Dabangg girl Sonakshi Sinha has come a long way in Bollywood and aims to keep her place cemented, as one of the most successful Indian actresses to emerge in recent years. After giving us a string of hits, Sonakshi has flexed her vocal chords to give us all a hit with her upcoming debut single Ishqoholic.
‘Ishqoholic’ is a hip hop youthful number written by Kumaar and composed by Meet Bros. The actress will be collaborating with T-Series for her single and the music video. Bhushan Kumar, head honcho of T-Series who is glad to be associated with Sonakshi’s debut single said, “Sonakshi has a beautiful voice and the song has turned out to be very likeable and easy to hum. I am so glad we got a chance to work on something which binds the world together – music. ‘Ishqoholic’ will make her fans see the unseen, unheard side of her and cherry on the top is that they will hear her rap too. The song will welcome Sonakshi to the music world easily.”
The song will also be accompanied by a music video, which will begin shooting this month. This is what Sinha had to say about it:-
“The video for the song will be shot later this month, by Gifty whom I have worked with on the Desi Kalakaar number along with Yo Yo Honey Singh.”
Bollywood has seen transformations, when Priyanka Chopra delivered a couple of international hits with artists such as Pitbull and Will.i.am. Alia Bhatt and Shraddha Kapoor have also earned accolades and laurels for their ability to hold a note and sing fluently for movies.
The chances of reviving one of sport’s greatest rivalries virtually ended on Thursday, November 19, after Pakistan denied its cricket team the permission to play in India citing security concerns, scuttling plans for a proposed bilateral tournament in December.
The two countries are also unlikely to play in the United Arab Emirates as proposed by Islamabad as the Indian government is not expected to give permission due to the presence of al Qaeda and the Islamic State in West Asia.
“The Pakistani government position is that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) cannot play in India without the government’s permission which has not been given. The government raised security and safety issues for the PCB regarding playing in India,” Najam Sethi, the chief of the PCB’s executive committee, told HT.
Ties between the two cricket boards have soured in recent months over the BCCI’s dogged refusal to play in the UAE, which acts as the home venue for the Pakistan cricket team after a 2009 terror attack on the visiting Sri Lankan team.
“I don’t know why India doesn’t want to play in the UAE. It recently played IPL matches there. We are waiting for a fresh proposal from the BCCI. But our position is clear. We are not going to play in India,” Sethi insisted.
The PCB has also threatened if the BCCI failed to honour its so-called commitment, the matter would be taken to the International Cricket Council, which is currently headed by Indian cricket board chief Shashank Manohar.
Newly-elected BCCI president Manohar recently called Khan, asking if Pakistan was willing to play in India so that the board could begin the process of obtaining clearances from the government.
“There were lots of talks with Mr Khan on various issues. But nothing was discussed officially. Also, the BCCI has not written to the government seeking a clearance for a series with Pakistan,” Manohar Told HT.
India and Pakistan last time played a full series in 2007, before ties were suspended after the 26/11 terror strikes that killed 166 people amid evidence that the attack was planned from the neighbouring country. However, Pakistan visited India for a short limited-over series in December 2012.
Cricket between the two countries rank among the fiercest rivalries in the world but also often evoke political reactions, especially from the Shiv Sena, which has opposed any Pakistani presence in India.
Ola raised a $500 million Series F round from new investors Baillie Gifford and Didi Kuaidi and existing investors DST Global, Falcon Edge Capital, SoftBank Telecom Corp and Tiger Global Management bringing the Bangalore, India-based startup’s total funding to more than $1.4 billion.
Ola is Uber’s biggest rival in India and is on an aggressive expansion drive. The company has grown thirtyfold over the past year, with its drivers now receiving more than 1 million ride requests per day.
Though it hasn’t publicly disclosed its new valuation, media reports have pegged it at $5 billion, allowing Ola to climb even higher on Fortune‘s Unicorn List of billion-dollar startups.
Ola currently operates in 102 cities across India and says 78% of cab users there have its apps on their smartphones. Uber, on the other hand, is in only 22 Indian cities as of a month ago.
Ola is also now one of the world’s top funded travel startups, surpassed in total funding by Uber, Airbnb and Chinese competitor Didi Kuaidi, for example, and is currently neck-and-neck with Lyft. Didi Kuaidi, which invested in Ola’s most recent round, also announced a partnership with the company in September.
The mobile app cab-booking company was founded in 2010 and this latest funding round positions the startup to have a $5 billion valuation. Ola has more than 350,000 cars across 102 cities in India and says it will use the investment to reach 200 cities by next year.
NEW DELHI (TIP) : Nearly 150 Indians are on the radar of intelligence agencies for actively following Islamic State propaganda and engaging on social media with pro-IS elements, according to government sources.
A majority of those under surveillance are from the southern states, sources said.
Though agencies are not planning any action or crackdown on the youth who may be showing a more-than-keen interest in pro-IS websites or social media posts, the tracking is meant to pre-empt the possibility of their becoming indoctrinated enough to join the IS. As and when those under surveillance show signs to radicalization, an intervention may be made to alert their families and facilitate their counseling, if need be.
Online tracking of pro-IS websites, Twitter handles and Facebook accounts is a key part of India’s counter-IS strategy. Agencies, with the help of experts from the National Technical Research Organization (NTRO), track online traffic related to IS across the country, and constantly flag any unusual trend or activity.
Sources in the security establishment told TOI that 23 Indians, including about a dozen from the diaspora, had joined the IS and traveled to Iraq-Syria for ‘jihad’. These include four youth from Kalyan, one of whom Areeb Majeed returned to India and is now in custody here, a Kashmiri based in Australia, a Singapore-based Indian, an Oman-based man and one person each from Karnataka and Telangana and a journalist from Kerala.
Of the six Indian recruits believed to have got killed in IS territory are three Indian Mujahideen cadre including Bada Sajid and Sultan Ajmer Shah who joined the outfit from Pakistan, two from Maharashtra and one from Telangana.As many as 30 Indians, including a woman based in Delhi, have been prevented from joining the IS. Besides, around 8-10 Kerala-origin men and an alleged woman recruiter, Afsha Jabeen, were recently deported by the UAE after they were found to be in touch with active IS members.
