Painting the town Green
The green cause inspires artistic expression in myriad shades and shapes, be it torso art, tattoos or tee fashion
Ice caps and glaciers are melting. Sea levels are rising. Rainfall is shifting. Temperatures soaring, forest cover contracting by very hour. Add to that the human accidents that pose a serious threat to animal habitat. 

BACK TO NATURE: Gaurav Gaur, a social activist and PU lecturer, spreads the green message with this painting on his back ‘OUR PLANET NEEDS US’ in Chandigarh on Friday.

My body, my canvas Body art is art made on, with, or consisting of, the human body. The most common forms of body art are tattoos and body piercings, while other types include scarification, branding, scalpelling, shaping (for example tight-lacing of corsets), full body tattoo and body painting. For today’s commmercial and modern generation taking up social issues, body art comes as the latest innovation. It is by far the simplest, most effective way to convey ideas and messages in the most happening  way possible.

Chaat-ing away to glory
Dahi golgappas to papri chaat to aloo ki tikki, these chaatwallahs can whip up the spicy savouries in a jiffy 
It’s chutney-dripping, lip-smacking, tongue-tickling chaat that we are talking about. A hit with us North Indians, this is the one thing that we can never say ‘no’ to. 

Weight and watch the Indian curry
Eating lots of curry may help you lose weight, research suggests. Scientists believe that haldi, or turmeric, which is used in most Indian meals, has an active ingredient that can help fight obesity.  A meal that includes haldi will lead to less weight gain than one without the yellow powder. This is because haldi contains a plant-based chemical called curcumin, which suppresses the growth of fat tissue in mice and human cell cultures, according to a study by Tufts University in Boston, published in the Journal of Nutrition.

Chocolate for clear skin
They say it’s the worst enemy of clear skin, but eating chocolate could actually prove to be a lifesaver for people who abandon their social lives just because of acne. Acne Care chocolate bars are said to deliver antioxidants and micro-nutrients that help clear the skin. Makers of the revolutionary new chocolate, which is set to hit Australian shelves, claim that pimple-plagued sufferers will experience dramatic results within just two weeks of eating the chocolate.

Bon Appetit
Melon se milan
Yubari is a small town in Hokkaido, Japan. Known as the “Melon Kingdom” of the country, its orange-fleshed melon is very fragrant, deliciously sweet and extremely expensive. Two weeks ago, during the first auction of the season, the record price for just two of these “Yubari King” melons was paid. They were auctioned for $ 5,200 for the pair! These are luxury items, commonly given as gifts by the Japanese, but 5,200 dollars? I mean you can buy a car for less than that!! Boy, am I glad I can saunter out to my rehri-wala and buy one for ten bucks! I can do without the world’s swankiest melon, thank you very much! Here, we have Cantaloupe, Honeydew, Netted Muskmelon and others to choose from, all a good source of vitamin C and potassium. 

BIG picture
Hindi movie buffs have quite a few reasons to cheer after a literally dry summer at the box office. With the strike by film producers ending, there will be an array of big-budget Bollywood films on offer --- from Vishal Bharadwaj's Kaminey and Yash Raj Films' New York to Sajid Nadiadwala's Kambhakkht Ishq and Saif Ali Khan's Love Aaj Kal.

A still from Love Aaj Kal

A still from New York

UP STAGE!
After taking a dig at Ash ‘aunty’, Sonam is likely to debut on IIFA stage, where the Bachchan bahu will be star performer
Sonam Kapoor has finally managed to take revenge from Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and that too in a very unique way. If rumours are to be believed then Ash had reportedly stopped Sonam from walking the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival this year. Reportedly Sonam has now started calling Ash as Aishwarya ‘Aunty ji’. To clarify herself, Sonam even explained that since Ash and her father Anil Kapoor have worked opposite each other, she calls her aunty out of respect. Ash has not reacted to this statement yet, but this can be the beginning of yet another cat fight between Ash and Sonam.

Green script
The Soldiers of the Earth campaign, an all encompassing, environmental awareness generation programme launched by TERI Press, India's first green publisher, in collaboration with the ONGC is all set to go to the grassroots with the start of their school awareness programme in early July. The campaign is aimed at sensitizing children and young adults towards a greener future aided by promotional comic series of the same name, authored by Bollywood superstar Akshay Kumar. 

Jolie quick rise!
Angelina named world's most powerful celebrity
Angelina Jolie has overthrown Oprah Winfrey by becoming the world's most powerful celebrity in the annual list compiled by business magazine Forbes. Oprah, the talk-show queen, topped the list for the previous two years and remained highest earner, making $ 275 million in the past 12 months.