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April 2003
Windows Server 2003 causes a stir
Wednesday, April 30, 2003
Microsoft's new Windows Server 2003 is opening up opportunities in the server landscape, particularly in the high-end area once dominated by Unix machines. With the arrival last week of the new server operating system, Windows now works on servers based on Intel's Itanium chip. The symbiosis between the two could carry the operating system into powerful back-end computers it hasn't been able to tackle in the past, and the Windows support could encourage more customers to use Itanium servers. The software release is giving new life to companies' prospects for the server market. For Intel, it's fueling hopes that Itanium will conquer high-end computing. Hewlett-Packard has a new way to sell high-end computers and a new sales pitch for low-end systems. And Dell Computer, which made the debut of its forthcoming Itanium-based server a few days ago, is looking to accelerate its market share gains. Microsoft wants the new operating system to replace Windows NT 4, the grandfather of Windows Server 2003 that runs on millions of servers, and is putting its biggest sales effort into that, said company CEO Steve Ballmer at last Thursday's launch event. But Microsoft has been strong in such low-end servers for years, so the more strategically significant change would come in high-end machines. The top-end Datacenter Edition of Windows Server 2003 works on servers with as many as 64 processors, giving Microsoft new ammunition in its effort to displace previously untouchable servers--from IBM, HP and Sun Microsystems--that run the Unix operating system. HP is leading the high-end charge. On Thursday, an HP Superdome server with 64 Itanium processors running Windows took the top score in the widely watched TPC-C server speed test. At $6.4 million, the system isn't cheap, but it is the least expensive one in the top 10 tested. The server maker expects the number of Superdomes it will sell will double or triple within two years as a result of the availability of Windows for Itanium. That's in part because the product line will benefit from Microsoft's sales effort for its new software. Itanium, initiated and co-developed by HP, but manufactured and now designed by Intel, has had a rocky start. It was hampered by several delays and by the fact that software must be rebuilt to take advantage of its 64-bit nature, which permits it to use vast amounts of memory. The arrival of Windows Server 2003 will accelerate software companies' moves to support the processor. At the Windows Server 2003 launch event, Intel Chief Operating Officer Paul Otellini promised major performance improvements with future versions of the processor.
It's not easy being Abhishek Bachchan
Wednesday, April 30, 2003
MUMBAI: It's not easy to weather a slew of flops, especially when you are the son of Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan. But Abhishek Bachchan is a pillar of strength. "I'm a human being and so I'm bound to feel the pain. But I've to rise above my personal problems. "There's no subtitle in a film explaining why I'm looking listless in a scene or to excuse me in a scene because I shot it after shooting for 36 hours at a stretch. "One thing I've learnt from my dad is never be scared of retakes. Because it's that final take which the audience is going to see. You have to do your job well and you better do it," Abhishek told in an interview. Whatever the problem, Abhishek keeps it well hidden from public view. In spite of many box-office debacles he continues to be one of the most in-demand stars in Bollywood. His ready-for-release film "Mumbai Se Aaya Mera Dost" carries excellent reports. But the actor is guarded. "Don't know about overtaking competition. I guess I'm blessed. 'Mumbai Se Aaya Mera Dost' is extremely close to my heart. I've put my heart and soul into it. I'm praying it'd get its due recognition. "Once I was in costume and on the village set in Jailsalmer, I remained in character throughout. My director Apoorva Lakhia's greatest asset is his preparedness. He knew every dialogue, shot and moment in his film from beforehand. "I never felt the need to try to dissuade him. He saw his whole film in his head before seeing it on the monitor. Now at the end of the shoot I can't categorise it. Is it a social satire, a romantic or a dramatic film?" Abhishek's next two releases, again with new directors, provide him with a total change of pace. In Rohan Sippy's "Kuch Na Kaho" he does "a mature love story with Aishwarya Rai", and Rohit Shetty's "Zameen" "is my first full fledged action film". For those who think Abhishek is doing too many films with new directors, here's news: there're new projects with two of the finest filmmakers in India -- Mani Rathnam and Raj Kumar Santoshi. The Santoshi project is finally going to bring father and son together in a film. Reveals Abhishek: "Raj Kumar Santoshi had a script, 'Zakhm', that he was very keen for me to do. I was always keen to work with him. While working on the script he came to me one day and said, 'There's one part which I think your dad would be fantastic doing.' And dad agreed. That's it. "Apart from a son wanting to work with his father who wouldn't want to work with Amitabh Bachchan? I've an advantage. He'd be more comfortable with me and he'll make sure that I'm comfortable. I'm just excited at the thought of standing in the same frame as him. I don't care if I don't have a single dialogue." In May, the two Bachchans will have their films premiered together at the International Indian Film Awards in Johannesburg. How does it feel to be pitched against his father? Abhishek stares disapprovingly. "My film can never be pitched against his film. He's far too great an actor for me to be pitched against. But yes, my film 'Mumbai Se Aaya Mera Dost' is being premiered along with his ('Armaan') at Johannesburg. It's a great honour to be given a world platform."
Manisha under cover
Wednesday, April 30, 2003
Manisha Koirala had a brush with the Dubai police recently when she was shooting for Market. The police ordered Manisha and Aryan Vaid to halt, smelling something fishy. Actually, Manisha’s car was being followed by a jeep seemingly full of gangsters and the police swung into action attempting to take the two actors into their protective cover. But later, the police realised that Manisha and Vaid were out for a shoot and the gangsters were following them as per the storyline of the movie. The cops apologised profusely for interrupting the shooting.
Cable modems outpacing DSL for speed
Wednesday, April 30, 2003
Cable modems are outpacing digital subscriber lines in terms of connection speeds, as global household broadband access continues to increase, according to a study released this week. The number of Internet users accessing the Web through home broadband connections rose 9 percent between October 2002 and March 2003, according to Net measurement firm ComScore Networks. That brought the total percentage of broadband-connected households to 28 percent of all homes with Internet access. However, despite signs of consumers' appetite for broadband, connection speeds vary depending on whether they use DSL or cable modems, according to ComScore. Individual service providers also showed differences in access speed. The study said cable modems were 50 percent faster on average than DSL connections. According to data tabulated during February, the fastest cable modem connections averaged 750 kbps. DSL providers showed huge swings in performance, ranging from 700kbps to 240kbps. According to ComScore, competition for broadband services will continue to intensify, leading to pricing pressure and greater importance placed on performance.
Singapore truck driver in Vellore CMC found to be down with SARS
Wednesday, April 30, 2003
VELLORE: The first case of suspected Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in Tamil Nadu has now been confirmed. Elumalai, 44, a truck driver in Singapore, who was admitted to the Christian Medical College hospital here on April 24 following symptoms of high fever and cough was tested positive, Dr Kurien Thomas, Professor of Medicine, told reporters here on Tuesday. The diagnostic report from the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune, which tested his blood and urine, confirmed that the samples were positive for corona virus. However, there was no reason to panic, he hastened to add and said that the health condition of the patient had since improved. ``He showed symptoms of the SARS only when his samples were taken, but now he has recovered,'' he said. Elumalai, he said, was treated for his clinical symptoms with a dose of antibiotics. The patients did not have any clinical symptoms of SARS since April 26, he said. As per the WHO guidelines, any patient free of symptoms for more than 48 hours is considered ``fit for discharge.'' Still, as per the directions from the State government, Elumalai would be kept under observation for a few more days in the isolated ward. ``After this he will be kept in home isolation for another 10 days. All this only by way of precautions, there is nothing to worry about'' he said. A senior district official, meanwhile, asserted that there was no chance of the spreading of SARS in the district. ``As a precautionary measure the Pennathur TB sanatorium has a special SARS ward to tackle future infections, if any. We are also making arrangements to get the sanatorium doctors to be trained at CMC on taking care of SARS patients,'' he said.
'Cinema is an ally, not a rival, to TV'
Wednesday, April 30, 2003
A host of television stars, including Aman Verma (who played the second lead in Tanuja Chandra's Sangharsh) and Amarr Upadhyay (popular as Mihir in Kyunkii Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, who appeared in Dhund: The Fog earlier this year), and directors like Anil Kumar (Kucch To Hai) have not had a successful run in cinema. But Bollywood seems to be looking at these stars and directors with renewed interest. Showman Subhash Ghai has led the way by signing Suhail Tatari (whose serial Kashmeer is now on air) to direct Chandni Chowk for his banner Mukta Arts. Three of television's top directors -- Tigmanshu Dhulia, Parvathi Balagopalan and Kushan Nandy -- are ready with their first feature films. Dhulia, whose Haasil (Hrishitaa Bhatt, Jimmy Shergill) is being talked about in trade circles, thinks television is a breeding ground for considerable talent. "There was a time when television was looked upon as an inferior medium," he says. "Now, when soaps like Kahaani Ghar Ghar Ki and Kyunkii Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi are stealing away the audience [from the theatres], the film industry has begun to treat actors and technicians from the home- viewing medium as some sort of saviours who can bail the industry out of the doldrums." Parvathi Balagopalan, who has just completed Rules: Pyar Ka Superhit Formula for actor-turned-producer Milind Soman, feels the time is right to do away with the lines demarcating television from cinema. "When I made Margarita for Zee TV many years ago, people said it was ahead of its time. They probably meant the home-viewing medium was not taken seriously enough. Now is the time for cinema to become an ally rather than a rival to television." Kushan Nandy, whose thriller 88 Antop Hill is ready for release, does not think he is migrating from one medium to another. "I didn't think of myself as a TV director, and I don't think of myself as a feature director now. I am a filmmaker, period." As the walls dividing the two media drop, many filmmakers from television are getting ready to make feature films. These include Anurag Basu (who did Ekta Kapoor's soaps and is now directing Saaya with John Abraham for Mukesh Bhatt) and Neena Gupta (the actress' soap Saans on television was a turning point for soaps on satellite television). Ashish Chowdhary, who started 10 years ago at the age of 18 on television, has bagged a parallel role to Ajay Devgan in the action thriller Qayamat. He is now being looked at with avid interest by the film industry as the third major star after Shah Rukh Khan and R Madhavan to break the barriers between television and the big screen. Among the women, Gracy Singh and Gauri Karnik moved on to the big screen from television, with Lagaan and Sur, respectively. Chowdhary could well trigger a wave of migration to the movies. Several television stars are being groomed for big-screen stardom. Perizaad Zorabian, who starred with Chowdhary in the soap Hum Pardesi Ho Gaye, broke through with Nagesh Kukunoor's Bollywood Calling and will soon be seen in two crossover films, one of them produced by Ghai. Says Chowdhary, "I have never regarded television as a casual medium. For me acting is acting. Even Pierce Brosnan and Bruce Willis spent a great deal of time doing Remington Steele and Moonlighting on television before going to cinema."
Friends see off Dravid's bride-to-be for wedding
Wednesday, April 30, 2003
Nagpur, April 30: Admirers, friends and colleagues of Dr Vijeta Pendharkar, bride-to be of the Vice-captain of the Indian cricket team, Rahul Dravid, gathered at the Nagpur Railway Station here Tuesday afternoon to congratulate her and see her off along with her father, Wg.Cdr. (retired)S P Pendharkar and other family members, who left for Bangalore where the wedding is scheduled to take place on May 5. The family left by the Jaipur-Bangalore Express. Mediapersons who had also gathered at the railway station to speak to Dr Pendharkar, had to return disappointed as she refused to oblige and reply to any of their questions. Photographers, too, had a tough time and were unable to capture her since her face was covered in cloth to save herself from the scorching Nagpur heat. Her father, though, told the waiting journalists that they are going to Bangalore for the wedding but would not add anything more. Dr Vijeta, who did her Masters in Surgery(General) from the Government Medical college last year, is the youngest of the three siblings. Her eldest brother Abhijit is a Major in the Indian Army while another brother runs an advertising agency in Dubai. UNI
13 militants killed in Doda encounter
Wednesday, April 30, 2003
JAMMU APRIL 29. Thirteen militants and six security force personnel were killed in a gunbattle in Doda district of the Jammu region early on Tuesday. Three jawans were injured in the encounter. According to police sources, on receiving intelligence inputs that a group of militants was camping in the Bharat Nullah area, 35 km from Doda town, members of the 10 Rashtriya Rifles as well as the State Police launched a combing operation. Over two dozen militants of the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen and the Lashkar-e-Taiba were holding a joint meeting of their command councils when the security forces reached the spot. Immediately, the militants began firing at the security forces and a fierce battle ensued. Thirteen militants were killed while the others fled to the neighbouring forest area. Six Rashtriya Rifles jawans also died in the encounter while three injured jawans were airlifted to the Udhampur Military Hospital. Five AK-47 rifles, 1 Pika gun, 1 RPG and 1 wireless set were recovered from the spot. The search for the remaining militants was continuing and the Doda SP, Saji Mohan, and other senior Army officers were camping at the spot. Fidayeen strike foiled Shujaat Bukhari reports from Srinagar: In Kupwara district, the attempt by two members of a Jaish-e-Mohammad suicide squad to sneak into the Rashtriya Rifles Dragmulla headquarters was foiled. While one militant, identified as Badri Hanan of Pakistan, was killed near the camp, the other was chased and shot dead by security forces personnel. In another incident, two BSF jawans were injured when a landmine exploded in Padgampora Pulwama and a BSF vehicle hit it.
