New Maruti Estilo

India’s leading car manufacturer Maruti Suzuki India, has launched a new version of its small car Estilo with a fuel efficient engine at an introductory price between Rs 3.12 lakh and Rs 3.95 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi).

The new 998 CC petrol car is equipped with the latest K-series engines, on the lines of the company’s other small cars — A-Star and Ritz.

“Product upgradation is an integral part of Maruti Suzuki’s business strategy and future plans. This is a way to include feedback from the customers and offer better products that match their tastes,” Maruti Suzuki India Managing Director and CEO Shinzo Nakanishi told reporters here.

According to the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI), Estilo would run 18.2 km in every litre of petrol.

The new Estilo would be produced from MSI’s Gurgaon plant, which also manufactures the A-Star and the Ritz. The existing Zen Estilo comes with a 1.1 litre petrol engine.

ICSI Company Secretary Results

ICSI Company Secretary Results Update:
The foundation, Inter and Final CS Exam Results will be declared today. JUNE 2009 EXAMINATION RESULT WILL BE DECLARED ON 25th AUGUST 2009 AT 12:00 NOON


Previous:
Examination Result - DECEMBER 2008 Session

Check here for New Syllabus
http://icsi.edu/default_resultaticsinew.htm

Check here for Old Syllabus
http://icsi.edu/Default_oldatresultdecember2008.htm

Check here for Merit List
http://www.icsi.edu:8888/Student/MeritList/Merit_Check_list.aspx

How to get the results through email?
Latest notifications from ICSI is that the company secretary CS results will be declared and all the registered candidates can access the same via the official website of ICSI at www.icsi.edu.

When you visit the website you can find the link to register your mail ID to receive the CS results - all the candidates who successfully subscribe for receiving the results through mail will be sent the CS Result of December 2008 session through email once they are declared.

Here is the link that you need to go to for registering your mail ID

http://www.icsi.edu/webmodules/icsiweb/works/homepage/resemailnew.asp

Liverpool vs Aston Villa

7:45pm: "I'm an American," admits Ed Brickell. "And I profess to know a lot about the history of English football, so I'm going to submit President George Washington as the answer to both survey questions."

7:42pm: "I don't know the answer to either questions," confesses gormless Gary Tynan. "But I do remember Steve Staunton stepping up to take a penalty towards the end of his Villa career. As he did so the commentator noted that Stan had never missed a penalty before. He then missed." Had he even taken a penalty before that? I don't recall any off hand.

7:40pm: Jan Molby and John Barnes are your early leading responses to Question 1, somewhat surprisingly. No one has even mentioned Phil Neal. "I've just finished reading War & Peace," boasts Colin Greer. "I was amazed at the similarity between the main character - Pierre Bezukhov - and Rafa Benitez. Both are intelligent (but not dominated by reason), both have trouble controlling their emotions (which leads to conflict with rivals) and they are both fat. Seeing as no one I know has read the book, could you please present this analogy to your readers as a discussion point?" Thank you for making my questions look interesting.

7:35pm: "I am looking forward to seeing how well Liverpool keep up their quest for second place<" blurts Randy Denton. "Did you know that after eight games last year Tottenham only had two points? That's what my friend, Harry, told me today. And yesterday. And the day before that. And the day before the day." Nice use of commas there, Randy, suggesting as it did that Harry is your one and only friend. But hey, at least your waggery paves the way for another question to which there may be a multitude of answers: precisely how will Tottenham sabotage their own season this time round? I'm guessing they mighty get all giddy about their plans for a new stadium and knock down the current one around Christmas, thus making it impossible for them to complete their fixtures and compelling the FA to demote to the North London six-a-side indoor league (Wednesday afternoon section).

Are there really more questions than answers? Or merely more questions than correct answers? Let's run a little survey, shall we? Here are two questions, let's see who can come up with the answer that the majority of readers will deem correct (please be aware that I'm going to look pretty stupid if no one bother replying to this ... so in 15 minutes or so I may just go back and delete this proposal and make like it never happened. In which case, don't tell anyone).
1) Who is the greatest set-piece taker in the history of either of these clubs?
2) Who is the most enlightened monarch in the history of humanity?

