Movie News: Karan Johar sued in US, to respond with another lawsuit

Mumbai: Bollywood filmmaker Karan Johar is reportedly angry with the $150,000 lawsuit slapped against his production house in the US for non-payment to local workers. He has now decided to sue Swish Films, which he had hired to supervise the production of the Saif Ali Khan-Kareena Kapoor starrer.

"Dharma Production is suing Swish Films. Karan's legal department is on the job. Meanwhile, Dharma has decided to clear all the payments of the Philadelphia crew, although the money had already been passed on to Swish for payment. But Karan would rather deal with the default allegation first and then take on Swish to get back his money," a Dharma Production source said.

According to the Philadelphia Daily News, the lawsuit by the film crew cites breach of contract by Dharma Productions and its partner Swish Films of Melbourne for the production of its thriller "Jihaad" or "KP-15". It is seeking in excess of $150,000 for unpaid services and expenses for 25 of the vendors hired for the film.

The lawsuit also requests a restraining order that would prevent representatives of Dharma - which changed its name to Karma Films while it continued to shoot the film in New York last month - from leaving the US with its assets, primarily the footage already shot.

The dispute began when a Swish producer sent out cheques in late December, warning actors, vendors and crew members to wait until after Jan 9 to cash them. The cheques bounced anyway, leaving more than $500,000 in unpaid bills.

Dharma has since offered certain workers half the amount they are owed in return for signing a waiver that nullifies any legal action against the company, the report said.

In other cases, Dharma paid the full amount owed, including to the City of Philadelphia and Teamsters Local 107. Dharma and Swish will be hit with more litigation this week, the newspaper reported, citing Center City lawyer Michael H. Rosenthal, who said he will file a suit on behalf of 60 actors and independent contractors.

Blaming Swish Films for the problem, the source said: "It's not Dharma but their online producers Swish who have goofed up with the payments. Do you know of Dharma ever defaulting on their payments? Karan's father Yash Johar worked all his life to preserve his company's reputation. Do you know how hurtful it is for Karan to be suddenly accused of such unbecoming conduct?"

 

News: Pakistan should prosecute Mumbai perpetrators: US

Washington: Improvement of India-Pakistan ties hinges a great deal on action taken by Islamabad to bring perpetrators of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack to justice, according to a top US diplomat.

The Mumbai attack has been a major setback to the Indo-Pak peace process, Robert O. Blake, told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday at his confirmation hearing as Obama's new point man for South and Central Asia.

"They've taken some steps to bring cases against nine of the suspects in Mumbai attacks. But now it's important that they prosecute them," he said.

A former deputy chief of mission at the US Embassy in New Delhi, Blake was most recently ambassador to Sri Lanka. If confirmed he would replace Richard Boucher as assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asian affairs.

"I believe that concerted action by the Pakistanis against not only those suspects but against Lashkar-e-Taiba would enable the two countries to regain some of the progress and restart some of the progress that they've made in the composite dialogue and other areas of their cooperation," Blake said.

"Prior to the attacks in Mumbai, the governments of India and Pakistan were making quite good progress in forging closer relations across a broad range of fronts. They had something called the 'composite dialogue', which had a number of components to it to try to address some of the most ticklish issues in Indo-Pak relations," he said.

Blake said "the US and India have strengthened counter-terrorism cooperation in response to those attacks. The United States helped in the investigation. And we will continue to be involved in that."

However he stressed that the improvement of relationship between the two countries can only be done by Islamabad and New Delhi themselves. "The US, as a friend of both countries, has always offered advice and ideas, and we will continue to do so," Blake said.

Source: headlines india

News: Mulayam moves HC, seeks stay on possible arrest

Allahabad: Samajwadi Party supremo MulayamSingh Yadav on Thursday moved the Allahabad High Court seeking astay on his possible arrest in connection with an FIR lodgedagainst him pertaining to alleged misbehaviour with electionofficials. The former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, in a petition,had challenged the registration of the FIR against him inEtawah district on May 11. The FIR relating to alleged misbehaviour with electionofficials during revoting in some booths in Mainpur Lok Sabhaseat was registered in Chaubai Police Station. The SP leader was booked under various sections of theIPC and the Representation of the People's Act. The petition is likely to be heard this week.

News: Eight injured in Orissa bomb blast

Bhubaneswar: At least eight people were injured in Orissa's Malkangiri district when a bomb planted by Maoists in a field went off today, police said.

The incident took place near MPV 26 village, some 660 km from here, in a groundnut field.

Police suspect the bomb was planted by the rebels after the first phase of general elections April 16 to target security personnel whom they believed would pass through the area.

"The bomb went off when the labourers were working in the field," District Superintendent of Police Satyabrata Bhoi said, adding that two of the eight injured were critical.

