AIADMK releases list of candidates for 2016 Assembly polls

The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) General Secretary Jayalalithaa announced the list of 227 candidates for the May 16 Assembly elections.

Releasing the list here on Monday, Ms. Jayalalithaa declared that she will re-contest from R.K.Nagar constituency in Chennai. Ms. Jayalalithaa also said that she will start her campaign from RK Nagar constituency on April 9.

State Finance Minister O. Panneerselvam will contest from Bodinayakkanur but Electricity Minister Natham R. Viswanathan will move to Athur constituency. Prominent among those who have been left out are Higher Education Minister P. Palaniappan and IT Minister Mukkur Subramanian.

The AIADMK supremo has balanced the list with plenty of new faces while leaving out many sitting MLAs and by giving seats to old-timers and loyalists besides fielding 31 women candidates, including herself.

Former DMK MLA Parithi Ilamvazhuthi, former DMDK MLAs Panruti S. Ramachandran and Mafoi K. Pandiarajan, and former PMK MLA M. Kalaiarasu, who defected to the AIADMK, have also been given ticket. She has also fielded P.T. Elangovan, former PMK MP, who fell out with party founder S. Ramadoss, in the Dharmapuri constituency.

Leaders of the AIADMK alliance have been allotted the remaining seats. Actor R. Sarathkumar, leader of the All India Samathuva Makkal Katchi (Tiruchendur) and comedian Karunas, leader of the Mukkulathor Pulipadai (Tiruvadanai) secured a seat each.

Republican Party leader C.K. Tamilarasan (Maduranthagam-reserved), Tamil Nadu Kongu Ilaignar Peravai leader U. Thaniarasu (Kangeyam), Manithaneya Makkal Katchi (Nagapattinum and Ottanchathiram), and Tamil Maanila Muslim League leader Sheik Dawood (Kadayanallur) are the other candidates. All of them will contest in Two Leaves symbol.

Following is the list of candidates:

