Innholdsfortegnelse for February 20, 2017 i India Today

F illing the shoes of an iconic leader is never easy. Especially someone like J. Jayalalithaa, the late chief minister of Tamil Nadu, who ruled the state with an iron fist between 1991 and 2016, for a total of about 14 years over five terms. She was the unquestioned power centre in her party. The party was her and she was the party. Sadly, she did not anoint any clear successor. Hence, the power struggle for her mantle was inevitable and it has been played out in full theatrical style. The AIADMK has been here before: when M.G. Ramachandran died in 1987. This time, the tussle is not between a wife and a protege, but a dutiful stand-in CM, Jayalalithaa’s replacement every time she was in trouble, and her long-time…

Less than a year ago, in June, the Indian Space Research Organisation sent up 20 satellites in a single launch, setting a record for itself. On February 15, ISRO will shatter not only its own record but all global records, sending over 100 satellites into orbit on PSLV-C37, its ‘workhorse’ rocket. A major feather in ISRO’s cap, the launch will include satellites from several different countries.…

The assembly elections in Punjab were covered breathlessly in local and national media, with pages and pages of newsprint devoted to analysis of why the Aam Aadmi Party, or the Congress with the Captain at the helm, would win. Or, and this required particularly convoluted reasons, why the Akali Dal might return to power for a third successive term. Running out of people to ask for comment, one inspired newspaper in Chandigarh turned to a fortunetelling parrot. The parrot, the newspaper’s editor pointed out, “is a non-Punjabi from Shimla” and so cannot be accused of bias. For the record, it picked Captain Amarinder Singh to be the next CM and the Congress to win 60 seats. Next time, why bother with pollsters? —Sandeep Unnithan with Shweta Punj, Amitabh Srivastava, Asit…

@ShougatDasgupta Kitesurfing while DC Burns After eight years of squabbling with Republicans, it’s hard to begrudge Barack Obama a vacation. Still, Americans wondered on social media, does he have to look so happy? While his compatriots protested in the street and furious op-eds about fascism were being pub lished, Obama posted pictures of himself partying in the Caribbean with billionaire Richard Branson. Hopefully, he remembered to send a postcard. Wish you were here, America. A Legend by Midnight Who knew O. Panneerselvam had such a sense of occ asion? Just minutes after he was broadcast meditating outside Jayalalithaa’s memorial, he was trending on Twitter, and social media wags were coming up with appropriate memes. Said wags had been at work already, as ‘Chinnamma’ Sasikala was busily shedding her half-size status.…

The PM’s advisors are mistaken. Cash may be the medium, but black money resides, not in any asset, but in a transaction The prime minister is a very popular speaker. He is great on the hustings; some may say he is a superb rabblerouser. But that would be unparliamentary language. Anyway, he is good at it; the names he calls his opponents may be impolite, but are memorable. The prime minister has practised a different art of communication, though, in his weekly radio talks. That said, somehow he has been economical when it comes to speaking in Parliament; the number of times he has spoken in the two years since he was elected can be counted on the fingers of one hand. So his speech at the end of the…

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s much tom-tommed promise of bringing tertiary healthcare to West Bengal’s hinterland is struggling to take off amid a scarcity of specialist doctors, paramedics and medical technicians. So today, 41 government ‘super-speciality’ hospitals constructed at a cost of Rs 10 crore each are being used to store expensive medical equipment, most of it still in wooden crates. Incidentally, about Rs 1,100 crore under the Centre’s Backward Region Grant Fund is being diverted in the state for these hospitals. In Nandigram, for instance, the crumbling block primary health centre (BPHC) was moved into the newly constructed super-speciality hospital on December 25. “The ord ers,” says Group D employee at the hospital and now ‘promoter’ Gopal Chandra Jana, “came from the chief minister”. The facility today has an OPD,…

