OK then, here's to the World Cup win. Have a super weekend and before you tune out, the top news stories today...

• Kalmadi set up sham OC for gains: Shunglu
• WC delays Shiney's move out of Arthur Road jail
• Ex BJP minister grilled over Godhra riots
• BJP: Balwa got land from NCP
• PC signals liberal visa plan with Pakistan
• CBI to probe Raja aide Sadiq Batcha death
• Shoaib retirement timing wrong: Afridi
• Sports minister objects to ICC Rs 45 cr tax waiver
• PIL seeks probe in Pak match-fixing claim
• Fukushima workers expect to die in weeks

South Goa-based politician John Fernandes, accused of raping a Russian woman, was today granted bail by a local court a year after he was arrested.

A district and sessions court granted bail to Fernandes on four sureties of Rs 50,000 each. "He has been asked not to interfere with the investigation and has to appear before the investigating agencies as and when called," Fernandes' counsel Amit Palekar said.

The 25-year-old Russian, employed with a five-star resort, had accused Fernandes of spiking her drink at a beach shack in Colva village on December 1, 2009 before raping her in his car.

The Supreme Court today said it will hold the final hearing on a day-to-day basis from April 19 on Tata Group Chairman Ratan Tata's plea to bar online portals and electronic media from airing his phone conversation with corporate lobbyist Niira Radia tapped by the Income Tax Department.

A bench of justices G S Singhvi and A K Ganguly will examine the issues raised by Tata including the questions of right to privacy and right to freedom of speech and expression as envisaged under the Constitution.

Warning: The story has a certain ewww factor.

A woman in the US was found dead and stuffed in a bedroom closet by relatives, who walked in on her grandson having sex with a woman in the same room.

Two concerned relatives walked into the apartment after they did not hear from 76-year-old Cora Davis for two days.

They opened the bedroom door to find her grandson Larry Davis, 21, having sex with a 20-year-old woman on the bed.

When they questioned him about his grandmom, an argument started and one of the relatives threatened to call police, following which Davis ran off. Cops arrived and searched the apartment, finding Cora's body crammed in the bedroom's closet under a pile of clothes.

Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni today revealed that the players were not served food on time at Mohali and had to rush for it just before the toss prior to the high-voltage India-Pakistan World Cup semifinal clash on Wednesday.

He said the Hotel Taj staff in Chandigarh, where the players had stayed, could not provide food on time.

The team had to leave for PCA Stadium at Mohali early and had their lunch after warm-up and just before the toss.

"I did not want to say this. But, before the semifinal, the first meal the team had was at a quarter to two because the food was not served at the hotel. They said it would take over an hour. So we turned up at the ground, there was not 100 percent food, there was nothing actually at the ground," Dhoni said.

"So we had an early warm-up at the ground and said OK, the meal would be after the warm-up. We went into the field and did the warm-up and the meal we had was before the toss," he added.

Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari today gave his assent to a proposal to ask the Supreme Court to review the death sentence awarded to ex-premier Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in 1979, which the ruling PPP contends led to the "judicial murder" of the leader.

The death sentence was awarded to Bhutto, Pakistan's first directly elected PM, by the Lahore High Court and subsequently upheld by the SC in March 1979 through a split verdict.

Bhutto was executed on April 4, 1979 by the then military dictatorship, which disregarded appeals by world leaders and serious reservations expressed by international jurists about the legal propriety of the death sentence.

His body was secretly flown in the dead of the night to Larkana in southern Sindh and buried without permitting his family to attend the funeral and last rites.

The Shunglu panel once again slammed Suresh Kalmadi for setting up a "sham" Commonwealth Games Organising Committee with much lesser accountability and transparency.

The Committee in its 103-page sixth and last report made public today on "Conduct of Commonwealth Games 2010" said it has found "material changes" in official documents by Kalmadi to get the post of OC chief and also to have sweeping administrative control over it.

The OC was constituted "to retain absolute and unhindered control on the Commonwealth Games, 2010 through a sham society with much lesser accountability and transparency even in comparison to the Indian Olympic Association," the report said.

"We have therefore no hesitation in coming to the conclusion that a document (relating to appointment for CWG OC chairman) was created by Kalmadi or at his behest in IOA for being specifically used to secure his ends," the panel said.

The world's largest concrete pump, deployed at the construction site of the US government's $4.86 billion mixed oxide fuel plant at Savannah River Site, is being moved to Japan in a series of emergency measures to help stabilize the Fukushima reactors.

