ISKCON to celebrate Lord Krishna's birthday!

    The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) will be celebrating the Sri Krishna Janmashtami festival with fervor and pomp.

Christmas Holiday Aroma's

     A simple recipe for that delightful holiday fragrance to scent your home or office for the entire season. This mixture of apple juice and spices is a joy to share with your friends and family.

Thoughts for the day to Start!

Google Doodles London 2012 Shot Put.

     Today, Google has demonstrated its first shot put Doodle on its homepage. The shot put Doodle is quite different from the other disciplines of Olympics that have been posted as Doodles on the homepage of the search engine giant as it is the maiden appearance of the track and field event.

Oracle Enterprise Pack for Eclipse 12c Ready for Developers

     Oracle announced the availability of the Oracle Enterprise Pack for Eclipse 12c, the latest version of its tooling for the Eclipse open source IDE.

Kamal's Vishwaroopam 2 is ready?

     No doubt Kamal Haasan is super fast, but from what we have heard, he seems like a superman. If reports are to be believed the shoot for the sequel of Viswaroopam has also been completed.

Priyamani is North bound

     National award winning actress Priyamani is all set to embark on a very exciting character in Charulatha. This would be the first time someone would be playing conjoined twins. Priyamani is all geared up for this challenge and she is all set to fly to Kashmir along with the unit of Charulatha.

Dhansika joins Dhanush's film

     Dhanush's production venture with Sivakarthikeyan entitled Ethir Neechal has seen the addition of a new cast member. It is none other than Dhansika of Peranmai and Aravaan fame.

'Making Billa 2 was a fascinating experience'

     Chakri Toleti made a name for himself as a film-maker with his very first filmUnnaipol Oruvan (remake of A Wednesday) for Kamal Haasan's Rajkamal Productions. He had the good fortune to direct both Kamal Haasan and Mohanlalin his very first film.

Katrina to do dangerous stunt scenes in Dhoom 3

     Cutting short her planned family holiday in London with her mom and sisters, Katrina flew back to Mumbai on Tuesday to practice for some additional action sequences in Dhoom 3.

How Sony Pictures Imageworks Brought the Heroes and Villains of 'Spider-Man' to Life

The Culver City-based visual effects house marks its 20th anniversary with its most spectacular effects bonanza yet.

     If it were not for Sony Pictures Imageworks, Spider-Man might never have been able to swing through the canyons of New York City with so much acrobatic brio -- and the villains he encounters might not have been so formidable a threat. Imageworks, the studio's Culver City-based visual effects house, is marking its 20th anniversary this year as The Amazing Spider-Man swings into theaters. And just as Peter Parker grows into his superpowers during the course of the movie, Imageworks has been testing its creative powers, which have grown steadily as the $2.5 billion-grossing franchise has progressed.

Four AMC Canada Multiplexes Turned into Cineplex Screens

     The recently-acquired theaters opened Friday with new signage, ticket systems and the prospect of digital projections systems as they enter the country's largest circuit.

Former Tamil Tiger snipers join Sri Lanka shooting team

     Former Tamil Tiger snipers have been selected to represent Sri Lanka in shooting sports at national level.

Sitting less may expand your life span : Study

     You may want to go for a walk after reading this: People who don’t sit more than three hours a day are more likely to live an additional two years, a new study has claimed.

Russian Parliament approves several "repressive" bills

     The Russian Parliament wound up its spring session with the approval of several “repressive” bills designed to help the Kremlin crack down on a growing civic protest movement, according to opposition leaders.

Mozilla's Firefox OS to Bear Smartphone Fruit in 2013

Mozilla announced that its project to build a smartphone operating system (formerly known as “Boot to Gecko”) based on Web standards is now known as Firefox OS for mobile devices and it will be on devices in 2013.

     Mozilla said the Firefox phone is the real deal and should start hitting the scene in 2013. Mozilla announced a clear and distinct increase in momentum behind its plans to launch an open mobile ecosystem based on HTML5, including new commitments from device manufacturers and carriers to support the strategy and deliver devices powered by an open Web-based OS.

Advantage Apple: iPhone users love to use their phones

     When it comes to people actually using their devices, there's no doubt at all that Apple [AAPL] is winning the smartphone wars -- just look at the evidence, for app sales, Web browsing, OS upgrades and more, the iPhone is King of the Hill.

Asian Markets Look to Central Banks

     Asian stocks rose Tuesday on speculation central banks in Europe and the U.S. will do more to boost their ailing economies. 

     Hopes that policy makers will take action came after a report overnight showed the U.S. manufacturing sector had contracted, the first time since July 2009. Investors are also looking ahead to the European Central Bank rate decision on Thursday, as well as employment data coming out of the U.S. later this week.

Tom Cruise's marriages plagued by number 33.

     London: It looks like Hollywood superstar Tom Cruise's unlucky number is 33 as all of his three ex-wives called it quits when they reached that very same age. Mimi Rogers, Nicole Kidman and Katie Holmes were all in their early thirties when their marriages to the 49-year-old actor took a turn for the worse, reported Daily Mail online.