After big budget exploits, Shahrukh goes back to romance
Wednesday, April 30, 2003
Mumbai, April 30: Superstar Shahrukh Khan, recovering from back surgery, is yearning to return to his romantic image portrayed in earlier films like Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, Dil to Pagal Hai and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, which made him a screen icon. "I am keen to return to my one-jean-four-shirt image as my two last films Asoka and Devdas were larger than life characters which the common man does not identify with", Shahrukh told reporters at the music launch of his latest home production, Chalte Chalte here on Tuesday. He said although Asoka and Devdas were some of the big characters he had portrayed on celluloid, he would love to do soft and romantic type of roles which suit his image. "Asoka and Devdas were challenging roles and I was immensely satisfied", he said. Shahrukh described Chalte Chalte directed by Aziz Mirza as a "die-hard romantic comedy". "It is a film revolving around basic human emotions involving a girl and a boy. The emotions are tested as the film progresses and later, the two fall in love", he explained. Actress Rani Mukherjee, fresh from her critically acclaimed performance in Saathiya, plays the lead opposite Shahrukh. "Every Indian girl longs for a relationship and I find such roles challenging", Rani, who was also present at today's launch, said. She described Chalte Chalte as a good romantic film. "I have worked with Shahrukh in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and later, in Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham. Similarly, Shahrukh also had a special role in my film Har Dil Jo Pyar Karega. "I am working for the first time in his home production. As a producer, he is as good as he is as an actor", she remarked. Shahrukh said he would love to act in a light comedy and a film which a common man could identify with. "I want to look like a middle class character on screen. This script was read out to me a year ago and I immediately decided to produce the film. But due to my back problem, the shooting got delayed". Javed Akhtar has penned the lyrics and music is composed by Jatin-Lalit and Aadesh Srivastav. Chalte Chalte will be released in June. UNI
BCCI to request govt for Indo-Pak series at neutral venue
Wednesday, April 30, 2003
In a bid to revive the stalled Indo-Pak cricket relations, the Cricket Board will soon put a request to the Centre to grant permission to the Indian team to play bilateral series against Pakistan at neutral venues, a Board official said here today. "Board president Jagmohan Dalmiya is of the view that we should abide by the government's directives. But we will soon be requesting the Prime Minister to consider a proposal regarding staging of bilateral series in a neutral venue," Rajiv Shukla, a Board member and Rajya Sabha MP, told here today. He said the Board was taking whatever steps possible to revive the cricketing ties between the arch-rivals. "The BCCI is quite serious in reviving cricketing ties. But we are waiting for the Centre's nod." He declined to tell the date when he will be putting the request to the government. "You will come to know about it very soon." India has refused to play Pakistan in bilateral series in protest against Islamabad's continued support to terrorism in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. The cricket teams from both the sides played their latest match in the World Cup in South Africa which India won by six wickets.
RBI cuts bank rate, CRR
Wednesday, April 30, 2003
Continuing with its soft interest rate regime, the RBI today cut the bank rate and the Cash Reserve Ratio by 0.25 per cent each in a move that is expected to release an additional Rs 30 billion into the system, even as it expected the overall economic growth rate to be around six per cent with a 5 to 5.5 per cent inflation rate during the current fiscal. In its Monetary and Credit Policy for 2003-04, released today, the RBI spoke of the "limited potential" for further reduction in interest rates due to subsidies, administered prices and rigidities in wage structure. The apex bank cut the bank rate by 0.25 per cent to six per cent from the close of business hours and the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) by 0.25 per cent to 4.25 per cent beginning the fortnight of June 14. RBI Governor Bimal Jalan told the bankers while presenting the policy that the GDP growth rate is expected to be around 6 per cent assuming satisfactory spatial distribution of monsoon. "The inflation rate is likely to be benign and likely to fall in the second quarter, depending on the monsoon and oil prices," he said. Some structural factors like subsidies, administered prices and wage structure contribute to inflation and nominal interest rates in India - which are somewhat higher than those in industrial or fast-growing emerging markets, Jalan said.
AI derecognises IPG, suspends 18 more pilots
Wednesday, April 30, 2003
Mumbai,Tuesday, April 29, 2003: Turning the heat on agitating pilots on SARS issue, Air-India today derecognised the Indian Pilots Guild with immediate effect, suspended 18 more pilots for refusing to fly and filed a caveat with Mumbai and Delhi High Courts in a bid to prevent the strikers from challenging disciplinary action against them. Air India Public Relations Director Jitendra Bhargava told reporters here that a letter has been sent derecognising the IPG which will take away the collective bargaining right of the pilot's trade union body with the management. Explaining the reasons for such a strong measure, he accused IPG of violating an agreement for observing constitutional means and not resorting to aggitational steps or concerted action which might disrupt the airline's functioning. Bhargava said directives issued by IPG to its members on SARS related issues and on flights to Kuwait was nothing but a "concerted action with common understanding not to operate flights, which amounted to illegal strike". This is the second time that the airline has de-recognised a union, the earlier one being in 1970s when the AI Employees Union faced similar action. With the suspension of 18 pilots today, the total number of suspensions since April 26 has gone upto 45 of whom 12 have been charge-sheeted. The management has also issued show cause notices to 55 pilots, Bhargava said.
Pak calls for nuclear restraint in S Asia after Prithvi test
Wednesday, April 30, 2003
Pakistan today downplayed the Prithvi missile test by India saying it was "simply a reconfirmation" that missiles were now a reality in South Asia and called for clear and consistent measures to observe nuclear, missile and conventional arms restraint. "This (the test firing) is simply a reconfirmation that missiles are now a reality in South Asia," Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman Aziz Ahmed Khan said in a statement. "It comes in the wake of continuing reports about India's acquisition of missile technology from abroad," he said. He said Pakistan wanted a "responsible attitude reflecting a clear consistent vision favouring measures for nuclear, missile and conventional arms restraint". Khan said such measures were necessary for promoting peace and security between the two nuclear neighbours, an objective which could only be advanced through "a comprehensive dialogue whose importance Pakistan had stressed time and again." Asked whether India gave any advance notice to Pakistan about the test, he said that this came as a "pleasant surprise since only about a month ago when India conducted a similar test it did not notify Pakistan".
No lowering of guard on LoC in J-K: India
Wednesday, April 30, 2003
New Delhi,Tuesday, April 29, 2003: Treading a cautious path even in the midst of peace moves with Pakistan, India today asserted that there would be no lowering of guard on the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir. The Government's resolve to maintain strict vigil on the Borders was highlighted by the Defence Minister George Fernandes during his high-level interaction separately with top Army and Airforce Commanders. In the backdrop of reports of thousands of mercenaries massed near the Loc in Pakistan occupied Kashmir, Fernandes told the commanders that With the winter snow melting making the high Himalayan passes fordable, strong vigil has to be maintained against infiltration bids. He is believed to have assured the commanders that all efforts were being made to equip the armed forces with anti-infiltration devices like sensors, thermal imagers and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) in larger numbers through imports. The weeklong commanders conference, being held in the backdrop of New Delhi's new peace overtures to Islamabad and the recent spurt in fidayeen attacks by mercenaries in Jammu and Kashmir, was given a detailed briefing by Fernandes of Prime Minister A B Vajpayee new initiative to Pakistan. For the first time, both the Army and Airforce commanders dwelt at length on the War in Iraq with the Defence Minister telling them they should minutely scrutnise the war's implications and future developments.
Terrorism figured during talks with Jamali: Vajpayee
Wednesday, April 30, 2003
Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee today said the issue of terrorism figured when his Pakistani counterpart Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali spoke to him over telephone Monday night. Though he did not give details of his talks with Jamali since Parliament was in session, the Prime Minister told the weekly BJP Parliamentary Party meeting that terrorism was among the issues he discussed with the Pakistani Prime Minister. Vajpayee said if the issue figures in Parliament, he may make a statement in the House, party spokesman V K Malhotra told reporters here. The Prime Minister, who chaired the meeting, said the Government was making efforts to evolve a consensus on the Women's Reservation Bill with a view to bringing forward a legislation in the current session, Malhotra said. Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani asked all ministers to reply to letters from Members of Parliament since they were not getting prompt response to their queries, Malhotra said. Members raised issues like better deal for sugarcane growers of Uttar Pradesh, VAT, powerlooms and readymade garments. Finance Minister Jaswant Singh assured them that their views would be taken care of when he replies to the Finance Bill in Lok Sabha on Wednesday.
Mother's beatification to be celebrated in city on Nov 8
Tuesday, April 29, 2003
Kolkata,Tuesday, April 29, 2003: With the main ceremony of Mother Teresa's beatification scheduled at St Peter's Bascilica in the Vatican on October 19, the Archdiocese of Calcutta has decided to organise another event here on November eight to celebrate the event locally. Church sources said the event here would be organised in two parts -- a liturgical celebration and a public celebration. The liturgical celebrations would comprise a religious procession, praying of the rosary, Holy Mass, veneration of Mother Teresa's relics and garlanding her picture, while the public programme would include an all-faith prayer service and other forms of tribute to Mother. Local parishes under the Archdiocese have been directed to 'spiritually prepare' their members for the event, they said. A 14-member core committee, with Kolkata Archbishop Lucas Sircar as convener, has been formed to organise the celebrations. Besides Missionaries of Charity head Sister Nirmala, the committee also comprises the Provincial of the Jesuits Fr Jerome Francis and Salesian Provincial Fr John Berger. 10:15 IST
Second suspected SARS case detected at NSCB airport
Tuesday, April 29, 2003
Kolkata,Tuesday, April 29, 2003: In the second suspected SARS case in the last 24 hours, an Indian national who arrived at the NSCB International Airport here early today via Bangkok, showed symptoms of deadly killer respiratory disease. Immediately after detecting the 32-year-old passenger, a resident of Gorakhpur, with SARS symptoms, a team of doctors, keeping watch on all air travellers, isolated him at the airport arrival lounge before sending him to the Infectious Disease Hospital for diagnosis, sources said. The name of the suspected SARS patient running fever and suffering from cough and breathlessness was not declared when he returned here early today from Cambodia in a Thai international airlines via Bangkok. Meanwhile, instructions have been issued by the airport authorities for the fumigation of the Thai aircraft. This was second instance of the detection of the suspected SARS case at the NSCB International Airport after Jamil Ahmed's upon his arrival from Hong Kong via Bangkok on Sunday last, they said. Jamil Ahmed was still in the ID hospital as his blood report from the Institute of Virology in Pune was awaited.
