Which came first?

The interesting question: which came first, the chicken or the egg?

Assam's famous silk recognised as unique

Muga, the unique golden-yellow silk of Assam, has been granted the GI registration. It is the first item from the state to obtain the tag.

Guwahati: In what has created passion among the traditional silk farmers of the State, Muga, the unique golden yellow silk of Assam, has been granted the Geographical Indication (GI) registration. Muga is the first item from the state to obtain the GI tag.

The Assam State Technology and Environment Council (ASTEC) said that the GI registration came through on July 20, but a formal public announcement was made on Friday.

The ASTEC officials who were instrumental in securing the GI tag said, "This registration will confer legal protection to muga in India and around the world and prevent unauthorized use."

In order to the secure registration the ASTEC even placed references from Kautilya's Arthashastra and Edward A. Gait's A History of Assam to drive home the point that muga belonged only to Assam, the officials pointed out.

The certificate of registration issued by the GI Registry of India on July 20 last, stated that muga has been registered in class 23,24,25,27 and 31 under No. 55.

The item is registered in the name of Assam Science, Technology and Environment Council (ASTEC).

This registration will cover muga cocoon, raw silk yarn and threads for textile use and textile and textile goods including shawls, dress materials, sarees, wall hangings, clothings, garments, footwears, headgear, made-ups, ties, motifs, fashion wears, quilt, furnishings and upholstery made of it.

Muga is obtained from a semi-domesticated multivoltine silkworm, called Antheraea assamensis, which again is unique only to Assam.

The peculiarity of muga is that it is durable and its natural tones of golden yel low and rare sheen become more lustrous with every wash.

Every year, Assam produces about 180-metric tonnes of muga yarn worth around Rs 100 crores. In fact, a major chunk of muga is used in the State for making ceremonial dresses required during weddings and Bihu festival.

Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi who received the registration certificate formally at a function here on Friday stressed the need of value addition to the Muga products to exploit the international market.

According to Artfed, the apex marketing federation of weavers and handloom societies of Assam, Japan has of late emerged as the latest market, importing stocks of Rs 2 crores in 2006.

Japan was finding muga very suitable for manufacturing kimonos, white quilts, stoles, bedcovers and other items.

Assam science and technology minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that the state government has decided to move Japan, European Union, the USA and the other countries seeking registration of muga with them to facilitate export of muga products under international trade conventions.

Former vice-chancellor of TamilNadu agricultural university S. Jayaraj told this newspaper that northeastern states had innumerable items, which could be registered under the GI Act.

Besides muga and eri and their products, its bodo paddy, tea, large cardamom, orchids, bio-pesticide-yielding trees like neem/melia, the hottest chilli, handloom and handicraft items and traditional knowledge-based ethnomedicines also deserve ample attention in this regard.

The nutritious value of the silk pupae of the region should also be looked into, he advised.

Source: Indianexpress

Pay back hurts sometime...

Shocking video footage has been broadcast of Indian police and a mob of civilians as they punched and kicked a man accused of stealing a gold chain. He was then tied to a motorcycle and dragged down a street.

Bihar cops drag chain snatcher behind bike

Patna, Aug. 28: An alleged chain snatcher in Bihar’s Bhagalpur district is battling for life in a hospital after he was beaten by a mob and then two policemen tied him to the back of a motorcycle and dragged him along the ground. Mohammad Aurangzeb alias Saleem of Nathnagar town in Bhagalpur was severely beaten with leather belts, rods and stones by people on Monday after he was caught on suspicion of snatching a woman’s chain.

According to local social activist Santosh Kumar, Aurangzeb, an autorickshaw puller in his early twenties, was beaten brutally by people. “He was caught after some people chased him. Soon a mob gathered and started beating him after tying his hands behind him. He was crying for help but nobody cared,” Mr Kumar said.

Two policemen reached the spot but instead of rescuing him, they tied one of his legs to the back of their motorcycle and dragged him along the rough and bumpy road for not less than 100 metres.

Aurangzeb was badly bruised in the process. According to Bhagalpur district officials, the man was admitted in a government hospital in a critical condition. “He is undergoing treatment but his condition remains critical,” an official said on Tuesday.

Bihar police chief A.R. Sinha on Tuesday suspended the two policemen, Ramchandra Rai and L.B. Singh after television news channels showed footage of the entire episode.

Shall we dance? Learn all the hot moves online!

New Delhi: If your dance partner spends more time trying to avoid your feet than look into your eyes, then it means you need help.

But say you haven't got the time, and you have a dinner date coming up next month, then the answer, is online.

Learntodance.com is one of the many online dance tutor websites on which you can just log on and learn anything from salsa, to jive to ballroom dancing.

“You can go online and take some dancing lessons as a first step. But you also need to take some real dancing lessons,” says founder of Ballroumors, Aamir Ahmad.

It's even got printed floor maps that show you how to move your feet. It is real fun, but if it doesn't work then the inimitable YouTube comes to the rescue!

Just type in dancing tutorials and videos tutors of every conceivable dance are yours to access.

And the Indian answer to virtual dancing, dancemasti.com, is tailor-made for anyone with a taste for Bollywood music and a desire to take on the dance floor.

Conceptualised by a company called Kreeda, dancemasti allows you to create your own avatar, get your own room and wardrobe and enter dance contests online.

