Rani, Priyanka are terrific

For the first time, the world's premier film event will premiere two Bollywood films - "What's Your Raashee?" and "Dil Bole Hadippa".

"You know, last year our audiences launched 'Slumdog Millionaire' that went on to win everything (at the Oscars). And this year, we are thrilled to have two Bollywood movies under big banners making their world premiere," Cameron Bailey, Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) co-director, told IANS in an exclusive interview.

He said: "It is the first time that two Bollywood films are making their world premiere here. We had major Bollywood films in the past, but not for world premiere. We had their special presentation and galas with the stars. Those films had opened just before the Toronto festival and we had their presentation."

Bailey, who personally selected the two films during his visit to Mumbai in July, said: "These films were in the final stages when I was in Mumbai. These are highly anticipated films and we will be thrilled to see their stars like Rani Mukerji, Priyanka Chopra and Hurman Baweja in town."

An avid fan of Rani, Bailey said: "Rani is terrific. She can go the whole range - from serious dramatic roles to light comedy. Here (in 'Dil Bole Hadippa') she is in the role of a woman who loves cricket but cannot get on the team because she is a woman. It has that Shakespearean conceit when she dresses as a man to get on the team."

Rating Priyanka one of the most versatile actors today, he said: "Priyanka is incredible. In this film ('What's Your Raashee?'), she does 12 roles transforming herself into 12 completely different women. Now that is incredible."

He said the film festival will also be privileged to host Ashutosh Gowariker whom he described as one of the best directors in India.

"We had Ashutosh here previously as director of 'Lagaan'. He is a great maker of period films with such an attention to detail.

"But what is different about him this time - and people would love to see it - is that he has done a contemporary film ('What's Your Raashee?'), and it is a love story. Wow, he has not done that before. I am sure he will prove himself to be a master again."

Bailey, who gave a big break to Bollywood at the festival three years ago by organizing a gala presentation for the film "Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna" in the presence of Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan and Karan Johar, said he is determined to raise Bollywood's profile here for two reasons.

"One, we have an avid audience which comes (only) to see Bollywood films and their stars in town. Two, we want to introduce Bollywood to our audiences that do not know this kind of cinema."

In fact, he didn't rule the future possibility of live musical performances by Bollywood stars at the festival.

"We would love to showcase the musical part of Bollywood, and it is something we may consider down the line," he said.

"Many may not see it that way, but Bollywood is already a mainstream global player. Stars from Bollywood are globally recognised. People who make and finance Bollyood films are global players. See what Reliance is doing in Hollywood as a major player," he added.

The 34th film festival, which runs from Sep 10 to 19, will feature more than 300 films, including 100 brand-new, from 64 countries.
Source ::Times of india

Read more...

SRK too insecure to be nice: Salman

In a role reversal of sorts on Tuesday, Salman grilled me and a couple of other journalists for Bollywood Face-Off, a show that will be shown exclusively on Zoom TV soon, and among the many things he spoke about was Shah Rukh Khan
.

Salman observed, “What Shah Rukh does or says is not of the least interest to me but he is one of the most insecure actors. If he could get rid of that he would actually be a nice fellow. When we were all starting out in our careers, and were in the Rs 4 to 5 lakh bracket, we were friends. As we became more and more famous, he grew more insecure.”

Earlier, on the show he blamed the media for the quick turnover of girlfriends some actors have (read himself). “Two people may have just begun dating, they need time to know one another, to understand one another and you people start writing that they are in a relationship. That puts an awful amount of pressure on them and they are almost forced to get into a relationship,” he ranted.

Then he added, “When they find they are not terribly compatible and don’t want to take the relationship further, you people say, he is changing girlfriends all the time.” Huh?

When asked how he was uniformly cordial with his visitors on the television show he does for another channel, responding smilingly to intrusive questions about girlfriends and marriage while the same from a media person would elicit nothing but a growl, he explained, “The difference is intention. They are being nice, you people want to corner me and get me to say something provocative.”

Really Salman, and we thought that you did that without any prompting.
Source ::Times of india

Read more...

Now, get cheap sugar, dal at Mother Dairy booths

NEW DELHI: Delhiites can expect some relief from the rising prices of sugar and pulses. From next week, the city government will start selling
four varieties of pulses, rajma and peas at wholesale rates from 400 Mother Dairy booths. It's also working on a plan to sell sugar at wholesale prices from these booths.

Sources in the food and civil supply department said they were working out sugar prices and talking to Centre on getting the city's quota of sugar to start the scheme. ``Since there is major fluctuation in sugar prices, we felt the need to sell it at wholesale prices. But we need to get the sugar from the central government. As soon as we get the supply, the scheme will start,'' Delhi food and civil supply minister Haroon Yusuf told TOI.

With UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi writing to agriculture minister Sharad Pawar to take necessary steps to arrest the spiralling sugar prices, Delhi is hopeful of getting support from the Centre.

Yusuf said that the sale of pulses, rajma and peas from Mother Dairy would start from next week. He said the decision has been taken to ensure that the items are made available to consumers at places of their convenience. Once this scheme starts, the present scheme of sale of pulses at 70 points will be scrapped.

``We found that the sale at many such outlets was dismal and the general complaint was that people found it difficult to find them. Moreover, they complained that there was no benefit in driving 5-6 km for a few kgs of pulses. That's why we thought of selling these essential items from Mother Dairy outlets,'' said a senior department official.

He added that the Mother Dairy had consented to the proposal. Since last month, the government has been selling pulses like arhar, malka, urad and chana at 70 retail outlets across the city to curb spiralling prices in the open market.

The government recently decided to include more items such as rajma, and pea.

``Since people usually go to Mother Dairy booths for milk and vegetables in the morning, selling these items from there would come as a big relief to people. The difference between wholesale and retail prices is approximately 25-30%. We will continue this till there is complete correction in the prices of these essential commodities,'' Yusuf said.

Source ::Times of india

Read more...

Woman kidnapped, raped by private financiers

VIJAYWADA: A Scheduled Caste woman was allegedly kidnapped and raped by some private financiers of Vijayawada after her husband failed to repay
the amount taken from them.

The incident came to light after the woman escaped from the clutches of the kidnappers and reached police station in the late hours of Thursday. A case has been registered at Tadepalli police station in Guntur district and the woman had been sent for medical examination.

According to information, one Tumma Kanakarao of Tadepalli SC colony was a small honey seller in the area. He reportedly duped a financier-Ramanaiah of Chittinagar in Vijayawada in the guise of giving gold at cheap rate. When Ramanaiah realised that Kanakarao cheated him, he reportedly approached I Kondalu of Tadepalli to collect the amount.

According to the complainant-Nagamani (30), about 10 persons including Ramanaiah and Edukondalu came to her house on Wednesday evening and forcibly taken her away from the house after knowing that her husband was away. They reportedly detained her at an aloof place near Tadepalli. Then, Ramanaih reportedly called the father of Nagamani and asked them to bring Rs 30,000 to get his daughter released. However, he did not respond to the calls as he thought that it could be a plot of his son-in-law to extract money from him.

Vexed with no response from the family members, Ramanaiah and others reportedly left the place by keeping Edukondalu, who helped them in kidnapping the woman as escort late on Wednesday night. However, Edukondalu in the late hours of Wednesday took the woman to an aloof place on the Krishna river and raped her, the complainant said. SI Rajasekhara Reddy said that a case under sections 324, 327, 342, 354, 376 of IPC have been registered against Ramanaiah and Edukondalu.
Source ::Times of india

Read more...

Why sex is important

Asking why sex is important in marriage is like asking why water is important for our environment. The answer is simple, water is an essential component without which we will be parched and finally die; similarly, a marriage without sex will first become dry, with no excitement whatsoever, and then finally succumb.
Sex is that important 'water' that keeps the marital environment full of life.

Let's talk about sex

This said, sex is not the only thing that keeps the marriage alive. It's one component, like communication or understanding, but its absence in marriage can destroy it.

In our society, sex is still considered taboo, which makes it difficult for people to talk about it openly either with their partners or with their friends.

However, there are couples who are trying to come out of their shells and understanding the importance of not just sex, but sexual intimacy to keep their marriages young forever.

Considering how much we are told that sex is not an important part of a relationship as children, we grow up all the more confused. So it's necessary to properly educate people that having sex is not bad for marriage.

It's about communication

Couples should understand the need for communication for greater intimacy in the bedroom. If the husband and wife are not comfortable outside bedroom they can never be comfortable in the bedroom.

They need to understand that sex is important to a marriage because it creates a bond not only at a physical level but also at spiritual level. And it does not necessarily mean intercourse, which is what most of us understand when we talk about sex.

If we look at sex, it is all about a touch that arouses us to a level where we feel liberated; touch the sky (metaphorically) and come back to the earth feeling tired but refreshed after a bad day at work.

