The Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan has formally accepted the position of brand ambassador of West Bengal, reported the Indo Asian News Service yesterday.
The position was offered to him the West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, after the two met last November at the Kolkata Film Festival.
Banerjee confirmed the news to reporters at the state secretariat Writers' Building in Kolkata on Monday.
Khan apparently accepted the position in the form of a personal letter addressed to Banerjee. "West Bengal is my second home," the 46-year-old actor wrote.
The Artist dog wins Golden Collar award
Uggie, the four-legged star of The Artist, was named Tinseltown's top dog at the inaugural Golden Collar Awards.
The ceremony held on Monday at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel proceeded like a traditional Hollywood-style awards show, with the likes of NCIS star Pauley Perrette and Hot in Cleveland actress Wendie Malick presenting trophies for the best dog performances in film and television.
Uggie's owner-trainer, Omar Von Muller, was on hand to accept the award. He said the Jack Russell terrier, who stole hearts in the silent film that's up for 10 Oscars, is a "great performer, but also a great family member".
Organised by dognewsdaily.com, the awards were broadcast online by The Hollywood Reporter, and are expected to be televised next year.
Martin Scorsese appeared at the ceremony by video. His Doberman in the film Hugo, Blackie, lost out to Uggie. Other winners included the French bulldog Brigitte, which plays Stella in TV's Modern Family.
* Associated Press
Madonna raffles off necklace
Madonna is giving her fans the chance to own the Swarovski Montaigne necklace she wore in the promo video for her new single Give Me All Your Luvin', reported contactmusic.com.
The pop star has teamed up with the jewellery brand to raffle off the prize on the internet. Fans need to log on to Madonna's official Facebook page to enter the giveaway, which also includes an autograph from the artist.
Entries will be accepted until Sunday, with the winner announced on March 12.
Authorities: Houston was underwater in tub
In addition to having prescription drugs in her room, Whitney Houston was underwater and apparently unconscious when she was pulled from a Beverly Hills hotel bathtub, authorities said on Monday.
Two days after her death, Houston's body was flown from Los Angeles to New Jersey, where her family was making arrangements for a funeral at the end of the week.
An autopsy was performed on Sunday, and authorities said there were no indications of foul play or obvious signs of trauma on Houston's body. It could be weeks, however, before the coroner's office completes toxicology tests to establish her cause of death.
The 48-year-old singer had struggled for years with cocaine, marijuana and pills.
Two sources who spoke on condition of anonymity, because they weren't authorised to speak for the family, said Houston's relatives raised the possibility of a wake on Thursday and a funeral on Friday at Newark's Prudential Center, an arena that can seat about 18,000 people.
* Associated Press
Ali Mostafa to endorse Britain in the UAE
The British tourism agency VisitBritain has appointed the Emirati film director Ali Mostafa as the UAE Goodwill Ambassador, endorsing Britain's tourism credentials among UAE citizens.
Mostafa, who directed the first Emirati feature film City of Life, joins a stellar group of tourism ambassadors, including Judi Dench, Dev Patel and Jamie Oliver.
Mostafa, whose father is Emirati and mother British, was born and educated in London.
'Wax museum' offers window to Iraq's past
Baghdad's version of a wax museum features figures that depict Iraq's past, rather than replicas of celebrities.
The Baghdadi Museum features sculpted works of wax and plaster that depict scenes of Iraq from about a century ago, with women standing in balconies, men in barber shops and artists hard at work.
Other exhibits show Sufi ceremonies or marriages, as well as women in Turkish baths - all carefully recreated in the museum, located inside an elegant Ottoman-era house.
Formerly an archaeological museum founded by the British adventurer Gertrude Bell, the building lies in Baghdad's old Baab Al-Muadham area near the banks of the river Tigris. The museum has more than 500 figurines.
* Agence France-Presse
Company Profile
Name: HyveGeo
Started: 2023
Founders: Abdulaziz bin Redha, Dr Samsurin Welch, Eva Morales and Dr Harjit Singh
Based: Cambridge and Dubai
Number of employees: 8
Industry: Sustainability & Environment
Funding: $200,000 plus undisclosed grant
Investors: Venture capital and government
A QUIET PLACE
Starring: Lupita Nyong'o, Joseph Quinn, Djimon Hounsou
Director: Michael Sarnoski
Rating: 4/5
Can NRIs vote in the election?
