News East-West

TORONTO: In a rare honour, Service Alberta Minister Manmeet S. Bhullar has been inducted by FutureGov magazine into its Hall of Fame for his efforts to improve government services and access to information for the public.

Bhullar is the first Canadian to receive this honour by the British magazine. He joins the Hong Kong Police, the City of Westminster in Britain, the city of Adelaide in Australia and the Seoul Metropolitan Government in South Korea in getting the award.

Bestowing the honour on Bhullar during a conference in Edmonton on June 13, the magazine said the award acknowledges forward- looking public sector organizations around the world.

It said agencies are selected through a peer review process and represent the best of modernization initiatives focused on using information communications technology to improve efficiency, service quality and transparency.

Accepting the award, Bhullar said, “I want to empower people with information. By making data and information more accessible, we can transform the way government operates and also unleash enormous social and economic potential.”

The young minister of Indian origin highlighted the importance of transparency and sharing information to ensure citizens can participate in government in ways that fit their lifestyles.

News East-West

TORONTO: Deepak Obhrai, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, on Wednesday thanked Bob Rae for his services to Canada as the Liberal leader resigned as a Member of Parliament.

Rae, 65, who has been the MP for Toronto Centre since 2008, said, ““I will be stepping down as the member of Parliament for Toronto Centre to continue my work as a lawyer, a mediator and someone who gets involved in conflict resolution both in Canada and elsewhere.”

He said he has no plans to return to federal politics or get involved in Toronto municipal politics.

In a letter to Rae, with whom he interacted a lot on foreign affairs, Deepak Obhrai recalled his tiffs with the former Liberal Leader over the years, including the one when Rae asked him to “get on the plane’’ when he couldn’t get a reply from Obhrai.

In his letter, Rae says, “You can take pride in your contributions to Canada. You served with honour and distinction, and your contribution will be remembered.

“We disagreed most of the time, but I consider it an honour to have worked with you on the foreign affairs file. I thoroughly enjoyed our media panels together and your QP questions.

“The only time you slipped was when you told me to “get on the plane” when you didn’t get an answer from me on “Omar Khadr”. You immediately called me and explained that you were just expressing your frustration and apologized should it be taken any other way. It was a class act, the kind of actions that have earned you great respect across the country.”

News East-West

NEW YORK: Bollywood star Shahrukh Khan’s decision to have a child through surrogacy has earned him a fatwa by Bareilly’s  Markazi Darul Ifta Dargah Al Hazrat. The fatwa says that hiring a surrogate mother violates Sharia laws.

Interestingly, the mullahs may have religious reasons to oppose a surrogate child, but they have found backing by the latest research which warns parents against having a child throug hsurrogacy.

The new research by the Centre for Family Research at the University of Cambridge says that children born to a surrogate mother are more likely to have more emotional problems in later life than those born to biological mothers.

Shahrukh Khan with his family

The findings of the research say that children born through surrogacy can cope with the fact that they were conceived using a donor egg and sperm. But they have problems in coming to terms with the fact that their parents are not their biological parents. Deep down, children born through surrogacy would resent the fact that they were carried by another woman, says the research  findings published by Today.

As part of its study, the Centre for Family Research at the University of Cambridge picked up 53 families who had children born naturally, 30 families who had children born to a surrogate, 31 families who used egg donation and 35 families who used donor sperm to have babies.

The researchers then studied the relationship of these children from these families to their parents when they were three, seven and ten years of age.

They found that children conceived through donor eggs and sperm were as good in their relationship with their parents as those born naturally.

But the children born through surrogacy or children who were carried by a woman other than their mother had emotional problems in life.

Research leader Prof Susan Golombok said these children had problems such as anxiety, depression and aggressive behaviour

“Adolescence is a potentially difficult for those born through egg or sperm donation or surrogacy,’’ she was quoted as saying.

“We hope to revisit the children next year when they are 14 years-old, as issues to do with identity become important in adolescence. This is also a time when relationships with parents can become more difficult.’’

According to the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, the number of babies born through surrogacy in the US has jumped by 30 per cent from 2004.

Though precise figures are not known, it is estimated that between 30,000 and 60,000 children are born through sperm donation in the US each year.

News East-West

MUMBAI: Parineeti Chopra is the cousin of Priyanka Chopra and she impressed everyone with her bold performance in Ishaqzaade. In fact, her performance got her the National Award.

And now the bubbly cousin of Priyanka Chopra is set to turn in yet another stunning romantic performance opposite Sushant Singh Rajput in Yash Raj Films’ Shuddh Desi Romance.

Shushant has also impressed audiences with his role in Abhishek Kapoor’s Kai Po Che.

Shuddh Desi Romance is a throwback to the bygone era of Bollywood romance. Audiences can expect romantic sparks between Parineeti ans Sushant to fly in this film.

Director: Maneesh Sharma
Cast: Parineeti, Rishi Kapoor, Sushant Singh Rajput, Vaani Kapoor
Writer: Jaideep Sahni
Producer: Aditya Chopra
Banner: Yash Raj Films
Music: Sachin-Jigar
Lyrics: Jaideep Sahni
Release Date:September 13, 2013

MUMBAI: It was unarguably a decent weekend at the box office. While last Friday’s release ‘Fukrey’, ‘Ankur Arora Murder Case’ and ‘Man of Steel’ continue to draw in the crowds, the Ranbir Kapoor-Deepika Padukone starrer ‘Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani’ continued to rule the roost.