It’s a fun passtime for your weekend, but when it comes down to some priceless moments, it just doesn't compare.
Source: http://www.ibnlive.com/

Andhra Pradesh is biggest producer of explosives

Andhra Pradesh is the biggest manufacturer of explosives like slurry and detonators in the country. Nalgonda, about 70 km from here, is the hub of the activity.
Lack of supervision by police on the sale and use of explosives and detonators has resulted in serious lapses. Many times, explosives and detonators have fallen into the hands of Maoists, terrorists and petty criminals from the underworld. This has come to light during raids and seizures.
This newspaper has previously reported that detonators and explosives can be bought off the market, just like any commodity. There is no accountability for the explosives and detonators at the user level. The licensee merely says that he has used the explosives for the intended purpose, for example blasting rocks to clear construction sites.
According to statistics available with Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (Peso), out of 57 factories manufacturing explosives, nine are based in Nalgonda. In Andhra Pradesh, there are 66 licences for different premises. Nalgonda alone as 25 licenses with nine factories.
There are 283 sale licences (dealers) in the State. Nalgonda stands first, followed nationwide by Nagpur.
"We are empowered to oversee the operation of the Explosives Act which oversees the sale, possession and in particular to prevent accidents," said a Peso official. "Explosives and bombs are different. If explosives are improvised to make bombs it falls under the purview of the police," the official said.

Terror strikes in heart of city - 42 killed in twin blasts

Hyderabad: At least 42 persons were killed and 100 were injured in near-simultaneous blasts that ripped through Lumbini Park and Gokul Chat Bandar in the city on Saturday evening. The death toll is likely to go up further.

Police officers said they had seized an unexploded bomb tied to a scooter near a theatre in Malakpet at 10.30 pm.

The first blast occurred at 7.38 pm, police and bomb experts said. It shattered the eating joint at Koti near the VHP office, where hundreds were enjoying a relaxed Saturday evening. As many as 26 people died in the blast and scores were injured.

Four minutes later, at 7.42 pm, a bomb exploded at the Lumbini Park where a laser show was going on, killing 10 people. The park abuts the Hussainsagar, right in front of the high security zone of the State Secretariat.

Police suspects that the blasts were caused by bombs which were connected to timer devices.

"We are sure that the blast in the Lumbini Park was caused by a bomb, but we are not sure of the nature of the blast in the eatery."

Most of the injured were rushed to Mediciti Hospital and the Osmania General Hospital in the city.

Chief Minister Y.S. Rajashekar Reddy and home minister K. Jana Reddy visited the blast spots. Three bodies were still lying at Lumbini Park when the VVIPs rushed to the blast site.

The blast in Lumbini Park was so powerful that more than a dozen chairs were blown to bits. Bodies were strewn all around the place. People rushed out, gripped by panic, causing a stampede.

It was blood-soaked chaos in the emergency ward of the OGH too where 26 persons, including two children, were brought in dead.

Another 35 persons were rushed in with injuries. The blast had disfigured the faces of some of them. Others are feared to have lost their eyes.

Cleaning staff were straining their sinews to wash away the blood which had made the ward floors crimson.

"The bomb went off as I entered Gokul Chat Bandar with my daughter," said S. Vimala, one of the injured. "It was a huge blast with a deafening sound. I lost consciousness and when I woke up, I could not spot my daughter."

However, her 10-year-old daughter escaped with minor injuries and later searched out her mom.

"Most of the injured are in shock," said OGH chief medical officer Dr D. Manohar. "We are giving the best available treatment. All the doctors are on duty and additional medical teams have been called in."

Meanwhile, top officials and a Telugu Desam delegation led by MLA Nagam Janardhan Reddy reached the hospital.

Relatives and friends of the injured and dead were milling outside in a state of grief and panic as police did not allow them in. Many did not even know whether their dear ones were alive or dead. The families and friends of the victims were too rattled to pin blame on anyone.

Ravikumar, a friend of Shyam Rao of Seethaphalmandi who died in the blast at Gokul Chat Bhandar, was at a loss for words after seeing his friend's body at the Osmania General Hospital.

"He was about to get married soon,"said Ravikumar. "I am unable to express my feelings."

K. Krishna Chaitanya, who also died at Gokul, was to celebrate his birthday on Sunday.

"I was watching the news when I saw my friend Chaitanya and rushed to the hospital," said his friend K. Krishna Chand. "It is absolutely shocking."

Apsa Jahan and her daughter Farhana had gone to Gokul after buying books from Koti. Jahan died and the daughter was seriously injured. Their relatives were inconsolable.

There were heart rending scenes at Mediciti and Yasodha hospitals too.

"I am searching for my missing relatives, Mohammed Saleem, Fareeda and their children Mohammed Ameer and Mohammed Ali," said Asia Sultana a resident of Mehidipatnam. "They had gone for the laser show. But now I can't trace them." Meena, who came from Rajkot along with her family, was injured in the blast. "But I am more worried about my son, who is in critical condition," she said.

Police identified three persons who died at Yashoda Hospital as Mohammed Basith, 21, Ibrahim Khan and N.K. Jain, inspectors of railway police in Madhya Pradesh. Most of the victims were tourists.

Tragedy: Family left Lumbini park before blast, died at Gokul eatery

The Angel of Death stalked the family of a small-time realtor on Saturday evening. The family left Lumbini Park before the bomb explosion there on Saturday only to land up at Gokul Chat Bhandar, which was also hit by a blast.

Mohammad Saleem, 47, his wife Farida Naaz, 35, and eight-year-old Ameer and six-year-old Mohammad Ali, were killed in the blast.

His two widowed sisters, Ayesha Sultana and Zahera Begum, shocked beyond words, are slowly coming to the grim realisation that they are all alone. "They left home at around 5.30 pm after the kids returned from school," said the sisters, who haven't eaten a morsel since the shocking incident.

