'No. 1' costs Rs 3.5 lakh

The Regional Transport Authority (RTA) on Thursday auctioned the single digit registration number 1 for a record Rs 3.56 lakhs. This is the highest bid amount for a registration number in the city.

Last year, the number 9999 went for a whopping Rs 2.5 lakh in Malakpet RTA office. The number AP 9 BL 1 was bought by the management of Image Hospitals for a BMW car. The RTA began the auction for the new BL series of numbers on Thursday. The auction will continue on Friday as well.

The RTA is raking in moolah through auction and ‘reservation' of fancy numbers. This year so far it has realised more than Rs 3.5 crores in auction of fancy numbers. The RTA displays a total of 1,000 registration numbers that are up for grabs everyday at its five zonal offices in the city. A vehicle owner can ‘reserve' any of these numbers by paying an amount of Rs. 5,000. The minimum amount to be paid for ‘lucky' numbers categorised as premium numbers like 9, 99, 999 and 9999 by vehicle owners is Rs. 50,000


Pull down Villa Marie's illegal floor, orders High Court

The Andhra Pradesh High Court on Thursday ruled that the illegally constructed third floor of Villa Marie College at Somajiguda should be demolished.

A division bench comprising Justice Bilal Nazki and Justice Ramesh Rangnathan, dealing with a writ petition on the issue of illegal constructions at the college, also observed that running classes in building cellars may affect the health of schoolchildren Villa Marie counsel M.S. Prasad informed the court that some health institutions in the city occupied cellars of buildings.

"Those institutions provide oxygen and other facilities. It is not possible for the management of schools and colleges to provide such facilities to the students," the court noted. Mr Prasad admitted before the court that the college constructed a penthouse on the third floor of the building without prior permission from the municipal authorities. He submitted to the court that his client was a "poor man" and the college was run for "charity purposes".

But the court did not agree with the plea and remarked that it was not possible for a poor man to construct a 5,000 square foot building in a commercial locality like Somajiguda.

The court observed that the Villa Marie management "is not a trust. It is an individual property". Mr Prasad asked the court to grant some time for the college to make alternate arrangements. The case was posted to Monday for further hearing.


Hussainsagar clean-up to begin in December

The much-awaited clean-up of Hussainsagar lake sponsored by Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) will finally get underway. It is slated to start before December.

Hyderabad Urban Development Authority (Huda), which obtained a soft loan of Rs 310 crores from JBIC through the Centre, will finalise on the company to take up the works in a month's time. As part of the project, Huda will contribute another Rs 60 crores from its own funds for Hussainsagar and catchment area improvement project. The project was expected to begin one year ago.

"A 30 MLD sewage treatment plant (STP) at Picket nala and three small STPs will be set up under the JBIC official development assistance loan. Works like dredging of the lakebed, laying trunk sewers to col lect sewage from various nalas and beautification of shoreline are part of the project," said Huda chief engineer Vivek Deshmukh.

While the JBIC gives soft loans as part of economic cooperation to developing countries at an interest rate of 1.5 to 2 per cent, as the government of India is the guarantor, it also needs to be paid by Huda which takes the interest rate to five to seven per cent.

The project is also expected to improve the public health as untreated wastewater is flowing into the lake causing bad odour and posing health hazards to local residents and tourists in the surrounding and catchment areas. The artificial lake was constructed in 1562. Huda and Buddha Purnima Project Authority officials on Thursday inspected Hussainsagar as they began clearing the remains of the Ganesh idols. Officials said all remains would be cleared in 48 hours.

Desi car plant, 100-storey tower stuck in power politics

Two major projects - the desi car venture by MLR Motors and the 100-storied trade tower - are bogged down by controversies even before taking off.

The State government is believed to have opposed a move by MLR Motors to accept investments from an automobile company and an airline.

Official sources told this correspondent that the government got an alert note from the Intelligence Bureau that unaccounted money belonging to a dead BJP leader was in circulation in the two companies.

There is also a question mark over the trade tower project at Manchirevula with Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy not yet deciding to award the project to the highest bidder, Reliance Energy, in the auction held on July 6.

The company, owned by Mr Anil Ambani, had offered to pay Rs 6.57 crores per acre while an Israeli firm, Elibt Medical Imaging, had offered Rs 6.10 crores.

