Andhranews

Ahista Ahista

Cast: Abhay Deol, Soha Ali Khan, Shayan Munshi, Shakeel Khan, Kamini Khanna, Sohrab Ardeshir
Director: Shiivam Nair
Rating:**

Taking its title seriously, Shiivam Nair fashions a snail-paced love story about two ordinary people.
Based on a telefilm (by Imtiaz Ali who reworked his script), Ahista Ahista needed more meat and definitely a lot more humour and drama, if the simple story about a helpless girl and her benefactor were to go beyond the ‘timepass’ level.

Ankush (Abhay Deol), who hangs around the marriage registration bureau to sign up as a witness and make some money, feels sorry for a girl whose boyfriend has stood her up. Megha (Soha Ali Khan) has run away from Nainital to marry Dheeraj (Shayan Munshi, looking scruffy), who does not show up. Stranded with no money and nowhere to go, Megha depends on the good-hearted and, for Delhi, surprisingly decent Ankush to provide her with shelter and funds.

He gets her a job at an old folks’ home (run by a caricature ‘Father’), while he gets a bank job with better prospects so that he can be worthy of her, and then the missing Dheeraj turns up. “I am not a filmi hero who will smile and hand over his girl,” says Ankush to his buddies and does everything he can to shake off his rival.

Abhay Deol has a simple, likeable screen presence, but he can’t portray the transformation from an unpolished street guy to a white collar worker. He is just too nice, refined and bland for the part — just imagine Govinda and how he would have had the character make audiences laugh and cry. Soha Ali Khan looks pretty and quite expressionless.

The actors should have been made to dig out more energy and spunk — for instance the high-tension scene where Ankush takes Megha to a brothel for want of anywhere else to go, ends up lifeless because they treat it as such. And the scene where Megha expresses her confusion should have had audiences all misty-eyed, but just passes without impact. Except for Ankush’s loutish behaviour with an elderly neighbour, the film is mostly clean and inoffensive, and the best that can be said about it is that it never gets too syrupy.

Andala Ramudu

Cast: Sunil, Arti Agarwal, Akash, Venu Madhav, Kota Srinivasa Rao
Director/ Screenplay: P. Lakshmi Narayana A.K.A. Deepti)
Rating:***

More than half a decade back, Tamil Cinema grabbed an opportunity to highlight a social malaise and Sundarapurushan starring the comic-villain Livingston and “thunder thighs” Rambha turned out to be a runaway blockbuster. Now, Telugu Cinema, ever ready to copy, packages the social evil of virginity test and bingo! Andalaramudu too comes out a winner.
Not just that. It also brings to fore the histrionics of Telugu’s evergreen comedian Sunil. And boy, he can dance too. He had his agonising moments too. Not in reel life but in real, with Arti Agarwal getting hospitalised half way through the movie.

The story. Ramudu (Sunil), the estranged son of a village head, is a bumpkin who returns to his village as promised, only after the death of his bigamous father. He is in love with his maternal uncle’s beautiful daughter Radha (Arti). But then, she’s given her heart to the only educated one in the village Raghu (Akash).

Ramudu’s innocent encounters with Radha and his wily half-brother’s (Venu Madhav) evil designs get them into an awkward wedlock and the educated Raghu behind bars. Bumpkin, as he is portrayed, the marriage melodramatically remains unconsummated. But once Ramudu knows the truth he desires to undo the wedding. Not just that. He even gets Raghu freed and tries to get him married to Radha.

The dialogues by Ramesh-Gopi could have remained punchy throughout if not for the occasion repulsive ones. Odeon, the theatre which promises the best of acoustics, eats away most of the dialogues. No wonder, Sunil’s fans who paid double and more, fill the theatre with hoots and catcalls.

Arti Agarwal, unlike the ravishing Rambha in the Tamil original, remains beautiful, even in her post-accident shooting scenes. Sunil is fully at ease — as he is with his invectives against scribes in real life! One sincerely hopes, he moves on and not end up like Ali. Ali, who?

Andalaramudu’s music sells. The story, provided by Livingston, Sameer Reddy’s picture-postcard cinematography and Sunil’s histrionics, exploited by director P. Lakshmi Narayana, has the audience glued to the seats.

Katputtli

Cast: Mink, Milind Soman, Yukta Mookhey, Sameer Dharmadhikari, Seema Biswas, Sudhanshu Pandey, Mukul Dev, Vikas Kalantri.
Director: Sanjay Khanna
Rating:*

It would take a great director or a miracle to resurrect Mink Brar’s career as leading lady after her debut in Dev Anand’s disastrous Pyar Ka Tarana (1983). One can only marvel at the supreme confidence, that made her produce a film with her brother and cast herself in the main role.

Vaguely inspired by Gothika and directed by Sanjay Khanna, Katputtli is about a woman called Lisa, who loses her memory, and finds herself on the street with blood-stained clothes and a few lakhs in the pocket of her trench coat.

When Arjun (Milind Soman), a doctor, identifies her as his wife and takes her home (a weird set, cross between a circus tent and oil rig), it takes her a while to trust him. The funky neighbour (Yukta Mookhey, with rainbow make-up) and her husband (Sameer Dharmadhikari) seem to be somehow connected to the mystery. But what is the menacing maid in ramp clothes doing there, and then what about the neighbour’s mentally-deranged father?

Rather than being intrigued by Lisa’s plight and wondering about the strange things that happen to her (like a long-haired creep walking up and kissing her), you can’t help laughing at the hopelessly written and directed scenes and odd dialogue, not to mention the inept performances by all.

Some entertainment can be had by spotting Page 3 types doing cameos and walk-on parts — from models to TV stars to wannabe actors. At least shooting must have been a blast, too bad the audience won’t be in any mood to pop champagne after this crazy film from Bro and Sis Production!

Britney Spears has revealed her second pregnancy was an accident. However, the Toxic singer, who already has one son, 11-month-old Sean Preston, with husband Kevin Federline, insists she is looking forward to being a mum again. She confessed to People magazine, “It just kind of happened. I’m going to wait a while for the next one. I feel like I’ve been pregnant for ten years.”

Britney, who is rumoured to have put on around 40 pounds during her pregnancy, also revealed how having back-to-back babies has been an exhausting experience. The 24-year-old star explained, “It is now starting to get a little tiring, holding Sean Preston, but throughout the whole pregnancy I’ve done it a lot because he’s very attached. It makes me feel needed and wanted so I like it too.”

Britney has also confessed her favourite pregnancy treat, a melted chocolate bar. She confessed, “I’ll get up in the middle of the night and I’ll get a Hershey’s bar, the real big ones, and I’ll put it in the microwave and melt it and eat it. It sounds disgusting, but it’s so satisfying.”

