New data reveals that virtual displays of affection are the ultimate romantic faux pas of the Internet social media age.
Soppy lovebirds who take to Twitter and Facebook to announce their love are a big turn-off for 50% of users of the social networking sites, a new UK study has found.
New data revealed that virtual displays of affection are the ultimate romantic faux pas of the Internet social media age and many users admit to feeling annoyed or embarrassed by friends.
According to a UK-based dating website match.Com, the digital era's way of demonstrating one's love a little too openly annoys or embarrasses nearly half of users.
Researchers show while these messages may be relished by the couples involved, they dont auger well with others, the 'Daily Express' reported.
As many as four in 10 participants were left cringing after seeing friends exchanging overly-romantic or flirtatious messages with their partners online.
Over a third of them said they are bombarded with comments or wall posts about a painful breakup - with the majority saying they would rather not know, the report said.
While a third of users preferred not to see people call their partner by a pet name, many users just don't feel comfortable with friends using public social media sites to share intimate details of their love lives, research suggests.
However, some aspects of intimacy don't bother users at all, with 90 per cent of those asked in the survey admitting they had no objections to a shared profile picture of a friend and their partner.
Varun Dhawan, a 14-year-old resident of south Mumbai, has packed his bags with plenty of warm clothes and is ready to go. No, he is not going for a vacation, but is going to study at a boarding school in the US, from his Grade-VIII onwards. He is not alone. Dhawan joins a host of other Indian children who have now started moving abroad to study, starting from secondary education itself.
With a higher disposable income, affluent parents in India are not averse to the idea of sending their children abroad for school education. Educationists and education consultants say there has been a 25-30 per cent rise in the number of students going abroad for higher education.
Sunitha Perumal, country head of EF International Academy, said, "People from the upper class send their children to schools abroad. Opportunities that would be available abroad and subject combinations are very vibrant." EF International Academy provides education from grades 9 to 12 in its four campuses in the UK, US and Canada, and has seen students coming from across the world, including India, said Perumal.
For parents who do not want to send their children very far, countries like Singapore and West Asian nations offer a good opportunity. Abraham John, chairman, The Indian School, Bahrain, said the school had become a preferred destination for school education in the country. The school currently has 10,200 students; their number increased by over 1,200 in academic year 2012-13.
"Approximately, 90 per cent students are Indians in our school," John said, adding the school followed the Central Board of Secondary Education, and placed an equal emphasis on sports and other activities.
In terms of most popular destinations, educationists said countries like the US, UK and Australia followed by Germany, Singapore and Switzerland were preferred by Indian parents.
On an average, the fee structure for grades 8 to 12 is significantly higher in foreign countries, compared to India. Sample this: The parent of a grade 8 student in an average Indian school in a metro has to pay an annual tuition fee of Rs 25,000, with an additional Rs 10,000 spent on books, uniform and stationary. In an average school in the US, the fee structure may range from Rs 15 to 30 lakh depending on its size and location.
"Though schools abroad are very expensive, we are seeing an increasing number of Indian parents sending their children there. Even individuals from non-metros such as Jalandhar, Surat, Ludhiana and Indore are opting to send their children abroad for school education," said Naveen Chopra, founder and chairman of The Chopras, an overseas education consultancy.
Apart from global exposure, the option to choose from a wide range of subjects, including music and fine arts, is one of the primary reasons why parents send children to schools abroad. "In India, though schools offer facilities like music, dance and sports, these are termed extra-curricular activities. The schools do not take these activities seriously, as they are considered as components over and above the school curriculum," said a New Delhi-based consultant.
In schools abroad, small classes with an average student strength of 15 to 25, with equal emphasis on other aspects of learning, are a 'pull-factor', said consultants. "In countries like the US, there is no undue pressure on students during Grades 9-12, unlike we have here for the board examinations for these grades. Hence, parents who can afford the education there, prefer to send children to schools abroad for holistic learning, compared to textbook education in most Indian schools," said a education sector expert.
