“People now realise that healthy and nutritious diet boosts immunity, prevents diseases, spurs mental and physical development of children, among other things,” says Rekha Sinha, executive director, International Life Sciences Institute, India. This then has to be the best time to be a nutritionist or a dietician. They are the new age knights in shining armour who ensure healthy weight loss (or gain) and rescue people from everything ranging from diabetes to social ostracism.

Hospitals have always been one of the highest employers of dietician. A dietician is usually conditioned by the doctor and plans the nutrition of the patient accordingly. “A doctor who has also studied nutrition is becoming a great boon for the medical industry as that person is well-versed with the nuances of a particular medical procedure,” says Dr Suneet Khanna, an obesity management nutritionist in Delhi, who has also done M.B.B.S.

Food processing industries and nutraceuticals companies are also emerging as leading employers. Here dieticians work in tandem with the biomedical team to come up with the right product.

Residential schools, airlines, gymnasiums, spas are other avenues where a nutritionist is highly sought after. A trainee dietician can earn between Rs 12,000 to Rs 25,000 per month.

Being a consultant dietician is a lucrative option for established names in this business. “I am a consultant for six restaurants in Delhi. Most restaurant and hotels take advice from a nutritionist before planning their menu,” says Khanna.

Practitioners in this field must have a working knowledge of biology, chemistry, microbiology and physiology to name a few areas. Most employers insist on a post graduate education. A high people-orientation and empathy for the patients are the soft skills essential for this career. One cannot really expect a vegetarian to start eating chicken, or a South Indian to entirely quit rice. So keep the cultural aspect in mind when dealing with clients.

Ishi Khosla, Clinical Nutritionist and Director, Whole Foods

My interest in food was generated during my teenage years. That was the time when I had to battle my own obesity. I researched a lot on food and got hooked on to this subject. The experience made me switch my career path from medicine to nutrition. I did my Msc in Food and Nutrition from Lady Irwin College, Delhi, in 1986. Since then and today, there has been a vast change in public perception towards nutrition. Earlier, people visited us reluctantly and believed that our job is to make them starve. Now, everyone wants to look good and lead a healthy lifestyle. I set up my own practice in 2001 and launched Whole Foods, which sells healthier food options commercially. We have never advertised, but such is the interest that we have grown and expanded tremendously. We have even opened health cafes in Delhi.

I feel that if a young person wants to enter this field, first they have to practice what they preach. So maintain a healthy lifestyle. Also, nutrition is a science which is constantly evolving, so keep yourself updated.

Story Url: http://in.news.yahoo.com/248/20100309/1611/tls-the-diet-pundits.html

HTC launches three new phones

…

Save birds, ban glass-coated kite strings: Sonam Kapoor

…

Obama sets up Commission on debt reduction

…

‘Eye in the sky’ arrest of a teenage thief could land police in court

…

MNIK’ to be dubbed in German, Turkish for wider reach

…

‘I humbly request your support for the recent ban on ‘manja’ in Mumbai as well as your immediate action to extend the ban

throughout Maharashtra,’ she said in a letter to Patil.

‘The use of ‘manja’ may be amusing for some, but for many families – human and bird alike – whose loved ones lose their lives, it is a situation that can be definitely prevented,’ Sonam added.

She has made the request on behalf of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India after the Mumbai police banned the use of glass-coated ‘manja’ for flying kites within the city because of injuries and fatalities to both birds and humans.

The ‘manja’ used in kite-flying competitions is gummed and coated with powdered and finely crushed glass, making it lethal for birds who become entangled after the strings get caught in trees or on poles.
Story Url: http://in.news.yahoo.com/43/20100310/914/ten-save-birds-ban-glass-coated-kite-str.html

Mallika Sherawat opens up on her Hissss-story

…

Saif Ali Khan looks forward to spy thriller, ‘Race 2′

…

Nirmal Pandey of ‘Bandit Queen’ fame dead

…

MNIK’ to be dubbed in German, Turkish for wider reach

…

India imported 1.4 million tonnes from South Africa in February, up from around 720,000 tonnes in January and China’s imports soared similarly to just over 1 million tonnes from around 500,000 tonnes in January.

Demand for South African coal from India and China slipped in January while end-users adjusted to the rise in prices which took place in late December but had now picked up considerably, producers and traders said.

Indian end-users attending an industry event this week in Mumbai said they would buy still more from South Africa if prices dropped below $80.00 a tonne FOB Richards Bay from current spot levels of around $84.00-$85.00.

