My-Tamil.com: Tamilnadu News Archive April 2005

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Tamilnadu News Archive: April 2005

Narayanan is new Chief Secretary

Saturday, April 30, 2005 | AY
Aysha:
N Narayanan has been appointed the new Chief Secretary of the Tamil Nadu government. Narayanan took over the post from Lakshmi Pranesh who laid down office yesterday.He had held the post of Finance Secretary and also as Acting Chief Secretary for some time

PepsiCo buys agri-technology on Growth nutrient

Saturday, April 30, 2005 | AY
Beverage and snack food major PepsiCo India has bought a technology developed by Gujarat-based Central Salt and Marine Chemicals Research Institute (CSMCRI) to produce an organic plant growth nutrient from seaweeds.The organic plant growth nutrient was found to give 20-30 per cent extra growth on crops.Technology acquisition was key to PepsiCo's big plans in Tamil Nadu for the seaweed development programme.

Jethmalani 's grand daughter in Idaya Thirudan

Saturday, April 30, 2005 | AY
Aysha:
Kamna Jethmalani ,former union minister's grand daughter decided to start her career in movies unlike the steps taken by her grandfather and her uncle.
Kamna Jethmalani is acting for Kavithalaya, one of the most respected banners in the Tamil film industry. It is the distinguished director K Balachander's production house.Kamna will act opposite Jeyam Ravi, one of the hottest Tamil stars, in Idaya Thirudan.

The villian of this film is played by the hearth throb of Kerala, "Prithviraj" and this will be his second tamil film.

Oru Kallooriyin Kathai

Saturday, April 30, 2005 | AY
Aysha:

Sonia Agarwal pairs with new face Arya (his films 'Pepsi' and 'Arinthum Ariyamalum' are yet to be released) for the romantic caper 'Oru Kallooriyin Kathai'. The film is produced by Chozha Creations . The film is scripted and directed by Nanda Periyasami.

Centered on a college campus romance, the film also has in its supporting cast Jaivarma, Santhanam, Sasi, Mouli, Pyramid Natarajan, Ravi Kumar and Nedumudi Venu from Malayalam films. Shooting commenced this month in Chennai, the songs to be shot in Sri Lanka.
Raja.

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

Saturday, April 30, 2005 | AY
Aysha:

'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star' is a multilingual film, made in Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Hindi. It is a fantasy story and is shot in locations at Kerala and Hyderabad.Written and directed by Vayalar Madhavan, the film is produced by business tycoon K P Vargheese under the banner Welgate Cinemafox (P) Ltd.

The hero is Srikant and heroine Neha.The cast include Divya Dutta, Suhasini Mulay, Tinnu Anand, Vyapuri, Madan Bob, Captain Raju and Sayaji Shinde, Kochu Preman, Humayun, Kalyani, Abhay, Vijaykumar, and Master Akshit.

The story centers on the scion of a royal family who is born as a eunuch. When treatment doesn't do the boy any good, they are advised to conduct pooja at their local temple with a eunuch poojari. The hurdles in their way forms the rest of the story.

Jaya orders water release from dam

Saturday, April 30, 2005 | AY
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalaltihaa today ordered the release of water from Manimutharu Dam for the benefit of farmers in Tirunelveli district.An official release here said that the water level in the dam stood at 3,588 tmc ft.Farmers have been demanding release of water from the dam for irrigation, though normally it would be released only during the month of June.Considering the request of the farmers to enable them to start irrigation work in advance, the government today ordered the release of water for 105 days.

Source:UNI

New world class airport in Chennai

Friday, April 29, 2005 | GP
George Alex:
Chennai.

Reliable sources say the Central government has approved the proposal to built a new world class airport in Chennai.The goverment of Tamilnadu will make available arround 1400 acres of land free of cost near the existing airport in Chennai.

It is learned that the Chief minister, Ms J. Jayalalitha is very keen on this project and wants to finish it in a time bound frame.

Southern Splelndour to connect tourist spots.

Friday, April 29, 2005 | GP
GPA:

Hyderabad, April 28: 'Southern Splendour', a luxury train connecting important tourist places in south India, would be ready by the end of next year, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhar Reddy said today.

"With a very competitive tariff structure, the new initiative covering all five southern states (Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Pondicherry) will become a major tourist landmark in the country," Reddy said while inaugurating a conference of southern Tourism Ministers here.

Exuding confidence that the new project networking key tourist spots in the south would become popular among domestic and foreign tourists, the Chief Minister said his government had already allocated the state's share in this year's budget towards implementing the project.

Calling for cashing in on the combined strength, he asked the southern states to co-ordinate with each other to position south India as one block for tourism growth.

Karnataka Tourism Minister D T Jayakumar and Pondicherry Agriculture Minister A Namassivayam, who attended on behalf of Chief Minister N Rangasamy, participated in the day-long conference while senior officials of tourism departments of Kerala and Tamil Nadu represented their states in the deliberations.

