The Upside-Down Diplomacy

How tough is it for a nation to understand how another country’s national flag looks like and that too in a scenario when there are peace talks going on between both the nations?

Let’s take another view at it; do you see a difference between the colour saffron and green on our national flag? I definitely see it but what is wrong with the Pakistani diplomats?

It is not once, but twice in India-Pakistan diplomatic meetings (call them peace talks) that Pakistan broke the protocol by showing the Indian flags upside down. And recently, Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Malik tweeted about India’s initiative towards peace process with the tri-colour upside down again.
It happened for the first time in the year 2005 when the PIA airplane, on which the then Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf arrived in India for peace talks, had the Indian flag placed upside down.
Again in June, 2010, when the Indian Home Minister P Chidambaram met Rehman Malik during the SAARC Home Ministers Conference in Islamabad, the flag was displayed upside down.
When Chidambaram noticed this, he informed the same to Rehman Malik and the minister immediately apologised for the mistake. The flag was placed rightly after that.
Though Chidambaram dismissed it as ‘minor issue’, it remains to be seen how minor it is since after Malik committed the mistake again after almost a month. India has taken a softer view of such grave mistakes committed by Pakistan and our neighbouring country, on the other hand, is making those mistakes again and again.
What does it imply when the national flag is upside down?
A clause under the flag protocol states-
When a national flag, with some exceptions, is flown upside down it indicates distress. This however is merely tradition. It is not a recognised distress signal according the International regulations for preventing collisions at sea. Further, a nation’s flag is commonly flown inverted as a sign of protest or contempt against the country concerned. As of now, only the Philippine Flag recognizes the distress symbolism of the reverse flag.

The above-mentioned clause clearly states that a national flag is commonly flown inverted as a sign of protest against the country concerned. Is that why the Indian flag is shown upside down? So should it mean that Pakistan is protesting?
But what is it that still worries Pakistan? India’s stance on building the trust deficit, bridging the gaps through dialogue and 26/11 has been very clear. India has shown the initiative and to this the internet savvy minister Rehman Malik has also agreed.
It is considered an offence if there are less than 24 spokes of Ashok Chakra in the Indian flag but would it be an offence if  Pakistan places the Indian flag upside down, continuously?
Moreover, the clause also states that it is done as a sign of contempt.  Can this be considered as a sign of contempt by Pakistan?
The national flag of any country is important for its people and if it is not respected and that too at the time of ‘confidence building measures’, then there sure are questions to be asked.
For those who want to know more about flag protocols, here are the links-
Flag protocol
National flag
Flag Code of India
And, for those who really want to understand how an Indian flag looks like. Please click on the link below-
Flag of India
Image Courtesy: AP, Flags and Stamps

Endhiran Song Leak with Video Dance Footage (full) - EndhiranOnline

Endhiran story revealed

Endhiran earlier titled as Robot, is a forthcoming science-fiction Tamil–language film being directed by S. Shankar. Southern superstar Rajnikanth and Aishwarya Bachchan are playing the main lead in which Rajnikanth would be seen in a double role. This film has a huge budget after Aishwarya Bachchan’s Jeans which was directed by S.Shankar.

We spoke to a source close to the film,
“The film has Rajnikanth playing two roles – scientist and the robot and its name is Endhiran, which is created by him. This film will focus on the situation which forced Rajini to make a robot and then his relationship with it and then the wishes he want the Robot to fulfil.”

Further about the plot

“The film is set in 2200 AD and he is a famous scientist who is in love with Aishwarya. Later on he is given a mission of creating robots but at certain point of time there is a big twist which is the USP of Endhiran. Later on he tries to bring back his creation but realizes that a robot which he had made is very hard and has started falling in love with the girl he loves and then the chase begins among the three and so on.”

The film formally began on February 15, 2008 in Chennai with the photo shoot but the actual shooting had started in Peru with a song and before New Year. Aishwarya was shooting with Rajnikanth in Chennai and then in Vellore. This film has a budget of 120 crores and it is slated to release on April 14th, 2010.The film will be releasing in Tamil.

Salman Khan: Controversy’s favourite child

Bollywood macho hunk and the man with a heart bigger than his biceps is again in news and of course, as usual not for his fault. Bollywood’s most misunderstood brat has caught the ire of the Shiv Sena.