F or someone who grew up never wanting to act, Taapsee Pannu is about to have the year of her life in 2017. In February, the Pink actress will appear in two films. As the female lead of Runningshaadi.com, a romantic comedy, she plays Nimmi, a feisty Punjabi woman “who always needs to have the last word”. She also has a cameo in The Ghazi Attack, an action thriller that takes place at sea. In late March, she will star in Naam Shabana, her first heroine-led project, which traces the journey of the spy she played in Neeraj Pandey’s Baby (2015). “I never dreamed that I would get a title role so early in my career,” she says. “I can literally count on my fingers the number of people I…

Dog lovers and dog haters on both sides of India’s fight over the culling of street dogs would do well to read Raymond and Lorna Coppinger’s fascinating and entertaining new book, What Is a Dog? Based on the husband-and-wife team’s decades of research, as well as a long study of the street dogs that live in Mexico City’s garbage dumps, the book offers convincing evidence that the lowly ‘stray dog’ is actually the truest exemplar of canine familiaris. They also note two points that India cannot afford to ignore. The number of street dogs waxes and wanes based primarily on the amount of garbage and human faeces they have to eat. Moreover, even in the United States, where street dogs are rare, only about half of the canine population is…

Research at Cambridge has shown our muscle temperature and other physical parameters peak late afternoon-early evening. Hence, post-work exercise is good for you So when you knock off work, stop at the gym for some weight training. It will enhance your bone mineral density, add to your muscle mass, speed up your metabolism and reduce depression and anxiety Don’t think about work beyond office. Instead, think about home, family, friends. Socialisation is linked to a 50 per cent rise in longevity (journal PLOS Medicine, 2010) Eat at least three hours before sleeping. The ideal dinner plate should be: half veg or salad, a quarter lean protein (meat, fish, etc.), a quarter grain (brown rice, pasta, bread) Having a snack at least an hour before bed raises the level of neurotransmitter…

IIM CALCUTTA-NIIT LAUNCH ADVANCED PROGRAMME IN DATA SCIENCES Training.com, a multi-modal learning platform by NIIT has launched an advanced programme in data sciences in association with IIM Calcutta. The course will be delivered through a combination of online and offline modules. While the online sessions will take place via live sessions on training.com, the offline training will happen during campus visits to the IIM campus in Calcutta. This course aims to create a high-impact learning experience by bridging the gap between quality, affordability and accessibility and allows students to explore data sciences as a profession. SHIV NADAR UNIVERSITY LAUNCHES SCHOOL FOR EXTENDED EDUCATION Shiv Nadar University is launching the School of Extended Education and Professional Development (SEEPD), to step into the executive education space by offering a line-up of programmes…

Images and reality Fashion journalism—what’s the image that comes to mind? Sitting front row at fashion week, interviewing famous designers, attending champagne-fuelled brand launch events whilst nibbling pretty pastel macaroons, after-show parties and corporate gifting and cupboards full of clothes and cosmetics? Reality can be somewhat different. Fashion is a fast-paced industry based on discovery and expectation of the new and the quick discarding of what is ‘old’. This creates pressure—pressure to meet deadlines, the burden of discovering something new or reporting on what everyone else is reporting as new. Fashion journalism can be like a game of Chinese whispers, and finding your own voice within that echo chamber can be a challenging (and sometimes impossible) process. It is impossible because fashion media (especially print media) depends on advertising, and…

The co-living model is witnessing enough scalability in international markets such as China, US and UK. India is just waiting to explode in this space. Uday Lakker, co-founder, CoHo, Gurgaon What is it? Lack of good, comfortable and affordable living spaces for working professionals and college students, made Uday Lakkar, 32, and Amber Sajid, 42, start CoHo, a tech-enabled platform pioneering the concept of rental co-living spaces. CoHo, which stands for comfortable homes, is where residents, in the age group of 18 to 30 years, either working or studying, live together as a community at well-furnished, tastefully done properties with all essential utilities and maintenance taken care of by professional service providers. With three modules— apartments, villas and dorms, and rental varying between Rs 10,000 and Rs 25,000 per month,…

