New Hyundai i10---A Compact Car

Hyundai Motor India Ltd introduced on last Wednesday, 31st/October/2007, its new compact car, 'i10' priced between Rs 3,39,000 lacs and Rs 3,98,000 lacs.The new small car, formerly known only by its 'PA' codename.

This is the first car from Hyundai which makes its world debut in India.The 'i10' will be the first manufactured car that will only be manufactured in Hyundai's Indian plant and exported to over 70 countries.

The new i10 is powered by a 1.1-litre, iRDE gasoline engine that develops 69hp (70kW). The standard transmission is a five-speed manual gearbox, while all versions also come with electric power steering. An automatic gearbox will be available as an option.

In the Indian market, all i10 variants will offer seating for five as well as standard air conditioning, split/folding rear seats, two-tone beige upholstery, rear seat belts and an electronic trip and odometer. A panoramic sun-roof (a first for this class of cars in the local market, the company claims), rear spoiler, leather wrapped steering wheel and gear knob, keyless entry and a 2-DIN audio system are available on higher-spec variants. The bumpers are body-coloured with detachable inserts while there is an integrated air dam at the front.

The suspension consists of Macpherson struts at the front with a coil spring and torsion bar arrangement at the rear.

Hyundai has released only one exterior dimension, stating that the 2,380mm wheelbase is the longest for any vehicle in this class in the Indian market.

The i10 is also available with ABS, seat belts with pretensioners, dual airbags, doors which automatically unlock on sensing an impact and a high-mounted rear stop lamp.

Versions for export markets, as well as a diesel derivative are expected to be launched in 2008. The UK importer said that the new car will go on sale locally in March priced from £6,500 (US$13,504).

It looks Hyundai Motor India is poised to play a very important role not only in India but also in HMC's global plans.

Hyundai expects i10 to be as popular as its Santro and the car will compete with Maruti’s Wagon R, Zen Estilo, and Indica Xeta from Tata.

Compiled By: Saurav Chakraborty
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SET added more bollywood films to its movie library.....

Sony Entertainment Television (SET) Asia has recently bought the rights of five more movies from India’s leading production house Yash Raj Films.

It’s already common knowledge that Sony TV holds the rights of all movies from the Yash Raj movie library.Now it has been confirmed the channel will also be broadcasting the recently released movies ‘Tara Rum Pum’ ,‘Jhoom Barabar Jhoom’, ‘Chak De India’ and ‘Laga Chunri Mein Daag’. Further good news for Madhuri Dixit fans, the channel has picked up exclusive telecast rights of her comeback movie ‘Aaja Nachle’, which will release at cinemas later this month.


Earlier this year only SET has acquired a batch of 16 new films from Eros International for a reported Rs 850 million (Rs 85 crores).

The acquisition included films like ‘Salaam-E-Ishq’,last year’s mammoth hit ‘Lage Raho Munnabhai’,‘Namastey London’, ‘Eklavya - The Royal Guard’, ‘Partner’, ‘No Smoking’, ‘Cheeni Kum’, ‘Gandhi- My Father’, ‘Provoked’ (Hindi version), ‘Nanhe Jaisalmer’, ‘Buddha Mar Gaya’, ‘Chess - A Game Plan’, ‘Friends Forever’, ‘Mr Black Mr White’, ‘Mr Hot Mr Kool’ and ‘Aur Pappu Paas Ho Gaya’.

Sony will enjoy exclusive global satellite broadcasting rights to the original version of these titles for a period of five years.

Even last year Sony has acquired satellite rights of many blockbusters of that year which includes the exclusive satellite rights of Fanaa, Dhoom:2 and Kabul Express(taken from Yash Raj Films for around 25 to 30 crores),Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna (Rs 14 Crores),Golmaal,Omkara,Jaan-E-Maan,36 China Town, Shaadi Se Pehle, Humko Deewana Kar Gaye, Kalyug, Tom, Dick & Harry, Ahista Ahista, Woh Lamhe, Anthony Kaun Hai?, Jai Santoshi Maa, The Killer, 15 Park Avenue, Being Cyrus, Naksha and Shaadi Karke Phas Gaya Yaar.

So after seeing such big deals from SET its look like Sony has totally decided to keep its 1st position undisturbed for its movie channel SET Max, from its rivals and tough competitors Zee Cinema and Star Gold.

In November(this month only) catch the World TV Premiere of "Good Boy Bad Boy" starring Emhraan Hashmi and Tusshar Kapoor on SET Max,its also one of the new acquisation of SET that has been taken from Mukta Arts this year only.

This year only SET Max has picked up first position in Hindi Movie channel segment leaving behind Zee Cinema at second position .Whereas Star Gold is still in third position, even after acquisition and exclusive world tv premieres of movies like Krrish,Don,Bhagam Bhaag and Rang De Basanti.However Sahara's FILMY is at fourth place with very lower viewership.

Lets see what is going to happen in this segment with upcoming new hindi movie channels from NDTV, UTV, Reliance and INX media group.It looks that competition will be going too much severe in the future for the exclusive satellite rights of bollywood movies...

Compiled and written by: Saurav Chakraborty
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Angkor Wat: City that lived and died by the environment

KATE CHAILLAT
The famous temple site of Angkor Wat was once much more than that. A new map shows that the magnificent temples were part of a huge urban sprawl, with an extensive rural hinterland. People here created an elaborate system of reservoirs and canals—for irrigation, trade and travel—that began to silt up as the population grew, and perhaps saw failures that resulted in flooding and water shortages. But at its peak, the agglomeration was the largest of its kind in the pre-industrial world, according to a team of archaeologists working at this ancient Cambodian site.

