Sudip Giri…Taking It All In His Stride

Everything untoward that happens in the life of a celebrity has to happen to Sudip Giri! Whether this is a coincidence or whether his fate, is a thing that he has been pondering upon for quite a while now. It is not that other artists have not faced any hardships in their day-to-day lives. The only difference is that Sudip shares them with us and we are more than happy to listen to him and his grievances. What a relation!

A few weeks back, Sudip along with Nalina Chitrakar, Pramod Nirwan, Ram Chandra Kafle and Poozana Pradhan were touring Dhangadi, Mahendranagar and Tikapur for a concert. Now, although the tour is over Sudip still can't stop talking about this trip. He states, "This is the worst event that I have ever been associated with. Sorry to say but the management was pathetic and very indecent. Let me also reveal the organizer's name! He is called Topendra Kunwar. When the event ended, he did not pay us the amount that we had initially agreed upon. You know what he did! During the entire journey, he was the one who was driving which was fine with us but he was driving so recklessly that he nearly killed us. I am not exaggerating…believe me…he nearly killed us! Thank God! Nothing happened! The only good thing that happened during that entire tour was that the concert was a huge success and I am happy about it." Further adding he shares, "I don't know but I was not able to connect with the people there. This has never happened to me before! "

In another related story, he has changed his mobile number. Why? (No prizes for guessing it right) It is because of the disturbing calls that he has been getting from some crazy fans telling him that they would commit suicide or inflict some sort of injury to themselves. We are short of words of advise for Sudip…the only thing that we can say is…you have a peaceful life…This may be the price that one has to pay for being one of the most sought after musicians in the country today.

Leaders put their signature in the interim constitution

Following the overnight discussion in Baluwatar, the top political leaders have put their signature in the interim constitution.

After over seventeen hours of marathon talks, the leaders finally reached to common understanding over contentious provisions of the interim constitution.

The interim constitution has 169 articles. It will be formally promulgated once the arms management of the Maoist is completed.

According to reports, in the interim constitution the Prime Minister is authorized to use all the powers hitherto exercised by the King. "All powers related to rule or administration will now be exercised by the Prime Minister," said Bharat Mohan Adhikary, standing committee member of the Unified Marxist Leninist this morning.

Likewise, Adhikary added that right to education, employment and health will be recognized as basic rights. The interim constitution has not altered the status of Cow as national animal. Two ballot papers will be used in the Constituent Assembly in consultation with the Election Commission.

The talks had started at around 3 pm in the afternoon on Friday and it went throughout the night. All top leaders of eight parties were present in the discussion. There were series of formal and informal meetings among the political leaders. And finally they sealed the deal in the morning on Saturday on Poush 1 – the same day when King Mahendra had promulgated the Panchayati constitution back in 1962.

Over dozen injured in scuffle during RPP-Nepal’s 'pro-King' rally

Over a dozen Rastriya Prajatantra Party-Nepal activists were injured in a clash with students who tried to thwart their pro-King rally in Kathmandu Friday morning.

Chanting slogans in favour of monarchy and against the SPA government and the Maoists, RPP-Nepal activists marched up to the Prime Minister's residence in Baluwatar from Narayan Chaur in Naxal.

The demonstrators clashed with a group of students dominated by Maoist cadres at Baluwatar. Police tried to disperse the crowd but were held back for some time as the students warned them not to interfere.

Baluwatar area remained tensed for more than an hour as students affiliated with the eight parties protested against what they called revival of reactionary activism.

RPP-Nepal chairman Rabindra Nath Sharma, who led the rally, submitted a memorandum to Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala at the latter's residence as the protest continued outside. The party in its memorandum said monarchy should remain for political stability in the country.

Last week, students had disrupted a regional convention of RPP-Nepal in Pokhara. A few leaders and party cadres participating in the convention were roughed up by the students.

The RPP-Nepal's leaders are mostly former Panchas and former royalist ministers.