A senior government officer said there was threat of an Indian IS recruit indulging in a “lone wolf” attack here upon return from Iraq-Syria. “Unlike other countries that strip their citizens who join and fight for IS of their passports, we have no such plan. We’d rather let them return and intercept them here,” said the officer.
In an advisory sent on Monday, the home ministry had warned of the possibility of an IS-sponsored terrorist action on Indian soil. “Though the IS has not been able to establish any significant presence in India, its success in radicalizing some youth, attracting certain sections of the local population or the Indian diaspora to physically participate in its activities or the possibility of piggy-backing on terrorist groups operating in India have opened up the possibility of IS-sponsored terrorist action on Indian territory,” said the advisory issued to all the states and Union Territories.
Two Indian-origin businessmen have been ranked by Forbes magazine among the richest entrepreneurs in America under the age of 40, a list that has been topped by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
Vivek Ramaswamy
Vivek Ramaswamy, 30, a former hedge fund manager, has been ranked 33rd on the list with a net worth of $500 million. Forbes said his source of wealth is investments.
On the 40th spot is 29-year old Apoorva Mehta, the founder and CEO of Instacart, the web-based grocery delivery service.
Mehta’s net worth is $400 million.
Zuckerberg leads the pack with a net worth of $47.1 billion, more than four times as much as the second person in the ranks, his cofounder and college friend Dustin Moskovitz.
At number three is Jan Koum, who came to America at age 16.
He started WhatsApp, now the world’s biggest mobile messaging service with 800 million users in 2009 and sold it to Facebook for about $22 billion in cash and stock in 2014.
Forbes said California techies dominate the first ever list of the nation’s 40 most successful young entrepreneurs under the age of 40, “reaffirming the American Dream and proving yet again that there is no better way right now to get rich fast than to go west and convince venture investors to back your most ambitious ideas.”
Elizabeth Holmes is the only woman to make the ‘America’s Richest Entrepreneurs Under 40’.
Holmes quit Stanford at age 19 to start blood testing company Theranos.
However recently in a setback, the FDA told Holmes that her company was using an unapproved blood collection device.
All of the young entrepreneurs in the list have net worths of $400 million or more and 34 made their money in the tech sector.
Twenty-one are billionaires and many either created or work for some of the hottest tech companies, including Uber, AirBnB, Fitbit, GitHub, Instacart and Pinterest.
The list’s youngest member is Palmer Luckey, who was just 21 years old when he sold his virtual reality equipment company, Oculus, to Facebook for $2.3 billion in July 2014.
Luckey’s net worth is $700 million and is one of half a dozen in the ranks who are still in their 20s, Forbes said.
New York: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani and Google’s India-born CEO Sundar Pichai are among over 50 global leaders, business chiefs and pop icons named as contenders by Time magazine for its annual Person of the Year honor.
The Time Person of the Year 2015 will be announced next month. The news weekly said the title would be bestowed on the person who “most influenced the news this year for better or worse.”
Time said Modi has “encouraged foreign direct investment in India and is trying to modernize the world’s largest democracy,” but added that the Indian leader has also “faced controversy over what some see as rightwing extremism.”
Modi was a contender for the honor last year also. While he was not chosen for the award by Time’s editors, he was named winner of the readers’ poll, securing more than 16 percent of about 5 million votes cast.
On Ambani, Time said the richest person in India is the chairman of Reliance Industries, “which owns everything from telecom properties to the world’s largest crude oil refinery.”
Among the contenders is Pichai. “After 11 years at Google, most recently as cofounder Larry Page’s right hand, Pichai assumed the tech giant’s top job,” Time said.
In a separate “face-off” poll, Modi has been pitted against Jinping, while Ambani has been pitted against Nigerian President Muhammudu Buhari.
Time asked its readers to vote for the individual who they think should get the title of Person of the Year. The winner of the readers’ choice poll will be announced next month before Time’s editors choose the individual from the 58 candidates.
Modi has so far got 1.3 percent of the votes, the same as Pichai and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Ambani has garnered a mere 0.2 percent of the votes cast.
Other candidates in the fray include U.S. President Barack Obama, French President Francois Hollande, Chinese President Xi Jinping, ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton, the refugees fleeing conflicts in Syria, Afghanistan and East and West Africa, Pakistani Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai, Tesla head Elon Musk, Apple CEO Tim Cook and last year’s winner Pope Francis.
– PTI
Activision Blizzard accquiers Candy Crush maker King Digital Entertainment by paying $5.9 billion, combining a console gaming power with an established player in the fast-growing mobile gaming field.
Activision, which owns the extraordinarily successful “Call of Duty” series, said the deal will create one of the largest global entertainment networks with more than half a billion combined monthly active users in 196 countries.
It also will help Activision get its games out of the living room and into the hands of potential players through smartphones and tablets, a market with seemingly unlimited growth potential.
Activision said mobile gaming is expected to generate more than $36 billion in revenue by the end of 2015 and grow cumulatively by more than 50 percent from 2015 to 2019.
The deal also will help Activision diversify its customer base. CEO Robert Kotick told CNBC on Tuesday that about 60 percent of King’s audience is female.
“Attracting women to gaming is a really important part of our strategy,” he said.
Still, questions remain about what the advantage will be for the two companies, and perhaps more importantly, to gamers.
King has struggled to follow up on the success of its Candy Crush series, a game so pervasive that a British lawmaker was admonished after being caught playing it during a Parliamentary committee hearing.
King’s revenue fell 18 percent to $490 million in the second quarter, and gross bookings also dropped 13 percent, both of which the company attributed to the maturing of its Candy Crush franchise.
Jefferies analysts Brian Pitz and Brian Fitzgerald said that replicating the success of Candy Crush is a daunting task.
