Ramayana In Hollywood style

Ramayana 3392 A.D.Reloaded

Good news for comics fans!

Virgin Comics is working with writer Grant Morrison ("All Star Superman," "Final Crisis") on an animated online short series inspired by one of the greatest books in India, the Ramayana!

Below are the legendary pictures:

The 4 brothers, Lakshmana's axe looks way too cool!!!

Lord Rama - check out that BOW!

4 Brothers!!!

Lord Hanuman ... oozing raw power!!

Story Board

A Vanara - the agile warriors!

The coolest of them all - Ravana!!!

All gods at one place - Surendrapuri near Yadagirigutta

"You can have the Darshan of all the gods in one place" Whether it’s the vanavasam of Lord Rama or the churning of the Ksheera Sagaram (Milky Ocean), the newly opened mythological museum ‘Kunda Satyanarayana Kala Dhamam’ presents Indian mythology to devotees, especially youngsters, in a simplified manner.

A 60-km drive away from the city, this museum at Surendrapuri near Yadagirigutta has given a great opportunity to the devotees to get acquainted with the fascinating events of the Ramayana, the Mahabharata, the Bhagavata and other Puranas. All the important events are carved out in the form of eye-catching sculptures employing ultra-modern artistic techniques. That’s not all, this sprawling 18-acre set up also has famous replicas of all the important temples and gods such as Kaashi Viswanath, Kolkata Kali, Madhura Meenakshi, Tirumala Balaji, Shirdi Saibaba, Palani Kumara Swami and Ayodhya Rama.

“The best part about this place is that you can have the darshan of all the Gods in one place,” says Sachchidanda, one of the visitors who came all the way from Raigarh of Maharashtra to visit the centre says, “It’s like a pilgrimage of a life time.” The 36-feet high sculptures depicting Lord Krishna, enlightening Arjuna with message of the Bhagavad Gita, even as the the armies get ready for war at Kurukshetra, is simply spell binding. Also worth mentioning are the sculptures of Lord Vishnu along with his weapons and that of Goddess Lakshmi as she saves Gajendra from the clutches of the crocodile. Equally fascinating is the sculpture of Balakrishna who’s shown dancing on the the snake-king Kaliya.

The brain child of a single man, Kunda Satyanarayana, Kaladhamam was established so that “devotees can go back feeling as though they’ve visited all the holy places under one roof.” Satyanarayana got this idea a decade ago and he constructed the centre in the memory of his son Surendra who passed away at a young age. “I always wanted to do something in his memory and zeroed in on this idea when I realised that it was impossible for anybody to visit all the temples in one life time.” Satyanarayana disposed all his property and pumped in about Rs 6 crore to complete this project which he entrusted to Chennai based sculptor C.Rajendran, who is the man behind making Khairatabad Ganesha every year. “It was a challenging task for me,” he adds.

Flashback: Beginning of Satyam Computer

Although Mr Ramalinga Raju has been the face of Satyam Computers, the Hyderabad-based IT company was actually founded in June 1977 as a private company by him and his cousin Mr D. Venkata Satyanarayana Raju.

In June 1991, Satyam Computers got its first Fortune 500 Client and in August, it became a public limited company. In May 1992, the company entered capital markets with its issue being oversubscribed 17 times.

By 1992, the cousins had a difference of opinion over the issue of investing Satyam money in the other sister concerns - Satyam Spinning Mills and Satyam Constructions. While Mr Ramalinga Raju wanted to keep Satyam money in the company only, Mr D.V.S. Raju was against it.

However, the cousins parted their ways after their mothers brokered a peace deal between them. According to the deal, Mr D.V.S. Raju had to quit the company that he co-founded and had to face a three-year bar on starting another IT company of his own.

After three years, Mr D.V.S Raju started his own IT company VisualSoft, which was later merged with Applabs. He is now heading Gangavaram Port Ltd of Visakhapatnam. It has been 16 years since the deal, Mr D.V.S. Raju and Mr Ramalinga Raju are not on friendly terms. The only occasions they get met each other, according sources, is only during marriages of their relatives or common friends. ?

Following the exit of Mr D.V.S. Raju, Mr Ramalinga Raju roped in his another relative Mr Srini Raju in 1992.

From 1992 to 2000, Mr Srini Raju was chief operating officer of Satyam Computers. While Mr Ramalinga Raju ran Satyam Spinning Mills and his brother Rama Raju, who was CEO till Wednesday, ran Satyam Constructions, which has now split into Maytas Infra and Maytas Constructions.?

Last year, Ramalinga Raju’s sons - Teja Raju and Rama Raju Junior - had taken over Maytas Infra and Maytas Constructions.

2,000 Satyam staff resign

Around 2,000 employees of Satyam Computers resigned on Wednesday after its chairman B. Ramalinga Raju admitted to fraud of over Rs 7,000 crores.

