RELIANCE LAUNCHES CHEAPEST COLOUR PHONE AT A PRICE OF RS 999

In a bid to break entry barrier for coloured-display phones, Reliance Communication today launched 'Classic 732' at a price of Rs 999, the lowest in Indian market.

Classic is India's largest operator-driven handset brand introduced by Reliance at a very low entry level pricing, a top company official said.

"We have crossed the one crore sales mark in Classic handsets. Now, the Classic 732 will become the entry level handset for new mobile users in the country," Reliance Communications President, Personal Business S P Shukla told reporters here.

Earlier in May, the company had launched the Classic monochrome phones at a price of Rs 777.

"With about 200 million mobile users in India, the penetration still is at a low of 20 per cent. Apart from affordability for new customers, we have to enhance the experience of existing customers," Shukla said.

He declined to comment on the handset manufacturing cost or the cost at which the company was purchasing it.

"The pricing is through a comparison of acquisition cost of a new customer and the customer life cycle value," he said.

Reliance Communication has a total customer base of over 38 million including 1.2 million individual overseas retail customers. Its average revenues per users (ARPUs) was Rs 375.

CHINES GO BONKERS OVER AISHWARYA'S BEAUTY

Aishwarya Rai is among the few crop of current Indian actors to have a considerable following among the young Chinese in the sub-provincial district Shenzhen.

Just opposite to the majestic hotel Pavilion on the Huaqiang Road is a huge L'Oreal hoarding featuring Rai.

"She's beautiful. I pass through this road every day and never fail to have a look at the hoarding," says Zu Shan, who works as a marketing executive of an advertising company.

Aishwarya is the brand ambassador of L'Oreal's cosmetic products. "Aishwarya is a good actress. I have seen most of her movies," he says.

Zu's favourite male star is Abhishek Bachchan. "The two make a great couple," he says.

Zeng Fangjun also adores Aishwarya's beauty as well as her acting talents. "She is quite talented. I got to watch some of her movies on the local cable network," says the communications manager of an IT firm.

Local channels like CCTV feature Indian movies with Chinese subtitles. Zeng said she watched Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, Devdas and Aur Pyar Ho Gaya among others on cable TV.

Zeng's Indian friends also provide her with their stock of Aishwarya films.

INDIA SHINING: WE ARE ONE OF THE TOP TALENT HOTSPOTS IN THE WORLD

India will retain 10th position as the world's leading country for nurturing and developing talent over the next five years, says the first ever Global Talent Index (GTI).

Asian Pacific countries are giving a tough competition to the US and Europe when it comes to attracting and nurturing talent, says the Index developed by executive search firm Heidrick and Struggles and the Economist Intelligence Unit covering thirty countries chosen for the survey based on a representative geographical spread.

The GTI says that the much fabled 'BRIC' (Brazil, Russia, India and China) phenomenon should more accurately be expressed as 'IC' when it comes to talent. While China and India rank among the top 10 talent hotspots worldwide, Russia will fall from sixth to 11th place by 2012, while Brazil will slip from 18th to 19th.

India will be followed by Malaysia, which will remain in 12th place, South Korea, which will rise from 15th to 13th, and Japan (16th to 14th).

It adds, US will maintain its position as the world's leading country for nurturing and developing talent over the next five years but faces increasing competition from the UK, which will rise to second place by 2012, and China, which moves from eighth to sixth.

The index points out that China which is the world's most populous country is set to exploit its natural advantage by significantly improving its compulsory education system and developing a much better environment for producing and nurturing talent. This the index adds will enable the country to build on its manufacturing base and attract increasing numbers of foreign-owned businesses. PTI

DHONI IS JHARKHAND RATNA, AND MORE SURPRISES IN STORE FOR HIM FROM JHARKHAND CM

Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda today said he would present a surprise gift to the inaugural ICC Twenty20 World Cup winning captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni when he returns home.

"I have promised a surprise gift for Dhoni and it is proper that I should reveal it before him only. If I reveal now, the surprise element will be lost.

A couple of years ago, the state government had given a piece of land in the state capital after Dhoni's sizzling performance at the international level.

The Chief Minister, who watched the entire match in the capital, said he spoke to Dhoni's parents over phone and congratulated them on the success of the Indian team.

"We have arranged a grand celebration for Dhoni...We are already conferring him the Jharkhand Ratna on November 15."

ABHISHEK SAYS ASH TAKES PRECEDENCE OVER EVERYTHING IN HIS LIFE

Bollywood actor Abhishek Bachchan, newly married to co-star and former Miss World Aishwarya Rai, is so much in love that he says when it comes to sharing things his wife takes precedence over all.

"You always give things first to the wife, and then you have," the actor said, adding that this was how marriages worked among Indians.

Though he may not admit it, Bachchan struck gold at the box office with several hit films around the time he began dating Rai. Now, all he will say is that his time has come.

The two tied the knot in April and industry analysts say their marriage created Bollywood's ultimate power couple.

The wedding celebrations sent India's celebrity-obsessed media into frenzy, and even months later, public interest in the couple -- likened to Hollywood duo Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie -- remains as strong with talk that Rai could be pregnant.

But Bachchan scotched the speculation. "That's incorrect ... there's no such good news. When there is, I will tell you," he said, on the sidelines of an endorsement event late on Thursday.

Rai, 33, and Bachchan, 31, have worked together in at least five films. Rai was crowned Miss World in 1994.

