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Delhi-Lahore bus service may be delayed by a month

          Islamabad, June 25: The Delhi-Lahore bus service, which was earlier scheduled to begin on July 1, is now likely to start from July end or early August. Visa and security issues have reportedly caused the inordinate delay. Announcing this, Pakistan Tourism Minister Raees Munir Ahmed on Tuesday said : "An agreement was concluded with the Indian transport officials in talks at New Delhi last week but the service could only start after visa and security related issues are settled," the minister told a news conference. "We are confident that the bus service will start plying as soon as these matters are resolved," he said, adding, the service could re-open late next month or in early August.

          The minister said two new `Hino' buses with a capacity of 42 seats have been added to the previous two buses to provide more comfortable service to the passengers. Earlier, on June 20 the two countries had agreed in principle to restart the bus service from July 1, but subject to the availability of visas to the crews on both sides. Also, the Pakistani side had announced the settling of dues of about Rs 19 lakh of Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) within six days. A technical team consisting of three officers from the PTDC headed by DMD (Operations) had visited India to sort out the technical and financial aspects. It was decided at the meeting that the passports of Pakistani crews be forwarded to the relevant forum soon.

Exiled Tibetans welcome closer Sino-Indian ties

          Dharamsala, June 25: Tibetan exiles in India believe that improved relations between India and China would help negotiations between the Dalai Lama and Beijing over Tibet, according to a Tibetan official. The statement came a day after Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, on a visit to China to forge closer bilateral ties, signed a joint declaration with Premier Wen Jiabao to resolve long-standing border disputes and boost trade. "As per policies since Jawaharlal Nehru's time, India recognises Tibet as autonomous region of China. I think that is legacy of British-India's policy. And there is not much change until today. And today's statement says the autonomous region of Tibet is a territorial part of People's Republic of China. It is the statement of the present situation and I am not surprised at it," Samdhong Rinpoche, 'prime minister' of the self-proclaimed government-in-exile, said here on Tuesday. Beijing has long resented India's decision to give shelter to the Dalai Lama, Tibet's spiritual leader, following a failed 1959 revolt against Chinese rule. About 100,000 Tibetan exiles also live across India. A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said in Beijing that India had explicitly accepted that the Tibet Autonomous Region was a part of China.

Arabian nights on Beijing streets (Go To Top)
-by Vikas Khanna

          Beijing, June 25: Nightlife in China? Sounds incredible. But it is something which is the most happening thing in Chinese capital Beijing. Two decades ago, none in China would have imagined what the nightlife is all about. But today, Western-style pub restaurants, bars and discos dot the streets of Beijing. In fact, there are 3,000 such bars and discos in the city, according to the information office of Beijing Municipal Government.

          The highlight of the evening comes when a beautiful Ulghur woman appears in exotic costumes to perform a stunning foot-tapping Arabian dance to the accompaniment of a furious traditional music. As the music and dance reaches its crescendo, people let their hair down to join the high-pitch entertainment. The nightlife culture started taking its roots in China once the government introduced reforms. And the changes are for everyone to see.

Summer Palace in Beijing a royal retreat! (Go To Top)

          Beijing, June 25: Once the retreat of Chinese emperors to escape the scorching summer heat of Beijing, Summer Palace is undoubtedly one of the best parks in the city. The extravagance of the palace is simple mind-boggling whose grounds form the largest royal garden in China. In fact, much of this retreat was burnt and looted by Anglo- French forces in 1860. But Empress Dowager Cixi rebuilt it to restore to its former splendour. It is said that the money spent on refurbishing the palace was intended to spruce up the Chinese navy. About 40,000 objects de'art represent the highest values of her time. The enormous man-made Kunming Lake, which runs through the park, occupies 220 hectares or about three quarters of the park. Now it is one of the major attracations for tourists wanting to enjoy a boatride. The famous long corridor runs east to west along the lake front. About 14,000 paintings on its beams, arches and eaves illustrate ancient legends.

CBI initiates probe into Madhumita Shukla murder case (Go To Top)

          Lucknow, June 25: The CBI has started investigating the Madhumita Shukla murder case after taking over the job from the Crime Branch of the CID(CB-CID) of UP. According to a senior police officer, the CBI had asked for facilities like telephone, working space and vehicles to set up its camp office. The DGP has been asked to provide them. Sources claim that the CBI detectives have already carried out a preliminary probe. Chief Minister Mayawati had assigned the task to this agency since the CB-CID failed to submit its report within the scheduled time. The 24-year old poetess was killed on May 9 at her Paper Mill Colony residence. BSP minister Amar Mani Tripathi is an accused in the case since he allegedly had intimate relationship with the murdered woman. He has been thrown out of the state Cabinet.

RSS meeting on July 5 on temple issue (Go To Top)

          New Delhi, June 25: The RSS national executive will meet in Kanyakumari for two days from July 5. The Ayodhya issue is likely to be in the agenda. Significantly, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board is to discuss on July 6 the proposal of the Kanchi Sankaracharya. The RSS meeting is to be attended by the representatives of the BJP and VHP. Reportedly, it is being organized because the government was attempting to resolve the issue by overlooking the VHP which has been spearheading the Ram temple movement. The meeting is also expected to discuss the dispute relating to the shrines at Kashi and Mathura.