AI suspends 15 more pilots, seeks IA help
Monday, April 28, 2003
MUMBAI: Hardening its stance against the Indian Pilots' Guild (IPG), the Air India management on Sunday suspended 15 more pilots for refusing to fly to SARS-affected countries. With this, the total number of pilots suspended after the "unofficial" IPG strike is 27. Jitendra Bhargava, AI's Director of Public Relations, told reporters: "Our primary concern is that the passengers must not suffer any inconvenience. Hence, we are using the AI executive pilots to fly to various sectors." At present, 159 executive pilots are serving with A-I. They are mainly senior pilots who have been given executive level postings within the organisation; those belonging to IPG are considered as 'worker class'. Bhargava added that five retired A-I pilots who are still holding a valid flying licence have also been asked to rejoin on a contract basis to ensure that the international flights are not affected. Already, more than 50 other pilots have been served with letters for their refusal to operate flights to Singapore, Hong Kong and Kuwait. They would face disciplinary action, he said. As per the AI contingency plan that has been put in place, A-310 airbus services may be curtailed but operations of Boeing 747-400, 747-300, 747-200 would be carried out with the help of the executive pilots. "If we fail to accommodate passengers on our flights, we will try and shift them to Indian Airlines or other international carriers," Bhargava said. Referring to the contentious CAT III landing instruments, the airline spokesperson had said on Saturday that the Government has installed them in Delhi and IPG has been demanding $35 per hour flying allowance for all pilots irrespective of whether they flew to Delhi or not. He said "we would like to have a written communication from the Guild that they have no such demand and are willing to go for CAT III training. This is the minimum they can do to prove their point. Payment of one dollar amounts to addition of Rs 1 crore to the wage bill annually." On IPG writing to Union Health Minister Sushma Swaraj seeking a meeting, he said they should have done it three weeks back. Meanwhile, an Indian Airlines release said all its flights to Singapore from Delhi, Chennai and Bangalore, were operating as per schedule. The airline has decided to shift the night halt for its cockpit as well as cabin crew from Singapore to Bangkok after consultations with the unions concerned, it said. IA circles said that following an AI request, Indian Airlines operated an additional flight on April 26 on the Delhi-Dubai-Delhi sector to clear AI's 142 stranded passengers. This was besides accommodating passengers of cancelled A-I flights on common routes such as Mumbai-Cochin, Calicut-Sharjah, Mumbai-Delhi, Calicut-Doha, Chennai-Singapore, Cochin-Coimbatore and incoming passengers on sectors Bangkok-Kolkata, Bangkok-Mumbai, Bangkok-Guwahati Bangkok-Delhi, Guwahati-Mumbai, Mumbai-Ahmedabad and Mumbai-Kolkata. Indian Airlines is also scheduled to operate additional flights on the Delhi-Dubai-Delhi sector on April 28 and 30 and Delhi-Abu Dhabi-Muscat-Delhi on April 29 to clear stranded AI passengers.
PM to christen LCA on May 4
Monday, April 28, 2003
Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee will christen the indigenous multi-role Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) on May four after witnessing a flight demonstration of the aircraft at the HAL airport here. "Vajpayee will select a suitable name from a list of 20 Sanskrit names identified for LCA. He will also roll out the prototype vehicle (PV-1) of the aircraft," Aeronautical Development Agency sources told today. ADA officials said Defence Minister George Fernandes, Scientific Advisor to the Defence Minister V K Aatre and senior officials would witness the demonstration of LCA. Conceived in 1983, the development of LCA had been hit by delays due to various reasons including sanctions by the United States post Pokhran-blasts before it made its maiden flight on January 4, 2001. Two technology demonstrators TD-1 and TD-2 have so far made 66 flights and a final clearance for the aircraft is expected after 2,000 hours of flying. "The Sanskrit names have been chosen from Hindu mythology and are apt for the next-generation fighter," sources said. The tailless, delta-winged, digital, fly-by-wire aircraft which is presently fitted with a GE-404 engine is expected to replace the Indian Air Force's aeging MiG-21 fleet in future. Limited series production of six aircraft is already underway at HAL and is expected to be delivered by 2008 around the same time when the aircraft is certified. 11:59 IST
India ready to help Iraq with relief supplies: Fernandes
Monday, April 28, 2003
Expressing concern over the post-war situation in Iraq, Defence Minister George Fernandes today said India is ready to send a floating naval hospital and relief supplies as part of the country's humanitarian assistance to the Iraqi people. "I was always of the view that the kind of war that was waged was not going to stop where it has. I believe that there will be far more destabilisation not only in Iraq which is already getting demonstrated," Fernandes said. "Its reverberations will be felt in other countries also," Fernandes told here in the east Chinese metropolis before winding up his week-long and first-ever visit to China. Asked what India will do to alleviate the long suffering of the Iraqi people, he said the government is ready to send in relief supplies as well as doctors. "As far as we are concerned, we have kept ourselves ready to provide relief supplies. We have in readiness a floating hospital manned by our naval doctors and we also have a ship ready to move in with food, medical and other relief supplies," he said. 12:48 IST
Fernandes confident on forging friendly ties with China
Monday, April 28, 2003
Defence Minister George Fernandes today said his first-ever visit to China has helped in charting out a new road map for friendly relations with India's most important neighbour with both sides caring for each other's concerns and sensitivities. "It was a visit that has enabled us to appreciate each other's concerns and also each other's sensitivities and take the forward steps. I found that there is tremendous love for India (in China)," Fernandes told here in an exclusive interview here in the gleaming east Chinese metropolis. Summing up his impressions on the week-long official visit to China, the first by an Indian Defence Minister since 1992, Fernandes, well-known for his anti-China comments before and after the 1998 nuclear tests, appeared to have taken a positive and pragmatic policy approach in New Delhi's relations with Beijing. "The important thing is the sincerity on both sides to take forward steps and this is one of the major outcomes of our discussions," Fernandes said. "I noticed a genuine desire to build greater friendship with India and also to remove whatever obstructs such friendship with the acknowledgement that resolving some of the issues will take a little time," he said. Fernandes had separate meetings with the chairman of the central military commission (CMC), Jiang Zemin, Premier Wen Jiabao, CMC vice chairman Gen. Guo Boxiong, Defence Minister Gen. Cao Gangchuan and Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing. 11:59 IST
Oppn-govt talks tomorrow to resive stalemate on Muhsarraf
Monday, April 28, 2003
Crucial talks between government and the opposition to resolve differences over the Presidency of Pervez Musharraf and his constitutional amendments in Pakistan resume on Monday amid reports of Musharraf evolving a joint strategy with Prime minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali to deal with the oppostion that has hardened its stand. Jamali, who began formal talks with opposition leaders over the weekend, met Musharraf yesterday at the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi and is understood to have briefed him on talks with opposition leaders and sought the President's suggestion to resolve the political stalemate. Media reports quoted officials as saying that Musharraf was of the view that the opposition should avoid striking an uncompromising posture in view of the internal and external security of the country. He also gave suggestions to Jamali to shape a consolidated strategy ahead of the next round of talks with the opposition beginning on Monday. Jamali told Musharraf that his government was ready to continue with the Legal Framework order (LFO) being part of the Constitution with the Parliament's approval. He however added that there is a need to show flexibility on government's stand to soften opposition, local daily 'The Nation' said. Meanwhile Pakistan Muslim League-N of exiled former Prime Minister Nawaz Shairf hardened its stand and said it would not accept Musahrraf as President even if he quit as Chief of army "The PML-N will not be part of any dialogue with Pervez Musharraf even if he invites our party. Other opposition parties can have their own viewpoint on the issues including the uniformed president," acting President Makhdoom Javed Hashmi here last night after a PML-N Parliamentary Party meeting. 16:24 IST
Lakshya successfully test-flown
Monday, April 28, 2003
Balasore (Orissa),Sunday, April 27, 2003: The indigenously developed Pilotless Target Aircraft (PTA) - Lakshya - was successfully test flown from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur, about 14 km from here, today, according to defence sources. Lakshya was flown at 1.55 pm. Already inducted into the Indian Air Force (IAF) in 2000, Lakshya's latest trial was undertaken with an improved engine and other sub-systems developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). Lakshya, a sub-sonic, re-usable aerial target system, is remote-controlled from the ground and designed to impart training to both airborne and air defence pilots for weapon engagements, sources said. 17:31 IST
Pak reviving militant camps in PoK
Monday, April 28, 2003
Srinagar,Sunday, April 27, 2003: Despite Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee extending an "olive branch" to Pakistan, reports indicate that Islamabad was reactivating militant camps in its illegaly occupied Kashmir and other areas. Militants arrested recently and information collected from border outposts indicate that all five camps of Lashker-e-Taiba in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir have been revived and several hundred cadres, 80 per cent of them foreign mercenaries, were being trained in them, official sources said here. These militants who were arrested after Vajpayee's two-day visit to the Kashmir valley, have reportedly told their interrogators that several camps in Northern areas of Gilgit and Baltistan, which had been shut for long, have been reactivated to carry out violent activities in Kashmir. They revealed that several ultras were waiting across the border for the snow to melt to enter the Valley for unleashing a rein of terror, the sources said. The militants had specific instructions to carry out as many suicide attacks as they could, the sources said. Vajpayee's public rally at the Sher-e-Kashmir stadium was a cause of frustration for the Pakistan-based militants, they said.
Centre, UP differ on fixing SMP for sugarcane
Monday, April 28, 2003
New Delhi,Sunday, April 27, 2003: Differences between the Centre and Uttar Pradesh on the issue of fixing Statutory Minimum Price (SMP) for sugarcane came to the fore at a meeting between Union Ministers led by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Chief Minister Mayawati even as both sides agreed to provide remunerative prices to farmers. During the 90-minute long meeting, Mayawati, who was accompanied by state Sugarcane Minister Premlata Katiyar, impressed on the Prime Minister the need to empower the states to fix the SMP "to ensure that the interest of poor farmers is not hurt by sugar mill owners". She said though the state had fixed Rs 95 per quintal for sugarcane procurement which was being paid by the state's 49 state-sector sugar mills, the 52 private mill owners were denying the same to the farmers as the Centre had announced SMP of only Rs 69.50. "I told the Prime Minister that every state Government should get the right to fix SMP. Then, the private mill owners won't dare to hurt the interests of the farmers. Within a month, I will make them dance. It is for the Centre to decide," Mayawati told reporters after the meeting. However, Union Food Minister Sharad Yadav said "New Delhi has been fixing the SMP traditionally and conventionally and states are free to fix their own prices. An attempt is being made to break that mechanism and we will not allow that." Union Agriculture Minister Ajit Singh said the Government was committed to provide last year's price of Rs 95 for a quintal and a committee would soon meet to discuss ways and means to achieve it.
Aparna Sen wins best film award
Sunday, April 27, 2003
New Delhi: For most filmgoers in the Canary Islands, Spain, seeing Indian films was a new experience. But going by the popularity that the Indian package enjoyed, it was clearly not a bad experience. Fourteen Indian films of the last decade in different languages including 'Lagaan,' which missed the Oscar by a whisker, and 'The Making of the Mahatma' were screened at the Festival of Las Palmas in the Canary Islands of Spain last month. The package of mainstream films, being screened in the Festival for the first time, had been put together by Cinemaya, the Asian film quarterly published from New Delhi, and is increasing evidence that Bollywood is getting international recognition. Apart from the fact that the Lady Harmiguada Gold prize for the best film (which carried a cash award of 1,20,000 Euros) was presented to Aparna Sen's 'Mr and Mrs Iyer' by 'Sandokan' Kabit Bedi, the package was a great success not only with Indian audiences delighted to have Indian films occupy such a prominent place in the festival, but also with Spanish audiences who had a chance to discover the cinema being now talked about all over the world. Las Palmas is the capital of the Grand Canary island, one of the group of seven Canary islands off the southern coast of Spain. Among its population of one million are two and a half thousand Indians (five thousand Indians in the seven islands out of eleven thousand in the whole of Spain) who have been there for more than a century. The films in other sections were the Shah Rukh Khan-Madhuri Dixit-Aishwarya Rai starrer 'Devdas' by Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Aamir Khan-Sonali Bhendre's 'Sarfarosh' by John Mathew Matthan, 'Kuch Kuch Hota Hai' (Karan Johar), 'Dil Chahata Hai' (Farhan Akhtar), 'Everybody says I'm fine' (Rahul Bose), 'English August' (Dev Benegal), 'Zakhm' (Mahesh Bhatt), 'Satya' (Ram Gopal Varma), 'A Peck on the Cheek' (Mani Rathnam), 'Astitva' (Mahesh Manjrekar), and 'Mitr My Friend' (Revathy Menon). Aamir Khan's 'Lagaan' was directed by Ashutosh Gowariker and 'The Making of the Mahatma' was an Indo-South African production by Shyam Benegal. This package had been put together with the cooperation of the Directorate of Film Festivals and the External Affairs Ministry. Mrs Aruna Vasudev, Chief Editor of 'Cinemaya' and Director of CINEFAN Asian Film Festival, was President of the official jury whose six members including Daniel Bergman (son of Ingmar Bergman). Konkona Sen and Rahul Bose were present to introduce 'Mr and Mrs Iyer', with the latter also represented his own directed 'Everybody Says I'm Fine', and 'English August,' in which he plays the main role. Mahesh Bhatt had declined to attend the Festival to protest against the Spanish support to the United States in Iraq, though the Festival authorities had assured him that they did not support their own government.
