Fireworks illuminated the evening sky, earthen lamps dotted houses and people exchanged sweets and gifts on Diwali which also witnessed bonhomie between Indian and Pakistani guards at border posts.
It was fun and frolic for children and youth as they burst crackers and lit fireworks while families visited their neighbours, exchanged 'Happy Diwali' greetings and sweets. Youngsters also took the route of SMS and social networking websites to wish each other.

According to Hindu belief, Diwali is celebrated to mark the return of Lord Rama to Ayodhya from his exile after vanquishing demon-king Ravana.

In the national capital, people decorated their homes and shops with colourful 'rangolis', flowers and lightings and lit 'diyas' or earthen lamps.

In nearby Amritsar, thousands of people paid obeisance in the Golden Temple, which was illuminated by fancy lights. Community feast (langar) was arranged for over three lakh devotees. On Diwali in 1620, sixth Sikh Guru Hargobind Sahib was released by Mughal emperor Jahangir from Gwalior fort.

People also celebrated Diwali in other parts of the country with traditional fervour and gaiety. Devouts thronged temples and offered prayers.

Bollywood turned to Twitter to greet the people and also to ask fans to go slow on sweets and and crackers. For movie buffs, there were new releases like Shah Rukh Khan's "Ra.One", "7am Arivu" starring Tamil actor Suriya, and popular actor Vijay's "Velayudham" to choose from.

President Pratibha Patil, Vice President Hamid Ansari and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh greeted the people on the occasion of Diwali saying the festival of lights strengthens the country's resolve to follow true ethical values.

Google announced to shut down the highly-controversial social networking product Google Buzz, along with several other services in the coming weeks.

Google on its official blog, Google announced the death penalty to its code search engine, Buzz, Jaiku which let users send updates to friends, the Google personalised homepage feature iGoogle, and the University Research Program for Google Search.

The shut-downs came as part of Google's housecleaning effort announced in early September, in which the company said it will shut down a number of products and merging others into existing products as features.

"Changing the world takes focus on the future, and honesty about the past. We learned a lot from products like Buzz, and are putting that learning to work every day in our vision for products like Google+. Our users expect great things from us; today's announcements let us focus even more on giving them something truly awesome," said Google in the blog post.

Google Buzz, a social networking and messaging tool integrated into Gmail service, has been widely criticised for privacy concerns and held back the search giant from expanding its businesses to the social networking space.

After Buzz, Google launched Google+ in June, which has been receiving a good response and passed the 40 million user mark, the company's chief executive officer Larry Page said Thursday.

Good news for women in Delhi as they can travel for free in Delhi Transport Corporation buses on Friday on the occasion of Bhai Duj.

One person was today killed and 16 others were injured, four of them seriously, when a bus fell into a gorge in Uttarkashi district, police said.

The incident occurred when the driver lost control over the vehicle and it skidded off the road at New Point area between Dharali and Jangla bridge.

Madan Singh Panwar, a member of Uttarkashi Nagar panchayat, was killed on the spot, they said.

The injured have been admitted to a nearby hospital, where condition of four persons is stated to be serious.

Senior police and administrative officials have rushed to the spot.

ISTANBUL: Maria Sharapova's hopes of winning back the WTA Championship title after a seven-year interval suffered a blow when she lost her opening match to US Open champion Samantha Stosur on Tuesday.

The Russian was playing her first match in nearly four weeks after injuring an ankle in Tokyo, and her uncertainty showed as she lost 6-1, 7-5 to the Australian whom she had beaten in all of their previous nine encounters.

Sharapova, who has qualified for the season-end tournament for the first time in four years, may now have to beat both Li Na and Victoria Azarenka if she is to reach the semi-finals.

Sharapova had points for a 4-0 lead in the second set but lacked the consistency to capitalise. She produced a high ratio of unforced errors, and six double faults, including one at 5-5 which contributed to a vital service game loss.

"It's obviously tough to come back after a month and compete at this level," she said.

"But at least I have given myself a chance to be here, which was a question a couple of weeks ago.

"And it's good that I have a couple of matches to go. I think I have time to improve."

Several times the former Wimbledon, US Open and Australian Open champion closed her eyes in displeasure at the moments when she mistimed the ball or made wrong shot selections.