A Mumbai-based education consultant said that unlike degree education, visa regulations of most overseas nations placed lesser restrictions on students travelling to those countries for school education. "They do not see these students as a threat to the locals, in terms of employment, which is an issue for higher education courses. Hence, it is relatively easier to get a visa for pursuing school education," said the consultant.
While an overall percentage of students from India are going abroad, the percentage of those going for school education is still small. Educationists expect this trend to continue. Industry experts said that in the next five years, there would be a 30-35 per cent rise in the number of students going abroad for school education.
According to research by the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore (IIM-B), Indian student flows to the world grew by 256 percent between 2000 and 2009. The numbers increased from 53,266 to 1,89,629 in the same period.
Last Thursday evening, a press release from the Pune Warriors India franchise announced that Sri Lankan allrounder Angelo Mathews would lead the team in IPL 6. Thus, Mathews became the fourth man to captain Pune in two seasons, following Yuvraj Singh, Sourav Ganguly and Steven Smith. Interestingly, Mathews was not even the first choice for the 2013 season, but was zeroed in on after Michael Clarke was ruled out of the league through injury.
Thus, Mathews became the third Sri Lankan to captain an IPL team this season, following the appointment of Mahela Jayawardene as captain of Delhi Daredevils for 2013 and Kumar Sangakkara getting the nod to lead Sunrisers Hyderabad. Sangakkara, a former Sri Lanka captain, had earlier led Kings XI Punjab and Deccan Chargers.
A cursory glance down the nine squads for IPL 6 reveals that there are four Indians who will captain IPL franchises in 2013. MS Dhoni is at the helm of affairs for Chennai Super Kings, Gautam Gambhir will lead current IPL champions Kolkata Knight Riders, Virat Kohli has been made full-time leader of Royal Challengers Bangalore and Rahul Dravid is captain-coach of Rajasthan Royals.
Aside from the three aforementioned Sri Lankans, Mumbai Indians have a new captain in Ricky Ponting, who was purchased at his base price of $400,000 at the February auction despite not having featured in the IPL since 2008. Adam Gilchrist, having last season publicly announced after KXIP were eliminated from IPL 5 that he had played his last IPL match, was surprisingly named in the Mohali franchise's roster during the off season and will again lead the side.
It can be argued that there is a tactic behind this, in that teams choose not to appoint foreign captains in order to have four overseas options to choose from, but more realistically it appears that there is dearth of capable Indian captains. In the cases of Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag, who have both led Mumbai and Delhi previously, the two batsmen have made it clear they don't want to be burdened with leadership.
Looking at the teams currently led by overseas players, there does not appear to be any strong Indian candidate for the captaincy. In the Delhi squad, after Sehwag there is no Indian player - internationally experienced or uncapped - who looks likely to lead a heavyweight IPL franchise. Ditto for Punjab. Hyderabad has two leading players with domestic captaincy experience in Shikhar Dhawan, who led Delhi in the 2012-13 Ranji Trophy, and Parthiv Patel who has captained Gujarat for several years. But the franchise has clearly put their efforts in obtaining Sangakkara, who has led Sri Lanka with distinction.
Which leads to the question: is there a dearth of skipper material when it comes to Indian players in the IPL-6?
Actress Kajol, who played lead roles in some of the biggest Bollywood blockbusters in 1990s and early 2000s, may not be seen in too many films now a days but she is happy that her personal life has taken precedence over professional matters.
The versatile screen performer, who has two kids, says she is a strict mother and her husband, Bollywood star Ajay Devgn, does not like when she scolds her children.
"I am the stricter one between two of us. Ajay doesn't like when I scold our children in his presence. I have to be strict because I'm more of an 'at home' parent. When Ajay is around it is playtime.
Our children are used to me in his absence," Kajol told in an exclusive interview with INN.
Post-marriage, the 38-year-old actress cut down on her work though she continued to feature with big stars and collect accolades for her performance.
