NDTV's "The Buck Stops Here - Srinagar Floods Coverage" has been announced as one of the eight international nominees for the 2015 News & Current Affairs categories of the 2015 International Emmy Awards.

Reported and presented by Barkha Dutt, who has covered Jammu and Kashmir region for nearly two decades, the special series of "The Buck Stops Here" saw the team travel to Srinagar and bring ground reports and interviews from the scenes of the unfolding tragedy.

Dutt, consulting editor, NDTV Group, is "very excited and honoured to be nominated for what is the world's most coveted television award".

"It makes it even more special that this is the first time India has been nominated in this category. I am very proud of my team at NDTV that made this nomination possible working in extremely difficult conditions in flood ravaged Kashmir," she said in a statement.

Her team reported from some of the most inaccessible areas that could only be reached by boat, wading through water and jumping over walls and debris to bring the stories of horror and heroism in the worst floods to hit Jammu and Kashmir.

It showcased the courage of local Kashmiri volunteers and highlighted the role of the military in the relief and rescue operations in a state which has witnessed a two decade-old insurgency in the Kashmir valley.

Prannoy Roy, founder and executive co-chairperson, NDTV group said: "The nomination for news coverage by 'The Buck Stops Here' team and Barkha at the 2015 International Emmy Awards is a matter of great pride for us at NDTV. Barkha is a wonderful journalist and we are honoured with the recognition given to her, her entire team and to NDTV."

The eight nominees from seven countries, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Malaysia, the Netherlands and Britain, will be presented medals at a ceremony on September 27 and winners will be announced in New York on September 28, at a ceremony to be held at the Lincoln Center there.

The International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences is a membership based organisation comprising leading media and entertainment figures from over 60 countries and 500 companies from all sectors of television including internet, mobile and technology.

Actress Shraddha Kapoor has been roped in as the brand ambassador of Dulux Paints. Actor Farhan Akhtar already promotes the brand's interior and exterior products.Excited with the tie-up, the “ABCD 2” actress believes that home decoration is a significant medium of expressing one’s individual style.

“Home decoration is a significant medium of expressing one’s individual style and Dulux helps consumers in finding that style along with great performance,” Shraddha said in a statement.

Rajiv Rajgopal, director of the brand AkzoNobel India- parent companty of Dulux paints - also feels that Shraddha is a perfect fit for the brand.

“India with a large and young population has a great demographic advantage. The average age of the 1.25 billion strong Indian population will be 29 years in 2020. Shraddha Kapoor is a perfect fit as the brand ambassador to connect with this set of next gen consumers,” he added.

Megastar Amitabh Bachchan on Sunday announced and welcomed the return of veteran actor Kader Khan to the glitz and glamour of showbiz after a break from the arclights.

“Kader Khan... great colleague, writer, contributor to many of my successful films... returns to film after a long hiatus! Welcome,” Amitabh tweeted on Sunday.

However, the 72-year-old kept the suspense element intact by not revealing the name of the film with which Kader Khan will make his comeback.

Kader Khan last acted in "Mujhse Shaadi Karogi" (2004) and a couple of inconsequential films two years later. Early this year, he made a comeback in Arjun Kapoor-starrer "Tevar" which bombed at the box-office.

Bachchan's announcement caused a frenzy on the virtual platform.

One user welcomed the news with a post that read: “@SrBachchan Wow! Legendary actor writer Kader Khan ji welcome Back! God bless him”. Another user shared: “@SrBachchan This is welcome news. In fact, glad you have acknowledged Kader Khan's contributions to your growth and Indian Cinema."

From negative roles to comedy to character roles, Kader Khan has portrayed diverse characters on screen in his career spanning over four decades. He has worked in over 350 films, including “Coolie”, “Baap Numbri, Beta Dus Numbri”, “Hum”, “Bol Radha Bol”, “Aankhen”, "Raja Babu" and “Judwaa”.

Kader Khan, in his late 70s, has so far been a victim of death hoaxes several times.

Actress Sonakshi Sinha says she will not be able to walk as a showstopper for ace couturier JJ Valaya at the seventh edition of BMW India Bridal Fashion Week 2015 due to date issues.

The "Dabangg" actress took to micro-blogging website Twitter to announce the news on Friday.

"Due to some confusion over dates I wont be walking for JJ Valaya's show on the 9th! All the best JJ, looking forward to a divine collection from you," she posted.

