Sultry Chitrangada Singh

Eight of the country's hottest designers wish Cosmopolitan India a Happy fifteenth Birthday in the best way they know how -- by creating outfits specially designed for the fun, fearless Cosmo spirit, encapsulated in the sultry siren that is Chitrangada Singh.

Designed by Raakesh Agarvwal this sequinned, draped, corseted dress with ruched skirt and tassel detailing turns Chitrangada into the 70s golden cabaret girl! Fun outfit for a club outing.

A full-length, silk-satin gown with statement shoulder embellishment, a Sanchita Ajjampur creation for a classy evening.

Draped shift dress with a smokey print and embellished shoulder by Gaurav Gupta gives Chitrangada the informal, glamourous look.

Namrata Joshipura's sequinned pencil dress with ribbed shoulders and lace detailing with ribbed shoulders and lace detailing.

Abraham & Thakore do a silver, sequinned, sheer full-length dress for Chitrangada, who is sporting strappy platforms by Trèsmode and a ring by Aquamarine.

Malini Ramani brings out the Egyptian queen with stretched cotton dress with sequin and leather collar and cuffs.

Chitrangada shows off a Varun Bahl hand-crafted, sequinned, beaded dress with sheer panel.

Shantanu & Nikhil's stretch lycra draped dress with tassel detailing on shoulder brings out a smouldering Chitrangada.

Lisa Haydon's style quotient

Hottie Haydon: Lisa's style way

Sequins, shimmer, glitter, and shine...right now is all about standing out in
this season's heavy-metal favourites- Lisa Haydon, super model, shows the readers of Cosmopolitan India this October.

Lisa spreads smooth in thisi silk-lamé playsuit by Namrata Joshipura, price on request; champagne coloured pumps in satin by Steve Madden, Rs 6,999; stone and silver ring, Amethyst, Rs 3,250.

Raise the temperatures in this maxi dress by Stella McCartney, price on request; suede sandals by Tresmode, Rs 5,990.

Sheer is in with this net jacket, price on request, and leotard, Rs 15,500, both by Rohit Gandhi+Rahul Khanna; Mia jacquard bag by Fendi, Rs 73,300; silver ring, Amrapali, Rs 1,089.

Lady Gaga look of Lisa in a metallic sequinned mini dress by Gaurav Gupta, price on request; glass, crystal and stone cuff, Rs 26,500, and silver cuff, Rs 20,315, both by Amethyst.

Flaunt your taned legs in this gold metallic-detail top by Anand Kabra, Rs 47,500 (comes with a skirt); leather belt by Fendi for Rs 32,200; Bevy suede pumps by Steve Madden, Rs 4,999.

Shine in this embellished top at any do; designed by Varun Bahl, price on request; jacket, Hemant & Nandita, Rs 16,000; skirt, Rohit Gandhi+Rahul Khanna, Rs 19,500.

Let the babe out in this sheer top (worn inside) by Abraham & Thakore, price on request; colour-block shift dress by Manish Arora, Rs 16,950; necklace, Fendi, price on request; watch, 'La D de' Dior, Rs 5,85,000; peep-toe pumps, Steve Madden, Rs 5,999.

Video Of Couple Having Sex While Skydiving Sparks Probe

A explicit video of a skydiving sex stunt has sparked an investigation by U.S aviation authorities.

The video, which was posted on the blog of pornstar and part-time skydiving instructor Alex Torres, shows him and a woman having sex as they freefall over Kern County, California.

But it has led to controversy and a police investigation after parents got wind that students at a nearby high school discovered the video and began sharing it online.

Lewd: This censored still shows porn star and part-time skydiving instructor Alex Torres and skydiving school secretary Hope Howell having sex as they parachute over Kern County, California

And the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has warned that any activity that could distract the pilot while he's flying could violate federal regulations.

The video shows Mr Torres, an instructor at Skydive Taft, and Hope Howell, the company's secretary, having sex in a plane before jumping out in tandem and continuing the act midair.

