swine flu cases in India

NEW DELHI(18th june): Nine new H1N1 flu cases were reported in the country on Thursday, bringing the count of flu-affected people to 44. But what's
bothering health officials is that among the nine there were two human-to-human transmission cases reported from Delhi. With this, India now has four confirmed secondary infection cases.

Till Thursday, 15 confirmed cases of swine flu were reported in Delhi.

But what has got Delhi's health department
worried is that of the four human-to-human transmission cases reported in the country, three are from Delhi. "So far we have had one human-to-human transmission case and the H1N1 infection
was limited to people coming from abroad. But with two new human-to-human cases reported in the city, we have intensified our screening process.

"These two cases have become a cause of worry as they have come in contact with a lot of people. Our teams are tracking their relatives with whom they have come in contact. We've also given prophylactic treatment to 10 of their family members," said Delhi's health minister Kiran Walia.

what is a swine flu ?

Symptoms, treatments and prevention of swine flu

The outbreak of swine flu has indirectly affected the overall living of the human beings. Read on to know about the symptoms, treatments and measures taken to prevent the transmission of swine flu.

Swine flu is a disorder caused due to the influenza virus which generally affects pigs. Such virus is known as swine influenza virus. Such flu can also be caused to the human beings due to the transmission of swine flu virus through pigs. Swine flu is also known as pig flu or hog flu. Though this disorder is caused through pigs, eating well cooked pork does not carry any risk of swine flu.

This disorder is classified as infectious diseases which can pass from one person to another person. The people who come in the contact with pigs are more like to get infected by this disorder. This disorder is likely to spread in short span of time from one person to another. Read on to know some facts about symptoms, treatments and prevention of swine flu.

Symptoms of swine flu

Below mentioned are some of the common symptoms of swine flu. Make a proper note of such symptoms so that you can take proper action to prevent such disorder.

• Headaches
  
  
• Fever
  
  
• Breathlessness
  
  
• Aching body
  
  
• Feeling of weakness
  

• Throat pain
  


• Coughs
  
  
• General sickness
  
  
• Vomiting

Treatments for swine flu

The swine flu in humans can be treated with the help of antiviral drugs. If such antiviral drugs are taken during the initial stage of the disorder, it can help to prevent further complications. However, proper medical treatments for getting relieved from the symptoms of the swine flu are also essential apart from taking antiviral drugs. Taking bed rest can prove beneficial to reduce stress and get relief from the symptoms of swine flu. Many experts recommend antiviral drugs like Relenza and Tamiflu to treat swine flu. However, it is necessary to take doctor�s advice for treating swine flu to avoid complications.

How to prevent swine flu?

Swine flu can be prevented by taking proper cleanliness measures while dealing with pigs. Maintaining cleanliness in farms, using masks and gloves etc; can help to prevent transmission of swine flu virus through pigs. At the same time, it is also essential to vaccinate the pigs and take veterinarian's help to prevent swine flu in them. Preventing swine flu in pigs is a first step towards prevention of swine flu in humans. Further, maintaining proper cleanliness and approaching the physician after observing mild symptoms of swine flu can help to prevent swine flu.

The outbreak of swine flu is not only affecting the health of human beings but also their lifestyle. The recent outbreak of swine flu has affected the travel and tourisms of the countries in which swine flu is likely to spread. The reason behind this condition is that people are cancelling their trips to such countries with the fear of getting affected by swine flu. Therefore, we can say that the swine flue has indirectly affected the overall living of the human beings. Hence, it is necessary to have proper knowledge about such disorders to take preventive measures.

Do’s and Don’ts for Mobile users

New Delhi,

June 21: The government has listed out do’s and don’t for mobile phone users and directed cellphone companies to spread the awareness about cellphone etiquette.
The telecom department has despatched a notice to all telcom service providers asking them to create awareness among people about not having loud ringtones, not talking loudly about their personal affairs in front of others and not taking pictures of people in public places.
The notice makes it obligatory on part of mobile phone firms to create awareness among the people about the proper use of mobile phones. They have been asked to create literature in English and regional languages on the mobile etiquette.
India has over 400 million mobile phone users. “Mobile phone etiquette is a common courtesy. One should use the device in a responsible manner having due consideration and respect for the feelings of the individuals around,” said the notice.
This is for the first time that the government has stepped in to frame rules on the mobile phone use.
The users have been asked to strictly adhere to the rules issued by schools, colleges or offices. “Mobile phone should not be used to take photographs in public places deemed to be private such as swimming pools and gyms,” said the notice adding that the privacy of persons must be respected.
According to the government’s mobile etiquette in public places, the mobile phones should be switched off or kept in vibration mode as per the instruction on the sign boards.
Mobile phones shouldn’t be used while driving. “The mobile phone users should not send requests to the television operators for scrolling their private SMS on television,” it added

Satyam rebranded as Mahindra Satyam

Hyderabad

June 21: Satyam Computers has rebranded itself as Mahindra Satyam and got a new logo incorporating Mahindra and Mahindra’s identity. The company’s name legally, however, will still continue to be Satyam Computer Services Ltd. The company was rebranded to distance itself from everything that is associated with its founder Ramalinga Raju, who confessed to the biggest accounting fraud in the Indian corporate history. The rebranding, company officials say, would help the IT major to do away with the negative image that the word Satyam has come to represent because of Mr Raju’s fraud. This newspaper had reported on May 25 that the company would be rebranded as Mahindra Satyam.

With this, the company sheds its old logo with a blue pyramid and gets a new logo that has ‘Satyam’ in red colour.
Unveiling the new logo, Mr Anand Mahindra, vice-chairman and managing director, Mahindra Group, said, “This rebranding exe-rcise symbolises an amalgamation of the Mahindra Group’s values with Satyam’s fabled expertise, even as it retains that part of Satyam’s identity which signifies commitment.”
Notwithstanding the rebranding, the company would be called Satyam Computer Services Ltd for all legal purposes at stock exchanges, where it has been listed, all government departments and courts.

