A wedding in God's own country - Kerala Vs.Turkmenistan

Thrissur: Fighting all challenges posed by her country and all hurdles by her religion, Jemalu, a Muslim girl from Turkmenistan, tied the knot finally with Ajithkumar from Koorkancherry on Thursday. When she bowed her head to tie the knot, they fulfilled their romance which had flourished for seven years. Jemalu's national act posed an obstacle for her and the only option was to leave her country. Turkmenistan in middle Asia is known as the country which created romance. But their law prevents marriage from outside nation. Ajith tied the knot in typical Kerala style.

Jemalu, who was dressed as a Kerala bride with jasmine flowers on her head, jewellries and a sari, was received by the groom's party with Nadaswaram and Pakkamelam. When the relatives of the groom stood beside her with milk and plantain in spoons, she was amazed . She tired expressing her gratitude to all who had offered the same. From her side, her sister was present for the function. After marriage she is prohibited for entering her country.Ajith is working as an engineer in Germany and the couple work together. Earlier they had decided to conduct the marriage as per the ritual of one country. As there was a ban for Jemalu in her country, the marriage was conducted in Kerala. In the function held at Lulu Hotel, as many as 13 persons from Germany and Russia participated. Ajithkumar is the son of Kanakkaparampil retd post master Padmanabhan and Thankamani.

Read More

Muthoot's family alleges conspiracy behind murder

Thiruvananthapuram, Aug 29 (ANI): A week after Kerala business tycoon Paul Muthoot was found murdered, his family has refuted Kerala Police's road rage claim saying that there's something more creepy behind his death.
Jnanamma Thomas, Muthoot's grandmother refuted Kerala police's road rage angle, alleging a cover-up of a brutal murder of her grandson .
"They did not tell us there was an accident angle to it in the beginning. But only they told there was an accident," she said.
George P Easo, a family member said, "Politicians are changing their statements every other day. We don't know whom to believe."
Earlier, Kerala Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan has dismissed opposition Congress charge that his son had links in connection with the recent murder of Muthoot group scion Paul M George.
Addressing a press conference here on Friday, Balakrishnan said, "My son (Beenish Kodiyeri) has no relation with the case whatsoever. The allegation that Beenish had connections with wanted gangsters was to create a 'mystery' over the case."
Rejecting the charge that the Home Department was trying to interfere in the investigation process, he said a deliberate attempt was being made by vested interests to hamper the probe.
The government had nothing to hide in the case and was open to "any sort of investigation", he added.
Balakrishnan also announced that a special investigation team had been constituted under the leadership of Inspector General of Police Vinson M. Paul to probe the murder of the Paul Muthoot George.
He said that the team was constituted as the inter-district ramifications of the case and deeper links would have to be probed in detail. The investigation would cover links of Muthoot George with goonda elements.
According to the police theory, a gang of nearly 22 men was behind the murder of Paul.
Paul was killed last Friday night on the Alappuzha-Changanassery road. A friend who was with him was injured and is in hospital; both were stabbed.
Paul, who was based in Delhi, had recently returned to Kerala to take charge of the leisure and hospitality arm. He was returning from an under-construction resort at Mararikulam when he was stabbed to death.
On Sunday, police arrested 12 persons, including notorious criminals, identified as Om Prakash and Rajesh. (ANI)

Read More

Fees unpaid, girl stripped in class

New Delhi - A nine-year-old girl was stripped in front of her classmates by her teacher in a Faridabad school on Friday afternoon over alleged non-payment of fees. The girl (name withheld) is a Class III student of Faridabad Model School, Sector-31.
The girl's father, Mukesh Pawar, said the family has been exempted by district administration from paying fees based on the quota for the economically deprived — Pawar is an autorickshaw driver.
Mother Sarita Pawar said the child returned home on Friday afternoon and said her teacher, one Nitu, told her in class that she had not paid the fees. When the girl said she would ask her parents about it, the teacher allegedly stripped her in front of the class, according to Sarita Pawar.
Pawar, a cashier with the school parents' association, said the teacher then asked her classmates to humiliate the girl, and stopped only after she started crying.
School chairman H S Malik said he had no information about the incident. "We will look into the matter," he said, "and anyone found guilty will be punished."
Pawar said the school has been "harassing" the family over payment of fees for long. "We brought up this issue in a letter to Faridabad Additional Deputy Commissioner V S Hooda and sought a fee exemption," Pawar said. Hooda, she said, wrote to the school and directed it to exempt the family from paying fees. "Since I am an active member with the parents association, school authorities have been threatening me for a long time," Pawar said.
As the news spread, several parents gathered in front of the school and shouted slogans — with no school official present to take note of their case, they moved to Sector-31 police station. "We have filed a written complaint," Mukesh Pawar said, "and police officials said they will investigate the matter on Saturday."
Faridabad Police Commissioner P K Aggarwal said, "I have asked DCP (Central) look into it. We will register a case under the relevant section of IPC and ensure action if anyone is found guilty."

