'Arrambam' Review Roundup: Stylish Entertainer; Real Treat for Ajith Fans

Ajith's much-awaited release "Arrambam" (aka "Aarambam") has opened to positive reviews from critics.

After a span of nearly six years, Ajith and director Vishnu Vardhan have teamed up once again for "Arrambam." The duo gave the blockbuster film "Billa" in 2007 and now the focus has shifted to the new film. Looking at the positive feedback that the film is garnering, it is more likely to be another blockbuster in Ajith's career.

The stylish, action-packed entertainer has taken a fantastic opening, despite releasing on a week day. Positive word of mouth is likely to get more audience followed by more revenues.

The film's plot revolves around Ashok Kumar (Ajith), who is on a mission to expose a scam regarding faulty bullet proof jackets that are provided to security forces. He along with his lady love Maya (Nayanthara) dupe computer hacker Arjun (Arya) into hacking one system after the other. When Ashok gets closer to achieve his goals, he gets arrested by the police.

Later, Ashok uncovers himself as a former member of an anti-terrorist squad and reveals about the scam. The rest of the story is about how he takes revenge on Home Minister (Mahesh Manjrekar) and his associate (Atul Kulkarni) involved in the scam.

"Arrambam" has Taapsee Pannu, Rana Daggubati and Kishore in supporting roles. The film's cinematography is handled by Om Prakash and the editing work is done by Sreekar Prasad. Its sound tracks have been composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja.

Here is the review roundup of "Arrambam"

According to Behindwoods Review Board, "Director Vishnuvardhan, writer duo Subha and editor Sreekar Prasad have to be commended for managing to keep the audiences hooked to their seats for a majority of the movie with very few drag moments. With a running time of more than two and a half hours, the screenplay is taut and crisp enough to keep the crowd arrested."

According to sify, "'Arrambam' lives up to the expectations and is a satisfying thrill ride for its variety in providing no-holds barred entertainment. Ajith' terrific screen presence and powerful dialogue delivery, smart writing, charismatic cast and action which is fast-paced are smartly packaged by director Vishnuvardhan."

Talking about the performances, Sify says, "Ajith himself gives a low-key, well-nuanced performance as Ashok, the conscience of this film; Arya is superb as the happy-go-lucky Arjun and his comedy scene in college with Nayan is a rocker."

The actress "is there throughout the film and she has some fine moments which she has scored big time. Taapsee is cute as Anitha, while Kishore as the straightforward cop on a mission is convincing. Mahesh Majrekar, Suman Ranganathan and Atul Kulkarni get a few moments to make an impression."

Indiaglitz says, "Simple, elegant and class but richly crafted to keep you tuned to the screen - 'Arrambam' is an interesting story in a gripping screenplay."

Talking about the technical aspects, the website says, "Om Prakash has canned every frame with passion. Cohesion and continuity is edgy and distinctly better only as the film progresses. Srikar Prasad has however done a commendable job in putting the pieces of action together in thorough entertainment. Background score adds volume to the story, supporting it substantially well."

Senior film journalist Sreedhar Pillai says that "Arrambam" is a "stylish over the top revenge romp. Ajith show from the first frame to the last. He has terrific screen presence."

Sreedhar also appreciated the work of "Arrambam" writers Vishnu Vardhan and SuBha as well as appreciated the performances of the film's cast members.

Verdict: Stylish action entertainer that will definitely impress Ajith fans.

More: http://www.ibtimes.co.in/articles/518558/20131031/arrambam-review-roundup-ajith-aarambam-arya-arambam.htm

Arrambam VS Swordfish- 50%

Bangalore: Hospital not disabled-friendly

Commissioner for disabled detects lack of facilities at Bowring Hospital.

Rajanna, commissioner for disabled, inspecting Bowring Hospital on Tuesday. - A Veeramani/DNA

In a surprise visit to Lady Curzon and Bowring Hospital on Tuesday, commissioner for disabled, KS Rajanna, observed that some of the facilities in the hospital premises were not disabled-friendly.

Rajanna, accompanied by officials of the department of disabled and senior citizens welfare, visited the police outpost at the hospital and found that the way chairs were placed obstructed the path of disabled people.

“I do not know why these chairs are here. I want the police to remove them. These chairs are blocking the space, hindering the movement of physically-challenged people,’’ said Rajanna.

Rajanna then decided to inspect the toilets. He first visited the toilet for patients, which was in a deplorable state. He then demanded that the hospital authorities take him to the toilet meant for the staff of the casualty block. The toilet was locked and the hospital staff tried to delay opening it, in a clear sign of trying to conceal something. As Rajanna was relentless, the toilet was opened, and it was spic-and-span.

“I am not happy with the facilities at the toilet meant for patients. I want the hospital authorities to reserve one of the staff toilets for disabled people, and I want the hospital staff to use the toilets meant for patients,’’ he said.

He also visited the lift and found that it had no railings for the benefit of disabled persons. The parking of two-wheelers on the ramp irritated Rajanna, but there was no one to take up the responsibility of removing the vehicles that were blocking the way to the ramp.

He also visited the block where outpatients register their names. He advised the hospital authorities to put up a ramp for the benefit of physically-challenged people who come to the hospital.

Stanford professor dies after year-long search for bone marrow donors fails

After a year-long, worldwide campaign by her students, friends and family to find a bone marrow donor for her, Nalini Ambady, a Stanford professor of Indian origin, succumbed to leukaemia on Monday.

As many as 13 matching donors for the 54-year-old professor had been found in the global search by her near and dear ones. While 6 were only half matches, rest of them ultimately refused to donate.

Ambady, an award-winning professor and the first Indian to teach in Standford's psychology department, had been in an out of hospital since last November when her cancer recurred. Her disease was first detected in 2004, after which she was treated and the cancer went into remission.

Early on Tuesday, Ambady's husband Raj Marphatia sent a message to those who had campaigned for donors for his wife, informing them of her death. "Her condition was deteriorating fast over the last month as her organs had started to collapse," said Joseph J Chakola, Ambady's school friend who had been at the forefront of the campaign in India.

The campaign consisted of finding a Human Leukocyte (white cell) Antigen (HLA) match for bone marrow transplantation. The greatest possibility of finding matches is from people of the same ethnic background as the patient. Over 2000 donors were added to the registries through the campaign for Ambady, but every time there was a hope for a transplant, the donor would back out.

Donors afraid of process

Donors back out because of their lack of awareness, said Dr. Sunil Parekh, member of the executive committee of the Marrow Donor Registry India (MDRI) which sees many refusals by registered donors even though they have volunteered to be on the list.

But the current Peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) process involves injecting the donor with a drug called Filgrstim to facilitate better circulation of blood-forming cells. The donor's blood is then removed from one arm and passed through a machine which separates the bloodforming cells. The remaining blood is then returned to the donor's body.

Donor identification tedious

In Ambady's case, a full match was found from MDRI in August but the young man refused to donate his bone marrow as his parents were against it. "This happened several times in Nalini's case," said Dilip D'souza, a friend, adding that there has to be a way to get people who sign up to actually donate.

MDRI, located at Parel's Tata Memorial Hospital, currently has 16,327 registered donors but is yet to facilitate a transplant.

This database is considered small, as the chances of finding an HLA match are one in 20,000. "We are conducting several awareness campaigns to expand our database," said Dr Parekh.

The registered donors are first tested for any existing diseases. The donor and recipient must both have the same HLA type which entails a 10/10 match of antigens. The initial tests for 6 antigens in the HLA matching cost Rs 8000.

The matching for the remaining 4 antigens is carried out only after the first 6 antigens are matched. "When there is a 10/10 matching, we have to send the samples to the US for high resolution testing which is not available anywhere in India," said Dr Parekh.

It is very upsetting for everyone when people refuse to donate their bone marrow after this extremely lengthy process.

"Due to lack of awareness here, the donor- drive for bone marrow is often individual-driven and not community-driven. This is the main reason for the refusals," said Dr Shripad Banavali, head of the medical oncology department of Tata Memorial Hospital.

"The situation will improve when there are community drivers," he addded.

The long-term survival chances of patients shoot up to from 15 per cent to 60 per cent after a bone marrow transplant.

Want the LG G Pro Lite dual for a lower price than the official Rs 22,990 MRP?

Between the various unofficial prices we’ve been hearing of and the MRP for the LG G Pro Lite dual, stands a fair deal. LG has announced Rs 22,990 as the cost of its ‘Galaxy Note’ for the masses, while an online retailer in India is willing to vend it for Rs 3,000 less, that’s Rs 19,990.

Even before the South Korean company’s answer to the Note (or mid-priced phablets, if you please) was announced early this month, the rumors had begun. It was supposed to be a cheaper option to the Optimus G Pro and wouldn’t have said no to some friendly sparring with the Xperia C or Galaxy Grand Duos.



