Mumbai: Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan says his upcoming film My Name is Khan, which pairs him with co-actor Kajol after an on-screen hiatus of eight years, does not have terrorism as its main theme and is mostly a love story.
"This film is first and foremost a love story. In fact this is one of the nicest love stories I have ever participated in – and I have participated in some of the best love stories that have been made here," Khan told reporters on Wednesday night after the first look of the film was released.
Directed by Karan Johar, My Name is Khan tells the story of an autistic man Rizwan Khan (played by Shah Rukh Khan), who is caught in the aftermath of the September 11 militant attacks in the United States.
Khan, co-actor Kajol and Johar are teaming up after more than eight years, in what has been billed as one of the biggest releases to come out of Bollywood in a while.
The film is widely anticipated by fans of Khan and Kajol, whose great on-screen chemistry have helped deliver several hits in the past.
Fox Star Studios has signed a deal to finance and distribute the film, which unconfirmed media reports have pegged at $21 million.
However, both Johar and Fox have refused to confirm the figure, which, if true would be the highest ever for a Bollywood film.
"This film will be a step towards Indian cinema reaching worldwide," Khan said. India, home to the world's most prolific movie industry, has long tried to draw wider audiences, including by forging ventures with Hollywood studios looking to offset sluggish box-office sales with new markets and cheaper production costs.
My Name is Khan releases worldwide on February 12, 2010.
Washington: America's Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) on Thursday strongly refuted reports that Pakistani-origin US national David Coleman Headley, was its agent at any point of time.
Headley is facing criminal charges for allegedly plotting the 26/11 terror attacks.
"I can't comment on an ongoing investigation, but any suggestion that this individual worked for the CIA is flat wrong," CIA spokesperson Marie E Harf told PTI when asked about Headley’s links with CIA.
Headley, who is languishing in a Chicago prison, was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation on October 3 when he was planning to go to Pakistan via Philadelphia.
News reports from India, quoting unnamed officials from investigating agencies, and several news reports in the US in the past few days said that Headley may well have been a “double agent” working for the CIA and Pakistan-based terror group Lashkar-e-Toiba.
Besides refuting any links between Headley and CIA, the spokesperson refrained from making any comment on the Headley-Rana case arguing that it is an ongoing investigation.
Like any good politician, Chiranjeevi has decided that offense is the best form of defense. So at a press conference on Thursday morning, the actor-turned-politician quit the Andhra Assembly, accepting "moral responsibility" for his flip-flop on Telangana.
At a press conference, he explained why he has swung from supporting a new Telangana state, to firmly opposing a bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh. "I am bowing to the wish of the people," he declared. "The onus is on the Congress to explain the unilateral action taken.. Andhra has never seen a crisis like this." Chiranjeevi also pointed out that he's not the only one who's changed his mind about Telangana. "Not just us, Telugu Desam, Congress and even Communist parties are having to change stances according to people's wishes."
Chiranjeevi's Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) promised to fight for a separate state of Telangana during the Lok Sabha elections earlier this year. And then at an all-party meeting called in Andhra a few days ago, he told the Chief Minister that the PRP supports a new state. However, when the central government sanctioned the Telangana state last week, Andhra's political parties were whiplashed. 145 MLAs have resigned from different parties, including the ruling Congress. The MLAs who've quit come from the non-Telangana regions of Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema. For Chiranjeevi, who to side with is obvious: he has two MLAs from the Telangana region, 16 from the two other regions of Andhra.
And suddenly, parties changed their stand overnight. Like Chiranjeevi, Chandrababu Naidu has blamed his U-turn on the fact that the Centre didn't consult other parties before announcing its ok for a new state. In fact, even Andhra Chief Minister K Rosaiah has said the Congress' central party leaders did not share their decision with him before Home Minister P Chidambaram had a surprise midnight press conference last Wednesday, greenlighting a Telangana state.
For Chiranjeevi, good politics means bad economics. Pro-Telangana supporters have warned that they will boycott any film starring him or made by his family's production company. That threat prompted the actor to call off a hunger strike he had planned to launch in Tirupati. He later said, ""I will support the Samaikya Andhra agitation in spite of threats to the film career of my son and other family members. If they want to attack me for being an artiste and a politician, so be it."
Attempting to pacify voters in Telangana, Chiranjeevi said, " Telangana people gave me a place in their hearts for so many years... they are still backward, but becoming a smaller state, finances will go down, it won't help real progress... social justice can't happen in separate Telangana... experts' opinion supports this."
