Vivek Oberoi visits Sabarimala temple

    Thiruvananthapuram: Bollywood actor Vivek Oberoi and upcoming star Sonu Sood along with their friends visited Sabarimala temple for holy Makaravilakku Darshan in Thiruvananthapuram on Friday. Oberoi arrived at Thiruvananthapuram this morning and offered prayers at the Thycaud Sastha temple from where he would start journey for Makarajyothi Darshan on January 14. This is the eighth time that Oberoi visited the Sabarimala temple during the Makaravilakku' season. "I am very happy, it is my privilege that I am able to come to visit this temple every year to offer prayers. When I came for first time, people asked me for how many years will I come. Then I replied and today I am repeating the same that till I have blessings of God I will keep on coming," said Vivek. Vivek has been doing the pilgrimage to Lord Ayyappa temple in Kerala for seven years in a row. This time, however, he came with his friends, who were happy to visit the temple. "I am excited that I have got a chance to come here to offer prayers. I just wish that I come here every year," said Sonu Sood, an upcoming star. Vivek with the help of a temple priest prepared the `irumudi,' the sacred bundle in which articles of offerings including a coconut filled with ghee are packed. Vivek had last time come with his mother Yasodhara and grandmother Jayashree.

Rs 5 lakh for killed medical student's family

    Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav today announced a compensation of Rs five lakh to family members of the King George Medical University (KGMU) student, Deepak Agarwal, who died due to lack of medical facilities in the hospital on Wednesday night. Yadav also requested to the students to stop their protests and maintain peace in the college premises, official sources said. Meanwhile, hundreds of students went on rampage in the campus torching and damaging vehicles and medical equipment in the trauma centre. The students alleged that Agarwal was not provided timely medical treatment as the ventilators were not available at the trauma centre following which he died. Over 100-year-old college records were burnt in the violence. The registrars room, a conference room, computer laboratory and parts of the dental block were also damaged. Several important files and documents were destroyed. Deepak Agarwal, a second year MBBS student at KGMU was fatally injured on the head after falling into a duct around noon on Wednesday. The incident occurred during a rehearsal for a show for concluding function of the KGMU centenary celebrations. Deepak was taken to the trauma centre of KGMU but due to malfunctioning of a ventilator, he was shifted to a nearby private hospital. He died 12 hours later. However, KGMU Vice-Chancellor Mahendra Bhandari rejected the allegation of negligence. He also termed the agitation by the students as an effort to give a bad name to the university which was celebrating 100th year of its foundation.

Tata, Fiat to share car dealer networks

    New Delhi: Tata Motors Ltd. and Italy's Fiat agreed on Friday to share their dealer networks in India and abroad, offering both carmakers access to new markets while keeping costs down. Tata Motors Ltd. Chairman Ratan Tata said that the alliance would help Tata Motors, country's top vehicle producer and third- largest carmaker, expand overseas via Fiat's vast dealership network in Europe. "There is a wonderful opportunity to leverage the volumes that world car companies can generate in India and whatever we need to do, we need to do it most cost effectively and in the best possible manner for quality we will undertake," Tata said. "The wonderful thing about this alliance is that the willingness of both sides to not create any barrier but to see what in fact makes sense to both companies or to the interest of either of the companies and we will endeavour to work together. So it's an evolving relationship, one that does not have any boundaries and yet one that does not have anywhere stated upfront that we cannot decline. I think that is the most healthy way to form a relationship," he added.

   Under the agreement, Fiat cars would be available in India at Tata dealerships from March, the firms said in a joint statement. Fiat Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne told reporters that Fiat might also source auto components from India. Fiat is trying to pull back from its worst crisis by launching new models, striking industrial alliances and producing in low- wage countries to cut costs. Marchionne said its finances had already improved. "What I can tell you now is that there are two things we were absolutely sure of. The first is that I think we probably have the highest level of financial stability and capability the group has had in the last 10 years. And the second issue is that we probably have the best leadership team to run the organization," he said. Since September, the two carmakers had been considering a possible cooperation in research, production, car parts, purchases and distribution. India's passenger vehicle market -- with sales of a million units a year -- is growing quickly as a result of rising incomes and cheap loans, but still only 8 in 1,000 Indians own a car, compared with 35 in Thailand and 450 in more developed markets. Small cars make up more than two-thirds of India's passenger vehicle market.

Ganguly's Kolkata fans perform yagna for his success

    Kolkata: Sourav Ganguly's fans in Kolkata are at it again- appeasing the Gods through 'yagna' so that their hero performs well in the first Test against Pakistan being played in Lahore's Qaddafi Stadium from today. Ganguly has made it to the side as an opener ahead of specialist openers Gautam Gambhir and Wasim Jaffer . However, with Pakistan batting first, Sourav was handed the ball by captain Rahul Dravid. The prayers from his fans are now both for his bowling and batting abilities. "Today is the first day of the first Test match between India and Pakistan in Lahore, so we are praying to the God that Sourav Ganguly performs well, bats well and gets wickets and paves India's way to victory," said Abhijeet Mukherjee, a Sourav fan. Aarti, mantra chants and everything figured at the 'yagna' conducted for 'dada' at the Nakuleswar temple in the Kalighat area of South Kolkata by his fans. Posters carrying slogans like 'God Bless You Sourav' were displayed along with the former captain's blown up photographs with the legend 'Prince of Kolkata' written on them.

   Ganguly, a veteran of 86 tests, led India to victory in Pakistan in 2004 -- their first series triumph away from home in 11 years -- making him India's most successful Test captain. After being dropped in the test series against Sri Lanka late last year, a decision that was met with protests in his home city, Ganguly was recalled to the India squad for the three-test Pakistan tour. All three scored half centuries in India's only practice game before the Test, which 33-year-old Ganguly missed as he was asked to play in a domestic game in which he scored two half centuries. Now all that is left is to wait and watch whether the Gods smile on the cricketer currently embroiled in controversies. The Team: Rahul Dravid (Captain), Virender Sehwag (Vice-captain), Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Sourav Ganguly, MS Dhoni (wicket-keeper), Irfan Pathan, Ajit Agarkar Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh.

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