It's in the touch

Doesn't everybody enjoy being touched? In fact, lots of types of therapies rely on our sense of touch. Also, touching is a way to show another person he/she is appreciated, loved and needed.

That is what sex is all about. It's the way couples appreciate each other, love, and revel in each other.

That's why marriage without sex is a body without a soul. And moreover couples who enjoy good sexual intimacy can face any storm that befalls on their marriage.

Read more...

Sex up your Friday eve!

After a gruelling Monday to Friday cycle, don’t we eagerly wait for the weekend? Definitely, we do, for the simple reason that moments lost during the week can be made up over the weekend by chilling out and spending some ‘together-time’ with the one we love.
But what couples usually do over a weekend is nothing beyond shopping; watching a movie or a candle light dinner if getting romantic is on their mind. But doesn’t it sound tad boring? It’s time to break the monotony guys! Rather than doing the ‘done-to-death’ things, try doing these simple things together this weekend and pep up the love quotient of your relationship.
Watch a movie in bed
There is no better way to unwind on a weekend than watching a movie together. Rather than going to a multiplex, enjoy a romantic movie with your partner, all snuggled up in your bed. There is an array of mushy classics which you can choose from. Movies like Pretty Woman, City of Angles, You've Got Mail, When Harry Met Sally can be romantic enough. Dipesh and Jyoti, both journalists with the national daily Indian Express add, “We are big movie buffs and love catching upon the latest flicks but it’s very difficult to take out time for one on weekdays, thanks to our busy schedule. Therefore, we make a list of all the movies that we want to catch over the week and arrange the DVDs in advance. The best part of watching a movie at home is that we can enjoy the movie in complete privacy and relaxing in the comfort of our homes and not to mention that it’s cheap and saves us from the maddening traffic on the road.”
Relationship expert Mahima Mathur says, “Since both the partners are usually working these days, it is very important to take time out for each other. Spending quality time on a weekend is a very good idea provided you use it to your advantage.”
Cook a meal
Cooking something together is another way to bond with your partner if you decide on a low-key Friday night. Regardless of what you cook, the main goal is to break the routine and do something different. Agrees Manorama Jha, a financial consultant, “After following the strict 9 to 5 routine from Monday to Friday, I feel bored and stressed out. We usually go out for dinner on a Saturday but after a point, even that feels like a job. Then on one Saturday, my kids went for a birthday party and me and my wife felt too lazy to step out and decided to prepare a quick meal together. To our surprise the simple act of cooking turned into a pleasurable experience. We soon realised that how desperately we wanted that intimate time just for ourselves.”
“Cooking has a positive effect on many and often acts as a de-stressor for those who are looking for some creative recreation. Couples need time out from routine chores to enjoy the small things in life. It doesn’t matter even if you are not an expert chef. Just by taking interest in each other and doing something together can spark the romance,” explains Mahima.
Clean the house together
A new study say that married women have more housework than singles (and it even goes so far as to suggest this is the husband's fault!). So guys devote a weekend or may be just an evening to clean the house together.
“My wife is a cleanliness freak, she just loves cleaning up the house on a Sunday. Initially I used to loath this habit of hers but slowly when I started pitching in I realised that it can be quite relaxing and gratifying feeling.”
Marriage counselor Anu Goel suggests, “Play your favorite music and make a date out of it. Not only you’ll find good amount of ‘together-time’, the bonus is you get clean digs at the end of it.”
Read a book
A book provides the nuance of imagination, and therefore a lively discussion of your individual interpretations allows you to get to know each other better. Neha Bhasin, a lawyer recalls, “I am always cribbing about the fact that I have so less time to pursue my hobby. I just love reading books but I am always pressed for time. My husband, who works with a MNC also sympathises with me. But it was a great surprise when he got me the current best seller of the month. He also got a help guide on How to make your marriage work which both of us thoroughly enjoyed reading together.”
“If you really, absolutely, truly don't have time to read, then make time because reading improves your concentration. And it is a fantastic way to spend quality time with your sweet heart, and can be a bonding experience”, says Anu Goel.
Make a fitness date
Couple that plays together stays together. Turn play time into an exercise routine. Heena Mal and Jai Sharma share their experience, “There is a lovely park just a few blocks away from our house. But however, hard we may try; we fail to follow a fitness routine because of our erratic working hours. Therefore, on weekends we religiously go for our workout session and just love the open space and fresh air.”
Ashish Suri, a gym instructor adds, “A workout together will raise your endorphins and make you feel good about yourselves and each other. You can choose from bicycling, yoga or aerobics. Even going for a long walk holding hand in hand is also a good option.”
Get out of the city
It sounds so obvious, but no weekend ever seems to be the right one. Nilabh Singh who works with a Event Management company tells, “I often go for impromptu trips to the hills with my wife because it gives us that peace and ‘us’ time that it so hard to find in a city life. Hills give you that feeling of being one with nature which is such a high.” Agrees Vandana Mathur, a teacher with South Point, Kolkata, “I love the beach and whenever I feel saturated I hit to the beach on a weekend with my husband. Let me tell you that watching the sunset together with your partner can be so romantic.”
Sonia Bhasin, a travel agent suggests, “Just go online and you will find a number of travel sites. Book some inexpensive last minute travel, and drop everything else to go enjoy some sweet, sweet time together.”
Source ::times of india

Read more...

US nuclear gurus see signs of more Indian nuclear tests

WASHINGTON: US nuclear pundits feel the Indian establishment -- political, scientific, or both in concert – may be lining up to conduct more
nuclear tests to validate and improve the country’s arsenal before the Obama administration shuts the door on nuclear explosions.

''You bet he wants to test again,'' said Henry Sokolski, Executive Director of the Washington DC-based Nonproliferation Policy Education Center, when asked about the remarks from a key Indian nuclear scientist suggesting India’s thermonuclear test was not up to mark. ''Imagine you are a nuclear weapons designer who has corrected the mistakes and ironed out the wrinkles. You would be crazy not to want to test again.''

''You have to look at the DNA of a weapons designer. They always want to make the weapons smaller, lighter, more powerful,'' Sokolski added. ''If you blindfold them, tie their hands and leave them in the middle of a forest, they will still make their way to a test site.''

While Sokolski addressed the Indian motivations largely from the technology validation standpoint, Washington has long believed that geo-political objectives rather than scientific or technical metrics drives New Delhi’s nuclear weapons quest. The argument has gotten another boost following the remarks by a key Indian scientist, K.Santhanam, questioning the potency of India’s thermonuclear bomb.

While ''We told you so,'' was pretty much the reaction in the US scientific and strategic community on the renewed controversy over the yield of the thermo-nuclear device in Shakti series of nuclear test arising from remarks by Santhanam, there is lingering suspicion here that the disclosure in politically driven. It’s rare for Indian scientists to break ranks on a sensitive national security issue.

Why would Santhanam go public, with such deliberation, on something that was commonly discussed and widely acknowledged in scientific circles, a decade after the questions first surfaced?

The answer, according to some nuclear pundits mulling on the issue on blogs: To ward off growing American pressure on India to sign various nuclear containment treaties and perhaps enable India to conduct one last series of tests to validate and improve its nuclear arsenal.

In scores of research papers and studies in the immediate weeks and months of the 1998 nuclear tests in Pokhran, US scientists repeatedly questioned the reported yield of the thermo-nuclear device, saying it was well below India’s claim of 43-45 kilotons. In fact, some scientists, notably Terry Wallace, then with the University of Arizona and now attached to the Los Alamos National Laboratory, put the combined yield of the three May 11 tests at as low as 10 to 15 kilotons.

Two other tests on May 13 involved sub-kiloton devices for tactical weapons, which US scientists doubted even took place. Even the six nuclear tests claimed by Pakistan were treated with derision, with US scientists saying only two of them involved nuclear devices.

''This is quite clearly a case where governments tested for a political reason rather than scientific reasons, so we have to be suspicious of what they say,'' Wallace, the country’s top nuclear seismology expert, had said about the reported yields.

On Thursday, suspicion lingered in strategic circles that even Santhanam’s ''admission'' was cloaked in politics, aimed primarily at warding off US pressure on New Delhi to sign CTBT, the long-sought treaty to ban nuclear tests, and making ground for a further series of tests. There is renewed energy in Washington under the Democratic dispensation to push forward with such nuclear containment treaties after the previous Bush administration put them on the backburner.

Some US nuclear gurus also believe any break-out test at this point will be detrimental to India, even if it is aimed at validating its thermo-nuclear device, or the so-called Hydrogen Bomb.

"An Indian test would be very toxic to cooperation it has just gained under the nuclear deal. It’s hard to see what India would gain," said Gary Milholin Director of the Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control.

