Kahaani: It wasn't Bhaskaran's mobile number but that of a Delhi girl

New Delhi: Bhaskaran K is no Amitabh Bachchan. So when his number was flashed on the screen, the girl whom the number actually belongs to, received no calls, when IBNLive contacted her.

(Spoiler alert!)

In Sujoy Ghosh's much applauded thriller Kahaani, Vidya Bagchi (Vidya Balan) after hacking into R Shridhar's (IT head at the National Data Centre, Kolkata) computer, finds a piece of code. Satyaki Sinha aka Rana (Parambrata Chatterjee), the Kolkata Police assistant sub-inspector who had been helping Vidya in the search for her 'missing' husband, deciphers it to be a mobile phone number based on the numbers corresponding to the letters on a BlackBerry phone keypad.

In the movie, the number is said to be that of Bhaskaran K (Dhritiman Chatterjee), commander-in-chief , Intelligence Bureau, New Delhi. But in the real world that number is apparently that of a Vodafone mobile subscriber in Delhi.

When IBNLive contacted her, she appeared surprised on knowing the Kahaaniconnection. She said that though she had watched the movie recently, it did not occur to her that that number, which plays a vital role in the movie, was actually hers. But at the same time, she doesn't think that it is a big deal and any number used in a movie could actually belong to someone else.

She, unlike the owner of the number that Amitabh Bachchan announced on Kaun Banega Crorepati, has not been inundated with calls was because that number appears very briefly on the screen. And even when A Khan (Nawazuddin Siddiqui), the deputy chief at the Intelligence Bureau mutters the number, it is in the alphabetic code and not the actual number. Her phone might just start ringing a lot more when Kahaani releases on DVD.

Bangalore resident, Sarah Varghese, also faced a similar ordeal when her number found its way, thanks to a scriptwriter's imagination, to Aamir Khan's chiselled body in the 2008 blockbuster Ghajini.

Using fictitious numbers in movies and television shows is a standard practice in the west. In USA and Canada numbers with the prefix 555 are widely used in the entertainment industry. This is because the 555 area code is reserved for directory assistance applications in the North American Numbering Plan and therefore do not correspond with actual personal phone numbers.

If the owner of the number objects, the makers of Kahaani may find themselves in aBruce Almighty-like situation. In the 2003 movie, God (Morgan Freeman) contacts Bruce Nolan (Jim Carrey) on his pager using an actual number, albeit without an area code. Following complaints from people who had been receiving calls asking to speak to God, the number was edited for the DVD and television releases.

Another purported image of the Samsung Galaxy S III leaks

If we got a nickel for every time a supposed image of the upcoming Galaxy S III was found, we would have a lot of nickels. Another one of such images for the Galaxy S III has surfaced but we must say, out of all that we have seen so far, this one seems to be the most convincing.

A few things are in its favor. First of all, the design looks more like something Samsung would actually design and less like the fantasy of a Samsung fan somewhere with Photoshop on his PC. There are some interesting elements here worth noticing, such as the edge to edge display, loudspeaker placed at the bottom edge on the front, dedicated camera shutter and an incredibly thin profile.

Poring over the screenshot, we see the date May 22 along with the mention of Samsung's Unpacked event, which could just be when the phone gets launched, assuming this image is real.

Lastly, on the bottom right it mentions the name of Weber Shandwick, a PR company who has a history of working for Samsung.

There are a couple of unusual things about the picture, though. First of all, the design is unlike the first two Galaxy S phones. The design of the S II was clearly an evolution of the first phone; it even had that bump on the back at the bottom. In comparison, this image of the Galaxy S III is very different from the first two phones, which strikes us as a bit odd.

Secondly, the display has five icons on the screen near the bottom. The only Samsung phone that has five icons is the Galaxy Note, but only because it has a ginormous display that can accommodate them. Unless the Galaxy S III has a 5.0+ inch display, it would be unlikely that it would have five icons because then they would be too small. It also seems unlikely that Samsung would have two 5.0+ inch models at the same time. Clearly, that display segment is reserved for the Note.

The presence of the camera shutter button also raises a few alarms in our head. When was the last time Samsung had a dedicated camera shutter button on an Android device?

So even though this might seem like the most convincing image of the Galaxy S III so far, we would advise taking it with a pinch of salt. If it really is fake, to whoever that made it, well trolled.

