wishng u all happy new year 2008

“Another fresh new year is here . . .Another year to live!To banish worry, doubt, and fear,To love and laugh and give!This bright new year is given usTo live each day with zest . . .To daily grow and try to beOur highest and our best!We have the opportunityOnce more to right some wrongs,To pray for peace, to plant a tree,And sing more joyful songs!”A very Happy new Year to you

India improves power capacity in 2007

Indo-Asian News ServiceSaturday, December 29, 2007 (New Delhi):India added a total of 9,050 MW power generation capacity this year between January 1 and December 14 - 8 per cent below the country's electricity requirement, the power ministry said.This includes 6,645 MW of thermal, 2,185 MW hydro and 220 MW of nuclear power, the ministry said in a yearend statement on its performance.In the same period, 33 more power projects with 21,424 MW generation capacity were taken up for implementation, the ministry said on Friday.This comprises 21 thermal and 12 hydropower projects with capacities of 17,634 MW and 3,790 MW respectively, the statement added.India produces a total of 138,251 MW of electricity. Of this, thermal power accounts for 89,275 MW, hydro 34,680 MW, nuclear 4,120 MW, and renewable sources for 10,175 MW, according to latest statistics available with the ministry.India must add 73,000 MW power generation capacity by March 2012 if it is to meet the growing electricity demand-supply gap.

Survey: India upbeat in business

Sunday, December 30, 2007 (New Delhi):Riding on expectations of higher growth, increased inventory levels and greater employment generation, business confidence for the period starting October till end of the current fiscal is upbeat, says a survey by a leading Indian industry chamber.This is much higher than the same survey conducted for the period April-September 2007-08, the survey by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) indicated.The CII business confidence index (CII-BCI) showed the current situation index (CSI) and expectations index (EI) was higher among non-manufacturing firms as compared to manufacturing firms.As many as 59 per cent of the respondents indicated the gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate to be around 9 per cent, while 22 per cent indicated 9 to 9.5 per cent.About 87 per cent of firms expressed plans to increase investment during October March 2007-08 and 59 per cent have revealed capacity utilization in the range of 75 to 100 per cent."While expectations on capacity utilisation are normal, inventory levels are on higher side," CII said in a statement.A large number of firms also expressed their decision to increase the value of production. About 66 per cent of the companies surveyed have already increased their scale of production during the first half of 2007-08.All these are expected to generate considerable employment by the second half of the upcoming financial year.Despite a surging rupee against the weakening dollar, exports would continue to increase. However, the sector continues to face procedural delays, which acts as long-standing hurdle for exporters, which raises transactions costs and needs to be addressed urgently, the chamber said.

Ratan Tata to retire after 1 lakh car launch

NDTV CorrespondentSunday, December 30, 2007 (New Delhi):India has been waiting since long for Tata’s dream Rs one-lakh car launch. But the proposed launch on January 10 at auto expo show in New Delhi is going to be special for some other reason also. The Head of the Tata Group, Ratan Tata would like to retire from active business life after his dream project gets a successful launch. Tata told a newspaper recently that the launch of the small car would be a best time for him to exit from the business world.Tata Motors, the giant automobile group of more than Rs three trillion market value, is scheduled to unveil the vehicle, which is popularly called as the "People's Car".The Cornell-trained architect Ratan Tata helped in designing the car and aimed to attract the middle class to get off their motorbikes and turn into cars.Marketing the car as the world’s cheapest mass-produced car, Tata recently said that the car would not pollute more than a motorcycle.However, the rival carmakers are not really persuaded about the safety and emission standards of the car, at that price.

Bilawal Bhutto named chairman of PPP

Barkha Dutt, Munizae Jehangir
Sunday, December 30, 2007 (Larkana)
Reports suggest that former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's son Bilawal Bhutto has been named the chairman of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP).Bhutto's husband Asif Zardari, Abdul Makhdoom Fahim, deputy leader of PPP and Shah Mehmood Qureshi have reportedly been named co-chairmen of the party.Fahim was widely known as Benazir's right hand man. He led the party in Benazir's absence, from 1999 to October 2007. A Benazir loyalist, Fahim is the quintessential party man, who never wavered in his loyalties towards his leader in all these years. He was in the same vehicle as the now departed leader, at the time she was assassinated.Meanwhile, earlier in the day, Bhutto's close aide Sherry Rehman had told NDTV that PPP cannot thrust party leadership on Bilawal.Rehman had said that Bilawal was keen to complete his studies but that does not rule him out. Even if he is chosen, there might be someone who will take over for some time. A special memorial service, called the soyem, took place for the slain former Pakistan premier in her ancestral village in Larkana in Sind, on the fourth day after her death.Family politicsWhile all eyes are on Bilawal Bhutto, his estranged cousins Fatima and Zulfikar Bhutto junior are slowly building up their political profiles.The children of Benazir's brother Murtaza have often been publicly critical of Benazir's politics.However, speaking exclusively to NDTV's Managing Editor Barkha Dutt in Larkana in Pakistan, Fatima Bhutto says she mourned her aunt as a family member but would express her political differences through her writing instead of party politics

Sholay maker G P Sippy cremated

MUMBAI: Sholay fame veteran producer-director G P Sippy, who passed away on Tuesday night, was cremated in Mumbai on Wednesday, family sources said. He was cremated at 11.45 am on Tuesday at the electric crematorium in Chandanwadi, Marine Lines. His family members and close relatives were present for the funeral. 93-year-old Sippy, who was suffering from age-related ailments for past few months, breathed his last at around 10 pm on Tuesday

Teji Bachchan passes away

MUMBAI: Mother of Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan, Teji, on Friday died in a hospital in suburban Mumbai after prolonged illness. She was 93. Wife of Hindi literary great Harivansh Rai Bachchan, Teji was in the Lilavati Hospital for almost the whole of this year and was shifted to the ICU last month after her condition became worse. Details of the cause of her demise were not immediately available. Earlier, members of the Bachchan family, including sons Amitabh and Ajitabh, grandson Abhishek and his wife Aishwarya, arrived at the hospital after learning that her condition deteriorated. Family friends including Samajwadi party leader Amar Singh and Anil Ambani also visited the hospital. The body is likely to be taken to the Bachchan residence in Juhu before the last rites are performed. The second wife of Harivansh Rai Bachchan, Teji was an amatuer actor as well as a singer. Harivansh Rai, himself a renowned Hindi poet, died in 2003 at the age of 96. Born as Teji Suri to Punjabi parents, she married Bachchan in 1941 after the death of his first wife. She was also close to the Nehru-Gandhi family while the Bachchan family was living in Delhi in the late 1950s. Teji's illness had resulted in the Bachchan family curtailing celebrations at their Juhu residence for the past few years on occasions like Holi and Diwali. Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai had visited her in the hospital prior to their wedding earlier this year to seek her blessings. All major family events were usually conducted after seeking her blessings.