But given her hampered preparation her moderate performance was not such a surprise.

Stosur by contrast moved far better, used a containing slice backhand well to nullify many of Sharapova's biggest blows, and often played solidly enough to make her fierce-hitting adversary try one shot too many.

She was also resolute when she had to serve out for the match.

It increases the chances that Caroline Wozniacki will finish season-end world number one for the second seuccessive year, even though the favourite had to survive a scare and a two-hour 39-minute battle.

The top-seeded Dane went a set and a break of serve down before getting the better of Agnieszka Radwanska, the in-form Pole, by 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 in a tortuous tussle of containment and counter-attack.

There were important moments when she called upon her father-coach Piotr to help work out how to overcome the durable and thoughtful Radwanska, the winner of 11 successive matches and back-to-back titles at Tokyo and Beijing to become the tournament's last qualifier.

"He told me that I should be the one deciding where to play the ball," she said. "And to step into court a little bit."

He came courtside after Wozniacki had gone an early break down, and she responded to recover from 2-4 to 4-4 with steady pressure, a few more net approaches, and some changes of pace with down-the-line driving.

But after Radwanska saved three successive set points at 4-5 love-40 it inspired her to lift her level, to take ten out of 11 points and to snatch the opening set.

Piotr was summoned again when Wozniacki dropped serve to go 1-2 down in the second set, at which stage matters were beginning to look grim. But then the match took an important twist.

Radwanska played an uncharacteristically poor game to drop serve, thumping the ball into the ground in anger, and going on to lose four games in a row before calling the trainer.

That brought some swivelling exercises for the upper body and a large patch of criss-crossed taping on her right shoulder. Her long sequence of matches seemed to be taking its toll.

Despite that Wozniacki found it hard to press home her advantage, missing three points for a 5-2 final set lead and allowing Radwanska back to 4-4 before making the decisive thrust.

That came after the Pole had saved one match point and reached a point for 5-5, when Wozniacki played a loopy, slow-ball forehand on the second match points, and saw Radwanska strike it into the net.

Earlier Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova made a good start to her hopes of winning the second biggest title of her career, when she overcame Vera Zvonareva, the former runner-up, by 6-2, 6-4.

England, raising hopes of pulling one back with a final fling, fell into the familiar pattern as Team India completed a clean sweep of the five-match Airtel ODI series with another emphatic win on Tuesday.

Overcoming a mid-innings crisis, the Indians first scrambled to a formidable 271 for 7 in their quota of overs and then weathered a rollicking opening stand of 129 runs to win the fifth ODI by 95 runs.

After failing to record a single victory on their disastrous tour of England in the summer, the 5-0 scoreline would have brought Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his men great satisfaction, especially in the light of the fact that several leading players had to skip the series through injuries.

The skipper led from the front on Tuesday, boosting a sagging run-rate with a flurry of sixes in the final overs after England skipper Alastair Cook had completed a clean sweep of the toss and put the hosts in.

After making a cautious start, Dhoni bludgeoned his way to an unbeaten 69-ball 75, his stature as the 'best finisher in ODIs' well reflected in the rare record of not being dismissed during the entire series.

England launched a rapid, credible reply with Craig Kieswetter and Cook taking the fight to the Indians with controlled aggression. While the new ball and the early overs of spin made no impression on the free-flowing English openers, it all changed after India's pace-bowling find Varun Aaron made the breakthrough by beating skipper Cook with an angular delivery. The spinners took over from there.

Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin spun a web around the batsmen as they shared the bowling Powerplay, which produced four wickets for just 10 runs. Manoj Tiwary, who had looked a trifle tight in an opening over that cost 13 runs, came back with more flight and belief. As wickets fell at regular intervals and the slow strangulation began, it was all a familiar tale.

Jadeja, who picked up four wickets, was adjudged Man of the Match while Dhoni was a very popular choice for the Man of the Series honour. But it all came after some anxious moments. The hosts, 80 for no loss with the new opening combination of Ajinkya Rahane and Gautam Gambhir cruising along, were rocked by three wickets that fell in the space of just nine deliveries and the addition of one run.

