Bachchan awarded honorary doctorate

Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan was Thursday awarded an honorary doctorate by the Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Australia.

"I am truly overwhelmed and immensely pleased to be the recipient of such a distinction," 69-year-old Bachchan said after receiving his fourth doctorate for his contribution to the world of entertainment.

"The recognition of my contribution to Indian cinema and its effort to reach out to an international community fills me with intense pride and humility - pride for being able to be a link between Australian and Indian professionals of the film and creative industries and humility for a chance to be the medium in doing so.

May this help strengthen the existing bonds between our two countries," he said.

This is the fourth doctorate awarded to the actor. He was earlier conferred upon by the De Montfort Univ, Leicester UK, Jhansi University and the Delhi University.

The actor had two years back turned down the honorary doctorate from QUT as a mark of protest against racial attacks on Indian students. Australia's High Commissioner to India Peter Varghese congratulated the Bollywood superstar on his honorary Australian doctorate.

"I congratulate Bachchan on his honorary doctorate from QUT, an important academic institution in my home city of Brisbane. Bachchan has made an inestimable contribution to global cinema and this prestigious award is a marker of the impact of his films in Australia," he said.

"The rise of Bollywood in Australia reflects the phenomenal growth that is taking place across the spectrum of the Australia-India relationship, from booming trade and investment to education links and two-way tourism," Varghese said.

"I want to thank Bachchan for his enormous contribution to global cinema. In accepting this award he will encourage the important cultural conversation between India and Australia," Varghese said in a statement.

The Queensland University of Technology conferred the award during a ceremony at Old Government House in Brisbane this morning.

The legendary actor, who has just finished shooting for his first Hollywood film 'The Great Gatsby', travelled from Sydney to accept the honour.

The prolific actor is playing a shady businessman Meyer Wolfsheim alongside Leonardo DiCaprio in the adaptation of F Scott Fitzgerald's classic tale of the jazz age.

Friday, the actor will launch an international travel bursary at QUT in the name of his late father Dr Harivansh Rai Bachchan, a leading Indian poet of the 20th century and the second Indian to receive a doctorate in English literature from Cambridge University.

’Paranormal Activity 3’ manages to scare

"Paranormal Activity 3"; Cast: Christopher Nicholas Smith, Katie Featherston, Chloe Csengery, Jessica Tyler Brown; Directors: Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman


"Paranormal Activity 3" is a surprising film. Yes, horror films are expected to shock. Yet the beauty of this film lies in it managing to give you the creeps even after you have seen the first two. You realise that there isn't much new added to this one. That it does so without being cheeky or over the top, is its greatest strength.

After hearing strange sounds in his new house, a wedding videographer in 1988 decides to fit the house with cameras to record these paranormal activities. His younger step-daughter however seems to have befriended the paranormal entity even as the incredulous wife, despite proof, refuses to believe, that is until something scares her out of her skin.

You have seen the first two and you know how the story progresses and what happens. You are supposedly immune to the chills and fears since you know how and where it comes from. What will surprise you hence, is how this film, despite your self-assurances, manages to sneak up on you and terrorise you.

Just like the first two, this one does not aspire to explain anything to the audience. Neither does it try bigger sound or visual tricks. Instead, it relies on the proven formula and tricks of the first two films, and manages to scare you in the same surreal fashion.

Charlie Chaplin is undoubtedly the greatest filmmaker ever and will perhaps remain so till the death of cinema. The reason for this is that his films understand the importance of the purity of cinema to squeeze emotion out of its audience. What Chaplin did with the comedy genre, the "Paranormal Activity" series does with horror.

Yet, it was by no means the first to do so. How can anyone forget the game changer - "Blair Witch Project". Yet, the difference between the two films of this series, and the three of "Paranormal" is that while the former tried to do something different in its sequel, the latter absolutely refuses to do so.

In playing the same tricks it played in the first, and explaining as little, or even less, it teaches one of the greatest lessons of filmmaking - that simplicity and minimalism backing a good plot can often do more than expensive visual effects and a complex plot line.

Usually, a sequel tries to outdo its original. Surprisingly, "Paranormal" seem to have no such aspirations with all three films relying on the same bag of tricks. That it continues to feel so fresh, is indeed the most paranormal activity in the series.

