A BYTE OF LIFE Friday, November 21, 2008

ONE, TWO BUCKLE MY SHOE

08 Review
10
The simple but fashionable canvas Yuvvraaj is a damp squib
footwear for Chennaiites

FREE CIRCULATION Vol. 2 No. 222

Spirit of Service
Ergo looks at Corporate India’s new-
found formula of employees’ sabbaticals
and profiles some places you can opt for.
» PAGE 4 & 5
02 ERGO Friday, November 21, 2008

Namma Chennai
Food

Going nuts
Food over coffee
Do you always need a reason to

South East Asian fare spring a surprise? At least not

Barista’s new range ‘Nuts about
coffee’, a delicious range of
Thai chicken with coconut milk soup, Vietnamese fish in coffees with nuts and an incredible
lemongrass sauce, Burmese lamp...what’s cooking here? dose of sinful chocolate. Hazelnuts
A South East Asian food festival, with chef Kroongthana and almonds combine with coffees
flown in from Thailand, is on at Rain Tree. hot and cold, adding a rich taste.
When: November 21 to 30 Where: All Barista outlets
Where: Lemongrass, Rain Tree Hotel When: 10 a.m. to 11 p.m.
The buffet dinner is priced at Rs. 750 + taxes
For reservation call 4225 2525

Art
Contest
Rising rhythm
Interior designer Lahira is
showcasing her acrylic works.
Her collection of abstracts art
works are inspired by a
passion for music – like the
beat of one’s heart, the
chords repetitive with the
pitch and tone rising and
falling, awakening and
energising one’s senses.
When: November 22 to 30
Where: Tangerine, No 5,
Murrays Gate Road, Alwarpet
Ph: 24355834 / 42110888

Crowning moments
The Femina Miss India pageant is back. The 2008-09 season rolls out with
Pantaloons Femina Miss India South 2009. The winner of the South pageant
stands to get a direct entry into the top 10 finalists of the Pantaloons Femina
Movies
Miss India 2009 pageant scheduled to take place in April 2009.
When: Audition on November 24
Where: Pantaloons Store; 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Film fiesta
For further information log on to or http://fmi.idiva.com/ or email your In celebration of the 52nd anniversary of The Madras Film
queries to fmi@timesgroup.com Society, an Italian Film Festival is being organised in
association with Indo-Italian Chamber of Commerce and
Industry and ICA Foundation.
When: November 22 to 27; 6.30 p.m.
Where: Film Chamber Theatre, Gemini Circle
Contest For further information contact 2495 8691

She...
Womanhood these days is
celebrated in different forms,
beauty, mother and child
relationship, successful home
manager, etc. LifeCell International
is organising the ‘Future Moms
Contest’. Moms to be can also
participate for the contest. The
event is being conducted as part of
Mrs Chennai 2008 contest.
When: December 4
Last date for receipt of entries is
November 25.
 Friday, November 21, 2008
03

The wall of
inspiration
Cholamandal artist BO Shailesh’s was so moved by his
experience at the East Side Gallery in Berlin that he did not
want to relegate it to being just a memory
KARTHIK SUBRAMANIAN
karthik@goergo.in

T
here are few places in the
world that offer as much in-
spiration as the East Side
Gallery in Berlin – a 1.3-ki-
lometer-long remnant of the erst-
while Berlin Wall that in the
December of 1989 became the
canvas for 106 contemporary art-
ists to display their interpretation
of freedom. It was poignant jus-
tice to a construction that came
to exist to divide the people.
But the world’s largest open air
gallery has deteriorated over the
past decade.
BO Shailesh, a contemporary
artist from the Cholamandal Vil-
lage, who was in Berlin this
March, was so moved at seeing
the art work and its stage of dete-
rioration that he decided that he
We will, we will rock you
would not relegate it to being just

a memory. Instead, he has put to-
gether an art installation, com-
bining panaromic photographs
of the gallery as well as his own
interpretations on canvas.
“It is important for artists to
share with others what they have
learnt by way of their overseas
travel,” he says. “When an artist
travels, he has a dialogue with the
place he is visiting. These are my
interpretations of what I felt.”
Shailesh was in Lyon, France
earlier this year to receive the
S.L.B.A. award when he decided
to travel to Berlin and some other
cities in Europe. “I had a fascina-
tion for museums that took me to
various cities, including Amster-
dam and Berlin. Though I visited
many places, it was my visit to the
East Side Gallery that really
moved me.”
To Shailesh, the East Side Gal-
lery epitomises the spirit of Ger-
man expressionism but feels sad
that it is slowly but surely falling
away. “You cannot even see some
of the art works anymore. There
is a lot of punk graffiti on that and
the wall itself is crumbling slowly.
It is entirely possible that in ten
years’ time the gallery itself will
not remain. Which is why I decid-
ed to photograph as the gallery as
extensively possible.”
The photo installation at the
Goethe Institute, Shailesh prom-
ises, is as close an experience of
Artist Shailesh BO with his art works at Goethe Institute.
PHOTO: S.S. KUMAR
the gallery one can get away from
the original. And his own set piec-
es for the installation bear the Ta-
mil words “Naan” (me). There are
also some of this own grafitti on
it, including a reference to a pop-
ular students movement.
On the floor of the hall, I find
my own favourite art work from
the East Side Gallery. The East
German mural of the famous
‘Brotherly Kiss’ between former
USSR leader Leonid Brezhnev
and East German President Erich
Honecker on the occasion of
GDR’s 30th anniversary. Just for a
moment, good memories of Ber-
lin come rushing back. In case
you have visited Berlin, I would
recommend dropping by at the
Goethe Institute to feel that rush.
■
“O
ur music has flavour of mainstream
German pop. We will play punk rock,
classical rock mixed with pop music,”
say the young and upcoming German
rock band Nulltarif.
The band is all set for its first-ever South Asian
tour. The poppy punk rock specialist will per-
form in nine cities.
The four-member band from Stuttgart area
has performed over 200 concerts in Germany.
“We are looking forward to our South-Asian
tour. The people here are friendly and helpful
and we hope that we take back great memories,”
says With Jules, vocalist and guitarist.
Bollywood seems to be a hit with people
world-wide including this German rock band.
“We are a big fan of Bollywood. It is very popular
in Germany and we would love to meet some
stars during our tour,” smiles Jules.
The band has With Jules and Danny (vocalists
and guitarists), Denis Bass and Tobi (drums). Ev-
ery song of theirs is different from another in
terms of the mood and meanings – sometimes it
is melancholic, humorous or sometimes with a
pinch of self-irony The Nultarifs tour to India is a
part of the German Foreign Ministry’s global ini-
tiative called ’Schools: Partners for the Future’. It
aims to develop a network around 1000 partner
schools worldwide, to promote young create
awareness and inculcate interest and enthu-
siasm for modern Germany and German society.
“Our songs are in German but we will com-
municate through our music. Regardless of the
language barrier, our music makes things much
easier,” adds Jules.
Nulltarif will perform on November 22 at Mu-
seum Theatre, Egmore at 6.30 p.m. Entry is free.
Vipasha Sinha
04
Big Story
On a break!
Sabbaticals are a good grooming exercise and an attractive
option to retain talent. But is Corporate Inc. ready?
LIFFY THOMAS
liffythomas@goergo.in
G
lobal recession, pink slips,
cost-cutting measures …
corporate India is certainly
not in the ‘pink of health’
these days.
But there are also things that
are happening against the run of
play. Some software engineers
are handing over files, clearing
their desks and moving out too
willingly. They are ‘on a break’
from regular office chores to pur-
sue whatever dreams they have in
reaching out through social caus-
es.
India Inc is warming up to the
possibility of sending its em-
ployees on paid leave for a con-
siderably long duration in a bid to
both hone their leadership skills
and also to allow them to pursue
their passion – something that
will ultimately help retain them.
Infosys Technologies has seen
a tremendous response to its re-
cent ‘sabbatical’ initiative.
On October 1, 2008, the IT ma-
jor introduced a new policy, whe-
rein its associates could go a
sabbatical for community service
for a period of six months to one
year. Fifty employees are to be se-
lected by a panel of seniors for
the paid leave, where Infosys will
pay 50 per cent of the individual’s
salary.
A voluntary initiative where
employees, who have involved in
some kind of social work, will be
given preference for a philan-
thropic work he wants to take up.
Nandita Gurjar, vice-president
and group head – HRD, Infosys,
explain the reason behind the
policy: “Very often employees
who may want to participate in
social action initiatives hold back
because of various commitments
– work, family, financial commit-
ments etc. Through this policy
Infosys will accept requests from
up to 50 employees who will be
supported by the company finan-
cially. Post the period the em-
ployees will return to the regular
job structure.”
HCL Technologies also sends
employees on a paid leave on a
voluntary basis; it has not intro-
duced any formal structure about
sabbaticals though.
Ma Foi had five of its em-
ployees deputed for its social
wing the Ma Foi Foundation.
Air India also came up with a
slightly different sabbatical pro-
ERGO Friday, November 21, 2008
gramme, which is still under con-
sideration, where staff involved
in non-operational work get be-
tween two and five years off from
their job.
Unlike Indian companies, sab-
batical, or extended paid leaves,
have always been a trend among
international organisations. By
encouraging employees to go on
leave, companies show that they
care about the employees’ needs,
as the break sometimes provided
employees an opportunity to es-
cape from workplace pressures.
Companies least preferred to
lay-off its workers, Ma Foi said in
a recent survey.
Social calling
Social organisations are seeing
an opportunity in the present
scenario. iVolunteer, an initiative
of MITRA – a not-for-profit orga-
nisation working in the social
sector, for example, launched its
‘India Fellow Professional’ pro-
gramme, to enable professionals
to work with NGOs and com-
munities across India.
“We target employees who are
planning to take a break before
moving to a new organisation,”
says Rahul Nainwal, director, MI-
TRA.
Now with corporate opening
up to the possibilities of sending
their employees on a sabbatical,
they iVolunteer plans have talks
with Infosys, HP and Citi Groups
to take it as an opportunity to in-
vest in their staff.
“We only want employees who
are interested in offering their in-
puts for the development of rural
sectors,” says Rahul. ■
 Friday, November 21, 2008
05
NOTICE BOARD
iVolunteer Akshara Foundation
web Your Role: If you
Your Role: If you have skills in r skills as software engineer, tech
-
mar ket rese arch , nology marketing, etc. match with
designing, marketing, then there is nothing like shar
their requirement
deve lopm ent, con sult ing, film - ing your knowledge
business here.
proposal
making, data management,
ban king , its Indi a Fell owship Duration: Minimum of one year
writing,
to enri ch you with Website: www.aksharafoundation.o
Programme promises rg
rien ce. Email: info@aksharafoundation
a new expe .org (Attn: Su-
zanne)
Duration: 3 to 6 months
(Please mail them and check if
Website: your skills meet their
requirements. Also, some of these
www.ivolunteer.in/professional accommodation, travel expense
programmes offer
Email: professional@ivolunteer.in and a monthly stipend)

