Blog Archive

Thursday, March 31, 2011

Better Mood = Worse Memory

Do you have trouble remembering names at parties? It may be because your having too good a time.

Individuals who have trouble recalling facts that they had just studied or dialogue from a recent conversation may have experienced this type of memory loss because they were in a good mood at the time that they were learning or speaking, according to a recent study that was published in the journal Cognition and Emotion.

Though good mood brings along cheerfulness and positive feelings, it is also linked with forgetfulness, as such a state of mind decreases your working memory capacity. The investigators said they believe that good mood may reduce a person's capacity for working memory.

The ability to remember things may be tied to your mood, finds a new study by Elizabeth Martin, U of Missouri who says that hers is the first research “to show that a positive mood can negatively impact working memory storage capacity.”

While being in a good mood might decrease memory capacity, for the short term at least, it’s not all bad. "Being in a good mood has been shown to increase creative problem-solving skills and other aspects of thinking," says Martin.

Yahoo! set to unveil new search engine for the Indian audience

In a bid to take on Google, Yahoo! is all set to unveil its latest search engine “Search Direct” in India by the second half of 2011, said Prabhakar Raghavan, chief strategy officer, executive vice-president and head of Yahoo! Labs-India.

Yahoo rolled out Yahoo Search Direct this week, its boxed-up user-friendly rival to Google Instant search. Thus, Yahoo has unveiled an online hybrid search and display advertising model in a bid to boost its dwindling share of the search advertising market.

Meanwhile, Yahoo India is also considering whether to accept the product or business proposals from the people in India in order to expand its pool of ideas.

Mr Prabhakar said the Internet should be open and any efforts to stack on the basis of Operating Systems and exclusive applications could defeat the spirit of the Web that was built on openness.

Of its total workforce of 14,000 globally, Yahoo! has 2,000 employees at its R & D facility in Bangalore.

Web should provide useful technologies: Abdul Kalam

Former Indian president APJ Abdul Kalam urged the 20th International World Wide Web conference, being held for the first time in India, to initiate measures to enhance the benefits of the technology to the rural masses in the country in three years.
former-president-abdul-kalam.jpg

The World Wide Web (WWW) will soon emerge as an agent of societal transformation by connecting the rural masses with the outside world thanks to new mobile technology, former president said in Hyderabad on Wednesday (30-Mar-2011).

"The WWW community should now focus on developing technologies that can provide useful information to the masses on mobile platform using the latest 3G and 4G technologies. The world community is looking for a mobile device that can provide integrated solutions of 3G or 4G applications to people in their mother tongues," said Kalam while delivering the keynote address at the inaugural session of the 20th International World Wide Web conference.

"The future of the web is going to shift from connecting the corporates to connecting the individuals in the rural societies," Kalam said.

Urumi Censored with 'U certificate

Internationally acclaimed cinematographer Santosh Sivan's latest film Urumi, is one of the most eagerly awaited Malayalam films. He is also making the Tamil, Hindi and English versions.

tamil-telugu-hindi-actress-genelia-hot-sexy-urumi-movie-still
[ Genelia in the multi-lingual periodic flick URUMI ]
Nature is his guru and he considers himself a life-long student of history. And with his latest offering, 'Urumi' a mega-budget costume drama to be released in four languages, acclaimed cinematographer and filmmaker Santosh Sivan is combining both.

The film, produced by Shaji Nadesan, has Prithviraj, Prabhu Deva, Arya, Genelia, Nithya Menen , Jagathi Sreekumar in the lead and special appearances by Vidya Balan and Tabu.

Urumi - the movie captures the emotions of people of 15th century Kerala. Kelu Nayanar (Prithviraj) is the central character, who takes on the might of Vasco De Gama.

The censor board officials have not only cleared the film with a clean 'U' certificate without any cuts, but also appreciated the multi-lingual film.

"When I am making a film I am not thinking of money or fame, I am a very non-ambitious filmmaker that way. I want to make films about subjects that move me and I am fascinated by history. 'Urumi' is an attempt to take a second look at the glorified story of Vasco Da Gama," the four-time National Award winning Sivan said in an interview.

Sify says in its review: Santosh Sivan's Urumi is a miniature masterpiece of moods, emotions, anxieties ruled by a thirst for revenge. The film unfolds like a ballad and is a sweet and simple fairy tale.

