I don't think we could have envisioned any other actor in the role of Sidhu

A claimed producer and director Rohan Sippy met members of the South Asian media at an informal meeting at Utsav restaurant in midtown Manhattan, New York recently.

Sippy discussed his latest venture 'Chandni Chowk to China', the first ever Bollywood Kungfu comedy that takes the viewers from Chandni Chowk, New Delhi to Shanghai, China. The film is scheduled to be released worldwide on January 16, 2009.

"The film marries hilarious gags, breathtaking action, spectacular locations and heart stirring emotions," Sippy said.

The film stars Akshay Kumar and Deepika Padukone in a double role and Mithun Chakraborty. The film is co-produced by Mukesh Talreja and Ramesh Sippy and is being distributed by Warner Brothers in collaboration with Ramesh Sippy Films.

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‘China is mistreating Tibetans during Games' - Dalai Lama

The Dalai Lama said on August 16 China was mistreating and torturing civilians in Tibet while the Olympic Games were going on.

"Unfortunately the Olympic spirit is not being respected at all by Chinese officials in Tibet," he said in an interview on France's TF1 television, when asked if the tradition of an Olympic truce was being respected.

"There are restrictions on the circulation of information, very strong censorship," he said.

"Civilians are often arrested, violently tortured to the point where they die. It's really very, very sad," he said.

The Dalai Lama, who was on a two-week visit to France, mostly focused on religious commitments. He has made few political comments but he criticised China's actions in Tibet at a meeting on Aug. 13 with French legislators.

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Proud China brings curtain down on epic Games

The Beijing Olympics ended with a blaze of deafening fireworks on August 24, bring ing down the curtain on a Games that dazzled the world with sporting brilliance and showcased the might of modern day China.

The sporting extravaganza failed to quell criticism of China's human rights record, although the International Olympic Committee (IOC) gave the organizers the thumbs-up and said the Games would leave a positive legacy for future generations.

"Tonight we come to the end of 16 glorious days we will cherish forever," IOC President Jacques Rogge told the 91,000-strong crowd in the Bird's Nest stadium.

"The world learned more about China, and China learned more about the rest of the world," he said. "These were truly exceptional Games."

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Tibetan woman holds Olympic flame a top Everest

A Tibetan woman took the Olympic torch the last steps to the top of Everest on May 8, realizing "a dream of all Chinese people", but Tibetan exiles criticized Beijing for politicizing the Games.

"Long live Tibet!" and "Long live Beijing!", the climbers, all wearing red, shouted joyously into a TV camera after unfurling the Chinese national flag, the Olympic flag and a flag bearing the Beijing Olympic logo.

The ambitious project to take the torch to the Himalayan peak was cast as the highlight of the relay ahead of the Games, which start in exactly three months' time, and followed weeks of protests against Beijing's rule in Tibet.

"We have realized a promise to the world and a dream of all the Chinese people," base camp commander Li Zhixin told reporters after being mobbed by jubilant friends and colleagues.

Communist China has spent billions of dollars on staging the Olympics, eager to project the image of a modern and vibrant country. But protests during the international leg of the torch relay have bruised Chinese pride and provoked a surge of nationalist sentiment.

Exiled Tibetan officials and rights groups said the Everest flame was in bad taste and not in keeping with the spirit of the Games.

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China, Canada have lessons for India's anti-smoking campaign

When it comes to making smokers kick the habit, India has a lot to learn from countries like Canada, New Zealand and even neighboring China.

These countries are shining examples of how the government and civil society can make individuals quit smoking - a sure way of reducing the risk of tuberculosis, cancer and respiratory and heart diseases.

In India, very few people have been able to give up the addiction. For instance, in 2004, only two percent of adults stopped smoking and only when they fell seriously ill, says a new World Health Organization (WHO) supported study published online in The New England Journal of Medicine.

Prabhat Jha, the lead author of the study, "A nationally representative case -control study of smoking and death in India", said China and Thailand had the same percentage of people quitting smoking 10 years ago.

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Panchen Lama to become youngest China minister

A Tibetan youth, anointed by China's atheist Communists as the 11th Panchen Lama, is tipped to become the country's youngest official holding a rank equivalent to a cabinet minister.

China and the Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, who fled into exile in India in 1959 after a failed uprising against Communist rule, chose rival reincarnations of the 10th Panchen Lama, the second highest figure in Tibetan Buddhism, in 1995.

The Dalai Lama's choice, then six, disappeared from public view, leading human rights watch dogs to call him the world's youngest political prisoner.

Beijing's choice, Gyaltsen Norbu, turned 18 on February 13."He is now an adult. He can vote and be voted for," a source familiar with government policy towards religion and ethnic minorities told Reuters, requesting anonymity.

A second source with knowledge of government policy on Tibet said, "He is likely to become a member of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress as early as next month.

" The National People's Congress, or parliament, is due to convene its annual session on March 5. Members of its elite Standing Committee hold a rank equivalent to cabinet minister.

A parliamentary spokesman declined to comment.If confirmed, Gyaltsen Norbu's appointment is almost certain to draw Western condemnation.


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