YAMADONGA CREATES A NEW RECORD IN FIRST WEEK COLLECTIONS

SENSEX SURGES 291 POINTS AT MIDSESSION

In volatile trading, the benchmark Sensex surged over 291 points at midsession on the Bombay Stock Exchange today on emergence of buying by funds amid brokers covering their short positions.

The key index moved in a wide range of 14,280 and 13,870 points on heavy alternate bouts of trading in fundamentally strong stocks led by heavy-machinery and information technology company stocks.

The Sensex gained 291.22 points at 14,280.33 at 13:00 hours, while the wide-based National Stock Exchange's Nifty gained 87.50 points at 4,162.40. The Nifty had fallen to 4,040.15 in morning deals.

The Sensex had plunged 438 points yesterday on political developments over the nuclear issue after the last week's bearish trend over widening sub-prime mortgage problems in US markets.

"The fresh firmness in the market came on speculations that the US Federal Reserve cutting the discount rate might help the market to defuse a crisis in the credit markets and revive demand for riskier assets like equities, Mumbai-based broker Ratnesh Gupta said.

Asian stocks rose on the back of rebound in US stocks for the fourth day yesterday, giving positive signals to the Indian markets, even discounting the political crisis at home, Gupta said.

Reliance Industries, which has the world's third biggest refinery and is the heaviest on the Sensex, jumped Rs 8.15, or 0.5 per cent, to Rs 1,755.5.

Infosys Technologies rose Rs 10, or 0.6 per cent, to Rs 1,771. India's second-largest software exporter expanded into Latin America by setting up a software development and sales unit in Monterrey, Mexico. These two companies carry almost one-fifth of the total weightage on the Sensex.

IF SALMAN IS DRAWING A PAINTING FOR AMRITA ARORA, WHY IS THE CATHOLIC FORUM UPSET?

The Catholic Secular Forum has threatened to file a first information report against Bollywood actor Salman Khan for his decision to paint the famous 'Last Supper' scene for actress Amrita Arora.

Khan is reported to have announced that he would replace Jesus Christ and his disciples with Arora and members of her family. The fact came to light after Arora spoke about the painting in an interview to an English daily.

The Mumbai-based Christian activist organisation has also threatened to hold a demonstration outside Arora's house if Khan proceeds with his art project.

The forum has asked Union Minister for Minority Affairs A R Antulay to take up the issue with the actor. "If Khan does not offer an apology or deny the reports, we will register a case against him tomorrow," said CSF General Secretary Joseph Dias.

PRATIBHA PATIL IS ELECTED INDIA'S FIRST WOMAN PRESIDENT

Congress activists in a jubilant mood ahead of the Presidential poll results on Friday in Allahabad

Pratibha Patil was on Saturday elected the country's first woman President, defeating NDA-backed independent Bhairon Singh Shekhawat by a huge margin in a bitterly contested poll following which he resigned as Vice President.

The 72-year-old UPA-Left nominee won by a margin of over three-lakh vote value while Shekhawat drew a blank in as many as four states and suffered cross voting against him in BJP-ruled Gujarat and Chhattisgarh and some other states ruled by its allies.

Shortly after the official declaration of Patil's victory, 84-year-old Shekhawat quit as Vice-President. He drove to Rashtrapati Bhavan and handed over his resignation to President A P J Abdul Kalam.

In the final count, Patil got a vote value of 6,38,116 while Shekhawat secured 3,31,306 in the electoral college of 10.98 lakhs. The winner got 65.82 per cent of the valid votes.

Most constituents of the Third Front having 12.5 per cent vote share in the electoral college abstained from the poll.

Patil, who will be the country's 13th President, would be sworn in on July 25 in the Central Hall of Parliament.

There were scenes of jubilation at the temporary residence of Patil in the South Avenue area of the capital as also outside 10 Janpath, the residence of UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi.

Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh were among the first political leaders to greet the President-elect, who thanked the people for her success. Patil said it was a "victory of the principles which our Indian people uphold".

Patil's election historic: Bardhan

Terming the election of Patil to the office of President as "historic", CPI General Secretary A B Bardhan today said those who opposed her have to reconcile to the UPA-Left candidate's victory. "It is a historic win and we have a woman president at the 60th year of independence...it is a great moment," Bardhan told reporters. "Those who have opposed her have to reconcile her victory," he said.

RAJNIKANTH GIVES HIS FAN THE BEST DAY OF HIS LIFE

Naveen Jain, a Rajnikanth fan, bumped into the superstar while travelling to Chennai. And casually requested him to pose for a photograph. And the superstar made his day by posing for a dozen of them.

'He (Rajnikanth) is a very, very humble and down-to-earth person,' says an overjoyed Jain . 'The best part was when he took my newborn son in his lap.'

SALMAN WANTS TO WALK IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF RAJNIKANTH

Rajnikanth has not only taken the world by storm with the release of his new film Sivaji: the boss, he has also set the Bollywood actors on an introspection mode. Look who's taking inspiration from Rajnikanth, now? Govinda's partner in crime Salman Khan. The Pathan can't stop to be adoring the superstar of south India. So much so that he wants to follow in his footsteps.

Says Salman, “I have a certain sense of contentment today. I want to do what Rajnikanth is doing. Whatever he earns, he gives back to the people.”

Way to go, Salman. We know that you have already given the money that you make from your paintings to charity. This will add another feather to your cap.