What's New ??: New's

Showing posts with label New's. Show all posts

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Ten Rupee Coins...

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has issued a new coin for the denomination of Rupees ten. The new coin has been based on the theme of 'Unity in Diversity'.

It has an outer ring metal composition. It’s bi-metallic or simply put, made up two metals.

The face of the coin is divided into three portions. The central portion bears the "Lion Capitol" of Ashoka Pillar.

RBI says the new coin is a stylised representation of "Unity in Diversity", a defining characteristic of India.

Friday, March 6, 2009

India buys Gandhi items

Vijay Mallya buys Gandhi items for $1.8 million

Mahatma Gandhi’s memorabilia went under the hammer in New York early on Friday morning (India time) after hours of high drama.

Liquor baron Vijay Mallya bought Gandhi’s items for $1.8 million. The collection had a reserve price of between $20,000 and $30,000. Bidding began at $20,000 and rose to the final price within seven minutes.

However, the US justice department has asked the Antiquorum Auctioneers to hold the lot for two weeks pending a resolution between the new owner, the US and Indian Government.

Mallya is then expected to return the items to the Government of India.

Bapu's round wire-rim eyeglasses, a 1910 Zenith sterling silver pocket watch, a bowl and plate and a pair of leather sandals were auctioned.

The last time a piece of Indian heritage went under the hammer, Mallya coughed up Rs 4 crore for the Sword of Tipu Sultan and got it back to India.

The auction went off despite the owner of Gandhi's prized memorabilia, James Otis, saying he had decided not to sell the items in the light of the controversy.

Speaking to reporters, Otis had said, "In the last few hours, I have decided, in the light of the controversy, not to sell Gandhi's personal items."

Otis' move came after intense negotiations between him and Indian diplomats at the Indian Consulate in New York.

Otis earlier in the day set new conditions including that India shift priorities from military spending to health care especially for the poor if he has to call off the auction.

A spokesperson of the Indian consulate in New York said the Indian Government itself did not participate in the auction as that would have been a violation of the Delhi High Court order.

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

AR RAHMAN Wins Oscar 2009

Oscar Winners of 81st Annual Academy Awards 2009

The winners for the Oscar 2009 have been announced, and, not too much to my surprise, I have seen hardly any of these films so far. I have been dying to see Slumdog Millionaire, and surprisingly, it is actually in my town now! I’m going to try to sneak out of work and see it as soon as possible.

That being said, there weren’t too many surprises with this year’sawards. Slumdog Millionaire winning just about everything was expected, but I find it fascinating for all of the awards it won, it received no acting nominations. Did the script just magically appear on screen without anyone acting it?

- Congratulation to Kate Winslet for finally winning on her sixth outing. She is a great actress and has been deserving for some time of winning.

- Heath Ledger put in an amazing performance in The Dark Knight, but I wonder how much of his win was his passing away and how much was truly the role. I felt he was deserving, but you will alway shave to wonder.

- Hugh Jackman did a good job hosting, although the format was way different than it has been in the past. And yay for him getting to sing.