UK commander says dialogue with Taliban insurgents necessary to end Afghan war

Kabul, Sep 18(ANI): In an ambitious aim to help bring an end to the eight-year war in Afghanistan by persuading the Taliban to lay down their arms, British Army Lt. Gen Sir Graeme Lamb said that many Taliban activists have “done nothing wrong”, rather they have taken to arms as “they have anger and grievances, which have not been addressed”.

While addressing a gathering at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) headquarters in Kabul, Lamb insisted that a dialogue with the Taliban insurgents is necessary to end the cold war.

“We need to take a good look at the people we consider to be our enemies. A lot of young men fighting us have not done anything wrong. They have anger and grievances, which have not been addressed. The better life they expected has not materialized, these are the people we must talk to, but we must make sure we have something to offer them,” The Independent quoted Lamb, as saying.

Lamb further highlighted that the NATO and British forces where not in Afghanistan to give up people’s freedom, and said: “What we do have to do is combine new culture and old culture and work out something that works. We will be listening to what our Afghan colleagues say. I will work very closely with them and let them set conditions.”

Lamb also said that their primary motive is to bring those Afghanistan citizens back into the society, who have been forced out of their society for no fault of their own.

“Judge us by not just what we say, the promises we make, but what we do, what we deliver at the end,” Lamb said. (ANI)

Adebayor lifts lid on his abusive treatment by Arsenal

London, Sep 18 (ANI): Emmanuel Adebayor has criticized Arsenal after getting a three-match ban for his stamp on striker Robin van Persie.

“There is only so much abuse a man can take until he reaches breaking point,” Adebayor said.

Adebayor lifted the lid on his treatment by the Gunners and their fans that led to his outrageous behaviour in Saturday’s 4-2 win, and insisted: “Arsenal players refused to shake his hand before the game.”

He suffered 60 minutes of non-stop abuse from away fans before he turned the tables on them with his goal, The Sun reports.

Arsene Wenger completed his 25 million pounds summer move from Arsenal behind his back.

Adebayor, banned for Sunday’s Manchester derby, said: “I could not understand some of the Arsenal players being disrespectful towards me.”

“I was being abused by people who six months ago were singing my name. The abuse was for no reason. It wasn’t my fault I left, it was Arsene who wanted to accept the offer for me,” he added. (ANI)

1st century A.D. colossal statue of Greek God Apollo unearthed in Turkey

Washington, September 9 (ANI): Italian archaeologists have unearthed a 1st century A.D. colossal statue of Apollo, the Greek god of the sun, light, music and poetry, from white calcified cliffs in southwestern Turkey.

Colossal statues were very popular in antiquity, as evidenced by the lost giant statues of the Colossus of Rhodes and the Colossus of Nero.

Most of them vanished long ago, with their material re-used in other building projects.

“This colossal statue of Apollo is really a unique finding. Such statues are extremely rare in Asia Minor. Only a dozen still survive,” team leader Francesco D’Andria, director of the Institute of Archaeological Heritage, Monuments and Sites at Italy’s National Research Council in Lecce, told Discovery News.

Split in two huge marble fragments, divided along the bust and the lower part of the sculpture, the 1st century A.D. statue was unearthed at the World Heritage Site of Hierapolis, now called Pamukkale.

Founded around 190 B.C. by Eumenes II, King of Pergamum (197 B.C.-159 B.C.), Hierapolis was given over to Rome in 133 B.C.

The Hellenistic city grew into a flourishing Roman city, with temples, a theatre and popular sacred hot springs, believed to have healing properties.

Standing at more than four meters (13 feet) in height, the newly discovered statue, which is missing the head and the arms, might have been one of the most impressive sights in the city.

“It depicts the Greek god Apollo sitting on a throne and holding the cithara with his left arms. The god wears a wonderfully draped tunic. The cloth has a transparency effect to reveal mighty muscles,” said D’Andria.

Inspired by the great classical masterpieces, the artist did not pay the same peculiar attention to the back of the statue.