However, Mr Anil Ambani's ties with Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav are coming in the way of the Chief Minister deciding in his favour. Dr Reddy is wary of how the Congress high command would take it.

The AP Industrial Infrastructure Corporation has not moved on the project though its managing director B.P. Acharya announced on the day of auction that a Letter of Intent would be issued within a few days and the project would start in September. The corporation has not yet issued the LoI. Sources said the Chief Minister was in two minds over awarding the project and might discuss the issue with the party high command before taking a final decision. The desi car venture is facing other problems too. Sources said there were differences of opinion between the chief architects of the project, M. Lokeshwara Rao of MLR Motors and Mr B.V.R. Subbu, a big name in Indian automobile market, over mobilising finances and utilising the defunct Daewoo Motors plant at Surajpur. Mr Subbu's Crosslinks has already acquired the plant.

"We did alert MLR Motors against making wrong moves. There will no be dearth of finances for MLR Motors which can easily raise money from the market. We advised the promoters to avoid controversies that may land the project in trouble," a senior industries department official pointed out.

It's not easy to accept Sania Mirza's new look

Celebrities are known for their ability to carry off different style and over the past few years' makeovers have become a common trend amongst them. The latest to join this bandwagon is the Indian face of tennis - Sania Mirza. At the recent Sunfeast Open, Sania was seen sporting a feminine look with high-waist pink, polka dotted dress, a matching shrug, new hairdo, stylish red bag and a beach tan. While this seems like a concentrated effort to change from Sania's girl next door image, her new look has generated mixed reactions from her fans.

One of Sania Mirza's fans, Srinivas P, says, "The only problem I found with her new look is the tan - it looks like she's inspired by Bipasha Basu and Aishwarya Rai (in Dhoom 2), but unlike theirs, her tan makes her entire ensemble look out of place."

Meena Unnikrishnan, a faculty member at Institute of Design feels that Sania Mirza is naturally attractive and has a bold streak to her personality. This is enhanced by the fact that the tennis star usually opts for vibrant colours and metallic accessories. About Sania's new look, she says, "It seems like Sania has given up her sporty appearance and is opting for a more feminine look that does not suit her. She is normally associated with sports and inspires youngsters to be bold with her looks and attitude. But unfortunately this makeover takes away that confident image of hers."

But there are some fans who feel that this feminine look makes the tennis pro look chic. Poornima Rao, a student of fashion designing remarks that she is very impressed with Sania Mirza's makeover. "It looks like she is keeping herself updated with the new fashion trends. The high waist dress suites her and so does the chic hairstyle," she adds. Poornima says that even in her new look, Sania has brought out individuality. "The one thing that is best about her is that even though she has gone for an image change, she has not given up her trademark nose ring," she adds.

While on the other hand, there are some fans who believe that the look Sania sports is not as important as her performance on the court.

Shruthi Anantharam, a fan of the tennis player says that Sania Mirza's new look has disappointed her a lot. "Her attire is very nice, but maybe because we are so used to her earlier image that it has become difficult to accept this makeover. But the bottom line is that no matter what look Sania Mirza opts for, I hope it does not distract her from her game and hopefully at least next time she wins a Tennis Open" she adds.
Source: Deccan

Dance fever hits all age groups in Hyderabad

The latest trend to grip the city is Dance. People are addicted to it as they get to stay fit, make new friends and shake a leg in style when they go clubbing at night. Salsa, Jazz, Hip Hop are some of the current favourite styles of dancing.

Be it salsa, rock n roll, hip hop or jazz, dancing has become Hyderabad's new passion and in the past few months, dance workshops and studios have sprung up all over the city. Whether it is to lose those extra few kilos or learn some fancy moves to show off at clubs, registrations at dance classes are at an all time high. The craze seems to have caught on with everyone, both young and old, and people from all walks of life are learning to shake a leg.

Dance studios have become the latest hangouts for youngsters. Says a student from Loyola College, "I attend Sparks Academy with two of my friends to learn salsa, hip hop, jazz, freestyle and club dance. We actually joined to prepare for inter-college dance competitions but now we are continuing because it's so much fun." a student of Stanley College, joined Inspire@Abids to learn salsa, Russian ballet, hip hop and jazz. "I'm a very bad dancer but they teach everything step by step so even I can learn to dance. Now I'm confident that I won't be left standing on the sidelines when everyone's dancing at a party," she says.

