Axis Bank rolls out lifetime fixed rate home loan

Axis Bank, a late entrant to home loans, has launched a lifetime fixed rate home loan at an interest rate of 11.75% for a 20-year tenure. This is the cheapest fixed rate loan available in the market and is 250 basis points lower than the fixed rate product being offered by the bank till now. Most banks charge 13-13.5% interest for fixed rate home loans. Axis Bank is aiming to woo customers uneasy over rising interest rates. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has raised policy rates 12 times since March 2010. The repo rate, or the rate at which banks borrow from the central bank, has since gone up by 350 basis points. "This is a pure...

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Claire Danes sets up in 'Homeland'

It's "confusing" to talk about her character, CIA operations officer Carrie Mathison, because there's still so much to learn: Four episodes are left to shoot in Charlotte, and "these are not a casual four," says Danes, 32, who, sitting in the airy penthouse of the Hudson Hotel, has swapped Carrie's sensible pantsuits for something more akin to Danes' downtown homeland: black ice-pick-heeled stilettos and a sleeveless sheath from her "buddy," Narciso Rodriguez. "There's nothing casual about this show."Thanks to a tip gleaned from a tense meeting with an Iraqi prisoner, Agent Mathison suspects that a recently rescued eight-year American...

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Fight over Rajinikanth's biopic rights

The face-off over Rajinikanth biopic has taken a turn for the worse. To counter the film being made on the South superstar by producer Atul Agnihotri without their consent, Rajini's family is now planning to go ahead with their own biopic on the actor.In fact, Rajini's daughter Soundarya has been urgently trying to reach Atul to no avail. "I've tried to contact Atul Agnihotri, but I haven't got any response.We have not authorised anyone to do a biopic on my father. We reserve our rights on this matter," she says, adding that she is still open to discussing the matter with the producer.Interestingly, in a recent interview Atul reportedly said,...

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In partnership with Bharti Airtel RIM launches BlackBerry Curve smartphone priced at Rs 19,990

In partnership with Bharti Airtel RIM launches BlackBerry Curve smartphone priced at Rs 19,990.Research In Motion has finally revealed the most anticipated the next generation BlackBerry Curve smartphone priced at Rs. 19,990 in India today."The BlackBerry Curve series has been extremely popular in India and we are excited to launch the all new BlackBerry Curve 9360. This next generation BlackBerry Curve features a stunning new design along with a significant performance upgrade and an unmatched mobile social experience. It provides an ideal upgrade path for our existing Curve customers as well as the millions of feature phone users in the...

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Facebook changes: Fact and fiction

Facebook has made a lot of modifications to its network and is planning a lot more. But, as often happens when the social network makes major changes, users are confused about what is and isn’t changing. Here’s a breakdown of what’s new, what’s in the cards, and a couple of busted myths: News feed and ticker: The News Feed is now more curated, with stories that Facebook deems relevant pinned to the top, recent stories of import further down the page and all the “Julie commented on John’s post” or “John just earned the blue ribbon in Farmville” updates relegated to a real-time feed that runs along the right side of your homepage....

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Sony Music to acquire music publishing rights for Sony/ATV JV

NEW DELHI: Sony Music plans to invest heavily in acquiring songs and music publishing rights to expand the Indian business and revenue of its recently formed joint venture with the US-basedSony/ATV Music Publishing. After signing the strategic JV for setting up the India operations of Sony/ATV, Sony Music is now looking at investing in publishing rights acquisitions to grow the business in India and drive its revenues, a top official said. Sony/ATV Music Publishing, co-owned by Sony and trusts formed by late Michael Jackson, is among the world's largest holder of music publishing companies and owns or administers copyrights...

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Hat in the Ring

WhenNarendra Modithrew his hat into the ring to become India's next prime minister, he never bargained for the fact that he would stumble on a skull cap. The now famous "cap incident" was a rare instance of spontaneity in a carefully choreographed Sadbhavna fast in Ahmedabad, when the Gujarat Chief Minister, in a gesture of spare-me-the-honour, rejected the cap offered by Maulana Hazrat Sufi Imam Sahi Sayeed Mehendi Husain. For a leader desperate to reach out to the Muslims of Gujarat and to Indians at large, that moment preserved by cameras was heavy with meaning, especially so when Modi displays a penchant for wearing a variety of colourful...