“We expect a heavy dose of skepticism from investors especially given the large deal size,” the analysts wrote in a research note.
Activision Blizzard Inc., based in Santa Monica, California, will pay $18 in cash for each King share, a 20 percent premium over its Friday closing price. Kotick said the deal gives his company “a very productive way” to use foreign cash that had not been earning a lot of money.
U.S. tax rates prompt companies to avoid transferring money earned overseas back home to the parent.
The boards of both companies have approved the deal, but King shareholders must still vote on it and regulators in Ireland must also sign off. The companies expect it to close next spring.
Shares of King Digital Entertainment Plc., which went public in March 2014, jumped 15 percent, or $2.34, to $17.88 Tuesday in pre-market trading and after the deal was announced. Meanwhile, Activision slipped 12 cents to $34.35.
Private equity funds committed $2.8 billion to Indian real estate projects in the first nine months of 2015, global real estate consultancy firm Cushman & Wakefield and Global Real Estate Institute said in a report. The funds invested across 61 deals between January and September, against $1.63 billion across 52 deals during the same period last year.
Apart from the increase in deal activity, the average transaction size too increased to $47 million, from $30 million during the same period last year.
The report adds that around two-third of the allocated capital was invested through structured debt and mezzanine debt route. Pure equity or entity-level deals that had dried up by 2012 have started to make a comeback, with 22% of the capital going into these deals.
The investments have been led by foreign funds that have committed $1.6 billion, or nearly 59% share of the total investment volume so far in 2015, followed by domestic funds that have invested around $1.2 billion. The majority of foreign capital that has been invested were from funds in the Asia-Pacific region (excluding India) followed by North America.
Interestingly, among this year’s 61 deals, 45 deals totaling $1.2 billion were struck by domestic funds, while foreign capital chased only 16 assets. Even though residential project sales have lagged in Mumbai, nearly 40% of the invested capital this year was deployed in this region, followed by the Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR). Fund managers invested 78% of their capital in these two cities.
On the other side, Sushmita Majumdar, director at Crisil Ratings, said India’s top 25 realtors make up around 95% of the market capitalization of the sector. These 25 developers also account for half of bank lending to the real estate sector and most of those facing high refinancing risk are in the national capital region (NCR).
“With net exposure of banks expected to decline by around 5% for the first time in the current fiscal – banks used to meet around 90% of the requirements of these realtors till last year — an increasing proportion of the funding gap is being bridged by costlier NCDs and private equity monies,”Majumdar said.
These 25 real estate companies face risks from as much as Rs 30,000 crore borrowings maturing in the immediate future amid high debt, weak demand and rising construction costs, credit ratings agency Crisil said.
Crisil said that recent regulatory measures such as relaxation in foreign direct investment (FDI), and recourse to funding through non-convertible debentures (NCDs) and private equity, are expected to provide some respite in the short term for the sector.
“The flipside, however, is the high returns expected by private equity investors compared with the relatively low cost of bank loans. Assuming this to be 20% per annum, the cumulative payout by the sector over a 5-year horizon can be as high as Rs 85,000 crore. This can amplify refinancing risks by an order of magnitude unless demand picks up substantially,” Crisil said.
Crisil estimates that stagnating collections in the wake of declining sales velocity had resulted in debt taken for residential projects by these developers surging by 25% to Rs 61,500 crore in fiscal 2015.
Please add your comments below on:Is India headed for a real estate bubble burst?
NEW DELHI (TIP): In its report submitted to the Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on November 19, the Seventh Central Pay Commission has recommended an overall increase of 23.55 per cent in pay, allowances, and pension for government employees. Within this, the Commission’s report recommends a 16 per cent increase in basic pay, a 63 per cent increase in allowances and a 24 per cent hike in pension. The recommendations are to come into force on January 1, 2016.
“This will impact 47 lakh employees and 52 lakh pensioners. The total monetary impact on the central government would be Rs 1.02 lakh crore. Around Rs 74,000 crore would be the impact on the Union Budget and Rs 28,000 crore on the Railway Budget,” Mr Jaitley said at his residence after he received the report from Justice A.K. Mathur, Chairperson of the Commission. Mr Jaitley said the impact of the recommendations amounts to 0.6 per cent of GDP, adding that while the government would review the report soon, the State governments would take their own view on it.
The report also recommends an annual increment of 3 per cent in basic pay.
Significantly, the report has recommended a one-rank one-scheme for all government employees, including military personnel. “The Commission recommends a revised pension formulation for civil employees including CAPF personnel as well as for Defence personnel, who have retired before January 1, 2016. This formulation will bring about parity between past pensioners and current retirees for the same length of service in the pay scale at the time of retirement,” Justice Mathur explained.
Past pensioners will first be placed in the proposed pay matrix on the basis of where they stood in the existing pay band and pay grade structure when they retired. This amount is to be raised to arrive at the notional pay of retirees, taking into account the number of increments they earned in that level while in service at the rate of 3 per cent. Defence forces personnel will also receive Military Service Pay as admissible.
Fifty per cent of the total amount arrived at in this manner will be the new pension, the report said.
Grade pay abolished
“Considering the issues raised regarding the Grade Pay structure and with a view to bring in greater transparency, the present system of pay bands and grade pay has been dispensed with and a new pay matrix has been designed. Grade Pay has been subsumed in the pay matrix. The status of the employee, hitherto determined by grade pay, will now be determined by the level in the pay matrix,” the report says.
Towards this end, the report recommends that a fitment factor of 2.57 to be applied uniformly for all employees. That is, employees will see their pay increase by 2.57 times in a one-time increase to bring uniformity to the new pay matrix, Justice A. K. Mathur, Chairman of the Commission said.
“Based on the Aykroyd formula, the minimum pay in government is recommended to be set at Rs. 18,000 per month and Rs. 2,25,000 per month for Apex Scale and Rs. 2,50,000 per month for Cabinet Secretary and others presently at the same pay level,” the report said.
The report has abolished 52 allowances altogether and another 36 allowances have been subsumed either in an existing allowance or in newly proposed allowances.
