Showing posts with label India. Show all posts
Showing posts with label India. Show all posts

Bollywood’s next star from Pak

Ali Zafar
“I’m teaching Katrina (Kaif) how to play the guitar. She already knows four chords and can play two songs. She wants to be a rock star by the end of the shoot, she’s a quick learner. She’s promised me that if our film does a business of Rs 60 crore, she will do a music video with me,” laughs Ali Zafar, who’s working with Katrina and Imran Khan in Yashraj’s next production, Mera Brother Ki Dulhan.
The Pakistani pop singer, who turned Bollywood actor with the sleeper hit Tere Bin Laden, is gearing up for the release of a new album,Jhoom, by the year-end. “It’s been four years since Masty and my fans were missing Ali, the singer,” he says, adding that he’s not just written and composed the songs this time, but also mixed and arranged them. He has even strum the guitar and features in the video that was shot in Mumbai.
Real v/s fake“The songs are more Sufist and make a distinction between what’s real and what’s fake, what’s permanent and what’s temporary,” he informs. “I’ve been part of showbiz since 2004 and I’ve realised how easy it is to lose your soul and innocence to the glamour around you. But I consider myself more of an artiste than a star. On the sets, I’m a ‘mazdoor’ (labourer); on stage, an entertainer.”

Obama 'trapped' by Bollywood kidnap comedy

Indian Bollywood actress Neha Dhupia stars in "Phas Gaya Re Obama" ("Obama is Trapped"). - AFP Photo
MUMBAI: Ahead of Barack Obama's visit to India next month, Bollywood has come up with a comedy kidnap movie whose plot is woven around the president's efforts to put the US economy back on track.
“Phas Gaya Re Obama” (“Obama is Trapped”), made on a budget of just 35 million rupees (800,000 dollars), is a comic tale of small time gangsters in northern India, whose criminal activities are hit by the global economic downturn.
The movie, distributed by Warner Bros, is ready for release but will only hit screens on November 26, several weeks after Obama's visit, which is scheduled for the beginning of the month.
“Phas Gaya Re Obama” has had to make way for a series of mega-budget movies which are traditionally released around the time of Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, which falls on November 5.

China, Pakistan major irritants: India

Indian Army’s Brahmos Missiles, a supersonic cruise missile, are displayed during the Republic Day Parade in New Delhi, India. – Photo by AP (File)
NEW DELHI: India’s army chief Gen V.K. Singh on Friday described China and Pakistan as two major irritants for New Delhi and urged the armed forces to ensure the country had a “substantial” conventional war capability to “fight in a nuclear scenario”. 

Inaugurating a seminar “Indian Army: Emerging Roles and Tasks” in New Delhi, he said: “We have two major irritants. One, there is a problem of governance in Pakistan where terror outfits receive support and where internal situation is not very good. And, therefore, it can have a fallout in terms of how these things impact India. 

“Till the time the terrorist infrastructure remains intact on the other side, we have something to worry.” 

Noting that China was rising both economically and militarily, Gen Singh stressed that the Sino-Indian border was stable but there was a boundary dispute, which was worrying. 

Fireworks explode at the XIX Commonwealth Games


Fireworks explode at the XIX Commonwealth Games closing ceremony at Jawarharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi on Thursday. – Photo by AFP
NEW DELHI: The curtain fell on the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi on Thursday evening with a closing ceremony that celebrated the end of 11 days of sport with a mix of relief and jubilation.

In the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, a two-and-a-half hour show of traditional dance, Bollywood music and huge fireworks gave the finishing sparkle to an event that survived rocky preparations and daily operational hiccups.

With many Indians pointing out that pessimistic international expectations had been proved wrong, the organisers said their decision to hold the Games in fast-developing India was a major gamble that had paid off.Unfinished athletes’ accommodation, security fears, big-name withdrawals and poor ticket sales were among a myriad of difficulties that got the Games off to an uncertain start.

But the occasion closed on a high after Indian athletes performed beyond all expectations to finish second in the overall medals table, sneaking ahead of England with a badminton gold late on Thursday.

Attendances at most venues improved dramatically, no terror attack materialised, and glitches over transport, and a stomach bug among swimmers were all overcome. 

Gilani Condemns: Human Rights Violations in India held-Kashmir



Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani on Tuesday underlined importance of Kashmir issue and condemned human rights violations in India held-Kashmir.
“We condemn violations of human rights in held Kashmir. It is an important issue and Monday’s resolution has sensitized international community on these violations,” he said in National Assembly in response to a point raised by Chairman Parliamentary Kashmir Committee, Maulana Fazlur Rehman.
He said it is for the first time that Chair Kashmir Committee is going to United Nation on this issue.The Prime Minister also expressed concerns on reporting regarding arrest of Maulana Fazlur Rehman. “What concern Maulana has raised is painful. He is honorable member of the House and Chair as custodian of the House should also take notice of it and protect rights of the members.”
He said Maulana Fazlur Rehman has been elected Chairman of Kashmir Committee unanimously by the House and he is a respectable member.

