Maharashtra News Archive: October 2007

Euphoria performs in Nagpur
Tuesday, October 30, 2007 | AY

Saturday night Nagpur rocked as the Euphoria band gave an electrifying performance before an excited young crowd. After all it was none other than Dr Palash Sen who was performing that night, and giving th city a feel of good music. The singer's frequent interaction with his fans, urging them to sing and dance along earned him applause and a personal rapport soon formed between them. As if this was not enough, Palash instructed all lights to be put off and urged the crowd to switch on their mobile lights and sway up and high, turning the entire venue into a sea of mobile lights twinkling like stars in the sky.

Sensex touches 20,000-point mark
Tuesday, October 30, 2007 | AY

Mumbai, Oct 29 (ANI): The Bombay Stock Exchange's benchmark 30-share Sensex breached the 20,000-point mark on Monday for the first time, surging 3.8 per cent or 730 points.It took 10 trading sessions for the index to move from 19,000 to 20,000.The biggest contributors to this rally were ICICI Bank, Larsen & Toubro (L&T) and Reliance Industries (RIL). (ANI)

Eminent poet, actor Shail Chaturvedi dead
Tuesday, October 30, 2007 | AY

Mumbai, Oct 29 (ANI): Eminent humorist Shail Chaturvedi died here on Monday morning after prolong illness. He was 71. He is survived by his wife and three sons. Chaturvedi, well-known for his humours Hindi poems and lyrics, had been suffering from various ailments. He died at his residence in Malad. Chaturvedi had started his career as a lecturer at Allahabad University. He also played some character roles in television serials and Hindi movies.Some of his popular Bollywood films include Chitchor, Hum Do Hamaare Do, and Chameli Ki Shaadi. (ANI)

Sensex touches 20,000-point mark (Lead: Sensex)
Tuesday, October 30, 2007 | AY

Mumbai, Oct 29 (ANI): The Bombay Stock Exchange's benchmark 30-share Sensex after breaching the 20,000-point mark on Monday for the first time, closed at 19,977, up 734 points from the previous close.It took 10 trading sessions for the index to move from 19,000 to 20,000.The Nifty ended the day at 5900, up 198 points.The biggest contributors to this rally were ICICI Bank, Larsen & Toubro (L&T) and Reliance Industries (RIL). (ANI)

Pravin Mahajan denies having fired shots at Pramod
Tuesday, October 30, 2007 | AY

Mumbai, Oct 29 (ANI): Pravin Mahajan, who is facing charges of murdering his elder brother and BJP General Secretary, Pramod Mahajan, today told the court that he had not shot bullets at his brother. Pravin stated this when Mumbai Sessions Court began recording evidences against him today. This is the first time that he is giving his version of the whole incident to the court. Appearing in court, Pravin said that," he was not a killer". When asked about whether Rekha Mahajan, wife of the slain leader, had identified the accused, he said, “Rekha’s statements aren't true.” Rekha had charged Pravin of killing Pramod. Earlier, Poonam Mahajan, Pramod’s daughter, during her deposition, told the court, "This man (Pravin) has left me orphaned and I want justice from this court.'' Pravin surrendered before the police on April 22, admitting that he had fired three shots at Pramod Mahajan at the latter’s residence in Mumbai. Pravin has been charged with Sections 302 (murder) and 449 (house trespass) of Indian Penal Code. The prosecution has completed examination of 32 witnesses in the case. They are Rekha, Poonam, sister Pradnya Munde and her husband Gopinath Munde and Pramod's domestic help Mahesh Wankhede. Mahesh Wankhede is the key witness in the case. The recording of all evidence will be concluded within this week. The final arguments will start from November 12. (ANI)

Nine film stars questioned by mumbai police
Sunday, October 28, 2007 | AY

Mumbai city police said nine Bollywood stars, including Hrithik Roshan, Shilpa Shetty and Salman Khan, were questioned in connection with a case involving an aide of gangster Chhota Shakeel. Giving out the names of the stars, Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Rakesh Maria said the stars were called for questioning to check if they had performed in dance shows in the UAE organised by Iqbal Attarwala, aide of Shakeel "under a proper contract, with love and affection for the producer or under pressure by various elements. Attarwala, wanted in three cases of cheating, criminal intimidation for land grabbing and extortion was hiding in Dubai for some years and was arrested on landing in the city in September.

Grasim, the Aditya Birla Group's flagship company performance for Q2FY 2008
Sunday, October 28, 2007 | AY

Mumbai, Oct 27 (ANI-Business Wire India): Grasim, the flagship Company of the Aditya Birla Group, has posted good results for the 2nd quarter ended September 30, 2007.Cement and Viscose Staple Fibre (VSF), its core businesses, have been the growth drivers. The Chemical and Sponge Iron businesses have contributed as well. Ongoing modernisation efforts, upgradation of plants and energy optimisation have been instrumental to the growth process.The Company has reported a growth on all the fronts, viz., Revenue, Gross Profit and Net Profit. Revenue was up by 25% at Rs.3,973 crores (Rs.3,186 crores). Gross Profit at Rs.1,213 crores (Rs.839 crores) rose by 44% over the corresponding period. Despite a substantially higher provision for tax expenses, Net Profit grew by 50% at Rs.620 crores (Rs.414 crores). Viscose Staple Fibre (VSF) BusinessThe upsurge in global demand coupled with the higher demand for knitted fabrics and increased realisations saw the VSF business post a good performance. Production was up by 7% at 69,678 tons. Sales volumes improved by 11% at 70,183 tons, a historical high for any quarter. The uptrend in international prices backed by a strong demand, resulted in realisations being higher. Increased use of captive pulp and a stronger rupee contained the impact of the steep increase in global pulp prices. The Company plans to augment its capacity by 94,875 tons from its current level of 270,100 tons, through capacity expansions of 63,875 tons at Kharach (Gujarat) and 31,000 tons at Harihar (Karnataka).Additionally, plans are afoot to set up a greenfield plant of 88,000 tons at Vilayat (Gujarat) at an estimated capital cost of Rs.840 crores. The plant would take 2-3 years to come up. The outlook for the VSF business continues to be good.Chemical PlantThe Chemical plant put in a better performance during the quarter, Production of caustic soda, which was impacted during the corresponding quarter on account of the shut down of a captive power plant, was higher at 48,752 tons. Sales volumes too were higher at 49,634 tons. Realisations dipped by 8% consequent to the reduction in prices of caustic soda and allied products.Realisations are expected to remain depressed, given the demand-supply mismatch arising out of new capacity additions. Cement BusinessThe Cement business' performance has been good. While Production recorded a growth of 9% at 3.62 million tons, Sales volumes grew by 6% at 3.60 million tons. The share of blended cement increased from 63% to 68%. Costs remained under pressure due to the steep rise in fuel costs and increased freight rates. The White Cement unit reported a satisfactory performance. Sales volumes were higher by 3% at 92,566 tons. Cement SubsidiariesUltraTech Cement Limited (UltraTech), a subsidiary of Grasim, too bettered its performance. Sales of cement and clinker were at 3.35 million tons and 0.26 million tons respectively. Net Profit was higher at Rs.184 crores.Shree Digvijay Cement Company Limited, yet another subsidiary, reported a profit of Rs.1.50 crores, vis-à-vis Rs.8.03 crores in the corresponding quarter.Cement Capex planThe Company is expanding its capacity by 10.2 million tons at a total cost of Rs.3,480 crores. To this end, the Company is setting up --- a Greenfield cement plant at Kotputli in Rajasthan (with a split grinding unit at Panipat in Haryana), of a total capacity of 4.5 million tons;-- a new plant at Shambhupura in Rajasthan (with a split grinding unit at Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh) of a total capacity of 4.4 million tons; and-- a grinding unit at Dadri of a capacity of 1.3 million tons. All these projects are progressing as per schedule. The Shambhupura plant is expected to be commissioned by end-FY08 and the Kotputli plant in Q1FY09.This will enable the Company to cater to the growing demand for Cement in the northern region. The capex plans of UltraTech too are in line with expectations. Both the Company and its subsidiary are setting up Ready Mix Concrete plants at various locations in the country. The Company's aggregate cement capacity (including that of its subsidiaries), upon completion of expansion, will stand augmented by 17 million tons at 48 million tons.The additional capacity of around 90 million tons, as announced by the industry, could result in a surplus scenario due to which realisations could be under pressure from end-FY09. However, the growth in demand bodes well for the Company's Cement business.Sponge Iron BusinessThe Sponge Iron business enhanced its performance during the quarter. Production grew by 29% at 146,673 tons, due to usage of alternate fuels. Sales volumes too rose by 28% at 141,960 tons. While realisation improved, its impact was partially offset by higher feedstock cost. The prospects for the business are expected to improve in the long term with adequate gas availability, likely by end-FY08. The pricing of gas, which is uncertain, will continue to be a concern.OutlookGrasim's strong fundamentals, its unrelenting focus on operational excellence, cost optimization, effective financial management, continuous restructuring of business processes, together with its leadership position in the Cement and VSF sectors, augur well for the Company. The prospects for Grasim continue to be bright. (ANI)

Did Aishwarya learn some moves from Beyonce?
Sunday, October 28, 2007 | AY

Mumbai, Oct 28 (ANI): Former Miss World and now one of the top Bollywood actresses Aishwarya Rai was present at the MMRDA ground here on late Saturday night when popstar Beyonce Knowles crooned songs and shook her body leading the delirious fans on a joyous frenzy.Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, as she is known after marrying Abhishek Bachchan, came to the concert with her sister-in-law Shweta Nanda.The Bollywood actress, who recently returned home after shooting for a Hollywood project Pink Panther 2, appeared mesmerised by Beyonce's magic. Performing for the first time in India, US R&B star Beyonce Knowles rocked the city with her silver figure-hugging dress and her charming moves. Thousands of fans filled the concert venue, which was a part of the 'Beyonce Experience 2007 World Tour'.The 'bootylicious' popstar had the audience grooving to her hugely popular hip-hop tunes like 'Crazy Love', 'Baby Love' and 'Beautiful Liar'."Oh she's popular in Canada and I haven't seen her in Canada, so it was just my luck that we 're here," said one of Beyonce's Canadian fans. "Why am I at the Beyonce concert? Because Beyonce rocks," quipped Julie another fan of her. Popularity of Beyonce in India also got manifested by the huge presence of her Indian fan, who came here from different parts of the country. "She has like a really cool dress sense and she's damn cool," said Nilima. Beyonce kept the crowd gyrating at her tunes and made the people go crazy when she said, "I have a baby boy in India. I dream of him all the time." (ANI)

Indian dancing duo set to make debut in Indoor Asian Games
Saturday, October 27, 2007 | AY

Mumbai, Oct 25 (ANI): For the first time, an Indian dancing duo will participate in the Indoor Asian Games that will kick off in China on Friday. The second edition of the games is taking place in Macau, China, and most of the events will be held at the Macao East Asian Dome till next November 3. Preeti Gupta, a doctor, and Shannon Benjamin made it to the second Indoor Asian Games after clearing the selection rounds in countries like Singapore, Macon, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Hong Kong. “I guess they were interested in promoting dance as a sport. First of all, because no one really considers dance as a sport, it is just entertainment for people. They don't understand that dance could also be a sport. So, that was a new thing and we were dedicated enough to go ahead," said Preeti. The dancing duo is training under Latin American dance choreographer Sandip Soparrkar, who is the first and only Indian choreographer internationally registered in the field of ball dance. “The international Latin American board of dancers has a lot of rules to it right from costumes, steps to everything else. So, keeping that A, B, C, D steps, we need to kind of do some permutations and combinations and put them together for maximum creativity. That's what I have tried to do,” said Soparrkar. Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan and his wife Jaya Bachchan have sponsored the entire trip. They are also bearing the expenses on training, costumes, travel, food and accommodation. Designer Neeta Lulla has designed the costumes for the two, which they displayed at a conference in Mumbai before leaving for China. Celebrities, including Amisha Patel and Rakhi Sawant, attended the function to boost the morale of the dancers. (ANI)

Sanjay Dutt approaches Supreme Court with a bail plea
Saturday, October 27, 2007 | AY

New Delhi, Oct 25 (ANI): Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt on Thursday approached the Supreme Court with a bail plea following his conviction for illegally keeping arms – an AK 56 rifle and a pistol, relating to the 1993 Mumbai blasts case.Dutt has been sentenced to six years of rigorous imprisonment and is presently housed in Yerwada Jail in Pune after he surrendered before a TADA court on October 22.Dutt’s lawyer has argued that the apex court should grant him bail on the grounds of his conduct, and that he has never broken law in the past one decade since he was first granted bail in connection with the case.Two months earlier, Dutt had received an interim bail from the Supreme Court as he had not received a copy of his judgement. Dutt, surrendered before the TADA court last week after he received a copy of the special court's judgementHe had spent 22 days at the same jail in August, before he received the interim bail by the Supreme Court on August 20.Dutt has already spent nearly 16 months in prison before his release on bail in 1996. (ANI)