There were some controversial issues that the Commission could not reach a consensus on. The most significant has to do with the perceived financial ‘edge’ granted to IAS and IFS officers at three promotion stages. Justice Mathur recommended that this be extended to the Indian Police Service and the Indian Forest Service as well.
While one member of the Commission recommended that status quo be maintained, another was of the view that the financial edge accorded to the IAS and IFS be removed.
PATNA (TIP): Days after his party emerged as the single-largest entity in Bihar assembly trouncing the BJP-led NDA, the CBI has sought to put Lalu Prasad in the dock in a fodder scam case.
The probe agency has requested the Supreme Court (SC) to revive corruption charges against the former Bihar chief minister in one of the several fodder scam cases registered against him and 33 other persons for allegedly withdrawing more than Rs 85 lakh from the Deoghar treasury.
In an affidavit filed in the top court, the CBI asserted Lalu was incorrect in claiming that he could not be prosecuted for corruption in the Deoghar case because he was already convicted of similar charges in the Chaibasa case wherein he allegedly misappropriated Rs 37.70 crore from the treasury in 1994-95.
Lalu was sentenced to a five-year jail term and is currently on bail since December 13, 2013.
But his conviction led to his immediate disqualification from Lok Sabha and he became ineligible to contest polls for 11 years.
CBI has filed an appeal before the SC against the Jharkhand HC’s order discharging Lalu under the Prevention of Corruption Act in the Deoghar case.
Accepting Lalu’s contention, the HC had held he already stood convicted of similar charges in the Chaibasa case. It ruled that if Lalu continued to face prosecution, it would amount to double jeopardy that was impermissible under law.
But, the HC had ordered continuation of proceedings against him under the IPC sections – for giving false information to cause disappearance and attempting to commit offences punishable with life imprisonment.
The CBI told the top court that the HC overlooked the main idea of criminal conspiracy and that the two cases were distinguishable.
The HC erred in breaking the chain of events, the CBI added.
NEW DELHI (TIP): Apart from the GST bill, the most ambitious tax reform law, the Narendra Modi government is set to push three other crucial legislations to check corruption during the winter session of Parliament beginning on November 26.
Whistleblowers’ Protection Act, Amendment in Prevention of Corruption Act and Lokpal are on the top of the government’s business.
Union minister of state for personnel Jitendra Singh on Thursday said while the Lokpal Bill is pending with the select committee, the government had consecutively listed the bill for amendment in Prevention of Corruption Act for seven days in Rajya Sabha during the last session which was a virtual washout.
“I will not go into the reasons of it but what I am trying to say is that we have not lagged behind. We have nothing to hide…and we will pursue these bills in the coming session on November 26,” Singh said.
The MoS said while fighting corruption, the government intends that it should not cause “unwarranted intimidation” of officials.
He said through amendment in PC Act, the government wants to introduce safeguards for officials at all levels. “We will act but act judiciously,” he said.
Speaking at the valedictory function of 21st annual conference of CBI and Anti-Corruption Bureaux here at Vigyan Bhawan, Singh said the government aims to complete the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and System (CCTNS) by March 2017. It was initiated in 2009 but didn’t make much headway during the last six years.
“What had not happened in last six years, the government had resolved to do it in one and a half years,” he said.
He said the government is committed to maintain independence and autonomy of CBI to ensure that an environment can be provided to the agency where it can work with its full potential. “We are here as facilitators of the professionals not intimidators of the professionals,” he said.
Later, speaking to mediapersons on the sidelines of the functions, he said, “We expect the select committee to furnish its reports as soon as possible so that we can move ahead with the Lokpal Bill.”
NEW DELHI (TIP): NDA partner and Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan on Thursday spoke out on the Bihar election defeat for the first time since the verdict, saying the rival grand alliance benefitted from successfully convincing people that reservation for backwards would be withdrawn and minorities won’t be safe if the NDA came to office.
Even though Paswan refrained from directly blaming RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, he agreed that the quota remark and the Dadri incident were the two major reasons for votes moving away from NDA parties.
Besides the two controversial issues, the decision of Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar to shift a number of castes from OBCs to EBCs and from EBCs to SCs/STs also led to consolidation of votes in favour of the grand alliance, the LJP chief said at a press conference.
Replying to a question on Bhagwat’s remarks on quota review, Paswan said, “I do not think that this was the only issue. But this is true that the grand alliance leaders were to a large extent successful in misleading people with the help of that statement. That became a major issue. They were able to convince people that if NDA comes to power, reservation will be done away with.”
He added, “We were not successful in convincing voters from SCs and OBCs that it is not so, though all of us including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah clearly said that there was no plan to undo reservation system.”
He hastened to add that he was not in a position to say in what context Bhagwat had made the remarks or whether he was saying this in response to Hardik Patel’s stir for reservation for Patels in Gujarat.
Besides, he spoke about the discomfiture in NDA over the lynching in Dadri on the beef issue and subsequent row. “The incident of Dadri was a law and order problem and the blame for it should have gone to Samajwadi Party, which rules Uttar Pradesh. It should have been treated as an issue concerning Mulayam Singh Yadav. Latching on to this incident, the opposition was also successful in convincing minorities in Bihar that they will not be safe if NDA came to power,” Paswan said.
NEW DELHI (TIP): Underworld don Chhota Rajan was on Nov 19 evening handed over to the Tihar jail authorities. Rajan will spend his first night in a high security cell inside jail number 2.
Jail sources said that he was brought to the prison around 6 in the evening by CBI officials, who had custody of the gangster.
The don was extradited from Indonesia earlier this month after his arrest on October 27 at the Bali airport, where he was held while travelling under a false name. Sources said the don was kept alone and would be under constant CCTV surveillance. From Friday, he will be allowed to move only in a small corridor outside his cell. Tamil Nadu state police personnel will be posted to ensure that he is not ‘attacked’.
Sources said around 6.30pm on Wednesday, Rajan was brought to jail number 2.