Nuts yield heroin haul
Sunday, April 27, 2003
Afghanistan is the source of most of the world's heroin The authorities in India say they have seized heroin with a street value of more than $3m, being smuggled inside almond shells. Customs officials made the discovery at the international airport in the capital, Delhi, when they stopped a passenger arriving off a flight from Afghanistan. "The officer on duty took out one of the almonds and squeezed it and found that there was a small white powder pouch inside it," customs officer Manish Mohan told Reuters news agency. "It was a fake almond. We were suspicious of the size of almonds as they were bigger than usual "When we carried out the test, it was found positive for narcotics and it was heroin." Officials say the drugs would have fetched $3-4m on the international market. Afghanistan was the world's largest producer of opium, from which heroin is derived, last year, the United Nations says. India is increasingly being used to channel drugs from Afghanistan to other Asian countries, the authorities say.
Three more SARS cases in India confirmed
Sunday, April 27, 2003
The Health Ministry has confirmed three more cases of SARS in India, which takes the total number in the country to seven. Of the three freshly confirmed cases, one is being treated in Kasturba Hospital, Mumbai, the second in Apollo Hospital, Kolkata and the third in Naidu Hospital, Pune. In a significant meeting chaired by the Senior Additional Direc- tor of Health Services in Maharashtra, a decision has been taken not to release names of patients of suspected or confirmed cases of SARS. The decision has been taken in view of the social stigma, which is beginning to be attached with the disease. In other developments, preliminary tests have proved that two patients admitted to hospitals in Kerala with symptoms similar to SARS are not afflicted with the disease. Health Secretary K Ramamurthy and Director of Health Services VK Rajan told reporters that the duo would be under observation. Another patient, who was a suspect case, was discharged from a Kochi hospital as he was cured. The final clinical test results of the three patients were await- ed from the National Institute of Virology, Pune. Agencies
Air India Bombing Trial Opens Monday in Canada
Sunday, April 27, 2003
AP The trial for two men accused of bombing the Air India Flight 182 begins in Vancouver on Monday, after more than 17 years of investigation. The long and complicated trial is expected to last for at least a year. The two men from India's Sikh religious minority, millionaire Ripudaman Singh Malik and forestry worker Ajaib Singh Bagri are each charged with killing the 329 people aboard an Air India 747 that exploded near Ireland in June of 1985. Most of the victims were Canadian. They are also charged with killing two baggage handlers at Narita Airport near Tokyo, Japan in a related bombing of another Air India flight, 54 minutes earlier. Officials said both bombs were put on departing planes here in Vancouver. The two Indian-born Canadians, who were arrested in 2000, have pleaded not guilty to the charges. Mr. Bagri is also charged with the attempted murder of a local Sikh newspaper publisher in 1988. Critically wounded in that attack, the publisher (Tara Singh Hayer) was killed in another attack 10 years later. It is believed that the bombings were in retaliation for the Indian government's 1984 invasion of the Golden Temple in Amristar, the holiest shrine for the Sikh religion. Still to this day, the bombing is the worst single incident of aviation terrorism in history. It also has the distinction of being the biggest and the most expensive police investigation in Canada so far. Courtroom in Vancouver has special security modifications for the trial of the alleged Air India bombers After numerous delays, the complicated trial will begin under tight security in a specially modified courtroom. That courtroom alone cost $5 million to renovate and the criminal investigation in this case has already cost tens of millions of U.S. dollars. During the trial, the 17 prosecutors are expected to link two men with militant political groups that were actively campaigning for a Sikh homeland in the Indian State of Punjab. There will be 15 defense lawyers to refute the evidence. A third man, Inderjit Singh Reyat,who holds dual British and Canadian citizenship, plea-bargained to a lesser charge of manslaughter in February and received a five year sentence for the 329 deaths. As the bomb maker, he was previously found guilty of manslaughter for killing the two baggage handlers. Reyat might be called to testify for the prosecution. The trial will also be a first for many Canadian journalists, as they will be allowed to record audio of the legal proceedings to authenticate quotes. Broadcasts of the recordings and picture taking inside the court room, however, remain illegal in Canada.
CAG pulls up Min of Tourism for "unauthorised posts" overseas
Sunday, April 27, 2003
New Delhi,Sunday, April 27, 2003: The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has pulled up the Ministry of Tourism for creating "unauthorised" posts in overseas tourist offices resulting in an outgo of Rs 17.4 million from the exchequer. Though the ministry could post India-based personnel to its overseas tourist offices only against posts sanctioned by the competent authority, it said in a report that prima facie there were no extenuating circumstances justifying the posts. "The Ministry of Tourism can post India-based personnel to its overseas tourist offices only against posts sanctioned by the competent authority. Similarly, Heads of Government of India Tourist Offices abroad can employ locally-recruited personnel only against posts specifically sanctioned by the ministry," the CAG said. Citing various cases where the ministry has posted people against the "sanction", the CAG said the tourist office had also "acted in excess of its delegated powers" in one of the posts. Certain instances of unauthorised operation of posts noticed in the course of audit of the tourist offices at Frankfurt was mentioned by the CAG. 10:10 IST
Tendulkar leaves for US for surgery
Sunday, April 27, 2003
Mumbai Indian batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar left for the US on Saturday to operate on his left hand ring finger. Tendulkar would undergo an operation at a hospital in Baltimore and would be away for six weeks, the star batsman while speaking to reporters at the airport before boarding the flight here. Tendulkar had carried the injury - which he put down to "wear and tear of playing non-stop cricket" - while playing the World Cup in South Africa where he scored 673 runs and was named the Player of the Tournament. Tendulkar said he was not able to give specific details of his recovery although the operation was a minor one. "As far now, all I know is that my left hand will be in a cast for at least two weeks. There is nothing much I can say or do, and now everything is in the doctor's hand," he said. When asked why he chose to do the surgery in the US, Tendulkar said "my wife Anjali knows some doctors over there who had treated other sportspersons successfully. And I though why not try them out." "I might be in the US for six weeks and because it is a minor one, I am also planning to have a holiday with my family after the operation," he said.
NHRC issues notice to AIIMS Director in harassment case
Sunday, April 27, 2003
New Delhi,Sunday, April 27, 2003: Taking cognizance of a complaint of a women employee of the country's prestigious All India Institute of Medical Sciences alleging "harassment, abuse and torture" at the hands of the Institute authorities, National Human Rights Commission has issued a notice to AIIMS Director seeking report on the matter by April 30. The Commission, which received a complaint by Kiran Lata Kaushik, a receptionist in the Protocol and Public Relations department of AIIMS alleging that her salary was stopped from December 2002 followed by her suspension in February this year as "premeditated agenda", issued a notice last week granting four weeks time to AIIMS authorities to respond. NHRC also asked the Director to take appropriate action into the matter and send the 'Action Taken Report' to it. The Complaint alleged misbehaviour by AIIMS Deputy Director (Administration) N Baijendra Kumar and Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Attar Singh who had asked her to provide them with "some useful information against Protocol and Public Relation Officer B K Dash and if I refused to comply then I would face serious consequences." Kaushik approached NHRC after she failed to get redressal from Health Minister Sushma Swaraj. She also alleged that besides using abusive language, Kumar and Singh manhandled her and sought NHRC's intervention into the matter 10:10 IST
Aish and Vivek will shoot at Wales
Sunday, April 27, 2003
Aishwarya Rai will be visiting Wales next month with Vivek Oberoi to shoot for her forthcoming movie 'Kyon Ho Gaya Na Pyar?' The pair will be filming scenes for the movie, which also stars Amitabh Bachchan in an important role. Wales is becoming an increasingly popular location for Bollywood movies and is proving competitive to Switzerland, until recently used for countless Indian films.
Raj Sippy's venture with Big B and Salman
Sunday, April 27, 2003
Director Raj Sippy whose last movie with Amitabh Bachchan was 'Satte Pe Satta', is now planning his next venture with Bachchan and Salman Khan. The film will feature "Mr. Bachchan and Salman as rivals" is how our sources have put it. The movie will be produced by Suresh Sharma. The Shooting may commence from July 2003. Details are awaited.
"You don't have to be a singer to appear on the show. Being a movie buff is enough". Raageshwari
Sunday, April 27, 2003
An actress, singer, model and veejay Raageshwari is a master of all performing arts, equally comfortable before a camera or a recording studio or a giant gathering of her fans. She has been fortunate to get 'Kuch Kehti Hai Yeh Dhun' a weekly prime time show on Sony television. This will premiere in mid April. She is there because the show is based on music. She explains, "You don't have to be a singer to appear on the show. Being a movie buff is enough". According to her, the show took so long to come around, because Sony was not happy with the earlier show. Now they have changed it and that's the reason for the delay, she says. This show was announced about a year ago. The show enables every participant to win prizes and the winners need not to pay taxes on what they win. Sony has ensured that. This is to recall that Raageshwari, made a debut as an actress with 'Aankhen' followed by 'Main Khiladi Tu Anari'. But 'Duniya' marked her entry into the field of pop singing in 1997. She followed it up with albums like 'Pyar Ka Rang' and 'Y2K Saal Do Hazaar'. Apart from her catchy numbers 'Oye Shaava', 'Pyaar Ka Rang' and 'Y2K Saal Do Hazaar', she gained popularity with her numbers like 'Mere Mehboob' and 'Dil Sheesha'. Raageshwari has the distinction of hosting a show for Ten Sports called 'One on One'. This show saw her interviewing Pakistani Cricket players Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis. She is extremely comfortable in hosting shows. She can talk to walls even, she claims.
Petrol, diesel prices slashed again
Sunday, April 27, 2003
New Delhi, 26 April Petrol and diesel prices will fall between Re 1 and Rs 1.20 a litre from midnight, as per the agreement between the All India Motor Transport Congress and the Government, which brought an end the 10-day long transporters' strike. This is the second time within eleven days that oil companies have reduced petroleum prices by around Re one. Though the mandatory revision of prices was due on April 30, the government had assured transporters that the date of revision will be brought forward. This agreement brought the strike to an end. The state-owned oil companies said in a statement that the reduction in prices of the two automotive fuels, second in a month, followed further decrease in oil prices in the international market. Petrol and diesel will be cheaper by Rs one each at Rs 31.49 and Rs 20.12 per litre, respectively in Delhi. In Kolkata, petrol will be down Re one at Rs 33 per litre, while diesel will fall by Rs 1.01 at Rs 21.51 per litre. Petrol will be available at Rs 36.43 per litre in Mumbai, down Rs 1.09 and diesel will be priced at Rs 25.50 per litre, a fall of Rs 1.20. In Chennai, petrol and diesel prices will be Rs 34.40 and Rs 22.43 per litre, down Rs 1.08 and Rs 1.12, respectively.