Pak’s Aleem Dar completes century of ODIs
Saturday, October 27, 2007 | AY

Dubai, Oct 25 (ANI): Pakistan’s Aleem Dar has become the 10th umpire to stand in 100 One Day Internationals (ODIs) after officiating in the Australia–India match in Mumbai last Wednesday. Aleem achieved the mark at the age of 39, the second youngest after Simon Taufel of Australia who completed his ton earlier this year at 35. Aleem’s first-class career as a middle-order batsman and wrist spinner spanned nearly a decade (between 1986/87 and 1997/98) but was altogether more modest. He scored 270 runs and took 11 wickets in 17 first-class matches for Gujranwala, Allied Bank, Lahore and Rawalpindi. In sharp contrast, Aleem has earned the reputation as one of the best and most respected umpires in a short span, evident from the fact that he was nominated for the ICC Umpire of the Year award in 2006 only to be beaten by Taufel. The journey to the top started in 1998, when Aleem turned his attention to umpiring and within two years made his debut as an international umpire in Gujranwala. In 2002, he was included in the ICC International Panel of Umpires and in April 2004, his excellent decision-making and temperament, particularly in the World Cup 2003 in South Africa, earned him promotion to the ICC Emirates Elite Panel. Aleem’s success story shows that determination, hard work and commitment are the key to success in any profession. It also reflects that not only the cricketers, but officials can also reach the zenith of glory if there is a quest to rise. “It has been a fairy-tale ride for me,” admitted Aleem. “Like any youngster, I also wanted to be a Test cricketer and although I couldn’t cherish my childhood ambitions because of various reasons, I find myself extremely honoured and lucky to still be an active member of the cricket fraternity. “I couldn’t have a impressive career as a cricketer because I started my cricket late due to my father’s regular postings in remote areas. And when I really got an opportunity, there was fierce competition besides limited backing, facilities and resources,” he said in an ICC statement. Aleem said that by becoming a Test umpire he has fulfilled his dreams of being part of international cricket. “You don’t always get what you dream but I am one of those lucky people who almost achieved what they dreamed of.“ “To officiate in 100 ODIs and 39 Tests is something like a dream come true. Completing a century of ODIs is not only an honour for me but also for Pakistan, as I am the first umpire from Asia to achieve this distinction,” he added. Most appearances by umpires (as of 25 October 2007): Rudi Koertzen (South Africa)– 182David Shepherd (England)– 172Steve Bucknor (West Indies)– 167Daryl Harper (Australia)– 141Darrell Hair (Australia)– 135Billy Bowden (New Zealand)– 120Simon Taufel (Australia)– 116David Orchard (South Africa)– 107Steve Dunne (New Zealand)– 100Aleem Dar (Pakistan)– 100.

Sensex crosses 19000-point mark again
Saturday, October 27, 2007 | AY

Mumbai, Oct 26 (ANI): The Bombay Stock Exchange's benchmark 30-share Sensex crossed the 19000-point mark on Friday, following Security and Exchange Board of India's (SEBI) decision to partially restrict Participatory-Notes.The Sensex closed at 19,243, up 472 points, while Nifty closed at 5702, up 133 points from the previous close.The Sensex touched a high of 19,276 levels in intra-day deals.The SEBI, India’s stock market regulator, on Thursday, said it would go ahead with planned curbs on the use of an investment route by unregistered investors overseas.Initially, investors seemed cautious ahead of SEBI's board meeting onThursday to decide on restrictions on P-Notes amid reports that the ReserveBank of India (RBI) has reiterated its earlier stance of a complete ban on P-Notes. Activity, however, was picked up as investors continued to roll over positions to next series indicating the market's bullish undertone.The buoyancy in the markets on Friday was accounted for by the buying spree of foreign and domestic funds in capital goods and metal segments resulting in the 30-share index, Sensex, gaining 276.23 points to climb over 19,047.12, a record peak set on October 14.SEBI has said it wants to limit the use of participatory notes (P-Notes), which it says allow foreigners to make a backdoor entry into the market without registering. It wants foreign portfolio investors to register so it knows the source of funds coming into the country."The way SEBI chief yesterday announced, the market has reacted positively, even the FII. Because as he mentioned, yesterday that many of the foreign investors have submitted their forms for registration. This is a very good step that the SEBI chief has taken," said Siddhart Kuanwala, an investor.The benchmark Sensex surged as investors engaged in hectic buying on the Bombay Stock Exchange and shares of Tata Steel and ICICI Bank registered sharp rise.India's stock market regulator tightened investment rules for unregistered foreigners as expected on Thursday by clamping down on issuance of indirect investment notes to stem inflows of anonymous money.Analysts thought in the long run the new rules would not deter foreign funds from the world's second fastest-growing economy after China, especially as the SEBI has pledged to speed up registration of foreign institutional investors (FIIs)."Yesterday, the meeting held with SEBI was a positive one because they announced that they are not against the FIIs coming in. SO, as the news came in, it has been seen that many FIIs ate registering," said Vikas, another investor.P-notes are issued by foreign institutional investors (FIIs) registered in India to unregistered overseas investors. Registered FIIs buy Indian securities and issue the notes based on the underlying asset. (ANI)

Red Herring announces speakers for Annual Asia Technology Conference
Saturday, October 27, 2007 | AY

Belmont, Oct 26 (ANI-Business Wire India): Red Herring, Inc. has announced the speakers at its upcoming annual flagship Asia Technology Roundtable Exhibition (ATRE) conference November 4-6 in Mumbai.This year's conference, themed "Asia Rising," explores how the region has emerged as a major world epicenter for innovation in technology and communications. Top executives from Microsoft, Tata Technology, Infosys, Lenovo, Bharti, and more will come together for three days of intense discussion, networking and debate.Speakers include Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft; S. Ramadorai, Chairman of Tata Technology; Kris Gopalakrishnan, CEO and Managing Director of Infosys; Akhil Gupta, Joint Managing Director and Group Director; Bharti, Deepak Advani SVP, E-Commerce, and CMO, Lenovo; Rajeev Gupta; Managing Director, Carlyle; Promod Haque, Managing Partner, Norwest Venture Partner; Samir Sood, Head of South Asia - M&A Investments, Google; Navin Chaddha, Managing Director, Mayfield Fund; Satjv Chahil, SVP, Personal System Group, Hewlett-Packard; Mikaal Abdulla, SVP, International Strategy & Development, "We're convening the best and the brightest in the communications and technology sector," says Alex Vieux, Chairman and Publisher of Red Herring. "With some of the biggest names speaking at ATRE, the conference is going to be a hotbed for strong debates and deep insights into Asia's emergence as a world leader in technology, and the smartest ways to benefit from it."About 300 leaders from 35 countries will gather at ATRE-07. Leading CEOs, entrepreneurs and financiers from the information technology and communications industries across the West and Pacific Rim participate. The conference also selected a number of top private technology firms from Asia to showcase their technologies and services. (ANI)

Castrol India Ltd. launches Castrol Magnatec with “Intelligent Molecules”
Saturday, October 27, 2007 | AY

Mumbai, Oct 27 (ANI-Business Wire India): Castrol India Limited today unveiled Castrol Magnatec, a specially formulated engine oil, using synthetic technology, with the unique proposition of "Intelligent Molecules". The announcement was made at the finals of the Castrol Magnatec Intelligent Corporate Cricket tournament held at the Goregaon Sports Complex in Mumbai.Elaborating on the launch of Castrol Magnatec, V. Srikanth, Vice President Marketing, Castrol India Limited explained: "The sales in the mid-segment (segment B and segment C) category of the passenger car segment has seen a surge over the last decade owing to the rapid growth in the personal mobility space. The car owners of this segment are relatively less involved with the maintenance of their car yet seek reliable performance from their vehicle and are willing to pay a premium for the right maintenance and service. Castrol Magnatec has been formulated with synthetic technology that forms a stronger layer of protection from the moment you turn on the ignition thus ensuring that the engine performs at its peak for a longer duration."Typically, maximum wear and tear occurs to the engine during start up as the oil drains out if it has been turned off for a long period. The molecules in Castrol Magnatec are attracted to the surface area of the engine and bond to the metal surface thereby making it resistant to damage during start-up. Thus, the unique proposition of intelligent molecules that know where to go.Speaking on the occasion, Rahul Dravid, Brand Ambassador, Castrol Magnatec, said, "I am happy to be associated with a high performance brand like Castrol that incorporates cutting edge technology in all its products so as to bring out the best performance from the engine. The launch of Castrol Magnatec comes as a good news to those car owners who care about their vehicle and believe in giving the best to their car."In an effort to bring about awareness of the launch of Castrol Magnatec among its consumers Castrol India Ltd. had organised the Castrol Magnatec Intelligent Corporate Cricket tournament. More than 200 corporates were targeted across Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore for this activity. On October 13 and 14, corporate India padded up to compete in the Castrol Magnatec Intelligent cricket.Vijay Yadav (ex Wicket Keeper) of India with his team of Ranji trophy players as the match consultants, Umpires of international repute and the perfect pitches, the teams battled it out on the field. Some of the big Corporate names included the likes of ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Standard Chartered, Accenture, Times of India , Star News, Sahara , ABN Amro, Axis Bank, Jet Airways, HLL, IBM, Airtel, Hero Honda, Yamaha, Alcatel, Siemens, Infosys, Dell, Zee TV and a host of others. The finals today saw a tough fight by the Magnatec Champs of all four regions Mumbai - ICICI, Delhi - Make My Trip, Bangalore - AXA Business Services and Kolkatta- DPSC. AXA - Business Services from Bangalore put up a winning performance and received their trophy from Rahul Dravid and have won a team trip to Egypt. (ANI)

Sketches of three terror suspects released
Saturday, October 27, 2007 | AY

Mumbai, Oct 26 (ANI): Mumbai Police on Friday released sketches of three persons, including a woman, who were in Mumbai this week and could potentially belong to some terror groups. The three suspects are said to have carried out a survey of sensitive locations in the city such as Mahim dargah, Haji Ali dargah and Mahalaxmi temple.According to Joint Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) K L Prasad, the three suspects had used a taxi for travelling the city on October 22 and 23.Based on the taxi driver's description of the suspects, the sketches were made, said Prasad.Prasad called upon the people to come forward with any information about the three, as they could potentially be linked to some terror groups.People can give information by dialing 100 and 103, he added.Police had been searching for the trio for the last two days, said Prasad, adding that they could be "fidayeen" (suicide squad members).The Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) officers reportedly leaked the information to a section of media yesterday.Prasad said that adequate security has been provided to the taxi driver.He further said that security at sensitive spots is in place since the beginning of the festival season starting from Ganeshotsav in September. (ANI)

Civic body aims at 24x7 water supply by 2012
Thursday, October 25, 2007 | AY

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation gave a presentation of the ‘24X7’ water supply project that the civic administration propose to complete by 2012. ‘Sujal Mumbai’—the long term, futuristic and multi-pronged mission—assures continuous water supply by undertaking a few water reforms. The committee also gave their unanimous approval to the appointment of zone-wise contractors for repair, maintenance and emergency works of water department for immediate relief.

Maharashtra medical teachers submit resignation
Wednesday, October 24, 2007 | AY

About 150 senior medical teachers of Maharashtra government hospitals have submitted a mass resignation notice to protest the government's "failure" to fulfil their various demands. Maharashtra State Medical Teachers Association (MSMTA) has been demanding that the government regularise all posts by giving the temporary teachers permanent cadre, time-bound promotion and pay scale, salary at par with other state governments like Karnataka, allow private practice and give allowance for non-practice. The government had promised to fulfil their demands by September 30.