Many more are expected to follow. Company sources said most had already got job offers. “Most have joined the clients for whom they were working," the source said. “These companies are more than willing to take them to cut their outsourcing burden.” Some reports said as many as 10,000 employees had quit the company overall, and its staff strength was now at about 43,000. This could not be immediately confirmed.

The company’s offices in Hyderabad wore a deserted look as staffers stayed inside.

The outgoing Satyam Computers chairman, Mr Ramalinga Raju, and his colleagues may face a four-cornered inquiry for the fraud of over Rs 5,000 crore. As per the law, Mr Raju will have to undergo a jail term of 10 years and will have to pay 500 times the amount as penalty if the charges are proved under Section 45 of the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act.

Mohtesham Khan from Hyderabad wins Bronze at Musclemania world championship

Mir Mohtesham Ali Khan, the acclaimed body builder from Hyderabad, has brought the rare honor to the country by winning Bronze medal at the Musclemania World Tour competition, the highly respected world bodybuilding championship in Las Vegas, California.

33 year old Mohtesham Ali Khan won the bronze in the heavy weight category of the world championship held at the Grand Hall of Golden Nugget Hotel in Las Vegas on Saturday. 6.2 ft tall Khan, who made it to top ten and then to top five on the first day of the competition gave impressive performance in the finals. The professional body builders from China and Columbia won the gold and the bronze medals.

Mohtesham, who before leaving Hyderabad last week had vowed to bring laurels to the country in the field where Indians do not have much to celebrate till now, said, “I had hoped and worked hard to leave my mark. Even then this victory is much more than what I had dreamt. Achieving something at this level of international competition is not easy”, he said over phone for Las Vegas, Nevada.

Mohtesham was however not the only bright spot for India. Prakash, another of the 8 Indians participating in the event, won gold medal in the light weight category. There were five categories in which 400 body builders from 26 countries participated in the Musclemania world championship, the leader in natural body building events in the world.

As the news of the victory of Mohtesham Ali Khan, spread, hundreds of his supporters and well wishers gathered at his residence in Hussaini Alam area of old Hyderabad and celebrated the victory. Youth took out a procession with Mohtesham’s daughters Tahera and Humaira carrying the national flag on the back of camel.

Mohtesham’s father Mir Abul Mani Khan was so moved by the good news from Las Vegas that he could not hold back his tears. “We prayed for him throughout the night as he was participating in the contest”, he said. “It is a great joy for all of us as he has brought name and honor to the country”, he said.

Mohtesham Ali Khan is the first body builder from Andhra Pradesh to compete in the world bodybuilding championship.

Mohtesham, who works in the railways and has won several medals at the national level, said that he was thankful to God and the people who supported him. “I am very happy and I dedicate this victory to my country, my people. My wish of doing country proud is fulfilled”, he said.

Mohtesham Ali Khan was the captain of 14 member Indian team, which participated in the Musclemania championship. This was again a rare honor bestowed upon a body builder from Hyderabad.

In a rare honor, a body builder from Hyderabad is leading the 14 member Indian team at the World Body Building Championship at Las Vegas in USA starting from today. Mir Mohtesham Ali Khan, winner of several titles in the country will be contesting for the Mr. World title in the heavy weight category of 90 kg plus.

Before leaving for the US, Mohtashem had told the reporters in Hyderabad that he was going with the hope and confidence of brining laurels to the country. “The record of Indian contestants at the international body building contest has not been too impressive in the past. I hope to improve it and bring laurels to our country”, he said.

Premchand Degra was the only Indian to win the Mr. Universe title in 1988. Manohar Aitch and Mantosh Roy were the other winner of different tiles but Indians drew blank during the last two decades. 30 year old Mohtesham said that he will try his best to put an end to the drought.

33 year old Mohtesham, who exercises for four and a half hour every day and whose diet costs him Rs 1200 per day, rued that the body building does not get as much encouragement and patronage in India as in the other countries including the USA. “it is a good sports which encourages the youth to stay healthy and fit. It should be encourage and mad a passion for the youth”, he said.

6.2 feet tall Mohtesham’s diet include one kg chicken, 30 boiled eggs, 12 oranges, 250 gram oatmeal, and other fruits and vitamin powder. He said that he was strongly averse to the use of any steroids and never used them in his life.

The long list of Mohtesham’s achievements includes winning the bronze at the Mr. India competition. He is also the thrice winner of Mr South India title, 8 time winner of Mr. South Central Railways, nine time winner of Mr AP and 8 time winner of Mr. Hyderabad.

For Mohtesham, another dream remains yet to be fulfilled.

“Arnold Schwarzenegger is my role model and I am looking forward to meet him"., he said.

