I
want to be the Indian Oprah Winfrey:
Pooja Bedi
NEW DELHI, Jan 29: Model turned actor
and now a talk show host, Pooja Bedi says
she wants to be next award winning US
talk show host, Oprah Whinfrey.
"I
want host the biggest talk show in India
on the largest TV network and become
India’s Oprah Winfrey," said
Bedi who was in the city as a brand
ambassador of a medical product.
Bedi would
soon be seen on TV anchoring a new talk
show which she promises would be
‘issue based’.
Bedi who
has the knack of standing out with her
work, be it being the first female model
for Kamasutra condoms or being open about
the botox injections that she takes to
stay ‘beautiful’, said,
"When I modelled for the condoms,
everyone was surprised. Nobody had
expected such a move. Even when I was
open about Botox usage, people were again
stunned. I am open about things that I
think people should use because it is
safe and healthy."
Bedi, who
is now the brand ambassador of Botox in
India said almost everyone in the
profession of beauty does undergo lot of
medical help to stay young and beautiful.
"This
is the business of glamour and everyone
here has to remain young and beautiful. A
lot of celebrities have to whoop all kind
of stuff on to the face to come before
the camera. I want to look good and hence
I go for Botox," she said.
Bedi
added, "I was hosting a chat show
and I had very deep lines on my forehead.
Every time the bright light use to hit my
forehead, the lines became too visible.
The guests use to feel that something was
wrong since the lines generally come when
people are tense. I then decided to go
for Botox and now I have been using it
regularly for over three years with
wonderful results."
Celebrities
be it Bollywood, international or
housewives with deep pockets are
increasingly going under knives or taking
substances like Botox to look younger and
Bedi says it is a rising trend.
"People
above 30 start taking such measures
because everyone wants to look good.
Nobody wants to wake up and stare though
the mirror at their wrinkles. They want
to look 18 yr old forever," Bedi
said.
It is also
interesting that celebrities like Rakhi
Sawant are now open about going public,
be it with their transplants to Botox
injections.
"It
is nice and a good trend. There was a
time when celebrities use to go abroad to
do these things discreetly. But now
things are changing and it is good,"
Bedi added.
Seeing the
tremendous market potential for Botox in
India, the medical firm Allergan which
manufacturers Botox has set up its first
Botox institute in India through which it
plans to train dermatologist and
therapist about the benefits and
procedures for Botox injections. (PTI)
BJP
accuses of UPA of practising
divisive vote-bank politics
NEW DELHI, Jan 29: BJP today sought
ouster of the "tottering" UPA
Government, accusing it of practising
divisive vote-bank politics by
incentivising conversion of Dalits to
Islam and Christianity.
"The
Sachar Commission recommendation
constitute the most divisive step ever
initiated by Government of independent
India," the political resolution at
the party’s National Council meeting
said, giving a call to the people to
remove the Congress-led regime at the
Centre.
Noting
that communal reservations and communal
budgeting are a "remedy worse than
the problem being addressed", the
resolution said the 15 per cent
allocation in the plan expenditure on the
basis of religion will set a
"divisive precedent" in the
country.
The brief
discussion on the resolution was
initiated by senior leader Arun Jaitley
who alleged that "never in the
history has the impact of the Central
Government so negligible. Never has India
witnessed such political
ineffectiveness."
Observing
that India needs an effective leader as
it has suffered under an "indecisive
Prime Minister", the BJP’s
political resolution spoke of
"extra-Constitutional centres of
power" which have no Parliamentary
accountability but did not name anyone.
The
resolution said the Prime Minister is a
"non-leader, he is at best only a
Chief Executive Officer, executing the
day-to-day governance on behalf of the
extra-constitutional centres of
power."
Noting
that governance in India has always given
primacy to the office of the Prime
Minister, it said as the next general
elections approach, it is clear the Prime
Minister is not a factor in the
country’s politics.
The
resolution targeted the Government on the
issue of terrorism. "The UPA has
converted India, a victim of terror, into
a soft state. For the UPA its vote-bank
politics are more precious than the
sovereignty of India."
