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SWEPT AWAY
Map of Delhi
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| Chief Minister of Jammu Kashmir state Omar Abdullah, top right, looks on as India’s ruling United Progressive Alliance Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and others wave from an Air India Express aircraft, the first international flight into Srinagar |
India's ruling United Progressive Alliance's chairwoman Sonia Gandhi inaugurated the international airport terminal in Srinagar Saturday.
Gandhi also inaugurated a rail link connecting Kashmir's northern town Baramulla with a southern town Anantnag and called both projects an achievement.
To begin with, Air India will operate a weekly flight between Dubai and Srinagar.
Kashmir officials hope the international link boosts Kashmir's struggling exports and tourism. Mubeen Shah is the Chairman of the Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry. "This has been the demand of Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry for a very very long time. With this there is a possibility of getting very high value tourists to Srinagar from Dubai and international destination. Second we can send our goods directly to international destination without routing them through to New Delhi. Our handicrafts, our handmade carpets are high value items normally sent by air and Dubai is a very important destination," he said.
Shah says it also creates possibilities of exporting cut flowers and fresh fruits from Kashmir.
Besides exports, Kashmiri leaders hope that tourism, which suffers because of the region's conflicts, will receive a big boost by the flight.
As Shah explains, Kashmir, sometimes described as the "Venice of the East," receives only a small share of the international visitors who visit India. "In Kashmir our seasons are different than the seasons in India. For example the summer season is very hot in India. Normally no foreign tourist will come to India during that time. But people, let us say, who are in Dubai, who have their vacation, it will be easier for them come directly to Kashmir which has weather similar to Europe and it is a very cheap destination," he said.
Adverse travel advisories of European countries keep many tourists from visiting Kashmir. Shah says flights should be introduced to Singapore and Malaysia to bring in more tourists from Southeast Asian countries which are not affected by the advisories.
Dhumal refuses to apologise for the diary map gaffe
He said unlike the Congress, his government would only make those announcements, which it can honour.
Royal Rajasthan on Wheels gets easier on the pockets
Binoy Valsan
Jaipur, Feb 14: In an attempt to salvage its tourism sector from the vortex of global recession, the state tourism department has gone ahead and slashed the tour package rate onboard the recently introduced super luxury tourist train Royal Rajasthan on Wheels by twenty per cent. The weekly train service, a joint venture by the Indian Railways and Rajasthan Tourism department, will now cost 640 dollars instead of the initial 800 dollars in the deluxe category since it has failed to attract foreign tourists in the aftermath of the financial crisis and the recent terror carnage in Mumbai.
According to an official of the tourist department, the train with a capacity of around 75 passengers carried only six passengers last week. The super luxury train chugged out from Safdarjung station in New Delhi on 11 January with 52 passengers (including media personnel). The slashed-down rate which comes to around Rs 3.5 lakh will stand till April 2010.
“We had eight passengers two weeks back and last week we had only six passengers onboard the Royal Rajasthan on wheels. The recession is creating a dent in the tourism sector,” said an official of the tourism department.
The Royal Rajasthan on Wheels mainly aimed at foreign tourists has two super deluxe saloons with individual temperature control facilities, 13 deluxe saloons, two restobars and also foreign currency exchange counters. The route map covers Delhi, Jaipur, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Sawai Madhopur, Chittorgarh, Bharatpur, Udaipur and even Agra. Sources said a spa and Wifi facility inside the train will be introduced shortly. The total investment of the train has been estimated to be about Rs 40 crore.
The tourism department is determined to keep the luxury train service running despite the lacklustre earnings especially after the termination of the much publicised meter gauge Heritage on Wheels train service after the railways decision to convert the rail tracks in the Shekawati sector to broad gauge.
Apart from the recession blues, the fear factor created by the recent Mumbai terror attack and the escalating Indo-Pak tensions have acted as deterrents to foreign tourists from holidaying in the country especially in Rajasthan which shares its border with Pakistan. According to the tourism department at least 17 countries have issued travel advisories to citizens against visiting tourist destinations in India.
“There is an alarming dip in the arrival of foreign tourists. This has severely crippled motel, hotel owners, tour operators, craftsmen and others who are dependent on the arrival of the tourists for their livelihood in these districts,” said a highly placed official in the state tourism department.
