Cops offer $5k for credible info on LSU murders

US Police have offered a USD 5,000 reward for credible information about the killers of two Indian doctoral students at Louisiana State University, as tips poured in after the release of sketches of two suspects.
Earlier on Thursday, the police had released the sketches of two men wanted for questioning in the murder of two Indian students in the university campus, after meeting the Indian diplomats.
The sketches were made from descriptions given by witnesses who saw two people around the apartment.
They were seen hurriedly leaving the apartment complex in a car with one or two other people, police said, adding the sketches were available for download at http://www.lsu.edu/pa/photos.
According to the police, "All indications so far are that the suspects were looking for someone to rob when they killed the two victims".

One of the men, believed to have been the driver of the car, was a black male estimated to be in his 20's, they said.
"His hair was done in twists in rows. He was wearing a white hooded sweatshirt," police said.
The second man, wearing a white long sleeve shirt with a high collar and dark jeans, is also allegedly a black male in his 20's, possibly even over 30, 5'8"-5'10" tall, with a muscular build and a receding hairline, they said.
They are believed to have left in an older model, light-coloured Oldsmobile Alero.
It is believed that one of the victims was spotted arriving at the apartment complex and was followed to the other victim's apartment, where both men were killed.
Police have not yet released the descriptions of other two men involved in the crime.
The suspects were seen on the complex property at 9:00 pm on the night of December 13th, and may have been in the general area or on property even earlier.
Kiran Kumar Allam (33) and Chandrasekhar Reddy Komma (31), both resident of Andhra Pradesh, were shot dead on Thursday last at the Edward Gay Apartments on the edge of the LSU campus. They were pursuing doctoral degrees at LSU and the apartment belonged to Allam.

Big B, SRK better role models than historical figures: Study

Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan and Aishwarya Rai serve as more influential role models for youngsters than any of the famous figures from history, a new study from the University of Leicester suggests.
The research in the University of Leicester Department of Media and Communication examines interest in celebrities and gossip about them. It was carried out by Charlotte De Backer who sought in her study to explain interest in celebrity culture.
"Life is about learning, gaining experience and in that process we have a tendency to observe and mimic the actions of others. Ideally we mimic what makes others successful and avoid unsuccessful actions others have trialed (and paid for),” De Backer said.
"In reality, humans seem to have the tendency to mimic the overall behaviour pattern of higher status or more successful others. This explains why celebrities act as role models for broad ranges of behaviour they display – good or bad,” she added.
De Backer also examined another theory for interest in celebrity, known as the Parasocial Hypothesis.
In this case, the bonds are parasocial or one-way because the celebrity reveals private information (often involuntary), and the audience members respond emotionally to this, but there is no feedback of the private life of the audience going to the celebrity (or hardly ever), and nor do celebrities display emotions towards their audience.
Her study of 800 respondents and over 100 interviews confirmed that younger participants showed greater interest in celebrity gossip, even if it was about celebrities who were a lot older than them and even when they did not know the celebrities. They showed greatest interest in internationally known celebrities, because they considered those as more prestigious.
De Backer study also found that older people were interested in celebrity gossip not because they wanted to learn about the celebrities, but because it helped them to form social networks with other people.
"We did find in the interviews that older people do not gossip about celebrities as much because they want to learn from them or feel befriended with them, but they use celebrity gossip to bond with real life friends and acquaintances,” De Backer said.
"Living in scattered societies, we often don't know who to talk about with the many people we know, and celebrities can act as our mutual friends and acquaintances,” she added.
De Backer’s research was published in the journal Human Nature.

Amazing Phone Holder!!!!

Amazing Phone Holder!!!!