Radiation slows Japan's recovery of dead near troubled nuclear plant

Japanese engineers are struggling to gain control of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, 240 km (150 miles) north of Tokyo, which was seriously damaged by a March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
Radiation slows Japan's recovery of dead near troubled nuclear plant
Rescue team in Japan Tsunami affected area


Pressure is mounting on Japan to expand the evacuation zone around the Fukushima Daiichi power plant, as the prime minister says he plans to review the country's nuclear energy policy.

Japanese officials on Thursday (31-Mar-2011) reported the highest levels of radiation yet recorded in the ocean near a crippled nuclear plant.

In the shadow of Japan's struggle to stem radioactive leaks from its stricken nuclear complex, police in white moon suits pull bodies of tsunami victims from an evacuated zone in halting work interrupted by radiation alarms.

Simran and the Aappa Kadai in her name

[ Indian actress Simran in pic ]
Simran’s Aappa Kadai at Vadapalani is lit up with easy-on-theeyes light, soothing Bollywood music playing in the background.

Naina Mohamed, service manager, explained the history of Simran’s Aappa Kadai. Contrary to popular belief, the restaurant is not named after the Kollywood actress Simran, though she inaugurated it. It is named after the daughter of the restaurant’s owner, Arul Raj.

Simran’s Aappa Kadai also has three chains of restaurants running in Dubai. The one at Vadapalani is the first in India, and more such outlets are expected in the city.

what’s Simran’s Aappa Kadai is famous for and has made a name for itself in Dubai — the aappam. The aappams were being prepared in an open kitchen, where guests can watch the preparations.

Aappams of all mode and variety with interesting names were available.

News Source: Express Buzz

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Kate Winslet: I hate myself onscreen

Hollywood filmstar Kate Winslet is passionate about her acting but hates watching herself on the screen. The 35-year-old actress says she “squirms” when she watches herself on screen.

"I always wanted to be an actress for as long as I can remember, and I'm incredibly fortunate that my career has turned out the way it has. I watch my films once, and that's it. The experience of making a movie is far removed from watching the end result. It's exciting, but it still makes me squirm," said the Titanic star.

Kate, who won an Oscar for her role in The Reader (2009), previously took a break from work since was not feeling productive. “I just waited until the dust had settled. In the last few years I’ve allowed myself to acknowledge the fact that I do really need my job. And so, not only did I feel good and ready, I felt good and ready to be destroyed by a role again,” she said.

Ice on Mercury? NASA gets first close-up look at Mercury

MERCURY, the small, hot, innermost planet with an odd sense of time, is about to give up its secrets. A NASA spacecraft now circling Mercury is set to tackle some big mysteries of the scorched, tiny world – including whether or not water ice lurks in its shadowy craters.

In a historic moment for NASA, the MESSENGER spacecraft has delivered the first pictures ever taken from orbit around the planet Mercury. The Messenger spacecraft will capture some 1500 images from the planet Mercury in just three days, as the spacecraft gets down to work as the first probe to ever orbit the planet, NASA said Wednesday (30-Mar-2011).

The Messenger spacecraft, which entered orbit around Mercury on March 17, sent its first images of the hot planet's surface back to Earth early Tuesday. Interestingly MESSENGER stands for MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry and Ranging.

NASA released the first picture taken of Mercury's surface by the US space agency's orbiting Messenger craft. "Early this morning, at 5:20 am EDT (0920 GMT), Messenger captured this historic image of Mercury," NASA said.

Eating fish protects your eyesight

There is good news for women suffering from age-related macular degeneration. A study to be published in the June issue of Archives of Ophthalmology analyzed the effect of regular fish consumption on the development of age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

Regular consumption of fish and omega-3 fatty acids found in fish is associated with a significantly reduced risk of developing age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in women.

This latest evidence of a protective link between fish oil and eye health mirrors past research that has found the same benefit. Though the above findings are the strongest evidence to date that omega-3 fatty acids protect against the onset of AMD, further research is needed to define the mechanism.

Don't interfere in my life - Ranbir

Seems like Ranbir Kapoor has finally had enough of his Casanova days. After incessant link ups to his co-stars and public attention to his private life, Ranbir's parents are not amused and Ranbir has decided to call it quits, at least for a while.