Ensuring a reliable thermonuclear bomb? Milholin scoffed at the idea. "There are people who say American nuclear bombs won’t work because we have not tested for so long," he laughed. "I don’t think anyone would want to test that assumption."

Similarly, he said, it would be risky for any country to count on India’s thermonuclear weapon to have a low yield.

"There are now ways other than testing to increase confidence," Milholin added. "And I think India has enough computing power to do that."

Read more...

Kiwis in tatters, Samaraweera hits ton

COLOMBO: New Zealand's batting was left in tatters in the second Test on Thursday as Sri Lanka's Thilan Samaraweera scored a second successive
Lanka
century to surpass 1,000 Test runs this year.

Scorecard

The tourists, replying to Sri Lanka's first innings score of 416, saw their entire top order wiped out as they struggled to 159/5 by stumps on the second day at the Sinhalese sports club.

Ross Taylor was unbeaten on 70 after surviving a close appeal for leg-before by spin king Muttiah Muralitharan when on 30.

Brendon McCullum was on five with the tourists still needing 58 more runs to avoid the follow-on.

Samaraweera, who made 159 in the first Test at Galle which Sri Lanka won by 202 runs, hit 143 on way to becoming the second batsman after England captain Andrew Strauss to complete 1,000 runs this year.

The right-hander has so far scored 1,058 runs in eight Tests in 2009 with two double centuries among his four three-figure knocks. Strauss, in comparison, has 1,071 runs from 12 matches.

New Zealand were reduced to 49/2 when Tim McIntosh was given out leg-before to fast bowler Dammika Prasad for five and Daniel Flynn was caught behind off left-arm seamer Thilan Thushara for 13.

Martin Guptill made a solid 35 when he hooked Thushara to deep square-leg where Muralitharan took an easy catch to make it 63/3.

Jesse Ryder helped Taylor put on 85 for the fourth wicket, before two quick wickets left the Kiwis reeling.

Ryder was caught in the leg trap off Rangana Herath for 23 and nightwatchman Jeetan Patel lobbed a catch to slips off Muralitharan.

Earlier, Samaraweera hit 17 boundaries and celebrated his 11th Test century in 54 matches by smashing the next ball from seamer Iain O'Brien over the square-leg boundary for six.

He batted for six hours and 22 minutes to anchor Sri Lanka's innings before he was ninth out, caught behind by wicket-keeper McCullum while trying to reverse sweep off-spinner Patel.

Sri Lanka, who were comfortably placed at 367/4 before lunch, lost their last six wickets for 49 runs in a dramatic collapse in the afternoon session.

Patel finished with 4-78, including the wickets of Prasad and Herath off successive deliveries, while skipper Daniel Vettori took 3-104 in 40.3 overs of left-arm spin.

Samaraweera, who turns 33 next month, has endured an extraordinary year in which he hit two successive double-centuries against Pakistan before being laid low by gunshots during a militant attack.

He was hospitalised for two weeks after he suffered a bullet injury in the left thigh when gunmen opened fire on the Sri Lankan team bus in the Pakistani city of Lahore on March 3.

Seven Sri Lankan cricketers and an assistant coach were injured in the attack, while eight Pakistani security men and bystanders were killed.

Samaraweera proved the main stumbling block for New Zealand after Sri Lanka resumed at their overnight score of 262/3.

Former captain Mahela Jayawardene missed a second successive ton against the Kiwis when he edged a ball from O'Brien to McCullum after making 92.

Jayawardene, who hit 114 in the first Test, put on 180 runs for the fourth wicket with Samaraweera after Sri Lanka were struggling at 115/3 before tea on the first day.

Read more...

My goal is to win tournaments, not to be No 1: Nadal

WASHINGTON: Over the past 10 weeks Rafael Nadal had little choice but to put his feet up and relax at home in Majorca while his rivals chased
Untitled-1.jpg
after the biggest prizes in the sport.

Instead of defending his cherished Wimbledon crown, Nadal had to nurse his sore knees and became an expert on how to overcome the effects of tendinitis.

Following his enforced break, the six-times Grand Slam champion made his comeback earlier this month in Montreal, where he discussed his rehabilitation, the crammed ATP schedule and his hopes for the U.S. Open, which begins at Flushing Meadows on Monday.

Q: The U.S. Open is only Grand Slam event that you have yet to win. How does it feel going in to the tournament, especially since you were out of action for more than two months with your knee injury?

NADAL: "I think I am going to have more options in the next few years. The important thing is to feel confident with my knees and when I feel confident with my knees, I'm going to be able to practise harder and find my best performance as soon as possible.

"It's tough to say if I am going to be ready 100 percent for the U.S. Open. It's normal, isn't it, because after a long break and major injuries, it's difficult to be ready. But I will try."

Q: How does it feel back to be on court after the long break you had to take because of the tendinitis you suffered in your knees?

NADAL: "It seems like my knees are much better. But you never know. I have to play at the top level to see how it affects my knees."

Q: Are you taking any special precautions to make sure you don't suffer a repeat of this kind of injury again?

NADAL: "I was watching my knees with the doctors and yeah I underwent a lot of treatment. I don't know exactly what precautions I can take but I learned something about this injury and that can be important information for the future."

Q: How far do you think this is going to affect your long term career?

NADAL: "Not at all. I wasn't in good condition when I arrived at two important tournaments of the season -- Roland Garros and Wimbledon. But otherwise I am ok. I am very happy to be back on court, excited and motivated to work hard to try and play my best tennis
as soon as possible.

"After a few months outside of competition, it's always very tough to come back after an injury but I am working hard to be ready."

Q: How much is the ATP Tour and its schedule to blame for what happened to you? Do you think the way the calendar is packed with tournaments puts a lot of pressure on players?

NADAL: "Well, it's clear that the calendar can't be perfect for everyone but I think that we -- the players, the ATP -- are working hard to try to develop the best possible calendar for the players and for the tournaments.

"I think that everyone knows that starting on January 1 and ending on December 5 is too long of a calendar but it's not easy to fix because there are many tournament interests at play and everything is very difficult and you can't scorn any tournament. We must try to find the best possible solution that more or less pleases everyone."

Q: What needs to change?

NADAL: "Things need to change. What is bad about the calendar is not just that is starts on January 1 and ends on December 5. I believe the bad thing about the calendar is how it is made and obligates you to play tournaments all year. If you want to achieve the most you can (and) go as high up (in the rankings) as you can, you have to play from the start to the finish because there are important tournaments from the beginning to the end."

Q: After your incredible win at Wimbledon last year, how much did it hurt you not to be able to defend your title this year?

NADAL: "It was always really tough. It is always really tough to lose a tournament or miss a tournament for injury, you know. But the truth is, I wasn't ready to play in Wimbledon. So I feel very bad but that's the thing. I didn't feel ready. I will come back next year."

Q: Three months ago you were the defending champion at three Grand Slam events and the world number one. Now you only have the Australian Open title in your possession and are no longer ranked number one, has that changed your outlook going into the U.S. Open?

NADAL: "I am not number one right now but I always say the same thing. My motivation and aspiration is the same, being number one or being number five. So that's the truth. And my goal is the same -- it's to always be happy playing, it's to enjoy the game and improve always.

"That's what I work on -- improving my tennis. And to be happy playing because if I'm not happy playing, it's very difficult to play well. I need to have the right attitude. I am going to play the next tournaments with the same aspiration and motivation as last year. Doesn't matter."

Q: At the U.S. Open, you have the chance of becoming only the seventh man ever to win all four Grand Slams. Do you think about that at all? Does that weigh on your mind, the possibility and what that would mean for you?

NADAL: "Not right now, no. Right now I am only thinking of my knees and am trying to find my best performance as soon as possible."

Q. You are obviously thinking of short term goals right now, but getting back to the number one spot, is that a long term goal for you?

NADAL: "No, not right now. I was very happy to be number one for almost a year. But, no my goal is to be competitive, to try and win important tournaments. That's my goal and if it's like this then I am going to have my chances to be number one another time but my important goal is to try to perform well to win important tournaments, not to be number one."

Q. Was this break good in any way for you? Did you enjoy taking time off from the game?

NADAL: "It was tough because with this injury I couldn't move a lot. So the doctors told me to relax and I am a very productive person. I like to always be active and playing a sport, and well, I did important things like travel around Majorca in a boat. It was unbelievable. Very nice.

"But mostly, I didn't do much because I had to be on the sofa more than ever. I was going through more than five hours of treatment everyday."

Q: So it feels good to be back in action again?

NADAL: "Sure. It's always a pleasure being in tournaments. Very happy to come back to the tour and I expect to be able to play my best tennis in the next weeks."

