Korea soccer chief denies corruption
Cho Chung-yeon said Friday that the KFA had not constructed slush funds or carried out any accounting irregularities.
The KFA was criticized for paying a former employee 150 million won ($134,000) last month after he had threatened to go public with claims that related to his firing in December for alleged attempts to embezzle money using the KFA s corporate credit card reward points.
The KFA council, completed Friday, recommended the money be returned, the former official investigated and the KFA become more transparent.
Cho promised to improve the KFA s accounting procedures and management system.
Sri Lanka raises interest rate after 5 years
Sri Lanka s central bank on Friday raised its key interest rate for the first time in five years and asked commercial banks to reduce lending in the face of a worsening trade deficit.
The Central Bank of Sri Lanka hiked its benchmark lending rate by 50 basis points to 9.0 percent, the first rise since February 2007 when the rate was upped to 12.0 percent from 11.50 percent.
The bank also asked commercial banks to rein in lending, arguing that much of it financed the country s surging import bill, owing to higher oil costs and cheap credit that drew a flood of foreign-made vehicles into the country.
The Indian Ocean nation s trade deficit hit a record $8.83 billion in the first 11 months of last year, shrinking its foreign currency reserves.
The bank has spent more than $2 billion in recent months in direct market interventions to buttress the Sri Lankan rupee against the dollar as the trade deficit heaped pressure on the local currency.
The bank said Sri Lanka s foreign currency reserves fell to $5.9 billion at the end of 2011, compared with $8.1 billion in July 2011.
Among measures to discourage imports and encourage exporters, the country devalued its currency by 3.0 percent in November.
Central Bank governor Nivard Cabraal said earlier this week that the bank misjudged the credit expansion, as well as Sri Lanka s growing trade deficit.
“Imports were bigger than we expected and the credit growth was also something that we did not anticipate,” Cabraal told reporters Tuesday.
The latest interest rate increase came despite the government announcing that inflation had moderated to 3.8 percent year-on-year in January, compared to 4.9 percent a month earlier.
Three years ago, the government was forced to negotiate a $2.6-billion bailout by International Monetary Fund at the end of the country s bloody decades-long civil war.
The government has since drawn down $1.8 billion, but announced earlier this week that it did not need the final tranche.
Osama bin Laden is dead and General Motors is alive
Biden spelled out a blunt reelection message for his boss President Barack Obama on Tuesday — “Osama bin Laden is dead and General Motors is alive.”
Biden s comment at a Texas fundraiser came as Obama stepped up his drive to claim credit for rescuing the iconic US car industry, as he took a spin around the Washington auto show and declared “the US auto industry is back.”
The vice president boiled down Obama s State of the Union message into some pithy sound bites at a fundraiser in Fort Worth expected to raise more than $150,000 dollars for the reelection campaign.
Biden hailed Obama as a champion of America s hard-pressed middle classes as they emerge from the deepest recession since the 1930s and said the president had kept his promise to pull US troops out of Iraq.
“But the best way to sum up the job the president has done — if you need a real shorthand — Osama bin Laden is dead and General Motors is alive,” Biden said, adding that he was passing on a line suggested to him by a supporter.
Biden also suggested that the bitter race for the Republican nomination was helping his and Obama s chances in November s presidential election.
“For the first time, the Republicans are not hiding the ball. … They are saying what they believe, God love them. They are not even pretending.”
“This is going to be one heck of a race. I think we are doing better and better every day, … in no small part because they are making it clear what they are for.”
Obama earlier made a more prosaic attempt to claim credit for an auto bailout which is credited with saving General Motors and Chrysler from going bust, as he toured a selection of gleaming new hybrid vehicles at the Washington auto show.
The bailout plan featured prominently in his annual address to Congress last week, along with the US special forces raid that killed Al-Qaeda leader bin Laden last year and bolstered Obama s national security credentials.
