'Guide would not have had to be shot twice, if produced now'

'Guide would not have had to be shot twice, if produced now'

Panaji, Nov 30 (PTI) Veteran actor Dev Anand has said he would not have had to shoot his film 'Guide' twice deleting certain content, if it was produced in the current days.
"Guide was made in two versions. One was American, based on the Novel by R K Narayan. Indian version was not the book one and had to change as there was little adultery content which was not considered as ethical during those times," Dev Anand told PTI.

Anand was felicitated at International Film Festival of India (IFFI) 2008 on Saturday here in presence of Goa Chief Minister Digamber Kamat, Actor Jackie Shroff and festival director S M Khan.

"Certain part of the American version dealt with adultery so we had to shoot the film once again," Anand said.

The 1965 movie starring Dev Anand and Waheeda Rehman was directed by Vijay Anand, who had also contributed in the screenplay. A 120-minute US version was made with additional direction and writings. The US version was produced by Ted Danielswki.

"Now the country is ready for such subject matter and things are already being discussed on television and films," the veteran actor said.

These changes in outlook may be because of globalisation, he said.

Talking about his forthcoming film, 'Chargesheet', Dev Anand refused to talk much as according to him he would like to keep "suspense" over the film.

"It's a suspense thriller," he said, refusing to divulge the star-cast in it. "There are some new faces and old ones too," he added. PTI

 

Ironic, we eased just before being hit by terror: Ratan Tata

Ironic, we eased just before being hit by terror: Ratan Tata

New York, Nov 30 (PTI) It is "ironic" that extra security measures, taken after being warned of a possible terror strike, were eased just before the terrorists assaulted the landmark Taj hotel, Tata group chief Ratan Tata said.
"It's ironic that we did have such a warning, and we did have some measures (for the additional security)," Tata told US news channel CNN from Mumbai.

The over 100-years-old iconic hotel stands mutilated in the financial capital of India after about 60-hour long siege by terrorists who indulged in arson and explosion before being gunned down by NSG guards yesterday morning.

Post attack, Tata rued that crisis infrastructure was "woefully poor" and the attacks revealed deficiencies in the law enforcement, especially in areas of crisis response and management.

"We are indignant but not scared," he quipped.

Although he did not elaborate on the additional security measures, Tata felt even these steps could not have prevented the terrorists from entering the hotel.

Speaking to CNN's Fareed Zakaria, he said that "people could not park their cars in the portico, where you had to go through a metal detector" due to the additional security.

".... If I look at what (measures) we had (enacted)... It could not have stopped what took place," Tata said, adding that the attackers did not come through the front door, where additional security measures had been temporarily enacted.

"They did not come through that entrance.. They came from somewhere in the back... They knew what they were doing and they did not go through the front. All of our arrangements were in the front. PTI

 

Sacked worker kills Indian-American CEO in US

An Indian-American CEO of a semiconductor company was shot dead along with two other persons by a laid-off employee of the firm in northern California, police said.

Sid Agrawal, the chief executive officer of SiPort Inc, the company's vice president of operations Brian Pugh and an unidentified woman was killed when several rounds were fired on the premises of the firm in Santa Clara on Friday.

Police said investigators are searching for Jing Hua Wu, 47, in connection with the shooting.

Jing worked as a lead product test engineer for the four-year-old firm, media reports here said. Police said he had recently been laid off from the company and investigators are exploring that as a possible motive in the shooting.

It is believed that a handgun was used in the shooting, a police official told reporters.

Police released a description of the vehicle in which Jiang is believed to have fled and launched a manhunt for him.

According to his biography in the company's website, Agrawal had more than 25 years of experience at startup and established high-technology companies, including at Adobe, Intel and Bell Labs.

He held a degree in Electrical Engineering from IIT-Kanpur, an MS degree from Southern Illinois University and an MBA from the University of Chicago.

'No thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers': Obama

'No thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers': Obama

Chicago, Nov 16 (PTI) The "greatest economic challenge of our time" has taught him that "we cannot have a thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers," US President-elect Barack Obama has said, signalling that he plans to overhaul the American financial markets.
"If this financial crisis has taught us anything, it's that we cannot have a thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers -- in this country, we rise or fall as one nation; as one people," Obama said in his second radio address after his historic election to America's top office on November 4, indicating his resolve to clean-up the current mess in the US financial sector.

In his message coinciding with G-20 summit, Obama noted the leaders of the world's largest economies were seeking solutions to the "ongoing turmoil in our financial markets." In his pre-poll speeches, Obama has said he sees an overhaul of Wall Street regulations as crucial to restoring trust in US markets.

The housing-market meltdown and credit crisis that have pushed the US economy to the brink of a recession have led to debates in Washington over how US regulations could be revamped to head off future crises.

