Washington, April 10 (IANS) The "smartphones" many of us now carry have a three to five mega pixel lens, not to mention an MP3 player, GPS or even a bar code scanner. What if new functions on our cell phones can also protect us from toxic chemicals?The US Deparment of Homeland Security's science and technology directorate's Cell-All is such an initiative.
Cell-All aims to equip cell phones with a sensor capable of detecting deadly chemicals. The technology is ingenious.
A chip costing less than a dollar is embedded in a cell phone and programmed to either alert the cell phone carrier to the presence of toxic chemicals in the air, and/or a central station that can monitor how many alerts in an area are being received. One might be a false. Hundreds might indicate the need for evacuation.
"Our goal is to create a lightweight, cost-effective, power-efficient solution," says Stephen Dennis, Cell-All's programme manager.
How would this work? Just as antivirus software bides its time in the background and springs to life when it spies suspicious activity, so Cell-All would regularly sniff the surrounding air for certain volatile chemical compounds.
When a threat is sensed, an alert ensues in one of two ways. For personal safety issues such as a chlorine gas leak, a warning is sounded and the user can choose a vibration, noise, text message or phone call to alert him.
For catastrophes such as a sarin gas attack, details - including time, location and the compound-are phoned home to an emergency operations centre.
While the first warning is beamed to individuals, the second warning works best with crowds. And that's where the genius of Cell-All lies - in crowd sourcing human safety.
Currently, if a person suspects that something is amiss, he might dial an emergency number, though behavioural science tells us that it's easier to do nothing.
And, as is often the case when someone phones in an emergency, the caller may be difficult to understand, diminishing the quality of information that's relayed.
An even worse scenario: the person may not even be aware of the danger, like the South Carolina woman who last year drove into a colourless, odourless, and poisonous ammonia cloud.
In contrast, anywhere a chemical threat breaks out - a mall, a bus, subway or office - Cell-All will alert the authorities automatically, says a release of the directorate.
Detection, identification, and notification all take place in less than 60 seconds. Because the data is delivered digitally, Cell-All reduces the chance of human error.
"Our smartphones may soon be smarter than we are," Dennis said.
Securities and Exchange Board of India has banned Unit LinkedInsurance Products (ULIPs) of 14 Indian companies since, the ULIPs launched by the comanies were found to be akin to the mutual fund schemes and were launched without obtaining registration from the Securities and Exchange Board of India
The companies include
a. Aegon Religare Life Insurance Company Limited
b. Aviva Life Insurance Company India Limited
c. Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance Company Limited
d. Bharti AXA Life Insurance Company Limited
e. Birla Sun Life Insurance Company Limited
f. HDFC Standard Life Insurance Company Limited
g. ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company Limited
h. ING Vyasa Life Insurance Company Limited
i. Kotak Mahindra Old Mutual Life Insurance Limited
j. Max New York Life Insurance Co. Limited
k. Metlife India Insurance Company Limited
l. Reliance Life Insurance Company Limited
m. SBI Life Insurance Company Limited
n. TATA AIG Life Insurance Company Limited
View the Order of Whole Time Member in the matter of ULIP
Film: "Prince: It's Showtime"; Starring: Vivek Oberoi, Nandana Sen, Aruna Shields, Neeru Singh, Sanjay Kapoor and Dalip Tahil ; Directed by: Kookie Gulati; Rating: **
Look what the cool cat dragged in! It's not a bird (though he does fly across the sky). It's not a plane (though many of those in many shapes and sizes are seen hovering in the film's spectrally-shot skyline). And it's definitely not Superman. Though Mr Oberoi wouldn't mind being one.
Hey guys, it's our own Vivek Oberoi, playing hard-ball with various girls, gadgets gizmos and gimmicks.
Vivek plays Prince, a James Bond on a mission not quite impossible travelling at a speed faster than sound. Prince has no choice. He has lost all his memory which has been sucked out of him like juice gone through a sugarcane grinder.
To his credit, Oberoi carries off the ceaseless stint with the stunt with arresting aplomb. Most often because of his memory loss we see him wearing a look like he just smelt something foul in the kitchen and isn't sure if it's the milk got burnt or his mom's favourite recipe simmering in a pot.
Oh, there are no weeping moms in the potty plot. Only screeching wheels, high-octane stunts and high-octave songs shot mostly like music videos rather than as integral parts of the story. And then there are the 3 Mayas, each trying to outdo the other in the stunts and the clothes, or lack of them. They all seem to love our hero to death, an entity which lurks in every slick corner of this emotion-less but attractive package of oomph and wallops.
Where, you are not allowed to wonder, is the plot leading to? Why is Prince so hyper about his memory-loss? It will come back to him, like a blast from the past. Quite like the bolt that finally hits the film's arch villain Sarang (played by someone called Isaiah).
Oberoi's Prince goes into convulsions of self-doubt.
Be warned. Prince is more the Bourne territory than "Ghajini". The expertly-executed stunts (Allan Amin, you are the man!) frequently see our hero jumping down high-rise buildings in breathtaking leaps of fate, with the camera (Vishnu Rao) pulling back in respectful awe. Of course our Prince is essentially shock-proof and crease-free. Don't mind the bruises, scratches, bandages and, yes I forgot, the memory lapse. Prince is invincible!!!
So when was the last time you viewed a film where the heist-happy hero undertakes fifty adventures in museums and banks stealing diamonds and merchandise worth trillions?
John Abraham in "Dhoom", Hrithik Roshan in "Dhoom 2", Ajay Devgn in "Cash"?
You get the drift. Just float away in the stylish mumbo-jumbo that debutant director Kookie Gulati serves up with the swaggering flamboyance of an arms-merchant who loves his guns.
"Prince It's Showtime" wears its super-cool shirt with the slogan 'Come Watch Me' with a little bit too much aggression. But if you love popcorn crunching adventure stories watch Vivek Oberoi play the hero.
Oberoi pulls it off. Effectively.
Vivek Oberoi starrer "Prince" has proved to be a shot in the arm for the actor as the film has got above average response at the box office. The film has also elbowed out Ritesh Deshmukh-starrer "Jaane Kahan Se Aayi Hai" that fell flat courtesy its weak content.
"'Prince' has met our expectations with close to 35 percent occupancy across different properties over the weekend. While 'Jaane Kahan...' has proven to be a below average kind of movie with just around 12 percent occupancy," Deepak Taluja, senior vice president (business and operations) Fun Cinemas, told IANS.
"People are appreciating the content of 'Prince'. 'The Japanese Wife' on the other hand has done lukewarm business," he added.
Piyush Raizada, director, Delite Cinema, an upgraded two-screener in the capital, also shared similar sentiments.
"'Prince' has done very good business and the occupancy has been more than 50 percent. However 'Jaane Kahan...' has been very very poor with less than 20 percent occupancy," said Raizada.
Made at a budget of over Rs.40 crore (Rs.400 million) by producer Kumar Taurani, the two-hour-six-minute venture boasts of action sequences exceeding an hour. It released with over 1,000 prints worldwide.
Directed by debutant Kooki V. Gulati, "Prince" also stars Nandana Sen, Aruna Shields and Neeru Singh in the female lead.
Meanwhile, "Jaane Kahan..." is the directorial debut of Milap Zaveri. Made on a budget of about Rs.10 crore (Rs.100 million), the fantasy romantic comedy released worldwide with around 600 prints.
Distributed by Warner Bros Pictures India, it has been co-produced by Mukesh Talreja and Nikhil Advani. It teamed up Riteish with Jacqueline Fernandez again after "Aladdin".
"The Japanese Wife", on the other hand, released with only 32 prints in India. Directed by Aparna Sen, it stars Rahul Bose, Raima Sen, Moushumi Chatterjee and Japanese actress Chingusa Takaku.
Munish Sharma, general manager (marketing), Satyam Cineplex, had positive reports for "Prince" and "Jaane Kahan Se...".
"Both 'Prince' and 'Jaane Kahan...' did fairly well with close to 30-40 percent occupancy. Both are average movies but because there is a dearth of content these days, people are hungry for movies. 'The Japanese Wife', on the other hand, was a little lukewarm because of a niche audience value," said Sharma.
PVR cinemas, however, was disappointed with the commercial potboilers.
"Both the movies have been disappointing. The content of 'Prince' has no value and fetched no footfall. It had close to just 20 percent occupancy while 'Jaane Kahan...' didn't do any magic on the big screen with below 10 percent occupancy," said a source from PVR.
"However, 'The Japanese Wife' that released with limited prints and limited shows has got good reports with almost 40 percent occupancy," the source added.
According to a statement released by Saregama Films Monday, the producers of "The Japanese Wife", the movie has got "a very promising start off at 88 percent initial collection".
Look what the cool cat dragged in! It's not a bird (though he does fly across the sky). It's not a plane (though many of those in many shapes and sizes are seen hovering in the film's spectrally-shot skyline). And it's definitely not Superman. Though Mr Oberoi wouldn't mind being one. Hey guys, it's our own Vivek Oberoi, playing hard-ball with various girls, gadgets gizmos and gimmicks.
Vivek plays Prince, a James Bond on a mission not quite impossible travelling at a speed faster than sound. Prince has no choice. He has lost all his memory which has been sucked out of him like juice gone through a sugarcane grinder.
To his credit, Oberoi carries off the ceaseless stint with the stunt with arresting aplomb. Most often because of his memory loss we see him wearing a look like he just smelt something foul in the kitchen and isn't sure if it's the milk got burnt or his mom's favourite recipe simmering in a pot.
Oh, there are no weeping moms in the potty plot. Only screeching wheels, high-octane stunts and high-octave songs shot mostly like music videos rather than as integral parts of the story. And then there are the 3 Mayas, each trying to outdo the other in the stunts and the clothes, or lack of them. They all seem to love our hero to death, an entity which lurks in every slick corner of this emotion-less but attractive package of oomph and wallops.
Where, you are not allowed to wonder, is the plot leading to? Why is Prince so hyper about his memory-loss? It will come back to him, like a blast from the past. Quite like the bolt that finally hits the film's arch villain Sarang (played by someone called Isaiah).
Oberoi's Prince goes into convulsions of self-doubt.
Be warned. Prince is more the Bourne territory than "Ghajini". The expertly-executed stunts (Allan Amin, you are the man!) frequently see our hero jumping down high-rise buildings in breathtaking leaps of fate, with the camera (Vishnu Rao) pulling back in respectful awe. Of course our Prince is essentially shock-proof and crease-free. Don't mind the bruises, scratches, bandages and, yes I forgot, the memory lapse. Prince is invincible!!!
So when was the last time you viewed a film where the heist-happy hero undertakes fifty adventures in museums and banks stealing diamonds and merchandise worth trillions?
