Telangana govt to rule Hyderabad

Hyderabad: The administration of Hyderabad will remain with the Telangana government unless the Centre declares the city as a Union Territory for the 10 years it serves as the joint capital.
Existing rules do not permit any other arrangement which would allow a third party administration for the common capital. Highly placed sources in the Central government told this newspaper that irrespective of the UT status, protection of migrants and their assets would be given legislative backing along with their very status in the new state.

Uncertainty over limits of UT status

A senior bureaucrat involved in the process of creating Telangana state at the Centre said, “The AP Reorganisation Bill 2013 will clearly specify the number of years of stay and pursue of studies for a particular period to determine the local status of migrants in the Telangana state.”

There had been a general feeling among migrants, employees and businessmen from Andhra and Rayalaseema regions that the Centre would control the city’s administration when AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh had announced that Hyderabad would be the common capital for 10 years.

Sources, however, said that the Congress Central leadership was aware of these limitations and played it safe by buying time on the contentious issue. “They (Congress leaders) do not want the upbeat mood in Telangana to be spoiled with the declaration of a UT status,” the sources added.

As an option, the Centre is considering according UT status to the city with a specific mention of a time frame of 10 years on condition that it will be part of the Telangana state thereafter. The second option is to leave it to the Telangana government to administer.

“In such a case it is equal to living in a rented house,” said a senior state bureaucrat. Sources also said there was no clarity on whether to restrict the UT status, if accorded, to the GHMC limits or extend it to the HMDA.

Katrina Kaif fine with leak of bikini photos with Ranbir Kapoor

Katrina Kaif is apparently fine that her holiday pictures with Ranbir Kapoor have surfaced.
According to an online publication, the Hollywood actress was heard telling a pal that the pictures have hit two birds with one stone.

The first reason being that Salman Khan is no longer in her life and she is now in love with Kapoor.

The second reason is that the rumours of the Kapoor getting close with his former girlfriend Deepika Padukone, during the success party of their flick 'Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani' are nothing but false.

Though the 30-year-old brunette beauty is unhappy about with the way the pictures were clicked, as the couple was not aware that they were being photographed.

77 dead in Spanish train crash

Santiago De Compostela (Spain): A train hurtled off the tracks in northwest Spain killing at least 77 passengers and injuring more than 140, an official said on Thursday, with the media suggesting the tragedy could be due to speeding.

Four carriages overturned in the smash late Wednesday, smoke billowing from the wreckage, as bodies were lain out under blankets along the tracks. The wagons piled into each other and folded up like an accordion. One was ripped apart by the force of the crash, one of its ends pushed up into the air. Several witnesses spoke of a loud explosion.

"I was at home and I heard something like a clap of thunder, It was very loud and there was lots of smoke," said 62-year-old Maria Teresa Ramos, who lived just metres from where the accident happened. "It's a disaster, people are crying out. Nobody has ever seen anything like this," she added.

The accident happened at 8:42 pm (1842 GMT) Wednesday as the train carrying 218 passengers and four staff was about to enter Santiago de Compostela station in the northwestern region of Galicia. Rescue workers recovered 73 bodies from the train's wreckage and four more victims died later in hospital, said a spokesman for the Galicia high court, increasing an earlier toll figure.

A total of 143 people were said to have various injuries. Francisco Otero, 39, who was inside his parents' home just beside the section of the track where the accident happened, said he "heard a huge bang. As if there had been an earthquake."

"The first thing I saw was the body of a woman. I had never seen a corpse before. But above all what caught my attention was that there was a lot of silence, some smoke and a small fire," he said.

"My neighbours tried to pull out people who were trapped inside the carriages with the help of pickaxes and sledgehammers and they eventually got them out with a hand saw. It was unreal."

The train had left Madrid and was heading for the town of Ferrol as the Galicia region was preparing celebrations in honour of its patron saint James. A witness told radio Cadena Ser that carriages overturned several times on a bend and came to a halt piled up on each other.

Public television TVE said the train may have derailed because it was speeding at the time of the accident but a spokesman for state railway company Renfe said it was too soon to say what caused the accident.