Read More

Daddy Cool - Movie Review

Debutant director Ashique Abu's Daddy Cool is yet another average flick of super star Mammootty to hit theatres in recent times after his Ee Pattanathil Bhootham. Most of the Malayalam films today ride piggyback on the star's image, trying to score at the box office by showcasing the stars in the way they are loved by their fans. But is that all that we expect from a film? This is where Daddy Cool fails miserably.
Daddy Cool begins with Antony Simon (Mammootty), a circle inspector in Crime Branch, who has just two passions in his life: his son Aadi (Master Dhananjay) and cricket. His easygoing attitude makes him an object of ridicule among his co-workers and drives his wife Annie (Richa Pallod) crazy. Once Simon goes to catch a mafia leader Babu Bhai (Asish Vidyarthi) and fails in his attempt due to tricks played by his colleagues, who ditch Simon and help Babu Bhai. As a result, Simon is suspended. However, Simon takes the suspension as a blessing as he can spend more time with his family. Simon is later reinstated, after he rescues cricketer Srikanth from some goons. The film thus ends on a happy note.
Mammootty is good as a police officer in stylish action scenes and looks cool in well-cut designer suits, trendy jackets and nice shirts, but other than that, he looks disinterested and lacks his usual energy. It is unfortunate that the director could not use Mammootty's calibre in a more challenging role. Model-turned-actress Richa Pallod is average as Mammootty's wife and has nothing substantial to do. Her dubbing is poor.
Master Dhananjay's performance as Mammootty's son is the major plus point of the film. His smiling face and cute looks mesmerize audiences all through. Ashish Vidyarthi begins the show as a deadly don, but turns out to be a silly one. The rest of the cast, including Biju Menon, Radhika, Vijayaraghavan, Saikumar and Baburaj, have nothing much to do other than dressing up in some trendy costumes. Biji Bal's songs 'My daddy' and 'Kadhayoru' are peppy, though the lyrics do not make any sense. Samir Thahir's camerawork is another highlight. All in all, Daddy Cool might be a treat for kids!

Read More

Puthiya Mugham - Movie Review

Debutant director Deepan's Puthiya Mugham(also spelt Puthiya Mukham), starring Prithviraj, Priyamani, Bala and Meera Nandan in the lead roles, is a high voltage campus flick, which has lots of similarities with the plot of Vikram's super hit action flick Anniyan. With a definite influence from Anniyan, the film revolves around Krishnakumar (Prithviraj), who changes in nature from a soft spoken Brahmin boy to a daredevil hero!
Krishnakumar alias Kichan (Prithviraj), the son of pious Brahmin parents (Nedumudi Venu and Shobha Mohan), lives in a modest agraharam in Kalpathi, where he teaches mridungam to kids and romances Sreedevi (Meera Nandan), daughter of his father's close friend (played by Kalasala Babu). Their relationship has the blessings and approval of their elders and friends.
He soon joins an engineering college in Kochi. On the first day itself, he wins over the hearts of his classmates with his talk and his playing percussion with the desk. And then, on Freshers' Talent Search Day, he dazzles everyone with an extraordinary performance using all kinds of percussion instruments. The one who is most impressed with him and his performance is Anjana (Priyamani), his classmate, and they become very good friends.
Sudhi (Bala), who is very close to Anjana's family and a senior student in the college, wishes to marry her. Sudhi and his brothers Mahi (Saikumar) and Giri (Shammi Thilakan) are goons who have been unleashing a reign of terror in the city. Sudhi misunderstands Anjana's admiration for Kichu as love and thrashes poor Kichan severely and heartlessly, leaving him a wreck. After some time, we come across an all new Kichan, who fears none and geared up to thrash any number of thugs at one go.
The film is completely focused on Prithviraj and in all fairness; he is just rocking in the two avatars, the first one with a clean-shaven look and the other, where he is a toughie. Bala renders full support as Sudhi, while Priyamani is good as Anjana. Meera Nandan looks convincing as Sreedevi. The others in the cast also suit their respective roles and act well.
The other highlights of the film are visuals by Bharani K. Dharan and music by Deepak Dev. The action sequences are much better than what is usually seen in Malayalam films and the songs, especially the title song (sung by Prithviraj himself) are impressive. Puthiya Mugham is all about action and style. No doubt, Puthiya Mugham is just for youth and presents the changing face of Malayalam Cinema.

