Srinivas Padma: Personal Musings on Life, Growth, and Connections

Beyonce new hit Irreplaceable is the kind of song that stays lodged in your brain, says KELEFA SANNEH If you go down to your local record shop today and buy a copy of the recent Beyoncé album, B’Day, you might notice a sticker on the cover, advertising the contents. “Includes Deja Vu featuring JayZ,” it says. Also: “Ring the Alarm And: Bonus Track: Listen.” There is no indication that the album includes one of the year’s best (and maybe biggest) pop songs. No warning that, after listening to track nine, you may find a silly little catchphrase — “To the left, to the left” — lodged in your brain. In other words, there is no mention of a fast-rising hit called Irreplaceable, which might just be the greatest... Well, let’s not get carried away. But let’s acknowledge that this is precisely the kind of song that makes it easy to get carried away. The outdated sticker is proof that a lot has changed since September, when Beyoncé’s second album was released, a day after her 25th birthday. It w...

Sourav Ganguly was named in the 16member squad for the threeTest series against South Africa starting from December 15, here on Thursday. With the Indian team barely enduring a baptism by fire in South Africa, the selectors had no choice but to strengthen the batting line-up. Out went Suresh Raina, Mohammad Kaif and Dinesh Mongia and in came the tried and tested — Ganguly and V.V.S Laxman. Laxman will not only carry the load of batting but also of vicecaptaincy on this tough tour. Ganguly’s name was in the air ahead of the selection committee’s meeting that was shifted from Mumbai to Delhi as BCCI president Sharad Pawar was in the national capital, busy with the ongoing Parliament session. “Our batsmen have not played well. We need experi enced players,” said selection committee chairman Dilip Vengsarkar. “Our senior players have performed reasonably well. Our bench strength is not good but the experience of Ganguly and Laxman should come in handy on the pacy wickets.” Laxman being thr...

3 KILLED, CURFEW IN SOME TOWNS(Nashik-Maharashtra) ¦ AMBEDKAR STATUE DESECRATION IS CAUSE Three persons were killed, two of them in police firing in Osmanabad and Nashik, and curfew was imposed in four areas across Maharashtra as violent mobs belonging to different factions of the original Republican Party of India went on the rampage, protesting against the desecration of a statue of Dr B.R. Ambedkar in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh. Mumbai bore the brunt of the anger of the dalits as mobs stoned buses on the highway and roamed the streets, moving southwards from the eastern and western suburbs to the central part of Mumbai city, asking shops to down their shutters and stopping trains in some areas. The mobs did not spare the stately train Deccan Queen, which was coming from Pune. Near Ulhasnagar they torched five carriages of the train. Eyewitnesses said they asked the people to get off the train before setting it on fire. Many dalit leaders were shocked at the intensity of the violence. Nam...

Cellphone is bringing economic clout and profit to poor laborers in India For less than a penny a minute -- the world's cheapest cellphone call rates -- farmers in remote areas can check prices for their produce. They call around to local markets to find the best deal. They also track global trends using cellphone-based Internet services that show the price of pumpkins or bananas in London or Chicago. By Kevin Sullivan Short Story: Babu Rajan pointed off the starboard bow and shouted: "There! There!" In choppy, gray seas four miles from shore near India's tropical southern tip, Rajan spotted the tinselly sparkle of a school of sardines. He ordered his three dozen crewmen to quickly drop their five-ton net overboard. Within five minutes, the cellphone hanging around his neck rang. "Hallo!" he shouted, struggling to hear over the big diesel engines of his 74-foot boat, Andavan. "Medium sized! Medium sized!" he said, estimating the haul for a wholesal...

MORE STUDENTS ARE OPTING TO PURSUE TECHNOLOGICAL RESEARCH AND FASHION DESIGNING IN ITALY. WE LOOK AT WHY ITALY IS CONSIDERED ONE OF THE HOTSPOT STUDY DESTINATIONS OF YOUNGSTERS TODAY 2007 HAS BEEN DECLARED AS THE YEAR OF ITALY BY INDIA, AND THERE ARE PROSPECTS OF EXCHANGE PROGRAMMES OPENING UP BETWEEN MANAGEMENT INSTITUTIONS LIKE THE IIMS.. I n the last couple of years, Italy has become one of the most sought after study destinations by Indian students. Italy ranks as one of the eight most industralised countries in the world and promises much more than internationally recognised education, along with opportunities to study Italian and experience one of the fashion capitals of the world. Some of the oldest universities in Italy have alumni who were pioneers in the fields of medicine and architecture. For example, University of Bologna had names such as Dante Aligheri and Nicolaus Copernicus, studying at the university while the University of Pisa had noted physicist and astronomer, Gal...

By SHAMIK CHAKRABARTY Kolkata Sourav Ganguly on Wednesday stepped down as Bengal captain to pave the way for his expected return to the Indian Test squad. Speculation is rife about Ganguly’s imminent comeback and a sudden shift of venue for the selection committee meeting, due on Thursday, has added grist to the mill. The team for the South Africa Test series was to be picked in Mumbai on Thursday, but the venue has now been changed to New Delhi. This is to enable the president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, Mr Sharad Pawar, to interact with the Dilip Vengsarkar-led selection committee. A BCCI directive on the former India captain appears to be on the cards. Ganguly’s chances have also brightened after coach Greg Chappell’s reported remarks that he wouldn’t mind if the Bengal left-hander was considered for the Test squad. Chappell, in any case, is not in a position to call the shots against the backdrop of a dismal tour so far. It is learnt that the majority of selectors...

IF YOU ARE BETWEEN 20 AND 40 AND HAVE A SEDENTARY JOB IN FRONT OF THE COMPUTER, YOU ARE A GOOD CANDIDATE FOR LOWER BACK PROBLEMS - HYDERABAD: A few years back, lower back problems could have been termed rare, however today it’s become as common as the common cold. If doctors are to be believed almost 95 per cent of the population suffers from low back pain at some point in their life. Says Dr Surya Prakash, an orthopedic surgeon, “Almost 50 per cent of my outpatient turn up has this complaint. Most are in the age group of 20 to 40.” While most often people tend to neglect such pain, they are advised not to, for it could get serious, resulting in sciatica (slipped disc), spondylolysis or spondilolythesis. That’s exactly what happened to Vinai Rajaram, a research scholar, whose work in the lab involved sitting at one place for long hours, studying samples and carrying out experiments. “Eariler I thought it was normal back pain and neglected it. I would sit at one place for 5-6 hours at a...