Month: August 2009

Katrina goes BLUE only for friendship!

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Mumbai, August 01: Shree Ashtavinayak’s action-adventure BLUE boasts of an ensemble cast of Sanjay Dutt, Akshay Kumar, Lara Dutta, Katrina Kaif (special appearance), Rahul Dev and Zayed Khan. When the film was announced there was a buzz that top actress Katrina Kaif had been paid an unheard of figure for just appearing in an item number for the movie. And sources also started touting Katrina as the highest paid item girl in Bollywood.

Katrina becomes Akshay’s Amrapali!

Deepika differentiates between SRK & Saif!

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Mumbai, August 01: Deepika Padukone is flying high, because her latest film, LOVE AAJ KAL, has taken a superb start at the ticket window, both in India and Overseas. And the reason for this humungous opening is being attributed to a lot of factors. First the director Imtiaz Ali, whose previous film JAB WE MET was a super duper hit. Secondly the chartbusting music by Pritam, and last but not the least the publicity blitzkrieg.

No problems working in multi starrers

Sanjay Gupta’s ACID clashes with Karan Johar’s SID

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Mumbai, August 01: Even though Karan Johar has booked 2nd October as the D-day for the release of his WAKE UP SID, Sanjay Gupta has taken the brave step of giving him some competition on at the box office. Against Ranbir Kapoor’s boy flick, he has decided to unleash his team of macho men (and a femme fatale) in the form of ACID FACTORY.

Pak mob attacks churches, houses of Christians

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Islamabad, August 01: Muslim fanatics attacked churches and burnt down scores of houses of the Christian community in Pakistan’s Punjab province, a news report said on Saturday.

A mob attacked two churches and gutted 75 houses of Christians over the alleged desecration of papers inscribed with Quran verses at a wedding ceremony in Punjab’s Azafi Abadi village at Chak 95-JB on Thursday, Atif Jamil Pagaan and Ashfaq Fateh, leaders of the minority community was quoted as saying by report on Saturday.

Astronauts return from space to sushi overload

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Cape Canaveral, August 01: Koichi Wakata was still getting used to gravity, though it wasn’t going to stop him from diving into a deluge of sushi.

Huge amounts of the delicacy awaited the Japanese astronaut Friday after he returned to Earth aboard shuttle Endeavour with six other astronauts. Wakata, the first Japanese astronaut to return from a long space journey, lived in orbit at the international space station for four and a half months.

Eradication of smallpox from India remarkable feat

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New Delhi, August 01: Commemorating 30 years of freedom from smallpox, the World Health Organization (WHO) Friday said it was the greatest achievement in public health in the 20th century and hailed India’s eradication efforts as a “remarkable feat”.

Malaysian police tear gas, scuffle with protesters

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Kuala Lampur, August 01: Riot police charged demonstrators with batons and fired tear gas Saturday to disperse thousands of people marching in Malaysia’s largest city to protest a law that allows indefinite detention without trial.

Punjab wants more funds for a healthier diet

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Chandigarh, August 01: Punjabis and rich food are not an unusual combination. But the Punjab government has asked the centre to spare more funds for food so that children in government schools across the state can get a better ‘mid-day meal’.

“Punjabis are well known all over for their healthy diet and eating lifestyle, but there is dire need to provide more nutritious food enriched with proteins to the growing children of Punjab under the mid-day-meal scheme,” Punjab’s Education Minister Upinderjit Kaur said Friday.

Progress on Kashmir not at ‘desired pace’: Pak.

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Colombo, August 01: Pakistan has said that progress on resolving the Kashmir issue with India has not been at the “desired pace” even though the two countries have initiated confidence-building measures.

“There have been confidence building measures on the Kashmir issue, but unfortunately, things have not moved at the desired pace,” Pakistan’s Additional Foreign Secretary Asia-Pacific, Masood Khalid, told a group of visiting Sri Lankan Journalists in Islamabad.

Government asks airlines to talk, not stop service

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New Delhi, August 01: Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel Saturday asked private airlines withdraw their proposal to suspend operations Aug 18 and asked them come to the table for discussions rather than inconvenience passengers.