“This shows that the sculpture was placed against a wall and was supposed to be seen only frontally,” D’Andria noted.

Standing in all its massive regality, the statue was particularly important for the city, since Apollo was venerated as Hierapolis’ divine founder.

The colossal statue was probably the main sculpture at the sanctuary of Apollo, which was intentionally built over an active fault.

“Hierapolis is a unique site, and archaeologists are bringing to light incredible findings each year. As with all the other ancient buildings, the statue will be virtually reconstructed in full detail,” Francesco Gabellone, an architect at the National Research Council in Lecce, told Discovery News. (ANI)

Schoolteachers baton-charged in Lucknow on Teachers’ Day

Lucknow, Sep 5(ANI): At least 12 primary schoolteachers suffered injuries during a demonstration to demand confirmation of their jobs and increments on Teachers’ Day.

The teachers alleged they were staging a peaceful protest when the police, for no fault of their own, baton-charged them.

“The teachers had staged a peaceful protest. During the demonstration, the police baton-charged the teachers on the orders Chief Minister Mayawati. This is the gift to all the teachers on the occasion of Teachers’ Day,” said Suraj Yadav, a teacher.

Meanwhile, the police said they had to use force to disperse the protestors after they blocked the road.

“Today, in front of Vidhan Sabha (Legislative Assembly) teachers had staged a sit-in protest. Some people tried to block the road. They were requested to clear the road. Stones were pelted in which our ADM (Additional District Magistrate) and SP (Superintendent of Police) city and others have been injured. They were chased away by the police,” said R N Dwivedi, police circle officer.

The police further claimed that no one was seriously injured in the incident. (ANI)

Slow-moving faults may help protect some cities against destructive quakes

Washington, August 29 (ANI): A new research by scientists from the University of Arizona (UA) in Tucson has determined that some slow-moving faults may help protect some regions of Italy and other parts of the world against destructive earthquakes.

Until now, geologists thought when the crack between two pieces of the Earth’s crust was at a very gentle slope, there was no movement along that particular fault line.

“This study is the first to show that low-angle normal faults are definitely active,” said Sigrun Hreinsdottir, UA geosciences research associate.

According to Richard A. Bennett, a UA assistant professor of geosciences, “We can show that the Alto Tiberina fault beneath Perugia is steadily slipping as we speak – fortunately, for Perugia, without producing large earthquakes.”

Perugia is the capital city of Italy’s Umbria region.

Creeping slowly is unusual. Most faults stick, causing strain to build up, and then become unstuck with a big jerk. Big jerks are big earthquakes.

For decades, researchers have known about the Alto Tiberina and similar faults and debated whether such features in the Earth’s crust were faults at all, because they didn’t seem to produce earthquakes.

Hreinsdottir and Bennett have now shown that the gently sloping fault beneath Perugia is moving steadily at the rate of approximately one-tenth of an inch (2.4 mm) a year.

Perugia has not experienced a damaging earthquake in about 2,000 years, according to Hreinsdottir.

“Because the fault is actively slipping, it might not be collecting strain. To have an earthquake, you have to have strain,” she said.

Other towns in the region that lie near steeply sloping faults, including L’Aquila and Assisi, have experienced large earthquakes within the last 20 years.

The UA team became interested in the Alto Tiberina fault because previous research suggested the fault might be moving.

To check on the fault, the UA team measured rock movements in and around Perugia using a technique called geodesy.

The geodesy network can tell where one antenna and its rock are relative to another antenna. Taking repeated measurements over time shows whether the rocks moved relative to one another.

The UA team analyzed data from 19 GPS stations within approximately a 30-mile (50 km) radius around Perugia.

“Having such closely spaced stations and several years of data were key for detecting the fault’s tiny motions,” said Hreinsdottir.

“This study is one more piece in the puzzle to understand seismic hazards in the region and can apply to other regions of the world that have low-angle normal faults,” she added. (ANI)

BJP top brass meets Advani, immediate change in party leadership ruled out

New Delhi, Aug.29 (ANI): The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) top brass met senior leader L.K. Advani at his residence late on Friday night for almost two hours.