It all started with Gambhir dragging the ball onto his stumps as he tried to force Finn off the back foot to cover, his dismissal a replay of the one in Mumbai on Sunday. Five balls later, Finn sent back Virat Kohli in a classical 'set-piece', beating the in-form batsman with one that left him and following it up with a sharp in-cutter that kissed the off-stump as Kohli shouldered arms.

Rahane departed, driving Tim Bresnan far from his front-foot, Craig Kieswetter reacting quickly to pull off a sharp one-handed catch on his right and make amends for failing to grab a Gambhir edge off Stuart Meaker when the batsman was 25. The bowling Powerplay produced just 10 runs, 6 of them from a Graeme Swann over.

Indians will get a taste of their own Grand Prix when the inaugural Formula One race is held at the Buddh International Circuit near Delhi on October 30.

The 5.14-kilometer Buddh International Circuit has been designed by German architect and racetrack designer Herman Tilke, the man behind the race tracks in countries like Malaysia, Bahrain, and China. It can handle a top speed of about 320 kmph for an F1 car. As millions of fans gear up to witness their F1 dreams come alive in India TOI takes you inside the circuit.

TURNS 11 & 12: Turns 11 and 12 are basically one long double apex right hander. The corner will be ultra-fast with speeds of over 210 kmph even through the tightest part of the corner. Given the panoramic grandstand, if you want to see a Formula 1 in all its glory, then get a seat at Turns 11-12! The banking through the corner which will enable great speeds should make it a driver's favourite

SPEED: 207kmph

TURN 5: This is going to be one of the best overtaking opportunities on the lap with the last of the late-brakers being able to reap the rewards for being brave. The circuit drops downhill towards Turn 5 and then Fl ows through some quick direction changes for Turns 6 and 7. The drivers will start to build speed up through the fl owing right-left sections of Turns 8 and 9 before climbing uphill again.

SPEED: 290kmph

MAIN GRANDSTAND

This permanent structure is located just next to the start line, and opposite the pit stop building. The roofed structure that spreads over 65,000 square metres incorporates more than 1,200 metric tonnes of steel. Undoubtedly the best place to enjoy all the F1 action fi rst hand. Seats are Rs 35,000 apiece.

PADDOCK AREA: This is the area where teams will park their equipment trucks and engineers re-assemble the cars before the race. The media conferences will take place in this area.

PIT BUILDING: The nerve centre of the F1 race - the Pit Building will house important race facilities, such as the garages for the Formula One race teams, race control facilities, media centre, the winners' podium, as well as the Paddock Club.

SPECTATOR GUIDE

All set to attend the opening F1 but dont know what all to carry for the event? Don't leave your home without reading our comprehensive guide.

HAT: To shield your face from hot sun.

SUNGLASSES: With UV protection your face from hot sun.

BINOCULORS: Good magnifi cation and long range lenses are recommended.

CLOTHING: Wear comfortable attire. October afternoons are warm but comfortable in Delhi.

SUNSCREEN: With a high SPF rating.

The first Shikharbandhi Temple to be built in Europe can be found in Hertfordshire.

Situated on the B156 between Northaw and Potters Bar, it was built by the Jains, one of the oldest living religions in the world, and consecrated in August 2005.

The temple complex is contructed in the shape of the Jain symbol and forms part of the Oshwal Centre, a focal point for Jains all over the country.

Made of sandstone and marble, hand carved in India by over 200 masons, it is surrounded by formal gardens and 80 acres of parkland.

Dr Atul Shah, a volunteer at the temple who regularly leads tours around the site said: "The architecture of the temple is authentic to the Indian tradition. To have a temple of such beauty, built with marble, and have five acres of sculptured gardens and landscape around it, is a fascinating addition to the architectural and faith landscape of Britain."

Ancient religion

Jainism is an ancient religion from India that teaches that the way to Nirvana (liberation) is to live lives of peace and harmlessness.

The essence of the religion is concern for the welfare of every being in the universe and for the health of the universe itself.

Jains value and respect all life equally and believe that animals and plants, as well as human beings, contain living souls. Each of these souls is considered of equal value and should be treated with compassion.

Most Jains live in India, and according to the 2001 Census of India there are around 4.2 million there although the Oxford Handbook of Global Religions, published in 2006, suggests that census figures may be lower than the true number of followers as many Jains identify themselves as Hindu. The book also states that there are around 25,000 Jains in Britain.