Earlier in the month it was specualted that Sonakshi would be the showstopper for Valaya's show that is scheduled to take place on Sunday.

Megastar Amitabh Bachchan, a United Nations ambassador for the girl child, has wished his fans and followers a 'Happy Daughter's Week', and has stressed on the importance of daughters as they are a matter of pride.

The 72-year-old, who has a daughter Shweta and two granddaughters -- Navya Naveli and Aradhya -- took to virtual platforms Facebook and Twitter to expound over his feelings.

"You can always call your daughter as beta, but you can never call your son as beti...That's why daughters are special. Happy daughter's week...Daughter is not equal to tension but in today's world daughter is equal to ten sons (sic),” Big B tweeted.

The cine icon, who etched the loving relationship shared by a father and daughter on the silver screen with Deepika Padukone in “Piku”, added on Facebook: “Daughters are so special...your little girl will hold your hand for only a little while...but will hold your heart for a life time.

"It's 'daughter's week', and if you are a daughter or have a daughter who makes life worth living, by just being around. And you love her as much as your own breath...if you are proud of your daughter, or being a daughter, send this to other people who have daughters or who are daughters...as I just did...Daughters are angels.”

Amitabh, who is married to actress Jaya, also has a son Abhishek, who is married to former beauty queen Aishwarya Rai.

Pakistani singer Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, who believes music and sports can strengthen ties between India and Pakistan, says he will continue to visit India despite problems.

On Thursday, the "Main jahaan rahun" and "O re piya" singer was questioned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) here in a case of alleged forex violation. In 2011, he was arrested by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence following a day's detention at the airport here for carrying undisclosed foreign currency totalling more than $100,000.

But Rahat remains undeterred and says now "there are no issues".

"There was the issue in 2011. The Enforcement Directorate called us again for some pending queries. We tried our best to fulfill them. Thanks to god, they were satisfied. Now there are no issues. I will keep visiting India like before," Rahat told IANS in a telephonic interview from Mumbai.

The singer, who is visiting India after a four-year gap, is currently in the country to celebrate the success of his songs in Bollywood films like "Hamari Adhuri Kahani" and "Drishyam".

"Music has no boundaries. Music and sports can play a strong role in strengthening bilateral ties. And they have already done it. These things matter a lot, so they should be given more importance," he stressed.

Speaking positively on the "musical and cultural" relations between India and Pakistan, he said "certain people" were trying to put chains on the blossoming bilateral ties.

"The musical and cultural relations may not be appreciated by certain people, so they are trying to put chains. But it's a bad thing. It's not right.

He pointed out that many Pakistanis had relatives in India and vice versa.

"They travel from India to Pakistan. From Karachi, people come to India to meet their relatives."

Rahat, whose track "Zaruri tha" is getting massive response in India, credits Bollywood's Bhatt camp for its growing popularity. The song has been featured in the film "Hamari Adhuri Kahani", which is directed by Mohit Suri and produced by Mahesh Bhatt.

"The song is a part of my album 'Back 2 Love', which was released in 2014. In the Indian film industry, a good song has a huge platform… (I am hoping) it will get more popularity. It's all possible because of Mahesh Bhatt. All credit goes to the Bhatt banner," he said.

"I started off with Pooja Bhatt's film 'Paap' and since then we have shared a great relationship," added the crooner, who lent his melodious voice to the song "Mann ki lagan" for the John Abraham-Udita Goswami starrer "Paap".

Rahat also revealed that a new album was in the making, which may see the light of day later this year.

"There is a new album coming out in the end of this year. We are doing the listing of the album right now."

On the musical style, Rahat said that the yet untitled album was based on Punjabi songs.

"The new album will have 70 percent Punjabi songs and the rest will be in Hindi. There will be songs on the lines of 'Mai tenu samjhawan ki'. No name has been finalised for this album yet," he added.

On completion of 20 years, Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol starrer “Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge” (DDLJ) will be screened at the National Museum of Ethnology in Osaka.

“Yash Raj Films’ DDLJ will be screened at the South Asian Gallery of the National Museum of Ethnology in Osaka, Japan marking yet another milestone in its 20th year of uninterrupted run,” the production banner posted on its official site on Saturday.

