Amitabh
Bachchan turns 63
Mumbai:
Frenzied fans jostled to greet, shake hands and get
autographs of Amitabh Bachchan, superstar of India's prolific
Hindi film industry, on his 64th birthday on here on Tuesday.
People gathered from various parts of Mumbai, also home
to Bollywood, as the Hindi film industry is known, to wish
Bachchan on his big day. Fans came with flowers, photos,
sweets and even portraits of Gods, as presents. "I don't
know about being the finest or the busiest actor. But I
am very grateful for still getting this much work. Obviously
at my age, I can only get character roles to play and am
happy that people still want to work with me. I just hope
I can do justice to these meaningful roles and hope there
are several more projects, Bachchan told reporters amid
a heavy early morning schedule spent with fans. Bachchan,
arguably India's best and most loved actor, was named "Superstar
of the Millennium" in a BBC Online Poll in 1999, ahead of
luminaries such as Charlie Chaplin, Sir Lawrence Olivier,
and Marlon Brando. Bachchan, who is currently enjoying a
second, more loved acting stint in career, rose like a phoenix
after a slump in the last few years.
Born
on October 11, 1942, Bachchan started his film career in
1976 with a series of flops but rose to become an immensely
popular actor with an appeal spanning all generations of
viewers. He was popular for his initial action roles but
graduated into being a virtual one-man-industry. Bachchan
was considered 'finished' in the late nineties after a superstar
status for 20 years with a string of flops and failed political
and business ambitions. But he made an unexpected but very
successful comeback on Television as host of a popular quiz
series "Kaun Banega Crorepati?" based on "who wants to be
a millionaire?" The stint put him right back on the number
one position in Bollywood, reaffirming his reputation as
the living legend of Indian cinema with a series of high
profile films including Baghban and Kabhi Khushi Kabhie
Gham.
Fire
at Bhagirath Palace in Delhi (Go
To Top)
New
Delhi: Property worth crores was gutted in a major fire
in Old Delhi's Bhagirath Palace, a market for wholesale
electrical goods, on Tuesday morning. The fire in the godown
in 'Deep Mahal' building in Bhagirath Palace broke out at
1:25 a.m. and firemen managed to bring the raging blaze
under control after a struggle of over four hours. 30 fire
tenders were pressed to service at around 1.30 a.m. in the
morning when the fire was reported. "The fire started on
the 4th floor. The area is about 600 to 700 square meters
and had tin sheets. The basic problem we faced was at the
entrance," said R C Sharma, Chief Fire Officer, Delhi Fire
Service. He said 30 fire-tenders were rushed to the spot
to douse the fire. Police suspect an electrical short circuit
might have led to the fire. "The fire spread due to shortage
of water,but now fire tender are here so situation is under
control,The reason of fire is not known but it may be due
to shot circuit,"said a shop keeper of this market Bhagirath
Palace is one of the biggest wholesale markets for the drugs
and pharmaceutical industry in the country The fire was
due to a short circuit in one of the shops. There was no
reports of any casualty.
Earthquake
in Andaman and Nicobar (Go
To Top)
Port
Blair: A 5.5-magnitude earthquake hit the Andaman and
Nicobar Islands on Tuesday morning, said the Indian Meteorological
Department. According to the Met department, the quake was
recorded at around 9.10 a.m. with its epicentre in the south
Andaman Islands. However, no loss of life or property was
reported as yet.
Meera
turned religious in India (Go
To Top)
Lahore:
Pakistani film actress Meera has said that she turned
religious after having some "meaningful dreams" while staying
in India, wherein a saint asked her to offer prayers. "I
had many `meaningful dreams' during my stay in India. I
started praying regularly because a saint, who would appear
in my dreams after my visit to Hazrat Nizam-ud-Din Aulia's
shrine, asked me to pray. I had been into a series of intuitions
after my visit to the shrine. Many things happened as I
saw them in my dreams, but I can't share them publicly.
I even performed Umra after that," the Daily Times quoted
her as saying in an interview. Less than a week ago, Meera
had in an interview with the paper said that Bollywood films
should not be screened in Pakistan since the Indians had
a different culture than Pakistanis. After taking to Bollywood
and doing two films, her sudden change of heart was seen
in the backdrop of life threats issued by Islamic fundamentalists
in Pakistan, who were reportedly against her doing Hindi
films. But, rejecting such reports, the actress said that
neither she was threatened by anyone not she had given up
plans to act in Indian films. She had also declined the
reports saying that she was planning to shift to Mumbai,
saying "I never planned to shift outside Pakistan. I was
in Dubai for a brief stint since I had shooting assignments."
Baglihar
deliberations on Oct 19 (Go
To Top)
Islamabad:
Raymond Lafitte, the World Bank appointed neutral expert
on the row between India and Pakistan over the Baglihar
Dam, has called a meeting with Pakistani and Indian officials
in Geneva from October 19-21 to hear the arguments of both
the sides over the issue. "Each side will explain its point
of view in Geneva, as (the neutral expert) Professor Raymond
Lafitte has visited the site of the project to asses the
alleged violation of the Indus Water Treaty," the Daily
Times quoted a senior Pakistan government official as saying.
Reacting to Indian media reports quoting Lafitte as saying
that the Dam should be built, the official said that the
expert had only said that the project should be built in
accordance with the 1960 Indus Water Treaty. "Since, being
Swiss, he (the neutral expert) has a poor command over English,
he was misquoted," he added.
Militants
kill 18 policemen in Afghanistan (Go
To Top)
Kabul:
Eighteen police officers including some senior officials
were killed by militants on late Monday night in an ambush
in southern Afghanistan, said a BBC report. According to
the report, a convoy of about 150 policemen was attacked
by several militants on Monday afternoon. Those killed included
a senior police official in Helmand, Amanullah Khan, the
BBC quoted a spokesman for the interior ministry as saying.
The report also said the incident was quoted as "the deadliest
ever on the police" by another interior ministry official.