Jayalalithaa - R.K. Nagar

O. Panneerselvam - Bodinayakkanur

Former DGP R. Natraj - Mylapore

K.S. Vijaykumar - Gummidipoondi

P. Balaraman - Ponneri

P.M. Narasimhan - Tiruttani

A Baskaran - Thiruvallur

V. Alexander - Ambattur

T.A. Ezhumalai - Poonamallee

D. Jayakumar - Royapuram

P. Dhanapal - Avinashi

Natham Vishwanathan - Aathur

Parithi Ellamvazhuthi - Egmore

Panruti Ramachandran - Alandur

C. Ponnaiyan - Saidapet

M.C. Munusamy - Velachery

K.S. Seenivasan - Harbour

V.N. Ravi - Virugambakkam

Saraswathi Rengasamy - Theagaraya Nagar

Leo N. Sundaram - Shollinganallur

M. Kothandapani - Thiruporur

Mythili Thirunavukkarasu - Kancheepuram

Walajabad P. Ganesan - Uthiramerur

K. Palani - Sriperumbudur

K.A. Senkotaiyan - Gobichettipalayam

Thousand Lights - Valarmathi

Karunas - Thiruvadanai

Gokula Indira - Anna Nagar

C.V. Elangovan - Pallavaram

V. Neelakandan - Thiru Vi Ka Nagar

Chitlapakkam Rajendran - Tambaram

R. Kamalakannan - Chengalpattu

Kasturi Vasu - Valparai

Arun Kumar - Coimbatore North

Arjunan - Coimbatore South

Singai Muthu - Singanallur

Velumani - Thondamuthur

A. Natarajan - Palladam

V. Senthil Balaji - Aravakurichi

Vinod - Udhagamandalam

Kalaichelvan - Gudalur

Ramu - Coonnor

O.K. Chinnaraj - Mettupalayam

Vijayakumar - Tirupur North

Easwaran - Bhavanisagar

Karupannan - Bhavani

Raja Krishnan - Anthiyur

V.P. Subramani - Modakuruchi

Ponnusamy - Dharapuram

A. Noor Jahan - Chepauk

Seval R. Velu - Vikravandi

Kumaraguru - Ulundurpet

Seval G. Kothandaraman - Thirukoyilur

Rajasekhar - Sankarapuram

C.V. Shanmugam - Villupuram

M. Chakrapani - Vaanur

Annadurai - Mailam

S.P. Rajendran - Tindivanam

Govindasamy - Gingee

Sevoor Ramachandran - Aarani

K. Mohan - Cheyyar

Sellur K. Raju - Madurai West

M. Jayapal - Madural Central

S.S. Saravanan - Madurai South

M.S. Pandian - Madurai North

M. Manikandan - Ramanathapuram

G. Venkatachalam - Salem West

K.R.S. Saravanan - Salem North

A.B. Sakthivel - Salem South

K.S. Thennarasu - Erode East

R. Varadharajan - Erode West

S. Tamizharasi - Tiruchi West

R. Manoharan - Tiruchi East

Nainar Nagendran - Tirunelveli

M. Vijaykumar - Nanguneri

Thalavai Sundaram - Kanyakumari

V. Dorothy Samson - Nagercoil

N.G. Parthiban - Sholingur

S.R.K. Appu - Katpadi

Sumaithangi C. Elumalai - Ranipet

K.V. Ramdas - Arcot

Neelakantan - Vellore

M. Kalai Arasu- Anaicut

G. Loganathan - Kilvaithinankuppam

Nilofer Kafeel - Vaniyambadi

R.Balasubramani - Ambur

K.C. Veeramani - Jolarpettai

T.T. Kumar - Tirupattur

M. Nagaraj - Uthangarai

C.V. Rajendran - Bargur

V. Govindaraj - Krishnagiri

K.P. Munusamy - Vepanahalli

P. Balakrishna Reddy - Hosur

C. Nagesh - Thali

K.P. Anbazhagan - Palacode

M.K. Velumani - Ponnagaram

P.T. Elangovan - Dharmapuri

G.S. Kuppusamy - Pappireddipatti

K. Rajan - Tiruvannamalai

K . Selvamani - Kilpennathur

V. Panneerselvam - Kalasapakkam

C.M. Murugan - Polur

S. Ramachandran - Aarani

Kadir Dhandapani - Rishivandiyam

A.S.A. Rajasekar - Sankarapuram

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Yercaud - K. Chitra

Omalur - S.Vetrivel

Mettur - A.Chandrasekaran

Edapadi - Edapadi K. Palanichamy

Sangagiri - S. Raja

Veerapandi - S.Manonmani

Senthamangalam - Chandrasekaran

Namakkal - Bhaskar

Paramatthi Velur - R.R.Rajendran

Tiruchengode - Pon Saraswathi

Kumarapalayam - Thangamani

Perundurai - Thoppu N.T. Venkatachalam

Andhiyur - E.M.R.Raja

Sulur - Kanakaraj

Goundampalayam - V.C. Aarukutti