Two Naxalites gunned down in Guntur village (Go To Top)

          Hyderabad, June 25: Two Naxalites were killed by the police at a village in Guntur district on Wednesday. The slain men, identified as Subhani and Koteswara Rao, belonged to Janashakti, a splinter Naxalite group. They were shot dead in an encounter at Tallapalli village near Acherla town while they were extorting money from rice millers and rich farmers on the outskirts of the village. A service revolver and a country-made weapon were recovered from the dead militants, the Guntur SP informed.

Six die due to heavy rainfall in Jalgaon (Go To Top)

          Mumbai, June 25: Six lives have been lost in Jalgaon due to incessant rains lashing the district during the last few days. The farmers however hope to reap a rich harvest this year. The dead included Kasturabai Sathe, Vinod Gopal Patil (both victims of lightning), Ravindra Koli, Jagannath Choudhari, Santosh Patil and Gorakh Patil who were washed away by flood waters. The Maharashtra government has announced a financial assistance of Rs 50,000 to the next of the kin of the deceased, official sources said.

Landslides damage Darjeeling's toy train track (Go To Top)  

          Darjeeling, June 25: Heavy rains triggered landslides in India's eastern Darjeeling on Tuesday, partially damaging the world famous toy train track. The 122-year old toy train, conferred the World Heritage status in 1999, runs on the Darjeeling-Jalpaiguri route. The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway route passes through Ghum, the second highest railway station in the world situated at a height of 7407 feet. The landslides also blocked stretches of a crucial highway, cutting off the Himalayan district from the rest of West Bengal. A number of houses were destroyed when tonnes of mud came crashing down on them. No casualties were reported. Eye witnesses said that six people were injured in the landslides. "Suddenly there was a landslide and six people got injured", said Gauri Pradhan, whose shop was destroyed in the disaster. The authorities, however, said normal traffic would be resumed shortly. "The present situation of landslide-affected areas is that blockades on the roads have been cleared all over, the blockade at Daliphatak is in the final stages of clearence. The basic traffic has been moving and we are just fine tuning that," Hridayes Mohan, District Magistrate of Darjeeling said. West Bengal has been receiving plenty of monsoon rains over the past fortnight, the showers being particularly heavy in areas adjoining the Himalayas in the north.

Militants strangle Rajouri woman (Go To Top)

          Rajouri, June 25: Suspected militants on Tuesday took a 22-year-old woman hostage before strangling her in Rajouri distict of Jammu and Kashmir. The men barged into Nasreen Begum's house at around 9.30 pm when the family was having dinner. They threatened the family with guns ordering them to remain silent before fleeing with the girl as hostage. Nasreen's body was later found near a bridge by villagers. She had been strangled with the veil she was wearing. "I took the first possible bus to Rajouri police station and filed a complaint. When I reached back I came to know that a body was found near a bridge. When I reached there I saw police and army personnel," said Ghulam Moinuddin, Nasreen's father. Police also recovered an IED hidden in a pressure cooker from near the body. Assistant Sub Inspector of Police Abdul Hamid Malik said the modus operandi suggested it was the handiwork of militants.

Bottomlines

Pour tea into milk or milk into tea? (Go To Top)
-by Trevor Barnard

          London, June 25: It was George Orwell who started the debate - in print, at least. The English author famed for his novel 'Nineteen Eighty Four' also wrote an essay describing eleven steps to making a "nice cup of tea". Now, 100 years after his birth in Motihari, Bengal, on June 25, 1903, British scientists claim to have discovered how to make the perfect cup of tea - and the arguments have been renewed. The formula advocated by the Royal Society of Chemistry stems from two months research by Dr. Andrew Stapley, a chemical engineer at Loughborough University. For the most part, he agrees with the Orwell method: use loose Assam tea; use a teapot, which must be warmed; make the tea strong (one teaspoonful per cup and infuse for three minutes); do not use strainers or muslin bags; take the teapot to the kettle to make sure the water is boiling; use a cylindrical mug, not a flat cup.

          There are differences, mostly minor ones. For example, Orwell forbids adding sugar, Stapley says suit your taste; the scientist says you should use fresh soft water, boiled for the first time, Orwell says that does not matter. But there is one crucial difference; Orwell says the tea should be poured into the cup first and stirred as the milk is added, so that the desired colour may be obtained precisely, while Stapley says that if milk is poured into piping hot tea its proteins will be degraded, producing a stale taste.

          Not so, says Dr. Julia King, head of the Institute of Physics, who believes the secret is to keep the temperature at 98 degrees C, which would not happen if the tea was poured on to cold milk instead of into a warmed cup. She claims that the "milk first" habit came about because cheap China cups tended to crack under boiling hot tea. And so the age-old debate continues, even among scientists.

