Race 2 poster unveiled: Deepika Padukone looks supremely sexy!

The upcoming action-thriller seems packed full of sensationally sensuous stuff – and boy, are we looking forward to it!

The second digital poster of the upcoming multi-starrer Race was released today; this one features Deepika Padukone pouting like a million bucks, posing against the sunlit backdrop of Istanbul, where a large part of the movie was shot. Race 2, which is the second installment of the successful action-suspense thriller, boasts of an impressive cast including Saif Ali Khan, John Abraham, Anil Kapoor, Jacqueline Fernandez, Deepika Padukone and Ameesha Patel.
Incidentally Deepika, who is one of the first cast members to make it to the posters of the film, had actually dropped out of the project last year. She did so prompted by a continuously wavering schedule of Race 2, and her departure didn’t go down well at all with the rest of the cast. Almost the entire group of stars, including male leads Saif and John, gave her the cold shoulder at David Dhawan’s son Rohit Dhawan’s wedding. But good sense – and a bit of negotiation and soothing – prevailed on Dips’ part and she kissed and made up with the producers and continued the shoot.
So all seems well now and the film that is set to release in Jan 2012 will be promoted by all the actors involved. Well, we understand why Dips wanted out of Race 2, especially with majorly hot actors like Jacqueline and Amisha pouting pretty besides her! But worry not, Dippy, for us you stand tall among the other super-hotties!

The Night A Computer Predicted The Next President

Some milestone moments in journalism converged 60 years ago on election night in the run between Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower and Democratic Illinois Gov. Adlai Stevenson. It was the first coast-to-coast television broadcast of a presidential election. Walter Cronkite anchored his first election night broadcast for CBS.
And it was the first time computers were brought in to help predict the outcome. That event in 1952 helped usher in the computer age, but it wasn't exactly love at first sight.
The 'Electronic Brain'
CBS' Charles Collingwood was the reporter assigned to UNIVAC, one of the world's first commercial computers.
"This is the face of a UNIVAC," Collingwood told the CBS audience. "A UNIVAC is a fabulous electronic machine, which we have borrowed to help us predict this election from the basis of early returns as they come in."
The "face" Collingwood refered to was just the console. He sat in front of a mock-up of the console in New York. It was the size of a large desk, with something that looked like a blinking bookcase sitting on top. The real UNIVAC, which took up the better part of a room, was nearly 100 miles away in Philadelphia with its programmers and a CBS camera crew.

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Japan’s Electronics Behemoths Speak of Dire Times Ahead

In the most dire warning, Sharp forecast on Thursday a 450 billion yen ($5.6 billion) full-year loss and warned that it had “material doubts” about its ability to survive.

On the same day, Panasonic’s shares lost a fifth of their value in Tokyo after the company forecast a 765 billion yen ($9.6 billion) annual net loss from write-downs in its solar-power, battery and mobile handset businesses.

And Sony, perhaps the best positioned of the companies, posted a net loss of 15.5 billion yen ($194 million) for the quarter on Thursday and warned of falling sales in almost every product it sells.

“We have a lot of great technology which we want to tap to revive and generate profit, but the company does not have that vitality,” Takashi Okuda, Sharp’s chief executive, told reporters after the company posted a net loss of 249 billion yen ($3.1 billion) for the three months to September. The loss was far larger than expected.

In a statement, the company said it had a “serious negative operating cash flow” which raised “serious doubts” about its ability to continue as a going concern, and said it was taking steps, including pay cuts, voluntary redundancies and asset sales, to generate cash flow.

While Sharp is in the most serious trouble, the three companies’ woes are similar at the core.

All three make good quality, even cutting-edge products — but so do their overseas competitors, usually at lower prices. None of the three have managed to generate the brand pizazz of Apple, or the marketing muscle of Samsung Electronics. In addition, a stubbornly strong yen continues to sap their competitiveness, while Japan’s territorial dispute with China has hurt sales there.

The scale of the losses is the result of specific missteps, from huge investments in the wrong technologies to a reluctance to exit loss-making businesses. A manufacturing bubble here in the mid-2000s — fed partly by an unusually weak currency and Americans flush with cash from rising home prices — masked continued weaknesses in their business models and spurred the companies to take big bets that backfired.

When the global financial crisis brought that boom to an end in 2008, the three were saddled with excess capacity, bloated work forces and investments that they could hardly hope to recoup. And their refusal to make a big enough departure from the ways of their glory years is now making a comeback difficult.

“Many investors are longing for reforms that will let all of the pus out,” Yuji Fujimori, technology analyst at Barclays Capital in Tokyo, said in a recent note to clients.

Sharp’s stumble, in many ways, has been the most humbling. It was the biggest beneficiary of the manufacturing bubble: from 2000 to 2007, its profits jumped 150 percent. Sharp’s high-end Aquos liquid-crystal display televisions — which it manufactured at state-of-the-art factories in Kameyama, in western Japan — were a runaway hit in the nascent flat-panel market. The spinoff Aquos cellphone topped Japanese sales rankings. Sharp’s solar batteries also sold briskly, helped by a bubble in green technologies.

