Venkey On Your Side

By
B.Venkateswarlu

Street club sex sport is the sign of Western cultured sport on every 1st January and midnight of Dec 31 as happended on Gateway of India. Two things never die: God who is GOOD, and EVIL who is devil.

Saddam Husseing statue was pulled

New Year's Eve for us always comes and goes like a riot, dragging a wrecking ball through our highly strung relationships, pilfering our last scraps of sanity like rare statrue of Buddh dismentled in Afganistan by Taliban or Saddam Husseing statue was pulled by American forces in Iraq.

Man bites dog

THE oldest cliché about reportage is still the soundest one: "dog bites man" isn't news, but "man bites dog" is. In line with this logic, which equates newsworthiness with a sensational breach of normality, it hasn't been news that, in recent days, there has been a steep escalation in the incidence of kidnapping, raping, murdering and serial killing. Kavita Madhumita Jesica lal, Navin Katara murder cases and recently serial killings of children of Nithari village of Noida .

Gateway of India for Western culture

The Gateway of India was opened on December 4, 1924 by the Viceroy, the Earl of Reading. This was the symbolic entrance of western culture. The last British troops to leave India, the First Battalion of the Somerset Light Infantry, passed through the gate in a ceremony on February 28, 1948. British troops and British rule had gone to leave Lord Macaulay’s Westerned cultured system.

Westernized New Year’s Eve culture in few army officers

The Army isn't wasting much time, nor is the police. A day after jawans of the 3 Madras Regiment ransacked the Park Street police station of Kolkatta to free two officers held on charges of molesting women at a New Year's Eve party at the Park Hotel, the army ordered a court of inquiry.

Woman is molested by nearly 70 goons

New Year's Eve showed drunken party-goers and a gathering of 1,500 people at the Gateway of India to watch the fireworks ushering in 2007. In the midst of all the revelry, a woman is molested by nearly 70 goons, her clothes torn apart. Her male friend is pushed to the side, the helpless woman's screams drowned by the noise of the crowd. The crowd was essentially a mixed unprepared crowd and unwilling to listen to anybody.This is the symbold of shameful criminalogy which British rule gifted to us.

Victim did not want to be Meher Bhargava

The victim lady and her partner did not protest otherwise their fate would be as Meher Bhargava. In the past Meher Bhargava Meher Bhargava was the quintessential Lucknow memsahib; courteous but candid, genteel but cut from fine steel. So on February 28, when a lewd lothario heckled her daughter-in-law in a crowded market at Hazratganj, the indignant matriarch made her disapproval public. The youth’s reaction was explicit: he took out a gun and shot Bhargava dead.

Indian way to celebrate New Year

As reported by Hindustan Times for 25-year-old Shamita, a schoolteacher from Kolkata, celebrated the New Year Eve. "We offered puja, burst crackers and had sweets on the New Year's Eve with the entire family. My husband and his parents also had good fun in celebrating New Year in this manner," she says. This is the way of Indian culture as we celebrate Diwali and ‘Varsh Pratipda’.

Slap on Mumbai Police Security

Mumbai Police Commissioner A N Roy could not feel shame to say: “No body has registered a case, neither the victim, nor her relatives have come forward”

There should have been sufficient police security in such a place especially when there was a large a gathering. If any terrorist attack had happened on that day, what would have happened? Would the police have then too said that they were not aware of the incident?

R R Patil justified sexual assault

In fact, so commonplace is this crime that Maharashtra ’s deputy chief minister RR Patil has promised to set up special, fast-track courts to nail cases of atrocities against women. Commendable, were it not so ironic that on the same day, Patil also accused a catwalk model of deliberately dropping her dress to arouse audiences at the Lakme Fashion Week — and actually promised an inquiry into the incident to “safeguard” public morality. Then, after a fracas in the state legislature and a “clean chit” from the police, he recanted, admitting that it was only an “accidental” case of “wardrobe malfunction.”

Why would not police keep vigil on New Year’s Eve

For combating hooliganism on the New Year’s Eve inside and outside the discotheque, the police would be posting men-in-plain-clothes. So the cops will mingle incognito with the partying crowd, gather information, and even issue stranger roll before the ruffians indulge in “mischief”.

Why would not officers from the Intelligence Wing of the Mumbai police, besides CID officials, keep a regular vigil? They should be assisted by the regular police force.

The cops should rush to the aid of the security guards in case of an argument. They should even help the guards in frisking the visitors, besides looking for unclaimed vehicles in the parking lots. Recently, two groups had also clashed in a place. Cops had confirmed that the fight was an aftermath of an argument between the two gangs in a discotheque over a girl.

The decision to post the cops around the discotheques is necessaryas, according to sources, incidents of violence have been reported to the media in the recent past. A senior police officer reveals that a few years ago, a youngster had even pulled out a pistol after seeing the “girl of his desire” cutting foot loose with another guy. It does not mean to spoil the mood but to ensure against harassment. Cops may allow the revellers to raise their hands only till they don’t reach the nose of others

Dishonor of womanhood by manhood and Queen’s Necklace

Marine Drive, the "Queen's Necklace", Gateway of India and the beaches drew maximum crowds while others chose to celebrate in star hotels, pubs and discos. New Year countdown celebrations are not just a time to party. They are also a thieves' wonderland, with wallets and handbags ripe for picking. Last year, countdown parties became a nightmare for some female revellers who were molested after being sprayed with aerosol foam.
This year, with an expected turnout of more than 160,000, the Marina Bay Singapore New Year's Eve Countdown 06/07 will be the biggest party in town.

So police are not taking chances. Police are also working to avoid a repeat of last year's molest cases, by curbing the illegal hawking of foam sprays. The incidents spoilt the mood for at least one person. "One of my friends got sprayed by an aerosol in her eyes, and she got molested at one of these countdown parties. That's why I celebrate at home," said a woman

Why adopted Western culture and became follower of Lord Macaulay

Most of us have adopted Western culture. Our topmost leaders have feel good to marry with Western lady only. Instead of celebrating pious Hindu Nav Varsh ‘Varsh Pratipda’ we want to celebrate street sex based January 1st year. At the time of British rule the government distributed free tea. Thus we got habit to drink tea. Like that they encouraged street club sex molesting and teasing on the eve to attract non-Christians to words Christian girls. Now that culture has been adopted by girls and boys in India freely. Rakhi Sawant wpresents open sex to eat. Now she is feeling uncomfortable in Indian culture. So she started to go Girijas. She feels comfortable in Christian cultu

Source:http://premendra.sulekha.com/blog/post/2007/01/new-year-s-eve-like-a-riot-teasing-and-molesting.htm

By
B.Venkateswarlu

At ET Intelligence Group, we have always strived to help readers take well-informed decisions. And we leave no stone unturned in doing this. Apart from providing analytical insights and expert opinions to anticipate the trends in ’08, we decided to lend an ear to what the celestial elements are telling us.

To have a better understanding of what ’08 has in store for us, ETIG caught up with renowned astrologer Bejan Daruwala .

According to this fond worshipper of Lord Ganesha, India’s best period started from September 3, ’07. Mr Daruwala — who had predicted India’s emergence as an economic superpower way back in January ’00 — claims that India will have a great time in the next few years and will emerge as a powerhouse some time around the year ’12.

“In ’08, Jupiter will land up in India’s sun sign Capricorn. This ensures prosperity and good luck,” he says. He further enunciates that other natives of Capricorn, including Ratan Tata, Baba Kalyani of Bharat Forge and Vikram Pandit of Citibank, will have a wonderful year ahead.

Mr Daruwala emphasises that ’08 will see Saturn teaming up with Virgo, which means only the ‘practical-minded and ruthless’ will survive. Companies that emphasise on cutting down unnecessary expenses and are willing to overhaul old management practices will do well. Similarly, Capricorn, the big daddy of all sun signs, will ensure that managements that act with a strict hand do well.

However, Mr Daruwala feels the Sensex may not reflect the strength of the Indian economy to the fullest. “The year ’08 will see the Sensex fluctuating wildly and money-making won’t be as easy as it has been in ’07,” he says. He further predicts that the months of March, June, September and December will be particularly tough for the market.

Looking beyond the economic scenario, Mr Daruwala sees the country facing a few new problems. He cautions that the next 2-3 years will see the emergence and rise of new forms of terrorism. He foresees that India and Pakistan will have a more permanent and long-term truce.

On a more positive note, Mr Daruwala opines that India’s favourable time had begun when Atal Bihari Vajpayee took over as prime minister, and both he and Manmohan Singh are lucky for the country.

Source:http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Market_News/Making_money_will_not_be_easy_in_08/articleshow/2663565.cms

By
B.Venkateswarlu

NEW DELHI: The five militants arrested in connection with last month's Uttar Pradesh serial blasts wanted to carry out simultaneous explosions in four crowded areas in Mumbai, including Gateway of India, official sources said.

The sources quoting the interrogators questioning the five militants arrested from Barabanki (Uttar Pradesh), Doda (Jammu and Kashmir) and North 24 Parganas (West Bengal) claimed that Bangladesh-based banned Harkat-ul-Jehadi Islamia was planning to carry out yet another serial blasts in Mumbai. All the five have been arrested for November 23 serial blasts in UP cities -- Lucknow, Faizabad and Varanasi.

Gateway of India, Andheri, Oberoi Hotel and Navi Mumbai were places where these militants had already carried out dry runs -- a chilling reminder of 2006 Mumbai serial blasts.

The militants, however, changed their plans for Mumbai after a group of UP lawyers manhandled two Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) militants, arrested for hatching conspiracy to kidnap VIPs, including Rahul Gandhi.

This was the third incident in last one year when either HuJI militants, their sympathisers or Jaish militants were attacked in Uttar Pradesh.

Earlier, Faizabad court witnessed to an altercation between lawyers and HuJI militants, who had conspired and provided logistic help to terrorists who carried out the suicide attack on disputed structure in 2005. The local bar association had banned its advocates from taking up their cases.

Source:http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Terrorists_had_also_planned_strikes_at_Gateway_of_India/articleshow/2664689.cms

By
B.Venkateswarlu

How did the employee fare in 2007 and what can he or she look forward to in the coming year. The New Manager looks back and takes stock.

The pressure of making the right career choice is so high that parents are now assuming a central role in managing the careers of their young adult children.

Happy 2008! With a labour force of over 500 million and a gainfully employed workforce of over 340 million isn’t it important to ask if the employees in India will indeed be happy in the year 2008?

To predict the level of employee happiness in 2008 we just need to look around, reflect and ask ourselves some honest questions. It is equally important to understand what we can all do to make happiness happen!

What was 2007 like?

A good way to predict happiness in 2008 is to look at our experiences in the year 2007.

Careers and happiness

The biggest positive change in 2007 was the effort by organisations to go beyond education and look at real talent. The move to hire graduates and even those with class XII qualifications is evidence of this shift.

While IT and ITeS appear to be the largest employers, I saw some significant shifts in 2007. I saw many talking about life beyond the IT industry. While those from the better educational institutions treated a job with any of the big IT firms the same way some of us would have treated a PSU job a decade ago, many others just did not consider them cool any longer. Many others were actually looking at opportunities with the so-called old economy companies in new light. All in all, I see this as a positive change.

The image of the BPO industry as an employment destination continued to suffer and many suggest that this is reflected in their inability to hire. Going overseas also became less cool than it used to be and that is surprising many.

For those who entered the labour market or made job shifts, there certainly has been happiness in 2007 and 2008 looks as good.

In the midst of all this abundance, the pressure of making the right career choice is so high that parents are now assuming a very central role in managing the careers of their young adult children. Managing one’s career was certainly not a source of great happiness.

Money and happiness

Did the ever growing list of Indian billionaires and the zooming Sensex translate into an equally exhilarating pay story for the average Indian employee? Not really for all.

On the contrary, most of us heard about the pressures on costs and margins, the rupee appreciation and its impact on long-term profitability. We also saw our Prime Minister talking about CEO pay, pointing perhaps to the growing disparities. Despite all of this, if money meant happiness, there was quite a bit of it in 2007 but there are worries that we may have less of it in 2008.

HR and happiness

The HR function is in many ways supposed to be the champion of happiness. Ask HR professionals and they will produce a huge list of all the things they do, copy book style. Ask the employees and they will respond quite cynically that HR and happiness just don’t go together and I must admit that there is truth in it.

In the year 2007, I saw HR continuing to sever its touch points with employees – out of sync with ground realities. Among the many HR professionals I met in 2007, I found very few who had any real interest in people. Finally, in trying to become “business partner” I saw them compromising on the people agenda.

Clearly, if HR led to happiness, I did not see as much as I would have liked and I do not believe 2008 will be any different.

Balance and happiness

Balance is the ability to pursue one’s career while also being able to meet and fulfil one’s personal needs and responsibilities.

Clearly, the year 2007 saw increasing imbalance. Invasive technology, working across the globe and commuting across Indian roads only made things worse.

If balance was important for happiness, we had little of it in 2007 and why would anyone believe it will be better in the coming year? In summary, there were plenty of jobs and quite a bit of money but not enough happiness and 2008 does not look any different.

What can we do to make 2008 happier for our employees? Despite all the challenges, I still believe it is possible for us to create a happier 2008 for our employees, if only we tried hard enough. Here are a few ideas for your consideration:

Lead from the front

The biggest casualty of our hectic pace of growth has been leadership. Our organisations desperately need leaders who can lead employees from the front. Leaders who can create and share a compelling vision, who can hold the promise of not just more money but of a great future, the opportunity to co-create a great organisation and the commitment to grow together. If we can create more leaders who are capable of doing this we will have more happiness.

Reconnect

In building large global organisations, we have lost our connect with employees. We are unable to manage the moments of truth that really matter to them because we have outsourced our employee relationships. If we can get the connection back, we have some hope of happiness.

For psychologically safe workplaces

While we have succeeded in building workplaces that are physically safe, we can do more to create workplaces that are psychologically safe for our employees — workplaces that are free of harassment and discrimination, that encourage openness, that provide fair supervision and treatment and can encourage creative expression.

If we can recognise this element of psychological safety and make it available, we may have more happiness.

Help redefine happiness

Having said all this, the most important thing to do is to redefine the jointly held meaning of happiness in the minds of employees and employers.

Let us accept it – organisations exist to deliver value to customers and returns to shareholders.

Happiness can only be a by-product and not the reason for existence. The first thing to do is to be honest about this and not mislead our employees to believe that we are here to create great workplaces and become the best employers.

At the least, we can define happiness as the experience of congruence between what was promised and what was delivered.

Let us, therefore, make only promises that we can fulfil (at all points in the relationship) and do everything to fulfil the promises we made.

Ultimately, organisations can only create the conditions for happiness. Getting there is the employee’s choice.

As Benjamin Franklin said, “The Constitution only guarantees the American people the right to pursue happiness. You have to catch it yourself”.

I wish you all a really happy 2008!

Source:http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/manager/2007/12/31/stories/2007123150351100.htm

By
B.Venkateswarlu

Australians line the foreshores to usher in the New Year with the spectacular 'The Time of Your Life' fireworks display over the Sydney Harbour as the first round of fireworks for children lights up the harbour at 9pm local time (1000 GMT). Some 3,000 kgs of pyrotechnics for the main show at midnight (1300 GMT) will include 100,000 individual effects ignited from the Sydney Harbour Bridge and six barges.

By
B.Venkateswarlu

I expect the BSE Sensex to be around 23,000 at the end of year 2008. Look beyond the index and invest in companies that are growing, and have sustainable businesses and clear competitive advantages.

The Year 2007 was one of the better years for investors in stock markets. Starting off from just 60 points shy of 14,000, the magical year saw the next peaks fall like ninepins. Doubling in value, the Indian bourses truly created wealth.

What about year 2008? Will it be different? Which sectors to bet on? “Look beyond the indices,” advises Mr Bhavesh Shah, Vice-President (Research) of Asit C Mehta, Mumbai.

“Investors should do their homework before investing in stock market, if they are taking investment decisions in the absence of any professional guidance,” he adds, in the course of an exclusive interaction with Business Line, over the e-mail. “Market efficiency will increase only when there are informed investors.”

Excerpts from the interview:

The Sensex gained nearly 40 per cent in 2007. What do you think year 2008 will offer?

The year 2007 was a volatile year for the market. If one looks at the point-to-point movement, it shows gain; but, during the year, the market corrected sharply and recovered with the same intensity.

Till September, the market was in a broader range of 12,500 to 16,000. With the emergence of turbulence in the credit market due to the sub-prime crisis, the US Federal Reserve was forced to cut interest rate.

This, in turn, prompted huge liquidity flows towards the emerging markets. India was one of the prime beneficiaries of these flows. As a result, there was a buying spree in equities, and the market scaled record highs during the remaining part of the year.

Sectors that had visible opportunities to grow, companies with earning potential and order books in their favour, and companies that had a potential to unlock value for their shareholders fascinated investors, both big and small.

I think in 2008, corporate performance and liquidity flows are the two major factors one should look for. Those companies which fail to perform, or fail to convert the invisibles into visibles will be punished with profit-booking. And the efficient ones will be rewarded.

Economic dynamics are also challenging. Rising rupee, and increase in wages and material cost are putting pressure on margins on the one hand and, on the other, demand-supply equilibrium is also changing in some sectors (such as cement, base metals, and steel).

The ability of a company to raise its efficiency bar under these conditions will be put to test. Those with a clear vision and scalability are expected to do better.

India’s economic growth is projected to be in a higher trajectory (8-9 per cent) in the next three years. Infrastructure spending, domestic consumption and investment will continue to drive economic growth. And growth will attract increased capital flows, be they long-term or short-term in nature.

Looking at the overall picture, I expect the BSE Sensex to be around 23,000 at the end of year 2008. My advice to investors is this: Look beyond the index and invest in companies that are growing, and have sustainable businesses and clear competitive advantages. Company-specific focus will provide enough opportunity for investors to get a return higher than that of the benchmark indices.

Infrastructure, real estate, oil and gas dominated last year. Which are the sectors that investors should put their money into in 2008?

India’s sustainable economic growth story depends on two key dynamics as far as new investment is concerned. First, infrastructure (road, bridges, ports, airports, etc.); and second, resources (power, oil, gas, minerals and metals). These sectors are expected to outperform in 2008.

Among other sectors, passenger and commercial vehicle, telecom, selected pharma, capital goods, engineering goods and services, logistics, chemicals, banking and financial services are also attractive. Investors with a purely long-term investment perspective can also buy top-tier information technology (IT) companies at declines.

FIIs (foreign institutional investors) who were active in the better part of 2007 seem to have gone a bit slow now. When do you see the FIIs returning to the markets?

Fund flow from overseas is expected to be bullish especially with the SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India) allowing the registration of entities such as pension funds and endowment funds.

Anecdotal evidence suggests that India was the recipient of higher portfolio investments from hedge funds and private equities. If one looks at the size of assets under management (AUM), pension funds and insurance companies are very large. Collectively, these institutions have $40 trillion under their management compared to $2.2 trillion held by hedge funds and private equity players.

Secondly, pension funds and insurance companies are stable, long-term investors.

What effect did the following really have on the Indian equity markets: Sub-prime crisis, tight credit conditions worldwide, and the fear of the US economy slowing?

Sub-prime: Sub-prime crises in the US and the UK are localised as far their direct impact on the financial sector is concerned. There will be some companies in the IT sector, which provide BFSI (banking, financial services, and insurance) solutions or services to US corporations, but India’s direct exposure to sub-prime crisis is very minimal.

However, due to increased integration of global financial markets, sub-prime’s effect on sentiments cannot be ruled out. These sentiments will increase volatility in the market. One must understand that sound fundamentals (economic growth, corporate profitability) are a precondition for stock market investments.

Credit conditions: The Federal Reserve and the ECB (European Central Bank) cut interest rates, and pumped in money to rescue the troubled credit markets. This eased the situation a bit. I don’t expect money supply being tightened, or a rise in interest rates at the global level. Rising energy and food prices are a challenge before the central bankers. The situation is uncertain as of now and I think the first quarter of 2008 will give us a clearer perspective.

US economy: At this juncture, it is too early to talk about any particular impact of slowdown in the US economy. We need to see whether or not problems in the housing market, and thus on the credit market, have any impact on other sectors.

We need to wait for Q4 GDP (gross domestic product) data from the US and the response of the US economy to the steps taken by the Federal Reserve in subsequent quarters.

The US being the largest economy, slowdown will definitely have an impact on the Indian economy. However, any impact on India would be marginal compared to that on China or Japan, where exports to the US are a key driver for growth.

Broadly, I can say that domestic consumption and investment are the growth engine of the Indian economy, and that at the domestic level we are going to see a stronger growth in the coming years.

Do you see the domestic investors — retail, financial institutions, and mutual funds — being more active in the coming 12 months?

Even in 2007, whenever the FIIs were booking profit or curtailing their exposures to Indian equities, domestic investors, especially institutions, remained very active in the market. According to the latest data, mutual funds are flush with cash. I expect mutual fund investment to increase in 2008.

There is a perception that Indian markets would be called overvalued, if there were no China around. How far is that true?

I don’t agree with this argument. One should not compare one market with another. Price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio is one of the methods — not the only method — taken into consideration for stock investments. Relative P/E valuation would not take into account other factors such as corporate growth and sustainability, investment climate, risk, etc.

As I mentioned, sound fundamentals such as economic growth and corporate profitability are the preconditions for any stock market investment. Investors will not commit their investment in the absence of the fundamentals.

The Sensex is trading at around 25-27 P/E multiples. But the price/book value is at around 6.5, which makes the Indian benchmark the most richly-valued among the global indices on this parameter. Would the domestic equity markets justify these numbers, going forward?

There are several issues one must take into consideration before valuing a market. Rather than looking at the past, I would like to look at the earning potential and the sustainability of growth, going forward.

—

If one looks at forward P/E for Sensex, it is around 21-23 for FY-08. One can conclude that Sensex companies are fairly valued at this juncture. Then, we should start discounting earnings for FY-09 and FY-10. This will give us a clearer picture.

As far as price to book value (P is concerned, though it sets the base value of a company, it does not take into account the future earning potential of the business. Also, while calculating net worth, assets are valued at cost.

PB is a method mostly looked at by investment bankers. Companies in the US and Europe have higher public holdings. If one intends to takeover the business, he will not have to price in premium to be paid to its promoters. Indian scenario is different, wherein most of the companies are promoter-controlled and, hence, a premium needs to be paid to acquire such a business. This premium is also reflected in current stock prices.

Barring a handful, companies in IT, pharma and textiles have been laggards in 2007. What’s your outlook on them for the New Year?

I think selective pharma and IT companies will continue to do better. Sector as such will remain under pressure on account of rupee appreciation and other challenges before the sector.

What is your take on SEBI allowing short selling to all classes of investors?

A welcome decision. It will increase market participation and liquidity in the markets. Now people with a counter view (bearish) in the market can also participate.

How will short selling benefit the investors?

It will provide an opportunity to market participants to take a contrary view on the market or with regard to a particular company. At present, when share prices of a company move northwards there is no mechanism by which an investor can have a bearish view on that scrip. Short-selling mechanism will curb unprecedented upward movement of share prices; and with a reduction in volatility there will be an increased stability of the market.

We have seen the market regulator stating its position on issues such as Participatory Notes. Do you see SEBI being more active in 2008?

As a market regulator, SEBI’s objective is to provide conducive market conditions for all concerned. As and when the situation warrants, it can take a view and announce policy, regulations and norms for the same. As a market participant, I am comfortable as far as SEBI is willing to consider the views of all concerned.

