MUMBAI: Shah Rukh Khan apologised for the controversy over the release of his film "My Name Is Khan" but made it clear the regret is not directed to Shiv Sena which threatened to halt the screening of his picture in this Bollywood heartland.
"i thank u all for this..apologise for giving stress over the last few days...& now truly know the meaning of being humbled.lov u all so much (sic)," tweeted the 44-year-old star shortly after several multiplexes who were initially reluctant went ahead with the screening of the keenly awaited film here.
Shah Rukh also said he was "humbled and overwhelmed" after the response from the public for his film.
In a bid to clarify that his regret in a tweet is not construed as directed at the Shiv Sena who have demanded that the superstar apologise for his remarks favouring inclusion of Pakistani players in IPL, Shah Rukh posted another message on the micro blogging website Twitter to say his apology is for his fans and no one else.
"whoa.. just hearing some media reports. just so that all know...wot i say here is for my fans across the world. thats all (sic)", wrote Kahn who has 1,31,435 followers on the website.
"i am humbled by this show of love & kindness. so dont know wot else to say. overwhelmed & promise will make india proud with my hard work. yipppeee !!!! ...in my work or words, i wholeheartedly regret...and i love u very very very very much. thank u thank u thank u," Khan tweeted after MNIK ran to full houses in Mumbai and elsewhere in the country.
"i realise today...i am just a film hero...u all in the theatres r the real deal. god feel so loved & humbled. hats off to all heroes," the actor added.
MNIK tickets go for 1,000 euros each at Berlin fest
BERLIN: The online tickets for Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan’s ‘My Name is Khan’ were sold out in five seconds here.
People who phoned the Berlinale authorities five minutes after ticketing opened were told they were way too late.
The film’s tickets were auctioned on e-Bay for 1,000 euros (about Rs 60,000) each.
Fans had not slept all night to keep their places in the queue despite the minus temperature in Berlin. Those who arrived at 6 am were in tears.
Jenny Watkinson, assigned the ‘Shah Rukh Khan department’ in the International Relations office of Dieter Kosslick, Berlin film festival director, says, “I’ve never seen anything like it. This year it’s expected to be even bigger than in 2008 (during ‘Om Shanti Om’). The online tickets for ‘My Name is Khan’ were sold out in five seconds.”
The film premieres in Berlin on Friday with a red carpet at the prestigious Berlinale Palast theatre on Potsdamer Platz. Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol and Karan Johar are in Berlin for the premiere.
Obama targets outsourcers again, labels them tax evaders
WASHINGTON: American president Barack Obama has once again targeted American companies having their operations in India to save taxes back home and called such businesses tax evaders.
"If you are a business here, entirely located in the US, and investing in the US, and hiring workers in the US, you are paying a 35 per cent rate," Obama said in an interview to the business magazine Bloomberg Business Week.
"However,if you are a multinational and you are investing in India, and your workforce is in India, and your plants and equipment are in India, but your headquarters are here, you are taking deductions on all the expenses in India, but you are keeping your profits outside the US; and that just doesn't seem entirely fair," he argued.
"The same is true where you have companies that have 90 per cent of their sales in the US, but are posting 90 per cent of their profits overseas. You get a sense there that the accountants have been busy," Obama said.
Home loans to be dearer; public sector banks to end teaser rate regime
MUMBAI: Home and auto loan customers will have to shell out more with several public sector banks including the State Bank, Punjab National Bank and Bank of India (BoI) deciding to end the concessional or limited period loan regime, popularly called teaser rates.
The public sector banks, which are offering low interest rates for the initial period of the loan to attract new customers, have decided not to extend the validity of their schemes beyond March. In certain cases, the schemes would be discontinued during the course of this month itself.
The country's largest lender State Bank chairman OP Bhatt had said recently that special home and auto loan schemes would continue only till the end of March. The SBI has been trying to attract more customers by offering home and auto loans as low as 8 per cent with a limited period offer.
As part of the special scheme under 'My home campaign,' the SBI has been offering home loans (up to Rs 5 lakh) at 8 per cent interest rate during the first five years of a 10-year loan.