"The National Museum of Ethnology will screen DDLJ at the Indian Films Special Screening event with new Japanese subtitles as part of celebrating the renewal of its South Asian gallery as well as the 20th year anniversary of the iconic film," the posting added.

The film, that was released on October 20, 1995, is said to be the only Hindi film to be screened at the festival which is designed to showcase the best films from all Indian languages.

Directed by Aditya Chopra, “Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge” revolves around Raj (Shah Rukh) and Simran (Kajol), two young non-resident Indians, who fall in love during a vacation in Europe with their friends.

Apart from the duo, the film also starred late actor Amrish Puri and veterans Farida Jalal and Anupam Kher.

Considering the daredevil job of soldiers who sacrifice their lives at the border, megastar Amitabh Bachchan says these “jawaans” are the “true keepers of the land”, whose sacrifice we “merely acknowledge”.

“A son e(t) lumiere (a sound and light show) for the ‘jawaans’ that fight at our borders, that protect our land that give us the privilege of peaceful slumber at night...they are the true keepers of the land...they sacrifice and we merely acknowledge them,” Amitabh posted on his blog on Friday.

As per reports, the 72-year-old will make a comeback as a host on the small screen with a new non-fiction show which will an adaptation of the international series “Tonight's The Night”.

The show, which was hosted by actor-singer John Barrowman, is based around making audience members' wishes come true, featuring ordinary people living out their fantasies for real.

Further taking a dig at the “want and greed” of humans, who try to “empower and own” other's territory, the “Piku” actor said its their never ending desire that forces them to do so.

Amitabh explained: “The earth that we are born on, the land that identifies us, gives us nationality, rights of life and living...But the pride of identity, of being mine, ours, us is such a strong emotion that it has never been challenged...

“Yes on occasion it has been...wars occur for them that reach beyond their territory, their claims their adventurous expansion of their ownership... What really does provoke such act? Want and greed...making part of yours, that would enhance whatever you had and were not satisfied with .. there is no end to want and greater need .. get one, and you desire more, the next the other and that which the other possesses.”

Actress Akshara Haasan says she would like to establish herself in the Hindi film fraternity first and then move to Tamil and Telugu films like her elder sister Shruti Haasan. "I would love to (do Tamil and Telugu films), but right now is not the time for me to go there. I would like to settle my feet first in Bollywood and then move there," Akshara told IANS. Akshara, who is the daughter of veteran actors Kamal Haasan and Sarika, even hopes to share screen space with her parents someday, but she would like to first "establish" herself as an actor before she can manage the feat. "I would actually like to establish myself as an actor first because both my parents are powerful and strong actors so, I need to up my game before I could dare sharing the screen space with both of them," she said. The actress, who was seen donning an "innocent" bride's look at the BMW India Bridal Fashion Week 2015, added that she "chooses" her "own scripts", but consults her parents only if she is "not sure". "I can take my own decision, both my parents have given opportunity to grow and make my own decisions in life," she added. Talking about the other Bollywood projects in her kitty, Akshara, who was last seen in R. Balki's "Shamitabh", said: "Nothing has been confirmed as yet. There are a few discussions happening, but nothing I can say is confirmed."

Bollywood actress Preity Zinta has left for Canada to judge the beauty peagent Miss India-Canada 2015. "Good morning folks. Just landed in Germany en route to Canada to judge Miss India-Canada," the actress tweeted on Tuesday. This year marks the silver jubilee of the beauty pageant, which will be presented by Chevrolet in association with Air Canada. It will be held on August 15. The 16 finalists, who have been shortlisted from among a large number of Indo-Canadians from Canada, will vie for the beauty crown and other awards and prizes. Bollywood stars like Dev Anand, Hema Malini, Raveena Tandon and Aftab Shivdasani have been chief guests at the beauty contest in the past.

Punjabi pop singer Daler Mehndi along with Neha Kakkar, Indian Ocean band's Rahul Ram and flautist Rasika will be singing the national anthem at the upcoming matches of Pro Kabaddi League (PKL).

While Mehndi will take centre-stage on Saturday, he will be followed by Kakkar on Sunday, Ram on Monday and Rasika on Tuesday.

“This season, we will create a place of pride for the national anthem, one unique feature no other sport has. Every day, during the league, we will have eminent personalities and local musicians and bands sing the anthem in a manner that captures the essence of the entire country," Nitin Kukreja, head, Star Sports, which broadcasts the tournament, said in a statement.