Indians residing overseas cannot cast their ballot abroad
Non-resident Indians or NRIs can vote only by going to a polling booth in their home constituency
There are about 3.1 million NRIs living overseas
Indians have urged political parties to extend the right to vote to citizens residing overseas
A committee of the Election Commission of India approved of proxy voting for non-resident Indians
Proxy voting means that a person can authorise someone residing in the same polling booth area to cast a vote on his behalf.
This option is currently available for the armed forces, police and government officials posted outside India
A bill was passed in the lower house of India’s parliament or the Lok Sabha to extend proxy voting to non-resident Indians
However, this did not come before the upper house or Rajya Sabha and has lapsed
The issue of NRI voting draws a huge amount of interest in India and overseas
Over the past few months, Indians have received messages on mobile phones and on social media claiming that NRIs can cast their votes online
The Election Commission of India then clarified that NRIs could not vote online
The Election Commission lodged a complaint with the Delhi Police asking it to clamp down on the people spreading misinformation
SUZUME
Director: Makoto Shinkai
Stars: Nanoka Hara, Hokuto Matsumura, Eri Fukatsu
Rating: 4/5
2017 RESULTS: FRENCH VOTERS IN UK
First round
Emmanuel Macron: 51.1%
Francois Fillon: 24.2%
Jean-Luc Melenchon: 11.8%
Benoit Hamon: 7.0%
Marine Le Pen: 2.9%
Second round
Emmanuel Macron: 95.1%
Marine Le Pen: 4.9%
Stamp duty timeline
December 2014: Former UK chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne reforms stamp duty land tax (SDLT), replacing the slab system with a blended rate scheme, with the top rate increasing to 12 per cent from 10 per cent:
Up to £125,000 – 0%; £125,000 to £250,000 – 2%; £250,000 to £925,000 – 5%; £925,000 to £1.5m: 10%; More than £1.5m – 12%
April 2016: New 3% surcharge applied to any buy-to-let properties or additional homes purchased.
July 2020: Chancellor Rishi Sunak unveils SDLT holiday, with no tax to pay on the first £500,000, with buyers saving up to £15,000.
March 2021: Mr Sunak extends the SDLT holiday at his March 3 budget until the end of June.
April 2021: 2% SDLT surcharge added to property transactions made by overseas buyers.
June 2021: SDLT holiday on transactions up to £500,000 expires on June 30.
July 2021: Tax break on transactions between £125,000 to £250,000 starts on July 1 and runs until September 30.
COMPANY PROFILE
Company name: OneOrder
Started: March 2022
Founders: Tamer Amer and Karim Maurice
Based: Cairo
Number of staff: 82
Investment stage: Series A
SPECS
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
MATCH INFO
West Ham United 2 (Antonio 73', Ogbonna 90+5')
Tottenham Hotspur 3 (Son 36', Moura 42', Kane 49')
What is blockchain?
Blockchain is a form of distributed ledger technology, a digital system in which data is recorded across multiple places at the same time. Unlike traditional databases, DLTs have no central administrator or centralised data storage. They are transparent because the data is visible and, because they are automatically replicated and impossible to be tampered with, they are secure.
The main difference between blockchain and other forms of DLT is the way data is stored as ‘blocks’ – new transactions are added to the existing ‘chain’ of past transactions, hence the name ‘blockchain’. It is impossible to delete or modify information on the chain due to the replication of blocks across various locations.
Blockchain is mostly associated with cryptocurrency Bitcoin. Due to the inability to tamper with transactions, advocates say this makes the currency more secure and safer than traditional systems. It is maintained by a network of people referred to as ‘miners’, who receive rewards for solving complex mathematical equations that enable transactions to go through.
However, one of the major problems that has come to light has been the presence of illicit material buried in the Bitcoin blockchain, linking it to the dark web.
Other blockchain platforms can offer things like smart contracts, which are automatically implemented when specific conditions from all interested parties are reached, cutting the time involved and the risk of mistakes. Another use could be storing medical records, as patients can be confident their information cannot be changed. The technology can also be used in supply chains, voting and has the potential to used for storing property records.
Profile Box
Company/date started: 2015
Founder/CEO: Mohammed Toraif
Based: Manama, Bahrain
Sector: Sales, Technology, Conservation
Size: (employees/revenue) 4/ 5,000 downloads
Stage: 1 ($100,000)
Investors: Two first-round investors including, 500 Startups, Fawaz Al Gosaibi Holding (Saudi Arabia)