Hyderabad: The Telangana versus united Andhra Pradesh stir has hit cricket too with the second One-Day International match between India and Sri Lanka scheduled to be played in Vishakapatanam on December 18 being shifted to Nagpur.
BCCI Chief Secretary Ratnakar Shetty said that the decision on an alternate venue for the second ODI will be taken soon.
"BCCI office bearers are discussing the situation. We are discussing few options. An official release will be given out soon. I am sure the match will be conducted successfully at whichever venue that will be decided," said Shetty.
Vishakapatanam administration has expressed its inability to provide enough security for the India-Sri Lanka ODI with the Commissioner citing law and order as the main reason.
"The prevailing situation is such that all city police have been deployed for maintenance of regular law & order. Almost 80 per cent of the regular force is required for the conduct of the ODI. We had conveyed to the local match organisers that it will not be possible for us to provide security," Vishakhapatanam Police Commissioner N Sambasiva Rao told CNN-IBN.
"We cannot predict the turn of event. If the scenario doesn't change we will not be able to commit security forces. The city is by and large peaceful, and student leaders are cooperative. The protest is visible but peaceful," said Rao.
The Commissioner has also spoken to Vishakapatanam Cricket Association about the security aspect.
Even though the Andhra Cricket Association has not sent any official communication to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) but some Under-16 and Under-19 games scheduled to be held in the port city have been cancelled.
Andhra Pradesh has been on the boil ever since Home Minister P Chidambaram said that the process for the formation of a separate state of Telangana would be initiated and a resolution would be moved in the Andhra Pradesh Assembly.
Political parties on coastal Andhra and Rayalseema are against the division of the state and have been protesting violently for the past few days.
The Home Minister's announcement came after Telangana Rashtra Samithi President K Chandrasekhar Rao went on a fast unto death demanding the creation of Telangana.
Chidambaram's announcement stoked a political furore in the state with even the ruling Congress party divided over the issue.
Rome: Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi was punched in the face at the end of a rally on Sunday by a man holding a small statue in his hand, leaving the 73-year-old media mogul with a bloodied mouth and looking stunned, police said.
The 42-year-old man accused of attacking Berlusconi in Milan as he signed autographs was immediately taken into custody.
TV showed the leader with blood under his nose, on his mouth and under one eye being lifted to his feet by aides after the attack. Berlusconi was hustled into the back of a car, but he immediately got out, apparently in an effort to show he was not badly injured.
After looking out into the crowd, the premier, without saying a word, was pulled back into the vehicle.
The attack occurred after Berlusconi had just finished delivering a long, vigorous speech at the rally to a crowd of applauding supporters from his Freedom People party at about 6:30 p.m.
Officials at Milan's police headquarters, speaking on customary condition of anonymity, said the premier was conscious and apparently not badly injured. They said the attacker was wielding a miniature statue of Milan's Duomo, the city's gargoyled cathedral and symbol, but couldn't say what the souvenir was made of.
Berlusconi's spokesman, speaking by telephone from the emergency room from San Raffaele hospital where the premier was taken, told Sky TG24 TV that doctors had decided to keep the premier in the hospital overnight for observation.
"We'll see what the doctors say tomorrow morning," spokesman Paolo Bonauiti told Sky.
The exams of his jaw area included a CT scan, Bonaiuti said.
Police identified the man they were questioning as Massimo Tartaglia, 42. They said Tartaglia didn't have any criminal record.
The attack occurred at a difficult political time for Berlusconi, who has been plagued by scandals.
On December 5, tens of thousands of Italians fed up with the premier marched peacefully through Rome to demand his resignation.
The demonstrators expressed dismay over what they see as the businessman's conflict of interests, citing repeated government-backed laws they contend were tailored to help shield Berlusconi from prosecution in cases involving his media, real estate and sports empire. Berlusconi claims the laws benefit all citizens.
Other critics cite Berlusconi's sex scandals.
Berlusconi's wife is divorcing him after complaining about his infatuation with young women. A southern Italian businessman has told investigators he procured some 30 attractive young women for parties and dinners at the premier's Rome residence and Sardinian villa. Among the guests was a high-end prostitute who claimed she slept with Berlusconi. The premier has denied ever paying for sex.
Berlusconi has steadfastly denied any wrongdoing and blames his judicial woes on prosecutors he claims sympathize with the opposition left. Several of the cases either ended in acquittal or were dropped when limitation statutes expired. Others are pending.
The process of forming a separate Telangana state will begin soon, the government announced late on Wednesday.
Home minister P. Chidambaram told reporters outside the Prime Minister's house that the Andhra Pradesh assembly would soon pass a resolution seeking to create a Telangana state.
