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Route to the roots
After his successful roles in Guru (where he played played Aishwarya’s brother) and Jail (as an underworld don), Virsa is Aarya’s attempt to expand his potential as an actor and follow in his dad’s footsteps. The movie narrates the story of three generations of Punjabis living in Australia played by Gulshan Grover, Kanwaljit Singh and Aarya Babbar and their struggle to find common ground. In the city, along with father Raj Babbar and director of the movie Pankaj Batra, Aarya Babbar got talking, and talking, about his first Punjabi movie. “I play a third-generation Punjabi who is brought up with western values and doesn’t respect his culture. I got a chance to try out all the stuff through this role, which I never did in real life,” he says. Like what? “Drinking, drugs and living the life of spoilt brat,” he says while sharing a glance with his father. And Aarya feels Virsa was lucky for him in a way, “The first movie my father did was a Punjabi film, Chan Pardesi, which won a national award. After that came Insaaf Ka Taraazu and others. When I started shooting for Virsa, I was offered Jail and Farah Khan’s Tees Maar Khan. I guess for Babbars, Punjabi movies are a lucky charm.” Indeed, the charm did work at the Dallas Film Festival where Virsa got a standing ovation. “Punjabi movies are getting their due respect. If a Yash Raj movie or Karan Johar film portraying Punjabi characters and lifestyle can get international exposure, why not Punjabi cinema?” he questions. The movie’s international appeal is complete with a lot of Pakistani and Australian artistes being a part of it. Mehreen Raheal, a supermodel and actress from Pakistan, makes her debut as the lead and Nauman Ijaz, a known Pakistani artiste, too plays a central character in the flick. “The movie is not just for Punjabis but a global audience. The international market receives our culture and movies with open arms. It’s just a matter of time before we find appreciation even with the Western audiences,” shares Aarya. And talking about good work, Aarya sure seems to be making a deliberate attempt to make up for his disastrous debut by playing strong character roles. “My effort is to work with good directors like Maniratnam and Madhur Bhandarkar, and experiment a lot with my roles. The attempt is to be able to have good collection of DVD’s of my work once I retire.” He is ready for a comic makeover in Tees Maar Khan. And is having Raj Babbar around a bonus? “He is there whenever I need advice or tips to prepare for a role. He suggested that I grow a moustache for my role of a cop in Tees Maar Khan and I did that. It became a hit on the sets and both Farah and Akshay liked it.” And how much of Raj Babbar do we see in Aarya on-screen? “I am very bad at mimicry and I believe there can be only one Dharmendra, one Amitabh Bachchan and one Raj Babbar.” Point taken. While Tees Maar Khan releases in December, Aarya has another movie lined up with Salman Khan. Virsa will see a simultaneous release in India and Pakistan in May. Till then, he is happy discovering his
roots!
nehawalia@tribunemail.com
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Short take
If one looks through the lens of Yamini Talwar’s handycam, a seventh class student at Ryan International-49, a tree pleads: “Please don’t axe me. Let me live and provide Mother Earth with fresh air.”