John Abraham in "Dhoom", Hrithik Roshan in "Dhoom 2", Ajay Devgn in "Cash"?
You get the drift. Just float away in the stylish mumbo-jumbo that debutant director Kookie Gulati serves up with the swaggering flamboyance of an arms-merchant who loves his guns.
"Prince It's Showtime" wears its super-cool shirt with the slogan 'Come Watch Me' with a little bit too much aggression. But if you love popcorn crunching adventure stories watch Vivek Oberoi play the hero.
Oberoi pulls it off. Effectively.
Vivek Oberoi starrer "Prince" has proved to be a shot in the arm for the actor as the film has got above average response at the box office. The film has also elbowed out Ritesh Deshmukh-starrer "Jaane Kahan Se Aayi Hai" that fell flat courtesy its weak content.
"'Prince' has met our expectations with close to 35 percent occupancy across different properties over the weekend. While 'Jaane Kahan...' has proven to be a below average kind of movie with just around 12 percent occupancy," Deepak Taluja, senior vice president (business and operations) Fun Cinemas, told IANS.
"People are appreciating the content of 'Prince'. 'The Japanese Wife' on the other hand has done lukewarm business," he added.
Piyush Raizada, director, Delite Cinema, an upgraded two-screener in the capital, also shared similar sentiments.
"'Prince' has done very good business and the occupancy has been more than 50 percent. However 'Jaane Kahan...' has been very very poor with less than 20 percent occupancy," said Raizada.
Made at a budget of over Rs.40 crore (Rs.400 million) by producer Kumar Taurani, the two-hour-six-minute venture boasts of action sequences exceeding an hour. It released with over 1,000 prints worldwide.
Directed by debutant Kooki V. Gulati, "Prince" also stars Nandana Sen, Aruna Shields and Neeru Singh in the female lead.
Meanwhile, "Jaane Kahan..." is the directorial debut of Milap Zaveri. Made on a budget of about Rs.10 crore (Rs.100 million), the fantasy romantic comedy released worldwide with around 600 prints.
Distributed by Warner Bros Pictures India, it has been co-produced by Mukesh Talreja and Nikhil Advani. It teamed up Riteish with Jacqueline Fernandez again after "Aladdin".
"The Japanese Wife", on the other hand, released with only 32 prints in India. Directed by Aparna Sen, it stars Rahul Bose, Raima Sen, Moushumi Chatterjee and Japanese actress Chingusa Takaku.
Munish Sharma, general manager (marketing), Satyam Cineplex, had positive reports for "Prince" and "Jaane Kahan Se...".
"Both 'Prince' and 'Jaane Kahan...' did fairly well with close to 30-40 percent occupancy. Both are average movies but because there is a dearth of content these days, people are hungry for movies. 'The Japanese Wife', on the other hand, was a little lukewarm because of a niche audience value," said Sharma.
PVR cinemas, however, was disappointed with the commercial potboilers.
"Both the movies have been disappointing. The content of 'Prince' has no value and fetched no footfall. It had close to just 20 percent occupancy while 'Jaane Kahan...' didn't do any magic on the big screen with below 10 percent occupancy," said a source from PVR.
"However, 'The Japanese Wife' that released with limited prints and limited shows has got good reports with almost 40 percent occupancy," the source added.
According to a statement released by Saregama Films Monday, the producers of "The Japanese Wife", the movie has got "a very promising start off at 88 percent initial collection".
Warsaw, April 10 (IANS) Polish President Lech Kaczynski and his wife Maria were killed with 85 people Saturday when a plane carrying them crashed near the Smolensk airport in Russia, officials said.
The disaster, which plunged Poland into grief, occurred when the Russian-built Tupolev 154-M reportedly struck some trees, caught fire and broke up as it approached the airport in Smolensk city in western Russia.
The president and his delegation, which included Polish National Bank president Slawmir Skrzpek, was going to Russia to take part in an official ceremony in Katyn, where 20,000 Poles were slaughtered by Soviet forces during World War II.
The Katyn massacre was a major irritant between Poland and Russia. Kaczynski was reluctant to go there until the last day because he was not sure of getting a proper protocol from the Russian authorities.
Officials said that all the top officials of the Polish presidency seemed to have perished in the crash.
Elected the president in October 2005, Kaczynski was the mayor of Warsaw where he cut his political teeth with his missionary zeal.
In an earlier meeting with IANS, the president had expressed his desire to visit India. He warmly received Indian President Pratibha Patil when she flew to Poland in April 2009.
He was a great admirer of Indian democracy and a major critic of China. He also had a soft corner for the Dalai Lama and always met him when the Tibetan spiritual leader came to Poland.
In Poland, the speaker of parliament, Bronislaw Komorowski, hurriedly arrived here from Gdansk to take charge as president till a new election is called. Prime Minister Donald Tusk rushed to Warsaw for an emergency meeting of the cabinet.
President Kaczynski, along with his twin brother Jarosalw, the leader of PIS, the main opposition party, have been very active for the past 10 years in Polish politics.
In the beginning, both brothers were close to Lech Walesa, the Solidarity leader. But within a few years they left Walesa after a bitter rift with him.
DPA adds: The dead included politicians, religious figures and anti-Communist icons.
"(The plane) clipped the tops of the trees, crashed down and broke into pieces," Russia-24 television network quoted the governor of the Smolensk region as saying.
The Russian television's broadcast live footage showed that the plane's wreckage scattered in a forest with parts of it still on fire.
The governor of the Russian region of Smolensk confirmed that Kaczynski was on board the plane and had died, reported Interfax.
The plane reportedly struck trees as it approached the airport and caught fire. The flames have since been extinguished.
Investigators were trying to determine the cause of the crash, which was recorded at 10.50 a.m. (0650 GMT).
On board were also Ryszard Kaczorowski, the last Polish president in exile, Jerzy Szmajdzinski, vice-marshal of parliament, Wladyslaw Stasiak, head of the president's chancellery, and Janusz Kurtyka, head of the Institute of National Remembrance, which investigates Nazi and Soviet crimes against Poles, reported the Polish Press Agency PAP.
Planned ceremonies in Katyn were called off. Attendees said they would instead pray for the victims of the plane crash.
The disaster, which plunged Poland into grief, occurred when the Russian-built Tupolev 154-M reportedly struck some trees, caught fire and broke up as it approached the airport in Smolensk city in western Russia.
The president and his delegation, which included Polish National Bank president Slawmir Skrzpek, was going to Russia to take part in an official ceremony in Katyn, where 20,000 Poles were slaughtered by Soviet forces during World War II.
The Katyn massacre was a major irritant between Poland and Russia. Kaczynski was reluctant to go there until the last day because he was not sure of getting a proper protocol from the Russian authorities.
Officials said that all the top officials of the Polish presidency seemed to have perished in the crash.
Elected the president in October 2005, Kaczynski was the mayor of Warsaw where he cut his political teeth with his missionary zeal.
In an earlier meeting with IANS, the president had expressed his desire to visit India. He warmly received Indian President Pratibha Patil when she flew to Poland in April 2009.
He was a great admirer of Indian democracy and a major critic of China. He also had a soft corner for the Dalai Lama and always met him when the Tibetan spiritual leader came to Poland.
In Poland, the speaker of parliament, Bronislaw Komorowski, hurriedly arrived here from Gdansk to take charge as president till a new election is called. Prime Minister Donald Tusk rushed to Warsaw for an emergency meeting of the cabinet.
President Kaczynski, along with his twin brother Jarosalw, the leader of PIS, the main opposition party, have been very active for the past 10 years in Polish politics.
In the beginning, both brothers were close to Lech Walesa, the Solidarity leader. But within a few years they left Walesa after a bitter rift with him.
DPA adds: The dead included politicians, religious figures and anti-Communist icons.
"(The plane) clipped the tops of the trees, crashed down and broke into pieces," Russia-24 television network quoted the governor of the Smolensk region as saying.
The Russian television's broadcast live footage showed that the plane's wreckage scattered in a forest with parts of it still on fire.
The governor of the Russian region of Smolensk confirmed that Kaczynski was on board the plane and had died, reported Interfax.
The plane reportedly struck trees as it approached the airport and caught fire. The flames have since been extinguished.
Investigators were trying to determine the cause of the crash, which was recorded at 10.50 a.m. (0650 GMT).
On board were also Ryszard Kaczorowski, the last Polish president in exile, Jerzy Szmajdzinski, vice-marshal of parliament, Wladyslaw Stasiak, head of the president's chancellery, and Janusz Kurtyka, head of the Institute of National Remembrance, which investigates Nazi and Soviet crimes against Poles, reported the Polish Press Agency PAP.
Planned ceremonies in Katyn were called off. Attendees said they would instead pray for the victims of the plane crash.
Lalit Modi interviews his wife and daughter [Video] from IPL Youtube Channel
Securities and Exchange Board of India has banned Unit LinkedInsurance Products (ULIPs) of 14 Indian companies since, the ULIPs launched by the comanies were found to be akin to the mutual fund schemes and were launched without obtaining registration from the Securities and Exchange Board of India
The companies include
a. Aegon Religare Life Insurance Company Limited
b. Aviva Life Insurance Company India Limited
c. Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance Company Limited
d. Bharti AXA Life Insurance Company Limited
e. Birla Sun Life Insurance Company Limited
f. HDFC Standard Life Insurance Company Limited
g. ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company Limited
h. ING Vyasa Life Insurance Company Limited
i. Kotak Mahindra Old Mutual Life Insurance Limited
j. Max New York Life Insurance Co. Limited
k. Metlife India Insurance Company Limited
l. Reliance Life Insurance Company Limited
m. SBI Life Insurance Company Limited
n. TATA AIG Life Insurance Company Limited
View the Order of Whole Time Member in the matter of ULIP
Hyderabad, April 10 (IANS) Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik, who is set to marry Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza, could land in fresh trouble for furnishing false information while giving divorce to his first wife Ayesha Siddiqui, according to official documents.The divorce and agreement papers, which Shoaib signed April 7, have the name of his late father as Malik Saleem Hussain while the invitation for the April 15 wedding reception carries the name of his father as Malik Faqeer Hussain, the documents show.
According to legal experts, Shoaib could face legal action if Ayesha's family files a case against him on charges of furnishing false information.
The wrong name given in divorce certificate and the agreement signed on Rs.100 stamp paper could be yet another attempt by Shoaib to show that he did not marry Ayesha, they said.
The former Pakistani skipper divorced Ayesha Wednesday after she filed a police case against him for cheating. Sania's family members and some community elders convinced him to end the row through divorce.
It was immediately not known if Ayesha's family would again approach the police against Shoaib.
The Pakistani star is still caught in a legal mesh as the police have not yet returned his passport which was seized about a week ago.