With the tourist season for the international tourists coming to an end with the expected onset of summer next month, the tourism department is now mulling on introducing various packages to tide over the loss by attracting more domestic tourists to the desert state.
Obama's New Map of the World
Tom Barnett has a look at the geopolitical challenges facing Obama (although he ignores the energy aspect almost entirely) and notes the days of America going it alone are gone - Obama's New Map of the World.For roughly the past quarter century, America has run the world using the following two levers: its massive consumption rate and its willingness to deploy military forces around the planet. Together these two drivers facilitated the rise of many new great powers by enabling their export-fueled growth and obviating any need for them to engage in distracting military buildups or overseas interventions.
That U. S. grand strategy has essentially run its course, having proven both amazingly successful (the death of great-power war in East Asia) and extremely exhausting (our crippling debt overhang). ...
First, and most obviously, is the second global economic summit in April to deal with the world's ongoing financial crisis. With the EU and Japan accompanying us into recession and our economy unlikely to turn any corner until early 2010, China's Keynesian role as globalization's "spend to save" stimulant is of critical importance, meaning that China today plays the same role vis-à-vis America that we played to imperial Great Britain at the end of World War II: The imperial power needs a bailout, and the rising power has the cash. As a rule, the price for such cooperation is steep — to wit, America got to call most of the shots in the resulting Bretton Woods financial order.
So what does China want? It wants to graduate from the kiddie table that is the expanded G20 crew of emerging economies and gain a seat at the more exclusive G8, where actual heads of state meet. If Obama is serious about his "team of rivals" philosophy, he'd do well to acquiesce, even to the point of permanently expanding the G8 to include the adjunct dozen.
But here's the tough compromise that may hold up this much-needed expansion: The EU seems determined to get some sort of global securities-and-exchange commission to regulate intermarket financial flows in the future — in effect, viewing the current global crash as Washington once did Wall Street's 1929 collapse. As far as emerging markets are concerned, that's going to feel suspiciously constraining; having just achieved some wealth, the rising East and South now face the West's desire to regulate crucial investment flows so as to smooth out an inevitable global business cycle. Which is like wanting to go all the way on the first date — that trust simply does not yet exist in the system.
Obama's balancing act here is difficult. No one wants to derail the emergence of a global middle class, the bulk of which will be found overwhelmingly in emerging markets in coming years, but globalization's periodic panics have clearly grown more frequent and more volatile. Obama must ask China to grow up very fast and assume a lot more leadership (read: exposure to monetary risk), meaning his "fair trade" agenda must inevitably yield to Beijing's definition — and, by extension, New Delhi's and Brasília's — of a fair deal for its still-impoverished masses. ...
Flash point No. 2 will be the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region, which took on more urgency after Pakistani militants tried to trigger a diversionary war with India by launching the frighteningly effective mini-invasion of downtown Mumbai.
Washington's national-security community is wrapping up a comprehensive strategy review, much like it did on Iraq a couple of years ago, and this time the logic of regionalizing the solution damn well better prevail. If the Obama administration displays an inkling of Bush-Cheney's Great Gamesmanship, then say goodbye to the "good war," because the Hindu Kush is where bankrupt empires go for slaughter.
If Obama is smart enough to socialize the problem beyond NATO (because it's truly beyond NATO in every sense of the word), then we're into the Shanghai Cooperation Organization's roster of member states and observers. ...
The next two potential flash points are equally intertwined: No. 3, the presidential election in Iran, and No. 4, the question of Obama's follow-through on Bush's August deal to deploy missile-defense facilities in Eastern Europe — ostensibly to protect NATO from Iranian missiles. (Feeling out of the loop on ancient Polish-Persian hatred? You're not alone.) ...
And in the end, everything depends on how many new frenemies Obama is willing to add to his great-power Facebook. If our new president decides that America is still stuck with the same old friends we've always had, then he will quickly find himself as boxed in as George W. Bush was at the end of his second term and as impotent as Jimmy Carter was at the end of his only term.
The worst thing Obama can do coming out of the gate is attempt to demonize any of these rising powers with doofus labels (e.g., axis of evil/diesel, league of autocracies) or to simultaneously "contain" all their regional ambitions. Trust me, if they're not a significant part of the solution, they'll invariably constitute the insoluble heart of the problem.
