He was taken to the University of California, Los Angeles Medical Centre, where he died at 1.07 pm Pacific time on Thursday (1.37 am IST on Friday). “I am so very sad and confused with every emotion possible. I am heartbroken for his children who I know were everything to him and for his family. This is such a massive loss on so many levels, words fail me,” said Jackson’s ex-wife Lisa Marie Presley, daughter of Elvis Presley.

At the time of his death Jackson had been preparing for a 50-concert run in London that was meant to represent his comeback and secure his financial future. British prime minister Gordon Brown Friday paid tribute to Michael Jackson, saying that the singer’s death was “very sad news” for his fans.

“This is very sad news for the millions of Michael Jackson fans in Britain and around the world,” Brown’s spokesman said. “The prime minister’s thoughts are with Michael Jackson’s family at this time.” In Australia, Jackson’s fans expressed their grief over his death.

Thomson Kottarathara wrote in The Age newspaper website: “Sad day for music. MJ was a legend. Love all the timeless music and the images he provided us with. Michael, you will remain in our hearts. RIP.”

Yann said: “The king of pop is dead, am sure anyone from the X generation will feel little bit sad, in the 80’s we had the greatest concerts, their where the great days. The moon dance unh!! that was so cool. And then the 90’s came thats when Michael just went coucou!!”

In Malaysia, hundreds of Michael Jackson fans jammed the phone lines of a national radio station to express their shock on learning about death of the King of Pop.

What kind of research have you done for your role in the film “New York” since the first half you look all cheerful and happy whereas in the second half the serious mode takes over?

The research actually started accidently when I and Kabir were doing ‘Kabul Express’. We met a lot of people out in Afghanistan, Pakistan and also met a lot of Talibans. I watched a lot of Kabir’s documentaries and we tried to understand the concept of Jihaad if I may say so. We tried to understand why the world looks at certain communities in a certain manner and vice versa. We have always tried to maintain that New York is not a jingoistic America film but have been very biased about whatever we have portrayed in the film. In terms of my character I have stuck to my director’s brief as what I am supposed to do, where I am supposed to and the thought process I have to take. I have simply followed orders. We have just made anhonest and a simple film.

We heard that you took your role very seriously and went into a shell especially in the second half of the film to justify your character?

Honestly during the shoot we enjoyed every day. I didn’t go into any kind of shell except for the last three-four days where Kabir wanted me to take that portion of the film very seriously. We have had a great time during the shoot.

You have studied the Quran while filming for the movie “New York”. Why was that study required?

Kabir actually gave me some insights about Quran and how some of it is interpreted at times by certain people for their own benefit. That is something we went through in detail before we started filming for “New York” in terms of character sketch. But that is just a kind of backdrop for my character as we had to build a character history for my character. That was just an individual thing done and not to make a serious research based film.

Why would the media ignore the bigger story – Nitish Kumar, the man being wooed by all political formations, praised by Rahul Gandhi, hand-grabbed by Narendra Modi, and generally seen as Bihar’s great hope – to chase the by now predictable story – the decline of Lalu Prasad, the Railway minister who looked all set to go off track this election?

This could a matter of habit – after all, Lalu has been the centre of gravity in Bihar for two decades. Or it could a more calculated journalistic gambit, linked to the well known contrast between the two men – Impetuous Lalu might supply some drama even as a loser, while Punctilious Nitish would not allow the media in except at the designated hour dutifully phoned and faxed to media offices. Nitish, as the consensus goes, does not believe in springing surprises.

Meeting one of his major election promises, Obama on Monday the announced end of years of tax incentives to those US companies which create jobs overseas in places like Bangalore. Instead, the incentives would now go to those creating jobs inside the US, in places like the Buffalo city — bordering Canada in upstate New York.

“We will stop letting American companies that create jobs overseas take deductions on their expenses when they do not pay any American taxes on their profits,” Obama said at White House announcing the international tax policy reform. Obama said he wants US companies to remain most competitive in the world. “But the way to make sure that happens is not to reward our companies for moving jobs off our shores or transferring profits to overseas tax havens,” he argued.

The deal trumps an earlier agreement for Barclays to sell just the iShares exchange-traded-funds business of BGI to private equity group CVC Capital and will give the U.K. bank a 19.9% stake in the enlarged business, to be called BlackRock Global Investors.

“As one, BlackRock and BGI will have a world-class product offering across the risk spectrum,” BlackRock said in a statement. The New York investment firm, which was founded in 1988, is no stranger to blockbuster mergers.

The group has been expanding in recent years through acquisitions, and in 2006, it snapped up Merrill Lynch Investment Managers for $9.6 billion.

Bank of America Corp. which has acquired Merrill Lynch, holds a sizeable stake in BlackRock, as does PNC Financial Services Group Inc.

The BGI deal will lift BlackRock’s assets under management to around $2.8 trillion, making it comfortably the world’s biggest asset manager.

Barclays and BlackRock confirmed that they were in talks over a deal, though other bidders had also been in the running until recently, including, reportedly, Bank of New York Mellon.

Pakistan, runners-up to India in the final of the inaugural World Twenty20 in South Africa two years ago, ended Sri Lanka’s unbeaten run in the tournament with style.

Pakistan last won an offical multi-nation tournament in 1992 when Imran Khan’s team lifted the World Cup by beating England in the final at the Melbourne cricket ground in Australia.

Sunday’s win by Younus Khan’s team gave Pakistanis back home reason to cheer as the cricket-mad nation has been deprived of international tours due to security concerns in the volatile nation.

The International Cricket Council has already ruled out holding World Cup matches in Pakistan in 2011 following the militant attack on the Sri Lankan team in Lahore on March 3.

The country is emerging from a closed economy and it is in a transition phase. The mindset is changing but it has not percolated to lower levels of administration. The intensity of economic slowdown has become evident with three key sectors (Agriculture, Industry & Services ) decelerating sharply. The fiscal deficit is out of control. Consumer spending and investor
confidence is at low ebb. The Central and many State Governments are facing near bankruptcy. The Financial sector is facing a crisis of confidence with key institutions in the red and the fear of the midnight knock by investigating agencies looming large.

The investment climate must be brightened up. The All India Association of Industries (AIAI) feels that imaginative policies and programmes are needed to motivate industrial and agricultural growth, in the absence of which, a 9% growth rate remains an illusory target and at best an average growth rate of merely 5% can be achieved. AIAI feels that both short-term and longterm measures are needed for this purpose. The strongest factor in favors of India incorporated is $ 44 billion in foreign exchange reserves.

The elegant maroon and gold themed event which included a cocktail reception, dinner, fusion dance performances by local artists and music, was attended by nearly 250 Indian- American community leaders, supporters and public officials – including Mr. Praveen Kumar from the Indian Consulate in New York, Attorney General Richard Blumenthal and State Senator Toni Boucher. Also attending were long time sponsor Stamford Hospital, HSBC and Joe Mathew Kavumpurath of Barnum Financial.

In welcoming the guests, Sangeeta Ahuja, President of GOPIO- CT said, “we salute the 2009 awardees. They have enriched our lives and the community we live in with their dedication, contributions and the passion for what they do and have accomplished.” She urged members of the community to become involved by volunteering and creating an ongoing dialogue with the local communities.

Ravi S. Dhingra who emceed the colorful event and chaired the 2009 Awards Committee added “in addition to recognizing the best and the brightest, the Awards Banquet which is now in its third year, has become a premier event – it brings the community together, inspires others and creates a lot of positive energy.