Rooting out terrorism to remain Pak’s prime focus: Qureshi

April 28, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Thimpu, Apr.28 (ANI): Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has said that rooting out terrorism from the region has and will continue to remain his country’s prime focus.

Addressing the 32nd session of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) council of ministers, Qureshi said Islamabad is aware of its responsibilities and importance of regional cooperation for combating terrorism, trans-national crime, and drug and human trafficking.

Commenting on the regional water issues, he said it was important to develop a regional approach on water issues, including glacier melting, watershed management and pollution on an urgent basis.

Qureshi also stressed on the need for redoubling SAARC efforts towards energy security through sharing of indigenous sources of energy.

“Pakistan supports measures to secure sustainable supplies to meet the regional energy demand at an affordable price,” The Daily Times quoted Qureshi, as saying.

He highlighted that SAARC’s primary objective was to accelerate economic growth, social progress and cultural development in the region.

Qureshi added that Pakistan was looking forward to host the SAARC Interior Ministers summit in Islamabad from June 25 to 26 to devise regional strategies and collaborative approaches to address the international menace of terrorism. (ANI)

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Entire List of Nominations of Apsara Movie Awards 2009 | Apsara Movie Awards | Apsara Movie Awards 2009 | List of Nominations for Apsara Movie Awards 2009

December 19, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Entire List of Nominations of Apsara Movie Awards 2009 | Apsara Movie Awards | Apsara Movie Awards 2009 | List of Nominations for Apsara Movie Awards 2009

Please find below entire list of Nominations of Apsara Movie Awards 2009

I Best Editing

1.Meghna Manchanda Sen (Kaminey)
2.Anthony (Ghajini)
3.Dilip Deo (Wanted)
4.Aarti Bajaj (Dev.D)

II Best Sound Recording

1.Resul Pookutty (Blue)
2.Nakul Kamte (Delhi-6)
3.Pradeep Suri (Wanted)
4.Nakul Kamte (Kurbaan)
5.Ali Merchant, Debashish Mishra (New York)

III Best Re-Recording

1.Ajay Kumar (Kurbaan)
2.Anup Deo (Wanted)
3.Hitendra Ghosh (London Dreams)
4.Anuj Mathur (New York)
5.Raja Krishnan (Billu)

IV Best Special Effects

1.Charles Darby (Eyeqube Studios) (Aladin)
2.Prime Focus Ltd., Mervin Tavaria, Rupal Rawal (Blue)
3.Merzin Tavaria (Prime Focus Ltd.) (Ghajini)
4.Prime Focus Ltd. (Tum Mile)
5.Satyam PPO/Prime Focus Ltd. (Wanted)

V Best Cinematography

1.Rajeev Ravi (Dev.D)
2.Hemant Chaturvedi (Kurbaan)
3.Tassaduq Hussain (Kaminey)
4.Sejal Shah (London Dreams)
5.Vikas Sivaraman (Kambakkht Ishq)

VI Best Art Director

1.Muneesh Sappel (Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi)
2.Sabu Cyril (Aladin)
3.Nitish Roy (Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani)
4.Teddy Maurya (Love Aaj Kal)
5.Amrita Mahal Nakai (Wake Up Sid)

VI Best Costume Design

1.Aki Narula (Kurbaan)
2.Arjun Bhasin, Annamika Khanna (Delhi-6)
3.Dolly Ahluwalia Tiwari (Love Aaj Kal)
4.Manish Malhotra (Wake Up Sid)
5.Aki Narula (Kambakkht Ishq)

VII Best Choreography

1.Shiamak Davar (Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi)
2.Rajiv Surti (Wanted)
3.Ahmed Khan (Kaminey)
4.Bosco Caesar (Love Aaj Kal)
5.Vaibhavi Merchant (Luck by Chance)

VIII Best Lyrics

1.Jaideep Sahni –Tujh Mein Rab Dikhta Hai (Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi)
2.Javed Akhtar –Sapnon Se Bhare Naina (Luck By Chance)
3.Irshad Kamil –Twist (Love Aaj Kal)
4.Amitabh Bhattacharya and Shellee –Emotional Atyachar (Dev.D)
5.Gulzar -Dhan Te Nan (Kaminey)

IX Best Music

1.Pritam (Love Aaj Kal)
2.Salim-Sulaiman (Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi)
3.A.R. Rahman (Ghajini)
4.Pritam (Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani)
5.A.R. Rahman (Delhi-6)

X Best Female Singer

1.Shreya Ghoshal – Tujh Mein Rab Dikhta Hai (Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi)
2.Sunidhi Chauhan – Chor Bazari (Love Aaj Kal)
3.Suzanne – Aye Bachoo (Ghajini)
4.Alisha Chinoy – Tera Hone Laga Hoon (Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani)
5.Shreya Ghoshal – Aaj Dil Gustak Hai (Blue)

