Khan in his programme Satyamev Jayate aired Sunday had highlighted the story of a sting operation done seven years back by two journalists to expose increasing female foeticide cases in four states – Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.

Following the expose, the Rajasthan government had come down heavily on doctors who were involved in sex determination tests and abortions and started a probe against them. However, the doctors since then have either been promoted or have been cleared of the charges.

Aamir said in his show that he would appeal to the Rajasthan chief minister to get the cases against the doctors clubbed together and tried in a fast track court and appealed to viewers to support his signature campaign.

“Aamir has expressed his desire to meet the chief minister on May 9. The chief minister’s office is looking at the CM’s schedule on that day. Chances are high that he (Gehlot) would meet him,” said a senior official in the chief minister’s office.

Rajasthan has been in the news for increasing cases of female foeticide and female infanticide.

According to Census 2011, Rajasthan has 883 girls between the age of 0-6 for every 1,000 boys. The child sex ratio in 2001 was 909.

Alarmed over the state’s skewed sex ratio, the state government recently announced steps to curb pre-natal sex determination tests at ultrasound clinics.

-IANS

According to a source, the 69-year-old veteran asked Rana to narrate tough Hindi words and lines.

Out of sheer respect, Rana made honest attempts to narrate the lines, but often failed. That only ended up giving him a chance to be tutored by the megastar himself.

-IANS

Last month, veteran actor Rekha and cricket colossus Sachin Tendulkar were nominated to the Rajya Sabha.

When asked he if he would ever accept a Rajya Sabha nomination, Aamir said, “First of all, the offer is not there. I feel I am happy wherever I am today and whatever work I want to do, I am doing that through my field… profession. And I feel I would be able to contribute more to the society through my field. I feel if I go somewhere else, I doubt if I could do that much contribution to the society.” The 47-year-old actor was speaking to reporters at his residence.

Other film personalities who have been nominated to the Rajya Sabha in the past include Hema Malini, Vyjayantimala, Nargis Dutt, Lata Mangeshkar and Sivaji Ganesan, among others.

-PTI

London: 

The century-old collection of the Royal Commission of Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS), includes rare and fragile glass plate negatives, which show life at the high point of the British Raj.

The 178 negatives were found in a shoebox for a pair of grey, size nine, Peter Lord slip-on shoes, and were stored in their original five-by-eight-inch plate boxes, wrapped in copies of ‘The Statesman’ newspaper dating back to 1914 (the newspaper was founded in 1875).

Other photos show pilgrims gathered for a religious festival on the Maidan, the large urban park at the centre of Calcutta; and merchants selling their wares outside the eleventh century Jagannath temple in Orissa.

One photo depicts labourers pulling cart loaded with crates, probably at the Howrah station, while another shows a woman standing outside a house, possibly in Darjeeling.

RCAHMS architectural historian Clare Sorensen said, “We don’t know for sure how the negatives came to be in our collection.”

“We receive archive material from countless different sources, from architectural practices to generous donations from the public, and sometimes take large amounts of material in at once, and often documentation for historical deposits does not exist,” she said.

“Over time all this new material will be inspected and catalogued as part of our collection and then made available to the public. It’s fantastic that a small shoe-box contained such a treasure-trove of photographic imagery, but in some ways it’s not unusual,” she added.

“Our experience as an archive has shown us that some of the most interesting discoveries can be made in the most unlikely of places,” Sorensen said.

Research by RCAHMS is ongoing into the identity of the photographer and the origins of the collection.
As the negatives were still wrapped in newspapers from 1914, it is possible that they were transported back to Britain from India at this time, and have remained unopened until now.

-PTI

Chennai: 

“The meeting with the AERB officials is scheduled to take place next week. Once we get a clearance from them, we will go ahead with other works relating to the commissioning of unit 1,” RS Sundar, site director of the plant, told PTI over phone.

He said that the work at the plant was proceeding “smooth”, and expressed hope of getting AERB clearance very soon.

Chief Minister Jayalalithaa had recently written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh seeking allotment of the entire 2000 MW to be generated by two units of the Kudankulam plant to the state, in view of the “severe power shortage”.

She has said that the plant would go critical in the next 10 days and power generation would begin then.

Kerala too has staked claim for 500 MW from the project, with its Chief Minister Oomen Chandy wanting the Centre to allocate power from KNPP under ‘unallocated’ option, earmarked for states facing power crisis.

The over Rs. 13000 crore project of the Department of Atomic Energy, now being worked on by Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited, has had to pass through turbulent situations with anti-nuclear activists demanding that the project be scrapped, citing safety concerns.

