An Indian woman, who spent 17 long years in Pakistan against her will

An Indian woman, who spent 17 long years in Pakistan against her will, finally boarded a plane to India on Friday to be reunited with her family in Andhra Pradesh.

Yellamilli Kejiamani was brought to Pakistan in 1990 by a man named Riaz from Kuwait, where both of them were then working. "Riaz, a resident of Lahore, snatched everything she had and burnt her Indian passport He tortured her before finally throwing her out of his house six months after she reached Pakistan," Rao Abid Hamid, an official of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, told the Dawn newspaper The next 10 years were very hard for Kejiamani. "I had lost my senses. Then I met Muhammad Amin, a cook, who took me to his house and provided me shelter But soon my presence in his house started causing trouble for him," she said.

Amin's wife did not want to keep Kejiamani at their home and one of the neighbours filed a case against Amin for keeping a woman in his house without legal permission. Amin then took Kejiamani to his native village in Sahiwal district and arranged a marriage "on paper" with her after giving her the Muslim name Ayesha. He helped Kejiamani, a Christian from Sakhinetialli Mandal village in Andhra Pradesh, obtain a national identity card and a Pakistani passport.

Kejiamani also succeeded in contacting her family in India and one of her two sons working in Qatar One of her cousins in Britain came to know about her whereabouts in Pakistan, and his contacts in Lahore initiated efforts to help Kejiamani reunite with her family The woman's case finally reached the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), which wrote to the Indian High Commission in Islamabad on September 24. Rights activists said they believed there could probably be other Indian women being held against their will after being brought to Pakistan following marriages in the Middle East. But Kejiamani's was the first case where a woman had contacted the authorities to seek help to go back home.

Tech Babu goes live with radio over Net

The main opposition Telugu Desam has set up an online radio station named TDP Radio. All you need is an Internet connection and a pair of speakers to tune into TD's version of the happenings in the State.

TDP Radio is the brainchild of party president N. Chandrababu Naidu, who has a yen for things hi-tech. He wants to disseminate hot news of the state to Telugu speaking people living in foreign countries, with a TD slant of course. It can be assessed by clicking TD's official website, www.Telugudesamparty.org.

Mr Naidu got the idea of having his own radio station after the recent interaction with Telugu speaking NRIs in the US, the UK and Canada.

A survey conducted by the party showed that about five million Telugu speaking people were living in about 100 countries. "The online radio service will not only give news to Telugu's but will also keep them in touch with our party," said a senior TD leader.

An exclusive website for the Telugu NRIs for exchange of views on various important topics has also been set up by TD. Telugus outside the country can post their views on TDP Radio in the NRI website. Since TDP Radio is webcast, it can be accessed and heard from anywhere in the globe. TD is perhaps the only political party in the country to have its own online radio station. Mr Naidu has also set up video links in the party's official website to enable people to see happenings in TD headquarters NTR Bhavan. Press conferences held at NTR Bhavan are webcast, both in audio and video formats.

Now that the State Assembly elections fast approaching, Mr Naidu is also thinking of reviving his party's mouthpiece, Telugu Desam Weekly, published earlier in Telugu and Urdu.

1 lakh can dine at Shirdi daily

The Saibaba temple trust here has built what is billed to be Asia's biggest ‘prasadalaya', a dining hall with a seating capacity of 5,500, making it possible to feed more than 100,000 devotees daily.

The Sri Saibaba Sansthan Trust, on an average, spends Rs 19 crore annually on feeding pilgrims visiting Shirdi.

The prasadalaya, constructed at a cost of Rs 24 crore, was inaugurated by President Pratibha Patil on Tuesday. The complex is built on 7.5 acres of land and has a built-up area of 183,000 sq feet. It is 700 metres from the main Saibaba temple.

A gigantic hall has been constructed on the ground floor, which can seat 3,500 devotees. Two separate halls have been constructed on the first floor with a seating capacity of 1,000 each.

Fourteen domes made of polycarbonate and Manglorean tiles have been con structed to give ample natural light to the hall, so that power cuts do not disturb the activities in the prasadalaya during daytime.

"The work of the prasadalaya has been going on for 15 months and it will be fully functional in two months."

The meals served at the Sansthan are at highly subsidised rates of Rs 5.

Huge refrigerating rooms have been built for keeping vegetables fresh. Most of the cooking will be done with solar energy.