And with the naked eye there’s the usual excuse, “One more tree down, how does it matter? The world is not going to end.” But if each human being has this attitude, the day is not far when even a small shrub
would matter! “So why not value each tree before it is too late,” says Utkarsh Marwaha, festival director, Chandigrah International Children’s Film Festival at Ryan International School. Utkarsh also has a solution in the form of the festival in which over 100 students of the school have made short films on environmental issues concerning Chandigarh. The ‘city beautiful’ tag is at times taken for granted. And it didn’t take much for Jaskaran Singh, a class X student, to realise that. “Which sector market in the city is clean? The habit of littering is almost innate in people.” The same excuse comes to the rescue again, “Another wrapper won’t make a difference!” “But the fact is that if each person contributes in disposing some of the litter, it can go a long way in making the city clean,” asserts Jaskaran, who has made a three-minute film on garbage in markets of various sectors. And the responsibility doesn’t end here. One must think of the environment keeping the future in mind. “If pollution levels rise in Delhi, it also affects people in Chandigarh,” says Utkarsh. The film festival aims at sensitising children towards environment, which in turn serves another purpose. “If we students can work towards keeping the environment clean, why not adults?” questions Anushka Sharma, a class VII student who shot a skit based on environment. She has another point, “After watching our films, they will realise how callously the environment has been exploited. Maybe, corrective action is taken for the future.” Besides, the condition of Sukhna Lake, traffic congestion and unkempt gardens have also been shot. Simran Taneja, a class IX student, has made a film ‘Dying Sukhna Lake’ that highlights the issue of decreasing water level, “It also conveys the message that water should be used economically.” Students were given two days to shoot their films and the three-day festival begins on Tuesday. And these films will be screened at various venues apart from children films from other countries. “Cinema is a strong medium. And it can really help the cause of environment,” opines Utkrash. ashima@tribunemail.com |
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Tweet all the way
Shashi Tharoor definitely deserves applause and so does Lalit Modi. What Aamir Khan couldn't do, Amitabh Bachchan can't possibly think of and Salman can just crave for, these two men accomplished within weeks. Undoubtedly, the award for promoting Twitter in India and increasing its fan base goes to Tharoor and Modi!
What next? Twitter is in. It has become almost mandatory for us to have an account on it. It is our ‘sacred’ duty to spill beans about our friends, teachers and bosses through 140 characters. Wonder what other social networking sites, Facebook or Orkut, are doing? Now that Modi is out on the last ball, and Tharoor has returned to the backwaters of Kerela, Facebook and Orkut should try and rope in the two (or at least one) as their brand ambassador! While these social networking sites work on the logistics, we toss up a debate as to how Shashi- Modi's IPL fiasco has increased the fan-following of Twitter in India, with Facebook "An account on Twitter has become mandatory," chips in Neeraj Khullar, a drop-out from college, running a software company in Mohali. "I had accounts on Facebook, MySpace, Orkut, but I didn't feel the need to sign up on Twitter because none of my friends are on it." However, after the Tharoor- Modi episode, Neeraj created an account on Twitter to see how the whole 'word-war' happens. "I was aware that many celebrities like Aamir and Amitabh are on Twitter. But this did not make much of a difference," he laughs adding that he is on Twitter to read the 'tweets' left by the two. Neeraj is not an isolated example, many people, especially journalists, created accounts on Twitter to closely follow the case. At the same time, the followers of this networking site are on the increase due to various other reasons as well. Satbir Lakhi (26), who is doing research on the scope of small-scale industries in India, provides why he prefers Twitter to Orkut or Facebook. "Firstly, I can leave concise and brief tweets. Besides, Twitter has a 140-character message limit, the way you have in an SMS. This means no rubbish stuff, just to the point writing. Secondly, with Facebook one can reach out to only a limited number of friends, but Twitter opens the world to you. Lastly, Twitter transmits news faster than other social networking sites." As for Neerja Sahni, a student of arts, Facebook is for youngsters and Twitter is for those who cannot get enough of news from the channels. All the same, she also shares that 18 of her friends across India created accounts on Twitter after the Lalit Modi episode. "There is a curiosity among people to check out what this whole Twitter issue is about. Now that every celebrity is communicating through it, this is like the new Bollywood address," she says. Whether it's a privacy issue or limited responses on other networking sites, Twitter definitely has almost every Indian hooked onto it. Net result: Everyone wanting to say something with 140 characters; everybody wanting to get the taste of what is happening and where. The question, however, remains whether this hullabaloo will last till the Modi episode or Twitter is the ultimate destination for social networking fans? jasmine@tribunemail.com |
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What the hack!