-PTI

Kolkata: 

Before the meeting, Ms Clinton had made it clear that she would lobby for Foreign Direct Investment or FDI in retail. At a town-hall session in Kolkata where she urged the audience to ask her anything they wanted, Ms Clinton told NDTV’s Barkha Dutt, “I will raise the US desire to open market to multi-brand retail. Enormous experience can be brought to India on supply-chain management, on developing relationships with small producers. The benefits may not be immediately perceived.” But she had added, “I also understand politics and how these decisions can be difficult.”

Today, after a handshake and a namaste were exchanged, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, both on Time’s list of the world’s 100 most influential people, met for over an hour at the Writers’ Building in Kolkata. Ms Banerjee said the meeting was “positive, constructive, creative and concrete.” The top US diplomat discussed a range of issues including stepping up US investments in the state, according to a US consulate statement.

Touching on issues, ranging from increasing US investment in West Bengal, including in the retail sector, US-India relations, regional affairs and strong people-to- people connections, the Secretary reaffirmed to the chief minister the US desire to work with India and West Bengal to deepen and broaden our partnership,” it said.

The state government, however, said Ms Clinton did not mention FDI in retail during her interaction with the chief minister.

“I would like to state on behalf of West Bengal government that the US Secretary of State did not mention FDI in retail when speaking to the chief minister. There was no further discussion on this specific subject at all,” state Finance Minister Amit Mitra said in a communication to the US consul-general in Kolkata Dean Thompson, a copy of which was released to the press tonight.

“I urge you unequivocally and strongly that the mention of investment in retail sector be avoided in your press statement,” Mr Mitra said.

The chief minister after her meeting with Ms Clinton, had emphatically denied that reforms in retail were discussed in the session. “Let me tell you very clearly that Teesta, no. FDI in retail, no. They did not raise them, nor were they discussed. Only development issues were discussed,” the chief minister said responding to persistent queries from reporters.

In Delhi, Left leader Sitaram Yechury objected to the pitch for reform, describing it as interference by the US on India’s internal affairs. In Parliament, he also asked the Centre to explain why a state government has been allowed to hold talks with the US Secretary of State.

Ms Banerjee was responsible for the government’s suspension a few months ago of a decision to allow 51% Foreign Direct Investment or FDI in multi-brand retail, which would have allowed super-chains like WalMart to sell directly to Indian consumers. Ms Banerjee, who is a part of the UPA coalition at the Centre, said she had not been consulted about the decision and could not allow it because it will affect the livelihoods of farmers and shopkeepers.

For Ms Banerjee, this was an opportunity for her to showcase her debt-ridden, financially crippled state to attract much-needed foreign investment. She said Ms Clinton has said West Bengal will be “a partner state. They will invest in West Bengal which was not taking place due to the political situation in the past.”

Ms Clinton may not have dented Ms Banerjee’s resolve on FDI but she did leave with a kantha-stich scarf made in Santiniketan and four books including Rabindranath Tagore’s Gitanjali. Ms Clinton said earlier that she discovered Mr Tagore’s writings in college, and has been a huge fan since. At her town-hall this morning, she quoted him: “Age considers, youth ventures.”

Ms Clinton flew to Delhi then and met with the Prime Minister and Congress president Sonia Gandhi. Civil nuclear cooperation, regional security and Iran are among the key issues that Ms Clinton is expected to discuss with External Affairs Minister SM Krishna during their meeting tomorrow.

-PTI

Musical trio Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy have been nominated for Best Music Direction, while Javed Akhtar for Best Lyrics for Khaabon Ke Parindey. The film has also been nominated in the best story category. Other nominations include technical categories.

Milan Luthria’s The Dirty Picture has bagged 13 nominations including Best Actress for Vidya for playing southern sex symbol Silk Smitha.

Other nominations include Best Picture, Best Direction, Best Actor in Supporting Role for Emraan Hashmi and Naseerudding Shah. Naseer has also been nominated in the Best Actor in a Negative Role category.

The Dirty Picture has also bagged nomination for Best Story, Best Lyrics and Best Playback Singer (Male) for Kamaal Khan for Ishq Sufiyana.

Kamaal Khan will vie for the winner’s trophy with Ash King for I Love You, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan for Teri Meri, Mika Singh for Subha Hone Na De and Mohit Chauhan for Nadaan Parindey.

Singer Shreya Ghoshal has bagged two nominations in the Best Playbeck Singer (Female) category for her songs Teri Meri and Ooh La La.

In Best Performance in the Leading Role (Male) category, Hrithik will be competing along with Amitabh Bachchan for Aarakshan, Salman Khan for Bodyguard, Shah Rukh Khan for Don 2, Ranbir Kapoor for Rockstar and Ajay Devgn for Singham.

