Sunday, February 28, 2010

Be eco-friendly, go for organic colours

Holi is synonymous with smiles, gaiety and colours. However, the harsh chemicals used in colours can put a dampener on your spirits. So, raid your kitchen to conjure up some homemade Holi colours!

Experts say the chemicals in these colours can harm our skin, hair and can cause respiratory problems too. Many people suffer from skin and eye allergies because of the chemicals present.

Health hazards of colours
Different kinds of harmful chemicals are used to produce Holi colours.

Green: The copper sulphate used can cause temporary blindness and eye allergies.

Silver: It may include aluminium bromide, a carcinogenic or agent involved in causing cancer.

Red : Your favourite gulal may contain mercury sulphite, which can cause skin cancer, mental retardation or paralysis.

Purple: It may contain chromium iodide that can lead to various allergies and asthma.

Staying indoors on this festival of cheer is not a great idea. Instead, doctors suggest playing Holi with organic colours. Many stores now offer these natural colours.

Pleasures of organic colours
You can even make these colours at home and add to the joy and fun factor of this festival. So here a few tips to help you prepare for an ‘Organic Holi’.

Yellow: Say it with flowers
Turmeric (haldi) and gram flour (besan) are an important part of our homemade face packs. You can mix both to create the colour yellow. You can substitute gram flour with talcum powder or fuller’s earth (multani mitti) too. You can also dry flowers like marigold (gainda) or yellow chrysanthemums and crush them to a fine powder. Then, mix this powder with gram flour.

Red: Ek chutki sindoor
Red seems to be everybody’s favourite colour on Holi. This year rather than smearing gulal on others, wish your friends with an amazing colour made of red sandalwood powder, which is very good for the skin too. Apart from that, you can use sindoor as well. Powder dry red hibiscus flowers and use them as gulal. You can also soak these flowers in water overnight to get wet colour.

Saffron: Ummm... smells good
It’s said that Lord Krishna played Holi with tesu flowers, known as the Flame of the Forest (butea monosperma). You can either boil these flowers or soak them overnight to obtain a nice smelling orange colour. You can also crush these dried tesu flowers to a powder, and then mix with sandalwood powder. It smells great and gives a very smooth touch.

Green: Beauty on duty
You can use henna powder (mehendi), mixed with any suitable flour to attain a lovely green shade. Mehendi only leaves behind its colour when it’s wet and dry mehendi can be brushed off very easily. Those who love putting colour on people’s hair, do it with henna and save everyone a parlour visit too! Leaves of gulmohur (delonix regia) can also be dried and powdered to attain a fine green colour.

Pink: The wet look
For a wet pink, slice a few beetroots and soak them overnight in water or boil for a few minutes.

Black: Colour-cum-conditioner
You can boil gooseberries (fruits of amla) in an iron container for a few minutes and then keep it aside for a while. Dilute it with water and use. It also works as a conditioner!

Make a pact to go organic this Holi. You’ll be surprised at how much people welcome the colours and you. So, play Holi the natural way!

Friday, February 26, 2010

Raavan's premiere

Mani's bilingual magnum opus Raavan is in the final stage of production and although no official release date has been announced yet, it might hit the screens post summer. But, interestingly, as has become customary to Bollywood movies these days, it will have an international premiere before being released in India. Speculations are rife in the media about a possible premiere of Raavan at the IIFA award events, scheduled to be held in South Korea this year.

B With this, Raavan will join the league of Bollywood biggies to have premiered overseas, including the latest KJo - SRK blockbuster My Name is Khan. Raavan has an ensemble star cast including Ash - Abi, Vikram, Prithviraj and Priyamani and is scored by double Oscar and Grammy winner A R Rahman
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Floating mall on Kerala backwaters catches tourists’ eye

Alappuzha : A floating shopping mall on Kerala’s beautiful backwaters is catching the attention of tourists.

The mall on a boat floats in the backwaters of the low-lying Kuttanadu area of Alappuzha district.
“The floating Triveni Super Store, which sells everything a home needs including refrigerators and TV sets at subsidised rates, is the brainchild of state Cooperative Minister G. Sudhakaran,” an employee of state government-run Consumerfed, which runs the mall, sais.

Kerala’s tourism department is very happy with the Consumerfed initiative as it catches the attention of tourists visiting the backwaters of Kerala, an area that ranks above the Taj Mahal in National Geographic Traveller’s best destinations of the world.

“Ever since the launch of the floating mall in June last year, it has become a tourist attraction,” says M. Shivshankar, director, Kerala Tourism.

The boat, lined with shelves full of grain to perfumes and health drinks to shampoos, caters to more than 100,000 people in 12 panchayats of Alappuzha. It docks at 53 villages along the backwaters.

