23.01.10 / News / Author: timepasss / Comments: (0)
Prosecutors in Japan have questioned one of its most powerful politicians over an alleged funding scandal.
Ichiro Ozawa is considered a kingmaker in the ruling Democratic Party and is known in Japan as the “Shadow Shogun”.
Police are investigating whether Mr Ozawa took bribes from construction firms to invest in property.
He submitted himself voluntarily to questioning and later issued a statement insisting he had not received any illegal funding.
Earlier this month three of Mr Ozawa’s current or former aides were arrested on suspicion of improperly reporting donations.
But in his statement, Mr Ozawa said: “I have never received illegal money and I am sure neither have my office staffers.”
Backroom bruiser
Mr Ozawa, 67, attend the questioning voluntarily at a Tokyo hotel.
He had not been obliged to do so but had come under mounting political pressure.
At issue is the purchase in 2004 of a plot of land in Tokyo for around $4m by Mr Ozawa’s political fundraising organisation.
Prosecutors have been investigating the source of the money.
Reports in Japan say they suspect construction firms seeking public contracts may have been involved.
Mr Hatoyama has been standing by Mr Ozawa, who has huge influence in the party.
The BBC’s Roland Buerk in Tokyo says Mr Ozawa is a backroom bruiser credited with masterminding the Democratic Party’s victory in elections to the lower house of parliament in August. The win ended half a century of conservative dominance.
But our correspondent says the whiff of scandal is undermining government support ahead of elections to the less powerful upper house in July.
The Democratic Party has been dogged by corruption allegations since coming to power.
In December Mr Hatoyama apologised after two former aides were charged with misreporting millions of dollars of donations.
23.01.10 / News / Author: timepasss / Comments: (0)
More victims of deadly religious clashes in central Nigeria have been found, with scores of bodies stuffed in wells and sewage pits.
Up to 150 bodies have been found in Kuru Karama village, 30km (18 miles) from the city of Jos, where the violence erupted last Sunday.
Correspondents say elders hid in holes for seven hours to escape the violence.
An exact death toll is not known but overall up to 300 are thought to have died in the Muslim-Christian clashes.
Several thousand people fled their homes.
‘Burned alive’
The BBC’s Caroline Duffield in Jos says many of the bodies found in Kuru Karama had massive burns, other victims were hacked to death or shot.
 |
JOS, PLATEAU STATE
Deadly riots in 2001 and 2008
City divided into Christian and Muslim areas
Divisions accentuated by system of classifying people as indigenes and settlers
Hausa-speaking Muslims living in Jos for decades are still classified as settlers
Settlers find it difficult to stand for election
Divisions also exist along party lines: Christians mostly back the ruling PDP; Muslims generally supporting the opposition ANPP
|
She says there are still more bodies scattered in the bush beyond the village but the areas are not safe for volunteer workers to enter.
Umar Baza, head of Kuru Karama village, told Agence France-Presse news agency: “So far we have picked 150 bodies from the wells. But 60 more people are still missing.”
The Human Rights Watch group said armed men had attacked the mostly Muslim Kuru Karama on 19 January.
“After surrounding the town, they hunted down and attacked Muslim residents, some of whom had sought refuge in homes and a local mosque, killing many as they tried to flee and burning many others alive,” it said in a statement.
It quoted one villager as saying: “I came back on Wednesday evening escorted by the military. I saw dead bodies everywhere. The corpses were there, but now you can just see the blood on the ground. None of the houses are standing.”
The group called on Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan to order an immediate criminal investigation into reports of the massacre.
Mr Jonathan deployed the military after four days of clashes.
He has been issuing orders while President Umaru Yar’Adua receives medical treatment in Saudi Arabia.
The security forces have now restored order and a curfew has been partially lifted.
But correspondents say the atmosphere is still tense.
Jos, the capital of Plateau state, lies at the point where Nigeria’s Muslim north and predominantly Christian south meet.
23.01.10 / Bollywood / Author: timepasss / Comments: (0)
Till yesterday, she was the queen bee of the Box-Office. A few unfortunate Fridays and she was almost out of the rat race. Not just that, she also got slotted as an ‘exclusive’ YRF heroine. No prizes for guessing that we are referring to the one and original Rani Mukherjee, who now seems all set to be back with a bang.
