After THE TRAIN, Mithoon sings again for AGGAR

Trend of composers turning into singers continues to be on an overdrive.

Himesh Reshammiya started it all and Vishal Dadlani showed his inclination for singing too as he crooned a few songs for DHOOM:2, TA RA RUM PUM and more. Mithoon has only followed suit as after THE TRAIN (where he sung 'Woh Ajnabee' and 'Mausam'), he has sung for his just released soundtrack of AGGAR as well.
For this Ananth Mahadevan directed film, he has sung two tracks, namely 'Ke Bin Tere Jeena Nahin' (which is currently on air) and 'Paas Aaya Kyon', which is a duet with new find Sharmishtha.
Others who have sung for AGGAR are primarily newcomers too like Rup, Qurram (Q), Hamza and Kshitij. Tulsi Kumar and Shilpa Rao have sung a song apiece while Roop Kumar Rathod, the senior most of all, has one song to his credit. Sayeed Quadri has given the lyrics.

Adlabs Films to release CASH with a BIG bang

Following its successful entry into the domestic distribution business with films like Guru, Black Friday, Bheja Fry, Spider-Man 3 and more recently, Aap Ka Surroor, Adlabs is releasing Anubhav Sinha's CASH on August 3 worldwide.
CASH is a high octane heist thriller set in Cape Town, South Africa and features top stars like Ajay Devgan, Suneil Shetty, Esha Deol, Dia Mirza, Zayed Khan, Shamita Shetty and Riteish Deshmukh in pivotal roles.
CASH is one of the first films to be shot exclusively in the breathtaking locales of Cape Town in South Africa. The film has been supported whole heartedly by the South African Government and the local office of South African Tourism has been actively involved in promotion of the film. Looking at the trendy and stylish promos which are already making waves in Cinema Halls, audiences can expect never seen before action packed sequences like sky diving, kite surfing, skate boarding and fight scenes in the film.
CASH is the first film where Adlabs has ventured into centralized distribution and marketing of the film. The film is being distributed in territory of Mumbai, Delhi UP, Punjab and Overseas through distribution offices of Adlabs. Adlabs is targeting release of CASH on more than 800 screens making it one of the widest releases ever for Hindi films especially at a time when several big films from Hollywood and Bollywood are vying for screen space.
BIG Music & Home Entertainment has bought distribution rights of music and India Video while Reliance Entertainment has acquired worldwide satellite rights.
Director Anubhav Sinha's last film DUS generated rave reviews for its action sequences, cinematography and fabulous music. CASH is expected to further Anubhav's brand of sophisticated film making. Says the Director, 'We are extremely happy with tremendous efforts put in by the Adlabs distribution and marketing team for giving CASH an amazing pedestal from the perspective of distribution and marketing. CASH is a perfect example of how content, packaging, effective marketing and proactive teamwork across stakeholders can raise the awareness level and visibility of a film amongst the consumers.'
Says Sunir Kheterpal, COO ? Adlabs Films Distribution, 'We are extremely happy with the way CASH has turned up and are fully geared to give a wide release to one of this year's most anticipated films. Apart from extensively leveraging Reliance ADA Group's presence across diverse distribution platforms, the marketing team at Adlabs has roped in multiple brands and media partners to build highly effective marketing campaign for CASH.'
Adlabs is gradually building a strong pipeline of releases in the current year. CASH will be followed by Willard Carol's Marigold, Priyadarshan's Dhol, Indra Kumar's Dhamaal, Sudhir Mishra's Khoya Khoya Chand, Manish Tiwary's Dil Dosti Etc, Manmohan Singh's Mitti Waajan Mardi and Mudassar Aziz's Dulha Mil Gaya.

Esha Deol?s trusted companion!

During a Photoshoot of Esha's forthcoming movie DARLING, produced by T-series, at a suburban hotel, Esha had brought along her favorite and most trusted companion - her dog!!! But rules being rules, she was politely informed that no pets were allowed inside the premises. But this quick-witted lady immediately claimed that the dog was a part of the shoot!!!! Trust Esha to do anything to have her dog next to her! But unfortunately the management put their foot down and Esha had to contend with playing with dog in between the breaks?
Word has it that Esha is so fond of her dog that she carries it with her everywhere, even while traveling abroad! Now that's what you would call a trusting companion!

Green Experts Plan ‘Jai Satyagraha’ to Save Yamuna

It is the lifeline of Delhi that is getting choked due to over extraction of water and disposal of wastes. Now experts say the proposed Commonwealth Games Village on the Yamuna's floodplains might be the last nail in its coffin. A mass movement - Jai Satyagraha - might be the only way to save the river.

'The problem of the Yamuna dying and the various construction activities on the river bed are further adding to the river's woes. It is an issue everyone should take up,' said Manoj Misra of the Yamuna Jiye Abhiyan (Save the Yamuna), a campaign to save the river.

'Till now our voices have not been heard enough but now we plan to get the masses involved so that the issue gets highlighted,' he said.

A group of environmentalists, civil society workers and concerned citizens are getting together to launch the Jal Satyagraha in August - the month when the country celebrates its 60th independence.

Campaigns, distribution of pamphlets and using different media to get the issue to the common man are part of the satyagraha's agenda.

In a meeting organised by the group and spearheaded by Misra at the Gandhi Peace Foundation here Monday, one of the main issues the group discussed was the site of the 2010 Commonwealth Games Village. It is proposed on the flood plain of the river near the Akshardham temple in East Delhi and has been criticised as being extremely harmful to the already vulnerable Yamuna.

