Cong hits back, says BJP is misleading nation

New Delhi: The Congress on Tuesday attacked the BJP for ridiculing UPA government's report card as"propaganda", saying the main Opposition party is trying to mislead the nation."They (BJP) are trying to mislead the nation. What else can you expect from the BJP, whose national president (Bangaru Luxman) was caught on camera accepting cash during the NDA's rule," party spokesperson Shakeel Ahmed told reporters

UPA plans social security fund for unorganised sector

New Delhi: The government is thinking of setting up a National Social Security Fund with an initial corpus of Rs. 1,000 crore for workers in the unorganised sector, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Tuesday.

"We are also considering the establishment of a National Social Security Fund with an initial corpus of Rs. 1,000 crore for unorganised sector workers," he said in his opening remarks while releasing a report on the government's performance in the first year of its second term.

Mamata turns Left to down, humbles Cong in Bengal

Kolkata: The Trinamool Congress on Wednesday crushed West Bengal's ruling Left Front in civic polls seen as a trial run to next year's make-or-break assembly election, wresting the prestigious Kolkata Municipal Corporation and scores of urban municipalities in the state.

As thousands of Trinamool activists cheered their leader and Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee in Kolkata and scores of towns, the party demanded an immediate assembly election saying the Left had lost the right to rule West Bengal. A shaken Left rejected the demand. The state's urban voters gave the thumbs down to the Left, which suffered a humiliating defeat although the major opposition parties, the Trinamool Congress and the Congress, failed to come to an electoral understanding

Mayavathi: Tall star in Politics

BSP President and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati arriving at Ambedkar Samajik Parivartan Sthal to pay tribute to B R Ambedkar on his 119 th birth anniversary in Lucknow

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati being welcomed by party workers as she arrives at Ambedkar Samajik Parivartan Sthal to pay floral tributes to B R Ambedkar on his 119th birth anniversary

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati waving to the crowds after addressing a gathering at Ambedkar Samajik Parivartan Sthal on the occasion of B R Ambedkar's 119th birth anniversary

BSP workers celebrate the 119th birth anniversary of B R Ambedkar at Ambedkar Samajik Parivartan Sthal

Congress leaves Pawar to fend for himself

As Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar found himself in the midst of IPL controversy, Congress today left him to fend for himself amid opposition demands for his resignation.
"Sharad Pawar is a valuable ally. These questions you have to put to him in all fairness," Congress spokesman Abhishek Singhvi told reporters in response to a volley of questions over BJP demand for the NCP leader's resignation from the ministry. The BJP demand came as Pawar and his daughter Supriya Sule, Member of Parliament, faced allegations that they were stakeholders in a company that made a failed IPL bid for the Pune team.
Pawar has denied his or his family's association with the bid and said the Citi Corp company's Managing Director Aniruddha Deshpande had done so in his individual capacity.
Asked whether any top executive of a company could bid for IPL in his individual category or if some changes have been made in the eligibility criteria, Singhvi said "I am not going to change my comment. You have to ask the person concerned. Why don't you ask him?"
The Congress spokesman refused to say anything further, pointing out the probe by the government was already on.

Cong announces nomination of Ambika, Kidwai for Rajya Sabha polls

Congress on Friday announced the candidature of Union Minister Ambika Soni from Punjab and its General Secretary Mohsina Kidwai from Chhattisgarh for the biennial elections to the Rajya Sabha but there was no word yet on another Union Minister Anand Sharma.
The party also nominated former Union Minister and in charge of the Central Election Committee of the party Oscar Fernandes from Karnataka.
Sharma, who hails from Himachal Pradesh and whose term in the Rajya Sabha has already come to an end, may be nominated from either Rajasthan or Madhya Pradesh, party sources said. A final decision is likely any time, they said.He should get elected to retain his place in the Union Cabinet.Four other candidates re-nominated included Vijay Darda from Maharashtra, Dheeraj Prasad Sahu from Jharkhand and EMS Natchiappan from Tamil Nadu, an AICC statement said.AICC secretary Avinash Pandey, who had unsuccessfully fought the Rajya Sabha elections from Maharashtra about two years back against industrialist Rahul Bajaj, is the second candidate from Maharashtra.At that time, Bajaj, who contested as an independent candidate, was backed by NCP, Shiv Sena and BJP.Yesterday, the party had announced the renomination of Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh and other three sitting Rajya Sabha MPs -- J D Seelam, V Hanumantha Rao and Nedurumalli Janardhana Reddy -- from Andhra Pradesh.


