Mahindra Housing Segment

Mahindra Group's real estate arm Mahindra Lifespaces is likely to join the 'affordable' housing bandwagon in a year, aiming the middle-income group. "We are looking at opportunities to enter into the affordable housing sector, but it is still at the discussion stage. It may take one year to concertise the plan," Mahindra Lifespaces Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Pawan Malhotra told PTI here. Affordable housing is making waves in the realty sector due to high cost of property, dearer home loan and its availability, high inflation and the huge gap between demand and supply. A mapping of the supply trend of housing from private developers done by Ernst & Young shows that 70-80 per cent of it caters only to the higher-income groups. In contrast, the Planning Commission expects that the housing shortage in the country to go up to 26.53 million units over the next four years. Of the total housing shortage, economically weaker sections and low-income groups account for about 99 per cent of the shortfall in India. Thus, anticipating volumes to make up for lower margins, a number of recognised real estate players, like Puravankara and Omaxe Ltd, have already plunged into the new asset class of the real estate sector.

Andhra girl, cousin's killings

The state government and the Regional Passport Office (RPO), Hyderabad, have initiated steps to bring back the bodies of 23-year-old Soumya Reddy and her cousin Tummala Vikram Kumar Reddy from the United States. Chief secretary P Ramakanth Reddy has written a letter to the Consulate-General of India, Chicago, and the Embassy of India, Washington, offering to ferry the dead bodies to their home town. "The government will put efforts to bring the bodies as early as possible to the city," a GAD source told TOI. Meanwhile, Regional Passport Officer B Bala Bhaskar is liaising with the Indian embassy officials. The bodies of Soumya and her cousin Vikram Reddy might be flown to the city in the next three weeks after completion of probe. "If the parents want to go to the US, the RPO will extend its cooperation in preparing temporary passports," he said. Meanwhile, the Tummala family continues to be in the dark with little information emerging on the circumstances that led to the killings, as the St Louis County police searched for the gun at the Spanish Lake County Park where the two cousins were shot dead over the weekend. The shattered family in Padmaraonagar was clueless till Wednesday night with barely any information furnished to them by the US federal authorities and the Indian Consulate-General officials in Chicago, though the St Louis County medical examiner's office had completed the autopsies. It refused to divulge the post-mortem results, it is learnt. "At this time we do not have a suspect in custody and that there is no third party," Gary Berra of St Louis County police department said, stressing that the authorities continue to treat the killings as a murder-suicide only. Reports said the medical examiners have apparently determined that Vikram Reddy whose body surfaced in the Sunfish lake died from a single gunshot wound to his mouth, while his wallet was found by the investigators in Vikram's car where Soumya's body was found slouched. The police said Soumya was shot sometime between 9 pm on Friday(US time), when the park closes, and 8.30am on Saturday.

Latest hot swimsuite babe - Priyanka

The blue waters of the Atlantic Ocean and the sparkling beaches of Miami, rises a sexy babe clad in a golden swimsuit. With water shimmering on her body in the sunlight, the face turns towards the camera and we get the first look of Priyanka Chopra in a bathing suit. The vista is mesmerizing. With bollywood babes going the extra mile to show off their toned bodies, it is now the turn of Priyanka Chopra. Kareena Kapoor, Bipasha Basu, Amisha Patel, Minissha Lamba have done it and now Priyanka joins the elite gang of those wearing a swimsuit for a film. In her signature husky voice, Priyanka who is suffering from acute congestion in her throat and chest says, “The compliments are pouring in. The film has been shot in Miami and as we are young people, the best place for frolicking is on the beach. Hence, the swimsuit.”

Priyanka-Kangana after all friends for ever!

Bollywood is cashing in on the festive season. The latest to join the devotional bandwagon are Madhur Bhandarkar and his team of ‘Fashion’able girls. Recently, the music launch of Madhur’s Fashion took place at Mumbai’s upmarket Siddhivinayak Temple. The director got there with his leading ladies, Priyanka Chopra and Mugdha Godse, and model-actor Arjan Bajwa. Kangana made a slightly late entry at the venue but headed straight to where Priyanka was standing. The buzz was Kangana and Priyanka had got into a little tiff over the latter hogging the limelight.The girls got chatty as soon as they met though. Does this mean there was never any problem between them regarding screen space? Priyanka cleared the air first. “The film has me, Kangana and Mugdha in pivotal roles. Our characters are well defined,” she said. Kangana backed her by saying, “You can confirm this with any actor. When we’re made to read our scripts and monitor our performances, each of us has eyes only for ourselves. No one is interested in the other’s role or scripts,” she said. Now, we all know that glitz and glamour are the essence of the film. Why the unglamorous music launch without the who’s who of Bollywood in attendance? Says Priyanka, “Whether or not you have glamour you can’t be successful without God. Madhurji and I are both devotees of SiddhiVinayak, so this is the perfect start to the film’s campaign.” Watch Priyanka, Kangana and Mugdha vouch for Fashion, dressed in simple, yet elegant traditional attire.