Savour an Aphrodisiac Meal On special occassions such as Valentine's Day, a regular candlelight meal just won’t do, Prego introduces an aphrodisiac meal for couples with a simple yet romantic table setting. The intimate meal will have a pianist or crooner act to add to the mood. “We saw our regular list of supplies and picked out the aphrodisiacal ingredients from it. Then we set out to create a menu that uses at least one of these in each of the preparations," explains Sujan Mukherjee, executive chef. The four course meal is available exclusively on Valentine’s Day and features creations like gamberoni verde arancio, pan seared king prawns in brandy and orange sauce, Risotto Agli Asparagi with fresh asparagus, Sicilian lemon sorbet and panna cotta appassionata, a passion fruit panna…

I found a way to marry the education I got with the my craft. Academics has helped me broaden my understanding of theatre. Q. What brought you to theatre and what were some of your first experiences? A. I have always loved being on stage. I actually used to try and be a part of all the annual plays in school. I particularly remember a role I played in X I standard under the direction of Feisal Alkazi. I am still referred to as Geeta Bai when I go back to school. Q. From sociology to medical anthropology and then theatre, tell us about your journey. A. I found a way to marry the education I got with my craft. Academics still helps me while I take classes, write or…

The BJP is caught between a rock and a hard place when it comes to 100 per cent FDI in multi-brand retail. On the one hand, there is a desire to attract investment to India to go along with the party’s pro-business, pro-growth image and on the other, there is the trader community that forms the core of the BJP’s support and wants to hold back the tide of foreign investment in the sector. There is also the risk of irking the strong swadeshi lobby within the party. According to senior government sources, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said the country is not ready for such a policy yet and had nixed the proposal from the budget. So far, 100 per cent FDI is permitted in multi-brand processed food retailing;…

S.K. Pandey, the retired high court judge appointed by the Madhya Pradesh government to probe the October 2016 killing of eight SIMI members in a police encounter after a jailbreak, reportedly resigned only to be persuaded by officials to return to work. Justice Pandey was reportedly frustrated that the government was dragging its feet over his requests for funds to enable the panel to do its job. He supposedly stormed out of his room at the Circuit House with his belongings, having already called a cab. Senior officials pleaded with him to calm down. Justice Pandey has denied the reports that he resigned. The government, which had given him three months to finish the probe, has now given an extension of six months.…

A day after polling for 117 assembly constituencies in Punjab, the three rivals in Lambi, the most keenly-watched contest of these elections, settled back into less frenzied routines—Parkash Singh Badal, the incumbent chief minister, flew home to Chandigarh in the state helicopter to tackle a mild fever; Aam Aadmi Party nominee Jarnail Singh headed back ‘home’ to Delhi and Capt. Amarinder Singh of the Congress returned to tend to his strawberry plants in Chandigarh. But 35 days to counting of votes on March 11 is surely causing them all great anxiety. Like every election since the 1966 Reorganisation of Punjab, the numerically dominant Malwa region with 69 of Punjab’s 117 constituencies, is key. Forty-six of the 50 constituencies that recorded voter turnouts of 78 per cent and more are in…

A fifth (168 of 836) of candidates whose affidavits were scrutinised (there are 839 in the fray in UP/ Phase I) have declared criminal cases against themselves BJP TOPS THE LIST 29 criminal candidates (out of 73) 40% FOLLOWED BY: 38% BSP (28 of 73) 33% RJD (19 of 57) 28% SP (15 of 51) 25% Congress (6 of 24) 36% or 302 candidates have assets worth a crore rupees or more; `2.8 crore is the average per candidate 8% or 70 women candidates are in the fray in this round of polling Source: ADR…

Election time in Uttar Pradesh has seen a rush of state politicians to the Peetambara Peeth in Datia, 30 km from Jhansi, in neighbouring Madhya Pradesh. But it’s not just votes they’re hoping to bag at this Hindu shrine and centre of tantric learning. Local belief has it that the deity, Maa Baglamukhi, can make the wishes of devotees come true—in this case help politicians win elections. Temple priests will tell you that an anushthan (prayer) dedicated to the goddess helps the worshipper do a shatrunaash (neutralise rivals), and fine-hone their vaaksiddhi and vaadvivaad (oratory and debating skills). Polls are a hectic time at the shrine. This time too, bookings were made months in advance. And leaders are taking precious time off from electioneering to drive down to Datia on…

