Chris Martin credits sewing for Coldplay's spectacular success!

Hollywood studio Warner Bros are suing Indian producers in relation to a movie they believe infringes the copyright of the 'Harry Potter' franchise.
The Warner Bros have filed a lawsuit against Mumbai-based studio Mirchi Movies, who are set to release a film entitled 'Hari Puttar - A Comedy of Terrors'. Releasing Sept 12, the film follows the life of a 10-year-old Indian boy who moves to Britain, reports contactmusic.com.
Warner Bros believe the name is too similar to the title character of the hugely popular wizard franchise, whose latest film 'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince' has been pushed back for release until next year.
'We have recently commenced proceedings against parties involved in the production and distribution of a movie entitled 'Hari Puttar',' said a spokesperson for Warner Bros.
The spokesperson added: 'Warner Bros values and protects intellectual property rights. However, it is our policy not to discuss publicly the details of any ongoing litigation.'
But Mirchi Movies denies any copyright conflict.
'We registered the 'Hari Puttar' title in 2005, and it is unfortunate that Warner Bros has chosen to file a case so close to our film's release. In my opinion, I don't think our title has any similarity or links with 'Harry Potter',' said Munish Purii, chief executive officer, Mirchi Movies.
The case is listed for hearing in Bombay High Court Monday.

Brit puts honeymoon up for sale after fiancee dumps him!

A devastated Brit has put his honeymoon up for sale in a newsagent's window after his wife-to-be walked out on him weeks before their marriage.
Lee Leaver spent 2,000 pounds on a dream fortnight in the Dominican Republic but his fiancee called off their marriage after a blazing row.
Now, Lee is offering the all-inclusive trip for a knockdown 1,000 pounds.
"We had a massive barney and I've not seen her since. I'm gutted - but at least this way I can claw some of my money back," the Sun quoted Lee, as saying.
Lee had planned to exchange wedding vows with Ruth in a fairytale ceremony at Gretna Green after she popped the question.
The couple then planned two weeks of marital bliss from September 2 at a luxury spa hotel, where Lee booked the honeymoon suite.
However, after a series of rows he went home in Swinton, Greater Manchester, to find furious Ruth had torn up their photo album and called off the 14-month relationship.
He begged her to postpone the wedding and fly out to the Caribbean country so they could patch things up - but Ruth refused.
A pal of Ruth said: "She's upset and doesn't want Lee to know where she is." (ANI)
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India's day at the global Village

GETTING INSIDE the Games Village is a painstaking task. Screening, over-zealous volunteers following each step, security persons guarding the privacy of the sportspersons in the Village are some of the things that immediately strike you.
India's flag hoisting ceremony gave me the opportunity to visit the Village. From coffee shops to departmental stores, it had everything. I was so engrossed after entering the Village that I almost forgot about the ceremony. This is the only time - other than after winning a medal - when one gets to hear the National Anthem and see the Tricolour being hoisted at the Games. On Thursday, as the Indian flag was hoisted, the contingent was officially ushered into the Village by mayor Chen Zi Li.
'Underdog' Rathore honouredRajyavardhan Singh Rathore, who will be carrying the flag during the opening ceremony on Friday, finally broke his silence. "Being chosen as the flag-bearer in an Olympics is one of the greatest honours that has been bestowed upon me," he said.
Tagging himself as an underdog, Rathore said: "A lot of shooters have been doing well. For the last few months, I have not been doing as well as I would have liked. But I know what I need to do. It all comes down to that particular day."
Jitender living a dreamFlyweight boxer Jitender couldn't help but exclaim: "I am living a dream!" Representing his country at the Olympics for the first time, the 20-year-old pugilist never believed he would be at a Games Village some day.
Dinesh, another Olympic debutant, was over the moon too. He took pictures from every angle possible, so what if his bout is on Saturday. "Let me live the moment first," he said.
Two boxers who missed the ceremony were Akhil Kumar and Vijender. For an amateur, fighting the scales is as important as his favourite punch. The two were trying to reduce weight.

