Srinivas Padma: Personal Musings on Life, Growth, and Connections

The ability to locate a person using his mobile phone looks set to get better with new technology pat-ented by TeleCommunication Systems, Inc. The patent ena-bles a wireless subscriber’s location to be determined more quickly and more reliably than traditional assisted Global Positioning System methods, TCS said. It addresses specific geographic constraints that a subscriber may face when trying to secure a location fix. Additionally, the patent technology has the capability to enable wireless carriers to offer a better experience to their customers. How it works : Today, there are 29 satellites in the GPS network, each moving around the Earth approximately six times per day. As a user moves his or her wireless GPS device from one location to another, the locations relative to the satellites change. GPS devices attempting to determine the user’s position can only communicate with a limited number of the total GPS satellites at any gi-ven time. In the past, the time required for lock-i...

New Delhi, Dec. 28: Contrary to common perception, literacy level of Muslims is better than that of Hindus in seven Indian states, says a new book authored by noted demographer Mahendra K. Premi. At an all-India level, while the literacy level of the male population for all religious groups is 75.3 per cent and of Hindus 76.2 per cent, it is 67.6 per cent for Muslims, says the book Population of India in New Millennium: Census 2001. However, in Andhra Pradesh, while Muslim males enjoy a literacy rate of 76.5 per cent, that for Hindu males is 69.5 per cent. Similarly, in Gujarat, while Muslims have a literacy level of 82.9 per cent, it is 79.1 per cent for Hindus. In AP, female literacy level among Muslims is 59.1 per cent as against 49.2 per cent for Hindus. Again in Gujarat, 63.5 per cent of Muslim females are literate compared to 56.7 per cent Hindus. Mr Premi’s book reveals that both male and female Muslims enjoy better literacy levels in seven states — Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh,...

New Delhi, Dec. 28: A new Mahabharat circuit is being planned, in the wake of the runaway success of the Buddhist circuit in the country. The Mahabharat circuit runs through Uttar Pradesh and Haryana and has the potential to attract not only domestic but even foreign tourists. Union tourism minister Ambika Soni has agreed to grant Rs 5 crores for the development of the new Mahabharat circuit. The Mahabharat circuit runs through the states of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana. In UP, the tourism department has taken the lead in developing all the places in the state mentioned in the epic. Kurukshetra, the scene of the epic 18-day Mahabharat war and the scene of the revelation of the Bhagvad Gita, however, falls in Haryana. The Mahabharat circuit in Uttar Pradesh covers Hastinapur, which is present-day Meerut in western UP. There are a number of other places in Uttar Pradesh where significant events connected to the Mahabharat took place. Baghpat and Bijnore are two such examples. A tunnel datin...

Director Suneel Darshan has shot a song for his film Shakalaka Boom Boom, that costs Rs 2.5 crores. The expensive song was shot in New York featuring Upen Patel with a 100 girls. It has been choreographed by South African professional Tyrone Watkins and was shot in four days. Justifying the cost of the song, Darshan said that quantity is not important, quality is the priority. The director was very impressed by Watkin’s musical act Fusion — A Bollywood Love Story. Darshan wants to ensure that this movie turns out to be a big break for the actor-turnedmodel. Hence, he has decided to shoot a special title track for Upen. The music has been com posed by Himesh Reshammiya, who claims that Shakalaka... will outshine the Aashiqui track from 36 China Town. Darshan is also roping in a UK-based artiste to sing the track. Inevitably, the track will be used as the first promotion of the movie. The film stars Upen Patel, Bobby Deol, Celina Jaitley and Kangana Ranaut

The one banner that the stars give anything for is Yashraj Films. After all, didn’t Aishwarya Rai agree to kiss Hrithik Roshan on screen in Dhoom 2? The actress is otherwise very particular about the way she is portrayed on screen and stipulates this clearly in her contracts. Now speculation is rife that Yashraj is keen to launch Dhoom 3 and it is none other than Aditya Chopra who will direct this one. “Mohabbatein was the last film Aditya made and he is now looking forward to taking up direction once again,” revealed a source close to the Chopras. The source added, “Also the success of Dhoom 2 has inspired Aditya to make a roller coaster thriller once again. There are talks currently to pen the third part. It has still to take a solid form.” The news that Aditya is keen to cast Shah Rukh Khan is old news. But he is also keen that Aishwarya Rai be a part of Dhoom 3 too. Will Yashraj Films succeed in bringing about a truce between Shah Rukh Khan and Aishwarya Rai who had parted ways pro...

SPIN-KING STEPS DOWN - Test cricket’s greatest bowler Shane Warne announced his retirement from international competition on Thursday, drawing the curtain on one of the most celebrated careers in the sport’s history. Saying he wanted to go out on top, the 37-year-old Australian legspinner with a world record 699 Test wickets revealed the two remaining Ashes Tests against England will be his last international matches. “It’s been unbelievable — my ride in international cricket’s been phenomenal,” an upbeat Warne told a packed media conference at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Warne said he had also retired from Australian domestic cricket but will see out the remaining two years of his contract with English county side Hampshire. Fast bowler Glenn McGrath is also tipped to announce his retirement soon, while batsmen Damien Martyn quit suddenly just before the third Ashes Test. Warne said he had considered retiring after the 2005 Ashes but decided to press on after Australia’s shock loss...

Lucknow: Some call it the wedding of the season while others squirm at the idea — but the groom and his brides appear to be perfectly happy with the arrangement. In Mahoba district of UP, a unique wedding was solemnised on Friday last when Deepak, a young schoolteacher from Chattarpur in Madhya Pradesh, married two sisters Sita and Gita at the same mandap. The girls’ father, Kishori Lal, is also happy with this unusual wedding . “What could I do when the girls were adamant on marrying the same man? I tried to convince them, but they would not relent. Even Deepak was keen on marrying both the girls, and so I agreed to get the marriage solemnised. I only pray that there are no problems later on,” he said. According to Kishori Lal, Deepak takes coaching classes after school hours and his daughters were enrolled there when they fell in love with the teacher. Deepak also reciprocated their feelings and the affair continued till they agreed on marriage. Deepak, on the other hand, is equally...