Danica Thrall topless – Photoshoot for Nuts Magazine – outtakes 
Danica Thrall topless – Photoshoot for Nuts Magazine – outtakes
The fiscal balance of the government's account in the Reserve Bank of India was Rs 82.6 crore and the cash balance and spending have been closely monitored to avoid overdraft, Lal Thanhawla said in reply to a supplementary question from the opposition members in the assembly.
The government expected to avail a loan to the tune of Rs 200 crore from Centre, he said.
"We have instructed all the treasury officers to submit weekly reports on the release of funds from their respective government treasuries," Lal Thanhawla added.
To a query from Dr. R. Lalthangliana of the opposition Mizo National Front (MNF), the chief minister, who also holds finance portfolio, said that Aizawl South and North treasuries were allowed withdrawal to the tune of Rs 1,000 lakh and Rs 400 lakh respectively from yesterday while they were earlier allowed Rs 500 lakh and Rs 200 lalk withdrawal respectively.
He said that Lunglei district treasury, previously granted withdrawal limit of Rs 60 lakh, was being allowed upto Rs 120 lakh from yesterday.
"The rest of the treasuries in the headquarters of six districts have also been permitted to raise the amount of withdrawal from Rs 40 lakh to Rs 80 lakh," he said.
Reacting to the allegations by Lalduhoma of the Zoram Nationalist Party (ZNP, who raised the matter of 'gross violations of guidelines for regulating the entry and stay of non-indigenous persons within the inner line of Mizoram' in calling attention motion, Lalzirliana admitted that the government was aware of the abuse of the guidelines for ILP.
"The government is aware of the abuses of the ILP guidelines as the ILP cannot be used for running businesses in Mizoram," he said, adding that a new guideline was drafted which will ensure punishment for the sponsors who abuse the ILP.
Moving a calling attention motion, former Lok Sabha member and ZNP chief Lalduhoma alleged that many ILP holders were doing businesses in the state and that he was having a long list of such defaulters.
He urged the state government to take prompt action against the offenders, including the sponsors.
The bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justice Sanjiv Khanna issued notice to the education department and asked it to file a reply by May 18 on the issue raised by a public interest litigation.
The petition sought restricting school children's access to eraser fluid, naphthalene balls, pain-relieving balms, nail paint remover and paint thinner, among other similar substances.
The court asked petitioner Sanjeev Sabharwal to submit his queries related to the issue.
The petition wanted the directorate of education to ensure that such substances did not make their way into schools.
Sabharwal said parents must be made aware of the widespread substance abuse among school children.
The petitioner said school children as young as 10 years were getting addicted to sniffing eraser fluid, glue, pain-relieving balms, paint thinner and nail polish remover -- items which are available at neighbourhood stationery or provision shops.
These items cost between Rs.15-30, and most children manage to buy them from their pocket money.
Some even go as far as inhaling petrol from their parents' cars or parked bikes.
The petition has also made the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights and Delhi State Commission for Protection of Child Rights as respondents.
Source: IANS
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is likely to ask voice over internet protocol (VoIP) service providers like Google and Skype to come up with a decryption solution of their services.
The move, if implemented, will mean that the government will be able to track emails sent through Gmail as well as intercept voice calls made through Skype.
In an internal meeting with DoT, officials from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) told the telecom department that Google and Skype need to provide decryption of their services whenever required by the security agencies for lawful interception.
There was also a need to bring some parity between the Information Technology (IT) Act and the Indian Telegraph Act-1885 to deal with interception and monitoring, according to the DoT internal note.
When contacted, a Google spokesperson said: "We have not been contacted by the government yet on this issue and thereby, we are unable to comment." During the meeting, DoT said such issues may be taken up at international forums such as ITU, WTO and United Nations wherein service providers are mandated to take permission from member countries before launching new services.
The legal protection for business entities may have to be strengthened against consumer protection or any civilian Act, where business secrets are disclosed to government agencies due to security considerations, the note further said.
India going the China way?
