A large number of foreign scholars and teachers are keen to join the upcoming Nalanda University in Bihar as its faculty members, an official said on Thursday. The process of appointing faculty for the varsity has begun and 500 applications have been received for the 20 posts that will initially be filled. “Around 22 percent of the applicants for faculty posts, including professors, assistant professors, are foreign scholars and teachers,” Vice Chancellor Gopa Sabharwal said.

The university plans to start with two schools – School of Historical Sciences and the School of Environment and Ecology – by August-September. “The recruitment is for 20 faculty members posts – 10 in each school,” she said. Sabharwal said the recruitment process will be complete by March-end or early April. The university will then advertise for student enrolments. “Initially, only 15 to 20 students will be enrolled in each school,” she said. The university is set to come up on 446 acres in Rajgir, 10 km from the site of the ancient university in Nalanda, about 100 km southeast of Patna.

The university will be fully residential, like the ancient Nalanda university. It will offer courses in science, philosophy and spiritualism and social sciences.

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Startup Village, India’s first telecom technology business incubator based here, has clocked a new milestone with a record 286 young applicants signing up in the month of February.

Taking cue from the success of companies like RHL Vision and MobME Wireless Solutions, a total of 286 would-be entrepreneurs, the highest number for any month, applied online in February expressing interest in signing up with the incubation programme.

The total number of incubator applications at the Village has reached 1,742 so far and the number of start-ups supported is 540. Chief Minister Oommen Chandy Thursday said it was heartening to see students taking advantage of the policies framed by the government to support entrepreneurship and job creation.

“Now that the Mahatma Gandhi and Kerala universities have adopted the student entrepreneurship scheme, we expect more young people in college to start companies and businesses. Any student signing up with an incubator from these institutions will receive all benefits under the scheme,” he said. Industries and Information Technology Minister P.K. Kunhalikutty said the government is enthused to see the response from the youth in creating a new entrepreneurship culture in Kerala.

“Our IT Policy 2012 has laid out a vision for creating 3,000 start-ups by 2020 and we are confident of achieving it ahead of time. “Seeing the encouraging response, we have also decided to establish a Technology Incubation Zone at the Kochi Kinfra Hi-Tech Park and the first building for this is being set up,” the IT minister said.

Startup Village chairman Sanjay Vijayakumar said that with the advent of more incubatees, the main challenge the Village was going to face is infrastructure deficit. “We will approach the state government with our proposal to further develop the infrastructure at the Village under PPP mode,” he said. “The success of companies like MobME has inspired many start-ups at Technopark TBI and now with new ventures succeeding at the Startup Village, we are literally in the midst of an entrepreneurial boom in state,” said Startup Village CEO Sijo Kuruvilla George.

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Global search engine Google is offering indoor maps in India, beginning from Bangalore, at selected locations such as malls across the city to enable visitors to explore them at ease.

“Our indoor maps will provide a view of fashion stores to movie theatres and supermarkets on different floors in malls, which are evolving into convenient one-stop entertainment hubs,” the company’s Indian subsidiary said in a statement here on Wednesday.

The search engine has uploaded maps of 75 popular indoor venues across the country, including Ascendas Park Square Mall, Gopalan Arcade Mall, Gopalan Innovation Mall, Gopalan Legacy Mall, Gopalan Signature Mall, Inorbit Mall Banglore, Orion Mall, The Forum and AUB city across Bangalore.

“As an indoor directory, the maps can be accessed and zoomed on an Android platform with detailed floor plans of the malls on a smart-phone loaded with Google Maps application. “In some locations, a user will have the option of using the indoor My Location feature to help him/her navigate their way inside. We have worked with partners to bring the My Location feature available for outdoor spaces to several venues,” the statement said.

The application’s blue dot icon will also help indicate a user’s location in a mall with multiple floors, as the map will automatically update to display which floor one is stationed. “At these locations, a user can also access indoor walking directions to help him/her get to where he/she needs to go quickly,” the statement said. Google has worked with 75 partners in 22 cities across India to offer indoor maps for top indoor venues.

“We look forward to working with other partners to continue making the indoor maps more useful for people across the country,” it added.

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Ordering a new mini-gas connection or a refill cylinder will now be as simple as ordering a pizza — courtesy a new consumer-friendly scheme launched on Wednesday. The Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry has launched a new service “Dial Bharatgas Mini” reachable on a common all-India phone number for the benefit of consumers.

Available through the PSU Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL), the service was launched in Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Delhi and Hyderabad on Wednesday. It will be extended to Mumbai and Pune this week and made available in a phased manner in other cities around the country, an official statement said.

Under this, a consumer can dial a national toll-free number (1800 224 344) and can either get a new gas connection or a refill cylinder.