Singing my ultimate dream: Veena Malik

     New Delhi: Controversy's favourite child, Pakistani actress Veena Malik reveals that her heart craves to croon and that her dream has been to become a singer and not an actor.

     "I think, Bollywood is beautiful, but my ultimate dream is not to become a Bollywood star. My ultimate dream is to become a singer. I always wanted to become a singer, but because of my looks I was always suggested to act," Veena told IANS.

SBI hikes interest rate for deposits below Rs.15 lakh

     State Bank of India (SBI) has increased retail term deposit interest rates by 0.25 percentage points for three years to less than five years from 8.75 per cent to 9 per cent with effect from July 1. This rate will be applicable for deposits below Rs.15 lakh, SBI said in a release. All other rates will remain the same.

Union Bank

     Meanwhile, another public sector bank, Union Bank of India, has reduced interest rates for the micro and small enterprises (MSE) sector up to 300 basis points under various slabs with effect from July 1. The bank is aiming to achieve substantial credit growth to the MSE sector in the current financial year.

Amazing paintings on feathers

Mobile phone repair course

Girls participating in the mobile repair test organised by DHAN Foundation in association with NIRED. 

Project Director of Urban Community Development of GVMC attended the programme in Visakhapatnam . 

     The course also provides a platform for women to set up service centres with a nominal investment or impart the skill to school drop outs and unemployed youth.

Enjoy Your Weekend

EU Summit: How all-night Brussels showdown pulled Euro back from brink

     They were bleary-eyed in their crumpled suits early on Friday morning, but euro zone negotiators were smiling after a hard-fought night of talks that struck a surprisingly far-reaching deal to prop up the euro.

     An agreement to let the euro zone's rescue funds directly recapitalise banks - something Spain has long held out for - went substantially beyond what almost all diplomats and finance officials expected going into the two-day summit.

     It also crossed a red-line that Germany had set down, indicating that Chancellor Angela Merkel had to give ground after being backed into a corner - some said held hostage - by Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti and Spain's Mariano Rajoy.

Freida Pinto to romance Christian Bale in Knight of Cups

     Mumbai The Sludog Millionaire actress Freida Pinto will be seen romancing Oscar-winner Christian Bale in Hollywood director Terrence Malick's next project Knight of Cups.

     After Brad Pitt starrer The Tree of Life, Malick, will explore the theme of love and truth in the film, which has already gone on floors in Santa Monica.

After free laptops for students, Jayalalithaa now doles out goodies for Govt employees

     Chennai : It's raining goodies for government employees in Tamil Nadu as Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa has hiked the health insurance cover and housing loan ceiling for the state government staff.

The insurance cover for the employees' families has been hiked from Rs. 2 lakh to Rs. 4 lakh over the next four years and would also cover treatment and surgery for 113 approved ailments. The state government has roped in United India Insurance Company for this.

     And for those who plan to build their dream houses, the housing loan ceiling has been raised from Rs. 15 lakh to Rs. 25 lakh, in tune with the rising cost of construction. Civil Services officers would, however, be eligible to avail a housing loan of Rs. 40 lakh from the present 25 lakh.

     Around 14 lakh government employees and their families would benefit from this scheme. After kickstarting delivery of free mixer, grinder, fan and laptops for students - her key poll promises - Amma's attention has now turned towards government employees.

Courtesy : NDTV News

Earth adds leap second on Saturday night

     Washington : Saturday night will stretch longer by a second. A leap second.

     International timekeepers are adding a second to the clock at midnight universal time Saturday, June 30, going into July 1. That's 8 p.m. EDT Saturday. Universal time will be 11:59:59 and then the unusual reading of 11:59:60 before it hits midnight.

     A combination of factors, including Earth slowing down a bit from the tidal pull of the moon, and an atomic clock that's a hair too fast, means that periodically timekeepers have to synchronize the official atomic clocks, said Daniel Gambis, head of the Earth Orientation Service in Paris that coordinates leap seconds.The time it takes the Earth to rotate on its axis - the definition of a day - is now about two milliseconds longer than it was 100 years ago, said Geoff Chester, spokesman at the U.S. Naval Observatory, keeper of the official U.S. atomic clocks. That's each day, so it adds up to nearly three-quarters of a second a year.

TECH HELP FOR PARENTS

Now, tools to keep tab on kids’ digital lives

     

     When her children were ready to have laptops of their own, Jill Ross bought software that would keep an eye on where they went online. One day it offered her a real surprise. She discovered that her 16-year-old daughter had set up her own video channel. Using the camera on her laptop, sometimes in her bedroom, she and a friend were recording mundane teenage banter and broadcasting it on YouTube for the whole world to see.

     For Ross, who lives outside Denver, it was a window into her daughter’s mind and an emblem of the strange new hurdles of modern-day parenting. She did not mention it to her daughter; she just subscribed to the channel’s updates. The daughter said nothing either; she just let Mom keep watching. “It’s a matter of knowing your kids,” Ross said.