Uma Thurman has reportedly bought out ex-husband Ethan Hawke’s share in their former marital home. The My Super Ex-Girlfriend star is said to have paid the actor £1.5 million to obtain full ownership of the Manhattan apartment they shared while man and wife. Uma and Ethan wed in 1998 and eventually divorced in 2004 after separating in 2003 amid allegations Ethan had cheated on her.

They have two children together, eight-year-old daughter Maya Ray and son Levon Roan, who is four. Earlier this week, Uma revealed she is afraid to show any emotion in public.

Gwyneth Paltrow can’t wait to get back to acting. The Shakespeare in Love star had two years off to raise her children, Apple, two, and baby son Moses, but is now itching to get back to work. She said in an interview with Harper’s Bazaar magazine, “For a long time I thought, ‘I’ve done it. I’ve done what I wanted to do. I’m not interested. I just want to be home with my family.’”

She added, “I had no spark for work, but I have the feeling back. And I’m excited about the prospect. I want to do something kind of fun. I don’t want to do anything depressing or mad. I want to do a really great, funny, weird character.” The 33-year-old star, who is married to Coldplay star Chris Martin, appears in upcoming film Running With Scissors, which opens in US cinemas on October 11.

Beyoncé Knowles has warned fans not to copy her crash diet. The singer-turned-actress lost 20 lbs for movie Dreamgirls by sticking to a super-strict liquids only regime. Although she shed the pounds quickly, Beyoncé does not advocate the controversial eating plan.

She told British TV show GMTV, “I would not recommend it if someone wasn’t doing a movie, because there are other ways to lose weight. I needed to lose it really quick, and I put the weight back on as soon as I finished, so I am no smaller or bigger than I’ve always been. It was strictly for the film.”

Beyoncé, 24, says the best thing about the diet was coming off it and getting her curves back. She revealed, “The funniest part was putting the weight back on and eating doughnuts and all the other things. I’ve got my body back. I’m very conscious of being a curvy woman and I’m very happy that I am a curvy woman.”

She added, “It’s great because I look at the movie and I don’t recognise myself, which was the point.” Beyoncé, who is dating rapper Jay-Z, also confessed she has a soft spot for British men. She gushed, “I love the way the guys dress. I love their little tight pants, and their haircuts are so cute.”

Pamela Anderson and Kid Rock have got married yet again. The ceremony took place in a bar in Nashville in the early hours recently and is the third time the rocker and the former Baywatch actress have tied the knot.

Dustin Wilkes, a singer who had been performing at Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge that night, told the crowd, “You guys aren’t going to believe what we have next, Kid Rock and Pam Anderson are going to get married on stage, and we’re not even kidding.” An onlooker explained to People magazine, “They did the regular vows, and when it came to the ‘I do’ part, he responded ‘Hell yes’.”

Anantapur, Aug. 19: Municipal commissioner K.V. Anjaneyulu on Saturday directed the police to book cases against two sanitary inspectors — Krishna Reddy and Surendra — who failed to submit unofficial attendance registers of contract workers.

The commissioner conducted a meeting with the public health officials here following an indefinite strike launched by contract workers demanding release of their pending salaries. Mr Anjaneyulu questioned the health officer Subba Raju the steps taken after issue of notices to sanitary inspectors for submission of attendance registers.

He questioned him for not taking any action against sanitary inspectors who failed to submit the registers. “The whole episode raises suspicion that the sanitary inspectors are hand in glove with contract workers,” the commissioner said.

Mr Anjaneyulu expressed his anger over the absence of Circle-II sanitary inspector Krishna Reddy at the meeting. He also directed the police to book cases against two sanitary inspectors of Circle II and VI Krishna Reddy and Surendra and search their houses and recover the attendance registers.

He directed the accountant to book cases against the Circle V sanitary inspector Jayachandra Chary for non-submission of attendance registers. Immediately after he came to know this, Mr Chary rushed to the office and submitted the registers.

Speaking on the occasion, the municipal commissioner said that the sanitary inspectors failed to submit attendance registers of contract workers for the last three months even after several reminders. Their negligence is responsible for delay in sanctioning salaries to contract workers, he said.

He said workers were paid salaries as per attendance registers. He said that salaries would be sanctioned to contract workers who work in their respective circles. Based on the registers inspected, 69 contract workers are working in Circle I, 68 persons in Circle III, 95 in Circle IV, 44 in Circle V. Sanitary inspectors of Circles II and VI told the commissioner that registers are with the workers.

After inspecting registers, the commissioner explained the facts to mayor Parashuram. The mayor said the delay in releasing pay for contract workers is due to no clarity on their strength.

Anantapur, Aug. 19: Once again farmers suicides are on the rise due to severe drought conditions in the district. Seven farmers died in the last one week in the district. While three farmers died due to heart stroke four others committed suicide. Most of the deaths were from the Bathalapalle mandal.

Officials said that the kin of the farmers who committed suicide would get compensation as per the government policy. However, farmers who died of heart stroke are not eligible for compensation, officials said. The deaths remind the acute drought conditions which prevailed in the district during 2004-05 where hundreds of farmers ended their lives due to successive failure of crops and massive accumulation of debts.

Farmers are worried over similar situation repeating this year as the district witnessed scanty rainfall. Meanwhile, the agriculture officials failed to guide the farmers in the dire situation. No official visited the severely-hit mandals in the district. Farmers say that the district officials and the government should take stock of the situation and come to their rescue.

Tirupati, Aug. 19: Chief Minister Y.S. Raja-sekhar Reddy said that entire State belonged to Lord Venkateswara and ridiculed the allegations over the jurisdiction of Tirumala.

The Chief Minister was speaking at a function organised on the occasion of laying foundation stone for the buildings meant for Veda Viswa Vidyalayam here on Saturday. Rebutting the allegations over the government’s role in limiting the area of Tirumala, Dr Rajasekhar Reddy asserted that the government had only converted the area mentioned in the British records to square kilometres.

He said that the then British government notified 12 square miles in a bid to prohibit political activities and meetings in Tirumala region and they have only converted the area into square kilometres. He also pointed to the government efforts to bring 332 square kilometres under Tirumala limits to protect the wild animals and the forest treasure.

He said that they have introduced an Act, which enabled registration of cases and two-year jail imprisonment for those propagating other faiths at Tirumala. Commending the move to establish Vedic university in Tirupati, he expressed the need to take the essence of Vedas with in the reach of the common man.

Nellore, Aug. 19: In a bid to provide education to the children of migrant labourers from Srikakulam, Vizinagaram, Prakasam and Nellore districts, Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (SSA) would run residential bridge course camps and early childhood education centres at Chennai in association with an NGO Aide-et-Action (AET) soon.