“When you look at all these cars, it is testimony to the outstanding work that s been done by workers — American workers, American designers,” Obama said.
“The fact that GM is back, number one, I think shows the kind of turnaround that s possible when it comes to American manufacturing,” said the president, who favors using government to create conditions for jobs growth.
“It s good to remember that … there were some folks who were willing to let this industry die. Because of folks coming together, we are now back in a place where we can compete with any car company in the world.”
Obama s comments appeared to be a swipe at Republican presidential frontrunner Mitt Romney over his initial criticism of the idea of shoring up iconic auto giants General Motors and Chrysler with federal funds.
The president argues that his federal funding and bankruptcy plan for the two firms, inherited from former president George W. Bush, saved the US auto industry.
Romney, apparently seeking to capitalize on public fatigue with bailouts, argued that the firms should have gone through bankruptcy — which they later did — without a prior cash injection which eventually hit $82 billion.
Obama signed off on the risky and unpopular bailout, seeking to save thousands of jobs, after concluding that if GM and Chrysler had failed, the entire auto parts support industry, as well as a third firm, Ford, could have also gone under.
Azarenka wins Australian Open women’s title
Victoria Azarenka had produced one of the most lopsided Australian Open final victories to capture a Grand Slam title and the No. 1 ranking for the first time. She started celebrating on Rod Laver Arena, then suddenly did a double-take to ask her coach, “What happened?”
The answer: She routed three-time Grand Slam winner Maria Sharapova 6-3, 6-0 in 1 hour, 22 minutes on Saturday night, winning 12 of the last 13 games after dropping her first service game and falling behind 2-0.
“It s a dream come true,” she said. “I have been dreaming and working so hard to win the Grand Slam, and being No. 1 is pretty good bonus. Just the perfect ending and the perfect position to be in.”
Azarenka won 11 straight matches, including a run to the Sydney International title, to reach her first Grand Slam final. Her previous best performance at a major was a semifinal loss to Petra Kvitova at Wimbledon last year. Sharapova had all the experience, being in her sixth major final and having won three dating back to her 2004 Wimbledon title.
But it didn t unnerve the 22-year-old Azarenka, who is the first woman from Belarus to win a singles major. She s also the seventh different woman to win a Grand Slam title since Francesca Schiavone won the 2010 French Open, and the fifth different winner in as many majors.
Azarenka became only the third woman to earn the No. 1 spot after winning her first Grand Slam title. She moved from No. 3 to No. 1 in the rankings, helped by Caroline Wozniacki s loss in the quarterfinals.
The third-seeded Azarenka set up championship point with a stunning forehand, her 14th clean winner, and sealed it when Sharapova netted a backhand.
She dropped on to her knees at the baseline with her hands over her face. She got up, held up her hands up and jogged up to her coach, Sam Sumyk, in the stands to celebrate.
“The best feeling, for sure,” Azarenka said. “I don t know about the game. I don t know what I was doing out there. It s just pure joy what happened. I can t believe it s over.”
And she paid special credit to her grandmother, “the person who inspires me the most in my life.”
Azarenka has been a distinctive presence at Melbourne Park as much as for her shrieks and hoots with each shot and seemingly boundless energy as for her white shorts, blue singlet and lime green head and wrist bands.
Against Sharapova, she maintained the frenetic movement that has been the hallmark of her campaign in Australia, her 25th consecutive major. She won the Sydney International title the weekend before the year s first major and is now on a 12-match winning streak the first player since 2004 to win a WTA tour event the week before winning a major.
Djokovic edges Murray, sets up final vs Nadal
Defending champion Novak Djokovic moved into an Australian Open final against Rafael Nadal after struggling past Andy Murray in a five-set, almost five-hour semifinal late Friday night.
Despite appearing tired and sore from the second set on, Djokovic rallied to beat Murray 6-3, 3-6, 6-7 (4), 6-1, 7-5 in a rematch of the 2011 final at Melbourne Park to reach his third consecutive Grand Slam final.