Despite having worked with some big banners and production houses, Kajol’s critics have one complaint against the actress — that she does not experiment and look at out-of-the-box cinema. “To be honest, I don’t like most scripts that come to me I don’t mind slightly uncomfortable characters, but I don’t like the dark roles. I do what makes me happy and I’ve been fortunate enough to have that choice,” she says adding that she wouldn’t want to do item numbers either.
The actress has been spotted making an evolved style statement at public appearances. For someone like her who hardly paid attention to her looks, Kajol has become style-conscious. Considering the illustrious lineage the actress has, she says she sees glimpses of her father in her while narrating stories to her kids. “I think I see a lot of my mum in me when I disciple my children. And sometimes I see glimpses of my aunt Nutan. But that’s that about my lineage,” she says and signs off.
Her major releases after marriage were 'Fanaa', 'U Me Aur Hum' (2008), 'My Name is Khan' (2010), 'We Are Family' (2010).
But Kajol has done special appearances in several films like 'Kal Ho Na Ho', 'Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna', 'Om Shanti Om', 'Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi' and 'Student of the Year'.
"Once I got married and had babies, I had to take time out for my children. Hence I took a break. My personal life took over my professional life and I was very happy about it," she said.
Apart from her film commitments, Kajol has been in demand for brand endorsements as well. She has been appointed brand ambassador of Kimberly-Clark Lever and will be seen in a new TV commercial of the US-based consumer goods firm's product for babies.
How about Chhattisgarh chief minister Raman Singh (he prefers to omit his surname, Thakur) playing the role of Thakur from the Bollywood epic Sholay in real life?
The chief minister thinks it’s not a bad idea and has taken it upon himself to play the role of Ramgarh’s Thakur, enacted in the movie by the inimitable Sanjiv Kumar.
Addressing a conference of district collectors and superintendents of police in Raipur recently, Mr Singh said, “Sholay’s Thakur saheb hired the mercenaries Jai and Veeru to get rid of the dreaded Gabbar Singh. You should take a leaf from the two characters and bond together to crush the demon, backwardness, in your respective areas.”
The recent decision of the state government authorising district collectors to write Confidential Character Roll (CCR) of the superintendents of police of their respective districts has not gone down well with the latter.
However, Raman Singh’s words seem to have struck a chord as the civil servants and police chiefs of the districts were seen shaking hands and exchanging pleasantries after the conference.
But the bonhomie ended there. The chief minister may be Sholay’s Thakur but he will have to do more to get his Jai and Viru to ride the iconic motorcycle with the sidecar and sing, “Yeh dosti hum nahin todenge...” Perhaps a Basanti will provide inspiration. Perhaps.
Welcome to Surankot, the perfect Kashmiri village in the heart of Karnataka.
Located within the Maratha Light Infantry and Regimental Centre (MLIRC) premises in Belgaum, the mock village serves as the perfect training ground where soldiers sharpen their skills in counter-insurgency operations.
Called a low intensity conflict operation (LICO) village, Surankot has everything that provides a Kashmiri ambience, sans snow. It has a sarpanch house, a LICO hut, a clinic, a primary school, a place of worship and typical dhoks (traditional Kashmiri huts)—in a dense jungle setting. The houses are furnished with essential commodities one may find in a typical Kashmiri home.
“The LICO village is one of its kind and we teach recruits every minute detail that is critical while undertaking search operations. We incorporate additions from time to time to these installations based on the experiences of instructors, who had been in forward areas,” said Col K M Bhagwat, Training Battalion Commander.
A special mock drill goes like this. Around 20 recruits armed with rifles and grenades surround the LICO hut based on information that some terrorists are taking shelter in the village. The team is divided into sub-groups based on the tasks assigned to them, one to provide protection and secure the area, another to search the house and so on.
Sensors fitted inside the hut act as IEDs (improvised explosive devices), to gauge the alertness of recruits. The sensors are fixed at several places like entrance door, walls, cupboards, utensils, doormat and stairs. “The hiding terrorists will use every possible item in the house to lure the search team into danger. They place the IEDs generally on innocent-looking items,” said an Army instructor.
