Sunny Doel’s a priest's look for 'Mohalla Assi'

Filmmaker Chandraprakash Dwivedi's new offering 'Mohalla Assi' will see Bollywood actor

Sunny Deol in a new avatar, essaying the role of a dhoti-clad orthodox religious priest.He will be having the full garb of a pundit, all the way from the typical 'dhoti', 'kurta', 'gamcha', 'kolhapuri chappals'...right down to the 'choti' on his head.

The movie is based on Dr Kashinath Singh's novel 'Kashi Ka Assi'. Assi is a ghat in Banaras and the film is based in a famous and historical 'Mohalla' on the southern end of Banaras and the River bank of Ganga," Dwivedi is doing the directorial hat seven years after Urmila Matondkar-Manoj Bajpai starrer 'Pinjar'.

Starring Sunny Deol, Ravi Kishen and Sakshi Tanwar, the film, set in the post-independence period, is slated to release in August 2011.

सरस्वती वंदना

या कुंदेंदु तुषार हारधवला ,या शुभ्र वस्त्रावृता
या वीणा वर दण्डमंडितकरा , या श्वेत पद्मासना
या ब्रह्मा- च्युत शंकर -प्रभृति -भिः देवैःसदा वन्दिता
सा मांपातु सरस्वती भगवती निः -शेष जाड्यापहा||

अर्थात -जो चंद्रमा के समानउज्जवल स्वच्छ है , जो शुद्ध सफेद वस्त्रों को धारण किये हुए है ,जिसके हाथ में वीणा और वर देने से युक्त स्फटिक की माला सुशोभित हो रही है ,जो सफेद कमल के आसन में आसीन है ,जिसकी ब्रह्मा , विष्णु और शिव आदि सभी देवता भी उपासना करते हैं वह माँ सरस्वती हमारी जड़ता को दूर करे और हमें निर्मल बुद्धि प्रदान करें |

Happy Basant Panchami to all.

Ex-IITian starts world-class school in Bihar village

PATNA: In a remote corner of the state, at Chamanpura village of Gopalganj district, a story is unfolding of unique enterprise and innovative methods in school education. Situated about 30 km from Gopalganj, this school, known as Chaitanya Gurukul Public School, was founded in 2009 by an ex-IITian, Chandrakant Singh , now based in Bangalore.

Bereft of electricity till date, about 450 children, both boys and girls, are imparted lessons in physics, chemistry, mathematics and computer through Skype, video conferencing and Internet. Eight of Singh's associates, sitting in various corners of the world, have joined hands to teach children right from Class I to Class VII, through video-conferencing. Apart from distance learning, 16 teachers, who reside on the campus, are helping the students in their studies. Here, teachers mark their attendance using a biometric finger-printer and students too log their attendance in computers.The computers run on gensets owned by the school. Once computers were in place, the teaching did not have to wait.

Pankaj Kumar of NTPC, a technocrat, teaches physics from Singrauli. Working with HAL, Sanjay Rai, an alumnus from BITS, Pilani, teaches chemistry from Korwa in UP, while M Vats, a US-based technocrat teachers math. "With a view to providing world-class, technology-enabled education to the children of this backward village, where I was born and where I had my primary schooling, I set up this institution," said Singh.

The push came when the Mahartashtra Navnirman Sena was attacking Bihari migrants in Mumbai. Singh then decided to do something immediately for his home town. "I was greatly disturbed, and wanted to arrest the migration of students from Bihar in my small way," he said.He then sought the advice of Surya Narayan, dean of IIT, Bombay, who was his teacher also. Narayan suggested him to make a plan for revenue-generating, self-sustaining model instead of taking the charity route. Singh then prepared a blueprint and e-mailed it to 3,000 friends, eight of whom agreed to fund it.

After the state government approved the proposal, the friends, who formed a trust, met the villagers and convinced them about the school. Within three months, they had 13 acres of land -- from 100 villagers, who sold plots from 3 decimals to an acre in the area. Soon a big building started coming up, a part of which is still under construction.

With quality class rooms and campus, tuition fee starts from Rs 300 for Class I and is increased annually by Rs 100 as a child goes to a higher class. However, the school is run on self-sustaining basis, and not for profit. Chandrakant himself is doing his job, but takes classes through video-conferencing. Every year, one more class is sought to be opened at the school.

Salute to them!!

राजस्थान पत्रिका के सहायक संपादक चंद्रभान सिंह का निधन

जयपुर,
राजस्थान पत्रिका के सहायक संपादक चंद्रभान सिंह का निधन हो गया। वो लंबे समय से बीमार चल रहे थे। राजस्थान पत्रिका समूह से चंद्रभान सिंह लगभग 30 सालों से जुड़े थे।

राजस्थान की हिन्दी पत्रकारिता में चंद्रभान सिंह का उल्लेखनीय योगदान रहा। वो राजस्थान पत्रिका के अलवर व अजमेर संस्करण के संपादकीय प्रभारी भी रह चुके थे। भाषा की दक्षता एवं शब्दावली के लिए उन्हें हमेशा याद किया जाएगा। उनके निधन पर संस्थान ने गहरा शोक जताया है।

Zee Café launches new show 'Parks and Recreation'

Zee Café launches new show 'Parks and Recreation'

