Jammu Court Rejects Bail to Mizoram Lady in Jackpot Lottery Scam

Jammu, Nov 8 : A local court today rejected the bail application of a Mizoram based lady allegedly taken into custody in a much publicized jackpot lottery scam, sources here said.

Chief Judicial Magistrate, Jammu Jatinder Singh Jamwal rejected the bail application of Singrothangi alias Mercy Ralte, resident of Tuithiang, Aizwal Mizoram who is alleged to be involved in the scam.

While rejecting the bail application, the CJM Jammu after hearing both the sides observed that the matter pertains to cheating public of huge amount, sources here said.

They said that according to the complainant, he was duped of an amount of over Rs 28 lakh on account of purported transaction charges. The fraud is handiwork of well trained and well equipped group of frauds including the foreign nationals and the accused is only one of them, they added.

The court, however, noticed that nothing substantial had happened in the investigation of the case and apart from the applicant, all other accused people involved in this case were still at large.

In the opinion of the court it was a fit case where the investigating authority should be provided ample opportunity to investigate the case to unearth all the hidden truths regarding the offence committed.

With these observations, the court rejected the bail application, they added.

10,000 Students Affected By Mizoram Teacher Strike

Aizawl, Nov 8 : Around 10,000 students are likely to be affected as teachers belonging to Mizoram Deficit Mission Schools Association (MDMSA) has decided to launch indefinite strike from Tuesday.

The strike, to be launched ahead of the annual examinations, by teachers of the best educational institutions in the state ran by churches like Catholic, Seventh Day Adventist, Presbyterian and Baptist churches, is likely to affected education.

The teachers have been demanding hike in the salaries in line with Sixth Pay Commission recommendations, introduction of pension scheme and application of modified ACP.

They had taken mass casual leave for a week and decided to go on an indefinite strike after the state education minister Lalsawta failed to give them any concrete promise, they said.

Manipur Blockade Enters 100th Day

By Oinam Sunil & K Sarojkumar Sharma

Imphal, Nov 8 : The economic blockade of Manipur entered 100 days on Monday, with no sign of respite for its long suffering people. While the Kuki tribals withdrew their agitation from November 1, the Nagas remain unrelenting and continue to block the state's lifelines, the Imphal-Dimapur and Imphal-Silchar highways.

The Kukis, who were the first to call for the blockade from August 1, demanded the creation of Kuki-dominated Sadar Hills district from a portion of Naga-majority Senapati district. The Okram Ibobi Singh-led Congress government assured them that it will look into their demand following the report of district re-organisation committee. It also agreed to quickly grant three more sub-divisions to Sadar Hills area.

This angered the Nagas who protested against Ibobi Singh's assurance to Kukis of Sadar Hills district without consulting them. The United Naga Council (UNC) called a counter-blockade on the two highways on August 21 to oppose any move to bifurcate Naga dominated areas without consulting them. The UNC is also demanding an alternative administrative arrangement for the Nagas of Manipur.

Left without an option with soaring prices of essentials, an angry Ibobi Singh warned protesters of stern action. "We have waited and watched the agitation that has taken a toll on the common people. Our tolerable limit is over," he said.

With assembly elections in February 2012, the Ibobi government was wary of using strong-arm tactic against the agitators. But now that popular opinion in Imphal valley is turning against him, the CM is worried of losing support among the majority Meitei people.

"We stand in queues for petrol which is Rs 240 per litre. I bought a cooking gas cylinder for Rs 1,900 today. This is simply unacceptable. But the government is doing nothing," fumed Ibomcha Singh of Imphal. Another Imphal resident, Mema Devi, said, "For the last 99 days, our kitchen budget has gone for a toss as prices fluctuate every week. Only vegetables prices have not increased much as it is winter now.

In normal times, around 300 trucks and tankers enter landlocked Manipur daily with essentials and fuel. During the blockade, the government could manage to get only 1,200 to 1,300 goods trucks a week. Add to this the cost of escorting these trucks on the Imphal-Silchar and Imphal-Dimapur highways, and the blockade begins to hurt.

Miss World 2011 Crowned: Miss Venezuela Ivian Sarcos

Venezuela's Ivian Sarcos wins Miss World 2011 crown

Emotional moment: Miss Venezuela Ivian Sarcos is crowned winner at the Miss World competition held at Earls Court in London.

