New Delhi: Taking to social media like Twitter and Facebook in a big way, the Information and Broadcasting ministry posted minute-by-minute accounts of a seminar on Community Radio on five websites simultaneously. As the Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni spoke to the gathering, a tweet flashed on microblogging site Twitter - "Radio is MoIB's flagship programme says Ambika Soni, Union Minster, Minister of Information and Broadcasting." "Lack of financial...
10:49 AM, Feb 19, 2012
London: Mercedes gave their new Formula One car a track debut away from prying eyes on Thursday amid lingering suspicions that the late arrival meant the team had something to hide from copycat rivals. The team said Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg each did 50km at Silverstone circuit for what was officially a private filming day before the launch of the W03 at the second pre-season test in Barcelona next...
04:03 PM, Feb 17, 2012
Jerez: Lewis Hamilton identified Mika Hakkinen's former manager Didier Coton on Thursday as a key man in possibly creating a 'happy bubble' around him at race weekends this season. McLaren's 2008 Formula One champion had a controversial and disappointing season last year, despite winning three races, and has at times appeared in need of guidance and support since stepping away from his father Anthony. The Briton said last year he...
07:28 PM, Feb 10, 2012
Jerez: Reserve driver Jules Bianchi's "mistake" left VJM05-02 damaged and cost Sahara Force India a major part of track time to evaluate systems on the third day of their pre-season testing in Jerez on Thursday. The mechanics worked hard to repair the right rear corner of the car but ultimately the team was missing one small brake component, which prevented them from returning to the track. The replacement part was...
01:27 PM, Feb 10, 2012
Jerez: Mercedes' 2011 car topped Formula One pre-season testing for a second straight day, while Lotus were the quickest of this season's new batch of competitors on Thursday. Nico Rosberg was quickest around the Jerez circuit with a lap time of 1 minute, 17.613 seconds to follow up Michael Schumacher's leading pace a day earlier. Romain Grosjean in a Lotus was the fastest in the 2012 designs, the French driver's...
01:14 PM, Feb 10, 2012
Jerez: Michael Schumacher was hoping the late arrival of his new Mercedes would pay off after doing nearly two race distances in last year's car on the second afternoon of Formula One testing on Wednesday. Despite that, and despite setting a quickest lap that was meaningless on a day when rivals were trying out their new cars, the German still played down his title chances. The seven-times world champion pounded...
10:26 AM, Feb 09, 2012
Jerez: Michael Schumacher set the fastest pace on the second day of Formula One pre-season testing on Wednesday at the Jerez Circuit track. The German driver, entering the final year of his F1 comeback, used Mercedes' car from last year to clock an early morning lap of 1 minute, 18.561 seconds that proved unbeatable. Schumacher says "it was a good and productive test, full of lots of useful information, and...
10:21 AM, Feb 09, 2012
Milton Keynes, England: Formula One champion Sebastian Vettel dismissed the prospect of running away with a third straight driver's title, predicting on Monday a more competitive season because of rule changes that have cost Red Bull a precious advantage. Vettel dominated the 2011 championship, winning the title by 122 points from second-placed Jenson Button after finishing on the podium in all but two races. However, without the aerodynamic advantages from...
11:46 PM, Feb 06, 2012
London: Expect a fresh wave of optimism, with teams and drivers gamely talking up their prospects before the bitter chill of reality changes the body language, when Formula One's launch season picks up speed this week. McLaren, Ferrari and Force India will be following early starters Caterham in taking the wraps off their new cars in the coming days. Others, including double world champion Sebastian Vettel's Red Bull, will do...
05:50 PM, Jan 31, 2012
New Delhi: Sahara Force India have completed their drivers' line-up for the 2012 season by signing French racer Jules Bianchi as their reserve driver. Bianchi, who was with Ferrari as a test and reserve driver in the 2011 season and also finished third in the 2011 GP2 Series, has been promised a minimum of nine Friday practice sessions during Grand Prix weekends. The 22-year-old Frenchman will be integrated in the...