Salman’s new ad for a chewing gum has not gone down well with the Shiv Sena activists. They say that the TV ad featuring Salman ill-represent a cow, considered a sacred animal in Hinduism.

Shiv Sena activists in Amritsar have burnt the actor’s posters and effigies as a mark of protest.

The ad shows Salman as a cowherd dressed in Rajasthani gear. He feeds the chewing gum to the cow and instead of milk, the cow stars giving ice-cream.

According to the Sena there are several ways to make an ad. Why to show a sacred animal of the Hindus in such a bad light? Meanwhile, the bosses in Mumbai are unaware of the protest.

Shiv Sena’s spokesperson Rahul Navrekar said, “We have no idea about it. It is not an official agitation by the party; it’s just one single unit that is protesting.”

Adman Prasoon Joshi, who wrote the script for this ad, calls these protests “bizarre”. “I respect religion and am a religious person myself. The ad is just a childish way of putting a story forward. There is nothing controversial about it,” says Joshi, adding on a note of anger, “The real cows, which are diseased or ageing, need help more than the fictional ones.”

Salman however doesn’t mind such agitations and is geared up for his Eid Bonanza ‘Dabangg’ which means ‘strong’ and ‘powerful’.

Court order on Kamal’s film

The Madras High Court on Tuesday issued a stay on Akshay Kumar-starrer ‘House Full’, in response to a petition filed on behalf of popular Tamil producer P L Thennappan, who claimed that the film was based on ‘Kadhala Kadhala’.

In his petition, Thenappan said that he was the owner of the rights of the Kamal Haasan-Prabhu Deva starrer movie and he had not sold it to anyone. “However, ‘House Full’ is based on ‘Kadhala Kadhala’,” he said.

Thenappan had alleged that the makers of ‘House Full’ (Bollywood producer Sajid Nadiadwala and director Sajid Khan) had made the movie without obtaining rights from him.

“House Full has been ripped off from my production venture ‘Kadhala Kadhala’ directed by Singeetham Srinivasa Rao. I was shocked when I watched the Hindi film as nearly 60 per cent of the scenes from ‘Kadhala Kadhala’ were there,” Thenappan said.

The producer also said that he was in talks with Sajid Nadiadwala about selling the remake rights and the deal did not go through.

Anjali signs handful

Anjali who made a modest entry with the critically acclaimed film 'Kattrathu Thamizh' opposite Jeeva became a star after 'Angadi Theru'. But in the very beginning it was Mu. Kalanjiam who spotted Anjali even before ‘Kattrathu Thamizh’ and all set to launch the terrific actress with a film titled 'Sathamintri Muthamidu'. Kalanjiam had also given a new name Sundari.

But later ‘Sathamintri Muthamidu’ was shelved and with a new name Anjali moved on to do ‘Kattrathu Thamizh’ and the rest is history. But Kalanjiam had signed Anjali for four films before the turn of fortunes happened with ‘Angadi Theru’.

Now with Anjali’s star value on the rise, Mu. Kalanjiam has decided to revive his projects. At first he will launch ‘Karungali. In which he is also launching himself as the hero. Kalanjiam hopes the presence of Anjali will give his career also a boost to take up his other films.

Asin's Colombo Mahi Twist!

Asin must never have bargained for this ungainly twist of Providence! She's braving a cartload of flak from the South territories in India for filming 'Ready' in Sri Lanka, and did face a curious media over her relationship status with M.S Dhoni.
Coincidentally, the cricket ace together with newly wedded spouse Sakshi Singh Rawat, and Asin were put up at the same five star hotel in Sri Lanka. Asin, aware of this irksome development, and shooting almost 12 hours a day for her Anees Bazmee flick opposite Salman Khan, had taken express care to ensure that she did not bump into Dhoni.
Destiny, though, had willed otherwise.
One fateful morning, Dhoni, stationed in Colombo for the test series, bagged the inevitable. Even as Asin was leaving for her morning shoot, she managed to bump into Sakhsi, followed by Dhoni!
An insider states, "The awkwardness on her face was very visible. But she promptly congratulated them, spoke for a few minutes and rushed off stating that she was getting late for shooting."

Dhoni met Asin at a hotel in Srilanka

Dhoni  -- Asin meeting continues.....

It was during ad shooting the friendship bloomed between Asin and Dhoni. From then on Dhoni had been visiting Asin often at her residence. It was widely believed that their closeness hastened the marriage of Dhoni with his schoolmate Sakshi. Whereas Asin refuted the charges and confirmed that they were only friends and that she knew about Dhoni's love for Sakshi.

