Mumbai, May 04: Sajid Khan whose next film would have no comedy, has taken a peculiar mannat (religious vow) just before the release of Housefull. He decided he wouldn’t read any of the reviews, good bad or indifferent, for the film.
So staunch is he about the vow that Sajid wouldn’t allow any member of the Housefull cast to even read out passages of the reviews.
Mumbai, May 04: He played a bad guy in dark thriller “Kaminey” and will now be seen as a conman in “Badmaash Company”. Shahid Kapoor says playing characters with a negative streak is an “escape route” from his good-boy image in real life.
“I think I always wanted to be a good boy, but I think inherently I have a ‘badmaash’ (naughty) streak in me. That’s why I love doing this role. This is my escape route. What I couldn’t do in my childhood, (I’m) doing it in films,” Shahid told IANS in an interview.
Mumbai, May 04: Following the controversial sex scandal allegedly involving God man Nithyananda and Tamil actress Ranjitha, the latter’s advocate has issued a press statement which says that Ranjitha has decided to quit public life and spend time with her family in Kerala.
According to the note, the actress was led into severe depression after the leaked video clippings which caused her to take the decision. It also states that Ranjitha was not questioned by the Karnataka police.
Bangko, May 04: The Thai government has decided to use 42 billion baht (1.3 billion dollars) confiscated from fugitive politician Thaksin Shinawatra and his family to help repay the country’s public debt, media reports said on Tuesday.
The Comptroller Department decided to use Mr. Thaksin’s money for national debt repayments after 46 billion baht were transferred to state coffers from 32 bank accounts in six commercial banks previously holding the frozen cash, the Bangkok Post reported.
Mumbai, May 04: Mexican actress Barbara Mori is making her Bollywood debut with “Kites”, and her brother Kintaro too is looking forward to making his mark in the industry though as a musician.
“Music is my passion. I have been staying here in Mumbai since a year now and have been creating music. One day I would love to compose some fusion music for Bollywood because I just love Indian music, ” Kintaro told.
As of now, Kintaro is in the process of cutting his own album, and being by his sister’s side to support her for “Kites”, in which she features alongside Hrithik Roshan.
Mumbai, May 04: Akshay Kumar’s just released “Housefull” has broken the dry spell at the box office by earning Rs.64 crore in the opening weekend worldwide. The star says the secret of his success as a comedian is that he mimics common people around for most of his roles.
“The expression that you see are mostly stolen from the faces of common people. Normally mimicry is done of big actors, but it is fun to mimic those people who have no connection with this industry. So I copy common people without copyright (laughs),” Akshay, 42, told IANS in an interview.
Mumbai, May 04: The Indian rupee appreciated by 3 paise to 44.48 a dollar in the opening trade today on fresh capital inflows by foreign funds into equities.
The rupee closed lower by 15 paise at 44.51/52 a dollar in the previous session.
Forex dealers said capital inflows into equities by foreign funds and stronger Asian currencies against the dollar, mainly provided support to the rupee.
—PTI
Mumbai, May 04: He’s given us hits like “Garam Masala”, “Dhoom” and “Dostana”, but they’ve all been multi-starrers. Now John Abraham says he is in pursuit of solo hero movies after taking a sabbatical to groom himself and restructure his life to step into the best phase of his career.
John’s last film “New York” (2009) received much critical acclaimed, but that too was a multi-starrer.
Tehran, May 04: Iran is working on a plan to launch two communication satellites with Russia by the end of this year.
During the Moscow visit of Iran’s Minister of Telecommunication Reza Taqipour in April, a memorandum of understanding was signed between Taqipour and his Russian counterpart Igor Shchegolev for broader cooperation in the field of telecommunication.
Mohammad Hosseinpour, a senior advisor to Taqipour, told Mehr News Agency Monday that if everything went according to the plan, the two telecommunication satellites would be launched by year-end, Press TV reported.
Mumbai, May 04: The Censor Board is speechless after a circular sent by the government announced that if a film features even a single smoking scene, it will land itself an ‘A’ certificate. Sharmila Tagore, the chief of the Censor Board, has decided to oppose the government’s decision.
According to Sharmila, the circular is completely absurd. Though she agrees that scenes that show smoking and actors smoking on screen leaves a bad impression, such a decision cannot be taken without consulting with the producers and that the matter is debatable.
Mumbai, May 04: The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex recovered by nearly 79 points in opening trade today on fresh capital inflows by foreign funds. The 30-share index, which had lost 172.63 points in the previous trading session, rose by 78.74 points, or 0.45 per cent to 17,464.82 points.
The wide-based National Stock Exchange”s Nifty also moved up by 27.40 points, or 0.52 per cent, to 5,250.15 points. Brokers said fresh buying by foreign funds on the back of overnight gains in the US market mainly buoyed the trading sentiment here.
Melbourne, May 04: An Indian man, who claimed to be the victim of racial attack in Australia, was Monday sentenced to eight-month jail after he pleaded guilty to setting his car on fire to claim insurance money.
Jaspreet Singh, 28, purchased a 15-litre can of petrol, poured it over his car, and set the vehicle alight Jan 8. His motive was to claim $11,000 from insurance company, but in the process Singh sustained 30 percent burn injuries, requiring skin grafts and a one-month stay in the hospital, the Melbourbne Magistrate’s Court heard.