The most striking feature of Surankot is a tunnel that connects one of the rooms in the hut to an unknown destination outside. “The idea is to expose the recruits to the modus operandi of the terrorists they will encounter while undertaking search operations,” the instructor said.
Interestingly, even foreign army personnel often undergo joint training here.
Its pure sands, lush greenery and bright sunlight make the island of Minicoy one of Lakshadweep’s most sought-after tourism hotspots. Located on the southernmost tip of the Lakshadweep, the atoll contains two islands. The main island is located on the eastern and southeastern side of the lagoon, along the reef fringe. It is about 10 km long and about 1 km wide in its southern half; the northern half is a narrow sandspit, often less than 100 m wide.
Minicoy is almost completely covered with coconut trees. From the light blue shallow waters enclosing the island to the rich cultural heritage that has been preserved for centuries, this is a perfect destination for city-slickers looking to take a break.
An important attraction here is the pristine beauty of the beaches. “It is amazing how one is able to walk in the water for kilometres at a stretch,” says a Swedish tourist. “The waters of the Arabian Sea provide a kaleidoscope of rich flora and fauna. The beauty is breathtaking.”
Tuna is one of the atoll’s key offerings, and the omnipresent food of the locals. “Whether it is a vegetable dish or even a flour snack, the essence of tuna always prevails,” says a local woman. “It is also a source of our livelihood.” The men catch tuna from the sea and bring it to the island. The women dry the fish and sell it in the market. They have also mastered the skill of preparing varieties of food with tuna, including Sweet charkara, coconut products such as Thenga Charkara, Bofathfoli (a mix of rice and Karikku), Fola (Flour and Coconut), Bonda and Keenath (a mixture of rice powder, Charkkara and coconut milk). These are popular with locals as well as tourists.
The cultural traits of Minicoy differ from those of any other island in Lakshadweep. In fact, the local customs and lifestyle are more like those seen in the Maldives than in the rest of Lakshadweep. Women play a very important role here on the island that was originally known as ‘Mahiladu’ or the ‘women’s island’. You’ll find a matrilineal society here, with men living in either their mother’s or wife’s house. “The population is predominantly female,” says Shailendran, a Navodaya Vidyalaya teacher at Minicoy, who hails from Palakkad, and has researched the island’s history. “The husbands and sons are out at sea most of the time. So all the important decisions, including money transactions and the children’s upbringing, are undertaken by the women.”
Famous for holding one of the largest varieties of corals in the country, this tiny atoll has much to offer during a snorkelling dive. It doesn’t matter if you don’t know how to swim, or are water phobic; you could traverse for miles holding the hand of a local tourist guide who will pinpoint the fancies that lie under the sea. Blue, green, yellow, red and white corals make up most of the underwater life at Minicoy. And if you are enthusiastic about heritage and culture, then you would not want to miss the 150-feet tall lighthouse, constructed in 1882, during the British rule. It’s not often that you find history and geography co-existing, and at their best.
During my two-week stay in the islands, this was one discussion constantly coming up no matter which island I went to. The beaches at Andaman and Nicobar islands are just as good. The waters here shimmer in a million shades of blue and the dive sites are one of the best all over the world. Everyone, from the tourism department to resort owners and private tour operators as well as the locals, talks about this.
They knew the answer lay in the lack of infrastructure. I can vouch for that. Having travelled to few remote islands in the Andaman group, I understood what they meant. My deep-rooted need to escape the crowd drove me to places as remote as Long Island and Little Andaman. I stayed in dingy places and stared alone, taking in the wondrous views. When my phone caught signal after a week, I called home. My family chided me because I didn’t take them with me to Andaman. I retorted saying they wouldn’t be able to stay at the places that I did and travel the way that I did. But in reality, I truly wished I could show them what I saw.