Sources said that in the coming weeks, he could be given the facility of attending court hearings through video conferencing. “He is alone in his cell because of the high-security threat to him. He will not mix with anyone. A deputy superintendent has been asked to ensure that someone is always on his watch round the clock,” said a jail officer.
Even if Rajan is not able to get video conferencing facility, sources said that he would travel alone to the next court appearance slated for November 3.
CBI takes over cases
The CBI on Thursday took over 71-odd cases of Maharashtra police against Mumbai gangster Chhota Rajan, with the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) issuing a mandatory notification effecting the move on a request from the state government. “The CBI is in the process of taking over these cases,” said a CBI spokesperson.
A city court on Thursday sent Rajan to the city’s high-security Tihar jail in judicial custody for two weeks in a CBI case related to alleged passport fraud.
“Rajan was today produced before the competent court and the court sent him in 14 days’ judicial custody to the Tihar prison,” the spokesperson said. According to a CBI source, the agency will soon seek permission of the court to question Rajan in the cases, which are being re-registered.
The HT on Wednesday had first reported that the CBI will take over Maharashtra police’s cases against Rajan this week. The DoPT notification was in response to an earlier notification of the Maharashtra government beginning the handover process. It is yet to be seen, however, if all cases against Rajan, including those that are undergoing trial like the one pertaining to murder of Mumbai’s senior crime journalist Jyotirmoy Dey in 2011, are among the cases handed over to the agency, said the source.
NEW DELHI (TIP): Hours before Nitish Kumar’s swearing-in as Bihar chief minister following an election that the BJP handsomely lost, party rebel Shatrughan Sinha, through a series of tweets, continued to taunt his party leadership, which he has repeatedly attacked for ignoring him during the crucial polls.
“It has been the victory of democracy. I wish the new government led by Nitish babu, Laluji and rising star Rahul Gandhi great success,” the actor-turned-politician tweeted on Thursday night.
Hours ago at an event in New Delhi, the Congress vice-president had launched a high-voltage assault on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, sealing his position as Modi’s official enemy. Sinha now calling Rahul a “rising star” opens a new front in the Patna Sahib MP’s frequent barbs at the BJP, which began after the results of the Bihar elections were declared on November 8.
“I welcome Nitish “Susashan” Babu, messiah of development as CM of Bihar & congratulate Laluji, leader of masses for massive victory in Bihar,” said another tweet by Sinha, who added that “despite his best intention”, he will not be able to attend the swearing-in ceremony at Patna’s Gandhi Maidan.
“Will miss the ceremony, but Nitishbabu & Laluji, I remain a well-wisher, admirer and friend…and remember, once a friend, always a friend,” he tweeted.
NEW DELHI (TIP): Hitting back over BJP leader Subramaniam Swamy’s allegation questioning his nationality, Rahul Gandhi today accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of “throwing mud” on him through his “cronies” and dared the government to “jail” him if he is guilty. Addressing a Youth Congress gathering on the occasion of the 98th birth anniversary of Indira Gandhi, he also accused the RSS and the BJP of throwing mud on his family members ever since he was a child, asserting that he is “not going to be scared” by such things and that he will continue to fight against BJP. “Ever since I was a child, I have been watching people from RSS and BJP throwing mud at my grand mother, my father and even my mother. I want to say one thing. Modi ji is now the Prime Minister of India. Different kinds of allegations are levelled against me. There is not even an iota of truth in them.
“Modi ji, it is your government. You have the agencies. Get a probe done against me and send me behind bars if you find something. Stop all this–the mud that you throw at me and my family through your cronies. You are not in opposition, you are in government now,” Gandhi said amidst cheers from the youth Congress activists adding he did not have an “iota of fear” on the issue. He did not direct refer to Swamy but was apparently referring to his allegations on the basis of documents purportedly showing that Gandhi had claimed himself to be a British national before the company law authorities in the UK for setting up a company.
WASHINGTON (TIP): “Nazm is gaining ground in Mushaira,” said Javed Akhtar, the famous poet, film lyricist, and screenplay writer, presiding over 41st Annual International mushaira organized by the Aligarh Alumni Association in Washington on November 7, 2015. Nazm, which is a major part of the Urdu poetry normally written in rhymed verse and also in modern prose style poems, is a significant genre of Urdu poetry. “I was very pleased to see that a number poets have recited magnificent nazms in addition to ghazals and the number of female poets also presented excellent poetry at this mushaira,” he added.
Javed Akhtar recites his poems
Javed Akhtar has recently released a five-volume collection of poetry written by Akhtar’s grandfather Muztar Khairabadi. At the request of audience he described the 10-year journey that culminated in the publication of the, Khirman. He mentioned how the oft-repeated ghazal Na kisi kii ankh ka noor hoon, na kissi ke dil ka qarar hoon/Jo kisi ke kaam na aa sake main woh ek musht-e-ghubar hoon, ascribed to Bahadur Shah Zafar was actually written by Muztar. He elaborated that eminent literary critics such as Niyaz Fatehpuri, Ale Ahmad Suroor and Gopichand Narang had long argued that this verse was not found in Zafar’s complete works published in 1887 by the Nawal Kishore Press, and was definitely Muztar’s. The discovery of this ghazal, written in Muztar’s own handwriting and carrying his takhallus (pen name) Muztar, finally puts to rest any doubt about these much-quoted and often-sung verses, wrongly said to portray Zafar’s anguish when he was exiled from Hindustan to Rangoon. Another testimony, more by way of criticism of the ghazal’s weakness but nevertheless an acknowledgement of its authorship by Muztar, comes from a contemporary, Shah Muhammad Mumtaz Ali ‘Aah’ in 1928-barely a year after Muztar’s death.
Akhtar received thunderous applause when he recited his nazm, yeh khail kiya hai. At the request of the audience he also recited Woh Kamra and Waqt.
