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Stay cool on skis

Skiing equipment is about to add on some trendy new accessories, all thanks to Motorola. The mobile phone manufacturer, which has just been pushed into third spot in terms of market share by Samsung, has announced plans for a new range of mobile phones and music equipment to go with skiing gear made by the clothing manufacturer Burton. In the pipeline are jackets, helmets and caps, all to be launched in late 2005. The jacket will have space for a padded casing for a phone and an MP3 player. The hi-tech sleeve will also sport controls for the skier to control calls and shift to music by regulating audio signals to the removable speakers in the hood. Even skiing is going to be so much cooler!

Board with a heart

The most heart-rending of the horrors of the tsunami has been the pictures of devastated children. But now the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has pitched in to help them in their time of sorrow. Board chairman Ashok Ganguly announced on Wednesday that the board was willing to consider allowing students from tsunami-affected areas to shift their test centres to other locations. So, a student who hails from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands may apply for giving the test from Chennai. The class X as well as the class XII exams are both scheduled to start on March 1. There are around 70 CBSE-affiliated schools in the Andamans, the area worst-affected by the December 26 tsunami.

lcho chweet, no? little preity has been voted ?The Amazing Heroine? by over 200,000 supposedly-brainy tots at the POGO awards celebrating one year of its beam in India. And what exactly was the award? A sickly-sweet lollipop?

It?s all in the stars

Here?s one more degree for those who are into stargazing. And it?s not astronomy we?re talking about. Santiago University is offering a degree in UFOs. The course director thinks that there is definitely something out there worth a dekko. Apparently, the graduates will use ?scientist tools? for their investigative work. The course, mercifully called Unexplained AIr Phenomena, is available to local residents.

Deeyah

On song

Check this chick out ? she?s apparently the next big thing in the making on the Asian music scene, according to The Sunday Times. Deeyah, the Norwegian singing sensation with roots in India and Pakistan, is ready to release her first album in the UK titled Plan Of My Own on January 31. There?s also a studio album with Nitin Sahwney in the pipeline. Having trained under the likes of Ustad Shaukat Hussain Khan and Ustad Sultan Khan, Deeyah is all ready to mesmerise her fans in the UK. Busy days ahead...

AWARD OF THE WEEK

Goes to Adidas which has started ?Adidas Aces? ? a national tennis scholarship programme based on performance and potential ? awarding 20 boys and girls in the under-18 and under-14 age group with sports equipment worth Rs 50,000 each.