"All the cooking will be done with modern machines, giving top priority to hygiene."

According to the trust, Shirdi has become one of India's most visited pilgrim places after Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh. On a normal day, around 20,000 devotees visit Shirdi whereas the number increases to about 60,000 during a festival.

Top class Brahmin colony in Medak

A group of eminent Brahmins are setting up a 1,200-acre colony for the community in Siddipet of Medak district to resurrect the old Agraharam ambience.

They include senior IAS, IPS, IFS and IRTS officers and journalists from the community.

The Brahmin colony has been named Dhanwantari Agraharam and will have modern amenities including engineering and medical college, a super-specialty hospital, super markets, temples and an exclusive hall for rituals.

This is the first ‘caste-based' mega real estate venture in and around Hyderabad.

In olden days kings and rulers used to donate lands to Brahmins to set up Agraharams.

Similarly, the new venture is meant to bring Brahmins scattered all over the city to one colony to create "mutual understanding".

The ambitious project, being taken up by Dhanwantri Foundation International, will be ready in two years' time. Plots have been allotted and construction will begin on the auspicious Pongal day in mid-January next year. The foundation has purchased 180 acres of land near Jadcherla in Mahbubnagar district and 1,200 acres near Siddipet with funds contributed by about 1,000 members.

Plots are being sold at Rs 150 a square yard as against the normal market value of Rs 1,500.

Dr P. Kamalakara Sarma, managing trustee of the foundation, refused to divulge more about the project. "I am busy with my patients," he said when contacted.

However, his message on the foundation's website says that the vote bank-based democracy of India had led the Brahmins to a pathetic situation, irrespective of their position. "The feeling of ego and so-called intellect has not allowed the community to function as a systematic organisation leaving individuals to suffer," he further adds.

Despite the tall talk, poor Brahmins seem to have no place in this modern Agraharam.

The 504 governing council members of the foundation will get land ranging between one and three acres and 400 donor members will get 1,000 square yards each.

A senior IPS officer, who is on the board of trustees, said he had been briefed about the project though he did not buy a plot.

Shruti to debut with Madhavan?

Though several leading producers and directors approached Shruti Haasan with offers to act in their films, the pretty and talented daughter of Kamal Haasan and Sarika had made it clear that she was going to take her own time before making a decision.

Looks like the light-eyed lass has finally succumbed to the lure of tinseltown, and has accepted an offer opposite none other than our favourite chocolate boy, Madhavan.

According to sources, the film will be directed by Nishikanth, the Marathi director who won several awards for his Dombivilli Fast, that was produced by Maddy. Nishikanth is presently remaking the film in Tamil as Evano Oruvan.

It is believed that Shruti was impressed with the storyline and her dad Kamal has also given his nod of approval. The music will be composed by talented trio Shankar-Ehsaan and Loy and the film will be produced by Raju Mahalingam and Subhash Karan under the Gnanam Films banner. Right now, they are producing the film Pirivom Sandhipom with Cheran.

When Shruti was contacted by this newspaper, she neither confirmed nor denied the news, and merely said she did not want to comment on the subject. "A lot of people have approached me with film offers. However, my first priority is music and I am keen on completing my music album which is still under production," she said.

1000 unrecognised schools in Hyderabad Secunderabad

The number of unrecognized schools in the twin cities has grown to more than 1,000 from 593 in the previous academic year.

While teachers and educationists are blaming the government this, officials say they are cautious since they don't want to harm the students in these schools.

There are nearly 4,000 schools in twin cities in both private and public sector.

Out of these, only 2,800 schools are recognized by the government and the rest are all unrecognized.

Most of these unrecognized schools, having classes from kindergarten to Class X, are doing brisk business without complying with the norms of the School Education Department.

They charge steep fees, employ teachers who are not trained to handle kids, and are not too bothered about maintaining academic standards.

"These managements merely register their schools and admit students on the basis of the registration number," said district educational officer B. Mallamma. She pointed out that registration and recognition are two different things.

"Parents should under stand this or they will face many difficulties," she added. "We only recognise schools which comply with norms."

When officials issue notices to unrecognized schools seeking explanation, they make minor changes in the name of the school and pretend it is a new one.

"Problems occur when students of unrecognized schools want to shift to a new school," said K. Venugopal, secretary of the Andhra Pradesh Teachers Federation. "As the school itself has no recognition, the transfer certificate it issues has no value and the students will have to suffer."

