P. Janardhan Reddy (PJR) Died due to Heart Attack

Hyderabad: A Great Congress Leader P.Janardhan Reddy is no more…

Janardhan Reddy popularly known as PJR, Khairthabad MLA died due to Heart attack on 28 Dec 07 at 11:00 AM on the way to hospital.

Today he was attending a meeting in Secundrabad Jewel Gardens, conducted by congress party due to the coming Greater Hyderabad elections. He suffered a sudden heart attack when he was getting down from his car, following this he was rushed into near KIMS Hospital where he was kept in Emergency Room, while the arrangements were taking place to conduct a surgery, he got severe attack and before first aid he found to be dead.

He is heart for the congress party in Hyderabad. He elected as MLA for congress party for five times. He was born on 1948 and his age is 58 years. Congress party shocked after knowing this news. There is deadly silence in hyderabad now.

May his Soul Rest in Peace.

SriLanka to hype Ramayana

SriLanka is going to use the Ramayana to attract Indian tourists in a big way.

"The SriLanka Tourism Development Authority has formed a committee to work out a scheme to promote 34 sites associated with the Ramayana," the body's chief, Mr S. Kalaiselvam, said.

According to the Ramayana, Ravana brought Sita to SriLanka in a Pushpaka Vimanam which landed at Werangatota, about 10 km from Mahiyangana, east of the hill station of Nuwara Eliya, a hill station.

Sita was taken to Goorulupota, now Sitakotuwa, about 10 km from Mahiyangana on the road to Kandy. She was housed in a cave at Sita Eliya on a highway that links Colombo with Nuwara Eliya. North of Nuwara Eliya, in Matale district, is Yudhaganapitiya, where the Rama-Ravana battle took place. Dunuwila is the place from where Rama shot the Brahmastra that killed Ravana. Ravana was making battle plans in a place called Lakgala.

Ravana's body was placed on the rock at Yahangala for his subjects to pay their last respects.

To wash off the sin of killing a Brahmin that Ravana was, Rama prayed at Munneswaram in Chilaw, 80 km north of Colombo. At Manaweri, north of Chilaw, is a temple Rama is said to have gifted. There are also many sites associ ated with Hanuman.

Showcase your talent on India Ka Hero!

Move over Superman, Spiderman and our very own Kkrish for that matter, India will have a new genre of heroes. These heroes might not be the cape and underwear wearing kind, but are heroes nevertheless in the World Wide Web. The website www.indiakahero.com is a portal for all those people who have the talent but were longing for a platform to showcase it. Apart from singing and dancing, this website pays homage to the talent of a different kind and also appreciates the whackiest of videos from participants and welcomes people armed with ‘crack-‘em-up kind' of jokes too.

Becoming a hero was never so easy, people who browse through the site can vote for their favourite posts and the entry in each category with most number of votes is declared the hero. One innings of the contest has just culminated with ‘Jokes ka Hero', ‘'Song ka Hero', ‘Mimicry ka Hero' and ‘Dance ka Hero' being declared.

In fact the site, which is creating waves all over the country, was created by a Hyderabad based technology startup, NowPos Online Services who have pioneered the concept of voice mail in the world. Now the next season of contests on IndiakaHero.com will start which includes interesting categories like ‘Zing Songs', ‘Tring Tones,' ‘Whacky Videos' and ‘Zip Zap Dance.' The site has already been flooded with entries, with many coming from Hyderabad too. Shalini Rao, an 18-year-old from Hyderabad has posted her rendition of a Faith Hill song as an entry on the site. "This is a novel concept especially considering it is an Indian site. I have also found it to be quite user friendly. This site is on par with YouTube or even better actually because you get prizes if you win," Shalini quips.

The site houses a powerhouse of talent and one will be amazed to hear some voices and moves that could give the Bollywood Brigade a run for their money. Triveni S., a student of Sri Vidhya College has posted an original Telugu composition which has already been viewed more than 150 times. "I suffer from stage fear and even though I have a good voice I'm scared to perform or sing in front of an audience. This website has given me a chance to discreetly put up my recording and people vote for me without any bias as my identity is unknown to them. Who knows maybe a music director will stumble upon this site and notice me," she says hopefully. The Whacky Videos section has some really funny entries with videos of ghosts in a ship (read chairs swaying around on their own due to the ocean tide!) to people capturing their friends' crazy antics on video. Arvind Manek, a student from Badruka College says, "I'm going to post a video of my friend who was dancing like a lunatic when he was completely drunk. He's going to have quite a fit though when he comes to know, because he wasn't aware we took this video."