Earlier, in her welcome address, Andhra Pradesh Tourism Minister J Geetha Reddy said the Central government had, in principle, approved implementation of 'Southern Splendour' project and a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) would be formed soon to take up the project. (Agencies)

Madras, Calcutta and Mumbai to work together on their 150 th year

Wednesday, April 27, 2005 | AY
Press Information Bureau, Govt Of India

UNIVERSITIES OF CALCUTTA, MADRAS AND MUMBAI SIGN MOU IN THE PRESENCE OF THE PRESIDENT TO WORK TOGETHER ACADEMICALLY AND SOCIO-CULTURALLY TO MARK THEIR 150TH YEAR

The Universities of Calcutta, Madras and Mumbai signed an MoU at Rashtrapati Bhawan today in the presence of the President, Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. The MoU is for the three Universities to work together academically and socio-culturally on the occasion of their 150th Year. The document was signed by the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Calcutta, Prof Asis Kumar Banerjee, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Madras, Prof S.P. Thyagarajan and the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Mumbai, Prof Vijay Khole. Also present on this occasion were the Governor of Tamil Nadu, Shri Surjit Singh Barnala, the Union Minister for Human Resource Development, Shri Arjun Singh, and the Chairman, Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, Dr. C. Rangarajan. As the Universities of Calcutta, Madras and Mumbai were the first formed three universities of modern India in the year 1857, they are celebrating their 150th year as a national event. They requested that the MoU be signed in the presence of the President of India, so that it can act as a model for higher educational institutions in the country for co-operation amongst themselves.The three Universities enter into their 150th Year by 2006. In order to instill vibrancy in higher education at the national level they have come forward to work together academically and socio-culturally. This MoU will bring about a national culture of sharing India’s academic strength and resources to project the quality of higher education in the country internationally.
The MoU envisages the following: -

1. Setting up of Tele-education and High Speed Data link facilities for online library networking and resources sharing between the three Universities.

2. To offer ‘Joint degree’ and ‘Joint-Ph.D.’ programmes between the three Universities

3. Setting up of chairs of University of Mumbai, Madras and Calcutta mutually for Marathi, Tamil and Bengali to bring about linkages both academically and culturally.

4.Be partners in the National Research Project on Nanosciences & Nanotechnology sharing the strengths and resources between them.

5. Short-term faculty exchange programmes between the Universities in identified areas of collaboration.

6. Setting up of mutual Distance Education Centres in the three Universities.

7. Instituting 150 Inter-University Students’ Fellowship for PG Studies and Research, fifty each by the three Universities to be called as “150th Year Students’ Fellowships of the respective University”

8.To plan for inter university sports events and Performing Arts/Cultural festivals by utilizing the slots available with Association of Indian Universities (AIU) for the year 2006-07.

Red Hat Linux to speak Tamil

Wednesday, April 27, 2005 | AY
Chennai, Apr 27:

Red Hat, an open source solutions provider to the enterprise has announced the launch of Red Hat Enterprise Linux v.4- Tamil. Announcing this at a press meet here yesterday Javed Tapia, director Red Hat India, said the launch of Linux supporting local languages would be a major development in bringing the digital divide in the country and provide a cost effective alternative to proprietary platforms. He said the security, performance and manageability of Linux makes it the perfect choice for any kind of deployment - be it enterprises, academic institutions.

He said the Tamil version includes productivity applications such as office suite with a word processor, spreadsheet, presentation tool as well as a web browser and an email client. He said with the availability of these applications users can share digitized test in Tamil across platforms and added the installation guide would also be in Tamil.

The Tamil Linux desktop has the potential to change how education and e-government work, In education, teaching school children will be easier through computer user interfaces that are in Tamil. In e-governance, the use of Tamil Linux would enable users to access information in their own language, he said. Localisation also expands business opportunities of independent software vendors developing applications for education, rural banking, community information centre, e governance, he added.

Tapia said Red hat are in talks with Tamilnadu government and educational institutions to implement the software for various applications. He said Red Hat had set a target of localising Red Hat Enterprise Linux to 13 Indian languages this year.

Trend Micro in pact with Tata Indicom for PC protection .

Wednesday, April 27, 2005 | AY
Trend Micro in pact with Tata Indicom for PC protection

Chennai, Apr 25 (PTI) Anti-virus and Internet security software firm Trend Micro has tied up with Tata Indicom to provide comprehensive PC protection solution for its broadband and dial-up services.
The initiative also marks the nationwide roll out of the latest version of the consumer antivirus product `Trend Micro PC-cillin Internet Security 2005', a Trend Micro release said here today.

"The partnership between Trend Micro and Tata Indicom is the first of its kind in the telecom and Internet services industry in India," said Niraj Kaushik, country manager, Trend Micro India.

This offer enables all Tata Indicom broadband and dial-up customers get a free one-month trial of PC-cillin Internet Security 2005, after which they have to subscribe for the software at an introductory price of Rs 25 per month or Rs 250 per year, he said.

"Trend Micro acknowledges the importance of a secured Internet infrastructure for Tata Indicom subscribers. The PC-cillin Internet Security 2005 brings together the best of security features to protect customers against unforeseen attacks," Kaushik said.

Shashi Kalathil, COO (retail business unit), VSNL, said "VSNL has introduced software services on demand that will allow all Tata Indicom broadband and dial-up subscribers to benefit." PTI

Reliance Infocomm now in 400 towns

Wednesday, April 27, 2005 | AY
With Melur joining the Reliance Infocomm coverage recently, the network now reaches 400 towns in the state.

The company proposes to cover a total of 600 towns by the end of the year. A Reliance Infocomm release said the phase II network of the company intends to cover 600 towns, 10,000 villages and 4.3 crore people.

The 80,000-km terabit fibre optic network now enables a country-wide coverage in around 2,400 towns and 1,00,000 villages.