Google repairs `Orkut' worm

The search giant Google has reportedly repaired a prolific spam worm launched on its social networking site Orkut.
Earlier this week, a Trend Micro engineer Robert McArdle published a blog entry warning that a worm was replicating itself across Orkut using a Flash object that invokes malicious JavaScipt code. "The attack works due to Orkut allowing users to embed Flash content in their scrap posts (although it does filter for normal XSS techniques)," said McArdle in the blog post. "The author appears to have created a SWFObject that calls the malicious JavaScript and was able to use this to bypass Orkut's filters." The attack began as an e-mail message alerting Orkut users that they have a new Scrapbook (guestbook) entry. On receiving the scraps, the members' browsers then downloaded and executed the embedded virus. After adding its victims to a community called "Infectados Pelo Virus Orkut" or "Those Infected by the Orkut Virus," the worm then started to send messages to members of the affected user's friends list. In an email statement Google representative said that Google takes the security of its users very seriously. "We worked quickly to implement a fix for the issue recently reported in Orkut. We also took steps to help prevent similar problems in the future. Service to Orkut was not disrupted during this time." Orkut, Google's first pass at social networking, was launched in January 2004 and named after its creator and Google employee, Orkut Buyukkokten. The site is reported to have in excess of 67 million registered users overall. By comparison, MySpace boasts 110 million users.

Spending Diwali in jail was sad: Dutt

NEW DELHI: Out on bail, actor Sanjay Dutt feels that there is a need to bring about a change in the rules and regulations of Indian prisons which are still following British manuals and he managed to "pull it off" due to his experience of living alone in hostels. "It is not an easy thing. I don't understand the jail rules and regulation. There is no communication, you can't meet your family," he said in a TV interview. "I questioned myself. We got independence 60 years ago and yet we are living in the British times. We follow the same British manuals which have been left behind," the actor said. On whether he would favour a change in the system, he said, ".... I mean I wish I could change the system but I cannot do anything about it. If we can change the system people could be much better". On whether he had wanted to meet his family more often, he said, "It is a very necessary thing to meet them and be connected to them and you can't meet them always. You can meet your family only once a month". "Spending Diwali in jail was a very sad part. I couldn't be with my family," he added. On how he feels after being out of jail, he said, "I think one should not live in the past and move on and carry on with your daily activities and carry on with your work and not be left behind".

LTTE chief Prabhakaran hurt in air raid: report

December 16, 2007 19:39 IST
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam chief V Prabhakaran sustained injuries during an air raid by Sri Lankan air force jets on November 28, a media report said on Sunday. 'Although the nature of the injuries is minor, he had been treated in an underground facility in a secret location in the Wanni by the LTTE's Thileepan Medical Unit, the official emergency care unit of the LTTE,' the Nation newspaper reported quoting sources.
Prabhakaran was wounded in an underground bunker in the northern district of Kilinochchi, the report said, adding that the government appears to be unaware of the incident.
'A section of the bunker had crumbled and some falling debris had struck the LTTE leader,' the newspaper said.
Earlier last month, the Tamil rebels' political head S P Thamilselvan was killed in an air force raid.
'The November 28 attack by the Air Force near Jeyanthy Nagar in Kilinochchi hit the underground bunker in which Prabhakaran was staying between 12 noon and 1 pm,' the report said.
The LTTE is keeping the incident under wraps because of the demoralising effect it may have on cadres and supporters, the report said. There were no immediate reactions to the story either from the LTTE or the military.

Emergency lifted in Pakistan

NDTV Correspondent
Saturday, December 15, 2007 (Islamabad)
Pakistan President Musharraf today issued orders to lift Emergency and restore Constitution.According to Geo TV, the Constitution of 1973 will be restored with some amendments.Pakistan was under the state of Emergency since November 3, 2007, a move that was fiercely opposed at home and abroad.Amid growing international criticism, Attorney General Malik Qayum declared that Emergency will be lifted on December 15, that is today and a Constitutional package is being prepared to take the country back to pre-emergency days. Yesterday, President Musharraf formally took control of the country's nuclear arsenal after West's concerns that the facility would fall into the hands of radical Islamists.

Reversible data transfers from light to sound

As a step towards designing tomorrow's super-fast optical communications networks, a Duke University-led research team has demonstrated a way to transfer encoded information from a laser beam to sound waves and then back to light waves again.

Swapping data between media like this would allow information to be captured and retained for very brief intervals. Data could be stored within pockets of acoustic vibration created when laser beams interact along a short strand of optical fiber, the team reported in the Dec. 14, 2007 issue of the journal Science. The Duke experiments address a barrier to efforts at developing computer networks that can run on light instead of electrons. "The real gist of the work is how to create a memory for optical pulses," said Duke physics professor Daniel Gauthier, the report's corresponding author. Computers in use now manipulate the flow of electrons to shunt the data they carry into memory. But light has proved to be stubbornly resistant to similar traffic controls. "We don't have random access memories for light the way electronic computers do," Gauthier said. The new method, suggested by Gauthier's postdoctoral research associate Zhaoming Zhu, uses a phenomenon called "stimulated Brillouin scattering." Opposing laser beams passing though each other along an optical fiber create acoustic vibrations known as phonons within the glass. "To efficiently create such acoustic waves, you have to have two laser beams of slightly different frequencies interacting with each other," Gauthier said. In a series of experiments at Duke, Zhu found that if he encoded information onto one of those laser beams, the data could be imprinted on newly-created phonons. Such phonon sounds are much too high-pitched for humans to hear, Gauthier said. Zhu, the Science report's first author, documented that phonons could retain the data for as long as 12 billionths of a second. The information could then be successfully re-transferred from sound to light again by shining a third laser beam through the fiber.

