LONDON: From the moment Prince William put his mother's sapphire and diamond ring on Kate Middleton's finger, comparisons between his wife-to-be and the late princess Diana became inevitable.

More than a decade after Diana's death, the "People's Princess" remains adored and the new royal bride will be measured against the young, shy blonde who captivated the world at her wedding to Prince Charles in 1981.

The royals are understandably wary of comparisons between the two women, and William himself insisted soon after the engagement that "no one is trying to fill my mother's shoes".

Diana's marriage was a famously unhappy union which broke down amid infidelity on both sides, ending in a bitter divorce and then tragedy, when the princess died in a Paris car crash in 1997.

It is not a tale to comfort a nervous bride, but fortunately, commentators see more differences than similarities between the two women.

Despite her lack of aristocratic blood, Kate will be far better prepared than Diana ever was for royal life when she walks down the aisle of Westminster Abbey on April 29.

"Kate's been very carefully groomed, it's been a long process over a period of time and she's got people around her who understand the modern media.

"She knows exactly what she's getting," said Max Clifford, a top British PR man who has represented many celebrities.

Kate and William have been together for eight years, whereas Diana was courted for just six months. In fact, Kate has been waiting so long for her boyfriend to pop the question that the press dubbed her "Waity Katy".

But Clifford says the length of time puts their relationship on a strong footing, saying "William seems to be totally in love with her and vice versa".

The young couple have had a very modern courtship.

They lived together while at St Andrews University in Scotland, where they met, and in recent months Kate has stayed with William on the island of Anglesey in Wales, where he works as a helicopter search and rescue pilot.

At the age of 29, Kate also has considerable life experience compared to Diana, who was only 20 on her wedding day, 12 years younger than Charles. Just five months separate Kate and William, who is 28.

Diana had left school before finishing her studies and her work experience was limited to a stint at a nursery.

By contrast, Kate graduated with a degree in art history from a top university, although her jobs as an accessories buyer for a clothing brand and then for her family's party goods firm have been criticised as lightweight.

Kate also had a happier and more stable childhood than Diana, whose parents divorced when she was young. Kate is close to her mother Carole and sister Pippa, her maid of honour, and says her family is a major source of support.

Up to now, William's bride has also had a better relationship with the press, which hounded the late princess right up to the moment of her death.

Despite a rocky start following Kate's move to London after graduation, when photographers mobbed her every time she left the house, warning letters from lawyers and the palace have caused the media to back off.

Kate "is an intelligent girl. She has a good head on her shoulders and is so much older than Diana was and she knows William," said royal historian Hugo Vickers.

The royal family "must be delighted. She's cautious. She's very measured -- confidence is not quite the right word, but she is assured," he added.

Diana was beautiful, charismatic and almost universally loved, but she was also unstable and the explosive fallout of her split with Charles cast a pall over the royal family that is only now starting to lift.

She also overshadowed the other royals, staying firmly in the limelight even after the divorce through her charitable causes.

MUMBAI: Pune Warriors captain Yuvraj Singh produced an impressive all-round performance, but failed to stop Delhi Daredevils from posting a thrilling three-wicket win in the Indian Premier League on Sunday.

In another match, Kolkata Knight Riders defeated Shane Warne's Rajasthan Royals by eight wickets for their third victory in four games in the Twenty20 tournament.

Yuvraj top-scored with an unbeaten 66 to help Pune reach a challenging 187-5 before Delhi achieved the stiff target with four balls to spare for their first win in three games.

Delhi needed eight to win off the last over after left-arm spinner Yuvraj had finished with 4-29, but Australian James Hopes (13 not out) smashed a six and a four off successive deliveries from New Zealand seamer Jesse Ryder.

Australian David Warner (46) and skipper Virender Sehwag (37) gave Delhi a solid start when they added 75 for the opening wicket before Venugopal Rao (31) and Aaron Finch (25) contributed crucial runs in the closing stages.

Pune, who suffered their first defeat in three games, were earlier indebted to Yuvraj and Ryder (60) for setting a big target.

Yuvraj cracked five sixes, including three in the last over bowled by seamer Ashok Dinda, in his 32-ball knock and Ryder also hit five sixes in his 27-ball innings.

Ryder played a key role in putting his team on course for a big total, dominating a 54-run stand for the second wicket with Mithun Manhas (20) after the early dismissal of South African opener Graeme Smith (12).

Kolkata did not face any difficulty in chasing an 82-run target against Rajasthan, winning with more than six overs to spare. It was Rajasthan's second defeat in four matches.

LAHORE: Most of the CNG filling stations and petrol pumps were closed on the second day of strike announced by All Pakistan CNG Association and Petroleum Retailers Association, causing inconvenience to people.

There were long queues of vehicles at a few CNG filling stations and petrol pumps that opted to continue their business.

Comparatively thing traffic was witnessed in the province metropolis due to shortage of fuel. Public transport was also thin on roads, which resulted in more and more problems for commuters.

However, in absence of normal public transport, LPG-fuelled tri-wheelers were seen busy on city roads.

According to Ghiyas Abdullah Paracha, chairman of APCNGA Supreme Council, 99 per cent CNG stations were closed in protest from Sadiqabad to Attock in the province. Out of total 2,267 CNG stations in the province, owners of 2,250 closed their business against unjustified gas distribution policy of Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Ltd (SNGPL), he added.

He maintained that CNG stations in big cities, including Lahore, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Faisalabad and central and southern Punjab, were shut, supporting the strike call.

Those who opted to open CNG filling stations were involved in gas theft while some of them were members of ruling elite and opportunists, he alleged.

He expressed concern over attitude of government functionaries, saying that high-ups did not want to resolve issue of increasing gas loadshedding for CNG stations despite start of summer.

We were forced to take extreme step of closing our business, he said, adding that the masses had to suffer only due to ill-planning of government departments.

He expressed regret over problems being faced by people due to closure of CNG stations.

LAHORE: Pakistan cricket team has been attending a two-day short training camp here at the Gaddafi stadium, for the series in West Indies later this month.

The short training camp has been named the ‘conditioning camp’.

The team management said the players will take part in two practice sessions today while tomorrow there will be a day-long session.

Along with physical training, the players will also be practicing in the nets under the supervision of coach Waqar Younis.

The national team will leave for West Indies on April 14 to play one T20I, five one-day internationals and two Test matches on the tour beginning April 18

BAHAWALPUR: Prominent figure of TV and stage shows comedian actor Mastana died of liver cancer in Bahawalpur Victoria Hospital here on Monday. He was 57.

Murtaza Hassan alias Mastana was born in Gujranwala. He served TV and stage for nearly 43 years. He played different roles of them ‘Mr. Kiyun’ is one of his best.

Deceased Mastana worked in more than 2000 TV and stage dramas.

He fell prey of ‘Hepatitis C’ that was reached to liver cancer level.

Mastana left behind a son Hafiz Saad Hassan and widow.

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) ordered the Higher Education Commission (HEC) to keep working under the ordinance until any amendment in the law before adjourning the hearing for indefinite period, Geo News reported.

On Monday, the SC while hearing the constitutional petition against the devolution of HEC issued notices to Attorney General of Pakistan, Ministry of Law, Ministry of Education and HEC and later adjourned the hearing till Tuesday.

A three-judge bench, headed by the Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, heard the petition filed by the Directory of Riphah University against the devolution of HEC.