Even though her last few of releases didn’t quite work at the BO, Rani seems ready for a comeback and has signed up for an important role in UTV Spotboy’s No One Killed Jessica, which also stars Vidya Balan, and is directed by Rajkumar ‘Aamir’ Gupta. The film, which has its music composed by the Amit Trivedi, is expected to go on the floors in February. Talking about the film, Vikas Bahl, Chief Creative Officer, UTV Motion Pictures said, “It’s our pleasure to announce that Rani along with Vidya has also agreed to be a part of a story we really want to tell. When you have actors like Rani and Vidya by your side, the joy of creating characters that can shake the audience and leave an impact for time to come is immense. No One killed Jessica is one of our very cherished projects and it has scaled up to the level it deserved to, thanks to Rani and Vidya becoming a part of it.”
For starters, No One Killed Jessica is a fast paced thriller set in the hub of political power, New Delhi. It is the story of two women and their relentless pursuit of justice that mobilizes an entire nation to prove that in democracy there is no greater power than the power of the people. It’ll definitely be interesting to see Rani and Vidya in the same frame that too in a film dealing with such a serious subject.
23.01.10 / Bollywood / Author: timepasss / Comments: (0)
Abhishek Bachchan’s game show Bingo goes on air tonight (Saturday), but the channel Colors was in a panic till few hours back. They were running around trying to put together the proposed inaugural episode featuring the host with his ‘Pa’ – Amitabh Bachchan.
According to channel sources it was touch-and-go, what with the senior Bachchan being busy with the promotion of his new film and the junior Bachchan trying to juggle dates for his movies with his television recordings.
Abhishek admits it has been a hectic time for both his father and him.
In fact the channel had another episode ready as the inaugural episode in case the episode with the two Bachchans did not work out finally. Says Rajesh Kamat CEO Colors, “We’ve a bank of episodes ready. But we really wanted the two Bachchans to be together to kick-start Abhishek’s show. However, coordinating their dates was a big problem. Both of them are exceptionally busy. We finally got them to come together just a day before telecast.”
Rajesh admits the recording of the episode with Abhishek and his father was cutting it really close. “But we had no choice. We had even put the promotion on air without recording the episode. We had a bank of episodes ready. And we could’ve used any of them if the episode with Mr. Bachchan had not materialized.”
Luckily for the channel the senior Bachchan rushed back from Delhi just in time to record the episode with his son.
23.01.10 / Bollywood / Author: timepasss / Comments: (0)
All the girls are gossiping about her. All the women want to be like her. And all men want a piece of her. Welcome the Obsession the Year: Vidya Balan. At the moment, she’s like a meat ready to be snatched by anybody. But for the moment, it’s a fight between the mean men, Arshad Warsi and Naseeruddin Shah, as to who will take the first bite. So let’s call her ‘A beauty with a bite’. Next in line are the directors and the producers. She’s got the whole nation after her. Thanks to her successful spree with Paa and her current most talked about boldness in her upcoming release, Ishqiya, Vidya is feeling those January highs already. Me too! After sending Balan a text which read: “Let me enjoy my hot jalebi’s and think about the even hotter Vidya”. And then I question myself: “Am I a ch****m sulphate? UK’s Harrow Observer columnist and Bollywood Hungama’s London correspondent Devansh Patel falls in love with Vidya Balan….and the Ishqiya follows….
All the girls are gossiping about you. All the women want to be like you, and all men want a piece of you. Shall we call you the ‘Obsession the Year’?
(Laughs out loud) Kya baat hai! That’s very flattering. Thank you so much. I don’t know how to react to that but it does pay off to be a bad girl sometimes.
I can’t recall any one instance of my days when I used to flirt. Probably, there are too many I feel
And it pays off to be a good mother as well (in context to Paa)…
Yes, that’s true. And they are two completely different individuals. Personalities so diverse that you’ll be shocked.
Can you recall your flirty days?
Oh yes! I think flirting is a very healthy way to any relationship. I can’t recall any one instance of my days when I used to flirt. Probably, there are too many I feel (laughs).
Vishal Bhardwaj or Vidhu Vinod Chopra, both eat, drink and breathe cinema
That’s a nice getaway. Now you do this sudden disappearing act and then do two films a year and everyone goes ga-ga about you.
Firstly, we should talk every day I feel (laughs). The way you’re asking me questions, it boosts my ego levels. No, it’s not deliberate from my side to be doing less films. I choose work and do it if it excites me, which is why people think I do this disappearing act. I get mentally switched off from everything else once I’m doing a film. Maybe I’m just too bad at multi-tasking and that’s why I become too inaccessible sometimes (laughs).
But I feel you’re a director’s actor. What do you feel?