The other nominations of Best Performance in a Leading Role (Female) include Priyanka Chopra for 7 Khoon Maaf, Kareena Kapoor for Bodyguard, Mahie Gill for Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster and Kangna Ranaut for Tanu Weds Manu.

Those competing in Best Performance in Supporting Role (Female) are Parineeti Chopra for Ladies Vs Ricky Bahl, Swara Bhaskar for Tanu Weds Manu, Sonali Kulkarni for Singham and Divya Dutta for Stanley Ka Dabba.

The nominations for Best Performance in a Negative Role (Male) include Irrfan Khan for 7 Khoon Maaf, Boman Irani for Don 2, Vidyut Jamwal for Force and Prakash Raj for Singham.

“We at IIFA take pride in announcing the nominees for IIFA Awards 2012 which celebrate the best work done by the Indian Film Industry over the last year,” Sabbas Joseph, director, Wizcraft International Entertainment said in a statement.

“We are thoroughly pleased with the nominees a result of the film industry’s secret ballot; and we hope the audience will make a worthy choice in deciding the winners of this year’s IIFA accolades,” he added.

-IANS

Bipasha last worked with Vishesh Films for 2003 film Jism, and with Vikram Bhatt for Aetbaar, which released in 2004. In Raaz 3, which is a sequel to “Raaz” and “Raaz: The Mystery Continues”, she is paired opposite Emraan Hashmi.

“Raaz 3 wrapped! Got spoilt silly post wrap! Team pampered me with all my favourite yum dishes and desserts! Stuffed!! Fab film, fab crew and fab shoot,” she added.

Meanwhile, the first look of her debut international project “Singularity” has been released, and unlike most actors who appear in cameos in foreign films, she seems to be having a meaty part in the movie.

She plays a Maratha warrior in the movie, and will be seen alongside American actor Josh Hartnett.

-IANS

Heading the Indian-American list is Greylock Partners’ Aneel Bhusri at number 25 (15 in 2011). Bhusri is co-CEO of Workday, the cloud-based financials and human resources software company.

Four-time consecutive Midas member Rob Chandra of Bessemer Venture Partners comes next at number 28 (26 in 2011). Chandra, who had a string of IPOs on India public markets, has two late-stage companies in India-based Bharat Matrimony and Summit Microelectronics.

Sameer Gandhi of Accel Partners is ranked 33rd (81 in 2011). His 2008 Series A investment in file-sharing company Dropbox is doing quite nicely going by the rumoured $4 billion valuation on the 2011, forbes noted. His current investments include growth investments in an India online shopping site called Flipkart.

Khosla Ventures’ Vinod Khosla follows at number 34 (71 in 2011). An Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) alumunus, Khosla is known for off-the-beaten-path clean-tech investments.

Khosla’s passion for social entrepreneurship led to an investment in SKS, the Indian microfinance lender he funded in 2006 that went public in 2010, Forbes said.

Other Indian-Americans on the Midas list include Battery Ventures’ Neeraj Agrawal at 36 (51 in 2011), Mayfield Fund’s Navin Chaddha (46), Bain Capital Ventures’ Ajay Agarwal (95), Greylock Partners’ Asheem Chandna (96) and Accel India’s Subrata Mitra (99).

-IANS

Islamabad: 

The court in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi granted interim bail to the girl, her two brothers and her father and called them for confirmation of the bail on May 5.

According to 19-year-old girl’s lawyer Irshad Ali Sher, she had been dating a 24-year-old man and they were allowed to visit each other but this stopped when the man decided to marry another woman.

The girl, who has polio, felt she was being used, Mr Sher told The Express Tribune.

When the man insisted on meeting her, the girl “felt threatened and used the knife in self-defence”, her lawyer said.

The girl’s father found the man bleeding on the floor of their home and called an ambulance to take him to hospital.

However, the man’s lawyer, Riaz Ahmed Bhatti, dismissed the girl’s version of events and said the man broke up with her because he suspected she was cheating on him.

“The girl’s brothers and father held his arms and legs while she cut off his genitals. They thought he might die, which is why they took him to the Jinnah hospital,” Mr Bhatti said.

The girl’s family registered an FIR for attempted rape but could not prove anything medically, said Mr Bhatti.

The man was “alive, but not really. This is bigger than murder,” he added.

A second FIR was registered against the girls’ family at Sharafi Goth police station and bail was later set at Rs. 50,000 each.

The man’s cousin said surgery had been performed on him and doctors were “hopeful that everything would return to normal”.

In order to reverse the damage, the man would have to undergo further surgery for an implant but this is an expensive procedure and the family could not afford it, the cousin said.

-PTI