Sunday, November 4, 2007
Pakistan tour of India, 2007/08
1st ODI: India v Pakistan at Guwahati - Nov 5, 2007
Match scheduled to begin at 09:00 local time (03:30 GMT)
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3rd ODI: India v Pakistan at Kanpur - Nov 11, 2007 (09:00 local, 03:30 GMT)
4th ODI: India v Pakistan at Gwalior - Nov 15, 2007 (14:30 local, 09:00 GMT)
Test Match Schedule
Thu 22 - Mon 26 ---- 09:30 local, 04:00 GMT
1st Test - India v Pakistan-Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi
Fri 30 - Tue 4 Dec----09:30 local, 04:00 GMT
2nd Test - India v Pakistan---Eden Gardens, Kolkata
Sat 8 - Wed 12---09:30 local, 04:00 GMT
3rd Test - India v Pakistan--M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
60th Independence Day
This is our 60th Independence Day! Freedom is not a Right but a Feeling! Let's be proud to feel the Freedom! Let's say loud we are INDIANS!!! Let all of us get to-gather & Let's Celebrate Our Freedom!
A Library being divided at the time of partition. Heart trembles to see this sight and it is tough to imagine the state of the nation at the moment when people needed to hold hands.
1948: Crowds in New Delhi wait for a glimpse of Gandhi's funeral procession.
1948: The news of Gandhi's assassination hits the streets. A stunned crowd gathers in Calcutta.
Mountbatten arrives at Delhi airport; received by Nehru and Liaquat Ali. March 25, 1947
Nehru and Gandhi at AICC meeting, July 1946
Gandhiji Addressing people
1971: Indira Gandhi reviews the troops, in the context of militaryand diplomatic preparations for the Bangladesh War.
Monday, August 13, 2007
Monday, August 6, 2007
Dawood, Tiger Memon in ISI custody
n a stunning development, Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) is learnt to have taken don Dawood Ibrahim into custody, along with his trusted lieutenant Chhota Shakeel and the mastermind of the 1993 Mumbai blasts Tiger Memon.
Intelligence sources said the trio was rounded up last Thursday from their hideout near the Pak-Afghan border and taken to a safe-house on the outskirts of Quetta. The sources added that the three outlaws are likely to be moved out of Quetta soon.
With the US mounting pressure on Islamabad to hand over Dawood and his accomplices who are close to Al-Qaida, the ISI is said to have acted to pre-empt possible proactive steps by Washington. Only last week, the US said that Dawood's smuggling routes converge with that used by Qaida to move arms.
As Washington was building up to some action against Dawood, the ISI is said to have cracked down on him in order to save further embarrassment to the beleaguered Pervez Musharraf regime should Dawood get caught by American forces.
The sources said it would have been tactically unwise for ISI to pick up just Dawood and not his trusted henchmen, Shakeel and Memon.
A senior intelligence officer added: "We will not be surprised if the ISI even eliminates them and confiscates their vast wealth. In any case, Dawood and the others have ceased to be of much use to the Pakistani establishment."
Dawood's brother Anees is already on the run. The first indications of the detention of Dawood and his cronies came when people working for them in Mumbai, Dubai and other places found their phones being answered by strange voices.
The men at the other end of the phones asked the callers to leave their names with the promise to pass on the message to the bhais . This has apparently never happened.
Intelligence sources said the trio was rounded up last Thursday from their hideout near the Pak-Afghan border and taken to a safe-house on the outskirts of Quetta. The sources added that the three outlaws are likely to be moved out of Quetta soon.
With the US mounting pressure on Islamabad to hand over Dawood and his accomplices who are close to Al-Qaida, the ISI is said to have acted to pre-empt possible proactive steps by Washington. Only last week, the US said that Dawood's smuggling routes converge with that used by Qaida to move arms.
As Washington was building up to some action against Dawood, the ISI is said to have cracked down on him in order to save further embarrassment to the beleaguered Pervez Musharraf regime should Dawood get caught by American forces.
The sources said it would have been tactically unwise for ISI to pick up just Dawood and not his trusted henchmen, Shakeel and Memon.
A senior intelligence officer added: "We will not be surprised if the ISI even eliminates them and confiscates their vast wealth. In any case, Dawood and the others have ceased to be of much use to the Pakistani establishment."
Dawood's brother Anees is already on the run. The first indications of the detention of Dawood and his cronies came when people working for them in Mumbai, Dubai and other places found their phones being answered by strange voices.
The men at the other end of the phones asked the callers to leave their names with the promise to pass on the message to the bhais . This has apparently never happened.
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
1993 Mumbai blasts case verdicts
Following is a summary of sentences delivered in 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case.
1. Yeshwant Nago Bhoinkar: Three years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 25,000 fine for transporting RDX and arms from high seas to the Shekhadi coast on trawlers.
2. Abbas Shaikhdhare: Three years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 25,000 fine for transporting RDX and arms from high seas to the Shekhadi coast on trawlers.
3. Shahjehan Shaikhdhare: Three years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 25,000 fine for transporting RDX and arms from high seas to the Shekhadi coast on trawlers.
4. Sharif Khan Adhikari: Three years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 25,000 fine for loading and unloading contraband.
5. Rashid Alware: Three years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 25,000 fine for transporting contraband in his truck.
6. Ashok Muneshwar: Police constable sentenced to six years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 25,000 fine for allowing arms and ammunition to pass at Dongar Phata after taking bribe.
7. Pandharinath Mahadik: Police constable sentenced to six years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 25,000 fine for allowing arms and ammunition to pass at Dongar Phata after taking bribe.
8. Ramesh D Mali: Police constable sentenced to six years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 25,000 fine for allowing arms and ammunition to pass at Dongar Phata after taking bribe.
9. Shrikrishna Yeshwant Pashilkar: Police constable sentenced to six years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 25,000 fine for allowing arms and ammunition to pass at Dongar Phata after taking bribe.
10. Vijay Patil: Police sub-inspector sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for life and Rs 2 lakh fine for allowing arms and ammunition to pass through Donghar Phata.
11. Usman Man Khan Shaikh: Rigorous imprisonment for six years' and Rs 30,000 as fine. He obtained weapons training in Pakistan.
12. Shaikh Ibrahim Shaikh Hussain: Rigorous imprisonment for six years' and Rs 30,000 as fine. He obtained weapons training in Pakistan.
13. Mohammed Hanif Usman Shaikh: Rigorous imprisonment for six years' and Rs 30,000 as fine. He obtained weapons training in Pakistan.
14. Mohammed Sayeed Mohammed Ishaq: Rigorous imprisonment for six years' and Rs 30,000 as fine. He obtained weapons training in Pakistan.
15. Gul Mohammed Noor Mohammad: Rigorous imprisonment for six years' and Rs 30,000 as fine. He obtained weapons training in Pakistan.
16. Mohammad Rafiq Usman Shaikh: Seven years' rigorous imprisoned and Rs 30,000 fine for obtaining training in Pakistan and also participated in one of the conspiracy meetings.
17. Abdul Aziz Gharatkar: Six years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 50,000 fine for taking part in RDX landing at Shekhadi.
18. Tulshiram Dhondu Surve: Nine years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 55,000 fine for allowing Wangni radio tower compound to be used for RDX loading and unloading.
19. Uttam Potdar: 14 years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 1.5 lakh fine for landing arms and ammunition at Dighi.
20. Mohd Lajpuria: Ten years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 1.5 lakh fine for landing arms and ammunition at Dighi.
21. Sajjad Alam: Seven years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 50,000 fine for arms landing at Shekhadi.
22. Manzoor Ahmed Sayed: Ten years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 50,000 fine for taking back AK-56 rifles from Sanjay Dutt [Images].
23. Sharif Parkar: Fourteen years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 3 lakh fine for arms landing at Shekhadi.
24. Raju Jain: Seven years' rigorous imprisonment and fine of Rs 1 lakh fine for Tiger Memon's associate. He provided jeeps for carrying out the attacks.
25. Mujib Parkar: Five years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 25,000 fine for arms landing in Shekhadi.
26. Sarfaraz Phanse: Nine years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 25,000 fine for arms landing at Shekhadi.
27. Suleman Ghavte: Seven years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 25,000 fine for transporting contraband.
28. Sayed Abdul Rehman: Seven years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 25,000 fine for transporting contraband.
29. Shahid Nizamuddin Qureshi: Ten years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 25,000 fine for taking part in arms landing at Dighi.
30. Isaaq Hajwani: Seven years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 70,000 fine for being part of conspiracy. Also found guilty of taking part in arms training in Sandheri and destroying hand grenades.
31. Sikandar Hajwani: Five years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 10,000 fine for undergoing weapons training at Sandheri.
32. Shahnawaz Hajwani: Five years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 10,000 fine for undergoing weapons training at Sandheri.
33. Janardan Gambas: Six years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 75,000 fine for taking part in arms landing at Dighi and concealing arms and ammunition.
34. Faki Ali Subedar: Six years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 50,000 fine for concealing arms and ammunition at Agarwadi.
35. Abdullah Surti: Six years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 50,000 fine for concealing arms and ammunition at Agarwadi.
