New Technology

Pop diva Madonna has got her new daughter Mercy converted to Kabbalah as soon as she arrived in London.

The singer flew the four-year-old Malawian orphan from the African country's capital Lilongwe to London to start a new life but rushed her to a Kabbalah centre first, as soon as her private jet landed, reports contactmusic.com.

Madonna was also accompanied by her other children Lourdes, 12, Rocco, 8, and David, 3, for Mercy's first lesson in the Jewish-based faith.

Pakistan outclassed Sri Lanka with their allround performance and won the World Twenty20 championship by eight wickets at the Lord's here Sunday.

Pakistan, which finished runners-up to India in 2007, achieved the target of 139 in 18.4 overs after losing only two wickets as Man of the Match Shaid Afridi, promoted up the order, scored an unbeaten 54 off 40 balls.

Comeback man Abdul Razzaq scalped three wickets as a rejuvenated Pakistan restricted Sri Lanka to 138 for six in 20 overs.

Sri Lanka skipper Kumar Sangakkara, who opted to bat first, scored an unbeaten 64 off 52 balls while in-form Tillakaratne Dilshan, who was adjudged at the Man of the Series, failed to open his account.

Robbed off international cricketing action due to strife back home, it was a deserving victory for Pakistan that started the the tournamnet on a disastrous note by losing both their warm-up matches and then suffering a crushing victory against hosts England in the group stage.

Kamran Akmal (37) and teenager Shahzaid Hasan (19) gave Pakistan a rollicking start while Afridi's biltzkreig, which had two fours and two sixes, and Shoaib Malik's 24 not out took them home.

Sri Lanka, which had remained the only unbeaten team in the tournament till the final, suffered quick blows after Sangakkara elected to bat on a slow wicket.

They were reduced to two for two in the second over. Razzaq joined the party too and his double strikes reduced Sri Lanka to 34 for four before the skipper led the rescue act with a valiant unbeaten 64 from 52 balls.

Sangakkara and Angelo Mathews (35 not out) added 68 valuable runs for the seventh wicket as Sri Lanka scored 59 runs in the last five overs.

Teenage fast bowler Mohammad Aamir got Pakistan the first breakthrough by dismissing tournament's leading run scorer Dilshan in the first over.

In the next over, Jehan Mubarak skied a leading edge off Razzaq.

Sanath Jayasuriya (17) started the attack by hitting Razzaq for a six, but the bowler took the revenge by castling his stumps two balls later. Razzaq picked up his third wicket when Misbah-ul Haq dived to his right at slip to remove Mahela Jayawardene (1).

London, Pop star Michael Jackson has reportedly scrapped a house-hunting trip to Britain in the wake of the swine flu outbreak.

The 'Thriller' hit maker was set to visit Britain later this month to find a place to stay as he takes up residency at London's O2 arena from July for a string of comeback shows.

But he has delayed the trip amid health fears, reported femalefirst.co.uk.

'Michael (Jackson) wanted to come over for viewing in the next few weeks because he wants to make sure the property is just right, after all he will be renting it from now until February next year. But that is off for the time being. Michael doesn't want to travel because of the worry surrounding the flu outbreak,' said a source.

Looking to expand its presence in the Rs 6,500 crore domestic over the counter (OTC) pharmaceutical sector, UK Modi Group s Modi-Mundipharma has formed a 50:50 joint venture with Europe s Omega Pharma. In its first year of operation, the JV company Modi Omega will launch 15 products followed by 5-7 products each year thereafter. We are not looking at the traditional OTC products because it is too crowded there and not much scope for substantial growth, said UK Modi, chairman, president and CEO, Modi Group of Industries. Our focus will be on niche OTC products which account for about 30 per cent of the market. This has been the philosophy of Omega Pharma globally and it is the same for us in India as well. This year Modi Omega is expecting sales of only Rs 1.3 crore but has projected it to grow to Rs 13 crore by 2010 and ultimately to Rs 150 crore in five years.