Though Ayesha has informed the police that she was withdrawing her complaint, Shoaib would get back his passport only after completing legal formalities.
With police yet to return Shoaib's passport, the qazi expressed his inability to perform the 'nikah', which was scheduled to take place Friday evening.
Qazis in Hyderabad do not perform marriages of foreigners without verifying the passport and no-objection certificates from their respective governments.
Sources said the nikah would now be possible any day before April 15, the day when Sania's family has planned to host a wedding reception at the Taj Krishna hotel here.
Film: "The Japanese Wife"; Starring: Rahul Bose, Raima Sen, Chigusa Takaku, Moushumi Chatterjee; Written & Directed by Aparna Sen; Rating: **
The final lap in this lyrical but contrived tale of unfufilled love shows two women coming together after the tragic death of the man they both loved. One, the Japanese wife of the title, the other a silent widow of meagre means.
By then it's too late. "The Japanese Wife" has lost its claims to its director's fame.
This story of a long-distance 'marriage' between a Bengali bhadra-lok from rural Bengal Snehmoy (Rahul Bose) and his Japanese pen-pal Miyage (Chigusa Takaku) suffers from an incurable disease known as Inherent Silliness. Based on a true story by Kunal Basu, this is the ultimate non-romance between two people who thoroughly deserve each other.
They're both so annoying and outdated in their naivete, you see! The couple married to each other for over 15 years never meets and barely speaks to each other on the phone a few times (talk about phoney relationships, this one takes the cake). When Miyage falls ill in Japan Snehmoy goes to the doctor in Kolkata with her medical reports. The doc's expression when he hears why the patient can't come personally to be examined is exactly the way we feel about this long-distance marriage.
Aparna Sen, in what is arguably her most disastrous film to date, intersperses the over-sweet ridiculously idealistic relationship with quaint post-picture images from Snehmoy's rural home life with his aunt (Moushumi) and widow (Raima Sen) who moves into the schoolteacher-hero's home with her son. Snatches of changing times such as Bipasha sizzling to "Beedi jalayle" on television remind us of how outrageously old-fashioned the basic storyline is. While Rahul's Japanese connection makes you want to run and cover your face in a kimono, the actor's rapport with the widow's son (Rudranil Ghosh) conveys a natural warmth and grace.
Aparna Sen has always shown a keen eye for visual detail. The scenes from Snehmoy's home life, the architectural details, the scenic landscape, incidental characters encountered in the toasted-brown lanes, and the boats riding the swelling rivers are done with heartwarming tenderness. Full credit to cinematographer Anay Goswami for using the screen space to create picture-post card scenes of rural Bengal echoing images from Satyajit Ray's "Pather Panchali".
The art-direction, sound and most specially the composition of the frames once again shows Aparna Sen's glorious mastery over visual detailing and her skill as a celluloid storyteller so evident in her earlier works.
This time Aparna Sen is let down by the basic implausibility of the material. What could have been a poignant and haunting tale of love, understanding and marriage between two people from different cultures and countries ends up being just a misconstructed series of verbal exchanges on the soundtrack between Rahul Bose and the Japanese actress whose individual accents are as grating on our nerves as any put-on accent we've ever heard in cinema.
Bose, who has repeatedly proved himself a skilled actor, is unable to take his character to a level beyond the irritating. What is supposed to be moving and emotional often turns out to be unintentionally laughable. Watch Rahul masturbating frantically in a boat after he promises his chitti-biwi from Japan to remain sexually faithful to her. This is Rahul's second masturbation scene on screen after Dev Benegal's "English August". The first time his character was bored. This time he's just desperate. So are we.
To keep a straight face while the characters talk to each other in thick accents about love and togetherness without ever meeting (or mating). This is stretching the imagination. Sorry, it just doesn't work.
As for the long kite-flying sequence it puts you off kites forever. Sorry, Hrithik and Barbara.
Rahul Bose's vast abilities to get into character here fight a losing battle. His performance never goes beyond the accent. Raima Sen is as usual, lovely and in-character. Wonder why she continues to be sidelined! And it's a pleasure to watch Moushumi Chatterjee return as Rahul's goodhearted but scheming aunt. But as Rishi Kapoor always says about his performances in failed films, 'Faiyda kya hai?' (What's the use)
If you are a fan of Aparna Sen's work (as I am) you would be deeply disappointed by her descent into this self-important but frustrating film about a couple which deserves each other for all the wrong reasons. Arjun Sablok did long-distance love much better with Hrithik Roshan and Esha Deol in "Na Tum Janon Na Hum".
The audio release of the new telugumovie Rama Rama Krishna Krishna was done in Hyeberabad. Veteran music director M M Keeravani composes music for the movie Rama Rama Krishna Krishna. It is his 200th film as music director.
The movie features, Ram, Bindu Madhavi and Priya Anand. Arjun will be seen in a guest role. Rama Rama Krishna Krishna is directed by Srivas and produced by Dil Raju. Co-produced by Sirish and Laxman, the editing is by Goutham Raju.
New Delhi, April 10 (IANS) A major fire broke out in a container depot near the Tughlaqabad railway station here early Saturday. No one was injured, an official said.
"It was a major fire. Over 30 fire tenders were rushed to the spot to douse the flames. The fire started at 5.45 a.m. today (Saturday)," the fire department official told IANS.
The official said the depot contained heavy iron material and a probe was on to find out the cause of the blaze.
"It was a major fire. Over 30 fire tenders were rushed to the spot to douse the flames. The fire started at 5.45 a.m. today (Saturday)," the fire department official told IANS.
The official said the depot contained heavy iron material and a probe was on to find out the cause of the blaze.
Ram Gopal Varma is planning to make a movie on the controversial God-man Swami Nityananda. RGV will start the film after his ongoing work 'Rakta Charitra'.The film will deal with how godmen who are humans deal power, fame, greed and sex.
The cast, crew of the movie is not finalised yet.
Washington, April 10 (IANS) President Barack Obama has named India-born Harvard geneticist Raju Kucherlapati, whose research focuses on gene mapping, gene modification and cloning disease genes, to a key White House panel on bioethics.Kucherlapati, 67, who is the Director Emeritus and Paul C. Cabot Professor in the Harvard Medical School Department of Genetics, is among ten scholars named to the newly created Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues.
The commission will advise the President on bioethical issues that may emerge from advances in biomedicine and related areas of science and technology, the White House announced.
It has been tasked to work with the goal of identifying and promoting policies and practices that ensure scientific research, health care delivery, and technological innovation are conducted in an ethically responsible manner.
Announcing the appointment of Kucherlapati and others, President Obama said: "I am grateful that these impressive individuals have decided to dedicate their talent and experience to this important Commission. I look forward to their recommendations in the coming months and years."
Kucherlapati, who is also a professor in the Department of Medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital, was the first Scientific Director of the Harvard Medical School-Partners Healthcare Center for Genetics and Genomics.
From 1989-2001, Kucherlapati was the Lola and Saul Kramer Professor of Molecular Genetics and Chairman of the Department at the Yeshiva University Albert Einstein College of Medicine.
He was previously a professor in the Department of Genetics at the University of Illinois, College of Medicine. He began his research as an assistant professor in the Department of Biochemical Sciences at Princeton University.
Kucherlapati has chaired numerous National Institutes of Health (NIH) committees and served on the National Advisory Council for Human Genome Research and the NCI Mouce Models for Human Cancer Consortium.
Kucherlapati is also a member of the Cancer Genome Atlas project of the National Institutes of Health. He is a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National academy of sciences and a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Kucherlapati received his BS and MS in Biology from universities in India, and he received his PhD from the University of Illinois at Urbana, as well as conducting post-doctoral work at Yale University.
Nissan motors has launched the Indian website for their first small car in India.
The Nissan small car Nissan Micra will be available in the later half of 2010.
The website features photo gallery, links to Orkut, Facebook links, Contact page etc.
The Nissan small car Nissan Micra will be available in the later half of 2010.
The website features photo gallery, links to Orkut, Facebook links, Contact page etc.
Best Hatchback Car in India 2010 [Poll]
Vote for your favourite small car available in India
Vote for your favourite small car available in India
Ottawa, April 10 (IANS) Indian-origin ex-MP Rahim Jaffer, who became an embarrassment for the Canadian prime minister because of alleged shady deals, saw his minister wife being sacked from the cabinet Friday.
Helena Guergis, who is in charge of women affairs, was in the thick of controversies which included her tantrums at an airport and her female aide writing letters to local papers lauding her without revealing that she worked for the minister.
Prime minister Stephen Harper not only threw her out but also ordered police investigations into charges against her.
The prime minister was forced to act after the Toronto Star carried an expose Thursday, showing the minister's Indian-origin husband boasting his influence with the PMO to get business deals done. Throwing her out, the prime minister said, "I am very disappointed, it is a very sad day...'' Interestingly, the minister had offered to resign, but the prime minister acted to remove her.
But her part, the minister said, "This morning, I tendered my resignation as Minister of State for Status of Women to the Prime Minister which he accepted.''
The prime minister didn't say much about allegations against the minister's husband Jaffer whose antics exposed by the Toronto Star Thursday forced him to throw her out.
"Mr. Jaffer is a private citizen and he is responsible for himself and I have no comment to add to that matter.Obviously, I read the newspapers yesterday. The suggestions that were made that Mr. Jaffer has an open door to my office are completely false,'' the prime minister said. In the investigative report in the Toronto Star Thursday, Jaffer is exposed as promising a alleged conman Nazim Gillani to get business deals done because of his sway with the prime minister.
"Mr. Jaffer has opened up the Prime Ministers' office to us and as a result of that dinner - he today advised me that he is just as excited as we are and joining our team seems to be the next logical step,'' the conmansaid in an email to his business associates after throwing a dinner party for Jaffer in September.
Jaffer, an Ismaili Muslim of Gujarati origin, became Canada's youngest non-white MP at the age of 25 in 1997. He served four terms till his loss in the 2008 parliamentary elections.
The 38-year-old former MP married to 41-year-old Helena Guergis in 2008.
Helena Guergis, who is in charge of women affairs, was in the thick of controversies which included her tantrums at an airport and her female aide writing letters to local papers lauding her without revealing that she worked for the minister.
Prime minister Stephen Harper not only threw her out but also ordered police investigations into charges against her.
The prime minister was forced to act after the Toronto Star carried an expose Thursday, showing the minister's Indian-origin husband boasting his influence with the PMO to get business deals done. Throwing her out, the prime minister said, "I am very disappointed, it is a very sad day...'' Interestingly, the minister had offered to resign, but the prime minister acted to remove her.
But her part, the minister said, "This morning, I tendered my resignation as Minister of State for Status of Women to the Prime Minister which he accepted.''