Indian website all set to become world’s widest neutral insurance shopping portal
Wednesday, October 24, 2007 | AY

Mumbai, Oct 23 (ANI-Business Wire India): India's first neutral insurance shopping website - www.InsuranceMall.in today announced the launch of its Motor and Life Insurance "quote-engines" making it one of the most comprehensive neutral websites in the world. The website will offer the customer a choice to compare and buy from the widest range of insurance products underwritten by leading Insurance Companies. The success of www.InsuranceMall.in reinforces the vision of industry watchers who predict the future of distribution in cost-effective modern channels like Bancassurance, Corporate Retail/Worksites, Internet, Mobile and allied technology. "India is poised to set new global benchmarks in innovative customer service in Insurance. The features offered on Insurancemall.in would be unheard of anywhere across the globe." said CEO and MD, Bonsai Insurance Broking, Manish Jaiswal The website currently offers Compare and Buy Option in Health, Personal Accident, Critical Illness, Home, Travel, Student, Motor and Life Insurance which comprises close to 99 per cent of the complete Personal Lines range making it one of the most comprehensive website across the world. According to internal sources, the Motor Insurance Quote Engine in particular is a path-breaking development ready for real time product improvements in the future. "We are proud to declare that our in-house quote-engine for Motor Insurance is completely flexible and ready for any new product or feature introduced in the market", said Mahavir Chopra, Director - eBusiness. On the landmark achievement and as a part of giving back to the society, www.InsuranceMall.in announced a program: "Buy one, Gift one" - insuring one needy individual against Personal Accident per purchase of Rs. 500 on its website. "We also plan to provide our expertise and free advice to NGOs and other similar institutions for Insurance related matters", said Niraj Jain, Principal Officer - Insurance. (ANI)

Maidoindia announces winners of Indo-Japanese fusion sushi contest
Wednesday, October 24, 2007 | AY

Mumbai, Oct 23 (ANI-Business Wire India): Maidoindia that is promoting Japanese Food, Art and Culture in the country has announced the award winners for the first annual All-India Japanese fusion sushi contest. It is working in the country in association with The Consulate General of Japan in Mumbai, The Institute of Hotel Management (IHM), Mumbai and the Western Culinary Association It was for the first time in India that such an initiative was taken, to give an excellent platform to students from the hospitality sector and professionals from the field to interact and showcase their talents. The contest saw the active participation of both students and professionals in large numbers and attracted attention from the stalwarts from the hospitality sector. The expert panel of judges included Celebrity Chef Hisa (formerly of Wasabi, Taj Hotels and Palaces Mumbai), Chef Kato (Four Seasons Mumbai), Chef Koizumi (ITC Hotel), Chef Matthew Cropp (The Oberoi) and Mr Harry Cheng (Director, maidoindia). The Sushi Contest ended on a fantastic note with the Award Ceremony held at the Japanese Consulate of Mumbai. His Excellency, Hirotsugu Hagiuda Consul General of Japan, Mumbai extended support on behalf of Japanese Government to this endeavor. In his welcome speech he noted: "I am pleased that maidoindia came up with this great idea to promote Japanese Food, Art and Culture in India. I am glad to be a part of this beautiful crowd and hope that Japanese Food,Art and Culture is appreciated and welcomed in India and vice-versa" Harry Cheng commented: "I was very impressed with the creativity and innovation demonstrated by the students as well as professional chefs. I feel that sushi will continue to evolve in India, and this competition to be held annually, will be an important date in the calendar for sushi chefs and fans alike in the future. I would like to extend my thanks to all who participated, for their hard work, passion, and the pursuit of excellence." Okui, the Chairman of The Japan Society, Mumbai and Anup Jatia (Director, maidoindia) also graced the Awards Ceremony with their kind presence. Every participant was presented with a Certificate of Participation at the Award Ceremony. The Winner for the Professional Category was Chef Bambang Soeprijono of the JWM Hotel Mumbai. Chef Bambang was also selected as the Overall Winner and was presented with the Grand Prize, being All Nippon Airways Business Class Return Ticket from Mumbai to Tokyo on ANA's all new 36 seater Business Jet. The winner for the Student Category was Shreeya Mitra from IHM, Mumbai, who also won Chef Hisa's Budding Sushi Chef of the Year. Aditya Kulkarni, also from IHM Mumbai, was the Runner-Up, Student Category, and was also presented with the Original Vegetarian Sushi Award. Chef Sumit Thapa of the Oberoi, Mumbai, received the Consulate General of Japan Awards for Innovation. (ANI)

Fragmentation - the disease of epidemic proportions, says Industry expert
Wednesday, October 24, 2007 | AY

Mumbai, Oct 24 (ANI/Business Wire India): Industry expert, B. Boyers, reveals the epidemic disease that is fragmentation as can be seen in a recent PCWorld article on computer essentials. The insidious disease of hard disk file fragmentation is still very much alive and infectious.Every hard drive suffers from file fragmentation as a result of the flawed operating system. As files are created, saved and edited, parts of each file are saved wherever free space is available plaguing the computer's landscape. This file storage system slowly seizes your computer's ability to operate as it becomes a longer more difficult process for the read head to locate each fragment. Thus impatient computer users are left to watch their computer crash and burn during crucial times of operation.For some time, the only solution to file fragmentation was to perform a backup and restore on each and every hard drive. This arduous task had to be undertaken when users were not on the system--which meant the majority of IT personnel were working nights and weekends. This was until the ultimate vaccine was created, the defragmenter.The defragmenter is a unique solution that collects all of the fragments and puts them back together again. Defragging the hard drive restores the disk to create whole files and chucks of free-space. At the end of the day, IT personnel could finally go home to their families.But unfortunately, as technology evolved and the operating systems became more complex, the fragmentation disease got worse. With multi-Gigahertz microprocessors and large multi-media libraries, files became more fragmented than ever before. Now files can fragment into hundreds, thousands, even tens of thousands of tiny fragmented pieces causing system performance and stability problems like never before. Manual defragmentation--the disk-by-disk running of a defragmenter--has become an archaic menial solution. For many years, scheduled defragmentation, with which IT personnel could set defragmenters to run at certain times, seemed to be the answer, but with the complexity of today's technology, this to is become grown out of date.Now there are intelligent automatic third-party solutions available that can defragment in real-time saving your computer from every threatening attempt to infect you computer.Regular defragmentation reduces user waiting time, improves new technologies, prevents unnecessary hardware upgrades and reduces help desk calls, ultimately resulting in a huge ROI for the enterprise. (ANI)

Castrol India Limited announces third quarter results
Wednesday, October 24, 2007 | AY

Mumbai, Oct 24 (ANI/Business Wire India): Castrol India Limited today declared its third quarter results for the period July - September 2007. Profit before tax during the period was at Rs.86 crores - an increase of 107 per cent against a PBT of Rs. 41 crores during the same period last year. Profit after tax was also higher by 60 per cent from Rs.34 crores during July - September 2006, to Rs.54 crores during the same period this year. Net Sales for the quarter was up by 3 per cent, from Rs.419 crores in 2006 to Rs.431 crores in 2007.Commenting on the results, Naveen Kshatriya, Managing Director said, "The results reflect the loyal patronage of our premium products by our discerning customers, trade, workshops and Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs). We are proud to offer the most contemporary, world class products, backed by leading edge innovation and technology. Our consumers appreciate the quality and value propositions of Castrol brands like Edge, Magnatec, Activ 4T and Power1. Castrol CRB, India's largest selling multigrade diesel engine oil marks its 75th year in the Indian market, continuously upgrading with vehicle technology."Kshatriya also emphasized the increasing strength of the relationships with key partners like OEMs and channels. Speaking about the vital role of relationships in Castrol's performance, Kshatriya said, "As much as we focus on revitalizing our products, we continuously work at rejuvenating and strengthening our win-win relationships with valued OEM partners like Tata Commercial Vehicles Division, Tata Passenger Cars, Mahindra and Mahindra, Ford, JCB and L&T. We have also entered into a new partnership agreement with Volvo Cars who have just launched their vehicles in India. Going forward, we will continue to explore more strategic alliances.”To strengthen our connection with end users like bikers, car and truck owners, he said, “We have refreshed and upweighted our campaigns in media and on ground, focusing communication on product benefits and technology. We have also recently launched Castrol Magnatec - a high technology, part synthetic engine oil for passenger cars.”The company is also moving up the service value chain through service formats like Castrol BikeZone, a chain of franchised multi-bike servicing outlets spread across the country. Castrol BikeZone customer base has doubled in the last 12 months and is now set for faster paced expansion. (ANI)

Maharashtra's Sangli village lit up with fireworks on Dussehra night
Wednesday, October 24, 2007 | AY

Sangli, Oct 22 (ANI): Sangli village in Maharashtra marked the conclusion of the ten-day Dussehra with a dazzling display of fireworks through the night on Sunday.The tradition of firework display on the tenth day of Dussehra has been in vogue in Sangli village for the past 300 years. People from across the country come to see the fireworks."Fireworks go on throughout the night. People come here and enjoy the spectacle. This is the pride of our village," said Ramchandra Thorat, a member of the local governing body.People dance and indulge in revelry all through the night and there is brilliance and sparkle everywhere.People from all communities participate in the celebrations.The onus of conducting the show is with 400 mandals (small organizing committees) in Sangli. Villagers manufacture crackers with no outside -- technical or financial -- support.According to P B Chavan, a member of the firework organising committee, the total expenditure on fireworks on this night is pegged at a staggering Rs 1 crore (251,635 dollars).The locals take several precautions during the fireworks display. They take pride in the fact that no untoward incident has ever happened on a Dussehra night. (ANI)

Sanjay Dutt surrenders, moved to Yerwada jail again (Lead- Sanjay Dutt)
Wednesday, October 24, 2007 | AY

Mumbai, Oct 22 (ANI): Close to two months earlier, Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt had left the premises of Yerwada jail after receiving an interim bail in connection with the 1993 Mumbai blasts case, only to return there on Monday.Dutt, surrendered before the TADA court here after he received a copy of the special court's judgement, which sentenced him six years of rigorous imprisonment after finding him guilty under the Arms Act for possessing arms, including an AK-56 assault rifle at the height of the 1993 communal riots in Mumbai.For Yerwada jail authorities, return of Sanjay Dutt brings a mix bag of emotions as the 'lovable Munnabhai' had landed some police personnel in problem after they hugged and shook their hands with the actor when he left the jail premises in August. He had spent 22 days at the same jail before getting the interim bail by the Supreme Court on August 20.On Saturday, Dutt failed to get his judgement copy as it was on ready. The TADA court on Saturday handed copies of judgments to 13 convicts, including 10 who have been sentenced to death.Dutt was asked to return on Monday, along with 33 others. The judge also called 30 convicts who are in custody and the four men in the Dutt group. Now, Dutt is likely to file a fresh application for regular bail before the apex court and also challenge the six years sentence awarded to him by the TADA court The court granted bail to all six on the condition that they would report to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) office in Mumbai every week and would not abuse their grant of liberty and bail. Dutt has already spent nearly 16 months in prison before his release on bail in 1996. (ANI)

Maharashtra's Achalpur city tense after stone pelting of Goddess Durga idol
Wednesday, October 24, 2007 | AY

Achalpur (Maharashtra), Oct 23 (ANI): Achalpur city in Maharashtra's Amravati District is tense after a mob went on rampage following the stone pelting of an idol of the Goddess Durga by unidentified men.At least 37 people were injured in the incident that broke out during a procession that was being taken out by hundreds of devotees for the immersion of the idol of Goddess Durga on Sunday.The enraged mob went on a rampage, ransacking shops and setting at least 50 of them on fire.Police had to resort to a baton charge to disperse the irate mob and bring the situation under control.The injured have been admitted to a state-run hospital. Around 150 people have been arrested.Curfew has been clamped in the town. Police officials are also carrying out house to house searches in the area for miscreants. (ANI)

Mumbai suburban train service undergoes revamp
Wednesday, October 24, 2007 | AY

New Delhi, Oct 23 (ANI): The Railways Ministry in collaboration with Maharashtra Government has taken steps to revamp the Mumbai Suburban Railway System to bring down overcrowding in peak hour in peak direction.With the implementation of the rail component of Multi-Modal Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP) various steps are being taken.The suburban train operation is being segregated from the main line passenger and freight services.Under the MUTP phase-I sanctioned at a cost of Rs. 31.25 billion (Rs. 3125.20 crore), 550 new trains will bee added to the system.While on fast line, all trains will be of 12-cars, 20 per cent of trains will be of 12-cars on slow line.Vehicle kilometers per day will increase by 33 per cent.Overcrowding during peak hour peak direction will come down from existing over 5,000 commuters to 3,600 commuters per nine-car rake, said a Railway Ministry release.Provision of additional booking counters, Coupon Validating Machines and computerized Unreserved Ticketing System are being made to ease congestion at booking counters.Instructions have also been issued to extend Jansadharan Ticket Booking Sevak (JTBS) scheme to Western Railway, the release said.Provision of contact less Smart Card based ticketing system and Automatic Ticket Vending Machines (ATVMs) is also on hand in Mumbai area. (ANI)

AIDS vaccine soon to be a reality
Monday, October 22, 2007 | AY

Results of the phase one clinical trials to develop a vaccine for the Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) are out. The Pune-based National AIDS Research Institute (NARI) took up two possible vaccines for trial in February 2005. The results were analysed after completion of one year’s follow-up this year of the last vaccinated volunteer. The results indicate that the first vaccine, which used adeno-associated viral (AAV) vector, failed to generate desired results. The second vaccine using the modified vaccinia Ankara (MVA) vector was on par with scientists’ expectations. Now scientists at NARI, the Indian Council of Medical Research, the National AIDS Control Organisation and the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, are discussing how to go ahead with further trials of the so-far successful vaccine. The phase two trials may take off in six months if the Union Health Ministry gives its clearance. The AIDS vaccine trials work on two strategies - either neutralising antibodies or cell mediated immune response.