After too many link ups and unending media speculations about him and his Rockstar co-star Nargis Fakhri and at times even Anushka Sharma, the handsome hunk Ranbir said: "I've had enough. I just want to withdraw from the limelight completely for some time."

Ranbir Kapoor is annoyed at the fact that people are unnecessarily interfering in his personal life. He is tired of his reputation as a 'ladies man' and is firing back at reports claiming he is always hanging out with a new lady.

Mozilla Releases Firefox 4 for Android

A week after the launch of its desktop cousin, Mozilla has launched the full version of Firefox 4 for Android and Maemo. The mobile version of the browser possesses many features of its desktop counterpart and is available in more than 10 languages.

For Android devotees, Mozilla's issuance of Firefox for Android has been a long wait. A week after it launched Firefox 4 for the desktop, Mozilla has just shipped the final version of Firefox 4 for Android.

Mozilla has promised that the new browser is up to three times faster than the stock Android browser. But some users quickly complained about slow performance and the browser's lack of Flash support.

Firefox 4 is a free 14MB download from the Android Market, and requires Android 2.0 or later.

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Rana and Shriya are good friends

For the last couple of months, a rumor has been making rounds in the Tollywood circles, that Rana and Shriya are madly in love with each other. They were said to be spotted together in Hyderabad and on a holiday in Goa. Shriya denied the rumors.

Shriya Saran attending an event
Rana Dagubatti, who forays into Hindi cinema with 'Dum Maaro Dum', has been more in the news for his alleged affairs with Bipasha Basu and the constant speculation about the relationship he shares with actress Shreya Saran. The actor has squashed rumours of a relationship with co-star Bipasha Basu.

"Shriya has known me since I was in college. We have known each other for eight years now and all other gossips are false. Don't know where the rumour keeps creeping from" he reported on his twitter posts.

He said in an interview, "I've no romantic inclination with either of the girls I'm being linked with. They are beautiful human beings, and good friends. But that's all. I am so neck deep in work, that I really have little time for anything else."

Denying reports that she is dating Rana Daggubati, Shriya says that it is just rumors. Bagging an international project opposite Siddharth, the actress has recently cleared the confusion about her link-up gossips.

"I met Rana when he was a student. I cherish friendly relationship with his family for eight years. I like them so much and they do respect me a lot. Except for friendship, there is nothing between me and Rana," she said.


Shriya further clarified that at present she is concentrating on Midnight`s Children, the film under the direction of Deepa Mehta..

Shocking truth about Twitter and its content

A few years ago, the social networking site Twitter was virtually unheard of. However, it then started becoming very popular with the rich and famous, prompting a massive surge in users from the general population. Or was it the other way round?
: Indian actress Priyanka Chopra with Twitter team :

The rise of social media has turned it into a source of basic news for many people; even Twitter's character limit allows for a brief description of a newsworthy event, along with a link to more details. However, the ease of creating and sharing information through social networks has also raised concerns about how easily they can be used to spread misinformation, either accidentally or with intent.

Cornell University and Yahoo! Research have released a ten-page research report that offers insight into how content is being created, consumed, and shared by different groups of users on Twitter. Who says what to whom on Twitter? That's the subject — and the title — of the just-released report from Yahoo Research.

One of the most disruptive aspects of Twitter as a communications medium is that it allows anyone to instantly publish and distribute information to potentially thousands or even millions of people. There may be over one billion tweets generated on Twitter weekly. Researchers studying the origin of tweets have discovered that over half stem from the hyperactive tweeting of a tiny minority.

The study has found that only 20000 people are pretty much responsible for half of all tweets on Twitter. How many of those people actually make up Twitter's user base? Less than one percent..

Monday, March 28, 2011

Indian navy seizes Somali pirates

India's navy has seized 16 Somali pirates after a three-hour-long battle in the Arabian Sea, a spokesman said. The navy also rescued 16 crew members of a hijacked Iranian ship west of the Lakshadweep islands.

An official press release on Sunday (27-Mar-2011) said the recent operation indicates the firm and resolute action taken by the Navy and the Coast Guard and demonstrates the nation's determination to strengthen safety of merchant shipping in the international sea lanes in the Arabian Sea. Proactive action being taken by the Navy has been lauded by the International Maritime Bureau, the release claims.

