Brazil's National Underwear Day

Freedom to wear no pants?
Models parade in the center of Brasilia in panties, bras and boxers to celebrate National Underwear Day.

Models parade in underwear at a bus stop to mark National Underwear Day in Brasilia, Brazil.

People photograph models parading in underwear at a bus terminal on National Underwear Day in Brasilia, Brazil. Models paraded in the center of Brasilia in panties, bras and boxers to celebrate National Underwear Day.

Models wearing underwear pose for a photo in a street photo studio during a parade marking National Underwear Day at a bus terminal in Brasilia, Brazil.

A woman shakes hands with a model parading in underwear at a bus terminal to mark National Underwear Day in Brasilia.

A man films models parading in underwear at a bus terminal to mark National Underwear Day in Brasilia.

Models parade in underwear outside a bus terminal to mark National Underwear Day in Brasilia, Brazil.

Book On Sex: It Has 200 Blank Pages

London: What does every man think apart from sex? A British author says "nothing" and has written a book on it. Except that the book has just a cover and has 200 blank pages.

Sheridan Simove's book is titled - "What Every Man Thinks About Apart From Sex", the Daily Express reported.

Students across Britain have understood the joke and are flocking to bookstores to buy the 4.69-pound paperback.

The book has hit number 744 on the Amazon list, ahead of Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code" (number 2,910) and J.K. Rowling's "Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix" (2,406).

Nottingham University student Jess Lloyd said: "I bought a copy for my mate as a joke and he started using it as a note pad for lectures. Now everyone seems to have one. It's started a real craze on campus."

Fans have also joined in with book reviews.

"A must read for students studying anything to do with gender politics", "Couldn't put it down" and "Deeply insightful", a few reviews said.

One buyer even says: "I can't wait for the sequel!"

Sheridan, 39, is an Oxford University psychology graduate. He said: "I never imagined in my wildest dreams that I would outsell Harry Potter."

Sex Scandal Rocks Jabalpur University

Scandal rocks Jabalpur University, two officials arrested

Jabalpur, Mar 4 : Two officials of Jabalpur University have been arrested in connection with an alleged sex-for-marks scandal.

Controller of Examination Prof S S Rana and Deputy Registrar R S Kakodia of Rani Durgawati Vishwavidyalaya were arrested on March 1, police said.

Earlier one Raju Khan was arrested in this case while two other accused -- Prerna Atwal, a student, and one Ajay Khandelwal -- are absconding, police said.

According to a complaint filed by S Arya, a first-year MBBS student of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Medical College last month, Prerna, her senior in the college, told her that she had to concede to Khan''s sexual demands for getting increased marks in the revaluation.

Prerna told her that Khan had contacts in the varsity, and also revealed that she had failed in two subjects, though the results were not yet declared, Arya claimed.

Police have seized all the answer sheets of the first year MBBS exam.

The Rs 250 cr Congress Wedding!

The big fat Congress wedding

30,000 attend wedding of Cong leader Kanwar Singh Tanwar’s son with daughter of ex-MLA Jaunapuria

New Delhi: A helicopter claimed as a wedding present, 30,000 guests, 100 vegetarian dishes, 2 mammoth pandals that took 1,000 workers nearly 40 days to erect, 12 giant screens to televise the wedding ceremony, and return gifts for guests who came to bless the couple.

The groom and his family couldn't have asked for more during these austere times. But then Lalit Tanwar is no ordinary groom. On Tuesday night, the son of Congress leader Kanwar Singh Tanwar tied the knot with Yogita, daughter of former Sohna MLA Sukhbir Singh Jaunapuria.

With declared assets of more than Rs. 150 crore, Tanwar was the richest candidate during the 2008 Delhi Assembly elections. As son Lalit arrived in a BMW, the giant screens at Jaunapur in Fatehpur Beri came alive, capturing every detail. Both Lalit and his bride Yogita are said to be MBA graduates.

The scale of the wedding left guests stunned. But the father of the groom maintained that it was a "simple" affair. "I got many poor girls married, but no one noticed. True, a Bell 429 helicopter was given, but it was a simple wedding," Tanwar told Newsline.

However, DGCA records show the only Bell 429 helicopter in India was delivered to Span Air in November 2010. Its registration code is VT-NKL. A Chennai-based group is in talks to buy another Bell 429 later this year.

When told about this, Tanwar said: "I don't know these details. All I know is that it is a Bell 429 that we have."

There were two pandals -- one for the aam aadmi and the other for VIPs. Nearly 30,000 people went in and out of the two pandals as the feast began. There were nearly 100 dishes -- Thai, Chinese, Indian and Continental -- but all vegetarian. Alcohol and non-vegetarian food was a strict no-no.