Also, the managements of these schools are forced to make arrangements with other recognized schools for Class X students to appear for public exams. These students can only get certificates in another school's name.

Officials are unable to curb the antics of unrecognized schools because of their political influence.

"We cannot act tough against these schools, as it involves future of thousands of students," said the DEO. "What we are trying to do is making them comply with norms and to ensure that no such schools come up in the future."
Source:DC

Dollar plunge, No salary rise

IT companies, faced with a free falling dollar and receding bottom lines, are cutting wages of their staff, reducing increments and freezing recruitment. They are also forcing techies to work for more hours so that every dollar they earn is worth it. Industry analysts say Indian software companies, labeled globally as cyber sweat shops, spend up to 45 per cent of their dollar earnings on staff salaries.

And every dollar counts at a time when the greenback has plunged to an all-time low of Rs 39.39. Of course, the latest developments have been worrying those techies who earn part-dollar wages. Analysts say industry wage hike that has averaged 25 per cent in the past is likely to fall to 10 to 15 per cent this year. Also, some companies have started slowing down on recruitment although retrenchments look unlikely in the near future.

Mr E. Manoj Kumar, director of Software Technology Parks of India Hyderabad, feels the rupee appreciation has mostly affected Indian companies exporting to the US. The scenario is not at all rosy in small and medium scale IT firms that work on thin margins and whose profits have started dipping drastically. And this has their employees worried.

Chiranjeevi Family Photograph

Hindu Mythology - Abhimanyu trapped in the Chakravyuha

The son of Arjuna and Subhadra (the half-sister of Lord Krishna), Abhimanyu learnt the art of pene trating the deadly Chakravyuha while still in his mother's womb. According to Hindu mythology, it was from Arjuna that Abhimanyu got to know of this art. Apparently Arjuna was speaking to Subhadra about how to enter the Chakravyuha when she fell asleep so the baby did not hear how to get out of it successfully.

Abhimanyu's childhood was spent in Dwarka, being trained in the art of fighting by his father, and being brought up under the care of Lord Krishna himself. His father arranged his marriage to Uttara, the daughter of King Virata in order to consolidate the alliance between the Pandavas and the royal family of Virata, and so avoid the oncoming Kurukshetra War.

Being the grandson of Indra, the god of mystical weapons and wars, Abhimanyu was a daring and courageous warrior, considered equal to his father. He was able to hold great heroes like Drona and Duryodhana at bay and was constantly praised for his remarkable skills. And so Abhimanyu grew up a greatly admired man. However, legend has it that on the 13th day of the great battle between the Pandavas and the Kauravas, the former were challenged by the latter to break the circular battle formation known as the Chakravyuha. This was accepted by the Pandavas as the knowledge of defeating the formation was known to both Krishna and Arjuna. However, on that day Krishna and Arjuna were forced to fight another war with the Samsaptakas. So there was no choice but to send in young Abhimanyu, who knew how to break into the formation, but had not the slightest idea how to get out of it.

Thus, on that fateful day, Abhimanyu used his skills to break into the formation. Though the Pandava brothers attempted to follow him, they were cut off by Jayadratha, the Sindhu king, leaving Abhimanyu trapped to fend for himself against the entire Kaurava army. Fighting valiantly, Abhimanyu managed to slay several warriors, amongst them Duryodhana's son Laxman. When Duryodhana saw this, he was furious and ordered that Abhimanyu be killed instantly. By firing arrows from behind him, Karna managed to break Abhimanyu's bow. Soon, his chariot broke down as well, and his charioteer and horses were slain. Now ignoring all codes of war, the Kauravas converged on Abhimanyu, who was still fighting using only a sword and a chariot wheel as a shield. However, the chariot wheel soon shattered, and Abhimanyu was killed shortly thereafter.

According to legend, Abhimanyu's death marks the end of the code of conduct adhered to during war. Some even say that this did not only apply to the Kurukshetra War, but marked the end of all fair and nobly conducted wars.

Airport may not be closed at Begumpet

The city may be able to retain the Begumpet airport if the Centre accepts a Parliamentary committee's suggestion to allow multiple airports in metros. According to the committee, this would reduce congestion and cater to increasing air traffic.

The Centre has an agreement with GMR Group that is building the airport at Shamshabad that no other airport would be allowed within an aerial distance of 150 km. However, passengers would be happy to have two airports. So would airliners, who can save fuel by avoiding long waits for landing clearance.