Q: Although Roger Federer won the French Open and Wimbledon titles this year, some people said his victories might be devalued because he did not beat you at the two tournaments. What is your opinion on this?

NADAL: "The important thing is to win the tournament. It doesn't matter who you win against in the final. For me a win against Roger is always very, very special but I would love to win any Grand Slam against someone in the final. (laughs). Doesn't matter who the rival is."

Read more...

Proud of our record: Gary Kirsten

Bengaluru
Aug. 27: If there is one factor that differentiates a good team from the rest, it is consistency. Team India have been able to achieve a measure of steady success over the past eight months and coach Gary Kirsten is keen on carrying it forward in the forthcoming season.

After an interaction with his wards after six weeks, Kirsten was a satisfied man and felt that the break had come at the right time. Speaking after the first day of the preparatory camp at the NCA, the South African revealed his thoughts on his plans for the team. Excerpts:

On maintaining consistency: We have performed well as a one-day team, and over the last eight months we have an 80 per cent win ratio. We are proud of our consistency and proud of our record. We look forward to continuing that.
On the importance of performing as a team: Ever since the tour of Australia we have had success and I think we have performed as a team. We did have a setback in the World T20 Championships, but that can happen to any world-class team. Now we are looking forward to what we can achieve.
On the six-week break: It was important for the boys to have a break, the longest break the Indian team have had for a long time. The players are mentally fresh and the break has helped them to work on their conditioning.
On preparations for Lanka and the Champions Trophy: We have the inter-corporate tournament coming up and most of the players are playing in it. I think we have to prepare according to the conditions. The conditions in Sri Lanka, where we play only three games, are similar to the conditions here. We then have a long break before we play our first game in the Champions Trophy in South Africa. So I think we have enough time to make the preparations.
On Indian weakness against short-pitched deliveries: The short-pitched delivery was a problem only in one T20 game. But this is 50-over format and we are playing a completely different version. During the training and the planning we try to cover all bases so that we have the best chance of success. But, I don’t see it as big problem as the players have performed exceptionally well in one-day cricket for a long time.
On the return of Dravid and Tendulkar: It is extremely good to have Rahul and Sachin back. They are quality cricket players and the team will benefit having them around.
On his expectations from Dravid: My expectation from Rahul is the same as that from any other player. I would like every one to give their 100 per cent and I don’t need to tell him as he gives it either during the team training or during the matches. Dravid is a is a natural performer and he has a lot of value to add in terms of his performance.

Read more...

Jwala keeps India in the hunt n the Chinese Taipei Grand Prix

NEW DELHI
: Indian shuttler Jwala Gutta paired up with V Diju and Ashwini Popanna to enter quarter-finals of mixed and women's doubles events
respectively in the Chinese Taipei Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament
on Thursday.

Third seed Jwala-Diju beat local pair Hong-Ling Chen and Pie Chen Hsien 25-23, 21-15 to set up a quarter-final clash with Korean qualifiers Baek Cheol Shin and Hyun Young Yoo on Friday.

Jwala notched up a double delight as she partnered Ashwini to defeat eighth seed Malaysian pair of Nairul Suhada Abdul Latif and Amelia Alicia Anscelly 21-15, 21-15.

The Indian pair will next face fourth seed Chinese pair of Wei yang and Jiewen Zhang on Friday.

However, India's men's doubles pair of Rupesh Kumar and Sanave Thomas couldn't emulate their women counterparts and went down 17-21, 18-21 to Malaysian pair of Teik Chai Gan and Bin Shen Tan in the second round.

In men's singles, 13th seed P Kashyap lost his third round match against Tommy Sugiarto of Indonesia 8-21, 12-23, while Ajay Jayaram went down to eight seed A Kumiawan Tedjono of Indonesia 17-21, 21-13, 21-21.

Chetan Anand, Anup Sridhar and Aditi Mutatkar crashed out of the tournament on Wednesday.

Read more...

IDBI to promote green tech

Hyderabad
Aug. 27: IDBI Bank on Thursday signed a project agreement with the World Bank for the implementation of Chiller Energy Efficiency Project (CEEP) in India.
The project would aim at reducing Greenhouse Gas emissions and to support the phase-out of the use of chlorofluorocarbon (CFC), an ozone depleting substance, under the Montreal Protocol, said a statement issued by the IDBI Bank.
This purpose would be achieved by stimulating the acceleration of replacement of old CFC-based centrifugal chillers, with more energy efficient non-CFC centrifugal chillers.
The green technology project would provide financial incentives directly to chiller owners to encourage them to overcome barriers such as up-front capital costs and perceived technology risks.
The World Bank-aided project would also strengthen the national capacity for carbon finance intermediation

Read more...

‘ISI gave money to Pak politicians’

Islamabad, Aug. 27: The ISI has admitted in the court that it had distributed huge sums of money to political parties and leaders.
The Pakistan’s former chief justice, Mr Saeeduz Zaman Siddiqui, told a private television channel that millions of rupees were distributed during the former President, Mr Ghulam Ishaq Khan’s regime and ostensibly to convince political leaders to
join the then Islami Jamhoori Ittehad (IJI).
The IJI, headed by Mr Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi, was formed in September 1988 to oppose the Pakistan People’s Party in elections. The alliance comprised nine parties, of which the major components were the Pakistan Muslim League, National Peoples Party, Jamaat-e-Islami and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam.
Mr Siddiqui told the channel that he had said at that time that the ISI’s role should not be political.
He said Lt. Gen. (Retd) Durrani had filed a written affidavit on July 24, 1994, claiming he had government’s complete clearance on the money distribution and had opened a number of bank accounts in Karachi, Rawalpindi and Quetta and a sum of Rs 140 million transferred to him as special fund.
According to the affidavit, acquired by the TV channel, the former Prime Ministers Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi received Rs 5 million, Nawaz Sharif received Rs 3.5 million, Zafarullah Jamali Rs 4 million, Muhammed Khan Junejo Rs 2.5 million and the former Sindh chief minister Jam Sadiq Rs 5 million.
In addition, Pir Pagaro received Rs 2 million, the Jamaat-e-Islami Rs 5 million, Mir Afzal Khan Rs 10 million, Abida Hussain Rs 1 million, Lt. Gen. Rafaqat Rs 5.6 million for managing the media campaign, Humayun Marri Rs 1.5 million, Kakar Rs 1 million, Jam Yousaf Rs 0.7 million, Hasil Bizenjo Rs 0.5 million and Nadir Mengal Rs 1 million and Altaf Hussain Qureshi Rs 0.5 million.
Source:: deccan chronicle

Read more...

China tells US to stop spy missions

Beijing, Aug. 27: China demanded, on Thursday, that the US military cease its surveillance missions off the Chinese coast, reviving a dispute that continues to upset relations between the two nations.
Bilateral ties have been repeatedly roiled this year by standoffs between the Chinese vessels and the US Navy surveillance ships operating inside China’s exclusive economic zone.
China insists it has a right to restrict foreign military surveillance within its zone, but the US says international agreements permit it to carry out such missions.
“China believes the constant US military air and sea surveillance and survey operations in China’s exclusive economic zone had led to military confrontations between the two sides,” the official Xinhua News Agency said, quoting a Defence Ministry statement.
“The only way to resolve China-US maritime incidents is for the US to change its surveillance and survey operations policies against China, decrease and eventually stop such operations there,” the statement said.
The demand came at the close of a two-day meeting on Thursday in Beijing, conducted under the 1998 China-US Military Maritime Consultative Agreement, which was supposed to provide a framework for resolving incidents between their forces.
China, however, has chosen to largely ignore the agreement during subsequent confrontations, including a 2001 aerial collision between a US surveillance plane and a Chinese fighter jet over the South China Sea.
Source ::DC

Read more...

Birds & bees at 5 is UN's prescription

A June report from the United Nations Economic, Social and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has recommended that children as young as five should
receive mandatory sexual education that would teach even pre-kindergarteners about masturbation and topics like gender violence.

The 98-page report offers a universal lesson plan for kids ranging in age from 5-18, an “informed approach to effective sex, relationships” and HIV education that they say is essential for “all young people.”

According to the United Nations, the program is “age appropriate,” however, critics say it’s exposing kids to sex far too early.

“At that age they should be learning about ... the proper name of certain parts of their bodies,” said Michelle Turner, president of Citizens for a Responsible Curriculum, “certainly not about masturbation.”

“This is absurd,” Michelle Turner told FOXNews.com.

The UNESCO report, called “International Guidelines for Sexuality Education,” separates children into four age groups: 5-to-8-year-olds, 9-to-12-year-olds, 12-to-15-year-olds and 15-to-18-year-olds.

As per the UN’s voluntary sex-education programme, kids just 5-8 years old will be told that “touching and rubbing one’s genitals is called masturbation” and that private parts can feel pleasurable when touched by oneself.”