For a new five kg connection, the customer will pay Rs.1,000 plus taxes, Rs.250 for regulator and the cost of the LPG which will be as per non-domestic rates. The new connection or refill will be delivered to the consumer’s residence within two hours with a small service charge of Rs.25. Though orders can be placed round-the-clock, deliveries will be available between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. only.

The BPCL had launched sale of the mini-gas (five kg) cylinders at market rates with minimal documentation from its petrol pumps in October 2013. It proved to be successful for new consumer segments comprising IT professionals, BPO employees, students and the like. The BPCL also announced a return option for the mini-gas cylinder connection in case a consumer moves out of a city.

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From stripping naked on the scales to drying wet hair, women go to extreme lengths to think themselves slim, said a latest research. More than 80 percent of women find dieting stressful and nearly half of them said stress is the main reason for them to fail in a diet, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

The poll was conducted as part of the Small Steps campaign in partnership with English actress Nadia Sawalha. The campaign aims to take the stress out of dieting by providing advice the Small Steps people can take to reach their healthy diet and lifestyle goals.

“Our research has shown that some women are so stressed by dieting that they are resorting to a range of bewildering tactics to think themselves slim, from getting naked on the scales to drying wet hair,” said Hannah Vose, part of the research team.

“We know that going on a diet can be a challenge for many women and seeing results when stepping on the scales is an important part of the process. The real test of a diet is not just losing a few pounds quickly but taking small steps and making small changes to your lifestyle and diet that last for years and can make a big difference,” added Vose.

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The Supreme Court on Tuesday expressed apprehension that the investors who put their money in Sahara’s Optionally Fully Convertible Debentures (OFCD) in 2008 could be fictitious. The bench of Justice K.S. Radhakrishnan and Justice J.S. Khehar expressed their apprehension as it was told that 80 percent of the more than three crore investors have been paid back their invested amount and there were no demands.

“We have doubts whether investors are there,” Justice Radhakrishnan said. The court’s apprehension came during the hearing of a contempt petition by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) against Sahara chief Subrata Roy, its three directors and two companies – Sahara India Real Estate Corporation Limited and Sahara Housing Investment Corporation Limited – for not complying with the Aug 31, 2012 and subsequent orders.

The apex court by its Aug 31 order had asked Sahara to deposit Rs.24,000 crore with market regulator SEBI so that it could be returned to investors. The two Sahara Companies SIRECL and SHICL had collected this money through OFCD. As counsel C.A. Sundaram told the court that Rs.19,000 crore of investors’ money would be mobilised by selling unencumbered properties of Sahara, the court said it was hearing this for the last one and half years but nothing has happened. The court repeatedly asked the counsel as to why Sahara did not comply with its orders, and said it repeatedly gave opportunities but those were of no avail.

“That was our indulgence. You said go to hell. We accommodated you again and you pushed us in the corner. That is what has brought us here,” the court told counsel Ram Jethmalani as he urged the court to let past be past and consider the latest proposal by Sahara.

“It was for it to sell the properties, it was its own headache as there was many ifs and buts,” the court said adding “it is your own choosing. We tried our best but you advanced one excuse after the other. You never allowed the matter to proceed”. “Should every litigant behave with us like this? Should we allow them to behave like this? Why you allowed your client to behave like this?” the court told Jethmalani as he sought to impress upon the court about the sincere efforts of Sahara to comply with the court’s various orders.

As Sahara on Tuesday offered to sell its properties to mobilise the money backed by bank guarantees, the court told it that let the sale be done by it as it can fetch best prices. Counsel Arvind Dattar, appearing for SEBI, told the court that Sahara had better understanding of the real estate market plus it was in this business all over the country.

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I have invariably faced this inquisitiveness whenever I have travelled out of my native India. An affirmative “yes” follows, but what sadly ensues oft is a vagary of perception about the Indian lifestyle, clothes, people and also animals! Are Hindi films to be blamed, I wonder.

“You’re allowed to wear pants, is it?” a 40-something American woman, my neighbour during a recent flight from Newark to Delhi asked me as she took a closer look at what I was wearing for the 16-hour long journey.

“Of course,” I said with a sense of obviousness. Just around five days before my flight, after savouring a fulfilling Thai meal, I stood against the changing colours of the hyped Empire State Building, to do what most excited tourists, and not just from India, would do – get photographed for a happy memory. But there, in the most unexpected way, came an unsavoury remark from a passenger on the move in a cab. “Hey, are you Indian?”

Why typecast? What’s wrong with capturing a memory? And what’s so Indian about doing it?

I spotted people from China, Japan, Italy, Africa and more like me from India doing the same. Then what’s the mindset that forced the stranger to shout so insensitively in the middle of the street? I laughed it off at first, but the remark has stayed with me longer enough than the flavour of the meal. On another trip to Abu Dhabi and amidst a host of “intellectual” journalists from reputed media organisations from London, Los Angeles, Dubai and other nooks and corners of the world, I found myself seated with a woman from London during an Arabian Nights-themed party.

