Tamil People awaits for Shivaji - Chennai

whatever be the date of release, no one wants to compete with the biggest names in the Tamil film industry.

Movies that waited for the World Cup and the exams to finish could now settle for a safer bet - to release their films well before or after Shivaji.

Director Pushkar has planned to released his movie Oram Po only much after Shivaji hits the theatres.

"The guys who are distributing Shivaji will get the best theatres, so for a small film to come in at this point of time, business-wise it becomes a little difficult to get good theatres or even good hoardings," says he.

Distributor's say that Shivaji's producers may go for 12 to 15 prints in A-grade theatres, literally leaving over a dozen others waiting to release their movies with not much choice but to release it before or after the release of the Rajnikanth starrer.

While the producers of Mayakannadi hope to release the film in mid-April to give it a fortnight's run before Shivaji releases, producers of other films such as Oram po and Solli Adippein have decided to play it safe releasing their films a little after Shivaji's hits the theatres.

And a Rajnikanth starrer would also mean that it's time for most movies released in the last two months such as Vijay's Pokkiri to shift to B-grade theatres.

Said to be made at a budget of Rs 60 crore, Shivaji would quite easily qualify as the most expensive film ever made in Tamil cinema, but a delay in its release is proving to be expensive for many other small budget movies.

Madurai New Flight Timings

Timing - Indian Air Lines
Flight No.	Departure	Departure Time (IST)	Arrival	Arrival Time (IST)	Fares
IC 672	Madurai	13.20	Chennai	14.15	RS.2625/-
IC 672	Chennai	14.55	Madurai	16.40	Rs.4825/-
IC 671	Mumbai	9.20	Chennai	11.05	Rs.4825/-
IC 671	Chennai	11.45	Madurai	12.40	Rs.2625/-

Jet Airways
Flight No.	Departure	Departure Time (IST)	Arrival	Arrival Time (IST)	Fares
9W 417	Mumbai	9.35	Madurai	11.30	Rs. 5600/-
9W 418	Madurai	12.00	Mumbai	01.55	Rs. 5600/-

Air Deccan
Flight No.	Origin	Destination	Departure	Arrival
DA-106	Madurai	Bangalore	12.10	12.25
DN-145	Madurai	Tuticorin	10.50	11.15
DN-145	Chennai	Madurai	09.15	10.30
DN-111	Chennai	Madurai	17.15	18.30

Air Lines	Phone Numbers
Airport Enquiry	2671333,2670433
Indian Airlines Booking Enquiry	2741234
International Booking	2741236
Indian Airlines, Airport Enquiry	2671333, 2670433
Indian Airlines Cargo	2742707
East West Airlines	2742695
NEPC Airlines, Enquiry	2740520
Jet Airways	2522077,2526969, 2677771

Kamal Encourage them all

Young heroes in Tamil cinema go the Kamal Hassan way. Kamal Hassan has been donning different makeup for Dasavatharam. It takes over four hours for Kamal to get himself ready for each role.

Following Kamal Hassan, up and coming actors like Bharath and Jeeva too have evinced keen interest in going in for a different makeup’s.

Bharath is playing the title role in a movie titled Nepali. Directed by V Z Durai, the movie features Bharath in the role of a Nepali Gurkha. In order to suit the role, the actor is donning a different makeup and it takes over a couple of hours for him to get ready with the makeup. Similarly Jeeva for his Thamizh MA has opted for a new makeup.

Priyamani gets going

The long wait for success for Priyamani ended with Paruthi Veeran. Though she had acted in several Tamil films before, it was Paruthi Veeran which propelled her career in Tamil. Her role was widely acclaimed and she had more offers coming her way. Meanwhile, the actress has also established herself successfully in Tollywood.

She is part of a couple of big projects which includes a movie opposite Junior NTR.

In Yamadonga, Priyamani plays Junior NTR's heroine. Malluwood girl Mamta Mohandas is also in the cast.

She is acting in Toss opposite Raja. The movie features Kamna Jethmalani too.

Says Priyamani, “I am delighted to have won a place in both Tamil and Telugu film industry. I would concentrate on doing movies in both Tamil and Telugu.”

Though she is getting enough offers now to play a part of commercial cinema, Priyamani hopes to do at least one off-beat film a year.