Samata Party, train vendors observe fast

Wednesday, April 27, 2005 | AY
Chennai, Apr 26 (UNI) Members of the Tamil Nadu unit of the Samata Party and the Southern Railway Train Vendors (Traders) Association today observed a day's fast here.

Samata Party state General Secretary Chitra Nambi said the fast had been observed to urge the Central Government to issue proper licenses for train vendors, to prevent them from the ''atrocities'' of the RPF and Train Ticket Examiners.

Chennai Tech Park nears completion

Wednesday, April 27, 2005 | AY
Phase I, which is to be completed in May 2005, would make available 5.25 lakh sq ft of space for companies

Ascendas, an Asian business space provider, has announced that Phase 1 of its first project in Chennai, the International Tech Park, Chennai (ITPC), is nearing completion and would be ready for fit-outs in May 2005.

Phase-I, being developed by a consortium of Singapore-based companies, leveraging on the island-nation's design and construction expertise, would make available 5.25 lakh sq ft of quality space for IT companies. Beyond physical space, Ascendas has introduced concept of work-play in motion with extensive landscaping, water features and stylish artworks. Value added features such as a large food court, al fresco dining, retail outlets and a fully equipped fitness center would bring city conveniences to the tenants of the Park.

Speaking on the occasion, Minister for Industries of the Tamil Nadu Government Nagenthran said, "The Tamil Nadu State has progressed well as a destination of choice for IT and ITES companies. Chennai ranks as one of India's most promising destinations in which more IT companies are likely to expand. The demand for world-class infrastructure is on the rise and the injection of Singapore's real estate expertise in creating this landmark IT Park will be catalytic to Chennai's development as the location of choice for expanding companies."

With ITPC nearing completion, companies in the IT and ITES sector on the expansion track will have a premium choice of world-class business infrastructure within Chennai's IT corridor of Chennai. Currently, companies such as iNautix, Profit Logic Software, Fitness One, Paris Bijoux and Sumanas Florist have already signed up to locate in the park.

BPO major Convergys is evaluating plans to set up new centres in Mohali and Chennai

Wednesday, April 27, 2005 | AY
The company with a head count of 10,000 in India is expected to hire another 3,000-4,000 people this year and has stepped up plans to outsource data analytics and knowledge management processes from India.

'We are actively evaluating Mohali and Chennai. We have plans to expand our presence in some tier I and tier II cities as we see India as a very important location,' John C Freker, president, customer management group, Convergys said.

The company has recently moved its internal help desk to India and is also shifting a major part of the work done by its global scheduling team of 500 people to India in the next 12-18 months. About 100 positions have already been moved to India.

Blocking of unauthorised movie

Tuesday, April 26, 2005 | AY
In addition to video piracy, police here are now confronted with the problem of latest films being unauthorisedly downloaded through websites

They have written to the Union Information Technology Department asking them to consider blocking these sites, city Police Commissioner R Natraj told news agencies.

The action comes in the wake of reports that if one had a computer at home, then one could access the site. One could then download the files of the latest Tamil movies, including megastar Rajnikant's latest blockbuster "Chandramukhi", Kamal Hassan starrer "Mumbai Express" and Vijay starrer "Sachein".

Kamal -- the hunter

Tuesday, April 26, 2005 | AY
Kamal Hassan has commenced work on his next film 'Vettaiyadu, Vilaiyadu' (Hunt,Play Games), even while critics and fans are still talking about his just-released movie 'Mumbai Express'.

The film will be directed by Gautham, who delivered the superhit 'Kaakka Kaakka'.

Jothika will be the heroine. Kamal will team up with Jothika again after the hit film 'Tenali'.

Digital projector revolution

Tuesday, April 26, 2005 | AY
Chennai-based Pyramid-Saimira Group (Bharat Digitals Ltd, Chennai), India, has signed an MoU with Delta Electronics Inc., Taipei, Taiwan, for design, development and sourcing of projectors for the digital cinema market in India. This will enable the film industry to benefit significantly because the digital cinema viewing experience will bring in more audiences to the theatres and the theatre management will also need to upgrade the existing systems

Implementation of digital cinema involves installation of digital projector in the theatre, in place of the film-based, existing projector, and exhibiting the film/content from a computer server instead of physical film. If connected, with satellite-based electronic distribution, digital cinema is a powerful tool which will drastically reduce piracy, effect huge savings in cost of distribution and introduce uniform high quality standardised exhibition in all theatres

Jayalalitha scraps major drinking water project

Tuesday, April 26, 2005 | GP
CHENNAI: It may be sheer electoral politics. But Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayaram Jayalalitha’s decision to axe a pet project means Chennai will continue to thirst for water.

When Jayalalitha stormed to power four years ago, she promised that Chennai’s dragging water shortage would end when water begins to flow into the city from a water rich region 400km away.

It was called the Veeranam drinking water project, and it was to cost Rs7.2bn ($164mn). The water, from a lake called Veeranam, was to come from the Cuddalore-Thanjavur belt in southern Tamil Nadu, an area where the ground water reserve is deep and wide.

The project would have involved digging huge tube wells in the Kollidam river, a tributary of the larger Cauvery, and pumping out fresh water. The water was to be carried 200km to the Veeranam lake, and from there through pipes to Chennai, another 150km north.

Detractors called it Jayalalitha’s pipe dream. The farmers of southern Tamil Nadu were not happy about it, saying they would start suffering water shortage.

But Chennai’s residents were very a happy lot.

Last week, claiming “peoples’ voice is god’s voice”, Jayalalitha announced she was dropping the scheme in deference to the wishes of the protesting farmers.