Instructor Kalyanam Abhijeet teaches Afrojazz, freestyle and Bollywood style salsa at Villa Marie College. "Students are taking up dance as a class which is part of their curriculum. Salsa is rocking the city at the moment. I also teach at Dinaz's studio, where we get a lot of young professionals who want to learn dance so that they can impress people at corporate parties. It's also a good way to de-stress,"

he says. One of his students is a designer who attends classes during her free time. "I have a mild slipped disk so the doctor advised me to exercise. Gymming or aerobics would be too much of a strain for my back so I dance instead. It's also a great place to make friends," she says.

Watch out World, here comes India

Hyderabad, Sept. 24: The city held its collective breath when Pakistani dangerman Misbah-ul-Haq ‘dinked’ Joginder Sharma over wicketkeeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni with just six runs to make from three balls. The moment Sreesanth caught him out, the Boys in Blue got a new title: Dhoni’s Dragons.

Indian players shared their ‘Chak de’ moment with Shah Rukh Khan, who had flown in just to watch the match.


Governor N.D. Tiwari and Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy sent congratulatory messages to the team while TRS chief K. Chandrasekhar Rao announced cash awards for some players.

The city erupted in joy. Beer spilled out of mugs, youth took to their mobikes, fireworks lit up the sky and thousand-wala ladis added to the cacophony and, yes, “Ganesh Maharaj ki Jai” rent the air.

At many pandals, organisers had arranged for television sets even as they supervised the arrangements for the immersion. They cherished the victory by smearing of gulal on one another. Those stuck in traffic jams or held back just a while longer by their bosses cursed and celebrated at the same time. Techies reporting to night duty pleaded a sudden bout of eye infection but were hauled up nevertheless. Some of those stuck in offices caught the match on the internet. That live updates were provided on the FM radio stations also helped. Those travelling in the APSRTC buses too made good of the radio updates.

With a holiday on the morrow for Ganesh nimmajanam, the city and its drinking holes settled down to a long night of celebration. SMSs flew thick and fast, not all of them politically correct: “Pakistan ko sharafat seekha denge, Hindustan ki takat dekha denge. Agar panga lenge toh Twenty20 main kya, Pakistan main bhi tiranga lehradenge,” went one.

“Kargil main kya, Karachi main kya, duniya main kahi bhi haara denge. Mera Bharat mahan, Jai Hind,” said another. The more polite one said, “12 countries, 14 days of pure cricket, 26 exciting matches, two rivals in final and 1 winner and that is India. Chakde India,” said it all. “The credit goes to Dhoni. His spirited message to the players asking them to enjoy the movement without thinking about the result did wonders for the team,” said M. Srinivasa Rao, an employee of State Bank of India. Everywhere in the city from Kukatpally in one end to the old city in the other, people came out on the streets and greeted one another.

“We offered special prayers in the masjid for India. It is a memorable occasion that will remain in our minds forever,” said P.M. Irfanullah from Charminar. The main thoroughfares of the city wore a deserted look from the evening itself as people glued to their television sets. Traffic volumes came down heavily on arterial roads in the city. The establishment too was overawed with the victory.

City boy Irfan Ali makes it to top 5 on Voice Of India

Bright lights, cameras everywhere and hundreds of flashing shutterbugs is something that a regular city boy could only dream of And the past five months have been nothing short of a dream for 22-year old Hyderabadi boy Mohammed Irfan Ali, who has reached the top five or the fabulous five as it is called on the reality show Star Voice of India (SVOI).The experience has been very exciting.

Irfan who was a student of All Saints High School in the city completed his engineer ing in MJIT.

He set out to Mumbai on a quest to foray into the singing industry. "I was working in Wipro in the technical support department and did small singing assignments when I had time. I was desperate to get a break into the singing world, when I heard about the auditions for this show. I jumped at the chance. And today I couldn't be happier," he says with a smile.