Five killed in abortive suicide attack on DD, AIR complex
Sunday, April 27, 2003
Srinagar, 26 April, Five people, including three ultras and two security personnel dead were killed and seven injured in a battle between militants and security men after the rebels launched a suicide attack on the complex housing All India Radio and Doodarshan in Srinagar at 1300 hrs. According to official sources, the militants, dressed in police fatigue, drove to the heavily guarded complex in the heart of the city in an explosive laden ambassador car and exploded it at the main gate. Consequently an intense gun battle for about 30 minutes followed between the militants and the security guards at the main gate of Radio Kashmir in which a CRPF jawan and a ultra were killed and four security personnel were critically injured. Sources informed that two other militants were killed by BSF personnel in a nearby mosque, where they had taken refuge, after they failed to storm the complex. A BSF jawan was killed and three others were also seriously injured in the encounter. This was the first suicide attack by militants on the complex. Meanwhile, the an obsure militant outfit, Al-Madeena Regiment, claimed responsibility for the suicide attack. A spokesman of the outfit, called up Kashmir Press Service, and also claimed responsibility for the suicide attack on BSF headquarters at Bandipora yesterday.
Nothing good can happen unless NDA govt is removed: Sonia
Sunday, April 27, 2003
Congress president Sonia Gandhi yesterday said unless the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre was removed from office nothing good can happen in the country. Addressing a 'cooperative convention' at Madhya Pradesh-level on the Lal Parade Ground, Sonia said that under the present government, unemployment was on a rise even as there was a steep rise in prices and corruption. She said that the common man's was dismayed by the all pervading darkness. The area under agriculture was shrinking even as materials used in farming were becoming costlier and farmers were not getting enough price for their produce. The Congress president alleged that whenever BJP came to power either in the Centre or states, it worked for the destruction of the agriculture and cooperative sectors. She asserted that in sharp contrast to the NDA government the Congress had always worked for the betterment of the agriculture and cooperative sectors. The Congress president said the BJP and its allies had formed the coalition government only for the sake of their vested interests. She claimed that all the Congress governments in various states in the country were doing a better job than the NDA government at the Centre.
Bollywood banking on 'The Hero'
Sunday, April 27, 2003
After a string of flops this year, Bollywood is pinning all its hopes on one Friday release - Anil Sharma's much-hyped Sunny Deol starrer The Hero - Love story of a spy. Sharma and Deol had earlier come together for the whopper hit Gadar - Ek Prem Katha which had even outshone the massive success of Aamir Khan's Lagaan. The Hero which has Preity Zinta and Priyanka Chopra playing the leading ladies, has been hot in the trade circuits ever since it was launched and its top-notch production values, Hollywood stuntmen and the works, have added to the curiosity factor. If Anil Sharma resorted to jingoistic patriotism in Gadar, this time around he is balancing nationalism with James Bond-like thrills and gadgetry. Touted as the costliest Indian movie ever made, The Hero also carries immense hopes for Sunny Deol, who has over the years stood his ground in Bollywood, even at the face of a surge of young entrants. The success of The Hero would reinstate Deol's position in the industry as among the most dependable Box Office bets. Meanwhile, Anil Sharma has reportedly pencilled in all the three Jats - Dharmendra, along with sons Sunny and Bobby - for a project.
Devdas" sweeps IIFA Technical Awards
Sunday, April 27, 2003
Mumbai, Apr 23: Continuing its award winning spree, Sanjay Leela Bhansali's magnum opus "Devdas" has swept the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards for technical excellence. The film, starring Shah Rukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai and Madhuri Dixit in lead roles, won top honours in nine of the 14 categories, IIFA announced here today. The film won awards in categories of cinematography, dialogue, sound recording, make-up, choreography, art-direction, song recording, sound re-recording and costume designing. Bollywood's ace choreographer Saroj Khan won the award for her crafting of the film's hit song "Dola Ree". Ram Gopal Verma's hard-hitting, almost real-life depiction of Mumbai's underworld, "Company" won two awards for best action and best dialogue. Music genius A R Rahman won the award for best "background score" for Shaad Ali's debut movie "Saathiya". "Kaante" won the award for visual special effects. IIFA, in a statement, said votes for the awards were cast by "The best talent from Indian cinema - including actors, film directors, producers, script-writers and singers". The awards will be presented in South Africa on May 17. International audit firm Pricewaterhouse Coopers Ltd, official auditors for Hollywood's Oscars, monitored the voting which was also open on the net for the public, IIFA said.
BCCI challenges arbitrators award lifting ban on Jadeja
Sunday, April 27, 2003
New Delhi, Apr 26: The cricket board has challenged before the Delhi High Court the arbitrator's award making Ajay Jadeja eligible for playing international cricket by lifting the five-year ban imposed on him for his alleged involvement in the match-fixing scandal. The petition challenging arbitrator Justice J K Mehra's award was filed yesterday, two days before award was to become binding if it had gone unchallenged. The January 27 award of the arbitrator would have become effective tomorrow at the expiry of the 90-day period. "BCCI has decided to challenge the award before the Delhi High Court. The decision was taken after obtaining legal opinion," BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya said in Kolkata. Jadeja's lawyer Vineet Malhotra told that it would not be possible for him to say anything right now about the petition. "We will see to it (petition) as and when it will come for hearing," he said when asked about the ground on which the award has been challenged. "The board would be in a better position to tell about it," he said, adding that Jadeja was yet to be served with a copy of the petition. Asked whether BCCI's petition was to scuttle Thursday's April 24 High Court order asking the board to consider Jadeja for selection in the Ranji Trophy matches if found eligible, Malhotra said "it would be unfair for me to say anything". The court order to this effect was on a petition by Jadeja seeking direction to the Board of Control for Cricket in India following the arbitrator's award given three months ago.
Powell speaks to Musharraf on violence in Jammu and Kashmir
Sunday, April 27, 2003
Washington, 26 April, Expressing concern over the continued violence in Jammu and Kashmir, US Secretary of State Colin Powell has spoken to President Pervez Musharraf in this regard, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher has said. "US has continued to be concerned with the violence in Kashmir and Powell spoke about it on Thursday to Musharraf," Boucher said yesterday when asked what kind of message Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage will be taking with him to India and Pakistan during his visit to the sub-continent next month. He said "Powell has been talking with the Pakistanis as well as keeping in touch with the Indian Government about steps that we can take to try to help them decrease tension there."
Fernandes meets Jiang to boost Sino-Indian ties
Sunday, April 27, 2003
Beijing, 26 April Indian Defence Minister George Fernandes today met China's top military leader and former president Jiang Zemin to pledge closer Sino-Indian military and economic ties. "As China and India are the two largest developing nations and also neighbours, to develop bilateral relations is in the fundamental interests of the two countries," Mr Jiang told Mr Fernandes. Despite a long-term alliance with Pakistan, in recent years Beijing has said it wants to reduce tension between India and Pakistan by building ties with both countries and urged the neighbours to unite against terrorism. Mr. Fernandes who met Mr. Jiang in Shanghai after earlier meeting with Premier Wen Jiabao and other leaders in Beijing, said India sees economic and military exchanges as key parts of its relations with China. China and India are still working to resolve several border disputes, which are mainly left over from a brief border war fought in the high mountains of the Himalayas in 1962. China also occupies part of the Kashmir region, with India accusing Pakistan of illegally ceding it to Beijing.
India's software industry worried by new woes
Sunday, April 27, 2003
BANGALORE (Reuters) - Walloped first by the dotcom meltdown and then by the September 11 attacks, India's software industry is now discovering new woes -- visa restrictions and police raids overseas that some see as shades of protectionism. Several recent incidents, including one in which Malaysian police detained 270 Indian information technology workers on suspicion of being illegal workers, have shaken an industry that was looking at steady growth, as overseas firms move software work offshore to benefit from India's low-cost engineers. Coming against the backdrop of a prolonged slowdown in the U.S. economy, which takes more than 60 percent of India's nearly $10 billion in software and service exports, the incidents raised a spectre of protectionism in the industry. Some speculate political lobbies, or unions fearing job losses, may have been behind them. Others think Indians were just caught up in routine police action against illegal workers. But with grumblings that India is swiping white-collar jobs from western nations, industry officials say low-skilled jobs in the industry have become politically sensitive. "This is an economic issue which has become a social situation," Atul Takle, spokesman for India's largest software exporter, privately held Tata Consultancy Services, told Reuters. British telecoms group BT Group Plc is having trouble with unions over its Indian call centres that will eventually employ 2,200 people. In New Jersey, a lone U.S. legislator is trying to stop the government from outsourcing jobs abroad. Oracle, the world's No 2 software company, last year denied it was slashing headcount in the United States while hiring in India, where it plans to double staff to 4,000 over four years. TOUGHER CHECKS Indian software service companies use a mix of "onsite" workers located at client premises overseas with India-based "offshore" workers who operate over high-speed telecoms. Industry officials say protectionism or not, Indian IT workers are facing more visa curbs in the United States and Europe, particularly security checks that intensified after the terror attacks on New York and Washington on September 11, 2001. Kalpa Shah, chief executive of privately held software firm NetGalactic, told Reuters that one of her workers, a Muslim, had his U.S. visa revoked and another had his visa rejected twice despite seven years of credible work. Industry officials say an express programme that helped firms to get visas for their workers without physical interviews is also being scaled down. "They have made everything much more strict," said Shah. Despite such problems, business is good in the industry. India's software exports are estimated to have grown by nearly 30 percent in the year ended March to nearly $10.0 billion. This is below the heady 50 percent growth rates of the 1990s but is still strong because of demand for software that helps corporate productivity. India's leading listed software companies, Infosys Technologies and Wipro hired more than 3,000 workers each in the first three quarters of the fiscal year ended March, showing robust demand for workers. "In high-skilled categories, there is still a short supply," said Laxman Badiga, Wipro's head of talent and staffing. FEEL-GOOD FACTOR GONE Indian workers were hit by layoffs in the West two years ago. Of late, political security is a bigger problem. Industry officials say Indian firms have seen new hiring opportunities since the September 11 attacks because many western-based Indians want to return home to safer jobs and to avoid embarrassing security checks and "racial profiling". Partha Iyengar, vice-president at the Indian arm of industry researcher Gartner Group, said Indian firms were aggressively recruiting managers and engineers comfortable with western customers but longing for their home country. "At the emotional level, the feel-good factor has gone out of the U.S," Iyengar said. "There is uncertainty over the economy and backlash over jobs, while India is still in a growth mode". Iyengar said western authorities who overlooked small technical details on duration or types of business visas in the talent-hungry 1990s were now looking harder at the papers. "This is a political issue driven by economics," said Ravi Ramu, chief financial officer of software and back-office services firm MphasiS BFL Ltd. "As the Indian industry scales up its profile, these issues are likely to come up more and more." Wipro's Badiga said the perception of job losses in the West, especially in back-office work, was a politically sensitive issue Indian industry has to learn to cope with. "Once a perception starts, it is difficult to change that. Noise levels create problems," Badiga said. (Additional reporting by Anshuman Daga)
"For the last 3yrs I have been trying to search myself, my abilities "-Akhsay
Sunday, April 27, 2003
Akhsay eyes 'different' roles to shed action hero image Kolkata, Apr 24: Bollywood star Akshay Kumar, famed for his martial arts skills, now looks for 'different roles' in Bollywood to display his versatility and come out of the 'action hero' image. "For the last three years I have been trying to search myself, my abilities. There are lot of things other than action. I want to play different roles to show my strength as an actor," Kumar, who was in the city to campaign for his upcoming release 'Andaaz', told a press conference here today. The actor, accompanied by co-star Priyanka Chopra, said he has transformed a lot since playing the lead role in 'Janwaar', which remains his favourite so far. "For the first 10 years in Bollywood, I was there without knowing what I was doing actually. But after Janwaar, I started inventing myself through different portrayals in films like Ek Rishta, Dhadkan and others," he said. While Kumar, a great admirer of Amitabh Bachchan, eyes select roles, former Miss World Chopra was concerned about quantity rather than quality of characters and was "open to any kind of role", including those in regional films. "I am in early stages of my career and want to do all kinds of films," the beauty queen, who gets entangled in a love triangle along with Lara Dutt in Andaaz, said. The 'spiritually inclined' actress said while she was happy with her film career, there were other plans for future to contribute to the society and influence the masses. The Rs 14 crore film, to be released next month, was directed by Raj Kanwar and produced by Suneel Darshan.