Numerous labourer families have moved around to the neighbouring areas of Chennai to eke out a living and their children have no educational facilities as they are located near the worksites. The plight of the children is miserable and there is a danger that they might become child labourers.

State SSA director K. Chandramouli’s recent visit to about dozen worksites in and around Chennai prompted him to take the initiative.
The director noticed the appalling living conditions of the migrant workers and sad plight of their children who have no means for education.

In order to take care of the educational needs of these migrant children, the SSA the requested an NGO, AET, to submit proposals after taking up a survey. The AET conducted a survey on the conditions of the families and the children and submitted a proposal to the SSA on providing educational opportunities for them.

The SSA has sanctioned financial assistance to provide education for 440 children in the age group of 6 to 14 years through early education centres and residential bridge schools where they reside in and around Chennai.

Apart from this, the SSA has also sanctioned 34 pre-schools for the children below the age of 5 years to cover 666 children. The schools known as Early Childhood Education Centres would handle 20 to 25 children each. The districts concerned have been directed to meet the expenditure from the SSA funds to run the centres.

Total cost of the project for educating the migrant Telugu children would be around Rs 23,50,955 per annum. Each district would share Rs 5,87,738 at 1/4th of the total expenditure. The district collector and the additional project coordinators of the SSA received communication to this effect from the SSA State director. The SSA Tamil Nadu project director has been requested to monitor the implementation of the programme and provide necessary logistical support for opening the centres.

Tirupati, Aug. 19: Chief Minister Dr Y.S. Raja-sekhar Reddy had the darshan of Lord Venkateswara at Tirumala on Saturday at about 2.15 pm. Dr Rajasekhar Reddy came to Tirupati to attend the marriage of the son of Piler MLA Peddireddy Rama-chandra Reddy. TTD EO A.P.V.N. Sarma, endowment minister J.C. Diwakar Reddy and TTD special officer A.V. Dharma Reddy received the Chief Minister with temple honours.

There was some confusion at the Mahadwaram when some people tried to enter the temple along with the Chief Minister. Agriculture minister Raghuveera Reddy and local MLA Venkataramana accompanied Dr Rajasekhar Reddy.

Meanwhile, Union minister Panabaka Lakshmi, State ministers, Sathrucherla Vijayaramaraju, Jakkampudi Rammohana Rao, Nedurumalli Rajyalakshmi, MP’s Nedurumalli Janardhan Reddy and Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy also had the darshan at Tirumala.

The Chief Minister promised to increase the number of milk collection centres in Chittoor district to procure 60,000 litres of milk. Speaking to the reporters at the helipad here on Saturday, he said that the government was already procuring 60,000 litres of milk through 20 centres by paying Rs 9 per litre.

He directed district collector S.S. Rawath to take steps to maintain cleanliness in the Dalit colonies to contain the spread of chikungunya.

Rajahmundry, Aug. 19: The district administration on Saturday sought Rs 529 crores for taking up restoration works for various structures and facilities ravaged during the recent incessant rains and Godavari floods.

In a presentation to the three-member Central government team led by Union home ministry’s joint secretary Vipin Kumar Saxena, district collector M. Subrahmaniam informed them about crop loss and damage to structures in the district.

Special officer for flood relief M.V.P.C. Sastry bri-efed the Central Committee about the extent of damage in the district. The committee members also visited several flood-hit villages during their one-day visit in the Konaseema region.

According to the officials crops in 68,982 hectares of land were affected incurring a loss to the tune of Rs 192 crore. The officials sought Rs 16.92 crores for providing input subsidy to the farmers.
Animal husbandry department suffered a loss to the tune of Rs 1.9 crores, which includes the damage to 35 veterinary hospitals. While, Rs 12 lakhs each was required for fodder and medical care to the affected livestock.

In a report submitted to the Central team, the district administration said that it required Rs 69.68 crores for carrying out repairs to rural water supply facilities, roads, culverts and buildings. For repairing to roads, buildings, culverts, minor bridges and others, the officials sought Rs 39.22 crores.

AP Transco, whose electric poles, transformers and sub stations were damaged in the floods, required Rs 13 crores for the repair works. Municipalities suffered a loss to the tune of Rs 10.57 crores while under major irrigation 326 works were proposed at a cost of Rs 22.85 crore, medium irrigation at Rs 25 lakh and 91 works were proposed under the minor irrigation at a cost of Rs 5.70 crores.

Mr Sastry said that based on the preliminary assessment, about 66,130 houses were damaged in the district requiring construction of permanent houses at a cost of Rs 165 crores. He said that several fishermen lost nets, boats and others and added that about Rs 2.45 crores was required to provide them relief.

Bhimavaram, Aug. 19: In order to take up restoration works to the damaged structures due to floods, the district administration would Need Rs 110 crores. The Central team led by Joint Secretary Vipin Ku-mar Saxena was apprised of the quantum of damage caused due to the floods and incessant rains in the district.

The team members expressed satisfaction over the relief operations taken up by the district administration. Speaking on the occasion, district collector Luv Agarwal said that horticulture crops suffered damages in 24,412 hectares and added that the crop loss was estimated to be Rs 37.43 crores.

The collector said that due to floods, about 170 villages in 13 mandals were affected and added that the district administration had given top prioirity for providing drinking water, medical supplies and food to the affected people.

Mr Agarwal also told the Central team that the district had witnessed the worst-ever floods in 20 years as the flood water from Godavari river and Kovvada canal inundated Polavaram mandal. He said that in 13 hours, the flood water rose to the third cautionary signal at the Dowleswaram barrage.

Karimnagar, Aug. 19: Poverty-stricken migrants from Myanmar and Sri Lanka living at Anthergao in Ramagundam are praying to local goddess Nalla Pochamma for a miracle.

Prayers are the last resort for these poor folk, whose pleas for jobs and rehabilitation have been consistently ignored by the state government. It was former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi who brought the migrant families to Ramagundam in 1967. She set up spinning mills in the area to help them make a living.

The families revere Indira Gandhi as a goddess, but the Congress-led government which swears by Indiramma Raj has abandoned them to their fate. In sheer desperation, they have turned to Pochamma for help. It was the closure of the mills in 1985 and 1991 that worsened the condition of the migrants who were already living a hand-to-mouth existence.

About 120 people among them became jobless after the mills downed shutters. Sadly, several of them died after their health got impaired. Others have migrated to other towns to avoid starvation and have not been heard of since. Distraught and unhappy, the remaining 300 families are now seeking divine help since no assistance is forthcoming from the state government.

The migrants have assimilated the local culture even while sustaining their original beliefs. Nalla Pochamma is as dear a deity for them as the Buddha. “We pray to Buddha as well as Pochamma,” said president of the Burma-Sri Lanka Repatriates Association M. Shankaran.