"There is an investigation underway and we have to wait. We will know what the speed is very soon when we consult the train's black box," a Renfe spokesman said.

"Deadly High Speed" the El Mundo daily's headline ran. The paper reported that the train had been travelling at 220 kilometres (136 miles) per hour in an urban zone with a speed limit of 80 kph.

The El Pais suggested the train was travelling at 180 kilometres per hour when the accident happened.

The accident happened on a stretch of high-speed track about four kilometres (2.5 miles) from the main train station in Santiago de Compostela, the destination of the famous El Camino de Santiago pilgrimage which has been followed by Christians since the Middle Ages.

The train was the Alvia model which is able to adapt between high-speed and normal tracks.

Emergency services workers in red jackets tended to injured passengers lying on a patch of grass as ambulance sirens wailed in the background. "There are bodies laying on the railway track. It's a Dante-esque scene," Alberto Nunez Feijoo, president of the regional government, told news radio Cadena Ser.

A municipal building was made available for psychological counselling and as a centre for providing information. Carriages were lying across the tracks, some of them jammed alongside a concrete siding.

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, who is from Santiago de Compostela, was to visit the scene of the accident on Thursday. "I want to express my affection and solidarity with the victims of the terrible train accident in Santiago," he said in a Twitter message.

Pope Francis called for prayers for the victims. "He joins the families in their sorrow and calls for prayers ... in this tragic event," Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi told reporters during the pope's visit to Rio de Janeiro.

The town hall of Santiago de Compostela called off planned concerts and firework displays that had been planned as part of the festivities in honour of its patron saint.

The disaster was one of the worst in the history of Spain's rail network. In 1944, hundreds were killed in a crash also between Madrid and Galicia. In 1972, 77 people were killed in a derailment in Andalusia in the south.

Skipping Breakfast Increases Heart Attack Risk

Another reason to eat breakfast: Skipping it may increase your chances of a heart attack.
A study of older men found those who regularly skipped breakfast had a 27 percent higher risk of a heart attack than those who ate a morning meal. There's no reason why the results wouldn't apply to other people, too, the Harvard researchers said.

Why would skipping breakfast be a heart attack risk? Experts aren't certain, but here's what they think: People who don't eat breakfast are more likely to be hungrier later in the day and eat larger meals. Those meals mean the body must process a larger amount of calories in a shorter amount of time. That can spike sugar levels in the blood and perhaps lead to clogged arteries.

The researchers did not ask what the study participants ate for breakfast and were not prepared to pass judgment on whether a fatty, sugary breakfast is better than no breakfast at all.

"We don't know whether it's the timing or content of breakfast that's important. It's probably both," said Andrew Odegaard, a University of Minnesota researcher who has studied a link between skipping breakfast and health problems like obesity and high blood pressure.

"Generally, people who eat breakfast tend to eat a healthier diet," he added.

The new research was released Monday by the journal Circulation. It was an observational study, so it's not designed to prove a cause and effect. But when done well, such studies can reveal important health risks.

The researchers surveyed nearly 27,000 men about their eating habits in 1992. About 13 percent of them said they regularly skipped breakfast. They all were educated health professionals - like dentists and veterinarians - and were at least 45.

Over the next 16 years, 1,527 suffered fatal or non-fatal heart attacks, including 171 who had said they regularly skipped breakfast.

In other words, over 7 percent of the men who skipped breakfast had heart attacks, compared to nearly 6 percent of those who ate breakfast.

The researchers calculated the increased risk at 27 percent, taking into account other factors like smoking, drinking, diet and health problems like high blood pressure and obesity.

As many as 18 percent of U.S. adults regularly skip breakfast, according to federal estimates. So the study could be important news for many, said Eric Rimm, one of the study authors at the Harvard School of Public Health.

"It's a really simple message," he said. "Breakfast is an important meal."

Reebok India ropes in John Abraham as brand ambassador

New Delhi: Sportswear company Reebok India on Monday said it has roped in Bollywood actor John Abraham as its brand ambassador in a long term deal.
The company, which is repositioning Reebok as a fitness brand, however, did not disclose the value of the contract.