After reaching Lumbini Park, Saleem made several calls to his sisters who were in the house of a relative. The keys of their flat at Golconda Apartments in Humayunnagar were with Saleem and assured his sisters he would return soon. After spending some time at the park, the family went to Koti for shopping. An hour later they went to Gokul Chat Bhandar.

"Our brother made his last call at 7.20 pm," said the sisters. "We thought they were at the laser show when the bomb went off. We rushed there and searched for them. We could not trace them at Lumbini Park. Later, we came to know that they were killed in the blast at Gokul Bhandar."

The sisters came to know of the blast through television. "We saw the horrible scenes at the park and rang up our brother several times," said Ayesha. "But there was no response from his mobile."

The sisters rushed to the park in panic. "We were hopeful that they may have escaped unhurt," said Ayesha and Zahera. "But we could see only their bodies." "Saleem used to look after us," they said. "We don't know how we will live without him."

Neighbours were shocked at the death of the amiable realtor and his family. "He was highly religious and helpful," said Meraj, a neighbour. "We had friendly relations with his family for the last 12 years."

"We have not come across such a noble person. Saleem never hurt any one. He was known for lending a helping hand in the neighbourhood. It's not death but terrorists who snatched him away from us all," Saleem's relative Farah Farooqui said.

Nudity implies purity - BELIEF

Nudity is revered and worshipped in the Sri Meru Nilayam temple of Devipuram, which houses the world's largest Srichakra.

The unique temple, which is located 30km from here, has been attracting devotees from all over the world.

Sri Chakra is the most sacred and potent representation of the energy of the mother goddess in Hindu culture.

The three-storied temple is constructed in the exact form of a pyramidal Sri Chakra called Sri Meru. It was built on 108 square feet and soars up to 54 feet.

There are 108 life-sized icons of the goddesses of Khadgamala here. Devotees can sit in front of them and meditate, do archana or perform homan. Most of the deities are nude or "skyclad", implying that they are pure Shakti's. It is believed that the deities want the devotees to worship their nudity.

Sitting on top of the Meru is the thousand-eyed Lalita Devi called Sahasrakshi Rajarajeshwari, who is the presiding deity.

"The temple itself is the body of the mother goddess," says Swami Amritananda Natha Saraswathy, the man behind the magnificent structure. "Here you can learn about the Cosmos and your nature."

Amritananda, who is fondly called Guruji by the devotees, explains that nudity is a sign of having nothing to hide and being pure in nature.

"That is how God made us," he says. "This temple is a symbol of unity between thought, word and deed."

Symbolism is extended further in Kamakhya Peetham on the nearby hill and the Siva temple on top of hill. Kamakhya is the mother of all and has the shape of a female genital. In its centre is the Sri Chakra Meru, a symbol of the universe. A 12-foot Sri Chakra can also be seen on top of the Shiva Temple. This temple also allows devotees to perform puja to the Devi without distinction of caste.

Maha Meru, also called the Sri Chakra, is said to be the mother of all Mandalas. This geometrical form is said to have originated from the Himalayan masters and is revered in all eastern traditions. Amritananda was once a nuclear scientist named Dr Nishtala Prahlada Sastry. He graduated from the Andhra University and received his doctorate from the University of Bombay while working at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research.

Sastry spent 23 years in research at TIFR. Later, he worked as a teacher in Zambia for two years. But he had a deep spiritual yearning which took him from one temple to another. It was in 1977 that Shastry visited the Balaji temple in Hyderabad. As he prostrated before the lord, he felt a thrill passing through his body. Amritananda terms this an initiation from Balaji. This proved to be the turning point in his life.

After that incident, he immersed himself in spiritual practices. He performed a Devi Yagam in Visakhapatnam in 1983, when he received the hillock where the temple stands as a donation. On the slopes of that hillock, he noticed a formation very similar to that of the Kamakhya Peetham in Assam.

While meditating, he had a vision of himself lying on the Peetham, while four others performed a homam with the flames emanating from his body.

He dug up the very site and unearthed a Sri Chakra Maha Meru made of panchaloha. It was later discovered that a big yagna had been performed there 250 years ago. Later he saw the goddess of creativity, Kamakhya Devi, in a triangular pit formation in a rock boulder nearby. She showed him all the various deities who receive puja in Sri Chakra, and he made sculptures of them.

"The Goddess guided me during every step in the building of the present temple," he says. "It took 11 years to make the Sri Meru Nilayam temple a reality."The fame of the temple has reached far and wide. "Sri Chakra is considered to be the genetic code of the cosmos, mind and the atom," says Asa Dustin, a yoga teacher who is on a visit from New Jersey.
Source: DC

Hyderabad to get first frozen Zoo

A frozen tiger, a preserved black buck or an elephant in a sub-zero temperature enclosure! It is what might soon become a commonplace sight at the country's first frozen zoo planned in Hyderabad.

It is being set up as part of a conservation initiative to ensure that no more species are added to the list of extinct animals, which disappeared from such as the dodo, kiwi and Asiatic cheetah.

Trying to preserve the genetic resources of wildlife, the Laboratory for the Conservation of Endan gered Species, Hyderabad, is working to set up the frozen zoo, which will have birds and animals along with endangered species in the form of eggs and embryos.

"We lost the Asiatic cheetah and there are some highly-endangered species, which are fighting for survival. If we can preserve their eggs, we can at least be sure of not losing them entirely," said the member-secretary of the Central Zoo Authority, Dr B.R. Sharma.

The Hyderabad laboratory has started preparing genetic fingerprints of species such as the cheetah and the black buck. It has also done successful assisted reproduction of the deer, with a success rate of 20 per cent, and officials say that the same technology can be used with other animals such as tigers.