1 Sasikala was born in Mannargudi, a town in Tamil Nadu. Her parents belonged to the influential Kallar community. She was introduced to Jayalalithaa in the early 1980s by then Cuddalore district collector V.S. Chandralekha 2 At that time, Sasikala ran a video cassette rental shop. Her husband had lost his job and the family was going through a rough patch. As their friendship grew, Sasi kala was entrusted the task of filming all of Jayalalithaa’s public events 3 After MGR’s death in 1987, Sasikala is said to have given Jayalalithaa emotional support. In 1989, she moved into Jayalalithaa’s Poes Garden home, gradually taking control of AIADMK party affairs 4 A milestone in their relationship was the opulent wedding Jaya organised for Sasikala’s nephew, Sudhakaran, in 1995 5 In 1996, the AIADMK lost the state…

“Talaq, talaq, talaq.” And Murtaza hung up the phone, ending his 15-year marriage to Ishrat Jahan, a mother of four. The embroiderist from West Bengal, now in Dubai, wanted a new life and a new wife. “Just because we eat apples, can’t we like other fruits?” Ajmal Basheer WhatsApped his talaq to his bride of 10 days in Kerala. Dowry or divorce? Syed Ashhar Ali Warsi of Madhya Pradesh used Speed Post to liquidate his marriage to Afreen Rehman. Rizwan Ahmed of Uttar Pradesh simply posted a letter to wife Shayara Bano, 37: “Talaq. Talaq. Talaq.” It’s a normal story: just a few men among many, exercising ‘rights’ bestowed by the Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937. But there’s a twist in the tale. In a groundswell of anger,…

What reforms are Muslim women in need of? The 2002 Shamim Ara case judgment deemed instantaneous triple talaq invalid. This is something the court as well as the AIMPLB recognise. In Shayara Bano’s case, why didn’t she go to court and demand her rights earlier? What does a Muslim woman not have? If her husband beats her, she has a remedy in the Domestic Violence Act. If he sends her a talaqnama, the 1986 (Muslim Women Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act will protect her if she chooses to accept the divorce because her marriage is violent. She will receive mehr and fair and reasonable provision for the future. She can remarry after that if she wants. If she doesn’t want divorce, the Shamim Ara verdict is there. What about…

Q If you weren’t an artist, what would you be? A I’d be a chef. I’d travel, and cook what I observed. Cooking makes me happy. Q What is your memory of food? A I grew up in Khagaul, in a middle-class environment with limited comforts and rationed necessities. When we ran out of curry, we would improvise. We would mix mango pickle with barbecued red chillies and then add cut garlic pods. It would taste divine with chapati. I still crave the food served in Bihar for wedding and funeral functions like the shraadh. They would serve it in steel or brass buckets, and I loved the simple fare: aubergine curry, tomato chutney, yellow dal... Q How do you cook? A From memory and observation. For example, when I…

Brunel University London Scholarships 2017 Brunel University, London is offering 20 country specific scholarships worth £7,500 for undergraduate, postgraduate and PhD programmes starting in September 2017. Applicants need to clear the basic English language requirements to be eligible. The application includes a 500-word essay describing why the student has applied to Brunel and why they would make a good ambassador. The deadline is May 31, 2017. Check http://bit.ly/2jC3oPm for details. University of Lincoln Scholarship 2017 University of Lincoln, UK is offering an Academic Excellence Scholarship worth £5,000 for undergraduate and postgraduate courses offered by the university. Applicants must meet the general English language requirements and must have their previous degree. The last date for applying for the programme is June 30, 2017. Details about the scholarship can be found at…

It’s not always glamorous A fashion programme is not always as easy and glamorous as it seems. One needs to have passion and strong self-motivation. Be ready to face critiques and take criticism in a positive direction. You need to introspect and decide. Change is inevitable, reinvent yourself People don’t want to see the same work again and again. It’s a highly competitive industry and you have to constantly be innovative, explore alternatives and must know how to communicate and translate your ideas into reality. You are only as good as your last collection. Be futuristic and embrace change. Inspiration can come from anywhere Inspiration for your work can come from anywhere. It could be your pet, a poem, a crack in the pavement or nature. What matters is your…

