New Year Party held on 15 Jan 1010



New Year Party held on 15 jan 2010, because of muharram.. Ok my readers

Take Care

Will Vindu Dara Singh win ‘Bigg Boss 3′?


Many of those who have been regular followers of the third season of “Bigg Boss” feel film and TV actor Vindu Dara Singh will walk away with the title and Rs.10 million prize money on the popular reality show, the finale of which will be held in Lonavala Saturday.

“I think that Vindu will win this time because he is playing a fair game. He is quite a strong contender,” viewer Utpal Kumar posted on a blog site.

There are many others who feel he has been a smart player on the show. His father Dara Singh too feels the same.

“According to me, Vindu has played the game very well. For the rest, people have to understand it’s a competition and one has to outdo others in order to win. The public has seen everything and they will take the final call,” Dara Singh had told IANS.

Vindu was responsible for a lot of planning and plotting on the show and was even a part of verbal fights with actor Bakhtiyaar Irani and Sherlyn Chopra during the course of the show. But the popularity that he has gained over 84 days that he has stayed in “Bigg Boss”, might help him in winning the show.

However, a lot of people are also vouching for veteran actress Poonam Dhillon, who has maintained a clean demeanour on the show.

“Vindu maybe a very strong contender but last two seasons of ‘Bigg Boss’ have been won by male contestants, so this time it should be Poonam-ji,” posted another viewer Ratna Malik on a website.

“Poonam Dhillon is the right candidate to win ‘Bigg Boss’ and the reason is that she is looking as fresh today as day one. Her stamina is mind blowing. Poonam can win as she has played fair from beginning to this end. She has always tried to guide others, never misguided anyone…,” posted Girish Nandan, who has been following the show.

There are also those who feel model Pravesh Rana will take away the accolades, but many feel it would be unfair as he entered the show halfway.

The final verdict, based on public voting will be announced Saturday at an event in the presence of Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan, who has been the host of the current season.

When bad boy Salman turned into a moral science teacher!

Bollywood’s bad boy Salman Khan may not be the right person to become a moral science teacher but that did not stop him from giving a full length lecture.

According to latest news, the actor turned into an impromptu preacher and lectured little kids, who had bunked school to meet him. The actor was shooting in Panchgani for his home production film ‘Dabangg’, when the incident happened.

The actor is currently staying in a resort, which is close to a school. Salman’s stay was to be kept a secret but news spread like a wildfire and soon people flocked the place to catch a glimpse of the actor. Even school kids bunked classes to meet the star. According to a source, “Salman now knows that students have been climbing over the wall and probably bunking classes. Now he’s very particular about when and how they come to meet him.”

The actor is also giving the students tips on health and hygiene. “The students have been spending a lot of time with the star. The kids are now flocking to the resort in large numbers everyday. Salman talks to the students about physical training, health, diet and hygiene,” said the source.

Salman is perhaps looking for an alternative vocation, once his stint with Bollywood ends due to age and attitude. Good move, Sallu!

Salman Khan to spend birthday in Panvel


Salman Khan, who turns 44 today, is mixing personal and professional space on his birthday. Sources indicate that Katrina Kaif is at his Panvel farmhouse recuperating from her surgery, and Salman is expected to spend the day with her and his family. A family lunch is on and his sisters Arpita and Alvira are taking care of the birthday celebrations.

"Salman is a very private person on his birthday and doesn't like to meet many people. So like every year, this year too he will only give importance to his family," says a close friend.

Post lunch, Salman will head to his workstation as his forthcoming movie is set to release next month. Salman is starting a worldwide hunt for a daring soul whose bravery has managed to save a life or bring a critical crisis situation in control on his birthday. Another informer says, "Salman will spend the rest of the day on his computer uploading videos of bravery and anecdotes of people who think they have done acts of courage. Salman will then select the five winners who will get to meet him personally."

At night, Salman's close industry friends like David Dhawan, Govinda and others are expected to join him for dinner.

Wishing Salman Khan a very happy Birthday


There goes a popular saying 'If at all, there is heaven on earth, it is here, it is here, it is here'! A slight modification of this proverb will read as 'If at all, there is a heavenly soul on earth, it is him, it is him, it is him'! We are indeed referring to the one and only Salman Khan, who celebrates his Birthday today.

Talking even a word about Salman will be equivalent to holding torchlight before the blazing sun! For starters (if at all, there are any), Salman Khan is the name of the smashing dude who was born to the most illustrious man that Bollywood has ever produced: Salim Khan. Hailing from a filmi background, Bollywood was the, but obvious calling for this man, who chose to earn his 'stardom', rather than taking a cakewalk before the arclights! Even though Salman started off his career with humble beginnings in an average fare like Biwi Ho To Aisa, it was the eternal smash hit Maine Pyaar Kiya, that made him an overnight sensation and a household name. Post that, Salman went onto write and rewrite Box-Office history...on his own terms and in his impeccable style. Even though Salman Khan has everything going for him today, the USP of this man remains in the fact that he is still the down-to-earth guy, for the common man!