Elections are being held for 55 Upper House seats. While voting for 49 seats from 12 states will take place on June 17, polling for six seats from Andhra Pradesh will be held on June 14.



Elections are being held for the 55 Rajya Sabha seats. While voting for 49 seats of 12 states will take place on June 17, polling for six seats from Andhra Pradesh will be held on June 14.



Election will also be held for the remaining term of a seat from Rajasthan which fell vacant due to the death of Krishan Lal Balmiki. His term was up to April 3, 2012.



The elections will be held for 11 seats in Uttar Pradesh, six each in Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, five in Bihar, four each in Karnataka and Rajasthan, three each in Orissa and Madhya Pradesh, two each in Chhattisgarh, Punjab and Jharkhand and one in Uttarakhand.



Among the prominent retiring members are Arun Shourie, Venkaiah Naidu and Anil Dave (all BJP), Oscar Fernandes, B K Hariprasad, Mohsina Kidwai, EMS Natchiappan (all Congress), Anbumani Ramadoss (PMK), Jaya Bachchan (SP), Rahul Bajaj (Ind), George Fernandes (JD-U), Sanjay Raut (Shiv Sena), Pyarimohan Mahapatra (BJD), S C Mishra (BSP), Tariq Anwar (NCP).

Jago Jagan, Wake up!

June 4th, 2010

By Priyak Mitra

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Buzz up!

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The only thing Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy highlighted by his outburst against Chief Minister K. Rosaiah was his political immaturity and the fact that he still has a long way to go before he can fill his late father’s shoes.
The Mahbubabad violence took place in the first place because Jagan went ahead with his odarpu yatra despite getting clear signals from the Congress high command to put it off.
The violence can be better explained by the young MP’s “over ambitious politics” and his opposition to the division of the state rather than by any un-preparedness on the chief minister’s part. Rather than playing blame games and holding the chief minister responsible for the violence, Jagan needs to introspect on what went wrong during the yatra and where.
With his decision to continue with the odarpu yatra, Jagan is also alienating himself with the party high command.
The Kadapa MP had to eat humble pie as within hours of his press conference in Delhi stating that the Congress leadership had given him the “go ahead”, AICC in-charge of state affairs, Veerappa Moily, had to clarify that he did not tell Jagan to continue with the yatra. To make matters worse, even his “loyalists” are miffed with him for his anti-Rosaiah stance.
Whereas Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy slowly worked up the political ladder and took 25 years to reach where he was at the time of his death, Reddy junior seems to be in a hurry and wants to “fast-track” his political career. He is yet to learn that the journey up the ladder of politics and power is not always easy. Power comes with loyalty, service, charisma, dedication and most importantly, patience.
Jaganmohan Reddy’s political ambitions were abundantly clear even before the last rites of his father were completed. The party high-command’s decision of appointing K. Rosaiah at the helm after YSR’s death did not obviously go down well with Jagan but he decided to play along thinking it was a temporary arrangement.
With it now being clear that Rosaiah’s appointment is not a “stop-gap arrangement”, his odarpu yatra to console the kin of those who died of shock after hearing the news of YSR’s death comes across as a desperate measure.
The resistance of pro-Telangana activists to the yatra is Jagan’s own making. He had joined Telegu Desam MPs in Parliament, rushing to the Well of the House in support of an united Andhra Pradesh. He had been asked by the Congress high command to put off the yatra, but he did not pay heed. The violence that ensued in Mahbubabad
not only put the Congress in bad light but also gave a shot-in-the arm to the Telangana Rasthra Samithi.
It’s time Jagan steps into his father’s shoes, wins over the confidence of all groups and sections and only then enter the race for the CM’s gaddi.