Sources said the company would go in for an official name change after two years. “For an official name change, the company, being publicly-listed, would have to take shareholders permission at an extraordinary-general body meeting. Then we have to approach the Company Law Board for effecting a name change. However, because of some legal issues, we cannot take this recourse,” Mr Hari T., VP, marketing and communications, said.

Trisha signs three-film contract with Akki

Trisha has not one, but three good reasons to be excited. The pretty actress will debut in a Hindi movie (Khatta Meetha) starring Akshay Kumar, which is being directed by Priyadarshan. In a literal coup of sorts, Trisha has been signed up for three films under Akki’s banner Hari Om Productions, without any restrictions on her taking up other films. Trisha was in Chennai for a day before leaving to Australia for Gopichand’s Sankam. She spoke to DC in an exclusive interview.

* Wasn’t Priyan supposed to launch you in Bollywood a few years ago?
There have been a couple of offers from Bollywood. Priyan sir has been talking to me about my launch in Hindi. But he advised me to wait for a script that had a significant scope for my role. He was also busy making films with multiple stars, with more than one heroine. He felt Khatta Meetha would be the right launch pad for me. It has a single leading lady and the role is as important as that of the hero. I have committed 60 days at a stretch in October and November this year and they plan to finish the movie within three months.

* How did Akshay select you?
Akshay was looking for a fresh face for this movie. When Priyan suggested my name, he got interested and watched few of my Telugu and Tamil films. One day I got a call from him and he said that although he hadn’t met me or screen tested me, he was happy with my work and that he had faith in Priyadarshan’s advice. He also said that being Priyan’s discovery, he imagined I would play my role with ease. We spoke a few times over the telephone. I guess he’s keen to repeat the success of his earlier two productions — Singh is King and Namaste London, which will give him a hatrick.

* Did the opportunity mean compromising on your remuneration?
Anyone would be delighted if she was offered a lead role with a star like Akshay. It’s only natural that I am excited about the opportunity, but there is no compromise on remuneration. Priyan is not a ‘bargaining director’, and he knows where I stand today.

* In Hindi cinema, size-zero and glamour are all important. How are you preparing yourself for the role?
I have maintained my figure reasonably well, so far. I’ll need to tone up some more. Looking glamourous should not be viewed as something demeaning, as is often portrayed. A good performance combined with glamour is a powerful proposition. On the language front, I have learnt some Hindi and can understand and converse in it, to some extent. If required, I will dub my own voice.

* Are you sporting a new look in Khatta….?
It’s premature to talk about it right now, since I haven’t yet discussed the story with Priyan. He’s in Dubai now. Once we’re back, we’ll discuss my look for the film, and the costume designs. I was told the designer will be the same person who works with Akki.

Satyam to sack 8,000

Hyderabad

May 23: At least 8,000 employees of Satyam Computer will be sacked from June 1. Notices have been prepared and will be issued to staff from Monday, sources said. This comes against the assurance of Tech Mahin-dra, new owners of Satyam, that it would would go for the “least painful” ways to cut costs.

Satyam employees have been informed about the company’s decision to hack at staff numbers due to dwindling business. “In the last one week, thousands of associates have been informed orally that they will receive the notice before June 1,” a senior associate with Satyam said. Of these, 800 belong to the BPO unit, 3,000 are on the bench and the rest from marketing and HR departments. “The latest information is that there is surplus even in the core wings of development and research,” said a source.

The employees have an average notice period of two months and will get their salary for June and July. Most employees have been asked not to come to office from June 1.

The annual assessment report which should be implemented from June has not been taken up, almost confirming that there would not be any increments. It has already been hinted to the employees that they should be ready to face 20 to 50 per cent pay cut.

India's Best Engineering Colleges

As the IITs continue to reign, Delhi retains its Numero Uno position from last year, while IITKharagpur moves two notches up to second place, nudging IIT-Kanpur to the third slot. The only exception in the IIT run has been IIT-Guwahati, which has slipped from seventh to ninth position. See top 25 colleges in Engineering

IIT-Delhi scores a first on placement, reputation, academic input and infrastructure

Birla Institute of Technology and Sciences (BITS), Pilani, which has rejoined the survey after a hiatus, rockets to seventh place to emerge as the best privately run engineering institute.

While IIT-Delhi ranked first on all counts like reputation, academic input, infrastructure and job placement, it stood second in terms of student care.

That, however, did not make a difference to its top position in both perceptual and factual scores. IIT-Kharagpur, with a ranking of five for each theme, came second on the factual rank, thus beating IITKanpur, which scored four on the themes but fell to the sixth place on the factual score.

The key mantra at IIT-Delhi has been empowerment of the academic community, be it students, research scholars or the faculty. While the open category, or electives, has been enlarged for undergraduates, an M.Tech programme in Atmospheric, Earth and Ocean Sciences and a diploma course in Metro Rail Transportation have been added at the post-graduation level this year.

“We have made great progress in our research outlook. This year we crossed the Rs 100-crore mark in our research funding,” says Surendra Prasad, director, IIT-Delhi.

In order to stay abreast with the scientific community worldwide, the institute updates its research infrastructure every year and has acquired state-of-the-art equipment. According to M. Balakrishnan, dean of postgraduate studies and research, one of the main factors that makes IIT-Delhi stand apart is its outstanding faculty.

To empower and incentivise the faculty further, the institute has introduced awards such as the Outstanding Young Faculty Fellowship, and offers higher travel and research grants.

It also launched a series of initiatives such as Summer Student Internship and Summer Faculty Fellowships for students and teachers from other engineering colleges.

“This gives them exposure to the IIT experience and promotes a greater interest in research and innovation,” explains Prasad.