Rajesh Payal Rai's Khas Ta

Khas ta
(World Premiere)
Rajesh Payal Rai
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Abhaya and the Steam Injuns

Recently 'Abhaya and the Steam Injuns' came back after their ten day tour of Gangtok, Darjeeling and Namchi. Sharing the limelight with them was none other than Sabin Rai. They say that the tour was "simply good".

It was nearly two years back that 'Abhaya and the Steam Injuns' had released their debut album. They say that they have already completed the compilation of songs for their second venture for which the recoding will begin very soon. They promise that they shall not take much time in the recording process. "On February, we have a Hong Kong tour and as soon as we are back, we plan to release the new album," mentions Abhaya.

"It is not at all going to be the same! The specialty of our new album is that we have four songs written by poet Viplob Prateek. We love those songs to the core and we are very much excited to reveal those numbers to our listeners. We also believe that to get his creations is a plus point for us and our album!" Later she adds, "Our first album did incorporate rock, hip-hop and rap numbers among other flavors of music. However, the rock songs became more popular since we had visualized those numbers. Sad to say but the impact that those songs had in people was that we are a rock band. Here, I need to declare that we are not only good in singing rock numbers but we are equally good in singing other genre of music. Dot not typecast as a rock band! We want to be known as musicians who deliver quality music and we are here to make a difference in the Music industry of Nepal." Well…that was loud and clear. We got your message and hope everyone does it as well!

Maoists use force to stop relocation of police posts

Maoist activists have intensified their efforts to stop relocation of police posts in several parts of the country.

A day after the Maoists obstructed the initiatives to relocate police posts that were displaced in the past due to conflict in Beltari of Nawalparasi district, their activists in Rupandehi district captured the police post in Dhakdhai on Thursday and booted out the policemen who had been posted there only six days ago.

In Dhakdhai, reports say that the Maoists brought a number of common people from around the area and made them to demonstrate while they resorted to vandalism and threw out bedding and other stuffs belonging to policemen.

According to Kantipur daily, Maoists forced people from Simarhawa, Amarhawa, Barahawa, Padamwa, Mainihawa, Pakadbhindi as well as other villages like Uttar Devadaha, Kerbani and Makahar in the vicinity of 10 kilometer from the area to participate in the demonstration. Women and children were also among the people. Many of them said they had come out of curiosity to watch the incident.

The Maoists forced 18 policemen led by sub-inspector Shambhu Chaudhary out of the post. Chaudhary later said that the Maoists might be working under guidance of certain elements because the establishment of police post had affected smuggling in the area.

In Nawalparasi, too, the Maoists warned the policemen to return from recently relocated Sunawal post. Immediately after the Maoists went away, local village women descended on the police post and requested them not to shift from there.

In districts like Sindhupalchowk, Kavre and Sankhuwasabha also the Maoists have started obstructing the relocation of police post. Similar campaigns have been reported from far-western districts like Doti, Kanchanpur and Achham.

The Maoists have claimed that they would not allow police post relocation till interim government including them is formed.

Local political party leaders and civil society have termed this campaign of Maoists as violation of peace agreements.

In fact, the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) signed on November 21 by the government and the Maoists also agrees that the task of carrying out day-to-day law and order situation will be given to Nepal Police and Armed Police Force. "Nepal Police and Armed Police force shall continue to work for maintaining peace and investigation into the criminal activities as per the spirit and content of the peace agreement and prevailing laws," the agreement states.

Umesh Mainali, secretary at the Home Ministry, also says that the recent efforts by the government to relocate police posts was guided by this very peace agreement and as per the demands made by local people.

Supreme Court rejects case against King

The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed a petition filed against King Gyanendra.

Acting upon a petition filed by advocate Jitman Basnet, a single bench of Justice Tahiar Ali Ansari ruled, "Since the rejection order passed by the administration (registar) of the SC was based on existing law, there was no need to proceed it further."