When they’re 9, they will know about “positive and negative effects of “aphrodisiacs,” and try to understand ideas of “homophobia, transphobia and abuse of power.” At 12, they’ll learn the “reasons for” abortions. When they’re 15, they’ll be exposed to direct “advocacy to promote the right to and access to safe abortion.”
Source::Times of India

Read more...

Record baby boom swells Britain's population

LONDON: Britain's population has grown to over 61 million fuelled by the biggest baby boom in three decades, despite a slump in immigrant numbers
due to the global recession, data showed Thursday.

The vast wave of immigrants from eastern Europe who have poured into Britain in recent years are now returning home, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

But the fertility rate has surged, with over 750,000 babies born last year -- many of them to recent immigrants -- producing the biggest year-on-year increase in population since the 1960s.

For the first time in nearly 10 years birth and death rates overtook immigration as the main driver of population growth. Half the increase in births was due to births to women who were born outside Britain.

"It's the highest fertility rate we have seen in the UK for some time," said ONS statistician Roma Chappell. "You have to go all the way back to 1973 to find a time when the fertility rate went higher.

"For the first time in a decade natural change exceeded net migration as the main driver of population change.”

Britain -- which enjoyed a decade-long boom before the global credit crunch and subsequent economic crisis -- saw a massive influx of immigrants from central and eastern European countries which joined the European Union in 2004.

But the sharp downturn has hit Britain harder than some of its European neighbours, triggering soaring job losses which have driven Polish and other workers to contemplate returning to their homeland.
Source::Times of India

Read more...

12 Taliban killed in battle in Afghan clinic

KABUL: 12 Taliban militants were killed on Thursday, in a firefight in eastern Afghanistan after Afghan and US forces attacked a clinic where a
wounded Taliban commander was seeking medical treatment, officials said. One US soldier was also reportedly killed.

"Afghan security forces had got information that the militants had taken one of their wounded commanders to a clinic in Sar Hawza, a district in the South Eastern province of Paktika," said Hamidullah Zewak, spokesman for the provincial governor.

The Afghan and US forces supported the police, who came under fire from the militants barricaded inside the clinic after they tried to enter the medical facility, he said, adding that 12 militants were killed when US forces conducted an airstrike. The NATO led international forces confirmed that their forces used an AH64 Apache helicopter to end the threat "after ensuring the clinic was cleared of civilians".

The statement said that the insurgent leader was wounded during the August 20 elections. The militants had carried out more than 130 attacks on election day throughout the country that left more than 30 Afghan civilians and security forces dead. Although the attacks did not disrupt the elections, they caused a lower turnout in the country's second direct presidential polls.

The NATO statement did not mention any Taliban casualties in Wednesday's firefight but said the targeted insurgent leader and six associates were killed.

A US soldier was killed during the firefight, the alliance confirmed.

Taliban militants are most active in the country's southern and eastern regions, which border Pakistan. The Taliban, who lost power in Afghanistan in a US-led military invasion in late 2001, are widely believed to have moved their command bases into the lawless Pakistani tribal areas.

The US government sent more than 20,000 additional troops to Afghanistan this year to help provide security for last week's elections and to quell the Taliban-led insurgency.

The Independent Election Commission said no further partial results will be available before the weekend. The final results of the vote are expected around Sep 17.

Allegations of fraud and irregularities could undermine US President Barack Obama's hopes for a functional Afghan government to tackle the insurgency in the war-shattered country.
Source::Times of India

Read more...

Jackson dermatologist won't file in guardianship

LOS ANGELES: Michael Jackson's longtime dermatologist does not plan to petition for a role in the upbringing of the singer's three children, his
attorney said on Thursday.

Mark Vincent Kaplan said Dr Arnold Klein is satisfied that a judge appointed an attorney to oversee the interests of the singer's children, who range in ages from 7 to 12.

"It's just not necessary," Kaplan said. "It's already been addressed."

Kaplan said Klein got involved because he was concerned about the children, Prince Michael, Paris Michael and Prince Michael II, having a normal upbringing not related to show business. Jackson told Klein repeatedly that he wanted his children to have a formal education and not be subjected to the rigors of traveling and performing, Kaplan said.

Kaplan surprised many by saying Klein wanted a role in the children's lives during a court hearing earlier this month. A judge ruled that Klein didn't have legal standing to intervene, but told the doctor he could file a motion later if he still had concerns.

Jackson's mother, Katherine Jackson, was granted permanent guardianship of the children during the hearing as spelled out in the singer's 2002 will.

Klein's involvement in the case raised questions about the whether the doctor could be the father of Jackson's two oldest children, a rumor fueled by tabloid reports and Klein's own cryptic answers when questioned on the matter. Kaplan said during the hearing and on Thursday that Klein legally isn't the father and that questions about whether he is the children's biological father aren't important.

"Whether he is or is not the DNA source wouldn't change one iota greater or less his concern and care about the children," Kaplan said.

The attorney said Klein would still like to be a part of the lives of Jackson's children, but that intervening in the guardianship case wasn't necessary.

"It's important to Dr Klein that there's always a safe harbor there for them to contact him for any reason if he can be of any assistance in their well-being," Kaplan said. "He doesn't want to be a distraction in that case."

Kaplan said he didn't want people to think that Klein abandoned his petition because of comments by Katherine Jackson's attorneys that they are considering a wrongful death lawsuit or by Klein's name being mentioned in law enforcement's investigation into the singer's death on June 25.

Kaplan, a family law attorney, would not address Klein's role in the investigation. He said Jackson's death was hard on the doctor, who may not attend the singer's private funeral on September 3.

"He is grieving over the loss a friend - a very close friend," Kaplan said.

Klein also has emerged as a figure in the Jackson death probe, as federal drug agents look at who was prescribing medications to the singer. Investigators are scrutinizing Jackson's interactions with at least seven doctors, including Klein, and the Drug Enforcement Administration last week served an administrative inspection warrant at a pharmacy next to the dermatologist's Beverly Hills office.

According to the warrant, a statewide database shows Klein self-prescribed medications on 27 occasions. The drugs include Valium, Vicodin and the sedative midazolam.

Klein's attorney, Garo Ghazarian, said the allegation "is not what it appears to be" and his client had never self-prescribed.
Source::Times of India

Read more...

Kidnapped US girl resurfaces after 18 years as sex slave

SAN FRANCISCO: A woman who was snatched as an 11-year-old from a bus stop was reunited on Thursday with her family after spending 18 years as the
captive of a convicted rapist who fathered her two children, police said.

Throughout her capture, Jaycee Dugard, was held in a shed and other outbuildings hidden on the property of Phillip Garrido, 58, in a rural area of Antioch, California, some 80 km northeast of San Francisco.

Garrido and his wife Nancy, 54, were each being held on $1-million bail on a number of charges including kidnapping, rape and conspiracy.

"None of the children have ever been to school. They've never been to a doctor," a police representative told a press conference. "They were kept in complete isolation in this compound, if you will."

Police discovered Dugard Wednesday when they questioned Garrido after reported suspicious activity involving him and two children at the University of California, Berkeley.

Dugard was reunited with her family Thursday. Her stepfather, Carl Probyn, who was with her when she was abducted in June 1991, told the San Francisco Chronicle that the family was overjoyed at her appearance.

"She sounds normal. She told my wife she remembers everything," Probyn said.

"I gave up hope for 18 years, just went into recovery mode," he said. "I thought it would be nice just to recover her and capture the people and find out why they did this. Now, I just won the lotto. It's just unbelievable. This is going to be a great day today."
Source::times of india

Read more...

Mechanical failure cancels moon rocket test firing in US

PROMONTORY (US): A mechanical failure forced a NASA contractor to call off the first test firing of the main part of NASA's powerful new moon
rocket.

The test wasn't immediately rescheduled as officials scrambled to learn the root cause of the failure.

Alliant Techsystems Inc called off the rocket burn with just 20 seconds left on the countdown clock. Operators cited failure of a power unit that drives hydraulic tilt controls for the rocket's nozzle. The rocket was anchored to the ground in a horizontal position for the test.

It was a setback for a carefully staged, $75 million event that drew thousands of onlookers. Alliant hoped the routine test would prove the performance of a new program for space exploration that, like the test rocket, may not fly because of NASA budget problems.

There was no indication anything was wrong with the rocket itself, which packs 0.45 million kilograms of chemical propellant, enough to boost a 98-meter-long vehicle 58,000 meters into the atmosphere.

At a news conference in Utah, officials said the power unit for the nozzle controls, which steers a rocket in flight, was robbed of fuel, apparently because of a faulty valve.
Source :: Times of India

Read more...