The USP of the college is its emphasis on holistic development of the students by offering top quality education both within and outside the classroom. Perhaps this is the reason why an overwhelming majority of students takes up leadership roles in life.

“More than 50 per cent of our students become entrepreneurs after gaining some experience in industry,” says Prasad. The institute has an Entrepreneurship Development Cell (EDC, IIT-D), which aims at promoting entrepreneurship amongst students and building an exhaustive resource pool.

BITS-PILANI reserves seats only for toppers of board examinations

A special Training and Placement Cell at the institute will begin placements for this term during December.

The campus has its share of colour too with national-level fests like Rendezvous, Tryst and Sportech drawing students from all over the nation to participate. But IIT-Delhi can’t afford to rest on its laurels with IIT-Kharagpur and IIT-Kanpur snapping at its heels with excellent ratings.

It’s BITS-Pilani, though, that has emerged in this year’s survey as a role model for other private engineering colleges to follow. Started in 1946 in the semi-arid desert region of Rajasthan, the institute has enjoyed great credibility for decades now.

Despite being a privately run and funded college, which gets Central grants only for select governmentfunded projects, it has retained transparency in its selection criteria and flexibility in the way courses are run.

Until 2004, the institute selected candidates on the basis of their scores in plus-two examinations, but when it found that a few states were taking away a large chunk of seats, it devised its own online entrance test in 2005, now popular as BITSAT.

The entrance test permits a candidate to take it on any of the 40 days designated, at any of the 20 centres across the country in one of the three shifts. This helps applicants to avoid conflict of dates with any other entrance test or reschedule in genuine cases of one’s inability to appear at a given date. In all, more than 1.20 lakh candidates appear for 2,000 seats in all programmes. Their scores are given to them instantly on completion of the test at the centre itself, which has a camera recording the candidate’s image all the while to check any unfair means. This has helped the institute to get the best candidates from all states.

BITS has no management or reservation quota and the only seats reserved are for toppers of the respective board examinations. The institute has a unique system of allowing students to decide their teachers and even timings of classes.

“Transparency in selection, flexibility in teaching and industrial training in every degree course is what makes BITS rank so high,” says L.K. Maheshwari, vice-chancellor of BITS. The industrial partnership component, which has students even going abroad for training, has BITS teachers stationed at the place of training. BITS has 150 companies joining hands for this training. Besides a strong faculty, companies like Motorola and IBM have set up their laboratories here. BITS’ strong ties with industry at various levels is what has earned it Best Corporate-University Alliance award, too.

It now has campuses in Dubai, Goa and Hyderabad also. “These are campuses of the same institute and not different institutes,” Maheshwari clarifies. G. Raghurama, deputy director, academic, points out how stress on entrepreneurship and leadership-building skills is imbibed at every stage to allow a strong decision-making personality to come up. In this remote part of India, BITS shines as an oasis, which incidentally is the name of its cultural festival too.

Top Engineering Colleges in India

The fear factor : Australia

Australia has always regarded itself as The Lucky Country. That and the promise of quality education at a reasonable cost with the good life thrown in saw Indian students come in droves in the past few years.

An Indian injured during a protest gets treated in Melbourne

By last count there were over 90,000 Indian students enrolled in courses Down Under, making India the second top source for Australia’s international education industry next only to China. Indian students now earn for Australia close to Rs 7,600 crore in foreign exchange.

Last month though, Australia’s reputation in India as a fun-loving, beer-swilling, cricket-crazy nation took a severe knocking after a spate of suspected racist attacks and hate crimes were reported against Indian students. While reports had been coming in of a growing number of such attacks in the past few months, what caught the headlines was when 25-year-old Shravan Kumar Theerthala, a student from Andhra Pradesh, was stabbed with a screwdriver and three other Indian students were beaten at a party allegedly by a group of locals in Melbourne, the capital of Victoria.

Melbourne houses almost half of the Indian students in Australia and the incident sent shockwaves across the community. Soon after there were reports that Baljinder Singh, a hospitality graduate, was stabbed in the stomach by two attackers, who first robbed him of his cash and then knifed him.

Indian students take out a protest rally against the attacks

Then as the chorus of concern grew, cricketer Harbhajan Singh’s cousin Jagjit Singh alleged that his 26-year-old son Upkar Singh Badal was killed as part of an alleged hate crime and his body thrown on a railway track in Melbourne. In Sydney, an Indian student alleged that a petrol bomb was hurled at him by local miscreants resulting in him suffering burns on his body.

And back in Melbourne, even as Australian authorities announced steps to clamp down on such crimes, Nardeep Singh, a 21-year-old nursing student, was confronted by five men at a campus in the city’s south-east. He refused to obey their instructions to hand over his money and cigarettes after which one of the men slashed his chest with a box-cutter resulting in minor lacerations.

As worried and fearful Indian students held a massive rally, calling for Australians to act against hate crimes, the new Manmohan Singh Government was quick to express its outrage over the incidents. External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna said he was “appalled” by such attacks and wanted the Australian Government to act swiftly. Manmohan called up his Australian counterpart Kevin Rudd to express his concern.

Diplomacy apart, there was also a swift reaction from India’s bestknown export—Bollywood. Even as Amitabh Bachchan’s fans shaped the superstar’s decision to decline an honorary doctorate from the Queensland University of Technology, the world’s biggest film industry also made its feelings known. There were media reports that Indian film crews too would not work on Australian soil until the attacks on Indian students came to an end.

Australian actress Tanya Zaetta, who had a role in Salaam Namaste, found herself playing mediator. “I understand completely Indians being upset over the recent racial attacks. I’m appalled by these myself,” Zaetta said.

“It makes me ashamed to be Australian when you hear about attacks on people of other cultures. But I think everyone needs to take a deep breath and calm down. Bollywood boycotting Australia will only drive the two countries further apart," she added.