To Vote Irfan Ali : TYPE VOI 07 and sent it to57827

All eyes on Ram Charan Teja's Chirutha

Chirutha movie actor and actress posters and trailor

MegaStar Chiranjeevi’s Son - Ram Charan Teja’s first debut movie Chiruta shooting and all work was completed. and is coming to hit the silver screen on 28th this month. i.e., Septembet 28th 2007.

Malaika Arora and Mahesh Babu to sizzle in song

Malaika Arora Khan, the lady who has jazzed up quite a few Hindi films by dancing with top heroes is now pairing up with Mahesh Babu for an item number in his upcoming movie. Mahesh's wife Namrata Shirodkar approached Malaika for a guest appearance in her hubby's film and Malaika instantly obliged. "I know Namrata from our modelling and Mumbai days. She made me listen to the song and I loved its beats. In fact I told her that this song will be a hit even in a Hindi film."

While Namrata has always been a friend, this is the first time Malaika met Mahesh Babu. Her shooting schedule with him is very hectic and she is ready to crash when they are done for the day. During breaks or when she is getting bored she calls Namrata and tells her to come on sets. "Namrata makes sure I am well looked after and when I am bored I call her and tell her to come and give me company." But Namrata isn't the only one she is hanging out with. "I bumped into Tabu at my hotel so I catch up with her too," she says.

Between shooting for songs, doing shows, being a mother and a wife are there times where she feels bogged down and wants to do nothing? "Yes, of course I do find it difficult but I love my work. Women are born multi-taskers and all women should be proud of this fact," she answers adding that family time and her personal space are sacred to her. "I keep taking time off often. After I finish shooting for this song I plan to go on holiday with my family." Work takes her to lots of exotic locales and there she takes time off for herself as she otherwise always travels with her family.

Work also ensures that she remains fit with all the dancing they make her do she jokes. Apart from that good genes and regular workouts ensure she has one of the fittest bodies in town.

Her figure makes many envious, but the rock steady marriage she has is what many women dream of having, especially in the glamour world. When asked how she works on her marriage she confesses that most of the credit goes to her husband Arbaaz Khan. "Arbaaz is a very stable person. A marriage is about two people and every relationship has its ups and downs. You should look beyond all that and the superficial stuff. We let each other be and don't impose restrictions on the other partner. It's important that you respect your partner."

As she opens up about her family the conversation leads towards brother-in-law Salman Khan. When asked how different is the Salman she knows, from the image of his that is portrayed in public she says, "He is chilled out and is a great son, brother and uncle. He loves having family and friends around. Media takes great pleasure in por traying him as a bad boy, maybe because he is not apologetic about what he is and has a care-a damn-attitude." The Khan family surely believes in being fiercely loyal to their members. And bahu Malaika is no exception.

Search Engine Marketing Workshop in Chennai

This Article is to invite you to SearchCamp, Chennai.

SearchCamp, a two day event on Search Engine Marketing, the first of its kind event featuring workshops, debates and keynotes on the present state and evolution of Search Engine Marketing takes place @ Tidel Park, Chennai on the 6th & 7th of October.


Event Name: Search Camp
Start Time: September 06, 2007 (Thursday) at 08:00 AM
End Time: September 07, 2007 (Friday) at 06:00 PM

Phone : 044-28554421
Visit http://searchcamp.in/ for more info.
Mobile: 91-9884054506
Email: ezhilraja@gmail.com
Event ID: 10453
Permanent link: http://eventsinindia.com/event/10453

Description

SearchCamp is a two day event aimed to bring together the best minds from the Search Engine Marketing space to talk about search engine advertising, including optimization and marketing issues. This event is the first of its kind in India and will feature workshops, debates and keynotes on the present state and evolution of Search Engine Marketing.

When & Where?
The event is scheduled for the 6th & 7th of October 2007, and the venue is at the Main Auditorium, Tidel Park, Chennai.

The Event starts at 9 a.m, with Registration and a Light Breakfast.

Who is organizing the event?
Everyone is. SearchCamp runs as an unconference, where everyone is an organizer and there is no passive audience. So it is as much your event. The overall co-ordination is being done by The Knowledge Foundation, the same group behind events such as Barcamp Chennai, Blogcamp, WikiCamp.in and Proto.in.

Topics
Please visit the topics page. You can suggest topics. Feel free to add them.