Association for Hand in Hand DHAN Foundation

Sustainable Your Role: Website man- Your Ro le: Urbanisation,
agement, database man- Infrastructure fa
Community agement, MIS, setting Duration: 1 to 6
cilities
months
Development extranet
Duration: 6 months to 1
Website:
www.dhanfounda
tion.org
(ASSCOroDle:) Train field staff year
Website:
Email:
dhan@md3.vsnl
Your .net.in (Attn:
rtner in field www.hihseed.org Uma
on computers, pa Email: leader)
Rani, programme
programm es
months vaishna.roy@hihseed.org
Duration: 3 to 6
ww w. as scod.org
Website:
@y ahoo.co.in
Email: asscod
ga na th an )
(Attn: Lo

A sabbatical for life

A short narrative of how an individual decided
to give up a conventional job for an
alternate career option

A
s a youngster I did not give serious
thoughts to my career. Most friends
were looking at engineering or medicine
as career options. Having joined the
bandwagon, I considered myself lucky to get
admission to a premier engineering college,
and subsequently get placed in the manufac-
turing sector.
Work made me reflect a lot on what I was
doing, and where life was supposedly taking
me. The more I thought about it, the more I
felt that working with machines was not my
call. I wanted to do something that would
leave me with a sense of fulfilment.
On impulse, I decided to kick the job. I tried
a stint as a part-time teacher in schools and it
left me with a profound sense of grief and
yearning. Grief, that the future generation was
being put through mindless things in the
name of education, and yearning, to see how I
could make a change. I was beginning to real-
ise that education is where I could contribute
meaningfully, and hope for a lasting change.
It was entirely by accident that at that point,
I came across EZ Vidya. I decided to give it a
shot. The passion that the members here, es-
pecially its founder Ms. Chitra Ravi, exuded in
the initial days was palpable. It has almost
been three years now, and I haven’t looked
back. We work with schools, both urban and
rural, with a desire and commitment to bring
meaningful change.
The remunerations may not be as lucrative
as some of the ‘conventional’ jobs, but the joy
of watching educators reflect, and attempt to
change is incomparable to anything tangible.
People tell me I wasted my engineering edu-
cation, but I believe the sound logic that the
course built in me, is only helping me with my
work. We have a long way to go, and I believe
we will, for the drive comes mostly from with-
in, with willing support from all members of
the organisation, and of course, my family.
(Balasubrahmanian S works as senior manager
- Trg. & Dev with EZ Vidya.
You can email him at bala@ezvidya.com)
06 ERGO Friday, November 21, 2008

Websites of the day

Village Break a World record:

www.guinnessworldrecords.com
Get a Geordie accent:
www.wikihow.com/Talk-Like-a-Geordieal

No kissing please Hugh Jackman is the

The decision by a headmaster in Austria to ban kissing from his school made front-page news on
Thursday as outraged pupils and politicians slammed the move as medieval and excessive. Sexiest Man Alive
Siegfried Biermair, the head of a school in Gunskirchen, Upper Austria, sent a letter to parents on The 40-year-old
Monday informing them of the kissing ban after teachers complained Australian actor Huge
that the kissing rituals of some girls were getting out of hand. Jackman has been
Instead of simply greeting each other with a light peck on the cheeks voted as Sexiest Man
between lessons, some 14-year-olds had taken to “theatrically falling into Alive for 2008 by
each other’s arms and kissing each other on the mouth, sometimes very People magazine.
intimately and for many minutes,” Biermair complained. The actor beat James
However, the move was immediately slammed as “ridiculous” and Bond star Daniel
“excessive”, not only by pupils, but by politicians as well. Craig to the top spot.
AFP Jackman also eclipsed
stars like Brad Pitt,
Zac Efron and Daniel
Craig for the number
Rahman to sing election tune one spot on a list by
The electoral office in the national capital is trying to rope People magazine.
in playback singer A.R. Rahman to educate people about The other Britishers
the benefits of elections and improve voter turnout for the who have made to
November 29 assembly election. the list are – Simon
“Rahman has already given us permission to use one of his Cowell, race-car drive
compositions for our awareness campaign. Now we are Lewis Hamilton,
trying to rope him in personally to campaign for us and football star David
tell people to come out and vote,” said Satbir Silas Bedi, Beckham and TV chef
chief electoral officer Gordon Ramsay.
of Delhi. PTI
The electoral office is
using one of
Rahman’s
compositions, ‘Pappu
can’t dance…’ from
the Bollywood movie New HP trailer today
Jaane Tu Ya Jaane A new trailer on Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, a film on the famous boy wizard’s sixth
Na for creating TV, year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry will go online on Friday with a whole lot
radio and print adds of new characters and a love-struck Ron Weasely. The release of the new satellite trailer follows
to encourage voters last month’s international teaser that previewed the forthcoming
to cast their ballots. film which was scheduled to be released by Warner Bros on
The campaign aims November 21 but got postponed to July 17, next year, according to a
at creating awareness statement. Voldemort is tightening his grip on both the Muggle and
among 12 different wizarding worlds and Hogwarts is no longer the safe haven it once
segments of people was. Harry suspects that dangers may even lie within the castle, but
who generally don’t Dumbledore is more intent upon preparing him for the final battle
vote. that he knows is fast approaching.
IANS PTI

Asian in Britain? You can be a spy

B
ritain’s secret service wants
more Black and Asian spies.
But wannabe 007s needn’t
apply.
The head of recruitment at MI6,
Britain’s external spying agency,
says the service needs to be “more
flexible, more adaptable”, after
years of a “rather comfortable
cold war existence,” the Guardian
newspaper reported on Thursday.
The man was identified as John.
MI6 has placed adverts in publi-
cations aimed at ethnic minorities
for several years, but broke the
tradition on Wednesday by invit-
ing Black and Asian people to
meet with serving intelligence
officers.
This was the first time in its 99-
year history that it had taken a di-
rect approach to recruitment, the
paper said.
Ten per cent of the service’s lat-
est fast-track intake of high fliers
was from ethnic minorities, and
35 per cent were women, but it
wants to increase the number.
We are not looking for
a James Bond - people
jumping out of
windows, running
around disobeying
orders, drinking dry
martinis, clutching
women and firing guns
The high fliers will be trained to
gather intelligence and recruit and
run agents abroad. However, wan-
nabe James Bonds have been told
not to bother applying.
John said MI6 needed people
with discretion, people who were
good at sustaining relationships
and who could “recruit and run
people” as spies.
“We are not looking for a James
Bond - people jumping out of win-
dows, running around disobeying
orders, drinking dry martinis,
clutching women and firing
guns,” explained Catherine, an
agent.
Although the job might sound
dangerous, in general it was not,
she added. ■
IANS
 Friday, November 21, 2008
07
Skull therapy
An oversize skull with a built-in sauna is turning heads in
the Austrian capital. The white walk-in structure - situated
near a busy Vienna intersection - is known as the "Wellness
Skull" and also boasts a bathtub and shower.

Too many incentives spoil the employer

Yes. That’s what a recent
study has to say about
performance-related incentives

A
new Canadian study shows by the university.
that paying too much per- She said a moderate hike in in-
formance-related incentive centives improved performance
may not get you the top of participants doing tasks re-
performance. quiring creative
Citing studies thinking, problem-
done in India and solving or memory
the US, Canadian skills. But once the
university research- If the incentives crossed a
ers in behavioural certain threshold,
economics warn payments they did not perform
that employers hop- are too as well and just
ing to get the best “choked”.
out of their em- high, they “What we were re-
ployees with high ally surprised by is
salaries may actual- may that it didn’t matter
ly be helping them backfire what kind of task – as
to do worse. soon as it involved In the experiments (which year’s income on a modest re- the findings in the different ex-
“If the payments even a little bit of form the basis of the study), par- search budget, the statement periment settings, Mazar said.
are too high, they cognition, very high ticipants were given games to said. “There is evidence from psy-
may backfire,” said incentives did not play, anagrams to solve, adding Another experiment was con- chology that too high levels of
Nina Mazar, study co-author and work,” said Mazar. tasks and jobs involving pressing ducted on American university stimulation can harm perfor-
Toronto University marketing However, performance-related keys. students at the end of an aca- mance. We show that a similar re-
professor. incentives seemed to work very One such experiment was con- demic term, when they were low lationship can be found for
“I don’t think people realise well in tasks that were purely rote ducted in rural India where par- on funds and thus more respon- financial incentives and perfor-
that there is a threshold,” she was and mechanical, according to the ticipants were offered high sive to financial incentives. mance,” she said. ■
quoted as saying in a statement study. financial incentives of up to half a But there was no difference in IANS