Source: http://www.groundreport.com

Film Stars and Crickers Family Potraits

Chiranjeevi Family Photo

Nadamuri Bala Krishna Family Photo

Akkineni Nagarjuna Family Photo

Sachin Tendulkar Family Photo

Shahrukh Khan Family Photo

Venkatesh Family Photo

Vishal Family Photo

Trisha Family Photo

Shreya Saran Family Photo

Vijay Family Photo

Ajit Family Photo

Arjun Family Photo

Vijaykanth Family Photo

Bhagyaraj Family Photo

Saurav Ganguly Family Photo

Gopika Family Photo

Shalini Family Photo

Simran Family Photo

Chiranjeevi launched his political party 'Praja Rajyam'

Actor Chiranjeevi on Tuesday announced the name of his political party, Praja Rajyam, amidst thunderous cheers from lakhs of hysteric fans and vowed to change the politics of Andhra Pradesh.

Giving full play to histrionics, Chiranjeevi, the son of a police constable, recounted the difficulties he had faced as a child in an emotion-choked voice and charged up the crowd in the temple town with a few interactions before announcing the name of his party with a dramatic countdown.

In fact, Chiranjeevi waited till sundown to announce his party’s name and stretched his speech till then, so that the display on the giant screen behind him and 18 screens located at the ground would be eye catching.

As the name of the party was splashed on the huge screens to the accompaniment of music, the 53-year old actor got a handicapped person to unfurl a green and white flag with a red sun in the middle.

Chiranjeevi's 'Praja Rajyam' flag

The roaring crowds surged ahead, breaking barricades and alarming security men, even as Chiranjeevi declared that he was entering politics to ensure social justice and development. Around 40 persons were injured in the melee.

“People want me to join politics,” said Chiranjeevi, who earlier entered the stage dramatically with his arms stretched wide.

“I am here to restore respect to politics. After spending 30 years in the glamorous world of films, I could have lived a cosy life. But I decided to be in your midst.” “How blessed are my eyes to see these crowds who love me,” said Chiranjeevi, as people roared in appreciation.

“I am overwhelmed by your support. Now it is time for me to give it back.” The actor in Chiranjeevi was in play throughout the speech, which was carefully crafted and touched upon all major issues though giving the appearance of spontaneity.

“Mine will be a democratic and secular party, born from the hearts of the people,” he said. “Its goal will be the contentment and happiness of the state.” Though high on rhetoric, the actor’s speech was devoid of courage or imagination when it came to crucial issues. He said he was not averse to a separate Telangana but added that his first priority would be trying to end the backwardness of the region. He also sought more “brainstorming” to solve the Maoist problem and said the issue of backward status to Kapus should be examined thoroughly.

However, Chiranjeevi vigorously opposed the concept of Special Economic Zones and said land was meant for cultivation.

“My top priority would be to make agriculture viable,” he said. “Even a soap manufacturer can decide the price of his product, but not a farmer.” The actor said that only at few people were cornering all benefits in societies and major communities were being denied opportunities and added that he would put an end to that. He said he was also aware of the plight of the middle classes who did not get the benefits of any scheme.

“They can neither send their kids to government schools nor pay huge fee at corporate schools,” he said.

Taking a subtle swipe at other political parties, Chiranjeevi said that his party had no rivals. “Problems are our rivals.

We have entered the battlefield but our battle is against problems,” he said.

Chiranjeevi inaugurated his party office in Hyderabad

Superstar Chiranjeevi added to the intrigue surrounding his political entry by inaugurating the headquarters of his proposed party in relative secrecy in the dead of the night.

The actor’s penchant for building up suspense about his plans and his secretive ways are getting on the nerves of senior leaders who quit other parties to follow him.

Keeping the script under wraps may be good in tinsel town, but does not really impress those in the political arena, where going public is the name of the game. Chiranjeevi inaugurated his party office on Road No. 46 of Jubilee Hills here in a discreet manner at 00.55 am on Monday. It was a totally family affair.

Even his fans were not aware of the programme until it commenced and was telecast live on TV. Pujas were performed in the presence of Chiranjeevi’s mother, wife Surekha, brothers and film actors Nagendra Babu and Pawan Kalyan and son Ravi Charan Teja. Brother-in-law Allu Arvind and close aides Dr Mitra and K.S.R. Murthy were also present at the ceremony.

The Congress MP, Mr Ch. Harirama Jogaiah, and the former TD leader, Mr K. Vidyadhara Rao, were bystanders. Mr Jogaiah said he would quit the Congress on August 17. Even after opening the party office, the superstar was not willing to reveal anything about the date of launch of his party, its name and agenda. The only thing he was ready to disclose was that he was entering politics. “I will announce the new political outfit in a week and place before the people its name, shape and agenda,” was all that he said.

Apparently, the actor has not revealed anything to the senior leaders who defected from other parties either. “Chiranjeevi is keeping his cards close to his chest,” said a senior leader. “Though we meet him often, he doesn’t discuss his political plans with us. Everyone is kept in the dark.” Meanwhile, the Chiranjeevi camp intensified its efforts to pull in more prospective leaders from the Congress and the Telugu Desam.
The actor also asked his followers and fans to take part in the relief and rehabilitation measures in flood hit areas across the state. Sources said Chiranjeevi will be performing a two day Chandi Homam at Goddess Kamakshi temple in Kancheepuram near Chennai on August 21 and 22.