After the rejection order by the administration, advocate Basnet has challenged the administration's move in the Justice's bench.

Joint registar Til Prasad Shrestha had refused to admit a contempt of Court case filed against King Gyanendra and army officials.

The SC administration had rejected the petition citing technical ground.

Kathmandu most polluted city of Asia: Report

A recent report has revealed that Kathmandu is the most polluted city among 20 cities of Asia.

A study report prepared by a team led by Cornie Huizenga with the assistance of Asian Development Bank showed that Kathmandu is in the top of the list of sensitive cities from the air pollution point of view.

The study was released as Asian environment ministers held the first governmental meeting on Asian urban air quality this week in Yogyakarta, Indonesia.

"There is high possibility of human loss due to the diseases caused from pollution," the report warned.

WHO scientists estimate 537,000 people in Southeast Asia and the Pacific die prematurely each year due to air pollution.

The level of PM10 in the air of Kathmandu is 120 microgram per square meter. As Per the standard of World Health Organization the level of PM10 should be 20 microgram per square meter.

The level of PM10 is high than the official standard in most of the places of Kathmandu valley.

Indian Capital Delhi and Indonesian Capital Jakarta also fall in the list of sensitive cities from the pollution point of view.

The report was prepared based on research at major cities of Asia.

The report studied 22 Asian cities and one of its key findings is that the concentration of the fine particulate matter PM10 is “serious” in Beijing, Dhaka, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Jakarta, Kathmandu, Kolkata, New Delhi, and Shanghai.

"Asia’s growth in population, urbanization, motorization and energy consumption remain key challenges to efforts to counter air pollution," the report adds .

The Kantipur Daily quoted Suman Sharma of Ministry of Environment as criticizing that the report failed to mention official source of information and prepared without direct involvement of any organization.

However, environmentalist Bhusan Tuladhar said that there is a need of immediately improving the pollution level of Kathmandu.

Nepal ranks "3rd" in human rights violations

The Asian Centre for Human Rights (ACHR) has ranked Nepal 3rd in issue of human rights violations.

A newly released SAARC Human Rights Violators’ Index 2006 released in New Delhi on Wednesday said apart from repression of political parties, violations of the right to life were widespread in Nepal.

About 1,524 persons – 815 persons by the security forces and 709 persons by the Maoists – were killed in 2005.

“Nepal remained the most dangerous place for children in South Asia with extra judicial execution, torture and forcible recruitment,” the report noted.

An estimated 58 children, including 16 girls, were reportedly killed during January - September 2005 alone. Of them, Maoists reportedly killed 46 children, including 11 girls. Over 140 children were reportedly injured by the security forces and the Maoists during 2005, including at least 80 in bomb explosions by Maoists.

ACHR has appreciated the role of judiciary under trying circumstances. “The Supreme Court of Nepal admitted petitions challenging the constitutional validity of ordinances issued by King Gyanendra, thereby, questioning the authority of the despotic ruler,” the report adds.

Half of all the cases of press censorship in the world in 2005 were reported from Nepal and at least two journalists were killed, 425 journalists were arrested, attacked or threatened. Accountability for human rights violations in Nepal remains the key challenge, the report added.

Bangladesh has been ranked No. 1 violator of human rights, followed by Bhutan, Nepal, Maldives, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and India at No.7.

Sallu bullied by Don's name!

Salman Khan is in trouble again. This time he is charged with threatening people by using underworld gangster Chhota Shakeel's name. As a result he has been asked to reopot at Mumbai Police Crime Branch cell.

The actor will also be interrogated today by Unit 1 of Crime Branch in the Bharat Shah case.

While Sallu was away, his father Salim Khan told a leading daily that he is not aware of Salman being summoned and have received no intimation so far.

"I have nothing to do with this case so am not aware of its details,” he adds.

Salman has cancelled his visit to South Africa, for which he was supposed to leave tomorrow.