Miss Venezuela, Ivian Sarcos, is crowned Miss World 2011 in Earls Court in west London November 6, 2011 REUTERS/Paul Hackett

Miss Venezuela Ivian Sarcos reacts as she is announced winner at the Miss World competition held at Earls Court in London, Sunday, November 6, 2011. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Miss Venezuela Ivian Sarcos reacts as she is crowned winner at the Miss World competition held at Earls Court in London, Sunday, November 6, 2011. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Competitors in the 2011 Miss World final, parade on stage during the opening ceremony of the competition in Earls Court in west London November 6, 2011 REUTERS/Paul Hackett

Contestants stand on stage at the 60th Miss World competition at Earls Court in London, Sunday, November 6, 2011. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Miss Japan, Midori Tanaka, takes part in the opening ceremony of 2011 Miss World final in Earls Court in west London November 6, 2011 REUTERS/Paul Hackett

Competitors in the 2011 Miss World final, parade on stage during the opening ceremony in Earls Court in west London November 6, 2011 REUTERS/Paul Hackett

Competitors in the 2011 Miss World final, parade on stage during the opening ceremony in Earls Court in west London November 6, 2011 REUTERS/Paul Hackett

(L-R) Miss China Chen Liu, Miss Japan Midori Tanaka, Miss India Kanishtha Dhankhar, Miss Hong Kong Hyman Chu and Miss Philippines Gwendoline Ruais pose beside the Thames during a photocall as part of the Miss World 2011 UK Tour, on October 31, 2011 in London, United Kingdom.

Now, Kerala in Afghanistan

Show us the money, we will face the bullets, say Keralites

By Ragesh Nair

Passengers wait at Cochin International Airport

Kochi, Nov 7 : Bombs and bullets, drone attacks, bleak mountains and general destruction are the common images of war-torn Afghanistan.

It would be the last place anyone in his right mind would look for a job. Unless he is the ubiquitous Malayali maverick who, so the joke goes, was ready to serve Neil Armstrong tea when he landed on the moon!

Jokes apart, Afghanistan is the hottest job destination for Keralites who once made a beeline for the Middle East.

According to manpower recruitment agencies, it’s the hefty pay packets that are attracting Keralites to Afghanistan where massive reconstruction is taking place after the Taliban were driven out by invading American forces.

Former president of the All Kerala Manpower Export Association, Mohammad K. Makkar, says there’s a huge demand for labourers in Afghanistan as international companies have set up shop there.

“Particularly electricians, plumbers, welding experts, mechanics, masons and carpenters are in high demand in the US companies. The camp where they stay is called US Labour Camp,” Makkar said.

The US companies prefer labourers from India, particularly Kerala, because they come very cheap compared to labourers from the US. And for Keralites, the salaries are better than those being offered in Saudi Arabia or other Middle East countries. Even though the risks are higher — the US Labour Camps are on Al-Qaeda’s radar — the pay seems to compensate.

According to Paulose K. Mathew, chairman of the Travel Agents’ Federation of India (TAFI), labourers from Kerala are being paid a monthly salary of US$ 1500 (Rs 75,000). Labour from the US or Europe would have to be paid at least US $10,000 a month.

Iraq is another war-torn country that is luring labourers from Kerala for higher salaries than they would get elsewhere. And Libya is expected to go through a period of reconstruction now that it has got rid of Colonel Gaddafi whose last stand has destroyed much of the country’s infrastructure.

Some 50 lakh Keralites work outside India. Saudi Arabia alone employs 20 lakh Keralites. As yet it is unclear how many Keralites work in countries like Iraq and Afghanistan, because they are mostly hired from the Middle East.

Emigration rules require that details of the contract, nature and location of job and details of the overseas employer be submitted to the Indian embassy, but many outsourcing agencies, particularly those in the Gulf countries, fly out poorly paid labourers to Afghanistan or Iraq on a visitor’s visa, keeping the Indian Embassy in the dark.

So, it doesn’t come as a surprise when protector of emigrants, Kochi, Mr Adolphus says he is not aware of any Malayalis working in Afghanistan.

“No person has been officially recruited from Kochi to these countries so far. We haven’t given emigration clearance to anyone. May be the workers are going on visit visa,” he said.

Such labour practices can be tricky. Labourers often sign a two-year contract without reading the fine print and land in trouble. Just two months ago, a group of Malayalis in Afghanistan complained that they had been tricked by recruitment agencies.

That will not deter those who hope for a better future for themselves and their families and will follow the money trail wherever it may lead.

Startling facts

* Afghanistan is the hottest job destination for Keralites who once made a beeline for West Asia. According to manpower recruitment agencies, it’s the hefty pay packets that are attracting Keralites to Afghanistan where massive reconstruction is taking place after the Taliban were driven out by invading American forces.

* Iraq is another war-torn country that is luring labourers from Kerala for higher salaries than they would get elsewhere. And Libya is expected to go through a period of reconstruction now that it has got rid of Colonel Gaddafi whose last stand has destroyed much of the country’s infrastructure. Some 50 lakh Keralites work outside India. Saudi Arabia alone employs 20 lakh Keralites.

$1,000 A Haircut: Most Expensive Hairdresser

Rossano Ferretti could be the world's most expensive hairdresser

 

Rossano Ferretti

In the world of costly cuts where a barber is a hairstylist, the $1,000 price tag is certainly hair raising but not unheard of. For some time now, stylists in the West have demanded, and got, anything upwards of $500 for a haircut. Names like Sally Hershberger, Fredereic Fekkai are almost as famous as the heads they tend to. Add Rossano Ferretti ahead of the pack as he set the bar high at $1,000.