The company’s success during this period seemed to validate Japan’s penchant for manufacturing their most important products in-house. In advertisements, Sharp showed off its cutting-edge factories.

But even before the financial crisis, analysts were warning of an impending crash in prices of flat-panel televisions, which were fast becoming commodities that cheap upstarts could emulate. In 2008, the iPhone made its debut in Japan, the end of an era for Japanese-style cellphones. Chinese upstarts were starting to flood global markets with cheap solar panels and batteries. In consumer electronics, outsourced manufacturing became the norm.

Still, Sharp did not change course. It built a new factory in Sakai, Japan, which could make 6 million large LCD panels a year — more than the size of the global market at the time. Sharp missed the smartphone wave, and its cellphone sales in Japan halved from 2007 to 2012. And in late 2011, the solar bubble burst, driving many solar power companies into bankruptcy and Sharp’s solar batteries business into the red. The unit has not turned a profit since.

Now, the Kameyama factories no longer make televisions but panels for Apple’s iPhones and iPads.

Panasonic, for its part, also bet heavily on plasma televisions in 2003, pouring some 600 billion yen into a series of factories in Amagasaki, not far from Sharp’s own plant. It also bet on solar panels and rechargeable batteries, buying Sanyo in 2009.

But with plasma now a fading technology and solar power struggling, Panasonic is saddled with major losses. Last year, it announced that a factory in Amagasaki was closing, less than two years after it opened.

Kazuhiro Tsuga, who took the helm at Panasonic this year, was blunt in describing his company’s predicament. “We are among the losers in consumer electronics," he told a news conference on Wednesday. He now promises to shift the company away from money-losing televisions and gadgets. 

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Sex With Sandy: Seven New Yorkers on How the Hurricane Tested Their Love Lives

As New Yorkers emerge from their homes in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, they find themselves with messes to clean, power lines to repair — and new sex partners, the inevitable outcome of a citywide event involving darkened apartments lit only by candles. Seven hurricane lovers tell their stories.

1. Rising Libidos Beneath a Falling CraneRafaella, 38, midtown west

I was on my way back from a business trip and made it home to my husband just before the airport shut down. Then the crane collapsed in Midtown — we live right there, almost below it, so it was all very intense and we just started having, like, nonstop sex. Feral. We’ve had sex six times in 24 hours, and we're not done yet. [Ed: Interview conducted Tuesday morning.] For us, Sandy has been super-unproductive and, though I feel bad saying it, super-fun. Being near the crane was weird, scary, and exciting. We normally do have a lot of sex (at least once a day) but this was a lot for us.

2. The Female Player Who Never Left HomeLilly, 31, Prospect Heights

At home in my sweatpants on Monday afternoon, I did my normal site checks: JDate, OkCupid, crushes on Facebook. Then I got a Coffee Meets Bagel alert about a guy asking “for a second chance,” because I’d ignored him the first time around. He was a 35-year-old Pisces, pretty cute, so this time around I “liked” him. His name was completely unpronounceable, but we connected over text and started flirting. Meanwhile, I’d struck up a Facebook chat with a TV actor I’ve pathetically tried to chat with in the past. Normally he ignores me, but I guess Sandy made him really desperate? We made a date to meet in person soon.

Then, while juggling those two, an unknown number called my phone. Because we were mid-emergency, I picked up, but it was this random Jewish doctor from ‘Cupid who tried to convince me he was monitoring the storm for the New York Fire Department. He was trying to be macho, but I didn’t like the tone of his voice, so I made an excuse and hung up. By then the storm was picking up. If he really was important as he said, then it seemed like an inappropriate time to flirt?

Throughout the night I got sexts from exes, friends with benefits, and sexy Brooklyn stragglers. You know the type. Example: “Why didn’t we spend the whole day naked?”

But even if I could have left my apartment, I wasn’t exactly feeling my sexiest. Having eaten a tub of Swedish Fish and another of chocolate malt balls, I was having a nice time on my couch. So I put the phone down to focus on the news, but within minutes, I was Googling the statuses of two cute meteorologists. For the record, Phil Lipof is married but amazing at his job, and Jeff Smith is, according to some gay website, “allegedly” straight, six foot six, and engaged.

Today, in the calm after the storm, I’m supposed to have a date with a real-live person who I met at a party. But I kind of feel like canceling and staying home.