The officials rescued 16 fishermen — 12 Iranians and four Pakistanis — from the pirates.

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Actor Vijay to support AIADMK

After famous Kollywood actors Vijayakanth and Sarathkumar, AIADMK on Sunday (26-Mar-2011) ensured the support of one more top Tamil filmstar Vijay for its alliance in the upcoming assembly elections.

actor-vijay-supports-jayalalitha-aiadmk-2011-election
S.A. Chandrasekar, noted film director and father of actor Vijay, met AIADMK General Secretary Jayalalithaa at Sangam Hotel on 27th March 2011 and informed her about the decision.

Later Mr. SAC told the media that the 'Ilaya Thalapathy Vijay Makkal Iyakkam,' a fan's movement in his son's name, favoured a political change in the State for its overall development and for the wellbeing of all sections of the society. The Iyakkam is of the firm view that political change is the need of the hour, taking into consideration the happenings in various fronts.

Should Illaya Thalapathi Vijay enter politics or not? This seems to have become the favourite topic of discussion amongst everyone in Kollywood.
actor-vijay-supports-jayalalitha-aiadmk-2011-election

Vijay had made his political intentions clear when he staged a protest at Nagapattinam recently against the killing of Indian fishermen allegedly by Sri Lankan Navy.

When asked whether Vijay will also campaign for the AIADMK front, the director replied that it was for the actor to decide.

Now, it's not news that Vijay's fan following is at its peak. The actor is on a career high with some awe-inspiring offers up his sleeve.

While many would argue that this is not the right time for him to leave a booming film career for politics, it cannot be ignored that Vijay can achieve his political goals too with the help for the huge popularity.

It will be in interesting to see that with the ever growing pressure, what decision Vijay takes.

FIR against Facebook

Facebook's long list of controversial groups just got an Indian update. Social activist Nutan Thakur filed an FIR against the social networking site and its users under Section 66A of the Information Technology Act 2000, in Meerut on 28th March 2011.

3-idiots-facebook-hindu-gods-controversy.jpg
- The controversial FB profile -
In the complainant’s words: "Several groups are formed by users on Facebook and one of them uses abusive language against Hindu gods and goddesses. On this site, open abuses and dirty words are used against many revered Hindu Gods and Goddesses and followers of Hindu religion."

The group being referred to bears the above image on its Facebook page, depicting three prominent deities as the main characters in the film ‘3 Idiots.’ The group’s page is apparently one of many such pages on Facebook, slandering either Islam or Hinduism.

Previously, Facebook were asked to shut down groups that promoted child pornography, paedophilia, genocide and racism. Facebook watchdogs have included British Prime Minister David Cameron, who lobbied for a tribute page to Northumberland killer Raoul Moat to be deleted.

Last month, Nutan Thakur along with her IPS husband, Amitabh Thakur, had lodged complaint in Gomtinagar police station of Lucknow against a Faceboook group calling itself "we hate Gandhi". Subsequently, Facebook blocked the profile.

Yahoo challenges Google with instant search

In an effort to keep pace with its competitors, Yahoo announced on Wednesday a new search function called Direct Search. The feature acts similar to Google's Instant tool, predicting what users are searching for based on the characters entered thus far.

This is probably Yahoo's answer to a similar Google Inc. feature called Instant Search. Both start making suggestions with the first keystroke, and Google and Yahoo both suggest a list of possible search terms that changes as people type.

But while Google immediately populates a search results page with blue links, Yahoo displays a box with instant information and answers for some types of searches at search.yahoo.com.

For example, start typing "Berlin." By the time you get to "berl," Yahoo has put together an information box with the current local time, things to do in the city, links to pages about hotels, restaurants and flights, a photo of a city landmark and a small map.

Well, it pretty much is like Google's Instant Search. But Yahoo says it's different. It's based on answers, not on links.

"They're very different products. We're focused on providing answers, not links. Google Instant is focused on providing more links, faster. Not answers," Yahoo said.

Rajinikanth's Rana clarifications by KSR

Right from the day superstar Rajinikanth's film, 'Rana', was announced, rumours began to flood Kollywood — especially about the female cast of the high budgeted film.