Congress High command : hand in hand with YSR Son Jagan

Vundavalli’s mission ‘Patch-up Rosaiah and Jagan’

 

Vundavalli Arun Kumar,  is now a man with a mission. Fondly called the loud mouth of the congress party, he is desperately trying to broker peace between YS Jagan MOhan Reddy and Rosaiah at the behest of Sonia Gandhi. According to reports, the congress High Command has unofficially deputed him to cool down the tensions between Jagan and Rosaiah as he is with both the parties.

In this process, he is probably one of the few congress leaders who came in support of Jagan and claimed that the issue between Jagan and Rosaiah is very small.

This move by the Congress High Command comes as a relief for Jagan, for it indicates that Sonia Gandhi has not lost her faith in Jagan.

According Sources Congress High Command is well awre of all the Opponents of slained leader Dr YSR and their tactis over the tall leaders family.

in the past Congress nevel left any family un attended who shed thier blood for the party cause. it was Dr YSR who was the back bone of resurgence of Congress I in all south states in particular with AP after PV Narsimharao, Kotal vijay bhasker reddy who indirectly helped TDP to come to power.

it was PV narsimharao who allowed NTR down fall and raise of NCB Naidu.

happy birth day to priyamani

Housefull: review

Anupama Chopra reviews: Housefull
(Comedy)

Cast: Akshay Kumar, Deepika Padukone, Jiah Khan, Lara Dutta, Riteish Deshmukh, Arjun Rampal Music: Shankar Mahadevan/Ehsaan Noorani/Loy Mendonca Director: Sajid Khan

In Housefull, director Sajid Khan has only one purpose: he wants to make you laugh. Does he accomplish this? Not often enough.

Housefull belongs to the same school of comedy that gave us Welcome, No Entry, Golmaal and All the Best. There is no craft or narrative or characterisation to speak of.

Random events and characters, lies and misunderstandings, serve to create a low-IQ comedy.

Perhaps Sajid has a bigger budget than Rohit Shetty. So, the stars are A-list and instead of Goa, the locations are London and Italy. But the comedy is the same: broad, farcical and mostly dim-witted.

Which in itself is not a bad thing. There are plenty of cheap laughs to be mined from people slapping each other.

But Housefull, about the misadventures of a singularly unlucky man named Aarush, played by Akshay Kumar, is exhaustingly inconsistent. There are a few laugh-out loud moments here and some sparkling asides. I found Lillette Dubey’s over-sexed Urdu spouting widow and an exchange on night suit pajamas very funny.

There is also a great answering machine message that Boman Irani playing the farsan king Batuk Patel has on his phone. It simply says: Beep pacchi Bako.

But Sajid, who also wrote the film, strains too hard to add humour to every frame. He resorts to the usual gay and Gujarati gags. The film feels laboured and many of the jokes, like Chunky Pandey as a half Italian named Aakhri Pasta, are flatter than Deepika Padukone’s stomach.

Sajid, who prides himself on being a voracious film watcher, has also cheerfully copied moments from films like Night In The Museum and The Hangover.

We even have Arjun Rampal re-creating Robert De Niro’s over-watchful intelligence officer from Meet the Parents.

Strangely, Sajid also bungs in moments of high emotion but it’s impossible to take these characters seriously. The half-a-dozen leads here all seem to be having a good time.

Akshay Kumar works well as the ace loser. He seems to have perfected the sincere geek act and he has a nice chemistry with Ritesh Deshmukh who plays his best friend.

For the women, the biggest challenge is wearing resort wear well and they carry it off with aplomb. But eventually, the writing in Housefull is too mediocre and the film is, at best, a below average entertainer. Keep your expectations low and see it if you

Raajneeti: Moview review

Raajneeti
(Political Drama)

Friday, June 04, 2010

Cast: Nana Patekar, Ajay Devgn, Ranbir Kapoor, Manoj Bajpai, Naseeruddin Shah and Katrina Kaif Music: Pritam Chakraborty, Aadesh Shrivastav, Shantanu Moitra, Wayne Sharp Director: Prakash Jha Producer: Ronnie Screwvala

Raajneeti, writer-director Prakash Jha’s sprawling portrait of a political family, is a mixed bag. The film has moments of ferocious power and just as many flaws.

