A.R. Rahman, brand ambassador for Toyota Etios

Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) has roped in music composer and two-time Oscar winner A.R. Rahman as brand ambassador for its small car Etios to be launched in December.

Rahman will endorse the Etios through various marketing campaigns, the company said Friday.“There is a very strong connect between the product and its brand ambassador, with both being global, innovative, reliable, and a class-above quality,” said Hiroshi Nakagawa, managing director, TKM.The new Toyota hatchback is said to have been designed for the mass volume segment of the Indian market and will compete in the Rs.3-5 lakh price band.“I believe real quality is created when skill meets dedication, when insight meets inspiration, when passion meets perfection. This is why I am happy to be associated with Toyota. The same values drive Toyota in whatever they do,” said Rahman on his association with Toyota.Sandeep Singh, deputy managing director, marketing, said the Toyota brand in India would get stronger and far-reaching “with Rahman in our multi-media campaigns”.
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Bal Thackeray anoints grandson Aditya into politics

Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray Sunday night formally anointed grandson Aditya into politics by presenting him a ceremonial sword as a crowd of over 200,000 cheered lustily.A surprisingly robust and healthy looking Thackeray, accompanied by Aditya, arrived at the Shiv Sena Dussehra rally at the historic Shivaji Park grounds, even as his son and Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray wound up his 45-minute-long address.
First, the three generations of the Thackeray family garlanded a statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji before Thackeray was escorted to his ‘throne’.After the usual round of garlands, Aditya stood before him, clad in a simple blue kurta with sleeves rolled up to the elbows and dark trousers.Thackeray handed his grandson a gleaming sword and touched his forehead, while Aditya bent and touched his feet. Thackeray also presented a bouquet of flowers to the 20-year-old.Aditya then sought his father Udhav’s blessings by touching his feet.He then came forward on the stage, raised the sword and waved it to the cheering crowds, then bowed before the gathering and syumbolically sought their blessings.Belying expectations, Aditya did not make a speech and the stage was left for his father and grandfather.Flanked on his right by former leader of opposition in the state assembly Ramdas Kadam and on the left by ex-chief minister and former Lok Sabha speaker Manohar Joshi, Aditya sat throughout the two-hour function and listened attentively to the speeches of the two senior Thackerays.In his 45-minute speech, Bal Thackeray said that Aditya had progressed in the party by his deeds and urged partymen to encourage and support him.
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Ayodhya verdict: Nirmohi Akhara to also move Supreme Court

The decision of theAll India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) to take the Ayodhya battle to the Supreme Court has prompted one of the key Hindu parties, Nirmohi Akhara, to follow suit, almost ruling out any chance of an out-of-court settlement.“We have no choice but to move the Supreme Court now, since the Sunni Central Waqf Board’s resolve to file an appeal agaist the (Sep 30) Allahabad High Court verdict has been formally endorsed by the Muslim Personal Law Board,” Akhara spokesman Mahant Ram Das said over telephone from Ayodhya.Speaking on behalf of 89-year-old Akhara head Mahant Bhaskar Das, who avoids talking over the phone on account of his hearing impairment, Ram Das said: “We were somehow apprehensive that a particular lobby among Muslims was not interested in closing the Ayodhya chapter and that is exactly what has happened. Under the circumstances, we are compelled to take the same course and file an appeal before the Supreme Court.”Asked what would happen to the initiatives taken by 90-year-old Hashim Ansari, the first Muslim plaintiff in the case, to put an end to the court battle and settle the dispute through dialogue, Ram Das said: “Well, we all appreciate Ansari’s efforts to which Mahant Bhaskar Das had also responded very positively, but what to do now?”Signalling a hardened position, he said: “We have reason to believe that we must not only have full right over the entire disputed land, but also be given complete right to perform puja and have full control over the proposed temple.”A three-judge special bench of the Allahabad High Court had ordered division of the disputed 90 ft x 120 ft plot of land where the Babri masjid once stood into three parts – one to Ram Lalla, one to the Nirmohi Akhara and one to the Sunni Waqf Board.After a meeting of its executive here Saturday, the AIMPLB said it had decided to appeal in the Supreme Court against the Ayodhya verdict, but clarified it was not opposed to an out-of-court compromise, though with certain conditions.Asked to comment on the change in Nirmohi Akhara’s stand, All India Akhara Parishad chief Mahant Gyan Das blamed it on Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) vice president Vinay Katiyar.“It is all because of Vinay Katiyar that the Nirmohi Akhara has altered its stand. It appears that Katiyar has poisoned the mind of Mahant Bhaskar Das,” he said.Gyan Das, who strongly championed keeping politicians out of the amicable settlement process, alleged Katiyar had vested interests.“Having been a MP from the area in the past, Katiyar knows that he could continue to get political mileage out of the issue only as long as it was allowed to simmer,” he said, referring to Katiyar’s stint as Faizabad MP.Earlier this week, Katiyar told mediapersons in Ayodhya that no out-of-court settlement on the issue was possible until Muslims abdicated their claim even to the one-third portion of the disputed site.

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Kasab death penalty: Case in high court Monday

Unprecedented security arrangements have been made at the Bombay High Court where the hearing on the confirmation of the death sentence to Pakistani terrorist Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab begins Monday.