Ref:indiaglitz.com

Fake ration cards seized

Four persons, including a ration shop salesman, have been arrested on charges of circulating more than 500 bogus ration cards at Vikramangalam, near Usilampatti, in Madurai District, officials said today.

They were rounded up following raids conducted by top Civil Supplies Department officials after receiving complaints about circulation of bogus cards, they said.

According to officials, they were inquiring into the role of some officials of the Civil Supplies Department in the circulation the bogus ration cards, for which supplies had been made leading to the loss of several lakhs of rupees.

"We strongly suspect that the officials have connived in the offence. There could be more arrests at the official level," said a top official on condition of anonymity.

The raid also revealed that many genuine persons did not receive their ration cards.

The Joint Commissioner of Civil Supplies Chandramohan had visited some of the shops early last week and intense audit was conducted in some ration shops suspected to have been allotted bogus ration cards.

Police arrested Singam, assistant secretary of the Vikramangalam Primary Cooperative Society, Ravi, salesman, and two others. All of them were remanded to judicial custody.

Meanwhile, in Sivaganga district, police seized 190 bags of ration rice and arrested three persons on charges of smuggling it.

Police, on a tip-off that ration rice was being smuggled from a shop at Maravamangalam, patrolled the area and intercepted a lorry transporting rice bags.

Three loadmen identified as Selvam, Saravanan and Periyasamy, who were travelling on the lorry, have been arrested.

They confessed that the PDS rice was being taken from a shop at Maravamangalam to Karaikudi.

The lorry driver managed to escape. A case has been registered

TMB to introduce internet banking facilities

Madurai, Feb. 3 (PTI): The Tamilnad Mercantile Bank Ltd today said it plans to double its current turnover from 10,500 crores to Rs 21,000 crores in three years and introduce internet banking facilities by the beginning of next fiscal.

TMB Managing Director G Narayana Moorthy told reporters here that negotiations were in the final stages for buying software for the Internet banking facility. The bank was also ready to introduce the cheque truncation facility, with the necessary hardware and software, he said.

'Cheque Truncation, introduced as a pilot scheme in all bank branches in Delhi, will help in instant clearing of cheques and will be introduced from April after a trial run,' he said.

Under the scheme, an image of the cheque would be sent to Delhi, where the computer would recognise and clear it.

He claimed that TMB was the only private bank to enter into Bilateral Key Arrangements (BKA) with 650 banks. This would help exporters in LC opening and advising and confirming transfer of money at a faster pace, Naryaana Moorthy said.

TMB was negotiating with General Insurance companies to provide mediclaim facility to depositors and creditors. If the premium was low, TMB would absorb it and if high, collect the amounts from customers. They also planned to provide insurance facilitie"

Tech World

The tier-two cities in Tamil Nadu are fast emerging as new IT destinations, with a number of projects aimed at attracting IT investment nearing completion in cities like Madurai, Coimbatore and Trichy.

Initiatives have already been taken up to set up an information technology park in Coimbatore on the lines of Chennai's Tidal Park. Similarly, the Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu (Elcot) is setting up two IT parks in Madurai and Trichy, which are expected to get the status of special economic zones.

In Trichy, about 135 acres of government land had been transferred to Elcot for the purpose of establishing IT parks. Sources in Elcot told Business Standard that the corporation had acquired 135.04 acres at Navalpattu on the outskirts of the city, where it would set up an IT park soon. The corporation has submitted a proposal to the government to declare the park as a special economic zone for IT and IT-enabled services. Elcot plans to construct a built-up area of about one million square feet.

Navalpattu, situated on the Trichy-Pudukkottai highway, was chosen for the project considering its proximity to the Trichy International Airport. Elcot is looking at the possibility of acquiring more land near the site for future"

Paramount to enter western Indian skies

Madurai (TN), Feb 28. (PTI): Private carrier Paramount Airways, which has a strong presence in south India, would enter the western Indian skies by the end of this year and add 15 more aircrafts to its kitty in the next three years.

Talking to reporters here after the launch of Paramount's fourth flight in the Chennai-Madurai sector on Monday evening, the company's Managing Director M Thiagarajan said the airline would try to provide maximum number of services across the cities in the western region.

However, he did not divulge the names of the cities the airline would serve in the region.

"By early 2010, we will have a national presence," he added.

Paramount will induct 15 more Brazilian made 70-seater Embraer 170/175 and 110-seater Embraer 195 aircrafts in phases within the next 36 months, he said.