But the idea of a stylus pen hidden within the chassis is one that screams Galaxy Note so loud, most would find it hard not to think of the Samsung phone that started the phablet trend. Before the G Pro Lite’s official price for India could be revealed, there was word that it would sell for around Rs 20,000 and then Snapdeal posted a lower tag of Rs 18,300 for it.

Here’s a glimpse of the main specs:

- 5.5-inch 960 x 540p IPS touchscreen
- Dual core 1GHz MT6577 processor
- Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean OS
- 1GB of RAM
- 8GB onboard memory, 32GB expandability
- 8MP main camera, 1.3MP webcam
- Dual SIM slots
- 3140mAh removable battery
- Dimensions: 150.2 x 76.9 x 9.4 millimeters
- Weight: 161 grams

Snapdeal has hoisted a page for the G Pro Lite dual. It ships within 1 business day. LG plans to market it in the Middle East, Latin America, China and Russia too.

Xolo launches Q900 smartphone at Rs 12,999

Xolo launches Q900 smartphone at Rs 12,999
FE Online : New Delhi, Wed Oct 30 2013, 15:15 hrs

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Xolo Q900 is equipped with a 1.2 GHz processor, 1 GB RAM and 4 GB internal memory, which can be be expanded up to 32 GB.

Smartphone maker Xolo on Wednesday expanded its portfolio of quad-core smartphones by launching Xolo Q900 at Rs 12,999.

The 4.7 inches smartphone has 312 ppi and runs on Android 4.2 Jelly Bean operating system. Xolo Q900 is equipped with a 1.2 GHz processor, 1 GB RAM and 4 GB internal memory, which can be be expanded up to 32 GB with microSD card. The phones comes with an 8 MP rear camera with LED Flash and BSI sensor and 2 MP front camera for 3G video calling. The camera at the rear is also capable of recording videos at 1080p, the company said in a statement.

The 1800 mAh battery on Xolo Q900 will support long hours of non-stop entertainment. It offers 18 hours of music playback and 5 hours of video playback, said the release.

Key specifications of Xolo Q900

1.2 GHz Quad-core Processor

Android 4.2 Jelly Bean

4.7 inch HD display with 312 PPI

8 MP AF rear Camera with BSI Sensor

2 MP front camera

4 GB internal Memory

32 GB expandable memory

1 GB RAM

1800 mAh Battery

Dual SIM (3G+2G)

Google celebrates Halloween with hocus-pocus witch doodle-cum-game

Although we are a few hours away from Halloween, which is celebrated on October 31 ever year, Google has already updated its Australian homepage with its Halloween special doodle. The Halloween doodle features an aged witch going through a huge manuscript that includes information related to witchcraft.

After clicking on the play button of the doodle, the witch starts with her practise and gives the viewer an unique opportunity to participate with her in the proceedings. With a spooky sound in the background to add to the effect, the procedure has four different items to chose from-- a bone, bottle, skull and an apple-- out of which the witch lets you chose two items to perform her witchery.

To know what happens next, check out the google doodle here.

History of Halloween:

Halloween is a holiday celebrated on the night of October 31. The word Halloween is a shortening of All Hallows' Evening also known as Hallowe'en or All Hallows' Eve.

Halloween has its origins in the ancient Celtic festival known as Samhain (pronounced "sah-win"). It is a celebration of the end of the harvest season in Gaelic culture. Samhain was a time used by the ancient pagans to take stock of supplies and prepare for winter. The ancient Gaels believed that on October 31, the boundaries between the worlds of the living and the dead overlapped and the deceased would come back to life and cause havoc such as sickness or damaged crops.

Lenovo hires Ashton Kutcher to design, pitch new tablet

Computer-maker Lenovo has hired tech-savvy actor Ashton Kutcher to help design and pitch its latest line of tablets, dubbing the Hollywood star a "product engineer'' who can bring his ideas along with his image.




It's the latest tech foray for the "Two and a Half Men'' performer who recently starred in a biopic about innovative giant Steve Jobs and has invested venture capital in more than a dozen Silicon Valley startups.

The deal was announced Tuesday at a Lenovo live-streamed event in Los Angeles. Lenovo's first video advertisements for the new Yoga Tablet feature Kutcher acting as a product tester in his boxers, a spacesuit and aboard an airplane.

The company said Kutcher will do more than just advertise.

“This partnership goes beyond traditional bounds by deeply integrating him into our organization as a product engineer as we look at developing the next wave of products,'' said Lenovo spokesman David Roman.

Kutcher _ who in recent years has appeared in ads for snack chips and cameras _ said of Lenovo, "Entrepreneurship is part of their DNA, and I couldn't ask for a better fit.''

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Lenovo, with headquarters in Beijing and in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, acquired IBM's computer business in 2005 and became the world's top PC-maker ahead of HP in the third quarter. But, like other manufacturers, it has struggled with waning consumer demand for desktop and laptop models.

It's one of several Asian tech companies seeking to loosen Apple's grip on China's tablet market with less expensive Android models.

Sachin Tendulkar leads Mumbai to victory against Haryana in Ranji Trophy

LAHLI: Sachin Tendulkar's farewell game in domestic cricket ended in a manner befitting his iconic stature, as the retiring legend single-handedly guided Mumbai to a four-wicket win over Haryana in one of the most keenly followed match in the history of Ranji Trophy on Wednesday.

Ranji Trophy Tracker

Requiring 39 more runs to win with four wickets in hand on the fourth and final day, Tendulkar went on to make a calculated 175-ball unbeaten 79, building his innings in the manner that has been the hallmark of his later years.

The stay in the middle also ensured Tendulkar warmed up for next month's Test series against the West Indies, which will culminate with the second and his landmark 200th Test in Mumbai, where he will bring the curtain down on his glorious 24-year tryst with international cricket.

After a series of shifts in momentum over the past three days, it was Mumbai who had the last laugh, thanks largely to the relentless perseverance showed by Tendulkar.

Starting the day at 201 for six, Tendulkar, overnight on 55, guided Dhawal Kulkarni (16 not out) to the last run that came when the young pacer hit Mohit Sharma for a boundary, much to the delight of his Mumbai teammates who had planned to gift the veteran a win in his last game for the state side.

The hordes of home spectators who had trooped into the Bansi Lal Cricket Stadium, didn't mind either as it was Tendulkar who was at the forefront of this successful chase.

Living their own Tendulkar moment, the heads totting the small stands fervently cheered his every run, and got an adrenaline rush the only time the ball reached the fence today from the master's willow.

The standing ovation as he walked out to bat was followed by another round of guard of honour, with some of the Haryana players even saluting the champion batsman while he walked on to bat for one last time in domestic cricket.

The routine being repeated after the match seemed appropriate. Tendulkar being lifted on the shoulder of his teammates was also to be expected.

Though he hit just one boundary today, it was worth it. As Harshal Patel ran in, Tendulkar positioned himself perfectly before punching the fast bowler through backward point. All in all he struck six boundaries in the innings.

The innings was in stark contrast to the one he played against the same side some 22 years ago, in the final of the Ranji Trophy at the Wankhede Stadium where he smashed Kapil Dev and co to all corners of the ground.

Today's knock was more about grafting. The defence was tight, the big stride forward gave the picture of a man in total control of the situation, and then there were the trademark backfoot punches through cover off fast bowlers.

He also scored quite a few runs through tucks to the square leg region, nudges towards midwicket besides sprinting singles to mid-on and mid-off.

Sachin Tendulkar's return gift to Mumbai

Maestro brings the curtain down on his domestic career with a gritty unbeaten 79 as the Ranji Trophy champions defeat Haryana by six wickets.

Sachin Tendulkar exults after Mumbai beat Haryana in a Ranji Trophy tie in Lahli on Wednesday. - PTI


One of the most popular crowd chants at the Wankhede goes like this: “Mumbai ka don kaun? Sachin! Sachin!” The venue may have been the Chaudhary Bansi Lal Stadium in faraway Lahli but with his arms aloft, a gleeful Sachin Tendulkar proved once again that he is the boss. And thus, the maestro ended his domestic career in some style. His gritty, classical and undefeated 79 guided the Ranji Trophy champions to an eventually comfortable four-wicket win over hosts Haryana on Wednesday.

A straight drive from Dhaval Kulkarni fetched Mumbai the last four of the 39 runs they were required to get on the fourth day. No sooner did the modest medium pacer hit the winning runs than Tendulkar turned around and faced the dressing room, which was all smiles and up on its feet. All morning, the Mumbai camp acted as though the target was a mile away and the bowlers in operation were of the class of Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel. To say they were tense would be an understatement. That Mumbai didn’t lose any wickets on the final morning was testimony to Tendulkar’s grit and his handling of Kulkarni. But yes, Haryana made them work hard for those runs.

