Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Winehouse ‘plans second honeymoon with ex-hubby Fielder-Civil’

LONDON - Amy Winehouse is planning a second honeymoon with ex-husband Blake Fielder-Civil.The singer is said to be considering taking him to Havana.But the reason for choosing the place appears to have more to do with smoking than sun and sand.The couple has reportedly acquired a new habit - Cuban cigars.“Smoking cigars is their new thing. It all started when Amy bought a pack of Romeo y Julieta for Blake, because she thinks they’re also tragic lovers The Sun quoted a friend as saying.“Amy and Blake have been spending their time reading up on the history and the culture behind them. Amy, in particular, followed up their origin, in Cuba.“She thinks there’s a kind of romance to it and would love to go there with Blake. She wants to go away to celebrate them being back together properly.“It will be their second honeymoon. As soon as his curfew allows, they’ll be off,” the pal added. (ANI)

LG Watch Phone Lands In India

NEW DELHI, INDIA - It is not surprising to see mobile phones that perform various other tasks than making or receiving calls nowadays. There are plenty of models in the market that double up as music player and camera. However, it is not everyday that one comes across a touch screen phone that is built in a watch form factor. That is what the LG Watch phone is all about. It looks like a designer watch but inside there is a sophisticated phone brimming with cutting edge features. It weighs only 84 gram and hence one can wear it without straining his wrist. However, this is quite expensive at 40,000 INR and only the hardcore gadget freaks with deep pockets will opt for it.The LG Watch phone has been launched in India and it is available in LG flagship outlets across the country. The phone uses a capacitive type touch screen resulting in excellent feedback and it displays 256,000 colors. The resolution at 128 x 160 pixels is not much but then you have to consider its unique form factor. The UI is flash based and it is very responsive.The LG Watch Phone is water resistant which means one can use it in rain without any fear of damaging it. Its music playback capacity is also praiseworthy and there is an equalizer to customize the music quality as per the taste of the uses. The VGA camera is capable of making video calls. There are lots of connectivity options offered by this model. Apart from the GPRS and Edge, there is HSDPA for high sped web access.

Sony Dash To Battle iPad?

SAN FANCISCO - With Apple launching its much-hyped iPad and HP tying up with Microsoft to unleash its latest slate PC, can Sony be far behind? The Japanese Electronics giant, which is losing market share to Apple and rival Korean companies, is on a revival track and this year it is revealing a number of new breakthrough gadgets. Even before the market frenzy around its latest Monolithic design Bravia HDTVs could subside, the electronics behemoth has released Dash in the market. It is basically an Internet tablet but offers much more to the users. Sony Dash was shown at the CES a few months back for the first time. The device is being offered at a lucrative price of $200, which can give serious competition to the Apple iPad, which is quite expensive compared to Sony Dash. It has a nice 7-inch touch screen, which has a resolution of 800 x 480 pixels. It displays most Web Pages accurately. The device supports WiFi and so web browsing on the move is fairly easy for its users. The device is pretty powerful in the sense that it can playback video from Netflix and access social media applications without hiccup. However, it is not a net top since there is no such input device. The Dash also has accelerometer. Sony has also provided a headphone jack and a USB port so that you can connect other devices. At its core there is a Linux based OS. Funnily enough, there is an alarm clock with the device and snooze feature is also there. Maybe Sony has thought people will keep it by their bedside.

BJP files breach of priviledge motion against PM

New Delhi, Apr 27: BJP has filed a breach of priviledge motion against Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for speaking about the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) outside the parliament.
The priviledge motion has been signed by 50 BJP MPs and has been sent to the Secretary General Office.

The Prime Minister had rejected the opposition's demand for a JPC probe into the phone tapping issue as well as the IPL controversy on Monday, Apr 26.

Both Houses of the parliament were earlier adjourned due to the ruckus created over the phone tapping scandal.

Bharat bandh disrupts air, road traffic

New Delhi, Apr 27: The Bharat bandh called by the non-UPA and non-NDA parties has dirupted normal life in Kerala, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Orissa.Kolkata is said to be the worst-hit by the bandh as the airport bears a deserted look with only Air India flight in operation. More than 50 flights including those of Kingfisher has been cancelled.Tarin services has also been sirrupted due to the 12-hour nationwide bandh called by Communist Party of India (CPI), Communist Party of India -Marxist (CPI-M), Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), Samajwadi Party (SP).Several Kolkata-bound trains have been stuck which include-Kanchakanya at Burdwan, Kamrup Express at Sreerampur, Purbanchal Express at Baichi, Barbhanga Express at Pandua.In Kerala, the streets wear a deserted look as the public and private transports are taken off the road. There is a complete closure of shops, business establishment, schools and other educational institutions.Though there has been few stray reports of disruption of trains in some areas, the air traffic remained unaffected by the bandh.Meanwhile in Uttar Pradesh there has been report of Ganga Gomti Express being stopped by Samajwadi Party workers in Allahabad. Train services have been badly hit in different parts of Uttar Pradesh.Air and road traffic remains unaffected by the bandh, although there has been reports of protesters planning to disrupt trains and road service.