“The South African coal quality is reliable and we prefer it but it is still too expensive for some end-users,” one Indian trader said on Wednesday.
Story Url: http://in.news.yahoo.com/137/20100310/744/tbs-india-china-take-over-50-pct-of-s-af.html

Wall Street opens higher as M&A heats up

…

Fame shares jump after Reliance Media counter bid

…

Obama sets up Commission on debt reduction

…

Mittal plays down dispute between Econet, Zain

…

Now Indians praise Eden wicket, South Africans circumspect

…

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 16.71 points, or 0.16 percent, at 10,581.09. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index gained 2.45 points, or 0.21 percent, at 1,142.90.

The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 5.62 points, or 0.24 percent, at 2,346.30.
Story Url: http://in.news.yahoo.com/137/20100310/748/tbs-wall-street-opens-higher-as-m-a-heat.html

India, China take over 50 pct of S.Africa Feb coal

…

Fame shares jump after Reliance Media counter bid

…

Obama sets up Commission on debt reduction

…

Mittal plays down dispute between Econet, Zain

…

Have you fixed on a release date yet? Will the film be as awe-inspiring as the 10-years-in-the-making Avatar? Hissss is a complicated, special effects loaded film. And this genre of film needs time for post-production, especially in Hollywood.

Hissss will be premiering at the Cannes Film Festival in the Film Market in May this year. After that, the distributors will decide on the international release date.

I don’t think any film in the world can be compared to Avatar, the most expensive movie ever made. But Hissss will definitely raise the bar as far as special effects in India is concerned.

Your co-star Irrfan Khan says that the role of the vengeful reptile is tailor-made for you. That with your sizzling sensuality and sharp teeth, you make a frightening yet alluring man-eater.

He’s relieved that you don’t kiss him in the film or else he’d have died too. Any compliment from the great Irrfan Khan is flattering.

I’m a huge fan of his work and excited to see him in our movie. Hmmm, so how many men do you kiss in Hissss? Snakes don’t kiss, they swallow.

(Laughs out loud) You should ask me how many people I swallow in the film. You’ve been quoted as saying that Hissss is the “first female empowerment superhero snake horror film”.

What exactly do you mean? Well, the nagin (female snake) is the ultimate femme fatale – a venomous shape-shifter. But at the same time, she is a sympathetic character.

In our mythology she’s been depicted as a goddess and that in modern terms, would be a translated as a superhero. That’s my interpretation of the character.

Most women are afraid of snakes, aren’t you? No, I’m not particularly afraid of snakes. They are pretty fascinating creatures – limbless, venomous, cold-blooded predators who swallow their prey whole.

My earliest memories are of snake charmers who used to pass through my village in Haryana. We have had several superhit reptilian films in the past on love and vengeance, including Vyjayanthimala’s Nagin, Reena Roy’s Nagin and Sridevi’s Nagin.

Which one of them inspired Hissss? There were also several other Nagin films too, made in South Indian languages. And also films made China, Hong Kong, Japan and Indonesia.

Tsui Hark’s Hong Kong film, Green Snake, with Maggie Cheung and Joey Wong playing twin snakes, was interesting in a campy way. But strangely, one of my inspirations was An American Werewolf In London.

It’s surprising that none of our Indian Nagin movies were your muse? Well, as a kid, I had enjoyed watching Sridevi’s Nagin. As we have just established, the subject is not new to Hindi cinema.

So will it be the treatment, the SFX or Jennifer Lynch’s direction that will make Hissss different? It is a reboot of the old genre but the story, SFX and treatment are out of the box. Calling the Lynches (Jennifer and filmmaker and artist father David Lynch) different is a huge understatement.

Which was the most difficult scene to shoot? The toughest part was dealing with the leeches crawling all over my body in freezing cold rain in the jungles of Kerala. Pages have been written on Amitabh Bachchan’s make-up ordeal during the shooting of Paa, yours couldn’t have been any easier.

It was tough. It took over four hours for the make-up to be applied.

I couldn’t drink anything the whole day and was dehydrated as I was wearing a complete body suit and couldn’t even visit the loo. Hats off to Big B for his stupendous effort.

I’m looking forward to seeing Paa soon. There was talk recently that you brother, Vikram, had thrown a tantrum on the sets during a shoot in Mumbai over a skimpy, skin-coloured bikini you were wearing.

I’m extremely close to my brother but we never seem to agree when it comes to my raw vegan diet and my wardrobe. Reportedly, you don’t have too many lines in the film and it is the hiss sound that gave the film its title.

Well, snakes hiss more than they talk, don’t they? How long did it take to develop the perfect hiss? I did my best but the sound designers in LA will have to help out a bit now. Sridevi’s Nagin had a sequel, Nagina.