Once the match was over, even the Haryana players were happy to congratulate the great man. While coach-captain Ajay Jadeja patted Tendulkar on the back, his teammates took turns to shake hands with the once-in-a-generation cricketer. The Mumbai players then took over. The big and burly Amogh Pandit, who is the trainer of the team, lifted the little man and plonked him on his shoulders. Tendulkar, who was all too happy to oblige, laughed his heart out and acknowledged the cheers from the delirious crowd.

A word on the day’s play and Jadeja’s bowlers did their best to restrict Tendulkar and Kulkarni.
That Mumbai needed 18 overs to seal the deal proves this. “It was good challenge, a good outing that I was looking for. Thanks to the Haryana side for putting up such a good show on the field,” Tendulkar said. Talking of the two-match Test series against the West Indies, he said, “I’m looking forward to these last couple of Test matches. Hope we produce good cricket and play some good cricket.”

Mumbai sipper Zaheer Khan was a happy man. “I felt that we were in the driver’s seat till the end of the first day,” he said of the contest. “The second morning was crucial, but Joginder Sharma produced a brilliant spell to get Haryana back into the game. Had we taken a decent lead, we could have sealed the game. But that didn’t happen. I’m happy with the way we fought in the second innings. The help in the wicket was dying, but we displayed patience. Sachin’s knock was crucial, but the manner in which Ajinkya Rahane and Kaustubh Pawar applied themselves was encouraging. And Dhaval’s innings at the end was crucial too,” added Zaheer who registered match figures of 5/100 in the low-scoring game.

Jadeja said his team never lost hope. “Even with only four runs needed, I felt we had a chance. Gameplans come and go. Some work, some don’t. It was pretty simple. We had to get Tendulkar.
There’s no team in the world that can win when Tendulkar is in the opposition and you don’t get him out. We tried but we couldn’t.”

Andy's elimination: House politics or Bigg Boss' partial decision?

New Delhi: After the last week's fiasco between Kushal and Tanishaa, the house was definitely divided in two groups. But with the new twist in the last episode, it seems everyone is playing their own game in the house. The inmates discuss nominations in the house, where Andy, Kushal, Kamya and Gauahar want to eat 'daal' (code word for nominating Tanishaa), while Apurva and Pratyusha want to drink 'chai' (code word to nominate themselves).

Kamya tells everyone that going by the things that happened with Salman Khan, she is quite sure that "daal kabhi nahi galegi" meaning that Tanishaa would never be evicted from the show. But Andy tells that "daal ko hum galaenge" when everyone nominates Tanishaa and Armaan and they have no option but to send one person out of the show. Later in the day, when Bigg Boss calls them to begin the nominations process and informs that they have been found guilty of discussing nominations in the house and that too in the presence of the captain. Bigg Boss tells them that they have broken a major rule in the house and now should be ready for the punishment. He asks Kushal to give him five names who were actively involved in the discussion and they would be directly nominated for elimination this week. Andy\'s elimination: House politics or Bigg Boss\' partial decision?

Andy's close friends in the house nominate him for elimination as Bigg Boss penalises them for plotting against Tanishaa and Armaan. Kushal takes the names of Andy, Pratyusha, Kamya, Apurva and Elli. Bigg Boss then asks Kushal to take one name out of the five who was the most active in the discussion and would be asked to leave the house after the next announcement. Apurva tells everyone that he is more than game to leave the show and they all should nominate him. But Kushal tells Apurva that this not a fair and they should yet again vote. In the second round, Andy gets the maximum votes and becomes the next to be eliminated from the house. Andy yet again becomes the scapegoat and he enters into an argument with Pratyusha that he was not the only person who was discussing the nominations.

 He later confronts Kushal that as a captain he should be fair but he is just being partial as he did not vote against Gauahar who was an active member in the nominations discussion. Kushal tells Andy that Gauahar is close to him and he would never vote against her. Well, has Andy become the scapegoat of house politics yet again or is it Bigg Boss' yet another attempt to save Tanishaa and continue her stint on the show. In the prior seasons, the inmates have been given a few warnings and only after that they have been penalized. But this time around, when the inmates decided to gang up against Tanishaa and Armaan, Bigg Boss came up with his new twist. It has been often seen that Tanishaa has been favoured by Bigg Boss in the house. Was it yet another attempt to keep her in the show?

Read more at: http://ibnlive.in.com/news/andys-elimination-house-politics-or-bigg-boss-partial-decision/431136-44-124.html?utm_source=ref_article

New Delhi: After the last week's fiasco between Kushal and Tanishaa, the house was definitely divided in two groups. But with the new twist in the last episode, it seems everyone is playing their own game in the house. The inmates discuss nominations in the house, where Andy, Kushal, Kamya and Gauahar want to eat 'daal' (code word for nominating Tanishaa), while Apurva and Pratyusha want to drink 'chai' (code word to nominate themselves). Kamya tells everyone that going by the things that happened with Salman Khan, she is quite sure that "daal kabhi nahi galegi" meaning that Tanishaa would never be evicted from the show. But Andy tells that "daal ko hum galaenge" when everyone nominates Tanishaa and Armaan and they have no option but to send one person out of the show. Later in the day, when Bigg Boss calls them to begin the nominations process and informs that they have been found guilty of discussing nominations in the house and that too in the presence of the captain. Bigg Boss tells them that they have broken a major rule in the house and now should be ready for the punishment. He asks Kushal to give him five names who were actively involved in the discussion and they would be directly nominated for elimination this week. Andy\'s elimination: House politics or Bigg Boss\' partial decision? Andy's close friends in the house nominate him for elimination as Bigg Boss penalises them for plotting against Tanishaa and Armaan. Kushal takes the names of Andy, Pratyusha, Kamya, Apurva and Elli. Bigg Boss then asks Kushal to take one name out of the five who was the most active in the discussion and would be asked to leave the house after the next announcement. Apurva tells everyone that he is more than game to leave the show and they all should nominate him. But Kushal tells Apurva that this not a fair and they should yet again vote. In the second round, Andy gets the maximum votes and becomes the next to be eliminated from the house. Andy yet again becomes the scapegoat and he enters into an argument with Pratyusha that he was not the only person who was discussing the nominations. He later confronts Kushal that as a captain he should be fair but he is just being partial as he did not vote against Gauahar who was an active member in the nominations discussion. Kushal tells Andy that Gauahar is close to him and he would never vote against her. Well, has Andy become the scapegoat of house politics yet again or is it Bigg Boss' yet another attempt to save Tanishaa and continue her stint on the show. In the prior seasons, the inmates have been given a few warnings and only after that they have been penalized. But this time around, when the inmates decided to gang up against Tanishaa and Armaan, Bigg Boss came up with his new twist. It has been often seen that Tanishaa has been favoured by Bigg Boss in the house. Was it yet another attempt to keep her in the show?

Read more at: http://ibnlive.in.com/news/andys-elimination-house-politics-or-bigg-boss-partial-decision/431136-44-124.html?utm_source=ref_article

I am not playing quintessential villain in 'Dhoom 3': Aamir Khan

Bollywood actor Aamir Khan, who is looking forward to the release of 'Dhoom 3', said he was not playing a typical baddie in the latest edition of the popular Dhoom series.

"When I heard the script I loved it...it touched me. The villains in Dhoom series are different...they are not the regular villains. I am not playing a black kind of a villain who does only bad work...He has his own circumstances and situations to do things. I am not playing a quintessential villain," Aamir Khan said.

He was speaking at the trailer launch of 'Dhoom 3' in IMAX format.

"I am playing a gymnast, so I need to have a certain physique. I did a lot of hard work for it...I have worked hard on my body for two years," the actor said.

Aamir Khan is playing 'the clown' thief in the third instalment of Dhoom series and is paired against Katrina Kaif for first time.

For Aamir Khan, often dubbed as perfectionist, Pran was the iconic villain as his appearance on screen would frighten him as a child.

Besides, Pran, Aamir also likes Amrish Puri, Prem Chopra, Madan Puri and Amjad Khan as baddies.

'Dhoom' series is famous for its suave villains. The earlier two films saw John Abraham and Hrithik Roshan playing the antagonists.

In 'Dhoom 3', Aamir Khan is playing the role of Sahir, the 'clown' thief and Katrina Kaif plays the role of Aaliya, an acrobat diva.

"In 25 years of my career, this is the toughest role ever. There were challenges in terms of performance. The stunts were amazing..Luckily I haven't broken any bone. The stunts were difficult but they were safe," Aamir Khan said.

Before the trailer was shown, Aamir Khan said he was feeling a bit nervous and eager to gauge reaction.

Hike diesel price by Rs.5 a litre, says Parikh Panel

The Kirit Parikh Committee on fuel pricing Wednesday recommended an immediate increase in diesel price by Rs.5 a litre to offset the loss incurred by state oil marketing companies (OMCs) in selling below cost.