Do you feel that a mature equity market can choose to say no to foreign inflows or perhaps, desist the same for some time?

The mantra for the way ahead is to raise the efficiency and competitiveness parameters. Indian markets are in a development phase; and as a country we are not in a position to say no to foreign capital. India needs capital for investment. Capital flows are, therefore, welcome, though the flows can cause the rupee to rise.

Lastly, do you feel that the small investor is safe in today’s equity markets? It’s often seen that the big guys get out first, while the small investor is left in the lurch. What would be your words of precaution to small investors as we enter another year?

We are in a better position as compared to the past, in terms of risk management, compliance and protection of the interests of small investors.

Investors must ask basic questions. Such as: What are the company’s products? How are the company’s products better placed compared to those of the competitors? What is the company’s past financial performance? What are the initiatives that the company is taking — to mitigate competition, to manage risks associated with the industry, and to grab opportunity, if any?

Source:http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/12/31/stories/2007123150500900.htm

By
B.Venkateswarlu

In the event of political instability increasing across the border, the political posturing of Pakistan vis-À-vis India in international fora will harden appreciably.

That the work of terrorists should mark the end of 2007 and usher in the New Year underscores, as nothing else does, the deep integration of terrorism in the daily lives of average people all over the world.

True, throughout the year, many lives have been taken by bullets and bombs fired and detonated by people who are prepared to impose their will on the world with the help of death and destruction. But the assassination of the Pakistan People’s Pa rty leader Benazir Bhutto — like that of Indira Gandhi 23 years ago — falls into the category of events which will not merely leave, as it must, an indelible mark at a personal level on the families concerned but also on the course of political (and perhaps military) events in the subcontinent.

Another spell of military rule

In the history of Pakistan, the impact of her assassination will probably be equivalent to the execution of her father, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, in 1979 under the military regime of Gen. Zia-ul-Haq in that the strictly political content in the quest for social leaderhip in that country has been delivered a serious blow. Her father’s execution led to 10 years of Zia rule (till 1988) which ended with the death of the military dictator in a plane crash in mysterious circumstances.

It seems likely that the exit of the daughter from Pakistan’s political scene will also lead to another prolonged spell of military rule in that country for the simple reason that there is no able successor to the late PPP leader on the horizon.

Admittedly, Mr Nawaz Sharif, leader of the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz), is the next most important Pakistani political leader and should be generally expected to take over the political mantle of the country in the absence of a viable, credible PPP leadership. But this, in fact, will be far from what is likely to happen because those who support the PPP will not back Mr Sharif even if it means continuance of the military establishment in the political saddle in Islamabad.

Only workable solution

It may be argued that Gen. (Retd) Pervez Musharraf, who made himself President of Pakistan in dubious circumstances, may try to seize this opportunity to anoint himself as the only workable political option in the absence of a strong PPP on the national political scene.

This view may appear to be logical to an extent, but is in fact somewhat fanciful because of the strong (probably unfounded) suspicion that he may have had a hand in the physical elimination of Benazir Bhutto. Put simply, Musharraf stands no chance at all in the post-Bhutto Pakistan political scenario, which means that the military establishment will once again resume its position as the supreme arbiter of life in that country.

Thus, history will probably repeat itself in that, like the period after the execution of her father, Pakistan will once again witness the ascendancy of the military, and unfortunately so because the present juncture appeared to provide a good opportunity for the political forces in that country to stage a comeback.

There is little doubt that whatever has been happening in Pakistan (including the return of Bhutto to fight the January elections) over the past couple of months has been carefully scripted by Gen. Pervez Musharraf — presumably with the help of the US Administration — his sole objective being to remain in power, particularly during the transition from a military career to a post-military one (which, quite obviously, does not rule out an effort to have his own man as Army Chief, namely, General Ashfaq Kayani). But such carefully planned scenarios, specially when they are dependent on human beings, sometimes misfire, Gen. Musharraf’s final nemesis being probably expedited by the Bhutto killing.

Take the back-seat

If the elections are held in early January, as scheduled, they will be nothing more than a State-managed farce, which no one in Pakistan (that is, including the Army and Musharraf) would probably be willing to indulge in at the moment. They could be pushed back, but the PPP leadership issue would still remain, which would have more or less the same effect. This apart, if the security situation in the country were to spin out of control, or threaten to do so, the military would have to bare its fangs, or appear to do so, an exercise over which Musharraf (now out of uniform) would probably not have any control.

What this would ultimately mean is that both Pakistani politicians and Gen Musharraf would have to take the backseat while the Army under General Kayani went about its task of restoring a semblance of civil order in a country where the practice of parliamentary democracy now seems to be even more uncertain after Benazir Bhutto’s assassination.

Of course, the pertinent question is whether Gen. Kayani will turn out to be another Zia, something which only time will be able to tell. If he does, Mr Musharraf will have to seek early retirement; if he does not, Pakistan is in for an extremely unstable phase, which may — and this is important for New Delhi — have a critical military fallout affecting India-Pakistan relations.

Keeping tension alive

This is based on the key assumption that the Pakistan military establishment has always kept tension with India alive solely to underscore its own pre-eminent position in the Pakistani power-structure. Afghanistan is no longer an important issue (as it once was) which could be used for the same purpose, and the anti-terrorism struggle — as Islamabad has found to its discomfiture — cuts both ways.

So, the greater the problems within the country, it is safe to expect that India-Pakistan border problems will become more ‘active’. (Kargil appears to be a prime example where pressing domestic political considerations led to heightened Pakistani activity on the border, a process which finally culminated with Musharraf’s coup against Nawaz Sharif.)

It is, therefore, safe to conclude that, in the months to come, in the event of political instability increasing across the border, the political posturing of Pakistan vis-À-vis India in international fora will harden appreciably. However, the same may not be true on the trade front because a higher level of ‘controlled’ trade (from Pakistan’s perspective) could benefit certain sections in Pakistani society, whose support could be useful for the military rulers.

However, all this will depend crucially on the scale of activity launched by the Islamic fundamentalists, who will probably assert themselves in the New Year as much as they have in the year just ending.

Source:http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/12/31/stories/2007123150440800.htm

By
B.Venkateswarlu
Despite wishing each other happiness every New Year, humanity is no nearer to unlocking its secrets. For at least 2,600 years since Gautama the Buddha, many have pointed out the prevalence of the opposite — deep and abiding sorrow, its sources and the means to remove them — but not with much conspicuous success. So, can we at least try to realise the ‘new’ part this time? This implies being prepared to challenge our old ways of living and try someth ing creative, making life more interesting, more original; and then, we may chance upon the way to living the good life.

How to begin

We can begin with how we mark the first day. We can contact some friends and relations whom we have not met or thought about for a long while. Give them a surprise, and leave them maybe wondering what your motives might be — but assure them that it was just a New Year whim. We all have friends who have slipped out of our circle for some reason. Hunt them out drop them a line or call.

Next, you can send all your friends, as some already do, a chatty (and if possible humorous) letter with a resume of what life had been like for you in 2007. In other words, make up for not being in touch for 12 months. Another way of marking the day is to save some of the money spent on parties, cards and postage and send a donation to some charitable cause. One could do this without exercising the option of flooding the airwaves with messages, emails and e-cards. Surely a line along with a regular letter of email in the normal course would do just as well.

Change yourself

More significant for me is the question: What have I learnt, done differently and learnt afresh during the past year? One important thing I heard for the first time from a top manager during 2007 was that “we can never really change other people, we can only change ourselves”. This casual remark truly opened my eyes. It is a truth about life that I had only been vaguely aware of; was I perhaps afraid to speak of it openly; because as a consultant, one subscribes to the dominant notion that big sweeping changes can and must be made — and with the help of outsiders.

Which of my bad habits have I managed to get rid of or at least reduce to some extent? For instance, am I bit more courteous, or compassionate? Were there any mistakes at all that taught me so much that I shall never repeat them? Have I learnt a new game, a new subject, explored a new region or country, or made a few good friends during 2007? Have I learnt how not to be negative or grow pessimistic, despite the encircling gloom of political and economic chaos and ever spreading violence? Can I remain calm but not indifferent to the world? Can I not let the images others hold about me to sway my actions — but rather do something for its own sake because it is worth doing?

We could set ourselves such questions as pointers for the incoming year, even if we have not paid them much attention during the past one. We might then be on the way to making it a truly new year this time!

Source:http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/12/31/stories/2007123150510900.htm

By
B.Venkateswarlu

If buying a car is on your New Year wishlist, rest assured that you will be spoilt for choice in 2008.

No less than 60 new cars, models and variants are expected to reach the showrooms in 2008, with something for pockets of every size. Bringing cheer to the middle class will be about 15 new models and variants in the small car segment and around 20 new models in the midsize segment.

From Tata’s Rs 1 lakh-car, to Alfa Romeo 159 and BMW X6, the new launches are bound to make choices delightfully difficult.

The luxury segment will have about 10 new models to boast of, along with 15 new SUVs.

Annual sales of passenger cars in India more than doubled in the past five years to 1.08 million in the 12 months ended March 31, according to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers. With seven in every 1,000 people in India owning a car at present, the total may reach three million by 2015.

To accommodate all the extra vroom, dealers are cutting down on inventories and hiring salespersons to ensure that your hot wheels get to you in the comfort of your homes.

Hottest action will be seen in the compact and sub-compact segments, with prices ranging from Rs 1 lakh for the Tata’s now famous peoples’ car to the Fiat Cinquecento that comes with a price tag close to Rs 12 lakh.

While Maruti is scheduled to launch Splash, Hyundai is prepared to counter it with the automatic gearshift i10, the manual shift version of which was first launched in India. In the hatchback/mid-size segment, Fiat is lining up its Linea while Volkswagen will bring in Jetta and Renault the Sandero.

Source:http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=11cc0734-7eb1-420c-b374-8003935984a1&&Headline=60+new+cars+coming+in+%e2%80%9908.+Take+your+pick

By
B.Venkateswarlu

The Pakistan Peoples Party settled the leadership issue on Sunday night by naming its slain leader Benazir Bhutto’s eldest child, the teenaged Bilawal, as her successor.

Benazir had named her husband Asif Ali Zardari as the party chief in the will Bilawal read out at the PPP’s central executive committee meeting at Naudero, Larkana, on Sunday. But Zardari explained his decision to pass on the baton to his son by arguing that “nobody other than Bilawal can keep the PPP and the federation (of Pakistan) intact.” He said the new PPP chairperson will be called Bilawal Bhutto Zardari from now on.

Born in the middle of the 1988 poll campaign that brought his mother to power for the first time, Bilawal, 19, is studying at Oxford. He said as PPP co-chairperson, his father Asif Ali Zardari will “take care of the party till I complete my studies.”

At the interaction that saw Bilawal quoting Benazir to assert that “democracy is the best revenge,” Zardari claimed his party was ready to contest the polls as scheduled on January 8.

Many observers interpreted this move and the one to give his children — including daughters Bakhtawar and Asifa — the Bhutto surname as “deft manoeuvering” aimed at exploiting electorally the sympathy wave sweeping Pakistan after Benazir’s assassination.

A late night PTI report said that after PPP’s decision, Nawaz Sharif’s PML-N party has also decided to take part in the January 8 polls.

Quite noteworthy in this context was his claim that most of those who died in the fidayeen attack with Benazir were Punjabis he had befriended while in jail. He told his party’s Sindhi cadres to refrain from drawing ethnic lines: “Punjabis have died in Punjab with your leader. Please respect them.”

He upbraided those who raised questions about Pakistan’s survival after Benazir’s killing: “Don’t say Pakistan na khapey (don’t say Pakistan will break up). I say Pakistan khapey. Suntey kaano, dekhte aankhon, mera faisla democracy aur Pakistan ko bachaney ke liye hai.”

Zardari added: “Benazir and ZAB (Zulfikar Ali Bhutto) never talked of breaking Pakistan.”

Most of the talking at the press conference was done by Zardari, prompting early comments about his central role in the party's affairs. He said his wife had chosen Makhdoom Amin Fahim, who ran the PPP during her self-imposed exile from Pakistan, as the prime ministerial candidate. But the proviso he very meaningfully added was that the final call on the issue will be taken by the party.

With the PML (Nawaz) responding positively tonight to Zardari's exhortations against boycotting the polls, the ball now is in the court of Pervez Musharraf, whose caretaker administration had asked the PPP to decide on the issue in the fond hope that it may seek a breather. Recalling Benazir's comment to him after her first victory in the 1980s that she has avenged her father, ZAB's blood, Zardari predicted a PPP victory in the next polls “which will be our revenge for her death.”

But while being boisterous, he let it be known that his party's battle was not against the army but a section of those who are in power. He also frequently described the pro-Musharraf PML(Q) as the “qatil (murderer)” league, urging the electorate to express their anger through the vote.

Confirming reports that he asked the government not to carry out an autopsy on his wife's body, he rubbished the ongoing probe while seeking an international investigation into Benazir's assassination on the pattern of the commission that went into Lebanese PM Rafik Hariri's killing. Zardari told the gathering to address their questions to him rather than his son who, he said, despite being the party chief, was of “tender age”.

Source:http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/FullcoverageStoryPage.aspx?id=9e3dc845-a585-4cca-a4b3-8c25fd091d39Benazirassassinated_Special&&Headline=Bilawal+becomes+a+Bhutto%2c+named+PPP+chairman

By
B.Venkateswarlu

Haven't thought of where you are going to party on New Year's Eve? Think no further. The hottest destination on the final night of the year is going to be the Andheri Sports Complex in Mumbai where the Mumbai part of Nokia's blockbuster New Year's Eve celebrations are going to be held. "You can boogey the night away to the accompaniment of laser shows, pyrotechnics and performances by international stars."

Still need convincing? Look at who's going to perform: you can rock away to the tunes of Nelly Furtado and JoSh, plus the one and only AR Rahman. What's more, you can also get down to serious partying with some of the hottest Bollywood stars, including the gorgeous Priyanka Chopra, Koena Mitra and Shahid Kapur setting the stage alight. And there's an opening act by DJ Nikhil Chinappa to get you warmed up!

The mammoth event will be held at the Andheri Sports Complex under a canopy of stars. It'll have enough space for thousands of party-hoppers. It's going to be huge! It's going to be THE New Year's Eve Bash of the year! So be there!

The event is part of Nokia's grand New Year's Eve bash that will be celebrated in Hong Kong, Mumbai, Berlin, Rio and New York.

Proceeds from ticket sales will be donated to the A.R. Rahman Foundation.

Venue Details
Andheri Sports Complex (Shahaji Raje Bhosale Kreeda Sankul), J.P. Road, Andheri West, Mumbai

Time
Gates open from 6 pm onwards, Entry from GATE 1

The Stars Who Will Shine

* Shahid Kapur
* A.R. Rahman
* Koena Mitra
* Priyanka Chopra
* Nelly Furtado

Source:http://in.specials.yahoo.com/newyear/cometogether.html

By
B.Venkateswarlu

Canadian government to pressurise President Pervez Musharraf into accepting a United Nations-led international investigation into the assassination of Benazir Bhutto.

Staging a protest rally, which was attended by Canadian Opposition leader Jack Layton and other legislators, at the Ontario legislature assembly in Toronto, the Pakistan People's Party of Canada (PPP-Canada) presented its five-point demand charter to the government which, among other things, sought pressure on Musharraf to quit before elections were held.

Blaming Musharraf for the assassination, the protesters said Canada "should do more than just issue statements."

PPP-Canada convener Mansoor Mirza, who led the protesters and gave a memorandum to Jack Layton to be passed on to Prime Minister Harper, told IANS, "Through the opposition leader, we have requested Prime Minister Harper to press for an independent international probe into Benazir's death and Musharraf's ouster."

Mirza said free elections were not possible under Musharraf.

"The army is well-entrenched in Pakistan and they would not allow the PPP to emerge victorious. That's why they have killed Benazir. We also demand that the ousted judges be restored to their jobs and the media allowed full freedom," he said.

Addressing the rally, Layton promised to convey these demands to the government. He said democracy and stability in Pakistan were very important for Canada which, along with the US-led coalition, was fighting the Taliban in neighbouring Afghanistan.

Without mentioning Musharraf, Layton said Pakistan should be freed from dictatorship. He promised them Canada's full support in their struggle for restoration of democracy in Pakistan.

Haling the decision of the PPP leadership to anoint Benazir's son Bilawal as her successor and contest the Jan 8 elections, the protesters said the decision would pull Pakistan back from the brink of civil war.

"By appointing Bilawal as PPP chairman, the party has doused the fires engulfing the country. There is a huge bitterness among people towards the Punjabis in Pakistan because of what has happened. We hope Pakistan has been saved once again," said a party office-bearer.

Mirza added: "Only a Bhutto can bind all Pakistanis. Though nobody can replace Benazir, we hope Bilawal will fill the vacuum with the passage of time. He is a kid and will need to grow up fast."

The protesters welcomed the decision of their party and Nawaz Sharif to contest the January 8 elections, saying their joint victory could put Musharraf in the dock.

"He needs a majority vote from the new National Assembly for approval of his May changes to the constitution. If the PPP and Sharif can defeat him on it, he can be forced out. We have to wait," said the PPP convener.

Source:http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/FullcoverageStoryPage.aspx?id=6c1cc78a-d610-4767-92d5-4bd6db619d4cBenazirassassinated_Special&&Headline=PPP+seeks+Canadian+pressure+on+Musharraf+for+UN+probe

By
B.Venkateswarlu

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's slain former prime minister Benazir Bhutto wanted Pervez Musharraf, then a brigadier in the Pakistan Army, to serve as her military secretary but he declined the offer, and is thankful he did so, the president says.

Had he accepted the offer he would have 'gone down with her and her government', Musharraf, who stepped down earlier this month as the Pakistan Army chief before being sworn in as president for a second term, says in his memoir 'In The Line Of Fire'.

The offer came when Musharraf was serving at the Pakistan Army General Headquarters as deputy military secretary, dealing with the career management of majors and lower ranks in the army, in the process becoming their 'godfather'.

"One day, out of the blue, a friend of Benazir Bhutto's husband Asif Zardari came to call on me. Benazir was prime minister at the time. The friend's name was Javed Pasha. I had never seen him before," Musharraf writes in the memoir published in 2006.

"Pasha suggested that I become Benazir's military secretary. I do not know whether this was Pasha's personal initiative or if it had the backing of the prime minister. I asked for time to think about it."

"The next day, I broached the subject with my boss, Major General Farrakh. He rejected Pasha's suggestion outright, saying, 'You are a professional soldier and should continue with your professional work'. This was yet another time my career was saved. Had I become her military secretary, I would have gone down with her and her government," Musharraf writes.

Musharraf also makes clear his dislike for both Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, another former prime minister, who were twice each in office between 1988 and 1999 and who were responsible for a 'nearly total lack of governance' in Pakistan.

"The four changes of prime minister involved two cycles of alternation between Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif. Never in the history of Pakistan had we seen such a combination of the worst kind of governance, or rather, a nearly total lack of governance, along with corruption and plunder of national wealth," Musharraf writes.

During these 11 years, every army chief, and there were four of them, eventually clashed with the prime minister.

"The head of the government invariably got on the wrong side of the president and the army chief. Advice to Nawaz Sharif or Benazir Bhutto fell on deaf ears, leading every time to a confrontation," Musharraf writes.

"This was the period I have always called 'sham democracy'," he adds.

SourceNA

By
B.VenkateswarluShah Rukh Khan has every reason to preen. No, it doesn't have anything to do with his six packs. Rather, it's his wife Gauri Khan who is the center of attention.

The mother of two has been chosen as the cover girl of Vogue India for its January edition.

The pictures were shot against the eight-floor extension of the Khans' sprawling home, Mannat.

'This is not my profession,' Gauri said. 'It has to be something really new and unusual to make me want to do something like this. I did enjoy the shoot but to be honest, I wouldn't do it very often."

"This collaboration between Gauri and Vogue India is a natural fit," says Priya Tanna, Editor Vogue India. "It is her first solo cover and a coup of sorts for Vogue. That she is stylish, enigmatic, and poised is known, but at the shoot we saw another side of her, that of a cover girl. Even in the frames she shares with Shah Rukh [Images], she holds her own impressively. She offers delightful peeks into her life, her wardrobe and her man. Gauri is a true Voguette."

The issue will hit newsstands on December 20.

Source:http://www.rediff.com/movies/2007/dec/18look.htm

By
B.VenkateswarluNEW YORK (Billboard) - English rock band Radiohead will perform its new album, "In Rainbows," in its entirety during a pre-taped, hour-long set that will premiere New Year's Eve on TV and the Internet. The event will air on Current TV and Current.com starting 12 a.m. EST on December 31, and will repeat three times throughout the next day.

Radiohead hosted one such Webcast in early November, during which the band played new material as well as such covers as the Smiths' "The Headmaster Ritual," Bjork's "Unravel" and New Order's "Ceremony."

The "In Rainbows" CD will go on sale in stores next week. It was first made available a few months ago, when fans could download it from the Web for a price of their own choosing.

Source:reuters.com

By
B.Venkateswarlu

Geneva - Experts with the World Health Organisation (WHO) on Thursday confirmed the first case of inter-human transmission of bird flu in Pakistan, but ruled out any risk of a widespread outbreak.

Laboratory tests established that the person had been infected with the potentially fatal H5N1 strain of the virus, even though had not been in contact with contaminated poultry.

"Because we have an individual not directly exposed to sick birds suggests a limited human-to-human transmission," said spokesperson John Rainford told reporters.

Human-to-human contamination has been reported in Cambodia, Indonesia and Vietnam in recent months, but has not spread beyond a single person. A suspected case in China was denied by the authorities there.

In the latest case in Pakistan, a WHO statement said preliminary checks had found "no evidence of sustained or community human to human transmission".

It added: "All identified close contacts including the other members of the affected family and involved health care workers remain asymptomatic and have been removed from close medical observation."

Experts fear that if the H5N1 strain mutates into a highly contagious form, it would provoke a pandemic on the scale of the 1918 Spanish flu outbreak, which claimed tens of millions of lives.

The WHO team was sent after the ministry announced the death of a man who was one of six people infected with the H5N1 strain in North West Frontier Province along the Afghanistan border.

A brother of the victim also died before being tested for the virus. Both had worked on a cull of infected poultry.

Source:http://inwww.rediff.com/newshound/index.html

By
B.Venkateswarlu

Two years ago, the animated version of Hanuman turned in a pleasant surprise with its winning charm and gripping goodness.

Cashing on its popularity, the makers (Percept Picture Company) then decided to create a spin-off around the beloved mythological hero. Only they refused to call Return of Hanuman [Images] a sequel. Whatever!

Considering the predecessor covered pretty much everything, Return of Hanuman blends the modern with the mythological to impart the golden lesson of good prevails over evil.

In trying to establish this, the film tries to be a lot of things at once -- enlightening, entertaining, cheeky, cool and comic. The outcome of which is incoherent and exhausting.

It all begins with the story of how Rahu and Ketu came into existence followed by why man himself is the biggest evil or the impact of pollution leading to global crisis. Barring the Rahu-Ketu portion, which is vividly and impressively picturised, the narrative not once touches upon what led to the decline of man and environment for it to cause such mass scale destruction. What could have been an excellent point of edification for the film's target audience -- children -- with regards to environmental issues, is, unfortunately, employed as a mere twist in the plot to get the climax done and over with.

Also, Narada and Hanuman communicate straight out of a Ram Gopal Varma movie. That is, when Narada is not snooping around Lord Indra's room while the latter spends quality time with divine apsara, Menaka. The obnoxious innuendoes involved here are hard to overlook.