The Greater Angkor Project (gap), led by a team of Australian, Cambodian and French archaeologists, has used remote sensing satellite imagery by NASA to uncover what lay hidden under vegetation at Angkor Wat. By detecting slight variations in vegetation and ground moisture due to underlying ruins, the satellite images reveal Angkor’s urban sprawl in unprecedented detail. The archaeologist say the map “displays the ancient Cambodian site as an inhabited space: not a scattered collection of discrete temples, but an integrated, interdependent rural and urban residential network, larger than anything discovered in the ancient world so far.” The findings were published in the August 14th issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

After Mouhot
Angkor was the capital of the Khmer Empire, which held sway over modern Cambodia between the 9th and 14th centuries. In 1866, French explorer Henri Mouhot alerted the Western world to the ruins of a temple complex in Angkor. The place had been visited by Europeans before but Mouhot’s posthumously published Travels in Siam, Cambodia and Laos is believed to have been influential in arousing European interest in the site. Scholars following in the Frenchman’s footsteps were so overwhelmed by the artworks and architecture, that they ignored the archaeology. Angkor was believed to be around 40 sq km.

But gap archaeologists say the city state was actually “stretched for at least 1,000 sq km”. They say that the closest pre-modern equivalent to the Cambodian city state was the Mayan city of Tikal in Guatemala, at its peak around 150 sq km.

“There is not a single square kilometre in Angkor that wasn’t intensively modified and engineered,” says Damian Evans, a gap archaeologist. Besides reservoirs and residential clusters, the map reveals 74 new temples and an elaborate grid of walled field systems.

Evans says there has been an ongoing debate about whether the water network of Angkor could have supported intensive rice cultivation. “The elaborate inlets and outlets on all the major reservoirs coupled with distributor canals connected to every single water source in the region suggest water was intensively exploited at Angkor and could well have been used for rice agriculture. The canals were either made of stone or compacted earth and there was a series of very sophisticated water control devices such as spillways—sometimes massive structures built in stone—which have the capacity to provide irrigation for rice,” he writes.

Old theory
gap findings confirm a theory, first put forward in 1955 by Bernard-Philippe Groslier. The French archaeologist had argued that the ancient irrigation network, which had been ignored by researchers who followed in Mouhot’s footsteps, “was both built and used for irrigation, specifically, to ameliorate variations in agricultural output caused by an unpredictable annual monsoon and to support a huge population of greater than a million people in a constellation of suburbs”.

Evans, however, is not so sure of Angkor’s population. “The gap study doesn’t provide any direct evidence of an extremely large urban population. Our study is more revealing about the spatial extent of the settlement than about its population,” he says.

Environmental demise?
Population figures aside, the expansion of Angkor is impressive and bears witness to the extent the Khmers were able to alter their environment, ultimately engineering Angkor Wat’s demise. It was earlier believed that the city state was deserted after Thai armies ransacked it.

But the gap research has a given a different perspective to the city’s fall. Evans explains that the “massive infrastructural network of roads and canals was built to give coherence to the extended settlement area and to provide a means of communication and of transporting vast amounts of people, stone, and other goods across the landscape”. However the system might have been difficult to maintain especially with potential competing interests for water control (temples, domestic an agricultural use).

Groslier had already suggested that over-intensive irrigation and land-use led to the city’s decline. “Excavations conducted during the mapping did reveal a series of ad hoc adaptations, breaches, modifications to the irrigation system suggesting systemic problems in the network could indeed have caused the downfall of the Angkorian state,” Evans notes.

Furthermore, water-intensive rice agriculture required forest clearing and walled fields, which increased risks of runoffs, sedimentation and caused erratic water flows. In fact remote sensing and ground observations have revealed that “the Siem Reap river is now incised 5-8 metres into the Angkorian floodplain, and a major canal in the south of Angkor that postdates the 14th century ad (when the city was abandoned) is entirely filled with cross-bedded sands, indicating rapid movement of large quantities of sediment-laden water.”

But what led to Angkor’s collapse in the 14th century? Evans admits, “We don’t know that at this stage. There is too little data on both population and on climatic variation in this area”.

What the gap archaeologists do know though is that expansion of the settlement created increasing difficulties for the movement of people, information and goods around the landscape.

gap’s current goal is to ascertain if Angkorians were able to deal with the environmental consequences of their settlement if their failure to factor in ecological changes lead to their downfall. Evans says that the increased sedimentation in canals due to deforestation caused by rice cultivation cannot be ruled out.

The archaeologist notes that Angkor’s demise is a lot similar to the collapse of many pre-industrial civilisations. “It’s something to bear in mind, considering that many of our contemporary cities are expansive, low-density urban sprawls as Angkor appears to have been,” he says. Controlling the environment helped Angkor become the great political centre it was but also led to it losing that place.

Source:Down To Earth
Compiled By: Saurav Chakraborty

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Darjeeling---The Queen Of Hill Stations

Gifted to the British East India Company in 1817, Darjeeling is the hill station of West Bengal.This has been called the queen of hill-stations.

Darjeeling is one of India's most famous hill resorts. It is 2134 m or 7000ft above sea level.In 1835, Darjeeling was given to the East India Company by the King of Sikkim. It became a popular resort for the British who wanted to escape from the sweltering heat of the plains.

Tiger hills is the highest point in the area which provides the most exotic view of the Kanchenjunga peaks. From this place the other peaks of the Eastern Himalayas can be seen. On a clear day the sight of Mt.Everest is just enthralling.

Meter gauge train,The toy train (Now in UNESCO's Heritage List) coming from Siliguri is some thing which is liked by the elders and the children equally. The real fun in coming to Darjeeling is on the toy train. It takes six to seven hours to cover a distance of 82 kms and the slow speed gives you enough time to watch and appreciate the beauty which nature has provided it. This train passes through the Forests, waterfalls, over deepvalleys and through the mountains and tunnels.