Will you also be carrying the story forward? Well, it’s the era of sequels, so of course. Hollywood is already jumping at the idea.

‘It’s the first time he’s dedicated a song to someone other than his mother’ At his Los Angeles concert last year, Yanni Voices, the composer dedicated a song, ‘Changes.’ to Mallika.

Apparently, the actress had run into Yanni and Oscar and Grammy winner Ric Wake at an upscale LA restaurant, The Ivy. And that was the beginning of a beautiful friendship that resulted in the composer picking up the mike and telling his 7,000-odd fans, “This song is for Mallika Sherawat.

One of a kind.” On the giant video screen behind, images of Yanni’s concert in India at the Taj Mahal played.

Maan gaye Mumtaz-e-Azam! Quizzed on how it feels to be Yanni’s ‘It Girl’ the actress says, “It was really nice of him to do that. It was the first time he ever dedicated a song to someone other than his mother.

Yanni is a gem of a person.” Buzz is that Yanni has invited her to accompany him when he tours India.

She agrees, “I will always be there for him when he tours my country.” ‘America is less judgmental’ While Bollywood often dismissed you as a bimbette who was all body, Hollywood seems to have connected with your soul and sensibilities.

Is it goodbye to Hindi films then? I’m just trying to find material that excites me, that’s all – and these days it seems to be coming from Hollywood. I know you don’t like post-mortems but in retrospect, where do you think films like Ugly aur Pagli and Maan-Gaye-Mughal-e-Azam go wrong? And where did a Welcome go right? As William Goldman says, in the film business nobody knows anything.

So some films work at the box office and some don’t. Will you be a part of the Welcome sequel? If they offer it to me, why not? A special appearance in Dasavataram had reportedly earned you Rs 1.25 crore, making you one of our highest paid stars.

Is price keeping other offers at bay? If it’s a great script, a starring role and a director whose work I admire, price is never an issue. Still, wouldn’t you say that you were too independent for India and Bollywood? You once said that you could not put on a fake smile, say the right things and be diplomatic.

Can you be yourself in Hollywood? I think America is less judgmental, and respectful of a person’s individuality. But one still has to be diplomatic and I’m working real hard at it as it does not come naturally to me.

(Laughs) See how diplomatic I’ve been in this interview! You’ve just signed a political romantic comedy. How did Love, Barack come about? I loved the script-it’s election time and the Democratic campaign organiser falls in love with her Republican counterpart.

I loving working with veteran Hollywood director William Dear Will you be shifting base to LA now that you have an honorary citizenship? It was a surprise to be the first Indian actor to be honored by the mayor and the council members at LA’s City Hall, that too on the eve of the Indian Independence day. Love, Barack Mallika opposite Avatar star Laz Alonso Love, Barack is a political, romantic comedy set during the frantic and intoxicating days leading up to 2008 U S Presidential election.

Doug McHenry is the director. Mallika plays Aretha Gupta, a local Obama volunteer coordinator.

The story’s inspiration comes from the many publicly-documented campaign romances that sprung-up around the Obama Presidential win, which experts speculate resulted in a Obama baby-boom last year. ‘I sure got a good-looking nose’ Mallika has made it to Asia’s 100 Most Beautiful People list.

When asked to define beauty she says, “These lists come and go. What remains is great work.

” Beauty, according to her, is subjective. When asked what are her best features she says, “I think my brother and I are blessed with perfect, beautiful noses.

So there you have it — criticize me all you want, but I sure got a good-looking nose.” ‘Twitter helps me keep in touch’ She arrived in a stretch limousine, was mobbed as soon as she stepped out, spent an hour signing autographs and posing for photographs, and then, sent the temperature and glamour quotient at the Twitter headquarters in San Francisco soaring.

Mallika was the first Asian star to be invited to Twitter. “Jai Ho!” she gushed in Slumdog Millionare mode.

She even demonstrated a few Bollywood moves to excited employees as she flagged off an impromptu dance party! Later, promos of Hissss were screened. According to Twitter staff, since Mallika started tweeting, membership in India has skyrocketed.

When asked if the social networking site helps her to keep abreast of what’s happening in her home country, the actress says, “Sure it does. It also keeps me in touch with my fans and their feedback keeps me grounded.

” Tweet! Irfan Khan on HISSSS.. No, Mallika Sherawat doesn’t kiss me in Hissss.

If she did, I would die. I’m spared because I’m not one of her victims but the man who saves her and his wife.

There wasn’t much interaction on the sets because we have different tracks. But she’s one enthusiastic actress.

The shoot was chaotic but surprisingly, it has shaped into an interesting film thanks to the director, Jennifer Lynch, who is one strong woman. I wasn’t sure if she could pull it off but she has.