Sanjay Dutt to get TADA court judgment copy
Monday, October 22, 2007 | AY

Mumbai, Oct 22 (ANI): Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt, who is out on interim bail in connection with the 1993 Mumbai blast case, will get a copy of the TADA court judgment order today. The TADA court on Saturday handed copies of judgments to 13 convicts, including 10 who have been sentenced to death.Dutt was asked to return on Monday along with 33 others. The judge also called 30 convicts who are in custody and the four men in the Dutt group. After getting a copy of the judgment, Dutt will have to surrender before police. Then, he can move a fresh application for regular bail before the Supreme Court. Dutt was sentenced to six years of rigorous imprisonment by a TADA court under the Arms Act for possession of arms, including an AK-56 assault rifle at the height of the 1993 communal riots in Mumbai. Dutt along with five other convicts were granted interim bail by the apex court on August 20. The apex court granted bail to all the six on the condition that they will report to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) office in Mumbai every week and will not abuse their grant of liberty and bail. Dutt has already spent nearly 16 months in prison before his release on bail in 1996. (ANI)

Rising sea level threatens inundating Mumbai, Karachi
Monday, October 22, 2007 | AY

Sydney, Oct 22 (ANI): Rising sea levels as a result of global warming threatens inundating 21 major cities, including Mumbai and Karachi, a new report by the WorldWatch institute has revealed. Other cities in the highly vulnerable risk category include New York, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Bangkok, Jakarta, Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro, Shanghai and Cairo, the ‘State of the World 2007: Our Urban Future’ report said. Researcher Zoe Chafe said: “Although natural disasters are often presented as rare and unexpected tragedies, the reality is they now occur more frequently, affect more people and cause greater economic damage than ever before”. She said the world was already “seeing hints” of the way climate change would affect cities by amplifying natural hazards, including rising sea levels. In the last century, oceans rose by between nine and 20 cms, which could increase up to 88 cms by 2100, she said. As such, cities would need to plan ahead to avoid disaster, she added. “This hinges on awareness, good governance and the empowerment of all those who are at risk,” news.com.au quoted Chafe, as saying. (ANI)

Racism controversy hyped by media, says Yuvraj Singh
Monday, October 22, 2007 | AY

Mumbai, Oct 22 (ANI): Cricketer Yuvraj Singh has said that the racial controversy surrounding the recently concluded one-day series between India and Australia was unnecessarily hyped up by the media. "You (media) are the ones who built up the racial issue. You played up the controversy by spicing up whatever happened. Otherwise this would never have reached such a situation. You people have competition amongst yourselves. Now, when we go to Australia, obviously home support will be more. But I am against racial abuse. Every player is against it. This should not happen," said Singh. A racism row targeting Australian cricketer Andrew Symonds has marred the recently concluded one-day series. Cricket board brass of the two countries has condemned racism in the sport, saying there is no place for it in the game on or off the field. Andrew Symonds was reportedly racially abused by spectators during a one-day international in Baroda last week and the Australian team, especially Symonds, was booed by spectators in the seventh and final one-day match in Mumbai onOctober 17. Police in Mumbai charged four Indian cricket fans the very next day with harassment and misbehaviour. They will have to appear in a city court for making monkey gestures against Symonds. While India lost the seven match series to Australia, they won the one-off Twenty20 international on October 20. Yuvraj said the cricketers would take a much-needed break after playing consecutively for five months. "We have been playing regularly for five months now, so you can say that practice is going on. But we have got a break now. We will use it well and rest up. And then, we will assemble again in Kolkata for the Guwahati match,” he said. The team will now play with Pakistan in a five-match one-day series, starting inGuwahati on November 5. (ANI)

Sanjay Dutt surrenders before TADA court
Monday, October 22, 2007 | AY

Mumbai, Oct 22 (ANI): Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt, who was out on an interim bail, surrendered before the TADA court here on Monday after receiving a copy of TADA court judgement, which convicted him under the Arms Act in connection with the 1993 Mumbai blasts case.Dutt will now probably be transferred to Pune’s Yerawada jail. He had spent 22 days at the same jail before getting the interim bail by the Supreme Court on August 20.On Saturday, Dutt failed to get his judgement copy as it was on ready. The TADA court on Saturday handed copies of judgments to 13 convicts, including 10 who have been sentenced to death.Dutt was asked to return on Monday along with 33 others. The judge also called 30 convicts who are in custody and the four men in the Dutt group. Now, Dutt is likely to file a fresh application for regular bail before the apex court and also challenge the six years sentence awarded to him by the TADA courtDutt was sentenced to six years of rigorous imprisonment by a TADA court under the Arms Act for possession of arms, including an AK-56 assault rifle at the height of the 1993 communal riots in Mumbai. Dutt along with five other convicts were granted interim bail by the apex court on August 20. The court granted bail to all six on the condition that they would report to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) office in Mumbai every week and would not abuse their grant of liberty and bail. Dutt has already spent nearly 16 months in prison before his release on bail in 1996. (ANI)

Kids tossed from 20 ft in Maharashtra temple for better health
Monday, October 22, 2007 | AY

Jalna (Maharashtra), Oct 22 (ANI): Children are tossed from a height of 20 feet in the premises of a temple in Maharashtra, in the belief that it would enhance the kids' physical health and stamina.The Mamma Devi Goddess Temple in Jalna town of Aurangabad District has been witnessing the tradition of child hurling for decades.Devotees pray for their wishes, and once their prayers are fulfilled, they express their gratitude to the God by hurling their children from a height of 20 feet.The ritual is carried out by the temple priest, who throws the child from a height to land safely in the hands of devotees waiting below tightly holding a cloth."If any child is not keeping well, down with fever, or some couple are not blessed with children then they ask the goddess to fulfil their wish. When their wishes are fulfilled, then the child is hurled," said Jai Singh Pardesi, the temple priest.Normally a child from the age of two months to four years is hurled. Childless couples top the list of devotees, apart from others wishing good health to their children.“We were not blessed with a child for two years. We had pledged before the goddess that if we are blessed with a child then we would hurl the child. So after the child was born, this year we are keeping our promise," said Ravi Kumar, a father.Devotees and priest claim that no child has ever been hurt in the process.Devotees throng the temple round the year, but nine days of Navratri hold a special place in the heart of followers. (ANI)

Nagpur med college next in line for Rs 100 cr grant
Sunday, October 21, 2007 | AY

The Nagpur medical college may receive a grant of Rs 100 crore under the second phase of Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana, to upgrade it to AIIMS standards. The ministry has already announced the grant of Rs 100 crore to eight institutions across the country as part of phase I of the scheme. The J J Group of Hospitals here was a beneficiary in the first phase and the implementation of the scheme was formally started today after the Maharashtra government handed over a cheque of Rs 20 crore as its share of the project.

Durga Puja celebrated onboard Swatantrata Senani Express
Sunday, October 21, 2007 | AY

Patna/Mumbai, Oct 20 (ANI): Devotees traveling on board the Swatantrata Senani Express offered their prayers in a train compartment, where Durga Puja pandal has been set up, to mark the Navratras, the nine-day festival dedicated to Goddess Durga.Twenty five workers of Swatantrata Senani Express, traveling from Darbhanga to New Delhi, decorated the pantry car with marigold flower strings and installed an idol of Goddess Durga.The faithful held prayers in the train.Passengers were in for a pleasant surprise as the railway staff invited a priest to offer prayers and perform rituals as the train halted midway at Patna.“We are nearly 25 workers in the train and are celebrating this Navratri (the nine-day festival). As we miss our festival due to no holidays, therefore we celebrated it this way. Passengers, who are observing fast, are also facilitated this way," said Ranjit Kumar, a pantry car worker.In Mumbai, railway staff onboard Manmaad bound Panchwati Express organised Durga Puja prayers by decorating a train compartment.The workers of Panchwati Express claimed that they have been celebrating the festival in this manner since 1994.During the nine-day Navratri festival, the idol remains mounted on the train, they said.Thousands of Hindus visit temples across the country marking the Navratras.Celebrated over a period of nine nights and ten days to worship Goddess Durga during Ashwin Shukla Paksha as per Hindu almanac, Navratras are a major religious festival for all Hindus, as many of them fast during these days. Goddess Durga is worshipped in all parts of the country in different forms. The festival is celebrated as Durga Puja in West Bengal, while in the rest of the country, it is known as Navratras. In Gujarat and Maharastra, it is celebrated with Garba and Dandiya-raas or traditional dance functions. (ANI)

Sanjay Dutt may get judgment copy on Monday
Sunday, October 21, 2007 | AY

Mumbai, Oct 20 (ANI): Interim bail for Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt continues as the TADA court today failed to give him a copy of the judgment, which convicted him under the Arms Act in connection with the 1993 Mumbai blasts case.Dutt's case, which is number 37 on the list of convicts, is expected to come up on Monday.The TADA court today handed copies of judgments to 13 convicts, including 10 who have been sentenced to death.After getting a copy of the judgment, Dutt will have to surrender before police. Then, he can move a fresh application for regular bail before the Supreme Court. Dutt was present in the court, but he did not receive his copy, as it was not ready yet.He had been asked to appear in the court today along with the others, who are out on interim bail.Dutt was sentenced to six years of rigorous imprisonment by a TADA court under the Arms Act for possession of arms, including an AK-56 assault rifle at the height of the 1993 communal riots in Mumbai. Dutt along with five other convicts were granted interim bail by the apex court on August 20. The apex court granted bail to all the six on the condition that they will report to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) office in Mumbai every week and will not abuse their grant of liberty and bail. Dutt has already spent nearly 16 months in prison before his release on bail in 1996. (ANI)

Ponting for “different” approach in T20 format
Sunday, October 21, 2007 | AY

Mumbai, Oct 21 (ANI): After having failed to impress much in the shortest version of cricket, Australia skipper Ricky Ponting has said that his team needs to change its game plan in the Twenty20 format. "I think we have to all be aware of that and to make sure that in the next Twenty20 event we go into, we try a little bit different. We try more dynamic sort of stuff that you have to encounter in this game," Ponting told reporters after the seven-wicket defeat at the hands of India her at the Brabourne Stadium. Pointing out that any mistake made in T20 games can be “magnified very quickly,” Ponting said the team made too many faults giving the game to India. “As you saw tonight…getting the first ball spelled off a no ball and the next ball too I think called it a deep square leg he tried it for a six…So, little things like that you can't afford to happen in the game. Who knows had we got (Gautam) Gambhir right then it might have been a different game. But we made the mistake and we paid the price," he said. He also said that Australia looked forward to playing more matches against this younger generation of Indian cricketers. Gambhir scored a half-century to power India to a seven-wicket victory over the visiting Australian team in a one-off Twenty20 international. The left-handed opener cracked 63 and shared two useful partnerships to help the hosts, the World Champions in this form of the game, achieve the target of 167 with 11 balls to spare. Lauding the innings of Gambhir and Robin Uthappa, Indian captain Mahendra Dhoni said that the youngsters like them have matured, and they were playing sensibly. “I think in Twenty20 we are using more head than in the 50 overs game. They are batting really well and aggressive,” Dhoni said. Meanwhile, a bevy of Bollywood stars, including Shah Rukh Khan and Sunil Shetty with their wives Gauri and Mana, and actress Deepika Padukone, were present for the match to cheer on the Indian team. Padukone said the national team played excellently. "Congratulations, and I think he's (Dhoni) done a good job leading the team…I think Gambhir played well," she said. Padukone rebuffed speculations that she was specially invited to the match by the Indian skipper. "No, I am here as any spectator and I was here to cheer the team," she said. (ANI)

Rama Naidu produces Marathi film
Saturday, October 20, 2007 | AY

Dr D Rama Naidu is a very popular name for the last four decades when it comes to Telugu films. When he tried his hand at Hindi films too, he was successful. Now the producer has ventured in the making of Marathi films. Suresh Productions’ maiden Marathi venture Majhi Aai is being directed by Kanchan Nayak. Starring Renuka Daftardar, Subhodh Bhave, Ramesh Bhatkar, Smita Jaykar, Nagesh Bhosale, it has screenplay and dialogue by Shrikant Bojewar., lyrics by Jagdish Khebudkar and music by Acchyut Thakur. Some of Dr D Rama Naidu’s Hindi films are Premnagar, Dildaar, Tohfa, Jeevan Ek Sangharsh, Prem Qaidi, Anari, Hum Aapke Dil Mein Rehte Hain with about 74 films in Telugu. He even has a record of making family-oriented films in Bengali, Tamil, Kannada, Orissa, English and other languages. And now Majhi Aai is the 125th film from his banner.