In its report submitted to the petroleum ministry here, the committee suggested that the balance loss should be met through a fixed subsidy of Rs.6 per litre to the OMCs.

The panel has also suggested increasing kerosene prices by Rs.4 a litre, and a cap on subsidised domestic LPG to be restricted for each household to six cylinders per year.

The panel was constituted to recommend a pricing methodology for diesel, domestic LPG and kerosene sale through the public distribution system.

In its draft report, the panel said that until diesel pricing was made market determined, the existing pricing mechanism based on trade parity should continue.

It felt that changing the existing pricing formula would not solve the problem of increasing losses, because of high international crude prices and rupee depreciation.

OMCs have been allowed by the government to increase diesel prices by 45-50 paise a litre every month.

U.S. Accuses Infosys of ‘Fraud and Abuse’ in Visa Case

Infosys is one of the largest outsourcing providers to U.S. companies. European Pressphoto Agency

As it prepared its workers to take on jobs at major U.S. companies, Indian outsourcing giant Infosys Ltd. provided them with written instructions on how to deceive U.S. authorities about the type of work they would do, and furnished them with inappropriate visas to lower its cost of doing business, federal prosecutors allege.

The technology company also entered numerous errors on forms meant to confirm its workers’ employment eligibility in this country, part of a pattern one prosecutor called “systematic fraud and abuse.”

While denying that it committed visa fraud, Infosys has agreed to pay the largest penalty ever for alleged immigration violations—$34 million—to close the investigation and conclude the civil case, according to a settlement and complaint unveiled Wednesday by the U.S. attorney’s office in the Eastern district of Texas. The company acknowledged mistakes in filing the federal employment-verification records, known as I-9 forms.

The government originally pursued criminal charges against the company, which it says would have barred Infosys from obtaining U.S. visas and operating here. But immigration law is ambiguous regarding technology work, according to the lead prosecutor on the case, which gave Infosys attorneys leverage during six months of negotiating over a penalty.

Still, the high-profile case could prompt more stringent requirements for work visas as Congress drafts new immigration laws. It may also spur many corporations to examine their own potential liability in this area. It is already boosting government scrutiny of Infosys’ competitors and other companies applying to bring foreigners to the U.S. to perform specialized work, said a State Department official.

Here is how Infosys’ practices unfolded, according to federal prosecutors and investigators on the case:

From 2008 to 2011, Infosys “as a matter of practice” wrote “invitation letters”—documents submitted to and reviewed by U.S. consular officials and other immigration officials—that misrepresented the purpose of employees’ travel, according to the government complaint.

For example, a letter submitted on or about July 3, 2008, for an individual referred to as MG in the complaint, stated his travel was for “customer discussions and related business development activities.” In fact, “as known by Infosys,” the complaint said, the individual would actually do coding and programming, work not authorized under short-term business visitor visas, known as B-1s.

The individual should have received an H-1 B visa, a long-term work visa that is more expensive and takes longer to acquire, said agents involved in the investigation, which stretched more than two years.

An H-1B visa typically takes months to be processed in the U.S. and costs about $5,000 per worker; each B-1 costs $160 and can be obtained in a matter of days at a U.S. consular office abroad.

“To circumvent the requirements, limitations and governmental oversight of the H-1B visa program, Infosys committed visa fraud by knowingly and unlawfully using B-1 visa holders to perform skilled labor in order to fill positions for employment that would otherwise be performed by United States citizens or require legitimate H-1B visa holders,” according to the complaint.

In a review of 6,500 B-1 visas used by Infosys employees, investigators found hundreds of instances of the documents being used improperly, according to Shamoil Shipchandler, the lead prosecutor in the case.

The federal investigation was conducted jointly by the Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service and Immigration and Custom Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations. The immigration agents found an 84% error rate in the company’s I-9s, work-authorization forms that employers complete for each employee, according to an official close to the investigation.

Infosys distributed a “Do’s and Don’ts” memorandum to foreign nationals to help them appear that they qualified for a B-1 visa, according to the complaint. For example, they were instructed to “not mention activities like implementation design and testing consulting etc., which sound like work.” They were told to avoid using terms like “work” and to “not mention anything about contract rates.”

Infosys directed employees to inform customs and border protection officers at airports that their destinations were those listed on a “labor condition application” to avoid additional paperwork and scrutiny, according to the complaint. For example, on or about Oct. 28, 2009, Infosys allegedly directed an individual cited as VG to tell U.S. authorities that he was destined for Seattle when his destination was in fact Bentonville, Ark.

In the settlement, the company said its use of B-1 visas was for “legitimate business purposes” and “not in any way to circumvent the requirements of the H-1B program.”

“There’s absolutely no evidence that these B-1 visas were used for competitive advantage or to save money or for some illegal scheme—those allegations are not true,” said Stephen Jonas, Infosys’ lead attorney on the case.

Mr. Jonas acknowledged that the company distributed a memo on how to proceed through immigration. But he says many large organizations that operate internationally, including some U.S. agencies, give employees similar guidance. And while employees were encouraged to use certain terminology when speaking to officials, they weren’t instructed to lie, Mr. Jonas said, adding that the memo has since been taken down. “The government hasn’t indicated in all these years a single incident when a consular officer was actually deceived,” he said.

While the settlement allows Infosys to continue to operate without restrictions on its use of U.S. visa programs, the investigation and fine cast a pall over one of the world’s largest outsourcing companies. Bangalore-based Infosys, which made $1.73 billion in net profits for the fiscal year that ended last March, employs 157,000 people and operates in 30 countries. Its U.S. clients have included big-name Wall Street banks, Silicon Valley companies, retail chains and manufacturers, according to investigators. Dow Jones, the company that publishes The Wall Street Journal, is a client of Infosys.

“Their checks and balances and due diligence were totally lacking,” the person said. Although the fine is a record for an immigration case, prosecutors had weighed tougher penalties, Mr. Shipchandler said. But immigration law isn’t always clear regarding work in the technology field, he said, which strengthened Infosys’ position during negotiations, he said.

In recent years, Homeland Security agents have stepped up scrutiny of I-9 forms from meatpacking plants, fast-food chains and other industries as part of a crackdown on the hiring of undocumented foreign workers. In Infosys’ case, omissions and mistakes enabled employees to remain in the U.S. after their visas had expired, according to the complaint.

The company denies this was the case. In a statement, Infosys said, “There is no evidence that the I-9 paperwork violations allowed any Infosys employee to work beyond their visa authorization.”

“It’s not 100% clear what someone who holds a B-1 visa can actually do,” he said.

For example, placing someone within a company for six months to do in-house tech support is an improper use of a B-1 visa. But if a consultant helps refine software during a meeting with a client, as part of a larger project, that could be seen as an appropriate use of a visitor visa, Mr. Shipchandler said. “It’s a murky area, but for our purposes they misled consular officials.”

The investigation was ignited by a February 2011 lawsuit by Jack “Jay” Palmer, an American employee who accused the company of harassment and breach of contract after he raised concerns about possible visa violations. A federal judge in Alabama, where Mr. Palmer worked, dismissed that case. Mr. Palmer cooperated with federal agents investigating the company.

Ken Behrendt, chief executive of Eagle Creek Software Services, a large IT service provider who formerly worked for an offshore company, said he saw “countless examples of companies manipulating or simply breaking the law in regards to visa policy.”

The Infosys case could trigger Congress to pass laws that “make it more difficult for legitimate players to jump through immigration hoops to bring workers to the United States,” said Susan Cohen, chair of Mintz, Levin immigration law practice in Boston.

Greater scrutiny already is reverberating across the outsourcing industry.

Consular officers are giving applicants from India’s IT industry more scrutiny, a State Department security official says. Meanwhile, companies are paying closer attention to the “fine print” of the visa rules, says industry analyst Phil Fersht.

“The Infosys settlement sets the benchmark,” said Ian MacDonald, an attorney at Greenberg Traurig in Atlanta who specializes in immigration compliance and has done risk-assessment work. “Any CEO who isn’t ordering an immediate assessment of risk and financial exposure…is sitting on a time bomb that can not only result in tax, employment law and immigration liability, but also will likely cause negative publicity and possibly adversely affect stock pricing.”

Egyptian police disperse pro-Morsi students at Al-Azhar

Police have entered al-Azhar University in the Egyptian capital Cairo to disperse students protesting in support of ousted President Mohamed Morsi.

The interior ministry said it had responded to a request for help from university authorities.

Pro-Morsi students had been holding protests at the campus for weeks.

The operation come hours after the arrest of Essam al-Erian, a senior leader in the Muslim Brotherhood movement to which Mr Morsi belongs.

Mr Erian is vice chairman of the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), the Brotherhood's political wing. Prosecutors had ordered his arrest in July, after the military ousted Mr Morsi.

Officials at al-Azhar were quoted by local media as saying that the protesting students had ransacked university offices before the police intervention.

