PARIS, Apr 21: Movies starring Brad Pitt and Nicole Kidman will premiere in Cannes this year, as the world’s biggest film festival held on the glamorous French Riviera promises a strong North American accent in 2012. Films from U.S. Director Wes Anderson and Canada’s David Cronenberg will be among 22 films vying for the coveted “Palme d’Or,” the top prize at the glitzy cinema showcase which can significantly boost a picture’s box office and awards potential. (agencies)
Guitar Hero: Play in a Day’s Bert Weedon dies at 91
LONDON, Apr 21: Bert Weedon, whose “Play in a Day” guitar guide set some of the biggest names in rock and roll on the road to greatness, has died. He was 91. The man who also inspired millions of others to pluck away at the strings in their bedrooms died at his home in Beaconsfield, southern England, in the early hours of the morning after a long illness, his agent and long-time friend Johnny Mans told. (agencies)
“America’s Next Top Model” drops three of its stars
LOS ANGELES, Apr 21: Three of the stars of “America’s Next Top Model” have been dropped from the long-running TV show, after falling ratings. Photographer Nigel Barker, runway coach J. Alexander and photo-shoot director Jay Manuel, won’t be returning when the 18th cycle of the show airs later in 2012, executive producer and former supermodel Tyra Banks said yesterday. (agencies)
At 25, maverick Fox TV enjoys hits, faces challenges
LOS ANGELES, Apr 21: Fox, the start-up broadcast network of 1987 that within a few years changed the face of U.S. Television with edgy comedy and youth programming, has finally grown up. Scoffed at from its start for setting itself up as a rival to the stodgy, old CBS, NBC and ABC, Fox celebrates 25 years on the air this Sunday with a two-hour special featuring cast reunions, re-runs, highlights and some major trumpet blowing. (agencies)
Colton Dixon says “Bad Romance” turned off Christians
LOS ANGELES, Apr 21: Ousted “American Idol” contestant Colton Dixon said on Friday that his performance of Lady Gaga’s hit “Bad Romance” had likely turned off voters who shared his Christian beliefs. Dixon, 20, from Tennessee, said he was still in shock over being booted off the TV contest, describing Thursday night’s elimination as a bad dream, to reporters on a conference call. (agencies)
Bronze statue of singer Willie Nelson unveiled in Texas
AUSTIN, TEXAS, Apr 21: An 8-foot-tall bronze statue of country singer Willie Nelson in his trademark braids was unveiled in Austin, Texas, on Friday, an unofficial pot-smoking holiday. Nelson, who has long advocated legalizing marijuana, sang “Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die.” The statue features the country music legend sitting on a stool with his acoustic guitar, Trigger. Even the W sign at the nearby W Hotel wore braids yesterday. (agencies)
“High School Musical” and “Hannah Montana.”
LONDON, Apr 21: Reports of a falling out between Simon Cowell and ITV, partners on ratings juggernauts “Britain’s Got Talent” and “The X Factor,” have been blown out of proportion, his spokesman said on Friday. Cowell’s televised talent competitions are among the commercial channel’s biggest draws, generating millions of pounds in advertising income and helping it compete with rival BBC’s increasingly aggressive reality TV drive. (agencies)
Under pressure, Disney film boss Ross resigns
LOS ANGELES, Apr 21: Rich Ross resigned under pressure as chairman of Walt Disney Co’s
Avenues in Tourism Sector
Devika Nanda
Tourism is a buzz word in the economies of both developed and developing nations. It chips in to the growth and development of the native lands where it is being practiced. Its vitality can be observed from the stastical data of 2011: Direct contribution to GDP and employment generation was US $2 trillion and 98 million respectively across the world. While talking about the indirect contribution in the same year it accounted for US $6.3 trillion GDP and 255 million jobs globally. This depicts the festering importance of tourism for any nation but the fact is that many parts of the world are still ignorant about the multifariousness of the field of tourism and they consider it only as a leisure activity. In reality Tourism is like an umbrella which encompasses the following flourishing fields:
Discipline:
Tourism is a vast field of study that encapsulates the concepts of anthropology, sociology, history, psychology, archaeology, ethnography, geography , accounting, economics, marketing, leisure, management and various other disciplines. It is the systematic study of the methods used in tourism industry. It teaches how to deal with people , their psyche and other important events taking place in the domain of tourism. It keeps people updated regarding the latest trends taking place in the travel and tourism and provides them with the knack to deal with cross cultural problems reducing the world into one global village. It enhances our knowledge regarding the existing and virgin tourist destinations. This know-how can equip the research scholars to come up with novel topics, notions, ideas and explore them with the tools of this discipline which can ultimately lead to new studies and add to the existing literature essential for thriving the tourism industry.Many private and public tourism organizations have created a new job position for tourism research scholars where dextrous and competent researchers can make their mark and add colours to travel.