Kinathukadavu - A.Shanmugam

Pollachi - V. Jayaraman

Madathukulam - K.Manoharan

Pazhani - Kumarasamy

Natham - Shahjahan

Dindigul - S.Srinivasan

Vedachandur - VPB Paramasivam

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Vijaya Bhaskar - Karur

Chandrasekaran - Kulithalai

R.Chandrasekar - Manapparai

S. Valarmathi - Srirangam

D.Kalaichelvan - Tiruverumbur

M.Vijayamurthy - Lalgudi

Parameswari Murugan - Manachanalur

M. Selvarasu - Musiri

R.T.Ramachandran - Kunnam

Thamarai Rajendran - Ariyalur

JKN Ramajayalingam - Jayamkondan

Kalaichelvan - Vridhachalam

R.Rajasekar - Neyveli

Sathya Paneerselvam - Banruti

MC Sampath - Cuddalore

R.Rajendran - Kurinjipadi

Selvi Ramajeyam - Bhuvanagiri

K.A.Pandiyan - Chidambaram

Radhakrishnan - Mayiladuthurai

Natarajan - Poompuhar

R.Giritharan - Vedaranyam

T. Sudha - Mannargudi

A.N.R.Panneerselvam - Tiruvarur

R.Kamaraj - Nannilam

U.Settu - Thiruvidaimaruthur

Ramanathan - Kumbakonam

Duraikannu - Papanasam

M.G.M.Subramanyam - Thiruvaiyaaru

M. Rengasamy - Thanjavur

R.Vaithilingam - Orathanadu

CV Sekar - Pattuktottai

Govindarajan - Peravurani

Vijayabhaskar - Viralimalai

V.R.Karthick - Pudukottai

Vairamuthu - Thirumayam

Kalaichelvan - Alangudi

Rathinasabapathi - Aranthangi

Ilango - Karaikudi

Ashokan - Thirupathur

G. Baskaran - Sivagangai

Periyapullan - Melur

Seenivel - Thiruparankundram

Udakayakumar - Thirumangalam

Neethipathi - Usilampatti

Thanga Thamilchelvan - Aandipatti

O. Paneerselvam - Podinayackannur

STK Jakkayyan - Kambam

Shyam -Rajapalayam

S.G.Subrahmanyam -Sattur

Rajendrabalaji - Sivakasi

Kalanithi - Virudhunagar

Muthuraja - Aruppukottai

Dineshbabu - Thiruchuzhi

Ramanathapuram - Manikandan

Krithika Muniasamy - Muthukulathoor

Uma Maheshwari - Vilathikkulam

Chellapandiyan - Tuticorin

Bhuvaneshwaran - Srivaikundam

Ramanujam Ganesh - Kovilpatti

Selva Mohandass - Thenkasi

Karthikeyan - Alangulam

Nayinar Nagendran - Thirunelveli

Murugaiyapandiyan - Ambasamudiram

Thamilmagan Ussain - Palayamkottai

Vijayakumar - Nanguneri

G.T.Lawrence - Rathapuram

Thalavaisundaram - Kanyakumari

Bharathi Samson - Nagerkoil

Pachaimaal - Kulaichal

Rajendra Prasad - Padmanabapuram

Nanjil Dominic - Vilavangodu

Mary Kamala - Killiyur

Alliance candidates:

Sarathkumar - Thiruchendur

A. Munusamy - Cheyyur

K.C. Manivannan - Arakkonam

C. Jayanthi Padmanabhan - Gudiyatham

R.R. Murugan - Aroor

M. Dinakaran - Sengam

Meghanathan - Vandavasi

A. Varudhamuthu - Gangavalli

A. Prabhu - Kallakurichi

R.M. Chinnathambi - Athoor

Dr. V.Saroja - Rasipuram

Ponnusamy - Dharapuram

Thangadurai - Nilakottai

Geetha - Krishnarayapuram

Maivizhi - Thuraiyur

Ilambai Tamilichelvan - Perambalur

Aiyasamy - Thittakudi

M.K.Manikandan - Kaatumannar Koil

P.V.Bharathi - Sirkazhi

N. Meena - Keezhvelur

Uma Maheshwari - Thiruthuraipoondi

P.Aarumugam - Gandarvakottai

Mariyappan Kennedy - Manamadurai

Periyapullan - Melur

Kathirkamu - Periyakulam

Manickam - Solavandhan

Chandrapaba - Sriviliputhur

S Muthaiah - Paramakudi

Sundararaj - Ottapidaram

Rajalakshmi - Sankarankovil

A.Manoharan - Vasudevanallur

COURTESY:http://www.thehindu.com/

Virat Kohli-backed Chisel Fitness plans 100 centres by 2018

Virat Kohli-backed fitness start-up Chisel is all set to introduce technology enabled workout routines, targeting young IT workers as it expands its network of fitness centres across India and introduces workout routines devised specifically for their lifestyles.