Asin who has been to Srilanka for the purpose of shooting has stayed in a star hotel. Dhoni, who went to Srilanka last week to play test cricket, also stayed in the same hotel and met Asin during his stay.

When asked what had happened during her meeting with Dhoni, the following was her reply.

I have just returned from Srilanka and rest of movie 'ready' will be shot in Mumbai. During our meeting I just conveyed my wishes to him as I wasn't able to attend his marriage. All of the cricketers were persent when we met. I'll be coming to chennai next month for shooting of KAVAL KADHAL, " she said.

Sona to quit acting

The glamour bombshell Sona is planning to reduce her film assignments and turn a full time producer in a year’s time. She revealed this at the press meet recently.

Sona debuted in ‘Shajahaan’ and went on to do different kind of roles in a variety of films. Soon she became a hot item girl and completed over 17 Telugu, 12 Tamil and 3 Malayalam films. But of late Sona is into producing movies. Her first film launched was ‘2010-Bhagyaraj’ but her second film ‘Kanimozhi’ is complete and ready for release. She has even launched her third production in association with Amma Creations.

Does that mean Sona will stop acting? She says she will reduce her action assignments and more particularly glamour roles. Her future acting assignments will be more towards character roles and that too will be forsaken in a year to turn a full time producer. Said Sona.

At present she has the films ‘Shokali’ and ‘Ko’ in hands. In ‘Ko’ she plays a guest role and she accepted the role because it was a K V Anand film.

Indian Rupee Symbol Designed By IIT Student

The India rupee(Rs) can now be listed internationally with a symbol just like the $’s and £’s. This new symbol is chosen from the final five shortlisted designs. Earlier a symbol designing competition with a price tag of 2.5 Lakhs was announced by the Government. Among the five final symbols, the one designed by an IIT PG student Udhaya Kumar wwas chosen as India’s first officialsymbol for its currency the Rupee.

 Now you need to use a symbol to denote the Indian Rupee, just like $s. Wonder why noone thought about this before? Well, better late than never. It is high time we started sharing international platforms with our own currencysymbol than share the Rs symbol with our neighbors. And most importantly let us see how much Rupee luck this new symbol is going to bring into India.

Rupee is also the name of the currency of Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Nepal. All these country share the same Rs to denote their currency. That is why it was proposed to get a newsymbol, which would uniquely denote the INR. The contestants were asked to design the symbol resembling the Hindi letter RA.

Udhaya kumar designed the symbol which looks like both hindi Ra and the roman capital for R. Ambika Soni the Information and Broadcasting Minister released this news officially today after the cabinet approval.

Greatest Top Ten Actors

Top Ten Greatest Actors

1) Johnny Depp

2) Marlon Brando

3) Tom Hanks

4) Joseph Vijay

5) Kamal Haasan

6) Mohan Lal

7) Al Pacino

8) David Duchovny

9) Jared Leto

10) Anthony Hopkins

Change in title of Vijay's KAVALKARAN

There has always been shortage of stories and titles in the Tamil cinema. After spending crores of rupees to shoot the movie, many are held up when ir comes to providing the suitable title for the movie.

The title of Vijay's movie under the direction of Siddiq is yet to be confirmed. While the movie is being addressed as KAVALKARAN right from the beginning. it seems there will be a change in the title. Vijay had always longed to act in a movie that had the title similar to that of MGR's movies. KAVALKARAN was also one of the titles of MGR's movies and it was expected that Vijay would confirm this title for his movie. However, the media was the first one to use the title for the film this had made Vijay change his mind. It seems he has requested Siddiq not to name the film as KAVALKARAN.

Meanwhile, it is also said that the "KAVAL KADHAL" had been chosen to replace KAVALKARAN. According to the story, Vijay who is the bodygaurd of Asin in due course of times falls in love with her. This is why the title "KAVAL KADHAL", which is apt for the movie, they say, would be picked by the director.

Asin catalyzed the quick marriage of Dhoni??

Indian cricket captain Dhoni married his long-time schoolmate Sakshi Singh Rawat last night. The marriage ceremony that was restricted only to a few friends and close relatives was attended by Harbhajan and nehra. The couple's bethrothal was donducted day-before-yesterday during which they exchanged rings.