One of the most important symbols of the faith is the Saathio [swastika] which reminds Jains that people undergo a continuous cycle from birth to death in four forms: angels, human, animal and plant and hellish beings.

"The Saathio is a very ancient Indian symbol," explained Dr Shah.

"Hitler actually abused the symbol .... here it represents where we are today - the different life forms on the planet today."

PERTH: Taking serious note of the travel advisories against it, India today raised the issue with Australia, asking it to withdraw issuance of such notices which have "disproportionate" language and were contrary to the current tourist trend.

Minister of External Affairs S M Krishna, who is here to attend the CHOGM Foreign Ministers Meeting, held talks with his Australian counterpart Kevin Rudd and raised the issue in detail, official sources said.

Krishna asked Rudd to withdraw issuance of travel advisory for tourists travelling to India.

"The language in these advisory is rather disproportionate and contrary to the current trend of tourism to India," he told Rudd.

Responding to Krishna, Rudd said such advisories were "routine" advice and "we do not have any information of any specific threat to share with India."

According to official sources, Krishna is also expected to raise the issue with his other counterparts including Canada and New Zealand.

In the wake of many countries, including US and Australia, issuing travel advisories to their citizens, New Delhi has taken a serious note of the issue, maintaining such notices do not reflect the reality and have adverse affect on the tourism to the country.

MUMBAI: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) hiked key rates by 25 basis points on Tuesday, which is being seen as the last such increase because of RBI's acknowledgement of slowing growth. The increase may prompt banks, which did not respond to the previous rate hike in September to now raise lending rates which would make home and auto loans costlier. However, the likelihood of lending rates going up significantly from here is low, with banks being tentative about repricing their loans because of easing demand and a strong deposit growth.

In its 13th straight increase since January 2010, the RBI increased the repo rate, the rate at which banks borrow from RBI, by 25 basis points to 8.5%. The repo rate hike will automatically push up the reverse repo rate (the rate at which banks park surplus funds with RBI) by the same amount of 25 bps.

What should bring a big relief to India Inc, weighed down under slowing growth, the RBI governor D Subbarao, announcing the rate hike, said: "the likelihood of a rate action in the December mid-quarter review is relatively low. Beyond that, if the inflation trajectory conforms to projections, further rate hikes may not be warranted". The governor also lowered the GDP forecast to 7.6% from 8%, while retaining the inflation target at 7%.

Yes Bank was the first off the block, reacting by increase its lending rates. However, larger lenders such as SBI and HDFC Bank said they will take a call after studying the impact on their cost of funds. According to SBI chairman Pratip Chaudhuri, the present growth in deposits is enough to meet credit demand and unless there is pressure to increase deposit rates a rate hike looks unlikely. He also pointed out that bank deposits are now getting a further boost because they have reached a tipping point, where they now offer better returns than the small saving schemes offered by the government.

M V Nair, chairman, Union Bank of India said banks will have to think carefully before raising interest rates. "There is an indication that further rate hikes may not happen and there is a distinct possiblity of inflation coming down. What it means that going forward, pressure on inflation and consequently on interest rates may come down"

Economists also feel that rates are close to their peak and the central bank is unlikely to raise rates from here. "RBI is now convinced that the desired slowdown to bring demand-pull price pressures down has arrived. The next move by the RBI, therefore, should be a rate cut, but not until inflationary pressures have decisively begun to subside. We expect the easing cycle will be delayed until second half of 2012," said Richard Iley, chief Asia economist BNP Paribas.

However, central bank's stance is based on the assumption that it will be able to reign in inflation as represented by the wholesale price index at 7% by the end of the current fiscal. While the central bank will have the benefit of a high base overall prices will depend on this year's harvest and global commodity prices.

Aries: Your friendly, kind and noble nature brings people close to you. You won't have to take any great efforts to do this.

Your healthy and robust being will help you attain success in all your plans and projects that you undertake today.

You would be so tied down with responsibilities that you won't find any time to spend on your favorite hobbies. Do not let it dampen your spirit though as you would soon get out of this busy schedule.