Realising that the matter was getting out of hand and the damage to Australian’s reputation as a centre for international education would be severe, the Australian Government moved swiftly at the highest levels of politics and law enforcement. After Manmohan’s call, Rudd was quick to react.

“I speak on behalf of all Australians,’’ he said, “when I say that we deplore and condemn these attacks.” The language of diplomacy aside, the Australian Government, the Victoria Government and Victoria Police all emphasised that preventing attacks is a priority. While Rudd emphasised that Indian students are “welcome guests’’ in this country, he was not merely using conciliatory language, but was setting in motion a viable answer to India’s concerns.

What makes Katrina happy?

Katrina Kaif is said to be toon crazy and she loves cartoon characters.

Buzz has it that Kat loves watching cartoons on TV and not just that, she loves wearing cartoon T-shirts and other accessories as well.

Now, is it being a fan of cartoons that made Kat the apt person to be the Barbie doll?

SRK, Big B to see each other in boxing ring

Shah Rukh Khan and Amitabh Bachchan together in a boxing ring? That should be the real clash of the titans.

Gossip mills are abuzz that the Badshah (SRK) and Shehenshah (Big B) of Bollywood will plant some punches on each others face. No, no, they aren’t at loggerheads in real life again.

It’s just for a movie. The two icons of Bollywood will get into action mode for SRK's home production Happy New Year.

Kavya's Dairy - Movie Review

Film: Kavya's Dairy
Cast: Charmee, Manjula, Shashank, Indrajit, Satyam Rajesh, Archana and others
Dialogues: Vakkantam Vamsy
Music: Manu Rameshan
Produced by: Sanjay Swarup
Banner: Indira Creations
Screenplay and directed by: Karuna Prakash

What's it about

A happy family, with a husband, wife and kids, invite a stranger to their home and in no time, they get close. However, things begin to take a serious turn soon. There is a lot of tension, sadness and death, later. Why all this happens forms the essence.

Raj and Pooja (Indrajith and Manjula) is one happy couple totally in love with each other and they have two lovely kids too. The family moves into their new home and start living happily and things change when one of the kids is saved from an accident by Kavya (Charmee). Pooja is thankful to Kavya and since they need a nanny, Pooja asks Kavya to stay over. Soon, both of them become close friends and Kavya gets close to the kids too. Meanwhile, Abhi (shashank), Raj’s brother who falls in love with Kavya at first sight and though she turns him down he does not give up. Finally, Kavya agrees but then the story takes a turn when Abhi gets killed in a hit and run accident. Since then, problems begin for Pooja and Raj leading to frustration and more pain. What happens after that forms the rest of the story.

Performances

Indrajith has given a neat performance while Manjula could have been better in the intense scenes. Shashank’s role was quite brief and there is not much scope for performance but he has done justice to the role. Satyam Rajesh comes up with some good comedy. The scene stealer, of course, is Charmee who has come up with a gripping performance once again and she looked quite sensuous too. The director has come up with a plot that could have given some shock points to the viewers but then his narrative is not that strong. He should have focused on providing some more twists before revealing the entire plot. The dialogues are okay, the script was alright, the screenplay was apt, and the songs were well taken with good music. But the background score proved to be a hindrance at few places. Cinematography was top notch. Editing could have been better. The costumes and the art department did a neat job.

Bottom-line

The film seems to be inspired by Hollywood flick, The Hand That Rocks The Cradle (1992). Enough excitement could have been generated by increasing the pace of the film. The technical aspects of the film have been high and the quality of presentation is good but the content part is weak and not conceived with the right punch.

Teja To Introduce Sirivennela Sitarama Sastry’s Son As Hero

Sons of heroes, producers, directors and comedians continued to test their luck as heroes. It seems that the turn of sons of lyricists had come now.

Raja, son of popular lyricist Sirivennela Sitarama Sastry, showed interest in making an appearance on the screen as hero. It is reliably learnt that Teja had come forward to produce and direct his debut film.

Teja had introduced several upcoming

Deepika posed at the cover of Latin American edition of Vogue Magazine

Shot by prolific photographer Mariana Garcia Burgos at Presidential Palace and Inca ruins, Deepika Padukone’s glamour images appeared on the Latin American edition of the Vogue Magazine. Deepika Padukone is the first Indian, Model actress appearing on the cover of this magazine and she told this to be her life time experience.

IIFA manages to pull off without many top Bollywood players

Despite the absence of many top Bollywood stars, the IIFA 2009(International Indian Film Academy) pulled off as a gala event amidst much glamour and glitter. It was a special event for the host Amitabh Bachchan as his wax statue from Madame Tassauds has been unveiled at this ceremony and was displayed there till June 13 after which it was sent back to London.

An overwhelmed Big B said, “I am very happy and I thank Madame Tussauds for considering me worthy of a wax statue. I hope many more from India fraternity join me in the museum.”

Daughter-in-law Aishwarya Rai said, “The statue is nice but you can’t beat the original.”

The fashion extravaganza held at Venetian Hotel on June 12 was hosted by celebrity duo Zayed Khan and Sophie Choudhary, who appeared in Manav Gangwani creations. Many Bollywood stars walked the ramp showcasing creations by leading Indian designers Rocky S, Manav Gangwani, Anamika Khanna and Farah Ali Khan — along with a new collection by Hong Kong designer Chris Chang. Hrithik and wife Suzzane Roshan showcased the jewelary by Farah Ali Khan. Sonam Kapoor carried the stylish evening wear by Anamika Khanna with commendable poise. Bipasha Basu appeared in a creation by Rocky S, while Dia Mirza, Dino Morea and Madhavan modeled for Manav Gangwani, and Neil Nitin Mukesh and Mugdha Godse were show-stoppers for Siyaram. As an icing to the cake was the performance by international singing sensation Peter Andre.