XI Best Male Singer

1.Javed Ali, Sonu Nigam – Guzarish (Ghajini)
2.Roopkumar Rathod – Tujh Men Rab Dikhta Hai (Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi)
3.Mohit Chauhan – Ye Dooriyan (Love Aaj Kal)
4.Sukhwinder Singh, Vishal Dadlani – Dhan Te Nan (Kaminey)
5.Shankar Mahadevan – Wake Up Sid (Wake Up Sid)

XII Best Screenplay

1.A.R. Murugadoss (Ghajini)
2.Imtiaz Ali (Love Aaj Kal)
3.Sandeep Shrivastava (New York)
4.Supratik Sen, Abhishek Chaubey, Sabrina Dhawan, Vishal Bhardwaj (Kaminey)
5.Zoya Akhtar (Luck By Chance)

XIII Best Dialogue

1.Anurag Kashyap (Dev.D)
2.Imtiaz Ali (Love Aaj Kal)
3.Javed Akhtar (Luck By Chance)
4.Divyanidhi Sharma (Aloo Chaat)
5.Rajkumar Santoshi and R.D. Tailang (Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani)

XIV Best Story

1.Imtiaz Ali (Love Aaj Kal)
2.Zoya Akhtar (Luck By Chance)
3.Ayan Mukerji (Wake Up Sid)
4.P. Shrinivasan (Billu)
5.Divyanidhi Sharma (Aloo Chaat)

XV Best Performance in a Comic Role

1.Ajay Devgn (All The Best)
2.Sanjay Mishra (Aloo Chaat)
3.Vinay Pathak (Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi)
4.Darshan Jariwala (Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani)
5.Ritesh Deshmukh (Do Knot Disturb)

XVI Best Performance in a Negative Role

1.Ajay Devgn (London Dreams)
2.Prakash Raj (Wanted)
3.Mahesh Manjrekar (Wanted)
4.Amole Gupte (Kaminey)
5.Deepak Dobriyal (Gulaal)

XVII Best Actress in a Supporting Role

1.Kirron Kher (Kurbaan)
2.Dimple Kapadia (Luck By Chance)
3.Supriya Pathak (Wake Up Sid)
4.Kalki Koechlin (Dev.D)
5.Smita Jaykar (Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani)

XVIII Best Actor in a Supporting Role

1.Anupam Kher (Wake Up Sid)
2.Rishi Kapoor (Luck By Chance)
3.Irrfan (New York)
4.Vivek Oberoi (Kurbaan)
5.Rishi Kapoor (Love Aaj Kal)

XIX Best Actress in a Leading Role

1.Priyanka Chopra (Kaminey)
2.Deepika Padukone (Love Aaj Kal)
3.Asin Thottumkal (Ghajini)
4.Kareena Kapoor (Kurbaan)
5.Konkona Sen Sharma (Wake Up Sid)

XX Best Actor in a Leading Role

1.Aamir Khan (Ghajini)
2.Ranbir Kapoor (Wake Up Sid)
3.Shahid Kapur (Kaminey)
4.Shah Rukh Khan (Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi)
5.Saif Ali Khan (Love Aaj Kal)

XXI Best Director

1.Vishal Bhardwaj (Kaminey)
2.Anurag Kashyap (Dev.D)
3.Imtiaz Ali (Love Aaj Kal)
4.A.R. Murugadoss (Ghajini)
5.Ayan Mukerji (Wake Up Sid)

XXII Best Film

1.Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi (Yash Raj Films Pvt. Ltd.)
2.Ghajini (Geetha Arts)
3.Kaminey (UTV Motion Pictures)
4.Love Aaj Kal (Illuminati Films and Eros International)
5.Luck By Chance (Excel Entertainment)

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Indo-Pak Foreign Secy level talks in September: Pak FO

August 29, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Islamabad, Aug.29 (ANI): The Indo-Pak Foreign Secretary level talks will be held in mid September in New York, the Pakistan Foreign Office has said.

According to sources, India Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao will meet her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir on the margins of the 64th UN General Assembly.

Sources said the prime focus in the meeting would be on preparing the agenda for the forthcoming talks between the Foreign Ministers of both countries.

The date and venue for the talks is yet to be finalized, The Dawn reports.

Pakistan’s dilly dallying attitude over prosecuting Jamaat-ud-Daawa (JuD) chief Hafeez Mohammad Saeed, the prime accused in the 26/11 Mumbai carnage, has cast a shadow over the much awaited dialogue between India and Pakistan.

It may be recalled that the Secretary level talks between both countries in Sharm-el-Sheikh on the margins of the NAM summit had failed to produce any substantial results.