Backing incumbent President George W Bush for initiating the meeting, the 47-year-old Democrat senator said the global economic crisis required a coordinated global response.

"Make no mistake: this is the greatest economic challenge of our time. And while the road ahead will be long, and the work will be hard, I know that we can steer ourselves out of this crisis -- because here in America we always rise to the moment, no matter how hard," he said and voiced confidence that the American economy would be revived soon.

"I am more hopeful than ever before that America will rise once again," he said, stressing the US government should act in concert with other nations. PTI

 

Chidambaram asks US, Europe to 'set their house in order'

Chidambaram asks US, Europe to 'set their house in order'

Washington, Nov 15 (PTI) Finance Minister P Chidambaram has asked the US and Europe to "set their house in order" to reverse the impact of the financial crisis on economies worldwide and help capital to flow back to developing nations.
"If they (US and Europe) set their house in order, surely capital will flow back to developing countries...Credit will flow back and things will be much better", he said in an interview to business news channel NDTV Profit ahead of the G-20 Summit here.

The Minister further said, "What India wants is that the country where this crisis originated...The US and some countries in Europe must do all that is necessary to reverse the impact of the crisis of the global economy, especially the economies of the developing countries".

Asked about the ways to encourage capital flow back to developing countries, Chidambaram said, "We do not have to do anything more. What we have had in place was enough to attract capital in the last three years. What is happening now is because of what is happening in their countries." PTI

 

PM@ G20->failure of regulatory and supervisory mechanism

 

 

Sharp focus on financial meltdown at G20 meet
PM seeks fiscal package
Washington, PTI:
Warning that the financial meltdown has exploded into a systemic crisis, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday asked the world leaders to work on a coordinated fiscal package to tackle recession that is hitting India and other developing countries.
Attributing the crisis to failure of regulatory and supervisory mechanism, Singh said “We must give the world a clear signal to take specific coordinated action to handle the crisis in a manner which restores confidence and which also responds to the needs of the developing countries.” A credible system of multilateral surveillance which can signal the emergence of imbalances, should be designed to protect the world from recurrence of such crisis, Singh said while addressing the G-20 Summit, convened by US President George W Bush.  He also suggested a multi-pronged approach to spur investment, global trade and capital flows to re-instill investors’ confidence. Advocating a coordinated fiscal stimulus to help mitigate severity and duration of the recession, Singh pressed for urgent steps to strengthen the global trading system and forestall any protectionist tendencies which surface during such crisis. Singh, an eminent economist himself, prescribed a slew of measures, including short-term swap arrangements, special incentives to counter shrinkage of capital inflows and activating a process of replenishing IMF resources. “Resorting to fiscal stimulus may be viewed as risky in some situations, but if we are indeed on the brink of the worst downturn since the Great Depression, the risk may be worth taking,” he told the Summit which has leaders from the United Kingdom, France, China, Japan Italy and other leading nations. The Summit deliberated on short-term, medium and long-term steps to overcome the financial crisis. The Prime Minister said industrialised countries could help revive trade flows in developing nations by expanding the scale of export credit finance available to them. What’s on * Leaders from major developed and emerging countries wrap up their G20 summit on Saturday (Sunday Indian time) * They are expected to unveil a plan for repairing the world financial system, ravaged by the credit crisis * On the agenda are: quick action to boost growth * A broad framework for further discussions on market reforms, financial regulation and revamp of the international financial order * The IMF’s role as policeman for financial and economic stability is under review * G20 leaders are likely to meet again in the first three months of 2009 — once Barack Obama takes over as US president * Britain, as next year's G20 chair, may be the host

 

Asian banks' employees come together to protect jobs

Asian banks' employees come together to protect jobs
New Delhi, PTI:
In the midst of the global financial crisis taking its toll on banks in the US and Europe, employees of Asian banks have joined hands to form the first transnational association of the financial sector workforce to protect their jobs.
"The association formed on Saturday will be called the Asian Regional Organisation of Banks, Insurance and Finance Unions (AROBIFU), having representation from 15 Asian countries," said All India Bank Employees Association General Secretary C H Venkatachalam, who has been elected President of AROBIFU. To begin with, the association will have representation of 20 unions from countries including India, South Korea, Pakistan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, he said. Venkatachalam said the association has twin objectives of ensuring job safety and resisting forces that may attempt to hinder the socio-economic growth of Third World countries, particularly Asian countries. It is now an established fact that the current global financial sector crisis is the result of the fallacy and failure of the policies of liberalisation, globalisation and privatisation, he said. "The myth of free market stands totally exposed all over the world," he said. Therefore, like-minded people in Asian countries have decided to form an association to safeguard the interests of employees and customers, he said. The secretariat will function from Chennai, he said, adding other office-bearers are from Sri Lanka, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Taiwan.