20 celebs make it to Limca Book Of Records

As India's film industry celebrates its centenary year, Limca Book of Records has come out with a special Cinema edition this year. The records book has selected 20 People of the Year from the field of Indian Cinema and will have a grand launch and felicitation ceremony in Delhi on Wednesday, April 10.
The 24th edition of Limca Book of Records is an Indian cinema special, keeping in mind the celebrations for the 100 years of Indian Cinema this year.
To commemorate this landmark year, all the Limca Book of Records People of the Year 2013 are from the field of Cinema. The names include: Mani Ratnam, Aparna Sen Mira Nair, Jahnu Barua, K Vishwanath, Shabana Azmi, Bhanu Athaiya, Kajol, Vidya Balan, Tabu, Kamal Haasan, Naseeruddin Shah, Ranbir Kapoor, V K Murthy, Santosh Sivan, Prabhudeva, A Sreekar Prasad, Gulzar, Adoor Gopalakrishnan and Mike Pandey.
On being included in the list actor Tabu remarks, "I think it's fantastic to be one among the 20 people who are part of this list. It's a people's industry and any kind of acknowledgement that comes from the public is good. It's a matter of great pride to be part of this glorious celebration of Indian cinema and even though my contribution to it is very small, the fact that Limca Book Of Records considers it significant to be included in its special cinema edition makes me smile."
Limca Book of Records is a yearly publication that has been going strong for the last 24 years. It covers records in various fields ranging from agriculture, literature and education, to music, communication, medical science, transport and media and communications among others.

Rajiv Gandhi 'worked' as middleman in aircraft deal: WikiLeaks

NEW DELHI: In a latest WikiLeaks revelations, former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi may have acted as a middleman for Swedish company Saab-Scania, which had tried to sell its Viggen fighter aircraft to India in the 1970s.

Saab-Scania eventually could not seal the deal, which went to British SEPECAT Jaguar. This was several months much before Rajiv Gandhi became PM, during his years as an Indian Airlines pilot.

According to a report published in The Hindu, Rajiv was considered to be a valuable negotiator because of his family connections, states the paper, citing the Kissinger Cables, the latest bunch of classified cables of the US administration released by WikiLeaks.

WikiLeaks sent shockwaves around the diplomatic world in 2010 when it released a set of more than 250,000 leaked US cables.

Meanwhile, the main opposition party BJP has slammed the ruling Congress over the fresh WikiLeaks allegations involving Rajiv Gandhi.

Vijay Mallya gets Rs 1.5 crore pay from US, UK firms

WASHINGTON: Liquor baron Vijay Mallya has got a total remuneration of about Rs 1.5 crore from two overseas companies for the year 2012, as the amount remained unchanged from the previous year.

The total remuneration of $263,700 (about Rs 1.47 crore) for 2012 included $1,20,000 for services rendered as Chairman of a company called Mendocino Brewing Company, the US-listed firm has disclosed in a regulatory filing here.

Besides, Mallya was paid 89,600 British pounds (about $143,700) by Mendocino's wholly-owned subsidiary, United Breweries International ( UK) Ltd for promoting its "products in the foreign territory outside the United Kingdom".

Mendocino, in which India-listed United Breweries Holdings LtdBSE -4.92 % has 68.1 per cent stake and another group firm United Breweries of America has 24.5 per cent stake, has got exclusive licence to brew and distribute Kingfisher Premium Lager beer in certain foreign markets.

The company operates in the US, Canada and various European markets and has Mallya as its Chairman. Its main shareholder UB Holdings Ltd (UBHL) is the holding company of all the listed entities of Mallya-led UB group in India.

As non-executive Chairman of UBHL, Mallya was paid total sitting fees of Rs 1.4 lakh in the fiscal 2011-12, the latest year for which the information has been disclosed as yet.

The UB group is facing difficulties at its aviation venture Kingfisher AirlinesBSE -0.62 % for quite some time and it has been grounded since October 2012, primarily due to mounting debt and losses, as also non-payment of staff salaries.

The lenders of Kingfisher have been asking the promoters to infuse their own funds into the business, but no headway has been made despite numerous rounds of negotiations and the banks have now begun the process of recovering their loans.

