Oz speed-reader to demystify Dan Brown’s Lost Symbol 2hrs after release

Melbourne, September 14 (ANI): Publishers of Dan Brown’s much-anticipated book, ‘The Lost Symbol,’ will host speed reading competition during its launch in Australia.

The person who ends reading the book fastest will be provided with an opportunity to give its first review.

Speculations are high on the closely-guarded plot, which is believed to focus on the Freemasons.

Publisher Random House will provide a copy of the book at the State Library of NSW the moment it is released.

It is expected that the first person should complete reading in two hours.

After which the reader will give a review to public and press.

“Millions of Australians have enjoyed the pure adrenalin thrill of Dan Brown’s novels, coupled with their fascinating historical insights,” News.com.au quoted Margie Seale, managing director of Random House Australia, as saying in a statement.

The publishers anticipate that the book will match 81 million copies of The Da Vinci Code sold around the world. (ANI)

Andromeda galaxy expanded by cannibalizing on stars from other galaxies

London, September 3 (ANI): A new research has shown that the vast Andromeda galaxy appears to have expanded by cannibalizing on stars from other galaxies.

According to a report by BBC News, when an international team of scientists mapped Andromeda, they discovered stars that they said were “remnants of dwarf galaxies”.

This consumption of stars has been suggested previously, but the team’s ultra-deep survey has provided detailed images to show that it took place.

This shows the “hierarchical model” of galaxy formation in action.

The model predicts that large galaxies should be surrounded by relics of smaller galaxies they have consumed.

The scientists charted the outskirts of Andromeda in detail for the first time. They discovered stars that could not have formed within the galaxy itself.

Pauline Barmby, an astronomer from the University of Western Ontario told BBC News that the pattern of the stars’ orbits revealed their origin.

“Andromeda is so close that we can map out all the stars,” she said. “And when you see a sort of lump of stars that far out, and with the same orbit, you know they can’t have been there forever,” she added.

Andromeda, which is approximately 2.5 million light years away from Earth is still expanding, say the scientists.

The researchers also saw a “stream of stars” of a nearby galaxy called Triangulum “stretching” towards Andromeda.

According to Dr Scott Chapman, reader in astrophysics at the Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge, “Ultimately, these two galaxies may end up merging completely. Ironically, galaxy formation and galaxy destruction seem to go hand in hand.”

Nickolay Gnedin, an astrophysicist from the University of Chicago, described the work as showing “galactic archaeology in action”. (ANI)

Supreme Court issues notice to Gujarat Government on Jaswant book ban

New Delhi, Sep.1 (ANI): The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued a notice to Gujarat Government on a petition filed by expelled BJP leader Jaswant Singh challenging the ban on his book — Jinnah: ndia, Partition-Independence.

The Narender Modi-led BJP government in Gujarat had banned his Jaswant Singh’s book alleging that it defamed the country’s first Home Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.

“Jaswant Singh’s book questions role of Sardar Patel during the partition of India as well as his patriotic spirit. This is an attempt to tarnish the image of Patel who is considered the architect of modern united India,” a statement issued by the state government had said.

“It is a bid to defame Patel by distorting historical facts. So, the state government has decided to ban the book with immediate effect for wider public interest. As per the ban, there cannot be sale, distribution or publication of the book in the state,” it said.

“The book has been banned because it contains defamatory references regarding Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel who is considered as the architect of the modern India,” a senior minister in the state government had said.

The ban on Jaswant’s book came after he was expelled from the party during its Chintan Baithak in Shimla more than a fortnight ago.

Singh’s book, which has created a furore in India, is selling like hot cakes in Rawalpindi and Islamabad.

Booksellers in the two cities had imported more than 3,000 copies on Saturday and sold them out by Monday morning.

Not only intellectuals, but people from different strata of society have also shown interest in the book, in which Singh has praised Jinnah and described him as a leader who had strong faith in united India, while blaming Sardar Patel for the partition in 1947.

“I have never seen such a response to any author in about 30 years of being in the book selling business,” a shopkeeper in Rawalpindi told Online.

“My basic purpose of buying this book is just to know what compelled the BJP to expel one of its senior leaders having a long association with the party,” said a reader.