The city is centered around the Mall which has a variety of shops, restaurants and hotels. Beautiful walk ways start from the Mall. Between Darjeeling and Siliguri is the small town of Kurseong which has several educational institutions and churches.

Trekking enthusiasts can check out Sandakphu and Phalut. From Sandakphu one can see four of the five highest mountain peaks in the world - Everest, Makalu, Lhotse and Kanchanjunga.

HOW TO GET TO DARJEELING:
Local Transport: Darjeeling is connected to Siliguri the main city in the plains by the Tenzing Norgay Road (formerly Hill Cart Road), from where you can take private jeeps,taxis,landrovers and cars. Bus services between Darjeeling and Siliguri are frequent.From Siliguri by bus/taxi/trekker to Darjeeling (80 km), about 4 hours.

Rail: You can take the famous toy train(from Siliguri Railway Junction), which is a meter gauge train operating over breath taking scenery. The journey takes approximately seven and half hours.However New Jalpaiguri railway junction is the nearest railway station which is connected from other indian cities through rail network.

Air: By air to Bagdogra (Siliguri) - flight duration is about 45 minutes. Indian Airlines as well as private airlines operate on this route. Bagdogra, the airport for Darjeeling hill areas has direct air connections with New Delhi, Calcutta and Guwahati.

WHERE TO STAY:
Plenty of accommodation is available which will suit all budgets.At Darjeeling you can easily find out a range of accommodation options from high budgets to economical and low budgets.

PLACES TO VISIT:
-The Japanese peace pagoda.
-Nation's oldest passenger ropeway which connects North Point to Singla Bazar.
-The Tiger Hills.
-Two kilometers from Darjeeling is the town of Ghoom which is the highest railway station in the world. It also has a monastery.
-The Batasia loop (5 kms from Darjeeling) on the Darjeeling Himalayan railway is an engineering marvel and is another attraction even if someone doesn't want to take the slow train ride.
-The Tenzing Norgay Himalayan Mountaineering Institute.
-Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park.
-The Lloyd's botanical gardens.
-The two popular view points are Jawahar Parbat and the Observatory Hill.
-The Dhirdham Temple.
-Senchal Lake : A favorite Picnic Spot about 10 k.m. from the town. The lake provides water supply to the Darjeeling town.

(Very soon i will give brief details about all the excursion places and also i will keep on adding infos here as i will keep on getting them.So keep checking this place from time to time.)

Compiled By: Saurav Chakraborty
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Gangtok----A Lofty Hill

Gangtok, the capital of Sikkim with a population of approximately 50,000 has emerged into the mainstream of the Tourism Industry, with more and more tourist visiting this little Himalayan state every year. Gangtok has developed into a cosmopolitan flavour where old-world charm and hospitality exist along with the Internet Age.Gangtok was a small hamlet until the construction of the Enchey Monastery in 1840 made it a pilgrimage center. It became a major stopover between Tibet and British India at the end of the 19th century. Following India's independence in 1947, Sikkim became a nation-state with Gangtok as its capital. In 1975 the monarchy was abrogated and Sikkim became India's twenty-second state.

The precise meaning of the name Gangtok is unclear, though it is generally held to mean "lofty hill". Gangtok is also a centre of Tibetan Buddhist culture and learning with numerous monasteries and religious educational institutions.

With different cultures and religion existing in perfect harmony, Gangtok has shown that "Unity in Diversity" exists in Sikkim. Sikkimese have strong bonding with their age-old traditions and customs. However, a quick survey of Gangtok shows that the bubble of modernization has burst with a bang in the town. The capital is definitely not behind the rest of the world in terms of urbanization - Broad roads, flyovers, posh markets, state-of-art hospital, educational institutes, fast food outlets, discothèques, and all other modern amenities that the heart can desire for. One imposing manmade landmark of the town is the 200 ft-high TV tower which overlooks the town and is situated near the Enchey Monastry below Ganesh Tok. A stroll along the Mahatma Gandhi Marg is shopper's delight- Hotels, restaurants, curios, footwear and almost everything is available. Be here to experience the magic.

How to Get to Gangtok:
LOCAL TRANSPORT: Private Taxis, Jeeps and Landrovers ply regularly on the Gangtok- Siliguri Highway and are available for transfer of passengers between Gangtok and Siliguri/ New Jalpaiguri Junction/ Bagdogra, and also for local sightseeing at fixed rates and may be reserved through Tourist Bureau, Govt. of West Bengal, Gangtok.
AIR CONNECTIONS: Nearest airport is Bagdogra in West Bengal( 124 kms.)
HELICOPTER SERVICE - between Gangtok - Bagdogra - Gangtok
ROAD CONNECTIONS: Gangtok is connected with all weather mettaled road with Siliguri, Kalimpong, Gangtok etc.
RAIL CONNECTIONS: New Jalpaiguri in West Bengal is the nearest railway station(148 kms.)

Where to stay:
Accommodation is easily available in Gangtok. You may take your pick from the many hotels, tourist Lodge, tourist hostel and tourist cottages in Gangtok.

Places to visit in and around Gangtok:
◘ Government Institute of Cottage Industry
◘ Sikkim Research Institute of Tibetology
◘ Do-Drul Chorten (Stupa)
◘ Enchey Monastery
◘ Ridge Park & White Hall Complex
◘ Tashi View Point
◘ Hanuman Tok
◘ Ganesh Tok
◘ Himalayan Zoological Park
◘ Sa-Ngor-Chotshog Centre

Excursions from Gangtok:
◘ Rumtek Dharma Chakra Center
◘ Jawaharlal Nehru Botanical Garden
◘ Water Garden
◘ Saramsa Garden
◘ Tsomgo(Changu) Lake
◘ Menmecho Lake
◘ Nathula Pass

(Very soon i will give brief details about all the excursion places and also i will keep on adding infos here as i will keep on getting them.So keep checking this place from time to time.)