EDITORIAL: India should appreciate Pakistan’s efforts
The press statement by Rehman Malik, the prime minister’s advisor on interior, on the Mumbai attacks and Pakistan’s investigative follow-up is significant. It proves, without doubt, that Islamabad has been pursuing the case diligently and in line with its promise to do so. It also indicates, if such proof were ever required, that the government was sincere in condemning the Mumbai attack and was not complicit in it, a wild allegation made by India as part of its diplomatic offensive to isolate Pakistan and paint it as a sponsor of terrorism.
Mr Malik told the press Thursday that it was an extensive plan and some part of the conspiracy was hatched in Pakistan. He said that Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, the alleged mastermind, is already in custody while six other accused have been arrested. Two other wanted men are still at large. One of those in custody, according to Malik, was “lured back to Pakistan from the Spanish city of Barcelona”. He also revealed that the attackers and their handlers used Austrian SIM cards for communication and there was also a link to Houston, Texas. The bit about the Austrian SIM cards dovetails with some detail in the Indian dossier about the communication mode of the attackers. Meanwhile, Pakistani authorities have still not been able to determine the identities of the nine attackers killed in the 3-day shoot-out, though the one captured alive has been accepted as a Pakistani national.
This is good work and, as we have said earlier in our editorials, concerned agencies in Pakistan have been on this case even before India officially sent in its dossier. Let it also be said that this work did not stop even when Indian officials began to threaten Pakistan with a military response. Pakistan kept its cool in the face of aggression by the Indian media and the government but obviously enhanced its air and ground vigilance against any possible Indian adventurism. Now, with Mr Malik’s statement, it should be obvious that India needed to have shown more patience because putting together the links of such an extensive and sophisticated plan needs time.
There are two other important factors that we have to keep in mind. One, without doubt, Mr Malik has disclosed less than what the investigators know at this stage and for sound reasons too. There are likely to be more strands that need to be identified. Investigators cannot, in most such cases, put everything on the table because it can compromise their work. Even now, Mr Malik has probably had to come on record on these disclosures because India has made this into a political game of blaming Pakistan. Something needed to be revealed to relieve the pressure on Pakistan by India. Two, even at this stage, there may not be enough evidence to stand in a court of law. Pakistan has been rightly pointing to this problem. Whenever this case goes to court, it being a criminal case, the onus of responsibility for proving it will lie on the prosecution, not the defence. Trial lawyers know how difficult that can be. There are innumerable cases where culprits have walked out despite pieces of incriminating but circumstantial evidence against them. Hence the evidence, even if circumstantial, must add up to become conclusive, or at least largely so. This is another aspect that makes the job of putting together a watertight case so tedious and difficult.
At this stage, however, it is evident that Pakistan has covered impressive distance in unearthing the broad strands of this plan. Given its efforts, we should expect more disclosures in the near future. There is also a requirement for India to cooperate with Pakistan, a fact that Islamabad has long stressed. The dossier itself is not enough.
So, the questions we have to ask are: What more does India know? When and how will it share this with Pakistan? Interestingly, an Indian team has gone to the US to share evidence with the FBI. That’s fine, but how about doing the same with Pakistan? Surely, India cannot continue to blame Pakistan and press for results without being fully cooperative. This is where politics comes in. New Delhi has already pressed the pause button on the normalisation process, depriving itself and Pakistan of the one mechanism for cooperation that could have helped matters. It now makes eminent sense that it should press the play button again so things can move forward. That’s what we are hoping for because there is no alternative to a dialogue framework. *
SECOND EDITORIAL: Down with the killjoys!
Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day. As always, the moral brigade is out to deprive people of the small and normal pleasures of life. Statements from orthodox rightwing circles would make one believe that half of this country will be out indulging in Bacchanal merriment. This is ridiculous. Valentine’s Day is about expressing one’s love for others, and love can take many forms, not just displays of lust and indulgence in forbidden sex. Even on that score, in a country where until recently a woman statistically was giving birth to 6.2 children, we wonder how that would have happened.
