Ikbal Mirchi ka baand bajega kya?
Topic: Underworld
US names Iqbal Mirchi as narcotic trafficker
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Posted online: Tuesday, April 26, 2005 at 0211 hours IST

NEW DELHI, APRIL 25: The United States has placed wanted drug dealer Iqbal Mamen alias Iqbal Mirchi on the list of specially designated narcotics traffickers.

The list released by the US Treasury Department named Mirchi, who is also called Iqbal Merchant, in the category of persons whose entry is blocked to any part of the United States.

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The list provides all the four dates of birth being used by Mirchi in his various passports. His passport numbers issued from India and from the United Arab Emirates have also been put on the list.

Apparently, Mirchi had been trying to gain entry into the US which is believed to have prompted Washington to study his case thoroughly and then blacklist him. He is said to have been making attempts to set up a business in the US.

India had secured a red-corner notice against Mirchi, a resident of Mumbai, in 1994 after the police unearthed an illegal factory in Pune where 1,600 kg of Methaqualone which is used to make mandrax tablets was recovered.

Mirchi then fled India to avoid arrest has been shuttling between the Gulf countries and Europe.

Mirchi, who had to leave Dubai in 2003 following the murder of underworld don Sharad Shetty, has no direct connection with the ‘‘specially designated global terrorist’’ Dawood Ibrahim but security agencies said that some deals had taken place between the two in early 1990s.

It is alleged that Mirchi sold nearly five million mandrax tablets between February and September in 199

The Widom of Gandhi
Topic: Books....
The Wisdom of Gandhi - what a nice little book. Had been to B&N yesterday after a long long time. Reason to get a nice book bag as my visits to library have been on the rise and it is classy to have nice book bag than grappling with grocery bags.

Anyway....chanced upon this little jewel and read it in 45-50 minutes. that's all it takes. just a collection of famous quotes and insights from Mahatma in big letters that too 1 or 2 per page....but a lot of wisdom packed in each of them.

Gandhi and his teachings have started appealing to me for the first time in my life. Mainly because Sri Eknath Easwaran was staunch deciple or admirerer of Gandhi and wastes no opportunity to hammer in Gandhian ideas whereever possible. Since I am hooked to Easwaran and like his way of presenting even most complex things so simply, Gandhian philosophy which once looked so boring and unattactive is palatable now...

Gandhi had said -"I would like all my writings be burnt after my death. What I have done will endure and not what I have written or spoken". True but how lucky are we that most of his writings are available and enhanced by many nice people.....

Link to the book at - http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0806522542/qid=1114482846/sr=8-6/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i6_xgl14/103-1787641-7027005?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

Cheers!

For kannada literature enthusiasts
What is the opposite of Kavi (i.e. poet)....some kidigedis (i.e. rascals) say it is Kanavi....another Kannada poet....

Ramachandra Sharma one of the great Kannada poets passed away last week.....they last link in the Kannada 'navya kavya' chain is lost....Ramachandra Sharma appeals to me for another reason because he made Ehiopia way back in 1957 where he moved to become a English professor.....then he spent a lot of time in Zambia, UK etc. as a educationit....since I am not a big fan of poems.....my exposure to Sharma was limted from tabloids like 'Lankesh Patrike' editor of which Lankesh was a good buddy of Sharma....

Sharma's first collection of poems was titled 'Hesaragatte' (i.e. mule or sort of donkey)...it is joked that people mistook the name of the book as the name of the poet...this used to infuriate Sharma from time to time......

Also...another Kannada columnist N.K.Kulkarni or Nani Kaka also passed away this week.....he was 93....he was sort of more dear to me as his house was in the same neighborhood where my house was....his house was near railway station which I used to pass by everyday sometimes multiple times day on my way to school.....he wrote good prose....he was very frank in his writings....one of his columns contained his experiments with condoms...it was way back in 1940s and condoms were really new to India...Nani Kaka wrote such a nice artcile documenting his first experiment with condom and his embarssment using it for the first time and his usual first time goof ups etc....what an open minded person....

cheers!

Bombay Express....beware
Topic: Movies
Kamal Hasan's new movie Mumbai Express is released. Some unscrupulous people/company has released an old Telugu movie of Kamal Hasan as "Bombay Express" at the same time and is easy to get duped to rent it thinking that it is new movie which is Mumbai Express....Old movie that is released was originally known as "Tik, Tik, Tik" which also a decent movie but was a disappointment as many must have watched it long ago....

This old movie has buxom heroines such as Madhavi, Sapna etc....interesting plot....and a good directtion by Bharati Raja.....

What a scam? $2 down the drain.....

Kuchh Meetha Ho Jaye
Topic: Movies
Total time pass movie....myriad of characters....no connection among them....overall...time pass.