Finally, producer Soundarya Rajinikanth and director KS Ravikumar were forced to hold a press conference, to make clarifications about their Rana.

Daily rumours were making the rounds about Rekha demanding Rs 4 Crore, Vidya Balan, Madhuri Dixit and so many others approached for the film.

Ks-Ravikumar-with-Soundarya-about-Rajni-starring-Rana-tamil-film"I know 'Rana' is a big film. But I never thought that it would give rise to such unfounded allegations. I never spoke to Rekha. Nor did we confirm Vidya Balan. Yes, we spoke to Vidya, but still everything is in discussion stage, and nothing has been finalized yet. Similar is the case with Sonu Sood and Ileana," explained KS Ravikumar.

The director also denied the rumours that Asin’s request to act in the movie was refused. "As Rajini plays three roles in the movie, we need three heroines. We’ve conformed Deepika Padukone and we may start shooting with her in mid-April. The rest are still in discussion," he added.

Set in the 17th century, 'Rana' requires a huge star cast. "It would take at least a year to complete the shoot. So many heroes have been asking me to include them in a few scenes but nothing has been conformed yet," he said.

Rana is a big budget multi-lingual movie that will cost Rs. 100 Crore plus. The film is produced by Eros International, AR Rahman is the music director with Ratnavel as the cameraman.

“Graphics would be vital in this film,” says Soundarya, younger daughter of Superstar Rajini Kanth, who is  technical director of this film.

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Freebies rain on Tamil Nadu voters


Days after the ruling DMK promised either a mixie or a grinder to women, the AIADMK on Thursday promised a fan, a mixie and a grinder as freebies to all women in the State in its election manifesto.
Jayalalitha-Karunanidhi
AIADMK leader J Jayalalithaa declared a war of populism against DMK on Thursday, opening her poll bag of freebies that more than matched the DMK's.
Jayalalitha-KarunanidhiWill the political imperative to match each other sop for sop bankrupt Tamil Nadu? That's the fear after the AIADMK promised everything the DMK did and then some.

For a family of four, the DMK promises a choice - of a free wet grinder or a mixer. The AIADMK family will get a wet grinder, a mixer and a fan.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi and his arch rival AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa, also a former chief minister, both descended on the temple town of Trichy on Friday (25-Mar-2011) to garner votes for next month's assembly election. "The response has been good," said Karunanidhi.

When asked, what are her key issues, Jayalalithaa said, "Corruption of the Karunanidhi government, price rise and the all round deteriorating law and order situation will be focus of the campaign".

Radiation spikes in seawater by stricken Japan plant

Radiation in seawater inside quake-damaged reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant might be rising, Japan's nuclear watchdog said on Friday (25-Mar-2011).
Radiation spikes in seawater by stricken Japan plant
Amid efforts to stabilise Japan's tsunami-stricken Fukushima plant, radiation levels have surged in seawater near the nuclear reactors north-east of the capital, as workers tried to remove contaminated water from it, officials said.

Radiation levels showed signs of climbing, Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency spokesman Hidehiko Nishiyama said.

Readings of between 200 and 300 millisieverts per hour were recorded in water at the No. 2 reactor, he said, equivalent to the maximum exposure permitted for workers during the crisis.

However, Japan's marine life is in no danger regardless of the radiation levels in the waters near the crippled Fukushima 1 Nuclear Power Plant, government spokesman Yukio Edano said on Saturday (26-Mar-2011).

"The increased level of radiation in the seawater will have no influence on marine life," Edano said during a briefing over the situation at the Japanese nuclear accident.

Delhiites to observe Earth Hour

When city lights go off, the lamps in the sky come on. Expect your city to go dark today, between 8.30 pm and 9.30 pm. People, restaurants, and organisations across Delhi are pulling out all the stops to make sure Earth Hour turns out to be a success.
earth-hour-in-india

When city lights go off, the lamps in the sky come on. Expect your city to go dark today, between 8.30 pm and 9.30 pm. People, restaurants, and organisations across Delhi are pulling out all the stops to make sure Earth Hour turns out to be a success.

Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit has exhorted Delhiites to join millions of people across the globe to observe the Earth Hour on Saturday night by switching off their electrical appliances for an hour.