Mr Shankaran recalled that “Indiramma” had saved them from a turbulent Rangoon in the 60s and had provided the families with jobs. “But our lives became miserable after the mills closed down,” he added.

Only a handful of the displaced employees got compensation and majority were left to fend for themselves. Many did not even get statutory benefits such as provident fund and gratuity.

Karimnagar, Aug. 19: Three Maoists, including a local guerrilla squad commander, surrendered before the police here on Saturday.
Maddimalla LGS commander P. Komuraiah alias Ramanna, 28, and Mahadevpur dalam members V. Ramesh alias Mallikarjun, 21, and B Laxmaiah alias Ranjeeth, 19, gave up before the SP Mr DS Chauhan.OSD S. Hari Krishna, Godavarikhani ASP Ch Srikanth and others were present.

Guntur, Aug. 19: Irrigation superintending engineer M. Vijaya Mohan on Saturday said that the administration would be able to save 20 tmc feet water if major canals were repaired.

Speaking to this correspondent, Mr Vijaya Mohan said that the State government had initiated a programme to repair the existing canals. The Nagarjunasagar right canal and the main canals in the Krishna delta would be repaired and restored to their original capacity at a cost of Rs 2,000 crores.

He said that the water saved would be sufficient for the farmers of Guntur, Prakasam, Krishna and West Godavari districts. Mr Vijaya Mohan said that the Krishna delta with 13.9 lakh acres gets over 161.3 tmcfeet water according to the Bachawat Award.

As on date, he said that they were utilising over 70.5 tmc feet water for 5.72 lakh acres in Krishna and Prakasam districts. The SE said that they were drawing over 8,440 cusecs of water from the Krishna western main canal of which 8,300 cusecs was being utilised for irrigation purposes.

He said that the farmers in Guntur and Prakasam were eligible to utilise over 70.5 tmc feet water, while they were utilising only 21 tmc feet due to weak canal bunds. The SE said that they were expecting full utilisation of share of water from the river.

Warangal, Aug. 19: The Warangal Municipal Corporation (WMC) has succeeded in carrying out demolitions at the Kazipet main road where it was widening the roads to at least 85 feet.It was a 35-year-long wait for the civic body to demolish the structures as per the Master Plan that came into force in 1971.

Though some of the earlier municipal commissioners tried to demolish all the structures in order to widen the road to 100 feet, it took two women municipal commissioners — Neetu Prasad and Smita Sabharwal, both IAS officers — to implement the plan.

Ms Prasad, who earlier worked as municipal commissioner, held negotiations with the local shop-keepers and succeeded in making them agree to 85 feet road-widening. It was her threat to carry out surprise demolitions that made them accept the road widening plan up to 85 feet.

Even as Ms Prasad commenced the demolition work, she was transferred by the State government. Her successor Smita Sabharwal is on the task for the last two days. “At least 50 per cent of the demolition work is over and by Monday the process would be completed,” Mr Sadanandam, the town planning officer, who is supervising the demolitions, said.

Though a couple of shopkeepers went to the court a majority of them have accepted the compromise formula of 85 feet road-widening.
The roads and buildings (R&B) department is supposed to maintain 100-feet roads on the national highways. But the R&B authorities had failed to take the initiative and the problem was pending for many years.

Every time the corporation took the decision to demolish the structures, some local politicians stepped in and thwarted the plans of the civic body from proceeding with their demolition plan. Citizens are happy lot with the road-widening process which was undertaken by the municipal authorities.

Karimnagar, Aug. 19: Chikungunya is fast spreading in the district due to the lackadaisical attitude of the official machinery and unhygienic conditions prevailing in several villages.

Even after about 50 persons in the district died due to chikungunya, health services continue to elude the patients in several villages. As a result, scores of villagers in mandals like Yellareddypet, Jammikunta, Bheemdevarapalli, Mahadevpur are suffering from chikungunya.

The situation in the coal belt has turned alarming. Even Medaram MLA K. Eshwar is suffering from chikungunya. Earlier, district Youth Congress president Kota Ravi was down with chikungunya for several days. The absence of medical officers in the primary he-alth centres across the district has further compounded the woes of the patients.

According to sources, 42 out of 141 medical officer posts are vacant in the district. Of the total 99 medical officers working in different primary health care centres (PHCs) of the district, 14 medical officers have gone on leave, the sources added.

On the other hand, rampant absenteeism of the para-medical staff in the PHCs has cast a shadow on the health services in remote areas.
Inspecting officials have failed to check the absenteeism among the health workers in the far-flung areas of Manthani division of this district.

Even though the opposition parties, mainly the Telugu Desam, demanded for pressing mobile health teams into action, no concrete steps have been initiated in this regard by the district administration.

The villagers staged a rasta roko at Nerella on Thursday in protest against the death of a 13-year-old who died due to chikungunya. They alleged that the boy died due to lack of medical treatment.

Nizamabad, Aug. 19: A 35-year-old housewife died under mysterious circumstances at Vallabhapur of Makloor mandal in the district in the wee hours of Saturday. Suspecting the role of her husband in the death, villagers attacked him. He was rescued by the police and taken into custody.

Makloor sub-inspector S. Lakshminarayana told this correspondent that Recharla Vijayalakshmi died and her husband Narsing Rao lodged a complaint that she had committed suicide. Mr Bhushan Rao, the brother of Vijayalakshmi, lodged another complaint stating that Narsing Rao and his father Bhoom Rao killed her for additional dowry. He alleged that they are misleading the police that it was a suicide.

The SI said that Narsing Rao married Vijayalakshmi 10 years ago and the couple has two children. He took Rs 1 lakh and five tolas of gold as dowry. The SI said Narsing Rao started harassing her for additional dowry for the last one year. Heated arguments took place between the couple on Friday night. The police is questioning Narsinga Rao and his father.

Vijayawada, Aug. 19: Noted social revolutionary, freedom fighter and co-founder of atheist movement, Saraswathi Gora, died of cardiac arrest at her residence here on Saturday. She was 94.

Born on September 28, 1912 to a traditional Hindu family of Vizianagaram district, she was married to Goparaju Ramachandra Rao alias Gora in 1922 at the age of 10. She joined Gora in 1927 and since then they were inseparable couple.

She was a life-long fighter for the cause of atheism, humanism and social change on the Gandhian lines and a crusader against untouchability and caste system.
As a humanist and social revolutionary, she had set an example before others by practising what she championed.

Along with Gora, she founded Atheist Centre in Vijayawada in 1940, first of its kind in the world. Since its inception, it had been in the forefront of social change activities. She was the founder of Vasavya Mahila Mandali, Arthik Samata Mandal and Samskar, which are involved in rural development of hundreds of villages. She played a crucial role in fighting against Jogini system and in reforming the dacoits of Stuvartpuram.