Among those who met Advani were Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley, Venkaiah Naidu and Ananth Kumar.

Sources claimed that despite RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat chalking out a succession plan for the BJP, there are no immediate plans to ring in changes in the leadership.

The RSS succession plan is reported to have been discussed during the meeting.

BJP leaders were reluctant to reveal to the media what exactly transpired at the meeting claiming that it was a routine meeting.

The other issue that came up for discussion was Jaswant Singh’s charge that Advani knew about and was in favour of exposing the cash for vote scam that hit Parliament in July last year, as the UPA Government was seeking a vote of confidence.

Firing a fresh salvo, Singh said Advani was “at the centre” of the cash-for-votes scam drama enacted in the Lok Sabha last year.

“It’s a great sense of pity. Here was a man who was consumed by an ambition to be Prime Minister, and that desire made him commit so many mistakes. Do you know this whole wretched thing of money for votes is a classic example of wrong decision-making and it’s extremely troubling that he did not stand up and say no? Advaniji was at the centre of this whole drama,” he told Outlook magazine.

Singh was referring to the episode when three BJP MPs displayed bundles of currency notes totaling Rs.10 million, claiming they were being offered as bribe to support the government.

Singh said the facts were clear and he stumbled on to the whole thing when Sudheendra Kulkarni, a former aide of Advani, brought a very strange looking fellow to his house.

“I was not consulted but I was appalled that Advaniji was giving the MPs the go ahead to display money in Parliament,” he said adding that Advani had two choices — either to take the money to the Speaker or into the House. But he told the MPs to display the money in Parliament.

The options left for Advani are to break his silence and publicly clarify his stand to take on his detractors or else resign as Leader of Opposition and end his political career, leaving the BJP to battle the crisis.

Advani could also stay on till BJP presidential election in December to chart out a comprehensive succession plan.

It is clear that the fault line in the BJP have widened with a number of senior leaders rebelling against the party high command. With some much infighting there seems to be three distinct camps within the BJP – the Rajnath Camp, the Advani Camp and the Vajpayee Camp. (ANI)

Ponting should be last off sinking ship, not first to jump in the lifeboat: Thommo

London, Aug 25(ANI): Former Australian cricketer Jeff Thomson has said that Australian captain Ricky Ponting, who is flying home for a rest, should not abandon his “sinking ship” but rather stay back and clear up the mess in England.

Thomson said that unless Ponting has some urgent personal business, he should not desert his inexperienced team, which has lost the Ashes.

“The captain should always be last off his sinking ship, not the first to jump in the lifeboat. It doesn’t look good when he loses the Ashes and then doesn’t hang around to face the music with his team-mates,” Thomson wrote in the Mirror.

Thomson also said that there should be accountability for the defeat and felt that those who were guilty should accept their fault.

“How the hell did the Aussies manage to lose the series 2-1 when they scored eight hundreds to England’s two, and the three leading wicket-takers were all Australian? Heads must roll – and you can start with the selectors,” he wrote.

He further critised Australia’s selection panel and the think tank for going in with four seamers and not including specialist spinner Nathan Hauritz in the team.
“Even the blokes in the crowd could see, from 100 yards away, that the pitch was as dry as a camel’s tongue. Yet we picked four seamers and left a part-time spinner in Marcus North to take on the workload of a specialist,” Thomson added.

Though, Thomson did praise Ponting for his individual performance, he also blasted some of his dodgy captaincy tactics, specifically the last 11 overs in the first Test at Cardiff.

“Ultimately, those overs he gave to North’s gentle off-spin at Sophia Gardens, instead of getting Peter Siddle to shove a few bouncers under Monty Panesar’s nose, proved the difference between a 2-2 draw and Australia losing 2-1. Having said all that, I thought England played a good game at The Oval,” he wrote. (ANI)

Ex-Oz greats call for accountability after England regains Ashes

London, Aug.24 (ANI): Former spin king Warne, Test opener Michael Slater and former captain Ian Chappell have led the chorus on calling for the selection panel, chaired by Andrew Hilditch, to be made accountable for Ashes failures and the fact Australia may drop to as low as No.4 Test nation.