The narrative has a propulsive movement in the first half but becomes dramatically inert in the second. Jha, who has fought elections in Bihar himself, creates a real sense of the machinations and sordid deals that fuel politics but then hobbles it with outlandish twists and some decidedly ‘filmy’ moments – like a ridiculous love-making scene that is triggered because the characters get wet in the rain.

Apparently getting soaked in Bollywood still equals sex. And, as almost all the female characters in this film find out, having sex even one time, still equals babies.

The performances are strong—especially Ranbir Kapoor, Arjun Rampal and Nana Patekar—but the characters are largely one-note.

There has been much hype about Katrina Kaif learning lengthy Hindi dialogue for the film. She’s clearly worked hard but her luminous looks rather than acting are still her trump card.
Raajneeti is a film with ambition and scale but it works in fits and spurts. Jha’s political epic is too busy and bumpy and never quite fulfils the potential inherent in the story.

Raajneeti sources as much from The Godfather as it does from the Mahabharata. So we have sets of cousins whose rivalry spills into the open as soon as the head of the family suffers a stroke.

The film begins with a back-story of Sooraj Kumar, the Karna-like figure played by Ajay Devgn. Abandoned at birth, Sooraj is adopted by a Dalit family.

In quick succession, so many characters are introduced that Jha uses a voice-over to explain who is connected to whom and what the political affiliations are. It takes a good 15 minutes to take in the details and place the characters but the story-telling is engaging and soon you’re caught up with this Machiavellian family in which the plotting begins even as the father is still being treated by doctors. As the stakes get higher, the moves get bloodier.

Eventually, Samar Pratap, the Michael Corleone figure played by Ranbir Kapoor, the young brother who is working on a PhD on Victorian poetry, gets sucked into the murderous struggle for power.
Until here, Jha and his co-writer Anjum Rajabali tell the story with assurance and flair. But then the momentum dips and the intrigues become less and less interesting. Critically, Samar’s conversion to a ruthless murderer isn’t convincing. One minute he’s the student and the next, he, like everyone else is trigger-happy with bombs and guns.

Jha even borrows The Godfather’s famous severed horse-head scene.

Only here, a politician wakes up to find his male lover’s throat slit. Sadly, the gut-wrenching twist, when Kunti reveals to Karna that he is her son and therefore warring with his own brothers, is not done very effectively.

For the true power and emotion of that moment, watch Shyam Benegal’s Kalyug, in which the Mahabharata is transported to a business milieu. Shashi Kapoor who plays the Karna figure crumples slowly as he becomes aware of his own tragedy.

In its second hour, Raajneeti lets go of logic. We know that politics is an amoral, brutal cesspool but even so, leading politicians themselves murdering their rivals on a street in broad daylight is a bit of a stretch.

In a climactic shoot-out, we even have a perverted version of the Gita sermon in which the Krishna figure, played by Nana Patekar, insists on cold-blooded murder. Come on, finish them, he says.

Of course there is no one to root for in this gallery of rogues but more troublesome is the specious morality of the film. After a few feeble apologies, Samar Pratap finds a semblance of redemption.

Eventually then, Raajneeti is as exhausting as it is compelling.

Read more at: http://movies.ndtv.com/movie_Review.aspx?id=518&ShowID=550&cp

Kites: Hindi movie review

Kites Preview
A love story that crosses borders and linguistic barriers, Kites is a tale of romance between an Indian guy and a Mexican beauty. Starring Hrithik Roshan and Barbara Mori in lead roles, the movie is directed by Anurag Basu and produced by Rakesh Roshan . The film has Hrithik playing a man named J, who once used to be a clever, street smart, charming guy, but is now a wanted man. To add to his woes he's left to die in the scorching heat of the Mexican desert. Only one desire keeps him alive, to find the woman he loves. That woman is Natasha (Barbara Mori). She is engaged to another man, but that makes no difference to J. If loving her brings down loads of troubles on him, J would happily bear it all. What is the fate of this love story where the lovers don't even speak each other's languages? While she talks in Spanish, he speaks Hindi with a smattering of English. Kangana Ranaut completes the love triangle by adding another angle to the Hrithik-Barbara love story. The film has some breath-taking dances from Hrithik, Barbara and Kangana. The choreography in these songs is by Flexy Stu, a renowned American choreographer. For one song shot in Mumbai, Farah Khan did the choreography.