"We are trying to reposition Reebok as a fitness brand and John Abraham perfectly fits into the profile. He will be promoting the training and running categories," Reebok India Brand Director Somdeb Basu told PTI.

With the association, the company is looking to strengthen the training and running categories, which are its two biggest segments, and inspire Indian consumers to take up fitness as a lifestyle, he added.

Commenting on the development, Adidas Group India Managing Director Erick Haskell said: "Reebok has solid plans in the fitness sphere and we want to give our consumers a never before fitness experience at every touch point."

Reebok, a part of the Adidas Group, will launch a festival season campaign featuring Abraham for its running and training gear.

"John Abraham is the perfect embodiment of our fitness philosophy, we are very excited to partner with him and together take our commitment to fitness to the next level," Haskell said.

In June, Adidas had said it has putting behind the 211 million euro hit due to alleged fraud at its arm Reebok India and the company would focus on growing the brand with plans to open 100 'fit-hub' stores by early 2014.

Last year in May, Adidas had alleged Rs 870 crore fraud at Reebok India by the company's former managing director Shubhinder Singh Prem and former chief operating officer Vishnu Bhagat. The matter is currently under investigation.

US witnesses first Hindu gay wedding

Seema Gaur and Shannon Paul at their own wedding ceremony.

Google Glass goes to the dogs

Washington: Search engine giant Google is reportedly planning to develop its wearable computing device Google Glass for dogs with occupation.

According to New York Post, Google has teamed up with Georgia Institute of Technology, in order to develop a wearable computer system that could give bomb-sniffing and cadaver dogs an easier way to communicate with their handlers, or even let man see the world through an animal's eyes.

The project called FIDO (Facilitating Interactions for Dogs with Occupations) could allow pooches to bite down on or otherwise activate a sensor which can send information to its handler.

Google Glass is expected to be released to the mass market next year and its technical lead Thad Starner, has joined professors at the Georgia Institute to develop a computerized harness to assist working dogs.

Associate Professor Melody Jackson said that the dogs being tested for devices which could activate sensors have been found to have quickly got the hang of the sensors, which they activated using their mouths.

Jackson added that the gear is being eyed for everything from the deadly-serious business of bomb detecting or helping the blind to letting owners know when a dog has to go out or when it's time to be fed, the report added.

Telegram booking ends at 8pm today

Hyderabad: The 160-year-old telegraph service will deliver its last batch of messages on Sunday after having been an integral part of communication for decades.

BSNL chief general manager Srinivasan and C.S.N. Murthy, the senior manager (operations) AP Circle, informed that the service will end on Sunday by 8 pm at all the customer service centres. However, the telegrams that have already been sent telegrams will be delivered till July 15.

Currently, 615 telegrams (costing about Rs 50 each) are delivered every day across the state, generating a revenue of Rs 8 lakh per month. The telegram transmitting machines, which have reached their maximum usage limit, “will be depreciated,” said Srinivasan.

The state has two Central Telegraph Offices, one each in Hyderabad and Secunderabad. Every district has a customer service centre and every taluk an exchange office which had been receiving and distributing these telegrams through the postal service.

Now these employees would be deployed in BSNL’s customer service centres, call centres and exchange offices, Srinivasan said.

Lawyers and army personnel are upset at the termination of the service for it was the official mode of communication for them for years, the telegram being registered under the Indian Evidences Act and being known for its credibility when presented in court. Despite the advent of the Internet, there have been many cases of misinformation and there is no assurance of receipt of an email.

Founder of Human Rights and Consumer Protection Cell, Thakur Rajkumar Singh said the government ought to now consider the SMS as a valid piece of evidence while C. Narender, lawyer, said that there would have to be an alternative medium of communication found for their purpose henceforth.

Most Highly-Paid CEOs at U.S. Public companies in 2013

Really cool graph. I really like the fact that it is not just showing the aggregate, it is also showing the breakdown of the pay. (Though it would have been a lot more clearer not to just use shades of gray.)
For example, you can see that for Mr. Ellison it is mostly options, for Mr. Kotick it is mostly stock.

You can also pick out things like what seem to be the humongous cost of "Perks" for Mr. Bracken. What is he getting?