Vijayawada, Aug. 19: The Krishna district administration, in tune with its target of making the district a child labour-free district by 2007, has freed over 67 children working as domestic labourers in various towns across the State.

The administration also sent 26 children, who are from Vizianagaram and Srikakulam districts, back to their respective districts. Over 18 people, who acted as brokers in turning these children into domestic workers on annual contract, were also arrested and are now assisting the administration in finding the remaining children who have been sent to various places, including Bangalore and Mumbai.

Speaking to mediapersons on Saturday, district collector Navin Mittal said special teams were formed by the women and child welfare department, the education department, the police and the NGOs to trace out children who have been engaged as domestic workers at BC Colony in Mantada village of Krishna district.

These teams have worked for several months and identified the brokers who play a crucial role in engaging children at work. He said that the brokers get Rs 1,500 to Rs 2,000 on each contract while the parents get Rs 8,000 to Rs 12,000 a year for sending their children as domestic workers.

The collector said that they have raided the houses of people who have engaged children in Vijayawada and Hyderabad and rescued 67 children, of whom 26 are from other districts, while 41 are from Mantada village. These children have beeen put in residential bridge course schools and also the child labour schools.

He said that they have also booked cases against those who have employed children as domestic workers and was set to proceed against them legally. The district administration sent the remaining children to the respective districts to be handed over to their parents. The collector congratulated the district women and child welfare department and the national child labour project officer for taking the initiative in rescuing the children from bonded labour.

Visakhapatnam, Aug. 19: Bobbili lost a great leader in the death of Kondapalle Paidithalli Naidu who passed away at Viziangaram in the early hours of Saturday.

Born in an agriculture family in Gantyada in 1921, Paidithalli entered politics in 1971 as a ward member of the local panchayat. He became director of Bhimsingi Sugar Factory in 1981 which laid the foundation steps for his long political career. He joined Telugu Desam in 1982 and became president of Gantyada Mandal Parishad in 1987.

Impressed with his dedicated work, the then party president N.T. Rama Rao made him president of the party for the district in 1994. Paidithalli won the 1994 elections when the party swept all the 12 assembly seats in the district.

For the first time he contested the general elections in 1996 and became a Member of Parliament, representing Bobbili Lok Sabha constituency. He defeated Botsa Satyanarayana of Congress by a margin of 20, 767 votes.

In the mid term elections held in 1998 he again defeated Satyanarayana, increasing the margin to 26,908 votes. He created a record by winning from the same constituency third time in a row in the 2004 general elections. He defeated Botsa Jhansi Lakshmi by 30,000 votes.

Visakhapatnam, Aug. 19: The villagers of Gangava-ram on Saturday rejected magisterial inquiry into the March 27 police firing, which left a fisherman dead, and sought a judicial probe by a High Court sitting judge.

The magisterial inquiry, which was supposed to be conducted at mandal revenue office at Pedagantyada, was shifted to the district collectorate in the last minute. Gangavaram All-Party Forum leaders Ch. Narasingarao, CPI(M), and Zaheer Ahmed, Telugu Desam, accused the State government of trying to suppress the facts by conducting the magisterial inquiry.

“The very officials, who ordered the police to open fire on the protesters, are conducting the inquiry, denying justice to the victims. Hence, we demand a judicial inqu-iry by a High Court sitting judge,” the leaders said. The State government had sent summons to 10 policemen and 18 Gangavaram villagers to attend the inq-uiry. However, none of the villagers attended the inquiry.

The representatives of Gangavaram Fisherfolk Aikyavedika criticised commercial taxes minister Konatala Ramakrishna for his indifferent attitude. They also criticised the officials for not inviting them to present their version before the magisterial inquiry. Later, they met the DRO Satyanarayana dema-nded a judicial inquiry.

Visakhapatnam, Aug. 19: The villagers of Gangava-ram on Saturday rejected magisterial inquiry into the March 27 police firing, which left a fisherman dead, and sought a judicial probe by a sitting judge of the High Court.

The magisterial inquiry, which was supposed to be conducted at mandal revenue office at Pedagantyada, was shifted to the district collectorate in the last minute. Gangavaram All-party Forum leaders Ch. Narasingarao of the CPI(M) and Zaheer Ahmed of the Telugu Desam accused the State government of trying to suppress the facts by conducting the magisterial inquiry.

“The very officials, who ordered the police to open fire on the protesters, are conducting the inquiry, denying justice to the victims. Hence, we demand a judicial inquiry by a High Court sitting judge,” the leaders said. The State government had sent summons to 10 policemen and 18 Gangavaram villagers to attend the inquiry. However, none of the villagers attended the inquiry.

The representatives of Gangavaram Fisherfolk Aikyavedika criticised co-mmercial taxes minister Konatala Ramakrishna for his indifferent attitude. They also criticised the officials for not inviting them to present their version before the magisterial inquiry. Later, they met the DRO Satyanarayana dema-nded a judicial inquiry.

Mr Narasinga Rao said, “The officials had tried to cover up the incident by recording 14 persons as injured as against the actual figure of 140. This shows the commitment of the officials in providing justice to the fishermen. We, hence, demand for a judicial inquiry.”

The All-Party Forum leaders also met district collector Anil Kumar Singhal and submitted a memorandum seeking a judicial inquiry. The collector said that he would forward their representations given by them to the higher authorities.

Visakhapatnam, Aug. 19: Two traffic police stations will come up in the rural areas of the district to curtail road accidents. This was disclosed by district superintendent of police J.G. Murali at the half-yearly crime review meeting held at district collectorate here on Saturday.He said that 687 road accidents took place in the rural areas of the district during this year.

The SP said the police would cooperate with the APSRTC in conducting a special drive in the agency areas to promote safe driving. Mr Murali also said that the police would book cases against those who excavate colour stones in Karaka quarries in the district under the Preventive Detention Act.

The district police officials said that they were always ready to work in coordination with various departments in maintaining law and order and taking up of developmental activities in the agency areas. DIG (Vizag range) Govind Singh, officer on special duty Vineet Brijlal, additional SP P Natarajan, district collector A.K. Singhal and others took part in the meeting.

Visakhapatnam, Aug. 19: The University Adalat conducted in Andhra University (AU), the first of its kind in the country, here on Saturday, evoked good response with the teaching and non-teaching staff and students participating in huge numbers to represent their problems.

AU vice-chancellor, Prof. L. Venugopal Reddy, who presided over the programme, said that the adalat system would help the teachers, non-teaching staff and students in solving their problems without having to approach the courts.