"While short by human standards, 12 billionths of a second is long in comparison to the time scales used in optical data transmission," said coauthor Robert Boyd, a professor of optics and physics at the University of Rochester's Institute of Optics. While Zhu conducted the experiments, Gauthier and Boyd examined the findings' theoretical underpinnings. The work was funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's Defense Sciences Office Slow-Light Program. The new method works at room temperatures and at wavelengths of light compatible with optical fibers already used in telecommunications, giving it several advantages over competing techniques for manipulating light. More work will be needed before this approach becomes workable in optical computation, Gauthier acknowledged. First, the power used for the write and read pulses is about 100 watts, "rather high for any type of telecommunications application," he said. "The other issue is that we're only storing the data for about 10 nanoseconds," Gauthier added. "There may be a few applications where such short storage times would be okay. But, for many applications, you would like to store it for seconds." In their report, the authors suggest other kinds of fiber optic materials that might yield better results. "I'm hoping that other scientists around the world will come up with new ideas based on our work," Gauthier said. "The Duke team will also be pushing the state of the art in this field with our own ideas." Source: Duke University

Suicide bombers may target Indian missions in Pak

December 14, 2007 14:34 IST
Indian and American diplomatic missions and VVIPs including President Pervez Musharraf [ and former premier Benazir Bhutto might be targeted in "a spate of suicide attacks by terrorists" in Pakistan, intelligence agencies have warned.
Terrorists based in the restive northwestern tribal areas bordering Afghanistan and the Swat valley in North West Frontier Province are planning to carry out suicide attacks in collusion with the al Qaeda, said a secret report prepared by the National Crisis Management Cell.
"The high value targets include the top government hierarchy, top politicians including former religious affairs minister Ejazul Haq and the Attock Oil Refinery in Rawalpindi.
Besides the US and Indian embassies, their consulates and several other religious and political personalities are also on the hit list," the Daily Times quoted the report as saying.
The report, titled 'Threat to VVIPs, politicians, foreign missions and military installations', said terrorists could carry out suicide attacks disguised as women or as military or police personnel.
"Furthermore, five suicide bombers have already entered the NWFP to move to their target areas," it said.
"The emphasis needs to be on the security of foreign diplomats, foreigners living in Pakistan, and the Christian community who would attend Christmas prayers at different churches in Rawalpindi and Islamabad. It is apprehended that hardcore religious elements may try to disrupt the New Year celebrations," the report said.

Expert speak: Useful tips to beat PC hackers

You do it almost everyday. You login into your computer, send e-mails, open attachments from friends and strangers, shop online, transfer money using your banks secured payment gateway, chat with friends and upload personal information on social networking sites.
But have you ever given a thought to someone who is keeping a close watch on all your online activities. Someone, somewhere in some corner of this planet trying to get inside your computer and filch one of the most important resources of information age: personal data.
Data that can be abused to make purchases online, send malicious programmes to all those on your contact list and many such things to harm you. Welcome to the age of hackers (these are people who try to gain access to your computer using various hacking tools and misuse your personal data) and spies lurking on the vast Internet highway.
But don't worry. There are ways in which you can beat the hackers.However, when it comes to security nothing is 100 per cent secure. Loads of exploits are developed everyday. Updating the knowledgebase should be a regular process. Following could be few of the many measures that could be taken to protect your computer and all things that you do online:
~ Install the latest antivirus software (I recommend Kaspersky, Eset Nod32, Quickheal, F-Secure) on the computer and never ever disable or turn it off. Install a personal firewall (www.sygate.com and www.zonelabs.com offer free versions) and Spyware Checker (I recommend Spybot Search & Destroy).
~ Keep updating antivirus/anti spywares at least every 15 days. Use separate Trojan removers like anti Trojan shield if possible. Full system scan with your anti virus at least once in a week or better set it to scan periodically and give a small interval say every Friday (the day may vary according to your choice).
~ There are a few free online scanners available at http://housecall.trendmicro.com or http://www.kaspersky.com/kos/eng/partner/us/kavwebscan.html, and http://support.f-secure.com/enu/home/ols.shtml.
~ Get System's health checked regularly at http://www.pcpitstop.com/. The site checks the overall system health, tunes up the system and finds out the vulnerabilities. It's a free service.
~ Don't ever download or open attachments whose source you are not certain about. Even if the source is trusted, see if the content is relevant. Even non-executable files like *.Doc files can contain macro viruses and Trojans. There are some special sort of programmes called worms, which don't need human interaction. You just open a mail or visit any website and that's it. So always stay alert. Avoid opening e-mail attachments that contain '.vbs', '.scr', '.exe', or '.pif' file extensions. Files that end in these extensions are most likely to contain some sort of virus.
~ Web browsers like Fire Fox, IE 7 & Opera offer good security features. Test your Web Browser for Vulnerability at http://bcheck.scanit.be/bcheck/.
~ Never download any files specially executables over P2P (peer-to-peer) sharing networks, because you cannot be absolutely certain what they are. P2P file sharing programmes can lead to the installation of a lot of adware and spyware. Try downloading executables from authentic and well-known sites; don't just download files from anywhere.
~ Try not to visit porn sites, Warez, sites of cracks and serials because most of them have hell lot of latest spywares, Trojans and viruses .One visit and you are gone if your virus definitions are not up to date.
~ Be familiar with the installed programmes on your computer. If you notice a new programme installed, which you didn't in the first place, possibilities are that it might be something malicious.
~ Read the installation agreements carefully when you download something from the Internet. Pay attention to the terms and conditions or EULA (end-user license agreements) of the program being installed. Reference to third party installation should be given more attention. Some EULA's tell you that, if you install the program, you have also agreed to install some spyware with the software. Do check the independent sources as some EULA's do not mention about the Spywares.
~ Back up your computer data on a regular basis, at least weekly. Copy your important documents and files onto a floppy disk, removable drives, CD or a DVD for safekeeping. Don't wait for the disaster to happen, take the precaution before hand. Create system restore points periodically
~ Use e-mail encryption like PGP to send important information via emails. Don't send important information in plain text.
~ Never respond to unsolicited e-mail. To those who send spam, one response or 'hit' from thousands of e-mails is enough to justify the practice. Additionally, it validates your email address as active, which makes it more valuable, and therefore opens the door to more spam.
~ Beware of phishing attacks. Sites like www.antiphishing.org offer latest updates on phishing along with good security tips
~Don't chat with strangers just for fun. Don't ever accept any file, especially executables from an unknown person on chat. Don't click on any links given by someone you don't know.
~ Do not accept links or downloads from strangers even if it is tempting. There have been cases where spywares like Trojans, keyloggers etc. have been hidden in simple picture files with '.jpg' extensions. You never really know what is contained inside a file which looks attractive.
Today people use binders to club two different files and send you the mixture. Once you click on the file both file gets executed.
~ Be cautious while displaying your profile, especially your personal details, photographs, videos and contacts on social networking sites. Your profiles and contacts may be misused by other people.
~ Install parental control softwares like netnanny that helps you choose what the kids see on the Internet and monitor the activities of children. For more details visit http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/children.
Wireless security
~ If you have a wireless network, turn on the security features: Use MAC filtering, turn off SSID broadcast, and even use WEP/WPA/WPA2 with the biggest key you can get.
Online shopping safety tips
~ While purchasing online, look for signs that online purchases are secure (SSL secured sites or 128 bit encryption) like Ebay.co.in. At the point that you are providing your payment information a golden coloured lock appears (for SSL secured sites) or the beginning of the Web site address should change from http to shttp or https, indicating that the information is being encrypted -- turned into code that can only be read by the seller.
Your browser may also signal that the information is secure with a symbol, such as a broken key that becomes whole or a padlock that closes.
~ Carefully use credit card and online banking for online shopping. Check your credit card and bank statements at regular intervals. Notify the bank immediately if there are unauthorised charges or debits. Avoid using credit card details and online banking on public computers and in cyber cafes. It is very unsafe because most of them are infected with viruses, Trojans and key stroke loggers.
Banks such as HDFC [Get Quote] have launched their services like Net Safe to create temporary credit cards with a limited value to transact online. This way, in the worst case scenario, your damages are limited.
Password security
~ Use two different passwords. One for mail, work and other important access and other for routine purposes like subscribing to websites or public viewing. But remember to switch between them when you start doing transactions after mere browsing. Create another e-mail ID providing false information and crazy usernames like 'whitecat_4u', 'kkk320' etc. which you use exclusively for subscription to sites. That will prevent spam from coming to your main ID.
~ Create a difficult-to-guess password by taking the first alphabet from each word of a phrase. What is a good password? It is a password which is at least 8 characters long, not easily guessable, contains mixture of uppercase and lowercase letters as well as numbers, and preferably contains special characters like $, *, %, !, * etc. Some examples of a good password are: &(^.1234*cRack&.^).
~ Always use alphanumeric passwordwith special characters and try to adopt phrasing technique to construct passwords which are easy to remember, hard to guess and impossible to crack. Create a unique acronym. Never use a dictionary based password like guest, home etc. It takes little time for a good cracker to crack the password