These villages cannot access the mainland except through boats. A Triveni store official said the timings of the boat’s arrival in each village is announced beforehand, and villagers look forward to it.

The mall is open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. For safety reasons, only 20 people are allowed on board at a time.

“Ours is a supermarket,” says Reji R. Nair, managing director of Consumerfed, which was chosen the best cooperative in the state last year. “For the villagers, there is a lot of excitement to step into the boat which has everything for their needs under one roof.”

Provisions like rice, wheat and sugar are priced at least 10-15 percent below market rates.

“The villagers can buy even refrigerators and TV sets from the floating mall. For that one has to just place an order and it will be delivered at your doorstep within two-three weeks,” says A.K. Anoop, the mall’s manager.

“The mall has average daily sales of Rs.60,000,” he said. The sales go up during festivals like Onam and Christmas.

“We wait for the boat to arrive in our village,” says M.C. Vijayan, a farm labourer in Changankery, 18 km from Alappuzha.

“Earlier we used to take a bus to the town for shopping, which took a lot of time and money,” Vijayan said.

The mall was designed by the University of Cochin’s naval department. It was built at a dock in Kochi at a cost of Rs.50 lakh.

Cement was mixed with certain polymers and reinforced with steel to build the boat, which is anti-corrosive. A solar panel was added to light the boat and power the billing machine.

Consumerfed, which runs 100 Triveni super markets and 46 liquor shops in Kerala, is building two more floating malls because of demand from villagers.

Special Single Window System in Kochi

New Delhi: The union budget carries instructions to

Bsubmitting returns to income tax payers and to resolve complaints through a single window system in Kochi.

Apart from Kochi, the single window system will be executed in Pune and Chandigarh.

B
The budget allots Rs.89 crore for FACT, Rs.76 crore for Cochin port, Rs.12 crore for Hindustan News Print Factory, Rs. 170 crore for Rubber Board, Rs.249 crore for Spice Board and Rs. 52 crore for MBEDA, Kochi.

Meanwhile, the state was disappointed with respect to declaration on IIT or Kochi Metro Rail

Libya's Gaddafi urges jihad against Switzerland,

BENGHAZI, Libya: Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi called on Thursday for a "jihad" or armed struggle against Switzerland, saying it was an infidel state that was destroying mosques.

"Any Muslim in any part of the world who works with Switzerland is an apostate, is against (the Prophet) Mohammad, God and the Koran," Gaddafi said during a meeting in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi to mark the Prophet's birthday.

"The masses of Muslims must go to all airports in the Islamic world and prevent any Swiss plane landing, to all harbours and prevent any Swiss ships docking, inspect all shops and markets to stop any Swiss goods being sold," Gaddafi said.

The Swiss Foreign Ministry said it had no comment on Gaddafi's remarks. Libya's relations with Switzerland broke down in 2008 when a son of Gaddafi was arrested in a Geneva hotel and charged with abusing domestic servants.

He was released shortly afterwards and the charges were dropped, but Libya cut oil supplies to Switzerland, withdrew billions of dollars from Swiss bank accounts and arrested two Swiss businessmen working in the North African country.

One has been released but the other was forced this week to leave the Swiss embassy in Tripoli where he had been sheltering and move to a prison to serve a four-month sentence, apparently avoiding a major confrontation.

Libya says the Geneva arrest and the case of the two businessmen are not linked. "Let us fight against Switzerland, Zionism and foreign aggression," said Gaddafi, adding that "this is not terrorism", in contrast with the work of al Qaeda which he called a "kind of crime and a psychological disease". "There is a big difference between terrorism and jihad which is a right to armed struggle," he said.

Gaddafi accused Switzerland of being an "infidel, obscene state which is destroying mosques", in reference to a Swiss referendum verdict barring construction of minarets. He called for a "jihad against it with all means".

Gaddafi was speaking before leading prayers in a Benghazi square in the presence of envoys from dozens of Muslim countries. Swiss nationals voted 57.5 percent in favour of the minaret ban in the Nov. 29 referendum backed by the right-wing Swiss People's Party.

REUTERS

Sachin Tendulkar should get Bharat Ratna: Kapil,Wadekar

NEW DELHI: Describing Sachin Tendukar as 'Kohinoor' of cricket, former captains Kapil Dev and Ajit Wadekar on Thursday said the milestone man should be conferred Bharat Ratna - India's highest civilian award.

The record of highest International runs (31,041) and centuries (93) already by his name, Tendulkar on Wednesday became the first cricketer in the history of One-day cricket to score a double hundred in Gwalior.

"Sachin is the Kohinoor diamond of the game of cricket. This cricketer has unmatched talent and you can't find another Tendulkar ever. I think, he should have got the Bharat Ratna," Wadekar said.