Another absurd argument, which we also hear regarding Basant, is that these festivals are un-Islamic. In today’s globalised world, any number of festivals are celebrated by people for enjoyment and letting their hair down. Today, no one collection of peoples can lay claim to any particular festival as their own, even as places like Lahore for instance in relation to Basant, have become legendary. This is why people used to come to the city from all over to celebrate Basant. The festival not only put Lahore, but by extension Pakistan, on the map. What is wrong about that?
This country has had a surfeit of misery and tragedies. If the people are resilient enough to find pleasure even in the middle of that, they should be encouraged. Going by the logic of moral vigilantes, we should all live morose lives because in the end all of us have to die. But man cannot live by bread alone. He needs his small pleasures. So we say, down with the killjoys! *
AIPGMEE 2009 RESULT
Courses offered by the Uttarakhand Technical University:
• MS:
1. Anatomy
2. General Surgery
3. Abos. and Gyne.
4. Uoto Erno Leringology
5. Orthopedics
6. Opthmology
• MD:
1. Phsiology
2. Pharmacology
3. Microbiology
4. Pathology
5. General medicine
6. Pedaetrics
7. Radiodiagnosis
8. Anaesthesiology
• DGO
• DCH
• D.Ortho
• D.C.P
Eligibility Criteria:
• Candidate must have passed MBBS Examination from any of the reputed University to be eligible for this course.
• Candidate must have domicile of Uttarakhand and have passed MBBS examination from medical colleges of other states and were admitted through 15 % All India Quota.
• For Ayurvedic course: candidates must have cleared BAMS course from any of the reputed University and have completed / completing Rotatory Compulsory Internship before 31st July, 2009.
Important Dates:
• Commencement of application form: February 8, 2009.
• Last date for submission of completed application form: February 18, 2009.
• Date of Uttarakhand Post Graduate Medical Entrance Exa,mination (UPGMEE-2009): February 22, 2009.
• Date of declaration of result: February 28, 2009.
• Centre of examination: GRD Academy, Rajpur Road, Dehradun.
Contact Details:
12 – A, Saraswati Vihar
Lower Adhoiwala
P.O Dalanwala
Dehradun – 248001
Website: www.uktech.in
ALL INDIA INSTITUTE OF MEDICAL SCIENCES
Admission Notice No. 4/2008
All India Post Graduate Entrance Examination For Admission Under 50% Seats Quota In MD/MS/Diploma And MDS Courses In Medical & Dental Colleges
Last Date for submitting AIPGMEE 2009 Application Form - Oct. 20, 2008
Applications are invited in the prescribed form for All India Post Graduate Medical/Dental Entrance Examination (AIPGMEE-2009) to be conducted by All India Institute of Medical Sciences on Sunday, the 11th January, 2009 for admission under 50% seats quota in various Postgraduate (MD/MS/Diploma & MDS) courses in Medical and Dental Colleges in the country run by the Union of India, State Governments (except Government of Andhra Pradesh and J&K) and Municipal or other local authorities.
AIPGMEE 2009 Eligibility Criteria:
(1) Only Indian nationals are eligible to apply.
(2) The candidate must possess MBBS/BDS degree from a recognized Medical/Dental College or a foreign degree included in the schedules to the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956 AND full registration either from the Medical/Dental Council of India or State Medical/Dental Council after completing the compulsory rotating internship.
(3) Candidates who have obtained MBBS/BDS from Medical/Dental Colleges in Andhra Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir are not eligible to apply. However, candidates who were nominated by the Government of India (Ministry of Health & Family Welfare/D.G.H.S., New Delhi) to do MBBS/BDS from Medical/Dental Colleges in Andhra Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir are eligible to apply, subject to submission of requisite documents specified in the Prospectus.
(4) The candidates should complete the required period of 12 months pre-registration internship from a recognized Hospital on or before 31st March, 2009.