Sensex ends 193 points down on profit booking

Mumbai: The BSE Sensex fell over 1 per cent on the first day of week as it looked worried over rates cut in April post Budget considering high oil prices. Political uncertainties also added to the woes, after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh accepted Dinesh Trivedi's resignation as Railway Minister.

Both traders and investors squared off their positions that built up before the Budget as they believe it was realistic and retrospective but not reformist.

The 30-share BSE benchmark fell 192.83 points or 1.10 per cent, to close at 17,273.37, weighed down by 24 stocks. Meanwhile, the 50-share NSE Nifty went down 60.85 points or 1.14 per cent to 5,257.05, dragged down by capital goods, banks, technology, oil & gas and capital goods stocks.

The Sensex shed more than 400 points in two days. According to Vibhav Kapoor of IL&FS, a lot of people who bought in anticipation of the Budget are selling out right now and that is leading to this correction over the last two days.

India question Ajmal's bowling action: sources

Mirpur: The Indian team has reportedly questioned Pakistan spinner Saeed Ajmal's bowling action following their six-wicket win in the Asia Cup on Sunday.

According to CNN-IBN's sources, the BCCI is considering writing to the ICC over the bowler's doosra, which is a bone of contention. Questions have been raised over Ajmal's action in the past but the ICC has cleared him after a series of tests.

Getty Images

Ajmal himself claimed so in an interview to BBC television recently. "I don't know about my bowling action, but somebody was telling me your action is bad. ICC has allowed me 23.5 because my arm is not good because of an accident, that is why a problem," he told the BBC. "Otherwise no problem, straightaway cleared by ICC."

Ajmal’s remarks stirred up a controversy as the ICC charter says a bowler can straighten his arm only up to 15 degrees. In the match at Mirpur’s Shere Bangla National Stadium on Sunday, Ajmal got rid of Sachin Tendulkar with a doosra, the equivalent of a googly which is bowled by a legspinner.

Even though India won the match, the batsmen were reportedly unhappy with Ajmal’s action.

Andhra Pradesh: Chiranjeevi, Renuka file Rajya Sabha nomination papers

Hyderabad: Telugu megastar Chiranjeevi and former Union Minister Renuka Choudary on Monday filed their nominations on behalf of the ruling Congress for the biennial elections to Rajya Sabha from Andhra Pradesh.

Former state minister Palvai Govardhan Reddy and former journalist Rapolu Ananda Bhaskar too filed their papers as Congress nominees on the last day of the nomination process.

Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy, PCC President Botsa Satyanarayana and a host of other leaders accompanied the candidates on the occasion.

Chiranjeevi was nominated to the Rajya Sabha as part of his Praja Rajyam Party's merger with Congress. He is currently an MLA from the temple-town Tirupati.

Renuka Choudary, who lost the 2009 Lok Sabha election from Khammam, is now a spokesperson rpt spokesperson of the All India Congress Committee and had previously served as a member of the Upper House of Parliament as Telugu Desam Party candidate.

Govardhan Reddy, a staunch protagonist of Telangana state, is a surprise choice while Bhaskar was lucky to be nominated at the last minute to apparently fulfill caste equations.

India displaces China as world's largest arms importer

London: India has become the world's biggest importer of arms, displacing China by accounting for 10 per cent of global arms sales volumes. Over the past five years, India's imports of major weapons increased by 38 per cent between 2007 and 2011, a Swedish security think tank said with Asia topping other regions in arms imports.

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) in its new report said that India was closely followed by China and Pakistan whose weapons imports constituted 5 per cent each of global sales.

Pakistan took delivery of "significant numbers of combat aircrafts during this period: 50 JF-17s from China and 30 F-16s from US," SIPRI said.

The Swedish think tank said China, which had been world's top arms importer in 2006-2007, has now dropped to fourth place, attributing this to improvements in the country's arms industry and its rising arms exports.

SIPRI said China is now world's sixth largest world exporter of weapons behind the US, Russia, Germany, France and UK.

But "while the volume of China's arms export is increasing, this is largely a result of Pakistan importing more arms from China."

"Beijing has not achieved a major breakthrough in any other significant market," the report said.

According to SIPRI estimates India is likely to spend more than $100 billion on weapons and systems in the next 15 years.

The Swedish institute catalogued India's major recent deals as 126 fighter jets and notable deliveries of other combat aircrafts, including 120 Su-30MKs and 16 MIG-29Ks from Russia and 20 Jaguars from UK.

Other deals include transport planes, submarines and a range of naval vessels, Tanks, small arms and artillery.