“Hi, I am from London, and you?”

“India,” I responded with pride.

“Oh! I’ve heard parents arrange their children’s wedding there. Is that really true? And that you don’t cross the road if a cat passes by,” she asked. “Well, no, not necessarily,” I responded with a nonchalance that most girls my age and in my social circle would replicate. Now that I am going down the memory lane, I recollect being asked at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport: “You’re Indian? You don’t look like one!”

Now how does one look Indian, I wonder! I guess whether you look Indian or you don’t, the fact that you’re from India itself leaves a lot of foreigners just as curious as I am about their concept of an “Indian”. As a journalist, who primarily writes on cinema, I see Indian films are credited many a time for fuelling perceptions – good or bad – about the country at large.

Be it about its tourism, rural life, urban lifestyle, culture and tradition or about the crime, economic state, political scenario and the like – films are like a window to society – sometimes in all its glory, and sometimes its gore. But I have my doubts if Indian or Hindi films, to be precise, help them build the conservative image that they harbour about the country and its citizens. Each country, I believe, is made up of people with different mindsets, a varied idealism, the rights and wrongs…so on and so forth. Why attach a stereotype with each?

Of late, most Bollywood buffs would agree, Hindi films more or less stick to a realistic portrayal of India’s metro or rural life. If the forthcoming “Shaadi Ke Side Effects” promises to give out a peek-a-boo into the comical events of an urban couple’s life, there’s also “Gulaab Gang”, a real-life inspired take on a village woman who leads a group of sari-clad activists and takes on the perpetrators of crimes against women.

There was also “Shuddh Desi Romance”, which shows the changing mindset of the younger generation in small towns. They are more at ease with a ‘taboo’ like a live-in relationship.

What’s impressive is that melodrama is out of the screen – there are hardly any stories on home-bound and domesticated women and chauvinistic men. Concepts of “Sati Savitri” and “Pati parmeshwar” have almost disappeared from Hindi cinema. The women stand as tall, sometimes taller, than men on and off-screen. And as much as it leaves foreigners surprised, a lot of Indian women also now wear the “pants”, everywhere, literally!

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Technology and consulting continue to be the largest recruiters at the Indian School of Business (ISB), which on Monday announced progress of its placement season for the class of 2014 at its campuses in Hyderabad and Mohali.

A total of 831 offers were made as on Feb 28 for students of Post Graduate Programme in Management (PGP). This is against 697 offers made in the corresponding period last year. Technology and consulting sectors constitute 35 and 21 percent of total number of offers so far, the leading business school said in a statement here. Apple, Cognizant, Facebook, Google, Infosys and Microsoft were the leading technology recruiters.

Amazon, Flipkart, InMobi, Jade eServices and Myntra.com were among e-commerce companies who made a total of 81 offers. The number of start-up companies participating in the placements process and their number of offers increased by 50 percent this year. Under ‘Women leadership programme’, Axis Bank made 20 offers to women students, up from 12 last year. Around 63 international offers were made so far.

“A noticeable development this year is the participation of companies from the Middle East offering roles and packages on par with global companies,” it said. ISB has not revealed the salaries the graduates were offered. It said with a class size of 770 students, the PGP at ISB offers arguably the largest pool of top-notch experienced talent in Asia. “The ISB follows a system of rolling placements, a lateral hiring process that is spread over several months, giving both recruiters and students time to find their best fit,” it added.

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In May 2012, sitting with a borrowed iPad, a few metres from the White Nile in Juba, I saw a show aiming to flow against the current of television advertising. The Nile, as we know, flows from south to north!

Being aware of the merciless onslaught of weekly rating numbers, I had hoped that “Satyameva Jayate” would ride the tiger. But knowing a bit about rating meters, I doubted whether India’s Rs. 80,000-crore (Rs.800 billion/$13 billion) media and entertainment industry, or even the high priests of “responsible TRPs”, would take notice.

The time-tested wisdom is, and remains, that audiences and adverts can’t be sold, week-on-week, without selling your soul. But I’m glad I put my money on actor Aamir Khan, the lead, and the Star Network.

The duo gave our corporate a window to put their lot with social problems and not just bump-and-grind competitions and inane comedy shows. So, I am happy that Star is back with #SatyamevaJayate2 , if only to shame the notoriously play-safe media planning folks into footing their bill. Confession: I did question last time the merit of simultaneously proliferating with #SatyamevaJayate2 on nearly a dozen channels, including Doordarshan.

Also, writing as I did then from Clooney Country, where the Hollywood actor’s satellite has become the world’s primary source to check Khartoum’s war atrocities, I set the bar for Aamir at a scale beyond one with #SatyamevaJayate2. The jury is out on whether or not with #SatyamevaJayate2 and now Season 2 give enough bang to the brands that spare shareholder money on buying airtime on the show.