This Hyderabadi site sure has the whole nation's virtual world in its grip. There are all kinds of aspirants here right from people showcasing their genuine talents to those who have come there just to have a good laugh. So log on and register, and embark on a quest to find the hero side of you.

Shani or Saturn is son of the sun

Shani or Saturn, is one of the Navagrahas, or nine celestial beings in Hindu astrology. Believed to be the son of Surya and his wife Chhaya, legend has it that when Shani opened his eyes for the first time as a baby, there was a solar eclipse, which clearly denotes the impact of Shani on astrological charts even today.

The stories of Shani and his beautiful dark face and his lame feet were told in the courts of Vikramaditya in the city of Ujjain. It is said that Vikramaditya laughed and ridiculed Shani when he heard these stories. Shani cursed Vikramaditya, and the king faced innumerable problems and difficulties during his reign.

The king was most repentent and continued to pray to Shani without losing his faith and eventually Shani brought back all his lost glory.

In the Ramayana it is said that when Lord Hanuman rescued Shani from Ravana, Shani was so grateful that he promised Hanuman that anyone who prayed to him on Saturdays, would be protected from the effects of Saturn on that day.

Shani is believed to be a stern teacher, imbued with the qualities of patience, effort, and endurance. Most Hindus are fearful of Lord Shani, preferring to approach him indirectly, through his various forms, for relief. But Shani can also be very helpful if propitiated with reverence.

It is also said that Shani is the greatest teacher for it is he that induces responsibility, shows us that the ethics of hard work and discipline can be translated into rich rewards and provides us with the will to realize our true potential.

Rajnikanth celebrates 57th birthday

The undisputed king of Tamil cinema Rajnikanth turns 57 on December 12.

He was born the fourth child of Jijabai and Ramojirao Gaekwad and was named Shivaji Rao Gaekward. Although a Maharashtrian, he was born and brought up in Karnataka.

Before he pursued his passion -- cinema -- he worked as a bus conductor in Bangalore. It was his friend and bus driver, Raj Bahadur, who encouraged and funded him to join the Adyar film institute.

Noted filmmaker K Balachander noticed him and signed him on as a villain in Apoorva Raagangal in 1975. He was rechristened Rajnikanth.

Rajni became a sensation as a villain, and starred in hits like Moondru Mudichu and 16 vayathinile.

The next turning point in his career was Billa in 1980. Rajni became a superstar, as more hits followed: Muthu, Padayappa, Basha, Annamalai, Chandramukhi and the recent Sivaji. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2000.

Now, 27 years later, he still rules the hearts of millions.

Himesh Reshammiya finally revealed his look in the Karzzzz

Himesh Reshammiya, who will act in the remake of Karz, has finally revealed his look in the film. The audience will get to see Himesh without his trademark cap. Himesh will play the lead role of Rishi Kapoor in the remake and will sing and compose the music for the film The remake Karzzzz, is produced by Bhushan Kumar and Krishan Kumar and directed by Satish Kaushik.

The film also stars Urmila Matondkar, Gulshan Grover, Danny Denzongpa and Rohini Hatangadi. The shooting is scheduled to commence from midJanuary and the film will be shot in South Africa, Kenya and Mumbai.

TSeries has bought the remake rights from Mukta Arts for the original film Karz directed by Subhash Ghai. The original film starred Rishi Kapoor, Tina Munim, Premnath amongst others and was a blockbuster hit of the 80s. The production company will also be producing three films starring Himesh in the lead.

Himesh's next movie is Kajraare. It will be directed by Pooja Bhatt. The third one is A Love Issshtory by John Matthew Matthan of Sarfarosh fame.

Murugan is also known by many other names

Brush up your MYTHOLOGY!