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China Has Hipsters, Too

It's happened all over the world, and it's happening in China, too. As the country's middle class swells in number -- and its people discover the pleasures and disappointments of a life spent pursuing material comfort -- there has come the emergence of a distinct counter-culture. In Chinese, they are the wenyi qingnian (文艺青年), or wenqing for short, literally meaning "cultured youth." It's China's closest equivalent to the alternately beloved and reviled English word, "hipster." 
What does a typical "cultured youth" look like? Baidu Baike, China's version of Wikipedia, contains an entry on the term that quotes writer and musician Guo Xiaohan: "I'm a very typical wenyi qingnian. I like poetry, novels, indie music, European cinema, taking pictures, writing blogs, cats, gardening, quilting, making dessert and designing environmentally friendly bags." 
They are twee, nostalgia-driven, and hipster-ish, with a dash of poet. Spiritual at heart, yet living in a very secular, money-driven modern China, wenqing are marked as highly individualistic, romantic, cultural connoisseurs.
They are more likely to be middle-to-upper class city dwellers, and stand in deliberate contrast to their Louis Vuitton-bag toting, BMW-driving, nouveau riche counterparts so well-known in China. They are defined much less by what they own, and much more by how they think. And as Faye Li, a 27-year-old NGO worker in Beijing, said with a tinge of gentle mockery, "they always like to be different from everybody else."  
Like hipsters, wenqing stridently resist labeling themselves as such. The term "cultured youth" can divide Chinese audiences, alternately attracting admiration or derision. A perfect example recently emerged on Sina Weibo, one of China's popular microblogging sites, with this post entitled, "Photos of Shanghai 'cultured youth' girls aboard a subway reading poetry."
The post features a video showing three women dressed in striped dresses with tiny, feathered top hats pinned to their hair. On board a crowded subway carriage they read aloud a poem about nature. Some commenters congratulated the performers, commending them for their creativity and daring. But others called the video "rubbish" or noted that there did not seem to be much difference between "cultured youth" and "dumbass youth," written in Chinese Internet slang as "2B qingnian" (二逼青年).
One Internet user decried the three performers as inauthentic, writing, "Wenqing doesn't mean going through the motions; it's about the content, and even more about the feelings of the inner world. Go and live in the world of wenqing, and you'll realize it has nothing to do with age or gender." The commenter's own earnestness is a cultural hallmark of these "cultured youth."
A viral photo collage that has been reposted over 7,000 times on Sina Weibo may help to illuminate the precise differences between a "cultured youth" and a "2B youth." It illustrates a number of day-to-day activities, such as driving, writing and eating, but each is performed in three different styles: The ordinary way, the "cultured youth" way, and the "2B youth" way.
While meant to be humorous, it also keenly illustrates how the definition of "cultured youth" diverges from that of a "2B youth." It also shows what the avowed "dumbasses" of China share in common with American hipsters, or at least with their counter-culture origins.  
In the United States, hipsterism first grew out of the slacker era of the '90s. Slackers were frustrated youths, stuck in low paid "McJobs" and pessimistic about their futures. They had witnessed the sophistication with which corporate America had so magnificently co-opted the values and alternative lifestyles of the hippies, protest culture and other counter-cultures of the previous three decades. Their response was to stop creating new culture altogether, indeed, to stop believing in anything. 
Of course, the adaptability of corporate America continues to prove itself, and in the last decade we have seen hipsterism well and truly enter the American mainstream. Where recycling ideas from the past or from the working class was once a kind of anti-fashion, it is now fashion. And yet hipsterism has retained a flavor -- however empty -- of rebellion. 
These characteristics are common to China's "2B youth." They are young men and women who have nothing much going on. As the photo collage suggests, "2B"ers like to engage in pointless and deliberately self-defeating behavior, all, it sometimes seems, for nothing more than the "lulz." 
Behind these Chinese counter-cultures lies a hard reality. A recently released Pew Global Attitudes Survey showed that 81 percent of those polled in China agreed with the following statement: "The rich just get richer while the poor get poorer." And as Foreign Policy reported last month, the country's gender imbalance -- 120 boys for every 100 girls -- has put serious pressure on the nation's bachelors. Those hunting for a bride have come to understand that they should come calling only when armed with an apartment. This, even though "the average property in a top-tier Chinese city now costs between 15 and 20 times the average annual salary." 
In the face of such daunting social pressures, it's small wonder that some Chinese youth have made giving up an art form and a point of pride. Terms once slung like stones -- "2B qingnian," along with diaosi (屌丝), meaning "loser" or "deadbeat" -- have been reclaimed by their victims and are now employed in deliberate self-mockery. These words provide a sense of identity and belonging to young Chinese who feel that on the bitterly competitive playing field of Chinese society, they are not simply falling behind; they're altogether out of the race.  
For the majority of young Chinese, the formula for success in their fast-rising, hard-charging society remains the same: Study assiduously, chase the big bucks, become "mortgage slaves," quickly get married, and have a kid. Then watch the cycle repeat. But for the growing number who find these goals harder to achieve, embracing their outsider status might be the best -- and perhaps only -- way forward.

Karbonn A21 and A9+ launched in India for Rs 11,990 and Rs 9,990

 

Karbonn has launched the A21 and A9+ Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich smartphones in India for Rs 11,990 and Rs 9,990. Notably both devices use dual-core 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processors and have Dual-SIM capabilities.
The A21 features a 4.5-inch display with a qHD resolution of 960×540 pixels, while the A9+ on the other hand has a smaller 4-inch display with a WVGA resolution of 800×480 pixels.
Besides this, both the devices tout a wide array of features like 5-megapixel rear cameras, 1.3-megapixel front facing cameras, 3G support, 512 MB of RAM, and microSD card support. The A21 has a 1,800-mAh battery, and the A9+ has a 1,420-mAh battery.