He said that the main objective of the adalat was to make the university litigation free. Issues relating to suspended staff, retirement benefits, seniority fixations, teaching scales came before the adalat. Prof. R. Venkat Rao, principal of AU College of Law, AP high court advocate and university standing counsel Lanka Jagannadham senior advocate Prof. Rokkam Sudarsana Rao and others took part in the programme.

A person who doesn’t require vitamins is a rare find. Our food production methods (over farming, use of pesticides) coupled with the burgeoning fast food industry and poor cooking methods (over cooking, deep-frying) play a key role in depriving our bodies of important nutrients. When nutrient deficiencies interact with high levels of stress and little or no exercise, they result in lifestyle diseases like type II diabetes, coronary artery disease, high blood pressure etc.

It is clear from the growing incidence of lifestyle diseases that the food that we eat today does not provide us with optimum nutrients required to maintain a positive state of health. Fresh fruits and vegetables provide adequate nutrients if they are picked when ripe and eaten immediately. Today that is not possible as they are picked before they are ripe and then treated with chemicals to “appear” ripe but do not have the nutritional value of ripe vegetables. These “fresh” fruits and vegetables lose further nutrients as they travel from the farm to your kitchen.

Once in the kitchen, we overcook, deep fry, mishmash our food and even reheat the leftovers thus creating nutritional disasters. Such food has not more than 25 per cent nutrient value left in it. Therefore we cannot think of getting adequate amounts of vitamins and minerals only through food. Micronutrient deficiencies over a period of time reflect in terms of falling hair, lack lustre skin, weight gain, uncontrollable hunger, sugar cravings, low energy levels, mood swings, skin rash etc.

The polishing of rice into “polished white rice” and the refining of wheat into ‘maida’ has threatened our body into multinutrient deficiencies. Such food not only fails to nourish us, but also robs us of other nutrients in order to get metabolised, creating a shortage of chromium, B-complex, magnesium, zinc in the body. As we age, our capacity to assimilate nutrients decreases due to inadequate hydrochloric acid.

Frequent intake of antibiotics upsets the intestinal flora creating a shortage of beneficial bacteria.
Many people don’t like taking vitamin and mineral supplements, as they want to get everything from their diet. I truly wish this was possible, but this route just doesn’t work in this modern world. Today we are exposed to more environmental pollutants than ever before. This causes more free radical generation in our body and our food does not give us enough antioxidants to defend ourselves against these toxins. Therefore the need to take vitamins, minerals and anti oxidants like vitamin A, C, E, selenium.

Antioxidants: The best way to get antioxidants is to eat plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables as your primary source of antioxidants and also take supplements containing vitamin A,C,E and selenium. Choose fresh fruits over canned juices. Avoid boiling or overcooking your vegetables. You must steam, stirfry, lightly cook or eat them raw.

Consume Omega 3 fats: These reduce the damage caused by pollutants. These fats are found in the alsi seeds, fish, soyabeans, pumpkin seeds, and almonds. Avoid cooking in oils that go rancid easily. PUFA based oils derived from sunflower seeds, safflower seeds, cottonseed, and corn get rancid easily and should be avoided. Olive oil is richest in MUFA and doesn’t go rancid easily. Other MUFA based oils are those derived from mustard seeds, tilseeds, and groundnut.

Antioxidants help to rev up your immunity and decrease your chances of falling prey to disease. Those who exercise regularly also need to take supplements of antioxidants as exercise generates more free radicals. All this business of living in today’s modern, toxic world creates the need for supplementation. Without optimum food intake combined with appropriate vitamin supplements we cannot expect to live a healthy life.

Kate Moss has upset hundreds of Muslims in New York and doesn’t know it. A huge Calvin Klein advertising poster, showing the supermodel topless and grabbing a shirtless man, has been put up opposite a mosque in the East Village district. Worshippers are upset by the image because under the Islamic law, Muslim men are not supposed to look at naked or scantily clad women except their wives. Meanwhile, Kate is reportedly planning to marry rocker Pete Doherty after he bought her a diamond engagement ring.

The couple were seen kissing recently. The recording of British music TV show Transmission and Kate was wearing a huge vintage diamond ring on her engagement finger. Friends of the supermodel have revealed the ring was a present given to her by junkie rocker Pete last week. They also said that when Kate attended Primal Scream singer Bobby Gillespie’s wedding two weeks ago she told them,
“It’s going to be me next.”

Lindsay Lohan has been banned from a Justin Timberlake concert because he doesn’t want her ruining his image. The SexyBack singer’s management have reportedly turned down Lohan’s request to be put on the VIP guest list for the Los Angeles showcase recently.

A source told Britain’s the Sun newspaper, “Justin’s concert will be packed with Holl-ywood A-listers and a lot of important names in the music business. The last thing his label want is Lindsay getting hammered and making a spectacle of herself. His people reckon any association with people like Lindsay are bad for his image and career.”

As well as VIP passes, the 20-year-old actress also reportedly requested a private audience with Timberlake, who will be performing tracks from his new album.

Paris Hilton is officially the most overrated celebrity in the world. The hotel heiress has made it into the 2007 Guinness Book of World Records, not for her business ventures, singing or acting, but because the public think she is famous for no apparent reason.

A spokesman for the world famous book revealed the 25-year-old beauty, who recently released her debit single Stars Are Blind, topped the poll after magazine readers voted for their least favourite and most overrated celebrity. Other stars to make the list reportedly include Britney Spears and actor Tom Cruise.

Tori Spelling invited dead people to her wedding. The actress and her fiancé Dean McDermott tied the knot on the Fijian island of Wakaya and rather than ask friends and family, invited three “angels” instead. Tori told Britain’s OK! magazine, “We performed a Fijian ritual of honouring the three angels who brought us together.”

Dean added, “I invited my deceased parents Doreen and David. I know for a fact that my mum and dad brought Tori into my life.” Tori wrote an invitation to her childhood nanny Margaret Lockett, who died in 2004. Once the invitations were ready, they were burnt in a camp fire. She said, “I dashed to the water’s edge and tossed my bouquet high into the sky and thanked our angels for bringing us together.”

Gwyneth Paltrow hates her cellulite. The 33-year-old actress, who has two children, two-year-old Apple and Moses, four months, with Coldplay frontman Chris Martin, says she sympathises with new mothers who worry about their figures. She told Harper’s Bazaar magazine, “They should see the cellulite on my thighs right now.

It’s all lovely when you are pregnant, but when you are not pregnant and you haven’t been for a couple months and you are still carrying tons of extra weight and everything’s all hanging and sagging, you think, ‘How is this ever going to go back?’ But it does, if you do a lot of working out.”