The big, fat kimchi feast

Choose your exam
date at IGNOU
I t’s a revolution! Nearly two mil-
lion students pursuing educa-
tion in the Indira Gandhi
National Open University (IG-
NOU) across India and abroad
will soon be able to choose their
examination date.
“No stress, no fixed exam date.
Students can walk in to examina-
tion leaving behind stress, ten-
sion or fear,” IGNOU spokesman
Ravi Mohan said on Thursday.
“Walk-in-examination would
give learners the liberty to decide
the dates of exams as per their
own suitability and convenience,
thus lowering the exam pressure
on them and thereby bringing
down the percentage of failures,”
he added. The varsity, which has
presence in over 35 countries
across the globe, said that under
the scheme, students, instead of
waiting for the six-monthly term
end examination, could simply
walk into any identified test cen-
tres of the university. The results
would be processed on a monthly
basis.
The flexible examination pat-
tern will reduce the possibility of
malpractices in the examina-
tions, as each student will get a
different set of question papers
and examinations will be con-
ducted with camera surveillance.
Registration of students, allot-
ment of the dates and the issue of
hall ticket to the examinees for
the walk-in examination would
be done online.
Authorities said initially select-
ed regional centres of the univer-
sity would conduct the
walk-in-examination once a week 쒀 Some 2,000 South Korean housewives make 140 tons of kimchi, a traditional
- Sunday. The frequency of con- Korean dish of spicy fermented cabbage and radish, in a park outside the
duct of walk-in-exam may be in- metropolitan government building in Seoul on Thursday. City officials will hand
creased in future depending on out kimchi to about 13,000 poor households in an event marking the start of the
the need. ■ winter season. AFP PHOTO
IANS
08 ERGO Friday, November 21, 2008

Technorama
«
PSP 2
Sony’s next
incarnation of the
PSP should be landing
here soon. Expect the
PSP-3000 to have a better
screen, offering improved image
quality and crisper colours with
more definition in natural light. Snippets sourced
GTA: Chinatown Wars while
sunning
THE NOKIA TOUCH
from T3 Magazine
ourselves in the park? Yes please. It’ll also
have a built-in microphone to use with
Go! Messenger and Skype.
Nokia’s 58OO touches our hearts. of Infomedia 18
TBC, www.playstation.com The media bar provides direct access Group
to entertainment, while the contacts
bar lets you highlight four favourite
contacts on the home screen

Touch the tube

«
NOKIA’S 58OO TOUCHES OUR
HEARTS
Codenamed Tube, Nokia’s newest all-
screen and (mostly) buttonless wonder
Nokia 5800 XpressMusic is not an
iPhone-killer! That’s because we
presume the Finnish manufacturer is
wise enough to lay off a year and a half
old design and instead cough up a
blower that’s compelling in its own Kick-ass
«

right. And by golly, they seem to have

done it! Spec-wise, this music phone is a watch
wireless fi end and comes with WiFi, This piece is
HSDPA and Bluetooth 2.0. There’s also used by the SAS,
8-gigs of storage and a 3.2-megapixel hence the logo.
Seeing double shooter. The 640x360 3.2inch screen is There’s a limited run
NEW SONY CAMERAS OFFER SLIM rather pixelicious too and handwriting of 300 Chronofighter
BODIES. AND FAT STORAGE. support is the icing on the cake. Word Oversize Commanders,
Sony’s latest Cyber-shot is the slimmest on the street goes that it’s easy on the they feature a carbon
camera ever with a 4x optical zoom. The wallet too. bezel and carbon fibre
T77 (front) is just 15mm thick - TBC, www.nokia.co.in dial. The trigger on the
that’s just a little thicker than a side that looks like a hand
CD album case. It’s packing ten grenade pin doesn’t blow
megapixels, as is the T700, anything up,
which is slightly portlier, disappointingly; it starts
but has 4GB of storage the stopwatch. It’s so big
built in - enough for up because in war, accurate
to 40,000 pics. Both lap timings are very
come in a range of important.
colours and have great Rs 5,00,000*, www.graham-
extras such as Smile london.com
Shutter, which fires off a
shot when it sees a smile (so
not much use in the local trains).
Both are very sexy indeed, we trust
you’ll agree.
T77 Rs 15,990, T700 TBC, www.sony.co.in
 Friday, November 21, 2008
M
icrosoft Corp Chief Exec-
utive Steve Ballmer ruled
out an acquisition of Ya-
hoo Inc on Wednesday
but said his company was inter-
ested in resuming talks on a Web
search partnership.
Yahoo shares fell 19 percent on
the remarks, after gaining this
week on renewed investor hopes
that Microsoft may refresh its bid
for the Internet company after
Yahoo Chief Executive Jerry Yang
announced that he would step
down.
“Let me be as clear as I think
Interactive Toy
I’ve tried to be publicly. We are
done with all acquisition discus-
sions with Yahoo,” Ballmer told
Microsoft’s annual shareholders
meeting, in response to a ques-
tion on what was happening with
Yahoo.
“I’ve said that a bunch of times.
Somehow some people have got-
ten confused nonetheless,” Ball-
mer added. “We thought we had
something that made sense. (It)
didn’t make sense to them. We’ve
moved on.”
Microsoft withdrew its $47.5
billion buyout offer for Yahoo in
Microsoft
RULES OUT BUYING
Yahoo
May after Yang and his board re-
jected the bid as too low. The
software company then offered to
buy Yahoo’s search business, but
Yahoo decided instead to sign a
search advertising deal with Goo-
gle Inc. The Google deal has since
fallen apart, after opposition
from U.S. antitrust regulators
who were concerned about an al-
liance between the Web’s two
biggest search companies.
Microsoft has said that it was
still interested in pursuing a
search deal with Yahoo, and Ball-
mer reiterated that on Wednes-
쑸
Japan’s toy giant Bandai
employee Hajime Kondo
sticks his finger into the box
from a small hole "Tuttuki
bako", which has a LCD
display showing his virtual
finger and another object to
interact with such as a human
face animation, a panda
clutching a ball or a karate-
practicing stickman at the
company’s headquarters in
Tokyo. Bandai, which
introduced the toy in Japan
on November 15 for the
Christmas shopping season,
aims to sell 100,000 units
by the March.
AFP PHOTO / YOSHIKAZU TSUNO
day. “There’s no active discussion
on that front. But we’d be very
open to it. But acquisition discus-
sions are finished,” he said.
At the meeting, which was
broadcast over the Internet, Ball-
mer told shareholders that while
the world’s biggest software mak-
er is seeing growth in all of its
business groups, it is “not im-
mune” to the tough economic cli-
mate.
He repeated that Microsoft is
looking for areas to cut costs, in-
cluding hiring, which “points to
much, much slower growth ... in
Livejournal.com
launches new
communities
L iveJournal.com, the San
Francisco-based global
blogging platform,
marked the next phase of
their development in In-
dia by launching a num-
ber of new India-focused
communities designed to
provide forums for in-
formed and intelligent us-
er-generated content.
LiveJournal unveiled
brand new India com-
munities on cinema and
sport respectively:
1. India Movies, which
aims to bring leading
voices from the movie In-
dustry, critics and fans to-
09
AFP
head count for the remainder of
this financial year and I suspect
into next financial year.”
However, investment in re-
search and development would
continue, Ballmer said.
Microsoft, the world’s largest
software maker with more than
91,000 employees worldwide, has
been on a hiring spree, adding
more than 20,000 employees in
the last two years.
Shares of Yahoo fell 19 percent
to $9.38, while Microsoft shares
were down 3 percent at $18.99. ■
Reuters
gether on one common
forum. The community
can be found online here:
http://india_movies.
livejournal.com/
2. India Sport a new
community, which will
share Indian sport in all its
dimensions. The commu-
nity can be found online
here: http:// india sport
.livejournal.com/ These
new projects build upon
on earlier LiveJournal ini-
tiatives in India that fo-
cused on writing, travel,
Bollywood and US elec-
tions. ■
PTI
10
BackPackers
Savouring Italy,
ONE BEER AT A TIME
EVAN RAIL
H
alfway through our six-
course tasting menu of re-
gional Piemontese cuisine,
the sommelier arrived
with a special beverage to accom-
pany the plate of raviolini stuffed
with local pumpkin and
asparagus.
“I think this will go well, be-
cause it matches the sweetness of
the pumpkin,” he said, setting
down a glass not of wine, but of
slightly oxidized golden ale,
which, he explained, had been
fermented with wine yeast and
had spent four years aging in the
bottle.
Strange combination
A cold beer might seem like a
strange pairing for traditional Ita-
lian cuisine, especially in the
heart of wine-loving Piedmont,
but the entire meal that night was
based on local brews, and the
sommelier himself was Teo Mus-
so, a brewmaster with near-rock-
star status in the Italian culinary
scene.
Through his artful small brew-
ery, Le Baladin, Musso has
helped bridge the worlds of craft
beer and fine dining, ensuring
that fine beers have a large pres-
ence in Eataly, Turin’s high-end
supermarket, and founding his
own beer-themed restaurant and
hotel, Casa Baladin, where my
wife and I stayed one night this
spring.
Craft beer
Around Italy, a craft beer scene
has sprung up, bringing well-
made specialty brews into haute
cuisine dining rooms and elevat-
ing the fare served in brew pubs,
creating an attractive destination
for beer lovers who also love great
food.
My wife and I decided to make
a five-day road trip to see what
the fuss was all about, focusing
on two regions with growing rep-
utations in the beer world: Pied-
mont, along Italy’s French
border, and, next-door, Lombar-
dy, which borders Switzerland.
Most travellers would probably
want to start in Milan, Lombar-
dy’s capital and the heart of the
region’s beer scene.
Birrificio Italiano
We reached our first brew pub,
Birrificio Italiano, in the small
town of Lurago Marinone. The
pub’s legendary beers had
brought tourists from around the
world to the glorious Alpine foot-
hills minutes from the shore of
Lake Como.
We celebrated our arrival with
a couple of the brewery’s pilsner-
style beers, a ubiquitous, often-
overlooked style that Birrificio
Italiano’s brewmaster, Agostino
ERGO Friday, November 21, 2008
Arioli, has attempted to redeem
with hoppier, more flavourful
versions, travelling to Germany to
select his own hops.
Lambrate
Milan has a growing reputation
for beer lovers, in part owing to
what’s said to be the city’s first
brew pub, Lambrate, with its
brewmaster, Fabio Brocca.
Lambrate’s Ghisa smoked
stout is the 180-degree opposite
of the gassy, golden lagers that
dominate Italy’s industrial beer
production -- hefty and malty
with a clean, dry finish followed
by a lingering smoky note.
Grado Plato
In Piedmont, in the village of
Chieri, near Turin, we found our
next brewery, Birrificio Grado
Plato, and sampled the brew
pub’s line of beers and its unique
culinary specialty: snails.
After a drive past blossoming
magnolias, terraced hillside vine-
yards and hazelnut orchards, we
found Piozzo, a village celebrated
for just two things: an annual
pumpkin festival on the first Sun-
day in October, and the Baladin
brew pub on the town’s main
square.
Casa Baladin
Across from the brew pub was
Casa Baladin, a slick new hotel
and restaurant with a casbah-
cum-clubhouse feel, where the
wine-free dinner started off with
an aperitif of Baladin’s own hard
cider.
"I find that, for me, beer has
become a great beverage for pair-
ing with food," said Musso, the
brewmaster-by-way-of-somme-
lier, introducing one of his brews
that, he added, "had never been
put on the market" as the accom-
paniment for a fillet of wild boar,
seared in Cognac and served with
a spicy, ginger-scented chut-
ney.■
 Friday, November 21, 2008
ON CLOUD NINE
Argentina’s head-in-the-clouds
tourism is breathtaking
W
ith the global slowdown
threatening tourism, Ar-
gentina is banking not
only on its budget status
to woo visitors, but also a newly-
reopened attraction that it can
bill, quite literally, as breathtak-
ing.
The Train to the Clouds, El
Tren a las Nubes in Spanish,
takes its passengers high into the
Andes in the country’s north – so
high, in fact, that oxygen bottles
are a feature in every carriage, to
help those left light-headed by
the journey.
The train, which leaves the
town of Salta for a 400-kilometre
round trip into the South Amer-
ican mountain range, reaches an
altitude normally reserved by hel-
icopters.
Different experience
“It’s totally different from what
I’ve seen before. It’s high – we’re
about 4,000 metres. And it’s very
warm – about 20 degrees centi-
grade. You don’t feel cold. And
it’s great,” said Roswithr Brueder,
a 48-year-old German tourist.
She was one of around 200
people peering from the windows
of the train as it sauntered lei-
surely across an arid plain and up
barren slopes on its 16-hour trek.
They paid upwards of 100 dol-
lars a ticket for one of the trips
which are conducted three times
a week.
Despite the length of the
voyage, the passengers seemed
transfixed by the landscape – the
highlight of the tour: a long curv-
ing viaduct straddling two peaks.
“It’s amazing when we see peo-
ple crying at seeing the viaduct,
crying at seeing people who live
in this area, seeing the landscape.
It’s amazing to me,” said Caterina
Salcedo, one of the train’s guides.
Third-highest railway in the
world
The train line was built in the
1920s and 1930s as a freight ser-
vice for mines in the region. It
was designed by a US architect,
Richard Maury, who is consi-
dered something of a hero in the
locale, and who has a station
named after him.
More than a thousand labour-
11
Land of silver
Argentina means “land of silver”.
It is a rich and vast land—second largest
(after Brazil) in South America and
eighth largest in the world.
ers strived in the thin atmosphere
to lay the track. After being closed
down in mid-2005, the tourist
train has re-opened under new
management and has again be-
come a draw for foreigners and
Argentines alike.
One of the trips in October
even attracted a minor British
royal, Lady Gabriella Windsor,
the 27-year-old daughter of Prin-
cess Michael of Kent. Despite be-
ing a self-styled freelance
journalist, she avoided
other passengers car-
rying cameras and
spent most of the
trip in the dining
car with friends. The Tren a las
The Tren a las
Nubes today ranks
as the third-highest
Nubes today ranks
railway in
world, after one in
the as the third- The train known as Train to the Clouds crosses La Polvorilla
viaduct, the highest structure in the line at around 4,200
the Peruvian
Andes, and another
highest railway in metres above mean sea level, 219 km from the city of Salta,
in the Argentine northern province of the same name, some
higher one in Tibet.
A team of three the world, after 1670 km from Buenos Aires. AFP PHOTO
nurses and a doctor
are on hand to treat one in the
those suffering
from altitude sick-
ness.
Peruvian Andes,
Doctor on board
and another higher
Of the 200 people
on each trip, “there
one in Tibet
are 30 to 40 passen-
gers who need care.
The main thing they need
is oxygen,” said nurse Lorena
Torres.
Symptoms from the altitude
can include headaches, stomach
pain and nausea. Many passen-
gers are prepared, though -- and
a few prefer to turn to the tradi-
tional remedy used by the An-
dean locals: paste or tea made
from coca, the plant that can also
be processed to produce cocaine.
“I feel a little sick, but it’s OK.
That’s why I have coca,” said one
Argentine tourist from Buenos
Aires, Laura Carta, as she showed
the green gum in her teeth.
Maire-France Mayet, a French
tourist from Bordeaux in the
same carriage, said she had been
taking coca tea since the morn-
ing. “And it’s really effective,” she
said. ■
AFP
12 ERGO Friday, November 21, 2008

