When Shahid Kapoor rode pillion with Priyanka to shoot a song sequence in his Guddu avatar little did he know that he will hit the floor and how! Priyanka had to ride the scooter and Shahid was to sit behind her.
The shot was simple enough; they just had to ride till about 15 meters. However, [...]
Posts Tagged ‘road’
When Priyanka threw Shahid Kapoor off the scooter!
July 24th, 2009 |
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MPs urge voluntary ‘pay as you drive’ plan
July 23rd, 2009 |
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Motorists do not believe the government’s claims that road taxes help cut carbon dioxide emissions and boost public transport investment, according to an MPs’ report released today which recommends a voluntary “pay as you drive” scheme.
The report, by the Commons transport committee, urges ministers to revive the idea of giving motorists the option of being taxed per mile driven – one of the most controversial government proposals of recent years. The recommendation comes with a warning that says the motoring public has become “mistrustful” of taxes on road users.
The committee’s chair, Louise Ellman, Labour MP for Liverpool Riverside, said recent increases in vehicle excise duty had been handled so badly the image of environmental taxes had been tarnished.
The report says: “The government has been inconsistent in the way that it has justified motoring taxes. Fuel duty has been presented, at different times, as a tool to reduce carbon emissions, a source of general revenue, and a means to fund transport investment. We are concerned that motorists are mistrustful of the government regarding taxes.”
The idea is that “pay as you drive” schemes could be used as a substitute for excise duty or fuel duty payments.
Road pricing remains a politically toxic subject for the government after nearly 2 million people signed an online Downing Street petition condemning the concept two years ago.
However, the reintroduction of road pricing into the tax debate was welcomed by one leading motorists’ thinktank. The RAC Foundation said a charging scheme “might become unavoidable” but ministers had to restore belief in the purpose of road taxes first.
Taxes on drivers raise about £45bn a year for the Treasury, say motorists’ groups.
Stephen Glaister, director of the RAC Foundation, said motorists would not back a revised road tax system with the “apparent sole intention of shoring up the nation’s ailing finances”. He added: “For any radical policy to be successful, public trust in the politicians introducing it is essential. That trust is lacking.”
According to an AA poll, 86% of UK drivers do not believe the government would deliver a fair road-pricing programme. Edmund King, the AA’s president, said the introduction of even a small scheme would be “some way off” because of the online petition revolt and the recent rejection of a congestion charge by voters in Manchester. “Voluntary or not, it would be very difficult to introduce at the moment,” he said.
A Treasury spokesperson said: “Government has always been very clear that transport taxes are primarily revenue-raising – but that they also send strong environmental signals, encouraging greater fuel efficiency, and the purchase of lower-emitting cars.”
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HP Takes Data Center Transformation Services on the Road
July 23rd, 2009 |
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Using their own experiences in consolidating 85 data centers into six, HP officials have spent the past year meeting with customers to help them start thinking about what is involved in transforming their data centers into dynamic, efficient and cost-effect facilities. Most customers talk about virtualization and cloud computing, but HP officials say there is a lot more to it than that.
– MARLBOROUGH, Mass. Three years ago, Hewlett-Packard officials announced an ambitious data center consolidation plan that would reduce the number of facilities worldwide from 85 to six.
The project not only has given HP a much more cost-effective, efficient and dynamic data center environment, but i…
When a frog attacked Pink during toilet break
July 18th, 2009 |
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Pink got a hopping surprise while she was on a bike trip in Australia with husband Carey Hart—she was attacked by a frog.
A frog jumped at the ”So What” singer’s face when she stopped for a toilet break during their trip.
“They were relieving themselves by the road when a frog jumped up and hit Pink [...]
Protesters block road in Kosovska Mitrovica
July 16th, 2009 |
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Residents of ZveÄan and northern Kosovska Mitrovica are blocking the road to RaÅ¡ka in protest at the imposition of EULEX customs rules. The local municipal assembly said the protest would last until 22:00 CET and would be staged once a week.
Tourists die in Egypt bus crash
July 16th, 2009 |
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At least eight European tourists and three Egyptians have been killed in a bus crash in Egypt, security and medical officials say.