Meanwhile, Gwyneth has vowed never to leave Britain. The Se7en star says she loves living in London and would never want to return to her native America. She said, “People think it’s strange that I want to live here. But London is where my husband lives and works. There are parks everywhere and lots of places to walk. It’s not has hectic as New York and not as vapid as Los Angeles.”

Gwyneth says that she even prefers her British friends to the ones back in the US, adding, “They’re intelligent and not looking over my shoulder at dinner to see if there’s anyone better in.”

Jennifer Aniston is helping Kate Hudson through her marriage split. The Break-Up actress, who was left devastated after her divorce from Troy star Brad Pitt, has promised to support Kate following her split from rocker Chris Robinson. The two stars bumped into each other at Los Angeles airport and Jennifer gave Kate a consoling hug, telling her to get in touch if she ever needed a chat.

A source said, “The actresses hugged as Kate broke down in tears. Jennifer offered her support as soon as she heard that Kate and Chris’ marriage was over.” The You, Me and Dupree actress announced, through her spokesperson, that her six-year marriage to the Black Crowes singer was over this week.

The 27-year-old actress, who has a two-year-old son Ryder Russell with Chris, recently admitted she didn’t believe in a “perfect marriage”. Kate said at the time, “I don’t like this idea of the perfect marriage. People can be in love madly and deeply and go through so much and still end up together. That’s what you hope for. No one should get married if they think it’s going to be a fairytale.”

New Delhi, Aug. 18: Commerce and industry minister Kamal Nath on Friday said that “corrective steps” were needed in the ongoing negotiations for a free trade agreement (FTA) with Asean. The talks are expected to be finalised by the end of this year, he said.

Meanwhile, the commerce minister also informed that foreign direct investment (FDI) inflow into India increased 47 per cent to $1.7 billion in April-June quarter, as against $1.1 billion in the same period last fiscal. It is expected that a FTA with Asean (Association of South East Asian Nations) will come into being from January next year. Mr Nath said, “We’ll need to have some correctives. Negotiations are going on and if there is convergence, we will conclude talks by the end of this year.”

The commerce minister said that owing to delay in concluding negotiations, there will not be an early harvest programme to reduce tariffs on select items and it was expected that the FTA would be implemented in one go. The commerce minister also informed that he is going to Kuala Lumpur next week for a ministerial-level meeting.

It may be pointed out here that the India-Asean FTA negotiations hit a roadblock after New Delhi submitted a negative list of items of around 1,400. The list, on which there will be no tariff cuts, was subsequently reduced to about 560 items. However, Asean was insisting that the list be reduced further to less than 100 items.

On its part, India had indicated against such a possibility. Mr Nath also spoke against the possibility of reducing the list below 100. Regarding FDI, the commerce minister also informed that the FDI inflow in the month of June grew 102 per cent to $534 million, as against $264 million in June last year. India’s export during July increased 41 per cent to $10.2 billion.

Total exports in April-July this fiscal rose by 34 per cent to $38 billion. Imports in July increased 24 per cent to $14.1 billion. Cumulative imports in the first four months of this fiscal rose 29 per cent to $54.5 billion. The minister informed that these were provisional figures compared to the year-ago period provisional figures.

Mumbai, Aug. 18: The market saw very flat trading with the Sensex closing down 11.76 points at 11,465.72 and the Nifty gaining just 2.85 points to close at 3356.75. The turnover, too, was low at Rs 27,510 crores with the F&O sector accounting for Rs 17,859 crores.

On the National Stock Exchange (NSE), there were 466 stocks that ended in the green and 427 in the red. However, the sentiment was good particularly in the mid-cap stocks on news that the FII had been buying in a big way. On Au-gust 17, they bought stocks worth 173.9 million.

Hyderabad, Aug. 18: Even as Pepsi and Coca-Cola filed petitions in the Kerala high court on Friday, challenging the state government’s ban on the manufacture and sale of their soft drinks, Pepsi said the company would be roping in scientists as brand ambassadors to endorse the purity of its carbonated drinks.

Coca-Cola is expected to follow suit. Rajeev Bakshi, chairman of Pepsi India Holdings, told reporters here on Friday that Pepsi will be launching the campaign with “scientists of international repute and credibility” who will talk about the purity of its drinks.

Earlier this month, the Centre for Science and Environment, a “public interest organisation”, alleged that its studies of tests 57 samples of 11 soft drink brands, from 25 different manufacturing plants of Coca-Cola and PepsiCo., had found a cocktail of 3-5 different pesticides in all samples. Mr Bakshi said Pepsi’s products are “absolutely safe”.

“We meet or exceed all applicable government standards, including those relating to agricultural pesticide residues, in every country in which we operate, including in India. Our products were completely safe three years ago when the India pesticide discussion first surfaced, and since then, we have increased testingon key ingredients,” he said.

Asked whether Pepsi was considering a lawsuit against CSE, Mr Bakshi replied in the negative. “There is no validated testing methodology for testing finished food products anywhere in the world. The government has indicated that it will come up with the norms for testing finished food products by April next year. We will comply with the norms when we are notified.”

Mr Bakshi said. “Violation of the PFA is a non-bailable offence. The government should check Pepsi’s products’ purity. If the pesticide residues are above 0.5 ppb, hang me,” Mr Bakshi said.

Mumbai. Aug. 18: ICICI Bank, has become the first Indian bank to issue Tier-I subordinated perpetual bonds in the international markets, where it has raised $340 million from the issue, which would augment its Tier-I capital base.

This translates to a spread of 247 basis points over a 10-year period of the US treasuries and below the tight-end of the initial price guidance, according to the company’s statement on Friday. The non-cumulative bonds carry a coupon rate of 7.25 per cent per annum and have evinced strong interest from investors worldwide. A total of 37 per cent of the securities were sold in the US, 30 per cent in Asia and 33 per cent in Europe.

Mumbai, Aug. 18: Within days of increasing prime lending and consumer loan rates, India’s leading bank State Bank of India on Friday announced a hike in interest rates on fixed deposits by up to 0.5 per cent — a move that is likely to be followed by others.

As per the revised rates, to come into effect from Saturday, fixed deposits would now attract a maximum of 8.5 per cent interest under super saver term deposit for senior citizens followed by 8 per cent interest under the same scheme for others.

This revision comes less than a month of the RBI hiking its short term transaction rates with banks (repo and reverse repo rates) by 0.25 per cent during the first quarter (2006-07) review of the credit policy that led to announcement by banks to increase their lending rates.

Mumbai, Aug. 18: The clinical research market in India is estimated to be $100 million and is expected to grow to $300 million by 2010, say industry experts. The easy availability of patient pool, diverse disease profiles in the patient population, an estimated cost savings of 50 per cent in Phase I studies and 60 per cent in Phase II and III studies are the major driving forces that bring India among one of the most-preferred Asian countries for R&D activities.

