Mumbai, January 29: Katrina Kaif donned a bikini for her first film Boom, but with success she has never felt the need to expose. Now, she is all set to scorch the silver screen with her sexy avatar in ‘Dostana 2’.
Dostana was a fun-filled movie that was high on style-o-meter. Remember, Priyanka Chopra, strutting her stuff in sun-kissed beaches of Miami wearing a golden swimsuit. Well the makers have similar plans for ‘Dostana 2’.
Mumbai, January 29: Star presenters, swinging performances and sweeping sets— the 16th Nokia Annual Star Screen Awards, kicked off at the MMRDA Grounds on January 9 with the best of Bollywood walking the red carpet.
While the uber glam affair witnessed a smooth flow of things on the outset, the backstage was packed with action.
Exes crossing paths, friends turned foes avoiding eye contact, tempers soaring, newbies finding their feet, veterans having a hearty time and last minute rehearsals going on at full swing.
London, January 29: The commonly held assumption that as primates evolved, their brains always tended to get bigger has been challenged by a team of scientists at Cambridge and Durham.
Their work, published this week in ‘BMC Biology’, helps solve the mystery of whether Homo floresiensis — dubbed the Hobbit due to its diminutive stature — was a separate human species or a diseased individual.
The team combined previously published datasets of brain and body mass with measurements from fossil remains.
Buenos Aires, January 29: Argentina has disclosed the secrets of the “dirty war” waged against the left by the country’s military regime 1976-83.
The secret files of Battalion 601, described as the “brain” that coordinated killings, kidnappings and other abuses, contains the identities of both military and civilian personnel who played a role in the repression.
The declassification of the documents began with an order from Argentine President Cristina Fernandez Jan 1.
London, January 29: Taking a break after learning something new helps retain information for long, according to a study.
“Taking a coffee break after a class can actually help retain the information a person has just learned,” said Dr Lila Davachi, one of the researcher and an assistant professor at the New York University’s (NYU) Department of Psychology and Center for Neural Science.
The study, which appeared in the journal Neuron, suggested that even a short rest or break while conscious could help brain sort and retain information.
Mumbai, January 29: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Friday hiked the cash reserve ratio (CRR) for commercial banks by an unexpected 75 basis points, in a clear bid to curb inflationary expectations in the economy.
All other policy rates were left unchanged.
The CRR, presently at 5 percent, will be hiked in two stages — 50 basis points from Feb 13 and another 25 basis from Feb 27, RBI Governor D. Subbarao told the chief executives of commercial banks here.
Shillong, January 29: Denouncing insurgent movements in the North-East which have affected the overall development of the region, Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar today said violence and democracy cannot co-exist.
“We need to take initiatives to bring back those influenced by the cult of violence into the mainstream of our society. Everyone involved has to realise that violence and democracy cannot co-exist,” she said inaugurating the 12th North-East Region Commonwealth Parliamentary Association conference here.
Sydney, January 29: New antibodies being developed by Australian researchers will speed up the healing of burns and chronic ulcers and benefit diabetes patients.
Research by Allison Cowin, associate professor at Women’s and Children’s Health Research Institute, and the University of Adelaide’s surgery department found that a specific protein known as Flightless I (Flii) restricts wound healing.
Researchers have been able to use antibodies to suppress the Flii protein, thereby promoting wound healing.
Mumbai, January 29: After being awarded the Padma Shree honour by the Government of India, Saif Ali Khan is on cloud nine.
The suave actor now wants to strengthen his presence and foothold in the industry and has appointed leading talent management firm, Carving Dreams to manage his brand and all his other business interests.
Mumbai, January 29: How often we see celebrities, who are well behaved even when things go wrong? How often we read about celebrities travelling in a economy class? Here is a celebrity who travelled in economy class even after flight was delayed for two hours. It is none other than Twinkle Khanna.
New Delhi, January 29: Researchers are working to develop a pill composed of leptin, the protein that tells our brain to stop eating and, hence, reverse obesity.
Leptin regulates appetite in mammals and its levels decrease when fasting and rise during meals. It has been proven to be an appetite suppressant when administered intravenously to pathologically obese people.
Melbourne, January 29: Michael Clarke has raised doubts over the types of balls that could be used for day-night Tests and outlined his concerns about batting under lights.
Cricket Australia is trialling pink and white balls in domestic Second XI games this week as it attempts to find ones that can last for 80 overs.
Karachi, January 29: It’s not yet clear whether Abdul Razzaq has landed an IPL contract or not but the development has already evoked a mixed response from former Pakistani cricketers.
While former skippers Rameez Raja and Aamir Sohail feel that Razzaq should move forward and play in the Indian Premier League, batting stalwart Zaheer Abbas dismissed the offer as a gimmick.
Leg-spinner Danish Kaneria, one of the 11 Pakistani players who was ignored in the January 19 IPL auction in Mumbai, came up with a guarded response.
