Bollywood 'Shahenshah' Big B turns 70

Bollywood 'Shahenshah' Big B turns 70

New Delhi: God of Indian cinema the mega star Amitabh Bachchan turns 70 on Thursday. The wrinkles are visible more than ever on his face; the mortal body getting weaker day by day but the charm and warm in his character still has the power to hypnotize anybody easily.  Despite 40 odd years in Bollywood, the ageing actor is not the one to rest on his laurels. He is back to woo his fans with KBC 6 which is said to be the highest TRP gainer of this year. From a not much hyped debut with ‘Saat Hindustani’ in 1969 to essay a role of 12 years old Progeria kid in Paa, Big B has come a long way.

On asking about his birthday plans and gifts, Amitabh said, I look forward to spending time with my family. All the gifts and presents that I needed have already come my way - the blessings of my parents, which I consider the greatest gift, and their presence in my life through all the upbringing that they gave me."

Happy Birthday Big B!

It was earlier reported that wife Jaya Bachchan and designer duo Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla are planning a big surprise bash for the actor. "A million interviews, a million good wishes and a million desires of continuance... birthday at 70 seems special to some. Just another day for me," tweeted Bachchan.

WISH 'BIG B' A VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY (click here)

However, this birthday seems to be very special for Big B as his 10 months old granddaughter Aaradhya keeps him busy always. “My family - my wife Jaya and the two wonderful gifts that she gave me - Abhishek  and  Shweta and now the bahu (daughter-in-law) in the house, Aishwarya, and the little (granddaughter) Aaradhya... so these are my wonderful gifts and no one can replace them," said the megastar.

No wonder his milestone birthday is the talk of the town. If the celebrations were in his hands, the busy star would have wanted some rare, quiet time with his family. But close ones of Big B want to

make it big - reportedly with a huge dinner party Oct 10, an art show, poster exhibition and book launch on the big day.

"My family this time round wants to have celebration on my birthday. I have heard that it might be celebrated on Oct 10 at night. I absolutely don't have any idea about it and nobody is ready to disclose anything about it (to me)," he said.

Though this megastar doesn’t like any fuss or big party on his birthday, he loves to get surprises from his close ones. "I don't see why there should be so much fuss, but sometimes you have to go with what friends, well wishers and family wish to do for you and you comply with that.

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Amitabh Bachchan’s 70th birthday bash a star studded affair

Stars descend at Big B’s 70th birthday bash

Mumbai: The Indian film industry's biggest stars like Dilip Kumar, Yash Chopra, Shah Rukh Khan and to southern superstar Rajinikanth to high profile politicians like Praful Patel flocked to the big bash organised on Wednesday to usher in the living legend Amitabh Bachchan's 70th birthday.

The red carpet was rolled out for as many as 800 guests at the Reliance Media Work, Film City, Goregaon. Amitabh, dressed in a black velvet outfit, came with his family wife Jaya Bachchan, son Abhishek, daughter Shweta, daughter-in-law Aishwarya Rai and he too walked the red carpet with live orchestra playing hit numbers from his films.

Big B, who turns 70 on Thursday, told media, "Thanks for coming", while Aishwarya, flaunting a cream long dress with golden detailed work all over, told reporters, "We are so happy that we are all on Thursday celebrating his birthday.

 Thank you so much."If yesteryear veterans like Hema Malini, Saira Banu, Waheeda Rehman, Vinod Khanna, Prem Chopra, Kader Khan, Pran, Zeenat Aman, Jeetendra and Asha Parekh came to wish Big B, his co-star of many films like "Deewar" Shashi Kumar was wheeled in to join the revelries.

Also Neetu and Rishi Kapoor, who have worked with Big B, were seen walking the red carpet. Aishwarya and Abhishek played a perfect host and escorted 89-year old legend Dilip Kumar inside the venue.

Big B's one time competitor Vinod Khanna, who rarely speaks to the media, was in a generous mood and said: "I wish him all the happiness and good luck."From the current lot stars like Deepika Padukone, Parineeti Chopra, Anurag Kashyap and his wife Kalki Koechlin, Sonakshi Sinha, Vidya Balan, John Abraham and Arshad Warsi came to wish Big B.