With an aim to having 100 centres across the country by 2018, the Bengaluru-based start-up is mulling the idea of launching its own fitness devices and will introduce gamified fitness routines.

While technology will play a big part in fitness, Chisel believes there's no alternative to having a physical presence and giving users access to qualified trainers.

"Fitness is all about being physical. You cannot just use some watch to track your calories and not work out. It has to be a combination of technology and the environment of where you go that motivates you to work out. We are thinking of coming out with our own brand which can sync with our programmes," said Satya Sinha, co-founder of Chisel.

In order to grow its base of centres, Chisel is looking at a hybrid model of having its own centres along with signing up franchise partners. The firm isn't just looking at tapping customers in metros but also tier 2 towns such as Guwahati and Indore in the coming months. For this it has come up with four different levels of centres, varying in luxury and size.

The investment demanded by franchise partners is in the range of Rs 1 crore to 3.5 crore depending on the level they choose. Chisel charges anywhere between Rs 25-35 lakh as an annual franchise fee, while offering partners a business model that allows them to break even within 25-30 months.

A large part of that fee will go towards training and certifying trainers and staff in each of the centres under Chisel. "Hiring and training is our responsibility because we believe that only a certified and experienced trainer will help members achieve their goals," said Sinha.

In a span of nine months, Chisel has signed up 18 partners and has opened three centres. The firm plans to open four more centres in April, one of which will be located in Manyata Tech Park, an IT park in Bengaluru, where Chisel will target young IT workers who are prone to several health and fitness issues due to their lifestyle.

The fitness sector in India is highly unorganised and there are several start-ups looking at utilising technology to bring order to the space. GOQii is a marketplace for personal fitness trainers that monitor a user's progress via a smartphone enabled app. Orobind, a fitness tech firm that was acquired by Housejoy, looks to provide users with a personal fitness trainer at home.

With an investment of Rs 90 crore in Chisel, Kohli's biggest competition will come from SportsFit, a chain of gyms which is backed by teammate Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Apart from this, Chisel will also go up against global brands such as Gold's Gym which have a presence in India and function in the premium fitness segment.

"There are a lot of international brands, but we want to introduce a fitness concepts that are tailored for the Indian body type and mindset. We can't completely copy what they do because the food that we eat is different, the body type is different and we have conceptualised our brand around that," added Sinha.

COURTESY:http://www.business-standard.com/

TECHNOLOGY :Ultimately it's going to be man with machines: Satya Nadella

Envisaging a technological future wherecomputers can learn human language and have conversations with people, Microsoft's India-born CEO Satya Nadella has said companies need to build "respectful" technologywhich gets the best of humanity and not the worst.

"We want to take the power of human language and apply it more pervasively to all of the computing interface and interactions," Nadella said yesterday in his keynote address to thousands of developers at Microsoft's annual Build 2016 conference here.

"To do that you have to infuse (intelligence) into the computers around us, you have to bring forth these technologies of artificial intelligence in machinelearning so that we can teach computers to learn the human language, have conversational understanding, teach them about the broad contexts of personal preferences and knowledge so that they can help you with your everyday task," Nadella, 48, said.

He envisaged a future where the machine is not against man but works with humans to offer seamless interface and experience in day-to-day learning.

"All technology that we built has to be more inclusive and respectful..We want to build technology that gets the best of humanity and not the worst," Nadella said.

"We want to build intelligence that augments human abilities and experiences. Ultimately it is not going to be about man versus machine. It is going to be about man with machines," he said.

Technology where the human ability of judgement creativity, empathy and emotion is combined with the fast computation and ability to reason over large amounts of data, he said.

"We want all developers to infuse intelligence into their applications...As we infuse intelligence into everything it is important to have a principled approach," Nadella said.

"This will help us move our society forward. You also have to build trust right into our technology that means you have to have technology that has built-in protections for privacy, transparency, security as well as compliance," he said.
(REOPENS FGN 10)

Nadella showcased improvements to Cortana and announced previews of new cloud services and toolkits designed to create intelligent bots.

