Chitrangada Singh's new avatars

New Delhi: First she opted for a glamorous role in "Desi Boyz" and then she gave a nod to an item number. Actress Chitrangada Singh, otherwise known for serious roles, surprised all and sundry last year and says the response has been encouraging.

"I really hope 2012 turns out to be a year full of surprises for me, and surprises spring after one another. I am really happy with the kind of response I received for my work in 'Desi Boyz'. It was really encouraging and I am looking forward to more good work this year," Chitrangada told IANS.
The dusky beauty, who will be seen on an upcoming episode of UTV Stars' "Superstar Santa", made her Bollywood debut in 2003 with "Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi", and was subsequently seen in films like "Sorry Bhai!", "Basra" and "Yeh Saali Zindagi".
"Desi Boyz", which also featured Akshay Kumar, John Abraham and Deepika Padukone, was a radically different project for her. Nevertheless, she loved it, and the audience loved her in it too.
No wonder she feels her fans will appreciate her item song in Shirish Kunder's 3D project "Joker".
"The item song was hard, we rehearsed for it a lot and it has turned out to be fabulous. It is not into-the-face, the music is very catchy and the choreography by Farah (Khan) is very sensuous. It was great fun doing it," said the 35-year-old.
In 2012, she is looking forward to "I, Me Aur Main" with John, and Sudhir Mishra's film with Arjun Rampal.
"'I, Me Aur Main' is going to be a great film. John is fantastic in it. It is an emotional, yet comedy film about a man, his relationships, his busy life in a metro city...it's basically about men. The film was a lot of fun and has a lot of drama," she said of the movie, expected to release within the first quarter of the year.
"Sudhir's film is about sexual harassment, it is about a woman's ambition in the workplace and how that is curbed...so it's an interesting script, and I am extremely excited about it," she added.
In the meantime, she has had to turn down an offer to work with Kamal Haasan, who had reportedly contacted her for a role in his Hindi-Tamil bi-lingual "Vishwaroopam". But she had to refuse as the dates clashed with those she kept aside for Mishra's film.
"I had to refuse the offer. I would love to work with him (Kamal), he is a legend to work with," said the actress.
On the small screen, Chitrangada says she loved playing Santa for a bit, on the show "Superstar Santa", where celebrities play peacemakers between two common people.

"Santa is too big a role to play. But it's always nice when as celebrities, we can do something for common people," she said.

US judge busted after sexting picture to colleague

Washington: A judge in the US has been busted for sending a nearly nude picture of himself to a married woman court official. He has also defiantly admitted sending the same picture to a string of other women.

Wade McCree, a specialist in sex misconduct cases on Detroit's 3rd Circuit court, nonchalantly batted away claims sexting seedy semi-naked shower pictures by mobile phone was "totally inappropriate", the Daily Mail reported.
But his seemingly arrogant stance has angered his colleague's husband.
The court official's spouse said: "It's totally inappropriate. It says a lot that he's flawed...He's not what he appears to be, at least not to the general public because he has access to kids, he has access to different charitable functions.
"He's been looked upon as some great figure but, as you can see according to the picture, you see what he's really all about.
"What kind of man would send this to a married woman, knowing he's a married man himself," he asked.

The bailiff's husband said they were now filing a complaint with the prosecutor and the Judicial Tenure Commission, which serves to promote the integrity of the judicial process and preserve public confidence in the courts.

Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani convicted for contempt, opposition wants him out

Islamabad: In fresh trouble for Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, the Supreme Court Thursday convicted him for contempt of court for refusing to reopen corruption cases against President Asif Ali Zardari, prompting the opposition to demand his ouster.

Gilani, 59, who is the first Pakistan prime minister to be held guilty for contempt, was given just a symbolic sentence of about 30 seconds but could have been jailed for six months.

He found backing in his cabinet colleagues but the future continues to remain clouded with the opposition firm on its demand that he quit.

His government has come under increasing strain ever since Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden was gunned down in Abbottabad last year. Its ties with the US also worsened following a NATO attack that left two dozen Pakistani soldiers dead in November last year.

The Supreme Court order said "the contempt committed by him is substantially detrimental to the administration of justice and tends to bring this Court and the judiciary of this country into ridicule", reported Geo News.

The judgment was not proper, complained Gilani, after the apex court held him guilty of contempt for refusing to write to Swiss authorities to reopen a corruption case against Zardari.

Gilani, handpicked by Zardari as the Pakistan Peoples Party's (PPP) prime minister in March 2008, told Geo News that he asked for justice and hoped that legal formalities would be met.

Legal aides will decide about appealing against the verdict, he added.

The opposition call for Gilani's ouster grew stronger immediately after the court's ruling.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif said Gilani should make way for a new elected prime minister.

"In light of the verdict, I think PM Gilani should resign immediately rather than prolong the issue," he was quoted as saying.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader and former cricketer Imran Khan too said that Gilani should immediately resign.

Imran wrote on Twitter: "After SC judgement PM has lost whatever shred of legal & moral authority he had. He must resign immed & ECP (Election Commission of Pakistan) must notify his 5 year disqual."

Gilani had been convicted by a seven-judge bench of the apex court, headed by Justice Nasirul Mulk, for violating an article of Pakistan's constitution, said DawnNews.

Soon after, federal minister Firdous Ashiq Awan said a petition would be filed for a review of the verdict.

Awan said the verdict will hurt democracy in Pakistan and "the country cannot afford any adventurism".

"PPP has always been victimised," she was quoted as saying.

Gilani had refused to act on the court's directives in the past to reopen corruption cases against Zardari, arguing that the president enjoys immunity under the Pakistani constitution.

Accused of graft, Zardari had been granted amnesty under the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) in 2007 by then president Pervez Musharraf to facilitate his return home and, primarily that of his wife, former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.

The NRO that granted immunity to politicians and bureaucrats in corruption cases was struck down by the Supreme Court as void in 2009.

The apex court warned the government of action if its ruling on the NRO was not implemented by Jan 10, 2012. It also ordered the government to write a letter to the Swiss authorities to reopen cases against Zardari.

On Jan 16, the court issued Gilani a contempt notice for not acting against Zardari. Gilani was indicted for contempt of court Feb 13.

Number 13 gets popular among bidders

SANGRUR: The number 13 is often termed inauspicious but this means a lot to Badan Singh of Dhaipei village in Ludhiana. For his SUV, Badan bought the registration number PB 13AB 0013 for Rs 1.13 lakh at an auction held in Sangrur on Thursday. Going a step ahead, Sanjeev Kumar from Jalalabad paid Rs 1.14 lakh for PB 13AB 1313 for his motorcycle. The number 1313 fetched the second highest bidding after the number 0001. Not only this, Punjab finance minister Parminder Singh Dhindsa is too fond of this number; the number on his official sedan being PB 13 Y 1313.
Inderjit Singh of Boparai Kalan in Ludhiana bid Rs 2.71 lakh for PB 13AB 0001 while the number 0002 was bought for Rs 85,000 by Yadwinder.
Bhagwant Singh got 0005 for Rs 75,000. Chirag Bansal spent Rs 55,000 to get 0007, Sandeep Kumar shelled out Rs 41,000 on the number 0008. Sangrur DTO Mohinderpal Gupta said, "Sale of just 10 numbers made the exchequer richer by Rs 8.33 lakh