The sale of the book is good; in fact it is better than that of any other book at the moment,” said another Islamabad-based bookseller.

Earlier, a famous book store in Lahore sold 100 copies of the book in a single day which indicates how eager the Pakistanis are to know the reason what prompted the BJP to expel the former Foreign Minister and end his 30 year long association with the party.

“We had received 100 copies on last Wednesday. All the copies were sold out the same day. Now we expect more copies on Saturday,” said Rana Saeed, the owner of the shop.

Excited by the response the book has received, its publishers are already considering to bring out an Urdu version of the book.

Singh was expected to visit Pakistan to launch the book, but his son Manvendra Singh said his father has not applied for a visa, and as far as he knew. (ANI)

Jaswant’s book on Jinnah selling like hot cakes in Pakistan

Islamabad, Sep 1 (ANI): Expelled Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Jaswant Singh’s controversial book, Jinnah: India, Partition-Independence, which has created a furore in India, is selling like hot cakes in the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad.

The twin-city booksellers had imported more than 3,000 copies on Saturday and sold them out by Monday morning.

Not only intellectuals, but people from different strata of society have also shown interest in the book, in which Singh has praised Jinnah and described him as a leader who had strong faith in united India, while blaming Sardar Patel for the partition in 1947.

The book has created furore in India, as the author has been expelled from his party BJP and reviled as a ‘Jinnah Lover’.

“I have never seen such a response to any author in about 30 years of being in the book selling business,” a shopkeeper in Rawalpindi told Online.

“My basic purpose of buying this book is just to know what compelled the BJP to expel one of its senior leaders having a long association with the party,” said a reader.

The sale of the book is good; in fact it is better than that of any other book at the moment,” said another Islamabad-based bookseller.

Earlier, a famous book store in Lahore sold 100 copies of the book in a single day which indicates how eager the Pakistanis are to know the reason what prompted the BJP to expel the former Foreign Minister and end his 30 year long association with the party.

“We had received 100 copies on last Wednesday. All the copies were sold out the same day. Now we expect more copies on Saturday,” said Rana Saeed, the owner of the shop.

Excited by the response the book has received, its publishers are already considering to bring out an Urdu version of the book.

Jaswant Singh was expected to visit Pakistan to launch the book, but his son Manvendra Singh said his father has not applied for a visa, and as far as he knew. (ANI)

Prime Minister’s daughter releases her book on history

Kolkata, Aug 30 (ANI): Upinder Singh, daughter of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and a professor of history in the Delhi University, released her book on Indian history in Kolkata.ddressing the gathering, Upinder Singh attributed her success to the support she received from her family.

“The fact that he (Manmohan Singh) has an academic background and the academics are valued in our family. Both had certainly made a difference to a kind of person I am today,” she said.

She added that her book would help the reader to visualize and understand the rich and varied remains of the Indian subcontinent’s ancient past.

Upinder’s new book ‘A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India from Stone Age to the 12th Century’ is a comprehensive book meant for students and general readers.

The book had taken five years for her to complete and offers an exhaustive overview of the subject. The book has over 350 photographs, maps, drawings and sketches. (ANI)

Sale of books based on Gayatri Devi’s life goes up

Jaipur, Aug. 14 (ANI): The craze of knowing about the life of Gayatri Devi, the Rajmata of Jaipur, is on rise after her demise.

Hundreds of curious readers are visiting the local bookstores in Jaipur to buy books based on her life.

Touted as one of the most beautiful women in the world by the Vogue Magazine, Gayatri Devi breathed her last on July 29 after a prolonged illness. She was 90.

The most sought after books include an autobiography ‘Princess Remembers: The Memoirs of the Maharani of Jaipur’ and a biography ‘Rajmata Gayatri Devi’.

Readers, who are curious to know more about her personal life, the childhood days in particular, are thronging the bookstores.

“Gayatri Devi used to be an icon. She was also known as Rajmata and among the royalties, she was one lady whom you can say that she was literally down to the earth and who used to go to the masses and people really loved her. That’s the reason her books are in demand,” said Rajiv Chaudhary, an avid reader.