Tanwar said the Rs. 33-crore chopper is parked at the Delhi airport, so a silver replica was gifted by the Jaunapurias to the family. "We are not going to construct a helipad. We will use the helicopter as and when required from the airport itself. Many in Delhi have their own aircraft. No one has a helipad," Tanwar said.

Sources said the first trip of the newly wed couple could be to Vaishno Devi. The Tanwars have planned a grand reception at their Asola farmhouse on Thursday, which several celebrities likely to attend. Another reception is planned for March 6 at Hotel Ashok where political heavyweights have been invited. Those who made it to the wedding included Kamal Nath, Ram Vilas Paswan, D P Yadav and Girija Vyas.

Asked about the ostentatious wedding of the son of a party leader, Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee president J P Agarwal said: "I am not aware about the wedding expenses. We were not the ones who brought him to the Congress fold. He was initiated into the party by AICC general secretary Digvijaya Singh."

Here are some of the other most expensive weddings that have already taken place

High-end marriages
Vanisha Mittal and Amit Bhatia

Date: November 18, 2006
Cost: $78 million

The highest ranked in Forbes list of most expensive weddings. Daughter of steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal, Vanisha was married to investment banker Amit Bhatia at Vaux le Vicomte, a 17th-century chateau in France, in 2004. The wedding celebrations went on for five days, and included extravagances such as invitations on a 20 page silver book. Bollywood stars like Aishwarya Rai, Akshay Kumar, Shah Rukh Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Rani Mukherjee and pop star Kylie Minogue were also present at the wedding.

Elizabeth Hurley and Arun Nayar

Date: March 2, 2007
Cost: $2.5 million

Hollywood actress Elizabeth Hurley and Indian textile heir Arun Nayar got hitched at a lavish wedding including an eight-day celebration spanning Europe and Asia. The couple was married at Sudeley Castle in Gloucestershire, Britain for Hurley's family and friends, then again in Umaid Bhawan Palace, Jodhpur, India for Nayar's people.

Vikram Chatwal and Priya Sachdev

Date: February 18, 2006
Cost: $20 million

The son of a New York hotelier, Vikram Chatwal married model/actress Priya Sachdev during a 10-day celebration spread across three Indian cities Mumbai, Udaipur, and Delhi. Six hundred guests from 26 countries attended the nuptials, and were flown in on private chartered jets. Guests included Bill Clinton, Naomi Campbell, and P Diddy

Source: The Indian Express & India Syndicate

American Bible Changes Words Such As 'Holocaust'

Chicago, Mar 4 : A new edition of one the most popular English-language Bibles will offer substitutes for words such as "booty" and "holocaust" to better reflect modern understanding, a Catholic group said on Wednesday.

Nearly 50 scholars from all faiths and a committee of Roman Catholic bishops have labored since 1994 over the first fresh edition of the New American Bible since 1970, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said.

The annual best-seller to be issued by a dozen publishers beginning next week on Ash Wednesday "is a beautiful translation -- it's a new way to look at an old love," said Mary Sperry, who oversees Bible licensing for the bishops.

The changes go beyond a few words being altered, and include freshly-written notes that should help readers better understand the Catholic church's interpretation of biblical concepts, Sperry said. The Book of Psalms contains over 70,000 words, both text and notes, she said.

The revisions more accurately reflect translations of ancient Hebrew and Greek versions of the Old Testament and the constant evolution of modern-day language, Sperry said.

For example, the word "holocaust," which for most people refers to the World War Two genocide of Jews, was changed to "burnt offerings," which clarifies the original, positive idea of making offerings to God.

"Booty," which has come to have a sexual connotation, was changed to "spoils of war;" and "cereal," which many think of as breakfast food, became "grain" to reference loads of wheat.

In a change in a passage in Isaiah 7:14 that foretells the coming of Jesus and his birth to a virgin mother, the 1970 edition's reference to "the virgin" will become "the young woman," to better translate the Hebrew word "almah."

"The bishops and the Bible are not signaling any sort of change in the doctrine of the virgin birth of Jesus. None whatsoever," Sperry added.

The new edition will revert to more poetic versions of Psalm 23 to have it read, "I walk through the valley of the shadow of death," instead of "dark valley." And "I will dwell in the house of the Lord for years to come" was changed to "for endless days," which Sperry said carried a more profound and hopeful meaning.

The current edition of the New American Bible sold more than one million copies last year, mostly in the United States, the Philippines, India, and Africa. The new version could spark a pickup in sales, Sperry predicted.

The edition will be available in many formats: as a family hardback, a basic paperback, as an "e-book," as an "app" for cell phones, and in a Braille version.

Arunachal To Be Leader in Power Production

Itanagar, Mar 4 : Arunachal Pradesh is poised to be one of the leading power producing States in the country by 2022-23 after majority of its allotted power projects are commissioned, Governor Gen (Retd) J J Singh informed the State Assembly today.

