SRK’s ‘Don’ vs Salman’s ‘Jaan-e-mann’ at box office

MUMBAI, Oct 20: This Diwali weekend movie buffs will see Shah Rukh Khan’s "Don" and Salman Khan’s "Jaan-e-Mann" battling it out for top honours at the box office.

Given the time of the release and the glitterati of the stars in the films, trade analysts are already predicting a huge opening for the two Khan starrers.

"This is Diwali and Eid weekend, when people are in a festive mood and want to spend. Also, both films have big stars-Don has Shah Rukh Khan in the lead with Priyanka Chopra and Jaaneman stars Salman Khan, Preity Zinta and Akshay Kumar," said trade analyst Taran Adarsh.

But, definitely ‘Jaan-e-mann’ scores over ‘Don’ when analysts say that it has a stronger content when everything about ‘Don’ is just "hype".

"Of the two, Don is a very weak film, it is only the hype that will take it to box office success. Jaan-e-mann on the other hand, is better in content. It has a very strong second half and should appeal to the audience," Adarsh said.

Editor of trade magazine ‘Film Information’, Komal Nahta said "both films would have a big opening, given that there have not been any big releases at the box office in the last few weeks, but how they perform from the next week, will depend on how much they appeal to the audience."

Farhan Akhtar’s "Don", is a remake of the 1970’s blockbuster, ‘Don’ that starred Amitabh Bachchan in the lead, while Jaan-e-mann is directed by debutante Shirish Kunder.

In the next few weeks, Bollywood will see a slew of big releases including J P Dutta’s ‘Umrao Jaan’ with Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan, as well as the sequel to "Dhoom". (PTI)

Nothing can beat the Diwali

AMRITSAR, Oct 20: The festival of lights is no doubt celebrated with fevour and gaiety throughout the country, but the Diwali of Amritsar has become popular over the years drawing a large number of devotees of all faiths to the Holy City, particularly the Golden Temple.

People descend on the Golden Temple on Diwali to pay obeisance and catch a glimpse of the fireworks at the shrine. The popularity of this festival has over the years led to the coining of the phrase, ‘dal roti ghar di, Diwali Amritsar di’ (nothing can beat the food at home and the Diwali of Amritsar)

While Hindus celebrate Diwali to mark the return of Lord Rama to Ayodhya after 14-years of excile, the Sikhs celebrate the festival to mark the return of Guru Hargobind, who was imprisoned by Mughal emperor Jahanger in the Fort of Gwalior. The Guru returned to the holy city on the day of Diwali in 1619 AD and due his efforts the empror released of 52 Hindu rulers who accompanied him to the holy city.

To celebrate his return, the Harmandar Sahib was beautifully illuminated and fireworkr lit the sky to welcome the Guru. Since then the festival became associated with the Golden Temple.

The Sikhs celebrate the day of Diwali as ‘Bandi Chhod Diwas’ (the day the Guru was released). The reflection of the brightly illuminated Golden Temple in the ‘sarowar’ (holy tank) is a unique sight.

Such a mesmerising impact did the celebrations have that Bhai Gurdas, a contemporary of Guru Harboind wrote, ‘Diwali ki rat Diwe Balie’ (light diyas on Diwali night) .

In the early 19^{th century, Maharaja Ranjit Singh got the shrine plated in gold. The result being the illuminations and the fireworks at Harmandar Sahib look all the more spectacular leaving a mesmerising impact on the spectators. This is what makes Diwali in Amritsar different from other parts of the country.}

^{Over the years, this festival gained popularity and even now a large number of people from far-flung areas join the celebrations.It is said that Sikh chieftans would leave their small kingdoms, sometimes even at the mercy of their enemies to head for Amritsar to celebrate Diwali. Some even acquired land around the Golden Temple and built their own rest houses (bungas) where they would come and stay on the occasion of Diwali.}