Compiled By: Saurav Chakraborty
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Sony back in cricket telecast game....

Set India CEO Kunal Dasgupta is back to doing what he loves even more than the movies – playing the cricket broadcast game. The man who blindsided ESS in 2002 with an audacious $ 208 million sweep on seven-year ICC rights for the Indian subcontinent, that too when News Corp owned the global rights, has made a fresh cricket play.

Set India has secured New Zealand cricket telecast rights for the next four years. Sony’s winning bid: $ 50 million.

That makes three boards – England, Australia (both with ESPN Star Sports) and New Zealand – where telecast rights have been secured for the next four-five years. Which leaves Pakistan, Sri Lanka, West Indies, South Africa and Zimbabwe that remain to be locked into long term deals.

Queried as to whether Sony would be bidding for any of these boards as and when they opened up, Dasgupta replied in the affirmative. That’s not all. The way the ongoing Twenty20 World Cup has caught the fancy of viewers has got the portly Set India CEO more than interested. “We will also be bidding for the BCCI’s Indian Premier League and the Champions Twenty20 League,” Dasgupta asserts.

The Indian Premier League (IPL), structured as a franchisee-based Twenty20 Series, is scheduled to kick off in April 2008. The final leg of the competition, which will be run by the four cricket boards of India, England, Australia and South Africa, is called ‘Champions Twenty20 League’ and will be held in October 2008.

Sony’s acquisition of the New Zealand cricket rights harks back to what the broadcaster did in the late ’90s, wherein it had the rights to Sri Lanka cricket. It may also be recalled that when Max launched as a cricket and movies channel in 1999, it had the Sharjah rights as its key cricketing property.

Source: Indianpad.com
Compiled by:Saurav Chakraborty

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NDTV Good Times: A new lifestyle channel

On Wednesday, 30th.August.2007, NDTV announced the launch of its new channel 'NDTV Good Times'. It will be a free to air channel from September 7.

It's India's first Lifestyle Channel targeting the global, urban India. The channel is a tie up between NDTV and the Kingfisher brand and hopes to leverage NDTV's broadcasting and programming expertise with Kingfisher's lifestyle appeal.

The channel will have wide range of shows on health, food, fitness, leisure, fashion, travel, technology besides shows on relationships and family. The channel is targeted at viewers in the age group of 20-40 years, belonging to SEC A.The channel is in English and it is positioned as an aspirational product for viewers. It will mould programming specific to the Indian context. It claims to have at least 50-60 programmes per week to cater to the taste of its target audience. The genres include food, late night chat shows, relationships, travelling, cooking, tech and gadget shows, Indian weddings, parenting, pet care, parties, health and wellness and fashion cars and motor bikes.

Some of the well-known personalities who will host shows on the channel include actor Rajat Kapoor, TV chef Manju Malhi, who is said to be Britain’s new Madhur Jaffrey, tech guru Rajiv Makhni, cocktail specialist Shatbhi Basu, Arun Thapar of ‘Chupa Rustam’ fame and spa expert Devika Anand.

The logo of the channel has ‘NDTV Good Times’ written inside a square, red box, with the UB Group’s Kingfisher bird woven in on the top left corner.

Equus Red Cell is promoting the channel in the media. The promos for the channel are already running on NDTV network channels such as NDTV 24x7, NDTV India and NDTV Profit. Apart from television, NDTV Good Times is looking at innovations in outdoor advertising, print, event promotions and very largely through the Internet and mobile media.

Compiled by:
Saurav Chakraborty

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India Wins the "ONGC Nehru Cup 2007"...

A packed house cheered India to a rare international football title here on Wednesday,29th August, night with the home team taming Syria by a lone first-half goal in the ONGC Nehru Cup tournament.

Baichung Bhutia did not score, but paved the way for a priceless strike by N. P. Pradeep in the 44th minute. It should, however, be recorded that India owed the triumph immensely to an impeccable performance under the bar by Subrata Paul. His anticipation in cutting off Syria’s aerial forays was the most striking feature of the contest.

The Indians matched the Syrians in every aspect of the game — speed, control, aggression and tactics. Pace was furious but the match suffered in quality once the Syrians adopted needless rough tactics, especially to unsettle Bhutia and Sunil Chettri.

The goal by Pradeep was just the tonic Indian football needed. Chettri initiated the move, found Bhutia, who could not finish the job but an overlapping Pradeep slotted the loose ball in with a flourish that epitomized the team’s regal march to the title.

Syria, ranked 39 places above India,had one last chance in injury time but Jenyat shot wide. India should have been up by another goal but Dias made a hash of a spectacular square pass by Bhutia. In the end, the misses did not count.


Before the tournament, there were two teams ranked higher than India on the FIFA charts, but the team was never short of confidence and skipper Bhaichung Bhutia had declared that "there was a very realistic chance of India winning the title."

However, not many gave the hosts much of a chance against the pedigree of the West Asians and the superior physique of the men from Kyrgyzstan. But they wanted the trophy the most.

India received the winners` prize of USD 40,000 while the Syrians had to settle for half that amount.

There was further windfall for the Indians as ONGC announced a 100 per cent bonus for them. Delhi Chief Minister Shiela Dikshit chipped in with Rs five lakh while All India Football Federation announced a reward of Rs 10 lakh.

The Indians reserved their best performance for the final and prevailed in a contest that often reached boiling point. The match featured several yellow cards and the Syrians had to play the entire second half with 10 men.

The Indians reserved their best performance for the final and prevailed in a contest that often reached boiling point. The match featured several yellow cards and the Syrians had to play the entire second half with 10 men.

