Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Will Delhi be safe for Commonwealth Games

Security for the Commonwealth Games has been a recurring concern since last year, when serial blasts in Delhi killed 42 people.  Countries like Australia and Britain expressed new fear after Mumbai's 26/11 attack.

The Home Ministry, the Delhi Police, and the Intelligence Bureau is explaining security arrangements to representatives from 30 countries. Officials from the Home Ministry will also explain the infrastructure that's being created for the Games.  Commonwealth officials have in the past said they're dissatisfied with the pace of construction for venues and stadia for the Games.

Representatives of Mauritius say they're worried about the terrible driving they've seen, especially at roundabouts.  India's Home Secretary responded by admitting "Point noted and taken,  we'll try and see if driving habits can be improved".

Sunday, August 30, 2009

It’s official: India’s moon mission over

India's moon mission has been terminated abruptly. Indian scientists had to abandon the10-month maiden moon mission after the spacecraft lost contact with its controllers much ahead of its two-year mission period.

India’s stealth fighter to take off soon

In less than four months from now, India's first stealth fighter will fly for the first time. It's called the Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft or FGFA and is being developed in Russia by Sukhoi, the same firm that worked with India to develop the mainstay of the Indian Air Force, the Sukhoi-30MKI fighter.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Slumdog Millionaire producers sued for Rs 5 cr, HC issues notice

Mumbai: Slumdog Millionaire, the Oscar-winning movie, faces a Rs 5-crore defamation suit. The high court here has issued notices for a hearing on September 9. A Nakul Singh Nepali has sued its makers for allegedly wrongly crediting the 'Darshan do Ghanshyam' song to the blind poet Surdas.

Nepali claims his father, Gopal Singh, had written the song for the film Narsi Bhagat. He has filed a civil suit in the high court on grounds of defamation/loss of reputation of his father and the violation of an author's moral rights.

The suit has been filed against the producers Celador Films; its chairman Paul Smith, and managing director, Christian Calson; movie director Danny Boyle; screen play adaptor Simon Beaufay; Deep Emotions Publishing's managing director Achille Forller and Universal Music Publishing Group.

Nepali has sought special damages of Rs 5 crore, with yearly interest at 21 per cent from the date the suit was filed until realisation.

Further, he wants a perpetual order of injunction restraining the defendants from further circulating, exhibiting, showing or distributing in any audio-visual format or by way of the Internet, the portion of the movie stating Surdas as author of the song. Or, to rework the scene or delete it.

Based on Vikram Swarup's novel, Q and A, the movie shows the protagonist Jamal (Dev Patel) giving a wrong answer to the question, 'Who has written the song 'Darshan do Ghanshyam Mori Ankhiya Pyasi?'.

The case was listed for hearing in the high court today. The court directed the defendants to file their reply affidavits 9. Anoop Narayanan, a partner of the law firm Majmudar & Co, who represents the defendants, refused to talk about the likely outcome. "The matter is subjudice," he said.

Source: Business Standard

 

Ganguly's niece tests positive for swine flu

The swine flu has now hit the most famous family of Kolkata-- Sourav Ganguly's.

The former Indian cricket  captain's niece Sneha was on Monday diagnosed positive for the H1N1 virus and has been admitted in the isolation ward of M R Bangur Hospital, Sourav's elder brother Snehashish said.

"She had some flu like symptoms on August 15 and we had sent her samples to be tested. In the reports that we have got on Monday morning, she has tested positive. She is now undergoing treatment at Bangur Hospital," Snehashish, father of Sneha,
said.

"We are taking all precautionary measures and the doctors have said that she will be fine within two-three days," he added.

Sneha is a class V student of La Martinere for Girls.