Incidentally, Mendocino also disclosed in its filing with the US regulator, the Securities and Exchange Commission ( SEC) that it has been given a "letter of financial support" from UBHL, wherein it has been promised funding on an "as needed basis" to Kingfisher Beer Europe Limited (KBEL).

KBEL is a wholly-owned subsidiary of UB International (UK) Ltd, which is a 100-per cent subsidiary of Mendocino.

"On March 22, 2013, United Breweries (Holdings) Limited issued a letter of financial support on behalf of KBEL, to KBEL's accountants, to confirm that UBHL had agreed to provide funding on an as needed basis to KBEL to ensure that KBEL is able to meet its financial obligations as and when they fall due," Mendocino said.

This Letter of Support would be available till at least March 22, 2014. "If it becomes necessary to seek UBHL's financial assistance under the Letter of Support and UBHL is either unable or unwilling to fulfil its commitment to KBEL, or to extend the time period of such commitment, it may result in a material adverse effect on KBEL's, UBIUK's and our financial position and on our ability to continue operations," it added.

UK eases immigration rules for overseas graduates to attract best talent

LONDON: Britain today eased immigration rules for a section of foreign students, including Indians, who wish to stay and work in the country, in a bid to attract the "brightest and the best" global talent.

The Home Office has announced a series of reforms which came into force today to encourage the "brightest and the best to come to the UK".

Changes to the " Graduate Entrepreneur Programme" will allow up to 1,000 international graduates with masters degrees in business administration to stay on in Britain to work for 12 months after they finish their course.

All graduate students who now complete a PhD will also be allowed to stay in Britain for a further year to find skilled work or set up as an entrepreneur.

"We are building an immigration system which works in the national interest, supporting the UK economy by continuing to attract the brightest and the best global talent, at the same time as protecting our public services and taking a robust approach against those who want to come to the UK simply to exploit our welfare system," immigration minister Mark Harper said in reference to the reforms.

The new rules follow ongoing criticism over tougher student visa norms putting off foreign students from applying to study in Britain.

The number of students coming from India to study at UK universities registered a fall of nearly 23.5 per cent last year, including a 28 per cent drop at post-graduate level.

It had led to calls to UK home secretary Theresa May to ease restrictions on the post-study work programme that had previously allowed them to stay on and work in the country for two years after their degree.

May had also been under increasing pressure from the business community in Britain, including Cabinet colleague and business secretary Vince Cable, over stringent visa norms for international entrepreneurs and professionals.

As part of the new regulations, the Home Office also moved to scrap an English test for senior business executives who come on intra-company transfers and earn more than 152,100 pounds a year and want to extend their time in Britain.

Russian frigate built for India begins final trials

MOSCOW: The final trials of the last in a series of three frigates that will be handed over to India in June have begun in the Baltic Sea, a Russian official has said.

The frigate that Russia is building for India at the Yantar shipyard in the Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad has started final trials, shipyard spokesman spokesman Sergei Mikhailov said yesterday.

The Trikand frigate carried out workup trials on March 14 and was cleared for final state trials on April 4, Mikhailov said, adding the trials will last through the end of April.

The frigate is due to be handed over to the Indian Navy this June, Mikhailov was quoted by RIA Novosti as saying.

The first frigate, INS Teg, joined the Indian Navy on April 27, 2012, and the second, The Tarkash, arrived at the port of Mumbai in India on December 30, 2012.

Russia and India signed a $ 1.6 billion contract on the construction of three modified Krivak III class (also known as Talwar class) guided missile frigates for India in 2006.

The frigates are each armed with eight BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles.

They are also equipped with a 100-mm gun, a Shtil surface-to-air missile system, two Kashtan air-defense gun/missile systems, two twin 533-mm torpedo launchers and an antisubmarine warfare (ASW) helicopter.

Obama apologises to Kamala Harris after furore over his comments

US President Barack Obama has apologized to Kamala Harris, the California Attorney general, for his comment in which he described the Indian-American as the best-looking attorney general of America - which many here alleged was a sexist remark.