There was no space left inside the floodlit Ambedkar Stadium with the 16,000 Indian supporters and a handful of Syrians making for a spectacular setting. Apart from the odd incident of bottle-throwing, there was no unsavoury scenes.

Lok Sabha Speaker Somanth Chaterjee later called up Bhutia to congratulate the team for the triumph. President Pratibha Patil also congratulated the Indian team for its outstanding performance.

Compiled By:
Saurav Chakraboty

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Hutch Delhi Half Marathon 2007

The Hutch Delhi half marathon will be held here on October 28, two weeks later than the last two editions.An increase of $10,000 in prize money was announced for the Hutch Delhi half marathon to be held here on October 28, 2007.

The countdown for the Delhi half marathon began with Reebok signing as the sportswear and training partner for the run.

Besides being the official sportswear supplier, Reebok will be actively involved in imparting training to the desirous runners in all aspects of marathon running.

Under the programme Reebok Instructor Alliance, which has over 900 certified trainer across the country, a three-day workshop was organised to educate the trainers about distance running and related aspects such as endurance and cross training, diet and nutrition, injury prevention and treatment, running kit and health issues.

Distance running expert Ian Ladbrooke and two elite Kenyan athletes, Catherine Mutwa and Zak Kihara, conducted the workshop for 50 certified trainers that ended on Monday.

These trainers in turn will train interested people in becoming more accomplished distance runners.

The prize money for this year now stands at $1,60,000. The organisers also announced that they would attempt to double the amount to be raised for charities on the occasion of the half marathon.

The Hutch half marathon, in its third edition, has now become a popular event in the Capital. More than 30,000 people are expected to participate in the event, including the Great Delhi run and the senior citizens run. The age limit for the open category will be 18 years and above while that for the veterans category it will be 45 years and above. The senior veterans category will be for men of 55 years and above and women of 50 years and above. A wheelchair event over 4.3km will also be held.

The entry fee for Indians will be Rs. 200 for the half marathon and Great Delhi run, and Rs. 100 for senior citizens. Overseas participants will be expected to pay $30 for the half marathon and $20 for the senior citizens run.

The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) President, Suresh Kalmadi, said that the half marathon was a perfect build-up for the multi-discipline games Delhi was gearing up to host in the near future.

The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) Secretary, Lalit Bhanot, will be the race director.

Register Yourself For Hutch Delhi Half Marathon at below given link:
http://hdhm.indiatimes.com

Compiled by:
Saurav Chakraborty

Chak De India....

Chak De India is surely one of this month’s most anticipated films. The Shah Rukh Khan - Yash Raj combo surely cann’t fail. Or can it? Recently Yash Raj Films has been going thorugh quite a bad patch with their two releases this year, Jhoom Barabar Jhoom and Ta Ra Rum Pum not doing that well at the box office.

Chak De India is based on the real life story of an Indian hockey legend Negi, who was charged with match fixing allegations in 1982 when India lost to Pakistan in the Asian Games, New Delhi. Negi was later called back to coach the Indian Women Hockey team. The women’s team, under Negi’s guidance, won gold in 2002 Common Wealth Games.

Shahrukh Khan, who plays the coach’s role in the movie, along with director Shimit Amin, did a lot of research before doing the role. He also spent a lot of time with Negi to understand the character better.

I know all Bollywood fans are waiting with bated breathe for Chak De India to release. So remember the date is August 10th, book your tickets in advance as there is going to be a big rush !!!!

Compiled by: Saurav Chakraborty
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Is global warming destroying Mount Everest?

In 1953, Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay were the first people to successfully summit Mount Everest, the highest peak on Earth. Now their sons are warning the world about the damage that global warming is doing to the mountain, one of world's most spectacular natural wonders. Peter Hillary and Jamling Tenzing, in an interview with British newspaper The Independent, lamented that global warming is radically altering the appearance, ecology and climate of Mount Everest and the surrounding area of Tibet. Inaction, they warn, could lead to an environmental disaster.

Peter Hillary said that base camp at Everest has slid from an elevation of 5,320 meters, when his father climbed Everest, to 5,280 meters and continues to sink each year. The younger Hillary, who has scaled Everest twice, also warned of the effects of glacial lakes bursting. Glacial lakes that fill up with too much water can breach their natural barriers -- which themselves are frequently made of ice -- unleashing a massive flood. (We recently wrote about a lake in Chile that disappeared because of the same effect.)

In the case of Mount Everest and the surrounding area, tens of thousands of people may be at risk. Forty thousand Sherpas live at the base of the mountain. Already there are 9,000 glacial lakes in the Himalayas, 200 of which face possible glacial outburst floods. A similar flood in 1985 created a torrent of 10 million cubic meters of water. Most of a village, including a local power station, was swept away, with some people and debris ending up 55 miles away. Some lakes now exist that are 20 times the size of the one that burst in 1985. When talking to The Independent, Peter Hillary compared the effects of a glacial outburst flood to an atomic bomb.

If current patterns keep up, most of the glaciers covering the Himalayas could melt within the next 50 years; 80 percent will be gone within 30 years. Some of these glaciers are three miles long. Mount Everest would then appear as an enormous peak of mostly exposed rock with limited areas of ice. The glacier used as Hillary and Norgay's original base camp has moved three miles in 20 years while others have disappeared entirely. Overall, glaciers in the area receded 74 meters in 2006, up from 42 meters a year between 1961 and 2001. The effects are already pronounced: climbers are warned to be on the lookout for rockslides and avalanches caused by increased snowmelt.

Beyond the effects on the immediate area, the glaciers of the Himalayas have worldwide importance. These glaciers contain 40 percent of the world's fresh water, feed nine large rivers and provide one-sixth of the world's drinking water. The fluctuations in the local water supply have caused desertification in some areas, which makes it difficult for farmers to irrigate their crops. Large rivers have appeared in some areas where they did not exist before (and at the expense of other streams).