Four accused of racial remarks on Symonds released on bail
Saturday, October 20, 2007 | AY

Mumbai, Oct 18 (ANI): The Mumbai Police today released four Indian supporters after they were arrested for allegedly making racial remarks against Australian cricketer Andrew Symonds during the final ODI of the series concluded yesterday at the Wankhede Stadium.According to sources, the police booked the four under the Section 110 of Bombay Police Act for Misbehaviour.The police took a prompt action into the matter after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) took a serious note of the reports being published in the Australian media regarding racial abuse being faced by Symonds.An Australian newspaper said, "The International Cricket Council’s anti-racism code was instantly flashed on the screen, but Symonds seemed unsettled and was dismissed first ball," it said.On Wednesday night, after the seventh and the final one day match, Australian captain Ricky Ponting said there was no place for such behaviour, on or off the cricket field."I believe there has been a bit of action taken as well from what I understand. A few members of the crowd there (were) arrested and taken away from the ground," Ponting told reporters.The International Cricket Council (ICC), which strengthened its Anti-racism Code last year, has written to Indian officials asking them to comment on events in Baroda.Cricket Australia spokesman Philip Pope said the staging association was immediately informed of the inappropriate behaviour of the crowd. "Crowds in all cricketing nations are often noisy and boisterous, which is part of the camaraderie of the game," BCCI president Sharad Pawar and Cricket Australia chairman Creagh O'Connor said in a joint statement."But all Cricketing nations have to be on guard to ensure that the fun oes not cross the boundary into unacceptable behaviour. If it does, it is our expectation that the specifics of ICC Anti Racism Code be enforced without ear or favour. Players of all countries have a right to expect that they will e treated with respect wherever they play in the world," the statement aid.The joint statement from the two boards said Pawar and O'Connor were concerned that the ICC Anti Racism Code could only work if it was genuinely embraced.Earlier this week, Symonds, who was declared man of the series for his superb batting throughout the seven match tournament, said he was bothered by he fact that some of the Indian officials had tried to deny that any racist incident took place."The only thing I would say is that it didn't particularly bother me, but when someone, somebody comes out and completely ignores something that has happened like that -- that's disappointing. So hopefully it will be handled by the powers that be and put away," Symonds said after the match on Sunday in Nagpur. (ANI)

Muralitharan named Ceat Cricketer of the Year
Saturday, October 20, 2007 | AY

Mumbai, Oct 19 (ANI): Sri Lanka's ace spinner Muthiah Muralitharan has bagged the CEAT International Cricketer of the Year award for 2006-07.Muralitharan, who also won the International Bowler's honour, received 7,500 and 5,000 dollars respectively for the two awards."I had a great year taking about 96 wickets, and it has been my career best performance," said Muralitharan."With a little bit of hard work and considerable encouragement from my compatriots without whom it would not possible to garner so many wickets, since they have to hold on to all catches and field well, the main focus was to take wickets and make Sri Lanka win," added Muralitharan.The CEAT Cricket Year commences on May 1 and ends on April 30. The cricketer and team garnering the highest number of points in their categories at the end of this period are the winners.This year, CEAT Cricket Rating (CCR) awards also celebrated the diamond jubilee of the India, Australian Test series, and gave away the specially created Lifetime Achievement Award to leg spinner Anil Kumble and Ponting, both of whom were given a cheque of 5000 dollars each.The Lifetime Achievement award recipients have been selected on the basis of the Retro-CEAT Ratings and were decided taking into consideration the performances of Indian and Australian players in Test matches since 1947.Eminent cricketers from India and Australia, besides the glitterati of Mumbai, were attended the award function. (ANI)

Ponting expects an entertaining T-20 match at Brabourne
Saturday, October 20, 2007 | AY

Mumbai, Oct 19 (ANI): Having bagged the seven-match one-day series comprehensively, Australian captain Ricky Ponting said on Friday that he expects an entertaining Twenty-20 match against India here tomorrow. "It is a very beautiful ground. The wicket looks pretty good. I expect to have a good and entertaining twenty-twenty game of cricket',” Ponting said on the eve of the match to be played at the Brabourne Stadium. The Australian captain further said that the playing eleven would be finalised tomorrow morning. "We have got bowlers who can adapt and adjust to any conditions. We leave it until tomorrow to finalise our side. A few guys have got a touch of flu and they have not done trying (net practice) today. We will wait and see before we finalise our team in the morning", he said. Australia, returning after a six-month break, were beaten by the eventual winners India in the semi-finals of the Twenty-20 World Cup in South Africa last month. (ANI)

Bollywood thriller 'Speed' opens to lukewarm response
Saturday, October 20, 2007 | AY

New Delhi/Mumbai, Oct 19 (ANI): Star studded Bollywood thriller, 'Speed' opened to lukewarm response in theatres across the country today.The film boasts a starcast of Urmila Matondkar, Zayed Khan, Aftab Shivdasani, Sanjay Suri, Amrita Arora, Sophie Chaudhary and Ashish Chaudhary.'Speed' is a thriller with a predictable climax. However, the film failed to leave an impact on the audiences.Although, the music for the movie by noted music director Pritam Chakraborty is already creating waves."The movie was okay, I liked the action. The music by Pritam is good,'' said Sonia, a viewer.Mohit Tyagi, another viewer, said: "The movie was not as good as I expected. It is a Hollywood copy."According to Director Vikram Bhatt, the movie revolves around a particular incident that brings all the characters together."There are several characters in the movie and one incident brings them together. There are a few people who do not want this event to happen, while the other characters do their best to make it happen. This is the basic storyline," said Bhatt.Actor Zayed Khan said: "All the songs are really nice. When it is Pritam, music has to be something really good. He has his hand on the pulse of audiences."According to some reports, the movie produced by Harry Baweja, is inspired by the Hollywood flick 'Cellular'. (ANI)

Strained Symonds looking forward to end of India tour
Saturday, October 20, 2007 | AY

Mumbai, Oct.20 (ANI): Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds, who was not only the victim of racially charged crowd taunts, but also media manipulation, is said to be looking forward to end of the team’s tour of India.According to news.com.au, Symonds presumably will be relieved when today's Twenty20 international at the Brabourne Stadium is completed.A tour of India can be a test of nerves and bowels at the best of times, but for Symonds, the past three weeks have been one of his greatest tests of character."Over the past couple of weeks, I have felt as though I have been put in a situation that is not of my making. Anyone who knows me will understand that being the focus of this particular story is something I'm not comfortable with," Symonds said. "I feel that the print and TV media have badly misrepresented my views at times over the past three matches,” he added."I understand that racism in all sports is a sensitive, serious and a global issue. And it is pleasing to see the authorities here in Mumbai tackle the issue after the seventh one-day match. I would much prefer the focus to be on cricket," he said.Mumbai Police chief D.N. Jadhav yesterday announced a crackdown on crowd behaviour ahead of today's Twenty20 game, following the unsavoury events at the neighbouring Wankhede Stadium during Wednesday's final one-day international.Closed-circuit security cameras at the ground will be complemented by more than 100 police officers patrolling the stands with hand-held video cameras throughout today's match between the 20- and 50-over world champions."We do not want such incidents to be repeated and bring a bad name to Mumbai as a cricketing venue," Jadhav said. Symonds has attracted glowing praise from his coach, Tim Nielsen, over his handling of the recent racial firestorm."The most positive thing from my regard is that he has been the player of the series under that sort of pressure," Nielsen said. "For me, that is a great representation of how he has gone about things. He has played well with distractions and that shows a strength of mind." (ANI)

Sanjay Dutt to appear before TADA court today
Saturday, October 20, 2007 | AY

Mumbai, Oct 20 (ANI): Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt, who is out on interim bail in connection with the 1993 Mumbai blasts case, will appear before the TADA court here today. It is not yet clear if Dutt will get a copy of the TADA court judgment order today. Dutt has been asked to appear in court at 2:00 p.m. along with the others, who are out on interim bail. After getting a copy of the judgment, Dutt will have to surrender before police. Then, he can move a fresh application for regular bail before the Supreme Court. Dutt was sentenced to six years of rigorous imprisonment by a TADA Court under the Arms Act for possession of arms, including an AK-56 assault rifle at the height of the 1993 communal riots in Mumbai. Dutt along with five other convicts were granted interim bail by the apex court on August 20. The apex court granted bail to all the six on the condition that they will report to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) office in Mumbai every week and will not abuse their grant of liberty and bail. Dutt has already spent nearly 16 months in prison before his release on bail in 1996. (ANI)

Stock market revives following Chidambaram’s statement
Thursday, October 18, 2007 | AY

Mumbai/New Delhi, Oct 17 (ANI): Finance Minister P Chidmabaram remarks on investment in the stock markets via Participatory Notes (PN) has given a new momentum to them, as the Bombay Stock Exchange’s 30-share sensex and the Nifty have started reflecting positive signals. Almost an hour back, the Sensex was at 17,793.84, down 1,258 points, but up from the low of 17,308. The Nifty recovered to 5273, still down 395 points, but up from a low of 5,107. Earlier in the day, the Finance Minister has ruled out any ban on the investment via PN and had assured that the Securities and Exchange Board of India's (SEBI) proposal on the PN is to moderate investment coming from abroad. Welcoming investment via the PN, Chidambaram said that he was surprised to see that the certain section of media was raising alarm over the performance of the stock markets, adding, there is no need to raise an alarm, and that he expected that the initial sense of alarm would “quieten” by the end of the day. He went on to say that the move is the culmination of measures discussed between the SEBI, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Central Government. This morning, the Sensex opened with a negative gap of 1,014 points at 18,038 and the trading at BSE was stopped for an hour. The NSE Nifty opened 284 points lower to 5384. Reliance Energy slumped over 12 per cent to Rs 1,700. ICICI Bank and NTPC have plunged around 9 per cent each to Rs 1,052 and Rs 211, respectively. Bharti Airtel plunged by 8.5 per cent to Rs 1,015. SBI and Mahindra and Mahindra shed 7.7 per cent each to Rs 1,775 and Rs 753, respectively. Tata Steel, Tata Motors, HDFC, Hindalco, Reliance Communications, ONGC, Larsen and Toubro, ACC, BHEL, Maruti and Ambuja Cements have dropped 6-7 per cent each. TCS and Satyam have soared around three per cent each to Rs 1,102 and Rs 463, respectively. Infosys is the other gainer among the index stocks at Rs 1,880. According to stock market experts, the Sensex may witness an over 2, 000-point fall today and if Nifty crosses 5, 000 marks then one has to be very cautious about the bulls. However, some feel that investors should not panic because of a 10-20 per cent fall in the markets that have risen to over 80 per cent. The SEBI has proposed to tighten the rules for purchase of shares and bonds in Indian companies through the participatory note route. The draft guidelines say foreign institutional investors (FII) and their sub-accounts cannot issue or renew participatory notes with underlying as derivatives with immediate effect. They have to unwind their current position within 18 months. (ANI)

After nosedive, crashed Sensex recovers by 1, 500 pts
Thursday, October 18, 2007 | AY