"People are requested to switch off all their electric appliances between 8:30 pm to 9:30 pm tomorrow to so as to send a message about our concern for the environment," Dikshit said.

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Pawan-Trisha Starrer TEEN MAAR Audio Launch

Trisha is one of the few Tamil actresses who are as popular in Telugu cinema as they are in Tamil. The actress is currently looking forward for her Telugu film Theen Maar to hit screens. The film music launch was held recently in Hyderabad.

Teen Maar working still


Teen Maar producer Ganesh Babu was all excited on the stage of Teen Maar audio launch. He went overboard in expressing his gratitude towards Pawan Kalyan. He said that he would be with Pawan forever if the star permits him to.

Trisha on shooting location for the film Teen Maar
 
Theen Maar Audio release has created a lot of buzz among the film folks and the media planners made so much noise about its planning and all. Pawan Kalyan film is ought to create such buzz.

Trisha with Pawan - Teen Maar working still


The film's lead cast including Pawan Kalyan, Trisha, Krihi Kharabanda, music director Manisharma and director Jayanth were present at the launch. Minister Botsa Satyarayana, MP Botsa Jhansi, Allu Aravind, Naga Babu, Shyam Prasad Reddy, Konda Krishnam Raju, Shobanadri and Danaiah graced the ceremony.

Percussionist Shivamani's show was the highlight. Pawan Kalyan was mesmerised by his 'Takadina Teenmaar'.

Ranbir bowled over by Deepika's bold avatar

Bollywood hot stars Ranbir Kapoor and Deepika Padukone have managed to put across a friendly face even after their break up.

Though things soured a bit after Deepika recommended Ranbir to be the brand ambassador for condoms in a talk show with Karan Johar, looks like the civility is back between the two.

Ranbir Kapoor just can't stop raving about ex girlfriend Deepika Padukone's sexy avatar in item number Dum Maro Dum. The actor reportedly sent her an SMS praising her jhatkas.

The first peek at Deepika Padukone's hyped item dance on the remixed beats of the title song in Rohan Sippy's Dum Maro Dum is out on television.

Deepika Padukone has been getting rave reviews for her sexy act in Dum Maaro Dum's remix in which she's flaunts her curves and gyrates to the sexy beats.

Everyone's talking about it including her ex-boyfriend Ranbir Kapoor who's bowled over by her ada and jhatkas. An insider comments that Ranbir has been raving about Deepika in the song, and that he even sent her a message.

Dips confirmed to The Times of India, "He (Ranbir) did tell me that he liked my video."

But she refused to share the details of the text. She said, "Now, I'm not going to share that with you right?"
.

Japan disasters to cost up to $309 billion

Japan's government says the economic costs of the catastrophic March 11 earthquake and tsunami could reach $309 billion (25 trillion yen; £189bn).
The damage to housing, infrastructure and businesses in northeast Japan could cost between 16 trillion yen and 25 trillion yen ($309 billion), according to the Cabinet Office.

In the biggest estimate so far, Japan put the cost of the earthquake-tsunami disaster at more than twice that inflicted by the 1995 Kobe quake. The World Bank has said Japan needs up to five years to rebuild.

Analysts warn however that the figure may rise the longer an atomic crisis at the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant remains unresolved, with an ongoing radiation scare threatening the capital Tokyo, 250 kilometres (155 miles) away.

"We need to be mindful that the quake's negative impact on the economy, at least on the supply side, may be bigger than the Kobe quake 16 years ago, and be prolonged," said Ryuzo Miyao, a board member at Bank of Japan..

Ramya (Divya Spandana) - I am coming back

The recent controversy that divided the Kannada film industry takes a new turn. Ramya who had earlier decided to quit acting has now changed her mind. The actress, who is also known by her other screen name Divya Spandana tweeted, "I am coming back becasue my fans did not want me to quit".

The mess surrounding payment issues between Dandam Dashagunam producer A Ganesh and Ramya may have resulted in the latter wanting to keep away from films. It all began after Ramya failed to turn up for the audio release of Dandam Dashagunam produced by A Ganesh. The issue intensified when Ganesh took the issue to the producers' association and KFCC.

