Washington, March 26: Contact lenses laced with Vitamin E that can hold eye-drops for almost 100 times longer, have been developed by American scientists.
The medicated lenses, developed by a team of researchers led by India-born Anuj Chauhan from University of Florida in Gainesville, would help treat various eye-ailments more effectively, researchers claimed.
Quebec, March 26: While on Wednesday Quebec became the first province to introduce legislation aimed at wearers of the niqab and burka, saying they would be ineligible to attend university, visit a doctor or receive any government service unless they remove their veils,” there are many places that have similar rules and laws in place.
Lets have a look at niqab-related laws throughout the world:
CANADA
Mumbai, March 26: The huge success of ‘3 Idiots’ has rubbed on to Sharman Joshi big time. The actor who played one of the three ‘idiots’ college boys in the blockbuster hit, has now joined the league of Shah Rukh Khan, Priyanka Chopra, Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor.
London, March 26: A study by a team of biologists found that popular sauces and marinades contain a range of spices, fruits and vegetables with natural antioxidants.
These are chemical compounds which fight diseases associated with old age such as cancer, heart problems, strokes, Alzheimer’s, arthritis and cataracts, reported.
Antioxidants are known to fight harmful molecules called free radicals which damage the body’s cells.
Mumbai, March 26: Deepika Padukone who’s in Delhi to shoot for Danish Aslam’s Break Ke Baad was hit by a strong current of déjà vu.
Just a year ago she was in Delhi shooting for Imtiaz Ali’s Love Aaj Kal.Even there her co-star Saif Ali Khan had his lady-love Kareena Kapoor along, so that Deepika had voluntarily kept to herself.
“Not this time!” reports a source from Delhi. “Imran and Avantika have made Deepika feel most welcome and a part of their circle. In fact Deepika is completely at home hanging around with Imran and Avantika.”
Mumbai, March 26: For the first time, Sanjay Dutt has revealed that he is following a strict diet plan which includes totally keeping off alcohol.
And in this battle against the bulge and alcohol, Munnabhai has found a reliable circuit. Criticism had mounted against Sanjay when he was seen with a paunch in his recent films (Kidnap, Blue, All The Best, EMI, Luck). Sanjay’s close friends say since then the actor had been trying very hard to kick the bottle and get back into shape. The man responsible for Sanjay’s weight loss is his new trainer Shereveer Vakil.
New Delhi, March 26: As extradition of terror accused David Headley from the US is likely to be a difficult process, India will press for immediate direct access to him for its investigators.
Top government sources said as extradition of the 49-year old Pakistani-American, who has admitted to plotting the audacious Mumbai terror attack, appearing to become a difficult process, the immediate priority of the Indian investigators was direct access to him to know details about the terror plot.
Abu Dhabi, March 26: Can you serve coq au vin made with red wine in Dubai anymore? Nobody’s completely sure.
Confusion reigns in the upscale restaurant kitchens of the Gulf sheikdom after a circular was sent out by Dubai officials earlier this week stating that the use of alcohol in cooking was “strictly prohibited” since it violated the Muslim country’s strict alcohol rules.
Mumbai, March 26: Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan loves his celebrity status and admits he would never want to live without it even for a few moments.
“I don’t want to be anonymous… I’m very honest about that. I love being recognised, I love people liking me, I love the fact that people scream when I go out, I think I’ll miss all that when it’s taken away, and I don’t even think about it,” said Shah Rukh in an interview to CNN’s Talk Asia.
Washington, March 26: Defense Secretary Robert Gates Thursday approved new rules that will make it harder to discharge gays from the military, calling the changes a matter of “common sense and common decency.”
Gates announced new guidelines for how the Pentagon carries out the 1993 law banning gays from serving openly in the military — rules which essentially put higher-ranking officers in charge of discharge proceedings and impose tougher requirements for evidence used against gays.
Mumbai, March 26: For a highlight sequence in Sajid Khan directed ‘Housefull’, Akshay Kumar gets all troubled due to a monkey which snatches Deepika’s mobile and runs away. This is the same monkey which has worked in a mega blockbuster like ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ and hence came with it’s own tantrums on the sets of it’s first Bollywood outing.
Though one can’t say much about how much learning did the monkey gather from working in a setup like ‘Housefull’, for the likes of Akshay Kumar and Deepika Padukone, it turned out to be quite a handful.
New Delhi, March 26: It’s been 17 years since the Babri Masjid was demolished and seven years since BJP leader L K Advani was given a clean chit by the court.
Now a woman police officer, who was Advani’s personal security officer in 1993, will testify against him in a court in Raebareli.
Anju Gupta, now with the RAW (Research and Analysis Wing), had given a statement to the CBI after the riots in 1993 on how Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Uma Bharti and the rest rejoiced soon after the masjid was brought down.
Mumbai, March 26: Just after the release of Lahore, leading lady of the film Shraddha Das tells that though she has no barriers as far as exposing in films, she would not go to the extent that Mallika Sherawat is ready to show her skin, because she has her own limitations.