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The Power Of Social Media

Social networking is what some information technology academics consider to be a disruptive technology or having disruptive impact, rendering existing products, services and business models obsolete. Although social media have not yet made any product, service or business model obsolete, the phenomenon is certainly challenging many norms, and its current and future impact is and will be profound on all aspects of life. In particular, social media are supplanting traditional media as news and entertainment outlets. A number of recent events, locally and internationally, have highlighted the possible future legal and political...

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Major plane accident averted in Chennai

Over 300 passengers escaped a major air accident in Chennai on Saturday when a flight cleared for take-off stood on the runway and another plane that was about to land was asked to circle overhead instead. noticing the Jet Airways plane still on the runway, the Air India plane was asked to circle overhead," Chennai Airport director EP Hareendranathan said. When asked about the presence of an Indigo plane on the runway at the same time, as reported, Hareendranathan said: "The Indigo Airline plane was cleared from the runway. Only the Jet Airways plane was on the runway when the Air India flight was coming in." When the Air Traffic Control (ATC)...

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Club was overcrowded at time of shooting

DAYTON, Ohio (INCIDENT2DAY) - According to police, the nightclub where a Central State University athlete was shot to death September 23rd was overcrowded at the time of the shooting. Officers estimate the A-List club in downtown Dayton had twice the amount of people inside as legally allowed when Kordero Hunter, 21, was killed. Police said this is the second shooting at the club in nearly a week. Officials have not said if any action will be taken against the club, although owners said they have asked for additional patrols during peak hours. An arrest warrant has been issued for Jason DaShaun Shern, 30, for Hunter's murd...

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Mumbai Indians upstages Super Kings

Chennai Super Kings let slip its home record in bizarre fashion as tailenders Lasith Malinga (37 not out) and Harbhajan Singh (19 not out) starred with the bat in an unlikely three-wicket win for the beleaguered Mumbai Indians at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium here on Saturday. Batting first, Chennai made 158 for four and looked in complete control when Kieron Pollard departed in the 16th over, with Mumbai still requiring 53 off 28 balls with three wickets in hand, as Malinga joined his skipper. What initially looked like a face-saving partnership soon turned ominous, as M.S. Dhoni did not have the bowling resources to counter the lusty...

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MANKATHA - THE BADMANS HOMECOMING

"Dare to play a baddie"? Most heroes in tinsel town won't find anything strange about this phrase. That being the case you wouldn't have to be a genius to decipher that here we are dealing with an industry neck deep in stereotypes when you get to see the words "dare" and "baddie" used in the same sentence. Hence it obviously comes as a whiff of fresh air when a top hero decides to cross paths with out-and-out villainy with no strings attached and if he plays it with such an irresistible, carefree charm like Ajith does in his golden 50th venture, not many would have much to complain about. Vinayak (Ajith), a corrupt cop, suspended...

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Derelict NASA satellite falls back to Earth

NASA's Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite, out of gas and out of control after two decades in space, plunged back into the atmosphere early Saturday, heating up, breaking apart and presumably showering chunks of debris along a 500-mile-long downrange impact zone. But NASA officials could not immediately confirm where or exactly when the satellite came down, saying only that re-entry occurred during a two-hour period. "NASA's decommissioned Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite fell back to Earth between 11:23 p.m. EDT Friday, Sept. 23, and 1:09 a.m. EDT Sept. 24," the agency said in a statement released more than three hours -- two complete...

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Prepare Your Business for Google+

Google+ just opened its doors to the world by enabling open signups and moving to the beta, testing phase. The nascent social network is still thin on features and ways for businesses to properly use it, but its minimalist approach has gained Google+ millions of users in a very short period. If you've tried it out for yourself, you'll know that making your way around Google+ is a simplistic, uncluttered experience compared to that of Facebook. Back in July, Google promised that business profiles and features would be coming later, and as we get a little closer to when they are supposed to be announced later in 2011, it's time to position...

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Lights, Camera, Conversation — Tamil-cinema blues

I hadn't seen a Tamil movie in a while. I convinced myself that wild horses couldn't drag me to the Vikram-starring “Deiva Thirumagal,” which a number of people said was adapted from “I Am Sam.” The problem wasn't the adaptation (if you look at it charitably; “theft” if you want to be brutal) – it's that I do not, anymore, have the stomach for the spectacle of big-name actors brandishing their talents like fireworks in a night sky, playing (I'm looking for the politically correct word here) people with special needs. I could barely endure Sean Penn doing it (in “I Am Sam”) and Ajay Devgan doing it (in the Hindi adaptation, “Main Aisa...

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