Sometimes you have the luxury of choosing your path in life, but for a chosen few, life decides the path you will travel on. Jewellery design is one such area which takes you on an incredible journey. This is hardly farfetched for the glorious world of gems and jewellery, which is pure, cultural and influential to the point of starting wars. That said, it is not a craft that cannot be learnt. While a certain inherent aptitude is vital in order to succeed, there are certain nuances that should be and can be learnt. It is very exciting to be a part of an industry which is constantly reinventing itself and at the same time is humbling, as the heritage of gems and jewellery is much bigger than us. EDUCATION…

In her kingdom of kitsch, quirk not only works, it rules every shelf, nook and corner. Shubhra Chadda, the 36-year-old co-founder, Chumbak, turned a start-up into a successful business. Having done her Bachelors in Commerce from Mount Carmel College, Bangalore, she went on to complete her Masters Degree in public relations, advertising, and applied communication from Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan in Delhi. After they got married, she and her husband, Vivek Prabhakar realised that they could not find cool magnets or souvenirs that represented India. So they quit their jobs, did research on the product and market segment and launched Chumbak (magnet in Hindi) in 2010. Today they retail a whole gamut of lifestyle products, such as apparel, furniture, cell phone cases, bubbleheads, bags, wallets, home decor, footwear, and stationery. Hard…

Patna Zoo has been releasing peacocks into their natural habitat, which seems to include 10, Circular Road, the compound of RJD president Lalu Prasad Yadav. A peacock and peahen were moved from the zoo to Yadav’s house, only for both of them to escape hours later. “They flew away,” Yadav was reported to have said forlor nly. Incidentally, Yadav’s eldest son, Tej Pra tap, is the state’s environment minister, whose pur view includes the zoo. Tej Pratap, famously, enjoys dressing up as Krishna, peacock feather tucked into headdress. Recently, he was filmed playing the flute in Patna, cows swishing their tails in the background. “Aap toh Kishan kanhaiya ho gaye hain,” the prime minister teased him at a lunch with Nitish Kumar. The birds are a protected species. Had the…

On February 6, the Supreme Court collegium recommended that nine high court judges be appointed as chief justices of various high courts. The move seems to follow an earlier recommendation, made the previous week, to appoint five HC judges to the apex court. Together, these moves have been hailed as a breakthrough in the ong oing impasse between the judiciary and the executive. Arguably, till the executive confirms these app ointments, the only breakthrough is that the collegium has recommended names to the SC for the first time since December 2015! So, what would a real breakthrough on judicial appointments look like? The approval of the Memorandum of Procedure outlining the protocol of consultation between the executive and the judiciary would be a good first step. However, the recent controversies…

In India, we often compare ourselves to China, kid ourselves that we are competitors and geopolitical counterweights. The truth is that, in economic terms, we are no match. The gulf is startling. Maharashtra, by far India’s richest state, is matched in GDP by Congquing, ranked 20th of China’s 31 provinces. Tibet, China’s poorest province, would be the 16th richest state in India. CHINA $1.1 trillion GDP of Guangdong, China’s richest province $368 billion GDP of Beijing, China’s capital The combined GDP of Tamil Nadu, UP and Punjab would be in the same ballpark $16 billion GDP of Tibet, China’s poorest province INDIA $250 billion GDP of Maharashtra, India’s richest state $67 billion GDP of Delhi, India’s capital $1.5 billion GDP of Mizoram, lowest among India’s 29 states…

The ‘missing link’ between Bihari youngsters and sporting excellence could, believe it or not, be not nearly enough omelettes and sunny-side-ups in their diets. On a more serious note, the state government and the Bihar Vidyapeeth, the NGO set up by Mahatma Gandhi in 1921, are working to significantly ramp up production. Bihar’s former agriculture production commissioner, Vijoy Prakash, who now heads the Vidyapeeth, says the state produces 984.5 million eggs a year. “Per capita availability of eggs in Bihar (excluding imports) is just nine, compared to the National Nutrition Institute prescribed 180 eggs per person per year,” he says, emphasising that young Biharis are missing out on essential nutrients. Hopefully, all that is set to change with the ‘Bihar Egg Sufficiency Campaign’ launched last year by the new Centre…

