Kolkata, Sep 6 (IANS) Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi declared Monday at his first ever rally here that the days of West Bengal's ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) were numbered.
Recalling his recent visit to Russia, Gandhi told thousands at the Shahid Minar maidan to thunderous applause: 'In Russia, the Communist regime came to end suddenly one day. It will happen here (West Bengal) too.'
On a day's visit to Kolkata, Gandhi denounced the Left Front government.
'The CPI-M does not belong to the poor people of the state - the adivasis, the marginalised and the poor,' he said.
The CPI-M runs a privileged network of its people and shares the benefits of the administration through its 'mafia-type' set-up, he said.
Gandhi arrived here earlier in the day to launch the membership drive of the Youth Congress in the state.
Clad in white kurta-pyjama, he reached the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose international airport after noon to the cheers of 'Rahul Gandhi Zindabad' from party workers.
Ringed by members of the Special Protection Group (SPG) and commandos of the state police, Gandhi headed for Raj Bhavan in a large convoy.
Congress general secretary K. Keshava Rao, who is in charge of the party's West Bengal affairs, state Congress chief Manas Bhuniya and Congress MP Mausam Benazir Noor accompanied Gandhi.
Gandhi accused the West Bengal government of siphoning off central funds meant for development programmes. But he kept mum on his party's alliance with the Trinamool Congress in the state.
The Left Front led by the CPI-M has ruled West Bengal since June 1977.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Neetu Chandra denies match-fixing allegations.
Mumbai, Sep 6 (IANS) Bollywood actress Neetu Chandra has denied having any links with Pakistani bowler Mohammad Asif, embroiled in the latest match-fixing controversy that has hit the cricket world.
'Personally, Neetu does not know Mohammad Asif or any Pakistani cricketer for that matter. Her name is being unceremoniously dragged into the match-fixing debate with baseless allegations,' Neetu's publicist Dale Bhagwagar said in a press statement.
'Neetu didn't even know how Asif looked like. Within minutes of this controversy breaking out, I met her and showed her his picture from the internet on my BlackBerry,' her publicist Bhagwagar said.
'Neetu glanced at it and almost jumped from her chair, joking, 'Oh, he's too dark'. She also doesn't know or understand how her cell number has featured on such a scandalous list. If it indeed has, it could well be a conspiracy.'
The actress has featured in films like 'Traffic Signal' and 'Garam Masala'.
Her alleged involvement in match-fixing came out when Interpol and Scotland Yard handed over the mobile details of Asif to the Pakistan Cricket Board for investigation.
The document was prepared by Scotland Yard and Interpol on the basis of Pakistani actress Veena Malik's information and it contains the call details of Asif made in 2009. But it has been leaked.
Reports stated that in the document, the only mobile phone number from Mumbai belonged to actress Neetu Chandra and that she could be involved in the match-fixing scandal.
It was further reported, according to the document, that the actress had made two phone calls and exchanged SMS with the controversial cricketer, discussing sensitive cricket issues and deals.
Neetu was one of the few privileged Bollywood celebrities to run with the Commonwealth Games torch in her hometown, Patna. Apart from being a regular basketball player, the actress is a black belt in Taekwondo, having participated in various martial arts tournaments at the district, national, as well as international levels.
However, she is not a cricket fan, Bhagwagar said.
The match-fixing controversy started when British tabloid The News of the World reported that Pakistani cricketers were allegedly involved in deliberately underperforming in the Lord's Test that England won by an innings to wrap up the series 3-1 here Sunday.
Based on a sting operation conducted by The News of the World, the Metropolitan Police arrested London-based property tycoon Mazhar Majeed, who allegedly lured Pakistani fast bowlers Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif to deliver three blatant no-balls at the agreed moment of the game by the daily's undercover reporter. Reports also suggested that Pakistan captain Salman Butt and wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal were also involved.
'Personally, Neetu does not know Mohammad Asif or any Pakistani cricketer for that matter. Her name is being unceremoniously dragged into the match-fixing debate with baseless allegations,' Neetu's publicist Dale Bhagwagar said in a press statement.
'Neetu didn't even know how Asif looked like. Within minutes of this controversy breaking out, I met her and showed her his picture from the internet on my BlackBerry,' her publicist Bhagwagar said.
'Neetu glanced at it and almost jumped from her chair, joking, 'Oh, he's too dark'. She also doesn't know or understand how her cell number has featured on such a scandalous list. If it indeed has, it could well be a conspiracy.'
The actress has featured in films like 'Traffic Signal' and 'Garam Masala'.
Her alleged involvement in match-fixing came out when Interpol and Scotland Yard handed over the mobile details of Asif to the Pakistan Cricket Board for investigation.