Lockheed Martin to invest $300,000 in IIT Delhi

New Delhi, Aug 6 (IANS) Recognising the excellence of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi, combat aircraft manufacturing giant Lockheed Martin has chosen it for a $300,000 project of collaborative research in bio- and nano-technology.
"We have already signed an agreement with the IIT Delhi. We are investing $300,000 for a collaborative project over a period of one year," Ray O. Johnson, senior vice president and chief technology officer of Lockheed Martin, said here Wednesday.
"This is the first such collaboration with any institute beyond the US and Europe. The IIT is an institute of recognised excellence across the globe in this field of bio- and nano-technology and after the successful completion of the project, we may have some follow up projects," Johnson told IANS.
He said Lockheed had been engaged in discussions with the IIT Delhi for nearly a year to "identify mutual areas of interest in technology collaboration and research".
With the broad spectrum of bio- and nano-technology, research will be carried out in the fields like nano-technology-enabled biological sensors, biodegradable nonmaterial for medical treatment and bio-filters for pollution detection.
"The partnership is an exciting prospect for advancing technology and establishing a long-term relationship with Lockheed Martin. We are surprised but happy about the collaboration," IIT Delhi director Surendra Prasad said in a select press meet.
When asked about the choice of of the IIT Delhi for the collaboration, Prasad said: "we are doing quite well in the field and they know the IIT Delhi is the best in India."
Eight professors from four departments of the institute and up to five experts from Lockheed will work together here to achieve success in the project and work out future collaboration.
Asked who will have the patent for the new products, molecules, Prasad said: "The intellectual property rights issues are yet to be finalised but no one can stop the IIT Delhi from publishing the research results."
Johnson said the objectives of the research partnership include "developing domain expertise in the nano-biological technologies for application to Lockheed Martin products, services, and adjacent market pursuits".
"It will also strive to achieve capabilities in modelling and simulation, virtual experimentation and conceptual designing of nano-biological systems," he added.
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1.3 million saplings planted in a day in Himachal

Shimla, Aug.5 (ANI): The Himachal Pradesh government recently launched a mass afforestation drive with at least one member of the aimed 1.3 million rural and urban families planting a medicinal or herbal sapling.
The major plantation drive was carried out on the weekend here that witnessed a record number of saplings being planted by public under the programme named "Jan-Jan- Sanjivni Van Abhiyan".
Most of the families planted herbal plants in the kitchen gardens or in the foreyard of their houses.
Himachal Pradesh chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal, initiated the campaign by planting a sapling at his residence in Shimla and described the mass plantation drive as a multi-pronged programme.
"Every family of the State is being involved. Every family will plant a herbal plant provided by the Government. One plant will not be enough; it is for the inspiration of the people. People should grow maximum herbal plants. It will not only help to keep the environment clean but also on commercial basses it will generate revenue to the people," said Prem Kumar Dhumal, Chief Minister, Himachal Pradesh.
State forest minister J. P. Nadda termed the plantation drive as a public sensitizing and viable programme.
He contended that the people's participation was not so encouraging in the "Van Mohtosava" since it was limited to the Forest Department. As such the Conservator of Forests came forth with an idea to involve the classes and the masses people through this Jan-Jan- Sanjivni campaign.
"The Forest Department developed these plants in the nurseries. We developed approximately 24 lakh (2.4 million) plants and then we started this programme known as Jan-Jan- Sanjivni Van Abhiyan 2008," said J. P. Nadda, Minister of Forests in Himachal Pradesh.
" The objective was that we had some 57 species out of which 19 are of the kind which grown into trees and the rest are herbs and shrubs. We divided the whole State in three levels - the lower altitude, middle altitude and the higher altitude. We distributed the plants accordingly. For the last one-and-a-half months, the distribution part started. I am happy to say that we have crossed the 13-lakh (1.3 million) plant distribution," Nadda informed.
People have also hailed the plantation campaign. They believe that such programmes can be successful only if a proper feedback is compiled and monitored.
"The Government has to pay some attention. There is a need to take feedback and after studying the success of this campaign, the Government should distribute a plant to every individual of the State from next year, which will keep the environment clean and the dream of becoming a herbal state will also get fulfilled. The launching of such campaign by the Government is going to us benefit us definitely," observed Lekhraj, a local resident.
The Department of Forests will take feedback in October and according to the inputs and convenience of the people of the State, a policy will be formulated.
The Himachal Pradesh government has also signed an agreement with the Patanjali Yoga of popular Yoga Guru Baba Ramdev, it will buy the fruits, leaves and roots of these plants for medicinal purposes. By Hemant Chauhan (ANI)
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Obama unveils plan to end US 'oil addiction' by 2018