Fashion
B
ollywood’s King Khan and
Chotte Nawab have worn it. Ar-
jun Rampal and Farhan Akhtar
have flaunted them a bright red
pair in movie ‘Rock On’. Even Surya is
seen in it in ‘Vaaranam Ayiram’ and
‘Chiyaan’ Vikram leaps in one for the You used to shun
promo of his ‘does anybody know
when it will release’ Kandasami. wearing them day
The simple and workman grade ‘can-
vas shoe’ have just gotten itself a met- after day after day
rosexual makeover. For some time
now, celebrities have started flaunting to school. But the
it, as have some college students and
even professionals. The USP of these canvas shoe has
canvas shoes is that they are available
at affordable prices and are now consi- graduated. Have
dered high on the style quotient.
The god father of canvas shoes prob- you?
ably is the brand Converse. Known
world over as chucks (named after
American basketball player Charles
Hollis Taylor), the shoes come in vibrant
colours and in designs that have
evolved over decades. They even have a
cult following worldwide, an example
of that is a youngster from US who
holds a Guinness Record for owning a
large collection of Chucks. In fact, the
popularity of Chucks has inspired many
other brands like Adidas, Reebok and
Puma to bring out similar footwear While actor Sriya Saran is
collections. seen in ballerina shoes,
In Namma Chennai, Chucks’ basic Vikram performs a dance
range is available at a price range from move in a pair of Converse
Rs. 850 to Rs. 2,000. Designer Jack Pur- by Jack Purcell. A promo
cell’s line of Converse Shoes are also shot from upcoming Tamil
available here for Rs 2,600. movie Kandasamy.
Brands Adidas, Reebok, Puma and
Bata have their line of canvas shoes to
fulfil the fashion-hungry ones here.
The footwear model fea- THE SHOES
tures in brands like Hollywood actor Will Smith Converse models are priced between Rs 850 to
Red Tape, ID, Forca seen in Converse shoes Adidas have models starting from Rs 1,099
and few other Reebok have models in both its Regular and Clas
brands. ■ prices above Rs 1,000.
Bata’s own brand line North Star also has fashion
shoe starting from Rs 600.
Some store in city also stock replica models of des
Ed Hardy shoes for Rs 1,800.
Shoe designs called Slips (comes sans laces) which
model and a hit, is available here in brands Conv
 Friday, November 21, 2008
13
Portfolio Mega mall
Canvas Fashion Avenue inside the newly
opened Dubai Mall in Dubai has
over 70 flagships including
Chanel, Calvin Klein, Armani,
Versace, Louis Vuitton and Dolce
& Gabbana

