35 year old Sapper Shanti Tigga, outperformed her male counterparts in physical tests and brought down the army all-male bastion to become the first woman jawan in the 1.3 million strong defence forces.

A widowed mother of two, Tigga joined the 969 Railway Engineers Regiment of the Territorial Army. During her Recruitment Training Camp, she also impressed the firing instructors with her skills in handling guns, and won the highest position of marksman.

Tigga who was employed with the Indian Railways as points-person, posted in West Bengal, volunteered for the Territorial Army last year. She says she always dreamed of joining the army. She was motivated by her relatives in the armed forces and has now made her family proud.

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Pune advocates Lalit Bhandari and Deepak Palande have started a website and helpline for men and women who need help regarding domestic violence. Police inspector of the Women's Grievances Redressal cell, Smita Jadhav, inaugurated the website and helpline.

Palande said they have a panel of nine lawyers and two counsellors to whom victims will be directed for counselling or for legal action.

People can contact the lawyers at domesticviolencehelpline.com or dvindia.com, or call the 24 hour helpline number 9423827818.

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British supermarket Waitrose is the first to carrry Indian wines as part of its World of Wine Showcase.

To introduce Indian wines, Waitrose has included several at special prices during its promotion. Among these are white wine Ritu Voignier, that is said to go well with classic spicy dishes. Crafted under expert guidance from Abhay Kewadkar, the Ritu range includes India's most awarded wines that are made at a state-of-the-art Four Seasons winery in Baramati.

Zampa Syrah is a rich dark-fruited red wine with a hint of pepper and a spicy finish.

Waitrose's buying manager says that Indian wines are in a development stage, but these two wines made from recognised Syrah and Viognier grapes represent genuine varietal characteristics grown on the hillside vineyards inland from Mumbai.

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Indian activists incensed by India's Planning Commission's declaration that half a dollar a day is enough for a villager to buy food, education and health, are now challenging panel chief Montek Ahluwalia to practice what he preaches or butt out!

Aruna Roy and Harsh Mander who led the so called 'right to food' campaign protested, saying the amount is ridiculously low and is aimed at 'artificially' reducing the number of poor in the country. They argue this will deprive millions of the state benefits they would otherwise be entitled to.

Officially 37% of India's 1.2 billion people live below the poverty line. Various other estimates exist and one suggests the true figure is as high as 77%.

The Planning Commission had submitted the unreal figures after the Supreme Court asked the government to update its poverty line figures to reflect rising prices.

According to Roy and Mander the stand taken by the Commission is an affront to the poor of India and to the Supreme Court. They stated that if the paltry figures were 'adequate' for the villagers then why are Planning Commission members paid upto 115 times that amount, not counting the perks of free housing, health care and numerous other benefits.

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India's cricket selectors have left out Harbhajan Singh for the first two one-day internationals in next month's home series against England.

Harbhajan 31, paid the price for a poor Test series in England.

Since making his international debut in 1988 Harbhajan has taken 406 wickets in 98 Tests and 259 wickets in 229 ODIs.

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