Photos from the scene showed damage to the buildings and anti-military graffiti sprayed on the university's walls. Troublemaker claim

The interior ministry said in a statement that the action was taken to "protect lives and public property".

There were reports that some of the students had been arrested, although it was not clear how many.
Students expressed anger at the actions of university authorities during the protest

Protester Mahmoud Salah, said authorities had planted troublemakers among the students to stir the violence.

"Our protests are peaceful. We are against the coup," Mr Salah told The Associated Press.

Tension at the university campus has been building for weeks, with students protesting against the military-backed government that replaced Mr Morsi and against the university leadership itself.

Ahmed Al-Tayeb, the Grand Sheikh of Al-Azhar, regarded as one of the most prestigious seats of learning in Sunni Islam, gave his backing to the removal of Mr Morsi.

Although the latest moves come as the interim government continues a crackdown against the Islamist movement, students at al-Azhar have also had other grievances against the university's management.

In April, hundreds of students broke into Mr Tayeb's offices in a protest sparked by an outbreak of food poisoning at the campus that left 500 students in hospital.

Saudi writer who opposed ban on women driving held

Police have detained a Saudi columnist who supported ending his country's ban on women driving, activists said on Wednesday.

The activists, who wished to remain anonymous for fear of retribution, said Tariq al-Mubarak was called by investigators concerning a stolen car over the weekend.

When he arrived at the Interior Ministry's Criminal Investigation Department on Sunday, he was interrogated instead about his role in a campaign launched by reformers seeking the right of women to drive in the kingdom.

When his friends were informed they could pick him up at the investigator's office, they too were detained for several hours and questioned over the campaign's activities, activists said.

Human Rights Watch and activists who know al-Mubarak say he remains in detention with no access to a lawyer. The New York based organization called for al-Mubarak's immediate release and on authorities ``to stop harassing and trying to intimidate activists and women who defied the driving ban.''

The spokesman for the Interior Ministry, Mansour al-Turki, could not be reached for comment.

In a column published in the pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat the day of his arrest, al-Mubarak said extremists are intimidating people from exercising their rights. He said the courts in Saudi Arabia do not have sufficient provisions to deter those who threaten and terrorize others from exercising their freedoms because ``rights and freedoms ... are not instilled in our culture, nor our interpretation of religion.''

Al-Mubarak, who also works as a school teacher, was among a core group of active young Saudis calling for women's right to drive.

Around 60 women claimed they got behind the wheel Saturday to oppose the ban. The campaign sparked protest by the kingdom's ultraconservative religious establishment.

The reformers behind the Oct. 26 driving campaign say their efforts are ongoing and that they continue to receive videos by women filming themselves flouting the driving ban.

China supports Geneva II conference on Syria

Damascus: China has supported efforts to find a political solution of persisting Syrian crisis and supported the Geneva II conference in this regard.

The Chinese ambassador to Syria Zhang Xun said Wednesday that China deems the political solution and the Geneva II conference on Syria as "necessary" in light of the current situation in the war-torn country, Xinhua reported.

"We all deem the political solution and convening the Geneva II conference as necessary, particularly in light of the current situation.

"The military solution has no way out, and any party of the conflict can't defeat the others," Zhang said after meeting the visiting UN-Arab League joint special envoy Lakhdar Brahimi.

"Brahimi has provided us with the results of his Middle East tour," the ambassador remarked about his meeting with Brahimi, stressing that China "actively support convening the Geneva II conference in order to reach for a political solution to the Syrian issue."

He also reiterated his country's rejection of any form of foreign military intervention in Syria, saying that "we reject the foreign military intervention and wish for a ceasefire and a halt of violence in Syria.

"We support the work of Brahimi, and exert efforts in dealing with concerned Syrian parties."

The long-awaited Geneva II conference on Syria aims to bring the government and the opposition to one table by the end of November to hammer out a political solution to end the suffering of all Syrians.

5 Suspects Are Held in Attack in Beijing

BEIJING — The Chinese authorities announced on Wednesday the arrests of five suspects described as Islamic jihadists who they say helped orchestrate an audacious attack near Tiananmen Square, the political heart of the nation, that left five people dead.

In a brief message posted on its microblog account, the Beijing Public Security Bureau said the suspects, all ethnic Uighurs from China’s western Xinjiang region, had enlisted a family of three to drive a vehicle across a crowded sidewalk on Monday and then ignite the car at the foot of the Tiananmen Gate. Two tourists were killed and 40 people were injured as the vehicle sped toward the entrance to the Forbidden City. The authorities had previously reported 38 injuries.

The occupants of the car — identified by the police as Usmen Hasan; his wife, Gulkiz Gini; and his mother, Kuwanhan Reyim, names that are identifiably Uighur — died as it went up in flames. The police say that in addition to gasoline and a gas canister, investigators recovered from the vehicle two knives, metal clubs and a banner bearing “religious extremist messages.” The police did not disclose the content of those messages.

“This was a violent terrorist act that was carefully planned and organized,” the statement said.

The police said the five suspects were arrested Monday, 10 hours after the attack, and had confessed their involvement. They said investigators had found long knives and a “jihadist” flag in the temporary residence where the suspects were staying. It is unclear why the authorities delayed the announcement of the arrests by more than a day.

Like the event itself, news of the arrests was played down in China’s news media and most outlets carried only a brief article from the official Xinhua news agency, reflecting in part the government’s skittishness over an episode that exposed security lapses at one of the most heavily guarded locations in the country.

The attack is likely to prompt heightened security in Xinjiang, home to most of China’s ethnic Uighurs, Turkic-speaking people who subscribe to a moderate brand of Sunni Islam. Concentrated in an arid stretch of western China, Uighurs have long had an uneasy coexistence with the ruling Han Chinese majority. But tensions have increased in recent years, fueled by a surge in Han migration to the region, a widening income gap and anger over policies that many locals say marginalize Uighur culture.

The Chinese government often portrays any resistance to its policies in Xinjiang as acts of separatism. Violent clashes between protesters and the police are invariably described as terrorism, and in recent years, Beijing has sought to blame outside agitators and Islamic extremists. Exile groups say that much of the violence is a response to increasingly harsh policies.

But until the Tiananmen attack, most of the violence had been confined to Xinjiang, nearly 2,000 miles from Beijing.

Rohan Gunaratna, an international terrorism expert at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, said the attack would help bolster Beijing’s contention that Uighur Islamists have allied with a terrorist group known as the East Turkestan Islamist Movement and pose a serious threat to the nation.

The United States has designated that group a terrorist organization, but many Western analysts have played down its size and its ability to wage attacks within China. Although the authorities did not immediately link the attack to the group, Mr. Gunaratna said he thought the episode would serve as a warning. “It demonstrates that whoever carried out this attack meticulously planned the operation,” he said. “It is likely to be the future of terror operations. These kinds of attacks are designed to inspire other groups.”

But Ilham Tohti, a Uighur scholar in Beijing, said he worried that the authorities would use the event to increase repression in Xinjiang. A vocal advocate for Uighur rights who is frequently confined to his home by security personnel, Mr. Tohti questioned the sparse narrative issued by the police, noting that news media restrictions have in the past prevented independent reporting on violent episodes involving Uighurs.

“I have a lot of questions about what happened,” he said by telephone. “It’s easy to point to a banner, but we’re only getting one side of the story.”


Patrick Zuo contributed research.

Rahul Gandhi takes on BJP, says it is polarising people before 2014 polls

Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi has blamed the Akhilesh Yadav government in Uttar Pradesh for not implementing central government schemes in the state. “State governments don’t implement Central schemes. The money given to them always goes missing. That is why UP has fallen behind when it comes to development,” Rahul said at an election rally in Deoria, Uttar Pradesh today. Rahul Gandhi. PTI Rahul Gandhi. PTI Praising Congress-led governments in other states, Rahul said, “Look at Rajasthan. Now they even get water in the desert. That is the good work done by Congress government.

Delhi and Maharashtra too have developed because of Congress governments.” Rahul, also indirectly took on the BJP, saying “some parties believe in communal polarisation just before elections.” He also said that the Congress believes in inclusive growth.

“We want Hindu, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians to all live in harmony,” he said. Rahul said that he hoped more people from UP will join politics and run for elections to bring change to the state. In his second visit to the state in October, Rahul first went to Hamirpur in Bundelkhand region, and then to Deoria in the eastern part of the state. Earlier, he had visited Aligarh and Rampur in the western part of the state, where he criticised the state’s ruling Samajwadi Party and opposition Bharatiya Janata Party for engineering communal riots in Muzaffarnagar in which over 40 people were killed.