Despite some initial positive signals, the talks which were expected to set the tone of the meeting between Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh with his Pakistan counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani, failed to achieve any major breakthrough.

Diplomatic analysts, who are keeping a close watch on the developments, believed that the success of the secretary level talks was directly related to the resumption of the stalled composite dialogue, but for the time being neither country has revealed the future course of action.

Mixed signals coming from Islamabad on the appeal in the Supreme Court against the release of Saeed seem to have done the real damage. (ANI)

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300,000 flowers will blossom in Delhi during Commonwealth Games

July 2, 2009 By Leave a Comment

New Delhi, July 1 (IANS) Colourful and fragrant flowers will make Delhi bloom during the Commonwealth Games next year. Scientists at the Forest Research Institute (FRI), Dehradun are busy developing new species of over 300,000 flowering plants for the games.

The FRI has been entrusted with the job by the Delhi government to make the city look beautiful during the games. India has already declared it will host the first ever green Commonwealth Games (CWG) in 2010.

“We are in the process of developing special species of flowers for the games. We have been given the task of providing over 300,000 potted flowering plants. The work of developing new species of flowers has already started,” S.S. Negi, director of FRI, told IANS over phone.

The institute has selected the species of flowering plants keeping in mind the climatic conditions in the national capital in the month of October, when the games next year are scheduled.

“Our prime focus is to develop species that can flower in a month’s time and stay fresh for long. The work is on at our central nursery in the FRI and we will test the samples in Delhi this year,” Negi said.

The FRI is also developing a bamboo park called ‘bamboo-setum’ near the games village.

“The bamboo park will have more than 75 varieties of bamboo found across the globe. The plantation work has already started in 60 hectares of land just behind the Rajghat in Delhi,” said Negi.

The FRI has also been assigned the task of giving clearance to the green games village being developed by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA).

“The Ministry of Environment and Forests has entrusted the FRI with the job to check the DDA’s green games village project. We have received a detailed layout from the DDA and have suggested some modifications like plantation in open spaces, lawn area and in some more areas,” explained Negi.

The Commonwealth Games Organising Committee has a strategic understanding with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to fulfil the Green Games mandate.

The committee has already started work on various aspects for making the sports extravaganza carbon free.

“Each one of us has a role to play to ensure that India hosts the first green Commonwealth Games. There have been green Olympics but this has not been the case with the Commonwealth Games. We have begun with the Thyagaraj stadium and Games Village and will make sure that every stadium in the country is environment friendly,” Organising Committee chairman Suresh Kalmadi said.

Some of the measures being instituted include energy conservation through energy efficiency means, bio-diverse afforestation, an anti-litter campaign, waste management and spreading general awareness about environmental issues.

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US says Pak has to do more to dismantle terror safe havens operating on its soil

April 20, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Kabul, Apr.20 (ANI): The United States has once again urged Pakistan to do more to dismantle the terror safe havens operating on its soil.

Addressing a joint press conference with Afghan Defense Minister General Abdul Rahim Wardak, top commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, General David McKiernan, said that the terror breeding grounds in Pakistan were destabilizing the whole region.

“There must be an improved effort on the other side of the border against these safe havens that many of these insurgent groups operate from in Pakistan.”

Mc Kiernan said that the terror safe havens have existed for long in this part of the world, and that they have been nourishing terrorism and insecurity on both sides of the border.

He said that the Pakistan Government must ensure to the world that it is sincere in its efforts to root out these centers of militancy from its soil, and added that the international community is ready to extend its full support over the issue.

“I think it is safe to say there is an expectation that the government of Pakistan must erase these safe havens so that they are not a threat to their own country and the region. They will have the full support of the international community to do that,” The Dawn quoted McKiernan, as saying.

Referring to the Obama administration’s decision to send in 21,000 more troops to Afghanistan to join the fight against Taliban and Al-Qaeda, McKiernan said his prime focus would be on southern provinces near Pakistan that have seen the greatest rise in instability.

When enquired about the possibility of US troops operating inside Pakistan’s geographical territory, McKiernan said he had no power to intervene on the Pakistani side of the border.

“Insecurity and instability is a regional problem and will require regional approaches,” he added. (ANI)

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Pakistan key focus under EC’s new plan on terror and nuclear proliferation

April 18, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Lahore, Apr.18 (ANI): Concerned by the increasing extremist activists and their expanding writ in the area, the European Commission (EC) has adopted a new three-year programme to fight terrorism, trafficking and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction for Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The programme, which is developed by the EC together with experts from European Union (EU) member states, also includes Africa’s Sahel region, The Daily Times reports.