The other thing you'll notice is the total lack of any connection between the change in salary (Change column, fourth from the right) and the company's actual performance (last column on the right).

It is not just on the top ten or so. Checkout the bottom of the list, the CEOs of General Motors, Merck, Sprint, Cardinal Health, Aflac. See their salary performance vs. company performance.

Murray wins maiden title at Wimbledon

London: Andy Murray ended Britain's agonising 77-year wait for a Wimbledon men's singles champion on Sunday when he destroyed world number one Novak Djokovic, 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 in the blistering heat of the All England Club.

The 26-year-old became the country's first male winner since Fred Perry in 1936, the year the Spanish Civil War started, Jesse Owens defied Hitler at the Berlin Olympics and Gone With The Wind was published. It was Murray's second Grand Slam title to follow his breakthrough triumph at the US Open in 2012 which followed his Olympic gold medal as well as a heartbreaking, tearful loss to Roger Federer in the Wimbledon final.

However, Sunday's title showdown, between two men who have now contested three of the last four Grand Slam finals, rarely lived up to expectations.

Both struggled in the stifling 40-degree heat and the top-seeded Serb, who had beaten Murray in the Australian Open final in January, looked jaded after his record four hour 43-minute semi-final victory over Juan Martin del Potro.

And despite leads of 4-1 in the second set and 4-2 in the third, he was out-hit by Murray who finished with 36 winners to 31, with 21 unforced errors to the Serb's 40 and having carved out 17 break points. Inside a baking Centre Court, and watched by Victoria Beckham, Wayne Rooney as well as Hollywood stars Gerard Butler and Bradley Cooper, the first point of the match was a punishing 20 strokes.

Murray, who has played in the final of his last four majors, had break points in the first and third games, with the Scot finally pouncing on his seventh for a 2-1 lead. Djokovic levelled at 2-2 but Murray was the more aggressive, positive man and broke to love for a 4-3 edge firing almost four times as many winners than the top-seeded Serb.

Murray saved three break points for a 5-3 lead but Djokovic was furious that umpire Mohamed Lahyani had called a ball out at 30-40 while allowing play to continue with the Scot going to deuce. The British second seed took the opener 6-4 after 59 minutes with a love service game, having hit 17 winners to six and with only six unforced errors to the world number one's 17.

Murray wasn't getting complacent -- he had won the the first set of the pair's last three meetings and still lost the match. Djokovic was obviously aware of the history, speeding into a 4-1 lead with two more marathon rallies of 30 and 32 shots.

But Murray roared back to 4-4 in a final which, despite its punishing hitting, still felt flat with both players too similar in style and then appearance when they both donned white caps to combat the sun's glare. Djokovic, however, was becoming increasingly frustrated with Lahyani, the court, on which he kept slipping, as well as his own poor judgement which left him without challenges as the set progressed.

In his fog of anxiety, Murray mugged him for a break to lead 6-5 and went two sets to the good at 7-5.

Murray had only lost once when two sets up and that was in the Wimbledon third round in 2005 against David Nalbandian, his debut year when he was a rookie 18-year-old. A break in the second game of the third set gave Murray a 2-0 lead before Djokovic, having discarded the hat, raced away with the next four games for a 4-2 lead.

But terrier Murray reclaimed the break in the seventh game and levelled in the eighth with a running, curled forehand off a Djokovic drop. It was almost over.

Djokovic, in his 11th Grand Slam final, was broken for 4-5 before the British star, with the crowd on their feet, wasted three match points. He finally achieved his place in history when Djokovic netted a backhand after three hours and nine minutes of action. Pages

Salman Khan and Venkatesh to co-star in Hindi film soon

If everything goes according to plan, superstars Salman Khan and Venkatesh will soon co-star in a Hindi film.

Spilling the beans, a source close to Venkatesh says, “Talks are going on. The two are discussing a few scripts. Both are keen on working with each other. It will definitely be a Hindi film.”

He adds, “Salman and Venkatesh are having a great time bonding with each other between their shoots. After the shoot, the duo roams on bikes (separately) in and around Film City in Hyderabad.”