Plea in lieu of a preamble:
"Don't bother with a preamble tonight," implores George Templeton, whose request I am only too happy to grant. "Let me save you and your loyal readers their valuable time and reveal that Liverpool will thrash Aston Villa 4-0. Fernando Torres will score two, Steven Gerrard will dive to get a penalty and, even worse Dirk Kuyt, will score. It will be ugly with a capital U. I am a Villa fan and it will be as much fun as a safe getting dropped on my head." Well, given Villa's origami-inspired behaviour at places such as Anfield and Old Trafford, that sounds fairly accurate to me, though I wouldn't be surprised if Benayoun chipped in with one of the goals. A lovely player, to be sure.

Teams:
Liverpool: Reina, Johnson, Carragher, Skrtel, Insua,
Mascherano, Lucas, Kuyt, Gerrard, Benayoun, Torres. Subs: Cavalieri, Voronin, Riera, Babel, Kelly, Dossena, Ayala.

Aston Villa: Friedel, Beye, Davies, Cuellar, Shorey, Milner, Sidwell, Petrov, Reo-Coker, A Young, Agbonlahor.
Subs: Guzan, Albrighton, Delfouneso, Delph, Heskey, Gardner, Lowry.

Referee: Martin Atkinson (W Yorkshire)

Miss Universe 2009

Miss Venezuela Stefania Fernandez, center, was named Miss Universe 2009, Sunday night in Nassau, Bahamas. Miss Dominican Republic Ada Aimee De la Cruz, l., was first runner up.

Nokia Booklet 3G brings all day mobility to the PC world

Espoo, Finland - After more than 25 years as a pioneer and leader in the mobile industry, Nokia will bring its rich mobility heritage and knowledge to the PC world with the new, Windows based, Nokia Booklet 3G.

Powered by the efficient Intel Atom processor, the Nokia Booklet 3G delivers impressive performance with up to 12 hours of battery life, enabling people to leave their power cable behind and still be connected and productive. Delivering the rich experience of a full-function PC inside an ultra-portable aluminum chassis, the new mini-laptop weighs 1.25 kilograms, measures slightly more than two centimeters thin, and has the features one would expect from the world's leading mobile device manufacturer. A broad range of connectivity options - including 3G/ HSPA and Wi-Fi - gives consumers high speed access to the Internet, including Nokia's broad suite of Ovi services, and allows them to make the most of every moment and every opportunity.

"A growing number of people want the computing power of a PC with the full benefits of mobility," said Kai Oistamo, Nokia's Executive Vice President for Devices. "We are in the business of connecting people and the Nokia Booklet 3G is a natural evolution for us. Nokia has a long and rich heritage in mobility and with the outstanding battery life, premium design and all day, always on connectivity, we will create something quite compelling. In doing so we will make the personal computer more social, more helpful and more personal."

The mini-laptop also comes with an HDMI port for HD video out, a front facing camera for video calling, integrated Bluetooth and an easily accessible SD card reader. Other premium features include the 10-inch glass HD ready display and integrated A-GPS which, working with the Ovi Maps gadget, can pinpoint your position in seconds and open up access for a truly personal maps experience. The Nokia Booklet 3G also brings a number of other rich Ovi experiences to life, whether its access and playback of millions of tracks through the Nokia Music Store, or using Ovi Suite to sync seamlessly from your Nokia smartphone, to your mini-laptop, to the cloud.

The Nokia Booklet 3G will widen the Nokia portfolio, satisfying a need in the operator channel, and bringing another important ingredient in the move towards becoming a mobile solutions company.

India second in ICC Test Rankings

Success is easy to gain, hard to maintain. The adage seems to be true for Australian Cricket team who ended this Ashes series with a humiliating defeat. With this demise, Australia has slipped in ICC rankings.

According to a report, the Aussies has been knocked off its long-held perch as the number-one team in the ICC Test Championship after losing the Ashes series 1-2 in England.

England celebrated the 197 runs victory over Australia in the final Test at the Oval.

With Australia going down to fourth position in the rankings, South Africa assumed top spot followed by Sri Lanka-second and India-third.

Australia has been knocked off top spot for the first time since the current method of ranking was introduced in May 2003. According to the rule, the Test team rankings are only updated at the end of the each series.

Gaining six rating points, England stays fifth in the ranking.