The laboratory has a unit which became functional a few months ago and is now focusing on the conservation of endangered species. It is creating sperm and egg banks of endangered species and carrying out artificial insemination, in-vitro fertilization (equivalent to creating test-tube babies in humans ) and will also be working on the cloning of animals.

The laboratory, which has been set up jointly by the Central Zoo Authority, CSIR, the Andhra government's forest department and the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, has already collected about 2,000 samples of species for genetic fingerprinting. It is also working on improving the genetic health of captive species.

N.D. Tiwari is new Andhra Pradesh Governor

The Centre on Sunday announced a series of gubernatorial appointments, and named veteran Congress leader N.D. Tiwari, former Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, as the Governor of Andhra Pradesh.

While the appointment of Mr Tiwari was welcomed, there was utter disappointment for senior Congress leaders from the State who were aspiring to be Governors. Following Sunday's appointment, no one from the State is a Governor anywhere.

Former minister M. Satyanarayana Rao, former chief minister N. Bhaskara Rao and former Union minister P. Upendra were among those who were eyeing gubernatorial posts. Ruling party sources said that Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy had recommended the names of Mr Satyanarayana Rao and Mr Upendra to Congress president Sonia Gandhi. The Chief Minister's camp expressed surprise over the exclusion of State Congress leaders from Sunday's list.

Mr Tiwari knows the nitty-gritty of AP politics. Mr Tiwari during the seventies and eighties had visited the State several times in different capacities in the party organisation. He was also responsible for the selection of candidates and was incharge of arranging funds for the candidates. Mr Tiwari has helped many State Congressmen including Dr Rajasekhar Reddy (then a leader of the Congress Legislature Party) who sought a power project in Uttaranchal for his kin while Mr Tiwari was the Chief Minister a few years ago. Mr Satyanarayana Rao and Mr Palvai Govardhan Reddy are said to be close friends of Mr Tiwari.

In other appointments, Orissa Governor Rameshwar Thakur, who was holding additional charge of Andhra Pradesh, has been named Governor of Karnataka. Mr Thakur succeeds Mr T.N. Chaturvedi, whose term expires on Monday.

India's 1st Test series win in England after 21 years

India ended 21 years of agonising wait for its first Test series win in England but the feat lost some of its gloss with the beleaguered hosts escaping with a draw in the final encounter of the three match cricket series here today.

Chasing 500 for an improbable win, England could note-write history but they at least showed enough guts and gumption to bat out the entire final day and deny India a 2-0 win in the series.

The hosts, in their second innings, were 369 for 6 at stumps with Matt Prior (12 no) and Ryan Side bottom (three no) in the middle, leaving India 4-wicket away from a win. Kevin Pietersen top scored for the hosts with 101, while Ian Bell (62) played a gutsy knock down the order.

The series defeat, however, snapped England's glorious run of 11 unbeaten home series.

After salvaging a lucky draw in the first Test at Lord's, India comprehensively beat the hosts at Trent Bridge to go 1-0 up in the series and then dominated major part of the final Test here at the Oval only to let the hosts off the hook and settle for a draw.

Though Rahul Dravid would be happy to have led the side to its first Test series win on British soil since 1986, his decision not to enforce a follow-on despite a mammoth first innings lead of 319 would continue to dominate debates across the cricketing world.

Meanwhile, for the hosts, it was Kevin Pietersen's 10th Test century that kept England on course to save the final Test. The maverick batsman curbed his attacking nature and mixed caution with aggression. After Michael Vaughan's exit, he found an able ally in Paul Collingwood (40) who was hanging around till S Sreesanth trapped him with the first delivery after the new ball was taken.

Pietersen came to the wicket after India had removed both the England openers and he got off the mark courtesy a full toss from Anil Kumble that he drove past the bowler to the fence before playing an excellent drive off the spinner. After losing Vaughan soon after lunch, Pietersen thrived in the company of Collingwood as the pair had to deal with vicious turning deliveries from Kumble and Sachin Tendulkar on a wearing pitch.

The Indian fielders too contributed to the home team's cause with Dravid dropping Vaughan early on off Kumble and Mahendra Singh Dhoni letting off Collingwood on 13 off an arm ball from Tendulkar.

City idols of Goddess Durga with Aishwarya's looks

She is married and may no longer set the screen on fire, but make no mistake, she is still a goddess.

Come Durga Puja and Hyderabad will see Aishwarya Rai with a bevy of other heroines in processions around the city as Durga Mata herself. The idol-makers have decided that their faces are cast in a splendour that is worthy of the divine mother's visage.

Idol-makers in Dhoolpet area of the Old City have already made several idols of Goddess Durga with Aishwarya's looks.

The Bollywood star can be seen as Goddess Durga perched on a lion, standing on a lotus, seated on a throne and in several other postures.

According to the craftsmen, the actress immortalised at Madame Tussaud's wax museum in London is the favourite of organisers who are putting up pandals across the city.

The nine-day Durga Puja is slated to be held from October 12 to 21 and orders have started pouring in for idols. The prices vary from Rs 7,000 to Rs 20,000 depending on the size and model.

After Ash, it is Bhoomika who is a big draw followed by top heroines of yesteryear including Hema Malini and Madhuri Dixit. Bipasha Basu, Rani Mukherjee and Preity Zinta can also be seen.

The idol-makers first make the mould of the face, which takes anywhere between one to five months. They use the posters of the actresses stuck on the walls of their dingy sheds for this. The attire of the idols is also painted in colours similar to those of the actresses' dresses in the posters.

