It’s a general opinion about the Bollywood actors that they think more about their perceived images than a meaty role. That’s why it came as a surprise when John Abraham suggested Bollywood filmmakers to look for stories in books.

John Abraham feels that instead of getting inspired by Hollywood films, Bollywood filmmakers should start adapting stories from books. “Most of the time, in our industry we get a lot of inspiration from other films, especially English films. But I think the best inspiration you can get is out of books,” the 39-year-old said here at the launch of the book ‘In A Bubble of Time.’

“Even English films that have done well, got their inspiration out of books. So I think it’s important to read and get new ideas and I think that is where we are limiting ourselves,” he added.

If John was to make a film based on a book, which one would that be?
“I have been a great fan of 20th century fiction and I love Jeffry Archer. So, I have read all his books and if I have to make a Hindi picture I would definitely make it on a Jeffrey Archer book,” he said.
The actor had featured in the film ’7 Khoon Maaf’ which was based on Ruskin Bond’s short story ‘Susanna’s Seven Husbands’.

In western Jharkhand, especially Palamu division, on Friday had to bear the brunt of a bandh called by CPI (Maoist) in protest against killing of Lukas Minj in Latehar.

Maoists alleged that speech and hearing impaired Lukas was killed on Tuesday by police when he did not respond to their call.

Lukas’s brother had alleged that at time of the incident, Lukas was with his cattle on a grazing ground near his village. Since he could not able to understand what the men in uniform wanted to know from him he tried to convey something in sign language. This was misinterpreted by the security personnel, as his signal to Maoists, and they killed him suspecting to be a rebel, he said.

Movement of long-distance passenger and goods vehicles remained disrupted throughout the day. Commuters had to face hardship, especially in Palamu and Latehar districts, where the effect of bandh was maximum. Fearing action by Maoists, shops and other business establishments also remained closed during the day.

Political leaders across the political spectrum in Jharkhand have been accused of violating a land law in the state.

Those facing the allegations include Deputy Chief Minister Hemant Soren, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) chief Shibu Soren, Land and Revenue Minister Mathura Mahto, Congress president Pradeep Balmuchu and Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) legislator Neel Kanth Singh Munda.

All of them have been accused of violating the Chotanagpur Tenancy Act, which says that only tribal people belonging to the same circle and police station can buy land of tribal people.

The allegation is that these leaders bought land outside their circle and police station jurisdiction.

Shibu Soren allegedly purchased land in Nagratoli area of Ranchi and Pradeep Balmuchu reportedly bought land at Hatma area in Ranchi. Mathura Mahto allegedly purchased land in Dhanbad district.

The leaders have denied violating any law.

Mathura Mahto said: “If the charges are proved, I will return the land.”

The Jharkhand High Court this month said Scheduled Caste and Other Backward Class land cannot be purchased without permission from the deputy commissioner of the respective districts.

Former Test pacer Shoaib Akhtar has once again found himself in a new controversy after actress Meera claimed that she had a year long affair with the speedster, who never appreciated her commitment. Meera said that the affair took place two years back while Shoaib was still playing for the national team. “It was an intense affair and I wasted one precious year of my life waiting for him. I was committed and sincere to him. But he didn’t appreciate me,”she told a news channel. “It happened two years back.

I ended the affair when on the same day he proposed to me and my cousin. It was a joke for me,” said Meera, who is known for her publicity stunts. Meera, who has even worked in Indian movies and had a spat with Indian filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt, also claimed that Shoaib had once slapped her in front of some staffers at a television station but she did not say a word for his sake.

However, Shoaib denied the allegations. “I don’t know what she is talking about,” he said. “I never had any affair with Meera. The problem is that if a well known cricketer even smiles at a girl she thinks he is in love with her. I had no relationship with her at all,” he claimed. This is a second Pakistani cricketer in recent years to be romantically linked with an actor. Banned pacer Mohammad Asif was also linked to Veena Malik and the two ended their affair after Veena filed a complaint against Asif for not paying her back a loan amounting to millions.

Joining hands Jharkhand and Odisha have to combat cross border transport of illegally mined ore, the district level task forces on mining of Orissa and Jharkhand will meet once in two months.

It has been decided to share all relevant data on mining including ore raised, despatch figures, lessees who have been issued transport permits at this meeting. Besides, the meeting will discuss the surveillance activities taken up by the respective task forces.

“The decision to share information between the two task forces was taken at the first meeting of the inter-state coordination committee held in Jamshedpur on Wednesday. The meeting was chaired by home secretary of the Jharkhand. It has also been decided to strengthen surveillance at inter-state check gates”, said a top official source.
The state government has constituted district level committees at Sundergarh, Keonjhar and Mayurbhanj to monitor illegal mining activities besides the state level enforcement squad on mining.