Also Tabu, Madhuri Dixit with her husband Sriram Nene, Mahima Chaudhary, Abbas Mastan, Sudhir Mishra, Anil Kapoor, Subhash Ghai, Alka Yagnik, Boman Irani, R Madhavan, Ameesha Patel, Ajay Devgn-Kajol, Sridevi, Sanjay Dutt, Sunil Shetty, Jackie Shroff, Divya Dutta, Ashutosh Gowariker, Juhi Chawla, Preity Zinta, Vipul shah, Rana Daggubati and Urmila Matondker among others were there.

Shabana Azmi called him an "iconic figure" and added: "I got an opportunity to work with him. He is my favourite."Madhuri wished him all the "happiness and success", while Juhi said: "I respect him, admire him and I had a great time working with him."Vidya, who played his mom in "Paa", said that "he is an inspiration not only for actors but for everyone".

From down south, Chiranjeevi, Nagarjuna, Ram Charan Teja were present among others.If glamour was at its high, the big names from political corridor including Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Praful Patel, Shiv Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray, Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav and his son and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav gathered here to wish Big B.

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Mayawati to continue to support UPA, for now

The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) would continue to give outside support to the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government for the time being, said party supremo Mayawati, adding she would take a final decision on the matter “soon”.

Speaking to reporters in Lucknow after the BSP’s national executive meeting, the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said the party had authorised her to take a final decision. “But there will be no delay. The decision will be taken soon and conveyed to you,” news agency PTI quoted her as telling reporters.


She said the BSP had supported UPA with a view to weakening “fundamentalist forces” in the country and working for the welfare of all sections of the society, including dalits and minorities. “But it’s a matter of sorrow that the attitude of the central government has been very disappointing regarding these from the very beginning.”

Political analysts, however, are of the view that Mayawati’s decision is inextricably connected with the ongoing disproportionate assets case in the Supreme Court against her being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

The Supreme Court said on Tuesday it had not barred the CBI from probing the asset case against Mayawati. “It now remains to be seen whether CBI goes ahead and revives the case; if it does, it will surely add a fresh twist to the political developments,” said a senior political analyst.

Mayawati had earlier said a final decision regarding support would be taken by the party’s national executive and parliamentary board on Wednesday.

The move has come as a sign of reprieve for UPA. “We will try and allay any apprehensions she might have. After all, BSP is our ally,” Rajeev Shukla, minister of state for Parliamentary affairs, told reporters here.

After the Trinamool Congress withdrew its support to UPA last month, the ruling coalition is dependent on BSP and the Samajwadi Party’s outside support for survival. BSP has 21 members in the Lok Sabha, while the Mulayam Singh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party has 22 MPs.

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Check the Current Location of Indian Trains with RailRadar

New Delhi: You can now check the current location of an Indian Railways train on a Google Map. Just type the train details or the station name to know the exact location.

The current location of Indian Railways Trains on Google Maps

The Indian Railways has just launchedRailRadar, a useful website that shows the current geographical location of any train on a Google Map.

To get started, you can zoom-in to any location /city on the map to see all the trains which are arriving at the station or have just departed. Or you can use expand the left sidebar to search trains by name, by train number or by the station name.

If you click a particular train, the map will also show the exact route of the train including all the stops and the current location of the train. The train markers highlighted in blue indicate trains that are running on time while the red markers indicate trains that are delayed or behind schedule.

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The press release says that the train data is refresh every 5 minutes and the displayed location and running status of any trains displayed on the Google will always be delayed by at least 5 minutes.

The site is extremely useful and it will work on your mobile phone as well.

 RailRadar can be accessed throught the railway website - trainenquiry.com.
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Former Gujarat governor passes away

Jaipur: Congress stalwart and former Gujarat governor Pandit Naval Kishore Sharma passed away late on Monday night. He was 88 and was suffering from cardiac disorders for some time.

He would be cremated at Adarsh Nagar crematorium on Tuesday noon, his family said. Sharma was being treated at the Fortis Hospital in Jaipur where he was on ventilator for the last few days. Sharma was ranked among the most respected Brahmin leaders in state and was tipped to be the chief minister of state at one time.


His son, Brij Kishore Sharma, currently holds the education portfolio in Ashok Gehlot government.