India's only World Cup winning captain Kapil also supported Wadekar's view and said Tendulkar very much deserves the honour.

"Sachin has touched several milestones during his 20-year career in the international cricket. He certainly deserves the Bharat Ratna. We will be very happy if he gets the highest honour of the country," Kail said.

Kapil, though, said his views would be the same even if Tendulkar had not achieved the rare feat of scoring an ODI double hundred.

"Even if Sachin would have got a duck in this innings, still I would say that he deserves the honour. No decision should be taken on the basis of performance in one match, but I am keeping in mind his overall contribution," he added.

Another former captain and former selection committee chairman Dilip Vengsarkar echoed the same sentiment.

"If any player deserves the Bharat Ratna, it must be Tendulkar. He must get the award," he said.

Wadekar also hoped that Tendulkar would continue to play even after the 2011 World Cup, to be co-hosted by India Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

"Sachin has proved with his fielding how fit still he is. I think, he can play for at least two more years after the World Cup next year."

Wadekar, who has also worked with Tendulkar as coach of the national team, supported the view of former England captain Nasser Hussain that Tendulkar was better than even Don Bradman, the iconic Australian batsman.

"I don't think any batsman can be better than Tendulkar, not even Bradman. Sachin has succeeded in all the three forms of cricket - Test, one-dayer and Twenty20," Wadekar said.

PTI

Tendulkar zooms to ICC ODI third spot after historic innings

DUBAI: Sachin Tendulkar on Thursday jumped three places to third in the ICC ODI batsmen rankings after his record-breaking double-century against South Africa while India are almost assured of $75,000 for ending the calendar year at number two position in the championship table.

Tendulkar (766 points), who returned undefeated on 200 in his 442nd appearance at Gwalior on Wednesday, now trails second-placed Mike Hussey (809) of Australia by 43 points with Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (827) strengthening his position at the top of the rankings after hitting a 35-ball 68 not out against South Africa in the second ODI.

It is Tendulkar's highest ranking in two years after he had reached second position following an unbeaten 117 against Australia in Sydney.

While Tendulkar has vaulted into third position, fellow opener Virender Sehwag has dropped one place to 10th position.

After missing a few matches, Yuvraj Singh and Gautam Gambhir also slipped one and two places respectively to be at 13th and 21st. A player loses one per cent of his ratings points for every match missed.

In the bowlers list headed by New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori, Harbhajan Singh is the only Indian at top 20 and the off-spinner retained his place at fifth.

In the Reliance Mobile ICC ODI Championship, India has all but cemented second position after taking an unassailable 2-0 lead against South Africa. It is now on 123 ratings points while South Africa has slipped to 115 ratings points.

The only way India can finish third at the annual cut-off date of 1 April is if it loses Saturday's match and New Zealand makes a clean sweep of the five-ODI series against Australia starting in Napier on March 3, which is highly unlikely.

In that scenario, New Zealand will jump to 123 ratings points while India will finish on 122 ratings points.

On the other side of the coin, if India wins on Saturday then irrespective of how New Zealand and Australia series pans out, India will finish second on 124 ratings points.

Australia has already sealed the number-one position with 134 ratings points and can only drop to as low as 128 ratings points if it loses all the five ODI against New Zealand.

PTI

Pavilion, road in Gwalior to be named after Sachin

Bhopal: A pavilion at the Captain Roop Singh Stadium, where Sachin Tendulkar rewrote the history by becoming the first cricketer to score a double century in ODI, would be named after little master.Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association (MPCA) President Jyotiraditya Scindia has announced the decision to name a pavilion at the ground after Tendulkar, who cracked an unbeaten 200 to help India beat South Africa by 153 runs in the second ODI .

Meanwhile, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has announced that the City Centre-Hurawali Road in Gwalior would also bear the name of Tendulkar.

The 200 club

In the end, there seemed to be only one force of nature that could have stopped Sachin Tendulkar from reaching the first double century in one-day internationals: Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s inability to get the delivery away for anything less than a boundary. That was apt. Tendulkar owns many records, but they have never been just a matter of numbers. So it is that he again affirmed his special place in cricket by not allowing, in those final overs, any anxiety about the record change the drift of play. His partner was straining to give him the strike, but Tendulkar’s batting did not betray a temptation to get the strike by passing up an opportunity for a run.

This record has come late in Tendulkar’s career, a career in which India remained in the game far too often and for far too many stretches just by his very presence. For that reason, for the sense that Tendulkar now plays in a team that has it to win without him, the record is timely. Now, the team may not despair of playing a match without him; but he, unencumbered by great expectations, can still rise to them.