Meanwhile, defending herself, Ramya said she had given money to Ganesh and that he hadn't returned it. She shed tears in public and announced that she was fed up with the industry.

Reduced to tears by the mud-slinging, Ramya announced her decision to quit the industry. Meanwhile, the Artistes' Association said that no actor would act in Ganesh's films. The film chamber added fuel to the fire by banning Ramya and imposing conditions on actress Pooja Gandhi, who too got embroiled in a similar controversy. It also asked Ganesh to repay Ramya's loan before the film is released.

At last, actress Ramya will get back her money that was given to Producer of the film Dhandam Dashagunam A Ganesh.

Ganesh was seen with bundles of notes on a private TV channel on Wednesday. While participating in a programme, he said: “I would have settled this borrowed amount much earlier. But I had some financial difficulties. It is good that artistes understand the producer’s effort to bring out the film..”

But the good news for fans amidst all this is that Ramya has decided to act again after repeated requests by her fans. In fact, some fans staged a protest in front of the chamber yesterday.

Ramya who earlier shied away from the media is now more than willing to appear in TV interviews. Ramya told an interviewer that she had changed her decision to quit the Kannada film industry.

Senior producer Munirathna, who has tried to play peacemaker between Ramya and A Ganesh, the producer of Dandam Dashagunam, has even offered Ramya a role in his film..

Indian State Orissa Becomes Odisha

Orissa will hereafter be called 'Odisha' and the Oriya language will be known as 'Odia' with Parliament giving approval to amendment of the Constitution and also passing the related bill. The new name will come into force from the date notified by the Central Gazette.

The Rajya Sabha on Thursday passed a bill to change the name of Orissa to 'Odisha' and an amendment in the constitution to rename Oriya language as 'Odiya'. "The name of the state specified as Orissa in the First Schedule of the Constitution be changed as Odisha," Home Minister P. Chidambaram said w hile introducing the bill in the Rajya Sabha.

Ceylon had become Sri Lanka and Burma changed to Myanmar.

This was true of Mumbai, Chennai and Pune which had reverted from their colonial names of Bombay, Madras and Poona. Odisha has a glorious history..

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

IT raids on homes of Telugu stars

On Wednesday (23-March-2011) morning, prominent film actors Akkineni Nagarjuna, Anushka Shetty and Ravi Teja and film producer D. Shiva Prasad Reddy woke up to a slew of income-tax raids.

Anushka Shetty - In the popular fairytale Sleeping beauty, the girl is awakened by Prince Charming. But for mana Tollywood beauty Anushka, it was a bit of a rude awakening. On Wednesday morning, the actress, who was fast asleep, was woken up by a team of Income Tax sleuths at her residence in Woods Apartments, Jubilee Hills.

Nagarjuna - Wednesday’s I-T raids on film stars appear to have a Nagarjuna ‘angle’ to them. Except for Ravi Teja, all the others are known to be close to Nagarjuna and some are also said to be his active business partners.

News of the raids did the rounds throughout Wednesday. However, not much information was forthcoming from the department. Simultaneous searches were carried on at residences, offices and other properties in Banjara and Jubilee Hills localities here, apart from some premises in Visakhapatnam.

Film industry sources said the action was prompted when the department found out about large number of land transactions involving film personalities in Visakhapatnam, the second-largest city in the State after Hyderabad.

The undisclosed land deals in Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam and Bengaluru are now under scrutiny. Ravi Teja`s house was also searched by the same team. He has had a meteoric rise in T-town and his rate increased from a meager Rs 10 lakhs to Rs 5 Crores per film.

IT officials found a lot of discrepancies in the money transfer between different accounts for purchase of properties by these stars. Last year, there were IT raids on producer Ganesh Babu and two years ago IT raided Dilraju, V V Vinayak, actors Mahesh Babu and Charmee.

We are yet to get details on what they unearthed in these raids.

Sonakshi denies replacing Katrina

The super successful Dabangg has not only made Sonakshi Sinha one of the most wanted faces in the Bollywood, but she is also being preferred as a brand ambassador to many existing endorsers.

While Katrina, who is not having any good films in her kitty at present, is desperately on the lookout for big-budget films, the ‘Dabangg’ Sonakshi Sinha seems to take away all her brands as well.