Former coach John Buchanan also said the days where selectors were part-timers, some participating in decisions on players they had limited opportunity to see – particularly when 12,000km away, may be passing.

“There is bound to be a lot more talk about why Australia did not choose Nathan Hauritz. Personally, I have to say that I was staggered by the decision. I would always want to have a spinner in the side for variety’s sake, but I think this time Australia simply misread the pitch,” Warne said.

“We all make mistakes and somebody, somewhere, will have to take the blame for this one,” he said.

Slater claimed selectors got it wrong from the start of the Ashes and problems have snowballed ever since.

“The fact of the matter is that we have gone over to England with the wrong squad. We needed an aggressive off-spinner in the squad and our best option was Jason Krejza,” Slater said.

“We should have won the first Test match and we didn’t, the selectors definitely got it wrong and it has just manifested right through the series,” he added.

“The selectors need to be made answerable at the end of this campaign,” he said.

Chappell also blamed the selectors for making the wrong choices for the series, and added that Ponting was not at fault as he was given a team to play with.

“It’s never easy beating Australia, they don’t just roll over and hand you the Ashes. England are finding out they have to fight for every wicket,” former England captain Nasser Hussain said. (ANI)

ICC failed to deal with Muralitharan’s chucking: Richardson

Christchurch, Aug 24 (ANI): Former New Zealand opener Mark Richardson has accused the Sri Lankan off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan of breaching the 15 degree flexion rule.

Richardson said Muralitharan often bends his arm beyond the 15-degree norm even though he felt it was not the spinner but the indifferent International Cricket Council (ICC), which was at fault.

“There is no easy way to put this, no soft way to broach it, so here goes – Muttiah Muralitharan is throwing the ball,” Richardson wrote in Herald on Sunday.

“I know he’s been tested, re-tested, tested again and cleared. And I know, with the special makeup of his limbs to the naked eye, his action looks worse than it is. But, for goodness sake, half of cricket is now not watched with the naked eye, thanks to the invention of super-slow-motion cameras, hot-spots, snicko and hawk-eyes.

“Many of the slow-motion replays I’ve seen of Murali have only strengthened my conviction he is exceeding the 15 degrees bending and straightening allowance. Is it not meant to be the other way round? Isn’t the hi-tech equipment meant to alleviate my fears?” he asked.

Unlike former New Zealand captain Martin Crowe, who often flays Muralitharan, Richardson didn’t blame the offie, but opined ICC had failed to deal with the issue.

“I don’t blame Murali for this situation. Murali can only do what he does – and what he does he does as a champion, and unlike the other great spinner of my time, Murali does it with good grace and gentlemanly conduct,” Richardson said.

“The problem lies with the inappropriate way in which the ICC has decided to police throwing. A player is suspected of throwing and then, for want of a better term, tested in a laboratory. We’ve all seen the pictures of Murali lit up with bulbs. To his credit he volunteered for this. Apparently he proved he wasn’t a chucker.
“But did he really? What he proved is that he can bowl within limitation, not that in the heat of battle he actually does,” The Dawn quoted him, as saying.

He said that the way the ICC has gone about dealing with this situation, too many bowlers now appear to have suspect actions and can operate for too long before there is any reaction. (ANI)

How can jihadis termed as heroes now be arch-enemies, asks Pak paper

Islamabad, July 10 (ANI): A leading Pakistani daily has asked how is it possible to rationally explain to the people of the country that militants who were termed as heroes of yesteryear by the state are the arch-enemies today.

Speaking about the root cause of Pakistan’s problems, President Asif Ali Zardari said that the military’s erstwhile ‘strategic assets’ were the ones against whom military operations were now required, The Dawn says.

And in a meeting with retired senior bureaucrats in Islamabad on Tuesday, Zardari again said that “militants and extremists had been deliberately created and nurtured as a policy to achieve some short-term tactical objectives.”