4 killed in suicide attack on BSF HQ
Saturday, April 26, 2003
Two militants and an equal number of security personnel were killed, and two injured, as militants stormed a sector headquarters of BSF at Bandipora in Baramulla district on Friday morning, a BSF spokesman said. The militants, suspected to be members of a suicide squad, were engaged by security personnel in a gun battle, the spokesman said. In the gun battle, two militants and two security personnel were killed. 3 killed in blast in J&K court Meanwhile, three persons, including 2 women, were killed and 34 injured on Friday afternoon in a blast in a court in Patan town in Baramulla district. The court is located on the Srinagar-Baramulla road, 27km from Srinagar.
PM pulls back 'hand of friendship'
Friday, April 25, 2003
NEW DELHI: The brief excitement over a possible thaw in Indo-Pak ties completely evaporated today with Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee reiterating that Pakistan’s support to terrorists must stop for talks to begin even as Islamabad screamed innocence. Making a statement in the Lok Sabha, Mr Vajpayee said while he was ready to extend the hand of friendship to Pakistan, improvement in bilateral ties would require Pakistan to walk the other half. In my speech, I spoke of extending our hand of friendship to Pakistan. At the same time, I also said that this hand of friendship should be extended by both sides. Both countries should resolve that we need to live together in peace. Stripped of diplomatese, Mr Vajpayee’s statement in the Lok Sabha is an echo of the government’s insistence on the cessation of cross-border terrorism as the condition for the resumption of dialogue. And it should tamp down the excitement that the estranged neighbours are on the verge of setting the timetable for high-level diplomatic engagements. Elaborating on New Delhi’s expectations of Pakistan, Mr Vajpayee was forthright in saying that his hand of friendship gesture by itself couldn’t kickstart the dialogue. Recalling his remarks in J&K last week on the subject, the Prime Minister said: I expressed the hope that a new beginning can take place between India and Pakistan. I said that we have extended our hand of friendship. Let us see how Pakistan responds to this. Stopping cross-border infiltration and destruction of terrorist infrastructure can open the door for talks. Talks can take place on all issues including that of Jammu and Kashmir. Pakistan’s response to Mr Vajpayee’s statement was along predictable lines, with its foreign minister Mohammad Kasuri absolving ISI of the Indian terror charge. We are committed to combating terrorism. If we want to resume relationship, let’s not jump to accusations, Mr Kasuri told a television channel over phone, according to an agency report. We should not assume that every violent incident in either country is handiwork of either RAW or ISI, he said. We have to learn to trust each other, he further said. All this added up to the known Islamabad’s position which has been consistently rejected by India for the implicit assumption about the jehadi gangs acting on its own. India maintains that the jehadi gangs are sponsored and motivate by the ISI and the talks about autonomy is just a smokescreen. However, even while the caveats inserted by the Prime Minister had the effect of putting the hand of friendship on the same level as the known official posture since December 13 attack on Parliament, certain sections continued to read it as fraught with the potential of a breakthrough. In sharp contrast, the media in Pakistan remained stoic in its response, some even treating it as a Machiavelian plot. International players with known interest in the region also stayed cool with the usually active state department appearing to be rather indifferent. The Musharraf regime, however, seemed to be keen to use the hand of friendship gesture and to tie the Prime Minister to his words as part of what is suspected to be the preparation for yet another assault on New Delhi’s refusal to come to the negotiation table. Accordingly, Mr Kasuri was lavish in praising Mr Vajpayee for acting very wisely in a statesman-like manner by distancing himself from certain statements which raised the pitch in the region and may have to do a lot with focusing international attention on the region. On the SAARC summit, Mr Kasuri said it would be held as soon as possible and hoped Mr Vajpayee and external affairs minister Yashwant Sinha would travel to Pakistan on invitation, said the agency report.
PM pulls back 'hand of friendship'
Friday, April 25, 2003
PM pulls back 'hand of friendship' - The Economic Times 24-04-2003 Print this page NEW DELHI: The brief excitement over a possible thaw in Indo-Pak ties completely evaporated today with Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee reiterating that Pakistan’s support to terrorists must stop for talks to begin even as Islamabad screamed innocence. Making a statement in the Lok Sabha, Mr Vajpayee said while he was ready to extend the hand of friendship to Pakistan, improvement in bilateral ties would require Pakistan to walk the other half. In my speech, I spoke of extending our hand of friendship to Pakistan. At the same time, I also said that this hand of friendship should be extended by both sides. Both countries should resolve that we need to live together in peace. Stripped of diplomatese, Mr Vajpayee’s statement in the Lok Sabha is an echo of the government’s insistence on the cessation of cross-border terrorism as the condition for the resumption of dialogue. And it should tamp down the excitement that the estranged neighbours are on the verge of setting the timetable for high-level diplomatic engagements. Elaborating on New Delhi’s expectations of Pakistan, Mr Vajpayee was forthright in saying that his hand of friendship gesture by itself couldn’t kickstart the dialogue. Recalling his remarks in J&K last week on the subject, the Prime Minister said: I expressed the hope that a new beginning can take place between India and Pakistan. I said that we have extended our hand of friendship. Let us see how Pakistan responds to this. Stopping cross-border infiltration and destruction of terrorist infrastructure can open the door for talks. Talks can take place on all issues including that of Jammu and Kashmir. Pakistan’s response to Mr Vajpayee’s statement was along predictable lines, with its foreign minister Mohammad Kasuri absolving ISI of the Indian terror charge. We are committed to combating terrorism. If we want to resume relationship, let’s not jump to accusations, Mr Kasuri told a television channel over phone, according to an agency report. We should not assume that every violent incident in either country is handiwork of either RAW or ISI, he said. We have to learn to trust each other, he further said. All this added up to the known Islamabad’s position which has been consistently rejected by India for the implicit assumption about the jehadi gangs acting on its own. India maintains that the jehadi gangs are sponsored and motivate by the ISI and the talks about autonomy is just a smokescreen. However, even while the caveats inserted by the Prime Minister had the effect of putting the hand of friendship on the same level as the known official posture since December 13 attack on Parliament, certain sections continued to read it as fraught with the potential of a breakthrough. In sharp contrast, the media in Pakistan remained stoic in its response, some even treating it as a Machiavelian plot. International players with known interest in the region also stayed cool with the usually active state department appearing to be rather indifferent. The Musharraf regime, however, seemed to be keen to use the hand of friendship gesture and to tie the Prime Minister to his words as part of what is suspected to be the preparation for yet another assault on New Delhi’s refusal to come to the negotiation table. Accordingly, Mr Kasuri was lavish in praising Mr Vajpayee for acting very wisely in a statesman-like manner by distancing himself from certain statements which raised the pitch in the region and may have to do a lot with focusing international attention on the region. On the SAARC summit, Mr Kasuri said it would be held as soon as possible and hoped Mr Vajpayee and external affairs minister Yashwant Sinha would travel to Pakistan on invitation, said the agency report.
Khwahish
Friday, April 25, 2003
Khwahish seems to be a film for the new generation. Quite away from the stereotype love and action Bollywood films, Khwahish tries to touch the feelings of the young Urban Indian. The young movie is directed by Govind Menon and produced by Vivek Nayak. Music is composed by Milind Sagar. Asha Bhosle, Udit Narayan AND Kay Kay, renders the lyrics of Faaiz Anwar. The Story Khwahish traces the relationship of Lekha Khorzuverkar (Mallaika Sherawat) and Amar Ranawat (Himanshu Mallik) from the time they meet in the clothing store in Pune three months before they graduate from college, through the ups and downs that modern urban couples experience, to the end of their relationship five years later. The film explores in microcosmic detail the growth of their relationship - their acrimonious meeting, the growth of a quirky friendship, attachment and attraction, the joy and fear of acknowledging their romantic feelings for each other, the initial discomfort and excitement of the physical touch, the progression to a comfort zone of physical contact and kissing each other's lips and girl's mental block in dealing with pre-marital sex. He proposed marriage because he wants to get laid. - His dad refuses to let him and his wife sponge off of him and they rebel and stupidly get married, go to Manali on their Honeymoon, get horny and stoned and discover they have no condoms. Condom hunting in the night in Manali to a chawl in Pune where he starts his MBA and she sacrifices her career in classical music. She supports him through his studies with some help from her father and even though they have no money, they enjoy the freedom and being with each other until he graduates and lands a job. They get a second hand Maruti, a one bedroom flat and think they're in paradise. Six months later... Boredom sets in, is marriage a convenient arrangement finally? Before one of them embarks on an affair they have to come up with schemes to bring back excitement in their lives. They start off making contact with their college friends who are all too busy with their families and lives. They decide to have a baby. The condoms are tossed out but six months later she's still not pregnant. Rifts start to appear in their marriage as they await the doctor's verdict. And then an external tragedy hits them and their relationship could end. And this is when they discover what love is all about and he quits his job, get humiliated and borrows money from his Dad and they go on a vacation to Kerala and everything is forgotten in wake of the cruelty of fate and destiny. Do they manage to overcome it - definitely not, "Kyonki kuch khwahish poori ho jaati hain, aur kuch dil hi mein reh jaati hain." Khwahish is all about loving, living and Losing.
Another Feather in Ash's Cap
Friday, April 25, 2003
Leading Bollywood actress and former Miss World Aishwarya Rai has been signed as brand ambassador of L’Oreal Paris, the flagship brand of the group, a statement here said. Aishwarya joins what has been described as the L’Oreal Paris dream team - models Laetitia Casta, Andie MacDowell, Milla Jovovich, Noemie Lenoir, Virginie Ledoyen, Agbani Darego, Gong Li and actress Catharine Deneuve. "I am delighted and very excited to be associated with L’Oreal Paris. The brand’s tag line ’Because you’re worth it’ has always been very close to my heart," Aishwarya said. The actress will represent all product categories including skin care, hair colour and cosmetics. Aishwarya, who has acted in multi-million rupee films like ’Devdas’, is the first Indian actress to be invited on the jury of the Cannes International Film Festival beginning May 14.
