The highest-ever paid Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai will be the first Indian actress to have been invited to be on the jury of the Cannes Film Festival beginning May 14.

At the Cannes Film Festival last year, Aishwarya had won a lot of praise for her role in Devdas, Indian entry in the exhibition section, which was the opening film of the Festival. During her stay in France and later in the U.S.A. she had met several producers who wanted to feature her in their film. That this daughter of a Merchant Navy officer born in Manglore, Karnataka, on November 1, 1973, was poised to set hearts aflame with her charm and beauty all over the world in the coming years, just as she had done when she was crowned Miss World at Sun City in South Africa, in 1994, is becoming clear now. And nobody need look at the crystal bail to foresee her future. She holds all the aces now.

Courtesy: The Indus Times, April 27, 2003

Democratic Congressman and founder of the India Caucus Frank Pallone will receive "Friends of India" award at the Bollywood film awards function slated to be held at Atlantic city on May 3.

Chairman of the Bollywood Awards Kamal Dandona said the award is being given in recognition of Pallone's long-standing commitment to improving Indo-US relations and supporting Indian causes.

Congressman Pallone had founded the Congressional Caucus on India in 1993 and served as the Co-Chair from 1993-1998. He continues to serve as a member of the Executive Committee of the Caucus, a bipartisan Congressional Member Organisation (CMO).

Courtesy: www.hindustantimes.com, April 24, 2003

India-born journalist Geeta Anand shared this year's Pulitzer Prize for explanatory journalism for a series of stories about scandals in corporate America.

She shared the Pulitzer Prize with the staff of the Wall Street Journal, the South Asian Journalist Association (SAJA) said on Monday.

Very few South Asians have won the prestigious journalism award. The first was Gobind Behari Lal in 1937.

The two stories that the one-time Mumbai-based Anand contributed in the winning series were: 'History and Science: In Waksal's Past: Repeated Ousters' and 'Trial Heat: Biotech Analysts Strive to Peek Inside Clinical Tests of Drugs'.

Anand told SAJA: "I was very excited and so was everyone here at the Wall Street Journal because a big group of us contributed to the winning stories.

"I felt very lucky because you can go through life writing good stories and never win big awards. But if luck and timing are on your side, you get recognized every now and then. In this case, we wrote good stories and they happened to be on a compelling topic."

Anand's first job in the US was at 'Cape Cod News'. Then she moved to 'Rutland Herald' in Rutland, Vermont.

She went to the 'Boston Globe' before joining the 'Wall Streer Journal' in 1998.

Anand was India's national champion and record holder in 1982 in women's 100 m and 200 m breaststroke. That year, she represented India in the Asian Games in New Delhi and the Commonwealth Games in Brisbane, Australia.

She now lives in Manhattan with her husband and two children.

Courtesy: www.hindustantimes.com, April 22, 2003

New Delhi has been selected from amongst many cities competing for this honour and is the third one so chosen after Madrid and Alexandria, an official release said.

Stressing the need to inculcate the habit of book reading among children, the minister lamented the dearth of good quality children's literature.

As part of the celebration, book kiosks will be opened around the country. Also, libraries and a permanent book pavilion will be set up at Pragati Maidan, the release said.

A plan to set up a National Book Museum in the capital showcasing rare manuscripts/books on all branches of knowledge and serving as a reference library is also on the anvil.

Publishing of rare manuscripts and awards to publishers and authors in different languages is also being mooted, it said.

Courtesy: www.hindustantimes.com, April 10, 2003

London, March 31. India Tourism has launched a new drive among Londoners - black cabs with "Incredible India" painted all over them.

Already, about 40 taxis have been painted with the slogan, along with India Tourism's web address to help potential tourists to India find information easily.

Movies targeted at Asians, like Bend it like Beckham and The Guru, gained much publicity with advertisements on local buses in London, Leicester and other cities with large Asian populations. India Tourism hopes to repeat their success.

The taxis will be on London roads for a year. "I am sure this will make a huge contribution to promoting India as a tourist destination," said India Tourism director Alka Kohli.

The department is also running a poster campaign at several stations of the London Underground, focusing on India's deluxe hotels and describing it as the land that gave birth to yoga.

India has a lot more to offer than Taj Mahal, snake charmers and elephants is the message the department says it wants to convey.

Courtesy: www.hindustantimes.com, April 02, 2003