ICC Test Championship (as of August 23, 2009)


Rank Team Rating

1 South Africa 122
2 Sri Lanka 119
3 India 119
4 Australia 116
5 England 105
6 Pakistan 84
7 New Zealand 82
8 West Indies 76
9 Bangladesh 13

Galileo's Telescope

Four hundred years ago, our understanding of the universe changed forever. On Aug. 25, 1609, an Italian mathematician called Galileo Galilei, demonstrated his newly constructed telescope to the merchants of Venice.

Shortly afterwards, he turned it on the skies. He saw mountains casting shadows on the moon and realized this body was a world, like the Earth, endowed with complicated terrain. He saw the moons of Jupiter that circled another heavenly body in direct disobedience of the church's teaching. He saw the moonlike phases of Venus, indicating (it) circled the sun, not the Earth, in even greater disobedience of the priests. He saw sunspots, demonstrating that the sun itself was not the perfect orb demanded by the Greek cosmology adopted by the church.

But he also saw something else. He saw that the Milky Way, that cloudy streak across the sky, is made of stars. That observation was the first hint that, not only is the Earth not the centre of things, but those things are vastly, almost incomprehensibly, bigger than people up until that date had dreamed. Astronomers' latest estimates put the age of the universe at about 13.7 billion years, three times as long as the Earth has existed and about 100,000 times the lifespan of modern humanity as a species. The true size is still unknown. Its age and the finite speed of light, means no astronomer can look beyond a distance of 13.7 billion light-years. But it is probably bigger than that.

Physics, astronomy's dutiful daughter, suggests that the object that people call the universe, vast though it is, may be just one of an indefinite number of similar structures, (each) governed by slightly different rules that inhabit what is referred to, for want of a better term, as the multiverse.

The shattering of the crystal spheres which Galileo's contemporaries thought held the planets and the stars, with the sphere containing the stars representing the edge of the universe, is (along with Darwin's discovery of evolution by natural selection) the biggest revolution in self-knowledge that mankind has undergone.

The world Galileo was born into was of comprehensible compass. The Greeks had a fair idea of the size of the Earth and the distance to the moon, and so did the medievals who read their work. These were distances that the imagination might, at a stretch, embrace. It was easier to believe that a human-sized universe was brought into being with humanity in mind.

It is harder though to argue that the modern version of cosmology which is multiversal rather than universal, has come about for mankind's convenience.

Four centuries on, it is difficult to think of Galileo's intellectual heirs, meeting this week in Rio de Janeiro under the auspices of the International Astronomical Union, as firebrand revolutionaries. Yet their discoveries – from planets around other stars that may support alien life to dark matter and energy of unknown nature are no less world-changing than his. Moderns may be more comfortable than medievals with the idea that man's notion of his place within the universe can suddenly change. That should not blind them to the wonder of it.

Source: The Star

Nokia's Laptop

We’ve heard many rumors and announcements of a Nokia laptop – the Finnish mobile giant has, so far, stayed out of this market – but now it’s truly official, pictures, specifications and all. Its name? Booklet 3G.

Why is it interesting? Well, when the largest manufacturer of mobile phones enters a completely different market for the first time, it’s definitely more than just another netbook. With ongoing rumors about an Apple tablet/netbook, Nokia may be trying to set itself as a player in this space before the competition does.

What are its specifications telling us? Well, it’s definitely big on connectivity: it’s got BluetoothBluetoothBluetooth, WiFi, 3G and a SIM card slot, which makes it a netbook with all the connectivity options of a mobile phone. It has an integrated GPS plus a copy of Ovi Maps, which is also different from most laptops. The rest of its features are, well…netbooky, albeit nearer to the high-end of the specter: an Intel Atom processor, Windows 7, 10.1 inch screen, and all that encased in a 0.78 inch aluminum body.

So, no huge surprises here: it’s a netbook you’d expect Nokia to make, but not a game changer. It’ll be interesting to see how Nokia follows up, especially when (if) Apple launches its fabled netbook/tablet.

Source: Mashable

Paul Muthoot's Murder

The arrest of 11 persons has been recorded on Monday in connection with the murder of Paul Muthoot George, who was killed on the Alappuzha-Changanassery Road on Saturday.

Announcing this at a press conference here, Inspector General of Police (Ernakulam Range) Vinson M. Paul said the 11 persons were part of a group of around 22 persons, allegedly hired for criminal activities including murder, who were on their way to Alappuzha from Changanassery. As per preliminary investigation reports, the group had an altercation with Mr. George, which ended in his murder.