Participants
Add your name in the participants list.

Cost
Rs.500 per person. It’s a door donation to meet the expenses towards venue, logistics and lunch. It’s still an unconference. Which means that each of us helps out by becoming a speaker or helping with the organizing or blogging/video blogging the event.

Accommodation
For more details on nearest hotels and friends who will host you at their homes, visit the accomodation page
Retrieved from “http://searchcamp.in/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page”

English girl teaches desi kids in Nellore

22 year old Sara Redgewell, who completed her graduation in linguistics, is spending her time teaching rural kids English in Nellore. She decided that she wanted to see the world and give something back to society before getting into the grind of everyday life again. So she began looking for voluntary agencies, packed her bags and came to India.

Why India? Well, the organisation that Sara zeroed in on at a college fair - VESL, or Volunteering for Educational Support and Learning works in Sri Lanka and India. "I liked it because it was among the few purely non-profit organisations," says Sara. "Volunteers are selected and interviewed, and I opted for three months in India."

The idea behind VESL is to expose children in small, rural schools to people who have English as their native language. Besides, rather than experiencing India as a tourist, Sara wanted to live within the community as an insider.

She arrived at CHILD Ashram, a home for destitute children near Nellore. "I was shocked at the level of English spoken and understood by these very rural children. It was so much more than what I expected!" she says adding that she concentrates on teaching vocabulary and grammar.

While she is learning the local customs and language, Sara is amazed at the work that the 90 children do at home. "But that's understandable, considering the background that they come from and the fact that they need to be self-reliant. says Sara.

She's moved by the affection showered on her. "On Independence Day the children tied my hair in a plait, put a bindi on my forehead and were thrilled to call me ‘India girl'.

Who is the new Cricket captian of India?

BOARD ASKS SACHIN TO STEP UP

Will the selection committee meeting on September 18 turn out to be a mere formality? If a section of the cricket board is to be believed, that is exactly what will happen. According to a BCCI insider, the board has already approached Sachin Tendulkar to fill the void created by Rahul Dravid's sudden resignation from the hot seat. It is now Tendulkar's call. If he answers in the affirmative and is willing to play all ODI series in coming one year, he will lead India in both, Tests and ODIs. In that case, there will be no split captaincy and Mahendra Singh Dhoni will be made Tendulkar's deputy. However, Tendulkar will reply in the coming two days. It is learnt that most of the BCCI prefers one captain for both versions.

BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah, however, denied that board has made any offer to Tendulkar. "It's for the selection committee to decide. How can we make such an offer?" he told this newspaper on Saturday.

"Neither will we directly communicate with any cricketer (on this matter) nor will we issue any directives to the selection committee," he added.

The selectors, on the other hand, are still divided over the issue. Chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar will surely cast his vote in favour of Tendulkar. But some of his colleagues are not so sure.

They feel, if Tendulkar is choosy about playing the ODI series, he should not be landed with the job at all. Instead, Dhoni should be made skipper in both forms of the game.

Apart from choosing the leader, the selectors will also pick the squad for first three matches of the upcoming seven-match ODI series against Aus tralia. The Australians are arriving here on September 25. The series starts with a day-nighter at Dravid's hometown on September 29. If a public vote would have decided the issue, Sourav Ganguly would have been the runaway winner. He towers over the rest in an opinion poll conducted by a television channel. The powers that be, howev er, are unlikely to toe the line. Former Australian captain Ian Chappell backs V.V.S. Laxman as Test captain and Dhoni as ODI captain. But Laxman's elevation to the top seat appears remote.

Tiger Pataudi feels that the team must have an old guard at the helm "for a while" looking at the fact that they have some tough assignments in the next one year. "Our next series is against Australia. Then we have a full series against Pakistan, and then the team will tour Australia for Test and ODI series.

"Looking at this, Sachin or Sourav should be the man for the job. A youngster can be made the vice captain which will help him groom as a future skipper," he said.

India approves 24 China medical colleges

With China issuing stringent guidelines regulating admission of foreign students in its medical colleges, the Medical Council of India has decided to restrict issue of eligibility certificates for Indians to only 24 Chinese universities.