To political pundits here, it was a clear sign that Tamil Nadu may be headed for early assembly elections.

Complete Story :gulf-times.com

Karthikeyan 14th in San Marino Grand Prix

Tuesday, April 26, 2005 | GP
Karthikeyan 14th in San Marino Grand Prix

Imola, Apr 24 (UNI) Ace Indian racer Narain Karthikeyan improved on three positions on the starting grid to finish on 14th place in an eventful race at the San Marino Grand Prix here today.

The Indian, in his Jordan, finished a lap behind the eventual winner Fernando Alonso who clocked 1:27:41.921. The Spaniard won his third consecutive race of the season.

Karthikeyan's Jordan mate Tiago Monteiro was two laps behind and was 15th in the race which saw five drivers retiring.

Rajnikant's Japanese Fans Visit Chennai For His New Movie

Monday, April 25, 2005 | Editor
Five Japanese, ardent fans of megastar Rajnikant, have come all the way from their homeland, just to watch his latest film ‘Chandramukhi.’ Rajnikant’s movies run to packed houses in Japanese cinema halls and are very popular particularly among the youth.

One of the fans, Hasekawa is a monk of Ichijoin Monastery in Osaka and finds no contradiction in his being a monk and watching films. He also said that there were thousands of Rajnikant fans in Japan and his films were even dubbed in Japanese.

RPF men arrested for eve teasing

Monday, April 25, 2005 | GP

Three RPF personnel have landed in the police net for allegedly eve-teasing the wife of a military officer at Avadi yesterday while she was shopping.

Police said three RPF personnel - Jebastin (25), Vijayan (35) and Saravanakumar (29) - reportedly teased Sivasankari, wife of Captain Sathyamurthy, an officer in Avadi Arms Factory, when she was shopping at Anna Road.

When Sathyamurthy asked them to behave themselves, the three picked up a quarrel with him.

Sathyamurthy filed a complaint with police following which the RPF men were taken into custody.

Chidambaram betraying the state, says CM

Monday, April 25, 2005 | GP
GPA:

In a four page statement Cheif Minister J Jayalalitha spit fire on the Union Finance Minister Chidambaram saying he is betraying the people of Tamil Nadu. In the statement she says, 'the Union Finance Minister should do some honest soul-searching and he will find that he has done nothing for Tamilnadu. Monumental non-performance and betrayal of the fulfillment of the aspirations of the people of the State will stand out in Chidambaram's report card'.

Tamilnadu losses in Sudden Death

Monday, April 25, 2005 | GP
Sudden death turned out be the the death-knell for Tamilnadu. Army XI made it a memorabe outing, claiming the MCC-Murugappa Gold Cup hockey title and the Rs. 1.30 lakh prize money, at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium here yesterday.

In a humdinger of a contest, Army XI edged Tamilnadu 7-6 after the teams were level 1-1 at regulation time and 3-3 after the tie-breaker. When reserve goalkeeper Bikrant Tete thwarted the efforts of Ramesh Babu, it was celebration time for the winners.

Ajit Kumar put Army XI in front which was neutralised by Dinesh Naik from a penalty corner, the efforts coming early in the second half. Suresh Kumar (2), Ignace Tirkey (2) and Mahadik (2) were on target in the tie-breaker and sudden death for Army XI. Muthukumar (2), Muthuselvan (2) and Ramesh Babu struck for the losers.

The following awards were presented - Player of the tournament: Dhanraj Pillay (Indian Airlines); Best forward: Sandeep Michael (IA); Promising player: Raja (TN); Best goalkeeper: Arvind (TN). M A Alagappan, Vice-Chairman & Director (Strategy), Murugappa Group, gave away the prizes.

Mumbai Xpress from Kamal

Monday, April 25, 2005 | GP
GPA:
Mumbai Xpress from Kamal

Kamal Hassan is a happy man. In his words Mumbai Xpress gave him the happiness of a grand meal shared with close friends , a rare feast for him.The film is written by the versatile actor himself and he believes it will be a trendsetter . The film was shot in three languages Hindi, Tamil and Telugu.Om Puri, Nasser, Vijay Raza, Ramesh Arvind all acts in this light comedy.Kamal says its a joyous movie with aesthetic sense and commercial credentials.

New search engine in Tamil

Monday, April 25, 2005 | GP
After developing the world's first search engine for Tamil language websites, city-based Anna University-K B Chandrasekar (AUKBC) Foundation is now in the process of developing an Internet search engine for Hindi.

"We are at the second stage (alpha level) of the development of Hindi search engine," S Bhaskar, a research scientist at the language technologies division of the foundation, told PTI.

The language technologies division, which comprises of 16 research scientists, last year developed a search engine for Tamil websites, which can do both site specific and web searches.

Bhaskar said the Hindi search engine, perhaps a first of this sort, would be ready in the coming months. Now, only 'webduniya.com' possess a Hindi search engine.

The Hindi search engine would search the contents of several Hindi websites to produce a result, which is not possible in the existing search engines.

The foundation is a novel private-public initiative, where the land was provided by the university and the initial seed capital of Rs 7 crore from Chadrasekhar who belongs to the 1983 batch of Madras Institute of Technology.

The foundation, Bhaskar said, was also looking at developing Internet search engines in other languages like Malayalam, Telegu and Kannada.