The
resolution was adopted after a brief
debate and acceptance of a few amendments
including one demanding the Centre to
bring an immediate bill in Parliament for
carving out a separate state of Telangana
from Andhra Pradesh.
"The
delay in executing the death sentence of
Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru by
the Congress Government is the best
evidence of the preference of the
Government to vote bank politics on
national security", the resolution
said.
It alleged
that "ineffective governance and
weak leadership are the hallmarks of the
UPA Government, divisive vote bank
politics its political strategy and
indecision its recipe for survival. The
victims of this political travesty are
India and the Indians".
Attacking
the Left parties, the resolution said
they put on a "facade of
opposition" to the Indo-US nuclear
deal but were "unable to
strike" at the UPA when it persisted
and still persists with the accord.
The role
of the Left parties ever since the
formation of the UPA Government is
"dubious", it said, adding the
Left started off with a clever strategy
of wanting to influence government
policies from inside and attempting to
occupy the opposition space outside.
But
Jaitley as also other leaders like V K
Malhotra said the Left became a
"victim of its own cleverness. Its
threats to the UPA proved empty".
The
resolution said the Left was always
willing to proclaim but unwilling to
strike. "Its hypocrisy was exposed.
From the nuclear deal to the economic
policies of the UPA, it repeatedly
compromised its position". (PTI)
Centre to
bring in amendments to make organ
transplant simpler
NEW DELHI, Jan 29: Against the
backdrop of a flourishing kidney racket
in various states, the Centre today said
it would bring in amendments to make the
organ transplant law simpler and provide
for stiffer punishment for racketeering.
Health
Minister Anbumani Ramadoss said the
government would bring in an amendment to
the National Organ Transplant Act in the
coming budget session to make it more
simple and also enhance punishment for
those indulging in illegal trade of
organs.
The
amendment to the Act will be two-pronged.
It will try to make it simpler and more
transparent, the Minister said. Any
transplant in the country will be
mentioned online.
While the
minister did not elaborate on the exact
amendments, it appears that the
government may be thinking of
liberalising the provisions relating to
donors of organs. Currently, the donors
are restricted to blood relatives and
spouses.
The
minister’s comments come in the wake
of unearthing of a widespread kidney
racket in Gurgaon with links to several
other states.
The
Government would also launch a national
programme on creating awareness about
organ transplant, he said. "A major
mass-media campaign will soon be
organised in the country to bring about a
behavioural change so that people are
willing to donate organs". (PTI)
Frost
causes extensive damage to crops
CHANDIGARH, Jan 29: Frost has caused
widespread damage to vegetables, fruits
and flowers in Punjab where the state
government has ordered a survey to gauge
the actual loss caused to the potato crop
by the current weather conditions.
According
to a report submitted by Punjab
Horticulture department to the state
government, frost has caused maximum
damage to potato, tomato and peas in the
range of 15 to 30 per cent during the
past few days.
About
three lakh metric tonne of potato crop
grown over 54000 hectares has been
completely damaged in Jalandhar,
Kapurthala, Hoshiarpur districts.
Similarly,
frost has caused a loss of 17,000 metric
tonne of tomato crop which was sown on
about 8300 hectares in Ludhiana,
Kapurthala districts, said Baldev Singh,
Director, Punjab Horticulture Department.
Peas have
also been adversely affected by frost
with 10,000 metric tonne of crop being
hit. The report also highlighted the
considerable damaged caused by frost to
wide range of flowers including marigold
and rose.
About
28,000 quintals of flowers including seed
quality have been damaged by the cold
wave conditions in Bathinda and Moga
districts.
Mango
crop, primarily grown in Gurdaspur,
Hoshiarpur and Roopnagar districts, has
also been affected.
According
to horticulture department officials,
about 50,000 metric tonne of mango crop
grown in an area of 7000 hectares has
been affected by frost.
Punjab
Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had
yesterday announced that a survey would
be carried out to ascertain the loss
caused by frost.
Bharatiya
Kisan Union, a farmers’
organisation, has sought hundred per cent
compensation to farmers whose crop has
been damaged by frost in the state. (PTI)
|