The document was prepared by Scotland Yard and Interpol on the basis of Pakistani actress Veena Malik's information and it contains the call details of Asif made in 2009. But it has been leaked.
Reports stated that in the document, the only mobile phone number from Mumbai belonged to actress Neetu Chandra and that she could be involved in the match-fixing scandal.
It was further reported, according to the document, that the actress had made two phone calls and exchanged SMS with the controversial cricketer, discussing sensitive cricket issues and deals.
Neetu was one of the few privileged Bollywood celebrities to run with the Commonwealth Games torch in her hometown, Patna. Apart from being a regular basketball player, the actress is a black belt in Taekwondo, having participated in various martial arts tournaments at the district, national, as well as international levels.
However, she is not a cricket fan, Bhagwagar said.
The match-fixing controversy started when British tabloid The News of the World reported that Pakistani cricketers were allegedly involved in deliberately underperforming in the Lord's Test that England won by an innings to wrap up the series 3-1 here Sunday.
Based on a sting operation conducted by The News of the World, the Metropolitan Police arrested London-based property tycoon Mazhar Majeed, who allegedly lured Pakistani fast bowlers Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif to deliver three blatant no-balls at the agreed moment of the game by the daily's undercover reporter. Reports also suggested that Pakistan captain Salman Butt and wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal were also involved.
Mumbai oil slick:MV Khalijia to blame.
Nearly a month after the collision of two cargo ships, MV Khalijia and MSC Chitra, off the Mumbai coast resulted in a massive oil slick, the inquiry by the Director General of shipping has found that the MV Khalijia was mainly responsible for the accident. The collision had resulted in over 800 tonnes of oil leaking from the Chitra and it's cargo had also fallen into the sea, blocking the channel. The inquiry accessed by NDTV found: * MV Khalijia entered the navigation channel at the wrong time and at the wrong angle * It was meant to enter the channel at a parallel angle. Instead it was perpendicular * As a result it occupied almost the entire length of the channel * MV Khalijia had also cast off two tug boats provided by the Mumbai port trust to stabilise the ship * Tugs were
provided after an earlier accident when it had damaged the bottom of the ship by dragging anchor * Captain of MV Khalijia contacted the Captain of MSC Chitra only two minutes before the accident The inquiry report is also critical of the Mumbai Port trust's Vehicle Traffic Monitoring System (VTMS), a radar, which is meant to track the movement of ships in its waters. The inquiry found that one out of the two radars was not working and no one was near the screen monitoring the ship movements. The VTMS staff was ignorant about the approaching ships.
provided after an earlier accident when it had damaged the bottom of the ship by dragging anchor * Captain of MV Khalijia contacted the Captain of MSC Chitra only two minutes before the accident The inquiry report is also critical of the Mumbai Port trust's Vehicle Traffic Monitoring System (VTMS), a radar, which is meant to track the movement of ships in its waters. The inquiry found that one out of the two radars was not working and no one was near the screen monitoring the ship movements. The VTMS staff was ignorant about the approaching ships.
Muslims taking care of a Hindu temple in Poonch.
Poonch,September 6 (ANI):The northern state of Jammu and Kashmir presents a perfect example of interfaith harmony that exits between different communities in the country.And a case in point is the historical Hindu temple,Brame Gala in Poonch district of the state,which is looked after by Muslims of the area.
Every year a huge function is organized here and thousands of Muslim and Hindu devotees from across the country throng the temple to offer prayers.Hindus living nearby is thankful to the Muslims for maintaining the temple.
Every year a huge function is organized here and thousands of Muslim and Hindu devotees from across the country throng the temple to offer prayers.Hindus living nearby is thankful to the Muslims for maintaining the temple.
US Open:Sharapova out,Federer advances.
Five-time US Open champion Roger Federer beat 13th-seeded Jurgen Melzer of Austria 6-3, 7-6 (4), 6-3 on Monday night to reach the quarterfinals at a 26th consecutive Grand Slam tournament and set up an intriguing rematch with Robin Soderling. No. 5 Soderling of Sweden is the man who ended Federer's streak of 23 consecutive Grand Slam semifinals with an upset in this year's French Open quarterfinals. Meanwhile, Maria Sharapova lost to No. 1-seeded Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark in the fourth round 6-3, 6-4. It's the first victory for Wozniacki in three career meetings against Sharapova, but they hadn't met since 2008. In that time, the 20-year-old Wozniacki has grown as a player and built a huge supply of confidence, thanks to her Grand Slam final debut in New York and, most recently, her 18-1 record since Wimbledon. Wozniacki carries a 12-match winning streak into her quarterfinal against 45th-ranked Dominika Cibulkova, who eliminated 2004 U.S. Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova 7-5, 7-6 (4)..