The AUKBC was now self-sufficient by earning handsome revenues through the various research products. For instance, the Tamil language search engine 'Kazhugu' (Tamil for eagle), which was hosted on the Sify website, generates income for the foundation.

The AUKBC foundation had, earlier, developed a news aggregator tool, which was also used by Sify in Hindi, Tamil and Telegu.

Titled 'Swayambu', the tool is a self-generating newspaper in these four languages, Bhaskar said.

Another development by the foundation was the 'translingual information accessor' which can search classified matrimony advertisements based on key words and give the results after translation into Tamil.

Though the search will be done on English language also, the user gets the results in Tamil.

PTI

Chandramukhi

Monday, April 25, 2005 | GP
The story line is inspired by the Megahit Malayalam movie by accomplished director Fazil and Superstar Mohanlal. Versatile actress bagged the National award for Best actress in that movie named "Manichithrathazhu" which is still rated one of the best movies in malayalam.

The story starts with a haunted palace and a 150-year-old legend. A cruel king lusts for a beautiful dancer, Chandramukhi, and forces her to be his mistress. But she continues her relationship with her true love. When the king finds out, he beheads the lover and burns her alive. But her soul lives on for revenge. A king-size snake, life-size portraits, jewels and costumes keep the legend alive.

Years later, Prabhu -- who is also the producer of the movie -- and Jyotika buy the palace and move in. Rajnikanth plays Prabhu's friend and psychiatrist, a doctor who never forgets he is a superstar. Mannerisms and dialogue delivery that never vary fill the rest of the film.

Surprisingly, it's Jyotika who dominates the show, not Rajnikanth,as it was Shobhana , not Mohanlal in "Manichithrathazhu". For most of the film, she plays her normal, mischievous self.

But she steals the scene when she lets out a blood curdling, 'Lakk...lakkk...lakk...lakkk...'

At the end, she reveals yet another aspect of her being. Truly an award-winning performance if she goes the Shobhana way.

Rajnikanth fights like a superstar and talks like one. All the songs have at least one line to remind you he is a superstar. Even when they fly kites, the kites read superstar in the sky.

Nayanthara, who plays Rajni's love interest, looks lost most of the time but does a commendable job when she gets nervous and starts stammering.

The movie has many firsts. The Tamil movie includes a Telugu song and Indian cricket captain Saurav Ganguly makes repeated appearances in billboards advertising Tata Indicom.

Besides, the movie has English subtitles. The producers clearly expect non-Tamilians to watch the film. Rajni has a huge fan following in Japan, just as Raj Kapoor had a huge fan following in Russia.

The music, composed by Vidyasagar, is good. There are quite a few foot-tapping songs, like Para para.

After Rajnikanth's previous release Baba, which was a disaster, Chandramukhi is a certain hit. The star will be happy, his fans will be happy and producer Prabhu will giggle all the way to the bank.

Arjun to direct a new movie-Madarasai

Monday, April 25, 2005 | GP
Actor Arjun will be directing his 6th movie.

The name of the movie is "MADARASAI".

As expected he will be playing the lead role.The other details are awaited.

Surya's brother Karthi into movies

Monday, April 25, 2005 | GP
Following actor Surya, it's now the turn of his sibling Karthi to make his foray on screen. Son of veteran actor Sivakumar who had won a place for himself in Tamil filmdom acting in over 200 movies in his career spanning over three decades, Karthi is all set to storm into the cinema scene with Gnanvelu's Studio Green Productions titled Paruththi Veeran

Karthi has been working as assistant director under Manirathinam.

Karthi had completed his engineering degree from USA and also underwent a three-month course in USA. Since he has a great passion for movies, he joined Manirathinam as his assistant director and worked in movies including Ayudha Ezhuthu and Yuva.

The shooting for Paruththi Veeran would commence on 6 June and would be shot in and around Madurai. It would be released this December

A new TV channel in Tamil

Monday, April 25, 2005 | GP
A new channel under Tamil entertainment Art Media Limited called Tamil Thirai(TTV)is going to raise the curtain soon.The success of it in the already crowded Tamil TV scene will be the big Question.

Rajni displaces Chiranjeevi ??

Sunday, April 24, 2005 | GP
Chandramukhi has made its hero Rajnikanth the highest paid actor in India! He is reported to have received 50 percent of the gross sale from the film, roughly about 15 Crore ($3 Million)!

Telugu superstar Chiranjeevi is rumoured to be getting Rs 10 Crore as remuneration while the ‘numero uno’ of Bollywood Sharukh Khan demands and gets Rs 5 Crore for a film.

Sharukh Khan’s Main Hoon Na was sold for Mumbai territory for a record Rs 3.5 Crore to Ashta Vinayak films while Rajnikanth’s Chandramukhi got nearly Rs 6 Crore as Minimum Guarantee (MG) from theatres in NSC, city area alone!

In Bollywood, there is no hero worship like in Tamilnadu. A new release of Rajnikanth in Tamilnadu for the ordinary people is like an assembly election for viewers that happen once in a blue moon. People go to the theatres religiously to watch his films just like casting votes and affirming their faith in the superstar.

Nayantara turns glamourous

Sunday, April 24, 2005 | GP
Nayantara has not been able to create an impact even after her two releases Ayya and the recent Chandramukhi. Her decision to work opposite senior actor like Sarath Kumar, Mammootty and Rajnikanth in Tamil and Malayalam has worked to her disadvantage.