During the conference, Microsoft announced new additions to the Cortana Intelligence Suite.

The first, Microsoft Cognitive Services, is a collection of intelligence Application Programming Interface (API) that allows systems to see, hear, speak, understand and interpret a user's needs using natural methods of communication.

"We want to take the power of human conversations and apply it to everything else like a personal digital assistant that knows you and your world," Nadella said.

The "rich world of conversation" that Microsoft envisions will have not just people to people conversations but those between people and theirpersonal digital assistants, bots and even personal digital assistants calling on bots on the user's behalf.

"That is the world you are going to see in the years to come," he said, adding that Microsoft is conceptualising a platform where human language is the new user interface, bots are new applications, digital assistants are the new browsers and "intelligence is infused into all of your interactions."

Nadella noted that there is a much more mainstream dialogue about the role of technology in the society and "this is the right time to have that dialogue."

"We have these profound questions and issues in front of us. Is technology driving economic growth for everyone or is economic growth stalled inspite of technological span. Is technology empowering people or is it displacing us. Is technology helping us preserve our enduring values such as privacy or is it compromising it," he said.

"I believe technology can drive economic growth all over the world. Technology can empower us in our daily lives, be used to preserve our enduring values," he added.
COURTESY:http://www.business-standard.com/

ENGLISH MOVIE REVIEW:Allegiant: Anything but different

The third instalment of The Divergent series is lifeless, pretentious film

The Divergent series – films adapted from the novels – is set in a dystopian future where the world is divided into five factions based on human virtues. The protagonist Tris (Shailene Woodley) discovers that she is a divergent – meaning she doesn’t fit into any of the factions. The trilogy – Divergent, Insurgent and now Allegiant, which is divided into two parts -- follows her struggle to save the world by proving that humanity is bigger than these man-made segregations. It’s along the lines of series such as the Hunger Games and Fifth Wave, manufactured to impress young adult audiences. However, unlike similar novels and movies, this one doesn’t have central hook that can sustain four movies.

In Allegiant, the group of angry teen heroes leave Chicago city for the first time in their lives making their way to a futuristic looking skyscraper called Bureau of Genetic Welfare. They are seemingly friendly but you know there is something wrong underneath their corporate shine. We meet David (Jeff Daniels plays a manipulative bureau head of in half-serious mode) who tells Tris that she can help him with an experiment that can save the world. The trick: to emotionally involve Tris by bringing her dead mother into the scheme of things. If the first hour builds some sort of a mystery around David, Tris and her past, the rest of the film does a lousy job of trying to untie those knots bringing in blatantly convenient and unbelievable plot points. For instance, Tris and her gang realises how evil David is – he plans to use a memory-erasing serum so dangerous that “Chicago may forget its own name”. They can’t escape David’s fortress on their own. As a result, all of a sudden, we have some of David’s own men turn against him: apparently none of them like him but seem to be working for him for years.

There are a lot of fanciful sci-fi devices, most of which are randomly thrown at us: invisible walls that separates cities; plasma bubbles that people get into and travel; and many more such things. They are there for mere effect and don’t have any bearing on the story. The absence of humour is nauseating: everything is dead serious and it reeks of pretentiousness that wants to keep things all dark and grungy. But what cripples the story most is the film’s characters, for whom you feel nothing.

There is almost no redeeming factor in Allegiant, a dull, lifeless third instalment of a series that should have never been made.

COURTESY:http://www.thehindu.com/

TAMIL MOVIE REVIEW:Hello Naan Pei Pesuren: Dial a ghost

Hello Naan Pei Pesuren is a horror-comedy. And in keeping with the genre, the film contains both comedy and horror.

There is a lot of comedy, in fact.