You may be right. I think I’m fortunate to work with people who are as passionate about their films as much as I’m passionate about acting. Maybe, much more. If you’re talking about Vishal Bhardwaj or Vidhu Vinod Chopra, both eat, drink and breathe cinema. I’m not saying this as a quote but everything else for them is incidental. That is the beauty of it. And thus a good film is made by them every time they are behind the camera. So yes, you are a directors actor when you work with them lot.
Have people suddenly woken up to this kind of a genre after Kaminey?
This is my take and I take responsibility, that Vishal Bhardwaj has made everything Indian very, very cool and up-class. Speaking in Hindi was considered pretty un-cool once upon a time. What Vishal has done is that he has kept his films rooted but yet they still are very classic and appeal to today’s mass. It’s not about the reality what he’s showing you but you identify with it. You understand. Vishal has made everything Indian very accessible. Indian cinema isn’t just about metro and catering the NRI’s. It’s gone beyond that. You see so many college guys and girls saying that Vishal Bhardwaj is the coolest thing in India.
You’re right. The day won’t be far when you’ll see boys applying kaajal and standing outside their college campus.
(Laughs) Yes, for all you know. The definition of ‘cool’ is changing. I’m sorry I’m going into this in detail. At one point we used to watch cinema because of its fantasy element. They transported you to a different world. Then it became too real and you didn’t want to go and watch a film like that. But there are some who could bridge both these elements beautifully – Rajkumar Hirani, Vishal Bhardwaj and Vidhu Vinod Chopra does that. There are words that are being used in the promos of Ishqiya which were beeped but people forget that that’s how the small town people speak.
So you show the real thing but still make it sound unreal
Not really. The context is different because it’s set in a small town and you feel that you can’t identify with what these people are going through but when it comes to emotions, may you be in any part of the world, it’ll connect with you. We are no longer in denial.
Now do not deny this question…but if you were to choose between Arshad and Naseer saab?
(Laughs) Oh my God! You’re going to put me in trouble.
OK, Lets make it simple for you. You like older men or younger men?
Naseer saab is way older. He is very cool and I don’t dare say anything about him. And Arshad is a dear friend (laughs). So how do you expect me to answer this one?
Well, there’s me. How about that?
(Laughs out loud) Absolutely. Your Facebook profile would make more sense now (My FB profile read – When I fell in love with Vidya Balan)
Your sarees are too mesmerising and you carry it off so beautifully, in the film, on the red carpet or at home. So has Vidya Balan re-defined the word ‘beautiful?
This is getting too flattering (laughs). Thank you so much. I don’t really know how to comment on this one. I’m overwhelmed on your comment.
You have been written off many times Vidya. But then how seriously do you take the media who again sings your praises?
To each their own. I think compliments are always welcome. Because some media might have written me off is the reason that I’m out here today. If people didn’t like me, I wouldn’t be getting work. It’s all about faith and each one has their own opinion. I am not affected by anything what the media or people say about me. I focus more on the positives, really.
Because some media might have written me off is the reason that I’m out here today
Naseer saab is like wine. He gets better with age. Is that right?
Yes. When you work with an actor like Naseer saab, you end up doing so much better. Acting is about reacting. If you have an actor like that in front of you, it just brings out the best in you.
And what about Arshad?
He is a good friend. We were giggling about something I remember. We had to do a lot of intense scenes together, excluding all the passionate ones, that sometimes we start cracking up because we know each other so well. Intensity can get funny. Arshad is one of the most under-utilised actors of our industry. He is so effortlessly supreme that even he doesn’t know what he carries with him. He is underestimating himself I feel. I’m hoping he’s going to get his due very soon.
Arshad is so effortlessly supreme that even he doesn’t know what he carries with him
How do you define your own originality?
I’m not trying to be different. I make use of the best opportunities I get. Some may work and some may not. But I’m extremely passionate about my profession and I truly live in it.
Have you exhausted all your talent in Ishqiya?
No. Not at all. I think there will be new limits every time. I’m enjoying my work so much that I’m giving it more and more and more and yet at some level, it’s not a strain anymore. My understanding of characters is getting easier I feel through every film. After all, I’m growing myself and improving myself.
What kind of a man would you prefer?
Someone who is very self assured.
What if someone made a pass on you?
If someone would have flirted with me, it would’ve been fine. I mean, I would not prefer men making a pass at me. There has to be some talking and knowing each other.
Define Ishq
Ishq is something that makes everything seem worthwhile and thoda kaccha hai jee.
Define Ishqiya
It’s edgy.