Kasab will not be present in person but participate in the proceedings through video-conferencing in view of the threat perceptions against him.The day-to-day hearing will be taken up before a division bench of Justice Ranjana Desai and Justice R.V. More.Special Judge M.L. Tahaliyani, who is now the principal sessions judge, awarded the capital punishment to the 22-year-old Pakistani gunman for his role in the Nov 26-29, 2008 Mumbai attack that claimed the lives of 166 people, including 26 foreigners.Unprecedented security measures have been ordered in the court premises with strict regulations on the entry of lawyers, litigants, mediapersons, court employees and others in Court No. 49.Government counsel Ujjwal Nikam, who fought the case in the trial court, will open his arguments seeking confirmation of the death sentence.Later, defence lawyers Farhana Shah and Amin Solkar will make their submissions on the confirmation of the sentence and their appeal against it.Two other co-accused in the case, Faheem Ansari and Sabahuddin Ahmed, who were acquitted by the Special Court owing to “doubtful evidence” against them, were re-arrested following an appeal filed by the state government.Both are currently lodged in different jails in Mumbai.Nine out of 10 gunmen, barring Kasab, who staged the attack were killed by security forces.
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Students plan protest during Prime Minister's Hyderabad University visit

Hyderabad, Oct 18 : Tight security arrangements are in place for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to the University of Hyderabad here Tuesday as a section of the students and faculty is planning a protest against laying of the foundation stone for the Hyderabad campus of Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR).The students' unions and some faculty members are opposing the allocation of university land for TIFR while the Left parties have also appealed to the prime minister not to lay the foundation stone for the institute.Anticipating protests by the students and faculty, police have made elaborate security arrangements on the campus.Manmohan Singh will arrive in Hyderabad Tuesday at 11.30 a.m. He will inaugurate the 21st general meeting of the Third World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) at 12 noon.He will lay the foundation stone for the Hyderabad campus of TIFR at 2.30 p.m. and return to New Delhi at 3.40 p.m. Students Monday staged protests at the university campus against plans to allot the land to various private institutions.The Joint Action Committee (JAC) of faculty, non-teaching staff and students fears that the land allotment to TIFR would set a "bad precedent" as the versity authorities could allot land to more private institutes.The strong protest by the JAC early this year had forced Vice-Chancellor Seyed E. Hasnain to put on hold a project to lease out 200 acres of campus land for Knowledge and Innovation Park (KIP).Leaders of Communist Party of India (CPI) and Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), in a joint letter to the prime minister, appealed to him to cancel his proposed programme as it could be used by an "unscrupulous" administration to sanctify its "selfish" and "unreasonable land deals".CPI leader K. Narayana said there were proposals to allot 1,000 acres more to institutions and Singh's foundation stone laying for TIFR would enable the university to clear them.The central university authorities, however, clarified that land had been allotted to TIFR, a central government's institute of excellence wholly-funded by Department of Atomic Energy, and not to any private institute.The Hyderabad campus of TIFR is coming up on 209 acres of land allotted by the state government on the university campus at Gachibowli. TIFR plans to set up various research and academic facilities in the Hyderabad campus with an investment of about Rs.2,500 crore over a decade.According to TIFR officials, the Hyderabad campus will have world-class labs and facilities to put India in the forefront of research in the emerging areas of science. It plans to accommodate 200 permanent faculty, 1,000 students and 300 post-doctoral researchers.TIFR, which was founded by Homi J. Bhabha June 1, 1945, with the support of Sir Dorabji Tata Trust, has already entered into memorandum of understanding with the University of Hyderabad to facilitate collaborative research.The prime minister will also inaugurate the 21st general meeting of Third World Academy of Sciences (TWAS). More than 350 scientists from 35 countries are expected to attend the four-day event.The union ministry of science and technology is sponsoring the meet. The Indian National Science Academy (INSA) and the TWAS Regional Office for Central and South Asia (TWAS-ROCASA) are the joint hosts.Based in Trieste, Italy, TWAS is an autonomous international organization which is working to promote scientific capacity and excellence for sustainable development in the south.
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Hyd to host national seminar on changing trends in news papers

Oct 18 : Andhra Pradesh Small and Medium News Papers of India Association (APSMNPIA) President A Ramachandra Reddy today said a one-day national seminar on 'News papers Service in Changing Trends of the Public and Government' will be held at in Hyderabad on October 20.He told newspersons that here more that 90 delegates representing small and medium newspapers across the country, including New Delhi, Rajasthan, Tamil Naidu, Orissa, Haryana, Karnataka and Gujarat will participate in the seminar and focus on various issues, including role of small newspapers in development of Telugu language, small newspapers public responses and the role of small newspapers in rural development. National President for Association of Small and Medium Newspapers of India (Kanpur) K D Chandola, Narsapur member of Parliament K Bapu Raju, Amalapuram Member of Parliament G V Harsha Kumar, Potti Sriramulu Telugu University Vice Chancellor Prof A Bhumaiah, National co-ordinator for Small and Medium Newspapers Association P Vishumurthi, Telugu University Journalism department Head Satti Reddy will participate in the seminar. Right to Information Act Commissioner R Dilip Reddy, AP Press Academy Chairman T Surendra and senior journalists Pothuri Venkateswara Rao and Satish Chandar, will participate in the seminar, he said.
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