Welcoming the audience, Association’s President Farzana Farooqi briefly apprised the gathering about the activities of the Association. She informed that the Association had been in the forefront of organizing high-quality literary and cultural activities for the last 40+ years. It was this Association, which started the tradition of international mushaira in North America. Her speech was followed by rendition of Aligarh University Tarana, Yeh Mera Chaman Hai, which was written by Akhtar’s maternal uncle Majaz Lakhnawi. More than 600 Urdu-lovers that included diverse sections of the Indo-Pak community came to this event that was held at a newly-constructed spacious Gaithersburg High School, Gaithersburg, Maryland, a venue well suited to a grand literary environment.
The Mushaira was skillfully moderated by Dr. A. Abdullah, whose golden touch has been a key factor in making the ambience and effect of these mushairas memorable. Dr. Abdullah said that with a modest beginning of poetry recitation by a few Urdu lovers in 1975, the Mushaira has now entered in 5th decade. “Forty years of untiring efforts by the Washington Aligarh Alumni Association and support of the community, this Mushaira is now the expression of common heritage of all Urdu lovers in this area. It has become a reference for the introduction of Washington in the Urdu world. To preserve this history and the prestige of this Mushaira is responsibility of every one,” he added.
Dr. Mohammad Akbar thanked all the poets, guests, and audience for their continued support. He also acknowledged the hard work of volunteers.
In addition to Javed Akhtar twelve poets recited their kalam in their own unique style. Other well-recognized poets included Lata Haya and A. M. Turaz (India), Seema Ghazal and Sarwat Zehra (Pakistan). The local poets from USA, who also recited their kalam (poetry) were Abdullah, Akram Mahmood, Hana Khan, Khalid Irfan, Razi Raziuddin, and Sabiha Saba.
Javed Akhtar
Dr. A. Abdullah. Also seen at right is Javed Akhtar
Lata Haya
Sarvat Zehra
Seema Ghazal
Khalid
Samples of poetry of some poets are as follows:
Lata Haya- Hindi ki beti jise Urdu ne paala hai-a popular poet from Rajhasthan said:
Main ke aurat hoon, meri sharm hai mera zevar; bas Takkhallus isi bais to “Haya” Rakha hai
She was applauded for her poem about Urdu. She also brought the emotions of the audience to a high pitch with her soulful recitation of a poem she had written five days after her mother’s death.
Woh zid, woh shararat aur akarpan chala gaya; Maa jab chali gaee, mera bachpan chala gaya
Incidentally, Dr. Abdullah’s mother had also passed away five days before the mushaira and this poem brought tears in his eyes and many in the audience were also affected.
Dr. Abdullah, who was moderating the mushaira brought in the humorous poet Khalid Irfan of New York to the podium to change the somber mood. Khalid charmed the audience with his sophisticated jibes on the religious and political leaders and ongoing skirmishes between the neighboring countries-India and Pakistan.
Paijamo ka design ko badal daala to kiya gham hai; Hamari beewion ke gharare to eik jaise hain
Pareshan haal hai public magar donon muulkon ke; Meerasi, cricketer aur filmi sitare to eik jaise hain
Expressing his appreciation of Aligarh Alumni Association’s dedication of more than four decades to promoting Urdu in North America, Khalid said that Association’s contribution will be written in golden words in history.
Dr. Sabiha Saba, a neurobiologist by profession, congratulated the Association for providing top-class mushaira every year. She also expressed her gratitude by acknowledging the Association for establishing her in poetry and literature. She recited a few poems. A sample is given below.
Awwal-e-ishq ki who beytabi Kaisi manzil se hum guzar aaye Aap aaeN to phi Saba mahke Mahfil-e-bey baar meiN samara aye Turaz-a young Bollywood poet delighted the audience with dramatized presentation of his poetry. His rendering of poetry reminded the audiences that poetry reading was once a performing art as well. It was his participation in Washington mushaira and he was very impressed with the standard of mushaira and audience.
Akram Mahmood’s poetry expresses concerns of present day trials and tribulations, especially those encountered by immigrants.
Yeh hijr-e-musalsal ka wazeefa hai meri jaan Ek tark-e-sukoonat hi to hijrat nahin hoti.
Sarwat Zehra is a medical doctor by profession and has been writing ghazal, geet, and nazm. She is a rising female poet belonging to Fahmida Riaz’s school of thought expressing concerns of women.
Bint-e-Hawwua hoon main, yeh mera jurm hai Aur phir shaiyri to kara jurm hai.
Main tamasha nahin apna izhaar hoon Jaanti hoon mera bolna jurm hai
A number of people from the audience expressed their thanks to the Association for organizing this excellent mushaira. Mr. Kaleem Kawaja-a senior community leader-expressed his views as follows, “In the last about ten years some other Urdu wala groups have held mushairas in Washington and elsewhere in United States and Canada, but almost none of them have been able to develop the aura, flavor and reputation of Asli Aligarh Mushaira. Go to any other mushaira in Washington or other cities in US and you will hear people comparing them to the Washington Aligarh Mushaira.” Youn to hotey hain mushaerey aksar; laikin Aligarh Association key mushairey kaa haiy andaaz kutch aur, he added.
Dr. Moazzam Siddiqi-a prominent literary person and former Chief of Near-Eastern Languages at Voice of America said that Mushaira organizers deserve credit for inviting participation of more female poets. Most of them very enthusiastic and presented quality poetry. Historically, poetry recitation used to be more of a performing art and Lata Haya and Turaz enthralled the audience by presenting their poetry in that old style.
Dr. Renuka Misra-International Coordinator of the Global Organization of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO) said that she has been associated with the Aligarh mushaira religiously since she arrived in Washington more than two decades ago. It is a real pleasure to see that the standard of mushaira has been increasing. It was real treat to see more female poets’ participation in this year’s mushaira. I feel that that there should have been more time provided for Lata Haya and Turaz.
Mr. Bharat Bhargava-a retired Senior Executive of the World Bank said that it was one of the most successful Mushairas ever. Every poet came participated with vigor and kept the audience engaged. The organizers did an incredible job and Dr. Abdullah was as usual amazing.