Ian Gregor, a spokesman for the FAA, told kget.com that the watchdog had no explicit policy on sexual conduct in private planes, but that any activity that could jostle a pilot or hamper his ability to concentrate could be a violation of federal aviation guidelines.

At one point during the video, the couple are shown having sex in a jump seat next to the pilot.

Viral: Mr Torres had posted the video on his personal blog, but took it down after students at a local high school began sharing it online

Despite a police investigation, Lieutenant Ed Whiting of the Taft Police Department told kget.com there were no charges pending.

Everyone in the video was of age and since no-one complained about witnessing the dive no public nudity charges can be brought.

'One teenage boy saw it, was upset at the girl in the video, and took it and posted it to all his friends,' Lieutenant Whiting said.

Consequences: Ms Howell's future at Skydive Taft, the parachuting school involved, is now in doubt. Mr Torres, right, has been sacked from his skydive instructor job

David Chrouch, owner of Skydive Taft, told kget.com that he has since sacked Mr Torres, but has not yet decided what will happen to Ms Howell.

'I didn't know it until one of the officers came over from the Taft Police Department and informed me this was going around the kids in school and stuff,' he said.

'Apparently they told my pilot it was OK to do this and got here early in the morning before anyone got here and shot this,' Mr Chrouch added.

Mr Chrouch said that he had since found out that the video was a stunt Mr Torres had put together to get the attention of shock-jock radio star Howard Stern.

Mile high club: Skydive Taft in Kern County, California

The video is Not SAFE FOR WORK and can be viewed at Liveleak

Dangerous Liaisons in Assam

Crime related to passion rises in Assam

Bhupen Roy breaks down on hearing of his wife's killing.

Aman walks down Guwahati streets brandishing the severed head of his wife. It was retribution, he says, for being cheated in marriage. Another man strangulates his wife on a similar suspicion. A security officer guns down the wife of an MLA and then shoots himself. Were they lovers? Fun turns to tragedy as a young man kills his business partner while fighting over call girls at a resort.

There has been a disturbing rise in crimes of passion in Assam. At least 15 people have lost their lives in the name of love in three months. Violence in public had lurked below the surface in the state for the last two decades ever since insurgency and army operations became a way of life. But now, private passions are beginning to show their dark, sinister side.

On October 7, autorickshaw driver Ranjit Das, 46, shook the state to its core after hacking his wife with a machete and walking down the streets of Dispur with her severed head. Das, who hails from Tihu, a small town in Nalbari district, suspected that his wife, a nurse, was having an affair with a colleague. On the same day, Bazrul Haq, 35, strangulated his wife Samina Begum in Dhubri, western Assam. He suspected her of having affairs with several men on the sly.

On October 10, Sanatan Das, 27, personal security officer of Asom Gana Parishad MLA Bhupen Roy, shot dead Roy's wife, Anjali, 35, and then committed suicide. Sanatan and Anjali were allegedly having an affair. A sexual orgy turned violent on September 16. Twenty-six-year-old businessman Sonal Banerjee was allegedly killed by his partner and surrendered ulfa member Kukil Gogoi at a resort in Sonapur, near Guwahati. They were reportedly fighting over the attention of five call girls they had brought into the resort.

"Assamese society has always been a liberal society, with little social pressure or interference in personal life," says Indrani Dutta, director, Omeo Kumar Das Institute of Social Change and Development, Guwahati. But in an era of cell phones and Internet, individual rights and freedom are being redefined. "And reactions are often sudden and violent." Add to it the rise of human rights groups in the wake of army operations. "It's a welcome development. But the line between aggression and assertion is very thin," she adds. People cross social and legal barriers whenever their sense of being wronged attains critical mass.

The middle class in Assam is at a crossroads, feels Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta, IGP, Assam Police. He blames exposure to globalised lifestyles on 24x7 television and the hankering to ape the West for it.