Maoists are active in more than half of Orissa's 30 districts.(IANS)

Source: headlinesindia

News: Election 2009: Numbers game sans big issues

New Delhi: Varun Gandhi's hate speech, BJP's attack on Manmohan Singh as "a weak prime minister" and the hitback by the Congress, shoe-throwing by a journalist to protest inaction over the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. These were some of the enduring images of India's 15th general elections, in which the chase for allies trumped any serious debate over pressing national and global issues.

Unlike earlier elections, there was no single overarching issue or any attention-grabbing slogan to enthuse voters. There were no blazing Bofors guns showing up corruption in high places, as in 1989. Neither was there any 'India Shining' campaign to be mocked at, as in 2004. The hysteria associated with 'masjid' (mosque) and 'mandir' (temple) was missing, with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) putting its Hindutva agenda on the backburner for the sake of coalition politics.

Kuldip Nayar, veteran journalist who has witnessed many elections, said: "Nobody is raising any big issue. It looks like it's an exercise politicians want to be done with so that real action (numbers game) can begin."

The notable exception was the plight of the Tamil population in Sri Lanka - caught in the crossfire between government troops and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) - and this may play a huge role in the swing state that could decide the contours of the next government in New Delhi.

But apart from that, BJP candidate Varun Gandhi's hate speech against Muslims while campaigning in the Pilibhit constituency of Uttar Pradesh was easily the scene-stealer in a lacklustre election that was largely devoid of drama, spectacle and lofty messianic promises that often accompany the poll carnival in the world's most populous democracy.

Personalised attacks on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh by the opposition BJP calling him a "weak prime minister" and the Congress' spirited defence of their prime ministerial candidate was another leitmotif in the five-phase elections staggered over a month this blistering summer.

When combatants were not abusing one another, they were chasing potential allies in an increasingly promiscuous political landscape. Sworn opponents, driven by nothing other than the lust for power, tried to forge alliances in pursuit of the magical halfway mark in the next Lok Sabha - 272 seats.

Inflation, economic reforms, India's strategy to deal with global economic meltdown, the India-US civil nuclear deal, the 26/11 Mumbai attack and Pakistan's alleged role in it - politicians vying for power did talk about some of these issues, but they never came to the forefront.

The India-US nuclear deal, that sparked the split between the Left and the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) leading to a confidence vote in parliament last year, had little resonance among voters and did not figure prominently in stump speeches of key protagonists on any side of the political faultlines.

The Left leaders, who are ideologically opposed to any strategic relationship with the US, raked up the deal in their campaign speeches in Kerala, but it wasn't an overriding issue.

Eyeing the burgeoning urban middle class constituency, BJP's prime ministerial candidate L.K. Advani softened the party's opposition to the deal, saying it will not scrap the deal if the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) that the BJP leads came to power.

Other political parties, who first opposed the deal and then backed the UPA in the confidence vote last year, were conspicuously silent about it.

Regional parties, who appear set to hold the key to power in New Delhi, did not articulate any pan-India vision or speak about India's place in the world.

The BJP tried to raise the issue of billions of dollars salted away in Swiss banks and other tax havens overseas. The Congress first sounded defensive, then hit back by pointing out that much of the stashing away had occurred when the NDA was in power, between 1999 and 2004.

Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi, seen widely as the party's future prime ministerial candidate, suggested: "Why don't we work together to get the money back?" But that idea did not get far in the middle of a fractious campaign.

While voters across the country forced the candidates to confront environmental problems that affected their daily lives - water shortage in farms or air pollution in cities - the candidates themselves were silent on more overarching green issues, especially climate change, on which India will have to articulate its position at a global forum this year.

This campaign saw big technological leaps in the way candidates used the Internet, but the message often failed to live up to the medium.

Largely, across the country, the campaign was caught in local issues as increasingly aware voters demanded fulfilment of their basic everyday needs like electricity, water, roads, sanitation and jobs.

"Developmental issues are becoming increasingly important. Coalition politics gives expression to various regional and local aspirations. Nothing wrong with that," said Mahesh Rangarajan, a political analyst. (IANS)

Source: headlinesindia

News: I haven't spoken to NDA: Amar Singh

New Delhi: Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh clarified today that his meeting with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Rajnath Singh was of a "social" nature and he did not touch politics.

"He (Rajnath Singh) is a close friend. I know him rather well. It was a wedding ceremony and was a social meeting with him. I have not opened any channel of communication with the NDA," Amar Singh told reporters here, referring to the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

Amar Singh, however, added that his party would not align with the BJP "as long as the Ram temple remained their core issue".(IANS)

Source: headlinesindia

Gassips: Hai Hello Its Sonu Sood Calling

The box office results of the film Arundhati are by now well known everywhere, but what is not known is that the dialogue "Bumbalee" (meaning Wow what a girl) which Sonu delivered has been so impact full that it’s become a ringtone or caller tune for one and all in South India. It has been recorded as being the highest downloaded piece in any language so far and ask anyone about the dialogue and they know it. Ask Sonu about it and he says, "It has become a huge rage in down south and I could never believe that it would become so famous. It has become as popular as Gabbar Singh’s dialogue - ’Kitne aadmi the’. Even a 5 year old child can narrate the whole dialogue without faltering. Every single phone has it and everywhere I go people scream it out as soon as they see me. It is a great feeling and trust me when you get so much appreciation for your work your will to work becomes even stronger." We are sure that the impact it has made down south, the same impact will be created in the Bollywood version as well and we wish Sonu the very best for it.