Another curious reader Yadav Singh said that by reading the books people would come to know more about her private life.

“The past life of the Rajmata of Jaipur has been really great. The more you read about her, the more things you discover about her. In these books, her life has been described well, which we normal people are unaware of,” observed Yadav Singh, another reader.

Rajiv Kapoor, Manager of Crossword Bookstore in The Pink City disclosed that the sale of books on Gayatri Devi has witnessed a rise upto the extent of 60 percent.

“After the death of Gayatri Devi, the sale of books based on her life has gone up by approximately 50 to 60 percent and people of all age group especially the younger ones, who are more curious to know about her life are buying the books,” noted Kapoor.

Born into the royal family of eastern Cooch Behar, Gayatri Devi married Sawai Man Singh, the then ruler of the princely Jaipur state, in 1939. She was his third wife.

During her lifetime Gayatri Devi involved herself extensively in charity works and supported education for women. She even contested elections and was elected as a member of Indian parliament thrice. (ANI)

Mint launches Chennai edition

New Delhi, July 13 (ANI/Business Wire India): Mint, HT Media Ltd’s business daily in an exclusive content partnership with The Wall Street Journal, is now national.

With the launch of the Chennai edition on July 13, Mint now has a national footprint that includes New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Chandigarh and Pune.

With an introductory price of Rs 3.50, Mint will now provide discerning readers in Chennai the same Clarity that the rest of the country has so overwhelmingly embraced.

Available six days a week, the daily brings with it an exhaustive suite of offerings – markets watch, campaign and the weekend magazine, lounge.

With its accent on clarity in reporting, stand-out design and printing, and the exclusive WSJ section, Mint is the choice of senior decision makers across industry and government.

There is no better proof of this than the fact that four out of five Mint readers do not read another business paper.

The launch excitement will culminate on August 12 with a high-profile clarity through debate event that will focus on the key issue of financial inclusion.

With panelists that include policy makers and business leaders from both the public and private sectors, the event will underscore Mint’s commitment to bringing clarity in business to issues that matter.

Mint was created to address the growing reader demand for Clarity in Business. ajiv Verma, CEO, HTML, said, “Mint’s spectacular readership numbers have validated our belief that there is a market for unbiased, jargon-free reporting and analysis in the business news domain, across format”.

In just over two years, Mint now has a readership of 200,000 every day. With a readership of 175,000 in the Delhi and Mumbai editions (IRS 09), and a circulation of 25,000 plus in the other cities, Mint is a strong and growing No. 2 player in the category.

Livemint.com makes available Mint content to audiences globally, apart from hosting rich content and platforms for its 1 million-plus Web audience.

The one-third share of readers in the cities that matter makes Mint a critical choice of advertisers for reaching decision makers.

Its clean design and printing quality, contextual content environment, an array of innovative advertising options and events, and an unduplicated, high-profile reader base make Mint the choice of premium advertisers.

The addition of Chennai gives advertisers yet another reason to partner Mint. (ANI)

I’m used to people openly discussing my boobs, says Kate Winslet

Melbourne, July 10 (ANI): Kate Winslet has admitted that she doesn’t mind people openly talking about her breasts.

The Oscar-winner insists that she’s proud of her all-natural body.

“I’m used to people openly discussing my tits. If people are noticing my boobs in a movie and saying they do what real boobs do, then that’s great,” the Courier Mail quoted Winslet as telling Harper’s Bazaar magazine.

Meanwhile, the actress has said that she may not appear naked on-screen anymore because people have seen enough of her.

Winslet, who has appeared naked in a number of films including ‘The Reader’, feels that as the years go by, the pull to appear in the buff may ebb away. (ANI)

People have seen enough of my bum and boobs, says Kate Winslet

London, July 9 (ANI): Kate Winslet insists that she may not appear naked on-screen anymore because people have seen enough of her.

The Oscar-winning actress, who has appeared naked in a number of films including ‘The Reader’, feels that as the years go by, the pull to appear in the buff may ebb away.

“I’ll be 34 in October. I can’t keep getting away with it,” the Sun quoted her as telling Harpers Bazaar.