Dharamshala International Film Festival

The festival will be held from November 1-4, 2012

The Dharamshala International Film Festival 2012 opened today and will be held till November 4, 2012. The festival’s opening night film is Hansal Mehta’s Shahid. This year’s festival regulars like Miss Lovely, Deool, Kshay, Shanghai, Gattu and Senna will also be screened at the event, apart from other interesting international fare. In fact, Ashim Ahluwalia’s Miss Lovely is the closing night film.
The hilly Himalayan town of Dharamshala might be more known thanks to the Dalai Lama, but it has come alive today thanks to the DIFF 2012. Organising the fest here was the brainchild of filmmakers Ritu Sarin and Tenzing Sonam, who want to “establish DIFF as a world-class film festival where filmmakers and film lovers can interact in an intimate, creative and informal way”. We wish them all the best!
Dharamshala International Film Festival 2012 schedule and info from the festival’s official website:
November 1
6pm – Opening + Shahid (India; 2012; 123 min)
In the presence of director Hansal Mehta.
November 2
10:30am – Hara Kiri: Death of a Samurai (Japan; 2011; 126 min)
1pm – Yangsi (USA; 2012; 82 min)
Director Mark Elliott and producer Babeth VanLoo attending.
3:30pm – Deool (India; 2011; 135 min)
Director Umesh Kulkarni attending.
6.30pm – 5 Broken Cameras (Palestine/Israel; 2011; 90 min)
India premiere with co-director Guy Davidi attending.
November 3
10:30am – Gattu (India; 2012; 90 min)
12:30pm – When Hari Got Married (India; 2012; 75 min)
India premiere with directors Ritu Sarin & Tenzing Sonam attending.
2:30pm – Bunohan (Return to Murder) (Malaysia; 2011; 97 min)
India premiere with director Dain Said attending.
5pm– My Reincarnation (USA; 2012; 82 min)
India premiere with director Jennifer Fox attending.
7.30pm – Pina (Germany, 2011; 106 min)
November 4
11am – Kshay (India; 2012; 92 min)
Producer Shaan Vyas attending.
1pm – 1/2 Revolution (Denmark/Egypt; 2012; 72 min)
India premiere with co-director Karim el Hakim attending.
3pm – Senna (UK; 2010; 106 min)
Director Asif Kapadia attending.
6pm – Miss Lovely (India; 2012; 110 min)
Director Ashim Ahluwalia attending.
CLUB HOUSE
November 2
10:30am – José and Pilar (Portugal; 2010; 117 mins)
1pm – Marina Abramović The Artist is Present (UK; 2012; 104 min)
India premiere.
3:30pm – Shahid (India; 2012; 123 min)
6:30pm – Shanghai (India; 2012; 110 min)
November 3
10:30am – Nostalgia for the Light (Chile; 2010; 90 min)
12:30pm – Fable of the Fish (Philippines; 2011; 84 min)
2:30pm- Oka! (USA; 2011; 106 min)
India premiere.
5pm - China Heavyweight (China; 2012; 94 min)
November 4
11am – HaHaHa (South Korea; 2010; 115 min)
1.30pm – Journey to Nagaland + Vestige of Life
A Presentation by Aditi Chitre, Baking Animation in an Artist’s Studio.
3pm – Masterclass with Gitanjali Rao, Close Encounters of the Animation Kind.
4.30pm - Summer Pasture (USA; 2010; 85 min)
India premiere.
6.30pm – Dile Ch Vasya Koi (India; 2011; 86 min)
Director Sanjeev Rattan attending.
TCV DAY SCHOOL
November 2
6pm- Jennifer Fox Masterclass, One Person, One Camera
November 3
2:30pm – Asif Kapadia Masterclass, “Telling Stories, Directing Fiction and Non-Fiction”
November 4
1:00pm – A New Indian Wave?
A Panel Discussion with filmmakers Hansal Mehta, Guneet Monga, Ashim Ahluwalia, Umesh Kulkarni, and Shaan Vyaas. Moderated by film critic Saibal Chatterje.
3:00pm – FILMS FROM THE FRONTLINE: The role of documentaries in situations of conflict
A Panel Discussion with filmmakers: Guy Davidi, Karim el Hakim, Jennifer Fox and Dain Said. Moderated by contemporary Afghan artist Aman Mojadidi.

Job vacancy: Atkins Global is hiring freshers

Atkins Global is hiring freshers for the post of a trainee. Interested candidates can check the details here.