T
he highly anticipated Dubai Mall opened on
November 4, unveiling the first phase of a new
retail, fashion and entertainment mecca.
At 5.6 million square feet of retail space, the mall is
considered the largest in the world. There are 1,200
stores plus 160 food and beverage outlets, and the mall is
expected to attract 30 million visitors in its first year. And
while Dubai, like the rest of the world’s economies, is
experiencing a slowdown, the mall is poised to do
business in this major shopping and leisure destination.
The mall houses 10 mini-malls within the massive
structure. These include a Gold Souk, designed to recreate
a traditional Middle Eastern gold bazaar, and a designer-
focused Fashion Avenue. Bloomingdale’s and Galeries
Actor Saif Ali Khan Lafayette will anchor the 440,000-square-foot section
sporting a pair of Nike. dedicated to high street brands. Fashion Avenue has over
70 flagships, including Chanel, Calvin Klein, Gucci, Dior,
Armani, Versace, Louis Vuitton, Hermes, Dolce &
Gabbana, Ralph Lauren, Burberry, Roberto Cavalli, Hugo
Boss, Loewe, Galliano, Givenchy, Cerruti, Missoni, Tom
Ford, Escada, Ermenegildo Zegna, Pucci, Marc by Marc
Jacobs, Jean Paul Gaultier, Valentino and Salvatore
Ferragamo.
THERE IS EVEN A CULT FOLLOW FOR CHUCK SHOES Adding to the exclusivity of Fashion Avenue is a
WORLDWIDE AND AN EXAMPLE OF THAT IS A YOUNG- dedicated VIP valet entrance. A special event facility is
also part of the area.
STER FROM US WHO HOLDS A GUINNESS RECORD FOR “We will have the ability to host year-round
entertainment and high-profile fashion events. Our
OWNING A LARGE COLLECTION OF CHUCKS Fashion Catwalk atrium with a (65-foot) runway will be a
Rs 2,600 launching pad for unveiling collections, hosting product
launches or VIP functions,” said Al Ali.
ssic line with The Dubai Mall is the UAE’s most ambitious retail launch
to date. Besides an array of shopping, the mall has a
nable canvas number of entertainment options. It hosts the Olympic-
sized Dubai Ice Rink, an indoor waterfall that drops four
signer brand levels and a 22-screen cineplex, the largest in the region.
One of the mall’s most complex attractions is the Dubai
is new entry Aquarium & Discovery Centre. Set in the center of the
verse and ID. mall, visitors can enter a 270-degree walk-through tunnel
to view over 33,000 aquatic creatures, including 400
sharks, the largest single school of sharks on earth.
NYT News Service
14
Wellness
Allergic to Spirituality
Laughter as medicine
H ave you laughed today? Good
thing if you have because most
people take life too seriously.
But those who laugh are health-
ier because laughing helps them
loosen up. Though it causes the
pulse initially to quicken, it slows
down considerably, so that blood
pressure sinks.
“The skeletal muscles relax and
the overall result is better circula-
tion to the muscles,” said psy-
chologist Michael Titze, chairman
of an association called Humour
Care in Tuttlingen, Germany, and
a researcher into laughter.
Laughing also helps to break
down stress hormones and build
up hormones associated with
happiness.
And laughing helps to increase
the immune defences in the
bloodstream, including those that
help the body protect itself from
cancer and heart disease.
The antibody-containing im-
munoglobulin in the saliva, which
inhibits germ attacks on respira-
tory organs, also rises.
“Laughing, among other things,
Honey power
Honey is believed to be the only food that
does not spoil. Honey found in the tombs of
Egyptian pharaohs has been tasted by
archaeologists and found to still be edible.
SADHGURU JAGGI VASUDEV
I
t is very important that the spiritual
dimension of life is brought into ev-
erybody’s lives.
Why many people have devel-
oped an allergy to spirituality is be-
cause somebody always told them,
‘spirituality means
leaving everything and
going to the moun-
Better learn tains.’ Even if you
want to go, there is not
how to be enough space for all of
spiritual in you there. You had
better learn how to be
your office, spiritual in your office,
in your in your home, on the
home, on streets, wherever you
are. You had better
the streets, learn that because
wherever spirituality is about
your interiority, not
you are what you do outside.
Spirituality is an in-
ner science to create a
more conducive inner
atmosphere. This is because the quality
of your life is dependent on how you
are within yourself. That quality, this
moment depends on how joyous, how
peaceful you are. This dimension you
have completely neglected. Unless you
do something to the inner, you will not
know what it is to be peaceful, to be
joyous; you will not know how to go
beyond the limitations of being just a
physical body and mind.
See, your body is simply accumula-
tions of what you have gathered from
tenses the muscles in the eye and
activates positive emotions in the
brain,” said Titze, adding that
laughter is an expression of pure
deliverance and total tension re-
lease.
The therapist therefore advo-
cates looking for things that trig-
ger laughter in daily life and
activating the laugh reflex.
“Laughing induces good mood
and that in turn engenders hearty
and intense laughter,” Titze
said.■
DPA
ERGO Friday, November 21, 2008
the Earth – when you leave you can’t
take an atom of this body. So this body
is not really yours. Your mind is not
yours too. It is also just an accumula-
tion – what you have gathered from the
backgrounds in which you were
brought up in life. So there is someth-
ing else which needs to be looked at
beyond these dimensions.
Even if I erase all your memory, still
you will be here. Yes? Your family will
disappear, your status will disappear,
your business will disappear, and eve-
rything that you own in the world will
disappear. But still you are here. So be-
yond all the things that you identify
yourself with, still there is something
called as ‘You’. That you is not subject
to what you accumulate from outside.
But unfortunately that you have been
so much covered, so much crowded
with other things that you never al-
lowed yourself to look at that. You al-
ways thought that what you are
identified with is much more impor-
tant than who you really are. Now if
your focus shifts, then the other dimen-
sion can start opening up for you. The
whole process of spiritual science, yoga
in particular, is to somehow elevate you
to an experience that is beyond the five
sense organs.
When you transcend the limited ex-
perience of what you know as yourself,
your experience of life is naturally in a
different dimension. Then you begin to
experience that which is not physical,
the spiritual, the Divinity of your true
nature.
If you are ready and willing to experi-
ence life in a deeper dimension, to be
truly happy, there are many methods.
Then you can begin to experience the
joy, the blissfulness of knowing who
you really are. ■
 Friday, November 21, 2008
15
Antenatal Workshop
Life Cell International, pioneer in the Stem Cell Banking and Research and Therapy in India, is holding, first of its
kind all free one-day Antenatal Workshop for pregnant mothers at Hotel Accord Metropolitan, G.N Chetty Road, T.
Nagar on November 23 from 2 p.m.to 5 p.m. Sessions will be conducted by Ms. Rekha Sudarshan, psychologist, child
birth educator and lactation consultant who is an expert trainer for mother-to-be in pregnancy management. For
Registration Call 24892798/28171385 or Mobile 9941018210/ 9841702271.

FOR THE
MOMMY
TO BE
Arm yourself with information about the many ways to stay as healthy as possible

fined mom. left side helps keep the uterus off

Special outfits
PSYCHOLOGIST REKHA SUDARSHAN
Maternity outfits are actually in
fashion, so go on a shopping
spree and buy some of those
fashionable clothes. Since you’ve
MOUSHMI KISHORE
got it, flaunt it.
of it and also optimizes blood
flow to the placenta and your
baby.
For working women
“There is no harm in working
women to continue with their
DON’Ts
Avoid drugs, smoking and alcohol.
Limit your caffeine intake
Don’t eat raw uncooked food or meat.
Don’t change your cat’s litter box. Avoid foul smell. If you
are allergic don’t keep pets in home

N
ow that you’re pregnant,
taking care of yourself has
never been more impor-
tant. Of course, you’ll
probably get advice from eve-
ryone-your doctor, family mem-
bers, friends, co-workers and
even complete strangers- about
what you should and shouldn’t
be doing. But staying healthy
during pregnancy depends on
you, so arm yourself with infor-
mation about the many ways to
keep you and your body as
healthy as possible.
“Wherever you are in your
pregnancy, these months are
yours, you are special, its your
special time, so cherish your
changing body, nourish it, in-
dulge it”, says Psychologist Rekha
Sudarshan of Seethapathi Hospi-
tal, Chennai.
Expert advice
This is the time to call in all
favours and revel in attention
you’re getting especially from
your spouse. Allow yourself to be
pampered silly. “But you should
take massage only from an ex-
pert” Ms. Sudarshan suggests.
Don’t feel embarrassed to share
your doubts, myths, and miscon-
ception about your pregnancy
with your doctor or a professional
advisor. Don’t be a Google-con-
Weight gain
Healthy eating is always impor-
tant, but especially when you are
pregnant. According to Rekha Su-
darshan, there is nothing called
eating for two. “For a pregnant
mother, a calorie intake of 300-
400 a day and for a lactating
mother, calories intake of 400-
500- a day should be sufficient”. .
Weight gain is different for eve-
ryone but pregnant women
should gain about 10-12 kg and
not more than 14 kg.
Regular exercise
“Exercise during pregnancy
has been shown to be extremely
beneficial, provided you come to
right instructor and of course
with green chit from your doctor”
says Ms. Sudarshan. Exercising is
such a joy when you’re pregnant
because you don’t have to kill
yourself working out to burn
maximum calories. Right now,
your goal is fitness, health and
happiness. There are few stretch-
es and pregnancy yoga that you
can learn from your instructor.
Tight sleep
Get all sleep you can, while tak-
ing care of your work. It is gener-
ally advisable to sleep on your left
side because one of those big
blood vessels is on the right side
of your abdomen. Lying on your
work till the last month of preg-
nancy”, says Ms. Sudarshan un-
less there is problem with
pregnancy. Working on comput-
er will not cause any harm to you
and your baby. Talk to your doc-
tor, your personal instructor
about your work environment.
Misconceptions
And while you are at all these,
don’t forget to play sex goddess.
It is said to initiate labour. Avoid
sex during first 3 months of your
pregnancy. According to Ms. Su-
darshan, there are no rooms for
many theories, horrified stories
about labour because of which
many pregnant women are
scared to go out after 8 months of
their pregnancy.
Mood swings
Due to hormonal changes in
the body during pregnancy the
mood will be on its swing. Relax
and try to find some moments of
quiet, un-interrupted time each
day for yourself. Stretch marks
appear as red mark on your skin.
Lotion with shea butter can help
keep your skin soft and moist and
may reduce itchiness.
So, you have this wonderful ex-
perience to look forward to and
anticipate changes, which come
during pregnancy with positive
outlook. ■
Don’t sit in sauna/hot bath, as there is risk of miscarriage.
Avoid two-wheelers, if it is hurting your tummy.
DOs
Maintain a well balanced diet and don’t miss your meal.
If you feel hungry in-between your supplement it with
sprouts, salad, juice, fruits, soup.
Increase your intake of galactagenic food like garlic, almond,
fenugreek, apple, guava, and pomegranate. This helps in
lactation.
Drink plenty of fluids especially water and exercise regularly
Get enough sleep and relax yourself.
Take care of your breast. Do not apply soap. Wear right kind
of under-garments.
WARNING SIGNALS
Call your Doctor if you have
Blood or fluid coming from vagina.
Sudden swelling of face or fingers.
Dizziness
Headache that are severe and won’t go away.
Nausea or vomiting that are severe and won’t go away.
Fever or feeling chill.
Blurry vision.
Severe pain in lower abdomen.
Less urine or burning while urinate.
Change in baby’s movement.
Anything that bothers you
16 ERGO Friday, November 21, 2008

Prize money reduced

Sport
The LPGA is cutting its tournaments from 34 to 31 in 2009 and slashing its
official prize money by just over five million dollars, commissioner Carolyn
Bivens announced. He said the prize money would drop to 55 million dollars
from a little more than 60 million in 2007 and blamed the decrease on the
worsening US and European economies.