Gassips: Salman Khan’s Veer in trouble, again

Seems like Salman Khan’s troubles are far from over.His film Veer has been facing one controversy after another and the jinx continues.A little birdie tells me that half the cast that was to shoot in London has not been granted a visa yet.So the poor director has been facing some serious issues shooting with just a part of the cast.Apparently among the ones who got the visa are Jackie Shroff, Sohail Khan and Lisa Lazarus.

News: Tata group to soup up supercomputer’s processing power five times

Tata group to soup up supercomputer’s processing power five times

When it was developed two years ago, the Tata group’s supercomputer, christened Eka, was ranked the fourth fastest in the world by the US-based International Conference for High Performance Computing. It was also ranked the fastest in Asia for High Performance Computing, networking, storage and analysis. Since then, with many US companies developing faster supercomputers, Eka was pushed down to 13th position.The Tata group, however, is not lying low. It is now planning to increase the supercomputer’s processing power by at least five times, under a project titled Eka plus plus (Eka++). The Computational Research Laboratories--a subsidiary of the Tata group’s holding company Tata Sons--has already started work on this front. CRL Head (HPC Engineering and Operations) Seetha Rama Krishna confirmed the development. "This is not an easy task," he added, "since to create this kind of processing power, we need a lot of software and hardware and most importantly compatibility between these varied systems". He, however, did not divulge the time CRL would take to complete the upgrade of Eka. "All the software, hardware and processing power will have to mature. Even though we have internal deadlines, I am not at liberty to disclose it," he said. Industry analysts think the project will take at least two to three years to be completed. The Tata group (read CRL), meanwhile, has already begun offering supercomputing as a service on Eka. Around 40 organisations--from aerospace to automobile and life sciences to manufacturing--rent out Eka’s services. Aviation major Boeing and Tata Motors [Get Quote] are among those using the services. Earlier, group company Tata Elxsi [Get Quote] used Eka to cut production time for the animation movie Roadside Romeo. Eka helped it reduce time to six months from the 36 to 40 months it would have taken. Eka--which put India and Tata on the global computing map--uses around 1,800 computing nodes and has a peak performance of 170 teraflops. It has been using the CLOS architecture (which is used for large-capacity switches), with off-the-shelf servers and infiniband interconnect technologies and the Linux operating system. Will the Eka++ project, though, help the Tata group regain the supercomputer’s lost ranking? It’s a difficult call because research and development is taking place all around the world at a fast pace, said industry analysts who did not wish to be identified. Besides, other companies are not resting on their laurels either.

Swine flu queries flood pork shop owners in Delhi

NEW DELHI: "Don’t worry ma’am. India is not affected by swine flu. Therefore the pork that we sell is absolutely safe for consumption," replied the exasperated manager of a pork shop for the nth time on the phone.

India may not be affected by the recent outbreak of influenza A (H1N1), but it sure has raised doubts in the minds of those who buy pork in New Delhi.

Avika Ghosh, an entrepreneur, said that to be on the safe side, she has been avoiding pork "at least until the swine flu talk is over".

"I have read up about swine flu and follow the news regularly, so I know that we are safe in India. Still to be on the safe side I have told my family to avoid eating pork until the end of the flu," Ghosh said.

Transmission of influenza A (H1N1) from pigs to human is not common and the World Health Organisation (WHO) has clearly said that properly cooked pork poses no health risk.

"Swine influenza has not been shown to be transmissible to people through eating properly handled and prepared pork (pig meat) or other products derived from pigs," WHO said on its website.

Yet, people are worried about transmission of the virus through pork consumption.

Vijay Rajora, manager of the Super Empire store in south Delhi’s Khan market, said that ever since the outbreak of the influenza A (H1N1) he has been getting a lot of queries on swine flu from his customers.

"Most of our customers these days ask us whether the pork that we sell is safe for consumption, especially with news of swine flu cases floating all around. We get a number of queries on phone as well," Rajora said.

He, however, said that after the initial round of queries, people buy the pork items anyways.
"Despite all the inquisitive queries, the demand for pork has not come down nor has the price," Rajora added.

Similarly, Rajiv, who works with the meat shop Pig Po in south Delhi’s Shanti Niketan market, said: "We have been getting queries whether the ham and pork that we get has come from hygienic places, and if it’s safe enough to eat it now when there is a swine flu outbreak.

"We reply to the best of our knowledge - that India is unaffected by swine flu. The bottom line is that they may be a little worried, but they will buy whatever they came to buy. The price of pork, which is Rs.220 per kg, has remained unchanged and so has the demand," he said.