Job role: Graduate Engineer Trainee

Qualification: BE/BTECH/ME/MTECH in Civil Engineering

Experience: 0 to 2 years

Industry: Watershed Management

Skills: Knowledge of Geographical information systems. Proficient in using MS Office, strong communication skills in English, usage of InfoWorks/WinDES/StormCAD

Job type: Full time regular

Location: Gurgaon

Interested candidates can click here for further details.
Information source: expertjobs.org
For more jobs click here
Image courtesy: photos.com
For any career related query, speak to counsellor Prerna Prasad

IIIT: New campus inaugrated by Sheila Dikshit

Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit inaugurated the campus of Indraprastha Institute Of Information Technology (IIIT) which till now was functioning from Netaji Subhas Institute of Technology.
The newly-constructed campus is located in Okhla area in south Delhi.
The institute was set up in 2008 but was operating from the campus of Netaji Subhas Institute of Technology in west Delhi's Dwarka.
"The government is keen to develop this institute as the world's best institute in IT and allied fields by offering highly innovative courses," Dikshit said.
She also announced construction of an iconic foot over-bridge to connect the IIIT campus with Okhla Metro Station.
The chief minister expressed the hope that the present number of seats in the institute 560 would double in three years.

Gmail finally overtakes Hotmail in terms of users: Report

Gmail is perhaps the most widely used web mail service on the planet. That’s what most people think, but that was actually not true until today, if a report by ComScore is to be believed. While Gmail is a very popular web-mail service, for long it has trailed Microsoft’s Hotmail service, which has been active since the mid-90’s.
Recently, Google claimed that Gmail had 425 million monthly active users, but according to ComScore’s report the numbers are quite different at 288 million. Hotmail in comparison now trails Gmail at around 286 million with Yahoo further behind at 281.7 million users.
One has to take in to account the fact that Hotmail lost a chunk of its user base to Outlook.com, new web mail service launched by Microsoft. So while Gmail, has finally taken the lead, it has partially been due to Outlook.com’s user cannibalization.
Gmail is currently battle with Yahoo for the top spot in India, while Hotmail dominates in Brazil and Mexico. Additionally, Yahoo is still the most used web mail service in the US.

Nokia 109 launched, comes with free EA games, social networking apps and a web browser

Nokia has launched the 109, which it bills as an affordable phone that comes with a Nokia Xpress browser. It has been specifically designed for developing markets what Nokia calls the next billion and it has an approximate price of $42 (Rs 2,261).Like most Nokia feature phones it has an alphanumeric keypad, a color display, but its flagship feature is its Xpress Browser, which is a cloud-accelerated browser that compresses the data by up to 90 percent. Other features of 109 include social networking apps for Facebook and Twitter and EA games will offer ten premium titles for free.
Additionally, it also features a FM radio, a rated battery life of 7.5 hours, a media player and a SD card slot that supports up to 32GB of storage. Nokia says it will launch in China, APAC, and Europe. So this also means it will be coming to India. It will be available in Black and Cyan.

How you can prevent Tuberculosis

On World Tuberculosis Day 2012 we tell you more about this deadly disease which accounts for half a million deaths in South East Asia every year. TB is an air-borne disease which affects people whose immunity is compromised. eg: Infants, old people, pregnant women, women who have recently delivered, people living in unsanitary conditions, uncontrolled diabetes patients, cancer patients, HIV positive people.  Also, if you are in close contact (living together/working together) with people suffering from TB, you have more risk of developing TB. Alcoholics, people using illegal drugs and narcotics and people who weigh 10% lower than the recommended body weight are also predisposed to develop TB.
Avoid close contact with people affected with TB. If you cannot avoid contact with them, wear protective masks and gloves.If you work at a hospital, wear good-quality microfilteration masks. Wash your hands with a disinfectant cleanser after contact with the patient.
Avoid crowded, stuffy and unhygienic places.
Work on improving your immunity by including diet rich in antioxidants. Have atleast 4-5 servings of fresh vegetables and fruits everyday. If you cannot have it due to certain practical constraints, make sure you take your daily dose of antioxidants/multivitamins after consulting your doctor. Anti-oxidants help fight free radicals produced in the body due to any kind of disease/stress and help in cell repair.
Include atleast 2 good servings of protein in your daily diet. They are the building blocks of all our cells and help in cell repair too.
Do not go on a low-carb diet. You require a good mix of all the elements of food to be healthy. Carbs, protiens, vitamins and fats all have their place in maintaining your immune system.
Get your daily exercise. Walk regularly for atleast 45 minutes at the least. The improved circulation improves your immunity. 
Set aside a few minutes for meditation everyday. This reduces your daily stress which directly has a bearing on the condition of your immune system.
Maintain good hygiene, wherever you are. Washing hands with a good disinfectant soap often is a very under-valued habit. These days, when your exposure to diseases is at one of the highest levels, you just cannot neglect this simple habit.
Just by following these simple rules, one can safely prevent TB.

Yuvraj Singh has done enough to prove that he's worthy of the No.6 slot

The warm-up fixture between India ‘A’ and England has played according to the script thus far. The batting department has presented its formidable side whereas the bowling expectedly revealed that there isn’t much bench strength. However, it cannot be denied that Yuvraj Singh, notwithstanding Abhinav Mukund and Manoj Tiwary’s knocks, has been the biggest gain of this tour game.
 
Although skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni has expressed concerns over Yuvraj’s fitness, it’d augur well if the latter is picked for the first Test, considering his recent exploits with the bat. Agreed, five days on field is going to be an arduous task, but hasn’t Yuvraj already done enough to prove that he’s ready for the big stage?
 