The conservative Malayalam audience and veteran directors like Satyan Anthikkad who discovered her and Fazil who gave her first big break opposite Mohanal were shocked to see Nayan’s sexy poses with S.J.Suryah in her latest film Kalvanin Kathali

In Ghajini, she has agreed to do a steamy dance number in which she plays Surya’s wife. Her idea seems to out beat Asin, the heroine who has refused to wear revealing costumes for the film. The rumour is that, Nayan’s role has been expanded due to her “no problem” attitude.

The latest is that Vikram has not agreed to cast her in his new film ( the Thommanum Makkalum remake) in spite of heavy recommendations from her manager who is a close friend of the star

Sun TV bags `Chandramukhi

Sunday, April 24, 2005 | GP
Sun TV has finally managed to bag the satellite rights of Rajnikanth’s Chandramukhi after a protracted battle with Jaya TV. Sivaji productions have signed the deal with Sun TV as they were the highest bidder

It was a major coup of sorts for Sun TV as they have the rights of all Rajnikanth films. But Jaya TV has given them a tough competition by picking Mumbai Xpress and Sachien satellite rights.

Memorial for Sivaji Ganesan coming up in Chennai

Sunday, April 24, 2005 | GP
A memorial would soon come up in Chennai for Sivaji Ganesan. The Bhoomi pooja for the same was held on Friday. The thespian died nearly four years ago.

Leading actors, actresses, directors and producers attended the pooja, organised by the South Indian Film Artistes Association (SIFAA).

Later, thanking the Tamil Nadu government for giving a piece of land measuring 0.65 acres in Adayar, SIFAA president and actor Vijaykant, told newsmen that a high level committee had been formed for the construction of the memorial, which is expected to cost around Rs one crore.

The memorial would also have a park where the compact discs of the films acted by Ganesan would be on display.

Those who participated in the pooja included Kamal Hassan, Sarath Kumar, Napolean, Manorama, S S Chandran, S V Sekar, Prabhu and Ramkumar, the two sons of the late actor

Anniyan` confirmed on May 20!

Sunday, April 24, 2005 | GP
Oscar’ Ravichandran the producer of the magnum opus Anniyan directed by Shankar has confirmed that the release will be on May 20 worldwide

Coco-Cola is likely to be the official sponsor of outdoor vinyl hoardings of the film. Nokia was also keen to be partners in the Anniyan campaign, as there is a song about the handset but Ravichandran did not want too many commercial endorsements for the film.

After kerala...now it is Tamilnadu

Sunday, April 24, 2005 | GP
Coca-Cola is facing opposition to a bottling plant it is setting up in southern Tamil Nadu.

Locals and Left parties opposing Coke's South India Bottling Company in Tirunelveli district, about 700 km from here, say the company will draw up large sources of precious drinking water.

The SIPCOT complex has also been allowed to draw 4.5 million litres of water from the river

The Coca-Cola plant at Plachimada in Kerala's Palakkad district is also facing opposition from political parties and environment groups

TNPCEE finishes without glitches

Sunday, April 24, 2005 | GP
There was an increase of 20,000 in the number of students appearing for the Tamilnadu Professional Course Entrance Examination (TNPCEE) this year.

A total of 1,67,877 students (for all the streams) are appearing for the two-day entrance examinations at 301 examination centres in 41cities across the State. The figure for last year was 1,49, 306.

In the exams that began this morning, there were 96,142 male candidates and 71,735 female candidates. In Chennai alone 34,808 students sat for the exams in 66 centres.

The TNPCEE results would be announced 14 May and the counselling would commence from the first week of July, the Vice-Chancellor said.

The number of students registered for TNPCEE in engineering stream are 1,44,000, medical stream - 1,02,118, agricultural stream - 1,03,353 and veterinary stream - 1,03,151.

No Postponment of TNPCEE

Saturday, April 23, 2005 | GP
MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Thursday declined to direct Anna University to postpone the Tamil Nadu Professional Courses Entrance Examinations (TNPCEE), scheduled for April 23 and 24, for tsunami-hit students.

On the alternative plea for a direction to the university to conduct separate examinations, Justice D. Murugesan observed, "The plea is left to the Government to decide."

No Postponment of TNPCEE

BJP to go alone in Assembly Polls

Saturday, April 23, 2005 | GP
CHENNAI: A high-level meeting of the Bharatiya Janata Party, scheduled to be held here on April 30, is likely to endorse the State unit's decision to go it alone in the Assembly elections.

The president, L.K. Advani, accompanied by his deputy, M. Venkaiah Naidu, and other leaders including Pramod Mahajan, L. Ganesan, Bandaru Dattatreya and S. Thirunavukkarasar, will attend, according to C. P. Radhakrishnan, State unit chief.

Will Stalin be arrested?

Saturday, April 23, 2005 | Editor
The rumour mills seem to have begun their work. The already surcharged political atmosphere in the State simmered further with reports that DMK deputy general secretary M K Stalin, party MLAs Parithi Illamvazhuthy, S A M Hussain and M K Thamizharasu may be arrested any time.

If you are wondering what for, well it relates to the cases during the violent fracas that accompanied the Ward elections in the city a couple of days ago.

More at: http://newstodaynet.com/23apr/ld2.htm

Microsoft India launches Tamil interface

Saturday, April 23, 2005 | Editor
The product was officially launched by M Karunanidhi, former chief minister of Tamil Nadu, and Dayanidhi Maran, Union minister of communication and information technology.