36. Syed Ibrahim Kadri: Five years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 10,000 fine for concealing hand grenades.
37. R K Singh: Nine years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 3 lakh fine for ex-Customs official for allowing the landing of RDX after taking bribe.
38. Sudhanwa Talawadekar: Eight years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 2 lakh fine for ex-Customs official for allowing the landing of RDX after taking bribe.
39. Mohammad Sultan Sayyed: Seven years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 1 lakh fine for ex-Customs official for allowing the landing of RDX after taking bribe.
40. Jaywant Gurav: Eight years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 1 lakh fine for ex-Customs official for allowing the landing of RDX after taking bribe.
41. Zameer Sayyed Ismail: Life sentence and Rs 1.25 lakh for being party to conspiracy. Also convicted for arms landing at Dighi and concealing arms.
42. Ayub Ibrahim Qureshi: Five years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 25,000 fine for possession of pistols.
43. Ehsaan Mohammed Qureshi: Five years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 25,000 fine for possession of pistols.
44. Dawood Phanse: Two life sentences and Rs 2 lakh fine. One of the main conspirators.
45. Muzzamil Umar Kadri: Life sentence and Rs 1.25 lakh fine for arms landing arms in Shekhadi and for conspiracy.
46. Khalil Nasir: Ten years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 1.25 lakh fine for arms landing arms in Shekhadi and for conspiracy.
47. Mohammed Dawood: Six years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 50,000 fine for possessing AK-56 rifles.
48. Mohammed Yusuf Botomiya: Six years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 50,000 fine for possessing AK-56 rifles.
49. Aziz Shaikh: Five years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 25,000 fine for illegally possessing carbine.
50. Salim Durrani: Five years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 25,000 fine for possessing AK-56 rifles.
51. Liyakat Khan: Five years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 35,000 fine for arms landing in Shekhadi.
52. Nasir Abdul Kadar: Rigorous imprisonment for life and Rs 50,000 fine for conspiracy, taking arms training in Pakistan, landing of arms and preparation of bombs.
53. Ashraf-ur-Rehman: Rigorous imprisonment for life and Rs two lakh fine. Arms and ammunition were recovered from him after the blasts.
54. Yusuf Khan Kasam: Five years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 25,000 for arms landing.
55. Mohammed Rafiq Musa Biyariwala: Seven years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 75,000 fine for facilitating in the landing of arms and transporting them till Mumbai.
56. Shahnawaz Khan: Ten years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 50,000 fine for conspiracy and arms landing at Shekhadi.
57. Asim Yusuf Shaikh: Eight years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 1.25 lakh for illegal possession of grenades.
58. Ayub Ibrahim Patel: Ten years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 1.25 lakh fine for illegal possession of grenades.
59. Niyaz Ahmed Shaikh: Rigorous imprisonment for life and Rs 50,000 as fine for conspiracy.
60. Sameer Hingora: Nine years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs two lakh fine for the film producer for supplying an AK-56 rifle to Sanjay Dutt.
61. Farooq Iliaz: Thirteen years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 50,000 fine for film producer for participating in a conspiracy meeting.
62. Gulam Hafiz Shaikh: Eight years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 25,000 fine for driving a truck laden with RDX from Shekhadi to Mumbai.
63. Shaikh Mohammed: Ten years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 50,000 fine for conspiracy and escorting contraband in small boats from high seas.
64. Pervez Qureshi: Rigorous imprisonment for life and Rs 50,000 fine for conspiracy, receiving arms training in Pakistan and making bombs at Mahim.
65. Salim Mirza Shaikh: Rigorous imprisonment for life and Rs 2 lakh fine for conspiracy, Dighi arms landing and bribing Customs officials.
66. Manoj Gupta: Fourteen years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 2.75 lakh fine for illegal possession of Shekhadi landing and disposing RDX after blasts.
67. Noor Mohammed Khan: Five years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 1.5 lakh fine for storing RDX.
68. Altaf Ali Sayyed: Ten years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 2.5 lakh in fine for illegal possession of hand grenades.
69. Sardar Shaha: Rigorous imprisonment for life and Rs one lakh in fine for conspiracy.
70. Baba Moosa Chauhan: Ten years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 2.77 lakh infine for giving arms and ammunition to Sanjay Dutt and Salim Kurla, possession of arms.
71. Moolchand Shah: Five years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs five lakh in fine for giving financial assistance to Tiger Memon.
72. Ejaz Pathan: Ten years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 2.25 lakh in fine for conspiracy, facilitating landing of arms and ammunition, illegal possession of AK-56 rifles.
73. Shaikh Ali Shaikh: Rigorous imprisonment for life and Rs 1.5 lakh in fine for conspiracy, RDX filling, landing of arms and initiating co-accused.
74. Mubina Bhiwandiwalla : Five years' rigorous imprisonment and fined Rs 25,000. Conspiracy meetings were conducted at her residence.
75. Zaibunissa Qazi: Five years' rigorous imprisonment and fined Rs 1 lakh for keeping arms at her residence.
76. Salim Shaikh: Rigorous imprisonment for life and fined Rs 1.4 lakh for conspiracy, receiving arms raining in Pakistan and driving the accused to Fishermen's colony in Mahim to throw grenades.
77. Imtiyaz Ghawte: Rigorous imprisonment for life and fined Rs 2.77 lakh for parking unexploded scooter at Dhanji Street in central Mumbai and arms landing in Raigad.
78. Nasim Barmare: Rigorous imprisonment for life and fined Rs 2.30 lakh for throwing hand grenades in Mumbai international airport.
79. Bashir Khairulla: Rigorous imprisonment for life and fined Rs 2.5 lakh for throwing grenades at Fishermen's colony in Mahim killing three and injuring six.
80. Moin Qureshi: Rigorous imprisonment for life and fined Rs 1.65 lakh for throwing grenades at Fishermen's colony killing three, arms landing at Raigad and filling RDX in vehicles.
81. Somnath Thapa: Rigorous imprisonment for life and fine of Rs 2 lakh for former Customs official who facilitated arms and explosives landing at Raigad.
82. Rubeena Memon: Rigorous imprisonment for life for allowing her house to be used for conspiracy meetings and storage of arms and explosives. She also gave her van for bombing.
83. Essa Memon: Rigorous imprisonment for life for allowing their house to be used for conspiracy meetings and storage of arms and explosives.
84. Yusuf Memon: Rigorous imprisonment for life for allowing their house to be used for conspiracy meetings and storage of arms and explosives.
85. Sanjay Dutt: Rigorous imprisonment for six years and fined Rs 25,000, illegal possession of AK-56 rifle and pistol.
86. Rusi Mulla: Exempted of prison term under Probation of Offenders Act.
87. Kersi Adajania: Rigorous imprisonment for two years and fined Rs 25,000. Aided destruction of Dutt's rifle.
88. Yusuf Nulwalla: Rigorous imprisonment for five years and fined Rs 25,000. Aided destruction of Dutt's rifle.
89. Yakub Memon: Accountant brother of main accused Tiger Memon sentenced to death for arranging finance for conspiracy and distributing weapons.
90. Abdul Ghani Turk: Sentenced to death for parking RDX-filled jeep near Century Bazar. The blast killed 88 and injured 159.
91. Mushtaq Musa Tarani: Sentenced to death for planting RDX-loaded scooter in Shaikh Memon Street that did not explode. Also planted bomb in Hotel Centaur -- no casualties in the explosion.
92. Pervez Shaikh: Sentenced to death for planting RDX-loaded scooter in Katha Bazar in South Mumbai. The explosion killed four and injured 21. Also planted a suitcase filled with RDX in Sea Rock Hotel in suburban Bandra.
93. Asgar Mukadam: Sentenced to death for planting RDX-filled Maruti [Get Quote] van at Plaza cinema. The explosion killed 10, injured 36.
94. Shahnawaz Qureshi: Sentenced to death for planting RDX-filled Maruti van at Plaza cinema. The explosion killed 10, injured 36.
95. Mohd Shoaib Ghansar: Planted RDX-filled scooter in Zaveri Bazar. The explosion killed 17 and injured 57.
96. Iqbal Yusuf Shaikh: Sentenced to death for planting RDX-filled scooter at Naigaum. It did not explode.
97. Zakir Hussain Shaikh: Sentenced to death for throwing hand grenades at Mahim's Fishermen' colony, killing 3 and injuring 6.
98. Feroz Malik: Sentenced to death for throwing hand grenades at Mahim's Fishermen' colony, killing 3 and injuring 6.
99. Abdul Khan: Sentenced to death for throwing hand grenades at Mahim's Fishermen' colony, killing 3 and injuring 6.
100. Farooq Pawle: Sentenced to death for planting Maruti car filled with RDX near Shiv Sena office in Dadar, where four people were killed and 38 injured. He also took part in planting an Ambassador car filled with RDX at the Air India building. Twenty people were killed and 87 injured in the explosion.
Courtesy : www.rediff.com
1. Yeshwant Nago Bhoinkar: Three years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 25,000 fine for transporting RDX and arms from high seas to the Shekhadi coast on trawlers.