The event also saw performance by the host family members Aishwarya and Abhishek Bachchan. Inspite of the absence of beau John Abraham, Bipasha Basu gave a dazzling performance. Nonetheless, IIFA, this year, missed many key players including SRK, Salman Khan, Aamir Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Ranbir Kapoor, Preity Zinta, Ajay Devgan, and Rani Mukherji to list a few.

Stars have fun at the shoot of ‘Pyaar Impossible’

‘Pyaar Impossible’ is the upcoming movie from Yash Raj films which has been scripted by Uday Chopra and also stars Uday Chopra alongwith Priyanka Chopra and Jugal Hansraj. Uday plays the role of Abhay who is an awkward, bespectacled geek where Priyanka plays the role of Alisha, a stunning beauty.

Recently, Uday and Priyanka were in Bangkok shooting for the film where Priyanka displayed her funloving and adventurous side by taking a dive into a swimming pool from a four-storey film board into a 40 feet swimming pool just to have fun. Following her was Uday, who got hurt in the attempt. This was not a part of the shoot. The actors were just in a mood to have some fun and adventure.

SRK gears up for daring in ‘Don 2′

Director Farhan Akhtar and producer Ritesh Sidhwani have no two thoughts that their sequel ‘Don 2’ will be a grand and extraordinary flick in terms of action, locales and grandeur. The film will be shot in Dublin where no Indian film has been shot till date. Though there is no double role for SRK this time, he will be performing daring and breathtaking stunts this time. But for this, his shoulder surgery could pose a problem. So, SRK has given his dates in 2009 for Karan Johar’s ‘My Name Is Khan’ which does not require much physical stamina. He has decided to start the shoot for ‘Don 2’ in May 2010 in Ireland and Berlin. Contrary to the rumors Priyanka Chopra is very much there in the sequel.

Producer Ritesh Sidhwani confirms this saying, “We’re very much going ahead with the original cast Shah Rukh, Priyanka, Boman Irani, Arjun Rampal and Om Puri. Only those who died in the original won’t return, obviously.”

He adds, “We’re shooting Don 2 in Dublin. No Indian film has been shot there. We want to make sure that the sequel goes ahead of the first film. While the first part was a remake the sequel is an original script and would be much tougher to film for Shah Rukh and Farhan.”

Man of the moment

A lot to cheer about A. R. Rahman

“I make it a point to convey the common man’s feelings through my music; music is the abode of the ultimate creator,” said A.R. Rahman, speaking at the Aligarh Muslim University after being awarded an honorary doctorate. He is the youngest recipient of the honour. D.Litt apart, ‘Jai ho’, the phrase from his Oscar-winning composition (Slumdog Millionaire) has found its way into the English dictionary. ‘“Jai ho’ radiates the cultural, social and aesthetic sensibilities of Indians and that is why it fetched me an award. It reflects a developing India,” he added with his characteristic shy smile.

The phrase’s inclusion in the dictionary is “an unprecedented victory for Indians”.

What about it being used in political campaigns? “‘Jai Ho’ will become a reality only when slums get a facelift and basic facilities are provided to the poor,” he said, urging politicians to practise the politics of unity.

Dressed in a stylish black kurta and a pair of denims, Rahman was so elated to wear the academic robe that he requested the University to donate it to him, and the Vice-Chancellor K. Abdul Azis happily did so. Rahman’s musical quest is endless. “Indian music is my soul and I make frequent use of classical, folk and spiritual in my compositions,” he said.

His future projects? “Hope the music school I have set up in Chennai gets international recognition.”

On the popularity of remix numbers, he said, “It provides youngsters an opportunity to acquaint themselves with old songs.”

Going down memory lane, Rahman said his father exemplified devotion and endurance, and bequeathed his life-long love of music to him. “My mother gave me the courage to dream and believe in myself while my wife helps make my dreams happen. She encourages me to be creative.”

The world may sing his praises but he admires Michael Jackson and Vishal-Shekhar. The songs of Mughal-e-Azam (composed by Naushad) are his all-time favourite.

Somebody, who gave the national song “Vande Matram” a contemporary flavour, he seeks guidance from Indian tradition and philosophy. “It is because of these values, motivation and people’s support that I have come so far.”

An Indian talking dictionary

Last week, 13-year-old Kavya Shivashankar from West Lafayette won the Scripps National Spelling Bee contest in the US. The event was covered by primetime television. Incidentally, this was Shivashankar’s fourth trial at the contest. Sameer Mishra won it last year.

Finishing third this year was another prodigious 13-year-old Indian, Aishwarya Pastapur. Overall, Shivashankar is the eighth Indian-American to have won this contest — the first was Balu Natarajan of Chicago, Illinois, who won it in 1985. Thereafter, there was no looking back. Rageshree Ramachandran won it in 1987, followed by Nupur Lala in 1999, George Thampy in 2000, Pratyush Buddiga in 2002, Sai Gunturi in 2003, Anurag Kashyap in 2005 and Sameer Mishra in 2008.

Too bad we don’t have anything equivalent in India, to show off home-grown talent. The prize includes US$35,000 in cash and US$5,000 in other prizes. However more than the money, it is the prestige attached to the contest that guarantees placement in one of the leading colleges and a smooth career landing thereafter.

Interestingly, 14 Indian semifinalists had figured in a list of 41 semifinalists out of the total 293 competitors who participated this year. Those who watched Shivashankar’s performance on television felt completely blown away by her word dexterity — she kept spelling out every word on her palm!

American held at Chennai airport for carrying loaded revolver

Chennai, June 11: An American national was on Thursday arrested at the Chennai airport for carrying a loaded revolver, officials said.

Central Industrial and Security Force personnel found the weapon while scanning the baggage of Semilar (58) when he was about to board a Mumbai-bound flight at the domestic airport here.

He was later handed over to the airport authorities, CISF officials said.

Semilar had arrived here last week from New Delhi to undergo treatment at a private hospital.