A Microsoft official told that the move was a part of the company's exercise to unlock the potential of the Indian market by making its products accessible to an increasing number.

Rameswaram: Tidal waves force residents to flee

Wednesday, April 20, 2005 | Editor
Rameswaram: Fifteen foot high tidal waves swept through the backwaters of a coastal village near Mandapam, 10 km from here on Wednesday, forcing the residents to flee to safer areas.

According to local officials, about 150 families residing in the Manangudi village fled to the Irattai Oorani village, fearing that the tidal waves "portend another Tsunami".

"We have not seen such high tidal waves... Fortunately as we were a bit away from the backwaters. We were not affected much... Our houses were not submerged. But we got the fright of our lives when the waves rose to a height of about 15 feet," Periyasamy, a local resident, told PTI.

The fields near the coastal belt have been affected. Officials said that they could not state the reason for the sudden tidal waves. The sea has been rough from the morning, they said, adding that they were looking into what exactly happened and why the residents fled the area.

Release film without 'Dai Dai Kattikoda': HC

Friday, April 15, 2005 | Editor
(PTI): The Madras High court today directed M/s V Creations, the producer of 'Sachien,' the Tamil film starring Vijay, to release it without a song "Dai Dai Kattikoda".

Disposing of a petition by M/s Gemini Film Circuit, Justice N Kannadasan directed that V Creations and Music Director Devi Sri Prasad could release the film "Sachien" without the audio music and track of the song "Dai Dai Kattikoda".

"It was open to the respondents to substitute the audio portion of the song without any similarity in the composition of the music of the said song," the Judge said.

The Judge had directed M/s V Creations yesterday not to take the film prints for release on April 14 from the Vijaya Colour Laboratory today.

The direction came on a petition filed by M/s Gemini Film Circuit represented by its partner K Bapaiah who contended that one of the songs "Dai Dai Kattikoda" in "Sachien", had already come in a Telugu film "Shankar Dada MBBS" produced by him. He had paid Rs 30 lakh for this song and seven other songs and tracks for his Telugu film to Devi Sri Prasad.

However, the tune of this particular song in Sachien, Bapiah contended, had been "totally copied" from his film.

The petitioner said he was the owner of the song track, including the tune.

Tamil Nadu to have new film based channel

Tuesday, April 12, 2005 | Editor
(PTI News) Chennai, Apr 10 : Tamizhthirai TV, a film-based channel floated jointly by the Tamil film industry and cable operators, will start telecasting programmes from April 22.
The channel was planning to produce feature films exclusively for telecast. It would be an entertainment channel and was not intended be compete with other channels, renowned film director Bharatiraja told reporters here.

The test signals will be available from April 15.

The programmes would be telecast 24 hours via Thaicom 3 satellite based in Bangkok, Bharatiraja said, adding that the programmes could be viewed in 110 countries.

Initially it would be a free-to-air channel, available on the prime band. Depending upon the response, it might be made a pay channel, he said.

Tamil Nadu student bags IBM Linux prize

Tuesday, April 12, 2005 | Editor
(IANS News) Chennai: A Tamil Nadu student has been declared winner of IBM's Linux Scholar Challenge for 2004.
Shiva Kumar, a second year student of computer engineering at the Dr Mahalingam College of Engineering and Technology in Pollachi, is the son of a farmer.

For the IBM challenge, the 21-year-old Shiva came up with a 'Task Oriented Help System' for the Linux platform.

"We all have difficulty in learning to use Linux. Though there is a descriptive manual, there is no interactive help desk," he said.

He won an IBM laptop and gets a chance to be chosen for an IBM internship at the Linux Technology Center in the US.

Qube Digital Cinema Network Rolls Out Across Tamilnadu, India

Tuesday, April 12, 2005 | Editor
Real Image Media Technologies, manufacturers of Qube Cinema and a member of the MPEG Interop Initiative Group, have commenced operation of an E-cinema network across cinemas in Tamilnadu, India.

The Qube Cinema server is a fully software based and format independent design and offers significant advantages over conventional hardware dependent solutions. Easily upgradeable and extremely flexible, it allows for leveraging the price curves of computer industry hardware. The Qube Cinema system provides for the multicast of shows from a central server to multiple cinemas.

High bit-rate MPEG-2 picture and 5.1 PCM sound are the primary formats for the content. On offer is also its unmatched multilingual sound-track and subtitling capabilities which are maintained as separate files with specified sync points for each - the choice of the language being made at the cinema.

Qube Cinema comes equipped with powerful back-end tools for control, reporting and media management.

The projectors being used for the deployment are a mix of Panasonic PT-D7600 and PT-D7700 3-chip DLP projectors along with Schneider anamorphic lenses as required.

The Qube Cinema Network initiative of Real Image is being implemented as a satellite based content distribution network with the flexibility to utilize other media and composition transport options as well. Real Image has already equipped 25 Cinemas in Tamilnadu, India with its Qube servers and is presently on the verge of enabling the network’s first simultaneous release of two eagerly awaited and high profile Tamil language feature films on April 14, 2005.

