2009 IST, Friday, March 28, 2014 
Panorama
Simmar Pal Singh: 'peanut prince' of ArgentinaBy R. ViswanathanDuring my golf game at the Rio Cuarto Country Club in Buenos Aires recently, the Argentine players asked me where they could buy a turban and how to wear it. I asked them the reason for this special interest. They showed me a villa within the country club complex and said: "Here lives an Indian maharaja. He looks handsome with his turban. When he goes to the night clubs, he gets premium service and gets it free because they think he is a maharaja." |
Indian city scripts an e-success storyBy Alkesh SharmaChandigarh, May 25 (IANS) No more scrambling from one place to another to pay telephone, water and electricity bills or even to buy stamp papers and file RTI pleas, thanks to the North Indian city of Chandigarh administration's 'e-Sampark' centres that provide all these facilities and more under one roof. |
IPL - cricket without boundaries - leaves indelible mark on South AfricansBy Abhishek RoyJohannesburg, May 25 (IANS) The opening was dull and even tentative, but after 37 days of high drama and intense competition, the Indian Premier League (IPL) turned out to be a blockbuster that won over South African cricket fans as well the entire nation that was initially sceptical of the high-pitched Indian extravaganza. |
Manmohan Singh: Another shot to implement his 'idea of India'By Tarun BasuNew Delhi, May 21 (IANS) Exactly five years after he first took over as India's prime minister, Manmohan Singh gets another shot at running the country for a second term Friday, vindicated by the faith reposed in him by millions who voted for his personal integrity, good governance and policies that promised economic progress with equity and inclusiveness. |
Braving bullets, Kashmiris embrace ballot for developmentBy Sarwar KashaniIt was 1991. A coffin was left outside a polling booth in Srinagar, the militancy-ridden capital of Jammu and Kashmir in northern India, with the dire warning: "A free drive to hell who comes out to vote first". Nobody did, and the voting percentage in the parliamentary election didn't cross double digits. |
Electronic voting machines - the leitmotif of Indian democracyBy Azera RahmanThe Indian election is about the 714 million electorate, the many thousands who play the electoral field and the virtual army of people working behind the scenes. |
Natural jute gets a push as designers take to 'golden fibre'By Pupul Dutta and Aparajita GuptaOnce associated with dowdy sacks for the cement, sugar and fertiliser industries, the $1-billion Indian jute industry is getting an image makeover thanks to better designed goods made with this 'golden fibre', rising environmental concern and new marketing strategies. |
Saris - the epitome of Indianness, the enduring power of a piece of clothBy Madhusree ChatterjeeIt is a six-yard drape binding the past and the present. From the ancient civilisations that straddled the valleys along the river Indus to the high streets of international fashion, the sari has encapsulated thousands of years of the spirit of the Indian subcontinent. |
IBSA: Ambitious exercise in transformational diplomacyBy Manish ChandThree countries located in three continents. One vision. Thousands of miles separate India, Brazil and South Africa across oceans, but this has not hindered these three emerging major economies of Asia, Africa and Latin America speaking in one voice on pressing global issues, be it the global financial meltdown, the war against poverty, the UN reforms or climate change. |
No toilet, no bride - Haryana slogan hits the markBy Ritu SharmaThe war against insanitation is being fought by women in the state of Haryana by placing a simple condition before their daughters get married - her new household should have a toilet. |