Jodhpur doctors on strike, 30 dead.
Mahesh Joshi relives the events of the weekend every few hours, always with a different ending than the one his family witnessed. His wife, Asha, was rushed to a government hospital in Jodhpur on Sunday evening when she complained that she was finding it tough to breathe. Mahesh says he was referred to the cardiac care unit. Doctors told him that Asha needed a respirator. But a strike by doctors and nurses meant that the advice was the only medical attention given to her. She died 10 hours later. "They have killed my wife. Who will look after my young children ?" asks Joshi flatly. Residents of Jodhpur are furious as reports surface that since Saturday evening, 30 patients - at least seven of them newborns - have died because of a collective strike by the staff at the city's six government hospitals. Rajasthan's Health Minister, Duru Mian, has ordered an inquiry to determine whether these reports are correct. In the meantime, emergency rooms and Intensive Care Units are running - just barely- with skeletal staff. The strike began on Saturday evening, after doctors at the MDM Hospital were attacked by the relatives of a patient. Doctors struck back, targeting the patient's family, and damaging hospital property. The police was summoned and in the lathi-charge that followed, a group of six doctors were injured.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Hello Darling Review.
Now, what to say of a film that aims to grab eyeballs through the popping cleavages of its leading ladies and the silly antics of their lustful boss with the name Hardik, very similar to Harddick. Hello Darling, a rehash of the 1980s Hollywood movie Nine To Five, is a sex comedy about the exploitation of women at work places and gender equality.
Mansi (Gul Panag), Candy (Celina Jaitley) and Satvati (Eesha Koppikar) work in an office under a boss (Javed Jaffery) whose life and every action is driven by libido. Ignoring his dowdy wife (Divya Dutta), the incorrigible lecher doesn’t miss half a chance of hitting upon women with the hope of having some ‘good time’ with them.
When things come to a head, the three women decide to teach the horny Hardik a lesson. On the other hand, the boss’s wife (Divya) takes the help of a hubby reforming NGO, Pati Sudharak Samiti, with its hardliner head (Seema Biswas) who adopts shock methods like a volley of slaps to bring the stray husbands back on fidelity track.
There’s confusion galore after a case of mistaken identity. There’s a dead body, eunuchs, thieves, dumb docs and many more as the plot goes haywire and cooks up a hodgepodge in the name of comedy. Sadly, none of it works.
Director Manoj Tiwari hardly gets anything right in Hello Darling. The comedy is not just slapstick and inane, it borders on daftness. The double meaning dialogues don’t add to laughs either. Many situations seem deliberately stitched in the plot to make the proceedings funny. The sequence when the three actresses pose as nurses and kidnap the dead body from the hospital may draw some chuckles.
The film’s three leading ladies seem to be in competition to see who hams the most, a contest which Celina wins hands down. Javed Jaffery as the lusty lech is over the top, while Divya Dutta comes up with the only credible performance.
All in all, Hello Darling is rife with silliness. But if you happen to be a titillation seeker like the testosterone driven boss Hardik, you might find a silver lining in the cleavages of the hot babes.
Mansi (Gul Panag), Candy (Celina Jaitley) and Satvati (Eesha Koppikar) work in an office under a boss (Javed Jaffery) whose life and every action is driven by libido. Ignoring his dowdy wife (Divya Dutta), the incorrigible lecher doesn’t miss half a chance of hitting upon women with the hope of having some ‘good time’ with them.
When things come to a head, the three women decide to teach the horny Hardik a lesson. On the other hand, the boss’s wife (Divya) takes the help of a hubby reforming NGO, Pati Sudharak Samiti, with its hardliner head (Seema Biswas) who adopts shock methods like a volley of slaps to bring the stray husbands back on fidelity track.
There’s confusion galore after a case of mistaken identity. There’s a dead body, eunuchs, thieves, dumb docs and many more as the plot goes haywire and cooks up a hodgepodge in the name of comedy. Sadly, none of it works.
Director Manoj Tiwari hardly gets anything right in Hello Darling. The comedy is not just slapstick and inane, it borders on daftness. The double meaning dialogues don’t add to laughs either. Many situations seem deliberately stitched in the plot to make the proceedings funny. The sequence when the three actresses pose as nurses and kidnap the dead body from the hospital may draw some chuckles.
The film’s three leading ladies seem to be in competition to see who hams the most, a contest which Celina wins hands down. Javed Jaffery as the lusty lech is over the top, while Divya Dutta comes up with the only credible performance.
All in all, Hello Darling is rife with silliness. But if you happen to be a titillation seeker like the testosterone driven boss Hardik, you might find a silver lining in the cleavages of the hot babes.
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