NASA's rover Curiosity lands on Mars‎ Photos And Videos

The Mars science rover Curiosity landed on the Martian surface shortly after 10:30 p.m. Pacific time on Sunday to begin a two-year mission seeking evidence the Red Planet once hosted ingredients for life, NASA said.


Mission controllers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory near Los Angeles burst into applause and cheered as they received signals relayed by a Mars orbiter confirming that the rover had survived a make-or-break descent and touched down within its landing zone.

NASA described the feat as perhaps the most complex achieved in robotic spaceflight.

Moments later, Curiosity beamed back its first three images from the Martian surface, one of them showing a wheel of the vehicle.


“I can’t believe this. This is unbelievable,” said Allen Chen, the deputy leader of the rover’s descent and landing team.

The car-sized rover apparently came to rest at its planned destination near the foot of a tall mountain rising from the floor of Gale Crater in Mars’ southern hemisphere, mission controllers said.



The $2.5 billion Curiosity project, formally called the Mars Science Laboratory, is NASA’s first astrobiology mission since the 1970s-era Viking probes.

The landing marks a major victory and milestone for a U.S. space agency beleaguered by budget cuts and the recent loss of its 30-year-old space shuttle program.

“It’s an enormous step forward in planetary exploration. Nobody has ever done anything like this,” said John Holdren, the top science advisor to President Barack Obama, who was visiting JPL for the event. “It was an incredible performance.”

The exact condition of the one-ton, six-wheeled, nuclear powered vehicle upon its arrival could not be immediately ascertained.


NASA plans to put the rover and its sophisticated instruments, touted as the first full-fledged mobile science lab sent to another world, through several weeks of engineering checks before starting its two-year surface mission in earnest.

The landing capped a journey of more than eight months across more than 350 million miles (567 million km) of space since the Mars Science Lab was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

"Cinema Company" Movie Review

After a hit in 'Pappy Appacha', which did not bring much applauds to its director, Mamas is all set to bring credits to himself with his second movie 'Cinema Company'. The movie which is based on dreams, friendship and cinema. The film is about four dreamy filmmakers, who waste much of their time criticizing the new flicks at the Box Office. On the 'Cinema Company', may come across as one of those mundane friendship stories, but the fact of the matter is that the film talk about the dreams and relationships beyond barriers and also attempts to stimulate the lost feelings in relationships.

The movie has Basil as Badri, Sanjeev as Paulachan, Shruthi as Fazal and Panicker as Paru, four happy- go- lucky youngsters who meet at an International Film Festival and end up as good friends. While Paulachan is an aspiring actor, Panicker is always busy filming short films with his handy cam, Fazal is exceptionally good at writing and Paru is basically a jingle maker and singer. Their love for films has not been taken in the right spirit by others who tease them for wandering aimless, without any serious jobs.

Parudeesa Malayalam Movie Gallery

Parudeesa Malayalam Movie Sexy Stills Gallery of Shweta Menon

Parudeesa is the latest mollywood cinema of actress Swetha Menon.

The story revolves around the life of Swetha Menon who is working as a servant in a seminary.

There are lot of sexy scenes in the movie Parudeesa in which Swetha Menon washes clothes wearing Lungi Blouse and Thorthu.

Photo of Shweta Menon in Lungi and boise will be added soon.

Presently photos of Swetha Menon wearing half saree and skirt is available in this photo gallery.

The other cast of the movie Parudeesa are Sreenivasan, Jagathy Sreekumar and a new actress Shafna who also made glamorous show in traditional dress in this cinema.

R .Sarath's, "Parudeesa", is the story of a conservative Catholic priest and his idealistic clashes with a firebrand verger. The plot is set in a rustic village background. Sreenivasan, Jagathy Sreekumar and Shweta Menon are playing leading characters in "Parudeesa". The credit of the script goes... Read Synopsis

Director: R .Sarath
Producer: Thampi Antony

Cast: Sreenivasan, Shweta Menon, Indrans, Suraj Venjaramoodu, Jagathy Sreekumar  Complete Cast & Crew

 

No takers for Santhosh Pandit?

Considering the crowd which thronged cinema halls for the first screening of Santhosh Pandit's debut film - Krishanum Radhayum in October 2011, people expected something similar or more for the actor-cum-director's second film, Superstar Santhosh Pandit. But the crowd is nothing like the earlier one, say theatre owners.