Indian students seeking admission into MBBS for 2007-2008 will get eligibility certificates only if their admission is in one of the 24 medical colleges approved by the Chinese government. Obtaining eligibility certificates from the MCI is a prerequisite for Indian students seeking admission in foreign medical colleges before they leave Indian shores.

MCI rules stipulate that only those students with eligibility certificates will be allowed to appear for the qualifying examination that it conducts to permit Indian students with foreign MBBS degrees to practice on Indian soil.

Though 30 Chinese institutions have been approved, the Chinese government has not given green signal to four of them to admit foreign students.

According to official sources, the Chinese government announced a series of measures designed to impose stricter control on English-language undergraduate medical education imparted to foreign students in China.

Authorities in the Indian Embassy in Beijing have written to the MCI stating that it should not issue eligibility certificates for non approved institutes.

A total of 2,095 medical seats are available in the 24 approved institutions for foreign students for this academic year. The MCI will issue eligibility certificates only to this extent.

DRAVID TO RESIGN AS TEAM INDIA SKIPPER

New Delhi: Rahul Dravid has decided to step down as the skipper of the Indian team.

Dravid, who is the captain of both the Test and One-Day team, met Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) President Sharad Pawar in New Delhi on September 13, 2007, and expressed his desire to step down as the captain of the Indian team.

Dravid requested that he should not be considered for the job from the upcoming Australia series. He further assured that he would extend his full co-operation to his successor and contribute as a batsman and a senior player.

Reacting to the news the manager of the Indian team for the England tour Chandu Borde said, "It is a big surprise. I never expected it. Dravid was involved in all team meetings and I don’t know why he has taken this kind of decision."

BCCI Vice-President Rajiv Shulka said that Dravid had been requesting the Board for last two days that he was no longer interested in leading the team.

When asked what the BCCI’s decision was, Shukla said, "BCCI is considering his resignation. BCCI will look for an alternative."

Shulka also added that Dravid had given no clue earlier that he was feeling the burden of captaincy.

"He gave no indication that he wanted to resign. It looks like a personal reason. We have enough time to find an alternative," Shukla said.

If Dravid's resignation is accepted then the BCCI is not left with many options. Former India opener Kris Srikkanth said that the BCCI should give the responsibility to Sachin Tendulkar as Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who is leading India Twenty20 team, is not experienced enough to take over as the skipper of the Test team.

"It has come as a big surprise. I don't know how to react as he has done very well as captain. We won a Test series in England after 21 years under his leadership," Srikkanth said.

The timing of Dravid's decision to call it quits has come as a big surprise as India are set to face Pakistan in the Twenty20 World Championship in a few hours.

No proof that Lord Rama existed: ASI

The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) on Wednesday told the Supreme Court that there was no historical evidence to establish the existence of Lord Rama or the other characters in Ramayana.

This assumes significance in the backdrop of the raging political controversy over the Sethusamudram Project. Referring to the Ramayana, the ASI affidavit said there is no historical record to incontrovertibly prove the existence of the character, or the occurrences of the events, depicted in the Ramayana.

In an affidavit filed before the Supreme Court, the ASI said the Centre stated that the contents of the Valmiki Ramayana, Tuslidas's Ramcharit Manas and other mythological texts cannot be a historical record to prove the existence of the characters mentioned in the book.

The ASI said the Ramar Sethu is not a man-made structure, but rather a natural formation made up of shoals/sand bars, which are possessed of their particular shape and form due to several millennia of wave action and sedimentation.

The ASI affidavit was in response to two writ petitions filed by Janata Party president Subramaniam Swamy and one Ram Gopalan, who had sought an assurance from the government that there would be no destruction of the Ramar Sethu during the construction of Sethusamudram Project.

The Supreme Court on August 31 put on hold demolition of the Ramar Sethu, a mythical bridge situated south-east off Rameswaram, connecting the Talaimanar coast of Sri Lanka, for carrying out the ongoing Sethusamudram Project.

Additional solicitor-general Gopal Subramanium made repeated pleas that the apex court could wait till Centre would file its affi davit. But the Bench wanted assurance from the Centre that it will not carry any activity at the site which will damage the Ramar Sethu till the matter was heard.

"If you (Centre) are in a position to say that ongoing construction would not in any way damage Ramaar Sethu we will consider you," the Bench observed several times during an hour-long hearing.