Gavaskar
blasts
Ponting
S
unil Gavaskar hit back at
Ricky Ponting for his “un-
called for” remarks that
the former India captain
was no angel in his playing
days, saying the Australian skip-
per’s comments were an indica-
tion that his side was "rattled"
to find a challenger in India.
“I think it was totally uncalled
for and it is showing the world
that they are rattled,” Gavaskar
told a TV channel.
The former Indian captain
said Ponting’s comments also
smelled of publicity gimmick.
“I think they have been a
champion side and suddenly
they find that they have a chal-
lenger in India. And therefore,
it’s not just Ponting but all the
other statements that we have
heard from other Australians,”
he said.
“...Probably (they are) trying
to sell their books or whatever
it is,” he added.
Ponting, in his just-published
’Captain’s Diary 2008’, has
lashed out at Gavaskar and oth-
er former players for often
blaming the Australian team
for on-field confrontations.
“Unfortunately, as soon as a
spectator or a commentator
spots one of my teammate chip-
ping on opponent, they assume
it is a pre-meditated attack. The
most laughable aspect is when I
hear former players complain-
ing, as though they never put a
toe out of line in their day.
“I still have a vivid image of
Sunil Gavaskar angrily trying to
take his opening partner off the
MCG with him in 1981 when he
was given out lbw in a Test
match, but to hear him today
you’d think he was positively
angelic when he was the best
opening batsman in the world,”
he wrote.
Gavaskar pointed out that
Ponting would not have a clear
understanding of the incident
as he was just a child then.
“Ponting was just seven-year-
old when MCG incident hap-
pened. He does not know the
background,” he said.
PTI

