Verizon's Bollypop Video Dance Contest!

According to a Verizon Press Release, "Bollypop Video Dance
Competition Open to all U.S. Residents; Grand Prize Winner Gets Trip
To India and an Appearance in a Bollywood Film."

"Aspiring dancers can enter Bollypop, an online dance competition
sponsored by Verizon to help showcase the growing amount of Bollywood
movies and music videos the company offers its FiOS TV and V CAST
customers. The Bollypop ( www.verizon.com/bollypop) contest is open to
all U.S. residents and is maintained by Saavn, the largest digital
distributor of South Asian movies, music videos, audio tracks and
ringtones. Contest entrants can be either individuals or dance troupes
(maximum of four performers) and must submit a video of any dance
moves to one of 11 Bollywood songs.

The video with the most votes will win the grand prize, which includes
airfare, hotel and transportation to Mumbai, India, and an appearance
in a Bollywood film. Additionally, the grand prize winner or winners
will get a three-day trip to New York City to attend a celebration in
their honor.
"We're excited to bring this fun contest to our customers," said,
Shruti Joshi, director of marketing for Verizon. "As Verizon expands
the number of international movie and music channels on FiOS TV and
offers more South Asian content, contests and programs such as this
one will allow us to connect with the growing base of customers who
enjoy Bollywood movies."

Bollywood is the name of India's film industry, which produces more
than 1,000 movies annually. Bollywood movies are typically musicals
that feature six to eight songs and major dance sequences. Reflective
of the popularity of Bollywood movies, the category has become the
highest-grossing foreign film sector in the U.S.

Acclaimed Bollywood choreographer Rujuta Vaidya, said, "Like Latin
music did a few years ago, Bollywood is on the cusp of becoming part
of the mainstream; because Bollywood fuses all forms of dance
including hip-hop and classical Indian music, it appeals to a wide
audience."

Read the full release at --
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/verizon-launches-bollywood-themed-dance-contest/story.aspx?guid=%7B34902756-6A6B-4C73-9D09-69E85E378357%7D&dist=hppr

Natalie Portman As Sita

A new video from Devendra BAnhart, features his girlfriend Natalie Portman as Sita... Very interesting!

ICICI Considers Expanding Globally

"ICICI Bank, one of the largest in India, is considering acquisitions
to expand outside its home market at a time when many foreign rivals
are struggling because of tight credit markets, two of the bank's
executives said in an interview on Wednesday," reports the New York
Times. At a time when Indian businesses are thick into M&A's and
foreign expansion, it is very interesting to see a succesful Indian
bank getting ready to take on Global expansion, at a time of economic
crisis in the US.

According to the New York Times, "Like many banks in India, ICICI,
which is based in Mumbai, has remained relatively unscathed by the
financial market turmoil and now has about $5 billion in cash on hand
to spend on an international expansion that could include the purchase
of a "large consumer franchise" in Britain, Canada or Germany, said
Sonjoy Chatterjee, an executive director who is responsible for
international business.

ICICI, which initially focused on serving people of Indian origin in
India and abroad, already offers online saving accounts to non-Indian
customers in those three countries and is keen to build a global brand
as rising interest rates slow the growth of its consumer lending at
home.

ICICI operates in 19 countries outside India, including the United
States, and those markets account for about 25 percent of the bank's
assets, or $30 billion.

"There is an opportunity out there because of the current market
situation," Mr. Chatterjee said in an interview in London. ICICI's
chief executive, K. V. Kamath, added that even though banks are cheap
now, "they come with huge challenges and we need to see whether we
want to take those or how to go about it."

Read the full article at--
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/10/business/worldbusiness/10rupee.html?emc=tnt&tntemail0=y

Fashion Models With A Difference

"Tabla drums warbled and lights beat down as the woman glided down the
runway, her sari billowing loosely and her hair pulled tight. As
fashion shows go, the sashay-spin-repeat sequence was fairly routine.

But the background of many of the models at this event on Wednesday
evening, held in a fourth-floor dining room at the United Nations, was
anything but.

Known as Dalits, or "untouchables," the women have such a low social
standing in their native India that they are below the lowest rung of
the officially banned but still-present caste system.

In fact, this particular group of women — 17 on stage, an additional
20 or so in the audience, all with dresses that were pool blue, to
honor the official shade of the United Nations — once cleaned septic
systems for a living," reports the New York Times.

Many of these women are real dark beauties who are shunned merely
because of the caste that they have been born into. It is wonderful to
see that they could be transformed, like a caterpillar to a
butterfly!!!

Read the full piece at--
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/04/nyregion/04sanitation.html?emc=tnt&tntemail0=y