Delhi Invites You

Singing while wearing a swimming costume might land you in trouble if you're in Florida, and in Switzerland, one is barred from flushing the lavatory after 10pm-these are just some of the foreign laws mentioned in a new guide for holidaymakers.

An online travel agent, has launched a guide that warns travellers about the dos and don'ts in many foreign cities.

The guide has been launched after a string of cases involving holidaymakers getting arrested abroad.

The agent has said that it had seen an "influx of inquiries" from worried holidaymakers about the rules and regulations of their chosen destination.

“Aside from the more serious rules, such as showing affection to a non-marital partner in public or walking around in swimwear in Dubai, there are many outdated rules around the world that people should be aware of,: the Telegraph quoted a spokeswoman as saying.

Here is the list of examples of which holidaymakers should be aware:

1. In Milan it is a legal requirement to smile at all times, except during funerals or hospital visits.

2. In Massachusetts, taxi drivers are prohibited from making love in the front seat of the car during their shifts.

3. In Denmark, people are legally obliged to honk the horn and check for small children underneath the car.

4. In Thailand, it is illegal for anyone to leave a building without wearing their pants.

5. In Michigan, anyone planning on bathing in public must have their swim suit inspected by a police officer.

6. In Florida, any unmarried woman who parachutes on a Sunday could be jailed. Singing while wearing a swimming costume is also prohibited.

7. In Portugal it is unlawful to urinate in the sea.

8. In Hong Kong the wife of a husband who commits adultery is legally entitled to kill the mistress in any manner desired, and the husband with just her bare hands.

9. In Switzerland flushing the lavatory after 10pm is illegal.

10. In Canada if you are arrested and then released from prison, it is a legal requirement that the felon is given a handgun with bullets and a horse, so they can ride safely out of the town.

Rahman, Stalin get honorary doctorates

2009-08-01T12:30:00.001-07:00

Chennai: Oscar-winning composer A.R. Rahman, Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister M.K. Stalin and Chandrayaan project director M. Annadurai were Saturday conferred with honorary doctorates by Anna University here.

Governor and varsity chancellor Surjit Singh Barnala gave away the honourary degrees at a special convocation.

The degrees were conferred on Rahman and Annadurai for their achievements in the realm of music and space technology respectively and on Stalin for his contribution to the state's administration, Anna University Vice Chancellor P. Mannar Jawahar said.

This is the third doctorate for Rahman after he won two Oscars for Hollywood movie 'Slumdog Millionaire'. The first was from Aligarh Muslim University and the second from London's Middlesex University.

This is the first honourary doctorate conferred on Stalin, 56, a graduate of Madras University.

Honorary doctorates from Tamil Nadu universities are normally given to chief ministers of the state with incumbent M. Karunanidhi, as also M.G. Ramachandran and Jayalalitha who have previously occupied the post, among the major politicians to have been conferred the honour while in power.

Rahman, Stalin get honorary doctorates

2009-08-01T12:30:00.000-07:00

MJ's chef speaks about his last moments

2009-08-01T12:18:00.000-07:00

Michael Jackson's chef has shed light on the events that took place in the late singer's LA home during his last moments.

Kai Chase, the pop legend's professional chef has spoken about Dr. Conrad Murray's activities at the house, who is apparently emerging as a prime suspect in the investigation.

She claimed that she almost everyday saw the doctor come downstairs carrying oxygen tanks from the icon's room, but on the unfortunate day he did not and she "thought maybe Mr. Jackson is sleeping late."

"I started preparing the lunch and then I looked at my cell phone and it was noon. About 12:05 or 12:10 Dr. Murray runs down the steps and screams, 'Go get Prince!' He's screaming very loud," the Telegraph quoted her as telling in an interview.

She narrated: "I run into the den where the kids are playing. Prince (Jackson's oldest son) runs to meet Dr Murray and from that point on you could feel the energy in the house change.

"I walked into the hall and I saw the children there. The daughter was crying. I saw paramedics running up the stairs. We were all praying, 'Help Mr Jackson be OK.' Then everyone was very quiet."

The use of oxygen tanks by the personal physician and its purpose did not make sense to her as she claimed she saw no sign that Jackson was on drugs or was in failing health.

The facts could be incriminating for Murray whose house and office have been raided by drugs enforcement agents.

The late King of Pop reportedly wanted Chase to travel with him to London for his O2 concert.

In fact she said his 12-year-old son, Prince Michael II, personally made the request to her.

She recalled: "Prince said, 'Daddy wants me to tell you he wants you to go to London with us," I said, 'Tell your daddy that I'm pleased and honoured."