Pakistan joins India on UN Security Council

Pakistan narrowly won a hotly-contested seat to the UN Security Council, joining India for a two-year term on the 15-member decision-making organ of the world body. India, which is already serving as a non-permanent member for the 2011-2012 term, is believed to have voted for Pakistan, as their positions are similar on many international issues, except for Kashmir.

Pakistan, which just about scraped through Friday securing 129 out of 193 votes in the UN General Assembly, exactly the two-third majority required to win the seat, begins its two-year term Jan 1, while India's term ends Dec 31, 2012.

Manjeev Singh Puri, India's deputy permanent representative to the UN, embraced Haroon after the vote and said that he warmly welcomed the election of Pakistan. "Pakistan and India share common perception on so many global issues, and we look forward to working with them," Puri said.

Pakistan's principal opponent in the Asia-Pacific region, Kyrgyzstan, won just 55 votes.

This would be the seventh time Pakistan would serve on the Security Council, and the fourth time its term would overlap with India. India won its latest two-year term by securing a landslide 187 votes.

Pakistan's ambassador, Abdullah Hussain Haroon, said he expected to work well with his Indian counterpart as he received a congratulatory call from Indian envoy Hardeep Puri while talking to journalists.

"We hope to play our usual role of taking on matters which affect the underdog, so as to speak," he was quoted as saying by CNN.

With regard to India, Haroon said that both countries "have been beneficial in starting dialogue" and avoiding "usual tendencies."

The elections replace five of the 10 temporary members of the council every year.

Guatemala ran unopposed and Morocco won easily, but Togo's victory took three rounds and the fifth seat is still contested.

Gaddafi stashed away $200 bn

Slain Libyan despot Muammar Gaddafi secretly salted away an estimated staggering $200 billion in bank accounts, real estate and corporate investments around the world before he was killed. The Libyan dictator, who faced an ignominious but gruesome death, had hidden huge amounts of cash, gold reserves and investments and the amount is double that Western governments previously had suspected, the Los Angeles Times reported.

It claimed that Western officials have struggled all year not only to identify Gaddafi's money but also to convince countries such as India, China and Russia to seize Libyan investments as required by the UN Security Council resolutions.

If the value proves accurate, the paper said, Gaddafi will go down in the history as the most rapacious as well as one of the most bizarre leaders of the world on a scale with the late Mobutu Sese Seko in Zaire or the late Phillipino president Ferdinand Marcos.

The newspaper said that US administration officials were stunned last spring when they stumbled upon $37 billion in Libyan regime's accounts and investments in the US. They quickly moved to freeze them, before Gaddafi or his aides could shift them. Similarly, governments in France, UK, Germany and Italy have seized control of more than $30 billion held in these countries.

Asha Bhosle enters Guinness records

Legendary Bollywood playback singer Asha Bhosle has entered the Guinness World Records for the most number of single studio recordings. Asha has recorded up to 11,000 solo, duets and chorus backed songs like 'Mehbooba Mehbooba, 'Chura Liya Hai Tumne', 'Piya Tu Ab Toh Aaja' and several others in over 20 Indian languages since 1947.

The 78-year-old was conferred with the Guinness honour at the Asian awards function held in London on Thursday.

'Aaj mujhe lag raha hai ki mein world ki recognised singer hoon. Mein apne chahanewalo ka dhanyawad karti hoon. Aur asha karti hoon yahi pyaar bana rahe. Jis tarah se apne mere gaano ko saraha hai ussi tarah meri acting ko bhi karenge' (Now I feel I am a recognised singer in the world. I thank my fans and hope they will continue to love me. I wish they will appreciate my acting skills as much as they enjoyed my songs)," Asha said. She thanked music researcher Vishwas Nerurkar for helping her get the coveted title.

The veteran is also set to make her acting debut with 'Maaee'. Directed by Mahesh Kodiyal, the film features Padmini Kolhapure as Asha's daughter. It is the story of a woman who goes on to live with her daughter and son-in-law after being abandoned by her only son.

BlackBerry services hit again

BlackBerry users across much of the globe experienced outages in key functions for a second straight day on Tuesday, despite maker Research In Motion having said on Monday that it had fixed the problem.

The glitches that impaired messaging, emails and Internet browsing in Europe, the Middle East and Africa spread to India and South America on Tuesday, Canada-based Research In Motion confirmed. "Some users in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, India, Brazil , Chile, and Argentina are experiencing messaging and browsing delays," it said in a statement.