Port Blair and Havelock Island are the only places with good accommodation options. Elsewhere you are at the mercy of some enterprising locals who thought of setting up lodging facility. These places, mainly targeting the foreign backpacker, have put up extremely basic accommodation. Connectivity between the islands is a problem too, with ships running on limited schedules. While it sounds very exotic to stay in remote islands with absolutely no tourists and facilities, it doesn’t do much good to the locals.
Muthu, a migrant from Kovalam who now runs a surf board rental in Little Andaman, tells me the government decision to ban camping on the beaches has been good to the locals. “If everyone camps on the beach, then what do we get?” he asks. Indro’s family migrated to Andaman many years ago, even before he was born. Today, he lives in Kalipur with his wife and three children. Before the only private resort in Kalipur opened up, he couldn’t find much work and supporting his family wasn’t that easy. He tells me things have been much better since he got work at the resort. He now takes guests hiking up Saddle Peak among others.
In early 2000s, the three existing timber factories were shut down when the Supreme Court banned logging in the islands. This left the many migrant factory workers without a living. Today, they live off the island by fishing, few on pension and others take up small jobs here and there. But the youth still remains largely unemployed in most of these islands. Long Island is a remote island that can be reached by a six-hour boat ride from Havelock. Pawan, a teenager from this island, accompanied me on my three-hour trek to the pristine Lallaji Bay. When I asked him what he did for a living, spitting the tobacco, he answered very casually that he took up odd jobs on the island every now and then. Back at the resort in Long Island, a young girl named Soniya served me tea. Just about a month ago, having heard of this place, she convinced her parents in Rangat, a small town in Middle Andaman, to let her work here.
Tourism could be a key proponent in boosting the economy and solving the unemployment problem in the rising settler population. The islands have immense potential. But like any other place, this place is unique in its own right and tourism has to be managed carefully in a way not to disturb the delicate balance of the existing ecosystem. The forests are pristine and the marine life remarkable, lot of them endemic to these islands. In fact, the place is so remote and so pristine I have half a mind to not write anything about it and let it be the well-kept secret that it is today.
Havelock Island is already beginning to show effects of excess tourism. These islands survive on limited resources which makes it even more imperative to share the tourism load between different islands. In order to protect the islands, however, cutting down tourism at the roots is not the solution. The solution lies in managing tourism in collaboration with the locals to generate enough income and awareness.
Even before taking on tourism on a large scale, there are a few critical problems that have to be addressed first. The major one being that of power generation. Of the 572 islands, 38 are inhabited and almost all these islands depend on diesel for electricity! Considering diesel has to be imported from the mainland and electricity is provided at highly subsidised rates, the government incurs huge losses and I am scared to even consider the massive carbon footprint of the islands. Local resources such as solar, tidal, wind and bio-mass could be considered as alternative options for power generation. The second is that of solid waste management. I have seen parts of the pristine shore lines at Havelock and Neil filled with plastic waste that wash up from the sea.
When I was travelling from Port Blair to Neil by ship, many times the ship passed by plastic bottles floating in the blue waters. Apart from garbage generated by tourists, washed up plastic from the mainland also forms a bulk of the waste collected on the shore. As of now, most of the trash is either thrown into the sea or burnt. GreenLife Society, a local NGO, has tied up with several resorts in Havelock to collect and recycle the plastic waste and has seen some success. But steps have to be taken on a much higher level to deal with all the plastic in the islands.
Apart from these, the islands are also facing a lot of environmental issues, such as several endemic floras in the forests of Interview Island being destroyed by the abandoned elephants used for logging earlier or the introduced species of deer wreaking havoc on the growth of new forest or that of bleached corals. Despite all this, it is extremely sad that the only two occasions when Andaman & Nicobar was talked about was when Tsunami struck and the issue of Jarawas’ exploitation popped up.
About 1,200 km away from the mainland, we almost seem to have forgotten that this paradise is part of India too with its share of problems. These islands are too precious to be ignored and everyone deserves a chance to witness the extraordinary beauty here. The trick is in finding a balance between growing tourism and preserving the islands and that is a very delicate balance indeed.
