Actor Karthi Sivakumar

Karthi(DOB May 25,1977)son of  Actor Sivakumar and Younger Brother of Actor Suriya,is a Tamil Film Actor who made his film debut in 'Paruthiveeran'(2007)which was a boxoffice superhit and also critically acclaimed.

 

 

For 'Paruthiveeran' Karthi got -
Filmfare Award for Best Actor
''Vijay Awards'' for Best Debut Actor
TN State Film Award for ''Special Prize - Actor''

Karthi's 2nd film was 'Aayirathil Oruvan'(2010) Directed by Selvaraghavan starring Karthi,Reema Sen,Andrea and Parthiepan in the lead roles(Parthiepan won the Best Supporting Actor Award from Filmfare Awards)

 

Karthi's 3rd film was 'Paiyaa'(2010) Produced and Directed by Lingusamy starring Karthi and Tamannaah in the lead role was a big blockbuster hit.

Karth's 4th film was 'Naan Mahaan Alla'(2010)Directed by Suseenthiran starring Karthi and Kajal Agarwal in the lead roles was a box office hit and also critically acclaimed for the story and its narration.

 

Karthi's 5th film was 'Siruthai'(2011)a remake of the Telegu Film 'Vikramarkudu' (Directed by S S Rajamouli starring  Ravi Teja and Anushka Shetty in the lead roles)starring Karthi(in dual roles)and Tamannaah in the lead roles alongwith Comedian Santhanam was a big blockbuster hit.The film was Directed by Siva and the film received positive response from the critics.The Film 'Siruthai was Produced by 'Studio Green' - Gnanavel Raja

 

 

Karthi's 6th film was 'Saguni'(2012)Directed by Shankar Dhayal starring Karthi,Pranitha,Santhanam, Prakash Raj,Nassar,Kota Srinivasa Rao,Radhika,Roja.The film 'Saguni' though a commercial potboiler did not receive positive response from the critics even though the box office collections were good

 

Director M Sasikumar

Atal Bihari Vajpayee

Atal Bihari Vajpayee(DOB Dec 25,1924)served as a Non Congress Prime Minister of India 3 times -

 1) In the 1996 General Elections , the BJP emerged as the single largest party in the Lok Sabha and the then President Shankar Dhayal Sharma  invited Vajpayee to form the government . Vajpayee was sworn in as the 11th Prime Minister of India, but the BJP failed to muster enough support from other parties to obtain a majority. He resigned after just 13 days, when it became clear that he could not garner a majority.

Director Samuthirakkani

P. Samuthirakani is a Tamil Film Actor and Director.Samuthirakkani has acted in several films and is best known for his performances in Subramaniapuram(2008) and Easan(2010)  both Directed by M Sasikumar.
  
 TV Series Career
Samuthirakkani has done two TV Series -
1)Anni(2003) and
2)Arasi(2005)

Acting Carrer
Samuthirakkani has done small roles in several films like -'Parthale Paravasam'(2001);Poi(2006);Paruthiveeran(2007) and the major breakthrough came in the films 'Subramaniapuram'(2008) followed by Easan(2010)both Directed by M Sasikumar.
 
Direction Career
Samuthirakkani  worked as an assistant to Director K Balachander.

Samuthirakkani worked as an assistant to Director Ameer for the film 'Paruthiveeran'(2007)

Made his Direction Debut in the film'Unnai Charanadaindhen'(2003)Produced by S P B Charan starring Venkat Prabhu,S P.B Charan and Meera Vasudevan playing the lead roles fetched him the TN State Film Award for Best Scriptwriter.

Samuthirakkani's 2nd Direction Film was ' Neranja Manasu'(2004)with Vijayakanth as the Hero but the film was not a success.  

Samuthirakkani's 3rd Direction Film was 'Naadodigal'(2009)with Director Sasikumar playing the lead role alongwith Actor Jai.The film was ommercially a big success and also was critically acclaimed.Naadodigal fetched Samuthirakkani the Best Director Award from ''Vijay Awards''

Samuthirakkani's 4th DirectionFilm was 'Shambo Shiva Shambo'(2010) a Telegu film starring Ravi Teja Allari Naresh,Priya Mani and Abhinaya in the lead roles.The film was the re-make of the Tamil Film 'Naadodigal'

Samuthirakkani's 5th Direction Film was 'Porali'(2011)with Director Sasikumar playing the lead role.The film fetched Samuthirakkani the Best Dialogue Writer Award from ''Vijay Awards''

                                                                                                               

 

          

Pune Blasts - Wednesday Aug 01,2012

Four coordinated low-intensity explosions struck the busy arterial J.M. Road in the heart of Pune on Wednesday night  at spots -
near the Balgandharva Theatre,
a Dena Bank branch,
a McDonald food outlet and
 the Garware Bridge on the road

 

 

The blasts have taken place within an area of 500 metres and within a span of 45 minutes and it appears to be a coordinated act.