Murugan is a prominent Hindu deity among the Tamilians. Like most Indian deities, Murugan is also known by many other names, including Kartikeya, Shanmukham, Kumara and Skanda. So, what exactly is Murugan's role in the Hindu pantheon? Well, he is the god of war and the patron deity of Tamil Nadu.

It is said that when Sati, the consort of Shiva, immolated herself at the Daksha Yagna, she was reborn as Uma, or Parvati, the daughter of the mountain king Himavaan (the Himalayas). At this time, Shiva withdrew himself from the universe and engaged in meditation within the Himalayas. Meanwhile, the demon Surapadman ravaged the earth. The gods realised that only a son born of Shiva could lead them to victory over the demon, so they plotted with Kamadeva, the god of love, to shoot a flower arrow at Shiva as he sat in meditation, so as to make him fall in love with Parvati. Things however, went slightly wrong.

When Kama aimed his arrow, Shiva opened his third eye and burned him to ashes instantly. The sparks of the fiery seed of Shiva were given to Agni, to take care of until they became offspring. But so fiery were they that even Agni, the god of fire, was unable to hold them. So they were sent along the river Ganga into the Saravana forest and put into a pond called Saravana Poigai, where they became six children. The infants were raised by the six Krittika or Kartika the stars that make up the Pleiades, earning the name Kartikeya. Parvati combined these six babies into one with six faces, Shanmukham, or Murugan.

It was thus Murugan who became the supreme General of the gods and led them to victory against the demons. Murugan rides a peacock and wields a bow in battle. The lance called the vel is closely associated with him. It was given to him by his mother, Parvati and is said to embody her energy and power. The flag of his army depicts a rooster. It is said that, during battle, Surapadman was split into two, and each half was granted a boon by Murugan. Thus, the two halves turned into a peacock and the rooster. Murugan is said to be married to two deities, Valli and Devasena.

A fool and his money are soon parted

Simon the farmer and Sarah his wife lived simply. Simon tilled the land and Sarah took the produce to the market every week. They worked hard for their money but it was far from enough and as a result the couple was always fighting over the most trivial matters.

One day, after a particularly hard day, Simon went to see a friend of his with whom he shared his woes. Peter was an artist. He was tall and handsome and made a very good living selling his paintings, which were hugely popular in and out of town.

Even though Simon and Peter were as far apart as chalk and cheese, they seemed to get on very well. The kindly farmer and the artist often sat down after a heavy day's work to share a drink or have a bite to eat.

But this day was going to be somewhat different. As Simon approached Peter's house, he saw a large car parked in the porch.

Now had Simon not been such a simple minded soul, he would have recognised the car as one belonging to Paul Brown who was the biggest cheat in town. Instead of turning away, as he should have, Simon knocked on Peter's door and let himself in.

Peter and Paul were in the midst of a heated discussion. "No," Peter was telling Paul, "I cannot let you take advantage of Simon. He is my best friend and I will not allow you to go anywhere near his farm. It is the only thing he has and it is not for sale. And certainly not at the price you are offering." The minute Simon heard the word sale, he leapt into the conversation. "Did I hear the word sale?" he asked. "Do you mean to buy my property?" Paul tried to signal Simon to stop asking questions but Simon was not having any of it. "Why not come and see my farm," he said adding, "you can always come now if you have the time." Seizing the opportunity, Paul said he would be delighted and the two of them left Peter staring after them.

However, Peter was too good a friend to just sit and watch Simon get swindled. He got into his car and followed Paul to Simon's farm. There he negotiated a good price for his friend and the deal was clinched. So much money in the bank made both Simon and his wife giddy-headed. Despite Paul's pleading with them to save something for a rainy day, Simon and his wife began to live beyond their means. They shopped and entertained lavishly and soon the funds began to dwindle away. And then there came a time when they had no money left.

The house had to be put on the market and Paul came once again to buy it. Simon was left with no choice but to sell it far below the actual rate. He began to see the utter folly of what he had done but by then it was too late!

Toonz Academy to open centre in Hyderabad

Thiruvananthapuram: Technopark headquartered Toonz Animation's sister company Toonz Academy announced Friday plans to open a centre in Hyderabad later this month.

A press release issued here said this would be the latest centre after the opening of the previous one in Delhi last month.