2. Abbas Shaikhdhare: Three years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 25,000 fine for transporting RDX and arms from high seas to the Shekhadi coast on trawlers.
3. Shahjehan Shaikhdhare: Three years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 25,000 fine for transporting RDX and arms from high seas to the Shekhadi coast on trawlers.
4. Sharif Khan Adhikari: Three years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 25,000 fine for loading and unloading contraband.
5. Rashid Alware: Three years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 25,000 fine for transporting contraband in his truck.
6. Ashok Muneshwar: Police constable sentenced to six years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 25,000 fine for allowing arms and ammunition to pass at Dongar Phata after taking bribe.
7. Pandharinath Mahadik: Police constable sentenced to six years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 25,000 fine for allowing arms and ammunition to pass at Dongar Phata after taking bribe.
8. Ramesh D Mali: Police constable sentenced to six years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 25,000 fine for allowing arms and ammunition to pass at Dongar Phata after taking bribe.
9. Shrikrishna Yeshwant Pashilkar: Police constable sentenced to six years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 25,000 fine for allowing arms and ammunition to pass at Dongar Phata after taking bribe.
10. Vijay Patil: Police sub-inspector sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for life and Rs 2 lakh fine for allowing arms and ammunition to pass through Donghar Phata.
11. Usman Man Khan Shaikh: Rigorous imprisonment for six years' and Rs 30,000 as fine. He obtained weapons training in Pakistan.
12. Shaikh Ibrahim Shaikh Hussain: Rigorous imprisonment for six years' and Rs 30,000 as fine. He obtained weapons training in Pakistan.
13. Mohammed Hanif Usman Shaikh: Rigorous imprisonment for six years' and Rs 30,000 as fine. He obtained weapons training in Pakistan.
14. Mohammed Sayeed Mohammed Ishaq: Rigorous imprisonment for six years' and Rs 30,000 as fine. He obtained weapons training in Pakistan.
15. Gul Mohammed Noor Mohammad: Rigorous imprisonment for six years' and Rs 30,000 as fine. He obtained weapons training in Pakistan.
16. Mohammad Rafiq Usman Shaikh: Seven years' rigorous imprisoned and Rs 30,000 fine for obtaining training in Pakistan and also participated in one of the conspiracy meetings.
17. Abdul Aziz Gharatkar: Six years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 50,000 fine for taking part in RDX landing at Shekhadi.
18. Tulshiram Dhondu Surve: Nine years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 55,000 fine for allowing Wangni radio tower compound to be used for RDX loading and unloading.
19. Uttam Potdar: 14 years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 1.5 lakh fine for landing arms and ammunition at Dighi.
20. Mohd Lajpuria: Ten years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 1.5 lakh fine for landing arms and ammunition at Dighi.
21. Sajjad Alam: Seven years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 50,000 fine for arms landing at Shekhadi.
22. Manzoor Ahmed Sayed: Ten years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 50,000 fine for taking back AK-56 rifles from Sanjay Dutt [Images].
23. Sharif Parkar: Fourteen years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 3 lakh fine for arms landing at Shekhadi.
24. Raju Jain: Seven years' rigorous imprisonment and fine of Rs 1 lakh fine for Tiger Memon's associate. He provided jeeps for carrying out the attacks.
25. Mujib Parkar: Five years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 25,000 fine for arms landing in Shekhadi.
26. Sarfaraz Phanse: Nine years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 25,000 fine for arms landing at Shekhadi.
27. Suleman Ghavte: Seven years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 25,000 fine for transporting contraband.
28. Sayed Abdul Rehman: Seven years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 25,000 fine for transporting contraband.
29. Shahid Nizamuddin Qureshi: Ten years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 25,000 fine for taking part in arms landing at Dighi.
30. Isaaq Hajwani: Seven years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 70,000 fine for being part of conspiracy. Also found guilty of taking part in arms training in Sandheri and destroying hand grenades.
31. Sikandar Hajwani: Five years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 10,000 fine for undergoing weapons training at Sandheri.
32. Shahnawaz Hajwani: Five years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 10,000 fine for undergoing weapons training at Sandheri.
33. Janardan Gambas: Six years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 75,000 fine for taking part in arms landing at Dighi and concealing arms and ammunition.
34. Faki Ali Subedar: Six years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 50,000 fine for concealing arms and ammunition at Agarwadi.
35. Abdullah Surti: Six years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 50,000 fine for concealing arms and ammunition at Agarwadi.
36. Syed Ibrahim Kadri: Five years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 10,000 fine for concealing hand grenades.
37. R K Singh: Nine years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 3 lakh fine for ex-Customs official for allowing the landing of RDX after taking bribe.
38. Sudhanwa Talawadekar: Eight years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 2 lakh fine for ex-Customs official for allowing the landing of RDX after taking bribe.
39. Mohammad Sultan Sayyed: Seven years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 1 lakh fine for ex-Customs official for allowing the landing of RDX after taking bribe.
40. Jaywant Gurav: Eight years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 1 lakh fine for ex-Customs official for allowing the landing of RDX after taking bribe.
41. Zameer Sayyed Ismail: Life sentence and Rs 1.25 lakh for being party to conspiracy. Also convicted for arms landing at Dighi and concealing arms.
42. Ayub Ibrahim Qureshi: Five years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 25,000 fine for possession of pistols.
43. Ehsaan Mohammed Qureshi: Five years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 25,000 fine for possession of pistols.
44. Dawood Phanse: Two life sentences and Rs 2 lakh fine. One of the main conspirators.
45. Muzzamil Umar Kadri: Life sentence and Rs 1.25 lakh fine for arms landing arms in Shekhadi and for conspiracy.
46. Khalil Nasir: Ten years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 1.25 lakh fine for arms landing arms in Shekhadi and for conspiracy.
47. Mohammed Dawood: Six years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 50,000 fine for possessing AK-56 rifles.
48. Mohammed Yusuf Botomiya: Six years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 50,000 fine for possessing AK-56 rifles.
49. Aziz Shaikh: Five years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 25,000 fine for illegally possessing carbine.
50. Salim Durrani: Five years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 25,000 fine for possessing AK-56 rifles.
51. Liyakat Khan: Five years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 35,000 fine for arms landing in Shekhadi.
52. Nasir Abdul Kadar: Rigorous imprisonment for life and Rs 50,000 fine for conspiracy, taking arms training in Pakistan, landing of arms and preparation of bombs.
53. Ashraf-ur-Rehman: Rigorous imprisonment for life and Rs two lakh fine. Arms and ammunition were recovered from him after the blasts.
54. Yusuf Khan Kasam: Five years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 25,000 for arms landing.
55. Mohammed Rafiq Musa Biyariwala: Seven years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 75,000 fine for facilitating in the landing of arms and transporting them till Mumbai.
56. Shahnawaz Khan: Ten years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 50,000 fine for conspiracy and arms landing at Shekhadi.
57. Asim Yusuf Shaikh: Eight years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 1.25 lakh for illegal possession of grenades.
58. Ayub Ibrahim Patel: Ten years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 1.25 lakh fine for illegal possession of grenades.
59. Niyaz Ahmed Shaikh: Rigorous imprisonment for life and Rs 50,000 as fine for conspiracy.
60. Sameer Hingora: Nine years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs two lakh fine for the film producer for supplying an AK-56 rifle to Sanjay Dutt.
61. Farooq Iliaz: Thirteen years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 50,000 fine for film producer for participating in a conspiracy meeting.
62. Gulam Hafiz Shaikh: Eight years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 25,000 fine for driving a truck laden with RDX from Shekhadi to Mumbai.
63. Shaikh Mohammed: Ten years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 50,000 fine for conspiracy and escorting contraband in small boats from high seas.
64. Pervez Qureshi: Rigorous imprisonment for life and Rs 50,000 fine for conspiracy, receiving arms training in Pakistan and making bombs at Mahim.
65. Salim Mirza Shaikh: Rigorous imprisonment for life and Rs 2 lakh fine for conspiracy, Dighi arms landing and bribing Customs officials.
66. Manoj Gupta: Fourteen years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 2.75 lakh fine for illegal possession of Shekhadi landing and disposing RDX after blasts.
67. Noor Mohammed Khan: Five years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 1.5 lakh fine for storing RDX.
68. Altaf Ali Sayyed: Ten years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 2.5 lakh in fine for illegal possession of hand grenades.
69. Sardar Shaha: Rigorous imprisonment for life and Rs one lakh in fine for conspiracy.
70. Baba Moosa Chauhan: Ten years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 2.77 lakh infine for giving arms and ammunition to Sanjay Dutt and Salim Kurla, possession of arms.
71. Moolchand Shah: Five years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs five lakh in fine for giving financial assistance to Tiger Memon.
72. Ejaz Pathan: Ten years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 2.25 lakh in fine for conspiracy, facilitating landing of arms and ammunition, illegal possession of AK-56 rifles.
73. Shaikh Ali Shaikh: Rigorous imprisonment for life and Rs 1.5 lakh in fine for conspiracy, RDX filling, landing of arms and initiating co-accused.
74. Mubina Bhiwandiwalla : Five years' rigorous imprisonment and fined Rs 25,000. Conspiracy meetings were conducted at her residence.