When contacted, Venkatesh was quite upbeat about the bonding. “Shootings of our films are taking place very close by. Whenever I get some time, I drop by the sets of his film. While we’re shooting a few action scenes for our Telugu remake of Bol Bachchan, Salman is busy with the action sequences for Mental.”

Venkatesh adds, “We’re good friends. We are more than friends. Salman is very close to our family and he’s our well-wisher and vice versa. I’m having a great time with him. I’d definitely like to work with him.”

The actor, however, plays down the upcoming project with Salman Khan. He says, “The project is on the cards. But nothing has been finalised yet.”

Signs that show if spouse is cheating on you

It is a difficult to know when your spouse could be cheating on you.

Blogger Kiri Blakely has collated some classic signs which could help you see if your husband (or wife) is cheating on you.

Firstly, your other half starts dressing better. Divorce lawyer Marilyn Stowe, has said that this is still a sign that people should look for, she said that wearing cologne all of a sudden, or changing the cologne he always wears to something new could be a sign that his lovers gave them a bottle that she likes better, the Huffington Post reported.

Another sign is that the spouse starts guarding their cellphones zealously and won't even let the other half touch it.

One more sign could be that the person starts making hurtful remarks about his/her other half.

One more sign could be that a husband starts talking about how "ugly" or "horrible" a certain woman is.

Lastly, the husband is not interested in having sex with his wife.

Two killed as Asiana passenger jet crashes at San Francisco airport

San Francisco: An Asiana Airlines Boeing 777 passenger jet crashed and burst into flames Saturday as it landed short of the runway at San Francisco International Airport, killing two people and injuring 181 others.

Investigators said they could not yet offer an explanation for the crash of Flight 214, which had 307 people - 291 passengers and 16 crew - on board when it left Seoul. But images appeared to suggest the aircraft struck a rocky area at the water's edge short of the runway at the airport - a major international hub, especially for flights to and from Asia.

Pictures showed the tail detached from the fuselage, and the landing gear had also sheared off. "At this time there are two fatalities," the city's fire chief Joanne Hayes-White said.

One person was still unaccounted for, officials said, revising downwards an earlier estimate of dozens. The remainder of those on board were uninjured.

The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said there was no indication that terrorism was to blame for the crash.

Survivor Elliott Stone told CNN that as it came in to land, it appeared the plane 'sped up, like the pilot knew he was short'. "And then the back end just hit and flies up in the air and everybody's head goes up to the ceiling." "I just crash landed at SFO. Tail ripped off. Most everyone seems fine. I'm ok," the passenger, David Eun, wrote on Twitter. But another photo from above showed a more distressing scene, with most of the roof of the plane missing and the cabin seating area charred by fire. The aircraft's wings were still attached.

"I saw some passengers bleeding and being loaded onto an ambulance," another passenger, Chun Ki-Wan, told YTN TV in Seoul. "Everything seemed to be normal before it crash-landed."

Stone said he feared for the flight crew seated in the back of the plane, which took off in Shanghai, stopped in Seoul and then headed to the United States. "They were sitting in the back end and got hammered because we landed short. And then they all fell out and it was just the most terrible thing I've seen," he said.

The airport was closed immediately after the incident but two runways later reopened. Some flights were diverted to Los Angeles.

Among those on board were 77 Koreans, 141 Chinese, 61 US citizens, and one Japanese national, Asiana said in a statement. San Francisco General Hospital said it was treating 34 patients, five of them in critical condition.

Local media cited multiple witnesses who said the plane had approached the runway at an awkward angle, with several onlookers saying they then heard a loud bang.

"You heard a pop and you immediately saw a large, brief fireball that came from underneath the aircraft," Anthony Castorani, who saw the crash from a nearby hotel, told CNN. The accident site was covered in white foam used by firefighters, with at least six fire trucks at the scene.

The White House said President Barack Obama had been briefed on the incident, noting: "His thoughts and prayers go out to the families who lost a loved one and all those affected by the crash."

Asiana is based in Seoul. The twin-engine 777 aircraft is one of the world's most popular long-distance planes, often used for flights of 12 hours or more, from one continent to another.