Women get 50% seats in panchayats

New Delhi

Aug. 27: The Union Cabinet on Thursday approved a proposal to provide 50 per cent reservation for women in all three tiers of panchayats, a major decision to ensure greater representation of women in the decision-making process at the local level.
The government will bring a Constitution amendment Bill in the next session of Parlia-
ment to enhance reservation for women from the current 33 per cent to at least 50 per cent.
The move will apply to the total number of seats filled by direct election, the office of chairpersons and seats and offices of chairpersons reserved for SCs and STs.
With the proposed constitutional amendment, the number of women representatives is expected to be over 14 lakh.
The Cabinet also approved a proposal to set up Indian Institutes of Management in Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand, Chhatt-isgarh, Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Rajasthan.
The government also decided to provide full interest subsidy on education loans taken by poor students to pursue technical and professional courses and fixed their parental income limit at Rs 4.5 lakh per annum to avail the benefit.
Source :: DC

Read more...

H-bomb worked, says Kalam

Bengaluru
Aug. 27: Two days after Mr K. Santhanam, one of the quartet of scientists who conducted the 1998 nuclear tests, said that the thermonuclear, or hydrogen, bomb tested at Pokhran 11 years ago had fizzled out, the former President, Dr A.P.J Abdul Kalam and the former Atomic Energy Commi-ssion chief, Mr R. Chi-dambaram, dismissed his statements, saying the test was a success. Dr Kalam headed the Pokhran tests.
In Delhi, Dr Kalam told a news agency that “it has been established by the project team that the design yield of the thermo-nuclear test has been obtained.”
Mr Santhanam had said at a seminar in New Delhi on Tuesday: “We should not rush to sign the CTBT because there is evidence that the yield from the test was lower than claimed and so we would need to test again if we wanted an assured deterrent.”

Source:: DC

Read more...

Kharif shortfall 20%, says Pranab

New Delhi

Aug. 27: The finance minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, said on Thursday there will be a 15-20 per cent shortfall in the country’s kharif crop due to the deficient monsoon.
“Now drought is there. The exact impact on the kharif crop will be known only when availability starts. But from the nature of sowing we can easily estimate there is the likelihood of a 15-20 per cent shortfall,” Mr Mukherjee told businessmen during an interaction at the Ficci. The finance minister said the monsoon rainfall had fallen short by 26 per cent. “Some 252 districts in 10 states have been declared drought-affected,” he added.
The minister appealed to people not to panic as that would help no one. “I was just making a simple calculation: if all households in the country stored half a kilo cereals, there will cha-os in the country,” he said.
Source :: DC

Read more...

Pak violence kills 50, suicide attack at checkpost

ISLAMABAD: Twenty-two people, mostly security personnel, were killed when a suicide bomber struck at a checkpost near the Afghan border in
Pakistan's lawless tribal belt, even as a US drone strike and gun battles killed 28 people elsewhere in the region, most of them militants.

A young suicide attacker targeted the check post in Khyber region, manned by personnel from tribal militia Khasadar force, at around the time of 'iftar' -- the meal for breaking the daily fast during the holy month of Ramzan.

About 22 people, mostly suicide attackers, were killed in the attack, and 27 others were injured.

The Abdullah Azam Shaheed Brigade, a militant group linked to the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility for the attack.

The group had earlier claimed responsibility for the suicide car bombing of the Pearl Continental luxury hotel in Peshawar in June.

Two days after Taliban appointed a new chief, a US drone targeted one of the key militant commanders -- Wali-ur Rehman -- firing missiles on his stronghold in South Waziristan. Eight people, mostly militants, were killed and another nine were wounded in the strike.

Two Hellfire missiles were aimed at a suspected hide-out of Rehman and later Taliban fighters were seen removing dead bodies from the destroyed compound, Geo News reported quoting local residents.

It was not clear whether Rehman, who has been made 'Amir' of South Waziristan in a new power sharing deal with the new Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Hakimullah Mehsud, was near the compound.

The US has stepped up missile attacks on the Taliban recently after their missiles scored a direct hit and killed feared former TTP chief Baitullah Mehsud.

Elsewhere in the restive tribal belt, at least nine militants and four soldiers were killed in a clash in the South Waziristan region, as security forces backed by helicopter gunships pounded Taliban hideouts.

At least seven militants were also killed in a gun battle with police in Malakand division in the restive northwest, where 35 insurgents were captured by security forces.

Militants ambushed a police convoy in Buner district, triggering a gun battle. Seven militants were killed and four captured by police, district police chief Rasheed Khan said.

In Swat district, which is also part of Malakand division, security forces apprehended nine militants and seized a vehicle that was being prepared for a suicide attack in operations at Ser and Tilgram areas.

Twelve suspects were captured during search operations in Charbagh, a former Taliban stronghold while four militants were apprehended during an operation near Mingora, the main city in Swat district. Six others were captured at Mulakabad, Tahirabad and Mingora, the military said in a statement.

Read more...

TN docs do 14 surgeries in 3.5 hrs to 'claim' record

CHENNAI/MADURAI: In a development that has shocked the medical fraternity, doctors at the Government Rajaji Hospital in Madurai said they
performed 14 breast cancer surgeries in three-and-a-half hours this week for an entry in the Guinness Book of World Records. The hospital claimed that the "feat" was videotaped and sent to the Guinness authorities through the state government.

The state health department condemned the move and said no permission was given for such an exercise. It has now ordered an inquiry into the incident by the state’s director of medical education, Dr S Vinayagam. "We do not approve of it and we have not sent it to any agency for recognition. Safety is our prime concern and we condemn anything that can risk a patient’s life," said health secretary VK Subburaj.

Rajaji hospital’s head of oncology, Dr BKCR Mohan Prasad, held a press conference on Thursday to announce that an in-house team of three doctors including himself, chief anaesthetist Dr R Chandrasekhar and surgeon Dr Gopinath had achieved the "feat" by operating non-stop on patients from 8.30am to noon on August 24. Hospital dean Dr SM Sivakumar added that "non-stop lumpectomy on 14 women is a proof of the facilities available in the hospital".

"We opened four patients at one go. I would open the breast, remove the tumour and nodes and move on to the next patient. My assistant and a post-graduate student would close the wound. When I moved to the fourth patient, the first was ready to be sent to the recovery room and another patient would be wheeled in," Prasad told reporters.

The announcement shocked members of the medical fraternity, including those from the Tamil Nadu State Medical Council and the Indian Medical Association, who called it a blatant violation of the Hippocratic Oath.
Source:: Times of India

Read more...

Shortchanged at food marts

Shortchanged at food marts

A shopping trip to any supermarket could leave you poorer by a couple of hundreds if you are not careful. As in most instances, the devil is in the details. In this particular case, it is the bill.
Since customers don’t scrutinise bills, the supermarkets bill them for stuff they didn’t buy. Even cautious customers tend to overlook the quantity details listed in the bills and end up paying more than they ought to. “I went to Spar recently to buy groceries. when I checked the bill a day later, I realised that I was billed for three packets of oil when I had purchased only two. I was reimbursed only after much hassle,” says P. Renuka, a shopper. Ketan Agarwal, a techie, had a similar experience at Ratnadeep in Srinagar Colony. “I was charged for 1 kilo of flour when I bought just 500 gms. the manager admitted the mistake, but I was forced to pick something for that amount.

Supermarkets are also cheating customers by announcing sales of goods under discount price and then billing them at maximum retail price on the sly.
“I’ve been charged higher more than once for goods supposedly sold at a discount,” said Shanti, who frequents the Food Bazaar outlet in East Marredpally. “I picked up microwave popcorn packets as four of them were being sold at a lower rate. But while billing, they charged me the MRP. When I pointed it out, the cashier sheepishly rectified it. Instances like these happen a lot at this outlet.”
Supermarkets, however, claim that these are isolated instances that are caused by human errors.
“I cannot ensure that all the store’s personnel are not at fault, but no one will intentionally overcharge,” says Sandeep Agarwal, managing director of Ratnadeep supermarket chain. “These must be cases arising from human error. We warn the cashiers thrice and if they repeat the mistake again, we ask them to resign. If a customer faces this problem, he can bring it to the management’s notice and we will refund the money with apologies,” he adds.
Food World’s legal manager, Murali Krishna, also said customers would be paid compensation if they brought such issues to the notice of the store manager.
Source ::deccanchronicle

Read more...

Nabbed Ludhiana terrorist planned to kill Sukhbir

LUDHIANA: Suspected terrorist Balbir Singh Bhootna, who is suspected of links with Khalistan Commando Force (KCF) and Babbar Khalsa International
(BKI) and was nabbed after a four-hour gunbattle at the Ludhiana railway station on Tuesday, had plans to kill Punjab deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal. Though the police remained tightlipped about his interrogation on Thursday, they arrested another suspected militant, Daljit Singh Bittu, for plotting to kill the DyCM.