Wait, there's more. You may spot a gorilla modelled around Shah Rukh Khan [Images] coming to little Hanuman's rescue or Hanuman dodge past a dozen bullets, a la Neo in Matrix. And there's a nasty bandit residing in mango orchards, inspired by Sholay's [Images] Gabbar Singh. Our man goes out of the way to demonstrate his versatility at the mimicking game, sometimes as the voice of Sanjeev Kumar, Raaj Kumar or Shatrughan Sinha, if you please. What is this? An animated homage to Om Shanti Om? Speaking of which, Narada breaks into a jig, strumming his sitar, fervently chanting OSO.

Somewhere in the muddled picture, writer and director Anurag Kashyap fits in the hero of this enterprise, Hanuman and his unending saga of adventures.

One fine day, Hanuman resolves to make a trip down under as a mortal so that he can play football with the local boys. While Lord Brahma is most apprehensive, he eventually relents. Barely three months old, the human Hanuman, rechristened Maruti [Get Quote], is boy enough to get admitted in school. There's certain irreverence in the manner of handling the lovable deity's on screen persona. One fails to find anything chuckle-worthy about the director's constant fascination with Hanuman's tail or school kids referring to him as 'bandar'.

Anyhow, here the constantly famished Maruti bumps into the customary hapless kid, Minkoo, soft target of the bullies of his neighbourhood. Predictably, Maruti saves the day. Meanwhile, danger lurks around in the form of scheming bandits and Shukracharya's immortal creations -- the half serpent, half-human, Rahu and Ketu threatening to cause the end of the world.

For sure, with a do gooder like Maruti/Hanuman around, all's well that ends well. Not really! The climax involving a celestial battle and mucky volcanic eruption crawls painfully crying for a crisp pair of scissors. Although the artwork is fairly decent, the animation shows no sign of improvement since Hanuman's previous outing.

While adults may question Kashyap's take on mythology or disapprove of Gods conversing in Hinglish, kids might find the action entertaining. Or if nothing else; learn the importance of drinking milk. Else, go

Source:http://www.rediff.com/movies/2007/dec/28han.htm

By
B.Venkateswarlu

Here's one reason to look forward to the new year. Kingfisher has launched its 2008 Swimsuit Calender. Each month features beautiful models photographed against some of the most exotic locales of the country. Here's a sneak peek:
In the picture: Model Deepti Gujral at the Kingfisher Villa in Goa.

Disclaimer: Photographs 2008 United Breweries Limited and Atul Kasbekar. "All images attached herewith of Kingfisher Swimsuit Special 2008 are the exclusive property of the United Breweries Group and photographer Atul Kasbekar. These images from the calendar may not be reproduced in any form (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) scanned or stored in any manner, digital or otherwise without the express written permission of the United Breweries Group and photographer Atul Kasbekar. Doing so is an infringement of copyright laws and is therefore subject to prosecution." Images have to be reproduced as is. No part of the image can be cropped or digitally altered for publication.

Source:http://specials.rediff.com/movies/2007/dec/20sli1.htm

By
B.Venkateswarlu

Not yet Sach-urated
2007 witnessed a different Sachin Tendulkar. For someone who is alien to controversy and prefers to be on the safe, diplomatic side, the year saw Tendulkar in the news for off-the-field issues as much as for on-field heroics.

Be it his statements against Greg Chappell, after the Australian quit as coach of the Indian team -- statements he subsequently denied making, by the way -- or the controversy surrounding his cutting of a cake in the colours of the Indian national flag during a ceremony in Jamaica; or his admission that he's getting tired after all these years and all this cricket, triggering speculation that he could retire; or even his refusal to take over the national captaincy despite persuasion from many different quarters, Tendulkar hogged headlines to an extent that was, for him, remarkable.

Source:http://specials.rediff.com/yearend/2007/dec/20yrcricketers1.htm

By
B.Venkateswarlu

Openers Wasim Jaffer [Images] and Rahul Dravid [Images] guided India to six for no wicket in their second innings as they set about chasing a mammoth 499 for victory over Australia on the third day of the first Test on Friday.

Jaffer was on two and Dravid on three after Ricky Ponting [Images] had declared Australia's second innings closed on 351 for seven, with about 40 minutes of play remaining.

Brad Hogg [Images] was 35 not out, his highest Test score, while Brett Lee [Images] was 11 not out when Ponting declared.

The highest total batting fourth on the Melbourne Cricket Ground is 417, set by England [Images] in the Centenary Test in 1977, chasing 463 for victory.

Australia are seeking their 15th successive Test victory as they chase the world record of 16 wins in a row, set by Steve Waugh's Australia team from 1999-2001.

Australia's bowlers picked up where they left off in the first innings with an exacting period of bowling as the shadows lenghthened across the ground.

Ponting changed his bowling attack several times with Lee, Johnson, Stuart Clark and Hogg all attempting to get a wicket.

CLEAN BOWLED

Michael Clarke [Images] top-scored for Australia with 73 before he was stumped by Mahendra Dhoni [Images] off the bowling of India captain Anil Kumble [Images], while wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist [Images] was dismissed for 35. They were the only Australian batsmen dismissed in the final session.

Opener Phil Jaques, who scored 66 in the first innings, made 51 before being caught and bowled by Kumble, while all-rounder Andrew Symonds [Images] contributed an aggressive 44 before he was trapped in front by Zaheer Khan [Images] just before tea.

Symonds could have been dismissed earlier, having been clean bowled by Khan, off a no ball. To add insult to injury, Symonds and Clarke added an extra run while the Indians celebrated before noticing umpire Billy Bowden's outstretched arm.

Symonds also nicked Khan between wicketkeeper Mahendra Dhoni and first slip for a boundary two balls before Khan got a delivery, that would have hit middle stump, to nip back.

Mike Hussey was caught by Sachin Tendulkar off RP Singh for 36, while Matthew Hayden [Images] was caught by Sourav Ganguly [Images] at long off for 47 and Ponting was caught by Dravid at slip for three.

Harbhajan Singh finished with three for 101, while Kumble had two wickets for 102.

Source:http://www.rediff.com/cricket/2007/dec/28india.htm

By
B.Venkateswarlu

Humans are more at risk of passing on an infection by shaking hands than engaging in kiss, experts have warned.

A group of hygiene experts from the United States and Britain have published the first detailed report on hand hygiene in the home and community, rather than in hospital and healthcare settings.

The findings published in the American Journal of Infection Control revealed that paying greater attention to good hand hygiene was important to avoid catching flu or tummy bugs, and gaining protection from organisms such as MRSA, salmonella or C difficile.

In the event of a flu pandemic, good hand hygiene would be the first line of defence during the early critical period before mass vaccination became available.

This new report follows on from a study indicating physical barriers, such as regular handwashing and wearing masks, gloves and gowns may be more effective than drugs in preventing the spread of respiratory viruses such as influenza and SARS.

Good hygiene at home prevented organisms spreading from one family member to another. By reducing the number of carriers in the community, the likelihood of infections being carried into health care facilities by new patients and visitors is reduced. Good hygiene at home also means fewer infections, which means fewer patients demanding antibiotics from the GP, and fewer resistant strains developing and circulating in the community.

Carrying an alcohol-based hand sanitiser helps in cleaning hands, especially on public transport, in the office, in the supermarket, or in a restaurant, Carol O'Boyle of the University of Minnesota said.

Clothing and linens, baths, basin and toilet surfaces also played a part in spreading germs between family members in the home

Source:rediff.com

By
B.Venkateswartlu

Forget crosswords. If you really want to boost your brain power, eat dark chocolate, consume cold meat and have plenty of sex, if possible every day.

A team of international researchers has carried out a study and found that while dark chocolate and plenty of cold meat for breakfast boost grey matter, sex keeps the brain fit in later life, the Daily Mail reported.

According to the study, those wishing to improve their mental ability should also avoid smoking cannabis, watching soap operas and hanging out with those who moan.

Instead, cuddling a baby, cheating at homework, reading out loud and doing a business degree can boost their mind power. The theories of the researchers are contained in the book Teach Yourself: Training Your Brain.

"What we eat and drink, how we learn at school and what type of moods we have are all crucial. People can make lifestyle choices that will constantly increase our cognitive capacity throughout our adult lives. Mix with people who make you laugh, have a good sense of humour or who share the same interests as you, and avoid people who whinge, whine and complain, as people who are negative will make you depressed," the book's author and one of the researchers, Terry Horne, was quoted as saying.

The book also contains mental exercises and radical thinking on how diet, the environment, stress and other aspects of modern life affect our mental capacity.

The researchers have claimed that sex has a very positive impact, listing seven chemical reactions the brain undergoes during intercourse which actually helps in improving its functioning ability.

The books says that sex raises levels of oxytocin or the 'trust' hormone which increases a person's readiness to think of novel or risky solutions to a problem.

Elements in dark chocolate also prove to be beneficial. Magnesium and antioxidant chemicals increase the supply of oxygen to the brain and reduce the chances of brain damage through a stroke.

Ditching a low-fat diet is also recommended to boost performance.

The book suggests a breakfast of eggs, fish or cold meat, a lunch of protein-based foods such as oily fish and dark green vegetables, and carbohydrates for dinner -- but not caffeine, alcohol or red meat. Children should not do homework on their own -- minds function better when working with parents or classmates, according to the researchers.

The book also says that speaking in front of a class helps pupils because of the repetition involved. And adults can boost memory by counting aloud to 99 in threes as fast as they can.

The researchers have recommended that readers should seek a concept known as BLISS -- Body-based pleasure, Laughter, Involvement, Satisfaction and Sex -- which all enable the mind to perform well.

Source:http://www.rediff.com/news/2007/dec/03study.htm

By
B.Venkateswarlu

HP result: BJP: 41, Cong: 23, BSP: 1, Others: 3
The Bharatiya Janata Party wins a simple majorty in the 68-member Himachal Pradesh assembly.

Source:http://ia.rediff.com/news/

By
b.Venkateswarlu

ISLAMABAD: An Al-Qaida leader based in Afghanistan has claimed responsibility for the assassination of former Pakistan PM Benazir Bhutto, whom he described as "the most precious American asset."

"We terminated the most precious American asset which vowed to defeat (the) 'mujahadeen'," Al-Qaida Commander and spokesman Mustafa Abu Al-Yazid told the Italian news agency Adnkronos International (AKI) in a phone call from an unknown location.

Al-Yazid was described by AKI as the "main Al-Qaida commander in Afghanistan". It reported that the decision to kill Bhutto was made by Al-Qaida No. 2, Ayman al-Zawahiri in October.

The report said death squads were allegedly constituted for the mission and one cell comprising a "Punjabi volunteer" of the Lashkar-i-Jhangvi killed Bhutto.

Bhutto died after being shot by a suicide attacker, who later blew himself up near her armoured vehicles just after she had addressed an election rally at Rawalpindi near here. The blast killed nearly 30 people.

During her campaign to drum up support for her Pakistan People's Party, Bhutto had repeatedly attacked elements who were fomenting extremism and militancy in northwestern region of the country and vowed to crack down on militant groups.

Bhutto, who returned to Pakistan from exile two months ago, had earlier survived a suicide attack on her homecoming procession in Karachi on October 18 that killed 140 people and injured hundreds more.

Baitullah Mehsud, a militant leader who was recently made head of Tekrik Taliban-e-Pakistan - a coalition of Pakistani Taliban groups, had reportedly issued threats that he would send suicide bombers to target Bhutto.

Source:http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/WE_KILLED_BHUTTO_AL-QAIDA/articleshow/2657479.cms

By
B.Venkateswarlu

New Delhi: The BJP's victory chariot moved into Himachal Pradesh on Friday with the saffron party making a clean sweep in the Assembly elections, winning 41 seats in the 68-member Assembly.

It's the best-ever performance by the BJP in Himachal with the party increasing its vote share by nearly 12 per cent. The man leading the onslaught, Prem Kumar Dhumal, will now become the chief minister of the state for the second time. He is likely to be sworn in on December 30.

After a handsome performance in Gujarat, the BJP comfortably dislodged the ruling Congress, which finished with just 23 seats. The Congress lost the battle at the hustings on the twin issue of anti-incumbency and corruption.

The BSP, which played the spoiler for Congress by cutting into its traditional vote bank of dalits, made its debut in the state winning one seat while Independents took away the remaining three.

The Congress, which went to the polls under the leadership of grand old man of Himachal politics and five-time Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, suffered on BJP's campaign plank of corruption, price rise and unemployment.

Three ministers bit the dust in the hustings while Singh survived the saffron sweep retaining his Rohru seat in Shimla district winning by a margin of 14,000 votes. The defeated ministers were Raj Kishan Gaur(Agriculture), Ramlal Thakur(Forest) and Kuldeep Kumar(Industries)

The BJP has returned to power in the state after a gap of 5 years. With this win, the saffron rule has spread to almost the whole of North India. The party already has governments in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand and Gujarat. Its alliance partners in NDA rule the states of Orissa, Bihar, Punjab and Nagaland.

The Congress downplayed its defeat in Himachal Pradesh, citing 'anti-incumbency' as the single largest factor that went against it.

Congress leader and Union Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma said the anti-incumbency factor had worked against the Virbhadra Singh Government, despite the fact that it had undertaken many development works during the last five years.

Both Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh (Rohru) and BJP's chief ministerial candidate Prem Kumar Dhumal (Bamsan) emerged victorious. Former minister JP Nadda won for BJP from Bilaspur.

BJP's chief Ministerial candidate Prem Kumar Dhumal gave full credit for his victory to the party in the state. He was being quizzed about whether Gujarat CM Narendra Modi had helped swing the tide in the BJP's favour in Himachal as well.

Dhumal(63), a professor of English literature, who was named as BJP's Chief Ministerial candidate, led the saffron surge winning from Bamsan in Hamirpur district beating his schoolmate and Congress candidate retired colonel BC Lagwal by 26,000 votes.

Dhumal, who also represents Hamirpur in Lok Sabha, is likely to be chosen as the leader of the BJP's Legislature Party tomorrow and may be sworn in for a second term as Chief Minister on Sunday.

However, he says Narendra Modi is his close ffriend and that Modi has been guiding them. “He played his part in Gujarat, however, in UP, we did our best,” adds he.

Dhumal also clarified that there is no love lost between him and former BJP chief minister Shanta Kumar. “We were always together and we are together,” says Dhumal

Source:http://www.ibnlive.com/news/bjp-sweeps-himachal-pradesh-assembly-polls/55141-3.html

By
B.Venkateswarlu

It is the news that frustrated partners have probably been longing to hear -- regular sex is the secret to a happy life.

A team of international researchers has carried out a study and found that sex is better for one's happiness than money, the 'WebMD' reported.

"The evidence we see is that money brings some happiness, but not as much as what economists might think. We had to look to psychologists and realise that other things really matter.

"We found sex counts so strongly and positively in happiness equations," lead researcher David Blachflower of Dartmouth College said.

The researchers came to the conclusion after analysing data on the self-reported levels of sexual activity and happiness of 16,000 people.

Despite popular opinion, they found that having more money did not mean one gets more sex; there's no difference between the frequency of sex and income level.

But the team found that sex had a greater effect on happiness levels in highly-educated and wealthier people than on those with lower educational status. According to them, the happiest folks are those getting the most sex -- married people, who report 30 per cent more between-the-sheets action than single folks.

"Many studies confirm that people who are depressed have less sex. Conversely, if you're not depressed -- happy, as some might say -- you're more likely to have more frequent sex," another researcher Robert Hatfield of the University of Cincinnati was quoted as saying.

Source:http://www.rediff.com/news/2007/dec/07sex.htm

By
B.Venkateswarlu

Senior Congress leader and five-term legislator P Janardhan Reddy died of a massive heart attack on Friday morning. He was 60.

Janardhan Reddy, who was popularly known as PJR, was on his way from his residence at Gaganmahal to Greater Hyderabad Congress Committee meeting at Jewel Gardens in Secunderabad when he suffered a cardiac arrest and collapsed in his car. His supporters immediately rushed him to the nearby Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences where he breathed his last.

Doctors' attempts to revive him proved futile. He is survived by his wife Sulochana, three daughters and a son.

Elected to the Andhtra Pradesh assembly for five terms (1978, 1985, 1989, 1994 and 2004) from Khairatabad constituency in Hyderabad, PJR was Congress Legislature Party leader during 1994-99 when he led the 26-member Congress group in the assembly and played an effective Leader of Opposition during the regimes of N T Rama Rao and N Chandrababu Naidu [Images].

Reddy had served as a minister in the previous Congress regimes during 1980s and 1990s and harboured ambitions of leading the Congress government in the state. However, he had turned a dissident when he was not even accommodated in the cabinet by Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhar Reddy after the Congress regained power in May 2004.

Since then, he had been opposing the various acts of omission and commission of Rajasekhar Reddy regime. He had enlisted the support of another Congress legislator Marri Shashidhar Reddy, younger son of former Chief Minister Marri Channa Reddy, in his fight against YSR. Both PJR and Shashidhar Reddy came to be known as 'Hyderabad brothers.'

PJR had stoutly opposed Pothireddypadu head regulator project, alleging that this project was meant to divert Krishna waters to Rayalaseema from Telangana region. He had also demanded a deputy chief minister's post for a leader from Telangana in the present cabinet. He was a known supporter of separate statehood for Telangana. He had led many popular agitations in the city against Telugu Desam governments of NTR and Chandrababu Naidu.

In July this year, PJR had a bitter row with the chief minister following the road rage incident when his son P Vishnuvardhan Reddy and his son-in-law were allegedly involved in assaulting YSR's younger brother Y S Ravindranath Reddy and his nephew Y S Sumadhar Reddy in Jubilee Hills area.

An attempt-to-murder case was booked against PJR's son but the charge was subsequently quashed by the high court.

Starting his career as a trade union leader in 1967, PJR was first elected to the assembly in 1978. He became the labour minister in the ministry headed by his mentor T Anjaiah in 1980. He had been a known loyalist of Gandhi family-Indira Gandhi, Sanjay, Rajiv and now Sonia Gandhi [Images]. He was suspended from the party on a couple of occasions by running a 'dissident campaign' against the state Congress leadership or chief ministers.

He lost, only twice, to Telugu Desam rivals in the 1983 and 1999 assembly elections.

By
B.Venkateswarlu

Have officials of the Guinness Book of Records committed a blunder by declaring Delhi’s Akshardham Temple as the largest Hindu temple complex in the world?

It appears so. Officials of the famous Meenakshi Temple in Madurai maintain that Delhi's Akshardham is smaller than at least three different temple complexes in Tamil Nadu alone.

“Even if one considers the measurements of the Akshardham Temple given by the Guinness officials, Madurai’s Meenakshi Temple and the Arunachaleswarar Temple in Thiruvannamalai are definitely larger temple complexes,” said B Raja, joint commissioner of the Meenakshi Temple.

He pointed out that the outermost wall of the Meenakshi Temple is 850 ft long and 800 ft wide. The total area of the complex is 17 acres or 7.40 lakh sq ft. This is much larger than Akshardham which, press reports have indicated, is only 356 ft long and 316 ft wide, its grounds covering merely 86,342 sq ft.

When informed that the entire Akshardham complex was spread over 30 acres, Raja said, "A temple is a place for prayer. It is incorrect to include facilities for non-religious activities such as restaurants or boating arrangements as the Akshardham complex has, as part of a temple, just because they happen to be in the vicinity."

Raja also noted that the Thiruvannamalai Temple dedicated to Lord Siva is even larger — at 25 acres or 10.89 lakh sq ft — than the Meenakshi Temple. “However, the built-up area in Madurai covers a wider area than Thiruvannamalai,” he said. Also the main tower at Thiruvannamali is 217 ft high.

Even these two temple complexes are dwarfed in size when one takes into account the massive Sri Ranganthaswamy Temple complex in Srirangam near Tiruchy, a noted historian pointed out.

“Srirangam, surrounded by the waters of river Kaveri, is a 600-acre island-town enclosed within the seven walls of the gigantic Sri Ranganathaswami Temple. There are 21 gopurams, among which the Rajagopuram (on the left) is the tallest in South India — it is 72 metres (about 220 ft) in height, and dates to the 17th century, although it was fully completed in 1987. The temple complex measures 950 metres by 816 metres (about half a square mile) along its outer perimeter,“ writes Prof VS Seshadri.

"But we are curious to know if their officials visited our large temples like Srirangam, Madurai Meenakshi, Thiruvannamalai and Thiruvarur temples before arriving at this verdict," said a senior official of the Temple Administration Department.

State Temple Administration officials, however, said they have no immediate plan to challenge the Guinness classification of Akshardham.

“But we are curious to know if their officials visited our large temples like Srirangam, Madurai Meenakshi, Thiruvannamalai and Thiruvarur temples before arriving at this verdict,” said a senior official of the Temple Administration Department.

Source:http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=4280138e-6d26-4125-9488-9f2a6a228ebd&MatchID1=4625&TeamID1=1&TeamID2=6&MatchType1=1&SeriesID1=1165&MatchID2=4617&TeamID3=3&TeamID4=4&MatchType2=1&SeriesID2=1163&PrimaryID=4625&Headline=%e2%80%98For+the+record%2c+TN+temples+bigger%e2%80%99

By
B.Venkateswarlu

Washington: The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security issued a bulletin Thursday citing an alleged claim of responsibility by al-Qaeda for former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's assassination, a DHS official told CNN.

But such a claim has not appeared on radical Islamist Websites that regularly post such messages from al-Qaeda and other militant groups.

The source of the claim was apparently an obscure Italian news agency, Adnkronos International (AKI), which said that al-Qaeda Afghanistan commander and spokesman Mustafa Abu Al-Yazid had telephoned the agency to make the claim.

"We terminated the most precious American asset which vowed to defeat [the] mujahadeen," AKI quoted Al-Yazid as saying.

According to AKI, al Qaeda No 2 Ayman al-Zawahiri set the wheels in motion for the assassination in October.

One Islamist Website repeated the claim, but that Website is not considered a reliable source for Islamist messages by experts in the field.

The DHS official said the claim was "an unconfirmed open source claim of responsibility" and the bulletin was sent out at about 6 pm to state and local law enforcement agencies.

The official characterised the bulletin as "information sharing."

Ross Feinstein, spokesman for Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell, said the US intelligence community is monitoring the situation and trying to figure out who is responsible for the assassination.

"We are not in a position to confirm who may be responsible," Feinstein said.

Feinstein said that the intelligence community "obviously analyze(s) open source intelligence," but he would not say whether the community believes the claim has any validity.

For now, he said, there is "no conclusion" as to who may be responsible.

Earlier, DHS spokesman Russ Knocke said Bhutto's assassination had not prompted "any adjustments to our security posture."

"Of course, we continue to closely monitor events as they unfold overseas," he said.

Source:http://www.ibnlive.com/news/alqaeda-owns-up-to-killing-benazir-bhutto/55162-2.html

By
B.Venkateswarlu

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was Friday poised to win power in Himachal Pradesh, with counting of votes polled in assembly elections putting it in the clear lead in most seats, officials said.

The BJP was ahead of the ruling Congress party in 17 of the 26 constituencies where counting trends were available. Political analyst Mahesh Rangarajan said the BJP could end up winning 40-45 seats in the 68-member house.

The Congress was on the winning track in only seven seats. The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and an independent candidate led in one seat each.

Exit polls had predicted that the BJP would win the elections in the hill state, which went to the polls over two phases Nov 14 and Dec 19.