Katrina, Aamir are most downloaded Bollywood celebs


Katrina Kaif and Aamir Khan are the most downloaded Bollywood celebrities, according to Bahrti Airtel’s mobile phone usage survey.

The survey - Airtel Mobitude 2009 - captures the preference and choice of over 116 million mobile users located across India.

“Airtel Mobitude 2009 reflects the true choice of India. A mobile phone is considered by many as an intrinsic part of their daily life, be it a user in a small village or in a large town,” said Atul Bindal, President- Mobile Services, Bharti Airtel Ltd.

Katrina Kaif and Aamir Khan were the most downloaded celebrities on an Airtel mobile beating the likes of Kareena Kapoor, Salman and Shah Rukh Khan. Surprisingly, the survey also showcased that mobile users prefer to download a lot of Hollywood celebrities’ as much as Bollywood superstars.

Over 200 million music downloads were completed by Airtel users in 2009.

The Indian Cricket team still rules supreme in the popularity charts amongst (male) sports personalities. International tennis player Rafael Nadal completes the top five in this category. In the women sports category, Maria Sharapova was the most downloaded sports personality ahead of India’s Sania Mirza.

Travel succumbs to terrorism today on Northwest Airlines 253: Alerts heightened, 9/11 remembered

Tonight's terrorism attempt on Northwest Airlines flight 253 out of Amsterdam

and just before landing in Detroit with 278 passengers on board is no doubt a

scary, awful act. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, 23, reportedly told authorities

that he acted on behalf of Al-Quida instruction.

The Nigerian national allegedy set off an explosive mixture of powder and

liquid in an effort to bring down the A330-300 aircraft. Luckily, this

terrifying plan failed when Abdulmutallab tried to detonate the device.

Like many, when learning of the Christmas Day scare, 9/11/2001 immediately

came to mind. And like so many others, I felt there was nothing I could do

today and there was nothing I could do nine years ago when that horrible

terrorism plot brought untoward tragedy.

Steaming and scared, with no way I could help, I did what I do best: I wrote.

I wrote about my personal experience, about how I felt and where I was, and

how it affected me (I was on the road when it happened).

I talked to other travelers through my syndicated newspaper column, pleading

with them to never stop traveling but to always remember what happened.

So, to take my own advice, I am re-running that column here on Examiner.com.

Please give me any feedback as we continue to learn about random acts of

terrorism all the time, everywhere, what seems like every day, whether we are

at home or on a trip. Thank you.

Here's the column, called Business Travel Report:

Acts of terrorism won't keep us grounded

by Jane Lasky, Business Travel Report


September 13, 2001: Putting business travel out of my mind, I left with my

husband and two teenaged boys in our Taurus wagon for a road trip to Reno in

early September. We played I spy, we sang familiar tunes, we ate lots of junk

food and we laughed and bickered about silly things. Once there, we picked up

my Mom and headed straight for the mountains.

Monday night was spent in sheer bliss at a luxury Hyatt resort, surrounded by

the Sierra Nevadas and a kind of peacefulness none of us city dwellers can

conjure up when we're in the thick of it. Armed with flashlights, the kids

walked down to a private beach to look for sea treasures while we the adults

reminisced long into the night.

I have not slept so soundly in quite some time, and now I am sure it will be a

long time again before I can. My husband drew me out of a dream and into a

nightmare as he made me aware of the horrific happenings in Manhattan the

morning of Sept. 11.

Shocked, I snapped on the TV and watched a landmark building I have memorized

both from the air and from the ground disintegrate into enormous heaps of

crumbled cement and steel. A diehard New Yorker who has not had an address

there for nearly 20 years, my heart stopped as an address I knew so well was

receiving such devastation.

This had to be some sort of movie, a Hollywood tale of destruction. Trying not

to watch, but finding it impossible not to, I witnessed replay after replay of

passenger jets turned lethal weapons hitting their targets. When word came

that the Pentagon was also prey, and then later that another plane had gone

down in Pennsylvania, I an unwilling witness to a succession of

incomprehensible crimes that could never be explained.

My computer became my companion as I reached out to my best friend back home,

to a dear colleague in New York who works near the Empire State building and

to a longtime friend in Washington, D.C. We compared notes from our vantage

points as we worried about each other and all our other loved ones, many of

whom we hadn't been able to locate yet.

After an exhausting exchange, we all came to the same conclusion: That this

senseless tragedy would not curtail neither our need nor our zest for travel.

In due time it would be business as usual when we would be back in the air,

going everywhere for every reason, business and otherwise. We had no doubt

that those evil terrorists would neither keep us grounded nor would they

ground our spirits - not now, not ever.

