Kiran Upadhyay

The hill state of Himachal Pradesh and the picturesque locales of the Kullu-Manali valley has attracted many Bollywood film makers, especially after the insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir. And from Mani Ratnam (ROJA) to Anil Sharma (HERO and AB TUMHARE HAWAALE WATAN SAATHIYO), Mohit Suri (RAAZ - THE MYSTERY CONTINUES...) and Imtiaz Ali (JAB WE MET), all have thronged the beautiful valley to shoot their films. The lush green valley, the mighty snow capped peaks, the ancient architecture and the colourful culture have been an added advantage, apart from the fact that it is easily approachable by land and air. But there has been no shooting of Hollywood films in Himachal, despite it being a favourite haunt of foreign tourists, especially areas like Old Manali and Kasual (Manikaran). However, good news for the people of Himachal is that its beauty will finally be brought to light via a big budget Hollywood film. In order to finalize the location, an English filmmaker has already reached Manal...

One thing that never separates from our macho man Salman Khan is his blue sapphire bracelet. It is believed that it is sort of a lucky charm for Salman and he never takes it off his hand in real or on reel. He has always sported the bracelet in all his movies. Salman has been going through a dull phase when it comes to his filmi career. His previous releases, God Tussi Great Ho , Hello , Heroes and Yuvvraaj , despite coming from good banners, bombed at the box office. But it seems Salman wants to take no chances henceforth. The actor has become choosier about the films he signs and has also asked his father, Salim, to help him choose the right scripts. And with that in place, Salman is also making sure that luck works in his favour this time. Salman is flaunting his bracelet in the first look of Boney Kapoor’s ‘Wanted Dead Or Alive’. The Khan strongly believes in the luck factor that his bracelet brings with it and thus has decided to flaunt it on even the...

Superstar Rajinikanth has categorically denied all the speculation about his political party launch and is firm on his stand to stay away from politics temporarily. In a short interview with the media at the ‘pooja' launch of Asal, superstar Rajinikanth said that he would not comment anything on politics in this present scenario. Here is the short presenttation of the questions posed by the media and the answers he gave. What do you think of Ajith? Is he going to be the next superstar? I don't know about that, but more than a star, he's a good actor. But so far, no one has completely extracted that ability from him. He's a very Good actor. What do you think about his films? He's a Good entertainer and definitely every film of his has some message. A point about the elections, whom are you going to vote for this elections? Aiyyo, Aiyyo... Sorry, Sorry (Smiles), I will not speak about it And are you planning to launch a political party in future like Chiranjeevi? N...

After Chinese, Indians are most likely to go online and make friends or rekindle romantic relationships, a study has said. According to the Norton Online Living Report, about 86 per cent of Chinese are more likely to make friends online followed by Indians (86 per cent) and Brazilians (82 per cent). French (32 per cent) and Japanese (38 per cent) are the least likely to make friends online, it added. The report said that while 14 per cent respondents globally said they have rekindled romantic relationships, the percentage was higher for India (37 per cent) and Brazil (25 per cent). "In India, we have witnessed a frenzy of online activity via social networking—from rediscovering cousins across the world, to virtually 'friending' friends and acquaintances and even rekindling old flames," Symantec Country Sales Manager (India - Consumer Products and Solutions) Gaurav Kanwal said. Seven out of 10 respondents worldwide said the Internet has made their relationships be...

It's hard for me to imagine going without email for a day. It's such an easy and convenient way to communicate with my friends and family. However, there was one limitation that bothered me: my family members and friends who prefer to communicate in Hindi did not have an easy way to type and send email in their language of choice. I am extremely happy to announce the launch of a new feature in Gmail that makes it easy to type email in Indian languages. When you compose a new mail in Gmail, you should now see an icon with an Indian character, as the screenshot below shows. This feature is enabled by default for Gmail users in India. If you do not see this function enabled by default, you will need to go the "Settings" page and enable this option in the "Language" section. When you click the Indian languages icon, you can type words the way they sound in English and Gmail will automatically convert the word to its Indian local language equivalent. For example,...

Skype, the popular voice-over-Internet phone service, is about to land on the iPhone today. Skype, a unit of eBay, is set to announce the availability of its service on the iPhone platform at a press conference at the CTIA Wireless show in Las Vegas. Users of the iPhone and the iPod Touch will be able to download the Skype app through Apple's iTunes store. Calls to other Skype users will be free, while calls to landlines and mobile phones can be made through Skype's SkypeOut paid service. All calls will need to be made over Wi-Fi and not over AT&T's cellular network. The rollout trails other voice-over-Internet apps on the iPhone including Fring and Nimbuzz. Skype has been on other platforms such as Windows Mobile and Symbian and most recently on Android. But now, it's finally getting to some of the most popular platforms in the United States. In addition to the iPhone, Skype is expected to make it to BlackBerrys in May. The iPhone version won't have everyt...

MEDIA RELEASE: EARTH HOUR'S CALL TO ACTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE ONLY HOURS AWAY • 2848 cities and towns in 83 countries across all seven continents prepare to unite for Earth Hour • 829 icons and landmarks around the world to switch off lights in support of climate change action March 28, 2009: At 8.30pm local time tonight, 2848 cities and towns across 83 countries will switch off their lights for Earth Hour in a moment of global solidarity. From the small island nations of the South Pacific to the densely populated cities of the Americas, millions of people from all walks of life and corners of the world will participate in Earth Hour, casting their vote in the world’s first global election between Earth and global warming. 66 national capitals and 9 of the10 most populated metropolises on the planet have confirmed their participation in this year’s event, along with some of the world’s most prominent cites, including: •NewYork •London •Beijing •Paris •Moscow •Singapore •Berlin •...