The Prospectus-cum-Application Form costing Rs. 1000/- for General/OBC candidates and (Rs. 800/- in case of SC/ST candidates) inclusive of examination fee can be obtained in the following manner:
(I) Against cash payment from any of the following branches of State Bank of India between 11.09.2008 to 03.10.2008. ( See Next Col. Last)
(II) By Post: The Prospectus-cum-Application Form can also be obtained through Speed Post/Registered Post by sending a written request with an account payee Bank Draft for Rs. 1050/- for General & OBC candidates and (Rs. 850/- in case of SC/ST candidates) in favour of “AIPGMEE-2009”. The Bank Draft issued by the S.B.I. should be drawn on State Bank of India, Service Branch (CODE NO. 7687), New Delhi and should be valid upto March/April 2009. The request must reach the Assistant Controller of Examinations, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Ansari Nagar, New Delhi-110 608 before 03.10.2008. Request received thereafter will not be entertained. Money Order/Cheque/Postal Order/Cash or any other form of payment will NOT be accepted for postal sale. The words “REQUEST FOR APPLICATION FORM FOR AIPGMEE-2009” should be written on the envelope containing request for application form, and also on top of the request letter. The address at which Application Form is required should be written clearly in CAPITAL LETTERS and with Pin code. AIIMS will not be responsible for delay in/non-receipt of Application Form caused by illegible or incomplete address.
IMPORTANT:
(1) Candidates must obtain Prospectus-cum-application forms ONLY from an authorized branch of S.B.I. or by post from Examination Section of AIIMS. Forms obtained from an unauthorized source will be rejected.
(2) Candidates are advised to procure prospectus-cum-application forms as early as possible instead of waiting for the last date. If the Application Forms are sold out before the last date of sale and the same are not available, AIIMS/State Bank of India or its specified branches will not be responsible for any consequences that may arise due to non-availability of forms. In case a candidate does not get the form through Post Office in time, AIIMS will not be responsible for such lapses.
Schedule for the sale of Prospectus-cum-Application Forms:
1. Against cash payment by above listed branches of S.B.I. (except Ansari Nagar, New Delhi): 11.09.2208 to 03.10.2008
2. Against cash payment from S.B.I., Ansari Nagar, (AIIMS Campus Branch), New Delhi: 11.09.2008 to 10.10.2008
3. By post against Bank Draft from the Office of Asstt. Controller of Examination, A.I.I.M.S.: 11.09.2008 to 03.10.2008
Last date for receipt of completed applications in Examination Section, A.I.I.M.S.: 10.10.2008 upto 5.00 p.m. (Extended upto 20.10.2008 - 5 P.M.)
Note: After the last date, applications received by courier or by any other means will not be accepted, irrespective of the date of booking.
This Admission Notice is also available on the internet at www.aiims.ac.in and www.aiims.edu
This Admission Notice is also available on the internet at www.aiims.ac.in and www.aiims.edu
Le baiser de Saif Ali Khan et Kareena Kapoor
Elle est tres jolie Kareena Kapoor sur ces photos , vous ne trouvez pas ?
[PHOTOS] Abhishek Bachchan & Sonam flag off Delhi-6 promotion
Sonam Kapoor doit encore s’imposer à Bollywood. Son premier film, Saawariya, n’a pas très bien marché au box-office. Et avant même qu’elle puisse prouver quelque chose dans son second film, Delhi 6, on a offert à l'actrice un autre film a grand budget, Come on Papu, dans lequel elle jouera avec Akshay Kumar.
Une source proche d'Akshay Kumar a dit, « Sonam Kapoor n'a pas encore signé le film. Mais elle a lu le scénario et les discussions sont en cours. Elle a encore le temps car Akki ne va commencer à tourner qu’en Aout. »
La source a aussi révélé qu'Akki a l’intention de rester fidèle aux rôles comiques après l'échec de Chandni Chowk To China.
La source a dit, “Après la débâcle de Chandni Chowk To China, Akki est vraiment prudent concernant ses films. Il veut rester fidèle à la comédie pour le moment, en oubliant les films d'action.”
La source a aussi révélé que Sonam, si elle signe le film, ne jouera pas exactement l’actrice principale opposé à Akshay. En fait, ce sera un chimpanzé. Il a dit, “le film est une comédie et le film parle du rapport entre le protagoniste et un chimpanzé.”
Ce film sera réalisé par Rohit Dhawan, le fils de David Dhavan (réalisateur de Partner). Le projet de 90 millions de roupies (environ un million d’euros) est un partenariat entre Percept Pictures et Akshay Kumar.
sskk
LOVERS DAY
we will be at home, making dinner, having
some adult beverages and relaxing. we've
exchanged our gifts (practical like f*%k)
and i couldn't be happier.
love to all yous too!