You can't win everything, says Kohli

Kingston: India's stand-in skipper Virat Kohli has said he was forced to keep an attacking field against the West Indies as he needed wickets to defend a modest score of 230 at Sabina Park here.

Kohli was asked to lead the side after regular captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni suffered from cramps while batting and the 24-year-old said it was a good experience. "I have captained in the IPL but that's a Twenty20 game," Kohli said.

"This was totally unexpected. It was more thinking on the feet. It was a good experience for me. I had to keep attacking fields throughout the game because we needed wickets," he added.

Chasing 230, West Indies rode on Johnson Charles' 97 to win the match with 14 balls to spare an Kohli heaped praise on the young batsman. "He is someone who's done well for (West Indies). It's a good thing for them. It's good to see a young player from West Indies coming through and play the match-winning knock. We were putting pressure on him and he really stood up," said the Delhi batsman.

Defending the modest total, Indian bowlers did well to trigger a mini collapse, which left the West Indies struggling at 212 for eight after 41 overs. Kohli then made a surprise decision by bringing in part-timer, Suresh Raina and the offspinner didn't disappoint as he snapped Sunil Narine's wicket in his second over.

"(Sunil) Narine was batting and I thought Raina is good to left-handers and when he bowls around the wicket, he sort of skids it on. I thought he might hit the pad or force them on to the front foot," he said.

However, number 9 batsman Kemar Roach dashed India's hopes as he kept his cool to score 14 crucial runs and take West Indies home. The close one-wicket loss snapped India's nine-match winning streak but Kohli took the defeat in his stride, saying it is not possible to win everyday.

"You can't be too disappointed with these kinds of games," said Kohli. "We won seven in a row in England (Champions Trophy, including the two warm-ups against Sri Lanka and Australia) and in cricket, you can't win everything. The way the guys fought was very pleasing to see. Everyone was hungry to win," he added.

What couples really want in bed

Couples want emotional intimacy in their sex lives, new research has suggested.

In a poll conducted by YourTango and Durex of more than 1,000 people, 96 percent surveyed said that the best sex they had is with someone with whom they were able to get emotionally connected, the Huffington Post reported.

In addition, 92 percent said that when their partner displayed vulnerability it was a turn-on for them.

The respondents confessed that the top confidence boosters were being with someone that they love, which was followed by their feeling good about their sexual abilities and when their partner complimented them.

90 percent of those surveyed said that they believe sex can get better over time.

People also said that the top 3 requirements for having great sex is physical attraction, emotional intimacy, feeling secure and loved.

Conjoined twins separated in Kerala, only one child saved

Kozhikode: A team of doctors separated two-week-old conjoined twins at the Medical College Hospital here but could save only one child, hospital sources said on Thursday.

A 22-year-old woman from Malapppuram district had given birth to conjoined twins, one a normal child and the other with many anomalies at Manjeri general hospital in Malappuram district on June 21. They were later shifted to the hospital here and after extensive consultation and investigation the surgery was carried out, Dr S Pratap, Paediatric surgeon at Kozhikode Medical College hospital, said.

The infants had their abdomen and pelvic regions joined together, a condition known in medical parlance as 'omphalo ischio pagus', he said. The normal child, a female, was saved after the surgery on Wednesday which lasted nearly six hours, he said.

Delaying surgery would have affected the normal child as the other one had a lot of anomalies including its heart, the doctor said.

The baby girl, which was put on ventilator yesterday, was removed from it and the infant has started opening its eyes, he said. This is said to be the state's first successful operation to separate conjoined twins.

One pint of beer a day boosts heart health: study

Drinking a pint of beer a day improves the condition of blood vessels around the heart, boosts blood flow and makes the arteries more flexible, a new study has claimed.

Greek scientists found that arteries became more flexible and blood flow improved within a couple of hours of drinking the equivalent of two-thirds of a pint.

However, they found that alcohol-free beer did not have the same effect, 'The Sun' reported.

The findings support previous evidence that moderate beer consumption may protect against heart disease.

Previous research has suggested a pint a day reduces the risk of heart attacks and strokes by 30 per cent.

In the new study, scientists at Harokopio University in Athens recruited 17 non-smoking men in their late twenties and early thirties.