What is your role in Lahore?
I play the role of the Pakistani girl Ida Akhtar, who happens to be the psychiatrist to the Pak kick-boxing team. Sanjay Puran Singh Chauhan felt that I suited the part of the Pak girl and hence offered me the role which literally fell into my lap.
Mumbai, March 26: If original casting choice for ‘Jaane Kahan Se Aayi Hai’ would have remained intact then Ayesha Takia would have played the central protagonist in this Milap Zaveri directed film and Jacqueline Fernandez a.k.a. would have been the second lead.
However, as luck would have it, Jackie ended up finding herself playing the main lead while Sonal Sehgal was roped in for the second lead.
What really happened?
Mumbai, March 26: She usually goes with a ‘no comments’ response when enquired about Rahul Mahajan’s wedding on reality TV, but for once, Payal Rohatgi is ready to call a spade a spade. And she calls this one a “cheap show.”
Mumbai, March 26: The slinky femme fatale of Hindi film ‘Prince’, Aruna Shields, is yet another British Indian lassie to set foot in Bollywood.
The actress is increasingly gaining popularity for her provocative kissing scene with the “Prince” aka Vivek Oberoi.
Aruna is the first lady to make Vivek’s cheeks turn red in reel life with her confident approach while shooting for the scene. The kissing scene is apparently Vivek’s first kiss in films.
Kuala Lampur, March 26: Sexual expression, freedom of religion and the direction of Indonesia’s biggest mainstream Muslim group are arousing passionate national disputes.
The conservative Indonesian Council of Ulemas (MUI), a Muslim scholars group set up by former dictator Suharto to monitor religious orthodoxy, succeeded in getting an international gay and lesbian conference banned this week after a quick and nasty campaign.
Mumbai, March 26: Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) chief K.P. Raghuvanshi was on Thursday transferred to the post of Additional Director-General of Police (Law and Order), fuelling speculation that his handling of the German Bakery blast probe could be the underlying reason for the change.
Recently, the Centre took exception to Mr. Raghuvanshi’s decision to make public the arrest of two persons in the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) conspiracy, and to divulge details of the investigation. Following the Centre’s rap, the ATS remained tight-lipped.
London, March 26: Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram on Thursday urged Pakistan’s “friends” like Britain and the U.S. to put pressure on it to shut down terror camps operating from its soil.
Warning that Pakistan-based groups posed as much threat to the West as they did to India, he told the BBC, “The camps must be closed. Training must come to an end.”
New Delhi, March 26: The Supreme Court will very soon have a woman judge, after more than three years.
The Supreme Court collegium, headed by Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan, has recommended the elevation of Chief Justice of the Jharkhand High Court Gyan Sudha Misra as a Supreme Court judge.
Justice Misra will be the fourth woman judge of the Supreme Court, after Fatima Beevi, Sujata Manohar, and Ruma Paul, who retired in June 2006.
The collegium has also recommended the elevation of Madras High Court Chief Justice H.L. Gokhale as a Supreme Court judge.
Mumbai, March 26: Who would think that the sweet girl next door, totally vegetarian girl Anjana Sukhani would go on a killing spree?
But don’t worry, she is only doing this in self defense! Anjana Sukhani has been busy shooting for her next film and the shoot happens to be in a scenic location with a lot of greenery and lush forests.
However, the greenery has also brought with it the inevitable mosquitoes! The first day of shoot saw swarms entering her van, leading to chaos inside!
Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in the United States this week armed with a mandate from the Israeli parliament. A large majority of legislators from all of Israel’s main parties had supported a petition urging him to stand firm on the building of Jewish settlements in occupied East Jerusalem — the very issue that got him into hot water days earlier with the White House.
Kabul, March 26: Osama bin Laden threatened al Qaeda would kill any Americans it takes prisoner if accused Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is put to death, according to an audiotape aired.
Senior U.S. officials may recommend that Mohammed, who was being held at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, be prosecuted in a military trial, officials said in March.
Such a decision, after intense political pressure, would reverse plans to hold criminal trials for Mohammed and four accused co-conspirators in a lower Manhattan court.
Hyderabad, March 26: Telugu Desam president N Chandrababu Naidu has alleged that the State Government is not allowing discussion in the State Legislative Assembly on any pressing issue including NREGS, irrigation projects and weeding out of ration cards.
Mumbai, March 26: Sajid Khan is dedicating his second directorial venture Housefull to the seven filmmakers who have inspired him the most.
Says the excited director, “It came to me in a flash this week that there are many directors to whom I owe my career as a filmmaker. I shortlisted the seven directors who have made the maximum impact on me. And I’ll be putting in a credit card thanking them in Housefull.”
The lucky 7 are Manmohan Desai, Hrishikesh Mukherjee, K. Raghvendra Rao, K Bappaiah, Narendra Bedi, Prakash Mehra and Blake Edwards.