News Bits

Celina Jaitely Party Rocks!! Celina Jaitely hosted a party to welcome her close friend from London. And truly her party rocked at her terrace apartment till wee hours of the morning. Subhas Ghai, Ritesh Deshmukh, Sangeet siwan , Javed Jaaferi were amongst others who celebrated with her. Celina Jaitely incidentally has been on a brand endorsement spree. Recently she was signed to be the brand ambassador for Egypt, the land of the Pharaohs and Nile. Beside Celina has also signed to endorse a Mineral Water brand as well as a Saree brand. Looks like the party never ends for Celina!!

Former Assam DGP passes away Jnanananda Sharma Pathak, who retired as the DGP of Assam died today after a heart attack. Pathak is one of the best known poets of Assam and has published quite a few books. He was the first IPS officer from Assam. He had chosen IPS despite being selected for IAS. This was because of his desire to serve the state. Pathak, ex student of BHU was gold meddalist from his university. A link to Assam tribune: http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/details.asp?id=feb2707/at05

ULFA – WHAT IT WAS AND WHAT IT IS NOW A look into Assam’s worst problem ever The ULFA is been in much news of late. First a number of blasts across the Assam and then finally lifting ban they had imposed on the National Games (wonder who are they to ban). I thought this could be a time to talk about Assam’s worst ever problem. The why and whats. Before talking about the ULFA we should know something about Assam. Assam lies on the northeastern part of India. It is a state known for its tea- approximately 55.5% of the total tea production of India is from Assam. It is also rich in oil and is lush green with Kaziranga National Park famous for its population of one-horned rhino -also a world heritage site, and the Manas sanctuary famous for its golden langur which not found anywhere else in the world, situated in this state. Assam was once a large and rich state but now remains a shadow if its former self after being divided into several sates. Right now its economy is down in the dumps wi...

Finally they declare it ! Yes...they have declared it. It is official now. Abhisek Bachchan has propsed Aishwariya Rai right after the Guru premiere. They are now officially engaged. This must be one news the whole nation was waiting for. The Banaras visit a mont back had sent the media and the junta into a tizzy speculating a marriage. They didnt mayy then but something surely happened.

The US has said it - al Qaeda leader are in Pakistan al-Qaeda's leaders hiding in in Pakistan trying to get their basics right the U.S. intelligence chief John Negroponte said yesterday. This is an unusually direct statement from the US who has always maintained that the terrorists are holed up somewhere in the Pakisstan-Afghanistan border. The al Qaeda is accused of the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington that killed about 3,000 people in 2001. Reports from the Agencies

No to ULFA 95 per cent people said ‘NO’ to ULFA claim of sovereignty of Assam in a recent survey. The survey conducted in 9 districts of the state was undertaken APW - by an organization run by kins of ULFA militants. The districts included in the survey are Bongaigaon, Sonitpur, Nalbari, Goalpara, Guwahati (metro), Dhubri, Darrang, Lakhimpur, Dhemaji and Nalbari. The survey will be extended to other districts of the state soon. ULFA chairman Arabindo Rajkhowa has however rejected the survey and described the APW as a body "comprising agents of RAW and IB (that) functioned at the behest of the Indian machinery". ULFA's insistence on making sovereignty the core issue for any talks with the government is one of the reasons that have stalled the peace process in Assam. The Centre has already rejected the demand. Interestingly, the banned outfit stepped up its activities around the same time the result of the survey was declared. 17 people were killed in a series of attacks a...

Power Cut! Despite the state facing an acute shortage our politicians are still shying away from bold decisions that are needed to counter it. Like the previous leaders, Chief Minister Kumaraswami and Deputy Chief Minister Yeddiruppa also have not done anything tosolve this problem. They are not denying power shortage however. They admit that the need of the state is 140 million units per day against the current production of 115 million units. Buying power from our neighbouring states at Rs 250 crore per month is deemed too costly an option which leaves with just one option – the tried and tested load shedding. But this could be an even bitter option as it might cost them popularity especially among the farmers. And the local body elections are round the corner. Hence rather than an attempt to solve the problem, escapism seems to be the mantra. At least till the elections are over.

Ceasefire against DMD extended The four-year old cease fire with the. Dima Halam Daogah has been extended by another year. “The suspension of operations agreement between the security forces and Dima Halam Daogah (DHD), a militant outfit operating in Assam, has been extended for a period of one year up to December 31, 2007," said a home ministry release DHD primarily comprises Dimasa tribe, a dominant population in North Cachar (NC) Hills district, while Karbis are in majority in the adjoining Karbi-Anglong district. Both the districts have a sizeable presence of other tribes like Kukis, Hamars and Khasis

Ramdev’s cure for cancer Controversy is the food for Ramday, and he continues to strive on it when he claimed Yoga can cure cancer. Ramdev on Monday claimed that regular practice of seven breathing exercises or 'pranayams' had successfully cured cancer within six to nine months. “Cancer of the breast, liver, prostate, uterus, pituitary gland, brain tumours and even leukaemia, can be cured by practising the seven breathing exercises," he claimed. He said his claims were based on documentation and hundreds of patients have benefited, He also prescribed some medicines "Some other ingredients like wheat grass juice and those derived from neem and tulsi leaves are also administered to patients alongside the breathing exercises." Said Ramdev. Lending his belif to allopathy he said it and was needed in emergencies, but they should come only after Yoga, which has proven benefits. "Otherwise, the health department should be renamed as allopathy department and the hea...

