Celine Dion comments on drugs killing Whitney Houston
TrendPK.com: Although the cause of Whitney Houston’s death has not been confirmed, Celine Dion apparently feels pretty strongly about drugs being the reason the legendary singer’s life came to an untimely end.
Dion spoke with ‘Good Morning America’ about the loss and why she feels it happened so soon in Houston’s life, states UsMagazine.com. “It’s just really unfortunate that drugs, bad people, bad influences took over her dreams, her motherhood,” Dion commented about the death.
Dion also commented that drugs are an ongoing problem in the industry that harms too many lives: “That’s why I’m scared of show business, of drugs and hanging out. That’s why I don’t go to parties!”
It is rumored that prescription drugs may have been the cause of death although it has not been confirmed.
What do you think about drugs in Hollywood?
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Jails not new for PPP ‘Jialas’, says Firdous
While addressing the inauguration ceremony of NADRA office and the passport office at a village Kobey in the suburb of Sialkot, Minister for Information Firdous Ashiq Awan said that accountability, penalty and prize are the rights of the masses. The PPP stands first among giving sacrifices for the sake of democracy, she said.
She expressed that the government is taking concrete steps to overcome energy and gas crisis. She also has had a meeting with delegation comprising members from Chamber of Commerce, Dry Port Association and Surgical Association of Sialkot who called on Information Minister and Governor Punjab Sardar Muhammad Latif Khosa today.
The delegation was led by Chairman Chamber of Commerce Naeem Anwaar Qureshi and Chairman Dry Port Association Saddique Ishaq Butt.She announced that one more gas pipeline is being laid down from Wazirabad to Sialkot to resolve the problem of gas shortage in the city.
“We are focusing to generate electricity from hydel power which is cheaper and also directed provinces to initiate small projects to overcome the energy crisis”, she said.
Around 2000 megawatt electricity would be produced through the factories’ wastes which would also help resolve the issue.
Keeping in view the energy crisis, she informed that an energy conference would be arranged in Lahore soon.
Governor Punjab Sardar Latif Ahmad Khosa said that some people were hatching conspiracies to derail the system of democracy but such tactics would be foiled.
He said that the people claiming for change were actually committing forgery and fraud in the name of rule of law.
Commenting on next budget, he said the delegation that the upcoming budget would be people and business friendly.
The suggestions would be sought from Chamber of Commerce, Dry Port Association and Surgical Association in this regard which would be incorporated while planning the budget.
Latif Khosa said the country cannot progress until the government extend the tax net.
The government is taking concrete steps to overcome prevailing energy crisis in the country.
The delegation said 251 million dollars export is being made from Sialkot annually while the local industry is providing job opportunities to 0.4 million people.
PPP’s real court is masses and some elements are trying to halt the Senate polls with their threats, she said.
Anand Sharma heads for Pakistan to boost trade ties
The largest Indian business delegation to Pakistan, consisting of some 150 members and led by Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma, will take part in a series of events, including an “India Show” in Lahore, over four days starting Monday.
Co-hosted by the two leading Indian business chambers, the event will mark the first visit of an Indian trade minister to Pakistan in 30 years in an exercise aimed at ramping bilateral trade to $10 billion in three years.
The delegation includes some top names from India s corporate world, including Rajan Bharti Mittal, vice chairman and managing director, Bharti Enterprises; Sunil Kant Munjal, chairman, Hero Corporate Services; K K Modi, chairman, Modi Enterprises; Harsh Pati Singhania, managing director, JK Paper; Naresh Goyal, chairman, Jet Airways; Jyotsna Suri, chairperson and managing director, Bharat Hotels; and Arun Nanda, chairman, Mahindra Holidays and Resorts.
Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) president R. V. Kanoria and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) president B. Muthuraman will lead the delegations of their respective chambers.
The delegations will visit Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad for close interaction with Pakistani CEOs and officials in what is being described as a “landmark initiative” for removing the barriers so that the volume of two-way trade reaches its potential of $10 billion in the next three years.
“Any delegation to Pakistan goes beyond business and trade. It will help deepen overall ties and improve people-to-people contact between the two countries,” said FICCI president Kanoria, who is also chairman of Kanoria Chemicals and Industries.
Kanoria said besides senior officials, chief executives of over 100 companies would visit Pakistan to explore business opportunities. “There will be a lot of participation from small and medium enterprises as well,” he said.
Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar, chairman and managing director of India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO) Rita Menon and senior officials from the department of customs and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will also be part of the delegation that will visit Pakistan Feb 13-16.
The delegation will have a series of meetings with business leaders and government officials of Pakistan, including Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and Commerce Minister Makhdoom Amin Fahim.
Bilateral trade between India and Pakistan was recorded at $2.7 billion in 2010-11. Trade balance is heavily in favour of India with its exports at $2.3 billion and imports from Pakistan at $332 million.
Major items of export from India to Pakistan are sugar, cotton, man-made filaments and chemicals, while its top imports from Pakistan include edible fruit, mineral fuels, and organic chemicals.
“The trade potential between our two countries is very high and based on strong fundamental complementarities. One step of opening up of the Wagah border for all tradeable items would double bilateral trade,” said Chandrajit Banerjee, director general, CII.
Tesla announces Model X SUV for 2014
Tesla Motors Inc showed off a prototype of its Model X, a battery-powered SUV that represents the company s bet that consumers will buy a range of electric vehicles spun from a common platform.
The Model X, which features what the company calls “falcon-wing” doors and faster acceleration than a Porsche 911 — it goes from 0 to 60 miles per hour in 4.4 seconds — will start production late 2013 and begin delivery in 2014.
Tesla begins taking reservations at noon on Friday for the characteristically sleek vehicle resembling a taller version of its Model S sedan, but with a folding door hinged on the roof.
CEO Elon Musk touted his latest electric vehicle as cramming in more space than a typical sport utility vehicle. It seats seven, with ample storage.
“Minivans and SUV have been trying for years to overcome these problem,” the entrepreneur told a rowdy crowd. Musk didn t lose his cool even when the front trunk — or “frunk” — stubbornly refused to open in the middle of his demonstration.
Tesla — which has never made a profit — hopes to create a buzz with Thursday night s event, which featured a smattering of lesser-known celebrities, a buffet spread and an open bar, with hundreds of guests milling across a hangar-sized space at the company s California design engineering offices.
The well-heeled guests were offered a chance to be first in line for the Model X, sales of which will follow a reservations-and-delivery template much like the preceding sedan.
While flashy car debuts are a staple of the auto industry, nine-year-old Tesla tracks and reports the number of reservations for upcoming models as a benchmark for investors.
The company went public in June 2010. Its private backers range from venture-capital firms Draper Fisher Jurvetson and VantagePoint Capital Partners to Silicon Valley heavyweights such as Sergey Brin and Larry Page, founders of Google Inc. It also won a $465 million loan guarantee in 2009 from the U.S. Department of Energy.
Its shares were trading on Nasdaq on Thursday at $32.58, well above their June 2010 IPO price of $17.
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The Model X is important for the company because it is the second model to be based on a platform purpose-built by Tesla for electric drive vehicles. The first was the Model S, a sedan scheduled to go on sale in the middle of this year.
Musk has bet that development costs for the Model S and the Model X can be recouped as more models are introduced on the same platform. Two more Tesla models are in the works, the company has said.
Tesla has said between 10,000 and 15,000 of the Model X vehicles will roll off its Fremont, California assembly lines in 2014, priced close to the $60,000-plus Model S.
The Model X — whose falcon-wing doors recall a design made famous by the DeLorean sports car in 1985 s “Back to the Future” — will compete with Toyota Motor Corp s electric RAV4, a crossover SUV that will sport Tesla s electric-drive technology.
Musk did not detail pricing or specifications for the Model X, which will have dual-motor all-wheel drive — a motor in front, and another in the rear, which he says vastly improves grip, handling and turn radius.
For now, Tesla is scrambling to meet a July deadline for delivering the first Model S cars. Musk hopes to have delivered 20,000 of the cars by 2013, yielding a gross margin of 20 percent or more.
The Model S, which goes for a base $57,000, is Tesla s entree into the mass consumer luxury market, going downscale from the $100,000-plus Roadsters that it made its name on.
While the base version of the Model S will sell for $57,000, few cars are expected to be sold for that little. The average price for a car sold in the U.S. market in 2011 was around $30,000.
Tesla autos have captured the public imagination and helped spur Detroit to work on its own electric vehicles. General Motors Co in 2010 started selling its plug-in hybrid Chevrolet Volt.