For loans above Rs 5 lakh and up to Rs 50 lakh, the interest rate has been fixed at 8 per cent during the first year and 8.5 per cent during second and third years.
Bank of India executive director M Narendra said, "our scheme is valid till February. We may not continue the scheme post-February."
The scheme, he added, was launched for a limited period and the product has served the purpose.
Govt announces ToR on Telangana, TRS calls it betrayal
New Delhi: The high-level committee appointed by the Centre to go into the emotive issue of Telangana has also been asked to examine the option of a united Andhra Pradesh and given time till the end of the year to submit its report, prompting the proponents of the separate statehood to denounce it.
It will "examine the situation in the state of Andhra Pradesh with reference to the demand for a separate state of Telangana as well as the demand for maintaining the present status of a united Andhra Pradesh," the ToR said. The committee has been asked to submit its report by December 31 this year.
In Hyderabad, TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao, who has been spearheading the Telangana agitation, said, "The Centre has betrayed us once again". He directed all his party MPs, MLAs and MLCs to resign from their posts immediately in protest against the "betrayal".
The committee, constituted on February 3, will examine the impact of the recent developments in the state on the different sections of the people such as women, children, students, minorities, other backward classes, scheduled castes and scheduled tribes.
The committee includes Ranbir Singh, Abusaleh Shariff, Ravinder Kaur and former Home Secretary Vinod K Duggal as member-secretary.
Justice B N Srikrishna is a retired Judge of the Supreme Court. While Ranbir Singh is the Vice Chancellor of National Law University, Delhi, Abusaleh Shariff is the Senior Research Fellow at International Food Policy Research Institute, Delhi.
Ravinder Kaur is professor, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT, Delhi.
The terms of reference said the committee will "identify the key issues that must be addressed while considering the matter".
It said the panel "will consult all sections of the people, especially the political parties, on the aforesaid matters and elicit their views; to seek from the political parties and other organisations a range of solutions that would resolve the present difficult situation and promote the welfare of all sections of the people; to identify the optimal solutions for this purpose; and to recommend a plan of action and a road map".
The committee will consult other organisations of civil society such as industry, trade, trade unions, farmers' organisations, women's organisations and students' bodies on the specified matters and elicit their views with specific reference to the all round development of the different regions of the state and make any other suggestion or recommendation that the Committee may deem appropriate, the ToR said.
Both Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K Rosaiah and TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu, who were at a function together, said they would react after studying the ToR.
Business News
Maruti 800 sales to be discontinued in 13 cities
New Delhi: Maruti Suzuki, India's largest carmaker, has no plans to upgrade its lowest- priced Maruti 800 model to meet EURO IV emissions standards, Chairman R C Bhargava said on Friday.
Bhargava said sales of the model would be discontinued in 13 Indian cities from April.
Maruti is 54.2 per cent owned by Japan's Suzuki Motor Corp.
GSM subscriber base at 394.2 mn
New Delhi: The GSM operators together added 3.7 million new subscribers in January, taking the overall GSM subscriber base to 394.2 million with Bharti Airtel leading the front with 2.85 million.
Last month's GSM addition is marginally up from the December numbers when the operators had added 13.1 million.
Airtel is closely followed by Vodafone which added 2.7 new users, say the data released by GSM operators body COAI.
Total user base of Bharti Airtel soared to 121.7 million while that of Vodafone jumped to 94.14 million at the end of January.
Idea Cellular along with Spice Communications have added 2.27 million users taking it to a total 59.88 million, thus retaining its position as the third largest GSP operator.
However, BSNL is closing the gap with Idea. The state-run teleco has added 2.2 million new users last month taking its total subscriber base to 59.45 million.
Aircel has added 2 million new users, taking it user base to 33 million and MTNL added a mere 45,067 users taking its users base to 4.6 million.
The data do not contain the subscriber addition of TataDocomo, the GSM services of Tata Teleservices and Reliance Telecom.
New players like Uninor which launched services in seven circles across the country in December, has added 1.3 million new users last month.
