Texas beauty queen Domonique Ramirez wins 'fat' case

Tweet

By Punem sexesena-A US beauty contest winner who claimed she was stripped of her crown because she had gained weight has won her courtroom fight to regain the title.

Seventeen-year-old Domonique Ramirez claimed pageant officials in Texas had told her to "get off the tacos".

Organisers of the Miss San Antonio contest said she was dismissed because she had breached her contract.

After nearly 12 hours of deliberation, jurors in Bexar County, Texas, ruled in favour of Ms Ramirez.

Judge Barbara Nellermoe said she didn't "have any choice but to reinstate Domonique Ramirez as Miss San Antonio 2011".

Junk food
"This is about principle, this is about what's right," the 5ft 8in (173cm), 129lb (58.5kg) Ms Ramirez said after the verdict on Thursday.

Organisers took away the teenager's crown in January, saying she had arrived late to events and failed to conduct herself in a way befitting a beauty queen.

During the week-long trial, pageant director Linda Woods said the teenager had turned up to a bikini shoot overweight, making the pictures "unusable".

Ms Ramirez told the court that pageant bosses had said she "needed to lay off the tacos and the junk food".

Ms Woods described the verdict as an "injustice for the city of San Antonio".


The judge reinstated Ms Ramirez's title after a week long trial
Jury foreman Jesse Sanchez told the local newspaper, the Express-News, that the verdict was a "a hard decision". She declined to divulge what damages and fees were awarded to Ms Ramirez.

Now that she has her title back, Ms Ramirez is eligible to compete for the titles of Miss Texas and Miss America.

But, one complication remains. During her dismissal period, another Miss San Antonio, Ashley Dixon, was crowned.

"I don't plan on taking the crown away from Ashley. I'm hoping that we'll be able to share and she can go to Miss Texas as well as Miss Bexar County, and we can both share the crown," Ms Ramirez said.
punemsexesena@gmail.com

Dame Elizabeth Taylor buried outside Los Angeles

Tweet
By Punem sexesena
The funeral took place soon after Taylor's death in line with her religious beliefs

Continue reading the main story

Dame Elizabeth Taylor has been buried in a cemetery just outside Los Angeles, a day after her death.

Her private funeral was held at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale.

Pop icon Michael Jackson, a friend of Taylor's, is one of a number of stars also buried at the cemetery.

Taylor, one of the 20th Century's biggest movie stars, died in Los Angeles on Wednesday of congestive heart failure. She was 79.

Her funeral service started 15 minutes late, at the star's request.

"Miss Taylor had left instructions that it was to begin at least 15 minutes later than publicly scheduled, with the announcement: 'She even wanted to be late for her own funeral'," said a statement from her publicist.

'Soaring angel'

The hour-long service included a recital of the Gerard Manley Hopkins' poem The Leaden Echo and the Golden Echo and a trumpet solo of Amazing Grace, performed by Taylor's grandson Rhys.

"The casket was closed and draped with a blanket of abundant, fragrant gardenias, violets and lily of the valley," it said.

"Miss Taylor was interred in the Great Mausoleum, sheltered beneath a soaring marble Michelangelo angel."

About four dozen family members attended the funeral, which was presided over by a rabbi.

On Friday Broadway theatres will dim their lights for a minute at 2000 local time - the traditional curtain time for shows - in tribute to the actress.

The Broadway League said the star, who won a Tony Award nomination for a 1981 revival of The Little Foxes, "lit up the Broadway stage the same way she lit up the silver screen".

She returned to Broadway in 1983 in Noel Coward's Private Lives, in which she appeared opposite Richard Burton.

Taylor's famous films included National Velvet, Cleopatra and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

She was equally well-known for her glamour and film partnership with Burton, one of her seven husbands.

The peak of her film career came in the 1950s and 1960s, with four Oscar nominations in a row from 1958 to 1961.

Taylor's Hollywood contemporaries have been paying tribute to her as an actress, friend and activist.

punemsexesena@gmail.com

Ind vs Aus: India beat Australia by 5 wickets to enter World Cup semifinal

Tweet
By punem sexesena-NEW DELHI: Yuvraj Singh (57 not out) and Suresh Raina (34 not out) helped India register five-wicket victory over Australia and booked a dream World Cup semifinal against arch-rival Pakistan in Mohali.