IPL scandal: India may end up being real loser

Mumbai, Apr.27 (ANI): The Indian Premier League (IPL) may be the biggest and brashest tournament cricket has ever seen, but the alleged behind the scenes financial irregularities may end up seeing India as the real loser, a report in The Times has claimed.According to the report, India has 1.2 billion people, many of them crazy about cricket. Most are growing wealthier and the number who can afford to buy satellite TV subscriptions and replica shirts is growing.More than that, for many Indians, the IPL is an emblem of their aspirations and proof of how the epicenter of the global economy is shifting East.It is also a symbol of what they believe India is destined to become: a true global power.In short, the IPL was an icon of a “New India” – one that was supposed to have shed the corruption, nepotism, cronyism and political patronage of the past.As the confetti settles on this year’s competition, however, the question is whether it is too big to fail.The suspension of Lalit Modi, the IPL’s fast talking creator and chief administrator, just minutes after the Chennai Super Kings vanquished the Mumbai Indians in an IPL final over allegations of money laundering, match-fixing, illegal betting, team auction manipulation, political corruption and multi-million dollar kickbacks, is likely to have a huge adverse impact.Modi has been given 15 days to answer allegations of financial impropriety. His suspension may have set the stage for a messy dissection of the scandal in which the IPL has been mired for the past fortnight.Modi has challenged the BCCI to justify its reasons for sacking him, suggesting that they are scared to face the truth.There is no doubt that the scandal has rocked India to its core.The resignation of Deputy Foreign Minister Shashi Tharoor a fortnight ago was a reminder of how cricket in the country is riddled with political patronage and worse.Tharoor, a favourite of Sonia Gandhi, was forced to step down when it emerged that a business consortium he had advised had given a 10-million-pound stake in a new IPL side to a woman widely reported to be his girlfriend.Having sacrificed Tharoor, the Government went out for revenge, unleashing its tax inspectors on anybody with an association with the IPL.The real target, however, has appeared to be Modi, who triggered the Tharoor scandal through a leak on the Twitter website. (ANI)

After govt yes, SC no for Lafarge

The Supreme Court on Monday refused to accede to the Centre's plea for lifting the ban on mining by French cement company Lafarge in Meghalaya's forests."Till the time necessary reports are submitted by the ministry of environment and forests (MoEF), we are not inclined to accept the government report and permit the mining," a special forest bench headed by Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan said.It refused to allow Lafarge mine limestones in 116 hectare in East Khasi Hill districts on the basis of a hurriedly procured environment clearance certificate by the government.The SC on February 5 had stopped Lafarge from carrying out limestone mining in Meghalaya for its cement plant in Bangladesh on the basis of an MoEF report, which said the company was extracting minerals from the land falling in the forest area.The bench has now asked the government to conduct studies on four crucial aspects related to the flora and fauna and the biodiversity of the area in question where Lafarge is to mine.Awaiting these reports, the bench posted the hearing to July 2010.The studies and other things now asked by the court included a periodic assessment of the flora and fauna, a time-bond plan for conservation device for it, a comprehensive biodiversity conservation plan with provisions of time bound implementation to be prepared by a state agency and detailing sources of funding for the same.It also wanted the government to conduct study for feasibility of implementation of ‘surface minor technology' to reduce environmental impacts and degradations.The court is hearing a petition by Shella Action Committee representing local Shella tribe of the East Khasi Hills district, Meghalaya.

NCP leader shot dead

Unidentified gunmen shot dead the vice-president of the Nationalist Congress Party's (NCP) Manipur unit, in Imphal (east) district, on Sunday evening.Chungsei Haokip (60) was with a friend around 7 pm at a tea stall near his New Checkon residence when the assailants shot him from close range.Haokip was hit on the chest, while his friend, Haokhai Lupheng, hurt his right calf.Haokip's family rushed him to the district's JN Hospital, but doctors declared him brought dead.The police said they recovered 9 mm pistol bullets from the spot.The motive for the killing is not known. Haokip had contested assembly polls twice from Tengnoupal on a Rashtriya Janata Dal ticket before switching to the NCP. "I don't have any knowledge of who the attackers were as it (the shooting) happened all of a sudden," Lupheng said.