Read more at: http://www.firstpost.com/politics/rahul-gandhi-takes-on-bjp-says-it-is-polarising-people-before-2014-polls-1202613.html?utm_source=ref_article

Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi has blamed the Akhilesh Yadav government in Uttar Pradesh for not implementing central government schemes in the state. “State governments don’t implement Central schemes. The money given to them always goes missing. That is why UP has fallen behind when it comes to development,” Rahul said at an election rally in Deoria, Uttar Pradesh today. Rahul Gandhi. PTI Rahul Gandhi. PTI Praising Congress-led governments in other states, Rahul said, “Look at Rajasthan. Now they even get water in the desert. That is the good work done by Congress government. Delhi and Maharashtra too have developed because of Congress governments.” Rahul, also indirectly took on the BJP, saying “some parties believe in communal polarisation just before elections.” He also said that the Congress believes in inclusive growth. “We want Hindu, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians to all live in harmony,” he said. Rahul said that he hoped more people from UP will join politics and run for elections to bring change to the state. In his second visit to the state in October, Rahul first went to Hamirpur in Bundelkhand region, and then to Deoria in the eastern part of the state. Earlier, he had visited Aligarh and Rampur in the western part of the state, where he criticised the state’s ruling Samajwadi Party and opposition Bharatiya Janata Party for engineering communal riots in Muzaffarnagar in which over 40 people were killed.

Read more at: http://www.firstpost.com/politics/rahul-gandhi-takes-on-bjp-says-it-is-polarising-people-before-2014-polls-1202613.html?utm_source=ref_articleCongress vice president Rahul Gandhi has blamed the Akhilesh Yadav government in Uttar Pradesh for not implementing central government schemes in the state. “State governments don’t implement Central schemes. The money given to them always goes missing. That is why UP has fallen behind when it comes to development,” Rahul said at an election rally in Deoria, Uttar Pradesh today. Rahul Gandhi. PTI Rahul Gandhi. PTI Praising Congress-led governments in other states, Rahul said, “Look at Rajasthan. Now they even get water in the desert. That is the good work done by Congress government. Delhi and Maharashtra too have developed because of Congress governments.” Rahul, also indirectly took on the BJP, saying “some parties believe in communal polarisation just before elections.” He also said that the Congress believes in inclusive growth. “We want Hindu, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians to all live in harmony,” he said. Rahul said that he hoped more people from UP will join politics and run for elections to bring change to the state. In his second visit to the state in October, Rahul first went to Hamirpur in Bundelkhand region, and then to Deoria in the eastern part of the state. Earlier, he had visited Aligarh and Rampur in the western part of the state, where he criticised the state’s ruling Samajwadi Party and opposition Bharatiya Janata Party for engineering communal riots in Muzaffarnagar in which over 40 people were killed.

Read more at: http://www.firstpost.com/politics/rahul-gandhi-takes-on-bjp-says-it-is-polarising-people-before-2014-polls-1202613.html?utm_source=ref_article

Three get life term for rape of minor tribal girls

A fast track court on Wednesday convicted eight accused in the case of rape of minor tribal girls of a government residential school in Kanker district of Chhattisgarh and sentenced three of them, including a woman, to life imprisonment.

District and Sessions Judge Mahadev Katulkar found all the accused guilty under the IPC, Special Public Prosecutor T.C. Pandya said.

Prime accused Mannulal Gota, teacher; Dinanath Nagesh, hostel watchman; and Babita Marka, hostel superintendent, were sentenced to life imprisonment. Gota and Nagesh raped the girls on different occasions and Markam abetted them in the crime.

Fodder scam: Jharkhand HC reserves order on Lalu's bail plea

Ranchi: Jharkhand High Court on Wednesday reserved its order on the bail petition moved by RJD supremo and ex-Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, who is serving a five-year sentence after being convicted in a fodder scam case.


After conclusion of the hearing by the CBI counsel against Lalu's bail plea, the bench of Justice RR Prasad reserved the order for Thursday. The court had on October 25 granted provisional bail to another former Bihar chief minister Jagannath Mishra. Fodder scam: Jharkhand HC reserves order on Lalu\'s bail plea HC to decide on Lalu Prasad Lalu, Mishra and 43 others were on September 30 convicted by the special CBI court Judge Pravas Kumar Singh in the fodder case involving fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 37.7 crore from Chaibasa Treasury during the Lalu-led RJD regime.

 The CBI court had pronounced varying prison terms to the convicted on October 3. Lalu and others have also moved the high court against the verdict.

Read more at: http://ibnlive.in.com/news/fodder-scam-jharkhand-hc-reserves-order-on-lalus-bail-plea/431478-3-233.html?utm_source=ref_article

Gujarat police slams Bihar counterpart over 'lack of security' for Modi's rally

Gujarat police on Wednesday criticised its Bihar counterpart, alleging serious lapses in security measures for Chief Minister Narendra Modi's rally in Patna, saying that had the Bihar administration heeded its request, perhaps the situation could have been avoided. Seven blasts rocked Gandhi Maidan, the venue of Modi's rally and surrounding areas, leading to the death of six people just before the event on Sunday in Patna. "Rehearsals before the event was not carried out, except for the route rehearsal," in-charge Gujarat DGP Pramod Kumar office said in a statement issued in Ahmedabad. Gujarat police slams Bihar counterpart over 'lack of security' for Modi's rally Gujarat police slams Bihar counterpart over 'lack of security' for Modi's rally "Anti-sabotage checking, which is mandatory for public meetings was not conducted properly.

Routine security drills such as access control, checking and frisking people attending the rally as well as screening of baggage, were not conducted. It is further reported that a large number of vehicles were parked inside the venue of the rally," the statement said. "Senior police officers from Gujarat had requested the Bihar police to conduct a joint Advance Security Liaison (ASL). It was only after great persuasion that Bihar police officers agreed to join the ASL, which was conducted by SP (Patna City), Additional Director (IB) and SP (CM Security) Gujarat. However, Bihar Police officers, for reasons best known to them, had refused to sign the ASL report and had not taken note of relevant issues mentioned therein," it said. The ADGP (Intelligence) Gujarat had sent a detailed communication to ADGP (Special Branch) Bihar about the threat faced by Modi from various terrorist organisations, it said.

"The Bihar administration did not respond to this communication and never communicated about issues that may be foreseen in providing foolproof security for VIPs and the venue," the statement said. The Gujarat police hoped that in future, the central government and its apparatus would impress upon states where such visits take place, to take security concerns seriously and protect the lives of people and VIPs, it said. The statement comes after Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said that he had given instructions to his home department and police to provide maximum security for the BJP rally.

Read more at: http://ibnlive.in.com/news/gujarat-police-slams-bihar-counterpart-over-lack-of-security-for-modis-rally/431476-3-238.html?utm_source=ref_article

US security agency intercepts Google, Yahoo traffic overseas - report

The National Security Agency has tapped directly into communications links used by Google and Yahoo to move huge amounts of email and other user information among overseas data centers, the Washington Post reported on Wednesday.




The report, based on secret NSA documents leaked by former contractor Edward Snowden, appears to show the agency has used weak restrictions on its overseas activities to exploit major US companies' data to a far greater extent than realised. Previously reported programmes included those that allowed easy searches of Google's, Yahoo's and other Internet giants' material based on court orders. But since the interception in the newly disclosed effort, code named MUSCULAR, occurs outside the United States, there is no oversight by the secret intelligence court. The Post said the operation gained access to a cable or switch that relayed the traffic through an unnamed telecommunications provider. "We are outraged at the lengths to which the government seems to have gone to intercept data from our private fiber networks, and it underscores the need for urgent reform," said Google chief legal officer David Drummond.

Google said it had not been aware of the programme, although it recently began speeding its efforts to encrypt internal traffic. Like other companies, Google and Yahoo constantly send data over leased and shared or exclusive international fiber-optic telecommunication lines as they synchronise information. The newly disclosed programme, operated jointly with the United Kingdom's Government Communications Headquarters, or GCHQ, amassed 181 million records in one recent 30-day span, according to one document reported by the Post. It could not be learned how much of that included material from US residents, how the agency redacted data on them or how much of the information was retained.

VALID FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE TARGETS ONLY
An NSA spokesperson said in a statement the suggestion in the Post article that the agency relies on a presidential order on foreign intelligence gathering to skirt domestic restrictions imposed by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and other laws "is not true."

"The assertion that we collect vast quantities of US persons' data from this type of collection is also not true," the statement said. "NSA is a foreign intelligence agency. And we're focused on discovering and developing intelligence about valid foreign intelligence targets only." Asked at an event in Washington about the latest report, NSA Director General Keith Alexander said that he had not read it but that the agency did not have unfettered access to the US companies' servers. "I can tell you factually we do not have access to Google servers, Yahoo servers," Alexander said at a Bloomberg Government conference. "We go through a court order." He did not directly address whether the agency intercepts such traffic in transit.