Enough naysayers think with #SatyamevaJayate2 is a mere tearjerker; that Aamir and his producers merely skimmed the surface and steered clear of a lasting solution to anything. But this column is about the counter-narrative. Ask civil society groups, for example, who got serious funding thanks to “crowd sourcing” and matching grants from with #SatyamevaJayate2 philanthropic partner.

Yes, the money spent by Star and the sponsors wasn’t recouped. Much worse, if anyone has gained, it isn’t even Star, and its group of ideators, but Aamir, who emerged as the nation’s 21st-century Ram Mohun Roy – not to mention B.R. Ambedkar, Vinoba Bhave and Baba Amte. Surely, an actor is nobody compared to giants who devoted a lifetime to the emancipation of women. But what it does is to bring the social agenda back to today’s twitterati. That said, a few minutes of television on, say, rape – as in with #SatyamevaJayate2 launch programme – can’t turn wolves into sheep.

No butcher wearing doctor’s clothes turned into a chartered member of the Missionaries of Charity thanks to Season 1 in 2012. Killers throttling the little girl child of India kept finding support among Khaps. Nor did everyone stop sniggering at a Dalit the moment she turned her back. But for their courage to look at these problems in the eye, shouldn’t we give our “shabash” to the underwriters?

They dared to spend the bucks, not just moan and groan about bad content. Kudos to them for supporting change rather than bowing to the TRP economy. Bitch we must over whether Aamir became the Knight in Shining Armour, and that Star was left to handle the bills! But how about celebrating a whiff of positivity over voyeurism and occult that passes off as Indian television.

In “Satyameva Jayate” 2012, Star PR claimed that the show touched one in every two Indians on cable TV. But TAM numbers extrapolate mostly what auto-rickshaw wallahs watch! So, what really mattered was that a few of us put our thumbs together on Twitter in solidarity for Cindrella Prakash, a victim of child abuse. Far from perfect! But the marriage proposals Prakash received on mass TV need to be lauded. Paradoxical as it may sound, the taste (and test) of “Satyameva Jayate” lies in the sequel that just started. I hope it can iron the wrinkles of the last season.

With #SatyamevaJayate2 is also the punchline of the Indian nation. Verse 3.1.6 of the Mundaka Upanishada, in full, states:

Satyameva jayate nan ta
satyena pantha vitato devayana |

Venakramanty ayo hyaptakama
yatra tat satyasya parama nidhanam ||

(Through Truth the divine path is spread out by which the sages, whose desires have been completely fulfilled, reach where that supreme treasure of Truth resides). More power to its believers in India Inc.

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Children who outgrow one type of food allergy may develop a more severe and persistent type of allergy to the same food, experts say. They suggest that physicians and parents carefully monitor children with food allergies to recognise early signs of eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) – a severe and often painful allergy that has been increasing in recent years.

“These two types of allergy have some elements in common, but patients with EoE usually do not go on to develop tolerance to the foods that trigger EoE,” said paediatric allergist Jonathan M. Spergel from Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. EoE involves swelling and inflammation of the esophagus. Often painful, EoE may cause weight loss, vomiting, heartburn and swallowing difficulties.

It can affect any age group, but is often discovered first in children experiencing feeding difficulties and failure to thrive. The researchers team compared EoE with IgE-mediated food allergy – the more familiar type of food allergy. Nuts, eggs or milk, for example, may trigger hives, other skin reactions, vomiting or other symptoms. The researchers performed a retrospective analysis of 1,375 children for EoE between 2000-12.

Of that number, 425 children could be shown to have a definite food causing their condition – most commonly milk, egg, soy and wheat. Within that subgroup, 17 patients had developed EoE to a food after having outgrown IgE-mediated allergy to that specific food. “The pattern we found in those 17 patients suggests that the two types of food allergy operate by different mechanisms and cause different functional changes,” Spergel said. “However, this pattern also raises the possibility that prior IgE-mediated food allergy may predispose a patient to developing EoE to the same food.”

According to the research, patients who undergo desensitisation therapy for IgE-mediated foods allergies subsequently develop EoE to the same food – a fact that physicians should consider in managing care for patients with food allergies. In desensitisation therapy, a clinician exposes a patient to miniscule amount of an allergy-producing food, then gradually increases the amount – aiming for the patient to become tolerant to that food. The findings were shared at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology in San Diego.

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Leading UAE telecom operator Etisalat and India’s Airtel, with operations in 20 countries across Asia and Africa, on Sunday announced they have entered into a partnership to set up a multi-service regional network infrastructure node in Etisalat’s SmartHub facility in the region.

The all new multi-service regional network infrastructure node includes Airtel’s Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) services supported by its world class global network. This will allow Airtel to provide advanced data and wholesale services to its customers in the Middle East and Africa and enhance regional connectivity through Etisalat’s extensive regional network.