^{On the occasion the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) hires experts from Anngarh village for firework display at Harmandar Sahib. As a large number of Sikhs also throng the shrine, the Sikh clergy has utilied the opportunity to organise ‘Sarbat Khalsa’ (congegration of Sikhs), an occasion where problems and challenges before the community are discussed.}

^{On Diwali day the Jathedar of the Akal Takht makes it a point to address the community. After the ‘bhog’ of the ‘Akhand Path’, the Jathedar delivers a ‘sandesh’ (message) to the community. (UNI)}

Content development : The new job mantra

NEW DELHI, Oct 20: Outsourcing may have thrown up many job opportunities in India, most prominently the call centres, but one field that is fast catching up is that of content writing.

According to industry estimates, most of the content writing work is outsourced to India and it is one of the highest employers in the outsourcing industry in the country.

Content writing is basically, content creation for web sites according to the requirements of various clients. In other words, content that is web friendly.

"There has been lot of growth in content development in the past few years owing to the potentiality of e-learning. Big organisations like NIIT, Genpact, TIS, TCS, Lionbridge, have already started operations in this regard", says Shafali R Anand, Director, Wavelength, a consulting and training institute for content developers.

"Content development field is a booming field. The job is very challenging. There are many people in this field from linguistics and journalism background. All depends on one’s writing ability, creativity and analytical mind," says Ajay Chaturvedi, a content writer with a KPO company.

Content development was started by NIIT 12 years ago in the form of technical writing for companies like Microsoft and others.

"People entering this field have a bright future and the job hierarchy is from content writer/ID, senior ID, analyst and specialist, in increasing order of seniority," says Shafali.

"Every month there are about 50-60 openings in this field. And this is increasing day by day and it is expected to become three times in near future," says a consultant with Naukri.Com, a jobs portal.

Content writing has evolved from a strictly technical and instructional writing to a more creative SEO content writing-creating highly optimized and search engine friendly content. The aim is that search engines catch the keywords of the content and take the website to the top of the search engine list.

A good command over English, analytical mind, general awareness and creativity are some of the pre-requisites with graduation in any discipline being the minimum educational qualification to become a content developer. These kinds of skillsets attract large number of people from different domains, says Shafali.

"Content development and instructional designing are not same. Though they are different, they are related to each other. However one can shift from one to the other at ease. After recognising all the potentials and future prospects of this field, I have entered this field. In this field one can also get large bucks as it is related to IT field," says an Instructional designer, Genpact.

Earlier web developers used to create content themselves, but now content developers focus on content generation and the technical aspects are looked after by the web developers. Another emerging profile of the content development is Search Engine Optimization. SEO focuses on keywords of the content in order to put content right at the top of the search engine. (PTI)

Existing models inadequate for climate
change forecast:Scientist

NEW DELHI, Oct 20: Rejecting all the existing models of regional climate forecast as defective, a U S based Indian scientist has urged the Science and Technology Ministry here to order specially designed computers for the purpose to enable the country cope with the impending climate change.

"We need much much faster computers for formulating better models, as general purpose model will not do to predict change in the climate due to global warming," Prof Jagdish Shukla of the George Mason University, Washington told UNI.

" According to present models, rainfall will increase in the coming years in this century due to global warming, but these models are suspect because they do not simulate monsoon correctly," he said.

" Some models say the globe can warm up to six degrees over the century, some say only up to two degrees. In the middle there are 15 models. I evaluated each of them myself and reached the conclusion that if a model is good in current climate, then it predicts more than two degrees rise in temperature.

"At present we take something from all the existing 15 models for making prediction. But the fact is that some are good but some are bad. We will have to go beyond this model democracy to arrive a more efficient model for prediting climate changes," said Prof Shukla.

Some good for current weather many not be good for predicting future climate, he added.

India should have the model to use the data it can gather through modern equipment, he said.