Ganguly gets new job Asif in trouble again

Barely a few weeks after retiring from
international cricket, former India captain
Sourav Ganguly was on Thursday
nominated as a member of the BCCI’s
technical committee.
“Sourav Ganguly has been nominated to
the technical committee of the BCCI,” a press release from the
BCCI secretary N Srinivasan said.
Ganguly has the experience of close to 20 years of cricket behind
him and will be a key addition to the technical committee, the
powerful body, which takes decisions on cricketing matters and
rule changes.
The BCCI’s technical committee is headed by former captain Sunil
Gavaskar and also has former Test batsman Chetan Chauhan,
national selector Kris Srikkanth among other members.
PTI
Dope-tainted pacer Mohammad Asif’s miseries doesn’t
seem to end as the troubled Pakistani cricketer has
now been slapped with a whopping bill as the legal
costs for his release from detention in Dubai earlier
this year.
Asif was detained for 19-days in Dubai for possession
of a banned substance and the Pakistan Cricket Board had hired the legal
firm, Afridi and Angel, to represent the pacer in the case contested with the
Dubai police.
“The issue now is that the previous PCB management have forwarded a bill
sent by the Dubai-based Afridi and Angel firm to Asif for payment,” a well-
informed PCB source told PTI.
“Asif has taken up the issue with the present management pointing out that
no one ever consulted him or took his consent while hiring the services of the
firm that time, so why should he pay for the legal costs,” the source added.
PTI
Friday, November 21, 2008
Aussie cricket coverage boycotted
Global news agencies have boycotted coverage of the first cricket
Test between Australia and New Zealand because of conditions
imposed by organisers. The agencies -- AFP, AP, Reuters and Getty
Images -- have also suspended coverage of all Australian cricket
news until further notice over demands made by Cricket Australia.
Maradona
starts with win
D
iego Maradona said he felt
"proud" after his first match as
coach of Argentina ended in a
1-0 friendly international win
over Scotland at Hampden Park here
on Wednesday.
Maradona said he hoped his
players could banish the memories of
their poor start to their World Cup
qualifying campaign after claiming a
morale-boosting victory.
“I am a very proud manager to-
night. It was a great experience and
the lads made me feel very relaxed
throughout,” Maradona said.
“We have been in a bit of a mini-
crisis but the players are men and
showed they were men out there and
they made me proud,” added Mara-
dona who, as a teenager, scored his
first international goal at Hampden in
a 3-1 win over Scotland in 1979.
“What really encouraged me was
there were great performances out
there which gave me hope and heart
for the future.”
And the midfield maestro said as he
took to the bench for the first time his
thoughts has been with his daughter
Giannina after she suffered problems
with her pregnancy earlier in the
week.
“I had been thinking of my daugh-
ter and her baby. My thoughts are ob-
viously with my daughter. She was
happy for me to be head of the Argen-
tina side tonight and that is why I was
here.
“The lads made things easy for me
and gave me great support to work
through a difficult time and I would
like to thank them.
“I can assure the people of Argenti-
na these players will give everything
for the shirt and won’t leave anything
behind on the field.”
Earlier in the week former centre-
half Butcher said he could not forgive
Maradona for his opening goal in
eventual champions Argentina’s 2-1
17
Aussies stumble
Michael Clarke top-scored with 98, as Australia was all
out for 214 in their first innings in the first Test on day
one against New Zealand at the Brisbane Cricket
Ground on Thursday. New Zealand pacer Southee
picked up 4 wickets and the Kiwis were 7/0 at stumps.
World Cup quarter-final win 22 years
ago.
Maradona punched the ball past
England goalkeeper Peter Shilton and
further infuriated England afterwards
by claiming the goal had been scored
by the “Hand of God”.
Barely five minutes after his contro-
versial opener, Maradona dribbled
past half the England team to score a
superb solo goal.
Asked if he had the chance to speak
with Butcher after Wednesday’s
match, a mock-puzzled Maradona re-
plied: “Who is Butcher? I am asking
you who is Butcher?
“I greeted the manager of Scotland
(George Burley) and you are asking
me about Butcher.
“Since all the bad news about my
daughter this has been the first time I
have been able to laugh.”
Maxi Rodriguez’s eighth minute
goal, the result of a slick passing
move, was all that separated the two
teams although Argentina, a class
above their opponents, should have
increased their lead.
“I thought in the first 25 minutes we
were brilliant. We played some excel-
lent football and scored the goal,”
Maradona said.
“Unfortunately we weren’t able to
convert any of the other chances we
made but we kept the ball pretty
much throughout the whole of the
game.”
Burley added this match was what
Scotland needed ahead of their World
Cup qualifier against the Netherlands
in Amsterdam in March.
“We were playing against one of the
best teams in the world and Holland
are also a top-10 team.
“It was good for our players to play
against Carlos Tevez and other top
names just as it was good for me
when I played against Diego here in
1979.”
AFP
18
Flick
VIPASHA SINHA
“W
e’ll party harder if Yuvvraaj
fails”: this was a pre-release
statement by Zayed Khan,
about his plans after the re-
lease of Yuvvraj, which also coincides with
his third marriage anniversary. Only God
can save him and his crew from not party-
ing harder.
Yuvvraaj is a Subhash Ghai musical after
Taal starring Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif,
Anil Kapoor and Zayed Khan in lead roles.
The music is by A.R Rahman which unfor-
tunately fails to create a Taal-like impact.
The story is about Devan Yuvvraaj (Sal-
man Khan), who has been disowned by his
London-based billionaire father, and his re-
lationship with two brothers Gyanesh (Anil
Kapoor) and Danny (Zayed Khan). Anushka
(Katrina Kaif) plays a cellist in the movie
and is Devan’s love interest.
Like typical Bollywood story, here also
heroine’s father hates the poor hero and the
hero (Danny) is ready to do anything for the
heroine (Katrina). To convince the hero-
ine’s father he goes back to acquire his fa-
ther’s inherited property to become rich.
Here he meets his much-hated brothers
with whom he plays mind-games. As usual
eventually starts feeling the brother-brother
love. And the goodness, simplicity, inno-
cence etc of elder brother Gyanesh turns
bad boy into good boy. The only thing new
about this movie is the exotic locations of
Austria and Prague and the sets. More than
the actors you tend to notice the wall-paint-
ings in the background and invariably start
Damp
Squib
ERGO Friday, November 21, 2008
deciding on your wall designs. Thinking
about these wall designs is much entertain-
ing and pleasant than watching the movie.
The first half of the movie is slow and
draggy, so much, so that you find the movie
trailers in the interval much more
interesting.
Salman Khan with his transplanted hair
has nothing special to play rather it looks
like he is being himself throughout. Zayed
Khan flys aeroplanes, he kisses his girl-
friend, he shouts and ya he also acts here
and there. The only saviour and the only
reason to make you sit on your seat is Anil
Kapoor. He makes you love him when you
hate yourself for having come for the movie.
He plays a mentally-slow musical genius
whose innocence is sweet and convincing.
He is the only one who has seemed to have
put in some detail to his role, right from
fidgeting hands, oiled hair to child-like
walk. Rather, he is the only one who has
done some acting in the movie out of the
three.
Oh by the way, Katrina Kaif is also seen in
the movie for her regular glamour-quotient
but on the whole is convincing. Boman Ira-
ni and Mithun Chakraborty come in as
breathers in their small roles THINGS TO WATCH IN
After Kisna, Black & White’s failure we
can only pray for a miracle to save Yuvvraj. YUVVRAAJ ARE ANIL KAPOOR,
Things to watch in Yuvvraaj are Anil Ka-
poor, Anil Kapoor and only Anil Kapoor. ■ ANIL KAPOOR AND ONLY ANIL
KAPOOR.
 Friday, November 21, 2008
Raveena refuses to play
Ajay Devgan’s mom
P
rakash Jha’s Rajneeti was to
be Raveena Tandon’s
dream comeback but the
actress quit the project
once she learnt that she would
have to play Ajay Devgan’s
mother.
“You can’t blame me for saying
no to playing mother to an actor
with whom I co-starred in so
many films. But I had a bigger
reason for my refusal. The film re-
quired me to leave Mumbai for
two months at a stretch. Both my
children are too young to be left
behind for such a long time, es-
pecially since they don’t even go
to school yet,” Raveena told
IANS.
Raveena had to age from 20 to 60. Her makeup, saris and styling were
all finalised. Until she realised the role required her to play not just
Ranbir’s mom but also Ajay’s mother.
SRK’s knighthood postponed
Bollywood legend Shah Rukh Khan has postponed a controversial ceremony to
award him a Malaysian "knighthood" because he is too busy.
Raveena was expected to play
the role of an all-powerful politic-
ian in director Prakash Jha’s Raj-
neeti, inspired by late Prime
Minister Indira Gandhi’s life and
times. Raveena was to play Ran-
bir Kapoor’s mother. And Ranbir
would play Rajiv Gandhi.
Raveena, who had earlier
played a politician in Satta, had
several meetings with Jha and
both of them were excited about
it.
Raveena had to age from 20 to
60. Her makeup, saris and styling
were all finalised. Until she real-
ised the role required her to play
not just Ranbir’s mom but also
Ajay’s mother.
Cine City
That’s when the National
Award winning actress decided to
back out, thereby halting her
spectacular comeback plans.
Raveena, who was last seen in
the 2006 dud Sandwich, is ready
to return to the big screen. But
she will only do a film that re-
quires her to shoot in and around
Mumbai.
The actress is best remem-
bered for her hits like Mohra, An-
daz Apna Apna and Bade Miyan
Chote Miyan.
As for the role of the female
politician in Rajneeti, Jha is now
thinking of casting either Tisca
Chopra or Mrinal Kulkarni.■
IANS
19
Makkal Thilagam, Dhanush’s
next flick
Actor Dhanush’s future project is being
tentatively titled as Makkal Thilagam. The
movie is directed by Malayalam film director
Vinayan who earlier made films like Kaasi, En
Mana Vaanil and Arputha Theevu in Tamil. At
present Dhanush is busy shooting for
Padikadhavan and his brother Selvaraghavan’s
directorial Maalai Nerathu Mayakkam.
Salary goes down in
Kollywood
It seems global recession is hitting Kollywood
too. According to sources the corporate film
companies are planning to reduce the salaries
of big stars. it is also heard that actors like
Ajith and Vijay would be reducing their
remuneration. It is to be remembered that
the trend of huge pay packets was introduced
to the film industry by the same corporates
who are now reducing it.
20
Thursday’s Question:
Which comedy dialogue of
Vadivelu do you think is
best and make us laugh
anytime?
■ Venaam, valikuthu…, Aluthiduven…
M.Laxmipathy(RR Donnelley), Prabahar.P(Perot
Systems), Mohamed Siddiq(TCS), Hariharan
(Sify), Vijayachakravarthy(Infosys)
■‘Risk Edukrathellam Enaku Rusk
Sapdramathri’
Pravin.S (TCS-RTSC), Bharathiraja(CSS),
Gavaskar Ezhilarasan(Hexaware), Balky(Wipro)
■ Kaiya pidichi iluthiya? Enna kaiya
pidichi iluthiya???
Vijaya (Infosys), Jagan(Dell), RR (ALLSEC TECH)
■ Eppadiyae ussupaythee ussupaythee
odamba ranagalam aakeytanga da…
R.Viswanathan(Hexaware), Kalaiyarasan, Bruce
Vimalageethan(Perot Systems)
■ Enne vachu comedy keemady panalaiae
Thiru(Satyam), Divyatha Swaminathan, Gopi
L3(Wipro), Mohana Krishnan S(Perot Systems)
■ "Aaniye pudunga vendam"
Rekha(TCS), Praveen(CGSL), Jagan(Capgemini),
Rajalakshmi, Karthik Sekar(TCS), Gayathri
Bheemannan(Infosys), J.Karthikeyan(Wipro)
Ergo Pick
■ Yenna edu chinna pulla thanama
erukku rascal
Nirmala(Perot Systems), Sultan(Mphasis)
■ Yenda! Intha ooru inuma nammala
nambikitu iruku
Balaji(Perot Systems), Arasu A(TCS)
■ Vokkandhu yosippanungaloo
Nithyaalangaran, HCL
■ Vanthitangaya.. Vanthitangaya… &
Kelambitaya... kelambitaya...
Anusha(TCS), Praveen Kumar(Allsec Tech),
Ashwin(Satyam)
■ Edhu pannalum plan panni pannanum
Dinesh S Infosys
■ Ungala ellam paatha enaku paavama
irukku
Umapathy M(TCS), Rajesh, Moodys(RRD)
■ Thodada! Keela thodada! Tharaiya
thodada! Kolraangalae
MAK, Infosys
■ Ssh..sapbha ippovae kanna kattuthey
Karthik Sampath(Wipro Technologies), Sasi,
VDSI, Thulsz(Wipro)
■ Kudutha kasuku mela kuvuranda goyala
Kolappan S K, CTS
ERGO Friday, November 21, 2008
■ Sing in the rain..... I want more in the
rain
Vinoth Kumar(Allsec), Selva(Perot Systems)
■ Sinam konda singatha serailla adacha
authu cellaiye sethai chidum paravalaiya
Sathish Babu(CGSL), Rajesh,Geetha(Ramco
Systems)
■ Punch dialogue ka paesurae nee enna
periyaaaa ...... Paruppa... Ama da unga
uruppu edukka vantha karuppu paruppu
Rajeshkumar.P, TCS
■ Parthiban(P): Sir, mani enna aachu,
Vadivel(V): watch kattala, P: watch illaati
enna, meena paarthu sollu, V: yo.. meena
paarthu eppadiyaa maniya solluva!!?? P:
watchla enna iruku? V: mullu,
p: meenla enna iruku? V: mullu, p: sari,
ippa sollu mani enna? V: !!?? Aiyoo.! Gomathy of Hewlett Packard(HP) has nominated her
Paduthuraane… friends as Partners in Crime. This photo was taken at
Dhanabal (TCS) Sterling Resorts, Mahabalipuram.
■Mappu....Mappu.... Vechittanya appu
RAJESH. R(Perot Systems), Satish(Ramco
Systems), Rohit (Bell Canada), Nari(Wipro),
Krishnaveni(Accenture), Murugan(Ramco
Systems), Rajee Anand(Coastal Training
technologies)
■ Building strongu basement weaku…
Suresh(Allsec), Praveen(CGSL), Revathy(Perot
Systems), Thara Comedy Club(Wipro), Bala,
Sathish Babu(CGSL), Mahesh Rajamani(Perot
Base Camp), Sha(Slash Support), Dude Team
■ Evalavu adichalum thangaran evan
Romba nallavanu sollitan ma
Jayaseelan.S(Perot Systems), Vimprash(Patni
Computers), Priyadarshini, Antony(TCS)
■ Dangerous fellow!!! Ivana carepulla
deal pannanum
Ganesh, John, Jhenu, Komal, Mithun, Sid Target Nagamathan S of Tata Consultancy Services has
Supply, TCS, RTSC nominated his team as Partners in Crime. This photo
was clicked at Kart Attack on ECR road.
■ Ahaa Oru groupa than ya alayaranga
athuvum ennaiye sutti sutti varanga
awhhh…
Sasi Subbaraman, Perot Systems
■ Opening nallathan irruthu, aana
Finishing seri ellaiye pa” from the film
WINNER.
S.Sundaresan, Software Specialist
Patni Computer Systems Ltd,
Today’s Query:
If the world would be
destroyed within a few
minutes, what would you
like to do within that
T. Sankarlingam from Changepond Technologies has
time period? nominated his friends as Partners in Crime. This photo
By Ramachandran M, CGSL was taken at Madurai Railway Station.
 Friday, November 21, 2008
Prabhu of Satyam Computer
Services Limited has been
nominated as Office Angel by
the ADMS team, Sumithra
Mathew, Sheeba Joshua,
Sridhar Krishnamurthy,Uma
Ramesh, Saravanan Thina,
Sridhar V, Senthilkumar S,
Atul Nashine and Lavanya
Menon
He is our office assistant. He
is very helpful and is
responsible for handling
various HR activities. He
performs all activities within
the time period and does it
neatly.
Vijayagowri of Infosys
Technologies ltd, M-City doodled
this
1. Santa standing on platform suddenly jumps on the railway
track.
Banta: Santa u’ll die.
Santa: You will die bcoz haven’t u heard train is coming on
platform?
Banta:??????
2.Santa : Sitting on The Top of the Mountain and Studying....
When Banta asked what he was doing....
He replied... Oye!! Higher Studies Yaar...!!!
Manonmani Kesav, HCL
■ Capt Stuart Lawrence
Wishing you a very very happy advance
birth day greeting from all us. May
blessing come from God for eternal joy,
peace, happiness and all round
prosperity.
Chennai Admin Team (CAT), CGSL
■ Dear Sumanaa
Wish u many more happy returns of the
day:) Wish u the best of health,happiness
and hope all ur wishes get fulfilled
forever.
With lots of love,
Subhashini, Rajeswari, Rajamathy
■ Hi Anil,
Hearty wishes on your birthday! Let our
friendship continue forever!!!
Luv, Swaroop, TCS
■ Dear MDD
Though deepa may not be roja and
konapuli may never be kodukkapuli..
U will always remain the sweetest..
Here’s wishing lots of fun on ur birthday
with loads of love, Sapg ,T.A.P, Sify
■ Dear Priyanka
Wish u a very Happy Birthday! May God
bless u a Prosperous and healthy life.
May all ur dreams come true. May u
have god’s best in everything.
With Luv, Sudha, EDS
■ Hi Cute Uma
While lighting the candles every year, the
count will increase, But dont know how
it decreases as the days passes over...
May be will it be applicable to "Cute
Angel" Happy Birthday:)
Sharanya & Kamal TCS Siruseri
■ Hey Arjun (Mr.Drupal )
May God bless u with good health and
happiness.Have a fun-filled birthday n let
all ur dreams come true :-)
cheers, Customer World Team
■ Dear Little Angel (Savitha)
Happy Birthday to u. May God shower
his blessings through out your life. May
your laughter bring us more joy.
With luv, Dad & Mom, Uma, TCS
■ Dear Pattupa
Happy birthday to you pattupa. And may
your good times multiply, till they’re
flying off the chart! Have a Lovely day
dear.
Mrs. Devi Loganathan, Patni Computer
■ Dear Padma
Happy birthday, and have a great year!
Enjoy your life and the dance of life
keep on shining like the sun, Spread the
pleasure like moon light.
Love N Wishes,
Ur School Friends Preethi, Anne, Amudha,
Archana, Anna, Komala, & Vanniya, HCL
■ Dear Thiru
Wish u belated birthday wishes. May u
get all the happiness in this world. All
21
the best for your future endeavours.
Viswa, Rajasekar, Kayal, Swapna,
Shahila,Madhavi, AV018-BOA,Siruseri, TCS
■ Dear Thoufiq chatri
many many more happy returns of the
day. Let all ur dreams come true. Parvez,
CGSL
■ Dear Friends
Congratulations for the successful
completion of one year at Infy M city. All
the best for the coming years.
Yuva - Nov 19th Batch, Infosys, M city.
■ Hey Jiji
Many More Happy Returns Of the Day.
May God bless you:) Happy Birthday:)
Regards, Alwin Raj & CSA OOH Team,Wipro
■ Dear Dinesh
God bless you on your birthday. Let the
celebrations start, Enjoy life’s precious
gifts, And remain young at heart.
HCM BOFA Team,Infosys
■ Hi BVJ Karthika
Have a Wonderful Day & beautiful
Upcoming yrs. Happy Birthday day. Many
More Happy Returns of the Day.
CHNTS 23 & 24 Team (Chandy) Cognizant
■ Dear Jawahhar
Enjoying every moment of IT’, Experience
Certainty’, We know all these captions
have meaning for the “on track” we in
TCS only because of ur presence. We wish
u all the best in ur future endeavors:)
Hearty Bday wishes, PA_Web Testing Team
■ 12B’s in Chinna Gounder Srini avargale,
Avan UC la enna solla varan na! Nanga
ottuka enna solla varomna! Kasa kasanu
pesama matterku varom!!! Advance happy
b’day dham dham srini
Cheers, 12Bees, Hexaware technologies
■ Dear Rajesh (Little Master)
Many more happy returns of the day. May
God bless you with all the happiness…..
Ashwin, Satyam, Muthu, Quintegra
■ Hi Arun
Many more happy returns of the day. Now
that you have got your pay
We want a party by the bay, Many happy
returns of the day!!!!
ERS Recruitment Team....
■ Dear SARANYA mami
It’s a nice feeling when you know that
someone likes you,someone thinks about
you, but it feels much better when you
know that someone never ever forgets
your birthday. "HAPPY BIRTHDAY".
With love Sethu, catherine ,TCS
■ Hi Karthik (Madurai Veera)
Advance Birthday Wishes to u. Keep
smiling and wishing you a year full of
success, happiness, fun and may all your
dreams come true this year.
With Regards, Siebel team, Infosys
22 ERGO Friday, November 21, 2008