After wasting a chance to serve out the match at 5-3 in the fifth and letting Murray back into the contest, Djokovic cashed in his first match point when the Scottish player missed a forehand after four hours, 50 minutes.
Djokovic dropped onto his back, fully laid out on the court. He got up and shook hands with Murray, before jogging back out onto the court like a boxer, dropping to his knees and crossing himself.
It was already after 12:30 a.m. Saturday when he got up again and pumped his arms triumphantly.
“Andy deserves the credit to come back from 2-5 down. He was fighting. I was fighting,” Djokovic said. “Not many words that can describe the feeling of the match.
“Evidently it was a physical match … it was one of the best matches I played. Emotionally and mentally it was equally hard.”
It was a bitter setback for Murray, who lost the previous two Australian finals.
Djokovic finished last year at No. 1 after winning three of the four majors, including a straight-sets win over Murray in the Australian final. His only loss at a Grand Slam in 2011 was against Roger Federer in the French Open semifinals.
He is now aiming to be only the fifth man in the Open Era started in 1968 to win three straight majors. His 70-6 win-loss record in 2011 included six wins over Nadal all in finals.
Nadal, the 2009 Australian Open winner, beat four-time champion Federer in Thursday s semifinal and has an extra day to prepare for Sunday night s final.
Charme upset with rumours of her being dropped from Zilla Ghaziabad
The Southern Invasion has started all over again. After Vyjanthimala, Padmini, Hema Malini, Sridevi and Jaya Prada there was a lull of sorts as far as South Indian heroines in Bollywood went… until Asin. Her debut opposite Aamir Khan in Ghajini was followed by stories of how arrogantly dismissive she was of most Hindi projects. Now with another blockbuster Ready to her credit, she is back in the reckoning…the first among several Southern heroines who are on their way.
The talented Trisha fell short of expectations in Priyadarshan’s Khatta Meetha. Maybe not her fault as she was completely miscast as a district collector trying to bring Akshay Kumar to task. Priya Mani in Raavan was noticed. But not enough to make a place next to her cousin Vidya Balan in Bollywood.
Kajal Aggarwal lately made her high-profile debut in Singham. But like many of the other Southern swapna sundaris, she has big banners and heroes backing her in Bollywood. Ditto Ileana D’Cruz who has bagged a plum assignment opposite Ranbir Kapoor in Anurag Basu’s Barfee.
Next in line is Tamil actress Tapasee, who makes her Hindi debut in David Dhawan’s Chashme Buddoor. Anushka Shetty from the Telugu blockbuster Arundhati, would have been seen opposite Ajay Devgn in Singham if she hadn’t been beaten to the role by Kajal Aggarwal.
Oh yes, these South Indian girls are fiercely competitive.
A strange story suggesting that Telugu actress Charme Kaur who made her debut ni Big B’s Bbuddah… Hoga Terra Baap was ousted from her second Hindi film Zilla Ghaziabad because her co-star Vivek Oberoi didn’t want to work with her, had the girl and Vivek fuming, he for yet another attempt to malign his name.
Says a source close to Vivek, “He has never interfered in the casting. Why should he do so now? He is in fact shooting with Charme in Phaltan outside Mumbai. And he is completely comfortable with her.”
So where did the stories of Charme’s rude expulsion from her second Hindi film come from? Apparently, the sabotage rumours were part of a whole new Southern wave of competition that has swept down on Bollywood.
Says a source, “Another Southern invasion has started. There’s a whole new brood of Southern glamour girls descending on Bollywood. Kajal Aggarwal, Ileana D’Cruz, Taapsee, Anushka Shetty…These are all glamour girls from the South who are all set to find a place in Mumbai. I wouldn’t like to say much about their ambitions except that they are fiercely competitive and know they’re fighting for the same roles with the same A-lister heroes.”