Think twice if you are making any online transaction from a cyber café, as there is a possibility of hackers picking up every key-stroke made by a browser, including user names and passwords, from a computer by installing 'keylogger' software. Simple authentication factors that rely only on a combination of username and password are easily defeated by simple keyloggers. The keylogging, also known as keystroke logging, is the system of clandestinely tracking the keys struck on a computer keyboard without the knowledge of the person using it. The key-logger software transmits recorded data from the target computer to a monitor at a remote location either by uploading to a website or periodically e-mailing to a pre-defined e-mail address. It does not make any noise; your system will not slowdown as is the case with spyware. But the key logger silently records all the keystrokes and before you know it, your password has been changed and credit card number has been used to make fraudulent purchases. There are two types of keyloggers: hardware and software. The former is a physical device that is plugged between the keyboard and the PC. It is impossible to use a computer programme to detect a hardware keylogger. You have to do a physical inspection for that. But you can detect a software keylogger. Fortunately, it is easy to detect a hardware keylogger. A quick check at the back of the PC will do. So we can concentrate our efforts on the software ones. There are plenty of softwares available to protect your computer from keyloggers, but most of them are commercial. You can avoid keyloggers and use some tricks to get around them. The first trick is to use "onscreen keyboard". Some of your keystrokes come from the keyboard, but some will also come from clicking on the onscreen keyboard that makes it difficult for someone to decipher. Almost every operating system provides this inbuilt utility. For Microsoft XP users onscreen keyboard can easily be accessed by navigating Start menu --> All Programs --> Accessories --> Accessibility --> OnScreenKeyboard or simply entering "osk" at run command. Another technique is to never type in your whole user name and password all at once. For example, type the first two characters of your password, then go somewhere else on the screen and type a few characters. Go back and forth like this so the keylogger gets a confusing string of information for your password. As cyber theft is not something new as far as India is concerned, it's important to keep your information safe! Courtesy: Hans team
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Geek
SPEAK Amitpal Singh Grewal
But now, almost all electronics manufacturers are using LEDs. Being small, they consume very little power, produce less heat, are bright and have a long shelf life, which was all that was required to make them famous.
While it might be a few more years before we actually replace our traditional power-draining bulbs at home with LED lamps, many manufacturers are in the process of developing advanced LED replacement for residential as well as industrial use. One of the most valued conversion, SSL (solid-state) lighting lamp is made using LED rather than electrical filaments, gas or plasma. It is lightweight, non-brittle, robust, shock-resistant and have a longer life span. In a few countries, LEDs are being used as replacement for streetlights and are said to be performing very well. India has also been introduced to LED technology in many sectors. They can be seen in different forms in Chandigarh such as our traffic control lights, light-timers, advertisement boards, destination information boards installed on our new (green) transportation buses. One advance LED board has also been installed at the railway station. Even automobile manufacturers around the world have used them and are very impressed with their performance. However, headlights have not been replaced by LEDs as for now they don't produce the required output, but it's a matter of time before we will see them replacing our Halogen bulbs. One of the most effective use of LED lights can be seen in solar panels and battery-powered flashlight. One of the world's best flashlight manufacturer's has introduced a single three- watt LED that works more like a searchlight. And one of the reasons why LED technology is advancing is due to mobile phones, as better and more energy-efficient LEDs mean extended battery life! amitpalsinghgrewal@gmail.com
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Flying high
Flying cars have always been something typically reserved for science fiction, but they have now come closer to reality. The department tasked with exploring the concept, Defense Advanced Projects Agency (DARPA), has cleared the Transformer (TX) programme. The flying vehicle is currently in motion for military services rather than the everyday motorist. If the vehicle realises the capabilities planned, it is possible that by the year 2015 US soldiers will have the ability to drive into battle in a flying car, designed to be seated for four, that will go 250 miles on a tank of fuel and be able to fly through the air and drive on the ground. The Transformer will give troops the ability to avoid traditional and unconventional threats such as ambushes and Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) and road obstructions. The Pentagon has budgeted $ 54 million so far to develop the concept. ADARPA spokesman told TechNewsDaily that it would take four years to develop a working prototype. "We're not very far down the road. That gives you an idea about the glide path for this program," Live Science quoted him as saying. —ANI