She directed the film literally on her knees. She was suffering from a severe back problem and once, when we were shooting at Filmistan Studio, she crawled into my make-up van to brief me.

I’m waiting for the teaser ads. The special effects by Robert Kurtzman will blow you away.

It’s the role of a lifetime for Mallika. She plays a snake and suits the character to the T. It’s not an Indian ngin, so she won’t have to sing and dance or speak either.

But she’ll get to do all the other things she is famous for. Mallika has been away in LA, working on the post-production.

She spoke about the film on Oprah Winfrey’s show. Oprah was to come down to India last May and travel with Mallika to Hampi to visit Hanuman’s birthplace.

But she was apparently scared away by the Swine Flu. That surprises me.

Oprah, being an intelligent woman, should know that it’s the U S and Mexico that were bigger risks.
Stroy Url: http://in.news.yahoo.com/32/20100309/1070/ten-mallika-sherawat-opens-up-on-her-his.html

Save birds, ban glass-coated kite strings: Sonam Kapoor

…

Saif Ali Khan looks forward to spy thriller, ‘Race 2′

…

Nirmal Pandey of ‘Bandit Queen’ fame dead

…

MNIK’ to be dubbed in German, Turkish for wider reach

…

William Provancher, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering said: “We’ve invented a new device – the Active Handrest – that’s useful for aiding people in performing precision tasks with their hands such as surgery, painting, electronics repair or other tasks that require precise control of the fingertips.”

Waiting for a patent on the device, Provancher may float a company to launch it into the market. He is even thinking of licensing it to companies that manufacture touch-feedback devices, robotic surgery equipment or produce art or refurbish electronics.

A person using the handrest places their wrist on a support that can slide horizontally in any direction. Their elbow rests on a support attached to the device.

The Active Handrest allows a person to keep their hand steady while it senses the position of a hand-grasped tool or the force exerted by the hand or both. Thereafter, the device’s computer software moves the handrest so it “constantly re-centers your fingertips in the center of their dexterous workspace,” which Provancher explains is “the range over which you can move your fingers and be very precise.”

For instance, if a person places their arm on a desk to write, their hand is capable of moving the pen about 4 inches in any direction, but precise writing is practical only within a 1-inch wide “dexterous workspace,” he points out.

The existing prototype of the Active Handrest lets a user move their hand precisely within a workspace of about 10 by 10 inches, re-centering the hand as the arm moves to reach a larger area.

Using the Active Handrest also means “less fatigue, and if you have fatigue, you are going to have tremor associated with that,” meaning less precision.

The ideas for the Active Handrest struck Provancher while watching a television show about Leonardo da Vinci. The actor playing da Vinci was painting while using a simple handrest – a stick with a cloth ball on each end – that spanned the canvas. This made Provancher think about developing a handrest that moves to allow painting over a large workspace.

Provancher carried out the research with University of Utah mechanical engineering doctoral students Mark Fehlberg and Brian Gleeson, and Levi Leishman, a summer undergraduate researcher. The National Science Foundation funded the research.

Provancher will talk about the development and testing of the Active Handrest on March 25, during the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers’ Haptics Symposium in Waltham, Mass.
Story Url: http://in.news.yahoo.com/139/20100309/393/ttc-new-high-tech-handrest-for-doctors-a.html

iPhone’s ‘wobbling breasts’ app sparks row

…

Now, fast food ‘porn’ website for anti-diet brigade!

…

‘Eye in the sky’ arrest of a teenage thief could land police in court

…

HTC launches three new phones

…

His decision proved right as the bowlers restricted Vampire XI for just 125 runs. Pankaj took three wickets, while Surinder Baijee and Vikash bagged two wickets each.

In reply, Samsung XI made 127 for 6 in 17.2 overs. Rajkumar smashed 36 runs, while Kishore contributed 34 runs.

Harminder Singh and Rocky Ratta took two wickets each.
Story Url: http://in.news.yahoo.com/48/20100222/934/tsp-trehan-s-knock-goes-in-vain.html

India on top with 19 medals at Commonwealth Shooting

…

Rain, bad light help S. Africa to stay afloat in Kolkata Test

…

Magnificent Laxman puts India in charge

…

SA fight back after Sehwag-Tendulkar entertainer

…

Now Indians praise Eden wicket, South Africans circumspect

…

Earlier this month, Inox made an open offer to acquire 8.23 million shares, or 20 percent of equity capital, in Fame India at 51 rupees per share.