Taurus: You are generally very energetic and powerful. But today exhaustion due to your busy schedule of the past few days will slow you down. Take adequate rest and you will soon be fine.

Think over your plans over the next few days before implementing them. Soon you will find favorable time.

You might have a tendency to shoot off your mouth, especially when you are trying to get something. Be very aware of this habit of yours as it might only create negative vibes around you.

Gemini: Love and care from your near and dear ones will act as an energy booster and will encourage you to take up something creative and effective.

The forthright manner in which you speak critically of others will alienate you. This would be the case even in instances where you might be right. Try to be gentle while you speak.

Friends would encourage you big time to reach your goal. Share your plans with them and they will do all that they can help.

You will invest your energy and vigor in a new project which also gives you a purpose. Your physical and mental stamina would also be at a high.

Cancer: All your efforts you have put in to create something useful for others as well as yourself will be rewarded. You will succeed in creating what you set out to do.

Since you have always provided support and encouragement to others, today you will receive their support in completing what you are now doing.

Leo: Today may not be a good day to raise funds or go about collecting money that others may owe you.

You are generally very energetic and powerful. But today exhaustion due to your busy schedule of the past few days will slow you down. Take adequate rest and you will soon be fine.

Your loyalty to those dear to you in their hour of need will endear you to them. They will love and care for you more.

Virgo: Keep your thoughts and opinions to yourself. Attain some clarity before you try and present it to others. You may be appreciated for your ideas but it might come a little late in the day.

Not a very promising day for lovers. Something may bring up a past unresolved dispute. Things may go spiraling down if not handled sensitively.

Libra: Your friendly, kind and noble nature brings people close to you. You won't have to take any great efforts to do this.

Your healthy and robust being will help you attain success in all your plans and projects that you undertake today.

You would be so tied down with responsibilities that you won't find any time to spend on your favorite hobbies. Do not let it dampen your spirit though as you would soon get out of this busy schedule.

Scorpio: You will be in a positive energy frame today. It makes you optimistic and gives you the faith in your resources and their support. You will also have the confidence to express yourself clearly.

Think over your plans over the next few days before implementing them. Soon you will find favorable time.

You are a person committed to a relationship. The one that you have now forged would be a long one. You will also do whatever is within your means to make it stable.

Be courageous today as you face some unexpected issues at work or in your business deals. Courage will win the day for you.

Sagittarius: You will be attracted to a person who will share your interests and desires and passion.

Fathers need to spend more time with their family and kids. They are missing the love and care that only a father can provide them.

You will achieve your goal with your talent and analytical powers.

Capricorn: It would be very difficult today to balance your time between family and career. There would be a conflict of commitment. Try and explain your situation to your close family members as they will only understand you.

Express you love for your beloved openly and confidently. Keep away any negative thoughts that might lurk in. You will be successful in love today.

There might be some unforeseen family matters that might require your immediate attention today. This might keep you away from your job or business.

Aquarius: You are attracted to beauty and peace. Today you will find yourself relaxing in a peaceful environment.

You have been planning to take a vacation to spend some time with yourself for some time now. But unfortunately you may have to postpone your plans due to some unexpected reasons.

A short journey you've planned for today with your near and dear ones will pass to be very enjoyable and exciting. You'll all have great fun.

Pisces: Women who dedicate their days taking care of their families need to take care of themselves as well. They shouldn't neglect their own well being.

You have to be very firm while communicating to anybody that matters relating to your spouse, children and your private life is off limits. Ensure that there are no unnecessary interference into your private life.

A break today from work would help you regain your lost energy. Try and relax so that your mind and body are rejuvenated.

You will soon find yourself in a new surrounding. It might be a transfer or a shift to a new place. But this move will definitely bring about a positive change in your nature.

A former MLA and brother of a Rajasthan minister are among six persons arrested for alleged illegal possession of a house in the posh Civil Lines locality here, police said on Friday.

Aries: You have the compassion and empathy that makes people bare all to you. Today you will be able to help an introvert person to talk about the issue s/he is facing. You might also be able to resolve the issue.

Friends would encourage you big time to reach your goal. Share your plans with them and they will do all that they can help.

You are a person committed to a relationship. The one that you have now forged would be a long one. You will also do whatever is within your means to make it stable.