All cases against those who have been protesting would also be withdrawn, he added.
Following the announcement, Telangana Rashtra Samithi ( TRS) leader K. Chandrashekar Rao ( KCR) ended his fast past midnight on Wednesday.
The decision to set the ball rolling on a separate state came after a meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, defence minister A. K. Antony, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee and Andhra Pradesh chief minister K. Rosaiah, besides Chidambaram.
Earlier in the day, a core group comprising Singh, Sonia Gandhi, Pranab, Chidambaram, Antony, and law minister Veerappa Moily discussed the issue.
After this meeting, Chidambaram spoke to KCR over the phone, informing him of the minutes of the meeting. Rosaiah also spoke to the TRS leader.
But KCR reacted to the developments with scepticism. KCR apparently made it clear to Chidambaram that he would call off his fast only if the assembly adopted a resolution.
Rosaiah was summoned to Delhi for consultations. After two rounds of the core group meeting, the Congress president and home minister had a separate meeting with Rosaiah, where he was told to move the Telangana resolution. Late at night, Rosaiah called on the PM. All MPs from the state also briefed Singh.
Earlier in the day, concern over the sinking health of KCR, a member of the Lok Sabha, led to an uproar in both Houses of Parliament.
In the Lok Sabha, Speaker Meira Kumar herself wished him speedy recovery.
Several members, including Opposition leader L. K. Advani, urban development minister and Telangana MP S. Jaipal Reddy, appealed to KCR to end his fast.
The Telangana issue, coming soon after the tragic death of Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy and the subsequent leadership crisis in the state, has caught the Congress off guard.
While the party is under pressure from its Telangana leaders, others from coastal Andhra and Rayalseema are opposed to the bifurcation of the state.
The Congress brass is worried about the lack of a strong leader from Telangana. Jaipal Reddy and Renuka Chowdhury ( who lost the Lok Sabha polls this time around) are the only two prominent leaders from the region. But both lack mass appeal.
The untimely death of YSR has compounded the problem. YSR was strongly opposed to dividing the state.
The only saving grace for the party is that there is no election at least for four years and it could leverage gains in both Telangana and the remaining regions.
There is speculation in the party that the TRS may be asked to merge itself with the Congress with the chief minister's post being given to the Telangana party. The TRS has only two MPs - KCR and Vijayashanti, who has been planning to cross over to the Congress.
A Union minister said if the party concedes Telangana, it would have to take a view on the demands for other states - from Vidarbha, Harit Pradesh, Bundelkhand, Gorkhaland, etc.
India on Sunday became the number one team in Test rankings after they spanked Sri Lanka by an innings and 24 runs in the third and final Test to clinch the three-match series by a 2-0 margin.
Needing just four wickets to record an emphatic victory, the hosts took just about 40 minutes to polish off the visiting team's tail to record their second consecutive innings victory.
Resuming at 274 for six, the Sri Lankans lost their heroic captain Kumar Sangakkara (137) in the very first over and were bundled out for 309 with Zaheer Khan being the pick of the Indian bowlers with figures of 5/72.
The Sunday crowd at the Brabourne Stadium, hosting a Test match after a gap of 36 years, witnessed a historic moment as Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his men crowned themselves the number one team.
The crowd erupted into a frenzy as Muttiah Muralitharan edged a flighted delivery from Harbhajan Singh to Dhoni to bring down the curtains on the Lankan innings.
The Indian players hugged each other and a beaming coach Gary Kirsten greeted them as they returned to the pavilion.
The victory has given India three points in the ICC rankings, taking their overall tally to 122 and leaving them ahead of South Africa and Sri Lanka in the ICC table.
The teams will now gear up for two Twenty20 matches in Nagpur and Mohali followed by a five-match one-day series which begins at Rajkot from December 15.
The match would be best remembered for the blazing 293-run knock that Indian opener Virender Sehwag played. The right-hander, however, missed out on becoming the first batsman in the game's history to score three triple tons.
Such was India's dominance that Dhoni's men completed the comprehensive victory in just 7.4 overs this morning.
Zaheer hastened Lanka to their doom by claiming three of the last four wickets to finish with his eighth five-wicket innings haul.
The 31-year-old pacer's figures in the morning sessions read an astonishing 4-1-21-3. Sri Lanka needed 59 more runs to make India bat again but with just four wickets in hand to start the day, only a miracle could have saved the match for them.
After having brought down the visitors to their knees last evening, India dismissed Sangakkara off the third ball to start their victory march.
