Khandala pill for stressed out cops

Mumbai police, stressed out amid complaints about being underpaid, can shed their worries in picturesque Khandala.

No, Aamir Khan hasn’t invited them to the hill resort, like he serenaded Rani Mukerji in Ghulam. The trips to Khandala, Mumbai’s favourite weekend getaway, for the men in uniform are for a “dose of rest and recuperation”.

“After holding yoga sessions, special movie screenings and Bollywood nights to de-stress policemen, we decided to try out something different,” said joint commissioner (administration) Hemant Karkare.

The first batch, around 50 constables and senior officers from police stations in Dadar, has already spent time in Khandala trekking, rock climbing, rappelling and doing yoga.

An agreement has been signed with Travelorg Adventures, a travel solutions provider, to put up the policemen in luxury apartments and bungalows, Karkare said. Eventually, 40,000 of them could savour the trips.

Now, an institute for botox

Doctors in India wishing to specialise in the application of botulinum toxin may soon be able to train at what is being dubbed the world’s first botox institute to come up in the capital. Pharmaceutical company Allergen has announced it will set up a Botox Institute.

The use of botulinum toxin, a substance isolated from a bacterium, for therapeutic neuromuscular disorders, pain management, and cosmetic facial aesthetics has been gaining popularity.

It has been approved for use in 20 medical conditions in 77 countries. “The institute’s objective is to ensure that doctors receive the best-in-class training on Botox,” said Rajkumar Narayan, managing director (India, China, and Japan) of Allergan.

The company specialises in dermatology and medical aesthetics among other disciplines. In cosmetics, botulinum toxin can often be used to give muscles a smoother appearance.

March boots out film show

A “flag march” appears to have trampled on the people’s rights to a much-needed weekend matinee break.

Organisers of the Tiranga Run on Sunday urged theatre owners in Vijaywada to black out the matinee show, causing heartburn over lost ticket sales — said to be high because of the weekend rush during such screenings.

Corporate groups and the Congress, which held the run, claimed they had only “requested” for the show to be dropped but accusations of “coercion” swirled around.

The organisers denied reports that the owners were browbeaten into submission. “We did not force anyone, but people of different sections of the society came forward voluntarily. I suggested to the exhibitors to cancel the screening of a show, preferably matinee,” said MP and organising committee chief Lagadapati Rajagopal.

There were “calls” to the theatres to cancel the matinee and evening shows but M. Venkateswara Rao, the chief of Vijayawada Film Exhibitors’ Association, made it clear that only one screening could be scrapped.

School cell

Parents facing problems in nursery admissions now have a help desk.

The Delhi government has set up complaint cells in nine areas of the city to register, investigate and remove admission-related grievances. Each of these will be headed by a deputy director in the department of education.

ducation minister Arvinder Singh Lovely said last week that the complaints could be about admissions in pre-school or pre-primary stages of public schools.

Delhi: Conceived and produced by Robert Depire in 1988, The Photograph is a collection of pictures meant to be a tribute to legendary French lensman Henri Cartier-Bresson. Don’t miss the exhibition this Thursday at the National Gallery of Modern Art, Jaipur House, India Gate. Time: 10am to 5pm.