Intelligence Bureau (IB) will also prepare a list of issues faced by them while monitoring services and will be jointly addressed by the department of telecom and IT.
The interception/monitoring issue cropped up after security agencies expressed concerns about intercepting highly encrypted services such as BlackBerry, among others.
The government has been demanding access for intercepting BlackBerry services. But, the makers of BlackBerry - Research in Motion - has always maintained that the company cannot give access to its enterprise services as it does not hold the key. However, RIM had given a full solution to intercept its BlackBerry messenger services in January end, which averted apossible ban on the services. RIM had earlier given a manual solution for monitoring its messenger services.
There are over one million BlackBerry subscribers in India. RIM uses powerful codes to encrypt email messages as they travel between BlackBerry devices and a computer known as a BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) that is designed to secure those emails.
Source: Business Standard
London: Religious organisations in India not only operate as business organisations, but their 'business model' has seen diversification of activities to retain the loyalty of their followers and attract new devotees, according to a study conducted at the University of Cambridge.
Led by Indian-origin academic Dr Sriya Iyer, the study reveals that new ways of religious organisations diversifying include cow-lending, computer-based learning; sewing and aerobics classes.
The study's findings are details in the latest edition of Research Horizons. The Cambridge team from the Faculty of Economics and the Cambridge Judge Business School spent two years surveying 568 Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Sikh and Jain religious organisations across seven Indian states to examine their innovations in offering religious and non-religious service provision.
The survey is believed to be one of the first of its kind in India with researchers finding that although India is becoming more powerful and wealthy, rising social inequality - especially in the poorer states - means religious groups often fill the breach left by the lack of social welfare, especially in the fields of education and healthcare. Dr Iyer of the Faculty of Economics and St Catharine's College, said, "We have found that the resilience of religion draws from the ability of groups to undertake innovation and innovative behaviour, similar to the behaviour observed in business firms".
She added, "In the same ways a business tries to stay ahead of its competitors, religious groups are showing the same rational economic responses to changes in the political, ecological and economic environments in which they operate." Examples of religious and non-religious offerings across the seven states included weddings and other religious ceremonies telecast over the internet in real time for overseas friends and family to witness, blood donation, eye camps, drug rehabilitation, old age homes, widow welfare programmes and organised mass marriages for the poor.
The survey also found that religious groups may act in the same way as businesses in competing to offer unique selling points when it comes to matters of ideology. In addition to their religious offerings, they provide more non-religious services in response to perceptions about increasing income inequality.
With rising income inequality, the poor demand more non-religious services and organisations respond to this demand by providing these services more, the study says.
Dr Iyer said, "What is also interesting is the seemingly paradoxical notion held by many of these groups that although India is getting richer and growing economically, inequality is also growing. So people may become 'consumers' of religion based on a religious group's ideology - but also the cost and wealth benefits from membership of a particular organisation such as education, health, food distribution, employment and its other services."
The survey took place in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Gujarat. In total, 272 Hindu religious groups were interviewed, along with 248 Muslim, 25 Christian and 23 Sikh and Jain religious organisations.
Dr Iyer also points out that many religious groups have very positive effects on their followers and the wider community. She said, "Counter to some analyses of religion in India that have mainly studied the negative consequences religion might engender, we are emphasizing the positive role of some religious organisations in India today and the work they do among the wider community".
One of the most striking innovations the team found was the cow lending scheme in Gujarat, where people from the community can borrow a cow, for as long as they like, at no cost. Researchers said they were also surprised to find activities such as aerobics classes.
Dr Iyer said, "The way religious groups are innovating is fascinating. The offerings made by Muslim and Christian groups may differ from those provisions made by Hindus, but across all religions we see the ways in which these groups act in a business-like manner in response to their competitors and in response to income inequality, but also out of a willingness to do good and help where state provision is inadequate".
She added: "We found evidence that organisations of all religions in India have substantially increased their provisions of religious and especially non-religious services in order to substitute for the lack of state provision and that this is related to their perception of inequality and poverty. This is especially the case in poorer states.