Yuvraj slammed eight fours, including the winning boundary, in his 65-ball innings whereas Raina hit a six and couple of fours in his 28-ball blitzkrieg.

After losing Dhoni and Gambhir in quick succession, Yuvraj revived the run-chase with Raina as they added unbeaten 74-run for the sixth wicket.

Brett Lee scalped Indian skipper Dhoni soon after Gambhir ran himself out in the 34th over.

Gambhir played a cautious innings as he hit just two fours in his 64-ball fifty. A miscommunication with Yuvraj Singh led to his departure after surviving similar mishap in the previous ball.

India lost Virat Kohli (24) after he added a valuable 49-run with Gambhir for the third wicket against Australia.

Kohli hit only one four in his patient 33-ball innings as he resurrected India's run-chase with Gambhir after Sachin's wicket. David Hussey dismissed Kohli in the 29th over.

Shaun Tait gave Australia a crucial and much-needed breakthrough when he got rid of Sachin Tendulkar after the little master edged out Kumar Sangakkara as leading run-scorer of the tournament.

Sachin, who hit seven fours in his steady 68-ball 53, scored his 94th fifty in the one-dayers and added 50-run with Gautam Gambhir for the second wicket.

The master blaster also reached landmark 18,000 runs in one-day internationals. Sachin has already scored two hundreds in this edition and is awaiting his 100th international ton.

Chasing 261-run target, India lost Virender Sehwag (15) in the ninth over after a good start. Sehwag and Tendulkar started Indian run-chase aggressively and added 44 runs for the first wicket.

Sehwag hit two fours in his rare slow innings of 15 off 22 balls before Shane Watson gave Aussies the crucial breakthrough.

Earlier, Ricky Ponting slammed fifth World Cup hundred to help Australia set 261-run target for India in the second quarterfinal.

Ponting hit seven fours and a six in his 118-ball 104 innings as he scored his 30th ODI hundred.

R Ashwin took the prize-wicket of Ponting in the penultimate over of the match. Ashwin finished the innings with 2 wickets for 52 in 10 overs.

David Hussey remained unbeaten for the champions on 38 off 26 balls. David hit three boundaries and a huge 85 metres six during his late charge against the Indian bowlers.

Zaheer Khan dismissed Cameron White (12) and Mike Hussey (3) to halt the Australian innings in the middle overs. Zaheer scalped White after the batsman added 40-run with his skipper Ponting for the fifth wicket.

Yuvraj Singh was the pick of Indian bowlers with two wickets for 44 runs in his ten overs.

Yuvraj dismissed Michael Clarke (8) in the 31st over to check the Aussie innings.

Brad Haddin (53) scored a patient half-century and added a valuable 70-run stand with his skipper for the second wicket and slammed six fours and a six in his 62-ball innings before Yuvraj struck in the 23rd over.

Off-spinner R Ashwin provided India crucial breakthrough as he dismissed Australia's Shane Watson in the tenth over.

Openers Shane Watson and Brad Haddin started off well as they gave Australia a steady start against India. The duo added 40 runs for the first wicket.

Earlier, Australian skipper Ricky Ponting won the crucial toss and decided to bat first.

In what is Mahendra Singh Dhoni's 100th ODI as India captain, there is one change to the side with Virender Sehwag coming in for Yusuf Pathan.

Australia have brought David Hussey in place of spinner Steven Smith.

Teams:

India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (c), Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, R Ashwin, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Munaf Patel

Australia: Ricky Ponting (c), Brad Haddin, Shane Watson, Michael Clarke, Cameron White, Mike Hussey, David Hussey, Mitchell Johnson, Brett Lee, Jason Krejza, Shaun Tait.

Umpires: Marais Erasmus (RSA) and Ian Gould (ENG)
TV umpire: Richard Kettleborough (ENG)
Match referee: Ranjan Madugalle (SRI)

Pitch conditions: Usually proves an excellent batting surface so bowlers on both sides are set to have to be at their best to enjoy success.

Scorecard....

 Reed More - ClickHere

Tri-Valley University visa scam tip of the iceberg, says probe report

Tweet

By punem sexesena

 email-punemsexesena@gmail.com

WASHINGTON: The visa scam at Tri Valley University in California, that affected hundreds of Indian students, is just the tip of an iceberg and a large number of such institutes exit in the US, a probe report here has said.