“There was so much of it in The Reader because the story required it, but people have seen enough of my bum and my boobs. I have to put them back,” she added.

Known not just for her fabulous figure but also for her glamorous look, Winslet is quick to dismiss the world of Hollywood glitz.

“Our knickers will still go up our a** at the most inappropriate moment,” she said.

“And we’ll still want to flick them out, but you can’t because someone is going to catch you,” she added. (ANI)

Jacko was extremely well-read, says his lawyer

London, July 3 (ANI): Michael Jackson was an avid reader who had a library at Neverland that held 10,000 volumes on its shelves, his lawyer has revealed.

Bob Sanger, the King of Pop’s lawyer for 16 years, said that Jackson was fascinated by philosophy and history – and covered his books with notes.

“Michael was extremely well-read. We talked about psychology, Freud and Jung, sociology and black history,” the Sun quoted Sanger as saying.

“But he was well-read in the classics of psychology and history and literature. He was very intellectual but didn’t flaunt it,” he added.

Jackson died of a suspected cardiac arrest in his Holmby Hills estate last week. (ANI)

Mint launches in Kolkata

New Delhi, May 25 (ANI/Business Wire India): Mint, HT Media’s business daily in exclusive content partnership with The Wall Street Journal, is now going national.

With the launch of the Kolkata edition on May 25, the daily now has a national footprint that includes Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chandigarh and Pune as well.

With an introductory price of Rs. 3, Mint will target the key business and policy leaders in the metropolis, in line with its reader profile nationally.

In just over two years, Mint now has a readership of 200,000 daily. With a readership of 175,000 in the Delhi and Mumbai editions alone, and a circulation of 25,000 in the other cities, Mint is a strong and growing No. 2 player in the category.

With a one-third share of readers in the cities that matter, Mint is now the choice of advertisers for reaching decision makers across markets.

Mint was created to the address the growing reader demand for Clarity in Business.

“The spectacular readership numbers have validated our belief that there is a market for unbiased, jargon-free reporting and analysis in the business news domain, across formats”, said Rajiv Verma, CEO, HT Media Ltd.

With its accent on clarity in reporting, stand-out design and printing, and the exclusive WSJ section, the daily has been embraced by senior decision makers across industry and government. There is no better proof of this than the fact that 4 out of 5 Mint readers do not read another business paper.

The new edition in provides discerning readers in Kolkata the same Clarity that the rest of the country has so overwhelmingly embraced.

“The clean design and printing quality, premium and contextual content environment, an array of innovative advertising options and events, and the large unduplicated reader profile with the best audience makes Mint the choice of premium advertisers. The addition of Kolkata gives advertisers yet another reason to partner Mint”, added Vivek Khanna, Publisher and Business Head, Mint.

Every weekday, Mint comes with a special section of international news and analysis from the 1,900 global journalists at The Wall Street Journal, the world’s leading business newspaper.

These are the articles that are selected by Mint editors with the Indian reader in mind.

Mint also comes with Markets Watch, a Tuesday to Saturday pullout that offers comprehensive and relevant market data on stocks and funds. Campaign, on Tuesday, offers readers insights into strategy and marketing.

On Saturday, Lounge, the magazine-style weekend edition of Mint, takes reader beyond business. With its emphasis on lifestyle and life aspirations of the well-heeled discerning leader, the magazine is a window to life that is both comprehensive and stimulating. (ANI)

Soon, black and white e-readers to be replaced by colour version

London, May 18 (ANI): An American company is gearing up to replace black and white e-book readers with a colour version, expected to be on the market by the end of 2010.

E Ink Corporation of Cambridge, Massachusetts, says that it will be demonstrating a colour version of its e-paper at the Society for Information Display conference in San Antonio, Texas, on May 31.

The company says that the new version of the e-book reader would be aimed at having a reflective display that uses very little power and is as easy on the eye as the printed word.

It has revealed that the colour version will be based on technology called an electrophoretic display.

In the new colour display, each pixel will be split into four sub-pixels showing red, green, blue and white in their “on” states, which means squeezing four times as many transistors beneath each pixel to control the electrodes, which has been a challenge too far- until now.