Happy op Shop Lover's Day
And what better was to mark the day but with the opening of the new Woden Salvos super store?Some were peachy-keen to be the first through the doors*
and the queue was well formed by ten to nine.
There were speeches, of course (Jo, The Woden Manager, looked fit to burst with happiness and pride the whole way through. And rightly so too. I hear she put in very long hours getting the shop ready for opening and it looked great)
We knew it was going to be big but there's big and then there's massive. This was definitely in the later category...
They'd obviously been keeping aside some nice stuff for the last little while. The range was excellent and in very good order.
We found some treasures
as did everyone else, by the looks of the length of the queue...
(*There's about a 100% chance this photo just might have been staged...)Singletons prepare to celebrate lovers' day happily alone
Springfield, Ohio — The Valentines heart Valentine's Day.
Always have, always will.
It started long before Shelly dressed up Briana, now 18, and Ian, now 16, in red-and-white Valentine's Day clothing — before she brought cookies and candy to Mrs. Moeller's class at St. Bernard School or Mrs. Chase and Mr. Fox's rooms at Donnelsville Elementary.
It started even before Patrick Valentine and Shelly Glendening met when he was stationed at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, which puts it before their 22-year-old (and counting) marriage.
As Patrick recalls, it began when he was one of 10 Valentine children growing up in Pontiac, Mich.
"My Dad was an only child. My Mother was one of 13," he said. And as one of 13, she knew how special holidays could be for her own 10 little ones.
Although "she decorated for every holiday," Patrick said, the family's special day may have received special attention.
"We always got a cake or something for Valentine's Day. My Dad would give us each something," including oversized, colorful candy suckers.
"The boys would get usually a marshmallow heart. And my sisters would always get a box of chocolate candy," he said. "One of my brothers got married on Valentine's Day."
But the Valentine's Day thing went beyond the day itself.
"His mother was always giving everyone hearts," Sherry Valentine said, including Christmas ornaments with hearts.
Patrick and Sherry have carried on the tradition.
A picture of a tiny Briana beneath red and white balloons is a favorite in the family photo collection. A picture of her at 7 or 8 wearing a Snoopy Valentine's outfit with red pants and white hearts is adorable.
Ian has his own photo collection, including one of him as a toddler sporting red bib overalls. And like the antlered dog in "How the
Grinch Stole Christmas," the family's 12-year-old beagle, Butch, shows up in the photo with a red harness and a red bow on his head.
Outsiders also have come to expect the Valentines to deliver somewhere around Feb. 14 — including the group Sherry has worked with for 10 years as a reserve adviser at the Air Force Research Lab at Wright-Patt. Starting in high school, she has worked almost 30 years at the base. Her husband worked there for years and now maintains and repairs medical imaging equipment at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Dayton.
The Valentines will have a special treat for this Valentine's Day: Daughter Briana will be home for the family's special weekend.
To be truthful, though, something else is also motivating her trip.
"She wants to be with her sweetheart on Valentine's Day," her mother said.
Paltrow and Martin To Spend Valentine's Day Apart
AP Photo/Evan Agostini
Actress Gwyneth Paltrow is planning a quiet Valentine's Day this weekend, because she has no idea where her rocker husband Chris Martin is touring.
The Oscar-winning star has resigned herself to spending the night in with her two children, on the day traditionally celebrated by lovers, as Coldplay frontman Martin is halfway around the world.
She tells the New York Daily News, "It won't be that exciting. My husband will be on tour and I don't even know where he is -- Australia? -- so I'll be with my kids for Valentine's Day."
Paltrow's admission will do little to quell rumors her marriage is in trouble -- the couple, who have been married since 2003, have been fighting off claims it is to split since last year.
Paltrow and Martin have two children together -- daughter Apple, 4, and son Moses, 2.
ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images
HAPPY LIBRARY LOVERS DAY!
Every year since 2001 the Library has celebrated Valentine's Day as Library Lovers Day. This year because of the weekend, we are celebrating TODAY February 13th! We invite you to visit the Library and show your support. Come get your Library Lover's button and your candy!
