Pakistan has taken billions of dollars from U.S. aid to attack Al Queda and Taliban and diverted it to acquire weapons to counter India, reports the New York Times in the Monday edition of the paper.

The NYT reports that U.S. aid of $5 billion since 9/11 to boost Pakistan’s military efforts against Al Queda and Taliban has been a waste and that some invoices are inflated by as much as 30%.

The NYT article says:

Bush administration and military officials said they believed that much of the American money was not making its way to frontline Pakistani units. Money has been diverted to help finance weapons systems designed to counter India, not Al Qaeda or the Taliban, the officials said, adding that the United States has paid tens of millions of dollars in inflated Pakistani reimbursement claims for fuel, ammunition and other costs.

Besides the $5 billion provided through the Coalition Support Funds,  the U.S. also offers Pakistan $300 million every year for military equipment and training.

The big question on most Tamil movie lovers’ minds must surely be whether Ajith’s Billa is a Flop, Ultimate Flop or a Super Hit at the box office.

There has been a lot of comparison between the new Billa and Rajnikant’s mega hit Sivaji with some over-enthusiastic folks erroneously claiming that Billa made Rs 25 crore (about $6.25 million) in just the first five days. What baloney!

The skeptics may question whether Billa has lived up to its hype.

Compared to Sivaji, we just did not witness the same high enthusiasm-level for Billa inside the movie hall even on the first day before, during or after the movie.

There’s also not the same all-round buzz about Ajith’s Billa that one noticed with Sivaji.

But that’s no surprise. After all, Ajith is just a poor man’s Rajnikant. You can’t compare the glorious Sun to a Philips 40w bulb.

Ajith lacks the stature, skills and charisma of Tamil Nadu’s Continue Reading…

Just when we were resigned to the prospect of drawing a blank yet again in our Odyssean quest for fine Hindi movies, comes along a delightful Bollywood aberration called Taare Zameen Par.

With its offbeat and gripping story supported by fine performances from the key players, Taare Zameen Par is an easy movie to love.

Taare Zameen Par is also Aamir Khan’s first shot at directing a movie. Though you wouldn’t know that given the outstanding execution.

Over the years, we’ve been forced to temper our enthusiasm about Indian child actors. After all, it’s unrealistic to expect Indian kids to display any acting skills when most Bollywood grownups can’t act.

But Taare Zameen Par surprises on this count too with an amazing performance by Darsheel Safary as a dyslectic kid.

All kudos to Aamir for drawing out an exemplary performance from the young boy.

Darsheel’s performance is on par -maybe a tad better - with what Ayesha Kapoor delivered as the young deaf and blind girl in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Black.

Yes, Aamir Khan has an important role in the movie but Continue Reading…

The party of Ram Bhaktas - BJP - notched up a decent victory in the Legislative Assembly elections in the western Indian state of Gujarat.

Lord Ram flanked by brother Lakshman & wife Sita
with Hanuman kneeling before him

Here’s the latest Gujarat Election tally:

Party        Seats Won  

BJP            117    
Congress      59       
Others           6       
Total          182 

Both Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi campaigned extensively in the state.

But ultimately Modi’s message seems to have resonated better with the people.

Although Modi came under fire over the 2002 communal riots that led to a wholesale massacre of Muslims in the state, in the end the issue did not carry weight with the largely Hindu electorate.

When Narendra Modi is sworn in as Chief Minister of Gujarat on December 27, this will be his third term as leader of the state.