Salman Khan will launch Govinda’s daughter!

Salman Khan’s Partner co-star Govinda swears by Sallu’s name. The Raja Babu of Bollywood believes the macho star blindly and well! He has reasons to be grateful to the ‘Khan’daan. Salman signed Govinda at a time when the latter was in a deep financial crisis. Partner’s success helped the wacky actor regain his lost glory. And now, Sallu has also taken up the cause of Govinda’s family. Apparently, the brash boy of Bollywood would launch Chi Chi’s daughter Narmada! Govinda said, “Salmanbhai and his brothers are part of my family. They will naturally do what is best for any member of my family.” Speaking affectionately about his daughter, an emotional Govinda added, “She won’t have to go through the long period of struggle like her father did. She won’t make the mistakes that I did. Hopefully, she has none of my blemishes and all of my virtues, whatever they may be.” And it is not just his personal life that Govinda is thrilled about. A television report stated that Govinda’s political constituency in Mumbai North is the second-most prosperous and well-developed in Mumbai has left Govinda feeling elated. He now plans to visit Sonia Gandhi with the information, though he never did anything for the upliftment of the area. That South Mumbai was declared the most prosperous constituency in the same report doesn’t daunt Govinda. “South Mumbai is prosperous by its very nature whereas my area is underdeveloped. I was tired of people accusing me of neglect and political ignorance. I understand the needs of my people. Now all I want is for my party to acknowledge my contribution to my constituency and remove the political stigma from my career,” he said. Govinda is also changing his approach to his filmy career. “I’ve four films in hand which I’ll complete by October. In November, I start Mani Ratnam’s film. And then I’ll do only one film at a time. There was a time when I simultaneously did 40 films. That ‘s now down to four. Now that I’ve paid off all my debts - financially and to my constituency - I want to devote time to quality work and to my family, which I never did before,” he said.

Serial Blast In Delhi

At least 18 person killed and more than 100 injured in a serila blast in Delhi.
Five blasts ripped through different parts of the National Capital on Saturday evening between 6:15 PM and 7 PM. Unconfirmed reports say the casualty figure may be higher.The blasts took place in the Gaffar Market area of Karol Bagh, two blasts in Connaught Place, and another in Greater Kailash. The impact of the blasts in Karol Bagh could be gauged by the fact that an auto was thrown up and got caught in the electrical wires. According to Delhi Police, two persons were detained from Connaught Place area soon after the blasts. Police said a boy named Rahul had claimed to have seen the terrorists. Rahul informed the police that terrorists were travelling in an auto-rickshaw. He also said that the terrorists were clad in black kurta-pyjama. Security was tightened across the National Capital, with police personnel fanning out in large numbers to railway and Metro stations, hospitals, bus terminals and airport. Gun-toting security personnel were deployed at sensitive points after explosions in a span of 45 minutes ripped through the city. Barricades were put up at several places to regulate traffic. There was chaos on the roads as people who were outside rushed back home following the blasts. Security was stepped up at railway and Metro stations, inter-state bus terminals, airport, cinema halls, shopping malls and other sensitive points. Several major city markets, including the popular Sarojini Nagar Market which was targeted in the previous Diwali-eve blasts in 2006, were shut down and evacuated. Mobile services were jammed in Connaught Place and Gaffar Market area, the sites of three of the explosions. Extra personnel have been deployed at religious places, besides keeping an extra vigil on the borders. Police have asked cyber cafe owners and dealers to be on alert and keep a tab on their customers. Security has been tightened at all the Metro stations.