Thousands of officials began the vote count across 41 centres in the hill state at 8 a.m.

Source:http://www.freshnews.in/bjp-poised-to-win-in-himachal-19765

By
B.Venkateswarlu
Charismatic, striking and a canny political operator, Benazir Bhutto, 54, was reared amid the privileges of Pakistan’s aristocracy and the ordeals of its turbulent politics. Smart, ambitious and resilient, she endured her father’s execution and her own imprisonment at the hands of a military dictator to become the country’s — and the Muslim world’s — first female leader.

She was killed on Thursday in a combined shooting and bombing attack at a rally in Rawalpindi, one of a series of open events she attended in spite of a failed assassination attempt against her the day she returned to Pakistan in October.

A woman of grand aspirations with a taste for complex political maneuvering, Ms. Bhutto was first elected prime minister in 1988 at the age of 35. The daughter of one of Pakistan’s most charismatic and democratically inclined prime ministers, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, she inherited the mantle of the populist Peoples Party that he founded, and which she came to personify.

Despite numerous accusations of corruption and an evident predilection for luxury, Ms. Bhutto, the pale-skinned scion of a wealthy landowning family, successfully cast herself as a savior of Pakistan’s millions of poor and disenfranchised. She inspired devotion among her followers, even in exile, and the image of her floating through a frenzied crowd in her gauzy white head scarf became iconic.

In October, she staged a high-profile return to her home city of Karachi, drawing hundreds of thousands of supporters to an 11-hour rally and leading a series of political demonstrations in opposition to the country’s military leader, President Pervez Musharraf.

But in a foreshadowing of the attack that killed her, the triumphal return parade was bombed, killing at least 134 of her supporters and wounding more than 400. Ms. Bhutto herself narrowly escaped harm and shouted at later rallies, “Bhutto is alive!”

Despite her courageous, or rash, defiance of danger, her political plans were sidetracked from the moment she set foot in Pakistan: She had been negotiating for months with Mr. Musharraf over a power-sharing arrangement, only to see the general declare emergency rule instead.

The political dance she has deftly performed since her return — one moment standing up to President Musharraf, the next seeming to accommodate him — stirred hope and distrust among Pakistanis. A graduate of Harvard and Oxford, she brought the backing of the governments in Washington and London, where she impressed with her political lineage and considerable charm and was viewed as a palatable alternative to the increasingly unpopular Mr. Musharraf.

But her record in power left ample room for skepticism. During her two stints in that job — first from 1988 to 1990 and again from 1993 to 1996 — she developed a reputation for acting imperiously and impulsively. She faced deep questions about her personal probity in office, which led to corruption cases against her in Switzerland, Spain and Britain, as well as in Pakistan. Her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, was jailed for eight years in Pakistan on corruption charges before his release on bail in 2004.

During her years in office, as during those of her rival, the former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, Pakistan ran up enormous and unserviceable foreign debts and billions of dollars in foreign aid went unaccounted for. Ms. Bhutto, though progressive in her approach to Islam, was not above bending to the will of religious conservatives for when politically expedient.

Ms. Bhutto grew up in the most rarefied atmosphere the poor, turbulent country had to offer. One longtime friend and adviser, Peter W. Galbraith, a former American ambassador to Croatia, recalled meeting Ms. Bhutto 1962 when they were children: he the son of John Kenneth Galbraith, the economist and American ambassador to India; she the daughter of the future Pakistani prime minister. Mr. Galbraith’s father was accompanying Jacqueline Kennedy to a horse show in Lahore.

The two met again at Harvard, where Mr. Galbraith remembered Ms. Bhutto arriving as a prim, cake-baking 16-year-old fresh from a Karachi convent.

Ms. Bhutto often spoke of how her father encouraged her to study the lives of legendary female leaders, including Indira Gandhi and Joan of Arc, and as a young woman, she observed his political maneuvering up close.

After her father’s death — he was hanged by another general who seized power, Zia ul-Haq — Ms. Bhutto stepped into the spotlight as his successor. She called herself chairperson for life of the opposition Pakistan Peoples Party, a seemingly odd title in an organization based on democratic ideals and one she has acknowledged quarreling over with her mother, Nusrat Bhutto, in the early 1990s.

Until her death, Ms. Bhutto ruled the party with an iron hand, jealously guarding her position, even while leading the party in absentia for nearly a decade.

Members of her party saluted her return to Pakistan, saying she was the best choice against President Musharraf. Chief among her attributes, they said, was her sheer determination.

But her egotism and her proclivity for back-room deals provoked distrust among detractors and some supporters.

“She believes she is the chosen one, that she is the daughter of Bhutto and everything else is secondary,” said Feisal Naqvi, a corporate lawyer in Lahore who knew Ms. Bhutto.

Ms. Bhutto’s marriage to Mr. Zardari was arranged by her mother, a fact that Ms. Bhutto has often said was easily explained, even for a modern, highly educated Pakistani woman. To be acceptable to the Pakistani public as a politician she could not be a single woman, and what was the difference, she would ask, between such a marriage and computer dating?

Mr. Zardari, 51, is known for his love of polo and other perquisites of the good life like fine clothes, expensive restaurants, homes in Dubai and London, and an apartment in New York. He was minister of investment in Ms. Bhutto’s second government. And it was from that perch that he made many of the deals that haunted Ms. Bhutto, and him, in the courts.

There were accusations that the couple had illegally taken $1.5 billion from the state. It is a figure Ms. Bhutto vigorously contested.

Indeed, one of Ms. Bhutto’s main objectives in seeking to return to power was to restore the reputation of her husband, especially after his prison term, said Abdullah Riar, a former senator in the Pakistani Parliament and a former colleague of Ms. Bhutto’s.

“She told me, ‘Time will prove he is the Nelson Mandela of Pakistan,’” Mr. Riar said.

Source:http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/28/world/asia/28bhuttocnd.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

By
B.Venkateswarlu

HIMACHAL PRADESH - 68/68
BJP 42
INC 21
Others 5
Awaited 0

Virbhadra Singh Won
Vidya Stokes Trails
Suresh Bhardwaj Won
Rajeev Bindal Won
Gangu R Musafir Won
Thakur Ram Lal Lost
Prem K Dhumal Won
Mukesh Agnihotri Leads
Chandresh Kumari Lost
Jai Ram Thakur Won
Jaswan: INC Won
Ghumarwin: INC Leads
Dharampur: BJP Leads
Balh: INC Won
Una: BJP Leads
Nalagarh: BJP Won
Sundarnagar: BJP Won
Thural: BJP Leads
Dharamsala: BJP Won
Santokgarh: INC Leads
Chachiot: BJP Won
Banikhet: BJP Leads
Nurpur: IND Leads
Kangra: BSP Leads
Joginder Nagar: BJP Won
Jawalamukhi: BJP Leads
Chintpurni: INC Won
Nahan: INC Won
Rajgir: BJP Leads
Pachhad: INC Won
Sulah: BJP Leads
Chamba: BJP Leads
Nadaunta: BJP Won
Pragpur: INC Leads
Mandi: INC Won
Nagrota: INC Leads
Simla: BJP Won
Guler: BJP Leads
Jubbal Kotkhai: BJP Won
Baijnath: INC Won

Source:http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/himpolls2007/himcounting.aspx

By
B.Venkateswarlu

The Gandhis, the Bhuttos and the Kennedy's are political dynasties linked by a common thread of meteoric rise and grave tragedies. The assassination of Benazir Bhutto in Rawalpindi today marks the end of another dazzling political career from the Bhutto family.

Twenty eight years ago, her father Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, also a former Prime Minister, was hanged by the then military regime. Both of Benazir Bhutto's brothers -- Shahnawaz and Murtaza died earlier -- while the former was found dead in his French Riviera apartment in 1985, the latter died under mysterious circumstances in 1996.

Benazir Bhutto: 1953-2007

There're uncanny similarities to the tragedies that had befallen the Gandhi family in India. Indira Gandhi, the then Prime Minister, was killed by her own bodyguards at her official residence in 1984. Her successor and son Rajiv Gandhi was also assassinated by the LTTE in Tamil Nadu seven years later while bidding like Benazir Bhutto for another term in the prime ministerial office.

Sanjay, another son of the Gandhi family, had died in a plane crash in the Indian capital in 1980, shortly after her mother, Indira, had made a triumphant return to power.

The fate of the Kennedy dynasty in the United States has been somewhat similar. John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas in 1963. His brother Robert was also shot dead five years later. JFK's son John Jr died in a plane crash in 1999.

Source:http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/holnus/001200712280927.htm

By
B.Venkateswarlu

Hours before her death, former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto met with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who was visiting Islamabad. After the meeting, Bhutto told VOA reporter Sayed Hassan that she and Mr. Karzai expressed concerns about curbing extremism in the region.

Benazir Bhutto: "I explained to President Karzai that the Pakistan People's Party hoped to win the elections and form the government and we look forward to working very closely with Afghanistan. We too believe it is essential for us both of our countries and indeed the large Muslim world to work to protect the interests of the Islamic civilization by eliminating extremism and terrorism. I touched upon the need to - I asked him about madrassas [Islamic schools] in Afghanistan and I said we discussed about madrassas and they have only the traditional madrassas.

You know there are two types of madrassas. One is the traditional madrassas, which teaches Islamic teachings and which are very good and which are very noble and on the other hand there are these training institutes that brainwash young children and turn them into warriors and fighters for no cause- for creating anarchy and chaos but they pose as madrassas which they're not. So I asked him, he said 'we don't have that problem in Afghanistan', I said well we have that problem in Afghanistan and we discussed about trade in the region.

Trade had gone up really high in 2006. It's come down now and I suggested that might be due to the fact that there is destabilization going on the frontier province. We've had the incident in Swat with Alpuri, the bomb blasts on Eid ul Azha, as I was in Charsadda yesterday's bomb blasts were in Peshawar. So the destabilization is now by the extremists, is not now relegated to the tribal areas of Pakistan but they have descended into not only the settled areas of frontier province they have descended into Peshawar. So there is an absolute need for both our countries to cooperate closely on terrorism related issues and also on issues of how we can enhance the quality of life of our people by improving economic ties.

I was pleased to read in the newspapers today that Pakistan and Afghanistan are forming a committee for intelligence sharing. I think this is a good and positive move and I mentioned to the Afghan president that we in the PPP were desirous of seeking good relations with Afghanistan as well as with India.

I mentioned that while we were trying to control the extremists and the militants they had turned their guns inward but I said it was still very necessary for us to dismantle these groups; because while some of them may have been formed in a noble cause, for example, some may have taken up the cause of fighting the occupation of Afghanistan or others might have taken up the cause of Kashmir but nonetheless once such people were trained they could always turn their guns on other objects and therefore it was important in the PPP's view that we should seek peaceful means of conflict resolution so that our people did not suffer, our countries did not suffer and our Islamic civilization did not suffer."

Source:http://voanews.com/english/2007-12-27-voa52.cfm

By
B.Venkateswarlu

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's assassination following a political rally Thursday ended a life that was filled with great privilege and steeped in family tragedy. VOA Correspondent Steve Herman in our South Asia bureau in New Delhi has a look back at her remarkable life.

Benazir Bhutto, twice prime minister of Pakistan, emerged as a public figure, in many ways because of tragedy, and, with her assassination, she will share a similar legacy with her father.

Ms. Bhutto was the daughter of the late Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. Her mother was of Kurdish and Iranian origins. Her father was hanged after he was deposed in a 1977 military coup by General Zia al-Huq, which brought an end to one of Pakistan's few non-military governments.

Benazir Bhutto, born in Sindh province in 1953, enjoyed the advantages of being a daughter of one of Pakistan's wealthiest and most politically savvy dynasties. She was educated at Harvard's Radcliffe College in the United States and Oxford University in Britain.

At college in the United States, where she was known by her nickname of Pinkie, she participated in the movement against the Vietnam War. Classmates say she got a reputation as dynamic orator there, vociferously defending her father when he was criticized by professors.

Her friends say that, while the young Muslim woman took to wearing jeans, she did not have a boyfriend and would not smoke, drink or eat pork. Graduating from the elite American school, her thesis, on Muslim Separatism and the Origins of Pakistan, was reportedly submitted on pink paper.

After completing a Master's degree in the United States in 1977, she went home, taking the helm of her father's Pakistan Peoples' Party. After his ouster, she was initially jailed while her father awaited execution.

Speaking recently to VOA, Ms. Bhutto remembered the words of her father at that time, saying he believed contesting elections, despite the barriers to fair elections, was better than boycotts.

"When my father was in prison under an earlier military dictatorship, he had still told the party to go ahead and fight, so we could keep my party political machinery well-oiled, and we could have an opportunity to meet the public, meet the voters, and communicate our message to them," she said. "So, we thought it was better to have a political process than to leave the field open."

She would spend five years in solitary confinement before exiling herself to London upon her release in 1984.

She returned home again two years later, vowing to help drive her father's successor from office.

Donning the veil, agreeing to an arranged marriage and quoting the Koran, she took on a new public image.

The transformation gave her greater legitimacy, and helped to propel her twice to being elected prime minister, first in the late 1980s and then again in the mid 1990s.

That made her one of the few democratically elected female leaders in an Islamic country and one of the youngest heads of government, and, perhaps, the only one ever to give birth while in office. She would later have two other children.

She had remarked that she faced threats from the beginning of her political ascent, with some conservative Muslims calling for her to be killed because she had usurped a man's place.

She was forced from office both times she served as prime minister, amid corruption allegations tied to her controversial husband, Asif Zardari. Critics branded him a greedy businessman, who took advantage of his wife's position to allegedly drain Pakistan's treasury of millions of dollars. Although he would be acquitted of all such charges, he was jailed for years.

Ms. Bhutto spent much of her time in her second exile in Dubai and London, but remained a prominent figure, meeting government officials around the world.

Less than two and a half months before her assassination, she returned home when President Pervez Musharraf gave her amnesty from still-pending corruption charges. At that time, she chafed at the image of Pakistan as being a global source of terrorism.

"It hurts us when people say, the terrorists who come, whether they are bombing tubes [subways] in London, or whether plotting plots in Germany or doing things in other countries, and have their trail leading back [to Pakistan]," she said. "That is not the real image of Pakistan."

Wounded Pakistani men wait for help on the site of a blast site near the convoy of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto in Karachi, 18 Oct 2007
In Karachi, in October, her convoy was attacked by a suicide bomber, killing more than 130 people, but narrowly missing her. Blaming the attack on pro-al-Qaida militants, Ms. Bhutto criticized President Musharraf for not checking the spread of extremism.

"The political process is under attack, political leaders are being bombed, political activists are being bombed, our country is in danger," said Ms. Bhutto. "Our country is in danger from the extremism that has spread under dictatorship."

Bhutto had long known the dangers she faced personally by going home to make a third bid to become prime minister. She had concluded her autobiography with a promise to return to her country and in her words, "take the risk for all the children of Pakistan."

It is expected Ms. Bhutto will be laid to rest in her native Sindh province, where her father and her two brothers, who also both died tragically, are buried.

Source:http://voanews.com/english/2007-12-27-voa29.cfm

By
B.VenkateswarluIndia expressed shock at the assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, calling her death a setback to the restoration of democracy. Indian leaders also say her death underlines the need to combat terrorism in the South Asian region. Anjana Pasricha has a report from VOA's New Delhi bureau.

Manmohan Singh (file photo)
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called the death of Benazir Bhutto a blow to the democratic process in Pakistan.

In a statement, he said the subcontinent has lost "an outstanding leader, who worked for democracy and reconciliation in her country."

Ms. Bhutto was killed as she left an election rally in the Pakistani city of Rawalpindi. Police and aides say a suicide bomber fired gunshots at Ms. Bhutto just moments before blowing himself up

The Indian prime minister said her assassination is a reminder of the common dangers "our region faces from cowardly acts of terrorism and of the need to eradicate this dangerous threat."

Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee reiterated the concern.

"That she should fall to a barbarous terrorist attack is particularly tragic, and should strengthen our resolve to fight this scourge," said Mukherjee. "Mrs. Bhutto's contributions to democracy, to the improvement of India-Pakistan relations and to the restoration of normalcy within Pakistan will be an inspiration."

Benazir Bhutto looks on to supporters during campaign rally in Rawalpindhi, 27 Dec 2007
India was hoping that Benazir Bhutto's return to Pakistan and participation in the elections scheduled to be held in early January would restore a measure of democracy to the country. Ms. Bhutto had also repeatedly expressed her resolve to combat Islamic extremism.

Independent political analyst Mahesh Rangarajan says there are worries in New Delhi about possible instability in Pakistan following her death.

"There is very serious concern about the transition to a democratic regime and for stability in Pakistan," said Rangarajan. "If that transition gets interrupted, or if that stability gets endangered, it would have critical consequences, not only for India and Pakistan, but for this entire region."

Indians watch news of Benazir Bhutto's assassination in New Delhi, 27 Dec 2007
India is worried that instability in Pakistan could strengthen Islamic militant groups based in the region. New Delhi has repeatedly blamed these groups for fomenting an insurgency in Indian Kashmir and for terror attacks in other parts of the country.

Source:http://voanews.com/english/2007-12-27-voa46.cfm

By
B.VenkateswarluLeaders from around the world have condemned the assassination of former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. VOA Senior Correspondent André de Nesnera has more in this report from Washington.

President Bush makes remarks on the death of Pakistan opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, in Crawford, Texas, 27 Dec 2007
U.S. President George Bush described Benazir Bhutto's assassination as a cowardly act by murderous extremists who are trying to undermine Pakistan's democracy. And he urged the Pakistanis to keep the country on a democratic path.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the subcontinent has lost an outstanding leader who worked for democracy and reconciliation in her country.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who held talks with Ms. Bhutto just hours before she was killed, said he was shocked by the development.

Pakistan former PM Benazir Bhutto, right, meets Afghan President Hamid Karzai in Islamabad, 27 Dec 2007
"I met with her this morning. I found her to be a very, very brave woman with a clear vision for her country, for Afghanistan and for the region - a vision of democracy and prosperity and peace," he said.

Ms. Bhutto was killed in a suicide attack as she left an election rally of her Pakistan's People's Party in the city of Rawalpindi.

French President Nicholas Sarkozy called the attack an odious act. And British Foreign Secretary David Milliband urged the Pakistanis to exercise restraint and work for unity.

Karl Inderfurth, former Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia Affairs in the Clinton administration, described Ms. Bhutto as a courageous woman.

"I attended a small dinner for her in Washington just prior to her return to Pakistan in October and a good part of the conversation that we had then was about her personal safety," he said. "And she was just absolutely determined to go back, even though she knew that there were great risks involved."

Inderfurth says Ms. Bhutto represented a part of Pakistan's democratic landscape.

"She has been twice prime minister, twice removed as prime minister, there were charges of corruption and in her administration and with her husband who was a Pakistani senator. But you cannot look at Pakistan in any fashion without taking the Bhutto family and of course Benazir Bhutto, into account."

Christine Fair, a Pakistan expert with the RAND Corporation, says when talking about Benazir Bhutto, one has to look at what she represented before her death and what she represents from this day onward.

Fair says before her assassination, she wasn't terribly revered, widely respected or supported.

"Quite the contrary. During her two tenures as prime minister, she disgraced herself, both because her husband has become synonymous with corruption and greed, but she also has numerous court cases scattered across European capitals as well as in Pakistan on various kinds of corruption. Now the Pakistani charges were dropped," said Fair.

Fair says with Ms. Bhutto's death, everything has changed.

Benazir Bhutto arrives to address her last public rally in Rawalpindi, 27 Dec 2007
"Now, of course, today - she's a martyr. She's a martyr for politics in Pakistan and she's a martyr for women. Women have borne the brunt of the Islamization of Pakistan," she added.

Ms. Bhutto was killed as she campaigned for national elections scheduled January 8. Fair says Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf needs those elections to be seen as free and fair.

"To sort of legitimize what he's done over the last several years and to provide him with political cover to continue on as president with or without,obviously without, his uniform. So I think it is going to be impossible now for Musharraf to legitimize himself and his government in what he'd like to do. I think increasingly calls from an expanding number of quarters are going to be demanding that Musharraf go," added Christine Fair.

That, says Fair is, going to place those countries who have supported Mr. Musharraf - such as the United States - in a bind. Because in Fair's view, these countries have no plans in place if Pervez Musharraf were to leave the Pakistani political scene.

Source:http://voanews.com/english/2007-12-27-voa50.cfm

By
B.Venkateswarlu
At the United Nations, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon strongly condemned the assassination of former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and the Security Council held an emergency session to denounce her murder and call for calm. From VOA's New York Bureau, correspondent Barbara Schoetzau has the details.

Benazir Bhutto arrives for election campaign rally in Rawalpindi, 27 Dec 2007
Italian Ambassador Marcello Spatafora, the current head of the Security Council, says it was "absolutely necessary" to call a special Security Council meeting to quickly send a strong message to condemn the killing as a heinous act of terrorism and to pay tribute to Benazir Bhutto.

Secretary-General Ban attended the emergency session and welcomed the Council's statement.

"I am shocked and outraged by the assassination of former Prime Minister Mrs. Benazir Bhutto and many other civilians who have been killed by this terrorist suicide bombing. I call upon the government authorities to bring the perpetrators to justice," Mr. Ban said.

In the statement, read by Ambassador Spatafora, the Council called on Pakistan and the international community to bring the perpetrators to justice.

"The Security Council underlines the need to bring perpetrators, organizers, financiers and sponsors of this reprehensible act of terrorism to justice and urges all states in accordance with their obligations under international law to cooperate actively with the Pakistani authorities in this regard," Spatafora said. "The Security Council reaffirms that terrorism in all of its forms and manifestations constitutes one of the most serious threats to international peace and security and that any acts of terrorism are criminal and unjustifiable regardless of their motivation wherever, whenever and by whomsoever committed."

The statement also calls on Pakistanis to exercise restraint and maintain stability.

U.S. ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad described Ms. Bhutto as a symbol for moderation and the rule of law.

"Her death is a loss of the cause of moderation, democracy and rule of law for Pakistan," he said. "She was clear headed about the problems of her country, the challenges she faced, even the security challenges that she faced. I call for calm in Pakistan. I call for moderates to come together to present a united front against extremists and terror and for success of democracy and moderation in Pakistan.

Ms. Bhutto survived at least two other assassination attempts after returning home to Pakistan in mid-October from years in exile.

Source:http://voanews.com/english/2007-12-27-voa59.cfm

By
B.VenkateswarluThe assassination of Pakistan's former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has triggered violent protests in several Pakistani cities, including Rawalpindi, the city where she was killed.

At least nine people have died in rioting throughout the nation. The Pakistani army was put on red alert as enraged protesters set fire to vehicles and attacked shops in Karachi, Lahore and elsewhere.

Bhutto, a prominent opposition leader, was assassinated Thursday as she was leaving a political rally, part of her campaign for parliamentary elections scheduled for January 8.

Police say a suicide bomber fired shots at Ms. Bhutto, then blew himself up seconds later, killing at least 20 other people.

Ms. Bhutto was in an armored car at the moment of the attack, but was exposed, standing up in the sunroof and waving to her supporters. She was rushed to a hospital, but doctors could not revive her. She was 54 years old.

Her funeral is planned for Friday in southern Sindh province, the Bhutto family's home.

President Pervez Musharraf has blamed terrorists for the assassination. He declared three days of mourning for Ms. Bhutto and called for calm.