Earlier their marriage was proposed to be held in October after the cricket series against Australia was over in the indian soil. It is said that Asin was the reason behind the quick marriage of Dhoni. Apart form cricketm Dhoni also earns crores of rupees through ads. This has made leading actress to have an eye on him. In the begining, his friendship with Lakshmi Rai was grossiped by all. It was also said that both were in love and that they were planning to marry.

Meanwhile, the relationship between Dhoni and Asin was getting closer by the day. Asin, who went to Bollywood from Kollywood, had bought a house at Lokhandwala in Mumbai. The family members of Dhoni did not like his close relationship with Asin. It seems there were problems within the family due to his closeness with Asin. The relatives of Dhoni cite this as the reason for his quick marriage.

Jayam Ravi and Karthi to Clash !!!

For a hard core film buff, Fridays are special as there would be a new release to look forward to. But 23rd July is going to be a double whammy for all movie lovers as Karthi’s Naan Mahaan Alla and Jayam Ravi’s Thillalangadi is set to hit the theatres on this day.

In Naan Mahaan Alla, Karthi is being directed by Suseendran of Vennilla Kabbadi Kuzhu fame and Kajal Agarwal joins him as the heroine. The story is set in Chennai and is expected to contain all the entertaining factors in a realistic manner. Yuvan Shankar Raja has scored the music for NMA.

On the other hand, Thillalangadi is the remake of Telugu film Kick and comes to Tamil through Jayam Raja. Jayam Ravi and Tamannah will be doing the roles which were done by Ravi Teja and Ileana in the Telugu version.

Hence it will be a clash of sorts for the young heroes Ravi and Karthi and movie buffs are certainly not complaining!

MS Dhoni Marriage

Bollywood celebrities congratulate Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Sakshi Rawat on their wedding. The 29 yr old Dhoni and 23yr old Sakshi Rawat entered wedding yesterday at a private function in Dehradun.

Bipasha Basu, Shilpa Shetty and legendary playback singer Asha Bhonsle congratulated Dhoni and Sakshi in their twitter account.

''Congratulations in order to Mahi and Sakshi, wishing them all the happiness and marital bliss forever..,'' Shilpa wrote on her twitter account.

''Wishing Mahi and Sakshi a very happy life together forever.  Sad that I can't be there,'' tweeted Bipasha.

Bollywood actor John Abraham, a close friend of Dhoni, wrote, ''In Dehradun for Dhoni's marriage. All the best to couple.'' Meanwhile, Bhonsle, wrote ''Heard news that Dhoni got engaged. Best wishes to him.''

Sakshi, a graduate from Institute of Hotel Management, Aurangabad, is currently working with Taj Bengal, Kolkata. And it was in Aurangabad that Sakshi first saw Dhoni. Sakshi was also seen with Dhoni on November 19 when they went for a rickshaw ride on her 21st birthday.

Few Indian cricketers and mates including Ashish Nehra, Harbhajan Singh, and cricket officials N Srinivasan, the BCCI secretary and the owner of Chennai Super Kings, attended Dhoni-Sakshi marriage ceremony.

Anushka for Ajith in new film

Hey folks... things are getting clearer on the next film of Ajith. There were enough truth and gossips were written on Ajith's film after the not so good ‘Aasal’. So after Gautham Menon walked out of the project we first reported that Venkat Prabhu and Ajith had a secret meeting to discuss a film together.

Now the truth is out. Ajith's next film is produced by Dhayanidhi Alagiri and directed by Venkat Prabhu. And the film is titled ‘Mangatha’.

And the other truth is Anushka will sing and dance with Ajith replacing Samantha. Samantha was considered for the heroine role when Gautham was to do the film. ‘Mangatha’ is a big leap in the graph of Anushka as she is pairing with the third top hero this year. After ‘Vettaikkaran’ with Vijay and ‘Singam’ with Suriya, ‘Mangatha’ with Ajith is a dream offer for Anushka.

But it does cross our minds here Anushka's comment while speaking at the press meet of ‘Singam’ is Telugu dubbed version 'Yamudu' only a couple of days ago. At the press meet Anushka said “Although I do films in Tamil my first preference undoubtedly is Telugu”. ‘Singam’ was her third film and first hit in Tamil after ‘Rendu’ with Madhavan and ‘Vettaikkaran’ with Vijay.
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