75. Zaibunissa Qazi: Five years' rigorous imprisonment and fined Rs 1 lakh for keeping arms at her residence.
76. Salim Shaikh: Rigorous imprisonment for life and fined Rs 1.4 lakh for conspiracy, receiving arms raining in Pakistan and driving the accused to Fishermen's colony in Mahim to throw grenades.
77. Imtiyaz Ghawte: Rigorous imprisonment for life and fined Rs 2.77 lakh for parking unexploded scooter at Dhanji Street in central Mumbai and arms landing in Raigad.
78. Nasim Barmare: Rigorous imprisonment for life and fined Rs 2.30 lakh for throwing hand grenades in Mumbai international airport.
79. Bashir Khairulla: Rigorous imprisonment for life and fined Rs 2.5 lakh for throwing grenades at Fishermen's colony in Mahim killing three and injuring six.
80. Moin Qureshi: Rigorous imprisonment for life and fined Rs 1.65 lakh for throwing grenades at Fishermen's colony killing three, arms landing at Raigad and filling RDX in vehicles.
81. Somnath Thapa: Rigorous imprisonment for life and fine of Rs 2 lakh for former Customs official who facilitated arms and explosives landing at Raigad.
82. Rubeena Memon: Rigorous imprisonment for life for allowing her house to be used for conspiracy meetings and storage of arms and explosives. She also gave her van for bombing.
83. Essa Memon: Rigorous imprisonment for life for allowing their house to be used for conspiracy meetings and storage of arms and explosives.
84. Yusuf Memon: Rigorous imprisonment for life for allowing their house to be used for conspiracy meetings and storage of arms and explosives.
85. Sanjay Dutt: Rigorous imprisonment for six years and fined Rs 25,000, illegal possession of AK-56 rifle and pistol.
86. Rusi Mulla: Exempted of prison term under Probation of Offenders Act.
87. Kersi Adajania: Rigorous imprisonment for two years and fined Rs 25,000. Aided destruction of Dutt's rifle.
88. Yusuf Nulwalla: Rigorous imprisonment for five years and fined Rs 25,000. Aided destruction of Dutt's rifle.
89. Yakub Memon: Accountant brother of main accused Tiger Memon sentenced to death for arranging finance for conspiracy and distributing weapons.
90. Abdul Ghani Turk: Sentenced to death for parking RDX-filled jeep near Century Bazar. The blast killed 88 and injured 159.
91. Mushtaq Musa Tarani: Sentenced to death for planting RDX-loaded scooter in Shaikh Memon Street that did not explode. Also planted bomb in Hotel Centaur -- no casualties in the explosion.
92. Pervez Shaikh: Sentenced to death for planting RDX-loaded scooter in Katha Bazar in South Mumbai. The explosion killed four and injured 21. Also planted a suitcase filled with RDX in Sea Rock Hotel in suburban Bandra.
93. Asgar Mukadam: Sentenced to death for planting RDX-filled Maruti [Get Quote] van at Plaza cinema. The explosion killed 10, injured 36.
94. Shahnawaz Qureshi: Sentenced to death for planting RDX-filled Maruti van at Plaza cinema. The explosion killed 10, injured 36.
95. Mohd Shoaib Ghansar: Planted RDX-filled scooter in Zaveri Bazar. The explosion killed 17 and injured 57.
96. Iqbal Yusuf Shaikh: Sentenced to death for planting RDX-filled scooter at Naigaum. It did not explode.
97. Zakir Hussain Shaikh: Sentenced to death for throwing hand grenades at Mahim's Fishermen' colony, killing 3 and injuring 6.
98. Feroz Malik: Sentenced to death for throwing hand grenades at Mahim's Fishermen' colony, killing 3 and injuring 6.
99. Abdul Khan: Sentenced to death for throwing hand grenades at Mahim's Fishermen' colony, killing 3 and injuring 6.
100. Farooq Pawle: Sentenced to death for planting Maruti car filled with RDX near Shiv Sena office in Dadar, where four people were killed and 38 injured. He also took part in planting an Ambassador car filled with RDX at the Air India building. Twenty people were killed and 87 injured in the explosion.
Courtesy : www.rediff.com
Sanjay Dutt Video
For those who missed it when he was aired, here courtesy U-Tube is a three-part documentary on Sanjay Dutt: Part 1
Part 2:
Part 3:
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
The noose tightens around Dawood
NEW DELHI: Time seems to be running out for Pakistan in its fight against terror. Islamabad, which has all along denied the presence of India’s most wanted fugitive Dawood Ibrahim on its soil, has now been asked by US investigative agencies to cooperate with them to hunt him down.
America’s FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) are on the lookout for Dawood for his alleged links with Al-Qaeda affiliates and involvement in the global heroin trade.
This vindicates India’s consistent stand that Pakistan has been harbouring 1993 Mumbai serial blasts’ main accused. A special notice circulated among the member countries of the United Nations, which has proscribed Dawood as a global terrorist, mentions Pakistan as the base of his operations. The Interpol notice against the fugitive lists two of his known addresses and likely hideouts in Pakistan: NU 37, 30th Street, Defence Housing Authority, and White House, near Saudi Mosque, Clifton Road, both in Karachi.
Pakistan, however, has flatly denied the presence of Dawood at either of these addresses or elsewhere on its territory. That this counter-claim has not cut ice with the US is apparent as FBI is said to have shown Islamabad the proof of UN special notice featuring Karachi as one of Dawood’s bases.
According to reports, FBI and DEA authorities have described Dawood Ibrahim as “an Al-Qaeda facilitator now living in Pakistan, who has already been placed in the same category as top Al-Qaeda operatives with Interpol issuing a special notice against him”. In their communications with the Pakistani authorities, DEA has claimed that D-company was involved in large-scale shipment of narcotics into the UK and Western Europe and that its smuggling routes from South Asia, West Asia and Africa have shared links with Osama bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda terror network.
The US agencies had sought help from Pakistan’s ISI, Federal Investigation Agency, Anti-narcotics Force and the interior ministry. However, only the interior ministry responded to the US request, saying any such help was not possible since no such person by the name of Dawood Ibrahim lived on Pakistani soil.
According to the Interpol special notice against Dawood, the don has 16 aliases and 11 passports issued from India, Pakistan, the UAE and Yemen. His operations span across Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Oman. New Delhi is clear that the first claim on Dawood is India’s, since he is an Indian citizen and all the leg-work and initial investigations against him were carried out by Indian agencies.
India, however, is not averse to working jointly with the US agencies to track Dawood down.
America’s FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) are on the lookout for Dawood for his alleged links with Al-Qaeda affiliates and involvement in the global heroin trade.
This vindicates India’s consistent stand that Pakistan has been harbouring 1993 Mumbai serial blasts’ main accused. A special notice circulated among the member countries of the United Nations, which has proscribed Dawood as a global terrorist, mentions Pakistan as the base of his operations. The Interpol notice against the fugitive lists two of his known addresses and likely hideouts in Pakistan: NU 37, 30th Street, Defence Housing Authority, and White House, near Saudi Mosque, Clifton Road, both in Karachi.
Pakistan, however, has flatly denied the presence of Dawood at either of these addresses or elsewhere on its territory. That this counter-claim has not cut ice with the US is apparent as FBI is said to have shown Islamabad the proof of UN special notice featuring Karachi as one of Dawood’s bases.
According to reports, FBI and DEA authorities have described Dawood Ibrahim as “an Al-Qaeda facilitator now living in Pakistan, who has already been placed in the same category as top Al-Qaeda operatives with Interpol issuing a special notice against him”. In their communications with the Pakistani authorities, DEA has claimed that D-company was involved in large-scale shipment of narcotics into the UK and Western Europe and that its smuggling routes from South Asia, West Asia and Africa have shared links with Osama bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda terror network.
The US agencies had sought help from Pakistan’s ISI, Federal Investigation Agency, Anti-narcotics Force and the interior ministry. However, only the interior ministry responded to the US request, saying any such help was not possible since no such person by the name of Dawood Ibrahim lived on Pakistani soil.
According to the Interpol special notice against Dawood, the don has 16 aliases and 11 passports issued from India, Pakistan, the UAE and Yemen. His operations span across Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Oman. New Delhi is clear that the first claim on Dawood is India’s, since he is an Indian citizen and all the leg-work and initial investigations against him were carried out by Indian agencies.
India, however, is not averse to working jointly with the US agencies to track Dawood down.
93 blasts : D-Day for Sanjay Dutt, Hats off to Judges
Friends, Provide your Opinion on the decision of judge who sentenced 6-year jail to Sanjay Dutt.
Todays judgement shows that in our corrupted country some people are honest eventhough Dutt have more money & political support finally truth wins..Really its a Judgement Day..
Todays judgement shows that in our corrupted country some people are honest eventhough Dutt have more money & political support finally truth wins..Really its a Judgement Day..
Sanjay Dutt sentenced for 6 years in jail
The special TADA court Tuesday sentenced actor Sanjay Dutt [Images] to six years imprisonment for his role in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case.