The prime minister didn't say much about allegations against the minister's husband Jaffer whose antics exposed by the Toronto Star Thursday forced him to throw her out.
"Mr. Jaffer is a private citizen and he is responsible for himself and I have no comment to add to that matter.Obviously, I read the newspapers yesterday. The suggestions that were made that Mr. Jaffer has an open door to my office are completely false,'' the prime minister said. In the investigative report in the Toronto Star Thursday, Jaffer is exposed as promising a alleged conman Nazim Gillani to get business deals done because of his sway with the prime minister.
"Mr. Jaffer has opened up the Prime Ministers' office to us and as a result of that dinner - he today advised me that he is just as excited as we are and joining our team seems to be the next logical step,'' the conmansaid in an email to his business associates after throwing a dinner party for Jaffer in September.
Jaffer, an Ismaili Muslim of Gujarati origin, became Canada's youngest non-white MP at the age of 25 in 1997. He served four terms till his loss in the 2008 parliamentary elections.
The 38-year-old former MP married to 41-year-old Helena Guergis in 2008.
University of Kerala, one of the earliest universities in India has launched its new website at www.keralauniversity.ac.in. The website offers services such as details about Departments and Centres, Affiliated Colleges, Students, Alumni, Course, Information, Results, Exam Notifications, Fee Information, Downloads, Research And Consultancy, Announcements, etc
Prabhas Darling Telugu Movie Trailer
Darling audio release
Darling audio release
South Indian actress Rambha - Canada-based businessman Indhiran Padmanathan marriage was held on April 8 in Tirupathi.
The marriage reception will be held in Chennai on April 11.
Rambha engagement photo
The marriage reception will be held in Chennai on April 11.
Rambha engagement photo
Los Angeles, April 10 (DPA) Hollywood legend Elizabeth Taylor is to marry for the ninth time at the ripe old age of 78, US Weekly magazine reported Friday.The report said that the actress had secretly become engaged to her long time companion, Jason Winters, 49, an entertainment manager who recently took on Janet Jackson as a client.
Taylor has been married eight times - twice to Richard Burton. Her last marriage, to construction worker Larry Fortensky, ended after five years in 1996.
In 2007 she gushed about Winters to gossip columnist Liz Smith, describing him as "one of the most wonderful men I've ever known, that's why I love him".
London, April 10 (IANS) Scientists have discovered a gene linked to the type of deafness passed on through families.The finding revealed treatments for inherited deafness are one step closer. Around half of deafness is thought to be inherited and experts are pinpointing genes involved one by one.
Researchers looked at the genetics of families where several members were deaf and identified the PTPRQ (Protein tyrosine phosphatase, receptor type, Q) gene as playing a role, reports express.co.uk.
The research, funded by the Royal National Institute for Deaf People and published in the American Journal of Human Genetics, was carried out by Dutch experts.
"This research will help develop medicines that are desperately needed to prevent deafness and restore hearing," said Sohaila Rastan, RNID's chief scientific adviser.
In the past few months the Dutch team has discovered two other genes linked to inherited deafness. So far, about a third of 60 genes have been discovered.
Every year 840 babies are born in the UK with significant deafness. By the age of three, one child in 1,000 is deaf.
Colombo, April 9 (DPA) Sri Lanka's ruling party, led by President Mahinda Rajapaksa, won the first parliamentary elections held since last year's end of the country's 26-year civil war, election officials said Friday.With some votes yet to be counted from Thursday's elections, Rajapaksa's United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) had taken 117 seats, already a majority in the 225-member parliament, officials said.
"We have surpassed the required 113 members to form a government with the results announced so far," said Dullas Allahaperuma, a former minister from the UPFA.
The ruling party, buoyed by the military victory last year against the separatist rebels of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), also won the presidential election in January with 58 percent of the vote.
According to partial results announced Friday evening, the UPFA had received 4.7 million votes, or 60.43 percent of Thursday's ballots. The United National Party (UNP), the main opposition party, had 2.3 million votes, or 29.43 percent.
Those results gave the UNP 46 members in Parliament so far, while the Tamil National Alliance, a coalition of parties for the Tamil ethnic minority, had won 12 seats and a Marxist party five.
Of the 225 members in parliament, 196 are directly elected while the remaining 29 are nominated by the parties based on the nationwide proportion of votes they gain.
Polling was due to be held again April 17 in two constituencies where polling agents from the opposition were chased out of polling stations by ruling party supporters. One of the constituencies is in Central Province, where polling was affected in 38 of the polling locations, and the other is in the northeastern district of Trincomalee, where polling was affected at two stations.
As a result, the final results have been delayed but preliminary results without the two constituencies would be released Saturday, a spokesman for the Elections Department said.
The repoll was unlikely to have an impact on the final result as the margin between the ruling party and opposition was wide, he said.
The UPFA has been campaigning for a two-thirds majority in parliament, but it was not immediately clear whether it would reach that target.
Allahaperuma earlier said according to previous projections, the UPFA would end up with an estimated 136 seats.
"This is a sign that the people are losing faith in the opposition and endorsing the policies of President Rajapaksa," he said.
A political party campaigning on behalf of the army's former commander who led the final battles against the LTTE and who is currently in military custody was trailing the two main parties.
General Sarath Fonseka has been in custody since Feb 8, shortly after he lost to Rajapaksa in the presidential election. He has been charged with conspiracy against the government and fraud in military procurements.
According to results released so far, there was no indication that the Democratic National Alliance backing Fonseka had been able to gain any sympathy votes over the arrest of the general. It had won five seats.
In Thursday's elections, 14 million people were registered to vote, and an estimated 55 percent of them turned out.
The turnout was considered low compared with the January presidential elections, in which 74 percent voted, and with the previous parliamentary elections, in which 75 percent voted.
Election officials had commenced the counting of preference votes, which decide the members who enter Parliament. Four ministers of the past government have lost their seats.
Soweto (Johannesburg), April 9 (DPA) The final design for 2010 World Cup tickets was unveiled Friday by FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke and South Africa organizing committee CEO Danny Jordaan at Maponya Mall in Soweto.The unveiling ceremony of golden-coloured tickets with the World Cup logo on it (an African map and a player doing an overhead kick) was used by organizers to promote the next ticket sale stage.
Tickets will be made available on a first-come, first-served basis to the general public from April 15, when the fifth and final sales phase begins.
"For this last phase, we have made a big effort to assist football fans by introducing various additional means to purchase a ticket," explained Valcke.
"We are committed to facilitating the process for all fans and giving them this last chance to attend the matches and experience the excitement of this first World Cup in Africa."
Prices range from $20 to $160 for group matches and $70 to $450 for the opening match between South Africa and Mexico on June 11 at Soccer City in Johannesburg.
In all, 500,000 tickets for all matches - except the sold out final July 11 - will be made available.
Tickets can be purchased in South Africa during the final sales phase through 11 ticketing centres across the 9 host cities, in 600 FNB brank branches nationwide, at certain sales points, via the FIFA website or by calling a special hotline.
We are excited about these new initiatives, which make the process much easier for everyone. We have always said that it is important that we make this World Cup more accessible to the people and with the over-the-counter sales, we believe this measure is consistent with the needs of the fans," said Jordaan.
Fans applying at the ticketing centres will be required to display ID and pay by credit card or cash.
A total of 240,000 World Cup tickets were sold in the fourth phase, 85 per cent of which went to South African residents. Overall, 2.2 million of around 3 million tickets have been sold for the tournament.
New Delhi, April 9 (IANS) The first-ever auction of the radio frequency spectrum for third generation (3G) telephony that would facilitate high-speed mobile services in India began Friday, with five rounds completed in a single day. As many as nine telecom companies -- Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications, Vodafone Essar, Idea Cellular, Tata Teleservices, Aircel, Etisalat, S Tel and Videocon Telecommunications -- are participating in the online auction process.
Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications, Vodafone Essar, Tata Teleservices, Idea Cellular and Aircel are bidding for all-India spectrum, while Videocon, S Tel and Etisalat are bidding only for selective circles.
According to the latest data available on the website of the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), the national capital received Friday the highest bid at Rs.373.29 crore, followed by Mumbai, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu at Rs.362.66 crore.
Nine service areas witnessed negative demand. These were Bihar, Orissa, Jammu and Kashmir, Assam, Himachal Pradesh, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Haryana and the North East,
The government has fixed a reserve price of Rs.3,500 crore for 3G spectrum. It is a simultaneous auction of 22 service areas over a secure website on the internet.
The auction has multiple rounds. At each round, the price would be hiked from anywhere between 10-1 percent over the previous round's price depending on the demand.
The auctions will be held from 9 a.m. to 7.30 p.m. on all days, except Sundays and national holidays.
It will end only when the demand is equal to the number of slots available in each service area.
According to a senior DoT official, it is difficult to set a time-frame for the 3G bidding.
"It may be over in two weeks, but can also stretch for a month," the official said.
The bid data, including the winning companies' names, will be made public after the auction is completed. The winning firms will have to deposit the money within 10 days after the auction.
The successful bidders would be allowed to offer 3G services on a commercial basis from Sep 1.
The 3G telecom services will allow faster connectivity than what is available now and enable applications such as internet TV, video-on-demand, audio-video calls and high-speed data exchange.
According to the Notice Inviting Applications (NIA) issued in February, of the 22 telecom circles, five states - Punjab, Bihar, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir - will have four private players for the auction.
Other circles, including the four metros of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai, will have three private players.
The number of slots up for grab exclude those allotted to state-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd, which were allotted licences last year and have since started offering 3G services in their operating circles. But they will have to match the price paid by the highest bidder in their zones.
The auction for broadband services will begin two days after the process concludes for 3G spectrum.
As many as 11 companies -- Bharti Airtel, Idea Cellular, Aircel, Augere Mauritius Limited, Infotel Broadband Services, Qualcomm, Reliance WiMax, Spice Internet Service Provider, Tata Communications Internet Services, Tikona Digital Networks and Vodafone Essar -- will bid for broadband wireless access (BWA) services.
The government has set Rs.1,750 crore as the base price for BWA spectrum.
The central government hopes to garner Rs.45,000 crore from these auctions.
Hyderabad, April 9 (IANS) Controversies continue to haunt Indian tennis star Sania Mirza and Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik as their high-profile marriage scheduled for Friday evening has been postponed.With police not yet returning Shoaib's passport, the qazi expressed his inability to perform the nikah and the two families had no option but to postpone the ceremony, sources close to the families said.
Earlier, the qazi told reporters that nikah would be performed at 7 p.m. Sania Mirza's family members made hectic efforts to get back Shoaib's passport, which was seized by police Monday after grilling him in connection with a criminal case filed by his first wife Ayesha Siddiqui, also of Hyderabad.