In a bowling line-up featuring the likes of James Anderson, Steven Finn, Tim Bresnan and Graeme Swann, Yuvraj came up with a gutsy 59, and if that wasn’t indicative of his recuperation, he dismissed Kevin Pietersen and Ian Bell in his sixteen overs. With such a performance, there is little doubt that Yuvraj can be an asset in the No.6 position, especially for the kind of stability he can possibly inject. As Arunabha Sengupta stated in one of his earlier articles, Yuvraj’s comeback has been ethereal and he must be included for the Tests.   
 
During the recently-concluded Duleep Trophy too, Yuvraj’s performance has been phenomenal, to say the least. His 208 against the Central Zone is testimony to the fact that he is fit enough to take field in the longer format. Also, his strike in both these games – 86.30 against Central Zone and 73.75 against England - has been noteworthy. A batsman who can up the ante as well as consolidate when required is what India precisely needs at the No.6 position. Yuvraj fits that bill perfectly. It’s advantageous that India is in a position to pick the squad on a Test-by-Test basis, for if it turns out that he cannot physically withstand the demands of the version, there is always someone like a Manoj Tiwary or Suresh Raina to fill the shoes.
 
In a way, India are fortunate that Tiwary has struck form at a crucial juncture. Although it’d be naïve at this point to read too much into his 93 against England, it augurs well that he has some runs under his belt. If Yuvraj is picked and it’s deduced that he cannot handle the physical requirements of Test cricket just yet, then Tiwary would be a safe bet to continue with. However, one shouldn’t be surprised if the latter gets picked ahead of Yuvraj for the Ahmedabad Test, since Dhoni minced no words when he said, “We have to assess whether Yuvraj is ready to field for two days.”
 
Also, considering that the All-India Selection Committee will meet on November 5 to pick the squad, one wonders whether Yuvraj has done enough to prove his fitness to the selectors and the skipper. Nevertheless, a semi-fit Yuvraj can still be a force to reckon with, and looking at how Dhoni usually operates, he’s sure to let him be his own judge. Yuvraj in the middle-order will certainly keep the Englishmen on their toes, and it is for this psychological edge that India’s think tank must consider choosing him for the Test at Ahmedabad.
 
As mentioned, Abhinav Mukund too has thrown in his hat, and Shikhar Dhawan’s good show in the domestic circuit since the last many months will also be playing on the selectors’ minds. Hence, it’s imperative that Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag – who’ve not had a decent outing with the bat in Tests since July 2011 – put up a good show against the touring Englishmen. With so many capable youngsters constantly knocking the door of the head honchos, Sehwag and Gambhir certainly don’t have a long rope to hang on to.
 
All eyes will be on the selectors and Yuvraj come Monday. While Tiwary has certainly done his best to get noticed, it’d augur well to pick a zealous Yuvraj. As India ‘A’’s coach Lalchand Rajput aptly said, “I know Manoj batted very well, but the way Yuvraj was timing the ball, and one of the sixes against Swann was the best. I think Yuvraj is batting at his prime and, hopefully, he will keep doing it.”
 
Will Yuvraj’s dream of making a Test comeback finally take shape?
 
Karthik Parimal, a Correspondent with CricketCountry, is a cricket aficionado and a worshipper of the game. He idolises Steve Waugh and can give up anything, absolutely anything, just to watch a Kumar Sangakkara cover drive. He can be followed on Twitter at https://twitter.com/karthik_parimal)

Jab Tak Hai Jaan will include Yash Chopra’s swan song!

Does that mean Katrina Kaif will wear that Manish Malhotra saree, after all?

The team of Jab Tak Hai Jaan had almost dropped the title song – it had just a minute and a half left to be shot by Yash Chopra in Switzerland. But during the chautha of the filmmaker, his son Aditya Chopra and lyricist Gulzar got together and decided on finally including the song in the movie because, according to the master-poet, the number is not only the title song, but also one that was very close to Yashji‘s heart.
So who will direct it? And will Katrina Kaif finally get to wear the Manish Malhotra saree – she had 12 to choose from, remember? Such questions instantly popped up in our minds. Responding to this our feathered friend informed us that the song section that Yash Chopra had approved will play along with the end credits. And will most probably showcase visuals of out-takes and moments from during the shooting of the film.
“Jab Tak Hai Jaan is being packaged as a befitting send-off to Yashji,” the birdie said. And we’re sure that all of B-town will cherish it. Right, readers?