The paper asks Zardari that if the policy of creating militants was wrong earlier, then it is wrong now. It cannot be any other way.

It would be not possible to explain to Pakistani people that the heroes of yesteryear are the arch-enemies of today. The militants’ religious justifications remain the same; what’s changed is that the militants were fighting the state’s ‘enemies’ yesterday, but now have turned their guns on the state and its allies.

The paper asks should we have ever used jihadi proxies to fight the Russians in Afghanistan? Should we have ever supported the idea of armed jihad in Kashmir? Should we have ever sought to retain our influence in Afghanistan through the Taliban?

If any of those choices ever made sense, then we should have no complaints about the rise of Talibanisation in Pakistan because we created the climate and opportunity for them to run amok, it adds.

It further says that fault is of course not of Pakistan alone and the US obsession with the Soviet enemy, happily colluded in the creation of Muslim warriors.

Pakistan’s Middle Eastern and Gulf allies were happy to create a Sunni army to counter the ‘threat’ from post-revolution Shia Iran, but at the end of the day it was Pakistani soil on which they were primarily nurtured.

The jihadis were raised in our midst we should have always been wary of the extreme blowback we are now confronted with, the Dawn says. (ANI)

‘I was an idiot for Hitler comments’, says Bernie Ecclestone

London, July 9 (ANI): Formula One head Bernie Ecclestone has for his support of Adolf Hitler’s style of functioning saying he was an “idiot” to discuss Hitler or Saddam Hussein.

Ecclestone apologised through a German tabloid saying: “I’m sorry. I apologise honestly and sincerely, not just superficially.”

“I would never support such people. I should never have been so foolish as to have been drawn into discussing these people but the fault was entirely mine, which I deeply regret,” he added.

Ecclestone had made the remark in an interview published in The Times, in which he also criticised the removal of Saddam Hussein in Iraq, The Telegraph reports.

In another article in The Times, Ecclestone had attempted to clarify his Hitler statement, saying that: “During the 1930s, Germany was facing an economic crisis but Hitler was able to rebuild the economy, building the autobahns and German industry.”

“That was all I meant when I referred to him getting things done. I’m an admirer of good leadership, of politicians who stand by their convictions and tell the voters the truth. I’m not an admirer of dictators, who rule by terror,” he added. (ANI)

Aircraft passenger saves holidaymakers from flight delay fixing technical fault

London, July 7 (ANI): Holidaymakers aboard a Thomas Cook plane were saved from a flight delay when their plane developed a fault, as a passenger among them turned out to be an aircraft engineer and fixed the problem.

The captain of the Thomas Cook flight TCX964L from Menorca to Glasgow had announced that they were delayed because of a technical fault.

He told the passengers that they would have to get an engineer flown out from Manchester to fix the problem, and it could take up to eight hours.ut a man sitting in the plane told cabin staff that he was a qualified engineer and offered to help.

He managed to resolve the problem and the plane took off and landed in Glasgow, after just 35 minutes from its scheduled time on Saturday.

A Thomas Cook spokeswoman has said that the company followed procedures to check the man’s licence and ensure he was qualified before allowing him to work on the Boeing 757-200.

His documents revealed that he works for Thomsonfly, which has a reciprocal maintenance agreement with Thomas Cook.

The spokeswoman said that the passengers could have faced a “considerable” delay if the man had not come forward, as no other engineer was available.

“We are very grateful to the man as it meant the delay was very short when it could have been a lot longer,” the Telegraph quoted her as saying. (ANI)

Self-conscious Johnny Depp hates watching his own movies

Washington, July 2 (ANI): Johnny Depp has revealed that he does not like watching himself in movies, and would like to remain that way.

The ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ star said that he avoided seeing himself in the mirror, despite being one of Hollywood’s most admired faces.

“If I can avoid the mirror when I brush my teeth in the morning I will. I find security and safety in the most profound degree of ignorance. If you can just stay ignorant about just about anything you will be OK. Just keep walking forward,” Contactmusic quoted him as saying.