The 190,000-pound pump, made by Germany-based Putzmeister has a 70-meter boom and can be controlled remotely, making it suitable for use in the unpredictable and highly radioactive environment of the doomed Fukushima reacotrs.

Bollywood actor Shiney Ahuja will always remember the World Cup semis. That's the day his life changedand he was awarded a seven-year jail term for raping his maid.

The World Cup will yet again affect him. The decision of where to move him from the high-security Arthur Road jail will be taken only after the World Cup final tomorrow. That's because the entire force is busy in extensive security arrangements.

After the final match, Ahuja could either go to Thane Central jail, Pune's Yerwada jail or to Nashik jail.

Former BJP minister I K Jadeja was today questioned for over two hours by the Supreme Court-appointed SIT in connection with the 2002 Gulburg society riot case .

This is the second time after November 9, 2009 that Jadeja, who was Gujarat urban development minister in 2002, has been questioned by the SIT. The SIT had in March also questioned IPS officer Sanjeev Bhatt.

The recording of statements of Bhatt and Jadeja was done by SIT after the Supreme Court ordered it to consider whether further probe was required against chief minister Narendra Modi and 62 others in connection with the complaint filed by Zakia Jaffery, widow of former Congress MP Ehsan Jaffery, who was among the 69 killed in Gulburg society post Godhra riots.

The apex court had in March, with regard to the SIT report, stated that the "inferences and evidence do not match with findings" and asked the agency to submit its report by April 25 on whether further investigations were required in Zakia's complaint.

James Franco's turn as Oscar host was slammed by critics, who said the actor looked stoned standing next to Anne Hathaway but the '127 Hours' star says he tried his best.

"Maybe I had low energy. I honestly played those lines as well as I could," Franco told David Letterman.

When Letterman said that he had also faced criticism for his hosting skills, Franco shot back, "...they didn't say you were stoned. People said I was under the influence." "I've thought about it. I think I know why. I love her, but Anne Hathaway is so energetic, I think the Tasmanian Devil would look stoned standing next to Anne Hathaway," he joked.

Stepping up the attack on NCP chief Sharad Pawar, Leader of Opposition in Maharashtra Assembly Eknath Khadse (BJP) today alleged that 326 acres of land in Pune was illegally handed over to a trust and Pawar's daughter and son-in-law own shares in a technology park, which will be built on a portion of that land.

In 1989 the then Pune collector Shrinivas Patil, who later became member of parliament from NCP, facilitated transfer of the land at Yerwada to Mukund Bhawan Trust, Khadse informed the lower House.

"Pawar's daughter Supriya Sule and her husband Sadanand Sule own 909 shares each in the Panchasheel Tech Park being built on a portion of the said land. Apart from this, Balwa's company is building a luxury hotel on an adjoining portion of the land," Khadse claimed.

The information has been obtained under RTI by a Pune based social activist, he said. The trust had initially laid claim on 3.26 acres of land but after Patil's intervention, was allotted 326 acres land, Khadse said, adding, the state government later changed the reservation of the land from non-residential to residential.

The entire land "scam" is to the tune of 15000 crore, Khadse claimed, adding, it has been perpetuated due to political patronage.

The senior BJP leader had yesterday alleged that Pawar and his wife had traveled to Dubai last year in a plane belonging to Shahid Balwa owned D B Realty company.

News flash: Home Minister P Chidambaram says India is positive to the idea of a liberal visa regime with Pakistan.

It may be remembered that Indiagranted 5000 multiple entryvisas valid for 15 days to Pakistan for theWorldCup. However, fears remain that much of these visas are misused by terror groups. As many as 4,742 Pakistanis had disappeared after expiry of visas in the year 2005, their number had gone up to 5,392 in 2006; 6,038 in 2007; 7,547 in 2008 and 7,691 in 2009,

Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee's paintings are on sale, apparently to bouy the party which claims to be perennial short of funds. The exhibition cum sale will be held this week in Kolkata. Wonder whether she is responsible for the Duronto train colourswhich looks like a slightly demented child's crayon drawings.

A sex video allegedly featuring Malaysia's leading opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim is not doctored, the police has ruled after analysis by experts, but has refused to confirm the identity of the person in the secretly filmed tape.

The leader of the opposition alliance, 62-year-old Ibrahim, embroiled in a sodomy trial, had immediately denied he was the person in the video after reports said that the unidentified person with a prostitute resembled him.