Tendulkar needed circumstances. We needed these circumstances for an exceptional career like Tendulkar’s to be made complete and invested with specialness. He’s been around for so long that it is easy to forget that he carried a heavy burden from the very beginning. He debuted in a series in Pakistan in 1989. In the Sialkot Test, Waqar Younis, also a debutant, bloodied 16-year-old Tendulkar’s nose. He refused to retire hurt. “It didn’t feel nice, what with blood flowing from my nose,” he would later recall. “But I couldn’t leave, for the side was not doing well.” It was a fidelity that extracted collateral damage. The team’s fortunes so often relied on him that it became a perverse conclusion that anything that made him shine had to be measured against the team’s performance. And a man given to doing well had to answer questions about not playing just for the records. On Wednesday in Gwalior, everyone was willing the game on for his record. But him. He waited out Dhoni’s uncontrollable flair and let the record come to him.

Sachin makes history, scores first ODI double ton

Milestone man Sachin Tendulkar re-wrote the record books on Wednesday, hammering the first double century in the history of one-day cricket to add another feather to his well-adorned cap.

The capacity crowd at the Captain Roop Singh Stadium witnessed history on Wednesday as Tendulkar, statistically the greatest batsman the game has ever seen, pushed a Charl Langeveldt delivery through the off-side and ran a single to achieve a feat which no other cricketer has achieved.

One-Day International cricket, since its 1971 inception, had to wait nearly four decades to see a batsman score 200. The previous best mark was shared by Zimbabwean Charles Coventry (194 not out) and Pakistan's Saeed Anwar (194).

As the crowd erupted with unbridled joy, Tendulkar, tired but composed, took off his helmet, looked skyward, closed his eyes to offer a silent prayer.

His captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni came down from the striker's end to shake hands and hug him.

And as Tendulkar set on his way back to the pavilion after the completion of the Indian innings, a tumultuous celebration greeted him.

The crowd gave him a standing ovation as the entire stadium erupted in euphoria while his teammates were simply ecstatic as they clapped and hugged each other, basking in the glory of their senior teammates.

Tendulkar batted like a man with a mission today and the South African bowlers simply had no clue where to bowl.

Once he crossed the 150-mark, the crowd anticipated something special and Tendulkar did not let them down.

A six off Roelof van der Merwe took him past Kapil Dev's 175 not out and in the next over, he hit Jacques Kallis for a four to equal his previous best of 186 not out that had come against New Zealand in Hyderabad in 1999.

The crowd got restless as Tendulkar approached the 194-run mark and a couple off Wayne Parnell saw him eclipse it.

His teammates and spectators were on the edge of their seat with a double century round the corner but with Dhoni going berserk at the striker's end and facing most of the deliveries, it was an agonising wait for all.

Dhoni took singles off the final deliveries of the 47th-49th overs and Tendulkar finally took strike with four balls left in the innings.

The first ball he received from Langeveldt was steered past point and Tendulkar ran for a single to remain unbeaten after an unforgettable unbeaten 200 that came off just 147 balls with 25 fours and three sixes in it.

It was yet another milestone for the man, who has some 30,000 international runs under his belt, including 93 centuries (47 in Tests and 46 in ODIs).

PTI

Maruti, Hyundai to hike car prices

NEW DELHI: Major auto makers in the country today reacted to the government's decision to increase the central excise duty to 10 per cent by saying they will increase car prices -- possibly by up to Rs 25,000.

While the country's largest car maker, Maruti Suzuki India (MSI), said its car will become costly by two per cent, Hyundai Motor India said it will result in a price rise of Rs 6,500-25,000 on average.

"Car prices will go up by about two per cent. This is essential to offset the increase in central excise duty announced by the Finance Minister today," MSI Chairman R C Bhargava said.

The government today increased the central excise duty by two per cent to 10 per cent, partially rolling back the cut made earlier.

Meanwhile, a Hyundai Motor spokesperson said: "We will be forced to hike our prices by Rs 6,500 to Rs 25,000."

Volvo Auto India also said that the increase in excise duty will result in increase of price of its cars.
PTI

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Sunday, February 14, 2010

MPs asked to pressure Centre to get development projects

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala chief minister V S Achuthanandan asked MPS from the state to put pressure on the Centre to get more investment and

development projects for the state.

Speaking at a meeting of MPs convened ahead of the budget session of Parliament, Achuthanandan asked MPs to voice their protest against the Kirit Parikh Committee report that recommended increase in price of petroleum products.

He also wanted MPs to work for realising the proposed Athirappally hydel project which had been denied clearance by the union environment ministry and the proposal to set up an IIT in the state.

Union minister of state for external affairs Shashi Tharoor, state ministers and 16 MPs took part in the meeting, an official press release said.

PTI,