“The transistor resolution is now getting fine enough,” New Scientist magazine quoted Sri Peruvemba of E Ink as saying. (ANI)

New York mum retaliate against daughter’s rival using online sex ad

Washington, May 9 (ANI): A woman in New York has been accused of using a fraudulent Web ad to send sex clients to the mother of a girl, with whom her own 9-year-old daughter had had a clash.

Margery Tannenbaum, of Hauppauge on Long Island, has been booked for aggravated harassment after she allegedly posted a classified ad on Craigslist offering sex with men.

Police have revealed that whenever any reader of the ad sent Tannenbaum an e-mail, she gave out the phone number of the other mother, reports Fox News.

Tannenbaum and her attorney were unavailable for comment. (ANI)

‘Slumdog Millionaire’, ‘Twilight’ lead MTV movie awards nominations

New Delhi, May 05 (ANI): ‘Twilight’ and ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ will lead the charge at the 2009 MTV Movie Awards.

The vampire blockbuster took the lead with seven nominations and the Oscar-winning Indian romance received six, reports the China Daily.

‘Twilight’, based on the book by Stephenie Meyer, will compete for prizes including Best Movie, Best Female Performance for Kristen Stewart, and Breakthrough Performance Male for both Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner.

‘Slumdog Millionaire’ stars Freida Pinto and Dev Patel are also up for the Breakthrough Performance accolades, while the film will go up against ‘Twilight’, ‘The Dark Knight’, ‘Iron Man’ and ‘High School Musical 3: Senior Year’ in the Best Movie category.

Meanwhile, Anne Hathaway (Bride Wars), Angelina Jolie (Wanted) and Kate Winslet (The Reader) join Stewart in the Best Female Performance line-up, and Zac Efron (High School Musical 3), Shia LaBeouf (Eagle Eye) and Robert Downey, Jr. (Tropic Thunder) will fight it out for the Best Male Performance title.

Miley Cyrus (Hannah Montana: The Movie) and Vanessa Hudgens (High School Musical 3) will go head-to-head for the Breakthrough Performance Female award, while Cyrus is also nominated for Best Song From a Movie for Hannah Montana.

Mark Burnett, who produces the freewheeling ceremony, said either film has a great chance of winning best picture.

“”Twilight” has “certainly touched a part of America and young girls are totally in love with what the movie stands for and (with) romance,” Burnett said.

“On the other hand, I have to say, all of my kids loved `Slumdog Millionaire.’ There’s just something so uplifting about what that movie stands for,” he added. (ANI)

Catholic nuns accused of ruining women’s sex lives

New York, Apr 27 (ANI): Cosmopolitan magazine’s new executive editor has created a stir by blaming Catholic nuns for ruining women’s sex lives.

Editor Nicole Beland was asked by a reader in her final April column, “My sexually repressed wife can’t even say ‘sex’ without whispering. How can I help her open up?”

To which Beland replied, “It’s not easy to undo damage caused by years of exposure to Catholic-school nuns or overly conservative parents.

“She may need therapy to accept that sex can be a wholesome and glorious thing . . . Every positive thing you say about sex will undo some of the negativity she’s been brainwashed to feel her whole life,” she added.

‘Enraged’ Catholic League president William Donohue has criticized Beland for her views.

“It would never occur to Beland that a woman who is sexually repressed might have been molested growing up,” the New York Post quoted Donohue as saying.

“No, for Beland it is empirically obvious that Sister Mary Alice did it . . . Imagine some poor soul asking about his sexually promiscuous wife. Imagine Beland answering, ‘It’s not easy to undo damage caused by years of exposure to Jewish-school teachers or overly liberal parents,’ ” he added.

Beland retorted: “I can’t believe that after writing a sex and relationship advice column for eight years, that this is the first thing that Bill Donohue has taken issue with. Clearly he’s not a devoted reader.

“My advice . . . was, as always, based on my personal experiences. I went to Catholic school for eight long years and am now working at Cosmopolitan magazine, so obviously I’m aware that lengthy exposure to nuns doesn’t kill everyone’s sex drive.