Bittu was associated with Simranjit Singh Mann's SAD(A) but had later formed his own party - SAD (Panch Pardhani). Cops have also detained a number of people from Patiala, Bathinda, Moga and Malout, for suspected links with Bhootna. The person who was picked up from Malout is stated to have purchased a .32 bore revolver from the accused.

Bhootna is believed to have been involved in the recent murder of Lily Sharma, a Dera Sacha Sauda follower, in Mansa. His role in the murder of Rashtriya Sikh Sangat chief Rulda Singh, who had died in PGI after being shot at outside his residence in Patiala on July 28, is also being investigated by the police, sources added.
Source::times of India

Read more...

Shilpa, Raj to marry in autumn

Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty, who became a household name here after her win on the reality show "Celebrity Big Brother" in 2007, is set to
marry businessman Raj Kundra this autumn, her father has revealed in an application to an Indian court.

Shilpa and her London-based Indian beau formed a successful business partnership following her appearance on the reality television show. Their business empire includes a $16.2 million (10 million pounds) stake in the Rajasthan Royals Twenty20 cricket team and a recently acquired food company.

Shilpa's father Surendra Shetty revealed the couple's wedding plans in an application for his passport to be returned to allow him to attend the event. It was confiscated after he was charged with threatening a business associate he claimed owed money to his daughter, reported telegraph.co.uk.

Surendra Shetty is accused of sending gangsters to collect a debt from sari manufacturer Pankaj Agarwal after his firm Praful Sarees failed to pay Shilpa for a modelling assignment when her Bollywood career was at a low point. Since then, Surendra Shetty and his wife Sunanda have only been able to travel overseas with the court's permission.

In his application, Surendra Shetty told the court the wedding would take place between September and the end of December in Britain.
Source::times of India

Read more...

Mumbai man The marrier: 1 man, 14 wives

MUMBAI: You may find it difficult to live a double life but a Mumbai man has been living 14 different lives - with 14 different wives - over the
last couple of years.

The police arrested the 40-year-old man, who used to be an engineer with Air India, on August 18 for marrying 14 women in the last two-and-a-half years. Police officials said Tushar Waghmare alias Tushar Bapat was sacked from his job soon after that.

Five official complaints have been registered so far against Waghmare. The nine other victims were not coming forward to lodge complaints as they feared for their reputation, officials said.

Investigators said Waghmare registered his profile with a marriage portal and mentioned that he had divorced his wife in 2006. He mentioned on his profile that he was looking for working Brahmin women who could be divorcees or widows.

Officials said he ``took care'' of all 14 wives, including one from Nagar, though - in the end - it was they who looked after him after he had exhausted his monthly salary of Rs 70,000. Three of the women Waghmare married were architects or engineers, police officials said, and the others were homemakers.

Waghmare used to visit profiles of girls on marriage portals and would fix appointments with their parents at one of his rented apartments in Lokhandwala or Jogheshwari. ``None of the women or their parents ever thought of doing a background check on him as they would be impressed with his job profile,'' deputy commissioner of police R M Vhatkar told TOI.

Vhatkar said Waghmare would spend at least three consecutive days with each of his wives and then tell them that he had to travel to other states to attend official meetings; this way, he managed to spend time with all his 14 wives.

Senior inspector Vijay Raut said: ``Waghmare married the victims after showing a bogus divorce letter written on stamp paper that was signed and had a notary's stamp. We managed to get hold of five different marriage photographs of Waghmare.'' Interestingly, there are a couple of faces that are common to every one of the five pictures; one them would pretend to be Waghmare's father and the other would pose as his uncle.

Inspector Shivaji Phadtare said: ``Waghmare started marrying women one after the other since his first wife divorced him in 2006. Waghmare changed his surname to Bapat (a Brahmin surname) so that he could marry Brahmin girls.''

Waghmare was finally caught after he married a 29-year-old architect in Mulund on August 11; she was a divorcee and had a son, officials said, and added they were surprised by Waghmare's increasing audacity. He was living with one of his other wives when the architect's parents came to visit him at his Lokhandwala home and he just sent her to the market for a couple of hours.

However, three days after they returned from honeymoon in Lonavala, this last of wives told Waghmare that her employers had asked her to go to Delhi on an assignment. ``I was shocked when Waghmare replied that I could take my own time and could return whenever I wanted to. What shocked me even more was when he told me he would not mind at all if I had extramarital affairs. This prompted me to go to his Lokhandwala flat on August 16, when I met a 29-year-old woman who claimed that Waghmare married her in April 2009,'' the victim mentioned in her complaint.

Investigators said they had received a letter from Air India, saying they were conducting a departmental inquiry against Waghmare for sexually harassing AI women employees since 2006. He has been remanded in police custody till August 29.
Source::times of India

Read more...

Nissan to shift production of small car from UK to India

NEW DELHI: Forget China, it’s focus India for global automakers, courtesy small cars. In a move that reflects the growing stature of the Indian
car industry globally, Japanese major Nissan has decided to shift the entire production of its small car, Micra, from the UK to India. After production of the Micra begins here, Nissan plans to manufacture four more models in India, involving a total investment of over Rs 2,000 crore.

The move underlines the rush among automakers to rationalize production costs and move to locations that offer the best value and quality. “We have decided to manufacture the Micra at our upcoming factory at Oragadam, near Chennai,” Nissan India MD and CEO Kiminobu Tokuyama told TOI.

The company’s Chennai plant will start production from May next year, and export markets would be catered to from autumn, Tokuyama said. Nissan, he said, plans to meet Micra’s requirements for the entire European region as well as some other markets like West Asia from the Chennai plant. “We plan to start with export volumes of 1.1 lakh units, which would be gradually scaled up to 1.8 lakh units as demand goes up,” Tokuyama said.

But what prompted the step? “There are many benefits in India, including a high-quality vendor base that is also cost-effective, leading to globally-competitive pricing,” Tokuyama said. Nissan will thus emulate companies like Hyundai and Maruti Suzuki, which make small cars in India to export to Europe.
Source::times of India

Read more...

Life's cheap in the Bt cotton fields of Gujarat

UPLA-BILIA VILLAGE (Dungarpur): It was on the night of August 17 that Punjilal Ahuri received the body of his 16-year-old daughter, Haju Ben. She
had apparently died of snake bite while working in the Bt cotton fields of Gujarat.

That was the first time Punjilal got to know where his missing daughter had been. She had gone shopping one day to Wardha market in Dungarpur, and never returned. Apparently, there she had met a middleman, Amramam, who took her — along with others — to work in Gujarat’s Bt cotton fields.

"Wardha police station received the body and they handed it over to us saying Haju had died of snake bite while working in the cotton fields," says Punjilal. But he is still not convinced that it was snake bite.

He has his reasons. Punjilal has heard horror stories of rape and sexual abuse of minors. Besides, there have been far too many deaths. Last year, 12 children died, and this year, in less than one month, five have died.

There are large Bt cotton farms in Banaskantha district of Gujarat. And when cross-pollination work begins in the end of July, a large number of children from Rajasthan’s Udaipur and Dungarpur are taken there, often by coercion or deception, as the local people allege. Almost 90% of those working there are from Rajasthan.

Ironically, Gujarat police have registered cases in Sihori and Deodhar police stations but the report did not mention that the deceased were working in the Bt cotton fields at the time of their death. Apart from Haju, Bhuri Ben (14), Madi Ben (16), Pyari (15) and Ramesh (14) have died in the past one month. The cause of death in case of Haju Ben and Ramesh was cited as snake bite, Bhuri and Pyari fell ill and died due to lack of medical assistance while parents of Mani Ben allege rape-and-murder. During the cotton cultivation season last year, 12 child labourers, including eight girls, had died. Two incidents of rape were reported last year.

Investigating officer Sulaiman Ramji of Sihori Police Station in Banaskantha district of Gujarat confirmed that those who died were minors and had come from Rajasthan to work in the Bt cotton fields. He also said that police have registered an FIR. Dakshini Rajasthan Mazdoor Union (DRMU), a social group working for the welfare of migrant workers, especially tribal children working in cotton fields of Gujarat, is demanding an inquiry to ascertain the cause of deaths and compensation to the families.

Executive member of DRMU, Sudhir Katiyar, told TOI that around 1.5 lakh such tribal children had been trafficked from bordering districts of Dungarpur, Udaipur and Banswara to the BT cotton fields in Gujarat in just one month. "Around a third of the workforce are below 14 years of age and the remaining are below 18 years. And almost 40% of them are girls," he added. He claimed they were paid not more than Rs 50 a day.
Source::times of India

Read more...

So, did Advani lie?