The global warming claims of Hillary and Norgay are supported by a climate study conducted by an international team of scientists in association with the French Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The study, published in early 2007, confirmed that global warming is adversely affecting Mount Everest. Additionally, many Tibetan people, Sherpas, guides and frequent visitors to the area relate stories of glaciers and ice features such as serac forests -- huge columns of ice formed by glaciers -- disappearing or retreating to higher altitudes.

Compiled by: Saurav Chakraborty

The Baltic Sea is in serious trouble

Each year over 1 million tonnes of nutrients leak into the waters of the Baltic Sea, causing environmental damage to one of the world's most threatened marine ecosystems.
These nutrients – used in farming around the region - lead to blue-green algal blooms, which kill other marine life and make it difficult for people to go near the water, scaring off tourists and local residents.

But instead of stopping this pollution, governments are actually causing and adding to the problem by handing out large subsidies to intensive industrial farming in the region.

Every year, over €10 billion of European taxpayers' money is provided through agricultural subsidies without setting strict enough environmental measures to guard against nutrient overload.

If urgent action is not taken the Baltic Sea could be irrevocably damaged.

The Baltic is the youngest sea on our planet, emerging from the retiring ice masses only some 10-15,000 years ago. Due to its specific geographical, climatic and oceanographic features, it is highly sensitive to human activities which are taking place both at sea and the surrounding area, which is home to some 85 million people.

The algal blooms in the Baltic Sea are caused by a process called eutrophication. This happens when a body of water receive excess nutrients that stimulate excessive plant growth. This plant growth, often called an algal bloom, eventually decomposes and reduces dissolved oxygen in the water, which can kill other marine life that depend on the oxygen for their survival.

Compiled by: Saurav Chakraborty
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Lage Raho Munnabhai to premiere on SET Max India....

This July, SET Max is sizzling with a Family Fun Afternoon Movie Festival and four channel premieres! Don’t miss all the Bollywood fun!

relationships. Featured in the afternoon family festival are, listed in airing order: Trishul, Hum Tumhare Hain Sanam, Chal Mere Bhai, Swarg, Waqt – The Race Against Time, Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai, BetaThe Family Fun Afternoon Movie Festival will air Monday through Friday afternoons at 12:00 noon from July 9th to July 20th. Come in from the heat, relax with your family and take a look at the light side of families and, Masti, Satte Pe Satte, and Aamdani Atthani Kharcha Rupaiya.

This month, don’t miss four fantastic movie premieres on the SET Max channel! For the first time ever, SET Max viewers will be able to see Apna Sapna Money Money, premiering on Saturday, July 14th at 8pm EDT, Lage Raho Munnabhai, premiering on Sunday, July 15th at 12pm EDT, Kudiyon Ka Hai Zamana, premiering Saturday, July 21st at 8pm EDT, and Anwar premiering Saturday, July 28th at 8pm.


This July, spend time with your family by relaxing in your living room with the Bollywood hits on SET Max!






Source:Radiosargam.com
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Finally Taj Mahal is among 7 wonders of the world...

Always counted among the man-made marvels of the world by its admirers, the Taj Mahal on Saturday found pride of place in a new list of seven wonders polled by people around the globe.

The most photographed monument is accompanied by The Great Wall of China, Petra in Jordan, Statue of Christ Redeemer in Brazil, Machu Picchu in Peru, Pyramid of Chichen Itza in Mexico and the Roman Collosseum in the list announced at a gala ceremony in the Portuguese capital Lisbon to coincide with the date 07.07.07.

In a colourful ceremony amid songs and dance, Bollywood star Bipasha Basu announced Taj Mahal as one of the wonders. Agra Mayor Anjula Singh received the award.

Indians voted overwhelmingly in the polls cast by over a million people. The polling picked up drastically over the last one month, to see the "monument of love" through to the final seven.

The worldwide poll, in which people could vote for their favourite monument either on-line or through SMS, was conducted by the New 7 Wonders Foundation, a Swiss non-profit group.

The one-and-a-half-hour-long ceremony at Portugal's largest venue, the Estadio da Luz, saw award-presentation appearances by celebrities like Hillary Swank, Ben Kingsley, Cristiano Ronaldo and Neil Armstrong.

The celebrity-studded event also saw performances by Jennifer Lopez, Chaka Khan and Dulce Pontes.

The voting picked up last month and in the latter half of June, eight per cent of all votes came from India, which then further increased to 13 per cent.

Source: Hindustan Times
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How can a lake simply disappear in Chile?

Sometime in May 2007, a glacial lake in southern Chile disappeared. Chilean surveyors reported in March that the lake was its usual size, 100 feet deep and covering an area around five acres. Located in Bernardo O'Higgins Park, in the southern Andes mountains, the lake is (was) rarely visited and didn't even have a name. When Chilean forestry officials arrived, they were surprised to find nothing more than "chunks of ice on the dry lake-bed and an enormous fissure" where the unnamed lake had once been. Five miles away, a river that was once more than 130 feet wide barely flowed. What could cause such a massive disturbance to make an entire lake and much of a river disappear?

Global warming seems to be the knee-jerk response lately whenever a dramatic environmental change is observed. Indeed, global warming is a big concern for lakes, as many bodies of water are experiencing receding water levels due to a combination of low rainfall and high temperatures. In the Magallanes province, where the lake is located, the Tempano and Bernardo glaciers are shrinking, and both of those glaciers contributed water to the lake. Experts like Gino Casassa and Andres Rivera, both glaciologists, point to global warming as the cause of the glaciers' melting. So global warming was immediately considered as a possible cause, but when investigating the lake, scientists considered several other possibilities.