A few hours before the fatal attack, VOA spoke with Ms. Bhutto, shortly after a meeting she had in the Pakistani capital with visiting Afghan President Hamid Karzai. The opposition leader said she and Mr. Karzai had agreed to work together to eliminate terrorism and extremism.

Pakistan's other principal opposition leader, former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, says his party (the Pakistan Muslim League) will boycott the elections. Mr. Sharif told VOA it is more important to save Pakistan than to hold the vote. He has also demanded that President Musharraf resign immediately.

Ms. Bhutto's husband flew home to Pakistan from Dubai Thursday. His wife's coffin was transferred to Larkana in southern Sindh province, where Ms. Bhutto will be buried next to her father, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.

Ms. Bhutto had returned to Pakistan in October after eight years in exile, and almost immediately was the target of another suicide attack - a double bombing aimed at her homecoming procession through Karachi that killed around 140 people.

For months, Ms. Bhutto had been in talks with President Musharraf about a possible power-sharing deal, strongly favored by the United States. But talks had stalled, and Ms. Bhutto was campaigning hard for the vote next month.

Source:http://voanews.com/english/2007-12-28-voa4.cfm

By
B.Venkateswarlu

NEW DELHI: With fundamentalist terror claiming the life of Benazir Bhutto, India is apprehensive about the negative fallout of a volatile Pakistan on the region. Government leadership is worried that if terrorism grows in Pakistan, India cannot be immune to its dangerous repercussions.

This fear is not misplaced as if terrorism is accompanied by a collapse of the state machinery, things could get really out of control in the neighbourhood. There is also the possibility of the election being postponed in the country and President Musharraf bringing back the army in control.

India’s anxiety also stems from its past experiences. For, the familiar reflex of Pakistan in the times of crisis is to increase terror activities in India for diverting attention. If Pakistan displays the same itch and return to the old, bad days, there could be troubles in the border areas as well as the hinterland. The Union home ministry on Thursday asked its border guarding forces to step up vigil. The same advise was also sent out to state capitals.

The targeting of Bhutto is a clear assault on those taking a firm position against fundamentalist terror. Benazir was perceived to be pro-US, pro-Musharraf and anti-jehadi in her political approach. The fact that she was attacked in the heart of Pakistan — Rawalpindi — show the determination of fundamentalist forces to wreak havoc against the political players arrayed against them.

Government managers here conceded that Pakistan is pretty close to becoming a failed state. The assassination of Benazir Bhutto clearly show that the internal security apparatus is in a critical situation.

The instability in Pakistan is bad news for India. The Talibanised state is could aid and abet terrorism aimed at India in a big way. It is this possibility which is worrying both the security establishment as well as the policy makers.

Source:indiatimes.com

By
B.VenkateswarluBEIJING: China on Friday expressed shock at the assassination of Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto and "strongly condemns" the attack.

Foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang said China "is shocked at the killing of Pakistan's opposition leader Benazir Bhutto and strongly condemns the terrorist attack," a news agency said.

"We also extend condolence to the families of Bhutto and other victims," he said, according to a news agency.

Pakistan's opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was assassinated yesterday in an attack by a suicide bomber and gunmen who shot her in the neck and chest as she was leaving an election rally here in Rawalpindi.

Source:http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/PoliticsNation/China_strongly_condemns_Bhuttos_assassination/articleshow/2657134.cms

By
B.Venkateswarlu
KARACHI: Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in a terror attack in Rawalpindi near Islamabad on Thursday.

Bhutto, 54, was fired upon by a gunman at close range minutes after she finished addressing an election rally. Moments later, a suicide bomber blew himself up. She was declared dead by doctors at a hospital at 6.16 pm after they had tried to resuscitate her for 35 minutes. She had bullet and shrapnel injuries in her neck and chest. At least 20 others were killed in the attack.

A close aide to Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf said Islamic militants were responsible for the assassination, but Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party activists blamed Musharraf's regime, saying the government had failed to provide adequate protection for their leader who was returning home after eight years of self-imposed exile.

Thousands of angry PPP supporters hit the streets immediately, setting government establishments and vehicles on fire. Fourteen people were killed in the violence that engulfed Karachi and soon spread to Islamabad and Lahore.

The assassination came just days after Musharraf lifted a state of emergency in Pakistan, which he had used to suspend the constitution and arrest thousands of political opponents, and which he said he had imposed in part because of terrorist threats by extremists in Pakistan.

Bhutto, who is survived by Asif Ali Zardari, a businessman she married in 1987, and two daughters (15 and 18) and a son (19) — who flew in from Dubai within hours of her death — returned to Pakistan in October this year to present herself as the answer to the nation's troubles: a tribune of democracy in a state that has been under military rule for eight years, and the leader of the country's largest opposition political party, founded by her father, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, one of Pakistan's most flamboyant and democratically inclined PMs.

Plane with Bhutto's coffin leaves Islamabad

ISLAMABAD: An air force plane with the body of slain Pakistan opposition leader Benazir Bhutto left Islamabad on Friday for a flight to the city of Sukkur ahead of her funeral, an interior ministry official said.

Her husband Asif Zardari, who had arrived from Dubai shortly before, and their three children got a brief chance to see the body before the plane took off, officials from Bhutto's political party said.

"The plane has taken off, bound for Sukkur," the ministry official said.

Source:http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/BENAZIR_BHUTTO_ASSASSINATED/articleshow/2656626.cms

By
B.Venkateswarlu

WASHINGTON: Ever wondered why a product becomes more desirable if an attractive member of the opposite sex is selling it? Well, now researchers at University of Alberta have proved that there's science to back up that perception.

In the study, researchers found that clothing was rated more desirable if it had been touched or worn by an attractive member of the opposite sex. And some people said they would pay more for the item, even if it hadn't been washed.

"We found that if a shirt had been touched by someone who is highly attractive and of the opposite gender, the shoppers evaluated the products higher and they're willing to drop more money on it," said University of Alberta business professor Jennifer Argo.

Researchers wanted to find out if there were ever instances where contact, also called contagion, could have a positive effect on the goods for sale.

The first part of the study involved sending men and women to a store to try on a specific unisex shirt. The experimenter called a colleague acting as a salesperson at the store ahead of time to notify them when a participant was to arrive.

When the participant showed a picture of the shirt to the salesperson, they were told the last one was being tried on by another shopper currently in the change room — half the time someone with average looks and half the time a hired model. When the change room was vacated, the participant — who had seen the person exit the change room — could then try on the shirt and return to the study base to complete an evaluation.

"If the shopper was of average attractiveness, the participant evaluated the shirt negatively. But if it was the
opposite gender and they were highly attractive, the participants were willing to pay more. The results show that it's worth having highly attractive people work there. Or if you can't, at least have the staff dress well and be well-groomed and maximize their potential," Jennifer said.

In the second part of the study, the researchers examined why the evaluations were different but used only male participants and female salespeople, again half of average attractiveness and half models. The men were sent to try on a shirt, but this time the salesperson told them that she had worn it on her prior shift.

Sometimes, the salesperson showed the item in a dry-cleaning bag, but the other half of the time it was on a hanger, implying it hadn't been cleaned.

They were later asked to evaluate how much they would pay for the shirt, how much they liked it, the likelihood of purchasing the product and how desirable it was to them. "The dirty shirt won for the men when the salesperson was highly attractive. It's like they were trying to get her essence," Jennifer said.

She said that the findings were only slightly surprising even though this is the first research to identify and document positive contagion.

Source:http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/HealthScience/Sexy_salesgirls_really_up_sales/articleshow/2645892.cms

By
B.Venkateswarlu

India's Hindu nationalists, led by controversial politician Narendra Modi, were set to return to power in the key western state of Gujarat, a verdict that could mean a setback to Congress party plans to call early national polls.

Here are some key facts about Modi, who is accused of turning a blind eye and even encouraging the killing of hundreds of Muslims during communal riots in 2002.

* Born on September 17, 1950, in the small town of Vadnagar in Mehsana district in north Gujarat, Modi started as a campaigner for the right-wing Hindu Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and worked as a BJP election manager.

* He was appointed chief minister of Gujarat in October 2001, nine months after an earthquake killed more than 20,000 people in the state.

* He returned to power in elections in 2002 on an overt pro-Hindu, anti-Muslim platform, months after between 1,200 and 2,500 people, most of them Muslims, were killed in communal riots.

* In March 2005, the United States revoked his visa for what it said were violations of religious freedom despite his party being known to promote closer ties with Washington.

* A bachelor and a workaholic, he is known to be a loner who meditates, is particular about what he wears, spends time on his laptop computer and also has his own Web site.

Source:http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSDEL27553320071223

By
B.Venkateswarlu

LOS ANGELES - Actress Michelle Rodriguez began a 180-day jail term in Los Angeles on Sunday for probation violation, the second Hollywood celebrity after Kiefer Sutherland to face a Christmas incarceration.

According to Los Angeles County Sheriff's Dept. records, the former "Lost" star checked in to Century Regional Detention Facility in Lynwood, south of downtown Los Angeles, under her given name, Mayte. Michelle is her middle name.

Rodriguez must serve the full stretch in the overcrowded jail, where sentences for minor crimes are often cut short. In November, actress Lindsay Lohan served 84 minutes of a 1-day sentence, while reality TV starlet Nicole Richie was released 80 minutes into her 4-day term in August.

A judge sentenced Rodriguez in October for violating her probation on previous drunken-driving and hit-and-run offenses, and specified that she not be granted work furlough, early release or home confinement.

Rodriguez admitted failing to complete community service obligations. She was also found to have consumed alcohol on at least three occasions while wearing a monitoring bracelet around her ankle, in violation of a probation requirement that she refrain from drinking for 90 days.

The probation violation stems from a 2004 plea of no contest -- the equivalent of guilty -- to three traffic offenses in Los Angeles, including hit-and-run and drunken driving violations. She was previously sentenced to 60 days in jail for a probation violation in May 2006, but was released after just four hours and 20 minutes due to overcrowding.

Rodriguez rose to fame in 2000, playing a feisty pugilist in the indie film "Girlfight." She went on to star in such movies as "The Fast and the Furious" and "Blue Crush." Her "Lost" character, police officer Ana-Lucia Cortez, was killed off after about two dozen episodes.

Sutherland, the star of the action series "24," began a 48-day term in another Los Angeles-area jail on December 5 for drunken driving.

Source:http://www.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idUSN236593120071224

By
B.Venkateswarlu

NANDIGRAM: Altogether 76 bombs were on Sunday found near a brick kiln here, CRPF officials said.

Acting on a tip-off, CRPF personnel went to the Janani brick kiln area here with sniffer dogs and found the bombs hidden in the bushes.

"The bombs would be handed over to the police," CRPF Assistant Commandant Arindam Upadhyay said.

Earlier on March 17, CBI arrested 10 people hiding in Janani brick kiln on charges of rioting. Leaders of the anti-acquisition Bhumi Uched Pratirodh Committee complained to the police that the brick kilns were used to stockpile arms and bombs.

Khejuri is a CPM stronghold from where they allegedly hurled bombs at BUPC activists in Satengabari and Sherkhanchawk villages across Talpati canal.

Source:http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/76_bombs_recovered_in_Nandigram/articleshow/2645510.cms

By
B.VenkateswarluMUMBAI: Capital market regulator SEBI, which according to USAID lacks enough skilled manpower, is expected to increase its officers' strength by about 100 in the coming year.

The regulator, which at present employs 535 people including 403 officers, may recruit 100 more officers as part of its ongoing policy of inducting professionals from business and law schools, a senior SEBI official said here.

This will be a significant increase compared to 288 officers it had as of March 2006.

In a recent report on "Deepening India's Capital Market: the Way Forward", USAID had stressed the need for recruiting more staff.

"While SEBI continues actively to recruit and train professionals, it lacks the required levels of trained staff to conduct effective surveillance, investigation and enforcement," the report had said.

SEBI Chairman M Damodaran himself had recently interacted with students in business schools and law schools.

"This shows the importance attached to the recruitment process," the SEBI official said.

Asked whether there was sufficient staff for carrying out the regulatory work, an official said that there was a need for more staff to carry out all its activities and SEBI has been addressing this issue in right earnest.

SEBI had also embarked on a major training programme for all its employees. This year all categories of employees were imparted training in managerial effectiveness with the collaboration of NISM.

Faculty from one of the IIMs, coordinated the one week training programme. Employees are also sent abroad for training as also attending seminars.

Source:http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Business/India_Business/SEBI_to_recruit_more_professionals/articleshow/2644674.cms

By
B.Venkateswarlu

LONDON (Reuters) - Queen Elizabeth is joining the YouTube generation.

Buckingham Palace on Sunday said the 81-year-old monarch will post her traditional Christmas Day message -- normally broadcast on television -- on the video-sharing Web site as well this year.

At the same time, a new Royal Channel has been unveiled on YouTube, allowing Web surfers to view the queen's first Christmas broadcast in 1957, as well as other archive footage of the royal family and its events.

The catalogue is at www.youtube.com/theroyalchannel.

The queen is said to be avid about using new technology to reach a wider, more diverse audience. Last year her Christmas message was released as a podcast.

In her first Christmas broadcast 50 years ago, she waxed lyrical about the advent of television.

"I very much hope that this new medium will make my Christmas message more personal and direct," she said. "That it is possible for you to see me today is just another example of the speed at which things are changing all around us."

Queen Elizabeth's message is followed closely by millions of Britons and others in Commonwealth countries worldwide on Christmas Day each year.

Buckingham Palace revealed this week the queen likes to sneak off from the rest of her family on Christmas Day and watch the recorded message alone, judging for herself how she comes across.

Source:http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSL2339445720071223

By
B.Venkateswarlu

LONDON (Reuters) - Reading in dim light won't damage your eyes, you don't need eight glasses of water a day to stay healthy and shaving your legs won't make the hair grow back faster.

These well-worn theories are among seven "medical myths" exposed in a paper published on Friday in the British Medical Journal, which traditionally carries light-hearted features in its Christmas edition.

Two U.S. researchers took seven common beliefs and searched the archives for evidence to support them.

Despite frequent mentions in the popular press of the need to drink eight glasses of water, they found no scientific basis for the claim.

The complete lack of evidence has been recorded in a study published the American Journal of Psychology, they said.

The other six "myths" are:

* Reading in dim light ruins your eyesight

The majority of eye experts believe it is unlikely to do any permanent damage, but it may make you squint, blink more and have trouble focusing, the researchers said.

By
B.Venkateswarlu

NEW DELHI: Elated at the party's impressive performance in Gujarat, BJP president Rajnath Singh on Sunday credited Chief Minister Narendra Modi's leadership for it but made it clear that nobody was "bigger than the party."

"Nobody is bigger than the party," Singh told reporters here as poll results indicated a clear win for the BJP.

He said Modi had made Gujarat a role model state by undertaking several developmental projects.

"Modi was the chief minister there and under his leadership the state government has given development to the state," Singh said.

"He and his government had a clean image and worked for development. Under his leadership, Gujarat has emerged as a model state," he said.

Singh dismissed suggestions of a leadership struggle within the BJP after the party's win in Gujarat under Modi's leadership.

"There is no question of any opposition to anybody," he said adding, "BJP has always tried to maintain discipline".

Asked whether Modi had emerged bigger than the BJP, he countered "why is this question being asked again and again."

Singh said the Gujarat victory was an indication that the NDA will form the next government at the Centre.

"We have already projected L K Advani as the next prime minister," the BJP chief said.

Source:http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Nobody_bigger_than_the_party_reminds_Rajnath/articleshow/2645314.cms

By
B.Venkateswarlu

If things go according to the script, Sourav Ganguly will step on the Melbourne Cricket Ground turf to play his 100th Test on Wednesday. TOI caught up with the 'Bengal Tiger' in Melbourne for a heart-to-heart chat.

Excerpts...

Looking back on your career, are you happy with what you have achieved?

I have enjoyed some very good times and also gone through tough periods. What’s important is that I have been lucky to be a part of Indian cricket during one of its most successful phases. It’s easily the high point of my career.

Have you seen many changes in Indian cricket during your time?

A lot of things have changed since I made my Test debut in 1996, especially in terms of training and approach to the game. I have no doubt in my mind that it’s because of these changes that our performances overseas have improved.

You have been a part of a core group of exceptionally talented players. Did you enjoy the ride?

It has been a privilege to play alongside people like Anil Kumble, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman, for they are special players. Together we have seen Indian cricket progress. The period between 2000 till the end of the Pakistan series in 2004 was easily one of the most successful periods in contemporary Indian cricket. It was also during this period that we were as successful overseas as we were at home.

Of the two comebacks you have made in your remarkable career, which was more difficult, the one in 1996 or 2006?

Returning to the fold in South Africa last year was the biggest challenge of my career. In 1992 when I was dropped after just one ODI on the tour of Australia, I was still very young. After returning, I was happy playing in the Ranji Trophy. At 20, age was on my side. However, when I got left out in 2005 it was tough. When I came back in 2006, I needed to find out for myself that I was still good enough to keep performing at the top level.

What did life in the wilderness teach you?

I realised that there is an entirely different life beyond cricket. It helped to settle my mind. It was a tough phase, but fighting it out helped me to emerge stronger.

Do you have anything left to prove?

Contrary to the popular belief, I have never tried to prove or disprove anything. Every time I enter a cricket ground I just want to reassure myself that I belong at this level. Even today, I need to constantly reassure myself that I am mentally, physically and technically strong to meet the challenges of international cricket.

In the days of image makeovers, you seem to have reconstructed your batting technique...

Nothing major. I just made a few adjustments to my stance and grip. Now that I am no longer the captain, my mind is a lot free and I have more time on my hands. I use it to keep working on my game.

How big a deal is it to be Indian captain?

It’s a great honour and a huge responsibility. I feel every captain has a shelf life. No one can do the job indefinitely because it takes a lot out of you. In India, a captain has to deal with so many things that sometimes he has no time to think about his game.

How do you assess your own captaincy?

I have always felt that wickets overseas are much better than in India. So, to win abroad, we needed a few good seamers to support our two world-class spinners. Of course, we also needed runs on the board. It was, therefore important to make the players believe in their own ability. It was also important to pick players who we thought would do well overseas and persist with them. That helped us as these players played freely and delivered.

So you are happy to be out of the captaincy equation?

Let’s put it this way, the pressure on a captain has increased manifold since I first took of the reins of the team. Rahul and Anil must have found that out by now.

How would you like to be remembered?

As someone who played a small role in showing the world that India is no longer a pushover while playing overseas.

You must be looking forward to playing your 100th Test match. How will it be different?

I don’t think it will feel any different, but of course, it will be hugely satisfying. I am preparing for it just as I normally do for any other match. It will be an important landmark in my career and I will strive to make the occasion more memorable.

How has cricket shaped your persona?

Had I not played this wonderful sport, I wouldn’t have been able to experience or know half the things in the world. Not only has cricket taken me all over the world, it has also taught me how to handle pressure and criticism. I also would not have been able to savour the sweetness of success. It’s been a huge learning process.

Have you visualised your life after cricket?

I have travelled a lot. Probably I will play for some more time, which will include some more travelling as well. I will have to wait and see how I feel mentally by the time I finish. I want to stay at home for some time, with my daughter.

Source:http://cricket.indiatimes.com/Fighting_it_out_has_made_me_stronger/articleshow/2645930.cms

By
B.Venkateswarlu

Narendra Modi will take oath for the third time as Gujarat chief minister on Tuesday, which is veteran Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's birthday.

Modi, who on Sunday led the BJP to victory in Gujarat once again winning 117 of the 182 seats, will take the oath of office at 12.39 pm, considered an auspicious time.

The grand ceremony is likely to take place either at the Sardar Patel Stadium in Ahmedabad, where the same ceremony was held in December 2002, or in capital Gandhinagar.

There were plans earlier to hold the function in Rajkot, the main city of the Saurashtra region that was the hub of anti-Modi dissidents in the party.

BJP sources here said top central leaders including Vajpayee were likely to attend the ceremony.

Source:http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/FullcoverageStoryPage.aspx?id=8c434009-a9f5-4091-bd0f-2219d331d29eGujaratVotes_Special&&Headline=Modi+to+take+oath+as+Gujarat+CM+on+Tuesday

By
B.Venkateswarlu

On an average one Indian woman commits suicide every four hours over a dowry dispute, as per official data, despite a series of laws to empower them.

According to data complied by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCR, a total of 2,276 female suicides due to dowry disputes were reported in 2006 that is six a day on an average, while the figure was 2,305 in 2005. In 2004, at least 2,585 such cases were registered across the country.

Statistics suggest that Madhya Pradesh topped the list for the fourth time with 585 cases, accounting for one-fourth of the total number of such suicides last year in the country. West Bengal was second with 445 cases and Uttar Pradesh third with 314 cases. The national capital was seventh with 69 cases.

Police officials in the capital told IANS that suicide by hanging was the most common means adopted to end life followed by self-immolation in such cases.

The NCRB is a central body assigned to compile crime figures in the country. Its figures also state that one case is registered almost every hour under Dowry Death, which includes suicides as well as murders.

"A total of 7,618 cases were registered under Dowry Death in 2006, while 6,787 cases were registered in 2005. In 2004, at least 7,026 such cases were recorded," a police official said.

Dowry is a social evil but continues to be a common practice in almost every part of India. Women at the time of marriage are expected to bring with them jewellery, cash and even consumer durables as part of dowry to the in-laws and they are subsequently ill-treated, often violently, if they fail to do so.

Abetting suicide is punishable by imprisonment of up to 10 years and a fine.

Anti-dowry laws in India were enacted in 1961 but the laws themselves have done nothing to halt dowry transactions.

Many of the victims are burnt to death - they are doused in kerosene and set fire to. Routinely the in-laws claim that the death happened simply due to an accident.

When evidence of foul play is too obvious to ignore, the story changes to suicide - the wife, it is said, could not adjust to new family life and subsequently killed herself.

Maikrao H Gavit, state minister in the ministry of home affairs, had recently informed the Rajya Sabha that his ministry from time-to-time has been issuing advisories to all the states and union territories to give more focused attention to prevention, detection, registration, investigation and prosecution in such cases.

"In the advisory dated Oct 27, 2004 they were requested to take action on the recommendations of the National Commission for Women regarding the Dowry Prohibition Act and its implementation," Gavit said.

"The advisory covers that dowry related cases must be adjudicated expeditiously to avoid further harassment of women. Police personnel dealing with dowry cases should be sensitised and given training to deal with such sensitive cases," he added.

On the flip side, however, the dowry laws in India have also been misused.

Source:http://www.hindustantimes.com/storypage/storypage.aspx?id=1777b6e8-95c8-48c4-85f9-4feda2a6fd53&&Headline=Every+4+hrs%2c+1+woman+ends+life+over+dowry

By
B.Venkateswarlu

MELBOURNE, December 22: Shot selection will be the most important aspect in Australia, according to Sachin Tendulkar who has advised his fellow batsmen to be wise with their shot selections if India wished to record a rare series triumph Down Under.

"I guess the shot selection is the most important issue in Australia. Technique is fine but it is more of a mental thing," Tendulkar said on Saturday.

"We have some fine batsmen and once they have settled in and their nerves have calmed, they would be able to cope with it," the former captain said during an interaction with the media at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Tendulkar, for whom this is the fourth tour Down Under, cited an example from his own vast experience.

"When I toured here first in 1991-92 series, I didn't make any adjustment initially. I chose the same weight of bat, the same swing but as the tour went on, I realised I should not attempt a few strokes at least in the initial part of my innings."

