Living it up
in Ludhiana

Harinder Pal Singh’s sprawling mansion along the Ludhiana-Jalandhar highway.

From a small business centre to being termed the Manchester of India, Ludhiana is one of India’s grand success stories. Ruchika M. Khanna takes a tour of the boom city.
A city of opportunity burgeoning at its seams and dubbed the most polluted city of the country. A city that is the biggest consumer of liquor in Punjab, and also one where thousands of residents are being forced to drink mercury-laced toxic water. The city with the most ostentatious bungalows and largest number of vehicles in the country as well as the largest slum colonies and the worst traffic bottlenecks in Punjab.

IT amidst palms, pools & food courts
With its breath-taking landscaping, manicured lawns and enviable swimming pool, the Infosys office in Bangalore is a visual delight. With Chandigarh set to be home to a 20-acre Infosys campus, will the City see an encore of the architectural feat, asks Rajnish Wattas.

Vijayakanth goes the MGR way
Arup Chanda
Tamil film superstar Vijayakanth seems to have emulated former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and megastar M.G. Ramachandran. His showdown with the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), a regional party in Tamil Nadu, after his utterances against the Union Health Minister, Dr R. Anbumani, had led to a situation where PMK leaders had asked people to boycott his films.

Summer sojourn in Manali
Priya Chadha
The former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s week-long summer sojourn in his two-storey red painted roof house in Prini in Manali made news. The panoramic view of spectacular and beautiful landscapes and scenic view of lush green valleys from his cottage veranda, inspires him to write lyrical poetry.

Once is not enough
The tradition of sequels continues with Spider-Man 2, slated to hit Indian screens on July 23. Saibal Chatterjee goes behind the scenes to find out what makes take-two of hit flicks tick. 
Spider-Man 2, Hollywood’s second take on Marvel Comics’ web-slinging crime fighter, has had the biggest opening day US-Canadian haul in the history of American movies, bettering the corresponding collection of the first Spider-Man by a whisker. Spider-Man 2 mopped up $ 40.5 million; the first Spider-Man had fallen short of the 40-mark by only half a million dollars.