“It is OK to notice things, but to judge things will bog you down, so I don’t like to watch myself in movies. I don’t like to be aware of the product, I like the process. That is not my fault. I didn’t do it. I was there but I didn’t do it,” he added.

The 46-year-old further unravelled the secret behind his looks.

He joked to BANG Showbiz: “I would say the way I look is down to clean living. Most definitely. If you can avoid wine I would do it. And liquor definitely. Most definitely don’t smoke – anything. Stay in your room and watch reality television. That is how I do it.” (ANI)

Chris Brown’s ‘Not My Fault’ not about Rihanna, says rep

Washington, June 25 (ANI): A representative for Chris Brown has slammed reports that the singer posted a song online about his ex-girlfriend Rihanna.umours started making rounds after a new set of tunes recorded by Brown appeared online – with one of the tracks, ‘Not My Fault’, apparently hinting at the row on the eve of the Grammy Awards in February (09) that left Rihanna battered and bruised.

However, a spokesperson for Brown’s label, Jive Records, has denied that the songs were recorded around the time of the attack or after the court case on 22 June (09) – insisting they are old demos.

“Countering misleading reports of ‘new’ Chris Brown music: there are no ‘new’ songs from Chris Brown currently being promoted by Chris or his record label,” Contactmusic quoted the rep as saying in a statement.

“There are several old demos circulating that are being falsely promoted as new material from Chris,” the rep added.

Brown has been sentenced to six months community service, five years probation and ordered not to go within 50 yards of Rihanna. (ANI)

‘Space Age’ cancer drug shows promise

London, June 25 (ANI): A new drug has shown promise in providing protection to individuals who were genetically vulnerable to developing cancers, say British researchers.

People carrying BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations are an increased risk of developing cancer. It weakens the ability of a person’s cells to repair themselves.

While the risk of developing prostate cancer in men doubles from 7pct to more than 15pct, women’s chances of getting ovarian cancer increases from 2pct to 60pct.

Their chances of getting breast cancer also leaps from 10pct, to as much as 85pct.

The new drug called Olaparib – developed by the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) in collaboration with The Royal Marsden Hospital and AstraZeneca – has been found to prevent malignant cells from repairing themselves.

Through this study, the researchers say, they have found a novel way of exploiting a fault inherent in BRCA mutation cancer cells to destroy them.

“By giving this drug we have made what has been an advantage to the cell in fact an achilles heel,” Sky News quoted Dr Johann de Bono, of the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) as saying.

“This is really the holy grail of cancer treatment – selectively killing cancer cells and sparing normal cells,” de Bono added.

Traditional cancer treatments, like chemotherapy, kill both healthy and cancerous cells, however, Olaparib leaves healthy cells untouched. (ANI)

Judge blasts council for wasting £5k of taxpayers’ cash over dropped wrapper case!

London, Jun 20 (ANI): A judge has blasted a council officer for wasting 5000 pounds of taxpayers’ money by dragging a teenager to crown court over a dropped mint wrapper.

The sweet wrapper had blown out of Larissa Wilkinson’s car window when her 18-month-old niece unwrapped it, and when the officer spotted it, the 19-year-old girl was charged with depositing controlled waste.

Judge Roger Scott was stunned when she appeared before him at crown court, where murderers and rapists face trial.

“Can you explain to me why this charge was ever brought? She has dropped a single sweet wrapper,” the Sun quoted the judge as asking the council’s barrister Austin Newman.

“Is it controlled waste? I’ve looked it up and I don’t see how you could possibly argue it is.

“It’s the most inappropriate set of proceedings I’ve personally ever, ever seen and it’s a fantastic waste of community charge payers’ money.

“This was a grotesque misuse of the powers of the authorities,” he stated.

The judge refused to let Wilkinson sit in the dock, and invited her into the witness stand instead.

The interior design student explained that she was driving her Fiat Punto with niece Lyla Henderson when the tot unwrapped a Bassett’s Murray Mint, and dropped the wrapper in the car but it blew away.

Wilkinson, who had passed her test a month earlier, only realised what had happened when a 75 pounds fixed penalty was sent to her home in Mirfield, West Yorks.