Unconfirmed reports said ammonium nitrate could have been the substance used in the blast triggered by small detonators and pencil cells.

Maharashtra Home Minister R.R. Patil on Thursday Aug 02,2012 said investigating agencies were probing  to determine whether any terror outfit was behind the low intensity serial bomb blasts.

The Centre on Thursday described the near simultaneous explosions in Pune as a planned and coordinated act.Union Home Secretary R.K. Singh said forensic experts were examining the two unexploded IEDs and nature of the four blasts.

Raksha Bandhan - Thursday August 03,2012

Raksha Bandhan, (the bond of protection) or Rakhi, or is a festival primarily observed in India and Nepal which celebrates the relationship between brothers and sisters.

The central ceremony involves the tying of a rakhi (sacred thread) by a sister on her brother's wrist. This symbolizes the sister's love and prayers for her brother's well-being, and the brother's lifelong vow to protect her.The festival is marked by the tying of a rakhi, or holy thread, which comes in many colors and designs, by the sister on the wrist of her brother.

The brother in return offers a gift to his sister and vows to look after her as she presents sweets to him. The brother usually presents his sister with an envelope filled with money however, other presents such as saris and clothing can be given.

The festival falls on the Full Moon Day(Shravan Poornima) of the Shravan Month of the Hindu Month of the Hindu Lunisolar Calendar.

Raksha Bandhan  grew in popularity after Rani Karnavati, the Widowed Queen of Chittoor, sent a Rakhi to the Mughal Emperor Humayun  when she required his help.

Economy of India

After the independence in 1947 Indian economy  was inspired by the Soviet Union Model of Economic Development, with a large Public Sector, High Import Duties Combined with Interventionists Policies.
India adopted free market principles and liberalized its economy to international trade under Man Mohan Singh  who then was the Finance Minister under the leadership of P V Narasimha Rao,the 9th Prime Minister of India(1991-96)  who eliminated the License Raj( a pre- and post-British Era mechanism of strict government control on setting up new industry)

P. Chidambaram is back as Finance Minister - Tuesday July 31,2012

P. Chidambaram(66) is back as Finance Minister, for the third time.An official communiqué, issued said P.Chidambaram would be reallocated the Finance portfolio, while Sushil Kumar Shinde(71) will take charge of the Home Ministry.
Further, Veerappa Moily, Minister of Corporate Affairs, has been assigned additional charge of the Ministry of Power. 

The reshuffle of portfolios had been necessitated by the exit of Pranab Mukherjee, who held the portfolio of finance ministry before getting elected as the President. Pranab Mukherjee resigned as the finance minister on June 26,2012 and since then the Prime Minister Man Mohan Singh himself was looking after the portfolio.


Homecoming for PC in Finance Ministry
1)PC first became Finance Minister in 1996 and held this post till 1998
2)when the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) won in 2004, he was given the Finance portfolio. However, in the aftermath of the terror attack in Mumbai, he had to hand over the charge to Mr Pranab Mukherjee on Nov 30, 2008 before moving to the Home Ministry. 

Hockey Events at London 2012 Olympics - July 29 - Aug 11,2012

There are two hockey events - one men's and one women's competition.

The number of participants in Hockey events are 192 men and 192 women, i.e., twelve men's and 12 women's teams, with 16 athletes (11 players and five substitutes) on each team. Each country is limited to one men's and one women's team. 
At London 2012, both the men's and women's hockey competitions begin with a preliminary phase - the 12 teams in each competition are divided into two pools of six, and each team plays every other in their pool. The top two teams in each pool qualify for the semi-finals, the winners of which go head-to-head for the gold. The other teams in the two groups play each other to determine final placings.

All matches will be played at the brand-new Riverbank Arena in the Olympic Park. 

Hockey at the Olympic Games
Until the 1970s, hockey was always played on grass. However, top-level matches, including those at London 2012, now take place on water-based synthetic-turf pitches, which allow the ball to roll more smoothly and quickly. 
Men's Hockey made its debut at the London 1908 Games. The first women’s Olympic Hockey competition was held at the Moscow 1980 Games. 

