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Indian classical music is part of an ancient tradition in which music formed the core of worship rituals. Gradually it diversified into two main forms: music for the gods, marga-sangeet, and music for the people, desi-sangeet, the latter forming the roots of what we now know as folk music.
Another very gradual and long-drawn-out evolution through complex historical and social factors led to two distinct traditions of classical music in India — North (Hindustani) and South (Karnatic).
In Indian classical music there are no chords — only notes …

Bangalore, Jan 28 : Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) chief K. Radhakrishnan on Wednesday said the configuration for the new moon mission ‘Chandrayaan-2′ is being finalized and added that it would be launched by 2013.
Chandrayaan-2, which will be a joint effort between ISRO and Russia, will consist of a lander and a rover for a soft land on moon.
The rover will move on the surface of the moon and pick up samples of rocks and soil and conduct a chemical analysis on it. The data would then be sent to …

The Pentagon has notified the US Congress of a possible sale of 145 state-of-the-art light-weight towed Howitzers to India. The deal is worth $647 million.
Describing India as an important force for ‘political stability, peace, and economic progress in South Asia‘, the Defence Security Cooperation Agency told the Congress: ‘India intends to use the Howitzers to modernise its armed forces and enhance its ability to operate in hazardous conditions.’
‘The Howitzers will assist the Indian Army to develop and enhance standardisation and to improve interoperability with US soldiers and marines who use …

The film, Dunno Y … Na Jaane Kyun, was made in the wake of a High Court ruling last year which legalised homosexuality. But the film industry and gay rights campaigners are steeling themselves for protests from religious conservatives.
Film posters featuring two semi-naked young men locked in a passionate clinch reveal how liberal India’s traditionally conservative society has become. But they are expected to fuel controversy in the run up to its release in May.
Gay activists say that they are braced for a backlash from religious and political conservatives, many …

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The simian menace in Delhi and NCR seems to be going out of control as attempts to free the areas of monkeys have started getting on to residents of Noida and Ghaziabad.
For close to a year now, residents of many areas in Ghaziabad and Noida say they have been suffering from the menace. The priests of Shiv Mandir in Sector 11 in Noida say that nearly eight to ten people stand guard inside the temple with sticks during the Puja to make sure the devotees are not attacked.
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Demand for bulletproof cars has gone up in India ahead of the Indian general elections.
The increasing terror attacks have now forced the political leaders to seek shelter behind bullet proof cars.
The bulletproof vehicle makers are cashing in on the fear among the politicians. They are making a good business ahead of the general elections. The makers are expecting a double increase in their business this year.
The Sobtis in Jalandhar are armouring cars of the politicians in their Laggar Industries” workshop. This year comparatively they are armouring more cars than the …

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New Delhi, Jan 7 : Country’s leading car manufacturer Maruti Suzuki India today launched its latest offering in the ‘C’ segment ‘Eeco’ at an introductory price of Rupees 2.59 lakh at showroom(Delhi).
”Eeco performs the twin objectives of being a spacious family car and a dependable vehicle to run businesses,” said Maruti Suzuki Managing Director and CEO Shinzo Nakanishi.
The Eeco comes with a flexi design offering seven-seater and five-seater versions.
The car which is powered by 1200 CC petrol engine
has a BSIV compliant and will be available in six colours …

Twofriends (Madhavan and Sharman Joshi) embark on a quest for a lost buddy. On this journney, they encounter a long forgotten bet, a wedding they must crash, and a mermorial that goes impossibly out of control. As they make their way through the perilous landscaape, another journ.ey begins: their inner trip through memory lane and the story of their friend- the irrepressible free-thinker Rancho, who in his unique way, touched and changed their lives. It’s a story of their hostel days that swings between rancho’s romance with the spirited Pia …

A RECENT newspaper article talked about how some companies are making entrepreneurs of their own employees yet keeping them in their original jobs!
The new trend in corporate HR retention strategy is to encourage employees to turn to entrepreneurship while on the job!
This is interesting. The idea is to address a growing talent crunch by letting managers become entrepreneurs so they can do something different apart from their regular jobs.
If you had a choice, what would you do?
Have you thought of starting a business? Do you have what it takes to …

Aladin is a Bollywood movie directed by Sujoy Ghosh of Jhankaar Beats fame. Amitabh Bachchan, Ritesh Deshmukh, Sanjay Dutt and Jacqueline Fernandez appear in pivotal roles in the movie.[1] Aladin is a contemporary take on the classic fairy tale and boasts of a visual scale never seen before on Indian screen.
Aladin Chatterjee (Riteish Deshmukh) lives in the fictional city of Khwaish, an orphan who is bullied by Kasim and his gang members since his childhood. But his life changes when Jasmine (Jacqueline Fernandez) gives him a magic lamp – because …