Apparently, the ones who turned up said they were disappointed with the film, since the technical aspects were far better than the original. "The crowd expected poor editing and cinematography, like inKrishnanum Radhayum. But Superstar Santhosh Pandit is almost like a mainstream film in terms of these aspects and therefore it was of no interest to them. The reason why they rushed to the earlier film was to have some fun at the expense of the film, to enjoy themselves. This one didn't offer such possibilities."

Food poisoning in capital; Four hospitalized

Four persons working with QRS were admitted to General Hospital in Thiruvananthapuram with suspected food poisoning.

They were identified as Anoop, Clement, Nandu and Gokul. They fell ill after they had biriyani from an Onam restaurant at Pulimoodu here.

The police sent a notice to close the restaurant after a complaint was filed. The hotel owner said the QRS employees had never eaten Biriyani from his restaurant, but parotta and beef.

However, the team that inspected the eatery found residues of biriyani there.

Fraser Pryce Wins 100m, Regains Title of World's Fastest Woman‎

Jamaican Shelly-Ann Fraser Pryce successfully defended her gold in the women’s 100m sprint Saturday, earning the title of world’s fastest woman and outsprinting world champion Carmelita Jeter of Team USA.

Fraser-Pryce, who finished in 10.75 seconds, became the first woman to repeat in the 100m since Gail Devers of the U.S. did it in 1992 and 1996, according to the Associated Press.

Jeter, running in her first Olympics at 32, took silver, finishing three hundredths of a second behind Fraser Pryce.

The long-anticipated showdown was billed as a classic battle between the Americans and Jamaicans, with a total of five runners from the two countries considered contenders for the crown. In the end, it came down to Pryce, who won gold in the 100m at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and again at the 2009 world championships, and Jeter, who won gold at the 2011 worlds and owns the second-fastest time in history, 10.64 (the world record, 10.49, was set by Florence Griffith Joyner in 1988).

Manju Warrier is finally back

First the good news. Come Vidyarambham day, which is considered auspicious to start anything new, and Manju Warrier will return to the limelight with a Kuchipudi performance at the Nritha Manadapam at Guruvayoor Sreekrishna Temple. And the bad bit? She doesn’t have any plans yet to return to the silver screen.

Says Manju, who bowed out as an actress after her marriage to Dileep in October 1998 when she was at the height of her film career: “It is too early to consider even dancing as a career though I still love to perform.”

The two-time Kalathilakam winner will have a solo hour-long performance on October 24, to be choreographed by her guru Geetha Padmakumar. She will perform six items in the span of one hour. “I am thrilled and looking forward to perform before a great gathering,” Manju says. “I can’t disclose more as two more months are left for the performance.”

Before bowing out of the entertainment world to become a homemaker, Manju had become a darling of the masses and also had won critical acclaim as one of the finest actresses Malayalam cinema had ever produced. She is still remembered for her roles in Aaram Thampuran, Kannezhuthi Pottum Thottu,Kanmadam and Sallapam to name just a few.

King Bolt retains 100m title with Olympic record

Jamaica's Usain Bolt sealed the legendary status he so craves after sprinting to a convincing victory in the men's Olympic 100m to retain his title on Sunday.

The 25-year-old world record holder turned on the after-burners at 60m to clock an Olympic record of 9.63sec, the second fastest time in history.

Jamaican compatriot and training partner Yohan Blake, long tipped as Bolt's successor as the fastest man in the world, claimed silver after equalling his personal best of 9.75sec.

American 2004 Olympic gold medallist Justin Gatlin completed his remarkable comeback from a four-year doping ban by taking the bronze medal in a personal best of 9.79sec.

Americans Tyson Gay and Ryan Bailey were fourth and fifth respectively with timings of 9.80 & 9.88 seconds while Asafa Powell was out of reckoning midway into the race as he finished last.

Mohanlal a superstar on Facebook too

The official Facebook page of actor Mohanlal, which was created on June 3, is now the fastest growing and most subscribed to page of a Malayalee on Facebook.

In two months, the page has amassed a whopping 3.19 lakh subscribers, a trend that even surprised Facebook authorities, say people behind the page.

Though there are no official statistics about the numero uno status of Lal’s page, it is learnt that no other Malayalee has ever crossed 3 lakh-subscriber mark on Facebook.

Dr Ashley Mulamoottil, a medico who gives free diagnosis on Facebook is believed to be the second most followed Malayalee on the social networking sites. He has 2.5 lakh followers.

The removal of the unofficial Mohanlal fans page and its merger with the official one has helped the page grow, said Sajeev Soman, one of Mohanlal’s friends, who helped the actor get active on the web world as well.“The day after the official Mohanlal page was created it received some 20,000 ‘Likes.’