California governor Jerry Brown was on hand on Thursday to join Musk in touting the Model X. The wealthiest U.S. state approved aggressive new rules in January to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by requiring automakers to put many more electric and hybrid vehicles on the roads by 2025.
Ramesh S Taurani files case against Deepika Padukone
Producer Ramesh S Taurani of Tips, who was miffed with Deepika Padukone post her last minute exit from his ambitious thriller Race 2, was prompt to take action against the actress.
Deepika’s impromptu exit from the film after having shot for a week upon being offered a Hollywood project, hasn’t gone down well with the producer, who on Thursday filed a complaint with the CINTAA (Cine & TV Artistes Association) and the Association of Motion Pictures & TV Programme Producer of India (AMPTPP).
The fact that just after her exit from Race 2, Deepika announced that she would be doing Rajinikanth’s next film Kochadaiyaan was like rubbing salt on Taurani’s wounds.
CINTAA was quick to inform the actress about the complaint filed in her name by the filmmaker. Citing her unavailability to not having dates and being over-committed to other projects, the actress also seemed indifferent to the developments after having left the film in the lurch.
As per procedural norms, if an artist fails to respond to a complaint or grievance, the case then passes onto the FWICE (Federation of Western India Cine Employees). If still not
addressed, the artist is then liable to face a NCD (Non-Cooperation Directive).
Explains senior producer Pahlaj Nihalani said, “If Taurani has filed a complaint against Deepika, she will have to honour the dates which she had allotted to him. If she has given the same dates to any other producer, she cannot shoot for the other project”
Says an upset Ramesh S Taurani “I have been a part of the Hindi cinema industry for 25 years. I have made several blockbusters. But I have never faced a situation like this before. Our directors and the other actors are extremely annoyed with her. Tips as a company in its last 25 years has never had a dispute with anyone in this industry, there
is no single case in the association which involves us.”
Produced by Tips, director duo Abbas-Mustan’s Race 2 was scheduled for a November release.
Sarkozy refuses to shutter aging nuclear plant
The plant has become a symbol of growing resistance to nuclear energy in France.
The future of nuclear energy in the country has become a campaign issue as the presidential election approaches this spring, thanks in part to the earthquake and tsunami disaster at Japan s Fukushima plant last year.
But Nicolas Sarkozy, who lags in the polls, said Thursday while visiting the plant in Fessenheim that it would be a huge mistake and a “scandal” to close it and lay off its workers. He insisted that there was no doubt about the plant s safety.
The plant, which opened in 1978 in northeast France, is the country s oldest. France relies on nuclear energy more than any other nation, with about three-quarters of electricity coming from nuclear reactors.
Socialist presidential candidate Francois Hollande has pledged to close down Fessenheim and reduce nuclear dependence to 50 percent if he s elected president in elections in April and May.
His pledge stemmed from a political pact with France s leading environmental party and signs that the French public is starting to question the safety of nuclear energy.
Hollande leads opinion polls ahead of the vote. Sarkozy has not officially declared his candidacy but is widely expected to seek a second term.
Sarkozy has lobbied hard at home and abroad in favor of nuclear power, a substantial sector of the French economy. France actively exports nuclear energy technology and takes in nuclear plant waste from countries around the world.
“We will not close it, this plant,” Sarkozy said, to cheers by workers at Fessenheim. “Why would we close it for political reasons? … Where else would we go to get (electricity)?”
“It s madness, madness,” he said.
France chose to invest heavily in nuclear energy after the oil shocks in the 1970s and governments left and right have stuck to nuclear energy ever since, even when other European countries scaled back after the 1986 accident at the Chernobyl nuclear plant spewed a radioactive cloud over much of the continent.
France s industry minister, Eric Besson, is convening a meeting in Paris on Friday with his counterparts from 15 other European countries that have invested in and remain committed to nuclear energy.–Agencies
Ramesh Taurani and Deepika at loggerheads over Race 2
Deepika Padukone’s decision to walk out of producer Ramesh Taurani’s multi-starrer Race 2, after shooting for six days, has angered Taurani to no extent. He feels her behavior was totally uncalled for and is extremely unethical, unprofessional and unacceptable.
Deepika’s leaving the film has caused havoc with the dates of the other stars in the film like Saif Ali Khan, John Abraham, Anil Kapoor, Sanjay Dutt, Ameesha Patel and Jacqueline Fernandes. It has also resulted in huge monetary losses for producer as the building of sets for their next schedule is already underway and the crew and the location were already booked. Taurani, who has been in this industry for 25 years and has worked with several top notch stars, says that has never faced a situation like this before.
