 to his name - all this coming with an average of 56.08 and throwing in just the 55 half centuries.

He is not just a Test specialist though, turning from Little Master to Master Blaster in the one-day format. Tendulkar showed as much in February when he became the first player ever to make a double hundred in an ODI against South Africa.

The maestro from Bombay also holds the records for one-day runs scored with 17,598, and one-day centuries with 46, cementing his place as the dominant batsman of his generation in both forms of the game.

Records

Tendulkar has 442 ODIs under his belt, just two behind Sri Lanka stalwart Sanath Jayasuriya's record of 444, while to add another string to his bow he has collected 44 Test wickets and 154 one-day scalps with the ball.

When asked if his records would ever be beaten, Tendulkar said: "Records are meant to be broken. But one will have to play a long time for that. When it happens, I just hope an Indian does it."

It would take anyone a long time to topple Tendulkar's achievements, but he is not done yet, and whether anyone can match his dominance in both forms of cricket remains to be seen.

There may never be another Tendulkar - Indian fans would agree with that - and the Little Master rightly sits at the top of all the important batting records in the game. Remarkably, he still looks in as good a touch as ever.

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Somdev in top 100

Somdev Devvarman was ranked No. 96 in the latest rankings released by the ATP on Monday.

The big breakthrough was pending a long time for the No.1 tennis player of the country, who had beaten the towering John Isner of the US, ranked No.19 now, in the final in 2007, for the first of his two NCAA titles.

Devvarman became the sixth Indian men's tennis player after ATP computer rankings started in August 1973, to figure in the top-100 behind Vijay Amritraj (16), Ramesh Krishnan (23), Leander Paes (73), Anand Amritraj (74) and Sashi Menon (87).

Ramanathan Krishnan who had reached the singles semifinals of Wimbledon in 1960 and 1961, apart from the quarterfinals of French Open in 1962, was unofficially ranked as high as No.3 in the world in his time.

“It was long time due. The time has come for Somdev at last,” said the captain of the Indian Davis Cup team, S.P. Misra, quite pleased to hear the news.

Devvarman's effort in the tournament in Los Angeles last week, when he came through the qualifying event and won a round, helped him collect 32 ATP points and break the barrier, 12 years after Paes had broken into the top-100 in 1998. When he made the final of the ATP Tour event in Chennai last year, Devvarman broke through into the top-200 and was ranked 155.

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