Tree ‘monster’ terrifies Japan

Traffic Jam Residents in the Japanese region of Chiba

Prefecture are being terrorised by a gigantic tree,
which has been cut into the shape of giant lizard
monster Godzilla.

sudoku

Senguttuvan
Sugumaran of
HCL
Technologies,
Vadapalani
sent us this
picture of the
Malpe Beach
in Karnataka.
Hobbies:
Photography
and Travelling

KAKURO
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(Editor responsible for selection of news under
the PRB Act). RNI No. TNENG/2007/24553
 Friday, November 21, 2008
Spaced out
A NASA crewmember is in hot water
after dropping her toolbag during a
spacewalk - the unfortunate astronaut
watched helplessly as her precious cargo
floated off into space.
23
Words’ worth
Emmetropia" (em-uh-troh-pee-uh) the condition of the
eye in which no correction of vision is needed - in
other words, 20/20 visition or better. From Greek
words meaning ’(well) proportioned’ and ’eye.’ If both
eyes have the same vision, they are isometropic.

B.C

ARIES MARCH 21 - APRIL 20

Career progress expected today. Your work will be
appreciated says Ganesha and you will be given
more responsible work to do. Do not be
overconfident as it may be a cataclysm. Your busy
schedule may hamper time with your beloved.

TAURUS APRIL 21 - MAY 20

You may not be focussed when the day begins
however Ganesha suggests being practical today will
be beneficial. This may seem to be the right attitude
to achieve good results on the career front; but on
love front, would’nt be of much help.

GEMINI MAY 21 - JUNE 20

Being busy with your routine activities will consume
BORN LOSER a lot of time hence you are required to be more
attentive. You may lose interest in important tasks
and initiations from your end will be seen only after
lunch. You will have a good time with your beloved.
CANCER JUNE 21 - JULY 20
You will be very easy going today and as the day
advances, there will be an augment in your
enthusiasm. Known for being emotional by nature,
treating people around you in a different manner
will surprise them.
LEO JULY 21 - AUG 20
You will kick start your day with a powerful charged
up morning which may be beneficial in finishing off
your work. As a pleasant day at workplace ends,
you will be penchanted to share your joy with your
beloved.
VIRGO AUG 21 - SEPT 20
Creativity will bloom today however you might not
FREE RANGE WORKING IT OUT be successful to implement your ideas in projects.
Do not get disheartened. By the end of the day you
will be focussed on improving your professional
skills. Pay as much attention to your love life.
LIBRA SEPT 21 - OCT 20
A busy day but your mind will be focussed on right
things at right time. Communication skills will be at
its best. The later part of the day is expected to be
on lighter side. A dinner with your beloved will be
pleasant.
SCORPIO OCT 21 - NOV 20
A tricky day on its way, but be careful with words
especially with strangers. To maintain peace at
work, being too ingenuous is not advisable. In the
evening you may have a prolonged discussion with
your beloved regarding career prospects.
SAGITTARIUS NOV 21 - DEC 20
Your career graph doing amazingly well says
Ganesha; however the overconfidence developed is
not good. Finish your important work as you are
likely to forget. Given a chance, do not restrain
yourself from helping or motivating colleagues. .
CAPRICORN DEC 21 - JAN 20
As the day starts, you may want to contemplate
about your pending work. By concentrating on your
work, you may be able to finish off everything
before the day ends. Pay more attention on your
career front rather than love life.
AQUARIUS JAN 21 - FEB 20
PREVIOUS The day may begin on a positive note. Since you
can handle meetings well, do not hesitate in calling
ISSUE’S for meetings, if required. The professional in you
may forget to pay due attention on love life. Try to
SOLUTIONS spice up the evening with a romantic dinner.
PISCES FEB 21 - MARCH 20
You will not be bothered by heavy workload and
Ganesha congratulates you for your sincere and
hard working attitude. This is the best time to
implement new goals and ambitions. Along with a
career boost, love life will flourish.
Predictions by Bhavesh N. Pattni
24 ERGO Friday, November 21, 2008

Powerful toddler

! Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes daughter

Suri has been named the World’s Most
Powerful toddler. The count is out
A total of 1,323,218
books were read by
children between the
nations had put a
unique challenge to
school children here.
ages of three and 14 in Read a million books in
the course of a two- two weeks and for each

The cardboard box fugitive week campaign in the

German police searching
nationwide for a convicted drug
dealer who escaped from jail by
hiding in a cardboard box to be
taken away for recycling, plan to
issue an international arrest
warrant for him. A Viersen police
spokesman said the 37-year-old
Turkish national, whose seven-year
prison sentence for drug dealing
runs to 2011, had escaped from the
Willich prison by hiding in a
cardboard box about to be picked
up by a recycling truck.
Reuters
United Arab Emirates
(UAE) aimed at helping
the education of chil-
dren in developing
nations.
What is that again,
you would ask? Well, the
idea is simple, novel,
challenging, innovative
and exemplary.
Dubai Cares, a charit-
able establishment of the Dubai go-
vernment established last year by Vice
President and Prime Minister of the
UAE and Ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mo-
hammed Bin Rashid Al Makhtoum, to
help educate children in developing
book read, a book will
be donated to children
in need in developing
nations. A total of
141,415 students from
159 schools in Al Ain in
the emirate of Abu Dha-
bi, Ras Al Khaimah and
Sharjah, apart from Du-
bai, read up 1,323,218
books, an equivalent
number of which will be
distributed to children in developing
nations. According to the UAE’s Minis-
try of Social Affairs, students with spe-
cial needs also proactively got involved
in this unique initiative. ■
IANS

Coffin containing dead German

billionaire stolen
A coffin containing the remains of German-born billionaire Friedrich
Karl Flick was stolen from his mausoleum in the southern Austrian
town of Velden, Austrian news agency APA reported. Police
investigators said they thought several criminals were involved in
removing the granite slabs weighing several hundred kilograms from
the grave last weekend. The motive for the theft was unclear, but
unnamed investigators told APA they did not exclude the possibility
that the crime was related to extortion. In 2006, the billionaire with
dual Austrian-German citizenship died at the age of 79 in Austria,
where he had been living with his wife. His four children have been
reported to have inherited a total of 5 to 6 billion euros (6.4 to 7.6
billion dollars) of the family fortune, which was built by investments
in the steel, paper and chemical industries.
DPA

Police hq in Norway robbed

Thieves broke into the Norwegian criminal police’s headquarters in
Oslo, making off with several computers, police said on Monday.
“I can confirm that we were the victim of a robbery overnight
Saturday to Sunday,” Pia Solhaug, a spokeswoman for Norway’s
criminal police Kripos, told AFP.
“Several computers were taken,”
she added.
According to tabloid Verdens Gang
(VG), the intruders smashed a
window to gain entry into the
building. The robbery was
discovered three hours later. Oslo
police have launched an
investigation.
AFP