A R Rahman strikes Grammys gold

LOS ANGELES: Indian composer A R Rahman scored a double triumph at the Grammy Awards here, scooping two early honours for his music from Oscar-winning film "Slumdog Millionaire".

Rahman won the first Grammy of the pre-show at the Staples Center in the best compilation soundtrack for a motion picture category before his "Jai Ho" won in the best motion picture song category moments later.

"This is insane, god is great again," Rahman said as he accepted his second award before a VIP audience.

Rahman's rivals in the soundtrack category included Steve Jordan for "Cadillac Records," Quentin Tarantino for "Inglourious Basterds", and the producers of "Twilight" and "True Blood."

In the best song category Rahman's beaten rivals included Bruce Springsteen for his song "The Wrestler", from the Oscar-nominated movie of the same name.

The Grammy success comes after Rahman earned two Oscars for his music in "Slumdog Millionaire" at last year's Academy Awards.

The talented music maestro picked up the best original score statuette before scooping the best song Oscar.

Lata Mangeshkar conferred highest French honour

The 'Nightingale of India', Lata Mangeshkar has been conferred France's highest civilian award, the Insignia of 'Officier de la Legion d'Honneur' (Officer of the Legion of Honour).The award which has earlier been conferred on Oscar winning Indian director Satyajit Ray as well as megastar Amitabh Bachchan will be bestowed on the 80-year-old singer during an official ceremony in Mumbai hosted by Jerome Bonnafont, Ambassador of France to India, on December 2.Other famous personalities who have been awarded this honour include Steven Spielberg and actor Gerard Depardieu. The legendary singer who first broke onto the music scene with 'Aayega Aanewaala' in Mahal (1949), is considered the greatest playback singer in Indian cinema having sung more than 30,000 songs in a career spanning six decades.

A.R. Rahman wants to make poverty history

Oscar winner musician A. R. Rahman's ‘A. R. Rahman Foundation’ wants to make poverty history. As a first step towards achieving the vision of "strive towards making poverty history", the Foundation will set up educational institutions and provide world class, state-of-the-art infrastructure and education to underprivileged children who do not have the means to access & fund their education. This will equip them with knowledge and skill sets to pursue specialized higher studies that will provide them career opportunities to build a secure future for themselves and their families, Foundation states. Rahman is giving live ‘Jai Ho’ concert in Kolkata (India) on November 14 in support of the Foundation.