The Hero
Friday, April 25, 2003
"Abort, abort the mission now!" a bad guy screeches into the Dolby-driven soundtrack in the second half. And one sort of longingly gazes at the long-emptied bag of popcorn and wishes that would happen with this film. Everything in Anil Sharma’s long-awaited post-"Gadar" opus goes on for too long. "The Hero: Love Story Of A Spy" is an expertly executed slab of mainstream cinema. Sharma knows which buttons to push to get the required audience response. Exacerbated jingoism often substitutes for meaningful moments of interaction. The basic meat is, predictably, bar-be-cued on Pakistani fires. After "Gadar", Sharma knows how turned on the Indian audience gets with anti-Pakistan rhetoric. It flows out of the furiously paced action-romance with the urgency of an overloaded bus that must make it to its destination before dark, never mind the casualties on the way. One obvious casualty of screenplay and dialogue writer Shaktimaan’s zealous patriotism is good taste. Rajpal Yadav playing an Indian spy spits out at an Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI)-backed terrorist: "The one who errs once is an ’insaan’ (human), the one who errs twice is a ’shaitaan’ (Satan) and the one who errs repeatedly is Pakistan." Clap clap. Whistle whistle. But just by making a success of the Pakistan-bashing formula in "Gadar", director Anil Sharma can’t hope to do it again, even though he tries hard. Sharma’s film doesn’t have much to give us beyond the name-calling and nitpicking against the enemies across the border. This isn’t the first film to lash out at the ISI for perpetrating terrorism in Kashmir. John Mathan’s "Sarfarosh" did it with more cautious conviction four years ago. "The Hero" isn’t a bad film. But it lacks real feelings. Everything in the narrative is about creating an effect. Helicopters hover over snow-capped mountains, lavish tombs and domes get blown up and nuclear plants are run to ruin by the super-hero, Major Arun Khanna (Sunny Deol). When the major arrives in Kashmir, local girls form a giggly gauntlet to welcome him. One has to be truly special to be accorded such an extraordinary welcoming committee at a time when the valley is under crippling stress. Major Khanna is soon feeding ’mithai’ (sweets) to the local ISI representatives and taking time off to romance Reshma (Preity Zinta). To avoid any communal aspersions -- audiences are ostensibly allergic to Hindu-Muslim romances -- we’re hurriedly told that Reshma is a Hindu girl adopted by a Muslim couple in her childhood. Having got its political correctness straight, it’s time for the narrative to show Reshma serving as the Indian moll in an army man’s house in Pakistan. Though facile, this is the most absorbing part of the narration. And Reshma’s bid to escape her enemies with the help of a good-hearted local (Asif Zakaria) when she’s caught out is heart-in-the-mouth stuff. But then out comes the heart and in goes the foot in the mouth. The second half of the film gets caught up in a whirlpool of over-baked rhetoric. The Sunny Deol-Preity Zinta-Priyanka Chopra love triangle (quadrangle if you count Pravin Dabas as a saintly Pakistani dude mooning over Preity) that’s teased into the commodious plot in the second half seems like a bit of a digression in a narration rapidly running out of steam. By the time the climax chugs along (literally, as like "Gadar" the climax is on board a hurtling train), the bad guys from Pakistan led by the evil Isaq Khan (Amrish Puri) are all foaming at the mouth. There are moments that one cherishes elements beyond the stylish sound and flamboyant fury of a film that wants to win over an audience at any cost. The Deol-Zinta romance in the first half unconsciously echoes the Dharmendra-Sharmila Tagore relationship in Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s "Satyakam". In his quieter moments, Sunny Deol reminds you of his father Dharmendra from the espionage thriller "Aankhen". But the various disguises just don’t work on Sunny. Watching him do a bit of Tom Cruise in "Mission Impossible", Val Kilmer in "The Saint" and papa Dharmendra in "Satyakam" is far more interesting than the more obvious personality assumptions that Sunny is made to undergo for the sake of the country. For a macho movie, Preity Zinta has a fairly substantial role. She’s played a girl in terrorism-ridden Kashmir before (in "Mission Kashmir"). Though she carries off the innocent act, her body language and giggle-and-grin expressions are no different from "Dil Chahta Hai" or "Dil Hai Tumhara". Zinta needs to seriously shop for new expressions. Amrish Puri should win an award for the hammiest performance of his career. Just why an actor of his stature is reduced to shrieking in droll dementia is a question that only the director can answer. Priyanka Chopra’s debut is a bit of a non-happening. Though she looks svelte and pretty and is bound to go places in the near future, her role in the major’s minor love triangle is laughably meagre. If the film scores high marks in any area, it’s in technical finesse. The two high points of the production design are Suresh Urs’ editing and Kabir Lal’s cinematography, which create a heightened impact in the drama without forfeiting the naturalistic tones of the headline-based plot. But for a predominantly action film, Allan Amin’s action is shockingly wishy-washy. Not once do we see Deol do anything that makes our adrenaline race. The much-touted aerial stunts bring us down to earth with a thud. "Gadar" worked well because it told a story we believed in. Sharma has cleverly incorporated elements from that film in "The Hero". If in "Gadar" Sunny Deol hunted for Amisha Patel, here he spends half the film looking for Preity Zinta. When the search is over, we rejoice -- but not for the reunited lovers, only for the end of our ordeal.
Bhosle, Sami Pair for US Concert
Friday, April 25, 2003
Evergreen nightingale Asha Bhosle and Pakistan’s prince of Indi-pop Adnan Sami shared the stage at a concert here and treated the audience to popular Hindi music from the 1950s to the present day. Adding further flavour to the three-and-a-half hour programme was Sudesh Bhosle, singing popular numbers of legends like Kishore Kumar, Hemant Kumar and Mohammad Rafi by modulating his voice to sound like them, apart from his own songs. He also had the audience in splits when he mimicked actors such as Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjiv Kumar, Asrani, ’Dada Moni’ Ashok Kumar and Raj Kumar. The show at Trenton was called "Kabhi To Nazar Milao", taking from the album by the same name cut by Bhosle and Sami together. Going by audience response, the star of Saturday evening’s event was Bhosle, who said she was performing in the U.S. after several years and, like in the past, was touched by the affection showered on her by the audience.
"I sick of the industry's double standards" - Sunny Deol
Friday, April 25, 2003
Subhash K. Jha It's a more aggressive and less shy Sunny Deol that one encounters after the release of his latest film The Hero: Love Story Of A Spy this month. All talk that the film has fared below expectations visibly exasperates India's highest paid actor. The Hero generated a lot of hype. But the industry is of the opinion that it hasn't done well. It's the film industry which was hyping it from day one. And now they’re busy running it down. The film industry has got 500 filmmakers and just as much self-interest. Nobody wants others to do well. Your fans have found the action sequences disappointing. I'm not saying I'm totally happy with my action scenes. Perhaps audiences expected me to indulge in raw fisticuffs. But my character isn't the usual earthy guy. This time the character and everything I did was subdued. I don't scream my feelings. "But in The Hero, they got to see me doing something different. Those who wanted to see the 'Gadar: Ek Prem Katha' boy were disappointed. That film came without any expectations. We couldn't make the same film again. The audience are suffering from a 'Gadar' hangover. I guess so. Audiences think I look convincing when I fight. With 'The Hero' I've tried to appeal to a more upmarket audience. So now I can do both kinds of films, those that appeal to the masses and those to classes. Has The Hero generated the profit you expected from it? When my film does business worth Rs.30 million to Rs.40 million, people say it hasn't done well. When other actors' films do business worth Rs.10 million, they're called hits. What can I do? I feel 'The Hero' will definitely be in the same league as my career's big hits. You are also not very fond of the numerous award shows that happen in Bollywood. Awards are of no use. They're just time pass. They aren't about your work but your PR and what you can give in exchange for the so-called honour. Giving me a special award for 'Gadar' at the Zee awards last year was an insult. I don't know what the award was for. I left the trophy at the function. What are popular awards? If 'Gadar' wasn't popular, what is?" What is next on the cards? My next release, "Jaal", is around the corner. I play a singer this time. As in Guddu Dhanoa's 'Ziddi' there're lots of twists and turns in the plot. Some projects with old friends and associates such as Rahul Rawail and Raj Kumar Santoshi are also in the pipeline. Are you happy with the way things are progressing? I'm very happy with life. All that bothers me is the film industry's double standards. They talk about being part of one fraternity. But they don't go by what they say. I can see the industry getting rid of the scum in the next two years and professional corporate organisations coming in. Five or six professional organisations would control the whole film industry. Hopefully that will change everything.
Bollywood turning to TV talent
Friday, April 25, 2003
Bollywood turning to TV talent Mumbai Bollywood seems to be looking at TV stars and directors with renewed interest after having given them step-motherly treatment in the past. Producer-director Subhash Ghai is leading the way by signing Suhail Tatari, whose TV serial "Kashmeer" is now on air. Ghai has signed Tatari to direct "Chandni Chowk" for his banner. Three of TV’s most talented directors -- Tigmanshu Dhulia, Parvathi Balagopalan and Kushan Nandy -- are ready with their first feature films. Dhulia, whose film "Haasil" is one of the most talked-about works in recent times, thinks TV is a breeding ground of considerable talent. "There was a time when TV was looked upon as an inferior medium," Dhulia told . "But now, when soaps like ’Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki’ and ’Kyunkii Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi’ are stealing away the audience, the film industry has begun to treat actors and technicians from the home-viewing medium as sort of saviours who can bail the film industry out of the doldrums." Parvathi Balagopalan, who has just completed "Rules: Pyar Ka Superhit Formula" for model-actor-producer Milind Soman, feels the time is right to do away the lines demarcating TV from cinema. "When I made ’Margarita’ for Zee TV many years ago, people said it was ahead of its times. What they probably meant was, the home-viewing medium wasn’t taken seriously enough. Now’s the time for cinema to become an ally rather than a rival to TV." Kushan Nandy, whose thriller "88 Antop Hill" is ready for release, doesn’t think he’s migrating from one medium to another at all. "I didn’t think of myself as a TV director, and I don’t think of myself as a feature director now. I’m a filmmaker, period." As the walls dividing the two media drop, many filmmakers from TV are getting ready to make films. These include Anurag Basu, who did Ekta Kapoor’s soaps and is now directing the film "Saaya", for Mukesh Bhatt, and Neena Gupta, whose soap "Saans" was a turning point for soaps on satellite TV. The same trend of acceptability is visible for TV actors. Until now, a host of TV stars, including Aman Verma, who played the second lead in Tanuja Chandra’s "Sangharsh", and Amarr Updhyay, who acted in "Dhund: The Fog", failed to make it in cinema. But now, one of the most talked about young actors in Bollywood is Aashish Chowdhary who started 10 years ago at the age of 18 on TV. Aashish has bagged a role parallel to Ajay Devgan in the action thriller "Qayamat". Now when the film is ready for release, he’s being looked at with avid interest by the film industry, as the third major star after Shah Rukh Khan and R. Madhavan to break the barriers between the small and the large screen. Says Aashish: "I’ve never regarded TV as a casual medium. For me acting is acting. Even Pierce Brosnon and Bruce Willis spent a great deal of time doing ’Remington Steele’ and ’Moonlighting’ on TV before going to cinema." Aashish could well trigger off a chain of migrations into the movies. Several TV stars are being groomed for big screen stardom. Perizaad Zorabian who starred with Chowdhary in the soap "Hum Pardesi Ho Gaye" broke through with Nagesh Kukunoor’s "Bollywood Calling" and will soon be seen in two crossover films, one of them produced by Subhash Ghai. Perhaps TV is now ready to give cinema the talent it so desperately needs. Indo-Asian News Service
Urmila's secret of a great performance
Friday, April 25, 2003
Urmila Matondkar is one actress who has given consistently good performances. But director Ram Gopal Varma claims that Matondkar has gone beyond what he suggested to her in his scare drama Bhoot. It's not just Varma who feels so. Even Urmila's co-star Rekha complimented her saying that she had never seen an actress showing so many different expressions of fear! Well, few know as the secret goes that Matondkar, always a distinction-procuring student, was studying psychology when stardom weaned her away from academics. Her references from this subject of human behaviour, coupled by her own cerebral insights, have urged a stellar performance.
UK backs India on UNSC permanent seat
Friday, April 25, 2003
The United Kingdom supports India's candidature for a permanent seat in the UN Security Council, Lord Willams, the Leader of the House of Lords, UK, said on Thursday. Speaking on 'Indians in Britain and the British in India' at the Guru Nanak University here, he said the partnership between India and UK covered several areas, including combating international terrorism, peacekeeping, trade, IT and Science and Technology. Willams said Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and his British counterpart Tony Blair have reaffirmed their will to continue the partnership between the two countries for the benefit of the people of both the nations, besides helping each other to create a better and safer world as per the New Delhi Declaration, 2002. He said both the countries wanted to play a positive and proactive role in international affairs. Both have mutual interests on the world stage and both play leading roles in the United Nations and Commonwealth. Willams said the UK is unique in being the only country in the world to be a member of the Commonwealth, the European Union, UN, NATO and the G-8. On ethnic minorities in the UK, he said they constitute eight per cent of the population in the country as per the 2001 census. There are over 1.3 million Indians in UK. Among the major ethnic communities in the country, Indians are the most prosperous, influential, innovative and successful in business, politics and arts.
Randhir Kapoor is back!
Friday, April 25, 2003
After a long pause Randhir Kapoor is back in bollywood and is seen in Honey Irani's debut directorial Armaan. He liked working in the film a lot though he didn't comment on accepting more acting projects. Randhir, fondly called Daboo, plays Preity Zinta's father and a billionaire in the film who helps Amitabh fulfill his dream of building a state-of-the art hospital in the hill station. But Randhir doesn't have a problem working with the actress who is a rival to his own daughters. And Preity too is quite fond of him. That's the spirit!
Kajol - Ajay have a baby girl
Friday, April 25, 2003
Kajol was expected to deliver her first baby by the end of April. But the baby girl arrived on 20th April. Thankfully, it was a Sunday and therefore hubby Ajay Devgan, who doesn't shoot on Sundays, was at home and there with Kajol at 8.37 PM when the little baby was born. Ajay has taken a fortnight's break to be besides wifey dearest. One heard Ajay was hunting for the right names for the baby. He couldn't hide the excitement. As for Kajol, she has knitted baby thingies for her darling daughter.