Sania's father Imran Mirza met senior police officers, including the one who was handling the case against Shoaib, but they told him that since the passport was deposited with the court, Shoaib would have to retrieve it from there after some formalities.
Qazis in Hyderabad do not perform marriages of foreigners without verifying the passport and no-objection certificates from their respective governments.
Though Ayesha, who was divorced by Shoaib Wednesday, has informed the police that she is withdrawing her complaint, Shoaib would get back his passport only after completing some legal formalities.
Sources said the nikah would now be possible any day before April 15, the day when Sania's family has planned to host a wedding reception at Taj Krishna hotel here.
Sania's family has also sought security for three-day marriage ceremonies at the house, beginning April 13.
Sources in 'Qazat', or a section of Wakf Board, which deals with Muslim marriages, told IANS that the nikahnama or the marriage document to be signed by Sania and Shoaib will clearly mention this is Shoaib's second marriage.
It was only Wednesday that Shoaib divorced his first wife Ayesha, a resident of this city, following mediation by Sania's family members and community elders. Ayesha had filed a police complaint against Shoaib, accusing him of cheating.
The divorce came after the former Pakistani skipper constantly maintained that he did not marry Ayesha Siddiqui but another girl whose photographs she had sent her.
Ayesha claimed the marriage took place over phone in 2002 and even produced a nikahnama with Shoaib's signature on it to prove this. She had even claimed that they stayed as man and wife.
Ayesha also said she became pregnant and had a miscarriage.
The Qazat Wednesday issued 'talaqnama' or divorce certificate after Shoaib signed the papers and paid Rs.15,000 to Ayesha towards her maintenance for three months as per Islamic sharia.
It was only to save Sania from being called his second wife that Shoaib continued denying the marriage but crumbled when Ayesha produced "solid proof" and he faced arrest in the criminal case, sources said.
Bollywood actress Vidya Balan will be playing the role of infamous tamil actress Silk Smitha in Ekta Kapoor's next film based on the life of Silk Smitha, Indiaglitz reports. The biopic on Silk Smitha is titled ‘The Dirty Picture’.
Milan Luthria, who is currently making Once Upon A Time In Mumbai for Ekta's banner will be directing this film. The producer claims the film will not focus on the sleaze but the tragedy behind unfortunate sex symbol.
Vidya Balan however hasn't confirmed the news.
Silk Smitha one of the heart-throbs of the youth in South Indian cinema became popular through her glamorous appearances in softcore films. Her original name was Vijayalakshimi and hailed from Andhra Pradesh.
Silk Smitha has acted in over 200 Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, Kannada and a few Hindi films.
Her noted films include Yamakinkarudu, Moondru Mugam, Khaidi, Challenge, Layanam, Nadodi, Sphadikam , Moondram Pirai , Adharvam
Silk Smitha was found dead in her apartment at Chennai in 1996. As per unconfirmed reports she commited suicide due to financial problems.
London, April 9 (IANS) Pop star Rihanna says singer Katy Perry and her fiance Russell Brand will get married in India at the end of the year.
Rihanna also said that Perry has asked her to organise her hen do, a party held for a woman who is about to be married, reported thesun.co.uk
"I have to come up with something cool because she is getting married in India so I'm like, 'Okay, now what do I do to match that? That's at the end of the year so we've got some time to plan," said Rihanna.
Perry, 25, had been dating 34-year-old Brand for just four months when he proposed to her on New Year's Eve during a romantic stay in Jaipur, India.
Their nuptials are set to be a star-studded event.
Perry recently nicknamed her fiance "Bridezilla" for his obsession with planning their wedding.
Rihanna also said that Perry has asked her to organise her hen do, a party held for a woman who is about to be married, reported thesun.co.uk
"I have to come up with something cool because she is getting married in India so I'm like, 'Okay, now what do I do to match that? That's at the end of the year so we've got some time to plan," said Rihanna.
Perry, 25, had been dating 34-year-old Brand for just four months when he proposed to her on New Year's Eve during a romantic stay in Jaipur, India. Their nuptials are set to be a star-studded event.
Perry recently nicknamed her fiance "Bridezilla" for his obsession with planning their wedding.
Katrina Kaif, who is busy promoting her forthcoming film "Raajneeti", says she may get married in the next two years. "I think in two years I will get married. But still two years is a long time. I think I still have some time. Lets see. You know as the saying goes, 'Man proposes god disposes' - so every time we make a plan god comes and changes it. Let's see," Katrina, who is often linked with Salman Khan, told reporters here.
Katrina, 25, has shed her glam girl image to play a politician in director Prakash Jha's much talked about "Raajneeti". She describes it as a special film in her career.
"A lot of people have given tremendous feedback... hopefully audiences will like it and it would be a new step for me in my career," Katrina told reporters at the launch of the wedding line Nakshatra Vivaah here Thursday.
"Raajneeti" takes an incisive look at Indian electoral system where a handful of people control the destiny of millions. It shows how people, who understand power, fight a bitter and violent battle to achieve their unstoppable ambition.
Apart from Katrina Kaif, the film also features Ajay Devgn, Ranbir Kapoor, Arjun Rampal, Manoj Bajpai, Sarah Thompson, Naseeruddin Shah and Nana Patekar.
Though many feel her character in "Raajneeti" is based on Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Katrina has denied the speculation.
"For me Sonia Gandhi-ji is one of the most inspiring women in India. And personally, she is an inspiration. But this film and my character in the film does not resemble her or is not based on her life at all. I think it's really important to clarify," she clarified.
She is also doing Farah Khan's "Tees Maar Khan" and feels the director should do more films.
"Shooting for 'Tees Maar Khan' went off amazingly. That was one of the funniest times I had. My only comment on working with Farah Khan is that she should be doing more films," said Katrina.
New Delhi, April 9 (IANS) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh "fully backs" Home Minister P. Chidambaram and had rejected his offer of resignation following the Maoist massacre of 76 security personnel in Chhattisgarh, government sources said."PM has declined to accept the home minister's offer for resignation. The PM fully backs his senior cabinet colleague," a top official told IANS.
The home minister had written to the prime minister and Congress president Sonia Gandhi accepting blame for Tuesday's attack that led to the killing of 75 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel and a Chhattisgarh policeman in a Bastar forest, the worst Maoist assault since the insurgency began more than four decades ago, an official privy to the letter added.
He said there was "no question" of Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi accepting the resignation offer as Chidambaram, who took over as home minister after the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack, has largely been hailed for his role in handling internal security management.
According to sources, Chidambaram wrote the letters Wednesday soon after returning from Chhatisgarh.
Chidambaram had set the ball rolling earlier in the day when he said at a CRPF function that he accepted "full responsibility" for the massacre and that the "buck stops at my desk".
"I have been asked directly or indirectly where the buck stops after the attack. The buck stops at my desk," Chidambaram said at a function to mark Valour Day for the CRPF.
"I accept full responsibility for what happened in Dantewada. I called the prime minister and gave in writing that I accept full responsibility for what happened," he said, adding: "Let me not elaborate."
Referring to the many reports on how the men were poorly trained, Chidambaram went guns blazing defending the security personnel.
"It has been written that the 62nd battalion was poorly trained or lacked adequate weapons and equipment which is not true," Chidambaram said.
"I ask everyone humbly that if you can't go on the front, please don't disrespect our jawans."
"We have addressed issues pertaining to salaries, allowances, pensions, compensations and rehabilitation. More needs to be done, and they will be done," said the minister.
The families of the slain personnel would be given full compensation before the end of this month, Chidambaram said. The government had announced a compensation of Rs.38 lakh for the next of kin of each slain security personnel, with the central government contributing Rs.15 lakh to the kitty
He also offered a job for a family member of each of the slain personnel.
"I am proud of the CRPF and its work. I salute all those who laid down their lives. The families who lost their member in the Dantewada attack will be compensated by the end of this month," the minister assured.
New Delhi, April 9 (IANS) Scientists from the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai, rushed to the capital Friday to probe the incident in which a radioactive substance caused burn-like injuries to four people in west Delhi, police said.The substance was isolated and the area cordoned off. The prime minister and home ministry have been informed, they added.
Four people suffered burn-like injuries after coming in contact Thursday with the radioactive material in a scrap market in Mayapuri area.
Officials from the disaster management authority and a team of scientists from the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai, were Friday flown in to probe the incident, police said.
"The experts from Bhabha Atomic Research Centre will visit the industrial area. The scientists confirmed that it was a radioactive material and they have isolated it," Ajay Kashyap, joint commissioner of police-West Delhi, told IANS.
Experts suspect that the radioactive substance is Cobalt-60. The situation was under control and no further impact on residents was likely, they added.
"Around half a kilometre of the area has been sealed as a precautionary measure, but public has not been evacuated from the area," Kashyap added.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (West) Sharad Aggarwal said the home ministry and prime minister's office "are being kept in the loop about all developments in the case".
Even as scientists were probing the incident in which a radioactive substance caused burn-like injuries to five people in a scrap market, scrap dealer Deepak Jain was battling for his life at the Indraprashtha Apollo Hospital here.
Jain was admitted in the hospital April 4 and his bone marrow is significantly suppressed, a hospital bulletin said Friday.
"His condition continues to be serious," it added.
"Currently he is in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and a multidisciplinary team of doctors is monitoring his progress," the hospital said.
Four people suffered burn-like injuries after coming in contact with the radioactive material in the scrap market in Mayapuri area Thursday. Jain had suffered burns April 4.
His body turned black when he touched the material, according to eyewitnesses. Four other people, including three working in the shop, were also affected by the radiation.
Meanwhile, scientists from the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai, rushed to the capital Friday to probe the incident.
The substance was isolated and the area cordoned off. The prime minister and the home ministry have been informed, police said.
"The experts from Bhabha Atomic Research Centre will visit the industrial area. The scientists confirmed that it was a radioactive material and they have isolated it," Ajay Kashyap, joint commissioner of police-West Delhi, told IANS.
Experts suspect that the radioactive substance is Cobalt-60. The situation was under control and no further impact on residents was likely, they added.
"Around half a kilometre of the area has been sealed as a precautionary measure, but public has not been evacuated from the area," Kashyap added.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (West) Sharad Aggarwal said the home ministry and prime minister's office "are being kept in the loop about all developments in the case".
Hyderabad, April 9 (IANS) Indian tennis star Sania Mirza will tie the knot with Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik here Friday.Qazi Azmatullah Jafari, one of the qazis of the area in which Sania's house is located, told reporters that the nikah would be performed after the 'maghrib' prayers after sunset.
Sania's parents, Shoaib's mother and close relatives of the duo would attend the simple nikah at Sania's house in Jubilee Hills.