Mr. Naimullah Qazi-a senior community member wrote: This year’s mushaira was very good. Audience enjoyed it fully. Everyone appreciated the way it was conducted. Poets were also very comfortable with Washington Audience.
Professor Dr. Maina Singh, wife of India’s Ambassador in Washington and a literary personality was accompanied by Mr. Shiv Rattan, Counsellor Community Affairs. Embassy of Pakistan was represented by Mr. Nadeem Hotiana, Minister for Press. Notable personalities included presidents and office bearers of community organizations such as the Association of Indian Muslims (AIMS), the Global Organization of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO), Washington Hyderabad Association (HAWAMA), Hindi Association, India Cultural Coordination Committee (ICCC), and the University of Karachi Alumni Association (UKAA).
Actress Sonam Kapoor says the makers of Prem Ratan Dhan Payo had to explain to her that the film’s collections were good since she is clueless about the mathematics behind box-office numbers.
“I don’t understand numbers. I just don’t get how it works. I used to receive a call from Fox (co-producer) every day about the collections and I would say ‘Is it good or bad?’ and they would say, ‘It’s a very good news’. This film has made those kind of numbers, so obviously many people have watched the film,” Sonam said at a press meet for Prem Ratan Dhan Payo, where Salman Khan and director Sooraj Barjatya were also present.
Sonam’s dance in the title track has been extremely popular, with numerous videos by celebrities such as Richa Chaddha, ‘Munni’ Harshaali Malhotra and even the Dilwale team dancing to her steps in them, which acted as a promotional tool for the film.
“Everybody is congratulating me. What I love is that I’m getting calls and messages from people who’ve never messaged or called in my life. And it’s people not from the industry. I’ve been getting a lot of calls from Indians abroad who’re watching the film and missing home so much. For me, that is the best thing, when something affects you emotionally in the best way,” she said.
Sonam recently became a victim of trolls on the social media for her
‘misogynistic’ remark on the meat ban in Mumbai. But there no trolls for her performance in the film.
Kate Hudson is busy shuffling between her acting assignment and her two kids, but the actress is happy with being single.
The 36-year-old Kung Fu Panda 3 star finds it nice to get acquainted with herself alone, reported Us magazine.
“It’s nice to get acquainted with myself alone,” the Kung Fu Panda 3 star said. “You know, the goal when you get into a relationship is not to be out of the relationship. It’s to try to stay in the relationship. But if it doesn’t work, you can’t force those things…
“It’s hard to let go of something, even when you know that it’s not right. I’ve chosen something in my life that I’m very comfortable with that goes against a lot of people’s more traditional feelings. If something’s not right, I don’t believe in maintaining something for the sake of what’s considered a traditional family,” Hudson said.
The Almost Famous actor is enjoying the way her life is taking shape and is at peace with her sons Ryder, 11, and four-year-old Bingham.
STORY: Emily (Hutchinson) and Leslie (Whitburn) are besties who embark on a long road trip in order to join some other friends for a party. As they hurtle along in their red Mustang on a lonely highway in the American Northwest, their journey takes a turn for the worse. They come across and are harassed by the driver of a big-rig tow truck. It soon becomes a matter of life and death for the girls.
MOVIE REVIEW: This film is said to be a take on Steven Spielberg’s 1971 TV movie Duel, but apart from borrowing the premise of road rage taken to the extreme, that’s where similarities end. Duel’s sole male protagonist is now swapped for two party girls, whose road trip is meant to culminate in a weekend of debauchery and fun. Leslie is the wilder one, who swallows ale and inhales weed with rapacious glee, even though designated driver Emily tut-tuts her and urges moderation. But Leslie has no patience – even for a lumbering tow truck that obstructs their speed and path – and bounces around in her seat impatiently like a simian on speed.
Their anger turns into fear when they realize that the rig’s driver is seemingly out to kill them. Why that is so, is never explained but we get a glimpse of his (or her?) diabolical bent thanks to shots of an upside down crucifix and a pentagram. The girls forget about the partying and try to save their lives. The film starts out promisingly but later, becomes a bit tedious, thanks to a somewhat repetitive pattern in the narrative. There’s also a lot less action than what such a film could promise. Sure, the film is low budget and corners are cut, but thankfully, at least the POV shots from the Mustang are passable even though the stunts are nonexistent as is a sense of intensity, buildup and climax.
The film’s only plus points are a few jump scares, slickness and the scenic great outdoors, where it was shot. Apart from that, there’s little else to recommend.
Actress Julianne Moore will reunite with her “Far From Heaven” director Todd Haynes for upcoming film “Wonderstruck”, an adaptation of an eponymous children’s book by Brian Selznick.
The book, part prose and part black and white illustrations, tells the story of two children, both deaf, from different time periods, one from 1927, one from 1977, who run away to New York. Despite a gap of decades, they are connected by a mystery waiting to be solved, reports hollywoodreporter.com
Selznick, whose book The Invention of Hugo Cabret”was adapted into the 2011 Martin Scorsese film Hugo, also wrote the script for the new movie.
WASHINGTON (TIP): Astronomers using data from Nasa’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope have detected hints of periodic changes in the brightness of a so-called “active” galaxy, whose emissions are powered by a supersized black hole.
If confirmed, the discovery would mark the first years-long cyclic gamma-ray emission ever detected from any galaxy, providing new insights into physical processes near the black hole.
“Looking at many years of data from Fermi’s Large Area Telescope (LAT), we picked up indications of a roughly two-year-long variation of gamma rays from a galaxy known as PG 1553+113,” said Stefano Ciprini, who coordinates the Fermi team at the Italian Space Agency’s Science Data Center (ASDC) in Rome.
“This signal is subtle and has been seen over less than four cycles, so while this is tantalising we need more observations,” he added.
Supermassive black holes lie at the hearts of most large galaxies, including our own Milky Way.
In about one percent of these galaxies, the monster black hole radiates billions of times as much energy as the sun, emission that can vary unpredictably on timescales ranging from minutes to years.