The NSA is known to tap undersea cables. A Yahoo spokeswoman said, "We have strict controls in place to protect the security of our data centers, and we have not given access to our data centers to the NSA or to any other government agency." Yahoo in January will begin encrypting users' email as it moves to the company, but it declined to say whether it would go further and keep email encrypted as it moves within Yahoo. The report is likely to add to growing tensions between the US intelligence establishment and the tech companies, which have been struggling to assure customers overseas that they need not fear US spying.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy said he would ask for an administration briefing on the program because millions of US residents could have had their communications monitored daily. "I will be asking whether this report is accurate, what legal authority the government is using, and how they are protecting the privacy rights of law-abiding Americans," the Vermont Democrat said.

Lift curbs to meet Irom Sharmila Chanu, NHRC tells govt

IMPHAL: Taking suo motu cognizance of the 'arbitrary restrictions' imposed on visiting Irom Sharmila Chanu, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Wednesday recommended the Manipur government to immediately lift the curbs.

Demanding repeal of the controversial Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, Sharmila has been fasting since November, 2000. At present, she is being forced-fed through her nose by the government in the security ward of JN Hospital.

The commission, led by its chairman justice KB Balakrishnan, paid a three-day visit to Manipur last week. Besides meeting Sharmila, the rights panel also held sittings.

During its visit, the state officials could not give any satisfactory reply to the commission on the exception made to the practice in Sharmila's case, but was informed that permission to meet her must be issued by either the chief minister or the deputy chief minister.

An NHRC statement issued on Wednesday said the restrictions to meet Sharmila breach India's obligations under international human rights standards and principles and is a grave violation of human rights.

In its notice to Manipur chief secretary, the commission said Sharmila must be permitted to receive visitors under the regime that governs all persons in judicial custody. The commission asked him to reply by December 6 on the steps taken in response to the recommendation.

The commission observed that it believes that if the state government could deny permission to its special rapporteur, a retired DGP and to special rapporteurs of the UN to visit Sharmila, it is unlikely that it gives others access to her.

"It would appear that while keeping her alive, since her death would create problems for the state government, it is trying to break her spirit through this enforced isolation for which there is no judicial mandate, though she is in judicial custody," the NHRC said.

The NHRC said Sharmila is a person of concern to it on three counts. Firstly she is a person in custody on the terms of whose imprisonment the commission has received some complaints.

Secondly, it has been represented to the commission and to the UN special rapporteurs who have visited India that the terms of her imprisonment have deliberately been made harsh because she is a human rights defender.

Lastly, in so far as she is held in conditions that are onerous because of her peaceful opposition to an aspect of government police, a law whose repeal she seeks, she is a prisoner of conscience, said an NHRC statement.

Two commission members, accompanied by senior officers, had met Sharmila on October 23 and they found her frail but alert and did not complain of any ill treatment.

Mammoth 351 chase made possible for India as Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan slam quick-fire 100s

Shane Watson and George Bailey's centuries went into vain as their huge 350 target was easily chased by the Indian batsmen.

Shikhar Dhawan; Virat Kohli


Four men scored centuries by it was Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan whose 100s went towards a winning cause as they helped India win by 6 wickets and level the series 2-2.

Rain washing out two matches in the series meant that the series that was seen as a fight for the No1 ODI ranking ended with India managing to cling on to the top spot as Australia would be unable to win the series 6-1.

Shane Watson scored 102 as George Bailey hammered 156 off 114 balls to power Australia to 350. The run chase for India seemed identical to the Rajasthan huge score chase as the Indian batsmen came good yet again.

Virat Kohli added to his great record as he has scored 11 centuries while chasing and India has won all 11 matches. The Delhi lad was handed the man of the match cheque for his blistering performance by Indian boxing Olympic bronze medallist Mary Kom.

Kohli added the record of becoming the first batsman to hit five or more consecutive 50s twice in ODIs to his laurels which helped him lead India one step away from a series win.

Rohit Sharma scored a handy 79 as MS Dhoni chipped in towards the end with a clinical 25 not out.

All eyes will be on the seventh and final ODI in Bangalore with the series squared as India look like they are back with a bang in the series.

LoC firing: Antony blames Pak Army for helping infiltration

Taking on the Pakistani military establishment for the spate of violent incidents on the border in Jammu and Kashmir in recent weeks, Defence Minister A K Antony on Wednesday said that infiltration has been increasing with the tacit support of the Pakistani Army and better-equipped terrorists are attempting to cross over.




The comments were Antony's first on the trouble along the India-Pakistan frontier, which includes an unprecedented exchange of fire between troops of the two countries since the 2003 ceasefire.

Antony said that while ceasefire violations in the past were concentrated on the Line of Control, the recent prolonged firing on the international border in the Jammu area is a matter of "more serious concern".

"Instead of preventing infiltration or trying to minimise infiltration attempts, attempts are increasing. That means, these are going on with the support of elements across the border. But I am sure nothing has happened without the support and knowledge and tacit support of Pakistani Army," Antony said, speaking on the sidelines of an event at the Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses.

Stressing the role of the Pakistani army in the incidents, just as Army Chief Gen Bikram Singh had done, Antony said that there is "open support" in Pakistan for the infiltration attempts.

"On the Pakistani side, the border is completely guarded by the Pakistani Army. How can terrorists try to infiltrate into India without knowledge and support of Pakistan? How can the terrorists embolden to increase the attempt to infiltrate without the tacit or sometimes open support of their armed forces? That is a question that is worrying us," Antony said.

The defence minister also said that the recent spate of infiltrations had been carried out by militants who were not only better equipped than in the past but are also geared to sustain themselves for longer periods to carry out subversive activities in India.

NSA denies that it eavesdropped on Vatican

Washington: The National Security Agency, responsible for U.S. electronic eavesdropping, said on Wednesday that it does not target the Vatican and called an Italian media report that it had done so "not true".

Panorama magazine said on Wednesday that the NSA had eavesdropped on Vatican phone calls, possibly including when former Pope Benedict's successor was under discussion.

"The National Security Agency does not target the Vatican. Assertions that NSA has targeted the Vatican, published in Italy's Panorama magazine, are not true," NSA spokeswoman Vanee Vines said in a statement.

According to Panorama, which did not cite a source for its information, the NSA had monitored 46 million phone calls in Italy from December 10, 2012, to January 8, 2013, including conversations in and out of the Vatican.

In a press release before full publication on Thursday, Panorama said, "NSA had tapped the Pope."
The Holy See said it had no knowledge of any such activity. Asked to comment on the report, Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said: "We are not aware of anything on this issue and in any case we have no concerns about it."

Media reports based on revelations from Edward Snowden, the former NSA contractor who has been granted asylum in Russia, have said the agency had spied on French citizens over the same period in December and January.

Last week, the German government appeared to confirm that Chancellor Angela Merkel's cell phone had also been monitored by American spies. The issue has also caused Washington problems with Brazil and China.

Panorama said the recorded Vatican phone calls were catalogued by the NSA in four categories - leadership intentions, threats to the financial system, foreign policy objectives and human rights.
Benedict resigned on February 28 this year and his successor, Pope Francis, was elected on March 13.

"It is feared" that calls were listened to up until the start of the conclave that elected Francis, the former Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina, Panorama said.

The magazine said there was also a suspicion that the Rome residence where some cardinals lived before the conclave, including the future pope, was monitored.

AAP makes a pledge: No netagiri if elected

NEW DELHI: While assuring citizens a regular water supply, better roads and women's safety, the Aam Aadmi Party candidates are also promising not to be your typical neta. During their door-to-door campaigns, candidates are handing out copies of affidavits they have submitted to the party saying they will not use "lal batti ki gadi", live in government accommodation or take police protection.

"All candidates gave this affidavit to the party after being nominated. Now, a copy of this is being distributed to each home in every constituency. Because these are attested documents, the public can take us to task if we fail to abide with our promises. We wanted to reassure the public that AAP is different from other political parties and we will not take advantage of our position," AAP candidate from Bijwasan Col Devinder Sehrawat said.

The affidavit says candidates will also consult the public for all decision making till the time it becomes possible to have a government by the people.

"It has already happened in Dallupura constituency where the municipal councillor, who is the AAP candidate from Laxmi Nagar, has held regular meetings with the people, asking them what works they want carried out and what problems they might be facing. We want to replicate this in all constituencies," said a party source.

Other promises include having the Jan Lokpal Bill and electoral reforms passed as soon as possible and bringing a law that will prevent he government from acquiring land without consent of the owner.

The pledge is being distributed along with a pamphlet that has a list of frequently asked questions about the party, a brief agenda and information about respective candidates.

"The plan is to distribute these in all homes of every constituency. This is being done alongside manifesto meetings because the candidate will be accountable to the public on both counts-this pledge and manifesto," said the source.

4 killed in violence in Muzaffarnagar, 8 arrested

Muzaffarnagar: Four people, including a woman, have been killed in two incidents of violence in Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh, where communal clashes last month had left nearly 50 dead and 45,000 homeless.