Prof Shukla was recently in the capital to deliver a lecture on ‘Global Warming: The known, the unknown, and the unknowable’ organised the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations.

He stressed that India and all other countries should start developing technologies which can enable them to adapt their agriculture, water management and other systems to changed climate of the future resulting from global warming.

He said it was not certain as up to what degree the global temeprature will rise due to warming but it was certain that it will rise changing climate in a significant way for may regions of the world.

"There are things we know for certain, and even if we can’t predict weather or monsoon correctly, we can predict climate, and the prediction is that it is going to change radically over this century.

"Even if we stopped emission of all the green house gases, we have released enough of these gasses in the atmosphere in the last 50 years to cause half a degree rise in the temperature of the earth," he said. (UNI)

Deshmukh meets Satya Sai Baba

ANATAPUR, AP, Oct 20: Maharastra Chief Minister Vilasarao Deshmukh met spiritual guru Satya Sai Baba at Puttaparthi and sought his blessings.

He had arrived yesterday by a special flight and left for Mumbai in the evening.

Deshmukh was received at the airport by the board members of Satya Sai Baba Trust, revenue and police officials and Puttaparthi Urban Development Authority Chairman Kota Sathyam.

Sathyam urged Deshmukh for introduction of more flights to Puttaparthy.

Later, US Basketball player Sterling Forbes met Satya Sai Baba in the evening.

Sterling was in India to examine stadium for matches to be held from November 13 to 23.

Sterling is likely to participate at a match at newly built indoor stadium at Puttaparthi on November 23. (PTI)

Firecrackers sales down this year: Dealers

NEW DELHI, Oct 20: Call it the success of the anti-cracker campaign or the rising costs of the ‘hawais’, ‘anars’ and ‘atom bombs’, there are few takers for them, claim the dealers who say the business has been down by over 40 per cent compared to last year.

"Sale of firecrackers so far has been 40 per cent less compared to last year. With a day left for Diwali, there is no hope of sales picking up," says J P Singh of Delhi Fireworks Traders Association.

Stringent checks by Delhi Police on unauthorised sale of firecrackers, strict court orders banning bursting of crackers after midnight and widespread anti-cracker campaigns seem to be the primary reasons for the drop in sales, he says.

"Business has been down this year as sales have not touched 25% of last year figures with less stock and high prices," says a dealer of Sai Fire Works.

"Authorities have the habit to impose stringent laws and take strict actions just days before Diwali. Diwali is the only time when we sell our goods, and all our hardwork in the 365 days of the year goes for a toss with authorities taking actions only around Diwali," says Sunit Batra of Jai Baba Fireworks.

"This year I haven’t ordered for more firecrackers, as I have huge piles left over last year. Why can’t the authorities or government present us a clear picture whether to sell crackers or not," says Batra.

On the impact of anti-cracker campaigns, the scientist says that in the last five years there has been a considerable reduction in the level of pollutant concentration. In Delhi, the concentration of sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide was 7 ug/m3 (micrograms per cubic metre of air) and 91 ug/m3, respectively, around the time of Diwali last year.

The levels, however, recorded a shocking 10 ug/m3 and 101 ug/m3 after the festival, according to a report by Central Pollution Control Board. Anti-cracker campaigns have certainly contributed something, remarks George.

Some metropolitans, such as Bangkok, have banned the use of firecrackers. It would be a reasonable idea to implement the same in India, or have a limited use of good quality crackers and centralise the procedure of manufacturing and distribution of fire crackers, adds the scientist.

Most of the firecracker dealers, meanwhile say that they may have to shutdown the business from next year if such a trend in the business continues. "This is the last year we will be selling crackers. About 80% dealers will not sell crackers from next year,"emphasizes Sunil. (PTI)

Show cause to Centre, Rajasthan Govt on Haj House issue

JAIPUR, Oct 20: The Rajasthan High Court today issued show cause notices to the Central and state governments on a petition challenging the "Constitutional validity" of allotment of land on the city’s outskirts for a Haj House.