"Other colleges--most of them unaccredited--exploit byzantine federal regulations, enrolling almost exclusively foreign students and charging them upward of USD 3,000 for a chance to work legally in the US," said the report released by Chronicle of Higher Education.

Such educational institute flourish in Californiaand Virginia, where regulations are lax, and many of their practises -- for instance, holding some classes on only three weekends per semester--are unconventional, to say the least, the report added.

"These colleges usher in thousands of foreign students and generate millions of dollars in profits because they have the power, bestowed by the US government, to help students get visas," it said, adding while these institutions are well-known among Indian students looking to work full time, they have managed to go mostly unnoticed in the US.

In more than a dozen interviews to Chronicle, students at these institutions say that an American degree, any American degree, will help them get a better job or earn a promotion back home, the report said.

"They say they choose these unaccredited colleges for their flexibility, their low cost, academic quality and because of the recommendations of other students from their home region. In online forums, students are more blunt: What they actually talk about is who will let them work 'from Day 1'," it said.

According to the report, US Homeland-security officials say they are not blind to the existence of other Tri-Valleys, although they wouldn't comment on, or even confirm, current investigations.

"They concede that regulations governing foreign-student employment are vulnerable to exploitation. These areas are ripe for abuse," said a top administrator with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which monitors 10,300 schools and colleges that grant visa documents.

"We look very closely," it said. "Officials say that the agency is doing the best it can, given its resources and authority. An increase in Sevis fees--the system is entirely self-financed--will support the creation of a new enforcement unit focused solely on school and college violations and allow for the creation of a 60-person team of regionally based liaisons to act as contacts and more closely monitor colleges on the ground," the report said.

According to a federal complaint filed in a California court in January, the TVU had helped foreign nationals, mostly Indians, illegally acquire immigration status.

The university is said to have 1,555 students. As many as 95 per cent of these students are Indian nationals. The university was closed on charges of massive visa fraud. 

Check out: Mallika Sherawat as item girl Jalebi Bai

Tweet
By Punem sexedena
email-punemsexesena@gmail.com
mastani mastani

 


Check out: Mallika Sherawat as item girl Jalebi Bai

Seems like the films can do without scripts, but not item numbers nowadays. Hardly had the movie buffs gotten over the likes of Munni and Sheila that Mallika Sherawat is all set to unleash a new item bombshell: ‘Jalebi Bai’.  Mallika has taken a headlong plunge into item songs. After the raunchy songRazia Gundo Mein Phas Gayi in the upcoming comedy Thank You, Mallika is now slipping into a ghagra and skimpiest choli for director Indra Kumar’s comedy film Double Dhamaal in which she is also the leading lady.  The song, Jalebi Bai, was recently shot on the set of a casino erected at Mehboob Studios in Mumbai. The number is composed by Anand Raj Anand and choreographed by Ganesh Acharya.  Double Dhamaal stars Sanjay Dutt, Arshad Warsi, Shreyas Talpade andAashish Choudhary. The film is set to release in June this year.

Video - Bipasha Basu’s romantic song 'Te Amo' from 'Dum Maaro Dum' Bipasha Basu and Rana Dagubatti romancing in the sun-soaked Goa Bipasha Basu and Rana Dagubatti share cuddly moments in the song ‘Te Amo’ from the coming thrillerDum Maaro Dum.  Deepika Padukone has had her share of the limelight with the sizzling item song Mit Jaye Ghambecoming the talk of the town. Now, it’s Bipasha’s turn to grab the eyeballs. In the film she’s not paired with Abhishek Bachchan, who plays a cop, but with the south actor Rana Dagubatti.  Bipasha plays Zoey, an aspiring airhostess whose dreams have turned to dust. In a way she represents Goa itself. A child of the hippie generation, a mix of local and foreign culture. Innocence and beauty have gradually been replaced by cynicism and abuse.  Rana Daggubati plays a Goan musician DJ Joki, who is a mute spectator to what is happening around him. In the past, an encounter with drug mafia has cost him dear and so Joki just drifts aimlessly through life. But he discovers that history has a nasty habit of repeating itself. Will he finally have the guts to take a stand?  ‘Te Amo’ the song has been composed by Pritam and written by Jaideep Sahni.  For those wondering about the song’s title, ‘Te Amo’ is the Spanish or Portuguese for ‘I Love You’. Incidentally, Rihanna also has a song by the same title.  You check out ‘Te Amo’ from Dum Maaro Dum below