Chak De! scores goal in text book

Chak De! India scores yet another hit, not in the box office this time but in the classroom. The Shah Rukh Khan starrer about a gritty women's hockey team that overcomes odds and goes on to win the world championship will now be part of a business school's curriculum.

Aiming to teach aspiring management students some business skills through the film, the Aryans Business School (ABS), on the Chandigarh-Rajpura road in Punjab, has decided to make Chak De! India a part of its Master of Business Administration (MBA) curriculum.

"The film will be taken up as a case study through which management students would study various aspects of management which can help them to be good and effective leaders in the future," ABS chairperson Anshu Kataria said.

"The film which is based on a real life story makes a deeper impact on the students of management. They can visualise the concept of the story and apply it in job areas later on," Anshu added. Some business schools had taken up director Madhur Bhandarkar's film Corporate as a case study last year. The ABS believes Chak De will help understand concepts like human resource management, strategy, motivation, determination, skills, leadership... and making the most out of the worst kind of situations.

Mythology: Boon from the Ashwins

The Ashwins are the twin sons of Surya, the sun god. They are horsemen born of a nymph who turned herself into a mare in order to seduce Surya. The Ashwins are associated with celestial lights, and are said to be the bringers of Usha (the dawn), and they precede Usha each morning in their golden chariots drawn by birds. They were worshipped in the Vedic period for their famed ability of bestowing youth upon mortals.

There are many tales of the Ashwins' benevolence to mortals. One such story is as follows. Chyavana was a very old sage. His body was decrepit and shrivelled. One day, he was resting near his hut by the woods, when some boys came by on their way to bathe in the pool nearby. Upon seeing Chyavana's ugly body, they started to make fun of him. Chyavana was furious at their mockery and resolved to put a terrible curse on the boys. On hearing this, the boys' father rushed to the old sage's home and pleaded with him, offering the hand of his daughter Sukanya, in order to appease his anger.

The old man was mollified, and after the marriage, settled down contentedly as a husband. Some time later, the Ashwins came to Chyavana's home and one of them started to flirt with Sukanya who was beautiful and young. Sukanya, although miserable at her fate, remained faithful and refused to respond to the Ashwin's advances. When Chyavana realised what was going on, he devised a plan whereby he could get the twins to bestow youth upon him. He instigated Sukanya to taunt the twins by telling them that they were incomplete in one aspect.

The vain young men inquired anxiously just what that aspect was. Sukanya promised to tell them upon the condition that they restore her husband's youth.

The twins agreed and instructed Chyavana to go and bathe in a certain pool in the forests. Chyavana did as they told him and came back, transformed. Then the Ashwins asked Sukanya to answer their question, and so she told them that they were incomplete because they had not been invited to drink soma (a celestial drink that makes the drinker immortal) at a party thrown by Indra, the king of the gods.

Insulted, the twins rushed to Indra's abode, Baikunth, and demanded access to the feast. Indra refused saying that they associated with mortals. Outraged, the twins rushed back to ask Chyavana to seek his advice on how to avenge this indignity.

Chyavana was craftier than they were, and started to perform a sacrifice to the Ashwins. This enraged Indra, who did not acknowledge the Ashwins as gods worthy of offering sacrifice to, and he appeared to attack Chyavana with a mountain in one hand and his customary thunderbolt in the other.

However, Chyavana retaliated by creating a monster, Mada, who had enormous teeth and jaws large enough to swallow the entire universe. Upon seeing this monster, Indra succumbed and asked Chyavana to withdraw Mada. He agreed to do this on condition that the gods allowed the Ashwins to participate in the feast.

And so, the Ashwins were allowed to drink the soma and become immortals.

Andhra Pradesh will hire 100 linguists to fight terror

The Andhra Pradesh police is planning to hire experts in Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Pushto, Bangla, Uzbek, Baluchi, Kurdish, Hebrew, Spanish and Chechen to enable its proposed anti-terrorist cell to study the communications, web sites and literature of terror networks.

These experts will study communications of terrorist organizations to preempt possible attacks in Andhra Pradesh or other parts of the country.

But a difficult task lies before the police - recruiting language experts who are "reliable, averse to terrorism and patriotic to the core."