Zee Café launched new show, Parks and Recreation on 31st January, Monday at 11 pm. The series follows the ambitions of perennially upbeat mid-level bureaucrat Leslie Knope, on her quest to better the town of Pawnee, a fictional town in Indiana. As deputy director of the city's Parks and Recreation Department, her sense of enthusiasm is rarely shared by her unmotivated colleagues, who include the wisecracking but hopeless Tom Haverford, the placid city planner Mark Brendanawicz, the deadpan antigovernment department head Ron Swanson, and his apathetic assistant April Ludgate. Leslie's best friend is local nurse Ann Perkins, whom she meets when Ann's immature boyfriend Andy Dwyer falls into a large pit near their house. Leslie takes on the quest to turn the pit into a park, which becomes her ultimate personal project. However, she finds herself repeatedly frustrated by bureaucrats and townspeople who stand in her way. While the pit-park storyline occupied the show's first season, the pit was filled in during second season, and the plot gradually began to explore Leslie's other projects and personal issues, including a fledgling romance. The second season also focuses on the personal lives of all the Parks Department employees.
Parks and Recreation has bagged many recognitions in its launching year like GQ Sitcom of the Year , TIME's Top 10 TV Series , Los Angeles Times' Best TV Shows , Los Angeles Times' Top 10 Good Things About TV , People Magazine's Top 10 Shows, Entertainment Weekly's  Breakout TV Stars, Ken Tucker's Top 20 TV Shows (Entertainment Weekly), New York Magazine's Killer Dads and Family Comedies: The Best TV  San Francisco Chronicle's Season's Top Comedies of 2009, Newark Star-Ledger's Best. It received nominations for Television Critics Award Nomination: Outstanding Achievement in Comedy, Television Critics Award Nomination: Individual Achievement in Comedy (Nick Offerman), Emmy Awards Nomination: Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for Amy Poehler.
The show premiered on 31st Jan
Tune In: Mondays & Tuesdays @ 11pm

Sonia should go: G Venkataswamy

Hyderabad/Telangana,
Sonia should go: G Venkataswamy
G Venkataswamy, today lashed out at the style of functioning of party President Sonia Gandhi and demanded that she step down from her post and make way for an Indian.He also criticised the party over moves to tie up with Praja Rajyam Party headed by actor Chiranjeevi."I am demanding, Sonia should go," said Venkataswamy, a former Union Minister and a former member of the Congress Working Committee (CWC).
In a no-holds-barred attack on the Congress leadership, Venkataswamy (82) alleged that corruption has grown and that the nation and party were suffering from various ills. All senior Congress leaders have been shown the door and only a few leaders are calling the shots in the party, he alleged."This AICC is going against Gandhi, Nehru and Indira Gandhi. I have seen and worked in Congress under Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi. I got interviews quickly then. I have asked for an appointment thrice in recent times. But 10, Janpath is like that," he said.
Taking serious exception to the Congress high command's invitation to Chiranjeevi for a meeting with Sonia Gandhi, Venkataswamy claimed that the move has lowered the stature of Congress."What is the need to send the Defence Minister and party senior leader A K Antony to meet Chiranjeevi. He fought against the Congress. The 125-year-old Congress has gone begging. All senior Congressmen were shocked over this," he said.
Maintaining that the party's strength is deteriorating fast under Sonia's leadership, he said she should make way for a leader who came from the grassroots."Congress is now restricted to four or five states. I don't think it would do well in the coming future. She did not come from the grassroots. Someone who has grown from grassroots should be the party leader," he said.
In a political career spanning about five decades, Venkataswamy, a Dalit leader, was elected to the legislative Assembly, legislative council, Parliament seven times and held various positions like Union Minister, state Congress president and deputy leader of party in the Parliament among others.

Swami Nithyananda Ist statement

Bidadi, Feb 1:

Swami Nithyananda has rubbished all the sexual abuse charges against him in a press conference in his ashram on Feb 1. This is the first time he is speaking openly after the controversial video was aired into our living rooms.

He was in his elements and was well-prepared to face the volley of questions that was most likely to come his way. He numbered the various accusations against him and gave the counter-argument.
The video was the obvious subject that took most time in the press conference. On the rape charges levelled against him, he said “How can rape be charged against me, when there is no victim.”He claims that the morphed video doing rounds have done him damage and has hurt the sentiments of his one crore devotees.Nithyananda claimed that the "morphed" video was an organized effort by certain people to defame him. He also added that he had evidence on the people who blackmailed him, but had no knowledge of the powerful people orchestrating such acts against him. He also stated that the blackmail started with the demand of Rs 60 crore.

He also gave out information on how the video grabbed the eyeballs of such a large number of people. He said the video was uploaded on to the internet from 1700 computers at a time to ensure maximum damage. This led to the media picking up the video and transmitting it through various television channels.He also accused certain forces of religious prosecution and asked the media and others assembled, "How can I shame Hindu tradition, when crores of my devotees are victimised."
He also self-proclaimed that he was the "most watched guru on YouTube" and "most watched guru in UK". To clear his name he was planning a Human Peace Process of 21 day that will see intellectuals and other important people coming out in the open to offer him their support.  He also said, "Intellectuals, including nobel laureates will render their support in a signature campaign to me in blood."He also revealed the role played by authorities to defame him and said, "CoD was responsible for leaking the video on the internet." He also said that he has never seen a government being so pro-active in doing anything like such. He also claimed that his passport was impounded when his secretary had informed investigation agencies that he would be available for interrogation on intimation.

He also took the opportunity to mock the morale of those investigating the matter when he said, "The police was saying through the media - 'Here is the accused, now we want a victim'. All this while they had arrested me inspite of any evidence against him." He added that no pornographic material was found from his ashram and CoD was able to recover only spiritual material.
He also revealed his humourous side when he said that the Internet had crashed on two occassions prior. One, when Michael Jackson died leading to fans flocking the internet to see a glimpse of the iconic popstar. The next occasion (according to Nithyananda) was when the sex video came out that starred him with someone that left private secrets very public indeed.
He also advised people on the need for "spiritual awakening" and "spiritual touch" and that his 21 day program will help people find their inner self.

Lets hope Nithyananda will find his 'true calling' before he lands himself in the next controversy.???!!!!!