Da Vinci Code has to crack the Church first, says Govt

 

With barely three days left before The Da Vinci Code hits cinema halls across the globe, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry has said that clearance won't be given to the movie till it's screened before the Catholic Churches' Association of India (CCAI).

Over 200 Catholic organisations have submitted a petition against the screening of the film to Information and Broadcasting Minister Priyaranjan Dasmunsi.

An Information and Broadcasting Ministry official has said that Dasmunsi will sought the opinion of the concerned organisations before relasing the movie in India.

Dasmunshi will see the movie on Wednesday and will clear it only after consultation with the CCAI.

Speaking against the controversial film, Father Donald D’Souza of the Catholics Bishop’s Council said, “In a country where people are still learning about Christianity, such films can be quite harmful. We don’t want people to imbibe a wrong view of this religion in India.” Da Vinci Code, which is scheduled for release soon in India, has been opposed by Christian groups in other parts of the country also.

The Best Selling Book:

With The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown masterfully concocts an intelligent and lucid thriller that marries the gusto of an international murder mystery with a collection of fascinating esoteria culled from 2,000 years of Western history.

India in West Indies

Out of 78 test matches against West Indies, our Indian cricket team has managed to win just 10 of them. And would you believe, only three have been on West Indies soil. May be you will believe, as West Indies team used to be a great cricketing side and also because our Indian batsmen have always struggled against fast bowling. But… One cannot rule out the historic victory Indian team managed when they chased down the target of 403 at Queen's Park Oval in Port of Spain, Trinidad in 1976 and the record for Highest fourth Innings chase belonged to us before West Indies broke it on 13th May, 2003 when they chased down 418 against Australia.

Last Time in West Indies(2001-02)

                   India had realistic expectations that their eighth tour of the Caribbean would allow them to break their wretched overseas record. They possessed a well-balanced team: Sachin Tendulkar remained the premier batsman of the day, supported by Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman. Although they took a lead with a hard-fought victory in the second Test, they didn't take into account either their own antipathy towards the faster, bouncier pitches they would encounter in Barbados and Jamaica, or West Indies' lingering resilience at home. The home side's limited bowling attack demolished India in the third at Barbados to level the series, and after a draw in the fourth the West Indies batsmen gained a 212-run first-innings lead in the fifth Test to set-up a comprehensive 155-run win, and a 2-1 series victory. Again, though, the two star batsmen – Tendulkar and Lara – failed to shine. Tendulkar's 117 in the second Test was more grafting than domineering; his 79 in the first and 86 in the last were more authentic. In between, he had three ducks (fourth, second and first balls) and an eight. Lara, hindered by immobility in his elbow, never gave a glimpse of the breathtaking form he had displayed in Sri Lanka. Tests: West Indies 2 India 1 Drawn 2
ODIs: India 2 West Indies 1

Medicos keep anti-quota heat on

    

Medical students of Delhi once again took their anti-quota agitation to the streets on Friday demanding an assurance from the prime minister for not implementing the same and courted mass arrest in the process. Facing the wrath of Delhi Police who fired water cannon and lobbed tear gas shells, the medical students had gathered at Lady Hardinge Medical College (LHMC) in the morning and started marching towards the Prime Minister's Office. The students courted arrest when stopped by the police and were taken to Parliament Street and Tughlaq Road police stations. Before courting arrest, the students marched through the busy Connaught Place area, creating huge traffic snarls, catching the police unawares. Police made an unsuccessful bid to stop the striking medical students at India Gate circle, but the protesters managed to break the security cordon and surged towards South Block. Hundreds of Delhi Police and Rapid Action Force personnel then stopped the students near National Museum on the busy Janpath road, leading to a scuffle. Police then used water cannon and lobbed several tear gas shells to disperse the students. Some of the students, including girls, suffered mild injuries in the process. They were demanding non-implementation of any move to reserve seats for OBCs in higher educational institutions and Central universities and said they would continue their agitation.

Nandan Nilekani – on TIME 100

 
In the past 15 years, India's identity has undergone one of the biggest transformations that any country has ever experienced. It was once synonymous with poverty, snake charmers and the Taj Mahal. But stop someone on the street in the West today and say "India," and the words that come back at you are "brainy," "software engineers,'' "call centers" and "the country most likely to take my job." One of the Indian engineer-entrepreneurs most responsible for creating the new reality that has produced this new Indian image is Nandan Nilekani.

Seattle has Bill. Bangalore has Nandan. He is a founder, and currently president, of Infosys Technologies Ltd., based in Bangalore—India's Silicon Valley. Infosys, Wipro and Tata Consultancy Services are the Microsoft, IBM and Sun Microsystems of India. What makes Nilekani unique? For me it comes down to one phrase: great explainer. Yes, he and N.R. Narayana Murthy, Infosys' legendary chairman, have built a great global company from scratch. But the reason Nilekani, 50, is so sought out is that he has a unique ability not simply to program software but also to explain how that program fits into the emerging trends in computing, how those trends will transform the computing business and how that transformation will affect global politics and economics. It was his insight that the global playing field was being "leveled" by technology that inspired me to write the book The World Is Flat.

In this era of mounting complexity—with more people, systems and products entwined in a bewildering web of global networks—explaining is an enormously valuable skill. And it explains why, if you sit outside his office for a day, you notice that half the people going in are employees looking for instructions or customers looking for deals; the other half are politicians, journalists and ministers from around the world looking for an explanation of what it all means.

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