Los Angeles, May 04: A woman has stabbed and wounded four people in a busy store in West Hollywood here, police said.
Layla Trawick, 34, randomly stabbed people with a blade, about the size of a kitchen knife, Monday, reported citing Los Angeles sheriff’s Sgt. Josh Mankini.
Three women and a man were wounded in the attack. One of them was stabbed in the neck and shoulder, Mankini said. The wounded were sent to hospitals for treatment.
The attacker was subdued by an off-duty sheriff’s deputy who happened to be at the scene.
washington, May 04: U.S. investigators have identified a Pakistani-American man as the recent buyer of the vehicle used in a failed car bombing in New York’s teeming Times Square, the New York Times reported on Monday.
The man, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Pakistan who lives in neighbouring Connecticut, bought the Nissan Pathfinder with cash and no paperwork in the last three weeks, the newspaper said, citing several people briefed on the investigation.
Mogadishu, May 04: Two explosions at a mosque in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu on Saturday killed 39 worshippers, wounded scores more and hurt a senior member of the al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab rebels.
It was the second attack this week on a mosque in Bakara Market, an area of Mogadishu dominated by members of the country’s two main rebel groups, al Shabaab and Hizbul Islam.
Saturday’s attack was at the Abdalla Shideye mosque which is used by al Shabaab officials to deliver speeches. Most of the dead were said to be members, officials and commanders of the hardline rebel group.
Mumbai, May 04: The state government expects the special court to deliver the harshest punishment – death sentence – for Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab (22), the Pakistani Lashkar-e-Tayyeba (LeT) operative captured during the terror attacks.
“Not just the government, families of the citizens and police officials, who were killed in the attacks, also want the harshest punishment for the accused,” Chief Minister Ashok Chavan said on Monday.
New York, May 04: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad set a defiant tone for his government’s participation in the Nuclear Non- Proliferation Treaty Monday, accusing the US and its allies of monopolizing nuclear issues.
Ahmadinejad was addressing the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty review conference at the UN General Assembly in New York, and stole the spotlight as the only head of state attending the opening of the month-long meeting.
Almaty, May 04: Scientists in mainly Muslim Kazakhstan have come up with an instant test for the presence of pork in food, a popular newspaper reported on Monday.
The plastic-stick test detects food molecules that are found only in pork, which is forbidden by Islam but is easily found in the Central Asian state, Megapolis weekly said.
“It’s no secret that some chefs cheat and add pork to beef to make the dish cheaper,” the newspaper wrote on Monday, saying the practice was widespread in Kazakhstan.
Mumbai, May 04: Train services on Central and Western lines were badly affected as motormen, demanding wage hike, went on an indefinite hunger strike today, causing lot of inconvenience to commuters in the evening rush hour.
No train is running on Western line from 6.40 pm, railway officials said.
“Trains from Churchgate station are not running as motormen have stopped work. Commuters can travel by long distance trains from Mumbai Central as a few coaches have been dedicated for local passengers,” Western Railway PRO C David said here.
London, May 04: Flights in parts of Britain and Ireland are to be grounded on Tuesday as ash from an Icelandic volcano drifted into the region’s airspace, only weeks after the volcano’s eruption caused the closure of airspace across Europe. Britain’s Civil Aviation Authority said airspace would be closed over Northern Ireland as of 0600 GMT, due to rising levels of volcanic ash in the atmosphere. A no—fly zone over Scotland’s Outer Hebrides was imposed as of 1700 GMT on Monday.
Hyderabad, May 04: Police have disrupted a Lashkar-e-Taiba plot to bomb the Hyderabad offices of multinational Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu — one of the four largest auditors in the world.
Hyderabad resident Mohammad Zia-ul-Haq, held over the weekend in the course of a National Investigation Agency-led operation, was planning to attack Deloitte’s Hi-Tech City offices using grenades supplied by the Lashkar, police sources said.
Police believe Zia-ul-Haq, who worked as driver with a taxi firm contracted to Deloitte, carried out extensive reconnaissance at the facility.
Mumbai, May 03: He sobbed quietly in court when told he had been convicted of almost all the charges.
Normally cheeky, 22-year-old Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab, the Pakistani gunman who wreaked havoc at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus along with his partner Abu Ismail on November 26, 2008, looked tense and high-strung when first additional principal judge Madan Tahaliyani started reading the judgment.
Mumbai, May 04: Echoing the sentiments of the aam admi, chief minister Ashok Chavan demanded the harshest punishment for Pakistani gunman Ajmal Kasab who was convicted by a fast track court.
Shedding the inhibitions of political ramifications in the absence of immediate elections, the Congress chanted the Shiv Sena and BJP’s mantra in raising its pitch seeking the death penalty for Kasab who was among the 10 terrorists who attacked Mumbai on November 26, 2008.
New Delhi, May 04: Maharashtra and Gujarat on Monday inked pact with the Centre to prepare project reports to inter-link rivers to benefit Greater Mumbai and water deficit areas of north Gujarat.
The tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed by Chief Ministers of Maharashtra and Gujarat Ashok Chavan and Narendra Modi respectively, and Water Resources Minister P K Bansal in the presence of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh here this evening.
Chicago, May 04: US airlines United and Continental on Monday announced a “merger of equals,” which is set to create the world’s largest airline.
Falling passenger numbers, high fuel prices and intense competition in the economic crisis have spurred on the move.