‘The government understands the difficulties being faced by aviation sector. However, the government does not support any move that will inconvenience the travelling public of the country,’ Patel said in a statement.

Obama: ‘Spirit of innovation’ key to the future

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Washington, August 01: President Barack Obama, citing fresh evidence the recession is winding down, says the country’s future economic prosperity depends on building a new, stronger foundation and recapturing the “spirit of innovation.”

“Innovation has been essential to our prosperity in the past, and it will be essential to our prosperity in the future,” Obama said Saturday in his weekly radio and Internet address.

Endeavour lands safely after 16-day mission

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Houston, August 01: The shuttle Endeavour descended safely to Earth on Friday, ending a successful 16-day assembly mission to the International Space Station (ISS) with the final piece of Japan’s Kibo science laboratory.

The seven US, Canadian and Japanese astronauts aboard Endeavour touched down at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 10:48 am (1448 GMT).

There were concerns that early morning thunder storms, coastal rain showers and fog near the Florida landing site might force shuttle commander Mark Polanski and his crew to postpone their return until Saturday.

Kuwait alarmed by Iraqi failure to pay reparations

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Kuwait City, August 01: Iraq’s recent efforts to avoid paying Kuwait some $25 billion in U.N.-mandated reparations for Saddam Hussein’s 1990 invasion have alarmed Kuwaitis and strained relations that have slowly improved since the fall of the Iraqi dictator.

Many Kuwaitis doubt Iraq will make good on its obligations without outside pressure, and the country has sent envoys to both Washington and the U.N. in recent months to seek help.

Butter Chicken Fry

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Ingredients

Boneless chicken – 2lb
Garam masala – 3 tsp
Ginger-garlic paste – 2-3 tsp
Chilli powder – 3 tsp
Turmeric powder – 1 tsp
Vinegar – 3-4 tsp
Red food colour – 3 tsp
Pepper powder – 2 tsp
Salt – according to taste
Oil – 4 tsp
Cream or malai – 1/2 – cup
Cashew nut powder – 1/2 cup
Method
Marinate chicken with the above ingredients except for cream and cashew powder for atleast a min of 8 hrs or preferably overnight.
Put the pan on fire, add oil.
When the oil reaches its smoking point then add the chicken pieces.

Diarrhoea and natural calamities claim 16 lives in Nepal

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Kathmandu, August 01: At least eight people died on Saturday after the outbreak of diarrhoea in several districts of western Nepal raising the death toll to 16 over the weekend due to the outbreak of disease and natural calamities in the area.

Eight people have on Saturday died after the outbreak of diarrhoea in Jajarkot, Rukum, Kalikot and Dailekh districts in western Nepal, the officials said. In Jajorkot and Ruku were the worst hit districts by the disease.

Unitech first quarter profit dips 63 percent

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New Delhi, August 01: Realty major Unitech Ltd’s first quarter profit fell 63 percent from Rs 4.23 billion to Rs 1.58 billion due to the sluggish demand for housing.

Net income fell to Rs 1.58 billion (USD 33 million) for the quarter ended June 30, from Rs 4.23 billion, the developer said in a statement.

Sales halved to Rs 5.15 billion during the quarter, from Rs 10.3 billion a year earlier.

Unitech raised Rs 54 billion from sale of shares and other properties in the quarter ended June 30 to pay debt and smooth financing of pending projects.

Baked Cheese Prawns

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Ingredients

1/4 kg fresh prawns – boiled
2 medium sized potatoes – boiled, peeled and mashed
50 gm Cheese – grated
3/4 tsp pepper powder
3/4 mustard
1 tbsp home made butter
1 tbsp chilli sauce or tabasco sauce
1 tsp soya sauce
1 cup cheese sauce
1/2 tsp salt
For Garnishing
1 tomato – sliced
1 onion – sliced
1 small bunch green coriander – chopped
Method

Mix prawns with cheese sauce.
Add pepper, mustard, salt and chilli or tabasco sauce.
With a light hand, mix in the mashed potatoes.
Grease a baking dish with butter and pour all the mixture in it.