Pop Singer Raageshwari back with new album After a six-year hiatus which included recovery from a facial pralysis, Pop sensation Raageswari is back with her new album Sagari Rayn. The Lyrics and music has been given by her father Trilok Singh Loomba nad the videos are directed by Risabh Loomba, her brother This album will see raageshwari in a slightly different mode as the songs are a bit more on the classical notes. Raageswari has been training in classical musci of late.

Sunidhi Chauhan to sing at Asian Games After leading the nation carzy with Bidi jalai le and Crazy kiya re, Sunidhi now seems set to rock the world as she has ben invited to perform at the opening ceremony of the Doha Asian Games. She is the only Indian and one aomng three singers chosen to sing at the ceremony. Sunidhi, who had since her childhood been more inclined toward music than sports is excited about the performance. The song she wil be singing is English and has been composed a reputed Australian musican .

Mixed news for Sanjay Dutta Not booked under TADA Convicted uner Arms act and Destruction of Evidence.

Salman gets gaming You better get click fast and without Salman seeing you…if he sees you his dogs will be set at you and they will take of 10 pounds per bite from your body. Well I am talking about the new game Puppy razzi that Salman has inaugurated and people can play it on Zapak. Com, a segment of Reliance Etertainment. Salman has tied up with Zapak.com, which is stated as the largest online gaming company in the country to conceptualize games. Salman said there are more games coming up, on the lines of action, romance etc. Stating that gaming is the next big industry, COO of Zapak Rohit Sharma said that the site would have a revenue model based on advertisements and would later shift to revenue from downloads and subscriptions.

Joymoti screened at IFFI Manju Borah's Joymoti was screened at the IFFI yesterday following other inaugaral films. Joymoti is new version of the first assamese film by the same name directed by the Jyoti Prasad Agarwala, which was released 70 years ago. However, there are changes from the original film and also from play Joymoti Kuwori by Lakshminath Bezbaruah. This film, stated to be of international standards, captures Asom's scenery and also the politics of the period. The film is shot in cinemascops and Digital Dolby sound is used, making it the first assamese film to do so. Neeta Basumatery has enacted the role of Joymoti in the new film. The original film had Aideu Handique as Joymoti. The IFFI was inagaurated day before yesterday i.e. November 23. The first film to be screened was Volver, by Spanish filmmaker Padro Almodovar.

Nepal King to be powerless The ruling party and Maoists today signed an peace agreement, agreeing to bring to an end a 11-year conflict and also stip the King of all his powers. The royal property will be nationalised. As per teh agreement, the constituent assembly election will be held in June 2007.

AB Corp Ltd ventures into stage plays For play lovers this should be a news to cheer as AB Corp Ltd has ventured into production of plays. Their debut play Lali-Lila is set to be premeired on 19 Nov, in Sophie Hall, Mumbai. The play is the Hindi adaptation of a popular Gurjati play, and tells the tale of two girls - siamese twins joint at the hip. The play is highligted with splendid performances, which was evident from the appreciation of the crowd present during the Grand Rehearsal on 16 Nov.

Chota Rajan aide killed in encounter Mumbai 11: Last night Mumbai police shot down a gangster allegedly belonging to the Chota Rajan group after a tipp off from an informer. Ram Nayaran alias Lakhan Bhaiya was shot down after he did not respond to the police's warning to surrender. Lakhan Bhaiya had replaced Rajan's close aide Rohan Verma after the later was killed. The police recovered a country-made revolver from the dead. However the poice had no idea what the gangster was upto. Lakhan Bhaiya has been wanted for various crimes.

Rs 3100 cr for Guwahati facelift Guwahati is set for a major facelift after the central government apporved to release Rs 3100 crore for the purpose. The areas for development under the project include water supply, drainage, sewerage, road, transport, etc. At a press conference on Friday, the Minister for Guwahati Development, Himanta Biswa Sarma affirmed that the departments concerned had already been asked to prepare detailed project reports (DPRs) for submission to the Centre, with the DPR for solid waste management already being ready. A major chunk of the money is expected to be used for water supply in the city. The funds from the central government are expected to cover 90 per cent of the total expenditure towards the revamp while the reming amount is to be contributed by the state. For more reports log on to http://assamtribune.com/ ©.

Unnayan : A dream to be made true

The planet Pluto has been demoted to "small solar system bodies" like other comets by the International Astronomical Union as it doesn't satisfy the defination of a planet. This announcement came after a week when two more planets were discovered taking the total number of planets to 12. The tenth was discovered more than three years ago. However yesterday's declaration left the solar system with only eight planets. For now, membership will be restricted to the eight “classical” planets in the solar system: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Pluto has been disqualified under the new rules for a planet which says, “a celestial body that is in orbit around the sun, has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a ... nearly round shape, and has cleared the neighborhood around its orbit.” Pluto's orbit overlaps the orbit of Neptune.