Nazmul Hussain

Parnell announces conversion to Islam

2011-07-30T02:54:00.000-07:00

JAL Band

2010-04-02T23:49:00.000-07:00

Jal Band:

Jal (Sanskrit:literal English translation: "Water") is a Pakistani pop/rock band formed in Lahore in 2002. The group was formed by Goher Mumtaz (vocals and guitar) and Atif Aslam (vocals).

They achieved fame with the release of the single "Aadat", after which lead vocalist, Atif Aslam, left the band and was replaced by new vocalist Farhan Saeed and bassist Aamir Sheraz. Their new lineup followed by their debut album, Aadat (2004), which was declared the best selling album of 2004 on Geo TV by the owner of Sadaf Stereo. The band's second album, Boondh (2007), won multiple awards, including the Best Album of the Year Award at the Lux Style Awards in 2008.

The band is among the first of contemporary Pakistani bands that fuse Urdu vocals with modern Pop.

Video: Jal - Aadat- Bikhra Hoon Mein at JDM College

Video: Jal band at Hindu College, Delhi, 2009

Background information
Origin	Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan
Genres	Pop/Rock, Alternative rock
Years active	2002–present
Labels	Sadaf Stereo, Fire Records
Associated acts	Atif Aslam
Website	www.jaltheband.com
Current Members
Goher Mumtaz Farhan Saeed Shazi
Former members
Atif Aslam Omer Nadeem

Save Tigers for the sake of our World

2010-03-23T00:12:00.000-07:00

Over the past century the number of tigers in India has fallen from about 40,000 to less than 4,000 (and possibly as few as 1,500). Relentless poaching and clearing of habitat for agriculture have been the primary drivers of this decline, though demand for tiger skins and parts for "medicinal" purposes has become an increasingly important threat in recent years.

However the news is not all bad. Research published last year showed that if protected and given sufficient access to abundant prey, tiger populations can quickly stabilize. With India's large network of protected areas and continued funding from conservation groups like the Wildlife Conservation Society, the findings provide hope that tigers can avoid extinction in the wild.

Camera trap shot of a tiger in India's Nagarahole National Park. Photo by U. Karanth/Wildlife Conservation Society.

Now a new study offers further evidence the tigers can be saved. Writing in the journal Biological Conservation, a team of scientists showed that parks in India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Nepal can sustain nearly twice the number of tigers they currently support if small conservation measures are adopted.

Dr. K. Ullas Karanth, a leading tiger expert and one of the authors of the study, answered some questions about the recent findings as well as the overall state of tigers in India.

Hong Kong wheezes to record air pollution levels

2010-03-22T13:46:00.000-07:00

Hong Kong's environmental protection department said local air pollution indices soared to levels of around 500, smashing the previous record of 202 recorded in July 2008. A reading above 51 is considered high.

Sandstorms from northern China were mostly blamed. People with heart and lung diseases were urged to avoid outdoor activities amid what were described as "severe" readings.

Experts are studying the contents of the latest smog but a public health academic warned it came after a week of serious air pollution.

"We don't know what this air is made of . . . but it is possible that it is not as toxic as the air that is coming out of the tailpipes of old trucks in Hong Kong or old power station chimneys, or ship funnels going into the harbour and the port," said Anthony Hedley, chair professor of the School of Public Health at the University of Hong Kong.

"The interesting thing may be that it is coming on top of several days of fairly intense exposure to mostly Hong Kong-made pollutants and some other of parts of the Pearl River Delta," Hedley told Reuters.

Pollutants included particulates, nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide and ozone.

"Most of us will have some chronic inflammatory response to that exposure and without question it will make us (more susceptible) to the present episode," Hedley said.

Hong Kong's patchy air quality has been a controversial social issue in recent years, tarnishing the city's reputation as a financial hub versus greener rival cities like Singapore. It has also affected the health of many of its citizens.

According to the Hedley Environmental Index, which monitors and publishes in real-time the economic costs of Hong Kong's air pollution, the bad air would have resulted in 175 premature deaths and 1.29 million visits to the doctor so far this year.

It would also have resulted in an estimated loss of HK$394 million in health care costs and lost productivity.

While officials have strived to clean up vehicles and power stations locally, pollutants blown in from tens of thousands of factories in southern China's manufacturing and export hub of the Pearl River Delta have also had a serious impact on air quality.

The haze may clear up in coming days, however, according to the city's weather observatory, with the Hong Kong Sevens rugby tournament due to kick off on Friday.

Some 120,000 visitors are expected to attend the event, a major tourism draw for the former British colony that returned to Chinese rule in 1997.

Officials in Hong Kong and neighbouring Guangdong province have set aggressive air pollution reduction targets, although green groups say much more needs to be done.

Hong Kong aims to reduce its energy intensity by at least 25 per cent by 2030, and has promoted the use of clean fuels and improved energy efficiency to reduce carbon emissions.