A division bench of Chief Justice S N Jha and Justice Ajay Rastogi issued the notices after it was told that the MP and MLA Local Area Development Scheme funds were being used for the proposed Haj House in Sanganer, which was prohibited under Parliament guidelines.

It was alleged in the petition by Kanshi Purohit that the state government had sponsored a particular faith by allotting land for construction of a Haj office along with a mosque besides promoting other facilities for performing religious activities.

The court issued notices to the state chief secretary, secretary of Jaipur Development Authority secretary, president of Rajasthan State Haj Committee, secretary of Rajsthan Department of Home Affairs and secretary of Department of Social Welfare, New Delhi on the point of Constitutional validity of the allotment of land. (PTI)

Trial completed in five hours, rape accused convicted

PATNA, Oct 20: It’s a record of sorts in the Indian judicial history when Rohtas District Judge pronounced the judgment within five hours of hearing the case, sentencing a rape accused to five-year rigorous imprisonment.

District Judge Arun Srivastav made Deo Kumar Chaudhary guilty of attempting to rape a minor girl on July 23 and sentenced him to five years of rigorous imprisonment.

In fact the court concluded the deposition of the victim and six witnesses, including the father and brother of the girl, besides the investgating officer as well as defendant in just four hours.

The next one hour was needed by the Judge to deliver the judgment.

According to the prosecution, an eight-year-old girl along with her five-year-old brother was on way to collect fodder for domestic cattle when the convict Deo, a 30-year-old farm worker lured them with a five rupee note to a secluded place in a poultry farm at Dhawa.

He then tried to rape her in presence of her brother but villagers came to the rescue following alarms raised by the sibling. Villagers succeeded in saving the girl but Deo managed to escape from the spot.

Rohtas Police Superindentdent N H Khan said the girl’s father Sudarshan Chaudhary lodged a complaint with Nokha police station on July 25 last charging Deo with trying to outrage the modesty of his daughter.

The chagesheet was submitted in the court within 20 days of the incident, he added.

On the request of police, the district and sessions judge agreed to conduct the trial on priority basis, he said.

The girl and the convict are the residents of Dhawa village under Nokha police station in Rohtas district. (UNI)

HC asks Sushmita to pay Rs 2.16 lakh octroi for her car

MUMBAI, Oct 20: The Bombay High Court today directed actress Sushmita Sen to pay octroi duty of Rs 2.16 lakh on her Toyota Landcruiser to the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) within three weeks.

The court also directed that as regards the penalty for not paying octroi, which is ten times the octroi amount, the Corporation will give a hearing to Sushmita.

The court also directed the actress to give a bank guarantee of Rs 10 lakh in favour of the Corporation.

Sushmita had challenged the levy of octroi and penalty by MCGM in the High Court. (PTI)

Financial assistance of Rs 1.34 cr provided
in Anantnag dist

SRINAGAR, Oct 20: The Jammu and Kashmir Government has provided financial assistance of Rs 1.34 crore among 19273 beneficiaries spread across five tehsils of Anantnag district in the current financial year.

The assistance was given through different banks in the district by the social welfare department, a spokesman said here.

A total of 13470 beneficiaries under integrated social security scheme (ISSS) were provided with a financial assistance of Rs 67 lakh during the current financial year, he said.

Another 5803 beneficiaries were covered under various other centrally sponsored schemes and provided financial assistance of Rs 67 lakh, he added.

He said the beneficiaries include 2505 women and 4576 physically challenged persons. (PTI)

CPI-M urges China to take confidence-building measures

BEIJING, Oct 20: Ahead of Chinese President Hu Jintao's maiden state visit to India, the CPI-M has urged Beijing to initiate confidence-building measures to create a conducive atmosphere for the enhancement of bilateral ties.