There is a lot of speculation about Wasim Jaffer's opening partner for the first Test starting December 26, but although Tendulkar did not divulge any inside information, he claimed it was not a matter of great concern.

"I don't think we have figured it out (openers for the first Test). But as long as the replacement is solid, it shouldn't matter. Anyway, I am not the one to comment on it."

Virender Sehwag, who has been struggling in domestic cricket recently, has been selected on the basis of his strong performances in the 2003-04 tour of Australia and Tendulkar backed him to provide a repeat performance.

"He's (Sehwag) been chosen because he has batted in a certain manner and that's the method he should choose to stick with," Tendulkar said.

India's chances of their first Test series win on Australian soil depend on their bowlers taking 20 wickets in a match and the Mumbaikar said they could hold their own against, what he admitted, was a formidable batting line up of the home team.

"They have a formidable batting line-up. But we have some good performers in our side."

"Zaheer Khan when he toured here in 2003-2004 series, took five wickets in Brisbane. We have Anil Kumble who has taken wickets all around the world."

High profile as the series is, Tendulkar said it was not necessarily bigger than any other tour.

"It would be an important tour if we can pull it off. Beating Australia is the ultimate."

"It's an important tour for me but then whenever I represent India, playing against any opponent, be it Bangladesh, Australia or anybody else, becomes important."

India's preparation has been hampered due to a single practice match before the first Test, that too ruined by rain, but Tendulkar said gaps between two series was the bigger requirement.

"There should be no excuses even if you have just one game before the start of a Test series. But if there is a gap between two tours, it helps. You can unwind, catch up with your family, assess the tour gone and plan a certain things for the next," he said.

Even though he is in the twilight of an illustrious career, Tendulkar claimed the thought of retirement had not crossed his mind yet.

"I haven't thought about it (retirement). I am thoroughly enjoying my cricket, cricket is my life and I have been living this dream for 18 years now. For me the priority is the coming series against Australia and I am not looking beyond it."

Injuries that had taken a toll on his body were a thing of the past, he said.

"I feel extremely fit and ready for the battle. I had my share of injuries but I think it is now behind me. My body language is great and I'm ready."

"I've always played the game as I wanted to play. Sometimes because of conditions and bowlers, I need to adapt," he added.

Source:http://cricket.indiatimes.com/Shot_selection_crucial_in_Australia_series_Tendulkar/articleshow/2642962.cms

by
B.Venkateswarlu

Body of Amitabh Bachchan’s mother Teji Bachchan being carried into an ambulance outside Lilavati Hospital in Mumbai on Friday (Reuters Photo)
MUMBAI: The mortal remains of Teji Bachchan, mother of Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan, were consigned to flames at the cremation ground in Juhu on Saturday.

The funeral pyre was lit by Amitabh Bachchan. Several dignitaries including former Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, actor Vivek Oberoi, industrialist Anil Ambani, SP leader Amar Singh and director Pehlaj Nihlani attended the cremation.

Earlier, the funeral procession started at 10 A.M. from Bachchan's Juhu bungalow Pratiksha and reached the Ruia Park cremation ground after nearly an hour.

Teji Bachchan died on Friday at the age of 93 after prolonged illness at Lilavati hospital.

Source:http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Teji_Bachchan_cremated_in_Mumbai/articleshow/2642824.cms

By
B.Venkateswarlu

14 months after being draped in sarees for Vivah, Amrita Rao would be going through a dramatic shift in her attire by wearing minis in her upcoming release My Name Is Anthony Gonsalves.

Playing the part of Rhea, an Assistant Director in the film, Amrita dons a new look and gives an altogether different account of herself. In fact her song 'Tum Mile', which is currently on air, has got her quite some appreciation from both within and outside the industry. One of her recent admirers has been Salman Khan who promptly sent her a message the moment he caught her on My Name Is Anthony Gonsalves promos.

In majority of her films so far, Amrita has played a girl next door (Vivaah, Shikar, Deewar, Masti, Ishq-Vishk) though she did have a hep-n-chic tomboy look in Main Hoo Naa.

Source:http://www.aol.in/bollywood/story/2007121804199023000001/Bollywood/index.html

By
B.Venkateswarlu

Karan Johar talks about his latest TV show which is 'a musical reality show with celebrity participants'.
Will Say Shaava Shaava (on NDTV Imagine) be any different from other reality shows?

I’ll be hosting it. Isn’t that enough? Jokes apart, it’s a musical reality show with celebrity participants that will be held over 11 days.

Apart from direction, you have tried anchoring and fashion designing too? Does acting come next?

No! God forbid. I am happy behind the camera. Everybody wants to be an actor when they are young. Then we realise that we don’t have the face to look good onscreen. I have to be Karan Johar when I am in front of the camera.

Despite not being an actor, you seem to have become a favourite of advertisers. Why so?

You have to tell me or I will continue praising myself non-stop. I have no idea why they want me to endorse brands. I look at endorsing as a hobby and enjoy being associated with lifestyle brands.

What about the next edition of Koffee with Karan?

If at all a next edition happens, it will be on NDTV since I am associated with the channel now.

With your involvement, will there be more participation of Hindi film celebrities in the channel?

Yes. Television is a huge medium and we are eyeing the world of entertainment in a big way. Shah Rukh (Khan) has shown us that it’s possible to retain superstar status even on television.

Tell us about your next film with Shah Rukh Khan, My Name is Khan?

We have not decided whether it will be titled My Name is Khan or just Khan. It’s a love story.

Is it true that for the first time you are dealing with something serious in your movie?

I am not making any statement through this film. I like making films that connect with the viewers emotionally, and this one will be no different.

Do we get to see Shah Rukh and Kajol together?

It is a dream of cinegoers and I would love to fulfill it. I am working on bringing them together again. The rest of the cast is yet to be decided.

What are your plans for Dharma Productions?

Apart from Tarun Mansukhani’s film, we are co-producing an animation film with Prana Studios. Tarun’s film is a romantic comedy. We hope to produce a variety of films every year.

Source:

By
B.Venkateswarlu
RED-LETTER DAY: 150 YEARS SINCE THE SEPOY MUTINY

On May 11, 2007, India remembered with pride its brave soldiers who had led the first major uprising against the British on this day in 1857 – exactly 150 years ago. The event, or rather series of events, is variously called the First War of Indian Independence, the Indian Mutiny and the Sepoy Mutiny – all of which are equally true and represent a different facet of this first major display of that famous Indian unity.

The events that led up to the mutiny and the details of the uprising are many and just as fascinating. They all represent the true Indian spirit that can tolerate only so much of imperialism before it reacts and gets the other party to see – in its own gentle way - its special perspective of things. The battle of 1847 may eventually have been lost, but the war for independence had only just begun.

There had been dozens of small uprisings prior to the events of this period, such as those led by Rani Chennamma of Keladi and Tipu Sultan of Mysore, and the Sannyasi Rebellion of the 1780s. However, all these were only small hints at the big one to follow. What surprised the British was that while they had been used to putting down such mutinies wherever they were started, the battle of 1857 was a rather sudden conflation of many small localised conflicts into one, major revolt that threw them into instant consternation. Historians have noted – and others have agreed with their sage view – that the British had it coming.

Noted travel writer and historian William Dalrymple has some particularly interesting views on the Sepoy Mutiny, which he details in his recent book, The Last Mughal, The Fall of a Dynasty, Delhi 1857, which was released in 2006. Dalrymple is well-versed with the Indian context, which he has studied in his professional capacity as well as through his extensive travels. He notes that there is an uneasy similarity between the 1857 revolt and the current US misadventures in Iraq and Afghanistan, where it is fighting Islamic insurgencies. “No one likes people of a different faith conquering them, or force-feeding them improving ideas at the point of a bayonet,” he says.

To carry his argument forward, the eminent writer mentions that while a majority of the sepoys were Hindus, there were a good number too of Muslims who seemed to be warning the West of what would be to follow many years later when Afghanistan and Iraq happened, in that order. In the main mosque in Delhi, a flag of jihad was raised, and many of the fighters called themselves jihadis or mujahideen. In fact, there was even a regiment of ‘suicide ghazis’, who vowed to fight until death did them apart.

Dalrymple concludes that it is obvious that nothing so radicalises a people against them, or so undermines the “moderate aspect of Islam, as aggressive western intrusion in the east”.

This year, the historic events that led up to the grand uprising on May 11, 1857 were enacted at the Red Fort in New Delhi in front of youth and top leaders of the country, including the then president and vice-president, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

The celebrations had begun on May 7 itself, when thousands of youth participated in the ‘Jang-e-Azadi 1857’ march from Meerut, where the 1857 revolt had practically begun, over 60 km to Delhi. In the year that also marked 60 years of India’s Independence, it was an occasion that highlighted above all the indomitable national spirit.

Source:http://www.aol.in/news/story/2007121816199019000001/index.html

By
B.Venlkateswarlu
Paris, December 20: The British weekly journal Nature on Wednesday named Rajendra Pachauri, head of the Nobel-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), as "Newsmaker of the Year," an award reflecting an individual's contribution to public debate on science.

The IPCC was co-awarded the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with former US vice president Al Gore, lauded for his campaigning on climate change.

Earlier this year, the IPCC published its Fourth Assessment Report to guide policymakers about global warming and its impacts.

"Producing that set of reports was the work of hundreds of scientists, all of whom deserve honour -- and all of whom were honoured with the award of the Nobel Peace Prize on December 10," said Nature.

"But a particular burden fell on the chair, and in that capacity Pachauri worked ceaselessly, and sometimes sleeplessly, to create compromise where necessary while refusing to dilute the key messages from the academic community he serves."

Source:http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Pachauri-named-named-newsmaker-of-07/252425/

By
B.Venkateswarlu

Madurai, December19: After Kushboo, Shilpa Shetty and Reema Sen, it is now the turn of former Miss Universe turned-Bollywood actress Sushmita Sen to land in legal trouble over comments on 'pre-marital sex.'

The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court issued notice to her on Tuesday while admitting a criminal revision petition taking exception to her comments that ‘no Indian has chastity or virginity anymore’. She purportedly said this in a TV interview.

The petition was filed by Advocate S.Greesh Kumar following which Justice A Selvam issued notices to her and Tamil daily Thinathanthi which published the transcript of the interview.

The petition was earlier dismissed by a judicial magistrate after conducting an inquiry into the complaint lodged by Kumar under IPC sections 292(A) (printing of grossly indecent and scurrilous matter or matter intended for blackmail), 293 (sale of obscene objects to young persons), Sec 509 (word gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman).

It was dismissed on the ground that there was no prima facie material or evidence to come to the conclusion that the Sushmitha sen would have made those comments.

The High court judge, however, admitted it after Kumar went on an appeal.

Petitioner submitted Sushmita Sen was Miss Universe and now a Bollywood actress. Her comments were widely reported by various TV channels and published in the Thinathanthi.

The other actresses Kushboo, Shilpa Shetty and Reema Sen also faced similar petitions in the past.

Kumar said his petition was dismissed by the Magistrate stating that Sushmita Sen was not important, and only the Thinathanthi editor was the main witness for the publication on November7, 2006.

The actress had given her opinion knowing fully well that it would be published and telecast. "Her interview is demoralising the moral fabric of India."

Praying for setting aside the Magistrate's order dismissing his writ petition, Kumar requested the court to direct the Magistrate to issue summons to Sushmitha, and the Thinathanthi editor.

Source:http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Premarital-sex-comments-put-Sushmita-in-dock/252082/

By
B.Venkateswarlu

New Delhi: The national capital is fast gaining the dubious distinction as a hub of underage prostitution racket.

Minor girls are being pimped as "virgins" for huge prices to customers from across India and the market is thriving. Experts say the alarming trend is common to most metro cities but Delhi 's underbelly seems to be the murkiest.

A CNN-IBN Special Investigation Team went undercover, posing as customers and found child traffickers offering young minor girls for a price without a care for the law.

The first girl on offer was Payal (name changed), a underage girl being touted by a pimp called Mukesh at a shop in south Delhi. Mukesh regularly “supplies” underage, virgin girls to customers in Delhi.

Their “going rates” are on his fingertips. Given below is an excerpt from a conversation CNN-IBN had with Mukesh.

Mukesh: Uska bahut mota paisa lagega. (Payal will be very expensive)

CNN-IBN: Kitna lagega? (How much?)

Mukesh: Kam se kam 80-90 hazar rupay lagega. (At least Rs 80,000 to Rs 90,000.)

A week later, Rahul, Mukesh's right hand man got Payal to meet the SIT team again and repeatedly assured that she was a minor.

Rahul: (I assure you she is young, but you should be the only one having intercourse with her, otherwise there’ll be trouble and I will be in trouble.)

CNN-IBN: Khoon nikelaga? (Will she bleed?)

Rahul: Haan. Nahi niklega toh paisey ley jao. Rs 1000 de dena. (Yes. She will. If she does not, you’ll get your money back. Just pay us Rs 1,000 in that case.)

During the investigation, the SIT found there was a huge demand for underage girls in metros like Delhi.

CEO of NGO Naz Foundation, Anjali Gopalan explains the disturbing trend. “Minor girls are being increasingly pushed into the flesh market because many men think they will be safe from being infected with HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases,” she says.

That’s not all. With girl children fetching up to Rs 1 lakh, traffickers like Rahul and Mukesh admitted family members were often prepared to push their girls into the flesh trade.

Clearly, it’s the money that drives the perverse virgin prostitute racket, pushing thousands of minor girls into sexual slavery.

Source:http://in.news.yahoo.com/071219/211/6onfj.html

By
B.Venkateswarlu

WASHINGTON - The House of Representatives approved a $556 billion bill on Wednesday to fund most of the federal government through September 2008, ending a year-long budget fight with President George W. Bush by also including new money for the Iraq war.

The House gave final congressional approval to the bill, which was cleared by the Senate late on Tuesday. It now goes to Bush for his expected approval.

Anti-war Democrats protested the new round of Iraq money, which they said gave Bush a "blank check" to run the war.

House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey, a Wisconsin Democrat, sounded resigned to at least another year of funding the war in Iraq, against his wishes. He said the only option for changing direction in Iraq was to "elect more progressive voices to the United States Senate" and "elect a president with a different set of priorities."

The U.S. presidential and congressional elections will be held in November 2008.

The White House said it was glad Congress passed the budget measure.

"We're pleased that Congress was able to pass legislation to fund the government this year without raising taxes and within the president's reasonable spending limits. It's also crucial that they provided $70 billion in funding for our troops in harm's way," White House spokesman Tony Fratto said.

The legislation wraps together 11 of the 12 bills the U.S. Congress must handle every year to fund government programs ranging from health care for the poor and elderly to law enforcement, space exploration, food stamps for the poor, foreign aid and border security.
Already enacted into law was a $460 billion measure to fund the Pentagon's regular activities, not counting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

FIGHTING ALL YEAR

Democrats in Congress fought with Bush all year, scoring some victories, in their push to spend more to improve domestic social programs such as early education for poor children, home heating aid for low-income families and expanded health care.

But much of the fiscal 2008 budget fight centered on the Iraq war. The $70 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan included in the catch-all spending bill will inject enough new money to keep combat going through May or June, according to some estimates.

Its inclusion marked another defeat for anti-war Democrats in Congress who labored to link Iraq war money to timetables for withdrawing U.S. troops and bringing the nearly 5-year-old war to an end.

But the money represents much less than half of the nearly $190 billion Bush had requested for the wars, most of it to be dedicated to Iraq. This was what House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called putting Bush on a "short lease." It also means Democrats and Bush likely are headed for a renewed fight next year.

The House Minority Leader, Ohio Republican John Boehner said next year Republicans will continue opposing "partisan gimmicks, withdrawal timelines" on funding the Iraq war.

Congress is sending the large appropriations bill to Bush nearly three months late, something Republicans try to remind the public at every turn.

But what they don't mention is that a year ago, when they controlled Congress, Republicans gave up on passing 10 of the 12 fiscal 2007 spending bills, leaving Democrats to clean up the problem at the start of this year.

The bill passed by Congress would spend nearly $35 billion on domestic security measures, including increased funds for port security and aircraft cargo screening.

States also will be allowed to impose tougher security rules around chemical plants, which many in Congress fear are easy targets for terrorist attack.

The bill delays until June 1, 2009, an anti-terrorism initiative requiring passports or other documents for travelers entering the United States by land.

On the foreign policy front, the legislation gives about $700 million Bush wants for economic and military assistance to Pakistan, but with some new conditions attached.

About $1 billion would be for humanitarian and peacekeeping missions in Sudan, where violence has plagued Darfur.

Given the large numbers of U.S. soldiers returning from Iraq with severe injuries, the measure provides $3.7 billion more than Bush sought for veterans' care.

Source:http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSN1963308420071220?sp=true

By
B.Venkateswarlu

NAVI MUMBAI: A 36-year-old Finnish national was allegedly raped by an unidentified man in the satellite city of Navi Mumbai, police said on Wednesday.

The victim, who works for a Finnish machine tool company and is in India on a professional visit, was found with some bruises by a police patrol party sitting outside a petrol pump in the CBD Belapur node in the wee hours yesterday.

"She refused medical assistance from us and went to a private hospital in Mumbai for treatment today where in she told the doctors that she was assaulted and raped following which a complaint of rape was registered today", said Commissioner of Police Navi Mumbai Ramrao Wagh.

According to the victim she had food and liquor at Hotel Indulge in Belapur late on Monday night. She went out of the hotel alone and started searching for an autorickshaw to return home nearby but could not get a rickshaw and had to take lift from a private vehicle, Wagh said.

The driver took her to the near by Parsik Hill and dragged her out of the vehicle, he then assaulted and raped her, Wagh said, adding, the victim resides in Navi Mumbai.

The medical examination reports of the victim are awaited and the police is also searching for any eyewitness in the matter, Wagh said.

"The same woman was found in an inebriated state roaming around alone in the late hours in CBD Belapur two months ago," Wagh added.

Source:http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Finnish_woman_raped_in_Mumbai/articleshow/2635899.cms

By
B.Venkateswarlu

Mahendra Singh Dhoni obliquely admitted that his team will be going into the Boxing Day (Dec 26) Test match against Australia rather ill-prepared if they are looking to end the hosts’ 14-Test winning streak.

India’s only warm-up game begins against Victoria at Junction Oval Thursday, but their biggest worry is the forecast of rain on all three days and the absence of Sachin Tendulkar, who is likely to be kept fresh for the first of the four-Test series at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).

“It’s always better to have a few sessions before a big Test match and we don’t really have much time for practice,” said Dhoni, who is on his first visit to Australia after playing 22 Tests.

On Tendulkar’s fitness, following his withdrawal from last week’s third Test against Pakistan with a sore knee, Dhoni said: “He is improving, but if he feels he needs a little more rest to be cent percent fit for the Test, he may not play.”

Dhoni said the prospect of rain was a concern. “You’d love to have more time, but that’s too many ifs and buts. Even if it rains, nothing can be done about it, we’ll go to the indoors and have a knock,” he said.

Sourav Ganguly looked nothing like a man who made a double hundred in Bangalore just over a week earlier while fellow former captain Rahul Dravid was a little better, and Yuvraj Singh did some practice. Tendulkar had a gentle hit against the team’s physio.

Coming off a compacted three-Test series against Pakistan, which was pushed back to accommodate the Twenty-20 World Championship, poses another challenge that Dhoni admitted was problematic, that of adjusting from the low, slow sub-continental conditions to the more lively surfaces of Australia - an issue for bowlers as much as batsmen.

“Lots of bounce,” he said, laughing, when asked what India was expecting in Australia, along with good, aggressive cricket. “Getting used to the conditions is very important . . . so the practice game is important, especially when you’re coming from a series in India. When you’re playing in Australia, the length you’re bowling is very important, very different to where you bowl in the sub-continent or England.”

Fast bowlers Ishant Sharma and Rudra Pratap Singh are both in contention to support Zaheer Khan and Irfan Pathan in the pace bowling department, while captain Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh will cover the spin duties.

Dhoni said, playing on Melbourne’s drop-in wicket that has been criticised by Victoria players for lack of pace and bounce, was not necessarily an advantage.

“If it’s Australia, even if it’s slow and low, it would be nothing compared to the fastest wicket in India.”

So to Shaun Tait, who Dhoni said the Indians had been studying on video, monitoring the different angles at which he delivers the ball at express pace.

“We have seen the videos but it’s how you perform on the field, you have to react quickly.”

Australia anywhere in the world is a challenge, Dhoni said, “whether it’s Test cricket, one-day cricket or T-20″.

Source:http://www.freshnews.in/indians-ill-prepared-for-the-boxing-day-test-dhoni-19516#more-19516

By
B.Venkateswarlu

Aishwarya Rai, Jodha Bai of the period epic “Jodhaa-Akbar”, is “enjoying the speculation” about her pregnancy in the media. And she refuses to rise to the bait.

“If I walk too carefully or if I stand with dupatta draped on one side, the media will be rife with speculation the next day. So I am myself, going along with the flow,” said the chirpy former Miss World-turned-actress shimmering in a cloud of green chiffon and diamonds.

She was in the capital to unveil a new collection of Nakshatra diamond jewellery, a brand she represents.

She is not even threatened by the return of Madhuri Dixit in “Aaja Nachle”. “Have you watched ‘Devdas’?” Aishwarya shot back when asked how did she take the former superstar’s comeback.

Aishwarya is comfortable in her new role.

“This new phase of my life, as Abhishek’s (Bachchan) wife, has been special. I have another set of parents in Amit (Amitabh Bachchan) and Jayaji. The goodwill of the media and the people in general also has mattered,” the actress said.

The actress is full of memories of “Jodhaa-Akbar”.

“It is a director’s film all the way. Ashutosh Gowariker is a committed filmmaker and for me it was another project that I enjoyed. The choice was between two films and Ashutosh was undecided which one he would make first. Then he messaged me one day saying will you be my Jodha. I said why not?” recalls Aishwarya.

There is no special connect on the part of Aishwarya with Jodha Bai, emperor Akbar’s favourite Hindu queen, whose identity is still a mystery.

“Ashutosh is not here to give a lesson in history. He just made a movie on the moving love story between Jalaluddin Akbar and Jodha Bai. It is an inspiring story. They were two people, who had an arranged inter-religion marriage despite the fact that they came from different backgrounds,” she clarified.

The only aspect of Jodha Bai the actress identifies with is her “silence”. “She made her presence felt through her silence and spoke only when she wanted to make herself heard,” Aishwarya said.

Speaking about love for diamonds and accessories, she said: “Diamonds were to a woman what cars were to men.”

The actress is nostalgic about her first diamond. “I got it from my father. It was a diamond ring which belonged to my grandmother.”

The rest of the diamonds she acquired along the way “with experience and they have been priceless”.

Source:http://www.freshnews.in/is-aishwarya-pregnant-19517

By
B.Venkateswarlu

Actress Hansika was said to have signed a film with cricketer Shoaib Akhtar.

She denies any such thing, her mother is said to have liked the script but has informed one and all not to go to the press unless the dotted line is signed on.

Hansika, we are told, has asked for the screenplay. Half convinced, she may soon give a nod to this one. The damsel isn’t still completely bowled over by the concept. Not yet. But maybe soon. Let’s wait and watch this match. Shoaib on the other hand denies having signed any film. So what’s the confusion about?

Source:http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Entertainment/India_Buzz/Hansika_hasnt_been_bowled_over_/articleshow/2625985.cms

By
B.Venkateswarlu

KUALA LUMPUR: A Malaysian court on Wednesday summarily dismissed a habeas corpus petition filed for the release of one of the five ethnic Indian leaders detained under a draconian security law for protesting against alleged marginalistaion of the community.