In your world, Rs 50,000 could have fetched you an F1 premium seat last week or a laptop, three months' grocery or a sharply tailored designer suit. But in the world of affluence, it is barely a percentage of the latest de la Renta gown or a vintage bottle of French wine. Ferretti, who has styled Lady Gaga, Salma Hayek and even Princess Diana, is unapologetic about his price tag.

In India to launch his second salon at The Oberoi in Gurgaon, the first being at the Four Seasons in Mumbai, Ferretti doesn't cut hair here. He instead lends his name to L'Oreal and its premium hair-care brand Kerastase with which he's been associated for four years now. The staff at the salons is trained by the 51-year-old Ferretti himself with the salon director, Dimitri Lafiandra in this case, having worked with the Italian haircutting honcho for six years.

Today the man, a humble barber from Parma (a place he still calls home "where my wine and whisky cellars are") in Italy, runs 20 salons globally, including Milan, Paris, Madrid, New York and Los Angeles.

The Man, the Method
Buzz has it that it's 'the method' that lets Ferretti set his bar high. 'The method' is the patented haircutting technique - Metodo Rossano Ferretti - that he developed to cut hair.

How can one patent haircutting, you ask. Well, you think of a method that fits the madness, says Ferretti. Working as the stylist for Armani in his early days, he loved the way he could change people's lives through their haircut. For the record, it was he who gave supermodels Linda Evangelista her iconic bob and Christy Turlington her first bangs. The Metodo represents Ferretti's "philosophy and respect for the natural movement of hair".

"It (Metodo) respects hair, the beauty of the person and is all about the natural fall of the hair," he says. Each strand of hair has its own structure and movement: Metodo is based on this fundamental principle. When Ferretti cuts hair, he lets them dry naturally, so that the fall of the hair is wash and go.

According to him, a haircut should have more value than a suit, after all you wear it all the time. But why a haircutting technique patent, you ask again? To gain respect for the profession.

India Uncut

It's been three years since Ferretti cut the ribbon of his Mumbai salon and has been travelling to India every six months. "It's a new country every time," he exclaims. The changes he has noticed: the fascination for long hair is diminishing, there's trust in colour and there's global exposure that's shaping their choices. The haircut at the salon in Oberoi will start at Rs 2,000 for men. The maximum is Rs 6,500 for a style change for women and from a senior stylist.

It's better priced than Kim Robinson India at The Aman in New Delhi where chief stylist Rod Anker charges Rs 10,000 for a cut. The Ferretti salon in Mumbai has already developed a faithful clientele of Bollywood names, politicians and industrialists. Tanya Dubash, Lara Dutta and Jacqueline Fernandes are regulars now.

Now, the Men
Like all Ferretti salons, this salon too has a private room for one-on-one consultations. The Beverly Hills property in the US is built like an apartment with a separate entrance and parking for the celebrity client where no paparazzi can enter. But Ferretti doesn't like talking about his celebrity clients. "I can't mention one without offending the other by not talking about her," he says, maybe alluding to frail celebrity egos.

But as he insists, every woman he styles (and he only styles women except when he shaved the head of his two boys as kids) is a celebrity for him. And now the men are catching up too. "Nearly 25% of my income from Mumbai salon comes from men's styling," he says.

And worldwide too, Ferretti says men are the key drivers of growth contributing nearly 30% towards his earnings, making him wonder if he should start styling men. "This is the fastest growing segment. And once, men have been to a stylist, they will never go back to a barbershop."

Bollywood's Boldest Moments

A still from Love, Sex Aur Dhokha

Arshad Warsi and Vidya Balan in Ishqiya

John Abraham and Udita Goswami in Paap

Emraan Hashmi and Mallika Sherawat in Murder

Emraan Hashmi and Udita Goswami in Zeher

Celina Jaitley and Aftab Shivdasani in Red

Emraan Hashmi and Udita Goswami in Aksar

Know About VoIP Here

Call Using Your Phone, not your Service Provider

VoIP, Voice over Internet Protocol. In layman’s terms — this is the technology that allows you to reroute voice communications over the internet.

You’ve all heard of Skype by now, I’m sure. It’s strange that VoIP is so uncommon on the platform specifically designed to make calls.

At first glance it looks counterintuitive. But think about it — it’s your cell that you’ll keep on you at all times, not your laptop. Why hasn’t the idea caught on then? VoIP has its issues — it’s more prone to noise and latency than traditional phone calls.

Established service providers see it as a threat. International calls are much cheaper using VoIP and as internet becomes cheaper, it will only grow.

For now, remember to install a VoIP client and get a net connection to make your life easier if you need to make international calls or if you’re travelling abroad to a first world location — it’s simpler and cheaper than buying a local SIM or praying for network portability — trust me on this.

Plenty of competitors are in the market — Skype, 3CX, Vyke, Viber — take your pick.