Now, buzz about Sania and Shahid

Shahid Kapoor, it seems, has gotten over Kareena Kapoor.
Mumbai's local tabloid Mid-Day reported that the actor was seen with tennis star Sania Mirza in a Bangalore hotel.
Apparently, the duo met at the hotel and spent quite some time together.
'Yes, we did meet over dinner on Tuesday night, but we were in a group," Shahid clarified to Mid-Day. "My friend Shriram and a couple more friends were with us. We had dinner at the hotel I was staying in and people must have seen her entering. That's how people must have thought we had something romantic happening. After dinner, Sania went back and Shriram and I spent the night catching up on our lives in my room."
After Shahid's split with long-time girlfriend Kareena, there were rumours of him linking up with Vidya Balan . The two are currently filming Aziz Mirza's next, Lucky Charm.
But Shahid insisted he was 'single and ready to mingle.'
Sania seldom speaks about her personal life in public. The media, however, had gone on an overdrive linking her to Indian tennis player Mustafa Ghouse and Pakistani tennis player Aisam Qureshi.

Malaysia: 5 ethnic Indians detained under ISA for protests

Five leaders of a Hindu rights group spearheading anti-government protests against the alleged marginalisation of ethnic Indians in Malaysia were detained on Thursday under a controversial security law which allows indefinite detention without trial.
The five key officials of the non-governmental Hindu Rights Action Force, which had organised a massive street demonstration last month attended by at least 20,000 ethnic Indians, "were told that they are being detained under the Internal Security Act," said lawyer N Surendran.
ISA is usually used by the government to detain suspects who could be regarded a threat to national security.
The five arrested Hindraf members are P Uthayakumar, M Manoharan, R Kenghadharan, V Ganabatirau and T Vasanthakumar.
They were picked up at various locations in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Seremban.
The detention order was signed by Premier Abdullah Badawi in his capacity as the internal security minister.
Uthayakumar and two others namely Ganabatirau and P Waythamoorthy were charged under the Sedition Act on November 23 in Klang for allegedly making speeches to incite hatred at a gathering on November 16.
Waythamoorthy is currently overseas.
Under the ISA, the police can detain any individual for up to 60 days without a warrant, trial and access to legal counsel if he was suspected to have "acted or is about to act or is likely to act in any manner prejudicial to the security of Malaysia or any part thereof or to maintenance of essential services therein or to the economic life thereof."
After 60 days, the minister of home affairs can extend the period of detention without trial for up to two years, without submitting any evidence for review by the courts, by issuing a detention order, which is renewable indefinitely, the Star newspaper's online edition said.

Light saves Pak but India win series

Chasing 374, Pakistan was 162 for seven on the final day of the third Test at Bangalore on Wednesday when bad light stopped play.Sourav Ganguly was named Man of the Match for his magnificent double-hundred and second-innings 91. He was also the player of the series.India won their first series in 27 years against pakistan at home, but the margin was 1-0 after the Bangalore Test ended in a draw. The fans though did get what they had hoped for, with plenty of last minute drama. With Anil Kumble's five-wicket haul driving Pakistan to desperation, he will be disappointed for not having declared just a little bit earlier.Pakistan lost four wickets in a span of just 10 runs, Anil Kumble and Yuvraj Singh joining hands to bring India back in to contention. But India's hopes were dashed when poor light forced play to be stopped. With both teams having agreed to not use artificial lights through the Test series, India played the waiting game but in the end the umpires declared the match drawn.Earlier, India declared their innings at 284 for six setting Pakistan a 374-run target.Overnight batsmen Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid carried on in style early on Day 5, before both fell in the space of two balls.Ganguly carried on his great touch and looked all set to complete another Test hundred. Dravid and Ganguly put on 152 runs for the third wicket, before Dravid fell to Kaneria for 42. On the crumbling Bangalore track, Ganguly looked quite at ease but was dismissed 3 balls later by Mohammad Sami for 91. Sami struck again after that, dismissing birthday boy Yuvraj Singh for 2, but not before he completed 1000 Test runs.There was a shocker for India though - VVS Laxman being hit by a Shoaib Akhtar delivery, that stayed very low. Laxman was hit on the elbow and was clearly in a lot of pain. He retired hurt for 14 and was sent to the hospital for a precautionary scan. Laxman and Karthik put on a 41 run stand. India may have lost the chance to force a result after managing a first innings lead of just 89 runs thanks to a Misbah-ul-Haq's century. But they finished Day 4 with an overall lead of 220 runs and with eight wickets still in hand.

India close to developing Agni-IV missile

India is close to developing ballistic missile Agni-IV, capable of hitting targets upto a range of 6,000 km, cthe ountry's top missile scientist Dr V K Saraswat said in Delhi on Wednesday.
He also said that the Defence Research and Development Organisation would carry out three more tests of nuclear capable 3,000 km range Agni-III missiles over the next 12 months as a part of an initiative to develop an indigenous robust nuclear deterrent.
Though Sarswat said that Agni-IV was still in design stage, DRDO officials were of the view that the first trials of the missiles which would give India an almost inter-continental reach could be held by 2010.
On Agni-III tests, the DRDO official said the second trial of the missile would be done by June 2008 and more tests hopefully in another nine months to a year.
Agni-III, the indigenously developed two-stage all-solid fuel, 16-metre-long missile was first successfully test-fired in April 2007, after initial test failure.
The missile, with a range of 3,000 km and capacity to carry a nuclear or conventional payload of 1.5 tonnes will give India the capability to reach remote Chinese mainland cities of Beijing [Images] and Shanghai.
The three tests of the missile are to validate it for induction by 2009, DRDO sources said.
Agni-III according to experts is the missile with the longest reach in South Asia and more powerful than any missile in Pakistan's arsenal. However, China has missiles with a longer reach.