You will be full of ideas to expand the current project you have been working on. But some unexpected problems might crop up preventing you from implementing these ideas.

Taurus: All your efforts you have put in to create something useful for others as well as yourself will be rewarded. You will succeed in creating what you set out to do.

It might be better to avoid expressing your opinions today. Although you know that you are right, your views may only alienate you from some of your relatives.

Since you have always provided support and encouragement to others, today you will receive their support in completing what you are now doing.

Your healthy and robust being will help you attain success in all your plans and projects that you undertake today.

Gemini: You are generally very energetic and powerful. But today exhaustion due to your busy schedule of the past few days will slow you down. Take adequate rest and you will soon be fine.

Think over your plans over the next few days before implementing them. Soon you will find favorable time.

You might have a tendency to shoot off your mouth, especially when you are trying to get something. Be very aware of this habit of yours as it might only create negative vibes around you.

Cancer: Love and care from your near and dear ones will act as an energy booster and will encourage you to take up something creative and effective.

The forthright manner in which you speak critically of others will alienate you. This would be the case even in instances where you might be right. Try to be gentle while you speak.

Friends would encourage you big time to reach your goal. Share your plans with them and they will do all that they can help.

You will invest your energy and vigor in a new project which also gives you a purpose. Your physical and mental stamina would also be at a high.

Leo: A sense of depression will detach you from everyone. It would also repel anything that brings happiness.

Mothers will have to pay attention to all their kids needs. They might be going through some mental support and will need all their mother's affection and love and support.

Try not to reveal personal details to colleagues. Confiding your secrets, or personal details may not be such a good idea. You may later regret it.

Virgo: Express your feelings and emotions clearly and openly to the person you are attracted to. Do not fear rejection.

Today may not be a good day to raise funds or go about collecting money that others may owe you.

Today you may feel exhausted of the demands made on you at home as well as at work. You need to take some time out and think and plan your work. For all you know, you might be doing something the hard way.

Fathers need to provide their kids with guidance, love and care. They will also feel capable of fulfilling all their children's' needs.

You might have to face some tough situations today. But you will be able to resolve all of that with your intelligence and analytical powers.

Libra: You have the compassion and empathy that makes people bare all to you. Today you will be able to help an introvert person to talk about the issue she is facing. You might also be able to resolve the issue.

Friends would encourage you big time to reach your goal. Share your plans with them and they will do all that they can help.

You are a person committed to a relationship. The one that you have now forged would be a long one. You will also do whatever is within your means to make it stable.

You will be full of ideas to expand the current project you have been working on. But some unexpected problems might crop up preventing you from implementing these ideas.

Scorpio: Your friendly, kind and noble nature brings people close to you. You won't have to take any great efforts to do this.

Your healthy and robust being will help you attain success in all your plans and projects that you undertake today.

You would be so tied down with responsibilities that you won't find any time to spend on your favorite hobbies. Do not let it dampen your spirit though as you would soon get out of this busy schedule.

Sagitarius: You are a born romantic who feels life is not worth living without love. And today you might meet someone who just shares this same view.

You would be very lucky in love today. You will be at your cheerful and charming best. Your disarming ways would take away any protests that might be made in response to your romantic proposal.

You will be at your charming best today. Your popularity on the social chart also climbs up several notches.

Capricon: Your fun loving nature and keen sense of humor attracts others to you. It will also bring joy and peace to your life and to others close to you.

You have been careless enough to neglect your favorite hobbies. They are the things that keep you vibrant and energetic. Neglecting your hobbies would only make you dull.

Make yourself very presentable today. For an unexpected short trip today will result in your meeting with someone special.

Aquarius: It would be very difficult today to balance your time between family and career. There would be a conflict of commitment. Try and explain your situation to your close family members as they will only understand you.

Express you love for your beloved openly and confidently. Keep away any negative thoughts that might lurk in. You will be successful in love today.

There might be some unforeseen family matters that might require your immediate attention today. This might keep you away from your job or business.

Pisces: You are attracted to beauty and peace. Today you will find yourself relaxing in a peaceful environment.

You have been planning to take a vacation to spend some time with yourself for some time now. But unfortunately you may have to postpone your plans due to some unexpected reasons.

