By Ritu Sharma, IANS

New Delhi : She has been dubbed India's 'missile woman', one in the team of India's elite scientists behind the Agni III, India's longest-range nuclear capable missile that can hit targets up to 3,000 km. But then Tessy Thomas is not called 'Agni Putri', or daughter of fire, for nothing.

By Sahil Makkar, IANS,

Guntur (Andhra Pradesh) : Blazing a crimson trail as it criss-crosses through India, the Red Ribbon Express (RRE) is grabbing attention among the rural masses as it spreads awareness about HIV/AIDS.

Made up of seven coaches and painted in crimson red and pink, the much-talked about train chugged into a railway station in the coastal district of Guntur last week to an overwhelming response.

Greeted by drum-beating activists of various NGOs, the train coaches on the outside flaunted messages like 'Zindagi Zindabad' (hail life) during its three-day halt.

By Yoginder Sikand, TwoCircles.net,

By Xinhua,

Yangon : A minor part of the daily life started to resume in Myanmar's former capital of Yangon Sunday, the first day in the aftermath of the deadly cyclone Nargis strike the country for 10 hours from Saturday night to Saturday noon.

Yangon residents began to move about mostly on foot as few number of public buses could run as such huge vehicles find impossible to fight their ways through roads densely blocked by the Nargis-triggered fallen trees and its long and thick branches.

By Imran Khan, IANS,

Patna : When Pushpa Kumari, in her early 20s, found the courage to spurn a mentally challenged man chosen to be her husband, she was not alone. In rural Bihar, where the social scales are tilted heavily against women, over half a dozen such cases have been reported in the past week of brides refusing to marry unsuitable grooms who were illiterate, deaf or unemployed.

Times seem to have changed for women, with several schemes being launched for their empowerment by the state and central governments.

By V.N. Balakrishna, IANS,

Ahmedabad : He could have lived the dollar dream. But Sarat Chandra decided to follow his heart instead after completing his management course in the elite Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad (IIM-A) and opted to spend his time making science fun for children.

By Madhusree Chatterjee, IANS,

New Delhi : Artist Abani Sen, one of the earliest modern masters, was more popular as 'mastermoshai', or teacher, than as an artist. His home was crammed with students every morning and he also taught art at the Raisina School in Delhi. The money he made teaching art took care of his vocation and family.

That was the era when India was battling to shake off the British, the troubled years between 1930 and 1947 when several artists, known as the "progressive group", were struggling to come into their own.

By Xinhua,

Dhaka : A heat wave amid frequent load shedding sweeping across Bangladesh made public life miserable in capital Dhaka and elsewhere of the country.

The high temperature that soars up to 40 Celsius degree over the last few days is aggravating the plight of the commoners who are suffering from frequent load shedding.

Hassan Shahriar, president of the Commonwealth Journalist Association and also a senior journalist of Bangladesh, told Xinhua Tuesday that his life has been greatly disturbed by the heat wave and load shedding recently.

By Kanu Sarda, IANS,

New Delhi : The ground beneath Rajni Sinha's feet slipped away when her husband said he wanted to end their three-year-old relationship because - guess what - she did not dress well! And this after having a "love marriage" - unlike most Indian marriages that are arranged by the families of brides and grooms.

The divorce petition filed by husband Sanjay Sinha said, "Despite my several requests, my wife does not wear modern lifestyle clothes. I just can't bear the comments from my friends that my wife is not stylish."

By Kashif-ul-Huda, TwoCircles.net

If these rocks could talk, they will narrate a story of 650 years of this building which served as masjid, khanqah and madrasa. They will talk about mighty emperors who humbled themselves in front of their Maker. They will also relate to us stories of famous Ulema who taught finer points of religious laws to their students and sufis who awakened religious spirits among their disciples.