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Euta Chitthi - The Axe (World Primiere)

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Winter rains make days colder

The unexpected rainfall that started throughout the country from early Monday morning has resulted in the mercury plummeting and sent chills in Kathmandu and hilly areas.

Usually, the winter showers are expected only in December end. However, this year the winter rain came well ahead because of the westerlies from the Bay of Bengal entering Nepal and moving east.

According to the officials at the Meteorological Forecasting Division, the rains would stop by Tuesday evening.

The rainfall has been boon for winter crops while the people in the hilly and mountainous regions are facing a winter chill because of snowfall. In the western hilly districts, snowfall has begun. The rainfall would lengthen the duration of cold this winter.

In the last 24 hours, Dang received the highest rainfall of 13 mm. Likewise the rainfall in Dadeldhura is recorded at 12 mm, Nepalgunj 12.8, Birendra Nagar 10, Dhangadi 11.2 and Kathmandu 0.7 mm. Kathmandu and Bhairahawa also received thundershowers.

The unexpected rain has disrupted domestic flights from Tribhuvan International Airport with only two flights taking off till Monday noon. However, the international flights are regular, officials at the TIA information centre said.

Ash-Hrithik kiss was obscene?

A court here today extended the date to January four in a case filed against Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai and actor Hrithik Roshan for allegedly performing an obscene scene in the film Dhoom-2.

The case was filed in the court of judicial magistrate first class (JMFC) R K Batham by the advocate Shailendra Dwivedi under section 292 (vulgarity) and 509 (derogatory to women) of the IPC.

The court today extended the date in the case to January four for recording statement of the complainant.

The complainant advocate has alleged that women felt offended with the obscene scene and it has promoted vulgarity in the society, especilly among the youths.

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RDB, Bluffmaster now on Google Video

MUMBAI: BODVOD, which holds exclusive rights to Bollywood movies, music videos and television shows, have made the availability of content on Google Video.

BODVOD's content, presented under the name 'Saavn' is available at http://video.google.com/saavn. The launch will include five full-length movies representing some top Bollywood films, including India's 2007 Oscar entry Rang De Basanti and also Abhishek Bachchan starrer Bluffmaster, with additional film and television content to be added in the coming months. Deewane Huye Paagal will also be added to the list soon.

BODVOD service is available on Time Warner Cable and Cox Cable Nationwide in the US.

This deal adds to BODVOD's growing list of distribution partners across cable, broadband and mobile providers for its exclusive content. Boasting a vast library and new release pipeline of films, music videos and television content, BODVOD is the first company to offer Bollywood and other South Asian content on-demand to the North American audience.

"Our deal with Google helps us expand into a new market, and it also helps us support our existing cable operator and mobile carrier affiliates. Given Google's undisputed leadership in search, we will be able to uncover new audiences for the best of Bollywood and other South Asian content," said BODVOD's Vin Bhat.

BODVOD Networks (www.bodvod.com) has exclusive rights to movies, music and TV shows from India, and it packages, distributes and markets this content for on-demand services on cable, Internet and mobile platforms. BODVOD powers the first national video on demand (VOD) services offering Bollywood and South Asian content through over 30 major distribution affiliates.

The company also provides marketing support and media for its affiliates to help them reach the passionate audience for Bollywood and other South Asian content. The BODVOD team consists of media veterans with experience in content licensing, programming, retail products, marketing and distribution.

Baabul: Movie Review

Baabul

Producer: BR Films

Director: Ravi Chopra

Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Rani Mukherjee, Hema Malini,Salman Khan,John Abraham, Om Puri, Sarika

Rating: 3/5

----------------------------

It's often said that to change the system, one must remain within the system. And Baabul does this beautifully; clichéd enough not to rock the boat yet admirably, progressive, the film tries to maintain a balance between the two in every frame.