With 750 screens, The Superman film raked in Rs 17.25 crore while Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani’s production collected Rs 10 crore over the weekend. ‘YJHD’ earned Rs 13 crore, bringing its total to Rs 164 crore in just 17 days.

Distributor Sunny Khanna says, “The expectations from ‘Man Of Steel’ was great when the first promo had released. If you follow the trend, Superman has never been a great franchise in India. Fukrey is a decent film, which has grown with word of mouth, which is proved by its collections over the past few days, In fact ‘Yeh Jaawani Hai Deewani’ is still standing tall and pulling in good numbers with its 940 screens.”

According to exhibitor Girish Wankhede, despite the India-Pakistan cricket match, it has been a decent week at his theatre. He says, “’Man of Steel’ clocked in 40 per cent occupancy, whereas Fukrey stood at 50 per cent. ‘YJHD’ has a great repeat value. The film is scoring on its music. The other Hollywood release from the week before, Now You See Me has garnered good numbers with 55 per cent occupancy.”

Trade analyst Suniel Wadhwa too is upbeat about the collections from all the releases.

He states, “’Fukrey’ garnered Rs 9.50 crore on its opening weekend. However, it failed to show a jump on both Saturday and Sunday as the heavy rainfall in Mumbai affected the footfall in theatres. The film did good business in Delhi, Punjabi and UP.”

However, according to Wadhwa, the superhero film failed to take off from the impressive numbers left behind by ‘Fast and Furious 6′. “Coming from Christopher Nolan, the expectations around the film were very high. However, ‘YJHD’ has remained the film that is most preferred by the audience. It just needs a further Rs 12 crore to become the second-highest grosser after Aamir Khan’s ’3 Idiots’.”

(Courtesy Mid-Day)

By Subhash K Jha

MUMBAI: All the speculation about the release of the next Salman Khan starrer can be put to rest. Mental, Salman’s home production which is a remake of 2006 Telugu hit Stalin, would be released on January 24.

The date coming from the within the core group of the Mental unit puts an end to all the speculation about the release.

This would be Salman’s first major Republic Day weekend release. So far all of Salman’s recent films have been released during  Eid. But this year the superstar missed his Eid date because of health and legal issues.

Says a source close to the project, “After it was clear that Salman won’t be able make it on his traditional Eid Friday, he urged Sohail to try for a Republic Day completion and release. And now the Eid release for Mental is locked in.”

When contacted, Sohail confirms, “Yes,we’re shooting continuously and our tentative release date is January 24.”

By Subhash K Jha

MUMBAI: It may make juicy copy to say Abhishek Bachchan would be paired with Kareena Kapoor in Umesh Shukla’s untitled film.

But regrettably, it is not the truth.

Poohpoohing a report on Saturday in a tabloid that Kareena is “seriously considering” director Umesh Shukla’s offer to star in his next film with Abhishek, Umesh says, “I’ve never in my life met Kareena Kapoor, let alone offer her a role. The closest I’ve come to her is while sitting some rows behind her at awards function. I’ve never approached her for any role.”

Aghast and amused, Umesh says, “The tabloid’s imagination takes my breath away. According to them, I had an hour-long meeting with her and now I’m supposed to give her a full narration on Monday. All this is news to me. Obviously, the reporter who wrote this article knows more about my activities than I do. Maybe I’ve been sleepwalking through my meeting with Kareena.”

Umesh further informs there is no heroine for his film, nor a title. “I will approach a leading lady after I lock in the script this week. I’ve so far only finalized Rishi Kapoor and Abhishek for the film.”

Why not Paresh Rawal after their amazing rapport in Oh My God?

“Because the personality and spoken language required in this film suited Rishiji more. But I will miss Pareshji immensely in this film. I will work with him again in the near future. That’s  a promise I’ve made to myself.”

By Subhash K Jha

MUMBAI: Locked away with hardened criminals and chronic offenders at Arthur Road Jail, Suraj Pancholi seems to be coping well with his condition.

On Saturday, Suraj’s sister Sana visited him in prison. To the family’s relief, the boy seemed to be in a good mental and physical health.

Says a friend of the Pancholis, “Sana went with a lot of dread and despair in her heart. She came away hopeful, and confident that her brother would soon be out and free.”

Apparently, Suraj assured his sister of his condition.

“The other inmates are completely sympathetic about the young inexperienced unprepared Suraj’s sudden incarceration They have sort of adopted Suraj. They give him their share of food, look after him and protect him against any prison violence,” informs the family friend, adding, “Suraj knows his father is in a panic about the crisis. He told Sana to tell their father, ‘I’m didn’t do anything. They’re saying I confessed to beating her (Jiah) up and many awful crimes. None of this is the truth. I didn’t do anything wrong. And I didn’t confess to anything.’

Meanwhile, the view that the 6-page letter which Jiah’s mother gave out to the police as Jiah’s alleged suicide note is not authentic, is gaining credence. The alleged suicide note and some of the letters that Jiah wrote to Suraj has been given over to the government-recognized forensic company Helik Advisory for hand-writing authentication.

“The Pancholis are confident that the handwriting in the alleged suicide note would be found to be different from the handwriting in the letters that Jiah wrote to Suraj,” says the friend of the Pancholis.