Zeenat Aman- Heart throbbing face of Indian Cinema

Tie Knots in Indian Cinema

Poking into past: Rajiv Gandhi

Young Rajiv Gandhi with his grandfather Jawaharlal Neheru and his mother Indra Gandhi.



Rajiv Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi as a newly married couple. Late PM and mother of Rajiv Indra Gandhi giving pose along with the couple.

Rajiv Gandhi along with his wife Sonia Gandhi.

Indian Premier League(IPL) playing in $ billion

IPL entire enterprise is valued at $2.01 billion, by Brand Finance, a London based consultancy. Brand Finance's methodology takes into account the following revenue lines: Broadcasting, IPL sponsorship, team sponsorship, merchandising and gate receipts, as well as the effect of performance, the catchment population of the city, the capacity of the players and the presence of the iconic players.
Shahrukh Khan's(bollywood actor) owned Kolkata Knight Riders may be struggling this IPL season, but in the terms of brand value it is the richest team of 20-20 tournament having $42.1 million valuation.
Whereas last year champion Rajasthan Royals, partly owned by another bollywood star Shipla Shetty has emerged as the best team in terms of return, having brand value of $39.5 million, standing at third position after Mumbai Indians at second position with $41.6 million.
"When determining our brand ratings we have paid particular attention the ability of the franchises to generate advertising revenue, as well as the potential size of their support base" Brand Finance's sports analyst Alexander Bird said.

Tech Mahindra won the bidding game

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India moving ahead as world's attractive destinations

India has moved up three places on the list of the world's attractive destinations, but is still at a low of 62nd position in the global ranking, which is topped by Switzerland, according to a report released by the World Economic Forum on Wednesday.

Switzerland is followed by Austria, Germany, France and Canada in the top five of the annual 'Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report' for 2009, which features a total of 133 countries.

India has moved up from its 65th position last year, but is still below its neighbour China, which has moved up to 43rd place from 52nd in 2008.

"India is ranked 11th in the (Asia-Pacific) region and 62nd overall, up three places since last year. As with China, India is well assessed for its natural resources (ranked 14th) and cultural resources (24th), with many World Heritage sites, both natural and cultural, rich fauna, and strong creative industries in the country," WEF said.

Navin Chawla as the country’s next CEC

President of India has appointed Mr.Naveen Chawla, EC as next CEC of India. Chawla is a retired IAS officer of 1969 batch, was appointed as Election Commission in May, 2005 and will serve in the poll panel till 2010.
Former IAS officer SY Quraishi is the other Commissioner in the three-member Election Commission.
Chawla, who at present is an Election Commissioner, will take over as the CEC from N Gopalaswami on April 21. Gopalaswami’s term as the head of the Election Commission expires on April 20. Elections are to be held in 5 phases, on April 16, 23, 30, May 7 and 13. Thus 4 phases of election will be held under the supervision of Chawla.
Chawla is a controversial face as he has been accused by the current CEC N Gopalaswami for being partial to the congress party. But President has rejected the report submitted by Gopalaswami against Chawla.
Within days of Gopalaswami's recommendation, Law Minister HR Bhardwaj had said that the controversy should not affect Chawla's career. Bhardwaj stated that the government had a policy to have the senior most Election Commissioner as the CEC and "our policy continues to be the same".
Also in 2006, L.K. Advani, the leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, and 204 members of Parliament had submitted a petition to then president A.P.J.Abdul Kalam, seeking the removal of Chawla as election commissioner.
So to prove himself right and unbiased, Chawla will have to conduct election in a right way.

Countdown begins for 15th Lok Sabha Election

The term of the 14^th Lok Sabha election will expire on 1^st June, 2009 and according to the Constitution of India, a new Lok Sabha should be constituted before 2^nd June, 2009.

On 2^nd March 2009, the Election Commission has announced the date for 15^th Lok Sabha election, starting on 16^th April and ending on 13^th May. Counting of votes will start on 16th May and is expected to complete on the same day. The date was announced by Chief Election Commissioner N. Gopalaswami, with EC Navin Chawla and S.Y.Quraishi.

The total electorate in the country after revision is approx 714 million compared to 671 million in 2004. This marks an increase of 43 million in the electorate.

In this election, there is a complete rectification in the alliances of political parties. In 14th Lok Sabha election there were two alliances i.e UPA and NDA, but with JD(S) chief H.D. Deve Gowda announcing the re-birth of the Third Front on 2nd March, the battle for the 15th Lok Sabha election has taken a new turn. Now horse race will be between 3 alliances this time. Wait and watch........

The following is the polling schedule for states announced by Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswami on March 2nd, 2009:

April 16 - Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir, Kerala, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Orissa, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Andaman and Nicobar Island, Lakshadweep.

April 23 - Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Goa, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Orissa, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand.

April 30 - Bihar, Gujarat, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Sikkim, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Dadar and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu.

May 7 - Bihar, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, westbengal and Delhi.

May 13 - Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Uttarakhand, Chandigargh and Puducherry