“I decided I wasn’t going to pay. As a student I only get 30 pounds a week to live on. But also it just wasn’t fair. It wasn’t my fault and if I’d tried to stop the wrapper then I might have crashed,” she said.

She appeared before magistrates three times, but chose to be tried by jury at Bradford Crown Court.

“The judge was great. I am so pleased he was on my side. It was quite scary,” she added.

The cost of the case, estimated at 5,000 pounds, would have spiralled to 10,000 pounds if it had been heard before a jury.

“Rubbish thrown from vehicles contributes greatly to the defacement of our streets,” a Kirklees Council spokesman said.

“The person in control of a vehicle is liable for waste thrown from that vehicle whether they threw the waste out or not,” he added.

Wilkinson accepted a caution, but did not have to pay the 75 pounds.

“I hope you enjoyed your day in court,” the judge told her. (ANI)

Punjabi films attract budding singers

Jalandhar, May 19 (ANI): Punjabi singers Gurdas Mann and Harbhajan Mann’s success is not just inspiring many youngsters towards singing but also instilling a feeling to take to acting world in Punjabi cinema.

Since Roshan Prince of Jalandhar won a music reality show award – ‘Awwaj Punjab De’ – he has become a famous singer in Punjab. The good-looking singer has turned his attention to acting.

He has got his first break in Narinder Syaal’s romantic Punjabi film–’Lagda Ishq Ho Gaya’-in which he plays the lead role.

Punjabi film producers now prefer popular singers as actors as the films stand to gain from their fan following.

“Producers believe that the singers already have many fans and their presence in the film in lead role will make the film a hit. They are correct to an extent but I feel the new actors should enter Punjabi cinema after having proper training in acting. Then they will be very good actors. Singers like Harbhajan Mann, Gurdas Mann are already famous world over for their singing and they have got recognition as actors because of their hard work,” said Roshan Prince, singer-turned-actor.

The 600,000-dollar budget film ‘Lagda Ishq Ho Gaya’ will soon hit the screens the world over. n the film, Roshan Prince has sung most of the songs in ‘Lagda Ishq Ho Gaya’ much like Gurdas Maan and Harbhajan Maan, who sing their own songs in their films.

Since taking interest in acting in various music videos, the upcoming Punjabi singers have familiarised themselves with cameras. They say it’s helping them in their new roles as actors.The reason for taking singers in the film is not only because of their profession but it also depends on the characters in the film. I was making a romantic film and when I saw Roshan Prince’s music video on channel MH1, I felt he suited the role of a lover boy in my film. Moreover, he is a singer, so it’s an extra benefit for us that he is well-known. And also having done lots of videos, the singer is no longer camera shy,” said Film Director Sukhminder Dhanjal.

Punjabi film industry has received a huge boost with almost all leading Punjabi singers and comedians also acting. Comedians Gurpreet Ghuggi, Jaspal Bhatti and Vivek Shauq have not only make a mark in Punjbai films but Hindi Cinema as well.

“Every good looking and handsome boy goes to Mumbai first to struggle, he doesn’t focus on Punjabi cinema. But it’s not his fault because earlier the Punjabi cinema was not good enough to fascinate young generation. But now it is slowly progressing. Punjabi film industry is not yet ready to give change to new actors, but if Punjabi singers, who already have a fan following, enter the industry, it will be a great help to uplift the industry,” said Gurpreet Ghuggi, comedian-turned-actor.

With the success of Punjabi films in India as well as abroad, Bollywood directors like Manmohan Singh are now producing Punjabi films. His recent film is ‘Munde U.K. De’.

It looks the new generation of Punjabi singers is now ready to rule the Punjabi film industry and take it to places. By Sumit Khanna (ANI)

Job loss can really make you sick

Washington, May 9 (ANI): Losing a job can lead not just to financial hardships but could also increase the risk of developing health problems such as high blood pressure and heart attacks, says a new study.

Even when people find a new job, there is a raised risk of developing a new health problem as a result of the job loss, the study published in the May 8 issue of Demography claimed.