Astronomers refer to these as “active” galaxies.
More than half of the gamma-ray sources seen by Fermi’s LAT are active galaxies called blazars.
If the gamma-ray cycle of PG 1553+113 is in fact real, the scientists predict it will peak again in 2017 and 2019, well within Fermi’s expected operational lifetime.
PG 1553+113 lies in the direction of the constellation Serpens, and its light takes about five billion years to reach Earth. Nasa’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope was launched in June 2008.
KOLKATA (TIP): If you are hassled using multiple passwords for accessing your accounts, you can breathe easy. Experts at IIT Kharagpur have come up with a solution that won’t tax your memory. Instead of a password, you may be asked a few questions such as what was the last call you received or the latest song you downloaded. Answer them and you get access.
The innovation has been lauded by MIT and has gone viral in foreign media. The breakthrough claims to make you 95% safer online, which has taken the world by storm. Efforts are on to achieve the remaining five percent.
The project has been jointly handled by the computer science engineering faculty of IIT Kharagpur and the universities of Texas and Illinois. Interestingly, the two investigators at Texas and Illinois are also alumni of IIT Kharagpur. The idea was to bypass the multiple passwords that we juggle at all times for the plethora of online and digital interactions that we engage in daily. The alternative system will allow you to bypass password-based authentication on your personal devices and instead ask you a set of questions based on your recent online/digital activity. If you are able to answer these correctly, a new password for the day would be generated that is unique to you and cannot be permeated.
“Though it might sound a bit complicated, it is not so. We have been able to show how it is possible to extract ‘adequate secrets’ by observing the user’s activity logs from social networking sites, browsing history, call logs, and SMSes and then use those to frame questions,” explained Niloy Ganguly, a senior computer science faculty member and the principal investigator of the project.
“In order to access a certain website on your smartphone, you could be asked, who called you from Mumbai last evening or which song did you listen to during lunch hour today,” he added.
Questions could come in two formats, either text-based or multiple choice (MCQ). They change for every instance of authentication, and a single breach cannot cause permanent damage. For example, a user may be posed a set of three questions and will be authenticated even if he can answer two correctly. “A good mix of activity sources are considered during the challenge set generation which could comprise of three questions -one drawn from phone call history, one from face messaging and another from browsing history,” said Romit Roychowdhury, who has been leading the team from the University of Illinois. With a 95% success rate, the three institutions are now entering into understandings with e-commerce sites, especially those that deal with net flicks (online entertainment) to test run their system.
MUMBAI (TIP): The Reserve Bank on Thursday said its prior approval will be required for acquisition of shares or voting rights in a private bank for increasing the aggregate holding to 5% or more, as it put in place detailed take purchase norms in banks.
The RBI would undertake a due diligence on the applicant to assess his “fit and proper” status before according or denying permission or according permission for acquisition of a lower quantum than that has been applied for. The decision “shall be binding” on the applicant and the bank concerned.
The provisions will apply to the existing and proposed `major shareholders’ of the private sector banks and all private sector banks, including local area banks. However, where the acquisition results in the aggregate holding of the major shareholder of up to 10% of the shares or voting rights of the concerned bank, prior approval of the RBI is not necessary .
`Major shareholder’ means shareholder havinglikely to have an `aggregate holding’ to the extent of 5% or more of the paid-up share capital of the bank or 5% or more of the total voting rights.
LOS ANGELES (TIP): German automaker Volkswagen, tainted by an emissions scandal, said it will present US authorities tomorrow with plans for bringing its vehicles outfitted with pollution-cheating software into compliance with regulations.
“We’re hopeful we’ll be able to announce something soon about the remedies we have identified and which we’ll be discussing with the agencies in the coming days,” Volkswagen Group of America president and chief executive Michael Horn said at a Los Angeles auto show.
The event marked the group’s first auto show in North America since the Volkswagen scandal broke in September.
The automaker is struggling to cope with the biggest crisis of its history following its admission that it had fitted 11 million vehicles with devices designed to cheat pollution tests.
“We are discussing with the agencies on Friday all the remedies and afterwards there will be a communication,” Horn said.
“We’re cooperating fully with the regulators,” he added, singling out in particular the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Horn, who made his first public appearance since he testified before Congress on October 8, said that 120,000 owners have signed up for a goodwill compensation package, which includes a USD 500 prepaid Visa card.
Other perks of the deal are a USD 500 voucher for VW dealership services and free roadside assistance for three years.
Jessica Caldwell, an analyst at Edmunds.com, told AFP that the USD 500 gift card was a nice gesture but not what customers were looking for.
“They want to know what the fix is for their vehicles so they can move on and either accept the fix or look into selling the car,” she said.
“Until then they are stuck in a no man’s land, which by Volkswagen’s own admission, is incredibly frustrating for owners of these vehicles.”
Horn said he understood customers’ anger and frustration, but warned that the vehicle repair process “will take time.”
NEW DELHI (TIP): Exporters from labour-intensive, small and medium sectors can now avail bank loans at three per cent lower rates with the government on Wednesday approving the long-awaited interest subsidy scheme to boost exports. The scheme will help the identified export sectors to be internationally competitive and achieve higher level of export performance, Power Minister Piyush Goyal said after a Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi which approved the scheme.
He said the scheme will cover the labour-intensive and employment generating sectors like processed agriculture, handicrafts, handmade and handloom products, fabrics, leather goods and toys among others manufactured by small sectors.
The scheme will be available for all exports of MSME but will not be available to merchant exporters, an official statement after the Cabinet meeting said.
The scheme will be in effect for five years from April 1, 2015. At the end of three years, the government will review the impact of the scheme on export promotion.
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Akhtar received thunderous applause when he recited his nazm, yeh khail kiya hai. At the request of the audience he also recited Woh Kamra and Waqt.
Actress Sonam Kapoor says the makers of Prem Ratan Dhan Payo had to explain to her that the film’s collections were good since she is clueless about the mathematics behind box-office numbers.