Mumbai/New Delhi, Oct 17 (ANI): After opening with a huge negative gap of 1, 014 points, the Bombay Stock Exchange’s (BSE) 30-share Sensex recovered 1, 500 points, but closed 300 points below yesterday’s mark.Following this major crash, trading was halted for an hour. This was the third such instance in the last three years.Earlier in the day, Finance Minister P Chidmabaram remarks on investment in the stock markets via Participatory Notes (PN) gave the stock exchanges a momentum.Chidambaram ruled out any ban on investment via PN and gave assurance that the Securities and Exchange Board of India's (SEBI) proposal on PN’s is to moderate investment coming in from abroad.Welcoming investment via the PN route, Chidambaram said that he was surprised to see a certain section of the media raising an alarm over the performance of stock markets, adding, there was no need to raise an alarm, and that he expected the initial sense of alarm to "quieten" down by the end of the day. He went on to say that the move is a culmination of measures discussed between the SEBI, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Central Government.Meanwhile, SEBI Chairman M Damodaran has appealed investors not to get carried away by rumours, saying that the proposals on Offshore Derivative Instruments (ODIs) were a well-designed package. "Investors should see what period they are investing and remain within their set horizon... not be swayed by rumours," he said.The SEBI has proposed to tighten the rules for purchase of shares and bonds in Indian companies through the participatory note route. The draft guidelines say foreign institutional investors (FII) and their sub-accounts cannot issue or renew participatory notes with underlying as derivatives with immediate effect. They have to unwind their current position within 18 months.The Sensex recovered sharply from the day's low (17,308 points) and touched an intra-day high of 18,841 points - up 1,533 points (8.9 per cent) from the day's low. Reliance Energy slumped 7.5 per cent to Rs 1,762. ACC and SBI plunged five per cent each to Rs 1,203 and Rs 1,829, respectively.BHEL and NTPC tumbled over 4.5 per cent each to Rs 2,283 and Rs 221, respectively.Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Steel, HDFC and ONGC slipped around four per cent each to Rs 780, Rs 869, Rs 2,470 and Rs 1,130, respectively. ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications and HDFC Bank dropped three per cent each to Rs 1,121, Rs 1,076, Rs 737 and Rs 1,460, respectively.Cipla, Ambuja Cements and Dr.Reddy's shed around 2.5 per cent each to Rs 179, Rs 149 and Rs 606, respectively.Ranbaxy, Grasim, Bajaj Auto and Hindustan Unilever were down around two per cent each to Rs 420, Rs 3,675, Rs 2,489 and Rs 208, respectively.TCS surged 2.5 per cent to Rs 1,095. Satyam advanced 1.6 per cent to Rs 457, and Infosys added a per cent to Rs 1,890. Reliance moved up over 1.5 per cent to Rs 2,690.Reliance topped the value chart with a turnover of Rs 988.50 crore followed by Reliance Energy (Rs 794.30 crore), Power Grid (Rs 607.50 crore), Tata Power (Rs 401.20 crore) and Reliance Petroleum (Rs 398.80 crore).Power Grid led the volume chart with trades of around 4.77 crore shares followed by Reliance Natural Resources (3.68 crore), Reliance Petroleum (2.27 crore), Tata Teleservices (2.21 crore) and IFCI (1.22 crore). (ANI)

Aussies surrender before Murali Kartik
Thursday, October 18, 2007 | AY

Mumbai, Oct 17 (ANI): Playing for pride after having already lost the one-day series, India bowled out Australia for 193 runs in the final match of the seven match series at the Wankhede Stadium here on Wednesday thanks to a superb spell by spinner Murali Kartik. Opting to bat first after winning the toss this afternoon, the visiting team had a bad start when left arm pacer Zahir Khan got rid of makeshift opener Michael Clarke on the very first delivery of the innings. Other opener Adam Gilchrist and skipper Ricky Ponting did give stability to their innings after the first-ball jolt with a 60-run partnership for the second wicket. But after the fall of the swashbuckling wicketkeeper-opener in the 10th over, the World Champions never looked in a position to post a good target. None of the Australian batsmen appeared to have any idea of how to play left arm spinner Kartik, who ended up with his career best bowling figure of six for 27 in 10 overs. RP Singh scalped two wickets, while Zaheer and Irfan Pathan took one each to bundle out the visitors in 41.3 overs. India now needs 194 runs for a consolation victory. (ANI)

Gen-Next of Bollywood's first family carries legacy forward
Thursday, October 18, 2007 | AY

Mumbai, Oct 18 (ANI): Memories were stirred and nostalgia ran high when first Bollywood family got together to herald the entry of fourth generation heir Ranbir Kapoor to the celluloid world legacy. Ranbir is making his cinematic debut in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s 'Saawariya’, which is being touted as one of the most eagerly, awaited films of 2007. Ranbir said he was honoured to have debuted in 'Saawariya'."The honour and respect is awesome. I promise you that I will strive to work harder so that you can always say I was worthy of this debut," he said. Speaking about his son's debut, Rishi Kapoor said, "I am very happy that I am associated with a family that has stayed connected to the Indian film industry for the past 80 years. I am very grateful to the fans for their sustained support and would like to introduce the newest member of the family. It is my son Ranbir. I hope he makes a mark with his debut appearance on the silver screen.""I am very happy and proud that another member of our family is making his mark in the film industry. I pray to God and also appeal to the audience that they accept him and give him their love and support. I hope he carves a niche through hard work and dedication," said his uncle, Rajeev Kapoor.Said to be inspired from Dostoevsky's short story 'White Nights', ‘Saawariya’ is an intense tale of two young star-crossed lovers from different religions.Bhansali has raised expectations by saying that the film has a special allure.It was in 1931, that Kapoor family patriarch, Prithviraj Kapoor donned the grease paint for a supporting role in the first talkie 'Alam Ara', and then moved on to perform in some of the most memorable films of his times.A pioneer of Indian theatre, he also founded Prithvi Theatres which is active even today.After Prithviraj Kapoor, his three sons, Raj, Shammi and Shashi Kapoor went onto create waves in Indian cinema with Raj Kapoor established himself as a legendary actor, producer, director in Bollywood. He is still remembered for providing the film industry with some of the most entertaining blockbusters.Raj Kapoor's legacy was carried forward by his three sons Randhir, Rajeev and Rishi Kapoor, with Rishi Kapoor becoming a rage amongst cine buffs. He continues to entertain audiences with his superb performances.'Saawariya' will be an acid test for newcomer Ranbir, who will be compared with his illustrious Bollywood lineage. (ANI)

Cleartrip launches Discover India Travel Guide
Thursday, October 18, 2007 | AY

Mumbai, Oct 18 (ANI-Business Wire India): Cleartrip.com announced the launch of the Discover India Travel Guide -- a travel guide produced in association with Lonely Planet and Jet Airways -- to be given out exclusively to customers booking Jet Airways flights on Cleartrip.com.The Discover India Travel Guide is a pocket guide that provides customers interesting information on 15 key destinations across India. The destinations that have been covered in the guide are Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Cochin, Coimbatore, Delhi, Goa Guwhati, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mangalore, Mumbai, Port Blair, Pune and Trivandrum All the content for the Discover India Travel Guide has been put together by Lonely Planet - the travel content specialists. The information on each of the destinations includes city highlights, information on restaurants, entertainment options in the city, shopping hubs and fast facts on getting around the city. The photographs used are unique and capture the essence of each destination. "The Discover India travel guide is another Cleartrip initiative to make travel simple and exciting for our customers. This guide equips customers with a wealth of information on destinations so that they can explore much more ", said Sandeep Murthy, CEO of Cleartrip.com."We're proud to be associated with Cleartrip. The customer and visitor profile of Cleartrip is a great fit for our brand. Cleartrip shares our philosophy of adding value to customers' travel experiences", said Gaurang Shetty, Vice President (Marketing), Jet Airways. "India is one of our priority markets. We are delighted to work with Cleartrip and Jet Airways to provide valuable travel information to customers and grow the travel market", said James Sundram, Head Asia, Lonely Planet. (ANI)

Maharashtra comes 2nd on intl tourism list
Wednesday, October 17, 2007 | AY

Maharashtra has been placed behind Delhi as the favoured destination for international tourists. This is according to nationwide figures on international and domestic tourism that were released by the Union Ministry of Tourism and Culture on October 13. The ministry used figures from the World Trade Organisation’s Barometer, Reserve Bank of India and the Central Bureau of Immigration while compiling the survey. Maharashtra recorded a mere 3.7 per cent of the total number of domestic travellers in the period of 2006-07. With 24.2 per cent of domestic tourism share, Andhra Pradesh grabbed first place, followed by Uttar Pradesh (22.9 per cent). The maximum number of travellers were from the United Kingdom (0.734 million), followed by the United States (0.697 million). The highest number of international travellers visiting India was seen in January this year.

Short but wearable is 2008 summer fashion at LFW
Wednesday, October 17, 2007 | AY

Mumbai, Oct 16 (ANI): If one goes by fashion trend set by Lakme Fashion Week, the 2008 summer would be dominated by short dresses that would still be wearable. On Monday, fashion designer Swapnil Shinde exhibited his Spring/Summer 2008 collection titled 'Telegony - Cyber Greek goddesses', which the designer said was inspired from the Trojan War, The collection was dominated by mini dresses in natural fabrics like chiffon and georgette in colours like ash grey, black, white, rose pink and saffron. "The outfits were very amour inspired. It was a lot of wearable armour. It was not too experimental. Corsetry, which is my forte, was also there a lot. The outfits were very short, sexy...I think wearability was my style thing this time," Shinde said.Shinde's line also included long flowing gowns with an ethereal feel about them, which were draped to sculpt the body.Actress Raima Sen, who attended the show, said that she appreciated the line of apparels."I think Chaitanya and Swapnil Shinde's outfits are amazing. The last few dresses of Swapnil I fell in love with. The peach one and...I think his colours were awesome and I think the cuts of the dresses were really good and also the fabrics," she said.Meanwhile, fashion designer Chaitanya Rao's collection of glamorous diversity was inspired by the fictional diverse worlds from the graphic novel 'Neverwhere' by Neil Gaiman. The ensemble was a blend of two extremes. Opening with short and fluid summery dresses in skin tones, beige, brown, yellow, the show ended on a dramatic note with outfits in stark black. Rao said he used linen, organza and silk to get a feminine and natural look and leather with tonal bead work, layering and surface texturing for drama."Very minimalist look, with lots of beiges and lots of very chic kind of clothes. I have used a lot of leather and lots of headgears just to give it that little bit of drama. Otherwise, still a very wearable line," said Rao.International model Regee who walked the ramp for Rao said the collection was awesome. "Its great energy, great clothes. It's very strong, very happy. It has the two sides - extremely strong and happy summery," she said. The fashion week has seen designers experimenting with strong colours rather than seasonal whites and muted pastels.However, the Mumbai fashion week, that presents 45 outfit designers this year, saw empty rows greeting the models and designers for the first three shows of the day. (ANI)

Mumbai ODI: India will play for consolatory win, Oz for winning streak
Wednesday, October 17, 2007 | AY

Mumbai, Oct 16 (ANI): A day ahead of the last and the seventh ODI match against visiting Australian team, host India will try to score a consolatory victory at the historic Brabourne Stadium, as they have already lost the series 1-4.Both teams on Tuesday practised at the stadium with a confident Australian team making it clear that they would try to continue their winning streak after their winning momentum got a brief pause at Chandigarh ODI."If we make any changes there might only be a change, we feel that we have built some really good momentum in this series," Cricinfo.com quoted Australian skipper Ricky Ponting, who spoke to a foreign news agency. "With the way that we rested players during the Australian summer last season, with the World Cup in mind, we think it had a little bit of a negative impact on a few and we are very conscious of that now," Ponting added, highlighting the team's bad performance during the 2006 Commonwealth Bank Series against England and the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy.Meanwhile, Team India's confidence after the stupendous victory at the Twenty20 World Cup has taken a severe beating. Former Skipper Rahul Dravid is likely to be 'rested' as his bad patch with the bat continues, and the present skipper M S Dhoni would hope Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar, playing in front of his home audience, to give a repeat performance of the Nagpur ODI. (ANI)

FM on market crash: SEBI’s proposal is to moderate investment via PN
Wednesday, October 17, 2007 | AY

Mumbai/New Delhi, Oct 17 (ANI): Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram today ruled out any banning on the investment via Participatory Notes (PN) and said that the Securities and Exchange Board of India’s (SEBI) proposal on the PN is to moderate investment coming from abroad. Welcoming investment via the PN, Chidambaram said that he was surprised to see that the certain section of media was raising alarm over the performance of the stock markets, adding, there is no need to raise alarm. The Finance Minister went on to say that the move is the culmination of the measures discussed between the SEBI, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Central Government. The Sensex opened with a negative gap of 1,014 points at 18,038 in the backdrop of (SEBI) discussion paper on the participatory notes (PN). The trading at BSE has been stopped for an hour. Top losers among the BSE 30 scrips include Reliance Energy (down 18 per cent), Reliance Communication (down 15.9 per cent), ICICI Bank (down 11.8 per cent), NTPC (down 11.8 per cent), BHEL (down 11.7 per cent) and Reliance Industries (down 11.3 per cent). The NSE Nifty opened 284 points lower to 5384. The index is now down 524 points at 5144. (ANI)

Stock market revives following Chidambaram’s statement
Wednesday, October 17, 2007 | AY