Lansing (Michigan, US): Barack Obama put forward a broad energy plan on Monday designed to end US reliance on imported oil within 10 years and shore up his standing amid a tightening White House race and high anxiety over gas prices.
Obama's proposal, though, includes two significant reversals of past positions: He had steadfastly fought the idea of limited new offshore drilling and had been against tapping the nation's emergency oil stockpile to relieve pump prices that have stubbornly hovered around $4 a gallon.
In a speech in Michigan, the Democratic Presidential nominee-in-waiting also endorsed long-term work on hybrid cars and renewable energy sources.
"Breaking our oil addiction is one of the greatest challenges our generation will ever face," the Illinois Democrat told a supportive audience as he began a week's focus on energy issues. "It will take nothing less than a complete transformation of our economy," he said.
Presumed Republican nominee Senator John McCain, speaking in Pennsylvania, again advocated more oil drilling off the US coast. "Anybody who says that we can achieve energy independence without using and increasing these existing energy resources either doesn't have the experience to understand the challenge that we face or isn't giving the American people some straight talk," he said.
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Obama and McCain are emphasising solutions to the country's energy woes as they seek an advantage in polling that shows the race competitive just weeks before their respective national nominating conventions and the final stretch of the campaign. The issue cuts across the diverse electorate, resonating with voters of all stripes, and it gives the candidates a way to talk both about domestic and foreign issues. High gas prices are pushing food and transportation costs higher, affecting consumers weathering a weak economy, while the country's dependence on foreign oil has emerged as a pivotal national security concern.
Obama, who as recently as last month argued against tapping the petroleum reserve, proposed that the government sell 70 million barrels of oil from the stockpile and said past release from the reserve have lowered gas prices within two weeks.
Explaining his thinking, campaign energy adviser Heather Zichal said Obama "recognises that Americans are suffering."
The reserve contains 707 million barrels in salt caverns in Texas and Louisiana. It was last tapped shortly after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
Obama said US politicians have failed for three decades to deal with the energy crisis, and that McCain has been "part of that failure." He called tapping the petroleum reserves a short-term solution to a long-term problem.
"Like George Bush and Dick Cheney before him," Obama said of the Arizonan, "he sees more drilling as the answer to all of our energy problems, and like them, he's found a receptive audience in the very same oil companies that have blocked our progress for so long. In fact, he raised more than one million dollars from big oil just last month."
Also on Monday, Obama's campaign unveiled a television ad that criticises McCain's energy policies. "After one President in the pocket of big oil we can't afford another," says the ad, referring to Bush's previous work in the oil industry.
Both candidates have moderated their positions since earlier this year. McCain abandoned his past opposition to drilling on the Outer Continental shelf and now is an aggressive advocate of such drilling. On Friday, Obama signalled that he could support limited new offshore drilling if it were needed to enact a compromise energy policy.
"We're not going to achieve energy independence by inflating our tires," McCain told employees at the National Label in Lafayette Hill, Pennsylvania part of Obama's energy plan calls for consumers to fully inflate their tires for improved gas mileage.
McCain also called on Obama to join him in calling for Congress to return from its August recess to pass a comprehensive energy policy. Spokesman Bill Burton said Obama would join the call only if McCain is willing to pass a policy that provides $1,000 energy rebates and invests in renewable energy — two of Obama's proposals.
Gas prices have risen steadily as an issue since last November, according to a recent AP-Yahoo News poll. The issue rose to second place after the economy more broadly.
Obama said it was his "single overarching goal" to end US reliance on oil from the Middle East and Venezuela over the next 10 years; he put the government pricetag at $150 billion.
The petroleum reserve is capable of releasing about 4 million barrels a day. It's unclear what impact such a release might have on global oil prices, or costs of gasoline at the pump. But a clear signal by the United States to use its emergency reserve to a significant extent could put downward pressure on oil markets at least for a time, energy experts say.
In 2000, President Clinton used a similar "swap" of government oil as proposed by Obama, making available 30 million barrels because of concern over rising prices and supply worries in advance of that year's winter heating season. Republicans criticised the move as an attempt to help then Vice President Al Gore's Presidential bid.
Obama said that, under his plan, oil companies would bid to borrow easily refinable light sweet oil from the reserve, and replace it later with heavier oil.
Elgie Holstein, an Obama energy adviser, said that while fewer refineries now are capable of refining the heavier stuff into gasoline, that won't be the case in the future.

Status quo on Kashmir, US tells Gilani

Gilani appealed to Washington for support on Kashmir Washington: Two days after Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani appealed to Washington to "encourage and support the Kashmir issue", the United States said that its stand on the contentious issue remains unchanged.State Department Spokesman Sean McCormack said the United States' policy on Kashmir remains the same and that there is "no change".He was asked whether the Kashmir issue was discussed during the Pakistani Premier's visit to the US. In his public address at the Council on Foreign Relations during his visit, Gilani had said that Washington "should encourage and support this issue." When asked how he want the US to play a role on the Kashmir issue, Gilani said: "Actually what the United States really want, they can do it."