Sports News
Vancouver: Cricket was cleared to pursue its bid to be included in future Games after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) rubberstamped the sport's recognition on Thursday.
"The session gave definite recognition to the three federations," IOC spokesman Mark Adams told reporters.
The three sports can now bid to join the 2020 Olympics as the programme is always determined seven years in advance.
Golf and rugby were latest inclusions in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games when an IOC session voted them in last year.
The decision about new sports for the 2020 Games will be taken at the IOC session in Buenos Aires in 2013 where the host country will also be picked.
Series win more important than No 1 position: de Villiers
Kolkata: South Africa are just a draw shy of reclaiming the world number one spot in Test cricket, but middle-order batsman A B de Villiers on Friday said the visiting team would cherish a series win more than the ICC rankings. He said the Proteas have the momentum with them and were focused on winning the series.
"We are obviously playing good cricket at the moment. We are evolving and trying to dominate world cricket, we are still working towards it. Cricket is all about momentum and confidence. We have come from Johannesburg Test win as well as in Nagpur and we have won two Tests in a row," he added.
De Villiers sought to ignore the controversy surrounding the Eden pitch which the BCCI, apparently, had wanted to be tailor-made to suit their spinners.
"There is a little bit of grass on the wicket at this moment. I am pretty sure they will take off the grass in the next 48 hours. But it is up to the groundsman to decide, we have got no control at all," said the right-hander.
Asked about the return of a fit-again VVS Laxman in his happy-hunting ground at the Eden Gardens, de Villiers said, "He is a class player. He has performed really well in the last few years. We have got our plans and we are going to stick to that.
"But, we are focusing on our game and on our strengths. We are not too worried about them (India). Obviously, they are a good side but we are not too worried about our opponents."
He, however, reckoned that India would come out with all guns blazing after the humiliating innings defeat in the first Test at Nagpur.
"It's going to be great challenge here at Eden Gardens and I am sure India will fight back. But our team spirit is great (following the win in Nagpur). We are really enjoying the mood in the camp. Our focus is to win a Test match in Eden Gardens," de Villiers said.
"We are sticking to our gameplan. There is no need to change when you are winning Test matches. The guys are playing pretty well and set at the momentum. We are focusing on our basics and our skills. We are pretty much ready to give the best shot."
Speaking highly of Eden Gardens, de Villiers said he was etching to play his first Test at the venue.
"It's an amazing experience to play cricket at Eden Gardens. It's one of the grounds that bring the best in you. MCG, Lord's, Eden Gardens come in one bracket. It is a special place to play Test cricket. My first Test here. The crowd here is too good and we are expecting a noisy match," he said.
On South Africa's interim coach Corrie van Zyl, who took over from Mickey Arhtur just before the series, de Villiers said, "It does not change much in the side. We still got the same gameplan and strategies. He has been very good in the first Test, we will see it here as well.
Modi gives ECB weeks time to alter county schedule
London:Refusing to change his stand, Champions League commissioner Lalit Modi has given England and Wales Cricket Board one weeks time to tweak its domestic schedule, failing which counties teams would miss out on a chance to play in this year's global Twenty20 event. Modi said it was the best he could offer ECB as the CLT20 is in no position to alter its dates.
"We need to know (ECB's decision) in the next week or so. If they don't come we will invite somebody else," Modi was quoted as saying by the Daily Telegraph.
"The idea is they come and I hope it doesn't get to that eventuality. I understand counties can't go around the ECB's back and we will not invite anybody without their board's permission.
"We have given them the opportunity to change it (the county season) and there is nothing more we can do. We hope the counties change their minds and advance it by a week but the international calendar is very hard to alter," he said.
On Wednesday Modi revealed that the second edition of Champions League would be held from September 10-26 this year. But the ECB was quick to express its reservations over the scheduling of the tournament as it coincide with the final two rounds of the English County Championship, the semi-finals and final of the Pro40 League and the ODI Series between England and Pakistan.
The ECB subsequently took up the matter with Modi, but their request to rework the tournament schedule fell on deaf ears.
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