Mumbai/New Delhi, Oct 17 (ANI): Finance Minister P Chidmabaram remarks on investment in the stock markets via Participatory Notes (PN) has given a new momentum to them, as the Bombay Stock Exchange’s 30-share sensex and the Nifty have started reflecting positive signals. Almost an hour back, the Sensex was at 17,793.84, down 1,258 points, but up from the low of 17,308. The Nifty recovered to 5273, still down 395 points, but up from a low of 5,107. Earlier in the day, the Finance Minister has ruled out any ban on the investment via PN and had assured that the Securities and Exchange Board of India's (SEBI) proposal on the PN is to moderate investment coming from abroad. Welcoming investment via the PN, Chidambaram said that he was surprised to see that the certain section of media was raising alarm over the performance of the stock markets, adding, there is no need to raise an alarm, and that he expected that the initial sense of alarm would “quieten” by the end of the day. He went on to say that the move is the culmination of measures discussed between the SEBI, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Central Government. This morning, the Sensex opened with a negative gap of 1,014 points at 18,038 and the trading at BSE was stopped for an hour. The NSE Nifty opened 284 points lower to 5384. Reliance Energy slumped over 12 per cent to Rs 1,700. ICICI Bank and NTPC have plunged around 9 per cent each to Rs 1,052 and Rs 211, respectively. Bharti Airtel plunged by 8.5 per cent to Rs 1,015. SBI and Mahindra and Mahindra shed 7.7 per cent each to Rs 1,775 and Rs 753, respectively. Tata Steel, Tata Motors, HDFC, Hindalco, Reliance Communications, ONGC, Larsen and Toubro, ACC, BHEL, Maruti and Ambuja Cements have dropped 6-7 per cent each. TCS and Satyam have soared around three per cent each to Rs 1,102 and Rs 463, respectively. Infosys is the other gainer among the index stocks at Rs 1,880. According to stock market experts, the Sensex may witness an over 2, 000-point fall today and if Nifty crosses 5, 000 marks then one has to be very cautious about the bulls. However, some feel that investors should not panic because of a 10-20 per cent fall in the markets that have risen to over 80 per cent. The SEBI has proposed to tighten the rules for purchase of shares and bonds in Indian companies through the participatory note route. The draft guidelines say foreign institutional investors (FII) and their sub-accounts cannot issue or renew participatory notes with underlying as derivatives with immediate effect. They have to unwind their current position within 18 months. (ANI)

Dandiya and Garba dances influenced by Bollywood
Wednesday, October 17, 2007 | AY

Mumbai, Oct.16 (ANI): With almost every form of entertainment getting influenced by Bombay films , the two vibrant dance forms—Dandiya-Raas and Garba--of Gujarat are no more an exception. In Mumbai, Navaratri celebrations take a refreshing meaning for mind and soul when playback singer Falguni Pathak joins thousands of enthusiasts in their Dandia-raas dance programmes during the nine-day festivities.Every day, 20,000 to 35,000 people come to listen to Falguni Pathak's songs and love to dance to her tunes during the nine-day Navratri festivities. "Every year, we perform five Garba dances and songs dedicated to the Goddess Durga. Later, we sing other songs as well. There are some songs in different languages like Rajasthani besides Marathi Lavani but maximum are Gujarati folk songs," said Falguni Pathak.Falguni, who sings at more than one Navaratri programme in a day, added that the main content of the events remains Gujarati since the two dances of Garba and Dandia Raas are more closely associated with the State. But she also sings in various other languages to enthrall audience of all regions and languages. However, individuals like don-turned-State legislator Arun Gawali, has their distinctive way of celebrating the Navratri festival. Gawli professed deep faith in the Goddess Durga and said that he has been hosting Navaratri Utsav at his Dagadi Chawl for quarter of a century with enthusiasm and devotion. "I have a lot of devotion towards Goddess and I celebrate this festival every year. I have been celebrating it since the last 25 years," said Arun Gawali. Today, the two traditional dance forms—Garba and Dandiya-raas-- have been influenced by the music of Bollywood and Indipop cacophony as evident from the pulsating beats echoed out of the 10,000 watt speakers at the community Navaratri celebrations in Mumbai.With millions of Gujaratis having made Mumbai their home, these dances have become the main attraction at the hundreds of neighbourhood and community celebrations.The traditional dances Garba and Dandia Raas of Gujarat, staged during the Navaratri (Dussera) festival are no more confined to that particular State. Raas and Garba dances are said to have originated in Gujarat and Sindh (now in Pakistan). These traditional dances are performed during Navratri, which is the longest Hindu festival celebrated all over India for nine consecutive nights in praise of Lord Rama and Goddess Durga. Garba is performed before Aarti (worshipping ritual) as devotional performances in the honour of the Goddess while Dandiya is performed after it, as a part of merriment. While Garba is performed exclusively by women, men and women join in for Raas Dandiya.The dancers whirl and move their feet and arms in a choreographed manner to the tune of the music with lots of drum beats. The drum is used as well as complementary percussion instruments such as the Dholak, tabla and others. Originated as devotional Garba dances, which were performed in Durga's honor, this dance form is actually the staging of a mock-fight between the Goddess and Mahishasura, the mighty demon-king, and is nicknamed "The Sword Dance".The sticks of the dance represent the sword of Durga. The women wear traditional dresses such as colorful embroidered choli, ghagra and bandhani dupattas (traditional attire) dazzling with mirror work and heavy jewellery. Whereas men wear special turbans and Kedias (the short frock), but can range from area to area. (ANI)

Bridal wears get rave reviews at LFW
Wednesday, October 17, 2007 | AY

Mumbai, Oct 15 (ANI): Embroidered and embellished traditional Indian bridal outfits in silk and velvet by top designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee were well received at the ongoing Lakme Fashion Week in Mumbai.Mukherjee, on Sunday, presented bridal clothes for a 2008 Spring Summer line.He said he wanted to create a couture line that was purely Indian.Despite designers looking to experiment with Western silhouettes in the fashion week, most have created Indian traditional clothing for a domestic clientele.Mukherjee said the designers needed to turn inwards for inspiration and stop ignoring domestic buyers as there was a strong emerging market in India.His collection of ethnic Indian silhouettes included heavily embellished ensembles in rich shades of red, brown, rust, green and black with gold embroidery."We thought that we would do it like a crumbling royalty look. So there was a red stained velvet carpet and there were old chandeliers and the girls had a distressed feel about it. The entire show was actually inspired by the India-Pakistan partition and inspired by movies like 'Sardari Begum' and 'Earth'. Colours were inspired by movie 'Mirch Masala'. So the whole show had a very ethnic borderline feel to it," Mukherjee said."I think every single outfit could be worn by somebody or the other depending on their body type. I don't believe in creating fantasies on the runway, but real dreams that people can pursue," he added.Bollywood actress Rani Mukherjee, who attended the show dressed in a Sabyasachi creation, said: "I liked the collection very much. I always want to encourage him and I always want to be part of his shows."The fashion week has seen designers experimenting with strong colours rather than seasonal whites and muted pastels. (ANI)

Plane carrying Australian, Indian players makes emergency landing
Monday, October 15, 2007 | AY

A Jet Airways flight carrying the entire Australian cricket team and a few Indian players made an emergency landing in Nagpur after it was hit by a bird 10 minutes after take off this morning. Jet Airways sources in Delhi said a ferry service will be launched from Mumbai to pick up the Australian cricket team and a few Indian players waiting at a Nagpur hotel after their flight returned to the airport. The flight will reach Nagpur at 1:15 PM and then return to Mumbai.

Delhi awaits Building Technologies Summit 2007
Monday, October 15, 2007 | AY

Mumbai, Oct 11: (ANI-Business Wire India): Frost & Sullivan, a global growth consulting company, presents the Building Technologies Summit 2007 on October 16, at Le Meridien, New Delhi. This summit heralds the arrival of the most important event for the building technologies industry ever held in India.It will serve as a platform to bring together industry experts, leaders and decision makers from various end-user sectors, to identify emerging trends, technologies, growing market needs and preferences. The summit will cover the entire spectrum of products and services from the industry, such as, Building Management Systems, Energy Management Services, HVAC Controls, System Integration, Fire Detection and Alarm, Electronic Access Control, Intrusion Detection, Video Surveillance (CCTV), Perimeter Protection and Security Guarding. It will also include relatively new areas such as Remote Monitoring Services (IP) and Video Analytics. Mushtaq Md. Khan, Industry Manager, Environment and Building Technologies Practice, South Asia and Middle East, Frost & Sullivan, will be speaking on "Growth Opportunities and Challenges for the Indian Building Technologies Industry." The presentation examines forces that drive or restrain market growth, challenges confronting the industry and the role of various entities of the ecosystem in industry's growth, and offers insights into options for growth. According to Mushtaq Md. Khan, "The exceptional performance of the industrial sector and the phenomenal growth in the construction of commercial and residential properties in India bodes well for the future of the Building Technologies industry. Changing attitude and perceptions about safety, security, comfort and energy savings and preference for state-of-the-art building technologies have increased the demand for fire, safety, security and building automation systems substantially. This growth has surpassed even the most optimistic expectations of many in the industry. Frost & Sullivan expects the market demand to grow at 30 percent per annum over the next 3 to 5 years. India has come under the focus of international market players who are keen to exploit the growth opportunities." The discussion topics for the summit have been finalised after considerable analysis and suggestions received from key industry participants across the globe. These include topics such as convergence and global trends in airport security technology; benefits of network video surveillance; remote and central monitoring of facilities; open building systems and many more. Panel discussions on 'How secure are corporate facilities in India?' and 'Moving towards intelligent green buildings' promise to be thought provoking and extremely insightful for delegates present. With eminent luminaries such as Dr. Prem C Jain, Chairman, Indian Green Building Council; Kamal Meattle, Chief Executive Officer, Paharpur Business Centre & Software Technology Incubator Park; James McGuire, Senior Vice President, Transecure International, Inc.; Arun Khazanchi, President, Fire Safety Association of India; Ajay Gupta, Managing Director, G4S Security Services (India) Pvt. Ltd. and Dr. Diwan Rahul Nanda, Chairman and Managing Director, Tops Security Limited marking their presence, this summit is expected to be one of the most insightful Frost & Sullivan mind exchanges. This one-day conference will culminate with the Building Technologies Excellence Awards 2007, another first from Frost & Sullivan. The key partners for this event are Firepro Systems, Cisco, Infinova, Secutech Automation, Larsen & Toubro, Fire Safety Association of India and IndiaSafe. Industrial Safety, Electronics Today, Electronics Maker, Construction World and Infrastructure Today are the official media partners. (ANI)

Practical’ designs are USP of LIFW
Monday, October 15, 2007 | AY

Mumbai, Oct 14 (ANI): The Lakme India Fashion Week (LIFW) that kicked off this weekend is being talked about the ‘practical’ designs being showcased by designers.Designer Vikram Phadnis draped his models in clothes that were traditionally Indian in style and vibrant in colours of red, orange, fuchsia, green, blue, purple and black, ivory and beige.Phadnis said his women's collection - using silk in solids, checks and stripes and geometric and ethnic motifs - were practical and for everyone."I've kept my emphasis more on colours; I've kept lots of bright colours. My styling was very Indian, music was very different. I think that was my USP in today's show," said Phadnis.Bollywood actress Esha Deol seemed completely enamoured by designer’s new range that was showcased here."I like everything - him, his clothes. He can make filmy clothes and non-filmy clothes also...I like his cuts. I like everything about his clothes," she said.Meanwhile, Nikasha's Spring/Summer collection titled "Wandering Minstrels" merged the modern with the traditional, keeping her designs fun while keeping to a style of minimalism."Give it a little modern twist, a sporty kind of edge and the wigs that you saw were straight blunt cut and so I have given it a certain minimalism modern kind of look and hopefully it has worked well with the Indians – the roots in India and a modern minimal look," she said.Designer Araiya also showcased her collection and had Bollywood actress Konkona Sen walk the ramp in one of her designs.LIFW is the first event independently organised by fashion accessories major, Lakme. The Fall/Winter Week was held in March at the National Centre for Performing Arts (NCPA) in Mumbai. (ANI)

Big B obliges fans with his glimpse on his birthday
Monday, October 15, 2007 | AY