A short journey you've planned for today with your near and dear ones will pass to be very enjoyable and exciting. You'll all have great fun.

Master of romance Shah Rukh Khan is the man of the moment, thanks to his first ever superhero movie "RA.One", an ambitious Rs.150 crore ($30 million) project that boasts of world class VFX, mindblowing graphics and his own presence.

Billed as a technological masterpiece, it will be unleashed on about 3,500 screens across the globe on Diwali Wednesday.

Shah Rukh's movie is also set to enter non-traditional markets like South Korea and Hong Kong. On 500 screens, it will be in the 3D format.

The high point of the movie is technology. "Ra.One" reportedly has 3,500 VFX shots and SRK collaborated with Jeffrey Kleiser, co-founder of US-based Synthesian Studios, to supervise the work done by the Indian film star's RedchilliesVFX team.

Budget, technology and marketing, everything about the film is larger than life. Many feel that sometimes filmmakers use inflated budget to promote films, but sci-films usually cost a lot. For instance, " Avatar" was made at a budget of Rs.1,100 crore ($230 million), while "RA.One", touted as the most expensive Bollywood film till date, had to pack everything into a meagre budget of about Rs.150 crore.

A co-production of Shah Rukh and Eros Entertainment, the film will enjoy equally extravagant premieres in Dubai, London and Toronto.

Since the conceptualisation stage, the film has been in the news and the buzz heightened once the Bollywood Badshah unleashed the mega marketing campaign by unveiling the first look with a newspaper front page ad Jan 1.

The next giant step was to air its first trailer during the World Cup and later came tie-ups with Champions League T20, UTV Indiagames for online games and iPhone/iPad application for fans, Sony Playstation for video games, Google Plus and Seventymm, a leading DVD rental company for merchandising, as well as with Homeshop18 to sell superhero film merchandise and Youtube, which has a dedicated Ra.One channel and had got 10,897,668 hits till Monday afternoon.

"It is technically incorrect to say that Shah Rukh has spent Rs.52 crore on marketing. He did tie-ups which are worth Rs.52 crore," Vajir Singh, editor of trade magazine Box Office India, told IANS.

Not to forget the release of "RA.One" dolls, in short the list seems endless. Also, the G.One online store is selling merchandise related to the film.

In past one month, the film's promotion saw an all time high with Shah Rukh's eight-city tour to create awareness about it, his back-to-back appearances on the finales of reality shows "India's Got Talent", "Just Dance" and "Sa Re Ga Ma Li'l Champs" as well as occupying the hot seat on "Kaun Banega Crorepati".

In short, it has been Shah Rukh all the way.

Trade analyst Vinod Mirani describes the promotional activity as an "exercise to give the film a good opening and use the media to make it a hit".

"Usually promotion activity is all about giving a film a good opening and SRK is also doing this. That is the reason he has roped in Amitabh Bachhcan to do the voiceover and Rajinikanth for the cameo. But he is promoting more of himself than his film. But I feel it will get a good opening since SRK is involved," he told IANS.

Anubhav Sinha has directed the film and Shah Rukh says his character is over the top in the film as he has donned a huge wig to play a nerdy programmer who wants to impress his son by creating a game. But things go out of hand when the game's villain escapes into the real world.

Reportedly Rs.1.5 crore was the budget for the mould for the G.One action figure.

So far so good. Now all eyes are on the box office collection of the movie and trade pundits say it will have to gross Rs.200 crore to break even.

According to a news report, Shah Rukh Khan has sold the satellite rights for Rs.37 crore, music rights for Rs.8 crore and ancillary rights for Rs.10 crore.

Singh says the distributors are expecting the film to break all records.

"People are expecting the film to break the first day opening records, first opening weekend records and first week earning records," said Singh.

Film historian M.M. Ausaja added: "It is releasing at the right time and a lot of curiousness has been surrounding the film. People would want to go but it will only survive if the content is substantial."

Turkey will accept offers of aid from foreign countries to cope with the aftermath of a 7.2-magnitude earthquake, officials say.

The country has substantial experience of delivering relief after quakes and had, until now, rejected help.

But officials now say they are in urgent need of housing. Some 2,000 homes have been destroyed.

The death toll from the disaster stands at 459 people, with some 1,352 others injured.