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Pleomax CFLs are manufactured in India under strict technology guidelines from Samsung C&T and their products come with a user warranty of 1 year and the lifetime of a bulb is approximately 6,000 hrs. JB Shin, director, Samsung C&T, said, "India is one of fastest growing economies of the world and hence the demand for energy conservation is at its peak here. Currently the total market size for CFL in India is estimated at 240 million per annum and it is increasing by 30 per cent year-on-year. With the support of a strong marketing and distribution partner like Salora we are confident that we will capture the Indian market with a 10 per cent share in the next two years." — TNS
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Room for fragrance
“Even as one enters a house, the very fragrance reveals a lot about the people who reside in it,” says interior decorator Esha Gupta. “Although the market is stuffed with artificial fragrances of all kinds, I am personally in favour of natural ones,” she adds. Fresh flowers are the obvious priority, followed by candles and natural oils like jasmine and eucalyptus. “One needs to be very sensitive while choosing fragrances for different corners of the house. The living room should smell very different from say a puja room or kitchen,” she suggests. “Potpourri and aromatic oils are the most common method of adding a dash of fragrance to homes and hotels, besides room fresheners,” says Sukhmani Bhore, interior and landscape designer. However, there are lots of traditional methods to make a home smell good. “The good old incense sticks have had an image makeover and today they are available in all natural varieties. Cinnamon sticks dipped in water placed at ventilators lend a woody aroma to the house. This has been practiced for ages,” she adds. Reed diffusers are another attractive option. Not only are they smoke-free, they also emanate a soothing fragrance. What’s more they also act as mosquito and lizard repellents. “Our reed diffusers are natural and herbal. The smallest packing lasts for a month-and-a-half while the big ones last for more than a year,” says Vikram Vij, CEO, Lhasa Herbs Pvt Ltd. “Apart from the regular rose, jasmine and orange, lemongrass, musk melon and apple-cinnamon are being received well in the market,” he adds.
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Carbon copy
Die-hard fans of rap and hip-hop, five young Turks from the city have come together to form a rap band — Black Carbon. “We really want to popularise rap and hip hop in India,” chorus Ron and D Edi.
The group with five in total —Lil Martin, El Nino and Sunny Sidhu to complete the list — are already out with their first album NSK (North Side Kings) which is being played in city discs. Also, with half a dozen performances to their credit, the band is pretty excited. “We gave our first performance about six months back at Leisure Valley, and were pretty nervous,” shares Ron. “It was a small stage, people crowded in and we somehow managed to perform though went off beat at places,” chuckles D Edi. But since then the band has done better. “Now stage is like the second skin. We are so looking forward to our next performance at Score,” he says. The band writes its own lyrics and composes music. Their first album NSK has 11 tracks in total that tell a complete story. “It’s a story of love, cheating and bouncing back in life,” elaborates Ron. Some of the tracks are Soniye, Barbaad, Bleeding Love and Beg for Life. The band has already participated in some competitions and won prizes. For the inspiration the rappers look up to Honey Singh and Bohemia, with latter’s Chor de be their ultimate inspiration. The rappers are studying and working but all of them make sure to take out time for music. “We party over the weekdays, and make music on weekends,” says Ron. Youth from Punjab in Chandigarh and City Beautiful’s youngsters abroad is the theme for their next album. mona@tribunemail.com |
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Line of control
Specialising in figurative tribal art, Vijay has put 40 of his most recent works on display. “During my peak years as an artist, I had traveled extensively through the tribal belts in Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan and Maharashtra. I observed their behaviour, participated in their everyday life and got inspired to put that all on my canvas,” he says. The works, mostly sketches, depict the routine life of these tribes, emphasising on figures and ornaments. The exhibition is his first in the city, though in his 50 years as an artist he has displayed his works in 19 shows across different cities. He has been a regular at the All-India Veteran Artists’ Exhibition and Asian Art exhibition in Delhi. His detailed drawings had won him three state akademi awards and veteran artist honour conferred to him by late President Shankar Dyal Sharma. Some of his works are on display in New York and Japan. Though not much for experimenting with his art form, Thakur has tried adapting to contemporary abstract forms. “But even these have been figurative. I usually don’t use much colour in my works as I believe that black and white have more impact.” His daughter is carrying forward his legacy and is improvising upon the tribal art by adding modern element to it. |
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Bun-dle of joy
Leading fashion retailer Ebony in association with unisex saloon and beauty academy Tressed Up organised a fancy hair bun (joora) making competition for its lady customers on Sunday at its Sector-9D store in Chandigarh.