After preliminary inquiry, officials said he had a valid licence issued in the US.

The American Consulate here has been informed about his arrest, officials said. PTI

No Tollywood films to be shot in Oz

Tags: Hyderabad

Hyderabad, June 13: Alarmed at the number of attacks on Indian students Down Under, the Producers Council of Tollywood has asked film-makers not to shoot in Australia.
The last film shot in Australia is Oye starring Sidharth, which is yet to be released. The council informed film-makers that

the situation in Australia is “disturbing” and shooting there could prove risky. Though the council did not suggest any timeline for not shooting in Australian locations, it is felt that the industry’s decision to avoid Australia is in solidarity to the victims of racist attacks.

“Our students are being beaten up and the attacks have not stopped. If we are shooting there, there could be attacks on the film crew too,” said Mr Thammareddy Bharadwaja, president, Producers Council. “That apart, it is also a matter of self-respect. We can’t shoot there when our countrymen are being brutally attacked. There are so many other countries where songs and sequences can be shot. So I have asked film makers to avoid Australia,” Mr Bharadwaja said.

Producers said that it would send wrong signals to the Indian diaspora if Tollywood is shooting Australia when Indians are being attacked. They said that it is easy for them to avoid Australia as the number of movies being shot there is very small. “Ten years ago, a large number of songs were shot in Australia. But now most of them throng to Europe. There are hardly any movies being shot in Australia, said Mr Srinivas Reddy, film producer.

Top 5 colleges in Hyderabad

Engineering

1 Osmania College of Engineering offers 320 seats.

2 JNTU-Kukatpally offers 320 seats.

3 Chaitanya Bharati Institute of Technology (CBIT) offers 660 seats.

4 Vasavi Engineering College offers 480 seats.

5 Sri Nidhi Engineering College offers 720 seats.

Medical

1 Osmania Medical College offers 200 seats.

2 Gandhi Medical College offers 150 seats.

3 Deccan Medical College offers 150 seats.

4 Mediciti Medical College 100 seats.

5 MNR medical college offers 100 seats.

Pharmacy

1 G Pullareddy Pharmacy College offers 90 seats.

2 Venkateshwara Pharmacy College offers 70 seats.

3 Vanitha Mahavidyalaya Pharmacy College for Girls offers 68 seats.

4 Bhoj Reddy College of Pharmacy for Girls offers 60 seats.

5 Gokaraju Rangaraju college of Pharmacy offers 80 seats.

MBA

1 Osmania University College of Business Management offers 60 seats.

2 Bhadruka College of Management offers 120 seats.

3 Pragathi Maha Vidyalaya offers 120 seats.

4 Vivekananda College of Management offers 120 seats.

5 Sai Sudhir Management College offers 120 seats.

MCA

1 Osmania University College of Engineering offers 60 seats.

2 JNTU College of Information Technology offers 60 seats.

3 Chaitanya Bharathi Institute of Technology offers 120 seats.

4 Vasavi College of Engineering offers 120 seats.

5 Gokaraju Rangaraju College of Engineering offers 120 seats.

India takes 2nd spot on ICC ranking, replaces Oz

Thanks to their series victory in New Zealand and Australia’s recent dip in form, India achieved their highest rankings in the ICC ODI Championship table since its inception in 2002, toppling Ricky Ponting’s men from the second spot in the chart issued on Wednesday.
With 122 rating points in their kitty, Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s men are just a point ahead of Australia, while South Africa sits pretty at the top with 127 points.
The Graeme Smith-led side’s success in winning seven out of nine ODIs against Australia this year has consigned the four-time World Champions to their lowest ranking in the ICC ODI Championship table.
Interestingly, out of a total of 79 months since the launch of the ICC ODI Championship table, Australia has held the top spot for 69 months, including 52 straight months from October 2002 to January 2007.
However, despite trailing 1-3 against South Africa in the on-going five-match series, Ponting’s men will regain their second spot from India if they manage to win the final ODI against the Proteas on Friday in Johannesburg.
If Australia end their South Africa tour on a winning note, they will rise to 123 ratings points, one ahead of India and three behind South Africa.
On the other hand, if South Africa win the match, they will finish the series on 128 ratings points, while Australia will head off to the United Arab Emirates to face Pakistan in a five-match ODI series in third place on 120 ratings points, trailing India by two.
New Zealand occupy the fourth spot with 112 points, followed by Pakistan (111), England (108), Sri Lanka (105) and West Indies (92).

England dump India

London

June 14: England dumped defending champions India out of the World Twenty20 Cup here on Sunday night. Chasing England’s 153, India replied with 150 for 5 even as Mahendra Singh Dhoni (30) and Yusuf Pathan (33) did their best in the last overs.

The narrow 3-run loss at Lord’s meant the Blues had lost two successive games in the Super Eight stage rendering the one remaining game, against South Africa on Tuesday inconsequential. Graeme Swann turned the game in the 14th over, taking two wickets — those of Ravindra Jadeja and Yuvraj Singh — to take the momentum away from India.

Earlier, Kevin Pitersen stroked a quick 46 and Ravi Bopara cashed in on umpiring error to take England to a moderate total. Electing to bowl, India began well with Zaheer Khan sending down a decent first over as he conceded only three runs.

At the other end, R.P. Singh, playing his first game of the tournament, struck with the fourth ball, getting rid of opener Luke Wright. Yusuf Pathan safely caught the top edge running around a bit from leg-slip . Bopara then displayed fine wrist work to turn Zaheer to the fine leg fence. Kevin Pietersen repeated the shot as England leapt to 15 for 1 after three overs.

However, R.P. was unlucky not to have got his second wicket as umpire Asoka de Silva turned down an appeal for leg-before wicket against Bopara on the last ball of the fourth over.