"We are working to restore normal service as quickly as possible. We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused." Many users in Europe, the Middle East and Africa reported on Monday not being able to receive or send email, use instant messaging or browse the Internet, though the problems did not appear to be the same for each user, or affect all users.

Research In Motion said late on Monday that all services had been restored to users. The company had not said what caused the problem. Then on Tuesday , RIM's customers began posting messages online saying Blackberry services were down again.

Cyber threat

Highlighting the fact that nuclear proliferation and nuclear security remain a “serious threat in our neighbourhood”, prime minister Manmohan Singh has asked the government to equip the armed forces with necessary means to thwart all threats to the country, including those which go beyond conventional warfare.

Speaking on the occasion of the Combined Commanders Conference in the capital, Singh noted that international strategic and political environment have deteriorated, which must be factored in while adopting policies.

Describing cyber threats as an emerging “major source of worry”, he pointed out that cyber and information warfare could “qualitatively change” the concept of a battlefield.

“Terror groups are highly networked, nimble-footed, and more lethal... (the situation) calls for appropriate responses,” he said.
“In this age of rapid information flows and explosion of technologies, one of the most important security imperatives is our ability to respond to all challenges quickly and in an integrated fashion.”

Singh said, “We have to work assiduously to address problems in the North-East and deal with left-wing extremism comprehensively.”

He stressed that armed forces have to be sensitive to the needs of the weaker sections of society and ensure that the fruits of progress reach them.

“Issues related to use of scarce resources such as land and water, and strengthening institutions of governance require much closer attention than they have received in the past,” Singh said.

He told the commanders that the government will never hesitate in procuring funds for modernisation of the armed forces. Singh said modernisation of the armed forces should not be limited only to acquisition of foreign equipment or foreign technologies.

“We have to progressively reduce our dependence on external sources. This has to be a national effort, involving our armed forces, our scientists and captains of Indian industry,” he said, adding that development of an indigenous defence industry was a national security objective.

Singh asked the commanders to ensure transparency, probity and accountability in procurement procedures and work towards reducing time for processing the same.

Game over

The Board of Control for Cricket in India decided to stir things up a bit in its 83rd annual general meeting with the introduction of an item under the special mention. It was on the IPL franchise Kochi Tuskers Kerala. A few minutes after the start of the AGM at 12 noon, the news started trickling out of the BCCI headquarters that KTK had been terminated. It was later confirmed by the new BCCI president, N. Srinivasan. “Because of irremediable breach committed by the Kochi franchise, the BCCI has decided to encash the bank guarantee in its possession and also terminate the franchise.”

The Kerala-based franchise, owned by a consortium of multiple owners called Rendezvous Sports World, had had a jinxed journey since it won the bid in March 2010 for $333.3 million. There had been many casualties—while the first IPL commissioner Lalit Modi lost his job for tweeting details of the consortium, Union minister Shashi Tharoor had to quit the government after a row over his friend, now wife, Sunanda Pushkar owning sweat equity in the consortium.

Then came several notices and termination threats from the BCCI to corporatise the consortium, which it somehow managed. The franchise’s bank guarantee, worth Rs:156 crore, was encashed. It was supposed to renew it (for the next season) by March 26, 2011. Despite many notices KTK allegedly failed to do so. In April 2010, the BCCI working committee rejected demands from KTK and Sahara Pune Warriors, another franchise, for a reduction in franchise fees. The two new franchises had sought a 25 per cent waiver because the BCCI had reduced the number of matches from 18 mentioned in the bidding document to 14.

The existing bank guarantee, which was for 2011, was encashed by the BCCI as it would have lapsed on September 26, 2011. This has been disputed by Mukesh Patel, chairman, Rendezvous Sports World. “The BCCI notice is wrong prima facie. We have never defaulted,” he said. Though the franchise took the issue to court seeking an interim relief from the BCCI encashing its bank guarantee, the Bombay High Court rejected the petition.

Union Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Rajeev Shukla, who is the new chairman of the IPL governing council, said the decision was taken keeping the players’ interest in mind. “We will soon convene the meeting of the governing council where the matter will be discussed. We don’t want players to suffer as they are contracted with the team for two years. It’s our responsibility to take care of them.”
Despite the legal setback it remains to be seen whether it is the end of the road for KTK. Two other IPL teams, Kings X1 Punjab and Rajasthan Royals, had also faced axe but managed a last-minute legal reprieve in the 2011 edition.