Dutt, who was convicted under the Arms Act for illegal possession of weapons, was facing between five years and 10 years in jail.
He had spent 16 months in jail as an undertrial in 1994.
Dutt will be sent to the prison, straight from the court inside Arthur Road jail premises.
Judge Kode does not have the powers to grant bail to Dutt as per the Criminal Procedure Code.
Sanjay Dutt's bail will stand cancelled and he will be in jail, lawyer Majid Menon said.
Dutt's lawyers, however, will appeal in the Supreme Court in the afternoon. The judge said pronounced Dutt an offender and that he was present in a dinner party attended by Dawood Ibrahim.
The judge also said Dutt had committed a series of offences and that he was mature when he committed these.
The judge added that Dutt made Yusuf Nalwala commit the offence.
Dutt was almost in tears when the judge pronounced the verdict.
He then asked whether he could make a call to his daughter Trishala.
Dutt's aide Russi Mulla, who helped destroy the firearms, was given a suspended sentence of one year, in view of his advanced age and behaviour under the offenders of the Probation Act. He was fined Rs 1 lakh.
Courtesy : www.rediff.com
Dutt, who was convicted under the Arms Act for illegal possession of weapons, was facing between five years and 10 years in jail.
He had spent 16 months in jail as an undertrial in 1994.
Dutt will be sent to the prison, straight from the court inside Arthur Road jail premises.
Judge Kode does not have the powers to grant bail to Dutt as per the Criminal Procedure Code.
Sanjay Dutt's bail will stand cancelled and he will be in jail, lawyer Majid Menon said.
Dutt's lawyers, however, will appeal in the Supreme Court in the afternoon. The judge said pronounced Dutt an offender and that he was present in a dinner party attended by Dawood Ibrahim.
The judge also said Dutt had committed a series of offences and that he was mature when he committed these.
The judge added that Dutt made Yusuf Nalwala commit the offence.
Dutt was almost in tears when the judge pronounced the verdict.
He then asked whether he could make a call to his daughter Trishala.
Dutt's aide Russi Mulla, who helped destroy the firearms, was given a suspended sentence of one year, in view of his advanced age and behaviour under the offenders of the Probation Act. He was fined Rs 1 lakh.
Courtesy : www.rediff.com
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Life lessons from our honourable Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam
It was an unexpected choice, but one that filled the nation with pride and joy.
In the five years since Dr Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam took residence at Rashtrapati Bhavan [Images], he has been nothing short of inspirational. The man who is synonymous with India's space programme soon became synonymous with India's sense of pride, particularly for its youth.
I love the fact that he is one man you cannot conveniently categorise. After all, how do you slot someone whose favourite pastime includes reading the Bhagvad Gita even though he is a devout Muslim? A remarkable self-made scientist who pens poetry in Tamil and plays the veena in his leisure time? A president who retained his fashionably long locks?
This is what I have learnt from the person I think has been one of India's most interesting leaders in recent times:
1. Humility and modesty
These attributes come naturally to those concerned with causes far greater than personal gain.
India's first attempt at launching the Satellite Launch Vehicle met with failure. At that point, Dr Kalam took responsibility for his colleagues and juniors and became answerable for what went wrong. When the second attempt succeeded and took India into the space age, he stepped aside and let his colleagues take credit for this grand achievement.
Attempting something this selfless requires dedication to the achievement of a larger goal; it is the final goal that matters, not who takes the credit for the achievement.
Over time, I have tried putting a lot more emphasis on the task at hand, and on its flawless execution. Also, in my small way, I look out for people at work or in my personal space, while taking part responsibility for their actions.
Dr Kalam was embarrassed by public acclaim to the extent that that he did not like being called Bharat Ratna Dr Kalam. He even gently reminded the directors at the Defence Research and Development Organisation to not refer to him as Bharat Ratna; he did this by having a circular sent across through the DRDO headquarters that civilian awards cannot be used as titles! This, in today's world, where we mostly see people chasing titles and designations simply to flaunt them to their peers.
In my personal space too, the people I respect the most are the ones who are low-profile in these matters. It is almost immediately endearing when you come across people like these.
2. Respect
Dr Kalam has the utmost respect for everyone he interacts with. He even treats and talks to kids as his equals, and respects their opinions. I know of instances where he refers to professors as 'Professor X' and means it with respect. He attaches great importance to their knowledge and experience; even though he might have achieved a lot than they have, he believes there is a lot to learn from each of them.
Not being judgemental, respecting elders, teachers, professors and looking beyond caste, race, age and colour have taken on a whole new meaning in today's society. Over time, I have realised that the people who respect others the most are the ones who are the most respected.
3. Spirituality
It might surprise a few people that a space scientist can be so spiritual. Dr Kalam recites the Gita and the Quran better than some of the more renowned spiritual 'gurus' of today. He believes in the strength of virtues and values, and the role they play in shaping the youth and society in these times.
A complete vegetarian, a teetotaller and a bachelor, Dr Kalam's spirituality seems to be driven by practicality in a world where these attributes might be frowned upon.
It's clear that he respects other religions, and has done his best to understand them -- something that a lot of us need to imbibe ourselves.
4. Being yourself
The pressures and expectations of the presidential post never got to Dr Kalam. The usual full-sleeved blue shirt, the long grey hair, and various 'Kalam-isms' like 'Fantastic!', 'Funny guys, why did they do that?' and 'What's happening?' have made it to many parts of the Rashtrapati Bhavan. In this case, the person changed the place, rather than the place changing the person.
Situations never changed the person Dr Kalam was. He is disarmingly approachable to students, civilians and politicians.
It is this genuineness that makes us all individuals in the first place. I try keeping that in mind when I get flustered by grand or formal situations. I no longer constantly bother about how I speak or dress, thanks to a lesson from Dr Kalam.
5. Respect for children
Dr Kalam believes that children and the youth of today are magical with their ideas and thoughts. This is the reason he spent so much time meeting school kids and addressing the country's youth. He understands the language of youth and their ambitions, without having the air of superiority that age and experience brings with it so often.
Dr Kalam even extended his scientific expertise to help disabled children by replacing their metal supporters, which weigh three kilos, with carbon-based braces weighing 300 grams.
I think it is this, more than anything else, that makes him seem larger than life to me. The fact that he touched so many lives, and did not stop at just addressing them... He gave so many disabled kids a reason to smile.
Thank you, sir, it is an honour to be a fellow Indian. Those presidential shoes are going to be very hard to fill, to say the least.
In the five years since Dr Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam took residence at Rashtrapati Bhavan [Images], he has been nothing short of inspirational. The man who is synonymous with India's space programme soon became synonymous with India's sense of pride, particularly for its youth.
I love the fact that he is one man you cannot conveniently categorise. After all, how do you slot someone whose favourite pastime includes reading the Bhagvad Gita even though he is a devout Muslim? A remarkable self-made scientist who pens poetry in Tamil and plays the veena in his leisure time? A president who retained his fashionably long locks?
This is what I have learnt from the person I think has been one of India's most interesting leaders in recent times:
1. Humility and modesty
These attributes come naturally to those concerned with causes far greater than personal gain.
India's first attempt at launching the Satellite Launch Vehicle met with failure. At that point, Dr Kalam took responsibility for his colleagues and juniors and became answerable for what went wrong. When the second attempt succeeded and took India into the space age, he stepped aside and let his colleagues take credit for this grand achievement.
Attempting something this selfless requires dedication to the achievement of a larger goal; it is the final goal that matters, not who takes the credit for the achievement.
Over time, I have tried putting a lot more emphasis on the task at hand, and on its flawless execution. Also, in my small way, I look out for people at work or in my personal space, while taking part responsibility for their actions.
Dr Kalam was embarrassed by public acclaim to the extent that that he did not like being called Bharat Ratna Dr Kalam. He even gently reminded the directors at the Defence Research and Development Organisation to not refer to him as Bharat Ratna; he did this by having a circular sent across through the DRDO headquarters that civilian awards cannot be used as titles! This, in today's world, where we mostly see people chasing titles and designations simply to flaunt them to their peers.
In my personal space too, the people I respect the most are the ones who are low-profile in these matters. It is almost immediately endearing when you come across people like these.
2. Respect
Dr Kalam has the utmost respect for everyone he interacts with. He even treats and talks to kids as his equals, and respects their opinions. I know of instances where he refers to professors as 'Professor X' and means it with respect. He attaches great importance to their knowledge and experience; even though he might have achieved a lot than they have, he believes there is a lot to learn from each of them.
Not being judgemental, respecting elders, teachers, professors and looking beyond caste, race, age and colour have taken on a whole new meaning in today's society. Over time, I have realised that the people who respect others the most are the ones who are the most respected.
3. Spirituality
It might surprise a few people that a space scientist can be so spiritual. Dr Kalam recites the Gita and the Quran better than some of the more renowned spiritual 'gurus' of today. He believes in the strength of virtues and values, and the role they play in shaping the youth and society in these times.
A complete vegetarian, a teetotaller and a bachelor, Dr Kalam's spirituality seems to be driven by practicality in a world where these attributes might be frowned upon.
It's clear that he respects other religions, and has done his best to understand them -- something that a lot of us need to imbibe ourselves.