All major cities including New York, London, Paris and Tokyo have two airports. The Central government's Airport Infrastructure Policy 1997 does not go against multiple airports.

New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad and Bangalore are considered metropolitan cities by the union civil aviation ministry. Air India director Jitender Bhargava termed it a good suggestion and said that one airport could be termed primary and the other secondary.

"It helps passengers and airliners," he added. "The primary airport can charge more for landing and the secondary less. This will be of help to low-cost flights."

Frequent flyers are keen on the Begumpet airport being functional even after the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport at Shamshabad gets operational in the first half of 2008.

Silk Smitha to sizzle on screens once again

Chennai: Eleven years after her death, "Silk" Smitha, the sensational actress who set the south Indian film world on fire with her dreamy eyes, voluptuous looks and seductive acting, is all set to bewitch moviegoers again. Thanga Thamarai (Golden Lotus), a movie in which Smitha has acted as the central character, will be released soon in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.

"This is the first movie in which she did a lead role. She acted as a village girl in the movie. To make her fans happy, we have added four songs in which ‘Silk' will be dancing to the expectations of her fans," claimed Thirupathi Rajan, Chennai based producer and director of Thanga Thamarai. "Luckily, Smitha had completed all her scenes before her death," said Mr Rajan. An actor named Vijayan has played the male lead.

Andhra Pradesh man in Forbes richest list

Lanco Group chairman L. Madhusudhan Rao of the city has made it to the Forbes' list of 40 richest persons in India.

Mr Madhusudhan Rao, who stands at No. 33 in the list which is dominated by Mumbai billionaires, however, played down his achievement by saying that personal fortunes do not matter.

"The company comes first and personal wealth is only a byproduct of our success," he said.

Another Hyderabadi, Satyam Computer Services Ltd chairman B. Ramalinga Raju, failed to make it to the list though he was ranked 36 in 2005 with a net worth of $670 million.

According to BSE website, the Ramalinga Raju family, who had 2,99,59,273 shares constituting 9.18 per cent of the total shares of the company in June 2006, had transferred 2,78,64,000 shares constituting 8.51 per cent of the total shares to SRSR Holdings Private Limited by September 2006. Being a private limited company, the shareholding pattern of SRSR Holdings Pvt Ltd is outside public domain.

Steel King Lakshmi N. Mittal continued to be the richest Indian 10 BILLIONAIRE INDIANS

1. Lakshmi Mittal $51 bn
2. Mukesh Ambani $49 bn
3. Anil Ambani $45 bn
4. K.P. Singh $35 bn
5. Azim Premji $14.8 bn
6. Sunil Mittal $12.5 bn
7. Shashi Ruia & Ravi Ruia $12 bn
8. R. Chandra $11.6 bn
9. Kumar Birla $11 bn
10. Tulsi Tanti $10 bn

Road to airport still not clear

Hyderabad 15 Nov'07: Chief Minister Rajasekhar Reddy's plan to provide connectivity to the international airport at Shamshabad by March 2008 may not work.

Though he gave orders four months ago to remove hurdles in the construction of the Outer Ring Road, elevated expressway and the Inner Ring Road, nothing has happened so far.

Dr Reddy is scheduled to chair another high level review meeting on Thursday but it is not likely that things would fall in place before March, when the new airport would become operational.

Sources said that the road widening between Sangeet Theatre and Tarnaka had not moved an inch forward because of the reluctance of Railways to part with its land. It has sought a compensation of Rs 148 crores for the 2 km stretch.

Research and defense organizations coming in the 52 km IRR had agreed to give away land on lease of Rs 1 per acre per annum, but Railways insists on market value for its land.

The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation is also lagging behind in its task of acquiring private properties and removing encroachments near Habsiguda, Mettuguda and Banjara Hills.

Though ORR authorities assured the Chief Minister that the four lane road from Gachibowli to Shamshabad would be ready by March, the work would take at least three more months.

"Despite the CM giving instructions to AP police academy to vacate all the buildings coming in the alignment of the ORR and demolish them, it has not been done," sources said.

The expressway is also behind schedule. Only 77 out of 133 piers and 327 segments out of 1,300 have been completed so far. Dr Reddy had also sought a joint drive by the police and municipal officials to solve the problem of trucks being parked blocking the construction of the six lane road below the expressway.