Country : India
Movie color: Color
Language: Hindi
Genre: Romance / Action / Thriller
Release Date: May 21 2010
Banner: Film Kraft

Vedam: Telugu movie review

Vedam movie is the most recent presentation of Radhakrishna Jagarlamudi in Telugu which is releasing today in the Cinema Halls. Vedam’s producer is Yarlagadda Shobhu & Devineni Prasad.

Vedam Movie Review: In the movie review of Vedam, the film is based on the story of Allu, a cable worker, who always wears the cable wire on his shoulders with an unusual appeareance. Vedam is a combination of 5 separate stories and every tale related to 5 chief characters. Manoj Bajpai (Bollywood actor) is too performing a vital role but his counterpart is not much known. Allu Arjun, who in lead role, does the job of a cable operator. The performance of an upcoming actor is doing by Manoj Manchu (Vija Chakravarthy) & Anushka Shetty performed the role of a prostitue named Saroja.
Vedam movie Music: The music is presentated by M M Keeravani and lyrics writer for the Vedam movie is Sirivennela Seetarama Sastry, Sahiti, ES Murthy & Keeravani.
Vedam movie Final Words: Vedam film was promoted in this manner as the producers are attempting to do price cutting and assuming the movie to be in hit category on the basis of Allu Arjun. But the result of movie in hit or flop box will be determined by the viewers response.

Read more: http://www.dailylatestnews.com/2010/06/04/vedam-movie-review-combination-of-5-different-stories-025850#ixzz0preC9Sr8

Congress go-ahead for yatra, says Jagan

In the eye of a storm ever since he defied the high command, the Congress MP, Mr Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, on Tuesday claimed the party has given the "go-ahead" to him to continue with his tour of Telangana region and that all issues have been sorted out.


After meeting the law minister, Mr Veerappa Moily, the 37-year-old MP from Kadapa in Andhra Pradesh, said he would continue with his yatra.

Mr Jagan Mohan said he had told Mr Moily that the yatra was apolitical and aimed at visiting the families of those who had died of shock or had allegedly committed suicide after hearing the news of his father Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy's death.

"He (Moily) has given a go-ahead. He told me to go and continue with whatever I am doing.

Jagan claims all is well, will continue his tour

New Delhi: Congress MP Jaganmohan Reddy on Tuesday met Union Law Minister and Andhra Pradesh Congress in-charge Veerappa Moily in New Delhi and claimed that all the issues between him and the party have been sorted out.

Moily asked Jagan to explain why he went ahead with his 'Odarpu Yatra' despite the Congress high command's diktat not to undertake the yatra (tour). Speaking to the media after the meeting Jagan said that everything was fine now.

"The meeting went very well and everything has been sorted out. There is no problem whatsoever. All misunderstandings have been cleared," said jagan.
The Congress MP said that he would continue with his 'Odarpu Yatra'.
"He (Moily) has given the go ahead to go and continue what I am doing," he said.
He is likely to continue his tour in the Andhra and Rayalaseema region of the state, but has been asked to stay away from Telangana till the by-elections for 12 Vidhan Sabha seats of the region which are to be held in a couple of months.
Sources also say Jagan has been asked not to break law and order, and to ensure that there is no problem for the common people. He has also been asked to help Congress win Rajya Sabha elections in the state.

He has been asked to strengthen the party and not do anything which will help the opponents.
Jagan had defied the party high command's diktat to refrain from his tour to Telangana areas apparently to meet and console the families of those who allegedly committed suicide or died of shock over the death of his father YS Rajasekhara Reddy.
Jagan had on Monday clarified that he would not leave the Congress party.
"There is no question of me leaving the Congress. I will remain in the party. I will request the party to allow me to continue the yatra. I don't think that any disciplinary action will be taken against me. I have not done anything wrong," Jagan told to press
Fearing a cross-vote from Jagan's loyalists in the Rajya Sabha elections, Sonia Gandhi has already requested Praja Rajyam chief Chiranjeevi to withdraw from the race for Rajya Sabha elections in Andhra.