What apparently angered Ramesh Taurani the most was that he got the news that she has left the film from the media and not Deepika herself. The story goes that after shooting for 6 days, Deepika didn’t turn up on the shoot. The production team tried to reach her but couldn’t get through her. When Ramesh called her, she said she would come with her new manager and work things out. But Deepika didn’t turn up for the meeting and her manager informed Taurani that she had been offered a major Hollywood project, which she couldn’t let go.
But what followed next had Ramesh boiling with anger. Just as she left Race 2, Deepika announced that she would be doing Rajinikanth’s next film Kochadaiyaan directed by his daughter Soundarya.
Deepika had opted out of Race 2 before when was offered Ayan Mukherjee’s film opposite Ranbir Kapoor, but the makers got her back on board by adjusting her dates. The makers had even postponed their Turkey schedule for her and in the process they had to let go off Sonakshi Sinha, who they replaced with Jacqueline.
In Deepika’s defense, a source close to her stated that the constant delays in the schedule of Race 2 was the main reason she left the film as she couldn’t adjust her dates again once she was informed that they were changed.
Reportedly, Taurani is also planning to take legal action against Deepika but they are first finding a replacement for her as soon as they can.
Oil prices rise after US supply report
Benchmark crude rose by 18 cents to $98.59 per barrel in New York. Brent crude, which is used to price foreign oil varieties, rose by 29 cents to $116.52 per barrel in London.
The Energy Information Administration reported that the United States crude supplies increased by 300,000 barrels last week, much less than the increase of 2.25 million barrels analysts expected.
Analysts were betting that refineries would continue to replenish stockpiles as they usually do in the first few months of the year. But last week they also cut back on imports as oil and gasoline demand dropped.
The EIA said that U.S. petroleum demand fell by 4.8 percent to a four-week average of 18.1 million barrels per day. That s the weakest four-week average since April 1997, said Tom Kloza, publisher and chief oil analyst at Oil Price Information Service.
Oil prices had risen earlier in the day, to above $100 per barrel, following an industry survey that predicted supplies would move in the opposite direction, dropping by 4.5 million barrels. The EIA report countered that.
“That took the wind out of the sails” of energy commodities, said Gene McGillian, a broker and oil analyst at Tradition Energy.
Meanwhile, doubts about Greece s ability to follow through with spending cuts and other austerity measures necessary to avoid bankruptcy pushed the dollar higher. Oil, which is priced in dollars, tends to drop in value as the dollar rises and makes crude more expensive for investors holding foreign money.
In other energy trading, heating oil fell by a penny to $3.18 per gallon, while gasoline futures rose by about 1 cent to $2.94 per gallon. Natural gas futures rose by a penny to $2.48 per 1,000 cubic feet.
Motorola makes Apple pull some iPhones in Germany
Apple Inc. says it has withdrawn several iPhone and iPad models from its Internet store in Germany because of a legal dispute with Motorola Mobility.
The move is in response to a ruling Motorola won against Ireland-based Apple Sales International Inc., from a court in Mannheim, Germany.
The court ruled that Apple should not be using Motorola s mobile technology in the devices without a license.
The dapd news agency reports that Apple withdrew the products but said that Motorola Mobility Inc. has refused to license the technology even though Motorola agreed it should be an industry standard.
The devices withdrawn are the iPhone 3G, the iPhone 3Gs and the iPhone4 and UMTS-capable iPads but not the iPhone 4S. The products are still available in bricks-and-mortar stores.
Motorola said in a statment that “we are pleased that the Mannheim court has recognized the importance of our intellectual property and granted an enforceable injunction in Germany against Apple Sales International.”
Shahbz writes to PM Gilani on loadshedding
Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has written a letter to Prime Minister Syed Yosuf Raza Gilani demanding equal sharing of energy shortages across all provinces.
In a letter, Punjab CM said that there is a complete closure of gas industry in Punjab since December 25, 2011 in addition to electricity load shedding of 6 to 18 hours.
He complained that the issue of LNG import and the establishment of LNG Terminal have been allowed to linger over the last four years.
Shahbaz demanded complete ban on establishment or relocation of CNG stations. He added that Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline should be taken up on war-footing.