07:55 PM, Jan 27, 2012
Blantyre: It's been 18 years since the late dictator Hastings Kamuzu Banda's "indecency in dress" laws were repealed in Malawi, but mobs of men and boys in the largely conservative southern African country have recently been publicly stripping women of their miniskirts and pants. On Friday, hundreds of outraged girls and women, among them prominent politicians, protested the attacks while wearing pants or miniskirts and T-shirts emblazoned with such slogans...
01:17 PM, Jan 21, 2012
London: Jenson Button will have the first run in the new McLaren when pre-season testing starts next month, the Formula One team said on Monday. The new MP4-27 car is due to be launched at the Woking factory in southern England on February 1, with 2009 world champion Button scheduled to kick off testing at the Jerez circuit in Spain on February 7 and 8. Teammate, fellow Briton and 2008...
07:16 PM, Jan 17, 2012
New Delhi: The United States has offered the air-to-air version of its famous Stinger missile to India as part of the weapons package proposed for the 22 attack helicopter deal of the Indian Air Force (IAF). The surface-to-air version of the Stinger missile is widely credited for the collapse of Russian helicopter fleet in Afghan war in 1980s and was also used by Pakistani troops to bring down an IAF...
03:32 PM, Jan 11, 2012
New Delhi: In the wake of complaints over appearance of porn star Sunny Leone in TV reality show 'Big Boss', the Broadcasting Content Complaints Council (BCCC) has asked TV channel Colors to ensure that she does not use the programme to promote her 'pornography business'. Sources said that the issue was discussed at a meeting of the BCCC on Friday where several complaints regarding Leone's appearance on the TV show...
02:39 PM, Dec 27, 2011
Yas Marina: When the green light came on at the end of the pit lane and the first car, driven by Malaysian Alex Yoong roared off on to the Yas Marina Circuit track here in a Radical SR3 car, it made for a momentous occasion for Indian motor sports. The start of the first pre-season test session ahead of the inaugural i1 Supercar series promoted by Bangalore-based Machdar Motorsports, finally...
03:47 PM, Dec 21, 2011
London: Formula One stragglers HRT expect to have their new car ready for pre-season testing in February for the first time since they entered the sport in 2010. The Spanish-owned team barely made the start of their debut season and were unable to do any laps with their new car this year until the opening Australian Grand Prix in March, where they failed to qualify. "Despite the tight deadlines and...
12:20 PM, Dec 18, 2011
New Delhi: The new regulations on onscreen smoking that were handed out ambitiously by the the Health Ministry have been stalled as the Information and Broadcasting Ministry (I&B) has given in to the plea of the film makers, asking for their creative rights. The I&B Ministry has stayed the no smoking regulations by the Health Ministry. In a letter from the I&B ministry to the Health Ministry, it is clear...
09:49 AM, Dec 08, 2011
New Delhi: An IBN-Cobrapost investigation has exposed urban India's worst kept secret. A builder-MCD councillor nexus has allowed irregularities to flourish and buildings that violate bylaws to come up brazenly. The IBN-Cobrapost investigation reveals how Delhi councillors across party lines have been demanding money for illegal constructions. The expose shows on camera the nexus between councillors and junior bureaucrats. Councillors admitted that they pay junior engineers in the MCD and...
08:07 PM, Dec 06, 2011
Panaji: The entertainment tax structure in the country will be much relaxed after it is brought under common head in central taxes, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni said today. Talking to reporters after inaugurating Film Bazaar at International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa, Soni said that there has been a demand by filmmakers to lower the entertainment tax structure in the country. "Indian filmmakers are complaining of...
06:02 PM, Nov 24, 2011
New Delhi: Dismissive about the self-regulatory mechanism of the News Broadcast industry, the Press Council of India chairman, Justice Markandey Katju, on Monday said if TV channels did not want to come under the Press Council they should choose another body like Lokpal. "Self-regulation is no regulation" and news organisations are "private bodies whose activities have a large influence on the public and they also must be answerable to the...
07:19 PM, Nov 07, 2011