Teenagers' latest addiction – Tanorexia

More than 25 percent students of a large university are addicted to tanning, a new study has found. All the students having symptoms of tanning dependence also suffer symptoms similar to alcohol and drug-addicted individuals.
The study by researchers at Fox Chase Cancer Center also found those with a tanning dependence tend to be more likely to be thin and smoke cigarettes than others.
For the study, the researchers set out to understand what proportion of college students report problems with tanning dependence and whether there are shared behaviours among those considered to be tanning dependent and those with other forms of addiction.
"Adolescents and young adults tend to put themselves at risk for later skin cancer by exposing themselves to high levels of ultraviolet radiation, so by understanding some possible reasons why, we hope to develop innovative interventions to help prevent these risky behaviors," explained an associate member at Fox Chase Cancer Center, Carolyn Heckman, Ph.D.
They recruited 400 students and other volunteers at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia during the spring semester of 2006. Participants took part in an online survey utilizing items adapted from questionnaires used to measure traditional substance abuse and dependence.
The measures assess tolerance to tanning (the need to tan increasingly frequently), withdrawal from tanning (discomfort when not having tanned recently), and difficulty controlling the behaviour despite awareness of its negative impact such as freckles, wrinkles, pre-cancerous lesions, etc.
The survey included questions such as "Do you think you need to spend more and more time in the sun to maintain your perfect tan?” "Do you continue tanning so your tan will not fade?" and "Does this your belief that tanning can cause skin cancer keep you from spending time in the sun or going to tanning beds?".
Participants were queried about their level of intentional and incidental sun exposure, tanning booth use, and chemical sunless tanner use.
The survey also asked about health-related behaviors such as body mass index, smoking, and exercise."The media and lay public may know tanning dependence as ''tanorexia,'' alluding to similarities to both substance addictions and body image disorders like anorexia.
There is some evidence that UV tanning dependence may have biological underpinnings like other addictions such as the production of endorphins as in the ''runner''s high," said Heckman.
Heckman added: "We were surprised to find that 27 percent of those we surveyed were classified as tanning dependent. The finding that almost 40 percent of those surveyed had used tanning booths and that the mean age when tanning booths were first used was 17 is also alarming.
"It was revealed that sun tanning was more closely related to tanning dependence than indoor tanning, though use of indoor tanning during warm weather also signalled tanning dependence.Finally, the researchers said that those addicted to tanning were more likely to be thin and smoke cigarettes than others, suggesting meaningful avenues for further research into possible links among risky behaviours

Britney started drinking at 13, lost virginity at 14

Britney Spears began drinking at the age of 13, lost virginity at 14 and then started drugs at the age of 15, according to the tell-all book by mum Lynne Spears.
Lynne has made some sensational revelations in her book due to release on September 16.
In her book Through the Storm, Lynne revealed that the 26-year-old singer began drinking at the age of 13, lost her virginity at 14, and then started taking drugs at 15.
The Toxic singer allegedly had her first drink after joining Disney’s squeaky-clean Mickey Mouse Club.
Lynne also claims that the 14-year-old Britney then had sex with an 18-year-old high school senior in her home town of Kentwood, Louisiana soon after she quit the TV show.
She said that she regrets handing over control of Britney’s career to managers and allowing her daughter to be promoted as a sex object in raunchy videos at such a young age.
As Britney pursued her career, Lynne let her 16-year-old daughter sleep with Justin Timberlake, despite claiming she was a virgin.Britney was once caught with cocaine and cannabis on a private jet, when she was 16.

Google Chrome

Search engine major Google on Wednesday launched a new web browser, Chrome, in its beta version. Google is touting its new browser as a "better Web experience" which will be faster, less crash-prone and more secure than anything in the market yet. The browser market is currently dominated by Microsoft's Internet Explorer, which accounts for more than 70 per cent of browsers, followed by Mozilla's Firefox, Apple's Safari, and Opera.

This is surely a fast browser.I opened nseindia.com and it took just a flash to come up, this site however takes time to load on Mozilla, thanks to the heavy in-built java application.The over look and feel looks good....may be because I have gone bored of Mozilla and IE looks.The thumbnails concepts of the recently visited sites is a good idea.Thats a new thing.However I did notice a bad thing.On the navigation arrows(back and front)you don't get a drop-down of the previous pages like we get in Mozilla and IE.I found this bad.One cannot go back sequentially from the present page doing a back every time to reach the page one wishes to.Chrome should have the navigation drop down for quick nanvigation/access.

