Aish to sport Dhoom 2 look for Happy Anniversary

New Delhi: Exactly three years after she shared screenspace with hubby Abhishek Bachchan inRaavan, actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan will make her comeback with her better half in Happy Anniversary. 

According to sources, the former Miss World will sport Dhoom 2 look for the movie to enthrall her audience.

“Aishwarya is working hard for the film. She is working hard to lose weight. I can say she will be seen as ‘Dhoom Girl’ in the film,” the film’s producer Gaurang Doshi said.

Doshi, who has produced films like Bawandar and Aankhen, said it was the script that convinced the actress who had taken a sabbatical after becoming a mother.

 “I share a good relationship with Bachchan but it was the script that convinced Aishwarya and Abhishek. I think Abhi and Ash is the ideal couple and they both look good together. The film will be widely shot in South Africa,” said Doshi.

 Set to go on the floors early next year, Happy Anniversary will be directed by Prahlad Kakkar and will hit the screens next year.

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Security guards of SP leader’s kin thrash chemist

New Delhi: Samajwadi Party (SP) is again in the news for wrong reasons. At a time when a spurt in incidents of crime and violence is marring the rule of Akhilesh Yadav in Uttar Pradesh, another instance of hooliganism of the party has come to light in the national capital. A chemist was beaten up mercilessly by the security officers of a senior SP leader’s daughter-in-law just because he had run out of medical supplies.

Ashok, the owner of a chemist shop in South Delhi, in a complaint lodged with the police has said that he was abused and threatened by Richa Yadav, who is reported to be the daughter-in-law of a senior SP leader, after he refused to give medicine she was looking for.

Narrating the details, Ashok said that on September 17 a man arrived at his shop in Yusuf Sarai area and demanded a cough syrup. He told the customer that the syrup he is looking for is unavailable but he has its substitute, following which, he said, the customer called up someone to confirm whether he should buy the alternative medicine or not. After the conversation, the man made the chemist talk to the woman, who not only abused him but even threatened him with dire consequences.

Later, on her direction, “Four men including police guards of the leader barged into the shop and beat me mercilessly,” said the chemist.

According to sources, after being informed by the passers-by, police reached the spot but by then the miscreants had already left the spot. The police also checked the CCTV cameras installed in the shop which recorded the sequences of the whole event. However, the complaint has rued out that inspite of the complaint being lodged nine days ago, no progress has been made in the case so far. The chemist has alleged that the police officials are hesitating to take any action as the accused is the daughter-in-law of a powerful politician.

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12 killed in J&K terror attack

Jammu / New Delhi: Twelve people were killed in a twin terror attack in the Jammu region, casting a shadow on the upcoming meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistan counterpart Nawaz Sharif.

The BJP, which has been opposing the meeting between the two prime ministers in New York, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, said there was no point in talking to Pakistan, which is a safe haven for the terrorists. “There is no point talking to Sharif as the situation remains the same. The attack happened because Pakistan supports terrorism,” said BJP general secretary Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi.

The attack follows a pattern of strikes whenever the two countries have taken an initiative towards dialogue. Militants dressed in army fatigues killed at least nine people in a police station and an army cantonment in Jammu’s Kathua district in the morning. At least five army and four police personnel were killed.

Four policemen were killed in the suicide attack on the Hiranagar police station in Kathua while three army personnel including Lt Col Bikramjeet Singh died in a similar strike shortly afterwards on the army camp at nearby Samba, officials said.

The three militants first barged into the police station near Jammu-Pathankot National Highway around 6.45 am and indiscriminately fired after hurling a grenade, police said. The militants later hijacked a tempo truck on the highway, boarded it and forced its driver to move towards Jammu, police said.

The truck was stopped outside the Army camp at Samba and the militants then opened indiscriminate firing on jawans deployed at its security gate before they stormed the premises.

They barged into the Army Mess where they resorted to heavy indiscriminate firing as troops geared up and retaliated resulting in fierce gunbattle.

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Afraid of honour killing, star singer seeks police protection

New Delhi: With a spate of honour killings being reported from her state, Sonia Sharma, who shot to fame after her brief stint in a television reality show, is now requesting her parents not to follow the diktats of the khap panchayat and resort to violence.

“My family is against the concept of love marriage and I fear that we might be targeted,” Sonia told the reporter.