Real Image will be unveiling the latest version of the Qube server during ShoWest 2005 at Stall No 1935.
About Real Image Media Technologies Pvt.Ltd.
Based in Chennai, India, Real Image Media Technologies Pvt. Ltd. is focused on film, video, audio and entertainment technology, and has been at the forefront of facilitating the introduction of several technology initiatives in the domain in India. The company’s mix of businesses are complemented by an optimal blend of expertise in technology and the domain. The Company is also the Indian representative of several global entertainment technology companies such as Avid Technology Inc., Digidesign, Digital Theater Systems and Orad Hi Tech Systems Limited.
More about Real Image Media Technologies Pvt.Ltd.
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Governor extends Baisakhi greetings

Tuesday, April 12, 2005 | Editor
The Governor of Tamilnadu, Surjit Singh Barnala has extended his greetings to the people of North India, especially Punjabis living in the State and all who are celebrating Baisakhi, the Punjabi new year festival.

A press release from his office said that Baisakhi is the day on which Guru Gobind Singhji established the Khalsa at Anandpur in 1699. This day, celebrated all over the world by the Punjabi diaspora, also marks the initiation of harvesting season and festivities are held in major cities as well as in rural areas.

Balakrishnan steals the show

Tuesday, April 12, 2005 | Editor
Balakrishnan steals the show

NT Bureau
Chennai, Apr 11:

R Balakrishnan stole the show, scoring a double, winning both the races in the Race-a-Bike Scheme TVS Victor category in the races organised for newcomers by Madras Motor Sports Club as part of its efforts to unearth fresh talent in two-wheeler racing

The races held at the MMST track at Irungattukottai had participants from Bangalore, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal apart from a few competitors from other districts of Tamilnadu. V S Rojesh and S Prem Kumar emerged winners in the first and second races in the Group 'B' 110 to 150 cc 2-stroke category.

R Karthikeyan won both the races in the Group 'B' 2-stroke 80 to 110 cc category. Also seen in action was 20-year-old Chitra who participated in the Group 'B' 2-stroke 80 to 110 cc category. In her first race, she finished third and also won the novice award.

Results Group B 2 Stroke 80-110 cc: Race I: 1. R Karthikeyan, 2. B Logaraj, 3. R Chitra Priya. Race II: 1. Karthikeyan, 2. Logaraj, 3. B Nemaraj. Race-A-Bike (TVS Victor): Race I: 1. R Balakrishnan, 2. P A Murugan, 3. M Thulasi. Race II: 1. Balakrishnan, 2. Murugan, 3. S Vivek. Race-A-Bike (TVS Fiero): Race I: 1. P A Murugan, 2. R Balakrishnan, 3. C Karthik.

Race II: 1. Murugan, 2. M Thulasi, 3. R Balakrishnan.

Group 'B' 2-stroke 110-160 cc: Race I: 1. V S Rojesh, 2. Mohan Raj, 3. S Prem Kummar. Race II: 1. S Prem, 2. Rojesh, 3. P Rajani. Group 'B' 4-stroke 110-160 cc : 1. T R Saravanan, 2. Abilash Mohamad Ali, 3. S Balaji. Mopeds: 1. R Karthikeyan, 2. K Satish, 3. R Suresh.

TN players perform well

Tuesday, April 12, 2005 | Editor
Tamilnadu players had a profitable time in the 34th Senior National and Inter-State Carrom Championship held in Mumbai recently. Tamilnadu won the team title in the men's section while M Nataraj won the men's singles crown.

Nataraj, ranked six in India, won the national title for the first time beating Vilas Dalvi 25-14, 23-25, 25-12 in the final, a press release here from the Tamilnadu Carrom Association said.

In the women's doubles final, P Nirmala and S Apoorva defeated D Swarnalatha and R Sharmila of IAAD in a keenly contested match. I Ilavazhaki and K Deepa of Tamilnadu finished third.

TNCC gears up for party polls

Tuesday, April 12, 2005 | Editor
AICC general secretary Ambika Soni who has been appointed as election observer for the party elections in Tamilnadu is to hold talks with TNCC president G K Vasan in Chennai on 12 April. According to party sources, Ambika Soni after holding talks with TNCC president would interact with the MPs, MLAs and senior leaders in connection with the party elections.

G K Vasan would lead a rally from Tiruchi to Vedaranyam on 13 April to signify the 'Dandi March' taken out by Mahatma Gandhi against the Britishers protesting for imposing tax on salt during the Indian freedom struggle. AICC general secretary Ambika Soni will inaugurate the rally. District Congress Committee functionaries will participate in it.

Nokia to set up its first Indian production unit near Chennai

Saturday, April 9, 2005 | Editor

Chennai, Apr 6 (PTI) Finnish mobile handset major Nokia and the Tamil Nadu Government today signed an MOU for the setting up of a 'full-fledged manufacturing facility' for handsets at Sriperumbudur, near here.
Coming up on an investment of 150 million USD, the plant would begin production in the first half of next year, Raimo Puntala, Senior Vice President, Global, told reporters here today. He, however, refused to disclose the capacity of the plant, the 10th in the world and the first in the country.

The other plants are : three in the USA, three in Europe and three in the Asia-Pacific region.

Puntala said talks for setting up the plant were going on for the past three months and finally, Chennai was chosen because of the 'good support' from the Tamil Nadu government, availability of necessary manpower besides labour costs.

Earlier in the day, in the state assembly, Chief Minister Jayalalithaa announcing the signing of the MOU, said the new unit, coming up on an investment of 150 Million USD (Rs.675 crore) would manufacture 2.40 crore mobile phones per annum to meet both the domestic and export markets needs.

The anciliary unit would also come up at an investment of another 150 USD, and both the sites would be declared as Special Economic Zone, Jayalalithaa said adding about 1200 people would get direct employment and 6000 more indirect employment. PTI

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