"However, Huda managing director Jayesh Ranjan merely wrote a letter to the traffic police, who did not bother to take any action," a senior official said.

Hindu Mythology - The epitome of sacrifice

According to Hindu mythology, Sati or Dakshayani is the goddess of marital felicity and longevity. An avatar of Devi, Sati is the first consort of Shiva, the second being Parvati.

Sati took human birth at the bidding of Brahma, being born as a daughter of Daksha Prajapati.

Brahma had planned that she should please Shiva with her humble devotion, and thus marry him. So, as Sati grew to be a young woman, she gave up the luxuries of her father's palace and retired to a forest, devoting herself to a life of austerity. Her penance finally bore fruit when Shiva consented to make her his bride.

When Sati returned home to tell her father the news, she found him reluctant to give his approval. But eventually Sati's wishes were granted and the wedding was held. After the wedding, the angry Daksha disowned his daughter. Sati however had no idea of her father's rage - and when a grand yagna was organised with the omission of Shiva and Sati, she was bewildered. However, she thought that since she was family, a formal invitation was not needed, and so she set off home.

Sati was received coldly by her father. Sensing the reason behind his treatment of her, she confronted him about the issue. Their argument soon turned into a fullfledged fight. Sati realised that her father was incapable of appreciating her husband. Filled with rage, she prayed that she might, in some future life, be born the daughter of a father whom she could respect - and immolated herself. The act of sati, in which a Hindu widow immolated herself on her husband's funeral pyre, is supposedly patterned after this tragedy.

However, such a heinous practice was banned by the end of the 18th century, in all territories held by the European powers.

Women sell wombs for cash

Hyderabad: Remember that film Chori Chori Chupke Chupke where Preity Zinta played a surrogate mother? Now in a new twist to outsourcing, more and more Indian women are renting out their wombs to foreigners and NRIs, reveals a recent research. Surrogate motherhood, (which means injecting the infertile mother's eggs and her husband's sperms into another woman through gamate intra fallopian transfer or GIFT) was once limited in India to helping close relatives who couldn't conceive. But what was once done for emotional reasons has become a commercial venture with many women willing to carry babies for others, for a fee. In Gujarat's Anand district alone, presence of 50 surrogate mothers has been reported.

Gynaecologist Dr Mridula Verma says, "Considering that womb renting or IVF treatment can be done in the country at a much cheaper rate than abroad, coupled with the absence of legal complications, encourages foreigners or NRIs to come to India in search of surrogate mothers." Dr Verma feels that there's nothing wrong in this concept if a couple has genuine medical problems. Also, arrangements for proper counseling should be made for the surrogate mother as well as the couple, so that it becomes easier for the former to part with the baby. Dr Nabnita Patnaik gynecologist and obstetrician, Apollo DRDO Hospital agrees that counseling is very important as the surrogate mother may sink into depression otherwise. She feels that GIFT is a better option than adoption as the parents at least consider the newborn as their own. "However, there should be government approved norms for surrogate motherhood. There should be a committee comprising lawyers, social workers, doctors, psychologists etc. who will decide if the woman is stable and fit enough to undergo GIFT."

Sociologist, Professor G. Satyanarayana of Osmania University is apprehensive about the concept as he believes that it can lead to emotional exploitation of women. "Also, there are healthy women who might want to take the help of surrogate mothers, as they are unwilling to put their careers on hold for pregnancy. They are doing something unnatural and depriving themselves of the joys of motherhood," points out Prof Satyanarayana.

Psychologist, Dr Y.A. Macheswalla concludes that surrogate motherhood should be resorted to as the last recourse when all other options to conceive fail and there's also the need of well-defined laws and guidelines governing it.
Source: DC

DJ Aqeel is unprofessional

Hyderabad: He is the best DJ in our country and knows how to make people dance to his tunes. Figuratively speaking, he did it on Sunday.

DJ Aqeel was supposed to play at a local pub on Sunday evening, but at the last moment, he didn't turn up and the pub owners suffered a huge loss. The club complained about the DJ's unprofessional approach. Arvind Lal, the MD of Afterlife is upset with Aqeel and says, "He called up at 2 pm on the day of the event and said that he will not be coming. This, when all the advertisements were out and we had sold almost 240 tickets for the show."