There has been severe flooding in southern Thailand, which has left 25 dead and caused thousands to be evacuated, after whole villages were engulfed by the rising waters.

Floods over a metre deep have washed across swathes of the south as unseasonably wet weather deluged the homes and businesses of around a million people in what should be one of the hottest months of the year.

Images in Thai media showed muddy waters reaching to the tops of palm trees, as deadly landslides destroyed homes and bridges and roads were washed away, leaving some areas cut off.

Around 9,000 people have been evacuated from waterlogged areas, including nearly 1,000 holidaymakers.

India owes their victory against Pakistan in Wednesday's World Cup semi-final more to the mistakes of their opponents than to any inspiration of their own, noted cricket columnist Peter Roebuck has said.

"The sight of Sachin Tendulkar edging the ball as often as he middled it and clipping catches duly dropped by downcast opponents confirmed that the track was awkward and the visitors as tense as their hosts,' Roebuck wrote in his syndicated column for the Sydney Morning Herald.

"Batsmen can go through entire series without securing as many reprieves as a practitioner who rarely requires even a second chance. Pakistan had reason to rue their buttery fingers. But that sentence has been written before," he said.

The CBI tells the Supreme Court that it will take over the probe into the death of Sadiq Batcha, an aide of former Telecom Minister A Raja. Batcha, a real estate businessman and a close associate of . Raja, was found dead on March 16. He had hanged himself.

His wife said he committed suicide after feeling pressured following interrogation in the 2G scam.

Meanwhile, senior advocate U U Lalit will be appointed special public prosecutor in the 2G spectrum case trial.

Mumbai Mayor Shraddha Jadhav may stay away from the Saturday mega-final between India and Sri Lanka miffed over the distribution of complimentary passes.

Jadhav said the BMC leaders, including herself, were not given the VVIP passes to enjoy the match from a vantage VVIP Stand instead of the Garware Pavilion end.

"All the VIP dignitaries are given the MCA Pavilion and the BMC leaders including myself are given Garware stand tickets.

"It will be an insult to the Mayor's post to not be seated with the President. They should have shown due respect and followed the protocol while awarding the complimentary passes to us," Jadhav said.

"Like the President of India who is the first citizen of the country, the Mayor too is the first citizen of the city," said Jadhav who is mulling over sending a missive to the Mumbai Cricket Association and also return the tickets as well. (Bet she won't return the tickets!)

Your discovery moment for the day. Today is National Cleavage Day (UK and South Africa only, no need to perk up.)

And so, socialite Kim Kardashian was photographed celebrating the day Cleavage Day to the full in a daring low-cut dress.

Kardashian, 30, wore a sheer low-cut dress and showed off her curves as she arrived at the 2011 Victoria's Secret Event in Hollywood.

Her designer dress was fitted at the top to accentuate her cleavage, while the full skirt at the bottom showed off her toned legs.

Cleavage Day is an annual celebration in South Africa and the UK held in either March or April and sponsored by the bra maker, Wonderbra.

The ICC official who trampled on the national flag will be slapped with an FIR.

In a bizarre incident on Wednesday, the day of the World Cup semis, a "spotter" for ICC merchandise rights holder, trampled upon a balloon which had the Indian national colours.

The spotter was objecting to the sale of merchandise by an unauthorised vendor at the stadium, which is hosting the second semifinal between India and Pakistan in the ongoing World Cup.

The incident upset a number of fans following which an ICC spokesman said, "we apologise for this unacceptable behaviour to every single Indian."

This is an inspired, if highly adjectivised read from the Daily Beast.

Colonel Gaddafi has promised to die inLibya, but not by his own hand. So long as he lives, the bloodshed will continue. SinceSecurity Council Resolution 1973calls for the use of "all necessary means' to protect the civilian population, it may soon appear that the means most necessary is the forcible removal of Gaddafi.

Killing the worst man left in the world may seem excusable to some'"he funded terrorism ranging from the IRA to Abu Nidal, probably ordered the destruction of Pan Am 103 and a UTA passenger plane, and on one occasion had 1,200 captives massacred in a prison yard, but we have scruples about the death penalty. Is it lawful to kill Gaddafi?

Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi today lashed out against Shoaib Akhtar for announcing his retirement in the middle of the World Cup. He said the pacer did not consult the team before making his decision public.

