Entry for visitors on the occasion was made free and as a result the heritage site was flooded with tourists and students. The theme this time round was to showcase the accessibility aspect of monuments and also encourage children to bring their grandparents to heritage sites.

As a part of this, chief guest Sminu Jindal, founder, Svayam, administered an oath to over 300 students from different schools of Delhi to preserve heritage and protect monuments from defacement and other damage.

Sminu Jindal, founder, Svayam said, "It's a cause to celebrate and heartening to see ASI's initiatives in carrying out Svayam's audit reports to make Qutub Minar -- the very first world heritage site in the country accessible to people with reduced mobility. I look forward to making all heritage sites accessible with ASI support. Svayam plans to work on Red Fort and Taj Mahal next. Today, there are five access ramps all across the heritage site and a person confined to a wheel chair can move around the complex independently. Said K K Muhammed, superintending archaeologist, Delhi circle: "Of the three World Heritage monuments in the Capital, Qutab Minar is the first freely accessible one."

Welcome to the Fair: Women volunteers getting ready for the India International Trade Fair which was inaugurated by Vice-President Hamid Ansari (right) in New Delhi on Friday.

Stating that women constitute half the country's population, Vice-President Hamid Ansari on Friday said they must be made equal partners in all aspects of national activity.

Inaugurating the 28th edition of the India International Trade Fair at Pragati Maidan here, Mr. Ansari expressed satisfaction that one of the themes of Fair was women empowerment. "While the glass ceilings that impede the rise of women to top management positions are slowly disappearing, one does not find women taking to entrepreneurship in a significant manner," he added.

Commenting on infrastructure that has been chosen as the fair's other theme, the Vice-President said the need to develop infrastructural facilities in the country was evident. "It has been stressed by the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council in its Economic Outlook Assessment for 2008-09. The economy continues to be supply-constrained, most accurately in the areas of physical and social infrastructure that require focused policy attention. In the area of economic infrastructure the constraints are patent in electricity, irrigation and drinking water, road and rail transportation, urban and rural economic infrastructure."

Described as a manifestation of the country's size, progress and diverse culture, the annual India International Trade Fair will be inaugurated by Vice-President Hamid Ansari at Pragati Maidan in the Capital this coming Friday.

The `show-window' to the country's industrial and technological progress will highlight the achievements of the Indian economy and also provide a unique forum for meetings between business and trade delegations from India and abroad.

Hosted by the India Trade Promotion Organisation, the IITF themes are "infrastructure" and "women's empowerment". Accordingly the Centre and the State governments have come out with pavilions interwoven with theme-related developments of their respective regions. Orissa is participating as a "partner State", while Kerala is the "focus State". Among foreign participants, Pakistan has been chosen as a partner country, while ASEAN has been selected as the focus region.

Addressing a press conference on Tuesday, ITPO Chairperson and Managing Director Sheela Bhide said the rise of the Indian manufacturing and service sectors in the world economy had attracted considerable attention.

"Therefore, the IITF is playing a crucial role in bringing together government organisations, private sector undertakings, private sector, decision-makers, consultants and top management. This year the two themes have been chosen because of their socio-economic relevance. The themes will be supplemented with special displays that will focus on machinery and equipment, technologies and services in engineering goods," she explained.

The fair has attracted over 7,000 participants from India along with a number of countries including the United States, China, Pakistan, France, Germany, Japan, Kenya, Korea, Myanmar, Nepal, South Africa, Spain, Thailand and Vietnam. Pakistan will display its ubiquitous onyx items, handloom and also sell delicacies from the North Western Frontier.

Entry tickets for the fair will be available at Delhi Metro stations, Mother Dairy outlets, post offices and DTC depots including those at Noida, Ghaziabad, Gurgaon and Faridabad, besides the regular counters at the fair venue.

The message of the National Women Excellence Awards-2008 is to "start recognising, respecting, rewarding women and to stop violence against them".

The award function will also see a deliberation on empowering women with a view to making them job givers rather than job seekers by providing them entrepreneurial leadership as well as managerial competence.

Addressing media persons, Singh said that with this forth edition of the DHM, the aim is to surpass Rs 147 lakh that was raised last year. About 50 NGOs will be supported through the charity, collected through the NGO Concern India. Said Singh, ``36 companies have fielded about 43 teams for the corporate challenge during the run and 27 people have registered themselves to run as a dream team -- which requires that the team raise more than a lakh for a cause of their choice.''

Prashant Rao, member of a dream team, said his team has already collected Rs 1 lakh and wishes to contribute for the treatment of children with cancer. Another team has fielded about 30 people to raise money for Bihar relief fund.

To be flagged off by Bharti Airtel chairperson Sunil Bharti Mittal on November 9, 2008, this event has other reasons to lure participants than just good health. While the total prize money is $ 2,10,000, the Indian winner also has access to a prize money set aside for one.