Television replays showed the ball would have hit the leg stump. England was 21 for 1 and Bopara on 12 then. Couple of big shots followed, including a hooked six by Bopara off Ishant Sharma in the fifth over as England reached 40 for 1 at the end of six overs of power play.

Pietersen swept the first ball he faced Yuvraj, whom he had called a pie-chucker, for a boundary to win a little battle.
Dhoni’s other change, bringing part-timer Ravindra Jadeja on in the 11th over, worked. The left-arm spinner castled Bopara with his fifth ball to end his run-a-ball knock of 37.

Jadeja also removed the dangerously shaping Pietersen, trapping him leg before with a low full toss to reduce England to 92 for 3 after 13 overs.

Dimitri Mascarenhas (25 n.o) then added to the total in the company of Owais Shah and captain Paul Collingwood. Standings after Sunday’s matches (Read as played, won, lost, tied, no result, points run rate):

Group E
South Africa 2 2 0 0 0 4 +0.898
West Indies 2 1 1 0 0 2 -0.150
England 2 1 1 0 0 2 -0.287
India 2 0 2 0 0 0 -0.416

Group F
Sri Lanka 2 2 0 0 0 4 +0.700
New Zealand 2 1 1 0 0 2 +0.943
Pakistan 2 1 1 0 0 2 +0.740
Ireland 2 0 2 0 0 0 -2.300

Top two teams in each group qualify for the semi-finals

Scoreboard:

England:
R. Bopara b Jadeja 37
L. Wright c Yusuf b Rudra Pratap 1
K. Pietersen lbw b Jadeja 46
D. Mascarenhas not out 25
Owais Shah c Jadeja b Harbhajan 12
P. Collingwood lbw b Zaheer 7
J. Foster c and b Harbhajan 6
G. Swann b Harbhajan 0
S. Broad not out 3
Extras: (lb2, w14) 16
Total (for 7 wkts) 153
Fall of wickets: 1-3 (Wright), 2-74 (Bopara), 3-92 (Pietersen), 4-122 (Shah), 5-138 (Collingwood), 6-145 (Foster), 7-145 (Swann).
India bowling: Zaheer 3-0-26-1 (2w), Rudra Pratap 3-0-13-1, Ishant 4-0-36-0, Yuvraj 2-0-20-0, Harbhajan 4-0-30-3 (w10), Jadeja 4-0-26-2 (w2).

India:
G. Gambhir c Broad b Mascarenhas 26
R. Sharma b Sidebottom 9
S. Raina c Wright b Sidebottom 2
R. Jadeja c Broad b Swann 25
Y. Singh st Foster b Swann 17
M. Dhoni not out 30
Yusuf Pathan not out 33
Extras: (lb4, w4) 8
Total (for 5 wkts, 20 overs) 150
Fall of wickets: 1-12 (R. Sharma), 2-24 (Raina), 3-62 (Gambhir), 4-85 (Jadeja), 5-87 (Yuvraj)
England bowling: Anderson 4-0-32-0 (w2), Sidebottom 4-0-31-2 (w1), Broad 4-0-21-0, Pietersen 1-0-9-0, Wright 2-0-16-0, Swann 4-0-28-2 (w1), Mascarenhas 1-0-9-1

‘Interest rates will come down’

Romesh Sobti is the managing director and CEO of IndusInd Bank — one of the leading new generation private banks in India. With 33 years of banking experience in large state owned and multinational banks, including ANZ Grindlays Bank and the State Bank of India, Mr Sobti feels that interest rates will come down from September and the government should increase its spending in the infrastructure sector to beat the global economic slowdown.

Mr Sobti, who has taken over as CEO of the bank about 15 months back, plans to take the bank’s customer base to three million in the next two years.

Excerpts from an interview :

The finance minister has been asking banks to take cue from RBI and cut interest rates. How do you think the banking industry would respond to it?
The interest rate will come down. Then, the question is how inflation will move. From September, we will see a reversal in interest rate. In fact, in our budgeting we factored that the interest rate will start moving slightly from the third quarter onwards.

How do you see the credit off-take in the industry?
The global economic slowdown has had its own impact on the Indian banking industry. It is true that the industry was facing deterioration of asset quality, slower credit growth and margin pressures. However, the interest rates have come down and the demand is gradually picking up. The fact is that over 90 per cent of the loans given are below the prime lending rate.

If this is true, why is the SME sector complaining about the reluctance of banks to fund them?
After the global slowdown and the collapse of several banking giants in th US and the UK, the banks had become risk-averse. Banks will not put good money after bad money. Now this is gradually changing. Credit-off take is going up. In our case, unless we see any irregularity, we feed our customers and in all deserving cases we restructured the repayment schedule. All banks are doing the same.

In this backdrop, do you think the new UPA government could get the economy back on the growth path?
The previous UPA government had come out with a number of stimulus packages. The new government should increase its spending, particularly in the infrastructure sector. We expect more measures to be taken on the fiscal side to create consumer demand.

How big is your retail book and do you have any plan to grow aggressively on this front?
Our retail portfolio is Rs 7,200 crore. It is mainly in commercial vehicles, two-wheelers and construction equipment. We hope that this will grow at least in line with the market growth. We don’t have any plan to enter into new areas this year.

Do you have any plan to raise additional capital in the current fiscal?
We are well capitalised and have enough room to raise additional capital in the current fiscal. We raised Rs 100 crore Tier II capital in March and are planning to raise further Tier II capital in this fiscal in two trenches — in the second quarter and the third or fourth quarter.

There are reports about a brand change. Is it true?
There is no truth in that. Firstly, we want to change internally in terms of better service, better products and better management. We can change our name tomorrow, but before that we will equip ourself to take up the new challenges to take the bank in the next growth level and our customers should feel that qualitative changes took place in the bank. At present, we don’t have any immediate plan to change our name.