"His timing was not right and he should have properly consulted and spoken to us about his decision. He should have either announced his intention to retire before the start of the tournament or after it, it made no sense to announce his retirement in the middle of the World Cup," Afridi said on arrival here after Pakistan's 29-run loss to India in the semifinals.

Afridi also implored his countrymen to stop treating cricket matches with India as war and accept victory and defeat in a sporting manner.

"I don't understand why this hate aspect when we play India in cricket. Where is this feeling when we watch their movies and dramas in our living rooms and enjoy them? I don't think there is a need to treat matches with India like a matter of life and death. We need to take cricket as cricket," he said.

OK, here it is. For all of you who watched the dance show, Jhalak Dikhla Jaa (pardon us if we overdid an 'A') and wondered why judge and choreographer Remo D'Souza would want to name his forthcoming film, Faltu (so easy for reviewers to scream, Faltu is faltu), here's a surprise end.

Our critic Ankur Pathak writes: ... is an ambitious sophomore story of scholastically dim students coursing an almost impossible journey to prove their worth, enrolling for once inFALTU, might not be a faltu idea after all.

Read

For your eyes only:

A tweet: Wow.PoonamPandeyfinally kept her promise. STUNNING !!

Sports Minister Ajay Maken objects to to Income tax exemption of 45 crore to ICC. He says other sports bodies will also demand a waiver.

Yesterday, the Union Cabinet gave its approval for tax exemption to the International Cricket Councilfor the world cup amid reservations expressed by some ministers on giving such concessions to the cash-rich body.

The approval for tax exemption'" of about Rs 45 crore was finally given as it met the provisions of the amended Income Tax act which allows such waivers to international sporting events recognised by the global body governing the sports and involves participation by more than two nations.

Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi is reported to have sent a trusted envoy, Mohammed Ismail to London to discuss an exit strategy with the British Government.

Ismail, a senior aide to Gaddafi''s son Saif al-Islam, visited London recently amid signs that the regime may be looking for an exit strategy. Ismail is recognised by diplomats as being a key fixer and representative for Saif al-Islam.

According to cables published by WikiLeaks, Ismail represented Libya's government in arms purchase negotiations and as an interlocutor on military and political issues.

In Libya: US Defence Secretary Robert Gates has said the people of Libya will throw Muammar Gaddafi out of power.

"The removal of Colonel Gaddafi will likely be achieved over time through political and economic measures and by his own people," Gates said.

Gates said the NATO-led operation can degrade Gaddafi's military capacity to the point where he and those around him will be forced into a very different set of choices and behaviors in the future.

Though Gates reiterated that there is no need for US troops on the ground, US lawmakers argued that the Libyan rulers need to go as soon as possible as his stay in power any longer was not only posed a danger to US national security interests, but also to that of the world.

David Cameron is facing furious demands to put Gaddafi's 'envoy of death' on trial after his defection to Britain, reports the dailymail.co.uk. The Prime Minister was last night accused of handing Musa Kusa, who masterminded the Lockerbie bombing and numerous other atrocities, a 'get out of jail free card'.

It is estimated that housing and guarding the former Libyan foreign minister will cost taxpayers here more than £1million a year.

Read more

The Supreme Court today directed the government to file the CBI report on the probe into alleged irregularities committed by suspended Prasar Bharati CEO B S Lalli in running the public broadcaster.

It also asked Lalli to file his response in four weeks on the statement of evidence filed by the government on alleged irregularities committed by him in running Prasar Bharati.

The court granted another four weeks to the government to file its rejoinder to the response of Lalli and posted the matter after eight weeks.

With just one more day to go for the World Cup finals,Poonam Pandeyhas shot up the trending list on Twitter to the top spot. She's the model who's promised to strip if India wins, but then you know that, don't you.

Visit Rediff.com's Silly Point for a, ummm, preview.

While on match-fixing, a URL doing the rounds says the India-Pak match wasfiixed. When you listen to it, a nice fifties-sounding melody sings, 'Tumko fool banaya...'

Whoever thought of it, did a very good job.

Alright, we fell for that one. Ronaldo sold to Spain is an April Fool joke, courtesy the Independent. Good one, though.

A PIL has been filed into whether the world cup semis were fixed by Pakistan. The PIL seeks to make the bank accounts and an alleged phone chat between skipper Shahid Afridi, Pak PM Gilani and Interior minister Rehzan Malik, public. This is a tweet on the phone calls.