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When I think about Christmas coming I think of all my family and friends, that I love and all the wonderful things that I am thankful for. When I was child I use to think of Santa coming in front door cause my parents told me that he would come in that way cause I did not have chimney for him to come down. I would try my hardest to stay up cause I wanted to see him because I wanted to know what he looked like but …

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What is “Bollywood”?
Bollywood is the name given to the Mumbai-based Hindi-language film industry in India. When combined with other Indian film industries (Tamil, Telugu, Bengali, Malayalam, Kannada), it is considered to be the largest in the world in terms of number of films produced, and maybe also the number of tickets sold.
The term Bollywood was created by conflating Bombay (the city …

Nitin Bankar (Akshay Kumar) and Ram Mishra (Suneil Shetty) come to Singapore in the hopes of striking it rich.
Nitin ends up as an all-in-one help to an industrialist played by Archana Puran Singh. His girlfriend Anjali Kakkad (Katrina Kaif) helps him out with the money.
Ram Mishra gets a job delivering courier and is head over heels in love with the very wealthy Manpreet Oberoi (Sameera Reddy). Her parents will never let her marry a delivery man and to make things more difficult the conniving Harbans Chadda (Paresh Rawal) enters the …

Acid Factory, directed by Suparn Verma, looks like it’s been assembled from the footage that was edited out of Sanjay Gupta’s Kaante. Shot in the same grainy moss-green colour tone; its characters speak in a similar hyper-active overlapping style; and two big action set-pieces notwithstanding, it’s a suffocating psychological thriller at its core. Of course, there’s also that trademark sequence of all characters walking towards camera in slow motion.But while Kaante owes much by way of debt to Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs of which it was a shameless ripoff,Acid Factory has …

Fruit and Nut is a madcap comedy with a central character named Jolly Maker, who is a simple, hard working middle class struggling bachelor in search of love, money, friends and success. Jolly Maker works as a clerk/accountant in the office of a greedy and corrupt builder named Khandar. He is typically nerdy and un-stylish. He is also accident-prone and leaves a trail of disaster behind him. One fine day in broad daylight, Jolly Maker’s beautiful, sexy, smart and snobbish colleague, Monica, gets mysteriously kidnapped. Through a roller coaster ride …

Ajab Prem Ki Gajab Kahani – A Rom Com… I just watched that movie and returned back. I am so upset with Bollywood movies. We were literally waiting for the movie to get over. We could hear more popcorn noise in the theatre than laughter. Ironically this is a comedy movie. I have decided not to waste my money going to theatres any more (because in 2/3 months, anyway these movies are telecast on TV – like Blue is soon coming up on Colors). Ok let me start with the …

Himesh Reshammiya via last.fm

Well, has been at it a while. He cherished a desire to turn from music direction to acting and from there to filmmaking. He’s done this difficult task if not impossible task. But, it takes a while to excel at it. Here’s how the story goes! ‘Radio’ is about the lives of three eccentrics. Radio Jockey Vivan played by Himesh himself, his ex-wife Pooja played by Sonia Sehgal and Vivan’s colleague Shania played by Shenaz Treasuryvala. Characters are portrayed and played as peculiar and strange. Vivan …

Harpreet Singh Bedi (Ranbir Kapoor) has just graduated, and his marks are, well, let’s say a little embarrassing. But marks never stopped him from dreaming of an exciting and adventurous career, and they never will.
He takes a deep, positive breath and dives into the world of sales, rumoured to be an ultra cool career for all smart people blocked from entering medical, engineering or business schools by brainless entrance exams. It’s everything he dreamt of, with its smooth dressing, smoother talking men and women who can sell ice to an …

Indira Gandhi with her two sons Rajiv (L) and Sanjay in 1977 Photo: AFP

The biopic of the former prime minister of India who was assassinated in 1984 has a budget of £40 million and an international cast and crew.
Helen Mirren is in talks to reprise her role as Queen Elizabeth II for the two films which are due to start filming in April next year in India, UK, Russia and the US.
Tom Hanks and Tommy Lee Jones are being lined up …

Kanak Gogoi, a 12th passed entrepreneur from Guwahati, has over a dozen innovations, from gravity-operated bicycle to a car which can run on air. But he regrets the government’s negligence towards scientific innovations, and refuses to commercialize any of his creations.
Gogoi said, “Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) offered to build a fully furnished lab for me in Guwahati. The Chief Minister had granted me about 1.6 acres of land in 2007, but the file is still lying untouched at the local administrative office.”
Talking about slow moving files, another of Gogoi’s …