Govt asks airlines not to suspend operations

2009-08-01T12:15:00.000-07:00

Government today virtually ruled out any bail-out for the bleeding private airlines and warned them of "appropriate action" if flight schedules were disrupted and the carriers said they would reconsider their protest decision if their difficulties are addressed.

"The government reiterates its advice to private airlines against suspending operations on August 18," Civil Aviation

Minister Praful Patel said in a statement.

Maintaining that state taxes on aviation turbine fuel had been an issue even before several present carriers came into existence, he said that the government cannot be expected to extend financial help to loss-making private carriers.

Patel, who renewed his appeal to the private carriers for negotiations, also said the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) could "take appropriate action" under its regulatory powers to protect passengers' interest.

4 out of 10 lakh notes in circulation are fake

2009-08-01T11:56:00.000-07:00

Out of 10 lakh notes in circulation, only four notes were found to be forged in 2007-08, the Reserve Bank has said.

"... the forged notes detected by the banking system, including the Reserve Bank, in 2007-2008 were four notes in one million notes in circulation," RBI said in a release.

The number of forged notes detected by the banking system in 2007-2008 was 1,95,811 against 4,422.5 crore notes in circulation, the apex bank said.

RBI also said that some media reports have been erroneously quoting the Nayak Committee findings for estimates of forged currency notes in circulation in India.

However, there is no estimate of forged notes in circulation by any agency, the release added.

Trekker finds Lama Mummy in a mountain

2009-08-01T11:53:00.000-07:00

This is a rare photograph of a Tibetan monk called Sangha Tenzin which a nomadic biker, Anuj Singh, found mummified inside a tomb at Ghuen Village in Spiti, Himachal Pradesh.

Professor Victor Mayer, who studies mummies, says it is at least 500 years old. "He died around the time that Columbus discovered America." Anuj had taken Professor Mair and his team from the University of Pennsylvania, to see the mummy when they were in India for a research.

Apparently, the monk had given up his life while meditating in the position he was found mummified.

Ghuen villagers had known about the mummy since 1975, when an earthquake struck the region and brought down a part of the tomb. Ghuen falls in a forward area close to the China border. It is a restricted area under the control of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police. Therefore, few people outside Ghuen ever found out about the mummy.

In 2001, when Anuj came to Ghuen and made friends with the policemen, they took him to meet "Shah Rukh Khan", the name they had given to the monk.

The mummy is remarkably well preserved for its age. Its skin is unbroken. There is hair on the head as well. Mair says it is partly to do with the extreme cold and dry air of the region, and partly to do with the meditation rituals that ancient high monks practiced to get rid of a public menace. "Slow starvation in the last few months of his life had reduced the body fat and shrunk parts of the body that would have been liable for putrefaction."

he mummy also did not collapse and disintegrate because of a jute restrainer, which runs around the mummy’s neck and passes between the thighs.

here is greater significance of the restrainer. It points to a rare and esoteric practice. Mair says, "It kept the monk in an upright position and enabled him to focus on his meditation. If he relaxed, the restrainer knot would have tightened around his neck, cutting off oxygen supply and suffocating him… It was essentially to keep him in good posture."

Very little is available in Buddhist texts in India that describes the practice. Only one manuscript in the library of Tabo monastery has a reference to it.

From his understanding of Buddhist rituals and practices, Mair also say this kind of a practice is rare. "It is only known among certain sects in Japan and Tibet. They tended to be highly esoteric and lived in the mountains. The practice itself is part of the Dzogchen tradition with the Nyingma (sect)."

Ghuen, incidentally, is about 50 km from the Tabo monastery, which is the oldest surviving Buddhist establishment in the trans-Himalayas, dating back a 1000 years. Ghuen also straddles an ancient trading route over which spices, wool, salt, precious stones and sugar moved between India and Tibet. Monks and high lamas frequented this route.

Local legends say, about 600 years ago when Ghuen was troubled by scorpions, the monk Sangha Tenzin, squatted to meditate in the prescribed manner, after asking his disciples to entomb him. It is believed when his soul left the body, a rainbow appeared across the sky and scorpions mysteriously vanished from the village.

Nation pays homage to Kargil martyrs

2009-07-26T01:35:00.000-07:00

The Prime Minister led the nation in paying homage to the Kargil martyrs at a solemn ceremony at the India Gate on Sunday morning.

Dr Manmohan Singh laid the wreath at the Amar Jawan Jyoti to mark the Kargil Vijay Diwas. He was accompanied by the Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Sureesh Mehta, Vice Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal PK Barbora and the Vice Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Noble Thamburaj. Also present on the occasion were Defence Minister AK Antony and Minister of State for Defence, Dr. MM Pallam Raju.