Mohan made her first ever participation at a fashion week in the country with "Rat Pack Nirvana", a tribute to her fashion icon, Dean Martin. The Delhiite comes with impressive credentials, having trained with the famed Vivienne Westwood and studied at the Parson's School of Design, New York. Her collection, which has a hint of Indian prints, is otherwise inspired by the grunge look of the Forties and the Fifties and a generation of entertainers like Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr and Martin. "I wanted to do a line that would look at Martin's sense of dressing in an Indian context. This is what I felt it would be like," she said. There were front pleats and generous layering, intelligent panelling that highlighted the contrasts and an interplay of summer hues, from bright yellows to aster blues and wild limes.

HISTORY IN NEW LIGHT: ITDC is planning to start the show at Mehrauli

According to sources, the reason for finalising Mehrauli for the sound and light show was to bring more awareness among visitors on the historical significance of the area. ITDC plans to make the event on a larger scale than the famous show at the ramparts of the Red Fort. "We will showcase Delhi's rich story and hope that when this show commences, it will be just as popular, if not more than, the Red Fort show. Mehrauli has its own history, which most people are not aware of and we plan to incorporate all their histories in the show. We are still in the early stages of finalising the script and even the location is yet to finally decided, but it will start by the Commonwealth Games event in the city,'' said an ITDC official.

The sound and light show at Red Fort is the oldest in the city and one of the most popular. Every year, thousands of people particularly foreign tourists come to the Capital to see the show that delves into Delhi's glorious and tumultuous past of the last 5,000 years. A similar show was organised at Purana Quila where select scenes from Delhi's past used to come alive for visitors. Special effects combined with the unique ambience made it an unforgettable experience.

Delhi mayor Arti Mehra on Monday said civic reception for Beijing Olympic medal winners, mini-marathon race for peace, Akhand Charkha Yagya, painting competition and other cultural programmes will be the highlight of the mela, where entry would be free from 11 am to 8 pm Blood donation camps on all the three days, facilities for blood test, sugar test and checking blood pressure as well as ayurvedic medicines will be other salient features of the mela.

The MCD has ensured participation of nearly 15,000 school children in the mela, who would also be shown patriotic films in the three-day period. As part of the Akhand Charkha Yagya, young boys and girls would spin khadi for three consecutive days under the supervision of senior Gandhians. Several Gandhian organisations and NGOs will also put up stalls at the mela.

A girl tries a bangle at a shop during the Diwali mela on Thursday

"The whole idea is to enable organisations such as The Blind School, Adharshila, NAZ and iVolunteer to raise funds to support their work," said Shreshtha Saraswat, final year student and NSS president. The Mela also brings first year students in touch with various NGOs.

But it's not all work and no play for students. They also invite stalls for commercial use - from fashion designers, restaurants.

International Chefs Day has been marked as a special occasion to recognise a chef as an artist and also to create public awareness about the profession of chefs who have set remarkable industry standards in the art of cooking.

The exclusivity of International Chefs Day this year will be a charity dinner with a novel theme, "Green Cuisine", offering organic, trendy and healthy cuisine where chefs from different hotels and restaurants will present their culinary creations all under one roof.

Besides a weeklong "Gourmet Specialty Week", chefs from various top hotels and restaurants in Delhi and the National Capital Region will display their culinary skills. The participating chefs will demonstrate their divergent cooking skills at their properties.

The proceeds from all the events will go to charity organisations Plan India and PHD Family Welfare Foundation in tune with the PHD Chamber's motto "In community life and part of it" and the Indian Culinary Forum's longstanding commitment to underprivileged children through its programme "Chef and child".

This will be the fifth consequent year where chefs will be honoured and recognised for their outstanding contribution. The event is expected to be attended by top leaders of the hospitality industry.

"We believe chefs are not only the ambassadors of our country but they also form an integral part of the hospitality industry," says Anil Bhandari, chairman of the organising committee of Chef Awards-2008.

There would be over 14 categories of awards to be given away. These include "Golden Hat Chef Award", "Silver Hat Chef Award", "Best Food Critic Award", "Chef of the Year", "Lady Chef of the Year" and "Master Chef International Cuisine Award".

The Algae Bio-fuel Summit 2008 will focus on latest research and development in the field of algae, mass production systems and photo-bioreactor technologies of the algae bio-fuel industry. More than 40 experts from across the world would present papers. Over 300 delegates are expected to take part in the event.

According to the organisers of the meet, algae could be the most efficient source of feedstock for the bio-diesel industry and the fuel generated from its oil is being termed as "second generation bio-fuel."

It takes a couple of days for algae to start yielding commercially and thereafter oil can be harvested everyday.

"As less than one per cent of the land in India is used for algae farming, there is scope for producing enough to make us self-sufficient in bio-diesel," said a spokesperson.

Slated to be inaugurated by Bollywood actor Aamir Khan at a five-star hotel here on August 8, the three-day exhibition is a must-see for art collectors.

The collection, "Treasure Trove," represents a historic venture to unearth the ceramic traditions which have long beautified our most remarkable monuments.

The 10,000 tiles that date back to a century were made and painted by hand. The rare and matchless collection is a combination of beauty and value.