"We have also conveyed to the Chinese side that the CPI-M is of the view that China should take the initiative in creating an atmosphere for the solution of some of the problems in our relations," CPI-M Politburo member, Sitaram Yechury told PTI here.

Yechury, who is leading a high-level party delegation to China at the invitation of the ruling Communist Party of China (CPM), told his interlocutors that China should take steps to prevent recurrent flooding in India's northeast region, including on Bhramaputra River as well as avoid flash-floods in Himachal Pradesh due to break-up of artificial lakes in Tibet.

"Any Chinese initiative to resolving these problems will go a long way in building mutual trust and confidence," he said.

The CPI-M delegation had meetings with CPC Politburo Standing Committee member, Luo Gan, Chinese Foreign Minister, Li Zhaoxing, Vice Minister of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee, Liu Hongkai and others.

"The main impression that I got from the meetings that we had is that the Chinese side is sincere in wanting to further improve the bilateral relations with India," Yechury told about his meeting with Luo.

China is ready to make active efforts to push for friendly cooperation with India on the basis of Panchsheel principles, Luo said during the meeting which took place at the ornate Great Hall of the People adjoining Tiananmen Square.

"To develop friendly cooperation between China and India, the two largest developing nations, accords with the fundamental interests of the two peoples, and will help the peace and development of Asia and the world at large," Luo said.

The CPI-M delegation, which called on Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing, which was actually a departure from normal protocol, was told that Beijing was very keen to elevate the bilateral ties with India.

"I think the message was that both the Chinese government and the Communist Party are very keen to elevate the friendship and relationship with India. The Chinese side also wants the strategic cooperation between India and China to be elevated to the level of strategic partnership," Yechury, also a Rajya Sabha MP, said.

"While we continue our discussions on our border dispute, the cooperation in other areas should expand," he said.

On the border issue, the CPI-M leader noted that it took China about 70 years to settle its boundary dispute with Russia.

"So I don't think they (the Chinese) are in a hurry to do it with India and neither we are in a hurry. While we continue with the negotiations till we reach an amicable solution, on the basis of give and take, we should explore the possibilities in other areas," Yechury said.

On the scheduled visit of Hu, also General Secretary of the CPC to India, likely from November 20, Yechury said it would be a landmark event since it will be only the second time that a Chinese President is visiting India after Jiang Zemin came in 1996.

"The Chinese side is considering Hu's visit to India as a landmark. This was the message they conveyed, which we will carry back to India," he said.

On bilateral trade and trade-related problems, Yechury noted that trade has grown substantially over the past few years but the growth has not been to its fullest potential.

"The growth trend has also been such that China ends up with a trade surplus. For India's sake, it should reverse or at least balanced. There are certain problems because of our past history which will have to be overcome by both countries in order to facilitate the economic exchanges, he said.

Yechury said the CPI-M has taken it up with the Government concerning problems Chinese businesses are facing in India, including visa restrictions and security clearances. (AGENCIES)

PM assures easy credit for farmers through
rural coop banks

NEW DELHI, Oct 20: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today assured a delegation from the cooperative sector of an early decision on several issues concerning the farmer, including making available credit at 7 per cent through rural cooperative banks.

The delegation, which included senior Congress leaders Digvijay Singh, Ahmed Patel, Moti Lal Vora as also NCUI Chief S S Sisodia, also requested withdrawal of Income Tax recently imposed on cooperative banks and removing the ban on registration of new urban cooperative banks.

Besides, full interest rate subvention (subsidy) on farm loans and recapitalisation of rural cooperative banks, the delegation also sought expeditious implementation of the vaidyanathan committee recommendations on the cooperative sector.

Digvijay Singh told reporters later that the Prime Minister assured a decision on cheap credit by the cooperative banks to the farmers within two weeks and resolving other issues before the presentation of the next budget.

Sisodia said they met the Prime Minister as some issues remained to be sorted out even after their meeting Finance Minister P Chidambaram. (PTI)