Rahman unhappy with use of 'Jai Ho' in poll campaign

Chennai, Music maestro A.R. Rahman, whose compositions in "Slumdog Millionaire" made him the first Indian to win twin Oscars, is critical of political parties using for a poll campaign the song "Jai Ho" that he composed for Danny Boyle's rags-to-riches drama.
"I was like in the bed, I was dehydrated, exhausted, and then all these things happened, somebody told me these people are using it. I hate politics. I just want people to serve the people. I want governments, whichever government comes in, to be unbiased and say there should be justice in the country and that's my purpose in life," Rahman said in an interview on CNN's Talk Asia. The interview will be aired on CNN May 20 and there will repeat telecasts May 21 and May 23. The Congress had bought exclusive rights to the song "Jai Ho" for its poll campaign but the jingle was later dropped as the party's theme song. In the interview, the shy composer also explains how his accolades for "Slumdog Millionaire" are also a recognition for India. "I got very emotional when saying this is for India, when you guys truly deserve it because there are so many different film industries in India, so many different markets, Hindi film industry, Tamil film industry, Malayalam, then Bengali, so in a way I think it culminates all their aspirations and so it's here," he said. Before he shot to stardom with the film "Roja", Rahman used to create radio jingles. He has since collaborated with international music superstars like Michael Jackson and Kylie Minogue. When asked about his next project post-Oscars, he said: "I have a couple of offers from Hollywood. Pure American movies which I thought for the heck of it let's do it and a couple of other surprises that you'll know very soon if it works out. Big surprises I think."

Pacman Fever

At the age of 30, Manny is a 14-year pro—he made his debut at 16. He has been fighting at the top levels of competition and given some of the most exciting performances in the ring in recent years. He is a national hero in his native Philippines the entire country comes to a virtual standstill whenever he fights. Manny is also recognized by most observers as the best fighter at any weight in the ring today—the best "pound for pound" fighter. With all of his accomplishments, which someday will surely be immortalized in the Hall of Fame, Manny is coming off the biggest win of his career in his last fight on December 6—a dominant eighth-round TKO against former junior lightweight, lightweight, super lightweight, welterweight, two-time super welterweight, and middleweight world champion Oscar De La Hoya—the biggest name in the sport and a sure future Hall of Famer himself.

Manny was considered a huge underdog by most observers—and the fight a mismatch—because of their extreme difference in size. Manny weighed 134.5 pounds when he won the WBC lightweight world title in his previous fight in June, 2008. De La Hoya last held a world title at 154 pounds, and weighed 150 in his previous fight in May, 2008. Boxing's time-honored conventional wisdom says that, "A good big man beats a good small man."

After the fight, Dan Rafael wrote on ESPN.com, "Pacquiao stunningly administered a beat down of epic proportions. [De La Hoya] was never in the fight for a moment. Pacquiao won his third fight of the year in his third weight division, including winning two titles. The victory makes Pacquiao something of a modern-day Henry Armstrong, the all-time great pound-for-pound legend who over the course of ten months from October 1937 to August 1938, claimed, in order, the world featherweight, welterweight and lightweight championships—back when there were only eight divisions." Fightwriter.com's Graham Houston reported from ringside, "So many people got it so wrong. What some thought would be a mismatch turned out to be a mismatch in reverse when Manny Pacquiao pasted Oscar De La Hoya for eight rounds in the so-called Dream Match in Las Vegas," Houston wrote. "Far from being the weaker, smaller man, Pacquiao looked much stronger and also much harder-hitting than De La Hoya. Pacquiao was the puncher in the fight. Right from the start he was hurting De La Hoya. "His upper-body movement and quick moves had the older fighter looking perplexed. The speed and power of Pacquiao's punches actually seemed to shock De La Hoya, who looked old, slow and painfully vulnerable. "Just 19 months earlier [De La Hoya] had fought Floyd Mayweather Jr.—the world's number one at the time—to a close, split decision. This time, as a 2-1 on favorite at the MGM Grand sports book before the line was taken down, De La Hoya looked as if he didn't belong in the same ring as Pacquiao. "Pacquiao punched with excellent technique from his southpaw stance, sharp and accurate, and he was superior in every department and in fact was made to look a bit of a bully, such was the one-sided nature of the affair."

He has held world titles in four weight divisions—he won the WBC flyweight world title two weeks before his 20th birthday in December, 1998, the IBF junior featherweight world title at 22 in 2001. Manny won the WBC super featherweight world title in March, 2008, with a 12 round decision victory in the rematch against defending champion Juan Manuel Marquez. It was one of the most highly-anticipated fights of the year, and one of the most exciting. He won the WBC lightweight world title in June, 2008, with a ninth-round TKO against defending champion David Diaz. Manny was named "2006 Fighter of the Year" by the Boxing Writers Association of America and The Ring. From TheRing-online.com: "It's amazing what a little guy with a big smile and an even bigger punch can accomplish. While the heavyweight division was bogged down by mediocrity last year, the junior lightweight class soared to new heights thanks in large part to Manny Pacquiao, The Ring's 2006 Fighter of the Year." Manny's nickname is "PacMan."

5 financial tips for you to plan ahead

There are 5 great tips to assist your budget planning and produce excellence results.

• Create a list for your budget planner for the month and list down expensive events such as holidays,weddings and so on. You can plan ahead and make sure enough money to kept aside and cut down unnecessary items.
• Take action to follow your progress for the month and keep the receipts. It easy for you to check your daily expenses. You also can use price comparison sites to monitor whether this is for shopping, insurance, mobile or etc.
• Always think carefully and remember to avoid temptation in sale that does not mean to spend it. Be sure spend your money wisely. You must have a sense of awareness of the results you are getting so that you move the right direction to achieve it.
• Keep in mind that meeting deadlines is very important. For example when paying back credit card bills try to avoid paying off just the minimum amount each month as this will lead to more interest accruing on your account. Instead pay off the maximum amount you feel you're able to budget for each month.
• Lastly, be sure you keep up to date on the latest finance news such as information on money saving or etc. To be successful, you need to have smart money action plan to achieve financial excellence for yourself. For instance if you save for you big occasion like holidays, you do not need to borrow or to borrow as much.