Katrina Kaif's some CooL news

2009-05-26T10:01:00.000-07:00

Katrina Kaif, one of the most sought after actresses in Bollywood, debuted with a bang through "Boom", a movie about models getting caught up with the underworld. Though the movie bombed, people couldn't easily forget her angelic face and voluptuous figure. Not many have gained the fans and popularity as a new entrant as Katrina has done.

Katrina is half Indian and half British. Her father is an NRI and her mother is English, which makes her poor at Hindi. Initially critics were very harsh on her for her poor Hindi. But she has worked hard on it and started taking dancing lessons - both very essential to survive in the industry. Now she has started dubbing on her own. She has done few movies down south and is a popular face there already.

She has done two Telugu movies - Malliswari(2004) and Allari Pidugu(2005) and a Malayalam film (Balram vs. Taradas). In 2005 she starred in "Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya" opposite Salman Khan and Ram Gopal Varma's "Sarkar". "Hum Ko Deewana Kar Gaye" with Akshay Kumar followed.

Katrina was born on July 16, 1984, in Hong Kong, grew up in Hawaii and then moved to London. Even at the young age of 14, she got modeling offers and started out by modeling for a jewelry campaign. She was attracted to her father's native land and the moment she landed in India she was flooded with modeling assignments.

She started off with photographer Atul Kasbekar. Later she got offers from Lakme, LG, Cola, Fevicol, Pantene, Veet, Kodak, and L'Oreal. She was chosen as the face of the year for the Lakme India Fashion Week (2005). The Lakme commercial made her very popular. Soon Kaizad Gustad, the director of "Boom" noticed her and offered her a role in the film. Since it was the role of a model, she promptly agreed.

Although she wears bold outfits on films and ads, she is very particular about her clothes and she feels more comfortable in not-so-revealing clothes in personal life. And unlike others in her field she absolutely hates wearing make up.

Although she has been seeing Salman Khan for some time now, she still refuses to talk about him in the media. She has made it clear that her personal life is not meant to be known to all and that no one has a right to pass any kind of judgement on it.

She has lots of exciting projects lined up. One of them is "Partner" with boyfriend Salman Khan and Govinda. She is also doing "Apne" in which real life father and sons Dharmendra, Sunny Deol and Bobby Deol all star together, for the first time. Then there is Anees Bazmee's "Welcome" with Akshay Kumar. Another film with Akshay Kumar "Namaste, London" is all set to release on March.

Neha Dhupia as Miss India

2009-03-11T14:34:00.000-07:00

New Delhi, March 11 (IANS) Former Miss India Neha Dhupia, who has as many as five films lined up this year, says winning a beauty pageant is no guarantee of striking gold in Bollywood and that it's only hard work that finally counts.

'It's not easy to create a place for yourself in Bollywood even if you have a pageant behind you. No one in the industry was holding special carpets for me because I had won the Miss India contest. You have to work hard if you want to prove something. It's taken me a long time to carve a niche for myself, but I'm glad that finally I have done it,' Neha told IANS on phone from Goa.

The actress is set to appear in five movies this year - 'Paying Guest' with Mukta Arts, 'Pappu Can't Dance Saala' and 'Raat Gayi Baat Gayi' by actor-director Saurabh Shukla, 'Raftaar' co-starring Emraan Hashmi and Priyadarshan's 'De Dhana Dan'.

In 'Pappu Can't Dance Saala', her first release this year, Neha is acting along with funny man Vinay Pathak.

'In this comedy film I'm doing with Vinay Pathak, I play the role of a Maharashtrian back-up dancer. It was something very different for me because I'm not a Maharashtrian. I had to learn the mannerisms of the character, who is a complete brat and a bully, but Saurabh (Shukla) helped me a lot,' she explained.

Neha maintains that she has become more careful while choosing projects as she doesn't want to get typecast in a certain role.

'I'm holding myself back now and doing only interesting projects.'

After winning the Miss India crown in 2002, Neha stepped into Bollywood with 2003 'Qayamat: City Under Threat', which starred Ajay Devgan. She got noticed when she did the bold 'Julie' in 2004, but got typecast in a glamorous image.

She went on to do films like 'Kyaa Kool Hai Hum' and 'Shootout At Lokhandwala', but she tried to break her glam image with 'Chup Chup Ke', 'Mithya', 'Maharathi' and 'Dasvidaniya'.

'I feel in our industry you get typecast instantly. When I started off I was offered other roles as well, but I chose the ones I did and got stuck with one image, which was hard to break. That was a mistake and I've learnt from that. There was no guiding force for me when I entered Bollywood,' Neha said.

Like many others in Bollywood, Neha too admits she would love to work with Shah Rukh Khan and Mani Ratnam, but adds that she doesn't consider anyone her competition in the industry.

'I don't consider anyone my competition. Everyone is great and so talented. Why compete? I would rather be a collective part of the industry,' the actress said.