So there's Balraj Kapoor, played by Amitabh Bachchan, who's a traditionalist with a twist. While he believes and encourages Karva Chauth, he has strong, progressive views on widow remarriage. So when his only son Avinash, played by Salman Khan, dies tragically in an accident, he feels that his daughter-in-law Malvika should remarry, and not live a punished life. He encourages a romance between Malvika and Rajat (John Abraham), who's Malvika's childhood friend and has secretly been in love with her all along.

All's swell till the party poopers - the super conservative relatives vehemently oppose. Balraj's elder brother Balwant (Om Puri), is the sort who feels that widows bring bad luck to any auspicious event, and so keeps his widowed daughter-in-law (Sarika, with exactly one dialogue) within the four walls of the house. When he hears the, to-him bizarre, event of his younger brother getting his daughter-in-law remarried, he loses it. And tries to stop the wedding in typical filmi style, with a bellowing – ‘Ye shaadi nahin ho sakti'.

Interestingly, this very modern film follows the old school of filmmaking. So you have the super-rich North Indian family, sprawling mansions, beautiful, docile always-agreeable women in sindoor and mangalsutra. Still, it manages to be a supremely forward film. And a good film, largely because of Amitabh Bachchan, who's so convincing and lovable as Baabul, he has you in the palm of his hand. In his big, droopy eyes, you see his young daughter-in-law's pain reflected. And during his end monologue, you just want to get up and applaud. One of the lines has him thunder -`’we say that the practice of sati is over. But isn't denying a widow the right to live fully, equal to sati?'

Rani Mukherjee as Malvika shows up another award-winning performance after Black. In fact, in many intense scenes between Bachchan and Mukherjee, you feel the palpable connection and magic that the two brought together in Black. Complementing each other perfectly, and carrying the film on their shoulders, the two talent powerhouses are a treat to watch.

Salman's Avinash is an underdeveloped character. However the relationship between Avinash and Malvika is real and deep. This is a rare kind of on-screen romance, where the two are as much companions as they are man and wife. Keeping up its progressive tone, the film also shows Avinash attend pregnancy Lamaze classes with his wife saying that – ‘bache paida karna teamwork hota hai'. But the film falls back to old school again, and has the two break into song and dance, in open fields, without situation or warning. Again, while Malvika is a painter, who you feel would do a little more with her life post-wedding, she has her life revolving around karva chauth. It's good that she has a mind of her own, but what is she doing with it?

The music is ordinary and songs include the by-now customary Punjabi disco song, that's typically picturised with full family dancing alongside foreigner extras. The dialogues, save a few scenes towards the ending, disappointingly lack spirit, and do nothing to elevate the film. Director Ravi Chopra, credibly, again makes a film dealing with an issue. Baghban had one flinch a bit, at the stark black and white characters. By contrast, Baabul is a step up in trying to merge the old and the new.

Watch Baabul, for the story and brilliant performances by Amitabh and Rani. The three stars are largely for them.

Third bronze for Nepal; Shakya is the winner

Ayesha Shakya won the third bronze medal for Nepal in the ongoing 15th Asian Games in Doha, Qatar.

Shakya had to be satisfied with the bronze medal in the 59-kg category of Taekwondo after she was defeated by a Vietnamese player Thi Hoai Thu Nguyen in the semi finals.

Shakya, a silver medalist at the Tenth South Asian Games held earlier this year, had reached semi finals after defeating a Chinese player.

She became the third Nepalese player to win a bronze medal in the Doha Asiad. Earlier, Manita Shahi had won the medal in 63-kg category while Deepak Bista had won the medal in the 78-kg category.

Meanwhile, runner Arjun Bahadur Basnet finished at the 11th place in the marathon tournament by clocking 2 hours 23 minutes and 55 seconds. A Qatari runner won the marathon 11 minutes and 11 seconds ahead of Basnet who had won a silver medal in the marathon at Tenth South Asian Games.

An Award Hatrick !

A popular musician and also a lyricist, Suresh Adhikari is about to take the honor of another National Award this time. He has already been awarded by the National Awards for the “Best film music director” and “Best lyrics writer”. Now this time, he attempts to achieve the “Narayan Gopal Yuwa Sangeet Puraskar”.