Movie happens in a very small town airport...that is dear to me....small town airports have a life of their own....for example airport in Huntington, WV....I really enjoyed when I had to drop off a friend and pick him back while I was staying with his parents over the christmas....so nice...additionally my hometown airport in Hubli and airport at Belgaum....they are no airports but just air strips.....so homely....no fuss.....even airport at Dar--Es-Salaaam, Tanzania....watching aircrafts from unheard countries (at that time) such as Madgascar, Mauritius landing...their colorful logos...outstanding airhostesses etc...small town airports are simply great...especially if your plane is delayed.....just pick up a nice novel and enjoy the drama that unfolds......same thing happens in this movie.....



==================================
Kuchh Meetha Ho Jaye

Cast: Arshad Warsi, Mahima Chaudhury.
Director: Samar Khan.
Arshad Warsi.

One-dimensional characters with unconvincing stories.

Number of weeks: New.
BO Verdict: Flop.

Quote
Topic: Quotable Quotes
Intel inside;idiot outside......

For deam analysts
Beautiful African savannahs. Big farm....whole bunch of cows are gathered around fodder feeding area and feeding on the fodder in a row. Now, there is also a very young zebra calf running helter skelter in sheer fun and thrill. It seems to be excited. It is doing all 'uchal khud'. From time to time, it takes a break and hits into the udders of one of the cows which are feeding on the fooder for a quick sip of cow's milk. Cow's do not seem to mind the zebra calf taking a sip.Zebra calf resume its running and jumping once again with renewed vigor.

Car is going at 70-75 mph. Suddenly slows down for no good reason. Driver floor the gas pedal but still the speed does not pick up. Driver is confused and pulls over and walks to the back of the car to see what is going on. To his shock, the car is tearing up like a sheet of paper with lid on the trunk all curled up and all the metal at the back almost in the form of a sail and metallic sail was the reason why the car was not able to speed up.

Dream analysts - your interpretation of these dreams welcome!

Bedazled
Topic: Movies
Bedazled starring Elizabeth Hurley (or Mrs. Arun Nayar) very good movie....really good comedy.....

4 stars!

Morning Raga
Topic: Movies
Morning Raga - starring Prakash Rao, Shabana Azmi, Perizad Zorabin etc...

Nice movie directed by playwrite Mahesh Dattani...simple movie....not much depth but good direction holds on.....beautiful scenaries from Andhra country side add to the overall goodness....

Prakash Rao son of movie maker Raghavendra Rao is really cool....Shabana Azmi is good too but her role is pretty limited...for that matter no role has so much depth to stand out....

Short too....that's good.

3 stars easily!

BMCM retreat
Topic: My vote.....
Blue Mountain Center for Meditations's annual weekend retreat in Boston area is going to happen over the weekend of May 15.

I have been attending this retreat for last 3 years and can vouch for its effectiveness and benefits. The sheer positive aura and energy from 30+ spiritual aspirants gathering together to discuss and collectively benefit from Easwaran's teaching is really good. Franciscan center at Andover (Boston suburb) is really a cool place. Made to order for such activities. Food and lodiging is included. One can attend either the entire weekend retreat or only one day.

Food is good but more importantly very nutritious and simple. Picked up from the book published by the center 'Laurel's kitchen'.

Come and meet your fellow Easwaran followers and have a gala time and recharge your spiritual batteries for the year to come.

Looking forward to seeing you!

More details at www.nilgiri.org.

CR sketch on BS
Topic: Underworld
'Chhota Rajan plotted to kill Bharat Shah'
S BALAKRISHNAN

TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ THURSDAY, APRIL 21, 2005 02:36:32 AM ]
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MUMBAI: The Chhota Rajan gang had planned to gun down diamond pasha-cum-Bollywood film producer Bharat Shah last November. The plan was foiled following early intervention by the crime detection branch of the Mumbai police. Shah's name, which was kept under wraps by the police for more than five months, was revealed to TOI by police sources on Wednesday.

Four persons were arrested by the crime branch and sophisticated weapons were seized from them along with photographs of Bharat Shah and bits of paper bearing the registration numbers of his vehicles. Shah was informed of the plot and necessary precautions were taken by the police. He continues to get police security even today. When contacted by TOI on Wednesday, Shah confirmed that he had received extortion threats from the underworld. "The callers had threatened to kill me if I didn't pay up," he said. The producer declined to disclose the amount demanded, but sources close to him said it ran into several crores.

In the first week of November 2004, Unit No VI of the crime branch in Chembur had been tipped off by a well-cultivated informant that four shooters of the Chhota Rajan gang were holed up in a tenement in Girgaum.