Mumbai/Bhopal, Oct 11 (ANI): Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan obliged his fans on his 65th birthday on Thursday by stepping out of his heavily guarded house to accept the wishes of his fans waiting outside his home here.Hundreds of Bachchan's fans carrying his posters gathered outside his residence in Mumbai to catch a glimpse of the actor.The actor shook hands with his fans while accepting their wishes.The fans celebrated the superstar's birthday across India.In Bhopal, look-alikes of Bachchan celebrated the day, cutting cake and distributing it."On his birthday I pray for his long life. He is 65 now, and I wish he lived 65 years more. The blessings of the whole country and the world are with him," said Rajesh Yadav, one of the look-alike.Porters in Kanpur sported a photograph of Bachchan on their uniforms and prayed for the long life of the actor."We are grateful that Amitabh Bachchan acted in the film, 'Coolie' (Porter), based on our life. That is the reason today we are celebrating his birthday. We have offered prayers for his health and long life," said Raju, a porter.Bachchan was a rage of Indian cine goers in the 1970s and 1980s and is still amongst the most popular in the country.Son of a Hindi poet, he quit his job as a Calcutta freight broker for films and made his name in the 1970s playing a "Dirty Harry"- style cop in the ground-breaking movie 'Zanjeer'. His best-known film, "Sholay", ran in Bombay for seven years - turning him into an icon in India, much like Elvis Presley was in the West. Millions of young men aped his distinctive hairstyle and people in remote villages rattle off lines from his films.A fatal accident he survived on the sets of "Coolie" in 1982 let the country into a tizzy, forcing state television to telecast hourly bulletins, the first in media history.He was voted the millennium's greatest star of stage and screen in a BBC online poll three years ago, ahead of Hollywood icons including Lawrence Olivier, Humphrey Bogart and Charlie Chaplin.Seven years ago he also became the first Indian movie actor to be exhibited in wax at Madame Tussaud's museum in London.In recognition of his popularity, French perfume-maker Lomani has also named a fragrance, "Amitabh B" after him.While many contemporaries have retired from Bollywood--known for its megawatt musicals and song-and-dance extravaganzas--the silver-bearded actor still continues to attract audiences of all ages.He recently appeared in a Bollywood remake of Sholay in director Ram Gopal Varma's "Aag", in which he played the bad guy. In comparison to the original, the remake bombed at the box office. (ANI)

President Patil arrives in Nagpur
Monday, October 15, 2007 | AY

Nagpur, Oct 13 (ANI): President Pratibha Patil arrived here today for her scheduled visit to Vidarbha region.Patil was accorded a warm welcome on her arrival in Nagpur.Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy Vilas Muttemwar, Deputy Chief Minister R R Patil, cabinet ministers Satish Chaturvedi (textile), Anees Ahmad (dairy development) and Anil Deshmukh (PWD) received her at the airport.Director General of Police P S Pasricha, Air Marshal J S Apte, Air Officer in Commanding-in-Chief Headquarters Maintenance Command, city Mayor Maya Ivnate, Divisional Commissioner Anand Limaye, Commissioner of Police Satyapal Singh and District Collector Sanjay Mukherjee were also present. Soon after her arrival, Patil flew to Amravati where she will participate in a felicitation function, which is being organised in her honour. She will also inaugurate the Amba Festival.On Sunday, she will proceed to Hyderabad where she will open the 4th Military World Games 2007 at the Gachi Bowli Stadium. The athletics stadium at the Gachi Bowli Complex with a seating capacity of 27,000 will be hosting the opening and the closing ceremonies of the games. A total of 13 disciplines will be held here, with hockey and kabaddi being scrapped due to "lack of participation". However, these two sports will be organised only for demonstration.Polo will be held as an exhibition sport.Out of the 13 events, three will be military specific, namely parachuting, shooting and pentathlon.The President will return to New Delhi on the same day. (ANI)

Navaratri, Eid-ul-Fitr celebrated 'side by side' in Kalyan town
Monday, October 15, 2007 | AY

Kalyan (Maharashtra), Oct 14 (ANI): Hindus and Muslims on Sunday celebrated their respective festivals of 'Navaratri' and Eid-ul-Fitr peacefully in Kalyan city in Maharashtra, which has the places of worship of the two religions located nearby.Hundreds of Hindus and Muslims thronged the temple of Goddess Durga and the mosque located in Kalyan city near Thane.While the Hindus flocked the temple to observe the nine-day Navratri festival, Muslims gathered at the mosque to offer prayers on Eid-ul-Fitr, which marks the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan.Leaders of the two communities held meetings for the last one-month to make the festivities a peaceful affair.It was decided that the temple bells would not be rung for a particular two hours on Sunday so that prayers could be offered at the mosque."After mediation between the leaders of the community, it was decided that both communities would perform own religious rituals. They asked us for a favour that for two hours we will not ring temple bells and we did that," said Dhashrath Ghadigaonkar, a Hindu devotee."The solidarity between the two communities came to fore today," Ghadigaonkar added.The devotees commended the presence of police to avoid any communal tension due to a huge gathering of Hindus and Muslims expected in the same area."The leaders of both the communities have done a very courageous job. With the help of senior police officials and proper security arrangement, things have been very peaceful and very good," said Minaraj Mir Zyada, a Muslim devotee.Security was tightened to avert tension during the religious festivals.Devotees, who thronged the mosque to offer prayers, performed their rituals peacefully.While Eid-ul-Fitr, which means 'the feast of breaking fast', is the biggest and most important festival on the Islamic calendar, "Navratri", dedicated to Goddess Durga is celebrated twice a year, -- during the spring and the autumn season. (ANI)

Indo-western fusion wears make their presence felt at LFW
Monday, October 15, 2007 | AY

Mumbai, Oct 15 (ANI): Designers exhibited a dazzling array of Indo-western couture on the second day of the Lakme Fashion Week (LFW) on Sunday in Mumbai.Vibrant colour palette and traditional embroidery dominated the collection put up by the designers for the coming Spring-Summer 2008.Collection titled 'Oracle' by designer Anupama Dayal saw a collection of tunics and suits in rich colours such as crimson, emerald, lime, banana, champagne and grey.Turkmenistan print and traditional Indian embroidery ikkat, on Lurex panels gave the dresses a traditional yet classy and western touch."It is about how global women will choose to express her identity. It is multi-ethnic meet techno. A lot of vintage flavour, but treated in a modern manner," said Anupama.'Lemonade' by designer Vineet Bahl saw a refreshing ensemble in delicate breezy fabrics.Flowing dresses in chiffon, georgette, and silk, with empire line and A-line silhouettes in colours of pink, ivory, and rich tones of red and brown lent an opulent touch to the clothes."I am always interested in fusing cultures. Indian and western together is much more interesting for me than just western. So that's what I did in this collection. We started with Indian silhouette but we updated it and added more colour and more texture to it, we made it slightly modern," said Vineet.LFW is the first event independently organised by fashion accessories major, Lakme.Lakme had sponsored the last three India Fashion Weeks. However, it branched off to move on its own after FDCI announced it would be holding separate fashion weeks for the spring/summer and fall/winter collections from 2006 and the two organisations could not agree to the sponsorship amount for the events.LFW involves events like media seminars, business-to-business meetings and a buyers' forum, apart from regular fashion shows. (ANI)

Bollywood, ManUnited join hands for football’s `Chak De India’ moment
Monday, October 15, 2007 | AY

Mumbai, Oct.15 (ANI): Bollywood has teamed up with Manchester United in an attempt to win over India — a potentially vast and lucrative market but one stubbornly obsessed with cricket — to the charms of football. The Hindi film industry also hopes that Dhan Dhana Dhan . . . Goal, starring John Abraham and his off-screen girlfriend Bipasha Basu, will win over new audiences outside India by featuring one of the world’s most famous football clubs. According to The Times, the film’s director, Vivek Agnihotri, spent four years trying to convince a producer to make a film about a sport considered a minority pursuit in India.He eventually found a backer in Ronnie Screwvala, head of UTV Motion Pictures.The film was shot on location during the off-season at Old Trafford. Although there are no cameo roles for any of the players, Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo are likely to be used to promote the film.It is a story of a struggling Southall club facing closure. The manager takes his players to the home of the Premier League champions to inspire them to winning ways. The actors had training for their roles from Andy Ansah, the former Southend United striker, who choreographed the film’s matches. Abraham had a head start, having captained his school football team. “I loved soccer and would have loved to take it up as a career, but apparently the universe had other plans for me,” he wrote on his personal website. The makers of Goal are hoping that the Indian public is more receptive to a film about football after the national team won the Nehru Cup in Delhi in August, beating Syria, the favourites, 1-0. The Premier League is already popular among the young urban elite in India and had an audience of 42 million last season. The Premier League is extending its coaches’ training programme to India, where clubs including United and Chelsea are believed to be looking at setting up schools. (ANI)

Reliance Industries QII results to be announced on Oct.18
Thursday, October 11, 2007 | AY

Mumbai, Oct.11 (ANI):The Board of Directors of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) will meet on October 18 to consider the financial results of the company for the quarter ended September 2007. A notice to this effect has already been sent to the Stock Exchanges. Reliance Industries Limited Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) is India’s largest private sector company on all major financial parameters with turnover of Rs.1,18,354 crore (27.23 billion dollars), a cash profit of Rs. 17,678 crore (4.07 billion dollars), a net profit of Rs. 11,943 crore (2.75 billion dollars) and a net worth of Rs. 63, 967 crore (14.72 billion dollars).RIL is the first and only private sector company from India to feature in the Fortune Global 500 list of ‘World’s Largest Corporations’ since 2004 and ranks amongst the world’s Top 200 companies in terms of profits. RIL is amongst the 25 fastest climbers ranked by Fortune. RIL also features in the Forbes Global list of world’s 400 best big companies and in FT Global 500 list of world’s largest companies. (ANI)

NetScout Systems to acquire Network General
Thursday, October 11, 2007 | AY

Mumbai, Oct 11 (ANI-Business Wire India): The NetScout Systems, an industry pacesetter for advanced network and service assurance solutions, today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the Network General Corporation, in a combined cash, stock, and debt transaction currently valued at approximately 205 million dollars. The acquisition, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals, is expected to be completed by early November. Network General employees will become NetScout employees, and the newly combined entity will be headquartered in Westford, Massachusetts. The combined company will have a larger and more diversified customer base supported by a larger sales force and a planned doubling of R&D spending. Faster revenue growth is expected to be achieved through a broader, integrated product portfolio which will provide customers greater efficiency and value. The acquisition furthers NetScout's vision of providing superior network-based application performance management. The new, extended portfolio will directly benefit both customer sets by increasing the value of the NetScout solutions available to them while protecting their existing investments. NetScout customers will benefit from the addition of best-of-breed expert packet analysis and data mining, and Network General customers will benefit from best-of-breed real-time monitoring and rapid top-down troubleshooting. The acquisition will accelerate NetScout's recently announced entry into the Wireless Service Provider segment. This segment is currently dominated by several large competitors, whose solutions have relied on deep packet analysis versus NetScout's superior real time monitoring and reporting. With the addition of Network General's leading technology, NetScout will be able to offer the best solution across a broad spectrum of performance monitoring and troubleshooting requirements. (ANI)

Mumbai gets ready for Navratri with Dandiya and Garba
Thursday, October 11, 2007 | AY

Mumbai, Oct.10 (ANI): Navratri festival, which begins this week, is an occasion for people in Maharashtra and Gujarat to participate in Dandiya Raas and Garba, the traditional dance forms. Ahead of these dance programmes that are organized at various localities, much preparation is done in advance. And these days, many Mumbaikars are busy with just that. Residents of Mumbai, the Gujaratis families in particular, are honing their dance skills ahead of the Garba and Dandiya-Raas nights to be organized during the nine-day Navratri festival here These dance nights during Dussehra Puja are spellbinding and all age groups participate in it. For youngsters, it is also a time when they can meet individuals of similar age group and enjoy traditional dancing steps. Thousands of people from all walks of life participate in the lively dances to mark the festival organized at different locations. Singers, musicians and dancers have practiced for many weeks for the festivities scheduled to commence on Friday (Oct.12). Several local committees have conducted special classes for their residents to be in tune with the popular beats to develop rhythm. Besides, many foreign tourists have also evinced interest in learning these traditional dance forms. Apart from the open spaces available in every other neighbourhood, many organizers have booked spacious community halls and even ballrooms in hotels to host Garba or Dandiya dances. "This Navaratri festival is very special for us. We celebrate it with full excitement and enjoyment," said Jigar Soni, a dance organiser. Final touch is being lent to organization of Garba and Dandiya programmes which will last till the completion of Navaratri festival on October 20. " We are practicing for the last 20-25 days. We have to learn the traditional form also since the authentic steps and moves have been eclipsed over the past decade-and-a-half," said Dipta Mungekar, a dance practitioner. Costumes play a major role to bring in the actual feel and spirit during the traditional dances. "Costumes have their own significance, as one’s appearance tends to increase the dance’s influence. So we start preparing for costumes a month or two before the actual event. Parents bring those costumes from Baroda and many other villages. We design them so that our costumes remain different from others," said Charulata, a dance teacher.Tourisis visiting Mumbai at this time of the year are also drawn to these dances and many of them enjoy joining the local dancers in festivities. "I love dancing. It's a passion and I would love to know more about this dance. It's really good," said Chudgie, a foreign tourist. (ANI)

Thousands protest against entry of WalMart and other western style stores in India
Thursday, October 11, 2007 | AY

Mumbai, Oct.10 (ANI): Over 20,000 traders, farmers and shopkeepers staged a demonstration here on Wednesday against the entry of private retail giants like Wal-Mart into India.The protests were the bi