Like how Kavitha is shown to be in love with Amudhan, though all she knows about him is that he’s a thief. Like how fake the office spaces in the film are: you know that the man in Kavitha’s office is her manager because he has a large nameplate that simply reads ‘MANAGER’; a scene later, you know that Kavitha and Amudhan are at a pawn broker’s because there are nameplates around the store that read ‘PAWN BROKER’. Like how the make-up of the ghost makes you wonder if she’s arrived straight from a bad Halloween party. Like how the excessive make-up of Aishwarya Rajesh makes you wonder if she is the ghost, long before she actually gets possessed. Like how you can easily recognise an authentic priest in these films by the depth of his voice: the deeper the voice, the more powerful the priest. Like how this said powerful priest recites incantations in Hindi (as the ghost is of a Marwari woman), and dutifully follows up with a Tamil translation too—à la Major Sundarrajan in old Tamil films—for the benefit of Tamil audiences.

Genre: Horror-comedy
Director: S. Baskar
Cast: Vaibhav Reddy, Oviya, Aishwarya Rajesh, VTV Ganesh, Karunakaran
Storyline: A thief pockets a mobile phone without realising that something sinister has made the device its home
Bottomline: A phony movie

There is a lot of horror too.

Like in the scarcity of good jokes. Like how for almost 40 minutes into the first half, there’s no indication of a ghost, leading you to wonder if you’ve stepped into the wrong film. Like all the painfully ineffective double entendres in the film. Like realising that Aishwarya Rajesh—yes, the actress from Kaaka Muttai—is the heroine in this film. Like the under-utilisation of talent like Karunakaran, Vaibhav and even VTV Ganesh, who were all quite good in their last collaboration, Kappal. Like the over-exaggerated Chennai accent of Amudhan (Vaibhav), that makes it so hard to take anything he says seriously. Like the ridiculous attempts at parodying films like Suryavamsam and Kadhalan: VTV Ganesh, the brother of Kavitha (Kavidha, as Amudhan calls her a zillion times in the film), runs a place called Sorgavasal Natyalaya, a kuthu dance centre in which Amudhan has to prove himself. Like the dim realisation that horror-comedies are still coming in thick and fast, even though they’ve clearly run out of ideas.

So, to summarise, yes, Hello Naan Pei Pesuren is a horror-comedy indeed.

COURTESY:http://www.thehindu.com/

Kung Fu Panda 3 Movie Review

STORY: Po (Black) is in for some more surprises this time around. Not only is he reunited with his father Li (Cranston) after more than two decades, but he also finds out that he has a unique calling in life. Before Po fulfills his true destiny though, he must vanquish the evil Kai (Simmons), who is on a rampage to steal the 'qi' of every kung fu master in the land.

REVIEW: Kung Fu Panda 3 by and large hits the right notes by serving up everything that fans of this franchise have loved, while adding some new elements too. And it's all buoyed up with a fun storyline.
When he finds out the identity of his real dad - despite the fact that Mr Ping (Hong), who raised Po from the time he was a baby, has suspicions about Li - Po also begins to wonder about who he really is. Is he really the Dragon Warrior? And will he be able to reach higher ground? Before all of that, he must learn to embrace all aspects of being a panda, and live in a secret village inhabited only by pandas.

The animation is top notch, and the colours vivid, without being saturated. The editing too has been deftly done, thus ensuring that the movie never drags. In fact, the attention to detail here is truly impressive. For example, the creak of footsteps on a wooden walkway or the clink of nunchuks during a fight sequence and so on.

While Po's friends Master Shifu (Hoffman), Tigress (Jolie), Monkey (Chan), Viper (Liu), Mantis (Rogen) and Crane (Cross) are all a delight to watch, the new entrants are the village pandas. So you get to see baby pandas, dancing pandas and even a bear who loves to give bone-crunching hugs. Thankfully, the abundant humour and various witty asides also steers things clear of a sucrose overdose. While the voice casting is spot on, there are perhaps, a larger number of characters than necessary. Although a slightly over-dramatic ending holds the film back from greater heights, this is on the whole, quite enjoyable for kids as well as adults.
COURTESY:http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/