As the Prime Minister laid the wreath, a contingent of the tri-services guards presented the Salami Shastr (salute) and Shok Shastr (salute with reverse arms). Buglers sounded the Last Post as the Prime Minister stood in rapt attention. A two-minute silence was observed in memory of the 610 officers and men, including five Air Force personnel and two civilians, who laid down their lives.

On July 26, 1999, the Indian Armed Forces broke the back of a Pakistani misadventure in the forbidding heights of Batalik, Kargil and Drass sectors after a 59-day war. In spite of heavy losses suffered while fighting the well entrenched enemy perched on strategic heights, India allowed the Pakistan Army to withdraw behind the Line of Control and later handed back safely the Prisoners of War through the International Red Cross.

The Indian Air Force achieved a rare feat, flying missions for the first time at altitudes of over 18,000 feet and without violating the LoC in a narrow air corridor. The Indian Navy was not directly involved in the Kargil operations but secured the Arabian Sea and deterred the Pakistan Navy, which had mobilized its forces in Ormara, Passni and Wada West, from escalating the conflict into a full-scale war.

World's top ten weird attractions

2009-07-26T01:32:00.000-07:00

Travellers seeking a bit of novelty on their journeys can study toilets from 2,500 BC or join a red-carpet duck parade, according to a list of top 10 weird attractions reviewed by a travel portal.

1.Sulabh International Museum of Toilets, Delhi, India

Synonymous with public toilets in India, the Sulabh company also runs "Delhi's wackiest museum." A tour provides insight into the history of hygiene, from 2,500 BC to the present with walls of offbeat photos, one-of-a-kind toilets, and trivia.

2. Texas Prison Museum, Huntsville, Texas, USA

This museum, run by former prison employees, has a list of star attractions including "Old Sparky," a decommissioned electric chair, a contraband exhibit, and a collection of items from the Texas Prison Rodeo and the Bonnie and Clyde death car.

3. Peabody Duck March, Memphis, Tennessee, USA

Twice a day, every day, five mallards and their human duckmaster waddle the red-carpet from the Peabody hotel's fountain to its elevator and back. What began as a joke in 1933 is now a tradition at all three Peabody locations with Orlando and Little Rock the newer additions.

4. Jellyfish Lake, Rock Islands, Palau

Even experienced divers and snorkelers call this dive site "the weirdest experience" in all their years. The water is thick with non-stinging jellyfish and swimmers can float among the normally threatening creatures and hold them without danger.

5. Beer-Drinking Burros, Isla La Roqueta, Mexico

A short hop from Acapulco by boat, Isla La Roqueta is known for beaches and burros, or small donkeys. The latter have developed a taste for cold beer and are frequent fixtures at restaurant tables.

6. Haines Shoe House, Hellam, Pennsylvania, USA

Since its construction in the late 1940s, the house of Mahlon "Shoe Wizard" Haines has been a must-see for shoe fetishists or kitschy-Americana enthusiasts. An architectural oddity built in the shape of a giant shoe, it has served as an advertising gimmick, a haven for honeymooners, an ice cream parlor, a private home, and now an attraction open for tours.

7. Joe's Scarecrow Village, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada

This collection of scarecrows, including straw versions of Queen Elizabeth II, Margaret Thatcher, and Ronald Reagan, is definitely unique. Located in Cap Le Moine, the dozens of figures are clever, quirky, and something a little different for those driving the Cabot Trail.

8. Christ of the Abyss, Key Largo, Florida, USA

This 9-foot (3 meter) sculpture is a main attraction of America' first undersea park, John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park in Key Largo, and a popular site for diving and undersea weddings.

9. Puzzling World, Wanaka, New Zealand

New Zealand's South Island offers no shortage of dramatic peaks, but you can't miss the plastic Leaning Tower of Wanaka as it tilts at a 53-degree angle in front of Puzzling World's repository of weird and wonderful stuff. Enjoy freaky illusion rooms and a difficult maze in a place where even the toilets are a lesson in perspective.

10. Moosefest, Roslyn, Washington, USA

Picturesque Roslyn, Washington, has staged its share of quirky celebrations -- years past saw the Manly Man Festival and the Wing Ding Parade -- but it's most famous as the onetime set of the TV show Northern Exposure. Every summer, devoted fans of the 1990s show arrive at Moosefest to pay homage to Roslyn.

Jackson's hair made into diamonds -- for real

2009-07-26T01:25:00.001-07:00

Since Michael Jackson's sudden death on June 25, the rumor mill over details of his bizarre personal life has ground away nearly non-stop, and on Friday, one company said it was turning his hair into diamonds. That one is true.