Mr. Paul said that statements from the arrested and others who were questioned pointed to a sequence of events, which began with the vehicle driven by Mr. George hitting a motorcycle near Pallathuruthy while Mr. George and his co-passengers were on their way to his resort at Champakulam.

The group from Changanassery, who were travelling in four vehicles including two Tempo Traveller vans, saw the accident and shouted at Mr. George to stop his car, which he did not. A part of the group, who were fixing a flat tyre of one of the vans, then jumped onto the other van and went after him. They are said to have found his car stopped on the roadside around 2.5km from the accident site. They stopped their van in front of his car and got engaged in an argument with him. A scuffle ensued and in the melee, one of them stabbed Mr. George.

By this time, Mr. George’s driver Shibu, who had stopped at Pallathuruthy to get the resort’s keys, arrived at the spot on Mr. George’s personal vehicle. The group saw him and escaped towards Alappuzha. While Shibu took Mr. George and Manu, who was injured in the scuffle, to the Alappuzha General Hospital, two other persons were with Mr. George from Ernakulam, Omprakash and Rajesh, are said to have escaped with the Ford Endeavour, which was found abandoned near Chavara in Kollam on Sunday.

Mr. Paul said the person who is suspected to have stabbed Mr. George was yet to be apprehended. Efforts were onto trace Omprakash and Rajesh, both of whom have well-recorded criminal antecedents. Calls to mobile phones of all those involved in the case were being analyzed while the investigation would also check whether there was any conspiracy involved.

Almost all the persons in both groups, including Mr. George, were in an inebriated condition, Mr. Paul said, adding that the investigation was still very far from over. The 11 persons arrested on Monday were produced before court later.

Source: The Hindu

The Garrison Girls Calendar: Army wives pose naked

London: It appears that in the honour of their husbands a group of army wives have decided to pose naked for a charity calendar to raise money for the injured and scarred army personnel.

The wives are from all the three armed services in Britain who have been clicked nude in black and white for the ‘Garrison Girl' calendar. None of them have prior experience in modelling.

The props used are all related to armed forces like flag, items of military uniform. According to a website these wives hope to raise 60,000 pounds for the charity.

32-year-old Sarah Bennett Thurston, whose husband Paul serves in the Army said, “"I just wanted to do something positive as a military wife. It can be very very hard. It is hell waiting for the phone to ring. So there is a really strong bond of camaraderie between women involved in the military.”
The uniqueness about this calendar is that Garrison Girl represents wives of all forces, ranks and units.

Imran in love with Shenaz Treasurywala!

Everyone is so tightlipped about the cast of Aamir Khan Productions Delhi Belly that it becomes hard to say whether they’re making a film or designing the blueprint for the national defense.We all know that the film’s leading man is Aamir's nephew Imran Khan. Beyond that everyone is silent on the cast, including Imran himself.When asked about the cast he chuckled, "Sorry I’m not at liberty to talk about the rest of the cast, besides myself."Ask him if it’s Lisa Ray who was to earlier play the female lead when Ranbir Kapoor was to play the lead."No it isn't Lisa Ray. Beyond that you won't get anything out of me," Imran laughs.The cloak of secrecy further deepened recently when veejay-turned-part-time-actress Shenaz Treasurywala was mysteriously quoted as saying, "…It's a fantastic production. And my costar…there is not a single young lady in India who doesn’t believe he's the most adorable thing around."The "fantastic production", as it turns out, is none other than Delhi Belly. And the "the most adorable thing around" is Imran Khan.Shenaz, who made her screen debut opposite Shahid Kapoor in Ken Ghosh's Ishq Vishq, also did a walk-on part in Kunal Kohli’s Hum Tum.

NHPC IPO allotment status and listing price

Those who have applied for NHPC IPO, can check their NHPC equity allotment status here. If you are retail investor and you have applied for 4 or more lot for the bid price of Rs 36, It is 100 % sure that you will get IPO allotment.

Here is the important date for NHPC IPO

Allotment Date - 24th August 2009
Refund Date - 25th August 2009
Listing Date - 1st September 2009 at NSE and BSE

Check your status of NHPC IPO allotment at THIS LINK

Those who have applied throgh online broking house, they will get refund of money online in your trading account in case of non allotment of IPO.

