Golmaal 3 grosses Rs117 crore worldwide

 MUMBAI: Eros International Media Ltd (Eros International), the largest studio in India has announced an exceptional first week performance for Rohit Shetty’s GOLMAAL 3, produced by Shri Ashtavinayak Cine Vision Ltd.

Eros International released the much anticipated film in cinemas across the globe on 05 November 2010. Since its release, the film has grossed Rs.117 crore worldwide, with Rs.102 crore in India (Net Collection: Rs. 67 crore) and Rs.15 crore overseas in its first week.

Following the legacy of the successful Golmaal series, Golmaal 3 starring leading actors, Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor and Arshad Warsi, amongst others, was a highly anticipated film amongst the audiences.

The film opened across 2,000 plus screens worldwide to a stupendous opening weekend collection. Excellent reviews and great ‘word-of-mouth’ thereafter helped the film to sustain its foothold at the box office and resulted in outstanding collections throughout the first week. Further, the film has had a tremendous repeat viewing factor which has led to the high occupancy rate in cinemas across the globe.

Delighted with the first week collections, Nandu Ahuja, Sr. VP, Distribution, Eros International Media Ltd said, “”We are really glad with the stupendous response to GOLMAAL 3. It has become the second highest grosser of the year and still going strong. It has truly lived upto its brand & expectations and we anticipate the excellent performance to continue in the coming weeks too.”

Pranab Kapadia, President – Distribution – Eros International plc added, “Even in its 2nd week GOLMAAL 3 is doing extremely well across all overseas markets. In UK, USA and UAE, this edition of GOLMAAL series will be the best ever within just 10 days since its release. Mauritius, Australia and Fiji have registered record breaking collections. I believe GOLMAAL 3 brought the perfect mood to ignite Diwali and festivities in style, considering the tremendous response received from the audiences.”

Russia world’s most smoking nation

MOSCOW: Russia’s Health and Social Development Ministry has described Russia as the most smoking nation in the world. The Ministry has come to this conclusion on the basis of a survey of the adult population, which was conducted with support from the WHO. The findings were made public on Tuesday.

It has turned out that in Russia 43.9 million adults smoke and a very large share of Russian tobacco users are in the economically and demographically active age group - from 19 to 44 years. At this age, 7 in 10 men and 4 in 10 women smoke.

Specialists of the Health and Social Development Ministry and the WHO experts have been working on various proposals and measures that may affect the ‘tobacco epidemic.’ For example, economists estimate that an increase in excise duties on tobacco to 70 percent of the retail price would save the lives of 2.7 million people in Russia, because smokers will have to quit, and many young people will never acquire this habit.

As for the economic effect, according to WHO experts an increase in the excise rate from the current level of 33 percent to 70 percent would lead to additional annual incomes into the state budget in an amount of 125-153 billion rubles.

An annual 330,000-400,000 Russians die each year from diseases related to smoking. Tobacco consumption is among the three major risk factors for premature mortality in the country, followed by high blood pressure and high cholesterol in the blood.

18 dead, 115 wounded in Karachi blast

 KARACHI: At least 18 people have been killed and 115 others sustained injuries in a powerful blast at CID building located near Sindh Chief Minister House in a very sensitive area of the metropolis, Geo News reported Thursday.

The powerful blast brought caused severe damage to the targetted building of Central Investigation Department (CID) located in the most sensitive area of the metropolis.

Six terrorists belonging to Lashkar-e-Jhangvi had been brought in the CID building yesterday for investigation after their arrest.

Banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan took no time in claiming responsibility of the attack.

Gunshots were reportedly fired just before the occurrence of the blast, sources said.

Ambulances are ferrying the wounded to nearby hospitals where emergency has been declared.

Hospital sources put the number of injured brought in at over 115.

A number of houses located near Civil Lines were also damaged while the powerful shock wave released by the blast also shattered windowpanes of a number of surrounding buildings.

Office of DSP Saddar was also partially damaged as a result of the blast.

Sindh Home Minister, Dr.Zulfiqar Mirza who reached the site of the blast said the attack appears similar to the one that targeted Marriot Hotel in Islamabad. He said two craters have been caused by the blast.

He also said that a truck packed with explosives slammed into the CID building causing the massive blast.

Heavy machinery has been made available at the blast site to remove the rubble.

President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani have expressed shock on the tragic incident and condemned it in the strongest terms.

Both of them have ordered high level inquiry into the deadly attack in the heart of Karachi – the biggest city of Pakistan.

Bigg Boss 4: Veena Malik admits her love for Hrishant Goswami

By Agencies
Mumbai: Bigg Boss 4: Veena Malik admits her love for Hrishant Goswami: The latest buzz is Pakistani actress Veena Malik has admitted her love for Hrishant Goswami in the Bigg Boss house.



She confessed her feelings to Hrishant and is optimistic about winning Hrishant’s love. But Hrishant is not ready for love as relationships never work for him.

Veena suggested him that they should remain friends till they know each other well. On the other hand Ali Merchant and Sara Khan have decided to tie the knot on 10th November in the Bigg Boss house.

Ali openly admitted to Big Boss that he wants to marry his fiance in the house. Their wedding will be a colorful event as it will be attended by the couple’s parents along with their co-housemates.

Veena Malik failed to appeal to Rahul Bhatt, considers her a hypocrite, Big Boss 4 updates

Diwali was a major event for Rahul Bhatt who feels that his one month stay in Big Boss was almost like an exile as he had to stay away from his family. Rahul considers Dolly Bindra to be the apt example of Ravana while Veena is the best example of Shrupnakha.