Near-fatal accident leads to music career

Hardly. She was recovering from a near-fatal bicycle accident that at age 19 shattered her pelvis and left her with neurological damage. Her doctors suggested turning to music as therapy: So she took up guitar, learning to play on her back because it was too painful to sit up.
Now 23, Gardot's jazz-inflected major label debut album "Worrisome Heart" has critics and music fans sitting up all over the place. Some call her the new Norah Jones. Gardot prefers to call herself Superwoman.
"I can see everything, I can hear everything," she says referring to her post-accident hypersensitivity to light and sound.
She always wears shades. And her ears always ring. She sees the irony, too.
"I picked the most unusual path. I have a hard time with light and a hard time with sound and I sit on the stage almost every night with a lot of noise and a lot of light!"

LYNNE SPEARS DENIES REPORT

Lynne Spears is denying reports that she ordered a present to be sent to Bristol Palin, the pregnant 17-year-old daughter of John McCain’s vice presidential pick Sarah Palin, on behalf of her teenage daughter (and new mother) Jamie Lynn Spears.
"I just got off the phone with Lynne. I can tell you that she hasn't sent her any gifts, but that she does support Sarah and, of course, can empathize with their situation," Curt Handling, Spears' publicist at the Thomas Nelson publishing company, tells E! News.
On Wednesday, a source close to the Beverly Hills baby store Petit Tresor told CelebTV.com that Lynne Spears, Jamie Lynn’s mother, called about the gift, and requested that the gift come from her daughter.
“It was ordered by phone, and they asked what could be done for under $100. They spent $60 on pink burp cloths,” the source said.
A store rep told ABC News that Spears included a card with the package: “Dear Bristol, Hang in there! XXOO, Jamie Lynn Spears.”
Jamie Lynn Spears, Britney Spears' younger sister and the former star of the TV show "Zoey 101," gave birth to her daughter, Maddie Briann, in June. She's engaged to Casey Aldridge, a pipe-layer from Liberty, Miss., but the couple has been dogged by rumors of his infidelity.

Katrine and Hindi??

Sexy Katrina is xpert in hindi now??

In Prakash Jha's film, Ms. Kaif, we hear has given a full length dialogue in Hindi. And she did that so well that even Jha is impressed. In fact it's Kat's very serious role in Prakash's Rajniti that made Hindi tuitions necessary. And her dedication to the job has left the director wide-eyed. After all her hit films, Prakash Jha now wants to present Katrina in a never-seen-before avatar ! Well, with flicks like Namastey London and Singh Is Kinng , one would've expected her to be an ace at Punjabi instead. But none of that seems to be happening. It's only Katrina, her dramatic birthday parties and now her Hindi which is oh-so-happening!

So.......??

No TATA at singur??

Tata Motors on Tuesday said it was looking for alternate options to manufacture its small car Nano from the company's other plants and work at Singur has been suspended."In view of the current situation, the company is evaluating alternate options for manufacturing the Nano car at other company facilities," the company said it a statement. A detailed plan to relocate the plant and machinery to an alternate site is under preparation, it added. "Tata Motors has been constrained to suspend the construction and commissioning work at the Nano plant in Singur in view of continued confrontation and agitation at the site," it said. The decision has been taken in order to ensure the safety of its employees and contract labour who have continued to violently obstructed from reporting to work, it added. A total investment of Rs 1,500 crore has been envisaged for the project that stipulated rolling out Rs one lakh car by October. It, however, has been mired into controversy right from its inception with Mamata Banerjee demanding return of 400 acres out of a total 1000 acres land leased out to Tatas by the state government. Ratan Tata had last month warned that the project would be shifted out of the state in case violence persisted at the Singur plant. The decision to look for alternate options was taken at a management committee comprising company Managing Director Ravi Kant, CFO C Ramakrishnan and Nano project head Girish Wagh, besides group Chairman Ratan Tata, sources added. The company said the decision has been taken to ensure the safety of its employees and contract labour who have continued to violently obstructed from reporting to work. The project's auto ancillary partners were also constrained to suspend the work in line with Tata Motors' decision, it added. The plant was shut for the fifth day on Tuesday as the management did not consider the atmosphere conducive for normal work with the Trinamool Congress dharna entering its 10th consecutive day. "Our workers will not be reporting for work today," a Tata Motors official said earlier in the day. The company's threat to withdraw from Singur comes at a time even when hectic parleys were to end the impasse with state Governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi suggesting to find a neutral mediator. Trinamool Congress leader Partha Chatterjee rushed twice from the dharna site at Singur to Kolkata to discuss the issue with the governor.