HAPPY LIBRARY LOVERS DAY!
Valentine’s Day celebration and your sexuality
Valentine’s Day is celebrated every year all over the world. It is an occasion that is expected to strengthen the love and intimacy that exists among married couples.
People have expressed different opinions about how this yearly event that is absolutely dedicated to love and romance began. Some have traced its origin to St. Valentine, a Roman who was martyred for refusing to give up Christianity.
Others believe that it started in the time of the Roman Empire. This may be true because St Valentine approachflung flowers and notes up at his window.
One of these young people was the daughter of the prison guard. Her father allowed her to visit Saint Valentine in his cell. Sometimes both of them would sit and talk for several hours. She helped him to keep his spirits up. She agreed that he did the Saint Valentine left his friend a little note, thanking her for her friendship and loyalty. He signed it, “Love from your Valentine.”
The whole world believed that that note started the custom of exchanging love messages on Valentine’s Day. It was written on February 14, 269 A.D, the day that Saint Valentine died. Now, every year, people remember the sacrifice that he made on this day. More important, they think about love and friendship. And when they think of Emperor Claudius, they remember how he tried to stand in the way of love, and they laugh because they know that love cannot be defeated!
Valentine’s Day, otherwise called ‘lovers day’, is celebrated every February by giving flowers, gifts and cards to those we love. We do this in honour of Saint Valentine. The event is synonymous with the mutual exchange of love notes in the form of ‘Valentines’.
Modern Valentine symbols include the heart-shaped outline, doves, and the figure of the winged cupid. In the U. S. greeting card associations estimate that approximately one billion valentines are sent each year worldwide, which makes it the second largest card-sending holiday of the year, beside Chirtmans. The association estimates that, in the US, men spend twice as much as women on Valentine’s Day.
Gradually, February 14 became the date for exchanging love messages and St. Valentine became the patron saint of lovers.
The world’s most expensive Valentine’s Day card was dated back to 1790. The intricately designed card, filled with heartfelt messages would fetch up to £4,000, if auctioned today. It is currently housed at the British Postal Museum and Archive and its keepers have no intention of selling it. The card is a handmade puzzle that unfolds to reveal poetic messages - a far cry from the short notes written in today’s Valentine’s cards.
On the outside of the card, the inscription reads:
”My dear the Heart which you behold, Will break when you the same unfold, Even so my heart with lovesick pain, Sure wounded is and breaks in twain.”
The effect of Valentine’s Day on the sexuality of your partner cannot be over-emphasized. One of the best ways to receive the best sex ever known between married couples is to give your spouse an unforgettable gift, this valentine. A spouse’s gift is like a rare gemstone; no matter how your partner looks at it, he or she will see love, romance and beauty reflected in it. When couples exchange love gifts at Valentine, such gifts are often well appreciated and treated as special. Giving gifts this valentine day is the best way to express your love and receive from your spouse the best sexual treat that you can ever imagine.
The soul of intimacy is giving and sharing. And while giving and sharing gifts this season, let it be voluntary, not by compulsion or obligation. Remember, the spirit of Valentine’s Day requires you to give thoughtfully and the best gift that you can give to your spouse is ‘yourself’. So give your spouse a surprise gift that is beyond his or her expectation. It may be something that he or she has been longing to have for a long time. For instance, saying ‘I love you’ in a special way or taking your partner to a unique spot and making love to him or her there will definitely go down the memory lane.
The fact is that we feel loved when we receive gifts and it is heart warming when we know that at least one special person in the whole world cares about us. Valentine’s Day gifts are very important, especially when we know the need of our partner.
When you present a gift to your partner on Valentine’s Day, you are saying to him or her ‘Your are my best’. The gift, no doubt, will not only attract his or her attention, it would strengthen the sexual intimacy and fellowship that you enjoy in the relationship. Apart from that, it helps to maintain the tide of erotic feelings between both of you.
In a nutshell, a gift to your partner is just saying to him or her, ‘l was thinking of you in all ramification of oneness, sex inclusive’ You can give a flower, perfume, lingerie, boxers, valentine ring, movie tickets, perfumed candles, et cetera. Just imagine what you want to give and do it.
Have a happy Valentine’s Day.
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