Women of the age group of 18 and above participated and won some fabulous prizes. In addition to the competition, Tressed Up saloon also provided live demonstration on beauty and hair care for Ebony’s customers. According to Sanjeev Jha, manager operations, Ebony – “The competition was held with the objective to provide a creatively-inclined fun activity for its women customers, which Ebony has valued the most always. This is one of the several activities that Ebony keeps organising at its stores from time to time. Our aim is to ensure that our valued customers spend some quality and enjoyable time with us.” |
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Spade work
This is the best time to multiply Euphorbia plants. This is the same plant that is also called the Crown of Thorns that Jesus Wore. In the market when you go to buy this plant, you have to cough up something between Rs 150 to 200 per piece for the hybrid types. Unlike the original wild type species with small blood red flowers at the tip, the colour range in hybrid types is quite big, say red to pink, white, yellow, orange and a mix of colours. It is, however, very easy to multiply them by way of cuttings. Make more than four inches long cuttings. In case you are getting it from one of your friend’s garden, then remove a cutting in a way that the plant is ‘levelled’ at the top or take a cutting from the rear side of the plant. You will see ‘milk’ oozing out of the cut end. Do not plant it as such. Keep it in shade for a day or two so that the cut end heals. Plant it in soil where you want to grow it or in pot. However, in case you want to propagate it in a poly bag to transplant it at later stage, you can do it. Keep giving water to keep the soil moist. It will strike the roots, 100 per cent. Another plant that is multiplied now is the poinsettia, valued for its very bright red bracts that persist on the plant for very long time, from November to March. This plant is however, also associated with Christianity and is called the true Christmas plant due to putting forth deep red bracts at the time of Christmas. Normally, when the gardeners attempt to multiply this plant they fail. Reason, the terminal part of the stem is hollow. This is not suitable to make cuttings. Make the cutting of the solid wood and that is the mature wood in this plant which is at least one year old. In this case, plant the cutting in poly-bags and keep them in semi-shade. Do not give too much water. The cutting will rot. Watering at the gap of a day will do. The plant is sensitive to transplanting which should only be done when sure about formation of plenty of roots. It is better to plant the cuttings at a place where you want the plant to be. There is another very important gardening operation slated for this hot season. Besides the preparation of land for lawn making, this is most suitable time to prepare pits for receiving fruit plants in the ensuing rainy season. satishnarula@yahoo.co.in
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Veteran lyricist Gulzar is almost 20 years older to filmmaker Mani Ratnam but he still likes to refer to him as 'Mani sir' as most others in the industry call him."I feel saying Mani is incomplete. It doesn't sound complete to me at all. So, I call him Mani sir. Everybody from the cast and crew call him that so even I have started calling him so," Gulzar, 73, said during the music launch of their upcoming project Raavan. The national award-winning lyricist has teamed up with music maestro AR Rahman yet again after their success in Oscar-winning movie Slumdog Millionaire. But Gulzar is happiest about working with Ratnam, who has earlier made films like Roja, Bombay, Dil Se and Guru."It is wonderful working with this magician called Mani Ratnam. I have always enjoyed working with him and I hope to continue working with him," he said. He even recited a stanza from the song Ruth beet gayi from Raavan. Later Rahman performed the song live, leaving the audience asking for more.The songs of the movie are catchy and have immense recall value. They are powerful, yet soothing and highly addictive.The music launch of the movie, being co-produced by Reliance Big Pictures, saw lead actors Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, southern superstar Vikram, Bhojpuri actor Ravi Kishan, singer Ila Arun and others in a celebratory mood. The movie will hit the screens June 18. — IANS