However, the Chinese pharmaceutical market is one of the fastest-growing in the world and it is estimated to be the fifth-largest by 2010 and third-largest by 2020. According to Mr Manoj Mehta, research associate, pharma and chemical division, Ficci, “India, which accounts for $20 million of outsourced research, is expected to grab total $2 billion business over the next decade.”

“India has a huge market (1.1 billion population), a high intellectual capital and capable work force, which makes the pharmaceutical industry more attractive,” he added. However, lack of resources to compete with MNCs for new drug discovery research and to commercialise molecules on a worldwide basis, along with lack of strong linkages between industry and academia and inadequate regulatory standards prove to be the weak link for the pharmaceutical R&D in the country.

“The solution lies with pro-active measures such as public-private partnerships and encouragement of R&D. Also, there is much to do in terms of addressing further regulatory and infrastructure challenges, where the industry will have to work closely and swiftly with the government to address these issues,” said Mr Mehta.

Hyderabad, Aug. 18: Eyeing a foothold in the growing pharma retail market, Hyderabad-based Optival Health Solutions (OHS) has firmed up plans to expand its chain of pharma stores, Aushadhi, to the national level with a presence in Bangalore, Mumbai, Pune and New Delhi.

Addressing a press conference here on Friday, Mr Madhukar Gangadi, the company CEO, said, “We have 53 Aushadhi stores in Hyderabad now and by September another 30 stores would come up in Bangalore. Thereafter, we would expand into the markets of Mumbai, Pune and New Delhi in four months and the short-term target is to have a presence in the top 10 cities of the country.” The privately held firm plans to spread out its network in the State too, covering all the 25 district headquarters in 30 days.

Having invested Rs 10 crores till now, Optival Health Solutions expects to close its second round funding by September which would add Rs 27 crores to the expansion kitty. The nascent pharma retail sector has been generating substantial interest in the industry as a result of which new players such as Pantaloon group, Manipal, have already announced their entry and the Ambanis, Zydus Cadilla and Dr Morepen, according to reports, are also considering a foray.

Right now, Aushadhi, Apollo, Medicine Shoppe and 98.4o are the existing players in the market which is expected to touch Rs 50,000 crores by 2010, according to an A.T. Kearney report. OHS has adopted the low-cost model of pharma retail wherein the company does not target locations where real estate prices are high. Although OHS had sales of Rs 12 crores from its existing network of stores, which have attained break-even levels, it expects to double that figure once its Bangalore operations begin.

OHS has launched a loyalty programme named ‘Senior Citizens Benefit Programme’ which gives a free card to senior citizens who walk into its stores. Cardholders will get a 13.4 per cent (net of 10 per cent on MRP) discount on purchase of medicines. This card will entitle cardholders to discounted prices on blood sugar testing.

It was one service that was truly novel, but apparently Boeing, the airplane manufacturer, hasn’t found it viable. The service in question being Connexion, Boeing’s in-flight Internet-access service. Boeing says that it has failed to build a market for high-speed Internet access on airplanes, despite spending “substantial time, resources and technology.”

The Internet access is provided via a hump-backed contraption on the top of the plane’s fuselage, connecting five wireless Local Area Network nodes throughout the cabin. The antenna is hooked into a geo-stationary satellite, which enabled Wi-Max laptops to hook into the Internet via the nearest “hotspot” in the cabin. Boeing says it would work with customers in phasing out the six-year-old Connexion service. Sad.

Wonder chip

And, now, get set for the introduction of a new WLAN-plus-Bluetooth chip, all in one neat package, in your mobile handsets, with Marvell, a provider of storage, communications, and consumer silicon solutions, saying that it has launched such a chip in a 90-nm CMOS. According to Marvell, the chips can also be used for for battery-powered media players, portable gaming consoles, smartphones, PDAs and ultra-low-power computing platforms.

It says that the WLAN-plus — Bluetooth solution has leading-edge integration, extensive host offload capability and advanced co-existence and power save modes — with a footprint of less than 80 mm3. The chip is expected to extend the battery life of consumer electronics devices, enabling a new level of mobile consumer broadband experience.

Software compatible

The Marvell 88W8688 represents five years of interaction with our customers and partners. It is a software compatible platform that will allow them to launch products that are varied in scope and application ranging from gaming to cameras to smartphones up to emerging converged products,” says Paramesh Gopi, vice-president and general manager of the embedded and emerging business unit, communications and consumer business group at Marvell.

“The Marvell 88W8688 marks our fourth generation complimentary wireless solution and offers an extremely competitive cost structure thereby enabling mass adoption of both technologies into all tiers of consumer electronics.” The Marvell 88W8688 builds on the company’s embedded Layer 2 (MAC) and Layer 3 software. The integration of Bluetooth 2.0 EDR — which is firmware upgradeable to Bluetooth 2.1 features — and WLAN subsystems on a single die allows fully optimised simultaneous dual radio operations.

Hyderabad, Aug. 18: It is official. Reliance Retail would launch its Rs 25,000 crore retail initiative from Hyderabad this September, as was reported by this newspaper last week.
Talking to the media on the sidelines of a CII conference in New Delhi on Friday, Reliance Retail president and Chief Executive (Operations and Strategy) Raghu Pillai said, “We will be opening our first store in Hyderabad in September and this will be a very large store with food, vegetables and staples.”

Reliance Retail first announced its plans in June this year and said that it would be listing the company subsequently. Reliance has already signed agreements with the West Bengal and Punjab governments, as it moves forward in tying up for procurements and roll out.

“We are in talks with quite a few State governments and cooperative chains for alliances,” Mr Pillai said. He said the company had plans to spread to other parts of the country “as soon as we can”. He, however, refused to divulge the number of stores the company was planning to have by yearend. “We are talking to a variety of brands and the entire thing will be finalised in the next six months.”

Mr Pillai said the Reliance Retail strategy would be to “take out extra costs from the supply chain” in order to offer products at competitive prices. As part of backward integration efforts to cut down costs, the company is looking at partnering companies, including consumer durables, for direct procurements.

New Delhi, Aug. 18: The Association of Unified Service Providers of India (AUSPI), an association of CDMA operators, didn’t attend the meeting called by the Telecom Regulator Authority of India (Trai) to sort out the issues concerning the price and the band of 3 generation mobile phones. There were reports of major differences between Tata and Reliance.

The meeting was called by Trai to sort out the differences between the CDMA and GSM operators over the band in which 3G spectrum should be allocated. “But now, according to sources, differences have come up within the CDMA lobby as Tata and Reliance have started asking for different prices and the AUSPI is divided,” said a source within Trai.