It will also provide a platform to Etisalat to reach out to key global business hubs such as Africa and India. “We are proud that Bharti Airtel, a long-time Etisalat partner, has chosen SmartHub,” said Ali Amiri, executive vice president of carrier and wholesale in Etisalat. “The facility will offer Airtel an array of regional connectivity options both in and out of the region. This partnership will also enable direct routing of traffic between the Middle East and Africa, Asia and Europe. We look forward to many more years of cooperation with Bharti Airtel and are delighted to be working closely with them to enhance the customer experience.”

Etisalat’s Smarthub is the region’s largest capacity, content, internet and data hub in the Middle East. Smarthub provides regional access for global service providers and global access to the region. “The collaboration with Etisalat will further help us to cater to the growing bandwidth demands of our enterprise and carrier customers in the region,” said Ajay Chitkara, Bharti Airtel CEO for global business

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Fruit with porridge in the morning or a dairy smoothie for breakfast have for long been considered a healthy and nutritious breakfast, but such items can cause digestion.

Nutritionist Elizabeth Montgomery gives an overview on why these food combinations hinder digestion, and which food combinations one should opt for.

Five faulty food combinations:

* Animal protein and carbohydrates: Different enzymes are required to breakdown these very different foods. When eaten together, the foods do not get properly digested. That leads to indigestion, fermentation and putrefaction in the digestive tract.

* Fruit with carbohydrates: Fruit digests much more quickly than any other food. Many people think that adding fruit to porridge is a healthy breakfast option. However, it will only hinder the digestive process. It’s better to always eat fruit on an empty stomach and ideally early in the morning.

* Dairy with fruit: Smoothies are a breakfast favorite for many people. The problem is that yogurt is an animal protein and when mixed with fruit, it can cause inadequate digestion which leads to acidity and fermentation in the GI tract.

* Avoid drinking with meals: It’s best to avoid drinking large amounts of any fluid with meals, otherwise the digestive enzymes will become diluted and hinder the digestive process. It’s best to stop drinking 30 minutes before food intake and  wait two hours after eating before drinking water, to ensure adequate digestion.

* Melon after dinner for a healthy dessert: Melon is the one fruit that must be eaten alone, or left alone, as it takes slightly longer than other fruits to digest.

Five useful food combinations:

* Carbohydrates and vegetables such as brown rice and vegetables.

* Animal protein and non-starchy vegetables make for easy digestion, which will enhance one’s ability to breakdown the nutrients and eliminate efficiently. Prawns on a bed of green leaves with cucumber and fennel or grilled fish with lightly steamed green beans.

* Bowl of seasonal fruit salad first thing in the morning. This is a gentle way to wake up the system.

* Avocados combine well with either vegetables or fruits. This semi tropical fruit also works well in green smoothies and makes a great dairy replacement.

* Aim to ingest denser proteins, especially animal-based ones earlier in the day to ensure adequate digestion. 

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From US First Lady Michelle Obama to stressed out executives to students to housewives, some 20 million people in America are practising the ancient Indian art of yoga, fuelling a $27 billion industry.

Michelle Obama, who turned a “fit and fabulous” 50 last Friday, told the People magazine that she’s tweaked her workout routine to do more yoga and less cardio with an eye toward her 70s and 80s. Daily yoga is also a key ingredient of “Let’s Move!”, a comprehensive initiative launched by the First Lady dedicated to solving the challenge of childhood obesity within a generation.

Even Washington’s iconic National Cathedral, envisioned by the US Congress in 1893 as a national spiritual home, recently opened its 10-story Gothic worship area for tai chi, yoga and meditation as part of a week-long public programme – “Seeing Deeper” – according to a Washington Post report.

And Smithsonian’s Arthur M. Sackler Gallery is holding what is described as the world’s first exhibition of yogic art to explore the mysteries of yoga and its profound meanings.

Through masterpieces of Indian sculpture and painting, “Yoga: The Art of Transformation” explores its rich diversity and historical transformations with more than 130 objects borrowed from 25 museums and private collections in India and the US, as also Europe.

The Albuquerque Public Schools (APS) system, the largest such in New Mexico with about 90,000 students across 140 schools, plans to offer yoga to its students as a means of physical exercise right from the elementary school level.

The 2012 “Yoga in America” study released by San Francisco’s Yoga Journal indicates that some 20 million people, or 8.7 percent of US adults, practice yoga, compared to 15.8 million from a 2008 study, an increase of 29 percent.

In addition, practitioners spend $10.3 billion a year on yoga classes and products, including equipment, clothing, vacations, and media. The estimate from the 2008 study was $5.7 billion.

Of current non-practitioners, 44.4 percent of Americans call themselves “aspirational yogis” – people who are interested in trying yoga.