Each one had their cardiovascular health measured within an hour or two of drinking 400 millilitres of beer - equivalent to just over two-thirds of a pint.

They later had the same tests done after the same amount of alcohol-free beer or a measure of vodka.

Researchers tested for endothelial function -- a measure of how easily blood passes through major arteries -- as well as aortic stiffness, a check designed to assess whether blood vessels are nice and relaxed or beginning to harden.

The results showed all three had some beneficial effect on the stiffness of arteries but beer had the most benefits.

Researchers said the combination of alcohol and antioxidants in beer may be crucial to the drink's healthy effects.

Darker beers, like stouts and ales, have been shown to be better for the heart than lager.

The study was published in the journal Nutrition.

Techie donates parents’ bodies

Chennai: An IT professional in Chennai has donated the bodies of both his parents to Theni medical college. A native of Dindigul, C. Kartheeban, 28, learnt that there was a shortage of bodies in medical colleges and students needed them for their studies.

Kartheeban’s mother, Lakshmi, passed away in 2011 and father, Chandramohan, in May 2013. It’s not people living in the city alone who are taking such enlightened decisions. Two farmers have done so as well.

Raman, 77, and Baluchamy, 75, of Sivagangai met B. Shanthakumar, dean of the Sivagangai medical college, a couple of days ago, and assured him that when they died, their families would reach their bodies to the institution for medical students’ use. Raman’s two sons, living abroad, and his daughter in Sivagangai, were initially hesitant, but agreed to their father’s decision. Raman said, “I told them that even after death, I would like to be of use to society. They appreciated my decision,” he told Deccan Chronicle.

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Inspired by the act of farmers, a retired government official, Sundara­rajan, 75, also pledged his body after his death to dean Shantha­kumar on Wednes­day. He said his family would donate it to the college for medical studies.

Speaking to DC over the phone, dean Shanthakumar said, “Many are ready to donate blood and the families of the deceased are ready to give eyes and other organs.

But, when it comes to donation of the body, awareness is very low and many do not come forward to do it. The act of farmers is inspiring,” he said.

He added that the college had only four bodies with which to teach more than 100 students. “We need 10 cadavers for studies,” he said.

Audi rolls out RS 5 Coupe; to hike prices by 2-3 per cent soon

Mumbai: German luxury carmaker Audi, which launched RS 5 Coupe on Tuesday, said it will soon increase prices of its models by up to 3 per cent to protect its margins in view of steep fall in the rupee.
"We will increase prices by 2-3 per cent. We have no option but to pass on some costs to customers. The price hike may take place between July and August," Audi India head Michael Perschke told reporters after the launch here.
The Audi RS 5 Coupe is priced at Rs 95.28 lakh (ex-showroom Mumbai).
Perschke said the rupee has seen a sharp fall in the last couple of weeks and this has affected the margins significantly. Audi had last increased prices in January, he said, adding, "We also did some adjustments in our SUV prices after the budget."

The government had increased the excise duty on SUVs above 4-meters to 30 per cent from 27 per cent in the budget. Under the current definition by the Finance Ministry for the taxation purpose, SUVs which are above the 4-metre length, and having an engine of 1500cc or above along with 170mm ground clearance attract excise of 30 per cent as against 27 per cent earlier.
Audi India has continued to maintain its growth momentum in the domestic luxury car market by selling of 4,846 units in the January-June period, posting a growth of 21 per cent over the corresponding period a year ago, he said, adding the company sold 750 units in June, a growth of 4 per cent.
"We are confident of maintaining the sales momentum and meeting our target of selling 10,800 cars this year. So far this year, we have launched six models including the RS 5 Coupe and we aim to roll out another 3-4 new models and variants in the remaining part of the year," he said.
Audi India plans to expand its network to 34 dealerships by end-2013 from its existing 26. It has opened new showrooms in Bhubaneswar, Lucknow and south Mumbai.
Audi sells the A4, A6, A7 Sportback, A8L, Q3, Q5, Q7, S4, the new RS 5 Coupé, TT Coupé, R8, R8-V10 plus and the R8 Spyder in the country. Source: http://bit.ly/17EINiG