"When one thinks of the goddess, a beautiful image is registered on the mind," said Sundar Singh, an idol-maker of Dhoolpet. "Aishwarya Rai and Bhoomika are beautiful women whose faces can be used to symbolise that of the goddess. I personally prefer Hema Malini."

Sundar Singh is planning to make 200 such Durga idols before the puja.

Durga idols of Dhoolpet are being bought by pandal organisers not just in the State but also by those from Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat.

"Idols made by the city artists look real, attractive and are coloured well and that is what which brings us here," said K. Bhojanna, who had arrived from Basara in Adilabad district.

Himesh's repetitive music has bored Harry to tears PASSING THROUGH

"Himesh Reshammiya is forcing people to listen to music through marketing gimmicks. We can't blame him, it's the music companies that do the job. It's high time he stops the repetition and concentrates on real music. HARRY ANAND, singer"

Harry Anand, the man who introduced us to the joys of remix videos, several hit numbers like Kanta Laga, Kaliyon Ka Chaman, Paradeshiya, Chhoti Jawani and discovered Telugu pop singer Smitha, is in the Hyderabad city for the launch preparations of Hemachandra's Hindi album. The first thing that you notice about Harry, who sang and featured in Badan pe sitare lapate hue, is that he has lost a lot of weight and is looking fit. When asked how he achieved this look, he says, "I eat to live, don't live to eat."

Brother of noted Bollywood composer Anand Raj Anand, the 37-year-old remix king is not just a composer, he is a singer, painter and an artiste too. Refuting charges that remixes spoil the authenticity of the song, Harry asserts, "Music is divine and it is my first and eternal love. Remixes help the new generation to understand and enjoy classics in their own way as today we have better technology and music systems. Had I not introduced Masaka Masaka, how many youngsters would have known about it in Andhra Pradesh? I just popularise those eternal classics and nothing else."

The musician who was in hibernation for almost a year is busy concentrating on original tracks. After rendering three songs for Nagarjuna's blockbuster Boss… I love you, he was busy learning new notes and sounds in Birmingham. If you thought he was washed away by Himesh Reshammiya waves, he has the answer. "On the contrary, I wanted to put a break on remixes. I feel enough is enough. I want to do original albums and I have a few playback offers too. When you are on a long drive, you need to stop somewhere midway, rest for a while and refresh. My musical journey is also such. Now I have fresh thoughts, fresh tunes and new sounds to give music lovers," says Harry.

He ended his contract with T-Series when the company asked him to make Himesh Reshammiya's remixes. Does he not like Himesh? "Himesh is talented and popular. I liked his songs when he composed music for films. Listen to the songs in Tere Naam, they are really good. But where is he now? He is forcing music. All the so-called popular numbers he sang have the same notes getting repeated. He's confined music to a particular metre. This is where he is going wrong. I read in a paper recently that, ‘You can hate Himesh but can't ignore him'. How true! He's forcing people to listen to music through marketing gimmicks. You switch on your television or radio and it's Himesh all over. We can't blame him, it's the music companies that do the job. It's high time he stops the repetition and concentrates on real music," says Harry who's started working on his own original album which will be released by the year-end.

Talking of Hyderabad, he says he loves the city. "People here are warm and have great music sense," says the Delhiite, who staged live programmes all over the world including the US, the UK, Holland, Australia, the Fiji and Bahrain, Mauritius.

Sania Mirza upsets Martina Hingis in Los Angeles

Los Angeles: India's Sania Mirza stunned former world number one and five-times Grand Slam winner Martina Hingis 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 to reach the third round of the Los Angeles Classic on Tuesday.

Sania continued her fine summer hardcourt season and fought off two break points at 1-1 in the third set with two blazing forehand winners.

She needed four match points to close out the match, but won it when Hingis missed a forehand.

"She was all hungry out there and so am I, but she just seems fresher," Hingis told reporters.

"She hits incredible angles with her forehand."

After four straight weeks of play, Sania said she was tired but had learned how to push through the matches.

"To beat one of the quickest players on the tour and to have to dig deep to do it, that feels great," she said.

"It tells me that I can do it again."

Sania Mirza will face the winner of the match between Israel's Shahar Peer and Virginie Razzano of France in the third round.

Scooters to become ambulances

Chaotic traffic conditions on the roads throughout the day have lead quite a few accident victims and sick patients to slip into coma as they wait for the ambulance to come to their rescue. To prevent tragedies and cope with traffic jams, two-wheeler ambulances will be introduced in the city within the next two months. Don't waste your time imagining how a patient will be taken to the nearest hospital on a scooter.

D.R. Patnaik, the Chief Operating Officer of Image Hospital, which is introducing this concept, explains that two-wheeler ambulances will come forward to administer first aid to the accident victim with 15-20 minutes of the mishap. These scooter-ambulances will have a doctor, a para-medical staff, all emergency medicines, and an ambu bag to provide artificial respiration. "Two wheeler ambulances can reach accident sites faster than regular ambulances since they will be usually patrolling in the accident-prone zones and can start the ‘golden hour' treatment for head injury or on the spot medication. Meanwhile, our or 108's four-wheeler ambulance can arrive and the victim can be shifted to the nearest hospital," says Mr Patnaik.

Other city hospitals like the Kamineni are also planning to come up with this two wheeler concept. Amitabh Dubey, manager (trauma care) says that they have proposed this idea to the hospital management. "Life saver two-wheelers will be posted every 20 kms on the highways. These will be equipped with paramedic staff, first-aid, mobile and a walkie-talkie. Also, our fourwheeler highway network ambulances are patrolling 24 hours at an interval of 40 kms on the highways."

