Cycle rickshaws to get face-lift in Chandigarh

CHANDIGARH - After the pink auto rickshaws called ‘Tuk-Tuk’, the city administration is now looking for a new avatar of cycle rickshaws. It has asked a university here to modernise the good old pollution-free vehicle and present it as an attractive option for tourists in the coming months.

Computer game aims to solve world’s energy problems

WASHINGTON - In a rare “thought experiment,” scientists will try to find a solution to the world’s energy problems with the help of a computer game.

Gehlot and Bainsla are “coconuts” in Ajmer

AJMER - In an attempt to attract more customers to his shop, a coconut vendor in Ajmer has derived a unique formula.

Slim virtual life images influence people to become more physically fit

WASHINGTON - Creating a slim and physically fit Second Life avatar, or virtual representation of oneself can push people to become healthier and more physically fit in their real lives as well, according to a study by researchers at RTI International.

‘Slumdog Millionaire’ author to be India’s diplomat in Osaka

NEW DELHI - Vikas Swarup, whose book was turned into the Oscar-winning “Slumdog Millionaire”, will be India’s consul general in Osaka, Japan.

Electronic voting machines - the leitmotif of Indian democracy

The Indian election is about the 714 million electorate, the many thousands who play the electoral field and the virtual army of people working behind the scenes.

IAF inducts its first AWACS for battlefield transparency

NEW DELHI - After recurring delays, the Indian Air Force (IAF) Thursday inducted its first eye-in-the-sky airborne warning and control systems (AWACS) which will detect incoming flying weapons and listen-in to aerial communications.

Indian Air Force’s eye in the sky arrives escorted by fighter jets

NEW DELHI - The Indian Air Force’s eye in the sky, Phalcon AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System) platform, arrived in India from Israel today.

End of the road for L.K. Advani?

NEW DELHI - Age was not on his side. And now it seems people were not either. Verdict 2009 seems to have dashed the prime ministerial hopes of Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) ‘iron man’, 81-year-old, L.K. Advani forever.

Economic agenda will be more of the same with new government (Comment)

Even as uncertainty looms large in India over which party or coalition will run the next national government, what has emerged as a given is continuity in the country’s economic policies - but for some sensitive areas like lifting the cap on foreign investment and divestment of stake in state-run enterprises.

A dozen injured as Gujjars clash with police in Kashmir

PHALLAN MANDAL - A dozen people were injured when a mob of Gujjars clashed with the police at Phallan Mandal village in Jammu on Saturday.

‘Heritage on Wheels’ train may turn into restaurant soon

NEW DELHI - After ferrying tourists to see the splendours of the Shekhawati region of Rajasthan for two years, the once popular ‘Heritage on Wheels’ luxury train, currently consigned to the railway yard, may soon be transformed into a restaurant in Jaipur.

Daily Horoscopes (29th December, 2008)

Aries : March 21- April 19
You will not be completely frank and open in whatever you say today. Certain set of people whom you like to avoid will even force you to do some task against your will. You will be leading a tensed full day. Professional life will certainly be in a mess.

Feroz Khan was the only man who called me baby: Hema Malini

MUMBAI - Actress-politician Hema Malini, who is busy campaigning for the ongoing Lok Sabha polls, catches her breath to remember Feroz Khan and says he was the only colleague to use an endearment for her and give her a sensuous avatar in his hit film ‘Dharmatma’.

‘Bipasha Bollywood’s most experimental dresser’

NEW DELHI - He has dressed Bollywood divas like Priyanka Chopra, Kareena Kapoor and Katrina Kaif, but designer Gavin Miguel says Bipasha Basu outshines them all when it comes to experimental dressing. She will surprise everyone with her new look in forthcoming film ‘Pankh’, he predicts.

Absent storyline mars Mohanlal starrer (Malayalam film review)

Film: ‘Sagar alias Jackie Reloaded’; Cast: Mohanlal, Bhavana, Shobhana, Suman; Director and Cinematographer: Amal Neerad; Music Director: Gopi Sunder; Rating: * 1/2

Sam Worthington tipped to replace Christian Bale as Batman

MELBOURNE - Aussie actor Sam Worthington is tipped to replace Christian Bale as Batman in the third instalment of the caped crusader’s franchise.

After bikinis and minis, Priyanka goes de-glam for ‘Kaminay’

MUMBAI - She donned trendy mini skirts and a bikini in ‘Dostana’ and was an absolute stunner on the ramp in ‘Fashion’, but Priyanka Chopra is going the de-glam way for Vishal Bharadwaj’s ‘Kaminay’.

Lucknow girl enters record books as youngest matriculate

LUCKNOW - Sushma Verma of Lucknow has become the country’s youngest matriculate by passing the exam in 2007 when she was just seven years old. She received a formal certificate from the Limca Book of Records Saturday.

New Thums Up ad will have two Akshay Kumars

NEW DELHI - Action star Akshay Kumar will have the pulses racing in his latest Thums Up ad, in which he plays two characters - each leaping into the air to grab a bottle of the soft drink.

Revisiting mannequins, Raja Ravi Varma and prehistoric relics

NEW DELHI - Famous French photographer Bernard Faucon throws humans together with mannequins in his surrealistic photographs. But both the subjects are real to him, says the ace lensman, who is exhibiting in India for the first time after 250 international shows.

Has Akshay Kumar lost his comic touch?

MUMBAI - The failure of Nikhil Advani’s ‘Chandni Chowk To China’ has put a question mark on Akshay Kumar’s comic journey. While some filmmakers say he tends to interfere in the director’s job, his staunch supporters in Bollywood feel he should not be written off because of one flop.

Fusion: Sikkim merges with Buddhist spirituality in Anki Khurana’s canvas (Weekly Art Column, Rainbow Palette)

NEW DELHI - Buddhism and art blend harmoniously in Anki Khurana’s large-format canvases, featuring a melange of landscapes, figures, expressionism, complex surface textures, spatial variations and vivid colours.

‘Dearth of women-oriented roles in Bollywood’

NEW DELHI - TV actress Nausheen Ali Sardar of ‘Kkusum’ fame is set to make her big screen debut in a film called ‘42 kms’. Choosy about her roles, the actress rues the dearth of women-oriented subjects in Bollywood and says except for Kajol, no other actress gets author-backed roles.

Meet the Sikh with passion for Ganesha artefacts

MUMBAI - This is one north Indian whom all Maharashtrians love. For, Joginder Singh Kahaan, a Sikh, is devoted to collecting idols, statues, ancient books and artefacts on their favourite Hindu god, Ganesha.