“But could it put a damper on someone’s appetite for action? Yeah, I think so,” she added. (ANI)

Nine new X chromosome genes linked to learning disabilities identified

London, Apr 20 (ANI): An international team of researchers has identified nine new genes linked to learning disabilities.

The team of 70 researchers has found nine new genes on the X chromosome, which when knocked-out, led to learning impairment.

Learning disability is significantly more common in males than in females and genetic causes have long been sought on the X chromosome because males have only one X chromosome and so a gene mutation on the X is more likely to have an effect in males than in females.

“We sequenced 720 out of the approximately 800 known genes on the X chromosome in more than 200 families affected by X-linked learning disabilities,” Nature Genetics quoted Professor Mike Stratton, from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute as saying.

“This is the largest sequencing study of complex disease ever reported,” he added.

The new genes play roles in a wide range of biological processes suggesting that disruption to many cellular machines can damage the nervous system.

“As well as these important new gene discoveries relating to learning disability, we have also uncovered a small proportion – 1% or more – of X chromosome protein-coding genes that, when knocked out, appear to have no effect on the characteristics of the individual,” said Stratton.

“It is remarkable that so many protein-coding genes can be lost without any apparent effect on an individual’s normal existence – this is a surprising result and further research will be necessary in this area.”

Same genetic variants have been linked to some characteristics in common cold.

Researchers suggest that a similar strategy can be used to find disease causing sequence variants implicated in other complex genetic diseases.

“This new research uncovers yet more genes that can be incorporated to improve the provision of diagnostics to families with learning disabilities and allow us to develop more omprehensive genetic counselling in the future, allowing parents and the extended family to make the most informed family planning decisions,” said Dr Lucy Raymond, Reader in Neurogenetics, Cambridge Institute for Medical Research at the University of Cambridge. (ANI)

‘Reader’ Obama terms Chavez book gift as ‘a nice gesture’

Washington, Apr 20 (ANI): President Barack Obama has said that it was a nice gesture on the part of Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez to gift him a book during the weekend Summit of the Americas.

Obama, however, said nothing about the theme of the book, “Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent,” by Uruguayan journalist Eduardo Galeano, which blames foreign interests like the United States for exploiting Latin America for centuries.
“It was a nice gesture to give me a book. I am a reader,” Obama said during a solo press conference at the end of the summit held in the Caribbean nation of Trinidad and Tobago.

President Obama said on Sunday that he is not concerned with the politics of shaking hands with Chavez, but is more interested in expanding a policy he described during his presidential campaign of extending an open hand to nations hostile to the US.

Chavez told the Obama Administration that he would like to send an ambassador to the US in exchange for an ambassador in Venezuela. The US suspended diplomatic ties last September, FOX News reported.

US officials responded that they need to see more from Chavez before moving forward but were pleased by the sentiment.

Obama credited Chavez, who has been slowly instituting constitutional changes that will allow him to become president for life in his country, with successfully stealing the limelight during the weekend summit.

But he said that the “inflammatory” anti-American comments made by Chavez don’t pose any danger to the United States.

“There have been instances where we’ve seen Venezuela interfere with some of the countries that surround Venezuela in ways that cause concern. On the other hand, Venezuela is a country whose defence budget is one-six hundredth of the United States.

“They own Citgo, the oil company. It’s unlikely that as a consequence of me shaking hands or that having a polite conversation with Chavez that we endanger the strategic interests of the United States,” Obama said. (ANI)

Acer announces new notebooks from its Aspire series

The leading computer manufacturer in the world – Acer has announced two new laptops from its Aspire series. The Taipei, Taiwan based company has announced Acer Aspire 3935-6504 and Acer Aspire 8935G notebooks.

The Acer Aspire 3935-6504 is 13-inch ultraportable slim easy-to-carry notebook; it weighs about 2 kg (4.1 pounds). The Aspire 3935 notebook features 13.3-inch HD Acer CineCrystal LED screen, with 1368 x 768 resolution, multi-touch trackpad, and nice keyboard. The Aspire 3935 comes with 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7350 processor, 3MB L2 cache and 1066MHz FSB.