New low-floor buses to make city travel easy

The AP Road Transport Corporation will introduce lowfloor buses for the convenience of children, women senior citizens and physically challenged passengers.

Corporation officials studied the functioning of lowfloor buses in Chennai and Bangalore and are preparing proposals for designing the buses to meet the city's requirements.

After transport minister Kanna Lakshminarayana flagged off 50 new buses on Tuesday, RTC managing director V. Dinesh Reddy said that the corporation was also contemplating inducting vestibule buses which can accommodate more passengers.

Two bus units are connected by a vestibule. Mr Dinesh Reddy said, "We would like to induct AC and tourism buses. These will also help the organisation enhance its revenues," he added.

Hyderabad city region is expected to get 504 new buses this year, 258 for ordinary services, 198 metro expresses, 25 metrodeluxe buses and 23 mini buses. RTC has a fleet of 2,856 buses and transports 36 lakh passengers per day over 7.6 lakh passenger km on 914 routes.

Mr Lakshminarayana said they would appoint drivers and other personnel to operate the buses. "Government has no objection if the corporation recruits additional staff ," he said.

Did You Know? Yawning is a contagious action

You must have noticed how whenever the person next to you yawns, you always yawn too. Even reading this question will automatically make you yawn! Why? Yawning is an involuntary action that causes us to open our mouths wide and inhale deeply - for as long as six seconds. How can you tell that it's involuntary? Well, because research shows that even 11-week-old foetuses yawn! When you yawn, your body is not at rest, nor is it inert in any way. First of all, your mouth opens and your jaw drops so that you can inhale as deeply and as much as possible. And when that happens, your lungs expand naturally, and some of the air is then expelled back through your mouth. Your heart rate can rise up to 30 per cent during a yawn.

Most people feel that yawning is caused when you are fatigued, drowsy or bored, but there is more to this than meets the eye. For instance, researchers have suggested that our bodies can sometimes induce yawning to help draw in more oxygen or to remove an excess of carbon dioxide. Some research shows that yawning is something that began with our ancestors, who used yawning to show their teeth and intimidate others. And still others have proved that since all mammals yawn from cats and dogs to fish - it may just be an involuntary action.

Yet another theory says that yawning is a protective reflex to redistribute the oil-like substance called surfactant that keeps the lungs lubricated and keeps them from collapsing. So, if we didn't yawn, according to this theory, taking a deep breath would become harder and harder.

While it's true that humans have been yawning for as long as they have existed, we still don't have a concrete clue as to why we do it!

Hindhu Mythology: Sun creates life, death and water

Brush up Your Hindhu Mythology:

According to Indian legend, Surya, the Sun God, was married to Sanghya (consciousness). The two had three children Vasvat Manu, Yama and Yamuna. Sanghya loved her husband deeply, but the light that radiated from him was too strong for her eyes, and so she closed them whenever he approached her. Surya was greatly disconcerted by this, as he thought that his wife did not reciprocate his love for her.

One day, Sanghya left their home, leaving behind her body double Chaaya (shadow). For some time, she lived with her father. At one point during her stay, she went to the mountains to pray.

It was at this time that Surya realized that the woman living with him was not his wife. When he left home to look for Sanghya, he saw her - she had taken the form of a mare and was praying. So he turned into a horse and appeared next to her. Even now, his light was too strong for Sanghya and she finally told him so. Glad that this was the reason she always closed her eyes whenever he appeared next to him, Surya decided to divide his light into 16 parts - out of which appeared Earth and the other planets - until Surya was left with one sixteenth of his original light. Then Sanghya came back to live with him and gave birth to twins - the Ashwini Kumars.

But while Sanghya had been away, Surya had other children by her body double Chaaya. One of them was named Shani, or Saturn, who also found a place among the planets. Vasvat Manu, Surya's first child, was also the first man. Yama was the impartial Lord of Death, while their daughter Yamuna is the holy river. The twins, the Ashwini Kumars, are the healers of the gods.

This legend about Surya and the planets has a wonderful symbolic meaning. Sunlight, together with consciousness, gives birth to life, death and water (Yamuna). The planets were also once part of the sun's light and were born from it.

Review: Gandhi My Father

GANDHI MY FATHER CAST: Akshaye Khanna, Darshan Jariwala, Shefali Shah, Bhoomika Chawla DIRECTOR: Feroz Abbas Khan RATING: Good

I n a country that deifies Mahatma Gandhi, it takes courage to make a film about his troubled relationship with his prodigal son Harilal.

Feroz Abbas Khan's Gandhi My Father, takes on the subject and does a walking on glass balancing act. The successful play Gandhi Viruddh Gandhi (in turn based on a Gujarati book) from which the film takes its subject, was critical of Gandhi for sacrificing his own family in the cause of the nation. What Gandhi thought was fair, was interpreted as harsh by his eldest son Harilal, whose life went into a downward spiral from the time his father stopped him from going to England to study law.

Gandhi (Darshan Jariwala) comes across as a severely principled father, who publicly disowns his degenerate son (Akshaye Khanna), but privately hopes he will reform and return to the fold. Kasturba (Shefai Shah) is caught between the two feuding men.

The film moves from South Africa, where Harilal participates in his father's Satyagraha before angrily returning to India with wife Gulab (Bhoomika Chawla) and kids, to a long span at various spots in India-simultaneously capturing the rise of Gandhi and the fall of Harilal, whose failed businesses, alcoholism and blind rebellious rage end with his death as a lawaris in a Mumbai hospital, a few months after his father's assassination.