“The number of practitioners and the amount they spend has increased dramatically in the last four years,” Bill Harper, vice president and group publisher of Active Interest Media’s Healthy Living Group, is quoted as saying.

“Companies that want to advertise to the health-and-fitness market for women will want to make sure that yoga is a strong segment in their target,” he said as 82.2 percent of yoga practitioners are women.

The top five reasons for starting yoga were: flexibility (78.3 percent), general conditioning (62.2 percent), stress relief (59.6 percent), improve overall health (58.5 percent) and physical fitness (55.1 percent).

The growth in the yoga market is reflected in the growth of the Yoga Journal magazine itself. Founded in 1975, it now has 10 international editions.

Sat Jivan Singh Khalsa, a lawyer turned Kundalini yoga teacher who set up a yoga studio in Brooklyn’s Boerum Hill in 1971, has seen yoga in America evolve from a niche activity of devout New Agers to part of the cultural mainstream.

Dozens of yoga variations can be found within a one-mile radius of his studio in Manhattan’s Flatiron District, from Equinox power yoga to yogalates to “zen bootcamp,” he told The Huffington Post.

As Khalsa said: “The love of yoga is out there and the time is right for yoga.”

IANS

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 Actress Sonam Kapoor’s daring bikini shot in “Bewakoofiyaan” may have raised some eyebrows, but her father Anil Kapoor was unfazed. In fact, he said it would get the film a “good opening”.

“He knew about that (the bikini shot)! My dad is an artist and he is very open-minded…actually he was the one who encouraged me to become an actress. He didn’t say anything, he just said the film will get a good opening,” Sonam said at a press conference for the film’s promotion here Friday.

The tall actress, who was once on the heavier side on the weighing scale, says she didn’t have to go through much stress and strain to look fit enough for a bikini scene. 

“I didn’t have to work hard because I am playing a regular girl in the film. I have a tendency to put on weight but my routine was the same for this film. You will not see me as a movie star in this movie as I am playing a regular girl,” she said.

While there has been a lot of talk on whether Sonam has been able to pull off the two-piece garment, she says she always knew about the scene and she was comfortable with it.

“When I signed the film, it was my idea. I was briefed that there is a pool there and I have to wear swimsuit. I said my body is lean, and it is thin on the waist…so let’s just show that. If you see the shot…unlike the shots in films like ‘Dhoom’ or ‘Race’, cameras are not panned on the body. 

“It’s a normal shot where I am wearing a swimsuit and jump into the pool,” she added.

Directed by Nupur Asthana, “Bewakoofiyaan” also features Ayushmann Khurrana.

IANS 

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Vacations are supposed to be a time for enjoying a perfect time with your significant other. But sometimes you can end up having arguments.

GetYourGuide.co.uk, an online platform for tours and activities, has found that one in four couples argue almost four hours daily while holidaying, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

Here are the five basic reasons why partners end up arguing:

–Queuing: If you have picked a time of year when everyone else wants or can be on holiday – you have to expect queues. You start bickering over why you picked the time of year you did, why you picked today of all days to go to this attraction and why you didn’t get up early?

–Living up to expectations: While you are sat on the place with nothing to do but think; the anxiety of picking the right destination, hotel and package are all swimming through your mind and it all comes out at the other end. If you feel like it’s not everything you hoped it would, you blame the nearest and dearest to you.

–Getting lost: All you have on holiday is a shoddy grasp of the language, a useless map and wild gesturing to get your through now – so you turn to each other because you can’t find anyone else to complain to.

–Money: You worry if you will have enough to get you through – even though you have saved religiously for the last year to ensure that you will have the funds. If you partner starts spending frivolously – this can cause friction.

* Deciding on activities: You can barely agree on a movie to watch when you are at home – so choosing a daily activity is a supremely difficult activity. If it’s bad – the chooser is the blamed party.

IANS

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Sahara India chief Subrata Roy surrendered before police here Friday, a day after they failed to trace him to execute a Supreme Court warrant for his arrest. He was arrested and sent to police custody at a guest house till March 4.

The Supreme Court earlier Friday declined to revoke the arrest warrant.

Roy was scheduled to address a press conference at a hotel in New Delhi, but Sahara officials told police that he was willing to give himself up. He then surrendered and was arrested.

Sources said that soon after his surrender, Delhi Police sought his transit remand.

Chief Judicial Magistrate Anand Kumar later said Roy will be kept in police custody till the apex court hearing March 4.

Roy was late Friday sent to a forest department guest house at the Kukrail picnic spot near Lucknow, where he will spend the next three days in police custody.

The Sahara chief walked into the court around 5.30 p.m., and his counsel V.K. Shahi said Roy was a law-abiding citizen and was not running away from the court.

The chief judicial magistrate, however, left it to the discretion of police to decide whether to keep Roy in his bungalow or somewhere else.

The surrender came soon after Roy released a statement to the media, saying he was not absconding.