China bans Muslims from fasting during Ramadan

China is discouraging some Muslims in the far western region of Xinjiang from fasting during Ramadan. The government says the move is motivated by health concerns, but others said Friday that it’s a risky campaign to secularize the Muslim minority that will likely backfire.

Several city, county and village governments in Xinjiang have posted notices on their websites banning or discouraging Communist Party members, civil servants, students and teachers from fasting during the religious holiday. Muslims around the world abstain from food and drink from dawn to dusk during the 30-day period.

Regional spokeswoman Hou Hanmin was quoted in the state-run Global Times newspaper Friday as saying authorities encourage people to “eat properly for study and work” but don’t force anyone to eat during Ramadan.

Mobile call rates likely to go up by 30 paise/min

Disappointed with Cabinet decision on fixing minimum or base price at Rs 14,000 crore for spectrum, the telecom industry today said the recommendations will prove to be "regressive" for the sector's growth and that operators would be forced to raise tariffs for consumers.

GSM operators body COAI, which counts Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular among its members, said the move will impact tariffs by 30 paise per minute on an average.

"It will continue to have an impact on the tariffs to the extent of about 30 paisa per minute. The effect on finances is that an amount of Rs 3,20,000 crore of additional debt that will have to be laid on the industry," COAI said.

Also, the banking industry itself has said that it would be near impossible to continue to fund this type of a demand for investment funds, he added.

"So the only thing that this is going to balance is perhaps the budget of the country if at all even that. So we really don't see any benefit that this decision does to the industry," Mathews said.

CDMA operators body AUSPI agreed. "It (reserve price) is still very high. It will definitely affect the tariffs," Association Of Unified Telecom Providers Of India Secretary General SC Khanna said.

Man attempted to attack Mata Amritanandamayi dies

A 25-year-old youth, Satnam Singh, who was arrested by the police on charges of attempt to assault Mata Amritanandamayi at her Ashram at Vallikkavu, Kollam, earlier in the week, died at the Mental Health Centre, Peroorkada, here on Saturday evening.

According to the information provided by the hospital authorities, Satnam Singh, who was brought to the hospital in the early hours on August 2, was exhibiting violent behaviour and the doctors were not able to examine him fully.

He was housed in a single cell in the Forensic ward. Hospital staff who went to serve dinner in the ward on Saturday, found him in a near unconscious state at around 7.30 p.m.

He was rushed to the Medical College Hospital where he was pronounced dead. The body has been moved to the mortuary. Hospital sources said they were investigating the incident.

Kerala faces drought scare

Drought-like conditions are staring at Kerala, spreading gloom and despair all around in a state, perennially blessed with copious monsoons that used to replenish the groundwater table and recharge natural aquifers.
The lush green idyll that poets so often extolled now is a thing of the past.
The biggest green paradox has been the much-vaunted 41 rivers, most of which are rivulets, compared to rivers in the northern plains.
The India Meteorology Department update says only 38 percent rainfall has been received this monsoon.

Kerala Government perhaps anticipated this. chief minister Oommen Chandy had initiated damage control measures, directing irrigation, water resources, power and revenue departments to draw up an action plan.

IMD has reported that rain deficits in major parts of the country are a growing concern and that August- September is likely to receive less rain.

Toyota Is Now Number 1 Global Car Maker– Will Increase Localization In India

Last year there were enough natural calamities in the east to affect Japanese automakers badly. All the Japanese majors were so affected that not only the production of car models was down in the home country but the supply of crucial components to global markets also came to a halt.

Among all the majors from Japan, Toyota was the one who suffered the most. We are not saying this because there was a production halt but more importantly because of the fact that it lost the number one global seller spot toGeneral Motors. While many must have thought it would take Toyota long to regain the numero uno (number one) spot, interestingly the company has done it that too before time.

Rambha clears the air on her divorce

There were some strange rumours that said that Rambha's marriage was in trouble and her relationshipwas heading towards divorce. Irritated by the speculations, the actress has denied the rumours and claimed that she is leading a happy life with her businessman husband Indran Pathmanathan and daughter Lavanya. Reports say that Rambha was sad to hear such rumours on the day of her hubby's birthday and that irked her a lot. Some websites claimed that their paradise was in trouble and they were planning to file a divorcepetition. Reacting to this, the actress reportedly said that she was happily married to Indran Pathmanathan and asked why people were spreading speculations.

Rambha and Indran Pathmanathan, a Canada-based businessman were married on April 8, 2010 in Tirupathi. After marriage, she settled in Toronto with her husband and began helping him in his business. The couple was blessed with a baby girl on January 14, 2011.