For the first time ever at the Olympic Games, the London 2012 hockey pitch is blue, rather than green.

Hockey - An Introduction
The hockey pitches are 91.4 metres long and 55 metres wide.
The goals at each end are 3.66 metres wide and 2.14 metres high.
Each goal is surrounded by a D-shaped shooting circle.
The penalty spot at either end is 6.4 metres from the goal.

Michael Phelps(USA) - Highest No. of Medal Winner in Olympic History

Michael Phelps(DOB June 30,1985)(USA) has 17 Gold Medals in his Olympic Career in Swimming, 8 more than anyone else, to go along with 2 Silvers and 2 Bronzes.

Event - Swimming	2004 Athens Olympics	2008 Beijing Olympics	2012 London Olympics
100 M Butterfly	Gold	Gold	Gold - 17th
200 M Butterfly	Gold	Gold	Silver
200 M Medley	Gold	Gold	Gold
400 M Medley	Gold	Gold
200 M Free Style	Bronze	Gold
4x100 M Free Style	Bronze	Gold	Silver
4x200 M Free Style	Gold	Gold	Gold
4x100 M Medley	Gold	Gold
Total Medals	6Gold and 2Bronze	8 Gold	3 Gold and 2 Silver

Michael Phelps won the 200-meter individual medley on Thursday Aug 02,2012 for his first individual gold of the London Games, becoming the first man to win the same indvidual event in 3 straight Olympics.

Michael Phelps hold the record for the most Gold Medals won in a Single Olympics when he won 8 Gold Medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and surpass Mark Spitz(USA) who won 7 Gold Medals at the 1972 Minich Olympics.

Also Michael Phelps has won the 'World Swimmer of the Year Award 6 Times - 2003-2004 and 2006-09

 Michael Phelps by winning the 19th medal overtakes Larisa Latynina as the highest no. of medal winner in olympic history.

Previous Record Holder - 18 Medals

Larisa Latynina(Soviet Union)Gymnast won 9 Golds, 5 Silvers and 4 Bronzes from 1956-64

Event - Gymnastics	1956 Melbourne Olympics	1960 Rome Olympics	1964 Tokyo Olympics
Team	Gold	Gold	Gold
All-Round	Gold	Gold	Silver
Vault	Gold	Bronze	Silver
Floor Exercise	Gold	Gold	Gold
Uneven Bars	Silver	Silver	Bronze
Team Apparatus	Bronze	NA	NA
Balance Beam	NA	Silver	Bronze
Total Medals	4Gold;1Silver and 1Bronze	3Gold;2Silver and 1Bronze	2Gold;2Silver and 2Bronze

Hotmail Email Service Renamed as Outlook.com

Microsoft is renaming its vintage Hotmail email service as Outlook.com.The name Outlook is familiar to most corporate workers who use the popular Microsoft Office email application.
Hotmail was launched in 1996 by Sabeer Bhatia and Jack Smith and acquired by Microsoft in 1997 for an estimated $400 million.Hotmail was still the world's largest email service with 324 million users (about 36 per cent of the market) but had been losing its market to Google's fast-growing Gmail.

10 Highlights of the New Email Service

1. Outlook.com has a new design that Microsoft says uses 60 per cent fewer pixels but 30 per cent more messages visible in the inbox

2. Outlook.com connects to Facebook and Twitter to enrich conversations. Users can view recent status by friends and Tweets shared by friends.
3. Users can chat with Facebook users and other Outlook users from inside Outlook.com.
4. Users can open, edit and share Word, Excel and PowerPoint files in Outlook.com.

5. Outlook's address book integrates contacts from Facebook and LinkedIn.
6. With Outlook.com users can make Skype video calls even when both users don't have Skype installed. This feature will be rolled out soon.

7. Photographs attached with emails can be viewed as a slideshow.

8. Outlook.com comes integrated with with Microsoft's cloud storage service SkyDrive, this removes the restrictions of attachment size limits.
9. Outlook.com automatically detects mass messages such as newsletters, offers, daily deals and social updates and puts them in separate folders. Users can customize the process to sort mail any way they want to.

10. Existing Hotmail users can upgrade to the Outlook.com preview and their email address, password, contacts, old email, and rules will remain unchanged. They can continue to send and receive email from their @hotmail.com or @msn.com or @live.com address.