He told Lal that he was suffering from high fever but later on the pub owners discovered that he was all set to play at Poison, a club in Mumbai. Angry at the unprofessional attitude from India's one of the top DJs, the club is now planning to take legal action against him. Says Mr Arvind, "We had paid him in advance and placed advertisements for around Rs 3.5 lakhs. Plus we booked a special suite in ITC for him costing us around Rs 18,000. He travels in business class only, so we got him those tickets too. That was not it, as we will have to refund the money to public who brought the tickets. We are suffering a total loss of Rs 8 lakhs and the reputation of the club is also tarnished." This kind of unprofessionalism is not expected from a top-notch DJ and it's better he mend his ways.

Hyderabad burns up Rs 50cr on crackers

Hyderabad 2007: According to modest estimates, the city spent more than Rs 100 crores on Diwali celebrations this year.

Of the entire amount, Rs 50 crores was spent on fire crackers alone. Rs 20 crores was spent on gambling. The Mithaiwalas sold Rs 15 crores worth of sweets and garments accounted for Rs 30 to 35 crores.

Fire cracker whole sale merchants and dealers association treasurer Pratap Kumar said that at least Rs 25 crores worth crackers were sold by licensed traders adding that Rs 20 crores to Rs 25 crores worth crackers were reportedly sold by persons without valid licences.

According to preliminary estimates, nearly Rs 20 crores were spent on gambling in the city, much less than the touted Rs 35 crores figure. The slump in real estate is also one of the reasons for money not being blown on gambling as expected, sources said.

City police commissioner Balwinder Singh said, "We are aware gambling happens on Diwali night as part of the tradition here, but the police has ensured that people didn't gamble at public places."

According to Mr G. Raghav Reddy, managing partner of G. Pulla Reddy Sweets and the treasurer of sweet shops association: "Nearly Rs 15 crores worth sweets are expected to have been sold for this Diwali."

Cloth merchants said almost Rs 35 crores worth business had been done this Diwali. "You cannot exactly put the figures, as some buy clothes for Diwali during Dasara itself due to the discounts available then," traders said.

Enjoy a safe Diwali Festival of Lights

Diwali is knocking at the door and the city is all geared up to celebrate the festival of lights with fireworks. Take care to ensure that no disaster mars the occasion. Rule of thumb: While bursting crackers, it is essential to be careful and not get over excited. Children should not be allowed to burst crackers in the absence of parents or a guardian. And as a cardinal rule, always maintain a safe distance from the crackers. Experts suggest that while bursting bombs, it is best to light them on the grounds. "Do not light bombs in your hands. This can cause an accident,".

For safety crackers should not be piled and lit together; neither should one burst crackers in rooms or closed spaces. Also crackers must be kept away from the kitchen or any other places that has a gas cylinder. First aid to the rescue: Be armed with a basic first aid kit. "Creams like Burnol or any other ointment for burns should be kept at home. In case of a minor accident, remove clothing from the burned area, apply cold water followed by the medicated ointments. These act as anti septics and prevent further damage to the skin. In case of major burns, after applying the first aid, rush the victim to a hospital,".

Unfussy attire: Wearing the right kind of clothing is also important while bursting firecrackers. While it is common sense to wear cotton clothes, designers opine that natural fabrics are more suit able than synthetic or nylon. However you need not worry about looking like a plain Jane. "Keep it simple and traditional during Diwali. Avoid wearing fussy clothes, especially while bursting crackers,". "Do not wear flowy things or carry duppattas that may easily catch fire. Rather wear some nice kurtas or churidars. They can have brocade or embroidered works, but ensure that they are not too elaborate. This will make you look nice and also be safe for Diwali."

Fire safety: Before bursting crackers, store buckets of water and keep them close at hand. "Be careful of the cable wires hanging on your rooftop,".

Advice for cracker stores. "Make sure your shed is made of zinc, asbestos or any other fire resistant materials. Keep two fire extinguishers and two drums of water and four buckets of sand. If there is fire, call 101 or 108 for immediate assistance.

Pet care: Animals also face a number of problems because of the smoke and sound created by crackers. Some advice for pet owners. "Keep your pet in a closed room with the fans and AC's on. Often we give herbal medicine to pets one week prior to Diwali. This modulates their nervous system and has no side effects. If the pet gets scared, we also give them mild sedatives,". In case of accidental burns, water and ointments should be applied and the pet should then be taken to a vet.

Follow these precautions and enjoy your Diwali !