Story Url: http://in.news.yahoo.com/137/20100222/744/tbs-fame-shares-jump-after-reliance-medi.html

India, China take over 50 pct of S.Africa Feb coal

…

Wall Street opens higher as M&A heats up

…

Obama sets up Commission on debt reduction

…

Mittal plays down dispute between Econet, Zain

…

The application that let users to watch breasts bounce was said to have earned more than 150,000 pounds.

Developer ChilliFresh said Apple originally deemed it suitable for distribution but had now changed its guidelines.

“We have decided to remove any overtly sexual content from the App Store, which includes your application,” Sky News quoted Apple as saying.

But ChilliFresh questioned: “How can it be overtly sexual, people use their own pics.”

In a statement on its website, it added: “They have changed their standards, but they don’t actually say what those standards are now, nor what those standards were before! No guidelines provided at all!”

Apple’s decision to remove the application was also said to have drawn criticism from some technology commentators.

Marc Flores from Mobilecrunch.com said: “What Wobble iBoobs did was simple: you take an image of your choice (say, a bikini-clad girl from Safari on iPhone), mark the boobs within the app, shake your phone and watch them bounce and wobble.

“That’s it. It didn’t contain any porn, there were no preloaded images and it was on the market long enough to make more than pocket change.”

Another commentator, David Holland from electricpig.co.uk, told Sky News Online that Apple “needs to put down concise guidelines about what is appropriate”.

He also said that there were still other apps like “Epic Boobs”, “College Boobs” and “Asian Boobs” that were available.
Story Url: http://in.news.yahoo.com/139/20100220/868/ttc-iphone-s-wobbling-breasts-app-sparks.html

New high-tech handrest for doctors, artists causes less fatigue

…

Now, fast food ‘porn’ website for anti-diet brigade!

…

‘Eye in the sky’ arrest of a teenage thief could land police in court

…

HTC launches three new phones

…

‘A lot has been said about ‘Agent Vinod’, but we are very much on track. Final touches are being given to the script and at the end of March we should have the film on the floors,’ Saif, 39, told IANS in an interview.

After ‘Love Aaj Kal’, this will be his second production, ‘Agent Vinod’. It will be directed by Sriram Raghavan.

‘Meanwhile, I definitely want to work on ‘Race 2′. To do a romantic comedy is also something that stands high up in my list, but then I am just waiting for a great script to come my way.’

Taking a trip down memory lane, he said it was superhit ‘Hum Tum’ that bailed him out during trying times.

‘I would think that ‘Hum Tum’ was a definite milestone film in my career. Yes, there was ‘Kal Ho Na Ho’ which was a good success as well, but then I was a second lead there. ‘Hum Tum’ was a solo hit and had the momentum going for me,’ Saif told IANS.

‘Soon followed ‘Salaam Namaste’, which further set the pace in my career. In the earlier years, ‘Yeh Dillagi’ was definitely a landmark movie. Then came ‘Main Khiladi Tu Anari’, which again worked quite well for me,’ added Saif who is one of the top actors today and a successful producer also.

Success came to him after a lean patch where nothing seemed to be working for him. With many of his films belonging to diverse genres failing at the box office, Saif was pretty much looking at the bottom of the barrel.

If one goes into flashback mode and takes a journey back in time, it wasn’t too far back when he was dancing to the tune of ‘Main hoon aashiq awara’ (‘Aashiq Awara’) and ‘Ole, Ole’ (‘Yeh Dillagi’). Today, with Saif named for a Padma Sri, he has come a long way.

‘Yeah, it was a disastrous patch and this is where ‘Hum Saath Saath Hai’ came in handy. There were also ‘Kachche Dhaage’ and ‘Kya Kehna’ which were decent successes and then of course ‘Dil Chahta Hai’ which was another landmark film,’ said Saif.

Is there any other film that he believes brought a complete turnaround in the way he was looked at as an actor?

‘Other than the aforementioned films like ‘Hum Tum’, ‘Salaam Namaste’ and ‘Kal Ho Naa Ho’, diverse films like ‘Parineeta’ and ‘Ek Haseena Thi’ brought in further recognition.

‘ ‘Being Cyrus’ was nice and offbeat too and then considering the kind of perception that people had for me, ‘Omkara’ turned out to be huge as it showed quite some range. And now as we stand, I have a production like ‘Love Aaj Kal’. So, yeah, it’s not that bad after all.’

Story Url: http://in.news.yahoo.com/43/20100222/914/ten-saif-ali-khan-looks-forward-to-spy-t.html

Save birds, ban glass-coated kite strings: Sonam Kapoor

…

Mallika Sherawat opens up on her Hissss-story

…

Nirmal Pandey of ‘Bandit Queen’ fame dead

…

MNIK’ to be dubbed in German, Turkish for wider reach

…