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MP’s Funds
Used or misused?
The debate over the
use of funds by MPs under the local area development scheme has been
on for quite some time. Aditi Tandon
finds out the reasons for the confusion surrounding the controversial
scheme
Photo by Mukesh Aggarwal
In
the 15 years of its existence, the Member of Parliament Local
Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) has not quite managed a life-saving
performance. It still faces scathing criticism that had begun right at
its inception on December 23, 1993, when the then Prime Minister P.V.
Narasimha Rao announced the scheme in Parliament. He fixed Rs 5 lakh
per MP as a token amount to address "locally-felt needs" in
his constituency.
Miniature magic
Azera Rahman
Miniature
art is a centuries-old form that was patronised by the Mughals,
the Rajputs of Rajasthan and the royal families of northern India. But
somewhere along the way, it lost its glory. Chhotulal and Yugal
Kishore Sharma of Rajasthan are two of the few artists who remain
loyal to this art and are striving to revive it.
An
experience called Paris
Tanushree
Podder takes a tour of the city’s cobbled streets, quaint
wayside cafes, broad avenues and shopping hubs
Gay
Paree, the City of Lights, has always been a dream destination
whether you are once-in-a-while-traveller or a globetrotter. It is not
just a city where tourists always arrive in hordes, it is an
experience. Ours began one April morning when the flight landed at
Charles de Gaulle airport.
On
a prayer and wings of steel
Champion mountaineer
Harbhajan Singh is no stranger to the peaks of the Himalayas as he
gets ready for yet another first — skiing down the world's highest
peak. Sanjeev Singh Bariana reports how
the gutsy sportsman is preparing for this feat
Mountaineer
Harbhajan Singh these days is polishing his act to ski down the
Mt Everest, one of the most treacherous mountain peaks of the
Himalayas. Harbhajan Singh, DIG (Jammu), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP),
is a no mean accomplisher, having already scaled the Nanda Devi peak
and Mount Abhigamin, both in Garhwal Himalayas, Mana Peak, Mt Nunkun
and White Needle in Janskar range, Mt Pinnacle and Mt Pyramid in
Sikkim and Mt Stok Kangri and Mt Kasket in Ladakh.
Soap
queen’s reality check
She
has revolutionised the small screen over the last decade with
her unique brand of ‘saas bahu’ sagas.After producing hugely
popular and successful television shows like the long-running Kyunki
Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi and Kahaani Ghar Ghar Ki, Ekta
Kapoor of Balaji Telefilms is all set to make a new foray into reality
shows.
Telling
effect of titles
Surendra Miglani
If
face is the index of a man, title is the index of a movie. Film
producers Udai Tiwari and Raj Kundra must have realised this when they
released their venture Strangers in December last year. Though
a Hindi flick, cinegoers mistook it for an English movie. And why
blame only the viewers. Several newspapers listed this Jimmy Shergill-Kay
Kay Menon-Nandana Sen-starrer among English movies in their show time
columns.
Indiana
rewind
As the latest Indiana film
hits the screen, Ervell E. Menezes looks
at the series that have entertained cinegoers for decades
So,
19 years after Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), the
fedora-toting Indiana Jones is back again with Indiana Jones and
the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. But then, that’s Hollywood for
you, they gauge the market, feel the pulse and then take the risk, Last
Crusade be damned, we shall have another they mean to say.
No
items numbers for my movies: Kunal Kohli
Item
numbers are in vogue but Yash Raj Films’ blue-eyed director
Kunal Kohli doesn’t approve of them and says using the term
"item" for an actress is derogatory. "I don’t believe
in item numbers. Neither do I believe in item girls. How can you call
a girl ‘item’? It sounds so cheap. It is humiliating," said
Kohli.
Teachers
of a different class
Rehana teaches Muslim girls
from the first to the 10th standard in Mumbai’s suburbs. At the same
time she is preparing for her school leaving exams. In a community
where access to basic education for girls is riddled with obstacles,
20 young teachers like her have been educating schoolgirls for free,
writes Geeta Seshu
In
the last 10 years since I started teaching Muslim girls, I have
seen a change. Earlier, they dropped out by the sixth or seventh
standard. Today more and more girls want to study further. But I am
impatient.
Romancing
the car
A
stunning woman won't set his heart racing but a car is more
than enough to leave Aussie bloke Edward Smith gasping for more. Smith
claims to have had romantic relationships with 1,000 cars, insisting
that he would prefer a car over a woman any day.
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