Sanjay, Maanyata Miffed With Kangana

Kangana Ranaut and the Dutts have drifted apart. The actress has been telling her friends that she doesn't consider Sanjay and Maanyata family. A source confirmed, "Reports of her distancing herself from the couple have disturbed them. And whatever she is saying about them has come as a rude shock to them. They won't be inviting her to their home anymore. In any case, she had never been as close to them as she claimed. It was always Ameesha Patel who was Maanyata's close friend." The fact that the Dutts did not attend Kangana's birthday bash recently was a clear-cut message. The source revealed, "An extremely upset Kangana kept calling Mana...

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Big movies hit the screens

The movie's story is interesting too. Anupam Kher playing Kabir Malhotra invites four strangers - Neil Menon played by Abhishek Bachchan, O.P. Ramsay by Boman Irani, Tisha Khanna by Shahana Goswami and Vikram Kapoor by Jimmy Shergill, to his private island in Samos, Greece. Then, they leave for a thrilling journey of love, revenge, retribution and a murder, where everyone is a suspect and every suspect has a motive behind whatever he or she does! Incidentally, Abhishek is a casino owner from Turkey, who has invested in various businesses, some legal, some not. His involvement in crime is likely to threaten his existence. Shahana is a crime journalist...

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Researchers discover unlikely bedbug repellent

Swedish researchers are hoping they have found a smell so disgusting that even bedbugs are repelled. It’s the smell of an alarmed adolescent bedbug. And if their study bears out, and if they can synthesize, bottle and deploy the smell sufficiently, they may have found a useful weapon to add to the growing artillery against these blood-sucking pests. The researchers, from Lund University in Sweden, were trying to determine the similarities between the common bed bug and the tropical bed bug. The study appears in this week's issue of the Public Library of Science One, or PLoS One. The tropical bedbug, once confined to warmer, humid climates,...

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How to save the last tigers on Earth

Endangered tigers are back in the spotlight at an international conference in India this week, where representatives from all 13 Asian countries where tigers still roam have gathered to work out the practicalities of saving a species from extinction. The conference in New Delhi comes on the heels of the world's first tiger summit, hosted in November of last year by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. The landmark meeting in St. Petersburg brought together high-level government officials from all Asian tiger range countries, along with conservation groups and donor nations, and produced the Global Tiger Recovery Program (GTRP), an international...

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Could this 'laptop killer' be the gadget that finally proves a worthwhile rival to the iPad?

    * Attaching a screen and keyboard turns the Motorola Atrix phone into a fully-equipped laptop A mobile phone that doubles as a laptop has been touted as the gadget that could finally threaten the iPad's dominance in the technology market. The Motorola Atrix phone has so impressed gadget experts since it debuted at technology fairs earlier this year that it has been dubbed a 'laptop killer'. It can be turned into a fully-equipped laptop by attaching a screen and keyboard, both of which have to be bought separately. Technology magazine T3 has even snubbed the iPad 2 - Apple’s latest version of its tablet device - to hand...

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Samsung launches Google Nexus S with Super LCD in India, for Rs. 30,400

Samsung has launched the Google Nexus S in India, and it should be hitting shelves soon, officially priced at Rs. 30,400 (MRP). Online retailers such as Flipkart have been quoting a much lower pre-order price of Rs. 27,999 for a while now, and the price of the Galaxy S has also dropped significantly, so expect on-street prices of the Nexus S to be a fair bit lower than the official MRP. The Google Nexus S model Samsung has brought to India is the Nexus S i9023, and not the Nexus i9020, so bears a 4-inch Super LCD screen instead of a Super AMOLED one. As you know, the Google Nexus S was the platform lead device for Gingerbread, and has a special...

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2011 Android App Guide launches

The 2011 Android App Guide has finally arrived, bringing a huge range of expert reviews of the latest and greatest applications for your Android handset. With the news shelves dominated by iPhone and iPad app mags, you'd be forgiven for thinking that Android isn't the most popular mobile OS around, but the 2011 Android App Guide – from the brains behind the TechRadar Buying Guides – is hoping to right that wrong with reviews of the best apps around. So if you're toting the new HTC Desire S, Samsung Galaxy S or any of the fantastic handsets around then you can pick up the magazine from newsstands or from the My Favourite Magazines site right...

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Maruti Suzuki India sales jump 25% in 2010-11

New Delhi : The country’s largest car manufacturer Maruti Suzuki India has reported a 28.2 per cent jump in total sales to 1,21,952 units during March this year from 95,123 units in the same month last year. For the entire 2010-11 financial year, the company’s sales soared by 24.81 per cent to 12,71,005 units from 10,18,365 units in the previous fiscal, Maruti Suzuki India said in a statement today. During March 2011, the company reported an increase of 38.85 per cent in domestic sales to 1,10,424 units from 79,530 units in March 2010. Exports, however, fell by 26.07 per cent to 11,528 units from 15,593 units. Sales of the company’s once bread-and-butter...

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Rabobank receives banking license in India

Rabobank today announced that it has received approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to establish a banking presence in India through a maiden branch to be located in Mumbai. The license will help Rabobank to substantially expand its current range of services in the Indian market. Rabobank's application for this license is part of the Bank's international strategy to expand its activities in major growth markets with a strong food and agriculture base, the Bank said in a statement here. With the banking license, Rabobank will broaden its product suite in India. Rabobank in India will be able to accept deposits and use its balance sheet...