“I am not that human being who will abscond. In fact, being a law-abiding citizen, I shall hate myself to do any such thing ever in my life,” he said.

Roy had Thursday informed the court that his non-appearance was neither intentional nor deliberate.

The apex court Feb 26 had issued a non-bailable arrest warrant against Roy for failing to appear before it in person as directed by the court. In its order Friday, it declined to revoke the warrant.

Roy had said he was absent since he wanted to be with his ailing mother, who is 92.

“Last evening, I had gone out of Sahara Shaher, Lucknow, to consult with a panel of doctors with certain medical reports of my mother and then I had gone to a lawyers’ house also,” he said in the statement Friday.

“I was informed by my family members that police had come and they said something to the media and then the whole media in the country started saying I am absconding,” he said, adding: “Am I absconding? I have started hating myself.”

He said a lot of people advised him to get himself admitted to some hospital and could remain there, as was the “general practice to avoid courts” on for medical reasons. “However, I hate to do such drama.”

The Supreme Court had directed the presence of Roy and the three directors of his group firms following their failure to submit to the market regulator title deeds of some of the unencumbered properties. The directors had since surrendered.

The court order was to secure the balance of Rs.19,000 crore out of Rs.24,000 crore that these firms had collected through optionally fully-convertible debentures. These Sahara companies had deposited Rs.5,120 crore with the regulator in December 2012.

The matter has been listed for further hearing March 4, even as Roy requested the court to allow him to be with his mother till March 3.

The Sahara chief drove to the chief judicial magistrate court in a fleet of luxury cars.

Accompanied by lawyers, family members and Sahara officials, Roy was taken straight inside the court where the entry of journalists was barred by police.

A source told IANS that the chief judicial magistrate lost his temper at Roy’s counsel after he came to the court at 3 p.m. but the Sahara chief did not show up.

The court was closed Friday and the chief judicial magistrate came owing to the urgency of the matter.

When the court later asked Roy if he had something to say, a relaxed Roy laughed and replied: “Waise to main ghar par hi rehna chahoonga (I would like to remain at home).”

IANS

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Major stakeholders like banks and industry would need to play a pro-active role to promote green energy, union Minister for New and Renewable Energy Farooq Abdullah said Friday.

“Banks will need to come forward and reduce interest rates even as the industry needs to innovate and develop better products,” Abdullah said at an event here organised by the Planning Commission and industry body CII to launch India Energy Security Scenario (IESS) 2047 – a tool that would help stakeholders in adopting optimal option to meet energy needs.

State governments and the Centre need to work together and evolve policies to increase the contribution of renewable power sources in the country’s energy basket, he added.

According to him, an integrated approach as well as uniform policies are required to increase the share of renewables in the country’s energy basket.

Renewable sources currently account for about 30,000 MW of the country’s total installed power generation capacity of over 234,000 MW.

“The IESS 2047 is an energy scenario building tool which generates the energy demand and supply scenarios for India leading up to the year 2047,” a ministry statement said.

The tool has been developed by the Planning Commission in consultation with key stakeholders including the UK Department of Energy and Climate Change, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), C-Step and Prayas Energy.

IANS

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Be it make-up or hair styling, women spend hours in front of the mirror to get it right without thinking about its impact on the environment.

Here’s a list of small changes that can collectively make an impact not only on your electricity bills and water usage, but also to the environment, reports femalefirst.co.uk: 

–Avoid hot showers and turn off the water: Hot water is capable of damaging your skin and your hair. Hot water ‘melts’ the skin’s natural oils, which are essential for moisture. This can make skin dry and irritated. Similarly, hot water opens up hair cuticles and removes moisture, leaving your hair feeling dry and brittle. Turn the heat down, to save on your bills. If you can, try to turn off the shower while you lather up, or at least switch off the tap when you brush your teeth, or take your make-up off. 

–Apply make-up next to a window: If it’s day time, it’s best to use natural light. Sunlight is the purest form of light and so, it is extremely bright. Applying make-up using natural light will ensure that no matter where you are, your complexion will look flawless. Ensure that the window is directly in front of you to illuminate the front and sides of your face. 

–Buy multi-purpose products: You will save a large amount of packaging and materials, if you use a combined lip and cheek stain, rather than individual products for each. 

–Avoid using blow dry: Try to air dry your hair at least once every three washes. Not only will this help to repair any hair damage, but it will also cut down the amount of energy you use.

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Reliance Industries has taken strong exception to the allegations of money laundering made by AAP on Thursday, called them “false”, “defamatory” and “baseless”, and said the matter had already been adequately responded to and addressed in courts and by regulators.

The statement of denial titled “:rehash of old allegation” came a few of hours after Aam Aadmi Party leader and senior lawyer Prashant Bhushan charged the UPA government with ignoring a probe request three years ago by the Indian mission in Singapore against Reliance Industries and its chairman Mukesh Ambani.