Listing price of NHPC is expected to be Rs 50. There may be chance that it will fall soon after listing as NHPC employess bought only 0.56 time of IPO in their catogry.
Make more that 20% profit just afer listing.

Bad Luck for Ekta Chaudhary

India’s drought at the Miss Universe pageant continued as Miss India Ekta Chaudhary failed to reach the top 15 for the 2009 edition of the event, but the designers here feel she was a “deserving candidate” and lost because of sheer “bad luck”.
“Bad Luck!” designer Vijay Arora said after he got to know the result.

The Miss Universe 2009 contest took place in the Bahamas early Monday (India time) and Stefania Fernández from Venezuela was crowned the beauty queen.

This is the first time in many years that an Indian contestant has failed to make it to the top 15.

“I am very surprised by the fact that Ekta didn’t even come in the top 15. Indian beauties have always managed to come in either top five or top ten. But this is a complete surprise,” designer Ritu Kumar told IANS.

Kumar has been looking after the wardrobe of the Indian contestants in international beauty pageants like Miss Universe and Miss World since 1994.

The last Indian to wear the Miss Universe crown was Lara Dutta who won the title in 2000.

“There must be some discrimination. One can’t digest the fact that no one from India has won the crowd for past so many years. Ekta was a very deserving candidate and I believe there is something wrong going on,” Rahul Jain of designer duo Rahul-Gunjan said.

Ritu Kumar said: “A lot has changed in the format. What I feel is that a lot depends on the sponsors there who might be dictating their terms. All we can do and have been doing is try and give our best. After all we have to take our chances.”

Many people were sceptical about Chaudhary’s short hair as Indian beauties are always associated with long tresses.

Leena Singh of Ashima-Leena designer duo feels that it might it one of the reasons for her early elimination.

“She looks very pretty and has Indian looks but I feel her short hair was the main drawback. It didn’t gel very well with her Indian looks and costumes,” Leena said.

But she maintained that to represent India at the pageant is an achievement in itself.

With India failing to win for so many years, designer Alpana of label Azara feels that it is the time to introspect because the quality of models representing India at the international pageants is deteriorating.

“These things happen and it is very unfortunate. But I feel that this is the time to introspect and think what went wrong. For so many years we haven’t produced a winner which means there is something wrong with the selection criteria. This is the time to start doing something about it,” Alpana maintained.

Source: The Indian

Arun Shourie attacks BJP Leaders

NEW DELHI: The simmering crisis in BJP deepened on Monday with senior leader Arun Shourie attacking the party leadership, saying that even raising questions within the party forum was being dubbed as "indiscipline" and that some leaders at the top were behaving as 'Humpty Dumpty'. Shourie raised the banner of revolt against the leadership by demanding that RSS take over the party and change its top brass lock, stock and barrel.

He also virtually dared the party to take action against him but said if it did it, "they are only killing the messenger".

Joining the ranks of dissidents in the party, which is reeling under internal dissidence after the Lok Sabha defeat, the journalist-turned-politician, who was a minister in the Vajpayee government, hit out at party president Rajnath Singh calling him an "Alice in Blunderland" and that the party was a kati patang (kite without a string).

"In my view, the BJP is a kati patang. Unless it is got hold of swiftly by....I don't see people within the party who now have such authority....if anybody can do it, it is only the RSS (that can do it)," he told a private television channel.

He later told reporters that like once Mao Ze Dong had said, "Bombard the headquarters. Clean up everybody from the top. Bring ten-fifteen people from the states who are competent, honest and dedicated and reconstruct immediately."

"Even raising these questions (within party forum) is becoming indiscipline," the former union minister told a private television channel while responding to a question on expulsion of Jaswant Singh.

Without naming anybody, he said there were people in the party who have "brought about this situation and brought the party to this pass. They are the ones who are hurting the party."

Shourie said there are some people in BJP who have been "planting stories for the last five years against each one of us, including Mr (L K) Advani and including Rajnath Singh in the press by six journalists".

Questioning whether that was "discipline", he said "if you want to call this (his action) indiscipline, ok, call it. But we feel it (party) is an important institution, the party is an important institution."

Throwing a virtual challenge to the party leadership to act against him for his utterances, he said "So, you want to be Humpty Dumpty and make words mean what you say and act, then I presume you already have in your mind to act against me or anybody, so act."

Source: Times of India