EC’s External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner, while announcing the the first global counter-terrorism measures developed by the commission on the eve of the of the donors’ conference for Pakistan , said it has an important role to play in the fight against terrorism, by supporting capacity building in third-world countries such as Pakistan and in the Sahel region.

Commenting on the non-proliferation programme developed by the commission, Waldner said the prime focus in the programme would be on Middle East, South and South-East Asia.

“In the area of non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, our ambition is to consolidate the work already carried out in the former Soviet Union and focus more on new regions of concern such as the Middle East, South and South-East Asia,” Waldner added. (ANI)

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Terrorists pose an “ever more serious threat to Pak’s existence”: CENTCOM chief

April 16, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Lahore, Apr.16 (ANI): US Central Command (CENTCOM) chief General David Petraeus, has said that the presence of extremists outfits such as Al Qaeda on Pakistan’s soil pose ‘an ever more serious threat to its very existence’.

In an interview to the Philadelphia Inquirer, General Petraeus said the US policy’s prime focus was on Afghanistan and Pakistan, because of the presence Al-Qaeda in the tribal regions of Pakistan.

When enquired as to why the Obama Administration has decided to send in more troops to Afghanistan when it considers the real threat lying in Pakistan, General Petraeus said America does not want Al-Qaeda to once again establish its safe havens in the country.

“You have to ensure that Afghanistan doesn’t become once again a place where Al Qaeda establishes safe havens,” The Daily Times quoted General Petraeus, as saying.

He noted that the majority of the problem in Afghanistan lies only in its ten percent of the area.

“Seventy percent of the violence is in 10 percent of the districts. The surge of 17,000 troops would be enough. Afghanistan is not plagued by a raging insurgency throughout the country, as was the case in Iraq,” General Petraeus said. (ANI)

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S.Africa to display technology for converting coal into gas and liquid

February 18, 2009 By Leave a Comment

New Delhi, Feb.18 (ANI): During the upcoming International Engineering and Technology Fair (IETF) 2009, South African company ‘Sasol’ will be showcasing technology to convert coal into gas and liquid forms.

This technology can be harnessed to meet India’s energy requirement, said the country’s High Commissioner to India, Sehloho Francis Moloi.

Addressing a press conference organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) to announce the 18th edition of IETF 2009, Moloi further stated: “South Africa’s partnership during IETF 2009 is aimed towards achieving bilateral trade target of 12 billion dollars by 2010 from the current 6.2 billion dollars trade.”

The IETF 2009 is a CII flagship international event which is scheduled to be held from February 23 to 26 in Bengaluru.

An internationally recognized exposition, the IETF 2009 will showcase seasoned group of exhibitors displaying interplay of concept, complexity, and scale.

South Africa will be partnering IETF for the second time with the objective to showcase South Africa’s entrepreneurial and technical expertise; promote trade and industrial cooperation and develop strategic partnership.

South Africa will be showcasing an impressive International Pavilion with 74 exporters across sectors including Aerospace, Marine, Defense, Steel, Electro technical, Manufacturing Technologies. Some of the participating companies are Rand Merchant Bank, Ibibo, CypheRix, Bateman Engineering, Howard Manufacturing, South Africa Airways and South Africa Tourism amongst others.

A Conference on Investment Opportunities in South Africa is also scheduled. Other than trade aspects it will focus on Arts and Crafts, Food and Beverages.

Japan as the guest country is making its participation for the third time, with prime focus on new and non-renewable sources of energy. The existing synergies between the two economies will showcase technological cooperation once again on this platform. State of Karnataka is the partnering state for IETF 2009.

The State will display its industrial strengths across varied sectors and potential investment opportunities. The exclusive environment that has bred Karnataka’s Technological expertise will be put under the spotlight in the Karnataka Pavilion at the IETF.

Jardine Omar, Counsellor, South Africa High Commission, said that the South Africa pavilion would be spread across a 4000 square metre area. The participants from South Africa will showcase technology, engineering, manufacturing, collection of unique art and craft. During IETF 2009, South Africa’s participation is expected to generate business of over 10 million Rand.

In his welcome remarks, Gurpal Singh, Deputy Director General, CII, said, ‘IETF was started in 1975 as a platform for exploring new avenues of business. IETF 2009 is spread over the area of 25,000 sqm and will be housing around 500 overseas participants from 25 countries. The ratio of domestic and overseas participation is 60:40.’

Singh further said: “IETF 2009 is structured as a comprehensive B2B event, segmented into well-defined technological sections of engineering and manufacturing. The upcoming exposition is strategically planned to stage six concurrent pavilions, namely Robo Expo 2009; Energy and Environment 2009; IETF Global 2009; Manufacturing 2009; Auto Parts Pavilion and Safe 2009. The biennial exhibition this time has special focus on Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).” (ANI)

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