Jayalalithaa had declared that she was her udanpiravaa sagothari (sister), though not born from the same womb. She would not have perhaps imagined that Sasikala, a woman of humble beginnings from the small town of Mannargudi, who entered Poes Garden 30 years ago to take “care of her and run her house”, would, after her death, don her political mantle—as the chief minister of Tamil Nadu—to run a state of nearly 70 million people. Jayalalithaa would have least imagined that her friend would be unanimously chosen by the AIADMK’s MLAs and ministers as the natural successor. Partymen who were once very critical of her, jealous of her closeness to their thalaivi and suspected that she had emerged as an extraconstitutional power centre; they who had attributed the humiliating defeat of…

In the summer of 2016, several women who had been treated with casual disregard by their husbands suddenly had to be taken very seriously indeed. Their petitions in the Supreme Court, along with the Narendra Modi government’s clarion call to topple the custom, caught the nation off-guard, triggering a tense debate: about the condition of ‘hapless Muslim women’, the legal status demanded by them, the brash rejection by Muslim clerics, the real interpretation of the law, the scenario in other Muslim nations, the misogyny inherent in the personal laws of all communities, the possible need to inscribe a religion-neutral common code (or the Uniform Civil Code) in the statute books and, of course, the politics of vote bank in view of the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections. With the Supreme Court…

Parsi women, if they marry out, are not even allowed to attend their parents’ last rites. It’s that cruel. The whole idea of me going to court was in protest—you cannot chuck me out, because my parents are now 84. You cannot tell me that when the last rites of my parents are being done, I cannot be in that room. A man can marry anyone but remain a Parsi. Indira Gandhi’s husband remained a Parsi all his life. The Gujarat High Court has a judgment that said there’s a “deemed conversion” when a Parsi woman marries a man of another religion. Had that been the case, Indira Gandhi would have been a Parsi, and her children would have been Parsi, too. Most importantly, it is not a custom followed…

119,952 NUMBER OF H1B VISAS the US issued in 2015 (Source: Office of Foreign Labour Certification) TOP 3 OCCUPATIONS for positions certified are computer-related, computer systems analysts being on top $130,000 PER ANNUM is the proposed minimum salary for an H1B visa holder, more than double the present $60,000 wage $400 MILLION PER YEAR could be the impact, amounting to about $4 billion over the next 10 years, as the increase in visa fee has been made applicable for 10 years…

PRAGATI ‘GRACE’ SINGH Founder of Platonicity, a matchmaking service for asexual folk When Pragati Singh first came across the term ‘asexual’ in 2014, she instantly identified with the label. But as she scoured the internet for more information about why she didn’t feel the sexual attraction that everybody always seemed to be talking about, she began to define herself as ‘grey sexual’ instead. Once defined as a complete absence of sexual desire, asexuality is now understood as more nuanced, Professor Anthony F. Bogaert points out in his 2012 book Understanding Asexuality. Grey sexuality has come to stand for the spectrum between an average level of desire (if there is such a thing) and no desire at all, with people defining themselves as demisexual or semisexual or asexual-ish. Now, Singh has…

Afew years ago, author, film historian and wildlife conservationist S. Theodore Baskaran set out on a journey to unearth the story of Indian canines. Dogs have a long history in our mythology; epics refer to them as both creatures of worship and symbols of suffering, as guardians of the gates to heaven and the entrance to hell. There are depictions of dogs in Ajanta paintings, and numerous references to them in Vedic verses. But according to Baskaran, the 25 indigenous breeds that were once cherished by the people of this land are rapidly disappearing. While researching The Book of Indian Dogs—slated to hit the shelves this month—Bhaskaran discovered that these breeds are as striking in character as any that were popularised by the West, such as the Afghan Hound or…