RezhasanRezaul Hasan Laskar tweets:Rehman Malik telephoned me 3-4 times & tried to explain things but I couldn't understand what he was saying, says Shahid Afridi.

I don't think the timing of the statement (on match-fixing) made by Interior Minister Rehman Malik was right, saysShahid Afridi.

Weighed down by debt, and reeling from the latest downgrading of their country's credit status, Portugal's finance ministry has decided to turn his country around in an interesting way.

He has secured the co-operation of football's highest-paid player in an audacious bid to draw the nation back from the brink of economic collapse.

In a move which some observers claimed "will lead to the destruction of the World Cup", Cristiano Ronaldo has agreed to "act like a patriot" and be sold to neighbouring Spain for '160m! Readthe report in the Independent.

RezhasanRezaul Hasan Laskartweets: Rehman Malik telephoned me 3-4 times & tried to explain things but I couldn't understand what he was saying, says Shahid Afridi.

I don't think the timing of the statement (on match-fixing) made by Interior Minister Rehman Malik was right, says Afridi.

Yesterday, the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl's chief had been attacked by a suicide bomber. While he escaped, 10 other people were killed and at least 25 injured.

The JUI has now blamed the Raymond Davis network for the two suicide attacks on party chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, and said the murder attempts were a reaction to Fazl's stand taken on the Davis detention issue and drone attacks in Pakistan's tribal region.

The mother of one of the workers at Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant has revealed that her son and his colleagues believe that they have been exposed to high levels of radiation and would die from radiation sickness ''within weeks or cancer in the long-term.''

The Fukushima 50 is being exposed to dangerously high radioactive levels as they attempt to restore vital cooling systems following the earthquake and tsunami on March 11.

With a cloud over Muttiah Muralitharan's fitness still remaining for the World Cup final against India at the Wankhede Stadium on Saturday, the spin wizard has made it clear that he will play in the final.

"Come what may, I will play in the final. It's the most impost important match of my life," he said on his Twitter page.

Read

First up, World Cup news from across the world.

• The Sri Lankan Ambassador to the United States has invited cricket lovers and friends of his country to his residence in Washington, DC, to watch live the final match of the World Cup Cricket tournament. And breakfast would be served to all those who join them to watch the mega event on a large screen.

• There is expected to be a taxi crisis -- not in Mumbai which will host the match, but far away in Australia. With the Indian and Sri Lankan cab drivers planning to take the night off to watch the World Cup final tomorrow, the Aussies will have to do with fewer taxis on the road.

"It is expected that thousands of drivers will take the night of work to watch the match, which will bring the cricket-mad sub-continent to a standstill," the local media reported.

Good morning. D-day tomorrow in Mumbai -- 2.30 pm, Wankehede, India vs Sri Lanka. Meanwhile, top news stories this morning.

India vs Sri Lanka: World Cup final tickets going for Rs 1.25 lakh. (The Times of India)

Blackmarketeers are making huge profits by selling tickets for a seat inside the Wankhede Stadium for Saturday. Read

Airfares to Mumbai hit the sky (DNA)

If you have a last-minute plan to watch the World Cup finals live in Mumbai on April 2, be prepared to shell out a lot of money, for the tickets and for the airfare here. Read

'If Sachin stays at crease for 30 mins, century is near-certain' (Indian Express)
Wankhede wicket has traditionally played true predictable bounce for pacers and bite for spinners. Read

Injured Nehra to miss final (Indian Express)

Ashish Nehra has been ruled out of Saturday's World Cup final because of injury. The left-arm pacer fractured his middle finger while fielding during India's semi-final win over Pakistan at Mohali on Wednesday. Read

Muttiah Muralitharan injured, Chaminda Vaas brought in as cover (DNA)
Two days before the big final against India, Sri Lankans take it easy in nets; bring in Vaas and Suraj Randiv as cover for injured Muralitharan and Angelo Mathews . Read

India's 2011 population 1.21 billion, 17.5% of world (DNA)
The country's headcount is almost equal to the combined population of the United States, Indonesia, Brazil, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Japan put together. Read

Sharad Pawar may have known Shahid Balwa, admits RR Patil (DNA)
The Maharashtra home minister did not deny that the NCP chief and his wife flew on a private aircraft with the 2G scam accused to Dubai on February 8, 2011. Read

Raja flouted rules, says DoT official (Hindustan Times)
The CBI investigations into the 2G scam got another shot in the arm after the investigators recorded the statement of another prime witness in the case before a magistrate. Read