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"Started shooting for Zara Nach Ke Dikha. Shot for 22 hours at a stretch, there was a technical glitch and had to shoot two episodes as to get the combination dates of all artistes again would have been impossible before the cut off....Well our lives are not as glamorous as they look!" Shilpa wrote in her blog. But the 34-year-old actor didn't mind the tedious work hours as she was really pleased with the performances the contestants put up and was moved to tears by one of them. "Got to say it was worth giving up my sleep, the acts came as a surprise. Dances were innovative, one of the acts actually made me cry! Happy they've raised the bar and the competition gets tougher. We go on air from 1st May. A must watch," she wrote. The show, to be aired on Star Plus, has celebs divided into two teams fighting the battle of sexes on the dance floor. The girl's team include reality show queen Rakhi Sawant, Aditi Gupta, Hazel Crowney, Kritika Kamra, Mukti Mohan, Rashmi Desai, Sangeeta Ghosh, Sanjeeda Sheikh, and Sparsh Khanchandani. The boys participating in the show are TV stars like Aamir Ali, Abhishek Avasthi, Angad Hasija, Karan Kundra, Kapil Nirmal, Aksshat Seluja, Siddhesh Pai, Sushant Rajput and Ayesh Khedekar. — PTI
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Music mogul Simon Cowell has put his impending wedding to Afghani fiancee Mezghan Hussainy on hold for two years.The lifelong bachelor, 50, has decided to put the US launch of the 'X Factor' before tying the knot and cancelled the summer wedding he was planning.Instead of finding rings and venues, Cowell will be seeking judges and talent for his new reality show, which starts in autumn 2011. "He won't be getting married this year and he doesn't need to rush into it anyway. Simon has a lot to do. He has to prepare himself for the American X Factor, to try to create the next biggest show there, and he'll be fully focused," said Cowell's close pal and American Idol producer Nigel Lythgoe about the X Factor and Britain's Got Talent supremo.And that means Hussainy, 37, may have to wait another 2 years to get him down the aisle. But his decision might not go down well with mum Julie, 82, who has been helping plan four wedding receptions for her son, in LA, Hollywood, Barbados and his hometown Brighton.The delay may also be due partly to Simon's pre-wedding nerves and the fact he has only been with Mezghan for a few months. "Maybe he's just gearing himself up. He hasn't really known Mezghan for that long. But, she was my make-up artist for six years and she and Simon are a good fit. They can make fun of each other," said Lythgoe. — PTI
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"Wearing a pregnancy suit was so much fun. I loved the feeling of pretending to be pregnant and having little arms and legs and this big belly," Silverstone said.The 33-year-old actor is married to musician Christopher Jarecki and will celebrate her fifth wedding anniversary with him on June 11."I've been wanting to have a baby since I was 2 years old — I'm destined to be a mother. I can't wait to be pregnant," Silverstone said.The American beauty is currently shooting for upcoming comedy 'Butter' with Jennifer Garner here."It's an interesting place, but you're working so much, so it's not like you're on vacation," she said. — PTI
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No kidding!