          The Tea Board of India, which has launched a programme for opening 25 "Tea Bars" around the UK, to mark Orwell's centenary, gives the customer the choice on the issue by serving the pot of tea and the milk separately - unless he orders traditional Indian tea, in which case he will get tea made by boiling tea, milk and sugar together. This was not a procedure investigated at Loughborough University.

My first marriage was a 'crazy' mistake: Barrymore (Go To Top)

          New York, June 25: 'Charlie's Angels' star Drew Barrymore feels that her first marriage was a "crazy" mistake. The Hollywood hottie, who is currently dating 'Strokes' drummer Fabrizio Moretti, said that her 39-day union to actor Jeremy Thomas in 1994 was the "worst decision I ever made", according to a report in TeenHollywood. "Getting married to Jeremy Thomas. That was so crazy. It was a life lesson well and truly learned", said Barrymore, who ended her 15-month marriage to comedian Tom Green last year. "Both my marriages taught me the same lesson. I should have listened to my instincts", the actress added.

Eminem does a `whacko Jacko' from balcony (Go To Top)

          Washington, June 25: Rap megastar Eminem aped Michael Jackson's infamous stunt by juggling a doll over his hotel balcony. Jacko had dangled his baby son Prince Michael II over the edge of his hotel balcony 50ft above a Berlin street last November for which he got hell from child welfare experts. Wearing a surgical mask resembling the king of pop, the Slim Shady singer threw a plastic doll up in the air and pretended he was about to drop it off his balcony. He then gave his thrilled British fans a clenched-fist salute before returning inside, according to a report in the Sun. "It was hilarious, no one could quite believe it. Everyone expected him just to give us a wave, but then he began throwing the baby up in the air. It was a real good wind-up," says an onlooker.

          Eminem is currently on a UK tour. Hotel insiders say that they've seen many stars protecting their privacy but no one goes to such great lengths like covering their room with foil. The singer's 12ft window at Glasgow's trendy Arthouse hotel is completely covered with tinfoil. However, Eminem's security people say that it is to prevent people from scanning his mobile calls. Apparently the foil blocks or fuzzes the signals. The Detroit-based star also stunned hotel workers with his healthy demands of food. Where the staff expected him to call for gallons of booze, "All he wanted was non-alcoholic root beer, iced tea and nuts."

Eminem pulls a fast one on fan (Go To Top)

          London, June 25: Rapper Eminem had a passed-out fan at his disposal, after he had gifted her with a diamond-encrusted chain at a concert. Apparently, the rap star claimed the booty was worth 275,000 pounds before he had parted with it at his Milton Keynes Bowl gig. "This is worth 275,000 pounds and I'm going to give it to some pretty lady in the audience," the '8 Mile' star said, clutching the chain on stage. The awe-struck blonde with starry dreams fainted and had to be carried away by security, and awoke to the shocking fact that her treasure was only worth 500 pounds, according to the Sun. Meanwhile, a spokesman for Eminem admitted he had bloated up the real value of the sparkling gift.

Nicole and Jude just friends, but stroke each other's back (Go To Top)

          Sydney, June 25: Wagging tongues refuse to stop linking `Moulin Rouge' Nicole Kidman with her 'Cold Mountain' co-star Jude Law, as reports of the pair making goo goo eyes at each other during an intimate date trickle in, reported the Daily Telegraph. With Law's on-again-off-again marriage to Sadie Frost in the 'off' mode currently, the 'Moulin Rogue' star was reportedly seen in the company of the British actor in New York. Kidman and Law were "quite gaga" over each other on Saturday night at Manhattan's Soho House, an outpost of the posh London members-only club, the New York Magazine was quoted as saying. "They made googly eyes, played with each other's hair, held hands, and oh-so-gently stroked each other's arms, legs, and backs," a report in the magazine said. The pair, however, insist that they are "just friends".

Posh and Beckham `sizzle' in sensational photo shoot (Go To Top)

          Washington, June 25: Victoria Beckham and hubby David are doing their most sensational photo shoot ever for the July edition of a sport supplement magazine L'Uomo Vogue, which is the men's version of the style bible produced in Italy. According to a report in the Sun, Victoria wearing a skimpy silver dress rips off Beck's t-shirt while he wraps her legs around him. The soccer ace is seen wearing black nail varnish and a bondage-style studded wristband. Another shot shows David gazing up Posh's skirt as she poses in a tight bondage outfit. In yet another he stands behind her as she bends submissively over a table, wearing nothing but hotpants and a hat. And in a third, stunning Victoria turns the tables by making England captain David kneel before her, his trousers slipping to reveal white underpants.

          A friend of the couple says that the pictures taken by the New York fashion photographer Steven Klein are, "the sexiest the Beckhams have ever done, and will shock a lot of fans." The couple is keen to establish themselves as fashion icons and are delighted with the results. Meanwhile, Beckham who is on his 10 million dollars Far East promotional tour visited Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur where 5,000 screaming fans mobbed him and he had to be escorted by armed police to the soccer school. Soon after that he flew to Vietnamese capital Ho Chi Minh City to host another soccer school.