The ceremony has been kept a closely guarded secret in view of the row over Shoaib's first marriage and divorce with a resident of this city.
Since Shoaib has given divorce to his first wife Ayesha Siddiqui, the nikahnama to be signed Friday will clearly mention that it is second marriage of the Pakistani star.
Shoaib had Wednesday divorced Ayesha following mediation by Sania's family members and community elders after Ayesha filed a police complaint against him.
There were also speculations that Shoaib's marriage with Sania could be postponed as he has not yet got back his passport which was seized by police after they questioned him Monday.
Though Ayesha has informed the police that she is withdrawing her complaint, police told Shoaib that he would get back his passport after completing the formalities in court.
Qazis in Hyderabad do not perform marriages of foreigners without passport and no objection certificates from their respective governments.
Sania's family will be hosting the wedding reception at a star hotel here April 15.
New Delhi, April 9 (IANS) Bollywood star Abhishek Bachchan has received several awards but probably none of them is as unique as the metallic banana statuette that he was sent for having the worst accent in Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra's film "Delhi-6".The actor was named the winner of the Dara Singh Award for the worst accent in "Delhi-6" at the second annual Golden Kela awards, which were held here in March. But since Abhishek gracefully accepted the title instead of cribbing about it, the organisers decided to send him a real statue for the award.
"Congratulations! You will go down in history as the first ever winner of a Golden Kela to have graciously accepted the award since its inception last year, thus proving conclusively that you actually have a sense of humour and don't take yourself too seriously," Jatin Varma, publisher of Random Magazine, wrote in a letter to Abhishek.
"For this simple reason, we decided that the least we could do was send over an actual statuette (if a shiny metallic banana can be called a statuette)," added Varma.
The Golden Kela awards are a spin-off on Hollywood's Golden Raspberry awards, also known as the Razzies, which recognize the worst in cinema.
"...we would just like you to accept this humble little trophy as a reminder of the love your fans have for you and how much they hate it when your movie doesn't turn out so well. We hope you like the trophy enough to keep it in that display cabinet alongside all those Filmfares and IIFAs and the like," wrote Varma.
"We also hope that next year we'll see you at the ceremony in person. We'd be willing to pay your airfare but please don't expect us to pay for your entire entourage, we don't have much money," read the witty letter.
Abhishek played an NRI boy, who comes to India with his grandmother, in "Delhi-6".
London, April 9 (IANS) "Slumdog Millionaire" star Freida Pinto is "flattered" by rumours linking her to a role in the new 007 movie but insists that she is not "beautiful" enough to play a Bond girl. "It was very flattering. I don't know if I would have done it. I am too young to be a Bond girl and you need someone more mature and beautiful than me," starpulse.com quoted Frieda as saying.
Frieda was recently reported to have signed up to play Daniel Craig's love interest in the next James Bond blockbuster, which will be directed by Sam Mendes.
A representative for the actress dismissed the rumours, confirming that Pinto has "not been approached" by Bond bosses.
Kochi, April 8 (IANS) The Kerala Film Chamber Thursday asked all film artistes, singers and technicians not to appear on television for doing shows from May 1.The Chamber is the body of producers, distributors and exhibitors in the Malayalam film industry.
Addressing reporters here after a meeting of the Chamber, one of the office bearers said that a similar decision had been taken in 2002 but nothing happened.
"This time we will see that the order is obeyed. From May 1 all artistes, singers and technicians should not appear on programmes in televisions or other stage programmes. If they do that their films will not be screened," said the office bearers.
One reason why such a decision is going to be implemented sternly is that there has been a drop in theatre collections, which has affected the stake holders of the Chamber.
However, veteran singer M.G. Sreekumar dismissed the move as "ridiculous".
"This year I have sung just four film songs and all what I have earned is Rs.25,000. If they are so particular that this new rule has to be implemented then let them ensure that I get to sing songs in every film that is released," said Sreekumar.
The ban extends to reality shows, being judges on TV shows and such programmes. However they can appear on TV if it is meant to promote a film which they have acted in, the Chamber clarified.
San Francisco, April 8 (DPA) Apple announced a new operating system for its market-leading iPhone Thursday, as it seeks to thwart challenges to its smartphone supremacy from rivals like Google, Microsoft, Nokia and the Blackberry.The new software was announced just days after Apple made headlines with the launch of its iPad tablet computer, and amid reports that the company was planning a smaller version of the device to help boost sales.
Apple CEO Steve Jobs said that the company had sold 450,000 iPads since they went on sale Saturday. At the same time users had downloaded 3.5 million apps and over 600,000 books, Jobs said.
The new iPhone code, which will be released in the summer, will help dispel the most frequent criticism of the iPhone: that it does not allow multi-tasking - the ability to run more than one application to run at a time.
"We weren't the first to this party but we're going to be the best," said Jobs. "It's really easy to implement multitasking in a way that drains battery life. If you don't do it just right your phone's going to feel sluggish and your battery life is going to go way down.
"We've figured out how to implement multitasking of third-party apps and avoid those things."
Apple also took a clear stab at Google's hopes to dominate mobile advertising in the same way that it dominates search advertising on laptops and desktops.
Jobs announced the launch of iAds, a function that will allow advertisers to buy targeted interactive ads that will feature inside the apps that users activate on their iPhones. It could also reap billions of dollars of new income for Apple, which
will take 40 percent of ad revenues, with the other 60 percent going to the developers of the apps.
The iPhone 4.0 will also be optimized for Voice-Over-IP services like Skype, so that users can make calls without using their cellular minutes, and also receive VOIP calls when their devices are in sleep mode.
Other new capabilities include a unified inbox in which all incoming communications can be accessed, including SMS, voicemails and emails from different accounts. Apple's newly launched iBooks online bookstore will also become available for the iPhone, with the ability to synchronize page and bookmarks between devices.
Apple also announced the launch of a social gaming network for the iPhone, claiming the device had more than ten times the number of games available for traditional hand-held consoles like the Nintendo DS and Sony's PSP.
"iPhone OS 4 is the fourth major release of the world's most advanced mobile operating system," said Jobs. "We're delivering over 100 new features, including multitasking, folders, a unified inbox, deeper Enterprise support, and an iPhone version of our iBooks reader and online iBookstore."
London, April 9 (IANS) Popular singer Shakira admits that she has become more comfortable with her body and is feeling sexier than ever."All through my 20's I spent more time worrying about what I didn't have than thinking about what I did have," dailystar.co.uk quoted Shakira as saying.
"I wished I was taller, had longer legs, slimmer hips, a smaller bottom, even straighter hair. I am just like all women - we're born to criticise ourselves," she added.
But, the 33-year-old actress admitted that she has over come all her insecurities and is very happy with the way she looks now.
"Now I am in my 30s I am very happy with who I am. I feel sexier than ever," said the singer.
Shakira reveals that a lot of hard work has gone behind achieving her figure.
"I have worked my butt off to look like this. I have achieved the body I have now through hard work and careful eating. I have worked out every day, either running, doing gym work or dancing," explained Shakira.
"I haven't been on the scales for a year but I know I have made my body leaner, trimming my hips and bottom," she added.
San Francisco, April 8 (DPA) A 16-year-old boy from Arkansas is suing his mother for harassment, claiming that she hacked his Facebook account and posted slanderous remarks, according to Arkansas TV station KATV Thursday.The mother, Denise New, denied the charges, claiming that her son left his Facebook page open on her computer and that she was entitled to take over his account because he had posted incriminating information on his Facebook page.
According to the boy, who was not named because he is a minor, his mother hacked into his Facebook and email accounts, then changed both passwords so he could no longer access them. She also allegedly posted remarks that involved slander and information about his personal life.
According to the report, the mother was upset about a post that suggested he had driven home one night at 95 mph (152 kph) because he had been upset with a girl. She plans to fight the charges, as she believes she was fully within her legal rights as a parent to monitor her son's online behaviour.
"Oh yeah, I'm going to fight it. If I have to go even higher up, I'm going to. I'm not gonna let this rest. I think this could be a precedent-setting moment for parents," she told KATV-TV. "You're within your legal rights to monitor your child and to have a conversation with your child on Facebook whether it's his account, or your account or whoever's account."
A hearing is reportedly set for May 12.
New Delhi, April 9 (IANS) The pay particulars of a government employee cannot be considered personal information, the Central Information Commission (CIC) has ruled, while upholding the right of a "betrayed" woman to get details of her husband's salary.
"The Commission holds that the pay particulars of a government employee cannot be considered as personal information by any means and directs the PIO (Public Information Officer) to provide the same to the appellant," Information Commissioner Annapurna Dixit noted in her order while backing Chhattisgarh resident Shivkumari Kashyap, whose husband got married for the second time.
Kashyap, who believes that her husband Baldev Singh, an employee of South East Central (SEC) Railway, had entered the name of his second wife in his service book, used the Right to Information (RTI) act to get justice.
She filed an RTI application with the SEC Railway seeking the pay particulars of her husband as well as a copy of his service book, which has all the details of a government servant's official life, including information about his pay, increment and other things.
When SEC Railway denied her the information, Kashyap approached the CIC, stating during a hearing through videoconferencing on March 10 that she was the "legitimate wedded wife of Baldev Singh and that her husband has been ill treating her".
"He has also married a second time while remaining married to her (appellant)," her application stated.
"According to the appellant she believes that her husband has entered the name of his new wife in his service book and in this connection she wanted a copy of the service book, besides pay particulars," the CIC was told.
On this, the CIC held that pay particulars of a government employee cannot be considered as personal information by any means.
"Also in view of the harassment undergone by the appellant in the hands of her husband and because the service book details of her husband being sought by her are not personal information as the same are already in the public domain, the PIO may also provide an attested copy of the first page of the service book to the appellant giving details of the name of the spouse entered therein," Information Commissioner Dixit directed.
The CIC has said the information should be provided by April 10.
"The Commission holds that the pay particulars of a government employee cannot be considered as personal information by any means and directs the PIO (Public Information Officer) to provide the same to the appellant," Information Commissioner Annapurna Dixit noted in her order while backing Chhattisgarh resident Shivkumari Kashyap, whose husband got married for the second time.
Kashyap, who believes that her husband Baldev Singh, an employee of South East Central (SEC) Railway, had entered the name of his second wife in his service book, used the Right to Information (RTI) act to get justice.
She filed an RTI application with the SEC Railway seeking the pay particulars of her husband as well as a copy of his service book, which has all the details of a government servant's official life, including information about his pay, increment and other things.
When SEC Railway denied her the information, Kashyap approached the CIC, stating during a hearing through videoconferencing on March 10 that she was the "legitimate wedded wife of Baldev Singh and that her husband has been ill treating her".
"He has also married a second time while remaining married to her (appellant)," her application stated.