NEW DELHI: BJP leader L K Advani seems to have been painted into a corner over his attempt to distance himself from the controversial decision to
release three hardcore terrorists, including Maulana Masood Azhar, the dreaded chief of Jaish-e-Mohammad, and Omar Sheikh, who went on to kill Daniel Pearl.

In what appeared to be a concerted move on Thursday, two crucial functionaries of the NDA government, Brajesh Mishra, close aide to Atal Bihari Vajpayee and national security advisor, and Yashwant Sinha joined the expelled leader and George Fernandes in insisting that Advani was party to the decision to swap three terrrorists for hostages on board IA flight IC-814.

The claim undercuts Advani's efforts to wash his hands off the Kandahar swap, undermines his "tough-on-terrorism" claims, and can roil the troubled BJP waters further by diminishing his ability to douse the factional feud.

Now, barring former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee, all other members of the Cabinet Committee on Security in the NDA government that dealt with the Kandahar hijack crisis have said that the former deputy PM was wrong in claiming that the "terrorist-for-passengers" swap was not his idea, or that he had norole to play in the decision to despatch Jaswant Singh on his controversial journey to Kandahar.

After spending most of Thursday in stunned silence even when Congress pounced upon the claims of Mishra and Sinha to accuse Advani of lying, BJP hit back in the evening. Party spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said Mishra's comments were "misleading and motivated. This is evident as he has chosen to speak 11 years after the event." Advani remained silent, but sources close to him said that the BJP veteran had said Jaswant Singh had "informed" the CCS of the decision to go to Kandahar and that he did not recall when the decision itself was taken.

But the clarifications could hardly stem the damage by the new round of blood letting in the BJP. The claims of Mishra and Sinha is seen as an extension of the conflict between Advani and the Vajpayee camp who resented Advani's effort to project himself as "Iron Man". Mishra's description of Vajpayee as a "statesman" and "organiser" for Advani brought out the simmering tension between the two camps.

Speaking to TV channels, Mishra, who is close to Vajpayee, said, "...there was a unanimous decision of the CCS that in order to save lives of 160 plus hostages and the aircraft crew, it made sense to release these three terrorists and get the hostages back." Asked again if the decision was unanimous, he said, "Of course."

Mishra said that at another meeting of the CCS, "Jaswant Singh proposed that he go to Kandahar to bring back the hostages and he explained that Indian representatives who were negotiating in Kandahar -- diplomats, IB, RAW -- suggested that somebody should be there to take care of any last minute complications. This he informed the CCS and they agreed to send him." Mishra said Advani was party to this decision.

Within hours of Mishra's revelations, Yaswant Sinha also said, "I agree to what Brajesh Mishra has said." He said that "the decision was taken in two parts. One is releasing the terrorists in exchange of hostages. Second, was that Jaswant Singh would go to Kandahar." Sinha said both were unanimous decisions of which Advani was a part. "Advani was present at the meeting," he said.

The double blows delivered by Mishra and Sinha left BJP, already embroiled in a fierce power struggle and dissident crisis, reeling. The party refused to react to the developments and there was no word from Advani who has not made a public statement ever since BJP's controversy-ridden chintan baithak in Shimla last week. After his expulsion, Jaswant Singh had immediately turned on Advani and said he had previously "covered-up " for the leader on Kandahar.

With all his former CCS colleagues turning against Advani, Congress had a field day with the party demanding that the BJP veteran come clean on his previous claims. The party said Advani needed to apologise to the nation for having misled it. Even last year, when Advani first claimed ignorance about the Kandahar events, Congress leaders had attacked him saying that either the leader had been an incompetent home minister or that Vajpayee did not trust him.

The impact of the Kandahar revelations on BJP's ongoing internal drama are bound to be significant. With Advani, who was already challenged by dissidents, now knackered by attacks over Kandahar, the power vacuum in BJP islikely to deepen. The RSS has been keen that Advani help facilitate a generational shift in BJP with a new president due to be elected later this year and also with regard to a new leader of Opposition. Now, with Advani's authority crippled, the power struggle will be harder to resolve.

It is in the context of the fast-developing situation that Friday's scheduled press conference of RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat will attract considerable interest. The Sangh chief will be expected to address the Advani controversy as well as explain the RSS position on the ceaseless bloodletting in the BJP with former minister Arun Shourie and former chief ministers Vasundhara Raje and B C Khanduri challenging the party brass. Sinha has also positioned himself as a dissident and has been cut up with senior leader Arun Jaitley being named leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha and Sushma Swaraj becoming deputy leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha.

As things stand, all the BJP former members of the CCS -- Sinha, Jaswant Singh and Mishra -- are now bitter critics of Advani. The recent expulsion of Jaswant Singh has brought several of these issues to a head. Also under attack has been party chief Rajnath Singh who might yet regret his move to replace Khanduri and press Raje to step down as leader of Opposition in Rajasthan. Khanduri has arrived in Delhi and though he has not said much, he has indicated that he holds the factional fight in BJP responsible for his ouster as CM.

The Rajnath camp is watching with bated breath whether Raje steps down by Sunday though it seems she will be tempted to see how things develop in Delhi. The key question is whether RSS will able to step in even now and ensure an end to the open season in the BJP. The RSS itself is now under pressure to stop factionalism and control dissidence before predictions of BJP imploding come true sooner than later.
Source::times of India

Read more...

Hi-tech alarm to protect Balaji jewels

Hyderabad

Aug. 27: The precious ornaments of Lord Sri Venkateswara of Tirumala will soon get Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) protection from thefts and misappropriation. Under the system being readied by the city- based Electronics Corporation Of India Ltd, an alarm will be triggered when ornaments are removed from the temple premises.

The technology is so tamper proof that if someone attempts to detach the radio frequency identity tags from the jewellery, a loud siren will be heard. It will also alert the store administrator in case ornaments go missing. The ECIL will also give identification number for the ornaments, which will be labelled by a security hologram. Further, it will prepare a database containing description of the ornaments and information of donors and their addresses.

After gold dollars went missing from the treasury at Tirumala, the government had appointed the Justice M. Jagannadha Rao commission to recommend ways to protect the jewellery at the temples.

The commission, which examined steps taken by the TTD for the security of jewellery and valuables, suggested foolproof measures to prevent recurrence of theft.

* * *

Court sets new date to count Balaji assets

Hyderabad, Aug. 27: The Andhra Pradesh High Court on Thursday rejected the contention of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams executive officer that he could not blame the state government or the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams for not conducting annual audit of temples under it.

The court directed the TTD to complete to verification and audit of assets in the state by the end of October 31 and verification of assets in other parts of the country by November 30.

Mr I.Y.R. Krishna Rao, the EO of the TTD, submitted to the court that the TTD was prepared to submit a master list as directed by the High Court.

However, he added that since he was being paid by the TTD and the state government he could not hold them responsible for not conducting audit. He urged the court to modify its order to seek answers straight from the TTD executive board and the endowments department.

However, a division bench comprising Justice Goda Raghuram and Justice Ramesh Ranganathan rejected his contention and said he could be more assertive as he was protected by the Constitution by virtue of his position as an IAS officer.

Source:: deccan chronicle

Read more...

andhra CM orders Lanco probe

HYDERABAD
Aug. 27: The Chief Minister, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy, has ordered an inquiry into the insurance scam involving Lanco Infratech. The Chief Minister was also unhappy over the delay in construction of the Rs 308-crore campus of the Indian Institute of Information Technology at Basar, which is being handled by Lanco Infratech. He asked officials to warn Lanco Infratech of severe action if the project is not completed in another two months.

Sources told this correspondent that the Chief Minister gave directions in this regard to Prof. K.C. Reddy, chairman of the AP State Council of Higher Education and in-charge vice-chancellor of the Rajiv Gandhi University of Knowledge Technologies. The three IIITs at Basar, Nuziveedu and Idupulapaya are run under the aegis of the university. The AP Health, Medical Housing and Infrastructure Develop-ment Corporation is the executing agency for the construction of the campus at Basar.

The APHMHIDC has also issued a memo to Lanco Infratech seeking an explanation on the insurance scam. Referring to The New India Assurance Company denying having issued any insurance policy for a premium of Rs 1.89 crore as claimed by Lanco Infratech, the corporation managing director Mr M Ravichandra sought to know whether the policy submitted by the company was original.

This newspaper had reported on August 25 that Lanco Infratech had submitted an insurance policy (610200/44/08/03/6000 0027) purportedly from New India Assurance to the APHMHIDC and had secured reimbursement for Rs 1.89 crore.

The New India Assurance Company later wrote to the APHMHIDC stating that it never issued a policy bearing that number.
Ironically, Lanco Infra had “refunded” Rs 1.5 lakh on the fake policy to the government.

Read more...