Zaheer swung the ball a bit away and Sangakkara, who struck his 20th four off his previous ball, was drawn to it like a magnet but only managed to edge it to counterpart Dhoni.
He could add only four runs to his overnight score and fell for 137 in 349 minutes after having prevented the hosts from sweeping to victory last evening.
Zaheer then dismissed Rangana Herath in his third over, caught by a diving Pragyan Ojha at short mid-wicket while attempting a pull.
Muthiah Muralitharan then used the long handle against Zaheer by carting the bowler for three fours in one over before the left-arm pacer sent back overnight unbeaten batsman Nuwan Kulasekara.
Kulasekara, resuming at 9, could not negotiate a rising ball from Zaheer and edged it to second slip fielder VVS Laxman. He added 10 more runs including two boundary hits to his individual score.
Harbhajan then brought down curtains on the match by having Muralitharan caught behind as he tried an almighty heave to give Dhoni his sixth catch in the match.
Spinners Harbhajan, who looked unimpressive for the major part, and Pragyan Ojha finished with two wickets apiece for 80 and 84 runs respectively while S Sreesanth bagged 1 for 36.
It was the second successive innings victory for India following their resounding win by an innings and 144 runs in the second Test at Kanpur. The first Test at Ahmedabad was drawn.
It was also India's 101st Test win and their fifth at this venue in 18 matches.
Moscow: An explosion and fire apparently caused by pyrotechnics tore through a nightclub in the Russian city of Perm early Saturday, killing 101 people, according to news reports.
Regional security minister Igor Orlov said the club had a suspended plastic ceiling that caught fire quickly when ignited by so-called "cold fireworks," which generally are fountain-type displays with lower temperatures than conventional fireworks, the ITAR-Tass news agency reported.
"The majority of the deaths were the result of burns or gas inhalation," state news agency RIA Novosti quoted Vladimir Markin, a spokesman for Russia's top investigate body, as saying "Along with this, there was a crush at the exit."
State television showed charred bodies lying in rows outside the club amid a light snowfall.
Markin said most of the victims were young people, and that there was no suspicion of a terrorist attack.
Russia has been on edge since last week's bombing of the prestigious Nevsky Express passenger train midway between Moscow and St Petersburg, which killed 27 people.
It was the first fatal terrorist attack outside Russia's restive Caucasus republics since 2004.
Chechen rebels claimed responsibility for the bombing.
State television news channel Vesti cited the regional branch of Emergencies as saying the toll was 101 dead and 160 injured. Other reports put the number of dead in the high 90s.
Perm, a city of around 1 million people, is about 700 miles (1,200 kilometers) east of Moscow in the Ural Mountains.
Enforcement of fire safety standards in Russia is notoriously lax and in recent years there have been several catastrophic blazes at drug-treatment facilities and apartment buildings.
Russia records nearly 18,000 fire deaths a year, several times the per capita rate in the United States and other Western countries. Nightclub fires have killed thousands of people worldwide.
Ten people died when a so-called "fire show" went out of control at a Moscow club in March 2007.
In February 2008, a fire in the Golden Rock nightclub in the Siberian city of Omsk killed four people. Officials said the blast might have been caused by natural gas.
A nightclub fire in the US state of Rhode Island in 2003 killed 100 people after pyrotechnics used as a stage prop by the 1980s rock band Great White set ablaze cheap soundproofing foam on the walls and ceiling.
Mumbai: Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan says his upcoming film My Name is Khan, which pairs him with co-actor Kajol after an on-screen hiatus of eight years, does not have terrorism as its main theme and is mostly a love story.
Washington: America's Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) on Thursday strongly refuted reports that Pakistani-origin US national David Coleman Headley, was its agent at any point of time.
Like any good politician, Chiranjeevi has decided that offense is the best form of defense. So at a press conference on Thursday morning, the actor-turned-politician quit the Andhra Assembly, accepting "moral responsibility" for his flip-flop on Telangana.
Hyderabad: The Telangana versus united Andhra Pradesh stir has hit cricket too with the second One-Day International match between India and Sri Lanka scheduled to be played in Vishakapatanam on December 18 being shifted to Nagpur.
The process of forming a separate Telangana state will begin soon, the government announced late on Wednesday.
India on Sunday became the number one team in Test rankings after they spanked Sri Lanka by an innings and 24 runs in the third and final Test to clinch the three-match series by a 2-0 margin.
Moscow: An explosion and fire apparently caused by pyrotechnics tore through a nightclub in the Russian city of Perm early Saturday, killing 101 people, according to news reports.