“The allegations made by Prashant Bhushan today (Thursday) are highly defamatory, false, irresponsible and devoid of any merit or substance whatsoever,” Reliance Industries said in the statement. “These false allegations have been repeatedly made and their regurgitation in the media is fuelling an orchestrated, politically-motivated campaign against us,” the statement added.

Earlier in the day, the AAP statement to the media alleged the UPA government had not bothered to investigate what it termed as “an open and shut case of huge money laundering” against the company and its chairman. “This is despite that fact that the Indian High Commission in Singapore had written to the central government as far back as Aug 31, 2011, requesting such an investigation,” said the statement.

The party alleged that Rs.6,530 crore had been invested in some of the arms of Reliance Industries by a company in Singapore, which, it added, not only claimed to be a small firm but also had no office, no equity and filed no tax returns in that country. “The high commission had stated that all this money has gone into Reliance (Industries) group of companies in India with the major chunk going to Reliance Gas Transportation Infrastructure Ltd., which is a company 100 percent owned by Mukesh Ambani personally.” The Singapore company has since closed, the party said, and sought to name its owner. But Reliance strongly refuted all the claims.

“The investments by Biometrix were open, transparent and perfectly legitimate transactions in full compliance with the extant regulations. These investments in the Indian companies were made by Biometrix out of loans raised from ICICI Bank, Singapore branch,” said the company. “ICICI Bank has confirmed this fact to the regulators. Regulatory authorities have fully investigated the matter and have found no substance in the allegations of money laundering. The insinuation that this money was from “gold plating” from KG-D6 (Krishna-Godavari gas exploration block awarded to Reliance) is completely irresponsible and false.”

The company went on to add that such allegations had been levelled earlier by Bhushan in judicial proceedings in the Delhi High Court and that they had been appropriately responded to, including the letter of Indian high commission in Singapore. “The allegations that ill-gotten laundered money or profits have either been made or that these have been deposited in the accounts of Mr. Mukesh Ambani through Singapore or otherwise are false and are treated by us with the contempt that they deserve,” said the company, also adding that Biometrix has filed its balance sheets and tax returns each year with the Singapore regulators.

“We are refraining from making any further comment at this stage since the allegations relating to Biometrix are a part of judicial proceedings.”

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India and Saudi Arabia Thursday sought to further deepen strategic diplomatic and business relations as the oil-rich Gulf kingdom’s Crown Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud met India’s top leadership, including President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. During the meeting with the prime minister, the two leaders “discussed trade, investment, terrorism and security situation in West Asia and Afghanistan”.

“India has a special and warm relationship with Saudi Arabia which we accord high importance,” Manmohan Singh told the visiting leader. Prince Salman, who is also deputy prime minister and defence minister of Saudi Arabia, is on a three-day official visit to India. This is Prince Salman’s first visit to New Delhi as crown price of the Gulf kingdom, that supplies nearly one-fifth of oil needs of the Asia’s third largest economy. “The prime minister held a special lunch for the visiting dignitary. He also thanked him for the facilities extended to Indian Hajj pilgrims,” a source told IANS.

Welcoming the Crown Prince, who called on him at the Rashtrapati Bhavan here, the president said: “Relations between India and Saudi Arabia will be greatly strengthened by this visit.” “India cherishes its cordial and friendly relations with Saudi Arabia, which are deep-rooted in history and based on the foundation of close people-to-people contacts,” he added.

The two countries on Wednesday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on defence cooperation for greater exchange of information and training. The president said the MoU “would help defence personnel of the two countries to work closely and learn from the experiences of each other as both the countries are vulnerable to the menace of terrorism”.

Meanwhile, Indian and Saudi companies signed four agreements to jointly promote and facilitate investments and trade. The representatives of Indian and Saudi companies signed the memorandums of understanding at India-Saudi Arabia Business Forum meeting here organised jointly by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and the Council of Saudi Chambers. Saudi Arabia Commerce and Industry Minister Tawfig Fawzan Alrabiah, who is a part of the high-level delegation accompanying the crown prince, emphasised on the need for further strengthening trade and investment ties.

Urging Indian authorities to explore possibilities of easing the regulation, the minister said Saudi investors are concerned about capital gains and other taxation issues in India. “The issue of taxation of capital gains continues to be major impediment in promoting Saudi investment in India, and I call on the Indian authorities to explore relaxation of this issue,” Alrabiah said.

The minister pointed out that the two countries have taken a number of steps to promote bilateral investments, but taxation issue remain one of the major hurdles. “We are aware that a series of steps are being undertaken to attract Saudi investment into India.” Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma during a meeting with his Saudi counterpart sought the kingdom’s support for early conclusion of the free trade agreement with the six nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries.

Alrabiah said several Indian companies have shown interests to expand operations in Saudi Arabia.

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