Read More

Nigerian held in Kerala for online fraud

Kerala: A Nigerian national was arrested here for cheating people of millions of rupees in an Internet scam, Kerala police said Friday. State police's cyber wing chief Tomin J. Thachenkery said 34-year-old Emmanuel was part of a gang that would send e-mails to people promising them huge amounts of money. Then they would ask the victims to deposit an amount as the transaction fee.

"He arrived from Mumbai today (Friday) morning and was arrested. After questioning him we have found out that he is a bigger catch than the first arrest we made," Thachenkery said.

On Aug 8, police had arrested another Nigerian national Shaba Abdul Rasheed, believed to be the kingpin of the gang.

Thachenkery said that Emmanuel was trapped by policemen posing as clients.

"Our investigations have revealed that many have fallen into this gang's trap and they operate from Laos (in Southeast Asia). We found out that they have Indian partners who help them by opening bank accounts for the victims to transfer the processing fees. Such people will also be arrested," said Thachenkeri.

Read More

Imran, Benazir were romantically involved: Book

Author of a new biography of Imran Khan claims that the cricketer-turned-politician was romantically involved with late former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto when both of them studied together at Oxford University.

In his book, Christopher Sandford writes that Bhutto became infatuated with Khan, and the pair enjoyed a 'close' and possibly 'sexual' relationship.

The author has also alleged that Khan's mother even tried to organise an arranged marriage between the pair, but to no avail.
It was believed that Khan and Bhutto had always been at loggerheads, both politically and personally.
In fact, Khan openly criticised the former Prime Minister just days before her death.

But Sandford, who interviewed both Khan and his ex-wife Jemima for the book, claimed that a source told him that Bhutto was 21, and in her second year of reading politics at Lady Margaret Hall, when she became close to Khan in 1975.

The source also revealed that she had been 'visibly impressed' by Khan, and might even have been the first to call him the 'Lion of Lahore'.

'In any event, it seems fairly clear that, for at least a month or two, the couple were close. There was a lot of giggling and blushing whenever they appeared together in public,' the Telegraoh quoted Sandford as having told the Daily Mail.

He added: 'It also seems fair to say that the relationship was 'sexual', in the sense that it could only have existed between a man and a woman. The reason some supposed it went further was because, to quote one Oxford friend: ''Imran slept with everyone.''

However, the former Pakistan cricket captain has rebuffed these claims, saying that he never had a sexual relationship with Bhutto.

Although he agreed to having been interviewed for the book, but claimed to have not read it as yet.

'Yes, I was interviewed, but I know nothing about the rest of what has been written. So it is not official,' he told the Daily Mail.
'It is absolute nonsense about any sexual relationship or my mother and an arranged marriage. We were friends - that's all,' he added.

source- ANI

Read More

Paul Muthoot murder - Main Accused arrested !!!

Speculation is that the main accused in the Paul Muthoot murder case has been booked by the police on Tuesday noon. It is learnt that he was held from Payippad near Alappuzha. But the police had not confirmed the news. Police are of the view that Kari Satheesh stabbed Paul. He is a goon working for a gang in Alappuzha. Police intensified their search on the basis of statements from other goons who were arrested earlier. Some unconfirmed reports also say that Satheesh surrendered before the police.

Yesterday at a press meet, IG Vinson M Paul stated that the person who stabbed Paul had been identified but denied to disclose his identity. Police got information on Satheesh after interrogating goons from Changanassery. It is reported that the leader of the gang himself gave a statement that Satheesh had committed the crime. After the press meet yesterday, IG called a meeting of higher police officials and discussed ways to nab him. Police are of the assumption that after questioning Satheesh more information on the murder will come out.

Read More

Bineesh Kodiyeri Married Rineeta

Bineesh Kodiyeri, son of Home Minister and CPM member Kodiyeri Balakrishnan today tied the knot with Rineeta, daughter of Pradeep and Mini at a function held at the Mascot Hotel this morning.

The function earlier decided to be a ring exchange one turned into a marriage. Only when Minister Kodiyeri announced that the function will turn into a marriage, everybody knew about it. Both the families had decided to conduct the marriage today itself. Bineesh tied the ‘thali’ and after that both exchanged rings.

Senior leader K Karunakaran, CPM state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan and many other top politicians were present for the function. Only close relatives of both the families were invited.