London Inn offers free stay for Marys and Josephs

London: Josephs and Marys in search of a room at the inn this Christmas are being made an offer they can't refuse.
A British hotel chain is promising free accommodation to couples who share their first names with the couple from the Christian Nativity story.
Almost 30 Josephs and Marys have already signed up for the free night's stay at the Travelodge, said Shakila Ahmed, a spokeswoman for the hotel chain.
"The 'gift' of free night's stay is to make up for the hotel industry not having any rooms left on Christmas Eve over 2000 years ago when the original 'Mary and Joseph' had to settle for the night in a stable," the company says on its Web site.
The offer is good at any one of the chain's 322 hotels in the United Kingdom, the Web site says. The couples must bring proof of identity and must prove that they are in a long-term relationship.
"If you satisfy the criteria, you get a free night in a family room for two adults and two children," Ahmed said. "There's also parking space for a donkey if needed," she joked.
Ahmed said the offer, which will run from Christmas Eve to Twelfth Night — December 24 to January 5 — had been very well-received.
"We've had a lot of interest. I think people like the fact that it resonates with the Nativity story at a time when the actual meaning of Christmas often becomes forgotten in festive overkill," she said.
Couples can register their names at a special e-mail address set up by Travelodge, which has hotels across the Britain, Ireland and Spain, Ahmed said.

One-film-old Gemma bags next 007 girl role

London: Actress Gemma Arterton of the show St. Trinian will be the next Bond girl. It will be her second film.
Thesun.co.uk reports that the 22-year old beat 1,500 other women to co-star with Daniel Craig in the movie is tentatively titled Bond 22. Filming starts in January.
After getting the confirmation, Arterton sent an SMS to her mom saying, "I got Bond!"
An insider at the Bond studios Eon Productions said, "She has the modern look."

Wikipedia faces Google-y, rival Knol launched

Web search leader Google Inc is testing an Internet site for sharing knowledge about any subject under the sun, one that could eventually compete with the popular user-edited encyclopedia Wikipedia.
Google's "knol" project started earlier this week and is working with a group of writers by invitation only, Google vice president of engineering Udi Manber wrote in a company blog post.
"There are millions of people who possess useful knowledge that they would love to share, and there are billions of people who can benefit from it," Manber said in the post.
"The goal is for knols to cover all topics, from scientific concepts, to medical information ... to how-to-fix-it instructions."
The word "knol" is used to refer to the project and to an entry on the shared website.
Google's site will identify the authors posting the information. It will not serve as an editor of the information or endorse what is written on the site.
The site will eventually be opened to the general public and allow users to submit comments, questions or edits, as well as rate posts.
Knol writers will be able to include ads in their posts, sharing the revenue with Google.
Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales is working on a community- developed Web search service that would compete with search engines such as Google and Yahoo Inc.

Weekend wine fiesta in Pune for Rs 250

With Christmas round the corner, the coming weekend will see wine lovers across Maharashtra getting together in Pune for a one-of-a-kind festival.
Being organised by the Pune Gourmet Club at Koregaon Park, the wine tasting fiesta will be a standalone event.
"Wine tasting festivals are always a part of an agri-fest or some other festival, so we thought it would be a good idea to have an exclusive wine tasting event," says B Shankarnarayanan, an organiser.
More than 40 types of wines from Indian wineries like Chateau Indage, Vindura and ND Wines will be available for tasting.
According to Shankarnarayanan, the fest will give wine lovers an opportunity to taste even the smaller and the rarer brands for a one-time cost of Rs 250.
"In many places, for Rs 150 you get to taste only six wines, so one only tastes the best brands, and the other smaller bands lose out on the opportunity. So this time we thought by fixing the price and not the number of wines, the smaller players too will have a good opportunity," says Shankarnarayanan.
More than 10 wineries from different parts of the country have already registered. Wine expert Marie Juhasoo from Sula Wines will participate and offer her comments on various wines. Chef Parag Kanhere from Nasik will have a live cookery show with Indian wine.
Food stalls with delicious gourmet recipes paired with free exotic wines will be part of the festival. The event has no sponsors - it's purely the voluntary effort of 200-odd members of this club who are fond of good food and some tangy wine.