Off chicken for Gandhi day slip

The Andhra CPI secretary ended a chicken-free year recently after he vowed to go without his favourite dish to atone for having dug into the dish on Gandhi Jayanti last year.

A chastened Narayana, who became easy meat for papers that splashed pictures of him smacking his lips after the meal, vowed to stay off chicken in self-imposed penance.

Recently, he was the toast of the cameras again, this time being egged on by eager-beaver scribes to break his chicken-free spell by posing for pictures chewing away.

Narayana obliged and posed happily. “I am happy that I successfully fulfilled my vow. I realised that self-instruction is the best way to change our behaviour,” he said.

He recalled that last year’s “slip of the tongue” had occurred when villagers in Prakasam district’s Chinna Ganjam offered him the chicken curry with steaming idlis.

“Next day, photos of me having chicken appeared. Since it was a mistake, I imposed a punishment on myself.”                                    (PTI)

Bachchans on planet mission

AB and his Baby have long warmed hearts.

Now, Amitabh Bachchan and son Abhishek will team up on global warming.

The two will lend their support to the campaign aimed at preventing climate change by participating in the India edition of “Live Earth 2008”. The fund and awareness-raising event will feature a music concert, to be held at the Andheri sports complex, sometime in December.

The Live Earth initiative by Emmy Award-winning producer Kevin Wall and former US Vice-President Al Gore has also won support from Nobel-winning environmentalist Rajendra Pachauri and film director Shekhar Kapoor.

The proceeds will go to Pachauri’s Energy and Research Institute and Climate Project India, which is dedicated to climate issues and poverty alleviation.

Tunnel to Gurgaon

The Metro’s expansion run to Gurgaon appears on track.

The fourth tunnel on the route, from Central Secretariat to Gurgaon, was constructed successfully recently.

The corridor was made from INA market to Race Course. A tunnel-boring machine, which had been lowered in a shaft near INA in May, emerged at the Race Course after having dug the tunnel, an official said. The previous three tunnels were made within the past four months, two in the Hauz Khas area and one at Jorbagh. The Gurgaon extension is part of the Metro’s second phase.

he Race Course tunnel, 1,008 metres long and most of it passing through the VIP enclave in Lutyen’s Delhi, was dug 12 metres below. The engineers had to overcome another problem: the ground water was too close. So, care had to be taken to prevent seepage into the tunnel.

Around 30km of the Metro’s second phase will be underground, of which 16km will be built using the tunnel machines. Officials said the tunnels would be good enough even after 120 years.               (PTI)

Munch ado

Snacking around at Hyderabad’s showpiece airport just got easier.

McDonalds recently opened its second outlet at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, which opened a few months back. The new joint has come up at Level C, below the arrival ramp in the passenger terminal building.

Viswanath Attaluri, chief commercial officer of GMR Hyderabad International Airport, which set up the hub, said food and beverage outlets now offered passengers and visitors a “world-class dining experience”.        (PTI)

lIf you love arc lights, Gyan Ashram on Mahakali Caves Road in Andheri (East) is where you could be this Monday. Panorama Art Theatre is organising an acting workshop with the National School of Drama. You can call at 28325046 for more information.