Sonia and Raman Kapoor had reportedly met at a concert in Pune and fell in love. Fearing that her family would not agree to their marriage, Sonia left home for a temple on Monday and never returned. The family filed a complaint stating that Sonia might have been abducted.

The police, who were baffled with the sudden disappearance of the singer, heaved a sigh of relief when Sonia contacted them and said she feared for her life, post her marriage with Raman. An official from Haryana police assured her, saying: “We will provide her security if she feels her life is in danger.”

Her better half, Raman, on the other hand added: “I am only concerned about the security of my wife and family. They are the only ones I’m bothered about.”

Sonia cleared her stance on the issue, and said: “I was not abducted. I married at my own will. I and Raman love each other very much.”

The couple, who are currently at Gurgaon, hopes that soon everything will be fine and that Sonia’s family will accept them willingly.

Bihar is 2nd least developed state

New Delhi: Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar’s demand for a special status for his state received a fillip with Finance Minister P Chidambaram disclosing that Bihar was the second least developed state in the country as per the Raghurajan Committee report.

The Congress has been wooing JD(U) for a post-poll alliance in 2014 and granting special status to Bihar is one of the sops that the Congress leadership has been promising to Nitish Kumar. Chidambaram’s disclosure is bound to bring JD(U) closer to the Congress, particularly with the Narendra Modi axis gaining ground.

As per the Raghurajan Committee report, Odisha is the least developed state. And along with Bihar, special status could be granted to Odisha as well, on the basis of the backward index. Congress managers feel that by granting special status to Odisha, its chief minister and Biju Janata Dal leader Naveen Patnaik could be convinced to stay neutral in the event of a hung Lok Sabha in 2014. This could benefit the UPA, they feel.

The other least developed states as per Raghurajan Committee are Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Arunachal, Assam, Meghalaya, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. The report was submitted earlier this month.

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BCCI to lay off non-performers

New Delhi: Being a popular cricketing face amongst fans is no longer a criteria to remain on BCCI’s graded contract list for players. If the Board’s latest move is implemented, many stars will cease to receive their salaries very soon.

The world’s richest cricket body will sign only those players who contribute significantly towards the team’s fortunes. In other words, non-performing players are bound to be axed by the board.

Currently, Team India players are divided into three grades — A, B and C. Grade A includes players like Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh and Zaheer Khan, and each of them are paid an annual amount of Rs 1 crore. The next grade consists of players like Harbhajan Singh, Cheteshwar Pujara, Rohit Sharma, Umesh Yadav and Irfan Pathan, who bag Rs 50 lakhs a year. The third grade comprises another 20 cricketers who are paid Rs 25 lakhs per annum.

According to BCCI sources, the board is mulling to get rid of grade C and have only 20 cricketers in its contract (grade A & B) list. BCCI, which is the riches cricketing board in the world, has apparently stated that since most of the cricketers play for their respective IPL franchisee and take home a fat sum on money every year, they might as well be removed from the board’s contract list.

This decision is likely to make things difficult for discards like Sehwag, Gambhir and Yuvraj, who are currently not in the national team. Sources said that the board is also planning to cite funds crunch as one of the reasons behind the move.

Whatever may be the case, the message for Indian cricketers appears to be loud and clear: perform or perish.

First Lady’s fear keeps Obama away from smoking

New York: Believe it or not but even the most power men in the world are scared of their wives. US President Barack Obama is a classic example of this fact.

In an admission which will amuse millions worldwide, Obama said that he stopped smoking out of fear of his wife. The unwitting admission was captured by a loose microphone.

The US President, taking part in an event on the sidelines of the annual UN General Assembly on the importance of civil society, was exchanging small talk at the end of his remarks.

In a recording taped by CNN, Obama is standing up after the event and asking the man next to him if he had given up smoking. When the question is returned to him, Obama, in a light-hearted tone with a smile on his lips, said, “I haven’t had a cigarette in probably six years. That’s because I’m scared of my wife.”

Usually known for his fit figure and healthy lifestyle, Obama has long had a weakness for cigarettes and depicted himself as a smoker in his memoir of his youth, Dreams From My Father.

The American President’s smoking addiction and his efforts to quit became favorite topics in the US media from the time he started his campaign for the White House in the 2008 election.

In his first year in office, Obama described himself as “95% cured” from smoking but admitted he has occasionally “fallen off the wagon” in his efforts.

In December 2010, then White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said that Obama had not smoked for nine months and had been “stubborn” in trying to quit, despite the stress of the job.

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