Entrepreneurship:
Tourism industry is the only industry which has a shoe for every foot. It has immense scope for those who believe in ‘ Being your own boss'(YOB) approach. It is commonly observed that those who are creative, innovative, responsible and have the ability to influence others have an inherent dislike to work under or for others. But due to lack of resources they are bound to work for the success of other people. Tourism is the field that one can opt for san entrepreneurial career with full investment of his caliber and less monetary inputs. It allows one to work and make profits even with virtual offices. Initially, the only machine that a modern day tour entrepreneur requires is a computer and a space of few feets. So in order to be an effective entrepreneur in tourism one needs the competency to sense the opportunity and exploit it with the right attitude.
JOB:
Tourism also provides the job ‘Just obey your boss’ option for those who prefer an easy life, have poor risk taking capacity, lack initiative and prefer to be directed. In the present era, many national and multinational companies like KUONI, SITA, TUI, COX & KINGS, SOTC etc are dealing in tourism and they have vast job opportunities for the tour professionals. Most of the job vacancies are solicited and can be easily spotted in employment portals. Handsome salaries , job security and good prospects of growth are being offered as per the ability of the individuals.
FOREIGN EARNING:
Tourism has the potential to earn huge foreign currency and add to the strength of our economy. In 2011 ,India witnessed 6290319 foreign tourist arrivals and earned 77591 crores of foreign exchange which is self-convincing regarding the richness of tourism.
Thus, we can conclude that tourism is a multi -dimensional and a multi- sectoral activity which can go a long way in eradicating unemployment and earning huge profits. For this the need is to realize the importance of tourism and introduce it as a discipline and a field of study both at the school and college level. Various diploma and degree courses can prove handy in spreading the awareness regarding the blossoming avenues of the tourism.
(The author is a School of Hospitality and Tourism Management,University of Jammu)
Eating to Stay Fit and Healthy
B L Razdan
“You are what you eat’.” and “One should eat to 
live and not live to eat” are the two often quoted old adages, in discourses relating to eating food. Obviously, if you want to lead a healthy life, you have to eat healthy food. Many people are fond of “good food” and there are those that believe that in life if they are not able even to eat to their liking and heart’s content, of what use is this life to them. I do not have any quarrel with those who openly declare such preferences about the food they take, both in quality and quantity, and in consequence, fill the coffers of the pharmaceutical manufacturers, one of whom had projected “a bright future” in one its of annual balance sheets stating that in the coming decade there would be significant increase in some categories of diseases in India, when their cash registers would start ringing.
As for others let me quote Chandogya Upnishad (verse: 7.26.2) which unambiguously says, “When food is pure, being becomes pure”. The holy Bhagwat Geeta (in verse: 17.8) categorically says that swatta food increases duration of life, purifies existence and gives strength, health, happiness and satisfaction….and that such foods are wholesome and pleasing to the heart.