The Aspire 3935 notebook is also equipped with the Intel Mobile GM45 Express chipset and Intel GMA 4500MHD. The Aspire 3935 has the 3072MB DDR2 1066MHz RAM and comes with Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium with Service Pack 1 over a 250GB SATA HDD. The notebook also features a dual-layer DVD SuperMulti drive, WiFi (802.11 a/g/n), 3 USB ports, a 5-in-1 card reader, and a 4-cell battery. The Acer Aspire 3935-6504 is priced at $899 (approximately Rs. 45,000).

The Acer Aspire 8935G is a larger multimedia notebook featuring a big 18.4-inch HD Acer CineCrystal LED screen and weighing around 4.6 kg (10.1 pounds). The Aspire
8935G notebook is powered by Intel Core 2 Duo and ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4670 graphics card. The Aspire 8935G runs Windows Vista Home Premium with SP1. The notebook features trackpad and a dual-layer combo Blu-ray drive. The other features of the notebook include Wifi (802.11 a/g/n), and an 8-cell battery. The company hasn’t yet disclosed the price of the Aspire 8935G, which is expected to be available in June, in United States.

New Resource Bank Appoints Vincent Siciliano as CEO

New Chief Executive Brings 30 Years of Banking Experience

SAN FRANCISCO–(Business Wire)–
New Resource Bank has tapped Vincent Siciliano, a longtime finance executive who
has held the top spot at several California banks, as its new chief executive
officer.

“We are pleased to have such a qualified and values-aligned CEO join the bank
and its dedicated staff,” said New Resource`s recently appointed Chairman of the
Board Mark A. Finser.

Mr. Siciliano brings a wealth of management experience to New Resource Bank. He
served as Chief Executive Officer at International Savings Bank, San Diego`s
largest local savings and loan; President and Chief Executive Officer of the
Danielson Trust, a $1.5 billion trust company providing investment management
services, and as Chief Operating Officer at First National Bank.

In 2001, he was hired as the CEO of 1st Pacific Bank of California. Under his
management, 1st Pacific was named the best-performing de novo bank in California
by The Findley Reports, a banking consulting firm.

A long-time environmentalist, Mr. Siciliano double majored in Human Biology and
Environmental Engineering at Stanford, and received a Master`s Degree in
Environmental Planning at the University of California at Berkeley. He also
worked for the California Coastal Commission and the federal equivalent program
in Washington, D.C. Mr. Siciliano and his wife Susan live in San Francisco.

As CEO of New Resource Bank, Mr. Siciliano says he will keep the bank focused on
providing high-level customer service and supporting clients engaged in green
and sustainable enterprises.

“I`ve learned through the years that a bank`s success is measured in the
achievements of its clients,” said Mr. Siciliano. “New Resource Bank has
established an impressive track record in a short period of time, funding some
of the most innovative, creative and sustainable businesses in California. I am
proud and excited to now be leading the effort to enhance New Resource Bank`s
stature as a new model of lending institution focused on a triple bottom line -
one that balances a commitment to the community and the environment as well as
economic interests for the benefit of all of our stakeholders.”

New Resource Bank opened in late 2006 as a bank built “by the people and for the
people” of their community. The founding organizers and initial shareholders
brought together an unparalleled blend of proven entrepreneurial success along
with banking expertise and community leadership.

Currently, the bank has over $170 million in assets and serves over 2,000
clients.

New Resource Bank received a “Reader`s Choice Award” by San Francisco Magazine
in 2008 and this year won the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency`s
Environmental Award.

For more information, visit www.newresourcebank.com.

New Resource Bank
Rosita Nunes, 415-995-8125

Copyright Business Wire 2009

UPDATE 1-Nexpak files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection

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UPDATE 1-Nexpak files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection
Fri Apr 10, 2009 5:38pm EDT

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NEW YORK, April 10 (Reuters) – Nexpak, which manufactures and supplies packaging for high-definition discs such as Blu-Ray and DVDs, on Friday filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

The Duluth, Georgia-based company listed assets between $1 million and $10 million, and debts in the range of $100 million to $500 million, according to court papers filed in Delaware Bankruptcy Court.

The company previously filed for bankruptcy in 2004, according to court documents. (Reporting by Ilaina Jonas; Editing by Jan Paschal)