Obama called Harris last night to "apologise" for both his "remarks" and the "distraction" that it caused for one of the brilliant attorney generals of the country, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters.

"The president did speak with Attorney General Harris last night after he came back from his trip, and he called her to apologise for the distraction created by his comments. And you know, they are old friends and good friends, and he did not want in any way to diminish the attorney general's professional accomplishments and her capabilities," Carney said.

He was responding to questions on the comments made by Obama on Harris at a Democratic fund raiser in California wherein he praised 48-year-old Harris.

"She is brilliant and she is dedicated and she is tough, and she is exactly what you'd want in anybody who is administering the law, and making sure that everybody is getting a fair shake," Obama said praising Harris, who is the first women and first Indian-American to be elected as the Attorney General of California.

"She also happens to be by far the best-looking attorney general in the country -- Kamala Harris is here," Obama had said amidst applause. "It's true. Come on," he said amidst laughter.

"She is a great friend and has just been a great supporter for many, many years," said the US President, which soon became a buzzword on the social media and a point for criticising Obama.

"I think I made clear he apologized for creating this distraction and believes very strongly that Attorney General Harris is an excellent attorney general and that she's done great work, and she's dedicated and tough and brilliant," Carney said.

"I would note that he called her, in those same comments, brilliant, dedicated and tough, and she is all those things.

She has been a remarkably effective leader as attorney general. She is a key player in the mortgage settlement, which will help many, many middle-class families who are struggling to deal with the mortgage situation in this country.

He believes and fully recognises that the challenges women -- or he fully recognises the challenge women continue to face in the workplace and that they should not be judged based on appearance," Carney said.

Daughter of an Indian mother Dr Shyamala Gopalan - a breast cancer specialist who emigrated from Chennai, to the United States in 1960 - and a Jamaican American father, Harris is the first female, African-American, and Asian American attorney general in California, as well as the first ethnic Indian American attorney general in the United States.

According to Politico, certainly, Obama meant no insult, but in singling out Harris for her looks, Obama joins a long list of public figures who just can't seem to let an attractive woman's looks go without comment.

Last year, Republican attorney general candidate David Freed said Democratic opponent Kathleen Kane's strengths were that she's "pretty and has a lot of money," according to Pennsylvania's Daily Review.

Obama came under some fire back in 2008 when he referred to a female reporter as "sweetie" and told her to hold a question for a press availability, the ABC news reported

Satire: Nitish panics at the mention of high growth in Bihar

 

Just as Gujarat CM Narendra Modi is allergic to questions regarding the 2002 Gujarat riots, any references to Bihar's prosperity and economic development seem to get under the skin of Nitish Kumar, his rival for the nation's top job.

The Bihar CM, who has been demanding special status for Bihar from the Centre, recently walked out of a press meet in Patna in a huff after one of the scribes repeatedly highlighted Bihar's prosperity and advancement.

Nitish was waxing eloquent on why Bihar is extremely backward when, much to his chagrin, Mihir Jha, a reporter from Patna Times, flagged 'feel good' news such as the high growth rate, improvement in law and order, and enhancement of public infrastructure achieved under the JD(U) regime. Nitish at first ignored the pesky reporter but when he kept pressing the issue, the Bihar CM lost his cool and stormed out.

"Here I am breaking my back trying to explain in all earnestness how much Bihar sucks and this dude comes along and makes highly provocative statements like this. All my hard work on showcasing Bihar's backwardness today came undone," an irate Nitish wailed as the meet's organisers tried to cajole him to resume his interaction.

The offending journalist immediately apologised for his effrontery. "I was merely trying to point out the achievements of Nitishji, but I realize it was in bad taste given how grim conditions in Bihar are. I apologise if I have offended him with my insensitive statements," he said.

After being assured that he wouldn't be asked to talk about the positive aspects of the Bihar story, Nitish returned to the podium and proceeded to wow the audience with a mind-blowing PPT presentation replete with dismal statistics such as "the number of people below the poverty line in Bihar increased by 5 million between 2005 and 2010", "58% of Bihar's children below age six are underweight", and "48% of Bihar's workers earn their livelihood through casual labour".