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After Apollo Global, the deluge

Private equity firm Apollo Global is set to go public this week, and if the sale goes well, a gaggle of alternative investment managers could follow. Bankers are holding discussions with firms including Oaktree Capital Management and Carlyle Group about going public and are watching to see how Apollo does, sources familiar with the situation said. Apollo, which hopes to raise about USD 473 million in its IPO, missed the first great wave of private equity firms going public, which started in 2007 with the Blackstone Group. But with debt markets exuberant and the stock market open to initial offerings, the profit picture for private equity firms...

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Stem cell advances can aid patients having back pain

Researchers have recently made a breakthrough in finding a way to re-grow a damaged spine. The damaged discs in between vertebrae commonly cause lower back pain and earlier it was thought to be nearly impossible for the cartilage discs to heal. But Swedish researchers believe they have succeeded in growing human stem cells that can aid damaged disc to regenerate. Disc degeneration happens when there is an alteration in the properties of invertebrate discs that are chiefly made of cartilage which results in the risk of them becoming too thin. Degenerative discs are considered to be responsible for pained caused to the lower back when one vertebrae...

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Hastings hospice opened again after 6 months

A Hastings hospice that had been compelled to shut down half a year ago will re-start its inpatient palliative care service. The Hawke's Bay District Health Board had taken control of Cranford Hospice in May after an independent audit had come across a dysfunctional relationship between the staff and a disapproving working environment. Around 50 hospice and hospital staff attended a thanksgiving service on Monday at the Hawke's Bay hospital's chapel. The ceramic guardian angel of Cranford, which has embraced the palliative care patients into the hospital since May, was later ceremonially given back to the Cranford board. According to the...

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B.C. pioneers new alcoholism strategy

British Columbia is the first province to formally recognize alcohol addiction as a chronic medical condition, a move aimed at improving treatment. As of Friday, the new policy emphasizes preventive measures and gives family doctors more time and resources to treat patients with alcohol addiction before it becomes a bigger and more expensive problem for the health-care system and patients. Billy Smith of Vancouver finally admitted he had a drinking problem after 30 years. Until then, Smith said his life revolved around getting money and drinking until he fell off a bar stool, figuring "I was going to die an alcoholic and I had to learn to accept...

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Fukushima Situation 'Remains Very Serious': IAEA Chief

Nairobi : The situation at Japan's stricken Fukushima nuclear plant remains very serious, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Yukiya Amano,said here today. "The situation in Fukushima remains very serious",Amano told a press briefing at UN headquarters here, where he is attending the Chief Executives Board meeting, which brings together heads of the world body's agencies. "But Japan is not alone. The UN Secretary General promised me to give all the support necessary to Japan. The most important thing for now is to put an end to this crisis situation," he said. Japan has struggled to contain its nuclear emergency since a 14-metre...

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Mob Kills 8 Foreigners During Quran Burning Protest In Afghanistan

Kabul : Eight foreigners were killed Friday after demonstrators protesting a reported burning of the Muslim holy book stormed a U.N. office in northern Afghanistan, opening fire on guards and setting fires inside the compound, a top Afghan police official said. The topic of Quran burning stirred outrage among millions of Muslims and others worldwide after a small American church in Florida threatened to destroy the holy book last year. The Florida pastor had backed down but purportedly went through with the burning last month, prompting protests in three Afghan cities. Munir Ahmad Farhad, a spokesman in Balkh province, said the protest in Mazar-i-Sharif...

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Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari today gave his assent to a proposal

Islamabad : Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari today gave his assent to a proposal to ask the Supreme Court to review the death sentence awarded to ex-premier Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in 1979, which the ruling PPP contends led to the "judicial murder" of the leader. Zardari signed the proposal in the presence of Law Minister Babar Awan and Sindh Home Minister Zulfikar Mirza, under Article 186 of the Constitution. Presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar said the proposal will now be sent to the Supreme Court by the Law Ministry. Earlier this week, the federal Cabinet authorised the President to send a proposal on this subject to the Supreme Court. Article...

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Pawar Describes World Cup A Huge Success

Mumbai : A day before the summit clash of the World Cup, International Cricket Council president Sharad Pawar today termed the tournament as a "huge success" and "incident free". "In all respects the ICC World Cup is a huge success; in terms of spectators, TV viewership, the quality of cricket played so far," said Pawar, who is also the president of the Mumbai Cricket Association which is hosting the final of the mega-event at the Wankhede Stadium here tomorrow. Pawar said but for the support of all the authorities of the three host countries -- India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh -- including their cricket boards, the tournament could not have...

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Kalmadi Set Up Sham OC For His Benefit: Shunglu Report

New Delhi : In further embarrassment to Suresh Kalmadi, the Shunglu panel has slammed him for setting up a "sham" Commonwealth Games Organising Committee with much lesser accountability and transparency. The Committee in its 103-page sixth and last report made public today on "Conduct of Commonwealth Games 2010" said it has found "material changes" in official documents by Kalmadi to get the post of OC chief and also to have sweeping administrative control over it. The OC was constituted "to retain absolute and unhindered control on the Commonwealth Games, 2010 through a sham society with much lesser accountability and transparency even in...

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CBI To Probe Sadiq Batcha's Death

New Delhi : The CBI today informed the Supreme Court that it is willing to take over the probe into the mysterious death of Sadiq Batcha, a close aide of 2G spectrum case accused and former telecom minister A Raja. "The CBI has expressed its willingness to take over the investigation into Batcha's death," senior advocate K K Venugopal, appearing for the agency, told a bench of justices G S Singhvi and A K Ganguly. Earlier the Tamil Nadu Government had favoured a CBI probe into Batcha's death. The bench asked Additional Solicitor General Indira Jaising to take instructions from the Centre and inform it about the issuance of a notification for...

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