Indian Premiere League, IPL – the only thing in India that can send Bollywood producers scuttling into their shells for six weeks – takes guard tomorrow for its third version which will be even bigger and better than before. The opening ceremony is destined to be spectacular, led by the desirable Deepika Padukone and R&B sensation, Akon. “The opening ceremony has Deepika Padukone, UB40, Lionel Ritchie, and Abba Revival among many other spectacular performances on the 12th march,” said a source.
Sources suggest, meanwhile, that Deepika had a bit of a falling out recently with actor Nana Patekar when she suggested some changes to a script. Apparently, the actor, whose attitude to actresses has led to criticism in the past and a famous public row with Tanushree Dutta, let rip at her for daring to comment. “Deepika did not agree to the subject because she could not connect with it at all,” said a source for the movie, defending the star.
With Earth Day coming up, attention has shifted to the task of bringing light to the more remote villages of India and Deepika is setting a standard in this area by adopting a whole village through her Greenathon campaign. The village she has adopted is Ambegaon in Maharashtra and she has committed herself to providing light to every home in the village. By doing so, she hopes to inspire the nation to do the same.
India is potentially on the cusp of taking a world lead in energy storage through the development of the Bloom Box. Developed by KR Sidhar, the ceramic cells, potentially made for pennies from sand, are said to be twice as efficient as traditional sources of energy, producing 60% fewer carbon emissions and able to use any form of fuel from natural gas through to methane. Not requiring any infrastructure, the boxes could be shipped to any remote area, rapidly providing cheap energy with no risk of mass disruption through terrorist attack.