Source: PTI
Chennai: DMK president and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi Wednesday promised free laptops to all the first-year students of government-owned and government-aided professional colleges in the state irrespective of their caste.
He also reduced the eligibility age of senior citizens for free bus passes to 58 years from the earlier promised 60 years.
Kick starting his election campaign from his home town and his constituency Tiruvarur, around 300 km from here, for the April 13 poll, Karunanidhi said: "Acceding to the request of allies and others I have decided to promise free laptops to all the first year students irrespective of their caste."
The 86-year-old chief minister is likely to file his nomination Thursday. Karunanidhi is aiming for the chief minister's post for the sixth time and is in the fray to become a legislator for the 12th time.
The DMK party had earlier promised free laptops to first year students belonging to the backward classes, the most backward classes and Dalits.
With the retirement age fixed at 58 years, he said the free bus pass scheme will be offered to all those citizens who attain that age. The DMK earlier promised free bus passes to those aged 60 years and above.
Referring to the presence of kangaroo courts in the state, Karunanidhi, who also holds the police portfolio, announced that an appropriate law would be passed to put an end to this menace once the DMK is re-elected.
Referring to his decision to contest from Tiruvarur, he said it was to silence those who asked him to prove his strength in his home town.
Citing leaders of alliance parties who said that he would become the chief minister for sixth time, Karunanidhi appealed to the Tiruvarur voters to help him achieve that target.
He said he wanted to contest in the Tiruvarur constituency long back but was not able to do so as it was a reserved seat.
He said the DMK government implemented several schemes that were not mentioned in its 2006 poll manifesto and cited the Kalaignar Housing Scheme - conversion of thatched houses into concrete roof dwelling at an outlay of Rs.75,000.
In the 2011 poll manifesto, the DMK has promised to increase the sum under the housing scheme to Rs.100,000.
Referring to the DMK-led front, Karunanidhi said the alliance was formed to achieve the ideals and goals for which each one of the front constituent strived for.
The DMK contesting in 119 constituencies has sewed up alliances for the remaining 115 seats with the Congress (63), the PMK (30), the KMK (7), the MMK (1), the VCK (10), the IUML (3) and a Nadar outfit (1).
Leaders of all the alliance parties spoke prior to him at the meeting.
Election to the 234-member assembly will be held April 13. The result will be out May 13.
Source: IANS
After Helen, here is an "Item Girl" who seduces the viewer without being blatantly salacious.To call Malaika an Item girl would be to understate her ability to make it look like a traditional dance form. From 'Dil Se' to 'EMI' to 'Helloo India' to 'Dabangg', the Malaika numbers have been designed in such a way as to energise the viewer than to tickle his abs.
Recently, Malaika created a Guinness record, when she, along with a crowd of 1200, danced to the rhythm of "Munni Badnam Hui" for three minutes, in Melbourne, Australia. The record was for the largest crowd to dance to a song.
Malaika was born on August 23, 1973 to a Malayalee mother, Joyce Polycarp, and a Punjabi father, Anil Arora.
She met Bollywood actor Arbaaz Khan during a coffee ad shoot, fell in love, and got married in February, 1999.
She was named the 'sexiest mom' in Bollywood by Maxim magazine.
Before Bollywood opened its doors to her, Malaika was one of MTV India's most prominent VJ's, who did shows like 'Love Line' with Cyrus Broacha and 'Style Check'.
She has also been seen as judge in the reality show 'Nach Baliye' and and two seasons of 'Zara Nachke Dikha'.
"I feel like I've been on television forever. I get very involved with my shows. In fact, now I'm doing a style-based radio show in Dubai. It's a completely new medium. There I'm sitting with headphones talking away to an invisible audience. It's like talking to myself," says Malaika.
Malaika has appeared in numerous TV ads as well. She is currently the brand ambassador for Streax Hair Colour.
Her Bollywood career began with a film called 'Aaja Meri Jaan' in 1993.
With the "Chaiyya Chaiyya" number from 'Dil Se', opposite Shah Rukh Khan, Malaika gained international fame.
Images: Bollywood Hungama, SantaBanta