Nawal Kishore Sharma started his career from Dausa, his hometown. He has served as the Union minister of petroleum and has chaired the state Vidhan Sabha as a Speaker. Sharma was elected to the parliament from Rajasthan for five terms on a Congress ticket.

Chief minister Ashok Gehlot, UDH minister Shanti Dhariwal were among the first to visit him after the news of his death was reported.

Earlier, leader of the Opposition, Vasundhara Raje and former foreign minister Natwar Singh had paid him a visit after they were informed of his failing health

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PM: Govt. to amend Prevention of Corruption Act

 Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday decried creation of “mindless atmosphere of negativity and pessimism” on the corruption issue and promised to strengthen the anti-graft law by including corporate failure to prevent bribery as a new offence besides other steps.

“The mindless atmosphere of negativity and pessimism that is sought to be created over the issue of corruption can do us no good. It can only damage the nation’s image and hit the morale of the executive,” he said.


With his government facing increasing attacks on the corruption issue from the opposition and activists, Dr. Singh said a clear and unambiguous definition of corruption is being sought to be provided through amendments to plug gaps in the Prevention of Corruption Act and bringing it in line with international practices.

Addressing the annual conference of CBI and State Anti-Corruption Bureaux, Dr. Singh said experience has shown that “big ticket corruption” was mostly related to operations by large commercial entities.

“A clear and unambiguous definition for the term ’corruption’, covering both the supply and demand sides, is being sought to be provided,” he said.

Dr. Singh said a proposal is also being mooted to include corporate failure to prevent bribery as a new offence on the supply side. “I would like to stress upon the need to protect honest public servants and keep the morale of the executive intact with our commitment,” he said.

The Prime Minister said amendments in the Act were necessary as the experience has shown that in vast majority of cases, it is difficult to tackle consensual bribery and the supplier of the bribe goes scot-free by taking resort to provisions of the Act.

“This would be taken care of in the proposed amendments...We are also examining how the Act can be amended to protect honest public servants more effectively,” he said.

Dr. Singh said his government was firm in its commitment to do everything possible to ensure probity, transparency and accountability in governance.

“I would like to stress upon the need to protect honest public servants and keep the morale of the executive intact. I have said this in the earlier conferences also, but I think this is something worth repeating,” he said.

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First commercial cargo flight heading to International Space Station

The SpaceX rocket, the first commercial flight to the International Space Station, lifted off October 7 carrying an unmanned cargo capsule. The Falcon 9 rocket with its Dragon capsule launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida. About 10 minutes into the flight, the Dragon separated from the rocket and was on its way to the space station. Mission control called it "a picture-perfect launch and a flawless flight of Falcon."


It is is the first of a dozen NASA-contracted flights to resupply the International Space Station, at a total cost of $1.6 billion. The launch comes nearly five months after a demonstration mission in which a Dragon capsule successfully berthed at the station and returned to Earth. 

The unmanned capsule is packed with about 1,000 pounds of cargo -- everything from low-sodium food kits to clothing and computer hard drives. It's scheduled to return in late October with about 2,000 pounds of cargo, including scientific experiments and failed equipment that can be repaired and sent back
The Dragon spacecraft is supposed to catch up with the space station early Wednesday. Station Commander Sunita Williams and Aki Hoshide from the Japanese Space Agency will use the robotic arm to grab Dragon and berth it to the station.

Much of Dragon's cargo is material to support extensive experimentation aboard the space station. One deals with plant growth. Plants on Earth use about 50% of their energy for support to overcome gravity. Researchers want to understand how the genes that control that process would operate in microgravity -- when objects are in free-fall in space. Down the road, that could benefit food supplies here on the planet. The spacecraft is also carrying nearly two dozen microgravity experiments designed and being flown through the Student Experiment Spaceflight Program.

SpaceX is not the only commercial company in the spacefaring business. Within the next few months, Orbital Sciences is expected to fly its own demonstration flight to the space station. Instead of using Cape Canaveral as its launch site, the company's rocket will take off from Wallops Island off the coast of Virginia. Orbital has a nearly $2 billion contract with NASA for station resupply missions.

SpaceX is one of three companies NASA has selected to continue work developing a human-rated spacecraft that would carry astronauts to the International Space Station. Boeing and Sierra Nevada are the other two companies.The SpaceX plan is to modify the Dragon capsule to carry people

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