An extra-marital affair doesn't always have a macabre end. Bashanti Bordoloi (name changed), 45, an excise superintendent in Tinsukia and a mother of two college-going students, lodged a complaint at the Assam Police Headquarters against an SP who she allegedly had an affair with. She didn't want any punishment for the SP. "Just force him to continue the relationship with me," she requested the investigating officer.

Ranjit Das after he killed his wife

Relationship issues are often sensationalised on local TV channels. In September this year, a TV channel broadcast the story of a woman assaulted by her late husband's acquaintances. It was later found that she was not mentally stable. On August 17, residents of Jyotinagar in Morigaon barged into a rented house where an unmarried couple was found in a compromising situation. Despite police presence, mediapersons filmed the naked woman while local women waited outside to chop off her hair.

A similar scene was repeated a fortnight later in Nagaon where a government employee was caught while having sex in his rented house. Locals entered the house and assaulted the man before handing him over to the police for "polluting" the environment. "To keep the public happy, we detain the 'accused' in such cases," says Jeetmal Doley, Morigaon superintendent of police.

But will that stop the state from slipping through the grey zone of dangerous passions?

Twin Blasts in Manipur On Diwali Injure 7 Civilians

Imphal, Oct 27 : Two bombs exploded at separate locations at Alu Gali in Imphal's Thangal Bazaar, injuring at least seven civilians, on Wednesday night.

The first bomb went off outside a branch of the Indian Overseas Bank while minutes later, another powerful bomb ripped apart a garments shop.

Several people participating in Diwali festivities outside their homes were injured in the explosions.

Primary investigations are underway and the explosions are believed to have been caused by IEDs.

'Unwanted' Babies in Mizoram A Worrying Trend

Aizawl, Oct 26 : Mizoram may hold its head high as having the best male-female ratio according to Census 2011, but the increasing cases of "unwanted" babies in the state worry child rights activists.

An abandoned eight-month-old baby girl was found on a road in Ramhlun locality here on the night of October nine, while a foetus suspected to be an aborted baby was found the next day near a place of worship in Kulikawn locality.

Another body of a newly-born was found near a road in Mizoram-Manipur border Pawlrang hamlet on October 22. A social worker says that the recent spurt in 'infanticide' and 'foeticide' in the state may be due to increase in the population of ethnic Mizos from Myanmar and Manipur.

Ruatfela Nu, a child right activist and member of the state Child Welfare Committee (CWC) says that abortion among the unmarried women is prevalent She also says that many commercial sex workers who were drug addicts or alcoholics were not serious about raising children.

Dr C Lalhrekima, a prominent psychiatrist, also says that infanticide and foeticide are a social problem in Mizoram. "There are some women, carrying unwanted babies, who came for counselling and later they agree to raise babies," Lalhrekima says.

The CWC has taken up 1,100 cases of children in need of protection and care since 2005 and a majority of the cases were for admission in orphanages and children homes.

With the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and Indian laws on protection of child rights advocating raising of children in normal families, social workers and law enforcement officials want to avoid admission of orphans and abandoned children in orphanages and homes.

We want abandoned children and orphans to live normal family lives," Ruatfela Nu says.

Internet & Mobile Network Failures in Mizoram irks CM

Aizawl, Oct 26 : Internet and mobile phone network failures are the order of the day in the remote Mizoram, where internet is an integral part of profession for quite a lot of people like in the rest of the world.

Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla highlighted the persistent connectivity problems in Mizoram at the 56th National Development Council meeting in New Delhi on Saturday last, attributing the problems mainly to the difficult topography of the state.

Laying optical fiber cables (OFP) is not viable because of frequent landslides and high incidence of damage through road construction activities, Mr Lal Thanhawla said.

Besides problem of connectivity from outside the state, communication system within the state is also very poor, he said.