Top 10 supercomputers

The TOP500 project ranks and details the 500 most powerful publicly-known computer systems in the world. The project was started in 1993 and publishes an updated list of the supercomputers twice a year. The project aims to provide a reliable basis for tracking and detecting trends in high-performance computing and bases rankings on Linpack NN Benchmark, a yardstick of performance that is a reflection of processor speed and scalability. Supercomputers are used for highly calculation-intensive tasks such as problems involving quantum mechanical physics, weather forecasting, climate research (including research into global warming), molecular modeling (computing the structures and properties of chemical compounds, biological macromolecules, polymers, and crystals), physical simulations (such as simulation of airplanes in wind tunnels, simulation of the detonation of nuclear weapons, and research into nuclear fusion), cryptanalysis, and the like. Major universities, military agencies and scientific research laboratories are heavy users.The TOP500 ranking of supercomputers is released twice a year by researchers at the Universities of Tennessee and Mannheim, Germany, and at NERSC Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The latest list saw five new entrants into the top 10. The BlueGene/L System, jointly developed by IBM and the US Department of Energy, remains the world's fastest supercomputer, a record it has held for the past four years. The BlueGene/L System has held the No. 1 spot since November 2004. The current IBM system has been significantly expanded, achieving a Linpack benchmark performance of 478.2 teraflops. A teraflop (TFlop/s) equals a trillion calculations per second. Six months ago, the BlueGene held the top position with 280.6 TFlop/s.

Making its first entry in the Top 10 was a newer version of the same type of IBM system. The BlueGene/P system, called Jugene, debuted at No. 2. This supercomputer has a peak Linpack benchmark performance of 167.3 teraflops. (The Linpack benchmark is the standard used to measure the performance of these supercomputers.) The system is installed at the German computer research center Forschungszentrum Juelich. Founded in 1956 as the Kernforschungsanlage Julich (nuclear research institute Julich, short KFA) it was originally focused on nuclear research. It was the site of three nuclear reactors, all now shut down. Recent scientific breakthroughs at the research centre include the discovery of the giant magnetoresistive effect in 1988 (simultaneously with the Universite de Paris Sud).

The No. 3 system is not only new, but also the first system for a new supercomputing center, the New Mexico Computing Applications Center (NMCAC) in Rio Rancho, NM. The system, built by SGI and based on the Altix ICE 8200 model, posted a speed of 126.9 TFlop/s. One of the world's largest systems dedicated to non-confidential projects, the new supercomputer is the largest Altix ICE system purchased to date, and will fuel scientific and engineering breakthroughs both for private industry and public research institutions. The acquisition is part of an economic growth initiative spearheaded by New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson.

For the first time ever, India placed a system in the Top 10. The Computational Research Laboratories, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Sons Ltd in Pune, India, installed a Hewlett-Packard Cluster Platform 3000 BL460c system. They integrated this system with their own routing technology and achieved 117.9 TFlop/s performance.

The No.5 system is also a new Hewlett-Packard Cluster Platform 3000 BL460c system and installed at a Swedish government agency. It was measured at 102.8 TFlop/s. Hewlett-Packard had the second most supercomputers on the list with 166. HP actually had a few more computers on the list than IBM six months ago. For most of the past several years, IBM has had the most computers on the list.

At No. sixth is Red Storm supercomputer, which is installed at Sandia National Laboratory. Cray Red Storm takes Opteron processors and their HyperTransport links and marries it to a high-bandwidth, low latency interconnect called SeaStar designed by Cray to put thousands and thousands of processors into a single complex. The XT3, which is the first commercialised product based on the Red Storm design, was in volume production in early 2005 and was followed by the XT4 in late 2006 and its upgraded Opterons and SeaStar-2 interconnect. Based on Red Storm design, with XT5 family of machines, Cray is tweaking the blade-style packaging for its compute and I/O blades; its rival in the HPC market, Silicon Graphics, has also moved to blade packaging for its Itanium and Xeon clusters with recent designs.

At no. 7 is Cray XT4/XT3 system, called Jaguar, with 101.7 TFlop/s. The supercomputer is installed at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee. ORNL is a multiprogramme science and technology laboratory managed for the US Department of Energy. Scientists and engineers at ORNL conduct basic and applied research and development to create scientific knowledge and technological solutions that strengthen the country's leadership in key areas of science; increase the availability of clean, abundant energy; restore and protect the environment and contribute to national security. ORNL also performs other work for the Department of Energy, including isotope production, information management, and technical programme management, and provides research and technical assistance to other organisations.

Following the Cray system was IBM's eServer Blue Gene at the IBM Thomas J Watson Research Center, Yorktown Heights, NY, where it achieved 91.29 TFlop/s. IBM Thomas J Watson Research Center is the headquarters for the IBM Research Division -- the largest industrial research organisation in the world with eight labs worldwide. Established in 1961, the Watson Research Center is located in Westchester County, New York and Cambridge, Massachusetts and spans three sites and four buildings. The main laboratory is located in Yorktown Heights, two buildings in Hawthorne, and one building in Cambridge. An approximate 1,790 people are employed between these four facilities. The research focuses primarily on IT hardware (ranging from exploratory work in the physical sciences to semiconductors and systems technology); software (including areas as diverse as security, programming, mathematics and speech technologies); and services, with a focus on applying them to transform businesses in a wide range of industries.

At no. 9 is Cray XT 4 installed at NERSC/LBNL United States. The next-generation supercomputer is used to advance a broad range of scientific research. Named Franklin in honor of the first internationally recognized American scientist, Benjamin Franklin, the Cray XT4 system enables researchers to tackle the most challenging problems in science by conducting more frequent and increasingly detailed simulations and analyses of massive sets of data. NERSC is the flagship scientific computing facility for the Office of Science in the US Department of Energy and a world leader in accelerating scientific discovery through computation. NERSC is located at Berkeley Lab in Berkeley, California.

At no. 10 is an eServer Blue Gene system, called New York Blue, at the Stony Brook/BNL, New York Center for Computational Services. The IBM system measured 82.161 TFlop/s. The New York Center for Computational Sciences (NYCCS) is a joint venture of Stony Brook University (SBU) and Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL). The Center was formed in 2007 to foster high performance massively parallel computing on the whole range of science and technology topics. Its hardware consists of an 18 rack IBM Blue Gene/L supercomputer owned by SBU and located at BNL. New York State, with the leadership of the NYS Assembly, provided funds for the machine, and NYS and US DOE funds supported renovation of laboratory space to house it.