Megastar Amitabh Bachchan sang the national anthem at the opening of the event. He was followed by singer Sunidhi Chauhan in Mumbai and former Indian cricket captain Saurav Ganguly in Kolkata.

PKL started in July as 60-game tournament to be played across 37 days in eight cities.

Oscar-winning Indian composer A.R. Rahman, Grammy winning English musician DJ and record producer Mark Ronson and will add to the riveting experience of music enthusiasts at the Bacardi NH7 Weekender to be held in five cities.

The multi-city music festival will lay a musical pitch in Shillong (October 23-24) and move towards Bengaluru (December 5-6) with stops in Kolkata, Delhi and Pune.

Ronson, the “Uptown funk” hitmaker, who had earlier shared his inclination towards Indian classical music with IANS, will be debuting in India with the music fest.

He even took to Twitter to share the news with his followers. The post read: “First ever trip to India for the NH7 weekender also ft Flylo Megadeath and AR Rahman!”.

However, Rahman and Ronson will give a miss to Shillong and Kolkata.

The artist's names started to trickle on social networking site Twitter on Wednesday and artists Vishal Dadlani, Dualist Inquiry, and Rohan Joshi (member of stand-up comedy group All India Bakchod) added to the buzz.

Other global artists to perform are American thrash metal Megadeth, music producer Flying Lotus and Mexican acoustic guitar duo Rodrigo y Gabriela. On the home front, Papon and the East India Company (EIC), Kailasa, Parikrama and Vir Das's Alien Chutney along with others will add to the musical experience through their gig.

The line-up was announced in a unique way, and commenting on it, Pratiksha Rao from TV and entertainment partnerships at Twitter, said: “The theme of this year's NH7 is 'Made for Fans' so they wanted to celebrate their fans and have them announce the line-up on Twitter, because Twitter is a global town square where people come together to find and discuss their interests.

"With every new line-up announcement, you could see the enthusiasm and conversations around the festival growing in real-time".

Director Ketan Mehta feels no one but Nawazuddin Siddiqui could've played the titular role in "Manjhi - The Mountain Man" since his 15-year-long struggle in the industry was nothing less than breaking a mountain.

"Even Nawaz has broken a mountain in his life. A man who has come from a small village and established his position in Bollywood is like breaking a mountain for 15 years to reach this level," Mehta said at the Indian Institute Of Technology-Bombay which he visited with the actor as part of the film's promotion.

"Nawaz is the best actor of his generation which everyone believes nowadays. Secondly, his physical type also perfectly matches with Dashrath Manjhi on whom this film is based on. Manjhi too was a short man with a lean physique. The intensity in him was amazing, especially in his eyes and that same intensity can be seen in Nawaz's eyes. And this intensity has pulled him to this level today," said Mehta about the similarities between the two.

Nawazuddin had started out in bit roles or one-scene roles in films like "Sarfarosh", "Munnabhai MBBS" among others before making his impression in films such as "Kahaani" and "Gangs Of Wasseypur II". He is now riding high with his performance in the blockbuster Salman Khan-starrer "Bajrangi Bhaijaan".

Actress Radhika Apte plays Nawazuddin's love interest in the film, for which he sets about breaking a mountain, a story inspired from Manjhi's life. The film is releasing on August 21.

Upcoming Tamil film "Ko 2" will feature a tribute song to the late former Indian president A.P.J Abdul Kalam. The song, titled "Unnai Maatrinaal", is inspired from several of Kalam's popular quotes. "Kalam's quotes have inspired me over the years. This song is based on his quotes, but we never planned it as a tribute. It was only after his demise that we decided to make it a tribute from our whole team," the film's director Sharath Mandva told IANS. "Unnai Maatrinaal" will be used as the title track of "Ko 2", which features Simhaa and Nikki Galrani in the lead roles. The single will be released on Saturday on the occasion of Independence Day. The film's shooting, which is currently taking place here, is nearing completion.