Against the original decision to construct 72 USOF mobile telecommunication towers, only 37 towers have been constructed out of which about 22 towers could not be utilised due to the absence of backbone connectivity, he stated. Micro-based system had limitations because of geographical terrain and climatic condition like sudden bandwidth drop due to heavy rain with thick cloud.

V-SAT could hardly meet the requirement due to various reasons, he pointed out.

According to the Chief Minister, BSNL, which is the main service provider, having OFC as telecommunication backbone, is also not reliable as its network uptime is hardly 60 per cent.

Other service providers have similar problems because of poor connectivity from the main gateway, he said. BSNL, according to Mr Lal Thanhawla, is reluctant to sign service legal agreement (SLA) for Mizoram SWAN projects under NeGP because they cannot provide 99.8 per cent uptime connectivity.

Unreliable telecommunication infrastructure had prevented the state government from establishing software technology park, IT-enabled services/BPOs, call centres, medical transcription, telemedicine and various other internet-based activities, Mr Lal Thanhawla highlighted.

The Chief Minister suggested adoption of optical ground wire (OPGW) in place of OFC underground from Badarpur near Silchar (Assam) to Aizawl and from Aizawl to district headquarters, sub-divisional headquarters, block headquarters down to villages.

The concerned authorities in the ministry of communication and information technology may sit with state officials to revise the strategy of USOF and implementation plan by keeping in abeyance work order already issued including execution of work through RailTel Corporation of India Limited, Lal Thanhawla suggested.

ULFA Demands Constitutional Amendments At Talks With Govt

Ulfa leaders during talks with Home Secretary R.K. Singh

New Delhi, Oct 26 : A charter of demands of the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), which includes constitutional amendments to provide Assam greater control over its natural resources, was discussed Tuesday with a central government team led by Home Secretary R.K. Singh during peace talks here.

"It was a very positive meeting. We have had a point-by-point discussion on our charter of demands," ULFA chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa, who led the six-member team of his outfit, told reporters after the 90-minute talks held at the North Block office of the union home ministry.

This is the second round of talks between ULFA and the centre, after a ceasefire was agreed to early this year.

"We hope that the positive attitude of the central government will continue and help in finding an amicable solution to our demands," he added after the closed-door talks.

P.C. Haldar, the interlocutor between the two sides, and senior officials of the ministry were also present.

The next round of talks would be held in November, officials sources told IANS.

The centre told the ULFA team that their demand will be discussed in detail in the next round when officials from different ministries would take part, sources said.

However, the ULFA leaders were non-committal about the surrender of their arms. Sashadhar Choudhury, self-styled foreign secretary of the ULFA, said: "We have not attended the peace talks with our arms. We are also not going to tell you where our cadres have kept the arms."

He said the planned camps, 'abanirman kendras', to provide designated shelter to the ULFA cadres, were not ready so far.

The charter of demands includes constitutional amendments to give Assam greater control over its natural resources, revenue generation, participation in the planning process, ensuring a secure demographic situation, besides accelerated and balanced development.

The minutes of the meeting will be notified in the gazette, official sources said.

ULFA and the central government entered into a ceasefire earlier this year after the rebel leadership was released on bail.

On Sep 3, the ULFA had signed a "suspension of Operation" pact with the government,.

Rajkhowa had led an eight-member ULFA team during introductory talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Home Minister P.Chidambaram in February.

ULFA, one of the biggest rebel outfits in the tea and oil-rich region of Assam, has fought for an independent homeland for Assamese since 1979.

At least 10,000 people, mostly civilians, have died in Assam because of fighting between government forces and rebels in the past three decades.

The much-hyped talks hit a major roadblock with ULFA's elusive commander-in-chief Paresh Baruah rejecting the initiative.

Baruah, said to be hiding in the Myanmar-China border area, in an e-mail statement said: "We cannot support the peace talks as the ULFA leadership led by Rajkhowa is under the influence of our enemy (government)."

But the ULFA chairman maintains that Paresh Baruah is not opposed to the peace talks.