“In today’s economy, job loss can happen to anybody,” said Kate Strully, who conducted the research as a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health and Society scholar at the Harvard School of Public Health.

“We need to be aware of the health consequences of losing our jobs and do what we can to alleviate the negative effects,” the expert added.

In the study, Strully found that “job churning,” defined as high rates of job loss but low unemployment, has negative health consequences for workers who were not already sick.

For those who lost their job-white or blue collar-through no fault of their own, such as an establishment closure, the odds of reporting fair or poor health increased by 54 percent, and among respondents with no pre-existing health conditions, it increased the odds of a new health condition by 83 percent.

Even when workers became re-employed, those workers had an increased risk of new stress-related health conditions, the study found.

Unlike the results of job loss due to an establishment closure, when health effects were analyzed based on workers who were fired or laid off, significant differences were found based on the workers’ occupations. While being fired or laid off or leaving a job voluntarily more than doubles the odds of a fair or poor health report among blue-collar workers, such job displacements have no significant association with the health reports of white-collar workers.

The reasons for this disparity are unclear based on the study results.

The study was conducted based on data from the U.S. Panel Study of Income Dynamics, a nationally representative survey from 1999, 2001 and 2003. The study looked at establishment closures that included a range of occupations, including managerial or professional positions (30 percent displacement), sales, clerical, and craft jobs, (33 percent displacement), a machine operator jobs (20 percent displacement), and service positions (13 percent displacement). (ANI)

Mayawati says a ‘dalit’s daughter’ should be made next PM

Ramaipur, Apr 25 (ANI): Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati on Saturday said a ‘dalit’s daughter’ should be made the Prime Minister of the country.

Mayawati further said a dalit Prime Minister would ensure the upliftment of the backward and minority communities in the country.

“If you make a dalit’s daughter the Prime Minister, then UP will be famous in the entire world. If the BSP comes to power at the Centre, UP will occupy a special place,” Mayawati said at an election rally here.

The UP Chief Minister also asked people to vote for her party to ensure state’s development.

“Unless the BSP government is in power both at the Centre and the state, the country and Uttar Pradesh will not progress,” she added.

Mayawati also criticized Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh for criticizing her government’s track-record on development.

“The Prime Minister is not at fault. He will speak what the Congress leaders will tell him to say,” she added.

The BSP supremo further said the Congress party was nervous about the growing support base of her party.

“The Congress is very nervous about the growing support base of the Bahujan Samaj Party and therefore its leaders are resorting to giving misleading statements. It was the UPA government, which had rejected her demand for a 80,000-crore development package which forced her party to withdraw support to the alliance,” Mayawati added. (ANI)

Chidambaram criticises Lankan Govt, LTTE

Sivaganga (Tamil Nadu), April 23 (ANI): Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram on Thursday said that despite repeated requests from India to end the conflict in the island nation, both Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the Sri Lankan government were not taking any action on the issue.

Talking to reporters after filing his nomination papers from the Sivaganga constituency in Tamil Nadu, Chidambaram said the Sri Lankan Tamils issue was a humanitarian one and there is an urgent need to protect their lives.

Concerned over the plight of civilians in the war-struck country, he said, “We have been making the demand continuously for many days. But both the LTTE and the Sri Lankan government are not paying heed to our request.”

Chidambaram criticised the Sri Lankan Government for using the military as a solution to end the strife and said that the authorities are “more at fault” than the militants.

“The issue cannot be resolved by the Army. It has to be resolved through negotiations. The Tamils should be given equal respect, status and right. Tamil dominated one or two provinces should be made states with equal rights within the Sri Lankan federal set up,” he said.

When asked about Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi’s demand to snap diplomatic ties with the Lankan Government if it does not end hostilities, he denied to give his views saying that it is a serious issue which cannot be discussed in a press meet.

Supporting today’s 12-hour strike in Chennai called by the DMK chief, Chidambaram said, “It is not against the Union Government or the Congress. It is for stopping the hostilities there in that country.” (ANI)