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Indian teen breaks N. American Pi record |
Gaurav Raja, a 15-year-old high school student, has memorised 10,980 digits of pi to break a North American record. His math and computer science teacher at Salem High School in Virginia had challenged her students to memorise at least 40 digits of pi, a non-repeating decimal that has no end, more accurately expressed as a fraction: 22/7.
But Gaurav decided to go a step further and broke the 27-year-old North American pi memorisation record of 10,625 digits set by David Fiore of Swiftwater, Pennsylvania, to take a place among the top 10 in the world.
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Night throws light on spat
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Filmmaker Manoj Night Shyamalan, known for his spooky suspense thrillers, has in a new tell-all book lashed out at Walt Disney Studios, considered his artistic home since his 1999 surprise hit The Sixth Sense.
Penned by Sports Illustrated writer Michael Bamberger with Shyamalan’s blessing and extensive participation, the 278-page book recounts what led him to part ways with Disney over the script of a new venture, ultimately financed by Warner Bros.
“The Man Who Heard Voices: Or, How M Night Shyamalan Risked His Career on a Fairy Tale,” hits stores on July 20, a day before the premiere of the Mahe (Pondicherry)-born writer-director’s new movie, “Lady in the Water”.
Disney’s executives are not the only ones who are ripped in the book. Miramax Films co-founder Harvey Weinstein is described as “famously tyrannical” and is portrayed as ruthlessly re-cutting Shyamalan’s 1998 film “Wide Awake”.
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Indian plans IT museum in Oman
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An Indian engineer plans to set up an IT museum in Oman. A.J.S.S. Raj, who has been living in Oman for over 25 years, has collected around 300 items dating back to the 1970s and 1980s. The Oman Tribune says Raj has in his collection a 1970s model photocopier weighing 70 kg called Nashua, a Sony Betacam professional TV camera, a Commodore computer made in the 1980s, a Japanese electric typewriter dating back to the 1970s, a 26-year-old Aiwa music system and a nearly 30-year-old Kodak microfilm reader.
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Indian origin scientist gets premier Canadian post
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An Indo-Canadian scientist from Orissa has been appointed to a coveted post in Canada’s premier aerospace research institute—the first Indian origin person to bag such a job. Prakash Patnaik, who hails from Berhampur in Ganjam district, has been appointed director (structures and materials performance laboratory) at the National Research Council of Canada Institute for Aerospace Research, a premier science and technology research organisation. NRC Aerospace conducts research and development in the design, manufacture, performance, use, and safety of air and space vehicles. Patnaik studied metallurgical engineering at the Regional Engineering College, Rourkela. He went to Canada in the 1970s for higher studies and obtained his Masters & PhD in materials science and engineering from McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario.
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Indian baddie vs Superman
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One of the biggest Hollywood blockbusters this season, Superman Returns has an interesting Indian angle to it. As reported earlier by India Empire, an Indian-origin Hollywood actor Kal Penn plays a bad guy in the latest superhero venture. Also known as Kalpen Modi, Penn is of Indian descent who was born and brought up in the US. In Superman Returns, he plays Lex Luthro’s henchman Stanford.
“There are three-four bad guys in the film. I am one of them. He is a whacky guy but is also one of the brainy characters in the film,” Penn says. Penn, who has carved a niche for himself by appearing in several crossover films, is “super-excited” about the film. He is cast along with renowned actors like Brandon Routh, who playes Superman and Kevin Spacey (Lex) and admits he has not done anything close to a big Hollywood venture such as this.
Penn will also be seen this year in the cinematic version of ‘The Namesake’—authored by Pulitzer prize winner Jhumpa Lahiri—to be directed by Mira Nair. Penn says “the incredible” Mira is one of the reasons why he chose to become an actor. |
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NRI yoga guru threatens $10 mn suit against Los Angeles
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US-based yoga guru Bikram Chowdhury, accused of violating safety norms at his school visited by the likes of Salma Hayek, Venus and Serena Williams and Madonna, has threatened to slap a $10 million damage suit against Los Angeles city and the district attorney’s office. Los Angeles city has charged him with 10 criminal safety violations, including violations of fire and safety exit rules and guidelines and cramming people into overcrowded rooms at his La Cienega Boulevard studio in the Bikram School of Yoga.
Choudhury began teaching yoga in California in the early 1970s and later went on to become a cult figure with high-profile clients from the world of Hollywood, music, sports and US politics. Known for his friendship with Michael Jackson, he has also claimed that the pop star had given him his ranch Neverland for setting up a retirement home and healing
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Passports of truant NRI grooms to be impounded |
Victims of fraudulent marriages could get some relief soon. “Those who feel that injustice has been meted out to them by runaway NRI grooms can approach the nearest passport office with all the details and their complaint will be forwarded to the department concerned abroad,” minister of state for external affairs Anand Sharma said. He added that the passport officers could play the role of facilitators by forwarding such complaints.
There are over 15,000 victims, known as “holiday wives”, of fraudulent NRI marriages living in Punjab. Eighty per cent of the marriages in the state to NRI men are doomed, with husbands never returning to take their brides with them.
Sharma said public awareness is needed to end the menace of runaway NRI grooms. “If they possess Indian passports, the number should be noted down so that it can be impounded later,” he said.
The minister said the foreign policy of the country, inextricably linked to the domestic situation, could be modified in the days to come. |
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