Why is Shah Rukh king??????

The man has something that many others don't...the love, respect and support from his peers simply because he loves, respects and supports them in return. Shah Rukh Khan is good with his friends and worst with his competitors. But when it comes to friends, SRK is always willing to give much support and help. Like he lent E Niwas, when he attended the music launch of his film My Name Is Anthony Gonsolves . He also stood by a newcomer like a Nikhil Diwedi, who hails from a non-film background. When asked about how and why he associated with the film he said, "Everyone including E Niwas, Sahara and T-series thought of making this film and I decided to be part of it. It's not just because they all are my friends but all of them are hardworking people and I like hardworking people. My Red Chillies' team helped them in line production because they all are new. Today films don't need big budgets, they need good talent and people who work hard. I believe in hard work and my company too." He continues, "E Niwas and his team is very gifted. I feel proud of these people because they worked very hard against all the odds. I am sure My Name Is Anthony Gonsalves will be a very beautiful film and insha allah it will be a big hit." One more reason for SRK to promote the film is his good relationship with newcomer Nikhil Dwivedi who knows Shah Rukh since he was a Videocon employee. Shah Rukh is a self made man in the industry and without having any film background he made it big. And now when newcomers like Nikhil Dwivedi have similar dreams. SRK is ready to lend his support to the likes of him and Deepika Padukone, who no big and known film family support. It can be also recalled that when his film was released with Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Saawariya he said, "Why do they want to come up against my release? Don't they know, I'll finish them?" Saawariya introduced two star kids Rishi and Neetu Kapoor's son Ranbir and Anil Kapoor's daughter Sonam. Though SRK had no grudges for star kids, he didn't like the way Bhansali promoted the film. King Khan is someone who never underestimates his competitors. He smartly planned promotions of his film OSO , and proved that he is the real king of Bollywood.

Row over Sania's ad shoot at Mecca Masjid

HYDERABAD: The shooting of a commercial advertisement featuring tennis star Sania Mirza at the historic Mecca Masjid here has sparked a row with the minorities welfare department seeking a report from the mosque officials. The ad was shot on Tuesday without the permission of the department, which is responsible for the upkeep of the 17th century mosque. The shooting also evoked protest from the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM), a powerful Muslim political party in the Muslim-majority old city. MIM and some locals objected to the shooting and Sania Mirza's participation in it. The advertisers had informed the police about the shooting and Sania's arrival but did not bother to take permission from the minorities welfare department. The police reportedly used mild force twice to disperse locals objecting to the shooting. The mosque employees said the attitude of some of the members of shooting unit was also objectionable. They were reportedly wearing shoes when they entered the mosque and pushed away a mosque watchman who tried to stop them. Sheikh Karmeeullah, the district minority welfare officer, Hyderabad, has sought a report from the superintendent and manager of the mosque on the incident. Khaja Nayeemuddin, superintendent of the mosque, said he had no information about the film shooting. The two-hour shooting was over before the mosque custodians could reach the spot. The mosque officials pointed out that the shooting of films and commercials was not permitted in the mosque premises. MIM has protested to the minorities welfare department. "This is an attack on the sanctity of the mosque and it has hurt the religious sentiments of Muslims," said MIM legislator from Charminar Ahmed Pasha Khadri. He said while Sania was free to act in any commercial, the mosque could not be used for such activities. The mosque, located in the heart of the city, is a major tourist centre. Tight security is in place at the mosque since the May 18 bomb blast that killed nine people. Muslims constitute 40 per cent of the city's seven million population.

'I appeal to all human rightists to help Malaysian minorities'

The man who shook the Malaysian government is currently in India trying to garner support for the agitating Hindus of Indian origin under the banner of the Hindu Rights Action Force. P Wytha Moorthy, HINDRAF's president, met Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi in Chennai, the Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate L K Advani in New Delhi and leaders of various other parties, capping it with a speech at the Indian Law Institute.
An unassuming and simple person, his eyes show anger and sadness when he speaks about how Malaysian citizens of Indian origin, mostly Hindus, have been treated in Muslim-dominated Malaysia, and recounts the incidents: temples trashed, married women forced to get Islamised, Hindus buried as Muslims, and doors closed for employment and business opportunities.
Malaysia has been a region with a marked Hindu influence since the second century Gangga-Negara era to the Sri Vijay Empire ending in the 14th century. The Islamic influence grew through traders and battles in the 15th century, yet the Hindu marks show up everywhere. 'Malay' in the country's name and 'Pur' in its capital Kuala Lumpur are Sanskrit words, and its national language is Malay Bahasa (or bhasha), sons of the soil are called Bhumiputras.
Yet, the growth of Arab money and the Wahabbi influence has resulted in the denial of the country's heritage and a discriminatory policy towards non-Muslim minorities, as evidenced by the recent protests in the country. Wyatha Moorthy spoke to Tarun Vijay in New Delhi about the conditions in Malaysia.
What brings you here when Malaysian Hindus of Indian origin are agitating back home?
I am here to request Indian leaders and the media, who have always supported human rights of persecuted people the world over, to give voice and support to Malaysian citizens of Indian origin reeling under the torturous attitude of an oppressive Malaysian government.
The way our November 26 protest rally was crushed and people praying before the Batu Caves temple were arrested and later attempt to murder charges were registered against them, clearly shows that the government doesn't have any sympathies for the issues we have raised and wants to throttle the voice of reason through brute force.
I am going to the United Kingdom and the United States of America to seek international support.

Why Malaysian Hindus are angry???