Retailers Shift to Post-Holiday Deals to Lure Buyers

U.S. retailers extended discounts on computers, toys and clothes beyond Christmas to lure consumers who held out for lower prices and have gift cards to redeem.

Starting online yesterday, Best Buy Co. trimmed the price of a Dell Studio 17-inch notebook computer to $699.99 from $779.99. Toys “R” Us Inc. shoppers who buy a Nintendo Wii video game can buy a second game for half price.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which started cutting holiday toy prices Sept. 30, is trying to keep consumers coming back by offering a $50 gift card on purchases of Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox 360 players through Jan. 1. Promotions intensified after last weekend’s East Coast snowstorm hurt sales going into Christmas.

“We are going to be very aggressive, we’ve been aggressive all season,” Toys “R” Us Chief Executive Officer Jerry Storch said by telephone Dec. 23 from Wayne, New Jersey, where the largest U.S. toy chain is based.

Best Buy, based in Richfield, Minnesota, fell 6 cents to $40.70 on Dec. 24 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. Bentonville, Arkansas-based Walmart climbed 28 cents to $53.60.

The Washington-based National Retail Federation was holding to its forecast for a 1 percent drop in holiday sales, Ellen Davis, a spokeswoman, said Dec. 20. The International Council of Shopping Centers reiterated on Dec. 22 its forecast for a 2 percent increase in sales at stores open at least a year in December, after reporting that the storm slowed growth to 0.4 percent year over year in the week ended Dec. 19.

Out With a Bang?

“We expect a strong Dec. 26 shopping day since it falls on Saturday this year, which should close out December with a bang,” Lisa Walters and Sapna Shah, principals of Retail Eye Partners, a New York-based research firm, wrote in a report. “We expect early-morning specials and compelling offers by retailers to boost selling levels to make up for the slower start to December.”

Target Corp.’s offerings included a set of six wine glasses for $8.98, marked down from $17.99 and reduced the price of a cotton-blend argyle women’s sweater to $17.50 from $25.

Stephanie Ruiz, 41, stopped at the Target store in Alexandria, Virginia, to pick up some gifts that last weekend’s snowstorm prevented her from buying.

Snowed In

“We were snowed in for two days and could not leave the house,” she said. “At that point we decided to just wait for after-Christmas sales.”

Ruiz, who was shopping for clothes, movies and gift cards, checked online to make sure the items she wanted were available at the store before setting out, she said.

Fifty-five percent of mothers who shop at Walmart said they like to receive gift cards over the holidays because it allows them to shop the after-Christmas savings, according to a survey conducted by BIGresearch this month. Two out of five moms planning to use their gift cards right away say they will shop right after Christmas to get the best prices.

Saks Inc., the New York-based luxury retailer, said it was offering up to 70 percent off from 8 a.m. to noon today, after which the discounts will revert to 40 percent.

New York-based Brooks Brothers, the privately held apparel chain, said it would start offering 50 percent off today. J.C. Penney Co. said it would open stores at 5 a.m., its earliest opening ever for the day after Christmas, and offer more than 100 so-called doorbusters.

Waiting Game

Over the next week, Jos. A. Bank Clothiers Inc., a men’s clothing chain, will continue emphasizing price reductions of regular merchandise, more than marking down clearance goods, CEO Neal Black said.

“You’ll see a lot of retailers, including us, with very strong offers the week after Christmas,” Black, 54, said Dec. 22 by telephone from the company’s headquarters in Hampstead, Maryland. “We’re looking for people who waited until after Christmas to see if there’s even lower prices. People get enticed to spend gift cards when you’ve got good offers.”

Black declined to disclose Jos. A. Bank’s post-Christmas promotional plans. The week before Christmas, it deepened discounts to at least 50 percent on all clothing after the snowstorm hurt sales.

The retailer’s shares fell 17 cents to $42.82 on Dec. 24 on the Nasdaq Stock Market. Saks lost 12 cents to $6.78 in New York Stock Exchange trading. Plano, Texas-based J.C. Penney dropped 29 cents to $27.02. Target, based in Minneapolis, declined 20 cents to $48.65.

‘Savvier Than Ever’

The Dec. 19 storm dumped 24 inches of snow on Bethesda, Maryland, and 23.2 inches at Philadelphia International Airport, according to the National Weather Service.

Sales fell 13 percent to $6.9 billion on the last Saturday before Christmas from the previous year, according to Chicago- based researcher ShopperTrak RCT Corp. A year ago, that was the second-biggest shopping day after Black Friday, the day after U.S. Thanksgiving.

“Shoppers have been savvier than ever when it comes to price and promotion this holiday season,” Retail Eye’s Walters and Shah wrote. “Promotions have still been needed to get shoppers in.”