This aspiring actor and the son of Mahesh Bhatt have disapproved of the reports of featuring as the lead actor in ‘Jism 2’. He doesn’t have John Abraham’s physique to woo girls to fall in love with him.

However, he intended to indulge in some steamy stunts with Anchal Kumar inside the house of Big Boss. He got evicted before that. Rahul said that staying away from the girls was not something conscious. He needs time to mingle with new people.

His aversion to Veena Malik is evident when he said that Veena is a big time hypocrite who was juggling between Ashmit and Hrishant. Rahul claimed that her approach changed with him, the minute she came to know of Rahul’s legacy as Mahesh Bhatt’s son.

Dolly Bindra’s fighting acts with the housemates is just publicity stunt to earn TRPs. Rahul made it evident that he wouldn’t indulge in verbal dramas for publicity. He featured as an emotionally strong person on the show. Despite being a celebrity sibling, he stated that he has had his share of sufferings.

From the very young age, he had been fighting with the evils of obesity and gynaecomastia (male breasts). To add to his situations the Headley issue imposing the international terror query on him added to his endurance power. According to him, his stay in the Big Boss house was a mere cakewalk. He was determined not to give into the emotional dramas of the other housemates.

War and peace at Wagah borde

It was quite frightening the way people could show so much hatred and animosity towards one another and how the ridiculously choreographed ceremony orchestrated a sense of jingoistic nationalism

It has been 64 years since the Radcliffe Line cut through the village of Wagah in Punjab, the east going to India and the west to Pakistan. Events at the Wagah border reflect the tensions and hostility since partition as well as the aspirations of ordinary people for peace and friendship. On August 14 and 15, 2010, I was at the Wagah border where I witnessed two ceremonies: the official ‘beating of the retreat’ (lowering of the flags) by the Indian BSF (Border Security Force) and the Pakistani Rangers, which has been held every day since 1959, and the midnight candlelit vigil held every August 14 and 15 by peace activists from both sides of the border.

At dusk, I sat down in the front row of the stands facing two gates — the side I was on said ‘India’ and the gate on the other side said ‘Pakistan’. On the Pakistani side, loudspeakers were blaring out patriotic songs and people were waving huge flags and dancing to mark their independence day. On the Indian side, a group of students was performing a play (it was basically a man shouting at the top of his voice) interspersed with patriotic songs as well. Finally, the bugle rang out and the parade began on both sides, synchronised with each other. Two women (for the first time this year) marched across at a fast pace and saluted the commander, positioning themselves at the corner of the gate. They were followed by six feet tall border guards speed-marching with extended arms, stamping on the ground and then giving a high kick. It was quite incredible. Each time they raised their legs, they almost hit their heads! Then followed a peculiar ritual — almost like a dance — and then a series of head and shoulder jerky movements that were full of aggression. At regular intervals slogans were raised. As one side shouted “zindabad” (long live), the other side would shout “murdabad” (death to) in reaction. The gates were opened, the flags of both countries were lowered for the day and after a brief handshake the gates were closed. The whole ceremony was quite absurd and the soldiers looked like roosters dressed, on one side in brown and red, and on the other side in black and white stripes, with plumbed turbans, strutting and preening, which made me want to laugh.

However, it was not really funny since the ritual was also the assertion of territorial control and power, and the body movements conveyed aggressive threats. Though the aggression has been toned down (earlier the soldiers showed clenched fists and made contemptuous gestures with their thumbs), we could see that thousands of people on both sides of the border (it is estimated that 15,000 come every day to witness this ceremony) were being instigated into hatred and competition. It is ironic that this ceremony is actually planned by both sides and they practice together, yet the message that is sent is of war and enmity.

In contrast to the cacophony of the evening, the border was quiet as 50 peace activists walk

Govt mulls implementing Singapore model to contain corruption: Malik

LAHORE: Federal Interior Minister Rehman Malik has said that the government is mulling over a plan to introduce Singapore-like anti-corruption model in Pakistan to eradicate corruption, a private TV channel reported on Tuesday.

In a meeting with his Singaporean counterpart in Islamabad, Rehman Malik said that the anti-corruption experts of Singapore would soon visit Pakistan to examine the situation. He said that Singapore has pledged full support in implementing its anti-corruption model in Pakistan. Speaking on the occasion, Singapore’s interior minister said that Singapore attaches great value to its relations with Pakistan, the channel said.

Meanwhile, Rehman Malik congratulated Ronald K Noble, who has been elected as secretary general for the next five years. Noble thanked the interior minister in person in Doha for his personnel support. He sent a special message for the people of Pakistan and appreciated their sacrifices in the war on terror.

The election of secretary general was held in Doha where only observers namely Rehman Malik and Abdullah bin althani and interior minister of Qatar attended. It was great honour for Pakistan to be observer in the election during the general assembly session in Qatar.

Separately, Sudani Interior Minister Ibrahim M Hamid called on Rehman Malik at Doha and discussed matters of mutual interest.

Malik said that Pakistan attached great importance to its relations with Sudan and hoped that relations between Sudan and Pakistan will be enhanced in future. He said Pakistan would provide assistance to Sudan for issuance of computerised identity cards and passports with the help of NADRA. Both the ministers agreed to inaugurate a pilot project in Sudan. daily times monitor/staff report