Katy Perry and Russell Brand take island honeymoon in Maldives

KATY Perry and Russell Brand have reportedly jetted to the Maldives for their honeymoon.

An airport official has confirmed to The AP that the newlyweds - who married in India on Saturday - left Jaipur on a chartered flight with friends earlier today.

They are reported to have tied the knot in a private ceremony at a resort in the country - where they became engaged in January - over the weekend.

Neither Perry or Brand has directly addressed the nuptials although the pair confirmed the wedding reports with identical messages on their Twitter accounts which read: "WE DID! (sic)" alongside a photograph of their names.

A spokesperson for the newlyweds later confirmed the marriage in a statement, saying that the stars were "overjoyed to confirm that they were pronounced Mr and Mrs Brand" and describing the ceremony - which was performed by a family friend of Perry - as "very private and spiritual".

Spice mobile goes 3D

INDIAN HANDSET FIRM Spice Mobile is hoping to set people's pockets alight with the release of its 3D capable mobile phone.

The Spice M-67 3D has an auto stereoscopic display, according to the company's promotional pages, and will let users watch 3D content without the need for ridiculous glasses.

The firm said that its handset comes with a 3D video player, a 3D imaging viewer and a 3D user interface, and, because you are going to need somewhere to store all of this 3D media, 16GB of expandable memory.

Just in case you are worried about anyone coming across your collection of 3D content, the handset also offers remote wiping features, meaning that should it fall into the hands of any undesirables it should remain protected from their prying eyes.

Reactions to such a loss include the opportunity to nuke the handset's contents or - and we like the naivety of this one - send across a business card so that the new owner has all the information they need to return it.

Other features include dual stereo speakers, Bluetooth, a 2MP camera, an FM radio and MP3 player and the ability to use two GSM SIM cards. Here the firm suggested that there might be some productivity benefits, explaining, "With the multi-SIM capability of M-67 3D, don't let your personal life collide with your professional life."

The phone will be released in India, but we do not know if it will be sold elsewhere. µ

Manmohan concludes Japan visit, leaves for Malaysia

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today concluded his 3-day visit to Japan during which the two sides decided to hasten negotiations on a civil nuclear deal and agreed on a range of other issues to take their strategic partnership to new heights.

India and Japan also announced the firming up of Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement, which will open trade between the two countries and slashing of taxes up to 94 per cent over the next decade.

Dr. Singh, who arrived here on Sunday, had a tight schedule which included talks with his Japanese counterpart Naoto Kan, leaders from business and politics during which they discussed ways to further improve their ties.

Dr. Singh said “sky is the limit” for developing Japan-India relations, a proposition which is close to his heart.

From here, Dr. Singh, along with his wife Gursharan Kaur, left for Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur for talks with his counterpart Mohd Najib Tin Abdul Razak.

During his visit, the two sides will sign a number of pacts and announce conclusion of negotiations on Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA), which covers range of trade aspects, including investment, services and customs.

Summing up Singh’s Japan visit, Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao said the two Prime Ministers had “comprehensive” discussions and felt the need for developing all encompassing relations covering political, economy and security aspects.

The two sides also decided to establish a ministerial level Economic Dialogue between India and Japan to give strategic and long—term policy orientation to their bilateral engagement.

The proposal was mooted by Japan, which already has such a Dialogue with China.

During the visit, Dr. Singh and Mr. Kan affirmed that cooperation in nuclear sector “will open up new opportunities for further developing the India-Japan Strategic and Global Partnership.”

The two leaders also “encouraged” their negotiators to arrive at a mutually-satisfactory agreement for civil nuclear cooperation at an early date.”

Kashmir has never been integral part of India: Arundhati

Activist Arundhati Roy, who created a controversy the other day by questioning Jammu and Kashmir's accession to the Union, on Sunday harped on the same thing saying that the state was never an integral part of India. Roy was speaking at a seminar on the theme 'Wither Kashmir: Freedom or enslavement' organised by Coalition of Civil Societies (CCS) here.

"Kashmir has never been an integral part of India. It is an historical fact. Even the Indian Government has accepted this," the Booker Prize winner said.

Roy alleged that India became "colonizing power" soon after its independence from British rule.

Arundhati Roy shared the stage with Kashmiri separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani at the convention on 'Azadi--The Only Way', among others in Delhi on Thursday.