It’s not clear exactly when ‘the blues’ came to India, but jazz in its Swing-Big Band avatar was firmly established in the bigger hotels all over India by the end of the 1930s. What most of the Angrezi goras and local westernised posh folk may not have been acquainted with is the raw, working-class mother-cloud from which jazz stemmed. What we now know as ‘the blues’ or ‘rhythm and blues’ (not equal to contemporary R&B) moved out of the rural speakeasies of the African-American south, to find both urban roots and electric amplification in the northern American cities between the mid-’30s and late ’40s. This blues—either a solo singer accompanying themselves on a guitar and maybe a mouth organ, or a small ensemble of four or five musicians ‘led’ by…

RISE AND SHINE Morning sunlight coming in through half-open curtains gives your body the automatic cue to stop secreting sleeping hormone melatonin. Keep flowers near your bed for a day-long mood lift, says a 2007 Harvard study BREATHE EASY Place hands on chest, inhale for 5 seconds, hold breath for 5 seconds and exhale for 5 seconds. Repeat for 2 minutes. You’ll keep calm through the day FIRST CUP Drink a glass of water before tea, coffee or juice to rev up metabolism RIGHT BREAKFAST It makes you more energetic, calm and less likely to overeat through the day. We recommend a cup of low-fat yoghurt with 30 g chopped almonds (University of Missouri research) When @ work... If you work in a noisy open-plan office, pay attention to your…

Behind all the glitz, glamour and gloss, is the sweat and blood of the fashion professionals, working day and night to make things happen. Being a professional in this competitive and ever changing fashion world is tough, and surviving is tougher. Keeping this in mind, the fact remains, that being a professional in the ever alluring world of fashion, is a dream and aspiration of many. The fashion industry offers a vast array of careers for those who love fashion, art and style. For many aspiring designers, entry into a top fashion or design school is the first step towards achieving their dream. Undoubtedly, having a formal fashion education, under an expert and experienced faculty, at a premier institute, gives the leverage and edge to hone one’s skills and bag…

Mickey Contractor Mickey Contractor has been at the forefront of make-up in India for over three decades. He’s a oneman industry, a glamour machine bringing Indian beauty trends to the international stage and vice versa. His grasp of the minimal is unmatched, as is his flair for sensual and dramatic looks. What sets them apart He is the man who witnessed and partook in the transformation of make-up from the cakey 80s to the glam 2000s. As MAC’s Director of Make-Up Artistry in India, he’s more than an icon to the Eastern audience. Sabyasachi Sabyasachi’s entry into fashion was celebrated from his very first show in 2002. He has successfully forayed into other creative fields such as costume and interior design, and collaborated with some of the biggest names such…

Dance Along February 19 Catch Grammy-nominated French DJ and musician, DJ Snake live in town with a performance that is sure to turn into a party you’ll remember. Hear him play popular singles like Lean On and Bird Machine. Opening the act will be Indian bass heavyweight, Nucleya playing hits like Akkad Bakkad, Aaja and Mumbai Dance. At VGP Beach Resorts, East Coast Road, Injambakkam Tickets on bookmyshow.com Want to tell us about an event? A new store? A restaurant? People doing interesting things? Anything newsworthy? Please email us at: simplychennai@intoday.com…

Adishakti Laboratory for Theatre Arts and Research is organising the third edition of Remembering Veenapani, a festival in memory of the theatre stalwart. Plays and concerts will be held during all weekends of the month at their in-house performance space. Catch acclaimed plays from across the country, dance performances and music concerts in the calming ambience of the campus located at the edge of Auroville. A THESPIAN’S DELIGHT ? February 10 Across, Not Over by Vikram Iyengar, Chennai (dance) ? February 11 Safe for the Ages & Kaartikz Ensemble, Bangladesh (music) ? February 12 Rage and Beyond (dance theatre) ? February 17 C Sharp C Blunt, Bangalore (theatre and music) ? February 18 Park, Bangalore (theatre) ? February 19 Queen Size, Bangalore (theatre) ? February 20 A Million Stars by…