December 07, 2007It is important for the Government of India not to take a public stand in criticism of the policies of the Malaysian government towards its citizens of Indian origin, which has led to considerable anger among the Indian-origin Malaysian community.
Since these persons are Malaysian citizens, the Indian government has no locus standi in the matter and the expression of open concern by the Centre and the Tamil Nadu government could prove counter-productive.
At the same time, well-wishers of Malaysia and advocates of close India-Malaysia relations cannot but be disturbed over the reports, which have kept coming in at regular intervals for some months now, over the recurring instances of disrespect for Hinduism and disregard for the feelings of the Hindus in different parts of the country. It has to be highlighted that in Malaysia Hindu religious festivals are respected.
Diwali, for example, is a public holiday for all Malaysians and the Hindus celebrate it with the same gusto as their co-religionists in India do. So too other Hindu religious observances, which are of special significance to the Tamils, such as Thai Poosam and the fire-walking associated with it.
In spite of such examples of the generous attitude of the authorities towards Hindu citizens, there have been growing signs of disquiet, if not anger, in the Hindu community due to two reasons. The intellectual sections of the community feel perturbed over what they allege to be attempts to deny the historic influence of Hindu religion and culture over the evolution of civilisation and culture in Malaysia.
Ever since Pakistan became independent in 1947, history has been re-written in Pakistan and Pakistani children are being taught that civilisation and culture came to the subcontinent with the advent of Islam, as if there were dark ages in the subcontinent before Islam came.
It is alleged by some of these Malaysian Hindu intellectuals that there has been a similar attempt in Malaysia for some years to project as if civilisation and culture came to Malaysia only after Islam came to the country and to deny the impact and role of Hinduism before the advent of Islam. The pre-Islamic role and influence of Hinduism was equally strong in Malaysia and Indonesia. Indonesian Muslims feel quite comfortable with this influence.
They retain the impact of Hinduism and Hindu culture. They have preserved the impact of the Ramayana and Mahabharata on their art forms and proudly exhibit them to foreign tourists. It is a tribute to the tolerance and generosity of the mindset of large sections of the Muslim civil society in Indonesia that Bali has continued to maintain the pristine purity of its Hinduism and that Christians have done well in many walks of Indonesian society.
Of course, there have been instances of shocking brutality against the Chinese, but these were not due to religious reasons. These were due partly to economic jealousies arising from the Chinese dominance of the local economy in certain areas, partly to the past association of the Chinese with the pro-Beijing Indonesian Communist Party and partly to suspicions that many Chinese still have extra-territorial loyalty to China.
In contrast, in Malaysia one finds that while the impact of contemporary Hindu religion and culture (Bharata Natyam, Tamil films, Tamil language etc) is proudly admitted and even displayed in the promotional films of their tourism department, the pre-Islam impact of Hindu religion and culture is sought to be downplayed. One finds few references to the Ramayana and Mahabharata traditions, for example. I have heard in seminars some highly-respected Malay Muslim intellectuals living abroad express their disquiet over the direction Islam is taking in their country.
One of the examples cited by them is the downplaying of the pre-Islam Hindu influence. In Malaysia itself, former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim has had the courage to express his disquiet over what he sees as the growing Arabisation of Islam in his country.
It is also alleged that the policy of preferential support to the Bhumiputras (sons of the soil) discriminates not only against Malaysian citizens of Indian and Chinese origin, but also against Bhumiputra Christians. According to the critics, many natives of Malaysia embraced Christianity during British rule, but they are not doing as well as Bhumiputra Muslims.
The second reason for the anger is seen more among Hindu Malaysians in the lower strata of Hindu society. Their anger arises from frequent instances of demolition of Hindu temples in the plantation areas and elsewhere built by their ancestors. These temples are allegedly demolished on the ground either that they were illegally constructed or that the land on which they were located was required for a public purpose.
Their representations against the demolition have reportedly had no effect. More than even the demolition of the temples, what has angered them is the fact that the authorities bulldozed not only the temples, but even the idols of Hindu gods and goddesses kept inside, after rejecting their plea to hand them over to them so that they could keep them in their houses or send them to their ancestral villages in Tamil Nadu for reinstallation.
The Mariamman tradition is very strong among the seafaring Tamils. They look upon Goddess Mariamman as their protecting deity. Tamil fishermen, before they set out to sea, pray to Mariamman. Tamil Hindus, who went to South-East Asia before the advent of Islam, used to take idols of Mariamman in their boats or ships.
Whenever they reached a place, they would install the idol and build a temple over it. That is why one finds a number of Mariamman temples all over South-East Asia where Tamil Hindus have gone over the course of their history. It is alleged that many of the idols thus bulldozed were of Mariamman brought by their ancestors from their native villages in Tamil Nadu hundreds of years ago.
The perceived failure of the authorities to heed the sentiments of these Hindus and of the Malay Muslim elite to support the Hindus has aggravated the anger.
In India, there are many instances of violation of the religious and other human rights of Muslims and excesses committed against some Muslims. Large sections of the Hindu elite -- writers, journalists, human rights activists, lawyers etc -- have been in the forefront of those rushing to the protection of the Muslims.
Similarly, in Pakistan, there are many instances of the violation of the religious and other human rights of Hindus. Sections of their Muslim elite immediately take up their grievances and try to protect them.
Barring some exceptions such as Ibrahim, one hardly hears of the Malay Muslim elite taking up the case of the aggrieved Hindus and demanding that the causes of their anger should be addressed. Many Malay Muslim intellectuals are in the forefront of those demanding that the root causes of the anger of the Muslims in different countries should be identified and addressed if we have to vanquish jihadi terrorism. They also rightly stress the need for a hearts and minds approach to angry Muslims.
But I have never heard them talk of the need to identify and address the root causes of the growing anger of the Hindu citizens of Malaysia and to adopt a hearts and minds approach to them. The time has come for introspection by all sections of Malaysian society in order to contain and remove this anger.
It has to be mentioned that one notes with concern that the leaders of the present agitation of Indian-origin Malaysians in Malaysia have been using excessive rhetoric. Such rhetoric will damage their credibility and introduce an element of poison in the inter-ethnic relations. This must be avoided.

New Apple store highlights "geniuses," services

By Franklin Paul and Scott Hillis
NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - At Apple Inc's APPL.O new store in Manhattan, the smiling "geniuses" and "concierges" standing at attention are as important as the iPods and Mac computers on display.
The store, Apple's second-biggest in the United States, has an entire floor dedicated to customer service and technical help, a key focus for the company and one that has helped drive sales growth.
"What the Apple stores do is give customers a place to come and feel and touch the products, and more importantly, talk to someone who knows the products intimately," said Tim Bajarin, president of Creative Strategies, a consultancy.
"That just does not exist well in the PC side. You can't get a similar experience at Best Buy (BBY.N: Quote, Profile, Research) or Circuit City (CC.N: Quote, Profile, Research)," Bajarin said.
Apple met widespread skepticism when it opened its first stores in 2001, as many analysts scratched their heads at the company's entry into an unfamiliar business.
But the strategy has paid off in a big way. Apple stores pulled in $1.25 billion in revenue in the company's last fiscal quarter, a 42 percent jump from a year earlier and accounting for a fifth of total revenue.
Apple shares have more than doubled over the past year and closed up 2.4 percent on Thursday at $189.95.

JetBlue, Yahoo, Rim plan free in-flight Wi-Fi

NEW YORK (Reuters) - JetBlue, Yahoo Inc and Research in Motion plan to offer free, in-flight, Wi-Fi web connections for laptop computers and advanced cell phones, Rim said on Thursday.
The service will allow passengers to access customized Yahoo mail and Yahoo instant messenger services on their laptops or to access corporate e-mails on Wi-Fi enabled versions of the popular Blackberry device from Rim.
According to a spokesperson for Rim the first JetBlue flight offering the service will be on December 11.