Apparently, the greenhorn Sonakshi, who earlier bagged the beauty soap Dyna brand, which was endorsed by Katrina formerly, has again been preferred to Katrina for representing women wear for Provogue.

The gorgeous Sonakshi, clad in a pin stripe blue shirt and grey shorts, was announced as the new brand ambassador of Provogue at Yash Raj Studios in Andheri.

Speaking at the function, the 23-year-old fashion designer turned actress Sonakshi said: “I am not really replacing anyone. I am just filling in a space that was empty for long. But yes, I'm enjoying it a lot.”

When asked about her equation with Katrina, the brand’s previous ambassador, Sonakshi said: “I've met Katrina quite a few times and we do not discuss this. They (the likes of Katrina) have been around for quite some time now I hope I will be there.”

Firefox 4 is out and rocking

Firefox 4 is catching on in a big way with Web users. And it's clear why. The updated browser reportedly has a number of features that make it better than other browsers  including IE9.

Firefox may be under fire from Microsoft's newly competitive browser, but with more than twice the downloads in its first day, Firefox 4 today soared over its rival by one measurement.

Mozilla Firefox 4 - faster, more secure, easier to use and sporting a new look, this latest Firefox release sets a new standard for web browser innovation. Mozilla Firefox project (formerly Firebird, which was formerly Phoenix) is a redesign of Mozilla's browser component, written using the XUL user interface language and designed to be cross-platform. It is small, fast and easy to use, and offers many advantages over other web browsers, such as the tabbed browsing and the ability to block pop-up windows.

For years, Firefox has trundled along at the back of the browser pack, a beast of burden laden with fancy features but lacking speed. Not anymore. Mozilla has released Firefox 4, and now according to technical reviewers, the browser makes a huge performance leap forward.

Firefox 4 has been long time coming. Although the first beta landed in our midst back in June last year, the first alpha actually came out in February, so you can tell Mozilla has been working on this for quite some time now. Firefox 4 is actually quite a bit of an improvement over its predecessor and brings a host of new features that should help it compete against the likes of Google Chrome, Safari, Opera and the new Internet Explorer 9.

Now that Firefox 4 is out to compete against Internet Explorer 9 some people are undoubtedly wondering which browser they should go with. On one hand, Firefox 4 seems to deliver some neat new features and much faster speeds. But Internet Explorer 9 is vastly improved over its predecessor.

In other words, at first glance, it’s not an easy choice.

Actress Ramya to back get her dues

If Tuesday evening spelt war between actors and producers in Sandalwood, the Kannada film industry was in a compromise mode on Wednesday.

The decision of the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce (KFCC) to ban actor Ramya for a year hasn't gone down well in the fraternity. KFCC acted on a complaint by the Producers' Association and imposed the ban on Tuesday.

Ramya who has been the prime focus in the entire controversy said that the decision is meaningless as she has already announced that she will quit the Kannada film industry. "I think it is a big joke", said Ramya.

At last, actress Ramya will get back her money that was given to Producer of the film Dhandam Dashagunam A Ganesh.

Sunday, March 6, 2011

NASA finds 'worm-like alien life form in meteorite'

We are not alone in the universe, says NASA astrobiologist Dr. Richard B. Hoover. He explains that travelling to Antarctica, Siberia and Alaska he has studied an extremely rare form of meteorites - CI1 carbonaceous chondrites - of which only nine are known to exist on earth.

He published his conclusions yesterday in the Journal of Cosmology, and one can only describe his findings as very, very interesting.


This discovery, if confirmed, would strongly support one theory of how exactly life on Earth got started in the first place.This theory, called panspermia, involves life jumping from one planet to another by hitching a ride on a meteorite.

While some scientists are excited by the finds, others say more evidence is needed that we have found alien life. 

Dr Hoover would collect each meteorite stones and break them in laboratory conditions, scanning for fossilised remains. It was then he made his discovery, identifying one biological remain as having no nitrogen -- something that, until now, is found in all living organisms. "If someone can explain how it is possible to have a biological remain that has no nitrogen, or nitrogen below the detect ability limits that I have, in a time period as short as 150 years, then I would be very interested in hearing that.

"I've talked with many scientists about this and no one has been able to explain," he said.

Total Pageviews