Khan's sympathy is clearly with Mahatma Gandhi, but in the absence of any contrast with the lives of the other sons, it is difficult to gauge just how much his father's revered public image contributed to Harilal's ruin. Did Gandhi's refusal to give him a formal education actually lead to this lifelong revolt by Harilal? His oneman mutiny made him convert to Islam and back to Hinduism, and generally denounce his father, causing Mahatma Gandhi untold grief.

Because Khan is clear that Gandhi is not to be blamed, the film just goes on and on about Harilal's endless problems, without coming up with a strong point of conflict to give the story some shades and depth.

There are no problems with the film's technical and aesthetic aspects, but Khan's treatment also gives away his stage roots, the way dialogue between two characters gets a slightly stilted feel (everybody else in the frame freezes) or the self conscious entries and exits. So as not to confuse the foreign audiences, he includes a lot of historical episodes (excellent newsreel recreation), which, because they are known to the Indian viewer, end up holding up the flow of the film.

The performances are fine - Darshan Jariwala (obviously fake fan ears) makes an intense if not too charismatic Gandhi. Akshaye Khanna is too look-at-me, especially when compared with Shefali Shah and Bhoomika' Chawla's realistic performances.

Even with its few flaws, Gandhi My Father is honest, quality cinema. It's not for those expecting entertainment, but for those who might wish to see something different and maybe, thought-provoking.

Khairatabad Ganesh Idol goes green

This year city will see an eco-friendly Ganesh festival this year with the makers of the Khairatabad Ganesh, one of the tallest idols in country - 45 foot high Vishvarupa Ganesha Idol, deciding to use only natural colours.

After several rounds of discussions, the Hyderabad district administration convinced the Khairatabad Ganesh Utsav Committee to use natural colours instead of artificial colours laced with chemicals.

"We have agreed to this," said S. Sudharshan of Ganesh Utsav Committee. "We will start painting the idol in the first week of September. The steel structure of the idol is complete." However, the organisers are worried whether the idol will not have the same glow and shine if they use natural colours.

Natural colours are made out of pomegranate bark, chebulic myrobalan (karrakaya), turmeric flowers, neem, henna, palm jaggery, eucalyptus leaves, vegetable oils, turmeric and false calumba root (manu pasupu).

They are soluble in water and cause no pollution.

"We will give the idol glow by spraying oil on natural colours," said Mr Sudharshan. "The cost of paint will come down by at least 25 per cent. We usually spent Rs. 80,000 every year."

The idol would stand 40-feet tall and would be a replica of the Vishwarupa Ganesh with 18 heads standing on a globe. "It will be accompanied by 10 other idols of Sammakka Sarakka, Satyanarayana Swamy, Ayyappa, Kumaraswamy, a snake, a bull and a balance," he added.

More than 100 people have begun work on the idol, which is to be made ready five days before the festival, which falls on September 15. More than 25 workers have been brought from Chennai to design it.

The Bhagyanagar Ganesh Utsav Committee maintained that not all idols could be painted with natural colours. "Natural colours will be used only on 10 per cent of the idols,".

Rents go skyrocketing in Hyderabad Secunderabad

House rents are skyrocketing in twin cities, thanks to the influx of people of other areas in search of employment. An estimated 500 families migrate to the city every day.

The city is unable to accommodate the influx, and this is leading to a big demand for houses. Owners are hiking rents by 100 per cent and still finding takers. The monthly rent of a double bedroom flat is around Rs 12,000 in areas like Madapur, Gachhibowli, Serlingampalli and nearby areas. Ever-rising rents are common in localities adjacent to IT, ITES and BPO companies. The rent is around Rs 15,000 depending on the space and construction quality in posh localities such as Banjara Hills and Jubilee Hills.

Tenants are charged Rs 6,000 to Rs 8,000 in areas like Kukatpally, Ameerpet, Srinagar Colony, Khairatabad, Malakpet, Dilsukhnagar, Tarnaka among others.

Realtors expect the rents to go up further with increase in the cost of apartments. According to them, a double bedroom flat cost Rs 10 lakhs in many areas up to 2004. Now it is difficult to buy an apartment for Rs 20 lakhs even on the outskirts.

Middle class sections are hit badly. "I am forced to pay Rs 4,000 for a small house in Rajnagar Makta near Khairatabad. We cannot make ends meet if the rents go up," said Mr Y. Kishore, an employee.

40,000 Andhra Pradesh labourers in Iraq

More than 100 illegal migrant workers from Andhra Pradesh are busy constructing the biggest and most expensive United States embassy in the world in strife-torn Baghdad.

The US plans to open its ‘Vatican-sized' diplomatic enclave in Baghdad by September and workers from Karimnagar, Adilabad and Nizamabad are now racing against time to meet the deadline.

It is coming up in 42 hectares on the banks of the Tigris River. Workers from Philippines and Bangladesh are also on the job.

Around 40,000 workers from Jagtyal and Sircilla in Karimnagar, Armoor in Nizamabad and Nirmal in Adilabad are employed by American and Iraqi forces in Iraq, it is estimated.

Majority of them are illegal migrants and entered Iraq through other Gulf countries without proper visas. They are mainly engaged to work in military bunkers, to supply food to soldiers and to do other menial jobs.

About a 100 of them have been drafted to work on the embassy, which is being built by spending $ 592 million.

The State government's NRI cell does not have any record of AP workers in Iraq since 90 per cent of those employed there are illegal. They are mainly picked up from Kuwait and UAE.

Poor and unskilled workers from backward districts of Telangana visit the Gulf countries on a visit or tourist visa. Local recruiting agents are handing them over to US military officials for employment.