"According to the appellant she believes that her husband has entered the name of his new wife in his service book and in this connection she wanted a copy of the service book, besides pay particulars," the CIC was told.
On this, the CIC held that pay particulars of a government employee cannot be considered as personal information by any means.
"Also in view of the harassment undergone by the appellant in the hands of her husband and because the service book details of her husband being sought by her are not personal information as the same are already in the public domain, the PIO may also provide an attested copy of the first page of the service book to the appellant giving details of the name of the spouse entered therein," Information Commissioner Dixit directed.
The CIC has said the information should be provided by April 10.
Chandigarh, April 8 (IANS) Police have booked cases against unknown assailants who attacked a student leader and his family members outside their house here Wednesday night, said an official here Thursday.
According to police, some miscreants who had come in four luxury cars, including Innova, Swift and Optra, fired at least a dozen rounds at Uday Singh Wirrang, his father Bhupinder Singh and his cousin Gurbaz Singh outside their house in Sector 11.
Uday is president of the Panjab University Students' Union (PUSU) of Panjab University (PU) here.
"We have registered case against unknown miscreants and started our investigation. Forensic experts and sniffer dogs were also called to the spot to collect vital clues relating to this case," said Pargat Singh, investigating officer.
Uday has named at least seven students of a rival political party, Students' Organisation of Panjab University (SOPU), for the attack.
"We were standing outside our house and waiting for one of our relatives. Suddenly they came in four cars and opened fire at us. We ran inside to save our lives. I have already given the names of persons on whom I have strong suspicion to the police," said Uday.
The incident happened just one kilometre away from the Sector 11 police station and around two-and-a-half kilometres away from the Chandigarh police headquarters.
According to police, some miscreants who had come in four luxury cars, including Innova, Swift and Optra, fired at least a dozen rounds at Uday Singh Wirrang, his father Bhupinder Singh and his cousin Gurbaz Singh outside their house in Sector 11.
Uday is president of the Panjab University Students' Union (PUSU) of Panjab University (PU) here.
"We have registered case against unknown miscreants and started our investigation. Forensic experts and sniffer dogs were also called to the spot to collect vital clues relating to this case," said Pargat Singh, investigating officer.
Uday has named at least seven students of a rival political party, Students' Organisation of Panjab University (SOPU), for the attack.
"We were standing outside our house and waiting for one of our relatives. Suddenly they came in four cars and opened fire at us. We ran inside to save our lives. I have already given the names of persons on whom I have strong suspicion to the police," said Uday.
The incident happened just one kilometre away from the Sector 11 police station and around two-and-a-half kilometres away from the Chandigarh police headquarters.
Aligarh, April 8 (IANS) Mystery shrouds the death of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) gay teacher S.R. Siras with a police official saying Thursday that preliminary investigations revealed that he died "an unnatural death" while the autopsy failed to fix the exact cause of death.
Superintendent of Police Man Singh Chauhan told mediapersons that preliminary investigations had revealed the teacher "died an unnatural death". "The post-mortem report will come after detailed forensic examination," he added.
However, police Inspector R.C. Sharma told reporters at a different meeting, "The exact cause of the death is still not clear even after the post-mortem."
"The viscera has been preserved that would be sent for forensic examination. Hope it would establish the cause behind the death," he added.
Shrinivas Ramachandra Siras, 62, was found dead in his home here Wednesday. He was suspended by the university administration on charges of "gross misconduct" on campus after he was filmed engaging in consensual homosexual act with a rickshaw puller.
The police have not ruled out suicide by the teacher. His body was lying on his bed and blood was oozing out of his mouth.
The Allahabad High Court stayed Siras's suspension April 1 and asked the university to file a counter petition in four weeks.
Siras was the chairman of the Department of Modern Indian Languages at AMU and taught Marathi. He had refused to challenge the allegations against him.
Meanwhile, the AMU Thursday clarified that in pursuance of the interim court order, his suspension was withdrawn April 5 and he was reinstated in his post with immediate effect, pending final outcome of the disciplinary proceedings.
AMU Vice-Chancellor Abdul Azis said he had sent the letter for his reinstatement April 5, but the letter reached the department only on Thursday. The VC said he would investigate the cause of the delay.
The university also withdrew the order to Siras to vacate his university house at Medical Colony.
Insiders confided that Siras, a reader in the Modern Indian Languages department, was in utter desperation and feeling terribly isolated as no one came to his aid and he was virtually ostracised by the academic community.
In a statement, Vice-Chancellor Abdul Azis said the university was taken aback at the sudden "painful event" of the teacher's death and would ensure all help and assistance to the grieving family at this difficult juncture.
Siras was associated with AMU since 1988 as a lecturer of Marathi and was promoted as reader in 2003 under the Career Advancement Scheme.
Meanwhile, the AMU Teacher's Association (AMUTA) has demanded a high-level probe into the alleged suicide by Siras. "In view of the sensitive nature of the entire incident, an inquiry should be conducted whether by CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) or by a judicial officer," said Jamshed Siddique, secretary of the AMUTA.
"He was subjected to severe harassment by the university authorities and was under intense mental pressure. To suspend a teacher without conducting a proper inquiry is unjustified and is another instance of the high-handed behaviour of the vice-chancellor," added Siddique. An emergency meeting of the AMUTA has been convened to take stock of the situation.
However, AMU spokesperson Rahat Abrar denied the allegation of harassment of Siras. "The university complied with the high court order pertaining to his suspension but the reinstatement order, issued April 5, could not be handed to Siras as he was out of town," he said.
On the other hand, Professor Sheikh Mastan, chairman of the Department of Modern Indian Languages, said he had no such information till Thursday morning. When Professor Mastan was given a copy of the reinstatement order by the University registrar shortly before noon, he refused to accept it as a back-dated document.
Superintendent of Police Man Singh Chauhan told mediapersons that preliminary investigations had revealed the teacher "died an unnatural death". "The post-mortem report will come after detailed forensic examination," he added.
However, police Inspector R.C. Sharma told reporters at a different meeting, "The exact cause of the death is still not clear even after the post-mortem."
"The viscera has been preserved that would be sent for forensic examination. Hope it would establish the cause behind the death," he added.
Shrinivas Ramachandra Siras, 62, was found dead in his home here Wednesday. He was suspended by the university administration on charges of "gross misconduct" on campus after he was filmed engaging in consensual homosexual act with a rickshaw puller.
The police have not ruled out suicide by the teacher. His body was lying on his bed and blood was oozing out of his mouth.
The Allahabad High Court stayed Siras's suspension April 1 and asked the university to file a counter petition in four weeks.
Siras was the chairman of the Department of Modern Indian Languages at AMU and taught Marathi. He had refused to challenge the allegations against him.
Meanwhile, the AMU Thursday clarified that in pursuance of the interim court order, his suspension was withdrawn April 5 and he was reinstated in his post with immediate effect, pending final outcome of the disciplinary proceedings.
AMU Vice-Chancellor Abdul Azis said he had sent the letter for his reinstatement April 5, but the letter reached the department only on Thursday. The VC said he would investigate the cause of the delay.
The university also withdrew the order to Siras to vacate his university house at Medical Colony.
Insiders confided that Siras, a reader in the Modern Indian Languages department, was in utter desperation and feeling terribly isolated as no one came to his aid and he was virtually ostracised by the academic community.
In a statement, Vice-Chancellor Abdul Azis said the university was taken aback at the sudden "painful event" of the teacher's death and would ensure all help and assistance to the grieving family at this difficult juncture.
Siras was associated with AMU since 1988 as a lecturer of Marathi and was promoted as reader in 2003 under the Career Advancement Scheme.
Meanwhile, the AMU Teacher's Association (AMUTA) has demanded a high-level probe into the alleged suicide by Siras. "In view of the sensitive nature of the entire incident, an inquiry should be conducted whether by CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) or by a judicial officer," said Jamshed Siddique, secretary of the AMUTA.
"He was subjected to severe harassment by the university authorities and was under intense mental pressure. To suspend a teacher without conducting a proper inquiry is unjustified and is another instance of the high-handed behaviour of the vice-chancellor," added Siddique. An emergency meeting of the AMUTA has been convened to take stock of the situation.
However, AMU spokesperson Rahat Abrar denied the allegation of harassment of Siras. "The university complied with the high court order pertaining to his suspension but the reinstatement order, issued April 5, could not be handed to Siras as he was out of town," he said.
On the other hand, Professor Sheikh Mastan, chairman of the Department of Modern Indian Languages, said he had no such information till Thursday morning. When Professor Mastan was given a copy of the reinstatement order by the University registrar shortly before noon, he refused to accept it as a back-dated document.
New Delhi, April 8: Bollywood actress Preity Zinta had the most "adventurous day" Thursday, as she went to Haridwar to take a dip as part of the ongoing Maha Kumbh Mela, and "washed off" all her sins in the Ganga."Had the most adventurous day today! Went to the Maha Kumbh Mela in Haridwar and I washed off all my sins in the holy Ganga," Preity posted on her Twitter page.
The actress made a sudden plan with her mother for the trip to the Maha Kumbh, which is being held in Haridwar since Jan 14 and will conclude April 28.
"Tagged along with mother India to Haridwar hoping to find my twin...He he," Preity quipped.
"Slept for two hours and flew for six. The chopper ride was fun though," she added. (IANS)
Entertainment and news provider Zee Group Thursday announced that it has set up 50 schools in just one year across the country and aims to set up 300 schools by 2015. Subash Chandra, chairman of the group, said in a statement that within a year the group has set up 50 schools and thus taken "a strong step towards improving the human capital of the country by helping each Zee School child realize his or her unique potential".
The company had already laid out an investment of Rs.350 crore for setting up schools and developing innovative learning content.
Zee School aims to reach the 300 school mark across the country by 2015. With south India being a promising region for primary to Class 12 school segment, Zee School targets to expand its presence in 25 more cities.
New Delhi, April 8 (IANS) Popular actor R. Madhavan's five-year-old son Vedaant is set to make his debut in showbiz and that too for a cause.He will team up with his dad for a commercial, details of which have been kept under wraps for now as the advertisement is still being shot, said sources.
"This being Vedaant's first stint in television, Maddy (Madhavan) is very proud of him. The boy has great potential and is a lot like Madhavan," said the source.
Madhavan recent releases were Leena Yadav's "Teen Patti" and Rajkumkar Hirani's "3 Idiots".
Bharti Airtel, Idea Cellular, Aircel, Augere Mauritius Limited, Infotel Broadband Services, Qualcomm, Reliance WiMax, Spice Internet Service Provider, Tata Communications Internet Services, Tikona Digital Networks and Vodafone Essar -- will bid for broadband wireless access (BWA) services. The much-awaited, first-ever auction of radio frequency spectrum for third generation (3G) telephony in India will kick off Friday with top telecom firms such as Bharti Airtel and Reliance Communications bidding for airwaves in all 22 service areas.