Obviously, the importance of food in life cannot be gainsaid. But the culinary skills acquired by us over the centuries of making varieties of tasty food nudge us to eat more than necessary. Add to it the use of so many spices that had lured Columbus onto a sea voyage to discover India (but discovered America instead) and we cannot help taking an extra helping if only to pamper our taste buds. Even as there is nothing wrong with having a good sense of taste, we need to be aware of what we eat and how much we eat, if we want to stay healthy.
Lately an overwhelming tendency to have tasty and convenient food is increasingly being noticed. That what we call junk food is fast catching up with our health and if we do not wake up, we may literally pay through our nose to fight the life-threatening diseases that obesity gives birth to. Several years ago, the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) had, after reliable laboratory tests, informed us about the harmful effects of some cold drinks promoted by the MNCs. More recently, it has released a study referring to the harmful substances in some of the snacks brought into India by these MNCs. Expectedly, the MNCs jumped, engaging PR firms to clarify that they are misunderstood without effectively countering the findings. The CSE study should, therefore, serve as a wake-up call for all of us and should prompt us to adopt healthy eating habits both in the family and in social circles.
It would be worthwhile to mention some plain facts, which require no research but can be gauged through sheer common sense. A juice brand sells mango nectar that can easily have seven to eight spoons of sugar per glass. A small packet of instant noodles is nothing but unrefined, processed starch. The malt-based, so-called nutritional milk additives for children are mostly sugar. Fried potato chips and burgers with patties stuffed inside that remain frozen for months together before being served are obviously not healthy. Our traditional sweets and salty snacks called namkeens and the samosas and bujhias too do not do any good to our health.
Almost every person who gains weight does not know how it happened! “Paani ka ghee ban jaata hai” is the common refrain. Well, let me be honest and tell it is all because the calorie intake has crossed the permissible limit or in other words, we ate too much for our genuine requirements of food. To lose weight, we need to cut back on calories. By this we don’t mean that we do something drastic and greatly reduce our eating portions. We can gradually cut back on our food intake and cut calories without drastically impacting our diet. Here are a couple of tips
Start the meal with a salad. Eating salads is a healthy way to cut down on the calories. It is nourishing, filling and can be made appetizing if cooked correctly using the right ingredients. We should, however, take care not to load the salad with cheese, mayo sauce, bacon or any other fattening ingredient. Eating a substantial amount of simple salad will automatically limit the main course intake and thus will lead to consuming fewer calories.
Stuffing oneself with food at the dinner table, apart from being certainly regarded as bad table manners, leads to high calorie intake, which is not desirable.Yes, wasting food can make one feel guilty, but stuffing oneself with it will only make one over-weight. Ideally, we should place orders for meals that come in small portions when dining out or just split the meal with the partner. Studies have proved that seeing or smelling good food can release hormones that make our stomach growl. So, the next time the tummy makes those awful noises, do not simply assume it to be a hunger call.
Chew more. The longer you take to chew your food, the better it will digest and the lesser will be the intake. The more you chew; the prolonged chewing will be processed by the brain, which has a mind of its own, as consuming more in terms of quantity. Therefore, this is a way of cheating the brain into thinking that enough has been eaten to satiate the appetite, when, in fact, there has been lesser intake.
Control the quantity. If one cannot give up on a particular food item, then make sure that moderate portions are taken. Don’t over eat and certainly don’t eat a lot of food during one meal. Space out the meals and thoroughly regulate the portions. Always remember: small is beautiful.
Avoid tea and coffee calories. It is quite understandable that a stressful work day requires us to drink lots of tea and/or coffee. But if we are serious about cutting back on the calories, then let go tea and coffee both. If, however, one can’t give up on it entirely, then one must, at least, drastically limit their intake.
It is as simple as that. This simple alteration in our daily habit will benefit us hugely and balance our body weight. If we do not pay any heed to the timely warning, we shall be paying a heavy price in the coning decade. Obesity levels will increase, fitness will decline and heath care costs will rise. One set of MNCs will make profits out of us by making us unhealthy and the other set of MNCs will make profits out of us by selling medicines and treating us, of course, for a price. The choice is clearly ours.