The Union government has imposed restrictions on unskilled workers leaving for Iraq and this is the reason for their taking a roundabout route.

"We are always facing risk of attacks from insurgents but the money is good," said Tirupati Reddy of Laxmipur village in Jagtyal mandal. "We can never earn so much at home."

Also, with UAE, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries tightening their immigration rules, unskilled labourers from backward Telangana districts now prefer strife-torn Iraq for jobs.

Since they are shipped to the bunkers by US military aircraft, the visa and immigration rules are relaxed. The workers are free to stay as long as they wish. The return is also as smooth as their entry.

"But life is hard in the bunker and that is why I returned," said K. Mahesh of Kondagutta village in Karimnagar. "Many from my village are still working there."

Illegal migrants from the State get about Rs 5,000 a month in UAE and other Gulf countries, but those employed in Iraq are paid between Rs 20,000 and Rs 40,000.

Ramana Reddy from Malial mandal in Karimnagar returned after working at the US embassy site for some time.

"It is hard work since they are constructing a 21-building complex," he said. "Also, we never know what will happen the next moment in Baghdad. But we risk everything for the big pay."

Newspapers lose real estate ads to Online Sites

It's bad enough that a cratering housing market is leading to a slump in real estate advertising at newspapers, as a dreary series of earnings reports showed this week.

What's worse is that a lot of that advertising may never come back to newspapers even if the real estate sector recovers. That's because a significant chunk of those advertising dollars are moving - you guessed, online.

Exactly how much of a shift is occurring is difficult to measure in terms of dollars, but several real estate executives say they are making a conscious decision to move money out of newspapers and onto the Internet as that medium grows in importance as a tool for researching home-buying decisions.

NRI donates $20mn to native village in Kerala

New York: An Indian American neurosurgeon, who was born into an "untouchable" caste in a Kerala village of Chemmanakary, made millions in the US and has now donated some $20 million to establish a neurosurgery hospital, a health clinic and a spa resort in his village.

Kumar Bahuelyan, 81, did not wear his pair of shoes until he went to medical school but earned so much that his lavish life-style included five Mercedes Benzes and one aeroplane.

"I was born with nothing, I was educated by people of that village and this is what I owe to them," he told the Buffalo News. The life for him has come full circle, the paper said, adding that from dire poverty in India to the life style of rich in America and back to his native village where he has traded his Mercedes with a bicycle.

"I'm in a state of nirvana, eternal nirvana," he said, "I have nothing else to achieve in life. This was my goal, to help my people. I can die any time, as a happy man."

Another Indian native, Pearay Ogra, the former chief of infectious diseases at Women and Children's Hospital and the president of the Bahuleyan Charitable Foundation, said he understands why Bahuleyan donated his fortune. "He grew up in a traditional Hindu culture, with a deep sense of universal giving," Mr Ogra said. "You can afford it, give it back to the people who brought you up."

Others too are moved by Bahuleyan's spirit and energy, the paper said, adding Bill Zimmermann, executive director of a Buffalo sailing school is helping Bahuleyan set up a sailing and boat-building school in Chemmanakary. The venture is designed to teach sailing and boat-building skills and use its profits to help fund medical treat ment.

Rs 100 cr films riding on Sanjay Dutt

As actor Sanjay Dutt left for Arthur Road Jail, directors of three films starring him were left stranded. The AbbasMustan starrer Mr Fraud, Sanjay Gupta's Alibaug and Sanjay Gadhvi's Kidnap are on the floors and his conviction puts over Rs 100 crores cumulatively on hold. It is said that Kidnap and Mr Fraud are being shot at a budget of Rs 35 to 40 crores each and these films are nowhere near completion.

Dutt, well aware of the impending judgment looming over him, gradually cut down on his assignments. The actor, who has been making multiple trips to the court, had even stopped signing on more films. He was also planning to revive his banner Ajanta Arts with a film titled Beehad. While the scripting work of the film was in progress, the actor decided to put the project on hold, hoping to resume work on it after the court delivered the verdict in his favour.

The shooting of Mr Fraud has been on hold for some time now as the producers were caught in a fix, trying to get combined dates from all the actors and the directors.

Then the director duo got busy with other projects, like Race, due to which the shooting of Mr Fraud suffered.

When contacted, Abbas-Mustan said that Mr Fraud now stands incomplete indefinitely. "We have completed 70 per cent of the film and the remaining 30 per cent had to be shot. Now after the court's decision, we leave it to God. We hope everything turns out well and leave it in God's hands," said Abbas. Mr Fraud is a masala entertainer and is based on a robbery. It also stars Ajay Devgan and Bipasha Basu.

Dutt has also completed 60 per cent shooting of Kidnap and was shooting for his home production Alibaug, while awaiting the court's verdict. "Only 15 per cent of Alibaug's shooting has been completed," a unit member informed. Dutt last shot for the film on Friday.

However, while Dutt spends time in jail, his fans can look forward to two of his releases this year. Indra Kumar's Dhamaal is all set to hit the theatres on September 7.

Dhamaal, Dutt's only comedy film after Lage Raho Munnabhai, also stars Munnabhai co-star Arshad Warsi in the lead.

Incomplete Movies MR FRAUD ¦ Co-starring Ajay Devgan and Bipasha Basu ¦ Worth Rs 35 crores to 40 crores ¦ Status: 70 per cent complete KIDNAP ¦ Worth Rs 35 crores to 40 crores ¦ Status: 60 per cent complete ALIBAUG ¦ Co-starring Sudanshu Panay, Rohit Roy, Dia Mirza and Sophie Chowdhury ¦ Worth: not known ¦ Status: 15 per cent complete