On Wednesday, emergency workers rescued a 27-year old woman alive - nearly three days after she was trapped in a collapsed building.

Caravans needed

According to the semi-state news agency, Anatolia, Turkey is seeking assistance for reconstruction and temporary accommodation for the thousands who have been left homeless.

The government is seeking tents, prefabricated houses and living containers, it reports.

Israel will be among the first to send aid, AFP news agency reports.

Ties with Turkey have been strained since May 2010, when Israeli naval commandos stormed a flotilla trying to sail to Gaza in defiance of a blockade, killing nine Turks.

"Turkey has asked us for caravans for the homeless after the earthquake," Israel's foreign ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor told AFP.

He said they had accepted the request and would seek to supply them as quickly as possible.

Israel's defence ministry said a first Boeing 747 would transport mobile homes to Turkey on Wednesday, and other planes would follow in the coming days.

The Japanese embassy in Ankara said its government would send around $400,000 (£250,000), Anatolia reports.

The BBC's Jonathan Head, in Ercis, says that the government has recognised that it now needs specific help in technical areas where it lacks the resources to get things up fast enough.

The Turkish government has pledged more aid to the thousands made homeless and aid agencies have set up field hospitals and kitchens and distributed thousands of tents and blankets.

But survivors, many now living in camps, have fought over shipments of aid aid and blocked aid shipments.

Health officials have urged them to drink bottled water after detecting an increase in diarrhoea cases, especially among the children.

Turkish officials have warned that the death toll is likely to rise.

Turkey is particularly vulnerable to earthquakes because it sits on major geological fault lines.

While there's talk of Kamal Rashid Khan (KKR) entering Colors' Bigg Boss 5 soon, a little birdie tells us that another controversial person recently turned down the offer to be on the show.

We are talking about Raja Chaudhary, who's seeing Shraddha Sharma. Well, theirs' is a 'sometimes-off-sometimes-on' kind of relationship, yet the production house was keen that Raja make an entry on her birthday recently.

Last year, on Bigg Boss, actor Ali Merchant made an entry and eventually married Sara Khan on the show. Nevermind all the negative publicity the two got after that, but the channel did manage to rake in the Television Rating Points (TRPs). Meanwhile, Raja, we hear, felt it was best to avoid being pitted against Shraddha. Also because all is not well between them at the moment. Hmmm... looks like the man has actually started thinking maturely now.

The commander of forces who captured Muammar Gaddafi has given details of the Libyan ex-leader's last moments.

Omran al-Oweib told the BBC that the injured colonel was dragged from a drainage pipe where he was hiding in Sirte, took 10 steps and collapsed amid gunfire on Thursday.

He said it was impossible to tell who had fired the fatal bullet.

Meanwhile confusion has emerged over whether a full post-mortem had been performed on Col Gaddafi.

His body - and that of his son Mutassim, who was also killed on Thursday - have been placed in a meat storage facility in the city of Misrata.

The foreign affairs spokesman of Libya's National Transitional Council (NTC), Ahmed Gebreel, told the BBC the post-mortem was carried out on Saturday.

However a senior health official within the NTC, Nagy Barakat, said there was no need for such an examination as the cause of death had emerged from a pathologist's report.

Secret burial?

Officials from the NTC have said they want a secret burial to prevent any grave being turned into a shrine.

Elections

Libya's is expected to formally announce the liberation of the country during the weekend.

The first elections should take place by next June, Libya's acting prime minister has said.

"According to what we call the constitutional declaration, the first election after the liberation of the country... should be within a period of eight months maximum," Mahmoud Jibril told a conference in Jordan.

"The national congress of Libya... is entitled with two tasks, the first one to draft a constitution over which we'll have a referendum and the second task is to form the interim government which should last until the first presidential elections are held."

Nato says it will end its campaign in Libya by 31 October.

The alliance's seven-month campaign of air strikes was carried out under a UN mandate authorising the use of force to protect civilians.

Col Gaddafi, who came to power in a coup in 1969, was toppled in August. He was making his last stand in Sirte alongside two of his sons, Mutassim and Saif al-Islam, according to reports.

There are conflicting reports as to the whereabouts of Saif al-Islam, and Col Gaddafi's security chief - who are both at large.