Apparently, the rumour that Vivek was unwilling to work with Charme was started by one of the new lot of South Indian glam-dolls looking to leap into a pan-India attention with a big Hindi blockbuster.
Confirms the film’s producer Vinod Bachchan, “Charme is here shooting with Vivek in Phaltan. She was recommended to me by Sonu Sood who worked with her in Bbuddah and found her very spontaneous and professional. We don’t know who started the rumour that Charme was out of our movie. She plays Vivek’s girlfriend and later his wife.”
Charme seems pretty annoyed by these attempts to shorten her screen life even before it’s started. “It was all a fabrication. I was always doing the part. Now that we’re shooting, trust me we’re having a great time on location. Vivek, Arshad Warsi, Paresh Rawalji and the whole crew is so sweet.”
Regarding the new Southern invasion, Charme shoots, “I’m not here because the other girls from the South are here. I am here because I want to be here. There is a difference between the Tamil-Telugu actresses and me. I am a Punjabi girl from Mumbai.”
Lady Gaga Sells a Mere 30K CDs
TrendPK.com: Reports of revived CD sales are highly exaggerated. According to the numbers collected on hitsdailydouble.com, last week is pretty bad for the music industry. Summer used to be a time when kids had to have their music. But last week the top 10 totaled less than 500,000 copies sold of anything. Lady Gaga’s “Born this Way” was down to 30,000 units. That’s not enough to pay for anyone to carry her rapidly cracking egg.
The number 1 CD, Beyonce‘s “4,” made the grade with a mere 111,000 copies. The only bright spot was Adele, as usual, clocking in at number 2 with 79,000. I’m not sure if anyone’s explained this to her, but Adele is the record business right now. Other than Adele, who’s also selling copies of her “19″ album (yes everyone’s just numbering their CDs for titles–this generation can’t remember titles like “The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys” or “Songs in the Key of Life”– the next hit album will be called LOL) everyone else is at a standstill. Both new generation “American Idol” (Scotty McCreery) and old (David Cook) are just about tied with 13,000 copies each.
To his credit, Barry Manilow sold 10,230 copies of a CD full of original material on a small label and finished at number 36. The next big release, fingers crossed, will be country singer Blake Shelton this week. But other than that, it’s not such a promising release schedule.
Wishing Deepika Padukone a very happy Birthday
Ever since she debuted opposite SRK in Om Shanti Om, Deepika Padukone’s career has been on an upswing. With hits such as Bachna Ae Haseeno, Love Aaj Kal and Housefull to her credit, Deepika is certainly among the leading actresses of B-town today.
The gorgeous beauty celebrates her birthday today (Jan 5) and we at Bollywood Hungama wish her a very happy birthday and a year full of prosperity and unlimited joy. You too may post your wishes for Deepika in the comments section below:
SRK gets a rare honor to sign Town Hall’s guestbook
Its not rocket science that Bollywood Superstar Shahrukh Khan has many firsts and many ‘rare honours’ attached to him. He added yet another rare honour to his credit, when he recently visited the Rotes Rathaus; Berlin’s Town Hall and met its gay mayor Klaus Wowereit. He did so during his visit to Germany, as he is shooting there for Farhan Akhtar’s Don 2.
SRK also got a rare honour of signing the guest book at the Town Hall. By doing so, he became the first Indian actor to be given the honour. Way to go, Shahrukh!
Live Chat: Sharman Joshi on Nov 9 at 1500 hrs IST
Sharman Joshi is the typical Bollywood hero, who is the darling of millions. He starred in some of the most memorable smash hits that Bollywood has ever witnessed. He has to his credit of having starred in blockbusters like 3 Idiots, Rang De Basanti… to name a few.
The man is back with yet another stellar performance in the forthcoming Allah Ke Banday. Bollywood Hungama brings you a chance to get up, close and personal with this dude only on the Celebrity Chat on Tuesday Nov 9 at 1500 hrs IST
Do not miss for anything in the world!