"We cannot hire foreign nationals," said a senior intelligence official. "We will never be sure if they are trustworthy. We need experts who detest terrorism and who are familiar with the modus operandi of terrorists."

Sources said that about 100 foreign language experts will be hired for regular consultation. At present, the police depends on the forensic department for decoding jihadi websites or literature if the content is in a foreign language. This is a long drawn out process. By the time the police decipher everything, the suspected terror elements simply fall off the radar.

The existing counter-intelligence wing will be merged with the anti-terrorist cell, which will be an elite intelligence-cum-combat wing of the Andhra Pradesh police.

Officers of the cell will be trained in handling hostage situations at bus and railway stations. The police is not geared up to tackle such emergency situations.

AP is the second State in South India, after Karnataka, to set up such a cell. Though Maharashtra, too, has such a unit, they have no foreign language experts.

Salman dances with PrabhuDeva in wanted Dead or Live

Now that Salman Khan is out of jail, the actor will soon be seen shaking a leg with dancing sensation Prabhu Deva for Boney Kapoor's Wanted Dead And Alive. Salman and Prabhu will be performing an item number for the film, which is being directed by Prabhu. Incidentally Prabhu's brother Raju Sundaram will be choreographing the song.

Prabhu had choreographed a song number Que sera sera featuring Madhuri Dixit and himself for Boney's Pukar earlier. The song was a sensational hit in the film and Boney was so impressed by it that he insisted on having a number with Salman and Prabhu in this film as well.

Boney, who was worried man until yesterday, is relaxed as Salman was let out on bail. "When I came to know that Salman got the bail, I felt relieved. He is a gem of a person and has been very cooperative. My film is 25 per cent complete with two songs that have been picturised in Bangkok. The rest of the film will be shot in Mumbai, Hyderabad and Chennai."

He adds, "I have seen Prabhu's work earlier and I know his capacity. We are also planning an item number with Ayesha Takia, who is the female lead opposite Salman." Wanted Dead And Alive is a remake of the Telugu hit Pokiri, which revolves around an undercover cop who works for a mafia don. Prabhu, who directed the Remake of Original telugu movie in Tamil, is wielding the megaphone for the Hindi remake too.

Beware, conjunctivitis is in the air

T he season of wearing dark glasses 24/7 is here again. Yes, it's that time of the year when conjunctivitis is rampant in the city. Conjunctivitis is commonly known as the ‘pink eye infection' where the conjunctiva, the outer layer of the eye is infected. It can be allergic, viral or bacterial and each one requires a special treatment.

In the language of the layman, this infection is called as ‘common cold of eye', which is contagious. The main symptoms of conjunctivitis are irritation, swelling, regular water discharge from the eyes. Sometimes the eyes also turn red. Dr Venkatachalam, an ophthalmologist from Hyderabad Eye Hospital says, "This is a contagious infection which spreads among people very quickly. During this season bacteria and viruses breed prolifically and hence the infection spreads quickly. If a person is suffering from conjunctivitis then the rest of the family members should take few precautions to avoid catching this infection. Avoid direct contact with the infected person and use separate pillows, towels and toiletries. As a precautionary measure use an antibiotic eye drop after consulting a doctor."

In conjunctivitis, the eyes go red and cannot bear strong light; this condition is called photophobia in medical terminology. To prevent eyes from further damage doctors ask the patients to wear dark glasses all through the day. Dr Atul Gupta, assistant professor of ophthalmology in Osmania medical college says, "This disease is rampant in the city now. It is an air and water borne infection so avoid contact with the person having this infection. Sharing of handkerchief, clothes etc should be totally avoided.

Splashing cold water on your eyes and using ointments and antibiotic drops like chloramphenicol might also help in prevention from further infection."

So before conjunctivitis infects you, make sure that you take all the precautions and be safe.

This eye infection is on the rise and is contagious. Make note of these precautionary measures ? Wear dark glasses to avoid further spreading of the infection. ? The infection spreads through water also so avoid swimming for few days. ? Avoid rubbing eyes during the infection because it may dam age the outer layer of eyes. ? Wash hands and eyes more fre quently. ? Don't share towels, handker chiefs etc. ? As far as possible use tissues instead of handkerchiefs, which are disposable.