What will be your growth strategy for the next two years?
Our strategy is to become a universal bank offering all financial products and services under a single umbrella. We have the capability to introduce all financial products and services in the next few years and will have them in our portfolio. We will focus on profitability, productivity and efficiency.

New Swine Flu case detected

NEW DELHI: With a 17-year-old boy who travelled from Orlando to Delhi via New York testing positive, the total number of swine flu cases in the city has gone up to six.

The teenager who reached Delhi on June 13 has been quarantined and is being treated at the Airport Health Organisation facility. He was travelling with a group of 31 school children from Jalandhar and the Punjab Government has been requested to follow up with the children.

Meanwhile, with Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital “letting off” a 38-year-old person who was brought to the hospital on Saturday night with suspected swine flu after his arrival from Germany, the State Health Department on Sunday decided to take up the issue of security of suspected flu cases leaving government hospitals.

“We have to ensure that people with symptoms of the flu remain quarantine and under observation till their results come out as negative for the flu. On Saturday, a 38-year-old resident of Faridabad was allowed to leave the hospital before his final results were out. We cannot allow this to happen till the person has tested negative. In this case, doctors at the hospital informed us that the man was allowed to go because he was asymptomatic, but if he was brought in as a suspect case the protocol should have been followed,” said Delhi Government’s Principal Secretary (Health and Family Welfare) J.P. Singh.

17-year-old boy who travelled from Orlando to Delhi via New York testing positive, the total number of swine flu cases in the city has gone up to six.

The department will be meeting soon to decide the need for enhanced security in city hospitals to ensure that suspected cases stay till they get an all clear. “We will have to work out a strategy in consultation with the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry about the protocol to be followed in these cases. The State Department is even ready to provide additional security to hospitals in case there is a demand,” he added.

Delhi Health Minister Kiran said: “So far our hospitals have been careful and are trying their best to ensure that no suspected flu-affected person leaves the hospital without informing the hospital authorities. We will be taking a meeting of nodal officers of various government hospitals on Monday to ensure that work to contain the flu goes on without a problem and that the surveillance system stays robust. The good news is that the people under treatment with us for the flu are showing signs of improvement and so far we are well prepared in terms of medicine stock and trained manpower.”

Jalayagnam is priority: YSR

Special Correspondent

TIRUPATI: Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy on Sunday asserted that his government’s first priority was Jalayagnam, the flagship programme of his government conceived to complete the various pending irrigation projects in the State so as to bring more area under plough.

In an informal chat with mediapersons shortly after his arrival here tonight, Dr. Reddy said Handri-Neeva and Galeru-Nagari irrigation projects would be completed as per the time-frame fixed.

Transparency

Dr. Reddy also said that he would give priority to increase transparency in the implementation of various welfare and social security schemes.

ICWAI launches new course

Kochi: The Institute of Cost and Works Accountants of India (ICWAI) has introduced a new course — certificate in accounting technicians (CAT) — of one year for those who have passed Plus Two, a press release said. The course is available at St. Albert’s College, Ernakulam and ET &T at Aluva. — Special Correspondent

Sri Lanka survives Ireland scare, win by nine runs on 14 - 06 - 2009

London (PTI): Sri Lanka survived a scare before putting one foot in the semifinal of the Twenty20 World Cup following their narrow nine-run win over minnows Ireland in their Super Eight match at Lord's here on Sunday.

Sri Lanka are now sitting atop the Group F with four points from two wins. They had earlier beaten Pakistan.

Electing to bat, Mahela Jayawardene hit a gutsy 53-ball 78 to save Sri Lanka blushes as a spirited Irish attack restricted the islanders to a modest 144 for nine.

However, Lankan bowlers lived up to their reputation and denied Ireland an upset win, restrictng them to 135 for seven.

Both Lasith Malinga (2/19) and Ajantha Mendis (2/22) bowled with fire and venom, putting up a clinical performance, to script Sri Lanka's win.

Irish Skipper William Porterfield (31) and Niall O'Brien (31) had provided a decent start to the minnows, knitting together 59 runs for the first wicket.

But the slow run rate dented their chances heavily and middle-order was left with a daunting task. John Mooney flourished late in the innings with unbeaten 31 but could not finish it off for his side.

Kumar Sangakkara rotated all his bowlers, including mystery spinner Mendis and wizard Muttiah Murlitharan, seeking early breakthrough but Ireland still got off to a decent start.

Tata Nano On Road from 2008

Tata Motors' small car project in Singur in West Bengal has incurred a cost overrun of Rs.3 billion ($71.4 million).Tata Motors said on Saturday that its ambitious Nano project was facing cost overrun but maintained the Rs one lakh car could be rolled out from its Singur facility by Durga Puja. Company Managing Director of the company Ravi Kant, who met West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharjee at Writers’ Buildings here, told reporters that the entire project had been reworked at the plant site at Singur due to floods last year which had led to the cost escalation.“We have already sunk in Rs 2000 crore”, Kant said, adding earlier the project cost was pegged at Rs 1700 crore. Stating that Tata Motors was fully committed to the Singur project, Kant said if everything went well as planned, then the Nano car would be rolled out from the plant during Durga Puja.“We hope to start trial production during July or August” he said. Asked whether there was a possibility of Nano being rolled out from any other plant of Tata Motors, Kant said, “Nano will be produced out of West Bengal”. Kant had visited the Singur plant yesterday to review progress and held long discussions with suppliers and vendors. The project cost rise has been attributed to "challenges" like water logging at the plant site during last year's monsoon. Tata Motors, along with auto parts suppliers, has pumped in money to raise the level of the land to prevent such situations in future.Tata plans to make 250,000 initially and expects to sell 1 million annually. The Indian auto market is very hot, as growth lifts incomes and wealth in the country. Ford, Nissan, Fiat, Suzuki, Renault are all planning to increase production in the Nano space over the next couple of years. Think of 10 million additional cars on Indian roads in five years.