London, January 29: A controversial plan to “buy off” moderate Taliban elements and open talks with the organisation’s leadership was endorsed last night by a landmark international conference in London on the future of Afghanistan.
Foreign ministers from 60 countries agreed to launch a £86m “trust fund” to boost peace, reconciliation and re-integration in Afghanistan. The decision represents a significant change of strategy, notably by Washington, towards engaging the Taliban with a view to a negotiated political settlement. Britain will contribute about £3m.
Karachi, January 29: With former players gunning for his head after the disastrous Australia tour, under-fire Pakistan skipper Mohammad Yousuf got some much-needed support from Inzamam-ul Haq, who feels the right-hander should be retained captain of the national side till next year’s World Cup.
A former skipper himself and the nation’s most capped player, Inzamam said Yousuf deserved better treatment and respect from the Pakistan Cricket Board.
London, January 29: From sweet potatoes to blueberries and from lentils to broccoli, super foods have been for long hailed for their age-defying effects, but a new research has found that too much of the food can impair muscle function.
According to the scientists at Kansas State University in the US, the nutrients balance required by the body is affected by stuffing it full of the antioxidants contained in super foods.
“Too much of the super foods could mean there are not enough ‘pro-oxidants’ – usually considered the evil twin of antioxidants – in the body,” said the researchers.
Tehran, January 29: Iran executed two men accused of involvement in an armed anti-government group yesterday.
The announcements marked an escalation by the courts enforcing the clerical leadership’s crackdown on the opposition. The prosecutor also said a new group of protesters and others would be brought to trial.
The two men who were hanged before dawn yesterday did not appear to be connected to the post-election protests. But state media depicted the two as part of the protest movement, a sign of how the government has used the crackdown to pursue other enemies.
Mumbai, January 29: Vidya shows off carom skills Vidya Malvade of “Chak De! India’ fame, plays Siddharth’s sister in the forthcoming film, “Striker’. Siddharth plays a carom player in the film.
And while Vidya has no carom playing scenes onscreen, being from a carom playing family, she would often show off her skills at the game off screen. She’d play match after match with her onscreen brother Siddharth. Despite his hard training, she would even defeat him. Must mean the lady’s really good at the game, huh?
——-Agencies
Mumbai, January 29: Paresh Rawal is an actor par excellence. From character roles to negative to comedy to serious, he has done everything with aplomb. This veteran of acting is all praise for his forthcoming film “Road To Sangam’, releasing on 29th January 2010.
Ahmedabad, January 29: At a five-star hotel in Ahmadabad where Shahrukh Khan was present for a promotion event for “My Name Is Khan’, he was in for a shock. A 20 year old fan of his came there, dressed as a bride, who wanted to marry him.
She admitted that she had loved him since she was seven but couldn’t marry him as he was already married. SRK cleared the awkwardness in the air with his smile and went down on his knees to slip on the wedding ring on her finger that she had brought along. He sweetly said that this was their wedding’s rehearsal.
New Delhi, January 29: The conference of the North East Region Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (NERCPA) began here Friday to discuss ways and means to strengthen functioning of the legislative assemblies in the eight states.
Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar inaugurated the three-day 12th conference of the NERCPA.
Speakers, deputy speakers and some selected legislators of all eight states are taking part.
Bangalore, January 29: Senior batsman Rahul Dravid underwent a minor corrective surgery on his injured left upper jaw at the Manipal Hospital here today.
The right-handed batsman, who broke his jaw during the second Test against Bangladesh in Mirpur, is expected to be discharged later in the day.
The surgery was done by maxillofacial surgeon Dr Kishore Nayak.
London, January 29: Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair is slated to face a public inquiry on Friday over his decision to join in the invasion of oil-rich Iraq in March, 2003.
Blair has been criticized for cavorting with former US president George W. Bush and leading Britain to war.
On Wednesday, Tony Blair’s top legal advisor Lord Peter Goldsmith admitted that he was skeptical of the legitimacy of US military action against Iraq.
According to Goldsmith, UN Resolution 1441 — which gave Saddam Hussein a final warning — was “not crystal clear.”
Jerusalem, January 29: Israel has assassinated a senior Hamas military commander in Dubai, an official in the Palestinian resistance group says.
Mahmoud al-Mabhouh was killed in Dubai on January 20, Reuters quoted Izzat al-Rishq in the Syrian capital Damascus as saying on Friday.
——-Agencies
Washington, January 29: The US Senate, with a 70-30 vote, has approved Ben Bernanke as Federal Reserve Chairman for a second four-year term after the Senate Banking Committee confirmed his nomination.
Critics have excoriated his economic policies as the Federal Reserve chairman in the years leading up to the financial crisis.
The 70-to-30 vote on Thursday was the weakest endorsement ever extended to a chairman in the Fed’s 96-year history. The vote on his confirmation came at nearly the last possible moment as Bernanke’s current term expires on January 31.