The claims this week included a report in Rolling Stone magazine that a prosthetic nose he wore apparently went missing when he was taken to the morgue, and a British tabloid trumpeted a headline that he fathered a secret love-child.

In one by-product of the "Thriller" singer's death, a Chicago company said on Friday it had obtained some of the hair Jackson burned while filming a 1984 Pepsi commercial and planned to create a limited edition of diamonds from it.

"Absolutely this is for real," said Dean VandenBiesen, founder of LifeGem, which has a patent on a process that extracts carbon from hair, turns it into crystals and then into high-quality laboratory diamonds.

VandenBiesen told Reuters he thought the company could make about 10 diamonds. No sale price has been set but VandenBiesen said LifeGem created three diamonds from locks of Beethoven's hair in 2007, and sold one of them for around $200,000.

Separately, the Aug. 6 issue of Rolling Stone magazine reported that not only was the left arm of Jackson's dead body "scored with needle marks" -- claims that have arisen before -- but he wore an artificial nose that was missing when he was taken to the Los Angeles county morgue.

"The prosthesis that he normally attached to his damaged nose was missing, revealing bits of cartilage surrounding a small dark hole," the magazine said in an unsourced report.

While that report could not be confirmed, Los Angeles coroner's officials did say earlier this week they were probing security breaches in their offices.

The coroner's office is expected to release an official cause of death next week which could shed light on some of the reports, including Jackson's possible use of powerful drugs.

And even as custody of Jackson's three children is set to be decided in court on Aug. 3, The Sun newspaper speculated the singer may have had a love-child raised in Norway.

Omer Bhatti, 25, sparked interest when he was spotted sitting with the singer's immediate family at Jackson's public memorial earlier this month. Bhatti reportedly spent time with Jackson at his Neverland Valley Ranch in the 1990s and was known as "Little Michael".

But another of Jackson's former proteges, singer Ricky Harlow, told celebrity website People.com on Friday that although they were close he doubted Bhatti was Jackson's son.

"They had a father-and-son type of connection," Harlow, 26, told People, "but I never thought he (Jackson) was his biological father."

In Jackson's 2002 will, the singer listed only three children now living: Prince Michael Jackson, Jr, Paris Michael Kathering Jackson and Prince Michael Joseph Jackson II.

Baba Sehgal new tonic-comedy

2009-07-11T13:55:00.000-07:00

Rap and pop singer Baba Sehgal shot to fame in the 90s but moved to hosting shows like Santa and Banta News Unlimited and acting in soaps like Jugni Chali Jalandhar and now, he's back again on television to judge a stand-up comedy show called Hasne Aur Hasane Ka Tonic, Ladies Special on Zee TV. Sehgal, who was in town during the promotion of the show, shares his tonic about the show in an interview with Abhijat Shekhar Azad.

What prompted to you take up this new challenge?

I believe Hasne Aur Hasane Ka Tonic, Ladies Special is great show. When Zee Network asked me to take up this assignment, I accepted it as the concept and script of the show is really marvellous.

This show is all about comedy. Then how are you going to manage the judge’s seat?

No it’s not like that. I have around 17 years of experience as a singer and actor. I am very familiar with comedy and can clearly analyse facial expressions. It will not be a problem for me and if any difficulty arises Tabassum ji is there and she is experienced and an expert in this genre. I will surely take advice from her.

What are your criteria for judgment?

We see the overall package of the theme; sense of humor, the message and the facial expression, which is vital for comedy. We see the nature of the content, the body language of the performer and massage she wants to convey. After observing all these things, we announce our judgment.

What are your next projects?

My recent film is My Friend Ganesha. In that I am a father of a boy. By next month my new album is going to be released - Apni life ki gaddi ko dhakka maar.

Travel agents unhappy with budget

2009-07-08T07:39:00.000-07:00

Rajji Rai, president, Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) said on Tuesday that budget 2009 is a major disappointment for the whole of travel industry as the industry has been ignored.

“Budget 2009 is a major disappointment for the whole of travel industry. Despite repeated requests from various sections of the industry made to the Finance Minister, the industry has been ignored blatantly. No area of industry – travel, tourism (inbound & outbound), hospitality has been given any exemptions or allocations in the Budget,” Rai said.

“We hope that our recommendation for regularisation of State Luxury Tax, abolition of Service Tax, revival of 80HHD of Income Tax Act, reduction of taxes on ATF (which directly impacts airfares), etc will be reviewed once more and appropriate mechanisms will be put in place to implement the same,” Rai added.

Travel and tourism industry has been contributing major pie to the GDP of India and certain assertive measures are needed for the growth in this industry which is currently reeling under global recession, the members of association opined.