3G telecom services will allow faster connectivity than what is available now and enable applications such as internet TV, video-on-demand, audio-video calls and high-speed data exchange.
As many as nine telecom companies -- Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications, Vodafone Essar, Idea Cellular, Tata Teleservices, Aircel, Etisalat, S Tel and Videocon Telecommunications -- will take part in the auction process which will be held from 9 a.m. to 7.30 p.m. on all days, except Sundays and national holidays.
While Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications, Vodafone Essar, Tata Teleservices, Idea Cellular and Aircel, will bid for all-India spectrum, Videocon, S Tel and Etisalat will bid for only selective circles.
According to the Notice Inviting Applications (NIA) issued in February, of the 22 telecom circles, five states - Punjab, Bihar, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir - will have four private players for the auction.
Other circles, including the four metros of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai, will have three private players.
The number of slots up for grab excludes those allotted to state-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd, which were allotted licences last year and have since started offering 3G services in their operating circles. But they will have to match the price paid by the highest bidder in their zones.
The government has set Rs.3,500 crore as the base price for one 3G slot.
According to the auction format provided by Department of Telecommunications (DoT), it will be a simultaneous online auction of 22 service areas over a secure website on internet.
Once bidders access their bidder specific website, they will be required to enter login credentials. They cannot have more than one computer logged in at any one time.
The auction will have multiple rounds and at the end of each round, provisional winners will be declared.
The auction will end when demand is equal to the number of slots available in each service area.
According to a senior DoT official, it is difficult to set a timeframe for the 3G bidding.
"It may take a week or a couple of weeks or possibly more," the official said.
The bid data will be made public after the auction is completed. The winning firms will have to deposit the money within 10 days after the auction.
The successful bidders would be allowed to offer 3G services on a commercial basis from September 1.
For broadband services, the auction will begin two days after the process concludes for 3G spectrum.
As many as 11 companies -- Bharti Airtel, Idea Cellular, Aircel, Augere Mauritius Limited, Infotel Broadband Services, Qualcomm, Reliance WiMax, Spice Internet Service Provider, Tata Communications Internet Services, Tikona Digital Networks and Vodafone Essar -- will bid for broadband wireless access (BWA) services.
The government has set Rs.1,750 crore as the base price for a BWA slot.
It hopes to garner Rs.35,000 crore ($7.87 billion) from these auctions.
The DoT says the aim of the auctions is to award spectrum transparently and fairly to generate revenue for the public purse, ensuring effective competition and getting a market-determined price for the spectrum.
Global investment bank Rothschild and telecom auction services provider dot.econ are advising the government on the auctions.
Mumbai, April 8 (IANS) Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar Thursday inaugurated his friend, veteran actor Pankaj Dheer's acting academy here.Pankaj and Akshay first met on the sets of "Saugandh" and they bonded well. So far they have done six movies together including "Ikke pe Ikka" and "Mr. Bond".
Talking about his acting school Abbhinnay Acting Academy, Pankaj said: "I strongly feel that the need of the hour is to have an acting school that will not only teach the technical aspects, but also make one understand life, people, emotions and relationship."
"Exploring the 'Navras' is the essence of our teaching. This is what Abbhinnay Acting Academy is all about," added the actor, known for playing Karan in the "Mahabharat" serial.
Also present at the occasion were Pankaj's brother Satluj, Sunita Hariharan, the faculty members and celebrities like Saurabh Shukla, Javed Khan and Mrinal Kulkarni.
Gufi Paintal is the head of the academy.
New Delhi, April 8 (IANS) Thirteen years after India signed an international treaty against torture, the union cabinet Thursday approved a proposal to introduce a legislation against torture.
"It is an affirmative positive action to prevent cruelty and degradation of human life," Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni told reporters.
The Prevention of Torture Bill, 2010, will be a step towards ratification of 1975 UN Convention against torture and other cruel, Inhuman and Degrading treatment or punishment, she said.
India had inked the convention in 1997 October, but it had not yet ratified the convention, as it required bringing in a domestic legislation.
"Although some provisions exist in the Indian Penal Code (IPC), they neither define 'torture' as clearly as in Article 1 of the convention nor make it criminal as called for by Article 4," said a government press release.
Earlier, the government had tried to modify the IPC, which would have been a complicated procedure.
"The matter was examined at length in consultation with the Law Commission of India and the then attorney general of India," said the release.
Further, state governments were also consulted as the matter fell into the concurrent list of the constitution.
"After a lot of deliberation on the issue, it was decided to bring a piece of 'stand alone' legislation so that the convention could be ratified. Accordingly, Prevention of Torture Bill, 2009, was drafted," it added.
"It is an affirmative positive action to prevent cruelty and degradation of human life," Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni told reporters.
The Prevention of Torture Bill, 2010, will be a step towards ratification of 1975 UN Convention against torture and other cruel, Inhuman and Degrading treatment or punishment, she said.
India had inked the convention in 1997 October, but it had not yet ratified the convention, as it required bringing in a domestic legislation.
"Although some provisions exist in the Indian Penal Code (IPC), they neither define 'torture' as clearly as in Article 1 of the convention nor make it criminal as called for by Article 4," said a government press release.
Earlier, the government had tried to modify the IPC, which would have been a complicated procedure.
"The matter was examined at length in consultation with the Law Commission of India and the then attorney general of India," said the release.
Further, state governments were also consulted as the matter fell into the concurrent list of the constitution.
"After a lot of deliberation on the issue, it was decided to bring a piece of 'stand alone' legislation so that the convention could be ratified. Accordingly, Prevention of Torture Bill, 2009, was drafted," it added.
New Delhi, April 8 (IANS) With alarming reports of a Chinese cyber spy ring targeting India's strategic establishment, Indian officials and diplomats are being taught not to treat an e-mail as just a digital message but a potential spying instrument. A "sensitisation" proecess begun right from the lowest rung to the seniormost officials of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) through a series of internal workshops that began last month.
It was in late 2008 that the attacks against the MEA's computer network were first detected. Most of them were tracked to Chengdu in China, which led to an overhaul of the hardware and the establishment of a unified threat management system, with multiple layers of firewalls.
A recent report by American and Canadian researchers found that China-based hackers had penetrated and retrieved information from computers of India's ministry of defence and other defence-related installations. It also said that several Indian embassies abroad had also been targeted.
While the South Block headquarters of MEA did not figure in the report, officials said that the ministry was still waging a daily cyber war.
"Since we are monitoring the system all the time, we notice that there are almost daily efforts to try and find holes in the system. So far, we think they have been unsuccessful," said an official, who deals with network security in the government. The official spoke to IANS strictly on condition of anoymity as he was not authorised to speak to the media.
It has since been realized that the weakest link in combating cyber attacks was not the hardware, but the bureaucrats sitting in front of the 600-odd computers in the Lutyen-designed colonial building.
So, from last month, the MEA's e-governance and information technology division began a "sensitization" process. The first batch consisted of lower division and upper division clerks, followed by personal secretaries. The last batch consisted under secretaries, with more senior officials to be called for these classes in the coming days.
To drive home the message, live demonstrations of potentially hazardous practices were shown - for example, a "suspicious" mail was sent to an inbox, which contained a link to another site which asked for the user's password.
"We were told not to click on any strange mails with attachments or outside links," said an official, who attended the workshop.
"There were reminders to take basic steps like changing password for the official mail on a monthly basis," added another official.
The officials were also told how to read the "header" of such suspicious mails, so that by checking their Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, the geographical location of the sender can be tracked.
"Of course, if the sender was from certain countries, then the mail had to be carefully handled," the official told IANS.
The cyber experts strictly told the ministry officials not to send attachments, especially of Microsoft word documents and Adobe PDF files, with their e-mails. "As far as possible, all the contents should be part of the main body of the mail," he said.
Most ministry employees are provided with two computers - one which is internet-enabled, and the other which is a stand-alone device, with no network links.
"The problem arises, when we want to send an encrypted mail. Since the encryption software is in the stand-alone computer, we have to transfer data using pen drives which makes the other computer vulnerable to infection," he said.
The ministry is considering installing another operating system, like Linux in the stand-alone computers. "We know that trojans or viruses may be targeting windows, but these become totally inoperative when introduced in another operating system based on Linux," said the official.
New Delhi, April 8(IANS) After creating magic on big screen, John Abraham now makes his debut on television as the host of the show "STAR CINTAA - Superstars Ka Jalwa".John will host one episode of the show that will be aired on STAR Plus Sunday. He will be accompanied by popular TV actress Rakshanda Khan on the episode where action star Akshay Kumar will feature as the showstopper.
Akshay will be performing with actors like Arjun Rampal, Vivek Oberoi, Fardeen Khan, Ronit Roy, Rohit Roy, Shabbir Ahluwalia and Aamir Ali in the show for which 52 actors have come together to raise funds for needy artists.
It's a joint initiative by STAR India Pvt. Limited and Cine & TV Artist Association (CINTAA).
Akshay will be seen dancing on songs like "Teri Ore" and "Paisa Paisa" and will also share his fitness secrets with his fans. Deepika Padukone and Mughda Godse will also be performing with him.
His friend and co-star Lara Dutta too will add glamour to the episode by spilling naughty secrets about Akshay.
New Delhi, (IANS) New York-based hotelier Sant Singh Chatwal, recipient of the nation's third highest civilian honour, said he is not happy about the controversy surrounding his getting the Padma Bhushan."I am certainly not a happy man about the controversy," said Chatwal when asked whether he feels that the prestige of the Padma awards was brought down as he was given the honour although he was charge-sheeted by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
"Can you imagine that I am very well known. I am a trustee in Clinton foundation. I have relations in the American system and the American system goes over everything. But there has been media hype for nothing," he said in the same breath.
The Clinton foundation was established by former US President Bill Clinton with the stated mission to "strengthen the capacity of people throughout the world to meet global challenges".
Chatwal has been in the midst of a controversy since the government Jan 25 announced that he would be accorded the Padma award. This was contested by political parties and court cases were filed. But he got relief after both the Delhi High Court and the Bombay High Court dismissed the petitions seeking to set aside the government's decision to award him.
On Wednesday, an elated Chatwal received the award from President Pratibha Patil at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had criticised the decision to honour Chatwal as he was charge-sheeted by the CBI in a fraud case, while the government had defended its decision saying that there was "nothing adverse on record" against the US-based Indian hotelier.
"I have opened the door for every politician and American politician," Chatwal told NDTV in an interview.
"I don't have any political connection Or any personal agenda. My connections are only to put both democracies together," he added.