The carrier already owns five Embraer 170/175 aircrafts and connects eight destinations in South India through 50 daily flights.

Though a newcomer in the aviation sector, the airliner carries an average 100 tonnes of cargo daily, he said.

Paramount will also launch its services to Tiruchirapalli in Tamil Nadu and Kozhikode in Kerala soon.

"Our efforts to provide cost-effective excellence will continue in the forthcoming services also," Thiagarajan said.

The Embraer aircraft with "lower maintenance costs, greater speed and lesser fuel consumption," contribute in cutting flying costs, he claimed.

On the high Air Turbine Fuel (ATF) prices in India, he said the taxes on the fuel should be rationalised.

The sales tax varied from one State to the other from 23-30 per cent. The customs and excise duties were also higher, he said.

"Despite India being an ATF surplus country, the prices are much higher compared to international prices and the fuel expenses account to over 30 per cent of the total flying costs," he said.

The Federation of Indian Airlines, an association of domestic carriers, has asked the Civil Aviation Ministry to lower the taxes on ATF.

"If the tax rates come down, we will be able to lower our ticket charges from 15 to 20 per cent," he added.

Apart from rationalisation of tax, he also wanted the coming Union Budget to provide continuation of withholding taxes on lease payments of aircraft.

Paramount Airways is promoted by the Paramount Group, leading textile manufacturer based in Madurai.

Sun TV ignores Karunanidhi's son birthday

Chennai, March 1 (IANS) Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi's son M.K. Stalin turned 55 Thursday amid total blackout of his birthday celebrations by a popular Tamil channel even as national channels went head over heels showing hundreds queuing up to greet him.

Huge cut-outs of Stalin and Karunanidhi lined roads in the city Thursday and in the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) headquarters.

Stalin is seen as the automatic choice for the DMK's next chief ministerial candidate.

However, since 2004, there have been other DMK aspirants for the post, including union minister Dayanidhi Maran and Karunanidhi's another son, M.K. Azhagiri.

Azhagiri has now become the king of the state's southern districts following the death of P.T.R. Palanivel Rajan, a DMK stalwart from Madurai.

Two months ago, his birthday was celebrated as colourfully and with as much fanfare as Stalin's by the DMK. The party patriarch went all the way to Madurai to be with his son, who until 2001, was seen as an estranged son.

Another interesting development in Chennai has been the emergence of M.K Kanimozhi, Karunanidhi's daughter, on public platform. Last week, she was not only declared Karunanidhi's literary heir but was also seen splashed across local newspapers, in elder brother Stalin's company during a weeklong cultural bonanza she organised.

So, while the Karunanidhi family has been consolidating itself, noticeable is the blacking out of Stalin, Alzhagiri and Kanimozhi by Sun Television, a major cable network group, run by Kalanidhi Maran, elder son of late Murasoli Maran, a former union minister from the state.

The Sun group with 14 language channels did not even carry a scroll saying Stalin, a former Mayor of Chennai, had turned 55. Instead, they showed a newly-elected mayor of the city taking oath.

Establishing IT Park in Madurai

Rs 4,500 cr IT township in Madurai

Ancient city Madurai(Cultural Capital of Tamilnadu) would become an one of the part for Software revolution in India.

RR Industry Plans:

RR Industries a Chennai Based Company, which is in the business of creating infrastructure facilities and offering them on long-term lease to IT companies, is setting up a completely integrated township in Madurai centered on an IT Park Complex.

The facility, to be created over four to seven years (depending on the pace of absorption of the space) will include:

• 7 million square feet of IT Park space;

• 25,000 apartments (some for service apartments)

• 4 shopping malls

• 2 multiplexes

• 2 hospitals

• 2 hotels

• 2 recreation clubs

• Restaurants & cafes

• Treatment of water supply

• Complete treatment of waste water and garbage disposal to the highest standards

• Special clinics for the needs of IT employee

The facility would be developed over a period of four to seven years.

The township would include seven million sq ft of IT park space, 25,000 apartments, four shopping malls, two multiplexes, two hospitals, two hotels, two recreation clubs, restaurants and cafes.

RR Industries has developed four facilities of six-lakh sq ft and is in the process of developing 2.2 milion sq feet of space in Ambattur at a project cost of Rs 510 crore.

Earlier this month, the company announced its plans to set up a flight-training academy in Chennai investing Rs 770 crore.