LUV SHUV TEY CHICKEN KHURANA movie review

Director Sameer Sharma’s directorial debut is a gourmet caper and leaves a wonderful aftertaste of love, belonging and real Punjabi humour

It’s not just the South Indians who have been featured. Over the years, Punjabis have been caricaturised in many Bollywood films. Anurag Kashyap’s latest food-based film manages to undo the damage. The credit of this goes to debut director Sameer Sharma who along with his co-writer Sumit Batheja has cooked up a scrumptious entertainer – Luv Shuv Tey Chicken Khurana. Kunal Kapoor and Huma Qureshi play the leading pair and their chemistry is simply amazing.
The trailer makes it very clear to the audience what to expect from this culinary romp. Omi Khurana (Kunal Kapoor) is neck deep in trouble as he owes 50,000 pounds to his loony gangster brother who is baying for his blood. The only way he can repay his debt is by going back to his village in Punjab and somehow arranging for the money. Chicken Khurana is a priceless secret recipe that was once very popular, but as Omi’s darji / grandpa (Vinod Nagpal) has lost his memory due to old age, nobody else knows how to whip up the chicken delicacy in the same way.
When Omi was a young lad, he stole his darji’s money, left a ‘sorry’ note for his love Harman (Huma Qureshi) and went to London. His comeback to the Khurana household creates an awkward situation for his uncle (Rajendra Sethi), but his aunt and cousin brother Jeet (Rahul Bagga) still love him. Omi pretends that he is a successful lawyer in London and that he is back just to catch up with his family after ten long years. The innocent family buys into his con and, being large hearted Punjabis, welcomes Omi back, unaware of his ulterior motives.
Harman is unofficially engaged to Omi’s cousin Jeet, but deep down inside still loves Omi. Though she knows that Omi is a very selfish man, she isn’t able to get over the fact that he was her first love. Initially she doesn’t show any interest in her one-time boyfriend, but soon succumbs to his dimpled charms and helps him in his search for the secret recipe. One of the most romantic moments they share is when they are celebrating the Lohri festival – Harman calls Omi ‘kanjar’ (lowlife) and in return he calls her ‘kameeni’ (mean), all while they discretely smile at each other.
This sets the tone for the rest of the film and somewhere deep down you know how it will play out. That is where the genius of the writers kicks in – LSTCK is not about Omi finding the secret recipe, but about how he finds love and and what he finally does with it. Smartly written and brilliantly performed by most of the cast (other than leading man Kunal), this film owes a lot of its entertainment value to its supporting cast. Rajesh Sharma as the loony, blunt Titu mama steals the thunder in every scene that features him. Sharma is fast becoming a permanent feature in Kashyap’s productions and it is good to see him sink his teeth into well-written roles. Luv Shuv… has a bunch of very quirky characters. A standout is Dolly Ahluwalia as Buaji, the revered Godwoman.
Music by Amit Trivedi and lyrics by Shellee adds dollops of authenticity to this Punjab-based caper. The way rustic Punjab has been shot is highly commendable and lends visual freshness to the film. Deftly edited, LSTCK has a very unique pace. While the first half leisurely establishes its characters and their motivations, the second half is a laugh-a-minute riot where you can’t stop clapping or guffawing.
Luv Shuv Tey Chicken Khurana is a scrumptious ride through rural Punjab, with a look at some real people, a taste of Punjabi hospitality and an aftertaste of love, belonging and genuine Punjabi humour! Don’t be surprised if you are tempted to rush to the nearest dhaba to indulge in some chicken immediately after watching this feast of a film!
Rating: 4/5

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, happy birthday!

The angelic beauty of Bollywood, and now the the most beautiful mother in B-town – Ash celebrates her 39th birthday today!

Born on November 1, 1973, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is the toast of Bollywood. Often cited as the most beautiful woman on the planet, Aishwarya has been ruling the Indian film industry with her astonishing beauty and her noteworthy performances in films like Jeans, Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, Devdas, Guru, Dhoom 2, Choker Bali and Jodhaa Akbar. The distinguished face and brand ambassador of top-notch brands like L’Oreal, Longines, Coca Cola and Lakme to name a few, Aishwarya is the queen of endorsements. The Miss-world-turned-Bollywood sensation is enjoying the role of mother to her baby daughter Aaradhya these days. On this special day we look at the various roles the elegant lady has played in real life so far….

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CRICKET - THINGS YOU CAN LEARN FROM THIS GAME

I am crazy about cricket just like any other cricket follower. In India Cricket is more than a sport and
Sachin, another name of God.

Is Cricket just a mode of entertainment ???

My Answer is No. It is more than just a game, and one can learn a lot from its Historical Events.

So you don't agree with me !! . Hmmmm.....Again I have to apply my writing skills to convince
you . But before I start my article I want to make 2 things clear :-

(1) This is totally my Idea (Jo mere Shaitani Dimaag ki Upaj Hai) and

(2) I equally respect each and every game and one can learnt from any sports.... Ok then Get Set and
GO

CRICKET - THINGS YOU CAN LEARN FROM THIS GAME

(1) COMMITMENT

Anil Kumble with a broken jaw and gets Brian Lara lbw -India vs WI 4th test Antigua
2002

This shows your Commitment towards your Profession. Choose the Career of your choice
and then give your 100% to it and you will get unbelievable results.

The sight of Anil Kumble emerging from the pavilion, ready to bowl, his face bandaged, in the Antigua
Test of 2002, is one of cricket's most inspiring.