The application for M. Manoharan, a lawyer belonging to Hindu Rights Action Front leaders (Hindraf) which is spearheading protests by ethnic Indians, was rejected by the Ipoh High Court judge on the grounds that the copy of the detention order had not been certified.

Opposition party DAP chairman Karpal Singh, who filed the plea, told reporters that he will file fresh petitions for Manoharan, 46, and another detainee, V. Ganabathirau, 34, at the Kuala Lumpur High Court shortly.

The five ethnic Indian activists are being held at a detention camp in Kamunting in northern Malaysia, about 200 km from here, under the Internal Security Act, which allows authorities to hold people without trial for a minimum period of two years.

"This does not comply with provisions of the Rules of the High Court. As such, the application is struck out," Justice Datuk Muhamad Ideres Muhamad Rapee said in the court packed with family members and opposition party members while police maintained tight security in the area.

The habeas corpus application was filed last Friday and was fixed for mention before Judicial Commissioner Ridwan Ibrahim on Wednesday.

However, Karpal Singh said, he was informed on Monday that the case had been assigned for mention before Muhamad Ideres.

Source:http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IEL20071219024251&Page=L&Headline=Malaysian+court+rejects+plea+seeking+release+of+Hindraf+leader&Title=B+R+E+A+K+I+N+G++++N+E+W+S&Topic=0

By
B.Venkateswarlu

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - U.S. television viewers looking to settle back into such favorite series as "Desperate Housewives," "CSI" and "The Office" will be in for a rude awakening after the Christmas and New Year's holidays.

Fresh episodes of those shows and many others will be replaced by a glut of reality programs and reruns headed to the major networks in January as the Hollywood writers strike comes home to roost in prime time after first hitting late-night TV.

The writers' walkout, now in its sixth week with no settlement in sight, has halted production on 50 to 60 scripted comedies and dramas, and the supply of new episodes is about to run dry.

Broadcasters are getting through December with traditional Christmas-season specials, TV movies and sports. But come January, the networks will begin scrambling to plug numerous strike-related programming holes.

The labor clash between major studios and writers could hardly come at a worse time for networks, as prime-time ratings are already down this season compared to a year ago.

"The networks are really going to feel the heat when the new year begins," said Marc Berman, senior editor for the trade publication Media Week. "And it's going to be a completely different experience for the viewer."

The new wave of reality TV shows includes the weekend warrior contest "American Gladiators" from NBC, philanthropic competition "Oprah's Big Give" on ABC; and two Fox entries -- the female-domination experiment "When Women Rule the World," and "The Moment of Truth," which hooks contestants to a lie detector and challenges them to answer embarrassing personal questions for cash.

Network executives say some of these shows were planned before the strike, which began on November 5. But many were fast-tracked in anticipation of a protracted labor dispute.

OH BROTHER, MORE "BIG BROTHER"

CBS, for example, has ordered a first-ever winter edition of its summer reality staple "Big Brother" to run three nights a week starting in February.

And "Survivor," the CBS castaway competition that helped ignite the reality craze in 2000, returns for a 16th installment, along with last summer's Drew Carey-hosted quiz show, "Power of 10." Newer game shows headed to CBS include "Do You Trust Me?" and "Million Dollar Password."

CBS Corp CEO Leslie Moonves told an investor conference last week that ratings for his network would likely fall this winter. But because reality shows are cheap to make, he added that "costs will be down considerably."

CBS also is relying on reruns of its biggest scripted hits, notably detective shows like "CSI," "Cold Case" and "Criminal Minds" that manage to draw higher ratings in repeats than more highly serialized dramas on other networks.

Moonves revealed one other programming trick up his sleeve -- borrowing popular shows from sister cable network Showtime, such as "Dexter" or "Weeds." NBC, a unit of General Electric Co, likewise is poaching a "Law & Order" spinoff from its sibling cable channel USA Network.

Turning to the Internet for more strike-proof material, NBC recently picked up the Web-based series "Quarterlife," a drama originally created for the social-networking site MySpace.com.

NBC has plenty of reality fare on tap too, including the fatherhood challenge "My Dad is Better than Your Dad," a celebrity edition of Donald Trump's "The Apprentice," and "Baby Borrowers," a British import that simulates the rigors of parenthood for five teen-age couples.

The popular NBC game show "Deal or No Deal" will return for two nights a week.

Fox seems best positioned to weather the strike thanks mostly to the annual return of its smash hit talent contest "American Idol," which debuts its seventh season in January.

Fox also has several new scripted shows it plans to launch in early 2008, including the highly anticipated sci-fi thriller "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles," a spinoff of the blockbuster movie series that starred Arnold Schwarzenegger.

But "Terminator" will have to make do without a lead-in boost from "24," which the News Corp-owned network recently shuttered because of the writers strike.

A few returning shows already slated to run in mid-season may actually benefit from a lack of scripted original programs they would otherwise have to compete with, such as NBC's critically praised teen football drama "Friday Night Lights."

Another is the CBS comedy "The New Adventures of Old Christine," starring "Seinfeld" veteran Julia Louis-Dreyfus, as well as the apocalyptic drama "Jericho," resurrected from near cancellation to run a second season.

ABC, a unit of the Walt Disney Co, still has about eight episodes of its hit drama "Lost" to bring back starting in February. Its reality offerings include a new installment of "Dancing with the Stars," plus two new dance contest shows and the return of "The Bachelor," "Supernanny" and "Wife Swap."

New ABC reality titles include the hidden-camera show "Just for Laughs," the quiz show "Duel" and "Here Come the Newlyweds, a game of elimination among a group of just-married couples.

Source:http://www.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idUSN1145432920071212?sp=true

By
B.Venkateswarlu
Pakistani authorities and World Health Organization experts were trying to determine on Tuesday whether bird flu had passed from human-to-human after the country reported its first human death from the virus.

Pakistani health officials confirmed at the weekend that eight people had tested positive for the H5N1 bird flu virus in North West Frontier Province since late October and one of the patients with confirmed infection had died.

A brother of the dead man, who had not been tested, also died. It was not yet clear if he was a victim of bird flu.

Ministry of Health spokesman Orya Maqbool Jan Abbasi said the first man to catch avian influenza had been working culling poultry. He recovered but the two men who died were his brothers.

But Abbasi and other health officials said there was no suggestion of human to human transmission.

"Absolutely not," said Health Secretary Khushnood Akhtar Lashari. "The WHO is looking into all the things but whatever we have at the moment there's nothing to suggest that, remotely."

Humans rarely contract H5N1, which is mainly an animal disease. Experts fear the strain could spark a global pandemic and kill millions of it mutates to a form that spreads more easily.

Lashari said the man who had been culling poultry might have inadvertently brought the virus back to his home, where his brothers fell sick.

"He took his equipment along and the suspicion is the virus was in the equipment he was carrying," Lashari said. "These are conjectures. It will be established when they do the sequencing test of the virus."

SECOND WHO TEAM

The area of the outbreak, near the towns of Mansehra and Abbottabad, about 60 km (40 miles) north of the capital, Islamabad, is in the foothills of the Himalayas.

Partly forested slopes are dotted with villages and small chicken farms.

Abasi said 100 people with symptoms of flu living in the vicinity had been checked but all tested negative.

The last human case was reported on November 23, he said.

Of the seven people confirmed to be sick with avian influenza, six had recovered while one was being treated, a provincial health official said.

A three-member WHO team, joined by officials from the Pakistan National Institute of Health, traveled on Monday to Peshawar, the province's capital where the patients were treated. A second WHO team is due to arrive on Wednesday.

Authorities reported the last H5N1 virus case in wild birds in the area on November 30.

Bird flu first appeared in Pakistan in early 2006, and several outbreaks of H5N1 were reported this year.

The Pakistani cases bring to nearly 350 the number of people worldwide who are known to have contracted the H5N1 virus, which has killed more than 200 people since 2003.

Source:http://www.reutershealth.com/en/index.html

By
B.Venkateswarlu

Thousands of dead fish have been washed ashore in a river in the north-eastern Indian state of Assam river since early this week.

They were discovered on the banks of the Brahmaputra river in the state capital, Guwahati.

An equal number of sick fish were found in the same place, officials said. They blamed rising pollution levels.

An investigation has been ordered by the Assam government, said C.K.Bhuiyan, senior district official in Guwahati.

'Zero pollution'

Earlier in the year, the Assam Pollution Control Board (APC told all the oil refineries in the state to achieve "zero pollution" levels by 31 December, otherwise they would be threatened with closure.

The Guwahati refinery was found to be the worst polluting refinery and was perhaps the only one in Assam not to have yet complied, pollution control board officials said.

"The marine life in the Brahmaputra river has been seriously affected by the pollution caused by these refineries, particularly the Guwahati refinery," said Jawaharlal Dutta, APCB chairman.

He alleged that pollution from these refineries was several hundred times above the permissible limits.

But district officials who are monitoring the development were not ruling out other possible causes.

"It could be a case of poisoning caused by water pollution or may be an outcome of some kind of explosion inside the water to catch fish in large numbers from the river. We are not ruling out either possibility at this moment," Mr Bhuiyan said.

Killing of fish by using explosives and chemical fertilisers or other poisonous substances is not uncommon in Assam, especially during the winter.

Source:http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7151240.stm

By
B.Venkateswarlu
TOKYO (Reuters) - A troupe of dancers in skin-colored body suits had Japanese national broadcaster NHK apologizing to viewers of its New Year's Eve music special for what seemed to be a full-scale Janet Jackson-style wardrobe malfunction.

The dancers, who all appeared to be topless and wore skimpy bikini-style bottoms and feathered head-dresses, covered the stage during a performance by singer DJ OZMA, prompting about 250 viewers to phone in and complain.

"The dancers were wearing body suits, but we apologize for any misunderstanding," a presenter announced toward the end of the 57th annual "Red and White Song Contest."

"I guess it looked a bit too real," local media quoted the singer as telling reporters after the show, which regularly tops viewer ratings on New Year's Eve in Japan.

Source:http://www.reuters.com/article/televisionNews/idUST13300820070103

By
B.Venkateswarlu
She may be complaining that she didn’t have enough time to shop in Dubai — “The shopping is so overwhelming that I didn’t know where to head” — but Raima Sen’s thrilled with the response her film Migration, part of Mira Nair’s AIDS Jaago series, received at the film festival in Dubai. “

I’ve been to numerous film festivals, but Dubai is exceptional. Also, for a film dealing with a subject like AIDS, you don’t normally expect a full house. But when our film was screened, there were so many people, especially foreigners, in the audience. It was the same even at the film festival in Goa,” says Raima.

And did she have any concerns about doing a film on a topic that’s still considered taboo in India? “Not really, because as actors we have to be socially responsible. I’ve always done bold films with challenging roles, so I wasn’t hassled about playing a girl infected by AIDS. And being directed by Mira Nair was an opportunity I couldn’t say no to,” says the actress.

Up next for the actress is Aparna Sen’s The Japanese Wife with Rahul Bose — a movie that most art film lovers are looking forward to. “It’s a bilingual, in Bengali and English, and is a love story. Rahul plays a nerdy village master who falls in love with his pen pal, who’s Japanese. And then there’s me playing a widow, who comes to live in Rahul’s house with her son — a really fascinating story and we’ve shot it in Tokyo, Kolkata and the Sunderbans,” says Raima.

So doesn’t she want to do mainstream films in which she can sing and dance with the hero? “I am going mainstream again after Honeymoon Travels and this time it’s with Tusshar Kapoor in C Company. Then there’s another film with Randeep Hooda,” she says adding, “I want to do glam roles now because I’ve done my share of deglam films. It’s also important to do commercial films because it means mass popularity. But I like to strike a balance between art house and popular cinema,” she explains.

And was she disappointed with the Eklavya controversy? “What’s important is it still went to the Oscars. People are entitled to their opinions and can say what they want,” says Raima.

Source:http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Entertainment/I_want_to_do_glam_roles_nowRaima/articleshow/2631012.cms

By
B.Venkateswarlu

A drop in circulating tumor cells (CTCs) indicates that chemotherapy is working in patients with metastatic breast cancer. This can be established within a few weeks, after the first cycle of treatment, a Georgetown University team reported at the annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.

The researchers say that toxic side effects can be minimized and the effectiveness maximized throughout the course of treatment by periodic measurement of CTCs. The early detection of a poor treatment response allows the physician to switch the patient to another drug regimen that may be more effective.

Principal investigator Dr. Minetta C. Liu presented the study results for the first 54 of a planned 100 group of breast cancer patients who are having their treatment monitored by CTC levels.

Measurements were taken before treatment began and again 3 to 4 weeks later, after the first cycle of chemotherapy was completed. The researchers continued to collect blood samples every 3 or 4 weeks throughout treatment to monitor the patient's response.

Liu said they have followed the women for as long as 2 years, comparing CTC levels with the findings of X-rays, CT scans and other conventional tests used to detect cancer progression.

Compared with women who had less than 5 CTCs per 7.5 milliliters, women who had higher CTC levels had a "greater than 5-fold increased chance of disease progression," Liu said. "A 5-fold increase in the chance of disease progression is phenomenal."

"We don't necessarily need new drugs," she added. "We just need to use the old ones in a smarter way. By measuring CTCs, we can see right away if the drug is working or not and limit toxicity."

Source:reutershealth.com

By
B.Venkateswarlu

DES MOINES, Iowa (Reuters) - Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton claimed on Tuesday the momentum is shifting to her in Iowa, as rival Barack Obama fought back against her claims that he lacks experience.

Clinton, a New York senator seeking to become the first female U.S. president, is locked in a three-way fight in Iowa with Illinois Sen. Obama, who would be the first black president, and former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards.

Iowa on January 3 starts the state-by-state votes to pick the Democratic and Republican candidates who will face off in the presidential election on November 4, 2008. A win in Iowa can generate momentum for the battles to come rapidly afterward.

Clinton told reporters an endorsement of her candidacy by the Des Moines Register, the state's largest newspaper, gave her a boost.

"I just sense the momentum and the energy that my campaign is generating," she said in Des Moines, appearing with former National Basketball Association star Magic Johnson as part of an effort to warm up her image with testimonials from friends and loyalists.

Clinton's optimism aside, opinion polls in Iowa show the race remains essentially tied between her, Obama and Edwards.

On the Republican side, Mike Huckabee, a former Baptist preacher, used a television advertisement to wish the people of Iowa a merry Christmas -- a subtle reminder to the state's conservative Christian evangelicals that he wants to be their candidate.

His rival Mitt Romney, who lost a big lead to Huckabee in Iowa, hopscotched across South Carolina, whose January 19 primary vote is the first in the South. Romney accused Huckabee of coddling illegal immigrants when he was governor of Arkansas by fighting to give school tuition breaks to their children.

"We have very different views when it comes to sanctuary policies, if you will, as it relates to illegals," Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, said in Spartanburg.

Romney and Rudy Giuliani, who leads national polls for the Republican nomination, talked tough on Cuba, a day after ailing Cuban President Fidel Castro suggested in a letter he might give up his formal leadership post.

"America and the supporters of a free Cuba must remain firm in helping the Cuban people liberate themselves completely from their oppressors," said Giuliani, who was New York mayor during the September 11 attacks in 2001.

WORN OUT

Obama said his foreign policy vision would be informed by his experience as a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, official travel to Africa, the Middle East and the former Soviet Union, and living in Indonesia as a child.

He said he would be willing to change U.S. foreign policy to engage with hostile nations such as Iran.

Speaking at a foreign policy forum in Des Moines, Obama said he would bring to office a sense of "hope that this moment of challenge can become a dawn of new opportunity" instead of a "mind-set of fear that we have been fed since 9/11 -- fear of looking weak, fear of new challenges, fear of the unknown."

Clinton's husband, former President Bill Clinton, raised the experience issue about Obama by telling the PBS network last Friday that he wondered if Americans were prepared to "roll the dice" and vote for the first-term senator.

Huckabee, who has risen from deep down in the pack to lead the Republican field in Iowa, wore a red sweater for his Christmas season ad.

"Are you about worn out of all the television commercials you've been seeing, mostly about politics? I don't blame you," Huckabee said. "At this time of year, sometimes it's nice to pull aside from all that and just remember that what really matters is the celebration of the birth of Christ, and being with our family and our friends."

The spot has drawn attention from some because, as the camera pans across, the edges of what look to be a bookshelf in the background form a Christian cross.

One Republican candidate, Texas Rep. Ron Paul, questioned Huckabee's motives in a Fox News interview.

"You wonder about using a cross like he is the only Christian or implying that subtly," Paul said.

Source:http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSN1851266820071219?sp=true

By
B.Venkateswarlu

NEW DELHI - India's economy could be growing by 10 percent a year by 2012 with the right set of policies, but the U.S. subprime crisis might trim exports and capital flows, the prime minister said on Wednesday.

Annual growth dipped to 8.9 percent in the September quarter, falling below 9 percent for the first time in three quarters, as industrial output slowed due to monetary tightening designed to trim inflation.

Top officials are confident they can maintain growth momentum despite a surge in the value of the rupee against the dollar this year, which is hurting exporters, and high interest rates.

"It is possible that with the correct set of policies ... we will not only be able to maintain this momentum of high growth into the near future but may be able to raise it to 10 percent," Manmohan Singh told top policy makers.

India, the world's fastest-growing major economy after China, grew 9.4 percent in the last fiscal year, its strongest in 18 years. Its surging expansion has attracted global investors, fuelling a stock market boom and pushing firms to expand capacity.

"This high growth rate has become possible because of the historically high savings and investment rates which we are witnessing," Singh said at a meeting of the National Development Council set to approve a policies for the 5 years to 2012.

"Our savings rate after stagnating for almost two decades has touched 34 percent of GDP and the investment rate has crossed 35 percent. These high rates ... are likely to go up in future because of our young population profile."

Trade Minister Kamal Nath said on Tuesday expansion in the 2007/08 fiscal year to March 31 would be in excess of 9 percent, and analysts say the central bank's forecast of 8.5 percent should be met in Asia's third-largest economy.

Singh said global credit worries would not completely skirt India's economy, despite it being largely driven by domestic demand.

"There are some clouds on global financial markets following the subprime lending crisis. There are worries that the growth of the U.S. and other leading economies may slow down and some may even go into a recession," he said.

"This may impact both our exports as well as capital flows."

Such concerns mean India must redouble efforts to maintain domestic drivers of growth, the prime minister said.

The government is discussing ways to minimise the impact of the rupee's appreciation on exporters, who have seen their margins squeezed by a 12 percent rise in the currency this year.

The Reserve Bank of India, keen to cool price pressures and stop the economy from overheating, raised interest rates five times between mid-2006 and March this year, but has since held them steady. Many economists now expect the next move to be down.

Source:http://in.reuters.com/article/topNews/idINIndia-31043420071219?sp=true

By
B.Venkateswarlu

The results of two new animal studies suggest that when women drink during pregnancy, their children may become particularly drawn to the taste and smell of alcohol.

These findings may help explain why young people who are exposed to alcohol in the womb are at increased risk of developing their own drinking problems, researchers say.

A "biologically instilled preference" for alcohol's taste and smell may leave teenagers and young adults vulnerable to alcohol abuse, according to lead researcher Dr. Steven Youngentob of the State University of New York Upstate Medical University, Syracuse.

The prevention message, he said in a statement, is to "keep kids away from alcohol, especially those that had fetal exposure."

Youngentob and his colleagues based their findings on two studies in which pregnant rats were given alcohol as part of their daily diet. Their offspring were then compared with those born to rats with no alcohol exposure.

In one of the studies, the researchers found that when the offspring were still infants, those exposed to alcohol prenatally were more likely to voluntarily drink alcohol than were infants without prenatal alcohol exposure. This difference was not apparent adulthood, however.

Similarly, the second study found that alcohol-exposed rat pups showed a greater response to the smell of alcohol, but this effect was also absent by adulthood.

The findings of both studies are published in the journal Behavioral Neuroscience.

According to Youngentob and his colleagues, the developing fetal nervous system may become attuned to the taste and smell of alcohol when it is present in the amniotic fluid. However, they speculate, the sensory attraction may fade if there is no further alcohol exposure before adulthood.

Drinking during pregnancy is known to carry other substantial risks to the child; among the most serious is fetal alcohol syndrome, a cluster of lifelong abnormalities that may include physical birth defects and mental retardation.

The current findings, according to Youngentob, reinforce the message that "there is no time during pregnancy when it is safe to drink."

Source:http://www.reutershealth.com/en/index.html

By
B.Venkateswarlu

The government on Monday indicated that the foreign investment norms in the retail sector could be eased if a study commissioned by it found that a large organised industry would not hurt standalone small retailers.

“India may open up its $330 billion retail market after being convinced that kirana stores would not be affected by big retailers,” Food Processing Industries Minister Subodh Kant Sahai said here at a meeting organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).

Sahai said that the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) has engaged an agency for an in-depth study on the impact of foreign direct investment (FDI) in food retail on our domestic market and the report is expected to be available by March 2008.

The minister said that big organised retail players would not harm the interest of neighbourhood mom-and-pop stores.

“Some people, particularly ex-politicians without job, are making cheap slogans (against organised retail) without actually realising that they were hurting the farmers,” he said.

Organised retail backed by efficient supply chain has the potential of raising the rate of growth of the food processing sector from 13 per cent to 20 per cent in the next three to five years, he said.

Sahai said the government would launch a revamped comprehensive cold chain infrastructure scheme during the 11th Five Year Plan period (2007-2012). “Since deterioration of produce sets in within a few hours of harvesting, farm-level cooling and primary processing was critical to empower farmers. Such infrastructure at the farm gate would help farmers preserve and add value to the produce, leading to better realisations,” he said.

At the collection centers, he said, the produce from individual farms in the hinterland would be aggregated and sorted out and kept in cold storages for onward supply to strategic distribution centres (SDCs).

Sahai also said 30 mega food parks were proposed to be established throughout the country. The proposed parks would bring together farmers, processors and retailers and link agricultural production to the market. “Contract farming has also become another topic of debate, but the government is clear that if we want to help farmers we need to have farmers in cluster farming,” Sahai said.

Source:http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=62e49faf-8b1d-4f12-b71e-01086e8b3689&MatchID1=4576&TeamID1=8&TeamID2=2&MatchType1=1&SeriesID1=1147&PrimaryID=4576&Headline=Government+may+ease+FDI+in+retail

By
B.Venkateswarlu

Americans cutting the cord to their land lines, 2007 is likely to be the first calendar year in which U.S. households spend more on cell phone services, industry and government officials say.

The most recent government data show that households spent $524, on average, on cell phone bills in 2006, compared with $542 for residential and pay-phone services. By now, though, consumers almost certainly spend more on their cell phone bills, several telecom industry analysts and officials said.

“What we’re finding is there’s a huge move of people giving up their land line service altogether and using cell phones exclusively,” said Allyn Hall, consumer research director for market research firm In-Stat.

As recently as 2001, U.S. households spent three times as much on residential phone services as they did on cell phones. But the expansion of wireless networks has made cell phones more convenient, and a wider menu of services, including text messaging, video and music, has made it easier for consumers to spend money via their cell phone.

“Frankly, I’d be shocked if (households) don’t spend more on cell phones at this point,” said Andrew Arthur, vice president of market solutions at Mediamark Research & Intelligence.

To be sure, when corporate cell-phone use is counted, overall U.S. spending surpassed land line spending several years ago, analysts said.