Bread Pudding

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Ingredients

For the pudding
16 slices of white plain sweet bread, crust sliced off
3 small eggs
2 1/2 cups of whole milk
2 cups sugar
2 tablespoons raisins
2 tablespoons walnuts, chopped
2 tablespoons cashewnuts, chopped
1 tsp vanilla essence
Candied cherries, for garnish
For custard topping

2 tablespoon custard powder, dissolved in some warm milk
2 cups milk
1 cup sugar
Method

For the pudding
Blend the sugar, milk, essence and eggs in the blender to get a smooth liquid.

Galawat Ke Kababs

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Ingredients

500 gm Minced Meet
100 gm Raw Papaya
20 gm Coconut
3 tbsp Poppy Seeds
3 full tbsp Ginger-garlic paste
1 tbsp garam masala powder
2 tbsp Besan
Red chilli powder
Salt to taste
Oil for shallow frying
Method
Grind the papaya, but don’t peel off the papaya.
Mix grounded papaya, ginger-garlic paste and salt with minced meet and set aside for 5 hrs or whole night and its done when you feel it soft.
Cut and fry the onions.
Make a paste of coconut and poppy seeds.
Saute the besan without oil on tawa or frying pan.

Cornflex Chat

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Ingredients

100 gms cornflex
100 gms sweet curds
1 tbsp red chilly powder
1 tbsp cummin seed powder
2 tbsp ginger garlic paste
1 onion thinly cut
1 tomato finely cut
2 tbsp tamarind chutney
Few coriander leaves
Salt
Method
Add to the curds red chilly pwd, cummin seed powder, ginger garlic paste and salt.
Take the cornflex in a bowl and add to it chopped onions and tomatoes.
Now add the mixed curds to the cornflex and mix it well.
Sprinkle some red chilly pwd and cummin seed powder on top.Add some tamarind chutney to it.

Withdraw strike threat, else face action: Govt to airlines

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New Delhi, August 01: Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel Saturday asked private airlines withdraw their proposal to suspend operations from August 18 and asked them come to the table for discussions rather than inconvenience passengers.

“The government understands the difficulties being faced by aviation sector. However, the government does not support any move that will inconvenience the traveling public of the country,” Patel said in a statement.

Cheese Potato Tikkis

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Ingredients

1/4 kg potatoes – boiled, peeled and mashed while hot
1 tbsp groundnuts – roasted, skinned and crushed
4 tbsp sago – soaked in water for 1/2 hour
100 gm Cheese – grated
1 or 2 green chillies – chopped
1/2 small bunch green coriander – chopped
Fat for shallow frying
Method
Squeeze the water out from sago.
Mix all the ingredients well.
Shape into thin round tikkis and shallow fry on a tawa till crisp and brown.
Serve hot

Bread Rolls

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Ingredients

6 slices bread
5 medium sized potatoes
1 small onion
1 small bunch coriander leaves
6 pods garlic
4 green chillies
1/2 tsp garam masala (optional)
1 tsp chilli powder (less or more depending on taste)
Salt to taste
Oil for deep frying
Method

Hold the bread slices together and cut the rough edges.
Boil potatoes ( the best is to pressure cook them since this will be the fastest)
Meanwhile, chop onions, green chillies, coriander, garlic and green chillies finely. Keep aside.

Floods affect one lakh people in Bihar

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Sitamarhi (Bihar), August 01: The swollen Bagmati breached its embankment near Tajpur village in Sitamarhi district of north Bihar early Saturday, affecting around one lakh people.

Swirling waters gushed into eight panchayats under Runnisyedpur block through the 40-50 metre breach, official sources said.

State Water Resources Department engineers said that the breach occurred due to cutting of the embankment last night. Efforts were on to plug the breach.

The Sitamarhi District Magistrate along with other senior officials rushed to the spot to monitor the situation.

‘Assam needs strong admin to restore peace in NC Hills’

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Guwahati, August 01: To restore peace in the troubled North Cachar Hill district of Assam and ensure security to people, there was an imperative need to make the administration stronger, Union Home Secretary GK Pillai said.

Participating in a unified command meeting with top government, Army and police officials here Friday night, Pillai asked the government to make the presence of administration and security felt among the public in the hill district to restore peace.