4. Being yourself
The pressures and expectations of the presidential post never got to Dr Kalam. The usual full-sleeved blue shirt, the long grey hair, and various 'Kalam-isms' like 'Fantastic!', 'Funny guys, why did they do that?' and 'What's happening?' have made it to many parts of the Rashtrapati Bhavan. In this case, the person changed the place, rather than the place changing the person.
Situations never changed the person Dr Kalam was. He is disarmingly approachable to students, civilians and politicians.
It is this genuineness that makes us all individuals in the first place. I try keeping that in mind when I get flustered by grand or formal situations. I no longer constantly bother about how I speak or dress, thanks to a lesson from Dr Kalam.
5. Respect for children
Dr Kalam believes that children and the youth of today are magical with their ideas and thoughts. This is the reason he spent so much time meeting school kids and addressing the country's youth. He understands the language of youth and their ambitions, without having the air of superiority that age and experience brings with it so often.
Dr Kalam even extended his scientific expertise to help disabled children by replacing their metal supporters, which weigh three kilos, with carbon-based braces weighing 300 grams.
I think it is this, more than anything else, that makes him seem larger than life to me. The fact that he touched so many lives, and did not stop at just addressing them... He gave so many disabled kids a reason to smile.
Thank you, sir, it is an honour to be a fellow Indian. Those presidential shoes are going to be very hard to fill, to say the least.
JaJah comes to India - Cheap India USA Calls
JaJah has officially started it’s services in India. JaJahIndia.com This is especially targeting the highly competitive & dense India - USA - India call traffic. With phone calls ranged between 7.3 to 7.6 cents per minute, these are one of the lowest rates offered so far. Yes, these are for a promotion which will last till 15th August.
Get this limited time invite for free here: Jajah
BlogCamp Pune aftermath
BlogCamp Pune happened on 16th June 2007
IBNlive ’s Video coverage about the BlogCamp Pune below:
IBNlive ’s Video coverage about the BlogCamp Pune below:
First, hats off to Tarun & Parag for organising this BlogCamp Pune
Shilpa Dhamija’s article in IBNLive was titled:
“Write blogs, earn up to Rs 1 lakh”.
No doubt, Eklavya & Team from WatBlog are doing a great job covering the Internet Advertising and Technology scene in India. However Shilpa’s article would be interpreted by a newbie as an easy way of making fast money. Well, please, please don’t be under this impression. For every blogger who makes 1 lakh per month, there are more than 1000 bloggers who make nothing. [me included]
I just wanted to that straight.
Back to BlogCamp Pune on 16th June. Started off with no WiFi 
So far, the best run down blog coverage, I could find was that by Lokesh Sapre. I would request you to read his post here.
The threads that i sat through were of Purple Nova, Fropper & SMS Gupshup. Presentation on flaming by Melody was appreciated by everyone. A very enthu guy Ashish went about interviewing everyone who participated, I felt that was very ’sweet’, Thank You Ashish !
Umesh from Fropper.com announced in his presentation of EzBlogs that Fropper has an exclusive tie-up with Google for a “One Click installation” of Google Adsense to EzBlogs. Well, I am looking forward for that, as this is an easy way for people to skip all the Google Adsense code configuration. I am sure this would be a hit.
At 5:30 PM, we all assembled in the auditorium & Tarun & Parag sought feedback from everyone.
One of the things which everyone agreed was that at the next BlogCamp in Pune, there would be seperate threads for commercial [sponsors] & unsponsored ones.
Overall, this is a good start, got attention of the media & I am sure several people would consider to start blogging.
Monday, July 23, 2007
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Tendulkar relieved after ton
With the score reading 14 for 3, in pursuit of England [Images] Lions' first innings total of 413, it seemed India was heading towards embarrassment in the three-day tour match. But out walked Sachin Tendulkar [Images] to a huge cheer from the crowd, in anticipation of a top-class innings. And, indeed, he delivered!
The master batsman had done it several times, but on Saturday, again, it was up to him to bail India out of trouble. He did not let his fans down. In fact, he gave them more than they had bargained for.
"Paisa Vasool tha Sachin ka batting [Sachin's innings was worth every penny we spent]," said Inderjeet Singh, an Indian residing in London [Images], who had come to watch the match.
Right from his arrival at the crease, Tendulkar dished out an array of shots on both sides of the wicket. The pace duo of Graham Onions and Stuart Broad were in full steam, having polished off the top order, but they suddenly hit a roadblock in the form of the Mumbai batsman.
Tendulkar admitted that the moment he arrived at the crease he found the middle of the bat and he never looked back.
"Initially we lost a couple of wickets and, then, the moment I went in to bat there was another dismissal; so we were three down with more or less nothing on the board. So it was big responsibility. I thought I would play my game, play some shots, counter attack... and I did," he said.
"I was timing the ball quite well. I had a couple of big sessions in Hove, where I practiced indoors. It helped a lot. I took it one ball at a time," Tendulkar added.
His blazing knock of 171, adding 140 runs for the fifth wicket with Yuvraj Singh [Images] (59) bailed India out of trouble, as the duo treated the crowd to some delightful stroke-play in the last two sessions.
Tendulkar, 34, seemed more relieved at getting to spend some time in the middle, ahead of the first Test at Lord's, starting Thursday.
"I thought after the break in the first match [tour match against Sussex] it was extremely important for me to spend some time, and I got some quality practice and I am very happy about it.
"Till yesterday I was a bit apprehensive; I wanted to go out in the middle and get some match practice. We had some practice sessions, but I wanted to be out there considering the conditions are different. So I am quite relieved that I managed to play more than 200 balls," the right-hander said.
Tendulkar was in red-hot form in the three-match one-day series against Ireland and he said he just carried on the good form.
"Yes, scoring some runs in Ireland [in the one-dayers] did help. The conditions were adverse and the wickets were helpful. The South African attack is also quite good, and in that I managed to score some runs. It did help; it gave me a lot of confidence," he said.
The 34-year-old was in vintage form, hitting 23 boundaries and a six in his 236-ball knock.
"I was not out to make any statement. I wanted to get some practice, and while doing that I shifted gears. Immediately, from the start, I started striking the ball well, so I thought I might as well stay in top gear and keep playing the shots," he said.
He also added that Steve Harmison's absence for the first Test would not make a difference to the Indian team.
"There is no doubt that he is a world-class bowler, but that doesn't mean we can't score runs against him. He is a good bowler but we are also out there to score runs. So it would have been a good contest," Tendulkar said.
The Indian top order is a major worry at the moment with Wasim Jaffer's failure to get going in the three innings he has played in the two tour games. But Tendulkar said the team management is fully backing the opener and confident that he will come good in the Tests.
"It hasn't been great but we have got players who have got runs all around the world. It is a matter of spending time at the wicket and runs will come," he said.
As the crowd left the County Stadium in Chelmsford on Saturday evening, they were thankful to the 'little master' for the superb show they were treated to. Now, all they wish for is another century from him in the first Test at Lord's, a feat he hasn't accomplished at the hallowed ground.
After all, even the honours board, which lists the centurions, at Lord's is dying to get the name of one of the greatest batsmen of the modern era inscribed on it. With this possibly being Tendulkar's last Test series in England, it seems he is not going to let the opportunity slip.
Draggable driving maps, pretty cool. Check it out:
Draggable driving maps, pretty cool. Check it out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_V-7g0LAZI&NR=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_V-7g0LAZI&NR=1
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Aishwarya Rai ranks 9th on the World’s 50 Most Beautiful Women List
She has made the Indians proud again by finding a spot on the most Beautiful Women list and Ash is giving company to Angelina Jolie, who has been rated as the number one on the list.
Ash made it to the 9th Rank in the prestigious list. Surpassing Ash is Hollywood actress Uma Thurman and British Model Kate Moss but, Ash managed to supersede many beautiful and famous faces like Beyonce, who was ranked 12th, Halle Berry 37th and Jennifer Lopez 39th.
Besides Ash, the other Indian to make it to the list is Padma Lakshmi, who made it to the 28th position on the list.
Ash may not have managed to bag a Hollywood movie but, she sure has a reason to celebrate and create ‘Dhoom’ with her ‘Guru’.Courtesy: www.bollywoodblog.com
Muralitharan claims 700th Test wicket
Sri Lanka off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan became the second man in history to claim 700 Test wickets in the third and final match of the series against Bangladesh on Saturday.
The 35-year-old followed his 6-28 figures in the first innings with a further 6-54 in the second to finish with a match haul of 12-82, his 20th 10-wicket haul in Tests.
Muralitharan reached the landmark with the last wicket of the match as Syed Rasel spooned up a catch to Farveez Maharoof at mid off, sparking wild celebrations in the bowler's hometown stadium.
His final wicket dismissed Bangladesh for 176 and secured Sri Lanka a 3-0 whitewash with an innings and 193-run victory.
Muralitharan is chasing Australian Shane Warne's 708 wicket world record tally, a milestone he looks likely to pass during Sri Lanka's two test tour of Australia in November.
A veteran of 113 Tests, Muralitharan needed just 12 matches to go from 600 to 700 wickets.