Earlier, the Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had written to his Jharkhand counterpart, emphasizing on the need to have joint monitoring of illegal mining operation in both the states.

The Jharkhand government had accepted the proposal.

It may be noted police has registered 466 cases and arrested 1495 people in connection with illegal mining from different mining sectors of Orissa in the August-December period of 2011.

As many as 349 persons have been charge sheeted while 562 vehicles were seized for involvement in illegal mining activities.

Taken together, the state and district level task forces have seized 256519 tonnes of iron ore and 9520 tonnes of manganese during this period, said an official source familiar with the development.

Though her Heera Kaul act in Rockstar may not have bowled over the critics, actor Nargis Fakhri has definitely earned the label of ‘beautiful’. Blessed with curly hair and a flawless skin, Nargis doesn’t look like she’s 31. The lady’s beauty secrets have also made news, including her addiction to the lip plumper.

Talks about beauty and shares some tips Beauty and me I feel that if your soul is beautiful, you’ll look beautiful from outside. I believe in healthy living. If you take care of yourself with proper exercise, right diet and peace of mind, you will appear beautiful from outside.

Ever since I started modelling looking good has always been a priority for me, as it’s an important factor in my profession. But I am not obsessive about my looks. I do take care to maintain them, but try and retain a balanced outlook.

Lady Diana, we all know epitomised style and grace. As the people’s princess, she always did her bit for charity. After coming to India, I got to know Neetu Kapoor. She is truly an eternal beauty with a wonderful warm loving soul. Oprah and Christiane are legends in their own right. I grew up watching Oprah and her achievements can inspire any girl around the world. Likewise, Christiane Amanpour for her courage and conviction.

Hair and there Ever since my modeling days, my hair has been my biggest asset and its got me the most compliments. Once a photographer told me that it is so full of life, he could just shoot my hair all day long! When I was in New York modelling, my hair had to bear up with a lot of styling and experimentation. And I couldn’t even manage enough time to pamper my hair. As a rule, I use only natural products for my hair and skin as they are gentle and effective. A hot oil massage for 20 minutes is all you need for lovely tresses. I would also to stress on the need for moisturization. I believe that you need to moisturize throughout the year, and especially during summers when your skin gets dehydrated and needs that extra moisture.

One the biggest religious places of Jharkhand, Deoghar may soon have international airport. It will attracts more than 20 lakh domestic and foreign visitors every year, will soon become a reality. The memorandum of understanding for the construction of an international airport will be signed between the Airport Authority of India (AAI) and the state civil aviation department here on Thursday.

The airport will be developed in two years, sources said. Officials in the chief minister’s secretariat said the airport will be developed on 675 acres which has been acquired by the state government. The total cost of the project will be around Rs 350 crore out of which Rs 300 crore will be provided by the Centre. The rest Rs 50 crore will be provided by the state government.

“In the first phase, the airport will be equipped to handle smaller aircraft of ATR 72 category. In the second phase, the airport will have the capacity to handle Airbus 321,” said an official of the chief minister’s secretariat.

Xavier Labour Relations Institute (XLRI), Jamshedpur, has not been impacted by the economic downturn, as reflected in its Final Placement Report for 2012 released on Tuesday. The B-school saw 98 per cent of its students getting placed within the first three days of the placement process.

A total of 284 offers were made to their batch of 235 students. The average domestic salary for the final placement this year was Rs 16.48 lakh. The median domestic salary was Rs 15.5 lakh. The highest domestic salary offered was Rs 40 lakh and the highest international offer made stood in excess of $1,25,000.

Among the various disciplines, finance witnessed Goldman Sachs making 12 offers for its asset management and investment research roles. It was the largest recruiter. A leading venture capital firm also participated in the placements, choosing to recruit exclusively at XLRI, according to the report.

The fascinating island capital of Cuba is enjoying the presences of two of the sexiest stars of Bollywood – Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif.

And what can be a better back drop than Havana to celebrate their Valentines Day.

It’s been over a year since they broke up, but Katrina Kaif and Salman Khan are still the top couple and fans cannot help but take the two names in one breath.

The couple is right now in Havana shooting for their up coming ‘Ek Tha Tiger’. It’s a month long schedule and we hear that the two stars are enjoying all the action.

The local people also enjoyed watching them shoot some action scenes in the streets of Havana.

According to reports, the director of the film found it rather easy shooting right in the middle of a street in this city among the regular people.

Reports say that the two on-off ‘lovers’ had a great time shooting the scenes of ‘Ek Tha Tiger’.

But they couldn’t enjoy the serene beauty of the place as they were required to shoot extensively for over a week.