He bowled 14 consecutive overs and finally dismissed Brian Lara while bowling with a broken jaw.
He was due to fly back to Bangalore the following day for surgery, and as he said, "At least I can now
go home with the thought that I tried my best.

"It was one of the bravest things I've seen on the field of play," said Sir Vivian Richards later.

Batting at No. 7 (Ajay Ratra at No. 8 made a century; Kumble was hit by Mervyn Dillon. He spat out
blood but batted on for another 20 minutes.

(2) CONCENTRATION, TEMPERAMENT AND MOTIVATION

SACHIN SCORING A CENTURY AFTER HIS FATHER'S DEATH, 29th May 1999 India vs
Kenya, Bristol:

Sachin Tendulkar's 140 not out in the match against Kenya said a lot about the temperament that the
little champion possesses. India was under pressure to win the match to stay in contention as they had
lost their previous two games to South Africa and Zimbabwe. Sachin had not taken part in the match
against Zimbabwe as he had to return to India because of the rather unfortunate death of his father.
However, he made it a point to return to England for the World Cup. His hundred against Kenya is
still talked about as one of the great knocks of all time simply because of all the pressures (most of
them non-cricketing) he was facing.

This shows that the biggest Motivator in this world is you. If you want to do something
then do it for yourself.

(3) LEADERSHIP - LEADING BY EXAMPLE

GREAME SMITH BATTING WITH BROKEN HAND - AUS V/s SA, 3rd test 5th
Day, Sydney, 7th Jan.2009

S.A. was struggling to save test match against Aussies, and with 9 wickets down and there was no way
that the South African captain Graeme Smith could come to bat in the last wicket, “Smith walked out
at No. 11, looking to survive 8.2 overs with a broken hand, his own blood recently injected into his
right elbow, and a desperate Australian attack”

It was a special moment in World Cricket to watch Smith come out from that dressing room to bat in
No. 11 with his broken hand and all the Australian crowd giving Graeme a standing ovation was really
inspiring.

There is a saying that a Leader s'd lead from the front by setting an example for others
and that's what we learn from this instance.

(4) NEVER SAY DIE ATTITUDE

MOHD. KAIF AND YUVRAJ PARTNERSHIP AT LORDS, NATWEST SERIES FINAL, IND
V/s ENG, 14TH JULY 2002

Chasing as mammoth a target of 325, India was struggling at 5-146 with all big guns back to the
pavilion. Two Youngsters Kaif and Yuvraj were on the crease, but no one was expecting miracles from
them.

However, Yuvraj and Kaif had different designs altogether. They played brilliantly, forged a fantastic
partnership at the crucial stage and saw India romp home. Y.Singh scored 69 and M.Kaif 87 notout to
bring one of the finest wins in the history of one-day cricket.

This shows that when no one believes you than it's good that you have no pressure to
preform and then you will give your best shot.

(5) NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE AS IMPOSSIBLE ITSELF SAYS I AM POSSIBLE

VVS LAXMAN 73* V/s AUSSIES WHILE BATTING WITH A RUNNER TO GUIDE INDIA
TO THRILLING ONE WICKET WIN, India 405 & 216-9, Australia 428 & 192., IND V/S
AUS 1ST TEST, MOHALI, OCT.2010

CHASING A TARGET OF 216, INDIA WAS STRUGGLING AT 124-8. FROM THERE VVS
LAXMAN striving with his back injury, batted with a runner and proved his talents once again by
scoring the winning run for India.

This shows that anything is possible, but you have to believe yourself and have
confidence in your ability.

So har khel kuch sikhaata hai...Khelo India Khelo !!

-Pulkit Gupta

Child Labour - Nikhil Chandwani

“The sun is shining  but it has left a dark shadow behind.”

I had a short visit to an orphanage in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. In this temple of good hope, I saw a lot of kids getting proper food and education. I came out of satisfied and proud eyes.

On the way away, my smile faded away. At a construction centre, I saw many kids, seemingly unhappy, carrying the bricks in the open. Yes, the same old cancer of modern India, Child Labour. The ugly development of a new criminal and heartless future has still found a huge position in India.

When anyone considers the financial compulsions of the families which compel the kids to work, one will be bound to admit that exclusion of child labour will be a far-away vision as long as the socio-monetary standing of these domains are not enhanced.

Knowing the poison circulated by the child labour, the Indian Government made certain laws. Has this being followed? I don’t know. I don’t think so. 

Removal of child labour is an unfeasible task in the present socio-financial scenario; the Indian government is dedicated to the duty of ensuring that no child remains uneducated, starving and without health check. When this model will be achieved is a billion dollar question.

Child labour is, in no hesitation, a sin that should be ended at the first. The occurrence of child labour reflects very imperfectly on civilization that is not able to stop this evil. But in a society where many households may have to undergo the pangs of starvation if the children are reserved from work, beggars can’t be choosers. These families have to drive their kids to labor, even if the future of these new eyes is cleaned out, as that is the only choice open for them to stay alive in this humanity. Therefore, unless the socio-economic status of the poor families is improved, India has to live with this slow death of the future, child labor.

-Nikhil Chandwani

Author, poet and a lyricist.