Soon after the marriage, a sadya was served. The bride, a student of Mar Ivanious College is a close relative of Padmaja Venugopal, daughter of Karunakaran. Bineesh Kodiyeri is the vice president of Ravi Pillai Group of Companies in Dubai.

Read More

Muthoot Group chairman’s son stabbed to death

Paul Muthoot George, son of Muthoot M. George, was hacked to death by unidentified assailants on Friday night at Ponga near Allappuzha.

Paul George, 32, was the Executive Director of Muthoot M. George group. The body is presently kept at Medical college mortuary.

Paul, a bachelor and the younger son of M.G. George, chairman of the group, was on his way to a newly bought resort of the group at Champakulam, when a group of persons in a Tempo Traveller intercepted his vehicle at around 12 pm. Professional killers attacked Paul and his friend Manu at Nedumudi Jyothi junction on the AC road. He succumbed to his injures at Alappuzha medical college. The driver of Paul’s vehicle, who was following him in another car reported the incident to the police.

According to police his murder could have been motivated by some business rivalry and the case is under investigation.

source-manoramanews

Read More

Scientists devise 'electronic tongue' to identify sweetness

Scientists have devised a small, cheap, lab-on-a-chip sensor that quickly and accurately identifies sweetness.
It can accurately identify the full sweep of natural and artificial sweet substances, including 14 common sweeteners, using easy-to-read colour markers.

'We take things that smell or taste and convert their chemical properties into a visual image,' said study leader Kenneth Suslick, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UI-UC).

This sensory 'sweet-tooth' shows special promise as a simple quality control test that food processors can use to ensure that soda pop, beer, and other beverages taste great with a consistent, predictable flavour.

The new sensor, about the size of a business card, can also identify sweeteners used in solid foods such as cakes, cookies and chewing gum.

Suslick's team has spent a decade developing 'colorimetric sensor arrays' that may fit the bill. The 'lab-on-a-chip' consists of a tough, glass-like container with 16 to 36 tiny printed dye spots, each the diametre of a pencil lead.

To the scientists' delight, the sensor identified 14 different natural and artificial sweeteners, including sucrose (table sugar), xylitol (used in sugarless chewing gum), sorbitol, aspartame, and saccharin with 100 percent accuracy in 80 different trials, said an UI-UC release.

Researchers have tried for years to develop 'electronic tongues' or 'electronic noses' that rival or even surpass the sensitivity of the human tongue and nose.

But these devices can generally have difficulty distinguishing one chemical flavour from another, particularly in a complex mixture. Those drawbacks limited their practical applications.

Their study was presented at the American Chemical Society's 238th National Meeting in Washington D.C.

Read More

Tooth enamel can inspire lighter, stronger aircraft

A study has revealed that the structure of tooth enamel holds promising clues for aerospace engineers as they build planes and space vehicles of the future.

Herzl Chai of Tel Aviv University (TAU) School of Mechanical Engineering, who led the study with George Washington University, said: 'Teeth are made from an extremely sophisticated composite material which reacts in an extraordinary way under pressure.'

The researchers applied varying degrees of mechanical pressure to hundreds of extracted teeth, and studied what occurred on the surface and deep inside them.

'Teeth exhibit graded mechanical properties and a cathedral-like geometry, and over time they develop a network of micro-cracks which help diffuse stress. This, and the tooth's built-in ability to heal the micro-cracks over time, prevents it from fracturing into large pieces when we eat hard food, like nuts.'

The automotive and aviation industries already use sophisticated materials to prevent break-up on impact. For example, airplane bodies are made from composite materials -- layers of glass or carbon fibres -- held together by a brittle matrix.

In teeth, though, fibres aren't arranged in a grid, but are 'wavy' in structure. There are hierarchies of fibres and matrices arranged in several layers, unlike the single-thickness layers used in aircrafts.

Chai, himself an aerospace engineer, suggests that if engineers can incorporate tooth enamel's wavy hierarchy, micro-cracking mechanism, and capacity to heal, lighter and stronger aircraft and space vehicles can be developed.

And while creating a self-healing airplane is far in the future, this significant research on the composite structure of teeth can already begin to inspire aerospace engineers -- and, of course, dentists.

Dental specialists looking for new ways to engineer that picture-perfect Hollywood smile can use Chai's basic research to help invent stronger crowns, better able to withstand oral wear-and-tear. 'They can create smart materials that mimic the properties found in real teeth,' he said.

These findings were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science

Read More

Hit 96.7-Dubai FM 

Read More