The spinner's career has been plagued by controversy over the legality of his bowling action after being no-balled for throwing in Melbourne by umpire Darryl Hair in 1995.
Doubts still persist in some quarters, despite extensive biomechanical testing determining his action is legal according to current ICC regulations which permit a 15-degree elbow bend.
Saturday, June 23, 2007
The voice behind Maahiya in Awarapan!
Enough has been said and written about the Pakistani rock sensation Mustafa Zahid who makes his singing debut with Mahesh Bhatt’s forthcoming Awarapan.
However, the Gagan Grewal show on the BBC Asian Network in the UK managed to pin down the 22-year old British-Pakistani singer Annie whose super successful Maahiya track (released 1.5 years back in Pakistan) has also found favour on the soundtrack of Awarapan.
“My dad’s a bit of a joker! He called me from London when I was in Karachi to say that Mahesh Bhatt had heard Maahiya and wanted to include it in Awarapan. I couldn’t believe it for a minute but soon found myself flying down to Mumbai to record the track. Everything happened so fast!” she laughs.
The Maahiya music video, currently on air, has been picturised on Annie along with Emraan Hashmi and sultry model Mrinalini Sharma, who debuts in this film.
Annie also revealed that her real name was Noorul-ann but that everyone called her Annie!
Saturday, June 16, 2007
ISI agent arrested in Hyderabad
The special investigation cell of the Hyderabad city police has arrested an Inter Services Intelligence agent Mohammed Abdul Sattar alias Sattar and seized provocative Urdu literature and VCD on the activities of mujahideen in the name of jihad.
Acting on a tip-off, the commissioner's special investigation cell arrested the accused on Friday near Secunderabad railway station while moving under suspicious circumstances with a travel bag.
On interrogation, he confessed that he had illegally crossed Bangladesh border twice and involved in ISI activities, City Police Commissioner Balwinder Singh said in a statement.
Sattar, a mechanic by occupation and resident of First Lancer locality in Hyderabad, further confessed that he had attended classes run by a local Muslim organization Darsgah-Jihad-o-Shahadath in 2002 and had undergone terrorist training in Pakistan in 2004 through contact with ISI activists under the leadership of Shahed alias Bilal and Fayyaq alias Amer.
He was trained in physical fitness, handling of weapons, firing practice of field machine gun and light machine gun, pistol, grenade lobbing, prepation of explosives for about two and a half months.
During his stay for the second time in Bangladesh, he learnt to prepare bombs with the latest technology. Shahed alias Bilal handed over jihadi literature and VCDs on mujahideen activities with instructions to recruit youth for training in Pakistan and to motivate them for jihadi activities. He returned back to Hyderabad to carry out ISI activities.
The accused was earlier involved in an attempt to murder case in 2005 at Rajendranagar police station in Cyberabad.
The Hyderabad police registered a case against him in the instant case under Sections 120 (B), 125 and 126 of the Indian Penal Code. The accused was produced before a magistrate on Saturday. He was remanded him to judicial custody for 15 days.
Curiously, the police statement nowhere mentioned that he was linked to the bomb blast in Mecca Masjid during Friday prayers on May 18 in which five worshippers were killed and 58 others injured.
It may be recalled that the special investigation cell was formed by the city police to investigate the Mecca Masjid bomb blast case. The CBI has also begun its probe into the incident.
Courtesy : rediff.com
Samosas, hot bath and NASA honour for Sunita Williams
Ahead of her expected homecoming next week, more than six months after she left earth for her sojourn 250 miles up in the sky, Sunita Williams' family eagerly awaits the big day.
As of Thursday, June 14, Williams was slated to return to earth on June 21 on the space shuttle Atlantis, that took off last week to bring back Williams from the International Space Station [Images], where she has been based.
However, computer glitches on the ISS delayed the return by three days. But that has not discouraged her family as they prepare to welcome her home.
At her parents' home in Falmouth, Massachusetts, where Sunita grew up and visits often, her mother Bonnie Pandya has been looking at the many photographs of her "little Suni" in the family living room, as she has done many times these last six months.
Bonnie Pandya plans to cook her youngest child's favourite dishes when Suni -- as her family calls the astronaut -- comes home in Falmouth, hopefully in August.
"It is great to know she is coming back after so many months. I am very excited and looking forward to seeing my child," Bonnie Pandya told rediff.com
As always, Gorby, the Jack Russell terrier named after former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachov, is getting special attention. Sunita left her dog with her parents when she went into space.
"We are putting together an album of the hundred and one things that Gorby did while she was away," says Bonnie Pandya. "I have taken a lot of pictures of what he has been doing. It may sound funny to other people, but Suni, as you know, likes him a lot."
These last six months the Pandyas have been sending Sunita information about Gorby. "You know how attached she is to him," her mother said.
Dina Pandya, Sunita's elder sister, will travel to Houston to meet the astronaut. She will take Gorby along with her; Sunita is expected to travel to Houston a few weeks after she lands on Earth.
Dina plans to take some home-made food for her sister. "Maybe, some samosas and other stuff, a combination of Indian and other food," she said. Sunita loves samosas. "I would like to smuggle some samosas into space. I love samosas. They are my favourites. My husband also makes them at times," Sunita had told this correspondent last year.
In honour of her record stint in space -- 188 days and four hours to be precise -- her colleagues at NASA's [Images] Johnson Space Centre will wear red. Red is the colour of her favourite baseball team, Boston's Red Sox.
The day she returns is "being christened Sunita Williams Day at NASA," Dina Pandya added.
There is one downside to Sunita's homecoming.
Barring her husband Michael Williams, an FBI agent, no one else is allowed to travel to the landing area in Florida [Images] or California, where Atlantis may land, depending on the weather on the day she returns.
"I am not going to Florida. Suni will come home in August. They (NASA) do not allow us to be near someone who has stayed in space for so long," Bonnie Pandya said. "Mike (Sunita's husband) is the only one who can see her close, although he too will be behind a glass wall."
The other astronauts on the Atlantis can leave after the shuttle lands. Not Sunita. "She will be carried off and put in rehab. That is why we are not planning to go to Florida," her mother said.
"Suni is thrilled about coming home," her mother added. "She loves New England [Images]. She wants to take Gorby to the ocean, go up to New Hampshire, have cups of coffee, take a nice hot bath and wash our hair really good. We are doing that."
Sunita sets record, Atlantis cleared for re-entry
Indian-American astronaut Sunita Williams on Saturday added yet another feather to her cap by setting a new world record for the longest uninterrupted space flight by a woman and is now poised to return home next week after NASA [Images] cleared the space shuttle Atlantis' thermal protection system for re-entry to earth's atmosphere.
Indian-American astronaut Sunita Williams on Saturday added yet another feather to her cap by setting a new world record for the longest uninterrupted space flight by a woman.
"Early this morning, Mission Specialist Sunita Williams set the record for the longest-duration single spaceflight by a woman," NASA said in a statement.
Williams, who began her spaceflight in December 10, 2006, broke the 188-day, four-hour mark at 1113 IST set by Shannon Lucid in 1996 on a mission to the Russian Mir space station.
Earlier this year, she broke the record for most spacewalk time by a woman by logging 29 hours and 17 minutes in four spacewalks.
The record for most spacewalk time by a woman was held by astronaut Kathryn Thornton.
In April, she also became the first astronaut to run a marathon in orbit.
Williams' feat was followed by a good news when the Mission Control Centre in Houston told the shuttle crew that Atlantis' thermal protection system is cleared for re-entry.
The astronauts got the news while they were transferring cargo between Atlantis and the International Space Station [Images], NASA said.
The heat shield was cleared after Mission Specialist Danny Olivas repaired a protruding thermal blanket on one of Atlantis' orbital maneuvering system pods during a spacewalk.
Atlantis is scheduled to leave the station on Tuesday and land on Thursday, the agency said.
Now set to return home, Williams, being congratulated by the Mission Control for her record, said, "It's just that I'm in the right place at the right time."
"It's just an honour to be up here. Even when the station has little problems, it's just a beautiful, wonderful place to live," she said.
Russian cosmonauts began turning back on some crucial systems that had been shut down more than four days ago when a computer system on the Russian side of the ISS crashed.
NASA said efforts to bring the Russian navigation computers back to full operation will continue on Saturday.
On Friday, "Russian flight controllers and the station crew were able to power-up two lanes of the Russian central computer and two lanes of the terminal computer by using a jumper cable to bypass a faulty secondary power switch.
Flight controllers began sending commands overnight to restart some systems. The central computer is now communicating with the US command and control computer, and the terminal computer is communicating with US navigation computers. The plan calls for more system restarts today," the space agency said.
NASA officials said the crew was never in danger of running out of oxygen, power or essentials.
The computer glitch had added to the NASA's concerns about the space shuttle's heat shield.
The agency had been cautious about the shuttles' thermal protection systems since the Columbia accident killed seven astronauts, including Indian-origin Kalpana Chawla in 2003.
Foam from the shuttle's external tank came loose during launch, striking Columbia's wing and allowing fiery gases to penetrate it during re-entry.