'The floodplains of the river Yamuna lie on an earthquake fault line (zone 4). Hence any construction there will be vulnerable to earthquake. The floodplains are also a big water reservoir and very important for ground water recharge.

'Hence any construction on the floodplain is very harmful,' said Misra.

The group plans to submit an appeal to the prime minister with four important demands - change the site of the Games Village; stop all activity on the river bed till the concerned zonal plan (Zone 0 for Yamuna) is in place; an independent expert committee to review all structures on the river bed, and a national policy on rivers.

Misra said there should be an expert committee to look at the issue of saving the Yamuna, just like there was an independent expert committee to look at the issue of disappearing tigers.

The group has suggested that the Commonwealth Village site could be shifted to Dwarka in southwest Delhi. This, they said, would be close to the airport and also be well connected because of the Delhi Metro.

The group is also unhappy with Delhi Tourism's latest initiative, the Signature Bridge in Wazirabad, northeast Delhi. A mammoth project, the bridge is planned as an architectural marvel that will attract tourists.

'Instead of spending so much on the Signature Bridge, the government should first look at cleaning the river. How are tourists supposed to cross the bridge when it stinks so much?' asked Rajiv Kaul, one of the supporters of the campaign.

One of the holiest rivers in India - running 1,376 km from the Yamunotri glacier in the Himalayas to its confluence with the Gana in Allahabad - the Yamuna traverses 396 km before it reaches Delhi. But its 22 km stretch in Delhi has been identified as the most polluted river in India, and many experts call it the most threatened stretch of river in the world.

India's Central Pollution Control Board says there should be no more than 500 faecal coliform bacteria in 100 millilitres of water if it is to be considered fit for even bathing. The Yamuna carries 1.5 million faecal coliform bacteria per 100 ml of water as it passes through Delhi.

Mirza upsets Peer in Acura Classic

CARLSBAD, California (AP) -- India's Sania Mirza used pressure at the net in the third set to pull off a 6-3 4-6 6-2 upset of 12th seed Shahar Peer on Tuesday in the Acura Classic.
Mirza, a finalist at Stanford on Sunday, beat her doubles partner by going to the net more often than usual in the final set, trying to shorten rallies. The strategy paid off for Mirza, who said she was tired from playing all week at the Bank of the West Classic.
"I really didn't want to spend so much time on the court," said Mirza, who lost in straights sets at Stanford to Anna Chakvetadze. "We all know that (Peer) is one of the best on the tour at running down shots. If I keep hitting and ripping from behind the baseline, she's going to keep tracking down balls."
Mirza instead decided uncharacteristically to come to the net in the third set against her Israeli opponent. It worked as Mirza jumped out to a 4-1 lead before wrapping up victory.
Second-seed Jelena Jankovic, ranked third in the world, had little trouble in her first appearance, beating Vania King 6-3 6-0 in a second-round night match.
Seventh seed Martina Hingis of Switzerland initially struggled in her first match before pulling out a 7-5 6-2 second-round win over Michaella Krajicek of the Netherlands in a night match.
Hingis dominated as she got off to a 5-1 lead, but then dropped four games in a row as she began to commit numerous unforced errors.
Hingis reeled off two straight games to take the set before settling down in the second set.
Hingis made 20 unforced errors in the first set and hit just 16 winners. But Krajicek was more inconsistent with 27 first-set unforced errors. Krajicek finished with 47 unforced errors to 27 for Hingis.
Fourth-seeded Nadia Petrova of Russia advanced with a 6-3 7-5 second-round victory over countrywoman Elena Bovina.
"She is not an easy player to play in the first round," Petrova said. "But overall, I'm happy on what I did on the court today."
Wimbledon finalist Marion Bartoli of France struggled in her second-round match before defeating Japan's Aiko Nakamura, 7-6 6-1.

Dravid cherishes rare away win

Nottingham, July 31: Skipper Rahul Dravid believes India's victory in the second cricket Test against England was yet another ‘small step’ taken in the long march towards becoming a dominant team both at home and away.
"Every win that we have, we can take heart from that," Dravid said after India's seven-wicket win at Trent Bridge.
"We have played well abroad in the last four-five years. We have won everywhere we have toured, won series as well. It's been an improvement, even though not probably as quickly as we would have liked and not as emphatically as we would have liked. But these are small steps along the way. It's great especially for the younger players who haven't seen international success away from home. That's something that will spur them on and inspire them to do much better."
It was only India's fifth win in 47 Tests they had played in England. Avoding defeat in the third and final Test at The Oval from August 9 will give them their first series win in 'Old Blighty' in 21 years.

Vaughan says 'sorry' to Zaheer Khan

Nottingham, August 1: England skipper Michael Vaughan has apologised to Team India pacer Zaheer Khan for the jelly bean prank during the second cricket Test here but insisted that the incident had been blown out of proportion.
"I guess one of the guys might have left them as a prank for the new batsmen. If that offended Zaheer, I apologise," Vaughan was quoted as saying by the Daily Telegraph.
Vaughan, however, refuted Zaheer's claims that the jellybeans had been thrown by the slip fielders to insult him.
"We weren't throwing jelly beans from the slip cordon. Two jelly beans were left on the floor by the stumps during the drinks interval when the wicket fell," he said.