Deepika Padukone. Padukone will now be seen romancing Ranveer Singh in the Filmmaker’s adaptation of Shakespeare’s

KARACHI: Sanjay Leela Bhansali, who was reportedly not willing to have a ‘married’ Leela for his upcoming film “Ram Leela”, has finally found his heroine in Deepika Padukone. Padukone will now be seen romancing Ranveer Singh in the Filmmaker’s adaptation of Shakespeare’s famous play “Romeo and Juliet”. Earlier, Kareena Kapoor was signed for the project who was later reportedly dropped due to her marriage plans. A source close to the project revealed that since the female lead needed to be fair, Katrina Kaif was also a strong contender however, Padukone clinched the deal. “She signed on the dotted lines only recently. Bhansali had approached her about 25 days back. He also considering a fresh face but was happy to have Deepika on board,” the source added. The Cocktail star has recently bagged several projects including Rohit Shetty’s Chennai Express with Shahrukh Khan, which were originally offered to Kareena Kapoor. Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on bloggerShare on stumbleuponShare on deliciousShare on facebook_likeMore Sharing Services

US Sign NATO Supply Deal with Pakistan

Pakistan and the United States have signed an agreement outlining the movement of NATO supply convoys through Pakistan and into Afghanistan through the end of 2015.

The deal signed Tuesday formalizes an arrangement that has allowed the U.S. to supply its troops that have been fighting in the Afghan war for over a decade. It comes as international combat troops continue their withdrawal from Afghanistan over the next two years.

With the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding, the United States will release over $1 billion in frozen military aid to Pakistan. The agreement bars weapons from being transported.

Earlier this month, Pakistan re-opened its two border crossings into Afghanistan following a seven-month shutdown. Islamabad closed the NATO supply lines after U.S.-led coalition airstrikes mistakenly killed 24 Pakistani troops near the Afghan border.

U.S. and Pakistani officials signed the Memorandum of Understanding during a ceremony Tuesday in Rawalpindi.

On Wednesday, Pakistan's spy chief is set to meet with his American counterpart in Washington.

05 dead, 12 hurt, by fire at TV station in Lahore

• LAHORE, Pakistan, July 30
• A fire in a Pakistani television studio killed at least five people and injured 12 others early Monday, officials said. The fire, at a private TV channel in the Garhi Shahu area of Lahore, was believed to have been started by a short circuit, Geo News reported. Three of the injured were reported in critical condition.

sing live at the promotional event of ‘Barfi’with Priyanka Chopra

• KARACHI: Bollywood Actress Priyanka Chopra along with Ranbir Kapoor will sing to the live audience during a concert which will happen at the promotional event of her upcoming movie “Barfi”.

 

According to media sources, Chopra is all set to release her debut album internationally at the end of next month.

 

Sources said that the Director of the movie Anurag Basu has persuaded Chopra to sing in front of a live audience with Kapoor.

 

"Anurag had a chat with PeeCee and asked her if she was comfortable singing in front of a live audience, the songs of his film. The actress gave it a thought and a few days later, told him she is ready to do it. A similar request was sent to Ranbir and being the sport he is, he too gave his nod to the idea."

 

Basu has also approached to music composer Pritam Chakraborty to accompany the actors and to give the music for their live performances.

 

Sources added, “Pritam took a long look at his calendar and immediately agreed."

 

The concert will he held in various cities. It is scheduled to take place in the end of August.

Train fire kills 32 in southern India;hundred hurt

HYDERABAD, India
 A fire swept through a train car packed with sleeping passengers in southern India on Monday, killing at least 32 people and sending panicked survivors rushing for the only clear exit once the train stopped, officials said. Investigators found charred remains of victims still in their sleeping berths and were struggling to identify them.A railway station worker noticed the burning coach as the overnight train from New Delhi to the southeastern city of Chennai passed through the town of Nellore at about 4 a.m., local official B. Sridhar said. Nellore is about 500 kilometers (310 miles) south of Hyderabad, the capital of Andhra Pradesh state.Once the alarm was raised, the train was stopped and the coach was detached from the rest of the train to prevent the blaze from spreading.Passengers were evacuated once the train was halted."Since the fire had engulfed one door of the coach, people had to rush to the other end of the coach to exit," Sridhar said by telephone from the accident site.Passengers said the fire spread swiftly through the coach."We woke up suddenly when the train came to a halt. That's when we noticed the fire at one end of the coach and shouted out. People were still sleeping, but once they realized the danger they scrambled to the door," Shantanu, a passenger in the coach, told New Delhi Television.He said it took passengers a few minutes to react and push their way through the narrow space between the berths."By the time we got out of the door, the coach was completely on fire," said Shantanu, who like many Indians uses only one name. He said firefighters sprayed water over the burning coach, but it was gutted.Sridhar said the fire may have been caused by an electrical short circuit in the coach.The blaze killed 32 people and nine others were missing, said K. Sambashivarao, a spokesman for the Indian railways. Earlier, a regional railway manager, Anil Kumar, had put the death toll at 47. He was not reachable Monday afternoon. At least 25 others were hospitalized with burns, officials said.Railway and medical workers were trying to identify the dead, Sridhar, the local official, said."This is a very difficult task, since some of the bodies are charred beyond recognition," Sridhar said, adding that officials were making preliminary identifications based on the reservations chart from the train's records.Prime Minister Manmohan Singh conveyed his condolences to the families of the victims.India has one of the world's largest train networks, with more than 10,000 trains and 64,000 kilometers (40,000 miles) of track. Around 20 million people travel by train each day.Meanwhile, 30 Hindu pilgrims were killed when two trucks collided in the northern Indian state of Haryana, police said.Thirty-five others were injured in the head-on collision early Monday when the pilgrims were returning home from visiting a Hindu temple in nearby Rajasthan state, said police superintendent Karta Ram. Bhiwani is about 120 kilometers (75 miles) west of New Delhi.

NATO members killed in Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan The NATO military coalition in Afghanistan says two of its service members have been killed in an insurgent attack in the east of the country.The military alliance says the attack happened on Saturday but doesn't provide further details.NATO also did not provide the nationalities of the dead. Most of the troops in eastern Afghanistan are American,Saturday's deaths bring the number of international service members killed in Afghanistan so far this month to at least 42.