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Mittal eyes an English football club
After the successful take over of French steel company Arcelor, the world's richest Indian, Laxmi Mittal, is eyeing another grand acquisition. This time it is in the field of sport.
The 'Iron Man of India' has emerged a contender to buy English Premiership football club Birmingham City after making an initial inquiry, The Daily Telegraph reported on Wednesday.
The 56-year-old Mittal, at 19.25-billion-pounds twice as rich as Roman Abramovich, the Russian millionaire owner of Chelsea, is yet to follow up on his preliminary inquiry, the newspaper said.
Besides Mittal, a London-based NRI, another unnamed business magnate from the Far East is also said to be interested in the club and likely to make a formal bid later this week.
David Sullivan and David and Ralph Gold, owners of Birmingham, which caused a flutter by getting promoted to the top league of the competition, are looking to sell the club and would be glad to finish with a speedy handover.
Besides Chelsea, Manchester United, Liverpool, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur are the other English Premiership clubs that have been bought over by business tycoons in recent years.
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Graham Ford new Team India coach
South African Graham Ford was on Saturday appointed as India's cricket coach for a one-year period.
"The seven-member Special Committee headed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India President Sharad Pawar [Images] has decided to appoint for as the Indian team coach initially for one year," Board Treasurer N Srinivasan told media persons in Chennai.
Ford's appointment came after a marathon two-hour meeting of the special committee, which also interviewed former England [Images] spinner John Emburey.
"Ford will intimate the BCCI before its working committee meeting in Delhi on June 12 as to when he would be able to join the team," Srinivasan said.
"No ratification (of the committee's decision) is necessary as Board president himself was the chairman of the committee," he said.
Ford, 46, was the coach of the South African team between 1999 and 2002, having taken over from the late Bob Woolmer [Images].
He then joined Kent County Club in 2004 as director of coaching where he has a contract running till 2008.
The special committee had earlier invited Ford and Emburey to make a presentation after its June 4 meeting in Bangalore when it also rejected an application by former Sri Lankan and Bangladesh coach Dav Whatmore.
Ford had an edge over Emburey as he was the favourite among the senior members of the Indian team.
"The seven-member Special Committee headed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India President Sharad Pawar [Images] has decided to appoint for as the Indian team coach initially for one year," Board Treasurer N Srinivasan told media persons in Chennai.
Ford's appointment came after a marathon two-hour meeting of the special committee, which also interviewed former England [Images] spinner John Emburey.
"Ford will intimate the BCCI before its working committee meeting in Delhi on June 12 as to when he would be able to join the team," Srinivasan said.
"No ratification (of the committee's decision) is necessary as Board president himself was the chairman of the committee," he said.
Ford, 46, was the coach of the South African team between 1999 and 2002, having taken over from the late Bob Woolmer [Images].
He then joined Kent County Club in 2004 as director of coaching where he has a contract running till 2008.
The special committee had earlier invited Ford and Emburey to make a presentation after its June 4 meeting in Bangalore when it also rejected an application by former Sri Lankan and Bangladesh coach Dav Whatmore.
Ford had an edge over Emburey as he was the favourite among the senior members of the Indian team.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Vizag: Maoists blast main hydel power control room
In a daring attack, Maoists blasted the main control room of Donkarayi canal hydel power station in Visakhapatnam district late on Tuesday night.
According to sources, a group of 50 Maoists raided the power house located near the earthen dyke of the left flank of Donkarayi dam at the inlet of the power canal. They asked the AP Genco employees posted at the power house to leave the place and later blasted the main control room with explosives, thereby plunging parts of Visakhapatnam port city into darkness.
The power house, commissioned in 1983, has an installed capacity of 25 megawatts and generates half a million units of power every day. The damage to the power station due to the Maoist blast is being assessed.
The attack on the power house comes barely 24 hours after Maoists shot dead Visakhapatnam Zilla parishad vice-chairman T Ravi Shankar of the Congress during a jatra at his native Hukumpeta village in the tribal belt of Visakhapatnam district on Monday night. A group of 30 Maoists from Pedabayulu dalam (armed squad) had entered the village raising slogans and went to his house and shot him at point blank range.
The twin attacks came at the end of the "protest week" organized by Maoists against the proposed bauxite mining project. The police had sounded a red alert in all the agency (tribal) areas and deployed teams to track down the Maoists who had threatened to launch three-pronged attacks on politicians, police personnel and public property.
Courtesy : rediff.com
Land allotment case: Big B's fate in balance
A Faizabad court on Tuesday reserved the judgment in the alleged fraudulent allotment of government-owned agricultural land in Uttar Pradesh to actor Amitabh Bachchan by the Mulayam Singh Yadav government.
The case that has drawn much media attention over the past few days was listed for final hearing before Additional Commissioner Vidya Sagar.
After hearing the arguments and looking into the relevant documents, Sagar ruled at the end of the day: "The judgment stands reserved until May 31." He, however, did not give any reason.
Bachchan had received about 70,000 square feet of land in Barabanki, 35 km from Lucknow. What went against him was the blatant misrepresentation of facts to become and the way he used the allotment as a testimonial to establish his credentials as a 'farmer' in Maharashtra.
Sources said that the entire exercise was carried out at the behest of Bachchan's close friend and Mulayam's aide Amar Singh to enable the superstar to purchase a farmland in Maharashtra, where the rules do not permit the ownership of agricultural land by anyone other than a farmer.
It was a query by the Pune district collector in March 2006 to the Barabanki district magistrate seeking the authentication of the UP testimonial that exposed Bachchan.
The then Barabanki district magistrate Ashish Goel cancelled the allotment on the ground that the land revenue records had been fudged. Goel naturally earned the state government's wrath and was given the marching orders within a few days. He was replaced by a more pliable Ram Shankar Sahu, who agreed to sign on the dotted line.
However, since Goel's objections had become a part of the official records which could not have been destroyed, Sahu could not do much besides staying his predecessor's order and that too only "till further orders."
Since this did not end Bachchan's woes and worries about his 'farmer' status in Maharashtra where he has already bought a plush farmhouse, he sought a review of the DM's order by the commissioner, hoping to get the land clearly restored in his name. But with the elections announced and major bureaucratic changes affected by the Election Commission, Bachchan could not have his way.
The allotment, purported to have been made way back in 1983 was actually alleged to have been made by manipulating the land revenue records during the Mulayam regime, when Amitabh was also appointed the state's brand Ambassador.
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Shah Rukh Khan to play a cameo in 'Jhoom Barabar Jhoom'
Yashraj Films has announced that Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan will play a cameo role in their film Jhoom Barabar Jhoom .
But it is being kept under wraps as to what part SRK will play in the film that stars Abhishek Bachchan , Bobby Deol , Preity Zinta and Lara Dutta and has an extended special appearance by Bollywood mega superstar Amitabh Bachchan .
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A Yashraj Films source said, "It is not clear what part SRK will play as Aditya Chopra keeps his cards close to his chest. But he will definitely be a part of the film!
SRK has been associated with the production house for a long while and he would never say no to Aditya."
The promos of the soon-to-be-released film already show Big B playing a special role in the film inspired by Johny Depp's character in the Pirates of the Caribbean series.
The promos for the film show Bachchan wearing multi-coloured patchwork long coat, a hat adorned with ribbons, flowers and feathers and beaded hair in the vein of The Pied Piper.
Abhishek too sports a new look in the film as far as facial foliage goes. His customary stubble has been replaced with by a tweaked moustache.
Bobby will also don different looks in the film. Some scenes have him in straight black hair. Others have him sporting long, blondish hair.
'Jhoom Barabar Jhoom' is directed by Shaad Ali who has also made successful films like Saathiya and Bunty Aur Babli .
'Jhoom Barabar Jhoom' is mostly set in England and France and is slated to release on June 15.
SRK will Rock this time in "Chak de India"
One man mentoring a hockey team of young and feisty girls. Their determination, ambition and skills are put to test in an ultimate contest with the world’s top teams. For the girls it is a chance to make their nation proud. For their coach it is a chance to reclaim his lost honour.
‘Chak De India’ is a film about the human spirit to fight and persevere. It is directed by Shimit Amin (who made the hard-hitting ‘Ab Tak Chhappan’) and it stars Shah Rukh Khan in the lead role as the coach of Indian girls’ hockey team.
The film’s story revolves around a coach who returns to the game seven years after he was disgracefully ousted from it as a player. Vidya Malvade plays a Sikh girl with a strong passion for hockey. She wants to join the Indian team but her conservative parents are against it.
Not all is hunky dory when SRK takes over as the coach of the girl’s team. However, he coaches the girls and they then go to Australia to play the women's hockey World Cup where their grit, determination and integrity is tested.
‘Chak De India’ has been shot at various locations in Australia, including Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. While shooting in stadiums, the movie’s producers Yashraj Films gave out invitations to people to come and watch the shooting from the stadium seats. This way they managed to gather in the stadium huge crowds that served the movie’s purpose well.
‘Chak De India’ has music by Salim-Suleiman. The screenplay is by Jaideep Sahni while the costumes are by Mandira Shukla.
The film is slated to release in August this year.
Courtesy : www.apunkachoice.com
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