Festival, which is going to take place from 16th - 24th Feb, is an offering sublime not just for the music and art lovers of Patiala but also for those of the entire state of Punjab and region put together. Conceived and planned as a cultural event showcasing the various aspects of art, music and sporting culture of the erstwhile Royal state of Patiala with a view to injecting a fresh lease of life into them, the Festival is literally an art and cultural extravaganza.

The highlights of the Festival have to be seen, heard and savored in order to be believed. These include the Crafts Mela (the Crafts Fair) held at the Sheesh Mahal Art Gallery premises in which 150 crafts persons from different parts of India display their wares for fifteen days. These wares cover a wide variety that is truly mind-blowing, ranging from furniture, pottery, textiles to jewellery, domestic linen, woollens and innumerable handicraft items of all kinds and shapes. Along with this, the Mela offers large dollops of folk dances, rural entertainment and food stalls etc.

Another remarkable aspect of this ten-day treat is the whole dazzling array of Indian Classical music (both Vocal and Instrumental) and dance concerts organized and held in the courtyard of the majestic Darbar Hall in the Qila Mubarak Complex in the heart of the old city.

Besides the Mela and the sumptuous concerts, the Festival provides an enviable platform for events as varied as Golf tournaments, Cricket and Polo matches, Equestrian events, Fashion shows, Painting exhibitions, plays, operas, light music evenings and rural sports.

Festival can easily be rated as the most spectacular and the most efficiently arranged cultural event, and has something for people of all tastes and predilections.

Nearly three years after Gmail was first released, the free Web-based e-mail from Google is being opened up for anyone in the world. Beginning Wednesday, everyone can sign up instead of having to get an invite from a Gmail-using friend. Google has been phasing out the invitation restriction geographically, with total general availability offered in Europe last week and in North America, South America and Asia this week. The service is still in beta test mode, however.

Privacy advocates and others objected to Google serving up ads based on the content of the messages. Making Gmail accounts available only by invitation, and thus a scarce commodity, increased their allure and led to auctions of invites on eBay. Later, rival Web-based e-mail services followed with full search functions, vast amounts of storage and ads.

When it comes to preferring sons to daughters, politicians in Punjab lead from the front. As the state goes to the polls, the doublespeak of these leaders is evident.

The poll will see the debut of the sons of five politicians; no daughters, predictably. Of the 1,050 candidates in the fray, only 49 are women.

The Congress has fielded three first-timers, each the son of former ministers or prominent politicians. Rajnish Kumar, whose father Dr Kewal Krishan was the speaker in the Amarinder Singh government, is in the fray from Mukerian.

The Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) has fielded former finance minister Capt Kanwaljit Singh's son Jasjit Singh from Kharar, while Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) chief Simranjit Singh Mann has fielded his son Emman Singh Mann on the party's ticket from Sirhind.

"The message to the people is clear: if the political legacy is to be passed on, it must go to the son, not the daughter or daughter-in-law," says Dr Pramod Kumar, Director, Institute of Development and Communication (IDC).

"Parties, that otherwise support 33 per cent reservation for women in their manifestoes, have not even fielded 10 per cent women. The feudal ethos is reinforced in their lists," says Dr Pam Rajput, Director, Women's Resource and Advocacy Centre.

A host of politicians with criminal records pending against them are also battling it out. A report by Punjab Election Watch (PEW), an NGO working for electoral reforms in the state, said 74 politicians with criminal backgrounds and 45 crorepatis with individual assets worth over Rs 5 crore are in the fray.

While Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) has fielded maximum 28 candidates (out of 94) with criminal cases pending against them, Congress has 12 (out of 117) and CPM has 5 (out of 14) such contestants in the fray, it says.

Tarlochan Singh of BSP from Anandpur Sahib, Dhanwant Singh of BSP from Dhuri, Raghunath Sahai Puri of Congress from Sujanpur and Jagir Kaur of SAD from Bholath are the four politicians, who have been charged with murder.

A number of these politicians have been charged with committing offences like cheating, trespass, assaulting public servants and rioting.

There are others like Kulwant Singh of BSP from Raikot, who have been charged with assaulting women and committing obscene acts.

Indian manufacturing output was expected to grow by 11.3%, compared with 9.1% a year ago, the central statistics office reported.

The key services sector was set to expand by 11.2%, compared with 9.8% in the previous financial year.

However, farming - which accounts for a fifth of India's gross domestic product and employs about 60% of the population - was expected to grow by just 2.7%.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said that India's farming output must increase by up to 4% to ensure Asia's fourth-biggest economy expands annually by between 7% and 8% over the coming years.

However, 3.3 per cent slump was registered in agriculture growth. Agriculture sector has registered lower than the desired growth rate of 4.0 per cent; in the base year (2005-06), the growth rate was at a high of 6.0 per cent.

The Bollywood actress watched prime minister's questions in the Commons before meeting Mr Blair afterwards.

She was invited by Labour MP Keith Vaz, who was among those who criticised the TV show after Ms Shetty's treatment by other contestants caused a race row.

She said she had thanked the PM for his support "to me and my country". "To see how so much respect has been bestowed upon me has truly been an honour," she said.

The Commons chef prepared a special dessert in her honour "Shilpa's delight" and she met both Mr Blair and Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell briefly after prime minister's questions.

On Mr Blair she said: "He was very very kind and said he was very sad to see what I had had to go through in there [the Big Brother house]."

The actress won Celebrity Big Brother, following clashes with housemates Jade Goody, Jo O'Meara and Danielle Lloyd who were accused of bullying and racism - something all three denied.

Media regulator Ofcom received more than 40,000 complaints from viewers, but Ms Shetty has said she does not believe her fellow contestants were being racist, but that their remarks had stemmed from jealousy, or a "lack of education".

There was a row among the British Asians who stood-up for her and she, maybe for the lust of money or to be politically correct, denied that her house mates were not racist. She pocket $680,456 (£345,145) for the appearance and millions in interviews and contracts. Shilpa Shetty has been inundated with endorsement deals and film offers. She got £300,000 for interviews with UK media, and negotiations for a further £200,000 for interviews with international press. And, of course, there's every star's trump card, a tell-all biography. Expect Shilpa's story to hit stores by the summer.

Below are some rumoured endorsements and offers that Shilpa is considering:

* A role in The Kumars at No. 42

* Hosting a cricket show (think 'Cricket Idol'), which has already been a huge success in India

* Starring roles in films opposite Johnny Depp and Hugh Grant

* A Bollywood movie based on her CBB experience

* Ad campaigns for 15 companies including cosmetics and travel endorsements

* The release this week of a compilation album, A Bollywood Dream, featuring hits from her movies, despite the fact that she mimes in her films

* Interest from UK record labels even though Shilpa admits she can't sing

* Fronting her own cosmetics range.