Oscar-winning composer A.R. Rahman is set to perform at London's O2 arena on August 15, India's Independence Day, after five years. “Dear Fans and Friends from London, Looking forward to seeing you all @ the O2 arena on the 15th of August,” the composer tweeted. The official website of O2 arena read: "The double Grammy and double Oscar, BAFTA and Golden Globe winner, returns to The O2 after five years, with a one off greatest hits show on Saturday 15 August 2015. He will be joined by very special guests including; Neeti Mohan, Javed Ali, Karthik, Haricharan, Jonita Gandhi and Hriday Gattani." The music maestro made history when he became the first Indian to win two Oscars in a year, 2009, for Danny Boyle's "Slumdog Millionaire", the rags-to-riches story of a Mumbai slum-dweller. The 'Mozart of Madras' had also bagged two awards at the 52nd Annual Grammy for his song "Jai ho" from the same film.

Filmmaker Prakash Jha says that if he hadn't come to Mumbai to become a filmmaker, he would have been forced to become an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer.

"Honestly speaking, I quit studying in college because I thought if I become a graduate, they'll definitely put me into UPSC exams and definitely make an IAS out of me, which is what the family expected," Jha said here.

He spoke at the launch of lyricist Anand Bakshi's son, Rakesh's book "Director's Diaries: The Road to Their First film", sharing his initial journey in the Hindi film industry.

Jha, known for films like "Apaharan" and "Raajneeti", said he realised that "there was no way" he could have become a civil servant while he was still in college.

"I was in Ramjas College (Delhi) studying Physics and after a year of studying, I realised that there was no way I could've become a civil servant. Since I come from Bihar; a Brahmin family and Bihar regularly manufactures these IAS and IPS (Indian Police Service) officers. So that's why I ran off from there (Delhi) in a year and came to Mumbai," he added.

However, Jha feels the risk of coming to Mumbai has been "exciting and enjoyable."

"Every single day in Mumbai till today has been exciting, enjoyable, sometimes to do things which are appreciated, sometimes to do things which you'll not get appreciated, but it's okay. For me, it's like it all just happened yesterday and if I relive that story, I'd love to do that. This is a beautiful city, Mumbai."

Jha's next film is the Priyanka Chopra-starrer "Gangaajal 2".

While music lovers in India have been treated to many wonderful songs by the Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy trio, this time around, it will be for the first time that their children will be working together on a song for the Imran Khan and Kangana Ranaut-starrer "Katti Batti".

A very peppy and catchy number, "Sarfira" from the film, has been worked upon by Shankar Mahadevan and Loy Mendonsa's sons Siddharth and Shane, respectively. Siddharth has lent his voice to the song, while Shane has composed it.

The song has garnered immense appreciation from music lovers. A part of the song was even heard in the trailer of the film and has caught people's attention.

"Katti Batti" director Nikhil Advani said "collaborating with Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy is a natural decision for me and this is the seventh time we are working together".

"This one ('Sarfira'), however, is even more cool because the album has given me the opportunity to work with Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy GenX. Both Siddharth Mahadevan and Shane Mendonsa have immense contributions to the songs," Advani added.

"Katti Batti", produced by UTV Motion Pictures, is set to release on September 18.

Actress Divya Dutta is excited to get a chance to shake a leg with actor Jackie Shroff in “Chehere”.

“Awesome to shake a leg wth the ever charming @bindasbhidu!! Always a pleasure!# Chehere,” she tweeted, while tagging Jackie in the post.

Divya also shared an image in which she is seen dancing with the actor.

"Chehere", which is written and directed by Rohit Kaushik, is a psychological thriller set in the past. The film also stars Manisha Koirala and Gulshan Grover.

Adnan Sami, who is enjoying the success of his song "Bhar do jholi meri" from the Salman Khan starrer "Bajrangi Bhaijaan", says that he could have been a lawyer had music not "found" him.

“Wondering what would I be if music had not discovered me? Maybe a lawyer, since I studied law & became a barrister in England,” tweeted Sami.

The singer has also given hit songs like “Kabhi to nazar milao” and “Lift karaa de”.

Actor-filmmaker Kamal Haasan's upcoming Tamil-Telugu bilingual thriller "Thoongaavanam" will feature only one song composed by Ghibran, who is currently busy working on the film's background score. "The song has been crooned by Kamal sir and penned by Vairamuthu. We've already recorded the Tamil version and will soon work on the Telugu version," the film's director Rajesh Selva told IANS. Having recently completed the principal shooting, the team is currently busy with the post-production work. Also starring Trisha Krishnan, Prakash Raj, Sampath Raj, Madhu Shalini and Kishore, the film is a remake of French thriller "Sleepless Night". Titled "Cheekati Rajyam" in Telugu, it's gearing up for Diwali release.