Acting on the information, officers and constables staged a secret operation on November 8 by a crack team which swooped down on the premises where the gangsters were holed up. The team found three notorious shooters, Vinod Yadav (39), Vishwanath Jadhav (43) and Jagdish Shetty (30), with sophisticated weapons — a .45 bore Colt automatic pistol with seven live catridges and two .38 Smith and Wesson revolvers with several catridges.

Die Hard: Part 2
Topic: Movies
Much much better than the part 1. Plot is really well executed. Climax is simply superb. Bruce Willis seems to have perfected his acting. Airport cops and their chief are really funny.

4 stars

Cheers!

Now to watch an oldie from 1970s "Jeene Ki Raah". seen it before. but old hindi movies are simply good. especially of Jeetendra, Dharmedra, Rajesh Khanna and all those buxom heroines....real women :)

What day is today?
today is 420 (4/20, April 20)

420 is a special number. Used in several contexts. 420 is used to label some one as 'chaloo','fraud','one who takes people for a ride' etc. Also used for Casanovas who are good at fooling around with girls.

420 originates from Indian Penal Code (IPC) section 420 which reads as - "420. Cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property

Whoever cheats and thereby dishonestly induces the person deceived to deliver any property to any person, or to make, alter or destroy the whole or any part of a valuable security, or anything which is signed or sealed, and which is capable of being converted into a valuable security, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to seven years, and shall also be liable to fine."

from http://www.indialawinfo.com/bareacts/ipc.html#_Toc496765304

Cheater Monya is the most popular current 420 in Dharwad if you go by his 'karnama' from news papers.

Die Hard
Topic: Movies
Die Hard starring Bruce Willis. So much hype about this and dubbed as an action classis. Agreed that some scenes are good but do not understand that much hype...

I would rather watch Kannada movie 'Nishkarsha' on the same lines directed by Sunil Kumar Desai. I liked this movie so much more than Die Hard. Since I was given to understand that Kannada movie was copied from Die Hard, I was expecting it to be much better but it did not live up its hype.

Yes, Kannada movie borrows the original idea from Die Hard but direction is on a totally different plane there. Desia uses B'lore's Manipal Center as the place for the drama. Vishnuvardhan excels as the commando...some scenese are simply great especially the one in which they release a whole bunch of pigeons to confuse the attackers.....Suman Nagarkar was also so good in that movie. Pravin Shet as her boy friend provide good humor......

Other than the theme there is no much copied from Die Hard. Another reason to congratulate Desai. He is the best director off late. Unfortunately does not have much finanical clout and does not compromise on the quality.

Cheers!

Mid life crisis as heard on NPR
Mid life crisis is when you realize that you are at the top of the ladder. But, also realize that ladder was on the wrong wall.

Or when you scale a wrong mountain.....

Cheers!

Executive Decision
Topic: Movies
Executive Decision - nice action flick. If you have liked movies like Air Force 1, you are going to like this. Well executed mid-air rescue of an hijacked airliner.....

Slick flick !

3 stars !

Ugadi get-together party
It was really a pleasure to attend Havyaka Ugadi get-together yesterday at a friend's place. Ugadi marks the beginning of Indian new year. Havyaka is the community that I was born in. Very unique sub-culture of greater Kannada speaking culture. More information at www.havyak.com.

Met havyak folks who live in New Engalnd area. Unfortunately, many families could not attend for whatever reasons. But, it was very nice to socialize with those who attended.

Good food from the pot-luck.

Highlight was viewing a CD sent by the Swamiji of Ramachandrapur Math. He is the official spiritual head of havyaka community. His message was simple and very uplifting. His plans for social service are really noteworthy. I am glad that my family back home is extending their support to his many initiative. Hope we get many more such progressive spiritual leaders. Refreshing to see spiritual leaders adapting to changing world. Swamiji had sent a video recording of his message and blessings thru one of his desciples who toured US recently.

Overall a very nice gathering.....

Cheers!

Ray Charles
Who composed the state song for the state of Georgia?

Ans: Ray Charles....his 1979 hit my sweet Georgia was adopted by Georgia as it's state song....

For trivia junkies....

Bad Company
Topic: Movies
Bad Company starring Anthony Hopkins, comedian Chris Rock etc....average movie....with some funny dialogs...too much action.....

CIA - crack in ass....a pearl of a dialog from this movie...what less to expect from something where Chris Rock is there......:)

Cheers!

Virumaandi
Virumaandi....tamil movie....starring Kamal Hasan..

Kamal is one of my favorites....thus chose to watch this movie....but this movie simply disappoints...there is no Kamal's magical touch here....total waste....total rural violence crap...may be people who understand Tamil well can pick up something good in it...but for someone who simply likes to watch good movies of Kamal irrespective of language...this is a total waste movie....vyanda...vyanda...vyaare movie...next....

Looking forward to Kamal's latest movie Mumbai Express....hope that's better....

Cheers!