At least 10 tourists were reported to have been injured when the bus collided with a lorry on a road near Safaga, on Egypt’s Red Sea Coast.
Reuters news agency said the eight tourists killed were all from Serbia.
Traffic accidents are common in Egypt because of what correspondents describe as poor roads and lax traffic rules.
Those injured in the collision were being treated in local hospitals, medical officials said.
One report said the two vehicles crashed on a narrow, two-lane road between Qena and Safaga that was the site of several road accidents in the past.
Another said the lorry had been driving on the wrong side of the road. </p
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Dumped bodies were Mexico police
July 15th, 2009 |
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Mexican police have found at least 12 bodies dumped on a road in the western Michoacan state, which has become a flashpoint in Mexico’s war on drugs.
Officials say the victims were tortured before being shot. They were then left near the town of La Huacana.
Michoacan has been hit by a wave of drug-related killings in recent weeks after the government’s crackdown on drug cartels.
Last week, gunmen killed five people in attacks on the federal police.
They are believed to be revenge attacks after last Friday’s arrest of suspected drug boss Arnoldo Rueda – a senior member of the La Familia Michoacana drug cartel. </p
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
David G. Crane: California: The Trouble With Kicking the Can Down the Road
July 14th, 2009 |
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It didn’t have to be this way. Had California accounted for its promises, billions would not have to be taken from discretionary programs, which is just the first wave of a massive tsunami: our underfunding is simply staggering.
Israel to replace Arabic and English road signs with Hebrew
July 13th, 2009 |
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Israeli transport chiefs have unveiled a plan to replace traditional Arabic and English place names on road signs, keeping only their Hebrew versions.
It means biblical locations such as Nazareth and Caesarea will come to be identified as Natsrat and Kesriya.
The Transport Ministry planners said a lack of uniform spelling on road signs caused confusion for drivers.
Israeli Arabs said it is an attempt to erase the Arabic language and heritage which predates the modern Israel.
"[Transport Minister Yisrael] Katz is mistaken if he thinks that changing a few words can erase the existence of the Arab people," said Arab MP Ahmed Tibi.
Currently most Israeli road signs are written in Hebrew, Arabic and English, using the traditional names in each language.
Jerusalem is identified as "Yerushalaim" in Hebrew, "Jerusalem" in English, and "al-Quds" in Arabic (along with "Yerushalaim" written in Arabic script).
Under the new policy the Holy City will only be identified as Yerushalaim in all three languages.
Jaffa, near Tel Aviv, which still has a sizeable community of Arabs who trace their ancestry to pre-1948 Palestine, will in future be written as Hebraised Yafo.
Not allowed
"The lack of uniform spelling on signs has been a problem for those speaking foreign languages, citizens and tourists alike," said Yeshaayahu Ronen, of the Transportation Planning Department.
"Some Palestinian maps still refer to the Israeli cities by their pre-1948 names. I will not allow that on our signs."
Transport Minister Yisrael Katz
However, speaking to the Ynet news website, Transport Minister Yisrael Katz hinted that there might indeed be an underlying political motive for the plan.
"Some Palestinian maps still refer to the Israeli cities by their pre-1948 names" [before Israel was founded], said Mr Katz.
"I will not allow that on our signs. This government, and certainly this minister, will not allow anyone to turn Jewish Jerusalem to Palestinian al-Quds."
He said areas in the occupied West Bank where Israel exercises civil control would keep their Arabic road signs, so Nablus would not become the Hebrew Shechem.
A right-wing coalition came to power in April including ultra-nationalist Yisrael Beitenu party, which has demanded Israel’s Arab minority demonstrate greater loyalty to the Jewish state.
Israel’s one million Arab citizens make up about one-fifth of the population and they frequently complain of being marginalised and discriminated against by the Jewish-majority state.
The Transport Ministry said changes would be gradual, and no existing sign would be changed unless it needs replacing due to wear.</p
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Alison Rose Levy: Making the Best of the Worst
July 12th, 2009 |
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Some people I know are exquisitely sensitive. Every hurt, harm, or horror imprints their impressionable soul(s). Meanwhile others laugh it off, tough it out, shut down, deny, or resolutely move on.