One theory scientists considered was that an earthquake in the area opened a fissure in the earth, which sucked down the lake. Southern Chile experiences hundreds of small earthquakes a year, and a fairly large tremor was detected on April 21. The fissure observed in the empty lake bed could have provided an outlet for the lake water to escape, much like a stopper being pulled from a sink.

A second possibility draws in part on global warming and the melting of glaciers. Glacial lakes often develop behind natural dams called moraines, which are made of ice. Once a moraine is broken, whether by an avalanche, earthquake, warming or other event, water bursts through and the lake sometimes drains.

It took scientists several weeks before they were able to discover the answer because the site is very remote -- about 4,900 feet above sea level and 1,250 miles south of Chile's capital, Santiago. But in early July 2007, scientists got their answer.

An investigation has revealed that too much water was the problem. The melting Tempano and Bernardo glaciers filled the lake beyond the crater's capacity. The increased pressure broke the lake's moraine through which water flowed out, later ending up in the ocean. The lake is refilling as the chunks of ice on the lake bed melt, though Chilean scientists pointed out that global warming did have a serious effect. Glaciers naturally melt and reform, but warming is causing the Tempano and Bernardo glaciers to melt more than they should..

For some lakes, rapidly appearing or disappearing is part of a natural process. The lake in Chile did not exist 30 years ago, though, again, global warming is likely affecting the process. Some lakes, including many in Alaska and Florida's Lake Jackson, go through a similar process regularly, disappearing and reappearing during certain seasons, or from year-to-year or decade-to-decade.

Compiled by: Saurav Chakraborty
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SRK flick bags Rs 75crore..

For over two months, big boys of showbiz have been bidding for the worldwide rights of Shah Rukh Khan’s home-production Om Shanti Om. While one of the Bollywood trade papers pitched the deal at Rs 80 crore, sceptics scoffed the speculation because it was an unheard of amount for a Bollywood film. Buzz is the deal — largest for worldwide rights — for Om Shanti Om finally closed in the last couple of days.Even earlier its heard that Adlabs has acquired all rights of Om Shanti Om in Rs 85 Crore.

It is learnt Kishore Lulla's Eros International, listed on AIM — junior LSE, has bagged the worldwide rights for the Khan flick for Rs 72-75 crore. Sunil Lulla of Eros said, "I will be in a position to talk to you about the deal only next week." But insiders say the deal has been signed, sealed and is waiting to be delivered.

Acquiring the worldwide rights of a Bollywood film is the latest innovation in showbiz deals.Since companies like Adlabs Films, Eros, UTV, Studio 18 and T Series are flushed with funds, it has become easier for them to shell out astronomical sums to acquire the worldwide rights of a film.Studio 18 recently acquired the worldwide distribution rights of Mahesh Bhatt's Awarapan.Now producers prefer to sell worldwide rights to a single party because it saves them the bother of dealing with a network of distributors.

One of the earliest examples of the acquisition of consolidated distribution rights started with Yash Raj Films taking over Mangal Panday —The Rising. Next, UTV took over the WWR of Taxi 9211 from Adlabs and Ramesh Sippy Entertainment.

Vipul Shah, whose Namastey London was acquired for global distribution by Eros, feels selling worldwide rights makes good business sense.

Compiled by: Saurav Chakraborty
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Is 7/7/07 a lucky day?

Is 7/7/07 a lucky day? Seven is often associated with good luck and for some people it has mystical or religious associations. It's a prime number, though so are 3, 11 and 13,267. Seven appears frequently in the Bible, and there are seven days in a week, seven wonders of the world, seven seas, seven sins and seven virtues, seven years bad luck, seven dwarves, the Boeing 777 and winning numbers in craps, slot machines and blackjack (where three times seven is a blackjack). American Indians have seven directions, Christianity has seven sacraments and Hinduism believes in seven chakras. Then there's the world's most popular boy wizard: the seventh Harry Potter book comes out on the 21st day (that's three sevens) of July, 2007.

To some, 7/7/07 is simply another day or, perhaps, a magnet for superstition, astrologers and marketing companies. But to many people, the number seven holds special, even spiritual or supernatural significance.Seven is often associated with magic, wisdom, intelligence, mystery and solitude. The day has caused many people to pore over their lives, looking for the number seven -- in their age, anniversary, the day they met their spouse -- and a variety of events have been planned accordingly.

In California, yoga instructors will be meditating at 7 p.m. while Christians in Tennessee will fill the Tennessee Titans' football stadium for mass prayer. Many shops will be holding special sales, casinos are expected to do great business and if the lottery comes up all sevens, the winners are going to be splitting the money many ways.

But the big winner on July 7 will be the wedding industry. Because the date falls on a Saturday, 7/7/07 will likely be the biggest single wedding day in history. On the popular wedding site theknot.com, more than 38,000 couples are listed as marrying on July 7. That's more than three times the average for a Saturday in July. Las Vegas wedding chapels have been offering special, seven-themed packages, including, for the budget-minded, a seven-couple ceremony, costing $77 dollars per couple, complete with seven roses and seven photographs.Some companies that seem to have no business in weddings have gotten involved. Six Flags, the theme park company, is allowing seven couples to get married on the rides of their choice as part of their "Thrilled Ever After" promotion. Wal-Mart is paying for seven couples to get married in the garden and lawn area of seven Wal-Mart stores. There are also the obligatory celebrity weddings -- actress Eva Longoria and basketball player Tony Parker will marry in Parker's native France; Chef Wolfgang Puck will marry his fiancée, Gelila Assefa, though Puck claims the date was chosen because others presented scheduling conflicts.

So is all the fuss worth it, or are companies simply gleeful that the numerically pleasing day presents so much opportunity? After all, it was probably difficult to market wedding packages for 6/6/06.We'll also talk about why 8/8/08 may be even bigger than 7/7/07.