Indian-origin people are better off: Malaysia

Kuala Lumpur, December 4: Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has asked the people of the country to judge his government by the progress levels that have benefited all Malaysians.
Meanwhile, deputy minister for Rural and Regional Development Zainal Abidin Osman said Malaysians of Indian origin were better off than the indigenous Malays.
In 2004, the average monthly income of Indian households was Malaysian Ringgit (RM) 3,456, while the indigenous households averaged RM 2,711 and the Chinese households averaged RM4, 437, he told the Parliament.
"Society, be it the Malays, Indians or Chinese, will gauge us by the level of progress and development we bring to the people irrespective of race," the prime minister said, adding Malaysians could not be taken for a ride by anyone.
He said the government was ''serious'' to further develop the country and maintain peace and harmony.
Abdullah's government has seen one of the worst protests by ethnic Indians in the 50 years of independent Malaysia, some of whom had alleged being marginalized.
He said Malaysia's success level was the key element to ward off the 'wild and insane' claims by the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf).
It is hard to believe Hindraf's allegations of ethnic cleansing in Malaysia, the PM said, adding the group had gone overboard.
"If we have been doing what they claimed, then there will not be peace and harmony, or political stability in the country,'' he said at the monthly gathering of the Prime Minister's Department in the new Malaysian capital of Putrajaya.
Abdullah said the poor were still in the country but the government had managed to reduce the poverty level in Malaysia from 50 per cent to 5.7 per cent within the last 50 years

Indian protest rocks Malaysia ahead of polls

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysia's ethnic Indian community staged its biggest anti-government street protest on Sunday when more than 10,000 protesters defied tear gas and water cannon to voice complaints of racial discrimination.
The sheer size of the protest, called by a Hindu rights group, represents a political challenge for the government as it heads toward possible early elections in the next few months.
Ethnic Indians from around the country swarmed into Kuala Lumpur for the rally, despite a virtual lock-down of the capital over the previous three days and warnings from police and the government that people should not take part.
"Malaysian Indians have never gathered in such large numbers in this way...," said organizer P. Uthaya Kumar, of the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf).
"They are frustrated and have no job opportunities in the government or the private sector. They are not given business licenses or places in university," he said, adding that Indians were also incensed by some recent demolitions of Hindu temples.
Riot police fired at the protesters with sustained volleys of tear gas and jets of water laced with an eye-stinging chemical, but it took more than five hours to finally clear the streets of downtown Kuala Lumpur, by then littered with empty gas canisters.
Veteran journalists and analysts could not recall a bigger anti-government protest by ethnic Indians, who make up about 7 percent of the population, although some said a larger rally had been held over internal Indian politics in the late 1980s.

The Sexiest Movie Stars Ever

Angelina Jolie has topped Empireonline.com's poll of the top '100 Sexiest Movie Stars Ever.' The Tomb Raider star beat V For Vendetta actress Natalie Portman to bag the number one spot, earlier held by Keira Knightley

Billionaire marriages: Why get hitched?

Google co-founder and Chief Executive Larry Page's wedding this weekend is supposed to be a secret affair. But his own search engine is undermining the effort. A recent Google search for "Larry Page marriage" revealed a number of details about the event.
Page will definitely be married on Dec. 8 to a woman named Lucy Southworth at an "undisclosed location." According to one blog post, Page might be married on Necker Island, Richard Branson's 74-acre estate in the British Virgin Islands.
In this Web-friendly age, billionaires, politicians, and others who live in the public eye have a hard time keeping information about their lives private.
Because the public is so interested in the marriages of the rich and famous, every detail of a billionaire's personal life -- from courtship to wedding to, if they're unlucky, divorce -- ends up shooting through millions of fused networks and popping up on millions of strangers' computer screens. It's true if you're Bill Gates of Microsoft, Warren Buffett of Berkshire Hathaway, or Oprah Winfrey of Harpo Entertainment. Page is no exception.
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Yes, the rich really are different from you and me. For most people, a wedding is a simple, joyous occasion. Family and friends gather to celebrate the ceremonial joining of you and your true love. For billionaires it's more complicated, with stresses and strains that others don't bear. They don't just have to choose a florist and a band; they usually need a good lawyer, too.
Marriage Means Business
Attorneys familiar with billionaire marriages urge their clients to proceed with care and caution. "A billionaire has to treat an upcoming marriage as a merger. But it's a merger with a potential enemy," says New York divorce lawyer Raoul Felder.
Prenuptial agreements are important, but they're no guarantee of a satisfactory split if things go south. Consider the divorce of Steven Spielberg, now at DreamWorks Animation, and his first wife Amy Irving. She claimed their prenup was invalid because it had been written on a napkin and she hadn't had legal representation. A judge tossed it out; Irving got $100 million.
The prenup of Bob Johnson, the founder of Black Entertainment Television, held up, but it still cost him plenty. He agreed to a deal with his wife, Sheila Johnson, in which she would receive half of their assets if they split up.
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By the time they did get divorced in 2002, his media empire was worth billions -- and she got her half. "Very rich people have trouble sometimes knowing exactly what they're worth," says Felder. "Worth is often ephemeral."
Valuations are tricky, too. Donald Schiller, of Chicago's Schiller, Du Canto & Fleck, the nation's largest matrimonial law firm, says valuing a billionaire's worth is particularly complicated when real estate and other privately held property is involved. "You can't evaluate them the same way you can evaluate assets traded on the New York Stock Exchange," he says.
Dishing Dirt
Another issue that comes with prenups is privacy. Agreements can include confidentiality clauses to prevent one of the parties involved from giving out information about a marriage in case of divorce. That can mean barring anything from TV interviews about the ex to writing a book. "Prenuptials often waive a spouse's rights to develop intellectual property from details of the marriage," says Schiller.
He continued, "If it's a well-done premarital agreement and well-documented, the person trying to get out of it could end up with a lot less [if he or she goes public]," Schiller says. "You have to make it. . . very expensive. . . for somebody to give a lot of personal information out to the public."
Friendly Divorces Are Rare
It's possible to have an amicable divorce, even if you're a billionaire. When Tim Blixseth, the billionaire founder of the Yellowstone Club, split from his wife, Edra, in 2006, they divided up $2 billion in combined net worth in a single afternoon.
But that is the exception. You're more likely to see a high-profile mudfest like the one Roman Abramovitch, the Russian oil magnate, got into in March, 2007. His wife, Irina, learned that Roman was dating a 23-year-old Russian model, Daria Zhukova. Irina hired two prominent British lawyers, filed for divorce, and ended up with half of her husband's assets.
Given all of the billionaire marriages that have ended badly, Larry Page may well have a prenup ready before he takes his vows on Dec. 8. Money doesn't buy happiness, even if you're capable of spending billions.
Still, Page could give up half his wealth and still be plenty rich. With Google's stock trading near $700, his stake in the search engine is worth nearly $20 billion.