The police say there is no evidence that the killings, which took place on Wednesday, were linked to any communal tension. However, around 600 paramilitary personnel from the state's reserve forces have been sent to the area to prevent any flare-up.

In the first incident, a land dispute between people from two villages, Hussainpur and Mohammedpur, reportedly turned violent and led to the killing of three men. Eight people from Mohammedpur have been arrested.

The villages, two kilometres apart, share agricultural land and have long been fighting over it.

Senior police and district officials are at the spot, trying to prevent the violence from spreading to the neighbouring areas. They say the situation is tense, but under control.

In the second incident, a woman was killed when she and her husband were attacked on their way home from a visit to the doctor near the Hussainpur village. The police say the attackers were unknown to the couple.

Muzaffarnagar is still trying to recover from the riots last month, which erupted in the aftermath of the killing of three men in August - two Jat brothers and one Muslim boy. The violence spiraled as incendiary speeches by politicians and rumours fed the simmering tension between the two communities.

Three BJP MLAs and one BSP legislator were arrested and half a dozen others were booked for inciting the violence, which is being investigated by a one-member judicial commission.

Uttar Pradesh's Akhilesh Yadav government was accused of failing to check the violence and not stepping in to defuse rising tensions when a large gathering of farmers was organised to protest against the killing of the Jat brothers.

But the Mr Yadav has accused the BJP of inciting communal passions to polarise voters ahead of national elections due by May.

Aarambam review: Ajith’s Arrambam a modern action thriller story

Thala Ajith’s much awaited box office film Arrambam(Aarambam) story is said to be a modern action thriller movie.

Being directed by Vishnuvardhan, the movie Aarambam (Arrambam) has Ajith Kumar, Arya, Nayanthara andTaapsee Pannu in the lead roles while music is being scored by Yuvan Shankar Raja (YSR).

A. M. Rathnam, the producer proudly shared that the story carries a modern thought of the earlier movie Indian in Shankar’s direction.

The story of Aarambam is on the subject to a start of a fight back to accomplish something.

Ajith, will be essaying the role of an intelligence agency officer in the movie Aarambam (Arrambam). Arya and Nayanthara are also playing crucial roles in the movie.

Aarambam is expected to be another milestone for Ajith in his career and hit the box office records with decent collections.

More: http://www.metromasti.com/kollywood/reviews/Aarambam-review-Ajiths-Arrambam-a-modern-action-thriller-story/31060

Arrambam sold out in USA

GK Media will be releasing Ajith's Arrambam across a record 78 locations in the USA. They have made grand plans for the release with many premier shows lined up across all the locations. Below is a press statement issued by GK Media in this regard

“ARRAMBAM”, the most stylish and anticipated movie of the year is all set to release in about 78 locations in USA from Oct 30th onwards. All premier shows are confirmed in almost every location. Within a few hours of opening online tickets, the premier shows were already sold out in many locations. Due to popularity and demand, we have requested the theater chains to consider adding more shows to all locations which are selling out. We kindly request you to check the theaters' website before calling theaters and the distributor for show timings and online ticketing information.


GK Media is proud to announce that it is the first company to screen a Tamil movie on Cinemark XD (Extreme Digital Cinema environment, to maximize the movie-watching experience with Better Sound and Ultimate Entertainment) in the following Cinemark locations. In other locations such as AMC, Regal, Hollywood, Carmike, Big Cinemas and Cobb you will get to watch in LARGE Auditoriums as well. Here are the prestigious theaters where Cinemark has agreed to show ARRAMBAM in XD screens for the premier shows. Carmike is also planning to screen in Big D screens tomorrow in Apple Valley, MN and Pottsgrove, PA locations.


The ticket Prices are only $12 for Adults and $8 for Kids (Except premier shows which are priced at $14 for Adults and $8 for kids). The movie will have English Subtitles and will run for 2 hours and 37 minutes.


DON’T MISS THIS OPPORTUNITY TO WATCH ARRAMBAM 1st DAY 1stSHOW ON THESE BIG SCREENS!


Confirmed Cinemark XD Screen on Oct 30th 9PM show:

1. San Francisco, CA

Century 25 Union Landing and XD

32100 Union Landing

Union City, CA 94587

800-326-3264 Exp Code 936#



2. Orange County (Los Angeles)

Century Stadium 25 and XD

1701 W. Katella Ave.

Orange, CA 92867

800-326-3264 Exp Code 913#



3. Cinemark Aurora (Denver)

Century Aurora and XD

14300 East Alameda Ave

Aurora, CO 80012

800-326-3264 Exp Code 941



4. West Des Moines, IA

Century 20 Jordan Creek and XD

101 Jordan Creek Parkway

West Des Moines, IA 50266

800-326-3264 + Exp Code 982#



5. Davie Florida (Miami)

Cinemark Paradise 24 and XD

15601 Sheridan Street

Davie, FL 33331

800-326-3264 Exp Code 2155



6. Egyptian Hanover Maryland

Cinemark Egyptian 24 and XD

7000 Arundel Mills Circle

Hanover, MD 21076

800-326-3264 + Exp Code 2156


Here is the complete list of ARRAMBAM theaters across the 78 US locations:


http://behindwoods.com/tamil-movies-cinema-news-13/arrambam-aka-arrambam-usa-showtimes-usa-theater-timings-schedules-and-online-movie-tickets.html

Arrambam (Aarambam) – Fans' Review

What Ajith Kumar's fans have been waiting for all these months is finally before them. Arrambam (Aarambam), the movie, which has been desperately waited for its release by the Thala's followers has hit the screens today (October 31) in India and on Wednesday (October 30) in foreign countries. 

Arrambam has got a flying start at the Box Office with advance booking getting massive response from the audience. The movie has opened up to packed houses in the majority of theatres in Chennai and abroad. Story (As Per online Tweets) It is said to be a revenge story. Reports say that Ajith Kumar, whose character name is Ashok, will be seen in the role of a cop along with his friend played by Telugu actor Rana Daggubati. The title track 'Adadada arrambame' comes as an introduction song. Mahesh Manjrekar plays the role of a minister, who is into illegal activity. 

Ashok convinces good-guy superhacker to join him in his mission. Tapasee Pannu plays the role of Arya's girlfriend, whereas Nayantara is the love interest of Ajith Kumar. How all these characters get connected to each other form the crux of Arrambam story. Here, we are bringing you the reviews posted by audience, who have seen the movie abroad and posted on various social networking sites.

Read more at: http://entertainment.oneindia.in/tamil/news/2013/arrambam-aarambam-fans-review-123773.html

India to raise ceasefire violations issue with Pakistan Prime Minister's Foreign Adviser Sartaj Aziz

India is expected to convey its concerns over continued ceasefire violationsalong the border in Jammu and Kashmirduring a meeting between External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid and Pakistan Prime Minister's Foreign Adviser Sartaj Aziz, who will be here for a multilateral meet on November 11 and 12.

Aziz is travelling to India to attend the ASEM (Asia- Europe Meeting) foreign ministers meet in Gurgaon, suburbs of national capital.

"Though so far Pakistan has not asked for a bilateral meeting on the sidelines, but a pull aside is expected during Aziz's stay," sources said.

Asked if concerns over ceasefire violations will be raised by the Indian side, the sources said, "this will definitely give an opportunity to us to convey our concerns."

Terming the ceasefire violations by Pakistan as matter of "grave concern", Khurshid told PTI it was important to keep the sanctity of the Line of Control.

Last week Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said that he was "disappointed" with Nawaz Sharif with whom he had a meeting in New York where had agreed to maintain peace and tranquillity on LoC as well as International Border.

"Let me say I am disappointed because in the New York meeting (between them last month) there was a general agreement on both the sides that peace and tranquillity should be maintained on the border, LoC as well as IB and it has not happened. It has come to me as a big disappointment," Singh had told reporters accompanying him on his two-nation tour to Russia and China.

"We had agreed at that time that if the ceasefire of 2003 has held ground for 10 years, then it could be made to hold later on also. That it has not happened is something which is really a disappointment," he said, adding even at this late hour he sincerely hoped that Sharif would recognise that this development "is not good for either of the two countries".

The Prime Minister expressed his concerns against the backdrop of heavy firing by Pakistani troops not only along the LoC but also along the IB and the loss of lives of BSF personnel in the past few weeks and continued ceasefire violations even after the New York meeting.

Apart from Aziz, over 48 Foreign Ministers, including from Russia, China and the UK are expected to attend the meet.

The ASEM currently has 51 partners. These include 49 Asian and European nations and two regional groupings - the European Union and ASEAN.

More: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/india-to-raise-ceasefire-violations-issue-with-pakistan-prime-ministers-foreign-adviser-sartaj-aziz/articleshow/24945269.cms