The award is given by the “Rastriya Yuwa Sewa Kosh” to the people in the music industry for their contributions to music. The award also contains the cash prize of Rs. 30,000. It is honored to those people for their past and their prospective contribution to the music industry in the future.

He shall take the honor of the award possibly on the Mansir 29, 2062.

He has given his music to around 1000 songs and some more film projects are lined up in his upcoming lists. Some of them include Devar Babu, Raghuveer, Taxi Driver, Haami Saathi Bhai, Karma Rekha, Parkhi Base etc.

Some of his awesome pop creations are “Jaali Rumaal” and “Maya Garchu Bhanne le” by sung by “Hemant Sharma”.

He has been continuously receiving awards for the past 3 years. Image Awards 2061 for the best music director, hits fm award for best film music director the national awards by the king and then this time again, “the Narayan Gopal Yuwa Gangeetkar Award”. So, it’s a Hatrick! Keep going …….

Dev Rana Still Going Great Guns

Dev Rana is a very respected name in the music scene of Nepal. Most of us who have followed the development of the music industry closely shall vouch for that. For many, he is the great ‘Father of Percussions,’ an idol for many young aspiring drummers and for the rest he is just a 'cool musician'. He has been in the entertainment business for over 30 years and still has the same charm and his abilities behind the drum sets have not faded a bit. He still has an overwhelming effect on the crowd during performances.

He has taught innumerable wannabe drummers the skills and he is proud to inform us that roughly about 15 of his students are as of now, seriously doing music full time. He says, "I think around 15 of my students are now in the music line as in they have taken up music professionally. I feel glad to see them performing and performing pretty well at that! What more can one ask for!" These days he has been taking private classes and the learners are mostly from Lincoln School.

He states that he has set a goal, which he intends to accomplish by 2007. He wants to open up his own institution where the aspiring musicians with an interest in learning to play the drums can join in and become skilled at playing other instruments as well. He adds, "I also want to come out with a little demo CD for beginners. This CD shall be handy to those who want to learn to play the drums. I have been working on this project for the last three years and I want the work done by 2007."

Besides this, once a week one could also catch up with him performing at Hotel Shangrila, Lazimpath along with 'Nekham'. However, he informs that the gig has taken a break for now. No worries since he also confirms that next week; to be precise on December 18, he shall start performing with 'Nekham' at the Shangrila once again. Lastly, he shares, "I hope to have a re-union concert of 'Prism' sometime next year." Wow! That would be something to look forward to!

Yuvraj Singh to make Bollywood debut

Aspiring musician Yuvraj Singh will soon make his debut in Bollywood.

Singh's cine career will take off through Prakash Jha's Love Story and is an Entertainment One production.

A multi-faceted personality, Yuvraj not only plays cricket, but loves to write, compose music and plays the guitar with felicity. He was the lead guitarist for the Music Society in St.Stephen’s College.

Completing his higher studies in the UK, he trained himself as an actor and presenter in a renowned acting school.

In Mumbai, he met several directors and producers, before Prakash Jha zeroed in on him to hone his acting talents.

Yuvraj performs with the electrical, acoustic and Spanish guitars.Ballads, fusion, metal and heavy strumming are his preferences.

Joe Satriani, Marty Friedman, Steve Vai, Jimmy Page, Pink Floyd, etc are a few artists that he admires. Yuvraj also likes Led Zeppllin, Ozzy Osburne,AXL Rose, Robert Plant, Sting and many more.

"I want to do roles that are symbolic of the social, cultural, political, economic and historical significance. The role should have an impact and be meaningful to the society," Yuvraj Singh said.

Singh says he wants to perform different roles during his acting career, and would not like to be branded in a particular milieu.

Singh is a believer in destiny, and is quite philosophical about what life will eventually dish out for him.

"I have to create a mark in the world of cinema," he says.

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