“The annual revenue accrual to the State is likely to be of the order of Rs 10,000 crore after complete commission of the projects with an estimated capacity of 57000 megawatt,” the Governor said in his customary speech on the inaugural day of the six-day Budget Session.

He said the State is expected to have adequate power for its own consumption and by the end of 12th Plan the revenue figure was projected at Rs 1,905 crore annually.

“High priority is accorded by my government to the optimum exploitation of the available water resources in the State for power generation to provide electricity as well as employment opportunities,” he said.

The State government has adopted effective policies for development of its hydro potential which have paved the way for development of both small and large hydro power projects on public-private partnership (PPP) mode through State and Central sector PSUs as well as independent power producers, he added.

By the end of 12th Plan, the State was likely to add about 12,081.90 MW capacity under its Hydro Power Sector, he said.

The Border Villages Illumination Programme under Prime Minister’s Package was also being implemented with the aim of electrifying remote border villages, he said.

“So far, more than 1300 villages have been electrified under the programme,” he added.

Trans-Arunachal Power Grid is in a conceptual stage and a detailed project report has been submitted to the Planning Commission.

The Khupi-Tawang portion of this grid has already been sanctioned by the DoNER Ministry, he said.

Pig Breeding Takes Off in Northeast India

Northeast India produces 25% of the country’s pigs and consumes 50% of the country’s pork

Pig breeding on a farm in Dimapur, Nagaland, India (photo credit: ILRI/Mann).

The Telegraph in Calcutta ran a story this week on why pigs—and pig breeding—matters to the marginalized indigenous communities of India’s northeast.

‘For the 600-odd villagers of two districts of Mon lying on either side of the [Nagaland] border, pig breeding has now become a new habit thanks to an integrated community-based intervention of International Livestock Research Institute.

‘“An increased interest on pig keeping, especially for breeding purpose, is seen and the perception that crossbred pigs would not survive in their villages has changed,” Rameswar Deka, scientific officer, International Livestock Research Institute told The Telegraph.

‘The institute, which has its headquarters in Nairobi, has an office in Guwahati to look after livestock sector in the Northeast. . . .

‘Pigs are the most common and preferred livestock species in Mon district of Nagaland. Almost 80 per cent of households rear pigs (mostly one or two).’

ILRI is working with the National Agricultural Innovation Project on this project to improve livelihoods and empower poor rural communities in seven of the most disadvantaged districts of India’s northeast corner (excluding Assam).

‘It is estimated that 25 per cent of the pig population in the country is in the Northeast, 80 per cent of indigenous families keep a few pigs (generally two to three) and that the region consumes 50 per cent of the country’s pork, according to Indian Council of Agricultural Research.

‘Deka said earlier, pig producers had traditional knowledge and skills for management of pigs for fattening but few have the skills to successfully breed pigs. “There was no concerted effort to improve the pig production system in the two [Mon] villages, leaving the whole system traditional and poorly remunerative,” he said.’

For this reason, ILRI took an integrated community-based approach to improve smallholder pig productivity and efficiency.

‘”The success lay in involving community members in the decision-making process and identification of beneficiaries,” Deka said.’

Read the whole article at The Telegraph (Calcutta): Mon villagers warm up to pig-breeding, 2 March 2011.

MHA Sanction For Meghen's Prosecution

Guwahati, Mar 4 : The Union ministry of home affairs has accorded sanction for prosecution of UNLF chief Raj Kumar Meghen and 18 other members of the outfit.

An MHA source said the permission for indictment was accorded in an NIA case relating to terrorist and extortion activities of UNLF militants in Assam and Manipur.

The home ministry has also agreed to prosecute Karuna Saikia, a former additional chief engineer of public health engineering in Dima Haso district, relating to his role in assisting terrorist activities of DHD (J) by illegally siphoning off government funds meant for development in the hills district.

The NIA has chargesheeted 19 UNLF members for plotting a "systematic war against India" and trying to bring Maoists and three other outfits of Manipur under one umbrella to "destabilize" the country. It also says that UNLF has hatched an anti-India conspiracy from two Communist countries China and Nepal.

Sources said UNLF was involved in murder, kidnapping, arms-snatching and extortion in Manipur. During the course of investigation by NIA, details of 149 incidents of violence by UNLF were obtained from lawful retrieval of email communications of the accused.

Meghen and his 18 colleagues will now be tried for collecting funds for terrorist activities from public functionaries, government departments besides throwing grenades on the residential premises of government employees.

The 19 rebels have been arrested from different locations in Guwahati and other parts of the country. However, Meghen, who was shown as arrested in Motihari district in Bihar in November last year, was the biggest catch. According to reports, the militant leader was picked up from Bangladesh and later shown as arrested in Bihar.

Some UNLF leaders, who have been named in the chargesheet, are on bail. But Meghen and a few others are still in judicial custody.