Their other centres are at Thiruvananthapuram, Mumbai and Nagpur.

"The opening of these centres is just one among the major expansion plans we have in store. We will be opening the academies in Ahmedabad, Chennai, Bangalore, Visakhapatnam and Bhubaneswar in the coming months," said Binu Raj, national marketing head of the company.

Toonz Academy is a fully owned subsidiary of Toonz Entertainment Pvt Ltd, Singapore, which also owns Indian animation studio Toonz Animation India Pvt Ltd.

"The pioneering effort of our academy is giving a boost to the entire animation industry in the country to meet the burgeoning demand for world-class talent," said Ramaprasad, executive director, Toonz Academy.

The academy has recently signed memoranda of understanding with Beijing University and Shengyang University in China to set up centres of excellence in animation training in that country.

The academy follows a curriculum designed by international experts like Nik Powell and Barry Parker, and offers state-of-the-art training methodologies in 2D and 3D animation.

Whom to be blamed? Doctors on strike!

5 Dec'07, Hyderabad: 10 Kids died as doctors strike at Niloufer Hospital
Third day of a strike by junior doctors that spread to other cities of Andhra Pradesh. Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy asked hospital authorities to shift ailing children to private hospitals for emergency treatment as the situation worsened.

Some 250 doctors at the hospital have stayed away from work since Sunday in protest against an attack on them by a member of the legislative assembly and his supporters.

Members of several political parties, including the Telegu Desam, staged dharnas in protest against lack of facilities at the hospital and demanded that the suspension of the superintendent.

Supporters of MIM leader Afsar Khan and Mauzham Khan ransacked the hospital and broke smashed the windowpanes.
Hospital superintendent Narasimha Rao said that 10 children had died since Monday but their deaths had nothing to do with the agitation by the doctors. "Since it's a referral hospital, most of the cases that come here are very critical," he said, adding that the critical care services were unaffected.
Hospital sources put the number of deaths at 18 since the strike began on Sunday. The doctors are protesting against an attack by MIM (Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen Party) MLA Afsar Khan and his followers. Senior and junior doctors in other places in the state refused to work varying durations in support of fellow doctors.

The Andhra Pradesh Government Doctors' Association, the largest body of medical professionals in the state, came out in support of the striking doctors on Tuesday and called for a token half-hour strike every day from 9 a.m. to 9.30 a.m. The association said after a meeting that it hoped the government would come out with an acceptable solution to the problem by December 8, failing which the stir would be intensified.

The association demanded that the government must issue an ordinance making attacks on on duty doctors or hospital staff, is a non bailable offense. The striking doctors want attempt to murder charges slapped against Khan and his dismissal from the assembly.

Later, Vijayashanti, a popular Filmstar and president of the "Talli Telengana party" staged a dharna for sometime in front of the hospital demanding Rs 21akh Ex-Gratia to the family of the victims.

How trouble started
ON DECEMBER 2, Junaid, a relative of MIM legislator Afsar Khan, took his daughter to Niloufor Hospital. He allegedly assaulted some doctors and ransacked a room following an argument with doctors after he was asked for a case shoot of the patient. He was taken into police custody following a complaint by the doctors. Later, Khan arrived at the hospital with his supporters.

Doctors alleged he abused and manhandled several of them, including some women doctors. He also went to Nampally police station, where Junaid was being hold, and lodged a counter complaint against the doctors, accusing them of negligence and misconduct. The doctors went on a flash strike and have demanded Khan's arrest.

Not the first time
ON JUNE 15, women activists and TDP members had staged a dharna at the hospital to protest the death of six children due to alleged negligence on the part of the doctors. Then too, the hospital's PG doctors had struck work, seeking proper security and objecting to the conduct of some of the victims' attendants. Later, Khan and his men had come to the hospital and on being denied entry, broken some windowpanes. They had demanded that the doctors responsible for the death of the children be suspended and an inquiry ordered.

Chiranjeevi is going to start a new party

Chiranjeevi will formally announce his entry into politics in January next year and launch a political party, sources close to him said on Monday.

Close confidants of the actor put out the word at an informal interaction with a select group of journalists here on Monday basically to test the waters and elicit feedback. The meeting was said to have been convened at the behest of Chiranjeevi himself.