While there are roughly 170 million land lines in use nationwide, industry officials estimate there are close to 250 million cell phones. (These figures include residential and corporate use.)

Eric Rabe, senior vice president for media relations at Verizon Communications Inc., said the company’s wireless revenue has grown between 15 percent and 20 percent annually for the last five years, whereas its traditional land line business has been flat year to year, in large part because more than 90 percent of U.S. households already have them.

While Rabe would not break out exactly how much Verizon’s residential customers spend on cell phones versus land lines, he said cell phone spending is clearly rising along with the growing popularity of text messaging and other services.

“As a company that once made the vast, vast majority of its revenue on phone calls, for 10 years we’ve been moving away from that and trying to re-establish ourselves in other businesses because we could see the traditional telephone was a mature business, it was not going to grow and indeed might even shrink,” he said.

AT&T Inc. did not immediately return a call seeking comment about its residential customers’ spending breakdown.

Joe Farren, a spokesman for the wireless industry’s main trade group, said household cell-phone spending is not something his group has tracked, but he added it doesn’t surprise him if U.S. households now spend more on cell phone bills than on their traditional phones.

The 2006 phone spending data, collected by the Labor Department as part of a consumer expenditure survey of 7,500 households, asked respondents what they paid on personal local and long distance services and cell phone plans, including taxes.

Brett Creech, an economist with the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, said Internet-based phone service was counted among expenditures for residential land line service. However, so-called Voice Over Internet Protocol will be a separate line item in the 2007 survey.

Source:http://www.freshnews.in/cell-phone-spending-surpasses-land-lines-19463

By
B.Venkateswarlu

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, looking to turn the page on a rough stretch in her campaign, launched an effort to warm up her image on Monday and break free from her rivals in Iowa.

Clinton, wife of former President Bill Clinton and a New York senator, has for years been fighting an image of being cold and politically calculating, an impression her loyalists call unfair.

With little more than two weeks until January 3, when Iowa starts the state-by-state battles to pick the Democratic and Republican candidates who will face off in the November 2008 election, Clinton tried to show a softer side on a fresh tour of Iowa and in videos on the Web site TheHillaryIKnow.com.

While leading national opinion polls for the Democratic presidential nomination, Clinton is running even with Barack Obama and John Edwards in Iowa and an air of inevitability that had enveloped her campaign for months has now disappeared.

Last week was a tough one for Clinton, as she was forced to apologize to Obama after her New Hampshire campaign co-chair, Bill Shaheen, raised the issue of Obama's past drug use and said it could be used against him by Republicans if he were to win the Democratic nomination.

"I know enough about politics, over all these years, to know that, you know, you're going to have ups and downs," Clinton told MSNBC on Monday. "It's kind of like life. And there are no guarantees in life or politics. And every day you've got to get up and do your best."

The Edwards campaign expressed skepticism that the new Clinton effort would do her much good.

"In fairness, I think the only image make-over that would work would be Senator Clinton saying no to lobbyist money and finally embracing an agenda of real change," Edwards spokesman Chris Kofinis said.

TOURING IOWA COUNTIES

Clinton is on a tour that will take her and top surrogates to all of Iowa's 99 counties and try to get maximum advantage from the endorsement of her candidacy by the Des Moines Register newspaper on Sunday.

Democratic strategist Erik Smith said Clinton appeared to be trying to remind voters why they liked her in the first place.

"I think that she has spent so much time as the front-runner and the prohibitive favorite that she has essentially been positioned as the incumbent in this race. And in the closing weeks of the Democratic caucus in Iowa, that's not the best place to be," Smith said.

The Clinton campaign has also relied on her husband to add some warmth and folksy charm, and to raise questions about Obama's level of experience.

Another Democratic strategist, Doug Schoen, who worked in the Clinton White House, called the former first lady's latest move an attempt to reverse media descriptions of her as harsh.

"The other thing the media has missed is that while there has been some slippage the last couple of weeks, it has been a moderate amount and it's quite appropriate that the campaign would do a little tweaking, but it's not the panic time," Schoen said.

Still, the Clinton effort might have a ways to go.

After Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney got teary-eyed while talking about when his Mormon church opened its doors to black Americans, an MSNBC interviewer asked Clinton if she ever teared up.

Clinton laughed off the question.

"Well, you know, when I had to get up at 4 o'clock in the morning in Des Moines I teared up," she said.

Source:http://www.reuters.com/article/wtMostRead/idUSN1742856620071218?sp=true

By
B.VenkateswarluNew Delhi, December 18: Rejecting the CBI's report seeking closure of a 1984 anti-Sikh riot case against former Union Minister Jagdish Tytler, a Delhi court Tuesday directed the agency to reinvestigate it.

"I am of the opinion that the matter needs to be further investigated. CBI is directed to further investigate the case and submit its report by January 16 next year," Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) Sanjiv Jain said.

The CBI had filed a report before the court on September 29, claiming that one Jasbir Singh had allegedly heard Tytler inciting a mob to kill Sikhs after the assassination of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi but his whereabouts could not be located.

The agency said Singh could not be examined as he was currently settled in the US. The court's direction came after the counsel for the witness submitted that Singh was willing to join the investigation.

The counsel also submitted Singh's present address in the US. The case relates to an incident of November 1984-- in the aftermath of the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi -- when a mob had set afire Gurdwara Pulbangash, killing three persons.

The case was investigated by the CBI following an affidavit submitted before the Justice Nanavati commission, set up to inquire into anti-Sikh riot cases.

Source:http://www.aol.in/news/story/2007121802239022000008/index.html

By
B.Venkateswrlu

Shimla, December 17: The CPI(M) Monday said there would be no threat to the UPA government if it is not going ahead with operationalization of Indo-US nuclear deal.

"If the government says it is not going ahead with operationalisation of the deal, then there is no no question of any threat to the central government," CPI(M) politburo Sitaram Yechrury said.

He asked the UPA government to clarify its latest position on the Indo-US nuclear deal in the next meeting of the UPA-Left committee on the deal and said the future course depended on that.

"The UPA government has to clarify its latest stand on the nuclear deal in the next meeting of the committee and future course depends on that," Yechury told reporters.

Yechury, who is member of the committee, said "we have time and again stated that our concern is to stop operationalisation of the nuclear deal which is not in the interest of the nation and not threatening stability of the union government." Yechury, who was here to wind up the CPI(M) campaign for Himachal Pradesh assembly election, said both Congress and BJP had dwelt on corruption issue during the campaign and did not refer to development.

"This shows their concern for the state," he added.

Source:http://www.aol.in/news/story/2007121800419019000001/index.html

By
b.Venkateswarlu

Mumbai, December 2: Thousands of Mumbai's office goers, who have their lunch delivered from home by the city's famed tiffin couriers, found an extra helping Friday - not of food but advice on fighting AIDS.

An 'AIDS kit', comprising a car calendar and fliers on testing and counselling tied neatly with a red ribbon, was distributed ahead of World AIDS Day Saturday.

"The kit was attached to empty lunch boxes and delivered to about 100,000 clients' homes," said Raghunath Megde, leader of the lunch couriers, known as 'dabbawallahs'.

Some 5,000 dabbawallahs deliver 200,000 meals from their clients' homes all over Mumbai to their workplaces every day, a famous system studied in prestigious international business schools as a model of efficiency.

They collect lunch boxes from homes, sort them out using a system of colour codes and letters, travel by train and even carry massive wooden trays holding up to 35 tiffin boxes for delivery at offices.

Their error margin is said to be one in six million deliveries.

Megde says companies such as Mercedes-Benz, Microsoft and Coca-Cola have invited them to speak about their work.

Health groups sought the dabbawallahs' help for Friday's anti-AIDS campaign in order to be able to use their delivery mechanism.

India has the world's third biggest caseload of people living with the deadly virus. After originally estimating some 5.7 million were infected in India, the UN reduced that estimate to 2.5 million.

It says the global prevalence of HIV infections has levelled off, in part due to effective health programmes.

Source:http://www.aol.in/news/story/2007120123199019000001/index.html

By
B.venkateswarlu

KIRKUK, Iraq (Reuters) - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice paid an unannounced visit to Iraq on Tuesday, flying directly into the volatile, ethnically mixed northern city of Kirkuk.

A Reuters witness saw her plane land at an airfield near the city.

Rice had been in Paris to attend a meeting of the Quartet of Middle East peace mediators and a Palestinian donors' conference. It was her first visit to Iraq since September, when she accompanied President George W. Bush on a visit to the western province of Anbar.

By
B.venkateswarlu

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Former "Baywatch" star and Playboy model Pamela Anderson has apparently reconciled with her third husband just three days after filing for divorce to end their two-month marriage.

In a divorce petition filed on Friday in Los Angeles, Anderson, 40, cited irreconcilable differences as the reason for the breakdown of her marriage to Rick Salomon -- best known as Paris Hilton's partner in a 2003 sex tape.

But on Monday, Anderson wrote cryptically in her Web site diary: "We're working things out."

The posting did not elaborate and Anderson's representative declined to comment on the matter.

Celebrity web site TMZ said the divorce was off. It quoted an unidentified source close to the couple saying they had a huge fight but made up.

TMZ also ran a picture of Anderson and Salomon out shopping together that was said to have been taken this past weekend.

Salomon, 39, and Anderson were married on October 6 in Las Vegas. It was the third marriage for both.

Anderson, who gained fame playing the buxom lifeguard C.J. Parker on the TV show "Baywatch," was previously married to rock stars Tommy Lee, drummer for the band Motley Crue, and Kid Rock. The marriage last year to Kid Rock lasted about three months.

The Canadian-born actress has been performing in a magic show in Las Vegas for the last six months but wrote on her Web site over the weekend that she had turned down an offer for a big permanent show for the sake of her two sons, Brandon and Dylan.
Salomon's former wives were actresses Shannen Doherty and Elizabeth Daily.

Salomon dated Hilton, a hotel heiress, socialite and actress, in a relationship memorialized in a sex tape distributed on the Internet and later released as a porn video titled "1 Night in Paris".

Source:http://www.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idUSN1742468820071218?sp=true

By
B.Venkateswarlu

HAVANA (Reuters) - Ailing Cuban leader Fidel Castro, who has not been seen in public for 16 months, suggested on Monday he might give up his formal leadership posts -- the first time he has spoken of his possible retirement since he fell ill.

"My elemental duty is not to hold on to positions and less to obstruct the path of younger people," the 81-year-old Castro said in a letter read on Cuban state television.

Castro, who took power in a 1959 revolution, handed over temporarily to his brother Raul Castro in July 2006 after undergoing stomach surgery for an undisclosed illness.

Cuba's National Assembly could formalize Castro's retirement as head of state when it approves the members of the executive Council of State at its new session in March.

Castro, the last of the major players of the Cold War still alive, said his duty is "to contribute experience and ideas whose modest value comes from the exceptional times that I have lived through."

His comments at the end of the letter read out on a daily current affairs program on television suggested Castro would not resume office but instead continue in the role of elder statesman advising the government on key issues.

Castro holds the posts of president of the Council of State and Council of Ministers, and first secretary of the ruling Communist Party.

Since March this year, Castro has remained present in Cuban political life by writing dozens of newspaper columns denouncing his ideological nemesis, the U.S. government, for the war in Iraq and its policies on climate change and the use of food crops as biofuels.

But he had not mentioned his future role until Monday.

Senior government officials, who no longer say that Castro is recovering and will return to office, insist that he is consulted on major policy decisions.

His illness last year sparked speculation about the end of one-party Communist rule in Cuba. But most observers agree that a stable transfer of power has occurred to Defense Minister Raul Castro as acting president.

The younger Castro, 76, who is considered to be a more practical administrator, has encouraged debate on the country's main economic problems and promised "structural changes" in agriculture to ensure Cubans have enough food.

Seven out of 10 Cubans were born after Castro's revolution and have known no other leader. Many are unsure what the future holds in store after Castro.

"We are ready, but we don't know what will come. We expect good things, nothing bad we hope," said Ana Rosa Hernandez, an usher at Havana's Yara cinema.

Outside, Gilberto Calderon, son of a peasant who joined Castro's guerrilla uprising in the Sierra Maestra hills 50 years ago, said his revolutionary legacy will survive.

"He has left a solid foundation for us to continue," Calderon said. "Even if someone else takes the seat of power, nothing will change."

Source:http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSKUA80459620071218?sp=true

By
B.Venkateswarlu

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid, facing stiff opposition, on Monday abruptly postponed until next month consideration of a measure to give immunity to telephone companies that participated in President George W. Bush's warrantless domestic spying program.

"Everyone feels it would be to the best interest of the Senate that we take a look at this when we come back after the first of the year," Reid, facing a pile of unfinished work, said on the Senate floor.

Sen. Chris Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat, interrupted his long-shot presidential campaign to return to Washington to lead the charge against immunity.

"I thank all my colleagues who joined me in fighting and winning a stay in the rush to grant retroactive immunity to the telecommunications companies," said Dodd, who took the floor for nearly 10 hours to denounce the bill and oppose any effort to swiftly consider any action.

White House spokesman Tony Fratto said the delay in finishing work on the measure was disappointing.

"There will be very little time to accomplish this when Congress returns in January. Each day of delay brings us closer to reopening a dangerous intelligence gap that we closed last summer," Fratto said.

In August, Congress bowed to Bush's demands and expanded U.S. government's power to conduct surveillance without a court order. The measure expires in February.
CIVIL LIBERTIES

Reid said the Senate remained committed to improving U.S. intelligence laws to fight terrorism while protecting Americans' civil liberties.

"We need to take the time necessary to debate a bill that does just that, rather than rushing one through the legislative process," he said in a statement.

Reid's surprise announcement came hours after Bush's demand for immunity for the companies won an initial victory. The Senate voted 76-10 to clear a procedural hurdle and move toward consideration of the bill.

The legislation would also bolster judicial oversight of federal surveillance of suspected terrorists. But Senate leaders were unable to agree on a schedule to vote on possible amendments as well as passage of the bill before Congress wraps up it work for the year, likely on Friday.

The Senate is expected to take up a massive, catchall spending bill on Tuesday to keep the government running and provide additional funds for the Iraq war.

The Senate also aims to complete a number of other bills before calling it quits for the year. Reid said the Senate would return to the surveillance bill when the 2008 session of Congress begins in mid-January.

Bush has demanded retroactive immunity for any telecommunication company that participated in the warrantless spying program begun shortly after the September 11 attacks.

Nearly 40 lawsuits have been filed accusing AT&T, Verizon and Sprint Nextel Corp of violating U.S. privacy rights.

Backers of immunity contend companies should be thanked, not punished, for helping defend the United States.

But critics argue the courts should determine if any company violated privacy rights of law-abiding Americans.

"For the last six years, our largest telecommunication companies have been spying on their own American customers," Dodd said.

"That decision betrayed million of customers' trust," Dodd added. "But was it illegal? I don't know. And if this bill passes in its current form, we will never know."

source:http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSN1741430720071218

By
B.Venkateswarlu

BEIJING, CHINA - DECEMBER 16: (CHINA OUT) A man leans against the bounding wall printed with paintings featuring Olympic events at a community on December 16, 2007 in Beijing, China. Beijing will host the 2008 Summer Olympic Games and it has geared up preparations for the Olympics, including advancing the construction of Olympic venues, improving city facilities, launching volunteer programs and starting campaigns to boost the enthusiasm of citizens.

Source:http://www.aol.in/sports/gallery/china_olympics101/gallery/index.jhtml

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By
B.VenkateswarluUPDATE: We're still looking for new inspectors to help manage Crestock's rapidly growing collection. If you wish to apply, please remember to mention specifically about your experience and knowledge within the microstock industry in your application, this is what we're most interested in.

Nobody knows what it takes to make good stock better than the contributing artists at Crestock. Thats why we would like to offer a job that can provide you with the possibility to improve your photographic and graphic know-how, and earn a very decent wage at the same time..

We're offering one (or possibly more) positions as a photo inspector for any candidate who can best fulfill the following:

- A solid Crestock portfolio that demonstrates your know-how (if you just haven't got around to uploading as much of your collection to Crestock as you'd like, let us know and we can fast track things for you there).

- A passion for pictures, a keen eye for composition and a great understanding of what make a good stock image.

- Good communication skills (good English is important). We want our inspectors to be able to communicate with the photographers their reason for rejections, and also be able to provide quick customized tips.

- You need to be patient and thorough, you're going to inspect anywhere from hundreds to a couple of thousand images per session. Your inspections are very carefully monitored to insure photographers don't suffer from any unprofessionalism.

- A fast broadband connection. The inspection system is web-based and doesn't require any extra equipment other than a fairly fast computer and a well-calibrated monitor.

- A few hours of work each day, at least 3 days a week. Afternoon hours (GMT) are an advantage.

This job would best suit someone who is either already a full-time stock photographer, or looking to go in that direction. The pay is per picture, but is very reasonable, over double the rate other agencies pay. As well as a bit of extra economy, this job provides you with great graphic skills for your own stock work.

Source:http://www.crestock.com/news/update-exciting-new-job-positions-available-169.aspx

By
B.Venkateswarlu
A pension fund losing money is the last thing people want to hear. But with pension funds losing money in the US, the golden times of great returns are getting trickier. Fund managers have assumed that they understood the asset classes they were investing in when markets surprised them.

According to National Association of State Retirement Administrators, public funds increasingly don't have enough money to pay future benefits. Pension funds have deteriorated from a $20-billion surplus in 2001 to a $381-billion deficit. The conservatism of the past has gone; pension funds behave more like high-risk funds today with large allocations to hedge funds and alternative assets.

The market risk itself has moved beyond local rationales as poor performance has forced stock-pickers and fund managers to employ new analytical tools to understand market risk. Unlike the bottom-up approach of stock picking, the top down approach times market risk.

However, the top down approach needs a thorough understanding of the macro picture, sector rotation, intermarket linkages, intermarket cyclicality and relative strength.

Ian Notely, the legendary time cyclist, says playing with an asset trend and against it can seriously determine your chances of success. The odds can move up from 3 for 1 to 20 for 1 if you are against the trend. This simple logic of playing counter trend can determine the success of any investment strategy.

The markets are changing so fast that by the time you realise your understanding of the "familiar" asset class is limited and incomplete, it might be too late. This is what bottom-up stock pickers are facing now with recurring market risk, which they don't know how to diversify out of.

The parameters influencing local valuations have just increased multi-fold. This is why any pure regional bottom-up approach of stock picking is like playing against the trend with huge odds.

However, it's all not gloom, there are always outperformers. Jim Simons, the world's best hedge fund manager, has produced annual returns of 37 per cent since 1989.

While most funds were cracking under the subprime crises, some high fee charging funds were already short on the ABX Subprime Index, looking for negative correlation and acting on it in time pushed up the profitability for the respective fund.

But it's not easy to find negative correlation or understand correlation in the first place. In times of contagion, correlations are found to be high.

But according to Invesdex, an alternative investment firm, correlations are not just high in periods of panic but are generally positive. And barring dedicated short bias strategies and managed futures, all other strategies viz emerging market, equity market neutral, event-driven, global macro and long-short equity have a positive correlation between 0.6 and 0.1, compared to the broad market indices.

So finding negative correlation to reduce risk is not easy. However, strategy styles like pattern recognition, mean reversion and short-term momentum can help reduce portfolio risk.

Then there is Sam Stovall's sectoral rotation, which has an in-built risk mitigation factor. Sam linked the stock market or economic cycle with relative sectors explaining when a sector leads and lags.

Why is the energy sector a leader in the late expansion stage? And why when markets are in the early contraction stage of the economic cycle do FMCG and utilities take over? He also explains how tech and financials are late economic contraction and early economic expansion sectors.

The current market situation in India clearly exhibits where technology, energy and staples stand today versus the broad market Index. Technology underperformed in 2007. Playing with or against emerging sectors can be a key profitability differentiator for a fund or investor. And since sectoral underperformance cannot last forever, knowing when the cycle is turning can really push the fund up in relative rankings.

Above sectoral cyclicality, we have the asset cyclicality, which illustrate the intermarket relationship between commodities, bonds, currencies and stocks. Why do bonds generally go up with stocks? Why do commodity prices generally move opposite to stock prices? Why is the value of cash cyclical? And why is deflation or stagnation risk a part of the credit cycle? Asset cycles are larger than sectoral cycles.

The commodity cycles turned down in eighties for nearly 20 years as equity cycles rose during the same period. The commodity cycles turned up in 2000 and we witnessed the equity market turbulence. The healthy disinflation and high savings rates in Asia might have delayed the deflationary effects.

But as baby boomers retire and inflationary pressures increase, the sectoral cycles and existing asset trends have changed. And if the interest rates cycles end, as they are anticipated to do so around 2009, top down investment approach might come a lot handy to find assets for capital conservation and growth.

And then we have the climate cycles, which are linked with economic cycles just like they are linked with wheat cycles. Institutions are already waking up to this link of environment, carbon and economics which they are redefining as green finance.

Stock-picking without understanding long term climate change on economics is another under-utilised strategy, which is not only negatively correlated to traditional assets but is also extremely profitable.

According to the Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change, the benefits of strong and early action far outweigh the economic costs of not acting. The report estimates that if we don't act the overall costs and risks of climate change will be equivalent to losing at least 5 per cent of global GDP each year, now and forever.

The author even mentions of major disruption to economic and social activity, on a scale similar to those associated with the great wars and the economic depression of the thirties.

Capital markets have already started acting. We have a whole new suite of products designed to finance projects such as green buildings, clean energy, plants or low emission means of transport, etc.

The capex in large alternative energy projects has enabled investors to participate in green finance. This has led to the new green stock-picking. The climate awareness is reshaping industries as companies like Virgin get into fuels, and green grids define which auto company is better than the other. Barring Nissan and Toyota a majority of car manufactures are still far away from a cleaner technology focus.

After ten years, weather derivatives are picking up and playing a bigger role. The urgency in essentials like water and energy is visible. Markets don't see one billion people in the world with no access to electricity and two billion people with no access to clean water as a crisis, but as a price inefficiency which will eventually correct as players jostle for 1 per cent of the planet's fresh water.

The cost of drinking water is expected to increase five to ten times in the next 15 years. There are long only funds for alternative energy, healthcare, environmental services, finance, micro finance and water management. And there are funds shorting the non environmentalists, something like long a solar energy stock and short a company selling coal fired generation equipment.

The markets are changing the way we look at energy, banking and autos; the way we look at correlation and the way we look at equity. By the time nuclear energy companies list in the global exchanges, uranium would have gone through the roof and by the time we look away from the rising oil prices, John O'Donnell, CEO, Ausra might have changed the world with his solar mirrors. Wealth creation is easy if we come out of the extreme short-term thinking and all that bottom up mirage.

source:http://www.rediff.com/money/2007/dec/18stocks.htm

By
B.Venkateswarlu

Many of our regular contributors have asked if we could reduce our $100 payout limit, so we are now pleased to tell you that we have reduced our payout limit to $50 for all PayPal payouts.

This means more regular payouts for our contributors – even those of you who don't have massive portfolios. For bank transfers and cheque payments the $100 payout limit will remain – this is mainly due to the high bank charges associated with international bank transactions.

We are also pleased to annonce the introduction of Moneybookers payouts, also with a $50 payout limit. For the time being you should contact our helpdesk in order to arrange your Moneybookers payouts, and for the next month there might be a little delay in the payments, so please bear with us. After this introductory period we should have a fully automated system in place, with the same speed of payment as our PayPal payouts.

Source:http://www.crestock.com/news/reduced-payout-limit-and-moneybookers-171.aspx