गुरुवार, 3 जुलाई 2008

Shilpa takes violin lessons for 'The Man'

New Delhi, July 3(DNS) Actress-cum-yoga guru Shilpa Shetty is now learning to play the violin for her role in Sunny Deol's "The Man".
"I have to play the violin in 'The Man' and to make it look real, I am taking lessons. Trust me, it is very difficult to play the violin. I am having a tough time. My instructor tells me that it is the most difficult instrument to play and he is quite right," said Shilpa in a press statement.
Although Shilpa is finding her lessons tough, her instructor Sandeep, who is based in Goa, says he is impressed with her sincerity.
"Every evening after pack up, Shilpa takes two hour lessons to play the violin। She is shaping up to be a very dedicated student," he stated.
In "The Man", Shilpa is portraying a girl who rises to instant global stardom - very similar to her real life experience.
"Her character has an interesting side to it - she is a violin expert just like pop sensation Vanessa Mae. Her violin playing portions in the film have been styled just like a Vanessa Mae video. Since Shilpa wanted to lend authenticity to her character, she decided to learn to play the violin," a source close to the actress stated.

India, Egypt bolster bilateral ties during Mukherjee's visit

Cairo, Jul 3 (DNS) India and Egypt have agreed to enhance bilateral ties, especially in the areas of trade and economy but New Delhi voiced its inability to have nuclear energy cooperation with Cairo.
External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who wrapped up a three-day visit to Egypt today, said Indian investment in the Arab nation is expected to triple to nearly USD two billion from the current USD 750 million.
During his visit, Mukherjee called on President Hosni Mubarak in the scenic port city of Sharm el-Shekih and held talks with his Egyptian counterpart Ahmed Abul Gheit here.
Mukherjee discussed with Mubarak ways to further strengthen bilateral relations, particularly in the fields of trade and economy.
Mubarak said he was keen to visit India later this year.
The two leaders expressed satisfaction at the growing bilateral trade and hoped that the economic relations between the two countries would be more robust.
India was the largest importer of Egyptian products and the Arab nation's fourth largest trading partner last year। The bilateral trade between the two countries is around USD three billion.
Several Indian corporates, including the Tata Group and Aditya Birla Group, have lined up projects in Egypt.
"The potential is immense and therefore we would like to expand these possibilities," Mukherjee said.
Egypt will host the sixth session of the Joint Commission next year which is expected to further strengthen the bilateral relations, official sources said.
Referring to the issue of bilateral nuclear cooperation, Mukherjee told reporters India would not be able to help Egypt develop its civil nuclear programme as New Delhi was not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. DNS

Centre closely monitoring situation in Jammu

New Delhi, July 3 (DNS) The Centre is closely monitoring the situation in Jammu and Kashmir and has also rushed in four companies of CRPF today for tackling increasing violence in the state over Amarnath land transfer issue.
A spokesperson of CRPF, responsible for counter insurgency operations in the state, said four CRPF companies (nearly 400 personnel) have been sent to Jammu following fresh violence in the city.
The Centre has also rushed a company of Rapid Action Force (RAF) to Indore in Madhya Pradesh after curfew was imposed in some areas of the city following a clash.
Senior Home Ministry officials held a series of meetings besides talking to the state government officials to have a first-hand information about the situation in jammu.
Protesters halted trains, set afire vehicles and fought pitched battles with police at many places in Jammu region where 25 people were injured in fresh violence over the Amarnath land transfer revocation row.
Shiv Sena activists barged into the house of a Hurriyat Conference leader and assaulted him as curfew clamped in several areas remained in force for the third day. DNS

Nuke deal in national interest: Kalam tells Mualayam, Amar

New Delhi, Jul 3 (DNS) Former President and scientist A P J Abdul Kalam today told top Samajwadi Party leaders that the Indo-US nuclear deal was beneficial for the country and they should keep national interest above politics while firming up their stand on the issue.
SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and General Secretary Amar Singh drove to Kalam's residence this evening after a meeting of UNPA where it was decided to seek the opinion of experts of eminent scientists on the issue before future course of action could be chalked out.
After more than an hour-long meeting with Kalam, Yadav told reporters that the former President told them that "the deal is in national interest".
"We will inform UNPA leaders about our discussions with Kalam who is a well known and respected scientist. He is the father of nuclear technology of the country", the SP supremo said. DNS

Our strategic autonomy not affected, says PMO

NEW DELHI: The government on Wednesday clarified that the civil nuclear agreement with the U.S. would not affect India’s autonomy of decision making on foreign affairs or strategic programme in any manner.
“India had always followed an independent foreign policy। Under no circumstances would this position undergo a change, the least of all in the context of the Civil Nuclear Cooperation Agreement. India has always regarded its strategic autonomy in these matters as sacrosanct,” said a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office here.
The statement came after National Security Adviser M.K. Narayanan had a meeting with Samajwadi Party leaders Ram Gopal Yadav and Amar Singh. The SP leaders had sought clarifications on the nuclear deal before committing the party’s support to the United Progressive Alliance government.
The SP’s backing is crucial for the Congress-led coalition as the Left parties have made it clear that they will withdraw support the moment the government proceeds further to “operationalise” the nuclear deal by going to the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Board of Governors। The SP is all set to make its stand public after a meeting of the United National Progressive Alliance, of which it is a constituent, here on Thursday.
In reply to Mr. Amar Singh’s query whether the nuclear deal would impinge on New Delhi’s relations with Tehran, the PMO clarified that the ties with Iran were “time-honoured and civilisational in nature and no outside influence or pressure could force India to deviate from this path.”
Referring to the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline, the statement said it “epitomises the nature and importance of the relationship, something that was strongly reinforced during the visit of [Iranian] President Ahmadinejad to Delhi in April। The NSA has just returned after a very productive meeting with the Iranian leadership, and [he] also had a meeting with President Ahmadinejad, at which apart from economic issues like the IPI pipeline, related matters were discussed.”
The statement asserted: “India is not under any pressure, nor can it be pressurised to follow a course of action that is not dictated by our enlightened self-interest।”
Another issue raised by the SP leaders was whether the deal would undermine India’s nuclear sovereignty।
The statement said the Prime Minister had reiterated on many occasions that the deal would not in any way impinge on “our strategic programme।” For, this was an agreement for civil nuclear cooperation and the purpose was to enable full civil nuclear energy cooperation between the parties and nuclear reactors concerned and all aspects of the associated nuclear fuel cycle.