Foreign Policy not being bent to suit US : Sinha
Thursday, April 24, 2003
New Delhi,Wednesday, April 23, 2003: External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha tonight rejected the opposition charge that Government was acting under US pressure on the foreign policy front but said "compulsive hostility" towards Washington was not suited to India's national interest. "India does not act under pressure from any country and we will not be cowed down," he said while replying to a debate on Demands for Grants of the External Affairs Ministry in the Lok Sabha which was later adopted by voice vote. 21:52 IST
Nationwide truckers strike called off
Thursday, April 24, 2003
New Delhi,Wednesday, April 23, 2003: The ten-day nationwide truckers strike that had led to shooting up of prices of fruits and vegetables and threatened to cripple the industry was tonight called off after Government agreed on nine of their 10 demands including early cut in diesel prices. Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways B C Khanduri told a press conference after reaching an agreement with the striking truckers that "the strike has been called off." The oil companies would soon cut petrol and diesel prices, advancing their scheduled revision slated for April 30.
Ending cross-border infiltration can lead to talks: Vajpayee
Thursday, April 24, 2003
New Delhi,Wednesday, April 23, 2003: Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee today calibrated his latest peace initiative preferring to wait for Pakistan's response to his "hand of friendship" but asserted that stopping cross-border infiltration and destruction of terrorist infrastructure "can open the doors for talks" on all issues including Jammu and Kashmir. Making a statement in the Lok Sabha on his week-end visit to Srinagar where he spoke of friendship with Pakistan, Vajpayee said "...I expressed the hope that a new beginning can take place between India and Pakistan. "I said that we have extended our hand of friendship. Let us see how Pakistan responds to this. Stopping cross-border infiltration and destruction of terrorist infrastructure can open the doors for talks. Talks can take place on all issues, including that of J and K," he said. Vajpayee also referred to his speech at a rally in Srinagar in which he had said "...this hand of friendship should be extended by both sides. Both sides should resolve that we need to live together in peace". 13:20 IST
Doordarshan to enter DTH services
Wednesday, April 23, 2003
Doordarshan has finally decided to join the Direct-to-Home (DTH) services bandwagon and is likely to place its proposal before the Government by the end of this month. The Rs 500 crore proposal was cleared at a meeting of the Prasar Bharati Board last week and the free-to-air Doordarshan will soon make all efforts to talk to other channels to bring them on to its DTH platform. According to Prasar Bharati sources, Doordarshan plans to offer its proposed DTH service at Rs 50 per month, after an initial one-time investment ranging between Rs 8,000 and Rs 10,000 for set-top-box and a dish antennae. On air would be a bouquet of 30-odd channels including Doordarshan's national, regional and metro fare, apart from some private free-to-air channels though the footprint - expected to go on air early next year - will be countrywide eventually. DD plans to start by targeting the Ku-band service at geographical areas where terrestrial television service is not readily available, such as towns and cities in North East, Madhya Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir and Rajasthan. These "TV-shadow" areas have a market size of 100-million population. To further increase penetration of the DTH service in remote or rural areas, Prasar Bharati is open to the idea of an operator receiving the service through a dish antennae and distributing it to subscribers through cable. Prasar Bharati has set aside a budget of around Rs 500 crore to be spent over the next five years on the DTH project. Apart from subscription, advertising and carriage fee from private channels are the other source of revenue of DD's DTH project. Prasar Bharati's marketing strategy appears to be unique. Globally, DTH projects offer premium service to TV audiences, unlike the DD plans for free channels. Two private broadcasters - Zee group and STAR group - have recently applied to the government for license to launch premium DTH services in the country through the C-band. Each platform provider has to offer a licence fee of Rs 10 crore, a bank guarantee of Rs 40 crore and an annual revenue-share arrangement of 10 per cent. The government had opened the doors to private players offering DTH service in the C-band couple of years back. With conditional access regime set to roll out in four metros by July 14, television viewers in the country would have more option than ever before. However, they have to get used to pay more to receive the same.
Govt remains tough on three main demands of truckers
Wednesday, April 23, 2003
New Delhi,Wednesday, April 23, 2003: In the face of a split among the striking truckers, Government on Tuesday remained tough on the three main demands of the strikers but appealed to them to call of their nine-day-old strike. As the splinter group of the strikers met Petroleum and Road Transport ministry officials, Transport Minister B C Khanduri made a statement in the Lok Sabha in which he said the Government was willing to consider their demand that diesel prices should not be revised every fortnight if the fluctuation was within 25 paise a litre. He said while there was no major difference of opinion on seven of their demands, the abolition of toll tax demanded by the strikers, could not be considered. While reports of violence due to clashes between the supporters of the rival factions poured in from some places, prices of essential commodities like fruits and vegetables firmed up. Besides, cargo movement out of ports as also export consignment and cement and steel despatches were badly hit. Disagreeing with All India Motor Transport Congress' approach to the strike call, splinter group, All India Confederation of Goods Vehicle Owners Association (ACOGOA) met officials to resolve their three-point agenda including appropriation of toll tax and rationalisation of levies on diesel. Even as reports of various industrial units shutting production filtered in, ACOGOA President Chenna Reddy told that "negotiations (with government) are still on. All issues have not been resolved and dialogue will continue." On the other hand, AIMTC, which gave the call for the strike from April 14, General Secretary J M Saksena said AIMTC was not part of today's discussions with the government. 09:39 IST
Nine Indian hostages freed
Wednesday, April 23, 2003
Moscow,Wednesday, April 23, 2003: Nine Indian nationals, kept hostage by Russians of Pakistani origin, have been rescued in a joint operation conducted by the Moscow Police and Federal Security Service. They were released in Tula (South of Moscow). Two Russians of Pakistani origin Maqsood Ahmad Bhat and Khalid Nadeem have been arrested for taking Indians hostages for criminal ransom, RIA Novosti reported quoting FSB press service. However, it did not say when this incident took place, neither did it disclose the identity of the Indians. Police are also searching for a Pakistani national living in Moscow, who was also part of the criminal gang allegedly involved in trafficking of illegal immigrants from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh to the West via Russia, Ukraine and Belorus. The agency said that some of the members of this gang are based in East European countries and the Russian police have contacted their counterparts in respective countries to nab them. 09:39 IST
26 articles recovered during excavation work in Ayodhya
Wednesday, April 23, 2003
Ayodhya,Tuesday, April 22, 2003: Twenty-six articles, including green tile pieces, stone pestles and elephant remains, were recovered during the excavation work in the acuqired land in Ayodhya on Tuesday, sources said. A little more time that expected was being taken as digging work in about 15 trenches were done and the articles counted and carefully sealed by the ASI teams after completion of the day's work, they said. Now, digging in one dozen trenches around the makeshift structure was being carried out, the sources said. Excavation in west of the structure were being carried out in new trenches. The number of labourers was decreased from 151 to 102 since last Sunday, they said, adding 54 Muslims were engaged in the digging work. 09:39 IST
Shortage of 2,50,000 Bullet Proof Jackets for troops in LoC
Wednesday, April 23, 2003
New Delhi,Wednesday, April 23, 2003: The Indian Army is facing a "huge shortage" of nearly 2,50,000 Bullet Proof Jackets required for its troops in the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir and for counter-insurgency operations despite the procurement action being initiated nearly 15 years back. This has been revealed by the Standing Committee on Defence in its report submitted to Parliament on Tuesday. Voicing its deep concern over this development, the Committee said it was "disturbed" to note that such a "major shortfall" still remained notwithstanding the fact that procurement action was initiated as far back as 1988-89 reflecting very adversely on the procurement process. 09:39 IST
Advani to discuss UP devpts with Gen Secys, state leaders
Wednesday, April 23, 2003
New Delhi,Wednesday, April 23, 2003: The BJP top brass, led by Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani and senior leaders from Uttar Pradesh, are meeting here today to discuss recent political developments in the state, including the problems affecting the BSP-BJP coalition. The recent developments, including the lodging of FIRs against Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav, which led to an uproar in Parliament, are expected to figure prominently in the meeting party President Venkaiah Naidu and his General Secretaries would be having with Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani, party sources told. UP Chief Minister Mayawati's recent diatribe against former Chief Minister and BJP General Secretary Rajnath Singh is also likely to come up in the discussions, they said. Since the party is in favour of continuing with the coalition, the leaders are expected to convey to both Singh and Mayawati not to criticise each other publicly, the sources said. The party's central leadership is also not supportive of Mayawati's actions against the Samajwadi Party leader as it believes it would only serve to "lionise" him. Later in the evening, Advani and Naidu are expected to meet senior leaders from the state and discuss the recent developments. State party Chief Vinay Katiyar, Lalji Tandon, Kalraj Mishra and Rajnath Singh would be present at the meeting, the sources added.
South Africa and India joint winners
Tuesday, April 22, 2003
DHAKA: India and South Africa were declared joint winners of the triangular one-day series here after rain played spoilsport at the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday. India were struggling at 46 for 3 off 17.1 overs when sharp showers held up proceedings with captain Saurav Ganguly (11) and Yuvraj Singh (2) at the crease. A 25-minute spell of rain at 0930 GMT rendered the ground unfit for play and the best of efforts from the groundsmen could not help resume the match. Even a private helicopter was pressed into service in a bid to dry the ground. But match referee Clive Lloyd ruled out play at 1430 GMT after another bout of rain. International Cricket Council rules state that at least 25 overs need to be played by each side for a result to be obtained. Virender Sehwag, left-hander Gautam Gambhir and Mohammad Kaif were the batsmen out as paceman Makhaya Ntini took two wickets Shaun Pollock claimed the other.
Cracks appear in Indian truck strike
Tuesday, April 22, 2003
he future of an indefinite strike called by truck drivers in India appears uncertain after owners in three states decided to resume services. The Press Trust of India says that truckers in West Bengal, Orissa and Andhra Pradesh have decided not to carry on with the stoppage. However, the main truckers union, the All India Motor Transport Congress say they are pressing ahead with the eight-day old strike, which has sparked a price rise in essential goods such as vegetables, fruit and milk. The strike has also hit manufacturing operations. The truckers want an end to frequent hikes in diesel prices, the scrapping of a uniform sales tax and the cancellation of a ban on 15-year-old trucks.
US dismisses policy rift with Blackwill
Tuesday, April 22, 2003
The United States has dismissed speculation that its Ambassador to New Delhi Robert D Blackwill has decided to quit as he was "unhappy" over America's lack of firmness in dealing with the terrorism issue between India and Pakistan. Any speculation of the type is "totally misplaced. No it is not true," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said at a briefing on Monday when a correspondent referred to speculation that the Ambassador's desire to return is linked to his unhappiness with the lack of firmness in the US resolve on the terrorism issue between India and Pakistan. Blackwill will be in India for some months more. "I know there is still a lot of work to do, that he will help us do," Boucher said. He said that Secretary of State Colin Powell spoke to Blackwill on Sunday and appreciated his service as Ambassador to India, and praised the work that he had done. "They talked, as always, about the work on the current agenda between the United States and India," he said adding that both President Bush and Powell had known that Blackwill desired to return to his teaching at Harvard and spend more time with his family. Blackwill announced in New Delhi yesterday that he will return home to pursue his academic career at Harvard University.
'J&K may face another brutal summer due to Pak terrorism'
Tuesday, April 22, 2003
India fears "another brutal summer" lies ahead for Jammu and Kashmir this year because of preparations in Pakistan to infiltrate more terrorists into the state, Indian Ambassador to the US Lalit Mansingh has said. "Close to a 100 training camps have been spotted across the Line of Control, holding some 3,000 trained terrorists, destined for being sent to India. An additional 1,500 are already on the LoC, waiting to slip across, with the active assistance of the Pakistan armed forces," Mansingh said at a conference on India-US relations at the University of California, Los Angeles, during the weekend. He said Pakistan |