Compiled by: Saurav Chakraborty
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Biodiesel for India: When do we get it finally?

Biodiesel is in. IndianOil Corporation (IOC) has already started measures to go in from commercial production of bio-diesel, with the state-owned refiner-marketer seeking 30,000 hectares of land from the Madhya Pradesh government for its jatropha plantation.

An IOC official said that the company was keen on its jatropha plantation and is awaiting MP government’s response in this regard. Going green seems to be the in thing - not to mention where the big bucks are - and the jatropha seed has been identified as the main source of making biodiesel. IndianOil Corp is in fact in discussions with other states such as Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan for land to start plantations.

Biodiesel is made by blending oil extracted from seeds like jatropha with diesel refined from crude oil. Jatropha is seen as a plant that has all in it to provide India with a socially and ecologically sound option for increased fuel consumption. The positive aspects about the plant are that it can grow in wastelands; yields four times as much fuel per hectare as soybean; yields ten times as much fuel per hectare as corn; a single hectare can produce 1,892 litres of fuel and converting the plant oil to clean fuel requires only one step.

The IndianOil Corporation estimates that India would need an annual demand of 2 million tonnes of biodiesel, with a 5 per cent blending ratio. This figure can even go up to 10 per cent without making any modification in the engine, indicating an annual consumption potential of four million tonnes.

IOC’s efforts at promoting biodiesel come at a time when there is an urgent need for increasing energy security. Related benefits of biodiesel and other eco-friendly fuels are protecting the environment, creating jobs for rural folk and develop wastelands. The move towards jatropha plantation by IOC can be seen as a welcome step in this direction.

Meanwhile, reports said that IndianOil has already completed field trials with the bio fuel. IOC’s trial with Haryana Roadways showed a 10-15 per cent reduction in emission from the 40-odd buses that used bio-diesel.

With the bio-diesel fever catching up, Tata Motors and Indian Railways have also conducted trials running locos hauling high-speed Shatabdi and Jan Shatabdi trains.

However, there are a couple of hitches too. The government’s biodiesel plan may come unstuck due to the government's policy on procurement price. The government has set a procurement price of Rs 26.50 for each litre of biodiesel, whereas each litre made out of imported crude palm oil costs Rs 35-40. Besides, the jatropha plants allow oil extraction from seeds only after three years.

It has been reported that the IOC is trying to use this time to put in place an integrated plan for the entire value chain of biodiesel — from plantation to blending and marketing. It now remains to be seen as to when the country is really ready for the green fuel that would be a boon in today’s times.

Compiled by:Saurav Chakraborty
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Maruti Escudo, the New Grand Vitara, coming soon....

Maruti plans to launch the latest version of its SUV Grand Vitara - the Suzuki Escudo - in India very soon.Maruti had showcased the Escudo in the last Auto Expo in New Delhi, where it evoked considerable interest.

Maruti officials talked about the launch of the Escudo in India at the unveiling of the company's A3 class sedan, the Maruti SX4 in India. Globally, the Escudo is marketed as an urban cross-country vehicle that offers the riding comfort as a passenger car. That puts it in much the same class as a Honda CR-V, Hyundai Tucson and Chevrolet Forester - out of which only the CR-V is selling in any considerable numbers. The Escudo in India will also be compared to the Ford Endeavour which recently had a fresh go at the market. The expected engine options are a 2000cc petrol as well as a 2.7 litre diesel.As an SUV goes, it is pretty much what customers would expect - reasonably large and sophisticated, and moderate off-road capabilities.

What i got to know so far is that the Maruti Escudo will be imported - mostly like as a compeltely built unit. Maruti can be expected to crank up the PR machinery before the launch - it's last SUV, the Grand Vitara, had a cold reception in India, and they company can be expected to pull out all stops to make sure the Escudo would not meet the same fate.

Pricing details of the Maruti Escudo too are unavailable officially, though sources indicate that the SUV would be priced at Rs 12-15 lakhs ex-showroom in India.It is expected to be launched by end of July 2007.

Compiled by: Saurav Chakraborty
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Signature Bridge in New Delhi by 2010

With the 2010 Commonwealth Games bringing big money to Delhi, the state government has ambitious plans lined up. Along with fly overs, roads and parks is a signature bridge on river Yamuna at Wazirabad to be constructed about 600 metres from the existing bridge.

A German-based company has designed Delhi’s first hanging bridge. Suspended by strong cables, the eight-lane bridge will be 550 metres long and 40 metres wide.the bridge will be nearly twice the height of the 12th century Qutub Minar. It will also have cycle tracks and foot paths on both the sides. The bridge is expected to be complete by July 2009.

Initially, the plan proposed to erect towers on either side of the bridge looking into the river.

The Delhi Tourism Development Corporation (DTDC) had also planned to have bubble lifts to take visitors to the top for a panoramic view of Delhi.

However, the plan ran into trouble when the Delhi Urban Arts Committee (DUAC) made objections.

In order to keep the area buzzing with activity they had also planned an amphitheatre at the shore, food courts, theme park and night illumination of the bridge.The tourism department is seeking expert help from Mumbai’s water sports centre developers for scuba diving and walk-in aquariums.The DTTDC initiatives include the proposed 170-metre tall Signature Bridge in Wazirabad, facilities for water sports and a 1,000-acre riverbank development project on the eastern side of the floodplains.

The main purpose of coming up with a project as enormous as this is, first, to ease the traffic in that area which is otherwise supported by the Wazirabad barrage alone. A metro connection will also be provided at a later stage.

The second reason is to make the bridge a major attraction for international and domestic tourists and hence boost Delhi's tourism. According to the proposed plans, there will also be a one square-kilometre lake under the bridge where various water-based sports will be carried out.

Compiled by: Saurav Chakraborty
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