The actor played out a poorly written script to announce his entry, and his behind-the-scenes directors clearly let him down. Some of the persons whom Chiranjeevi chose to spread the word have.

impeachable integrity, and their standing will be badly affected if the actor changes his mind.

Chiranjeevi made all the right noises. He does not want to be seen as casteist - the expectation is that the party would be heavily tilted in favour of the Kapu community to which he belongs - and wants to broaden his base among all sections, according to his confidants.

Chiranjeevi is obtaining feedback on the Telangana issue. He wants to speak in support of Statehood when he goes ahead with his political plans, they said. "When people strongly want Telangana state, how can we oppose it," the confidants quoted Chiranjeevi as saying.

Chiranjeevi is weighing his options as there is no considerable anti-incumbency against the Congress. There is also no support for the Telugu Desam.

When N.T. Rama Rao launched the Telugu Desam in 1982, all the Opposition parties supported it as they badly wanted a formidable alternative to the Congress. The scenario is different now.

"He may not get a landslide victory but nevertheless Chiranjeevi expects that he can emerge as a powerful force," his aides said. The CPI and the CPI(M) had earlier announced that they would welcome Chiranjeevi if he came out with a political plan.

ISB students win $ 75,000

Team Innova makes history by coming second in the Innovation

Setting benchmarks, winning accolades and moving on to scale newer heights - this has become a habit for Indian School of Business. It is this spirit that took team Innova, comprising five students of class 2008, all the way to Darden Graduate School of Business, Virginia to participate in Idea Crossing's 5th Annual Innovation Challenge.

Innovation Challenge is the largest competition of its kind in the world, which attracts hundreds of teams from the top MBA programmes worldwide to solve real world business challenges faced by big global brands. The problems posed to all the teams are the same, so innovation is the keyword if you want to stand out.

Prashant Goel, Sushant Bhansali, Pushkar Jain, Meghna Rao and Nishant Pandey roughed it out in a competition that attracted 1,200 participants from 57 countries and beat over 270 teams from all over the world to become the ‘2nd most innovative team in the world'.

"We lost the first place to The University of North CarolinaKenan Flagler by just two marks. It was a close call," says Meghna, who is still beaming at the fact that their team made history at ISB by bringing back a trophy from Darden apart from winning the prize money - a neat sum of $ 75,000.

Prashant, the leader of the team feels that getting shortlisted among the top 10 groups was their first milestone. "The global bigwigs we got to brainstorm for this year was an interesting mix, Harley Davidson, Hilton Hotels and American Express, each facing a unique challenge," he says.

All the sleepless nights, crazy brain-storming sessions, selling of ideas thereafter, seemed to pay off when the team hit upon concepts that were regarded truly innovative by the judges who represented global companies like OPEN from American Express, Whirlpool, Lexmark, Harley-Davidson and Shell.

They impressed these global giants with solutions which were simple, effective and easily implementable. Harley Davidson question was the first in line. The students were asked to come up with ideas to integrate the Harley community. And as a solution they came up with the idea called, ‘Making Friends The Harley Way'.

"Keeping in mind the Harley cult, our solution was to come up with an exclusive social net working site and allow customers to design their own web page and have the option to create a bulk SMS link, thereby integrating the community further," says Meghna.

Amex wanted a new feature that can be added to their credit card to improve international transactions by their small business OPEN customers. "This was the tough cookie. Meghna hit upon the basic idea on which we worked really hard. We provided a solution that integrated the forward market with the credit card and created an easy platform for customers to hedge their currency risks. The idea was called ‘Leap Forward' and was received very well," says Sushant.

The last was the Hilton challenge which asked for ways to improve their ‘Green Marketing' by giving a solution that would also be revenue generating. "For this, we came up with ‘Green Ambassadors' - a marketing strategy revolving around a marketing tool like a green credit card with green points available to the customers. We backed it by a pull strategy through lifestyle brochures and a website which will draw customers to you, not push them to buy your product or idea," says Pushkar.

All their ideas were received well and some may also be implemented soon, a prospect which not only gives these young achievers a great high, but is also a super perk on their CVs.