The actors became friends growing up in Australia and both moved to Hollywood to pursue their careers, but while Nicole became a huge celebrity, Watts found the path to stardom harder and at one point considered quitting, until she was given a pep talk by her friend. "I'd been slogging away in Hollywood for five years, getting nowhere. At castings, I was constantly told I wasn't talented enough, I wasn't right, I wasn't beautiful enough, I was nowhere near sexy enough," Watts said. "I thought about quitting acting and took other jobs - in restaurants, on magazines - but nothing gave me the same feeling. Nicole actually gave me hope. She'd tell me that it would only take one film, one casting and everything would change," she added. Watts eventually shot to fame with thriller Mulholland Drive in 2001, and has since then acted in hit movies like The Ring, 21 Grams and King Kong. The 41-year-old actor recalls meeting Nicole later, to read their respective scripts for 21 Grams and Cold Mountain. "Once I'd been given the 21 Grams script, I took it with me everywhere. We went to my house, and we were sitting on the couch reading our favourite scenes to each other. And we were like, “Can you believe we've got two fantastic roles?," Watts said. — PTI
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Hotel heiress Paris Hilton has sparked speculation she has reconciled with her ex-fiance Jason Shaw after the couple was spotted out in Hollywood.A representative for the hotel heiress confirmed rumours The Simple Life star had parted ways with Doug Reinhardt earlier this month. Hilton, herself, confessed last week she was so "over" the split and now she has been snapped laughing and joking with her ex-fiance. She enjoyed a night out at Los Angeles restaurant Woo Lae Oak with model Shaw. The couple was briefly engaged in 2003. "They came in around 10 pm for dinner, they sat at the back booth. Paris looked gorgeous in a sexy tight dress. Jason couldn't keep his eyes off of her, the entire dinner they laughed and smiled. You could tell they were really happy to be with each other," a source said. — PTI
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Another Punjabi movie that talks of rediscovering roots; identity crisis faced by confused second-generation Punjabis living abroad and remaining true to the culture. Apart from foreign locales (it’s Opera House and Sydney Harbour this time), sarson ke khet, young Punjabi dudes and an old grandfather rooted to his native village, two things are different about Virsa — its official selection for the Dallas Film Festival and the debut of Aarya Babbar in Punjabi cinema.
LED (light emitting diode) lights were introduced during the mid 70s, but were very expensive and used simply as indicators in electronics devices.
In fact, LEDs are the future of light bulbs. Despite being costly at present, they would be replacing your household lamps soon. Even at present there are unbranded Chinese LED lamps, which can be purchased from the electronic market in Sector 18, Chandigarh, but these are not very superior in quality.
Fly Mobile has launched yet another dual-SIM phone that focuses on social networking and is touch-enabled. Fly LINKZ features a WQVGA screen (262K colours and 240x400 pixels resolution), 2 MP camera (1600x1200 pixel resolution and photo slideshow feature), motion sensor games, video record and play, audio player with eight editable equalizer, 3.5 mm universal audio jack, FM radio, accelerometer, motion sensor, handwriting recognition, 1,000 contact phonebook, capacity to store 2000 SMS, photo and video caller ID, call blacklisting, multi-faith Indian calendar, stereo Bluetooth, mobile tracker, expandable memory up to 8 GB, PC Sync and modem, full-touch edition et al. 
Chandigarh Samsung C & T Corporation is marking its presence in India by launching Pleomax CFL in partnership with Salora International, a leading distributor and manufacturing company. Pleomax is a digital media and IT consumable brand under the Samsung C & T Corporation umbrella and includes IT accessories (computer peripherals); storage media (CDs & DVDs), energy products (CFLs & batteries) and so on.
Your home is all set for summers — carpets have been folded and tucked away, heavy curtains have given way to sheers; the dark upholstery has long been replaced by pastel colours, but ever given a thought to the aroma of your house?
Imagination doesn’t grow old, creativity has no timeframe and art comes with a timeless tag. So, how can an artist retire? These sentiments come into consideration when Vijay Thakur is the man holding the paintbrush. The artist from Jabalpur, who completed 50 years putting his thoughts on canvas, held an exhibition of his paintings and sketches.
Come summer and the gardeners sit back, waiting for the first pre-monsoon showers to start their operations afresh. But with the introduction of various new species and varieties, even this time could be a busy time. You may never have thought about the propagation operation at this time. Well, you have to do it now in some plants or else you may lose on it.
Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty had to give up sleep for the dance reality contest she is judging as she was on the sets shooting for 22 hours at a stretch.
Hollywood actor Alicia Silverstone is desperate to become a mother as she has fallen in love with pregnancy after portraying a young lover in the hit Broadway play Time Stands Still. The 'Clueless' star donned a fat suit for her role as a pregnant woman in the critically acclaimed production, and she insists the prop has kickstarted her maternal feelings.
Actor Nicole Kidman turned out to be the perfect career advisor for her contemporary Naomi Watts, advising her not to give up acting after she suffered initial setbacks in Hollywood.