Tendulkar wins Cricketer of the Year award



Sachin Tendulkar has won his first ICC award, the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy, by being named the Cricketer of the Year during the 2010 ICC Award ceremony in Bangalore. Tendulkar, however, lost out in the other major categories he was nominated in, with Virender Sehwag winning the Test Cricketer of the Year award and AB de Villiers claiming the ODI prize.
"This last season has been really special for the entire team," Tendulkar, who also received the People's Choice Award, said. "I think right from the start of the season, when we won in Sri Lanka and I scored a hundred in the finals, and from there on the season took off for us. We became No. 1 in the Test rankings, something we all wanted to achieve, and we've been able to maintain our performances in the last ten months."

India is changing, we also need a cultural change

The candid photograph of a Hindu and a Muslim in Ayodhya having a quiet laugh is a snapshot of the way India’s citizenry reacted to the verdict. They may have their opinions, and sharp ones at that, but they did not allow these to disrupt the lives of their neighbours. All this is a pointer that India might have changed, perhaps very substantially, from the early ’90s when communities eyed each other with suspicion and were ready to jump at each other’s throats at the slightest provocation.


This is an excellent article on the changing face of India published in Deccan Chronicle.
Is India changing, slowly maturing?

Pakistan, Indian tensions become entertainment in border

Relations between Pakistan and India have been stalled by a number of old disputes that have led to tensions along the border areas. Wagah Border in Lahore city is one exception, where friction is less intimidating and more frequently viewed as a source of amusement. The Jakarta Post’s Lilian Budianto visited the area last week on an invitation by the Pakistani government.

Although diplomatic ties between Pakistan and India have remained frayed at the center of the Kashmir dispute, the paramilitary guards from both countries along the Wagah border have shown that tensions are not necessarily hostile. It can be fun — at least for the audience. 

Every day before sunset, security forces from both India and Pakistan gather to lower their own flags at the Wagah border dividing the Pakistani city of Lahore in the west with the Indian city of Amritsar in the east. 

The flag lowering ceremony could have been a mundane ritual but thanks to the creativity of the guards, the ceremony has become a major attraction that brings local and foreign tourists to Wagah, some 30 kilometers from Lahore. 

India PM appeals for calm after ruling to split holy site


“The correct conclusion, at this stage, is that the status quo will be maintained until the cases are taken up by the Supreme Court,” Manmohan Singh said. –File Photo
AYODHYA: Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has appealed for calm after a court ruled that Muslims and Hindus should share a hotly disputed site that has been the focus of deadly violence in the past.
Hundreds of thousands of police and paramilitary forces have been deployed across the country to prevent a repeat of violence in 1992 when Hindu zealots tore down a 16th century mosque in Ayodhya at a site they also claim as holy.
Around 2,000 people, most of them Muslims, died in the violence that followed.
According to Thursday’s ruling, the site in the northern pilgrimage town should be split, with one third going to Muslims and the rest to Hindus, including a spot in the centre where they plan to build a temple to their god Ram.

Indian fishermen handed over to India

LAHORE - A group of 141 fishermen was handed over to Indian authorities at Wahga border on Tuesday, completing departure of 442 Indians arrested for trespassing Pakistan waters. 
South Asia Partnership Pakistan and other civil society organisations bid a farewell to the released Indian fishermen at Wahga border. Indian fishermen, visibly happy on their return to the country, thanked Pakistani government and civil society organisations for their making their release possible. 
A delegation comprising members of different civil society organisations has already left for India where it would meet top leadership for the release of 180 Pakistani fishermen.

Sachin Tendulkar honoured by Indian Air Force




NEW DELHI: India’s batting great Sachin Tendulkar was on Friday awarded the honorary rank of group captain by the chief of the Indian Air Force (IAF) for his contribution to cricket.
Tendulkar, 37, was conferred the honour by Air Chief Marshal Pradeep Naik, amid loud applause from fellow officers at a ceremony in the Indian capital.
“It was wishful thinking (that I would be part of the armed forces) and it has come true today. I’m extremely proud to be a part of the IAF. So dream, because dreams do come true,” Tendulkar said after being inducted.
Naik said he hoped Tendulkar’s induction would inspire India’s youth to join its armed forces.
“Sachin’s association will help in spreading awareness about our force,” he said.
Tendulkar is the first sportsperson to be conferred a rank by the IAF and the first personality without an aviation background to receive the honour.
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