Maharajas Express

Young Joydip Mitra may not have travelled abroad even once, yet he is familiar with the quirks and preferences of people from a host of nationalities better than the most consummate tour guide.

Mitra is on board the Maharajas Express, a pan- Indian luxury train.
As a butler for the train's $ 5,000- a- night presidential suite Mitra knows his high- flying guests rather too well. " The Japanese want the water in the bath tub to be exactly between 55 and 60 degree Celsius. But an American guest will be offended if I maintain the same temperature, they want the water to be lukewarm," says Mitra, who doubles as housekeeping supervisor.
The presidential suite, which is under his charge, occupies an entire coach and comes with white marble flooring, rosewood wardrobes, handcrafted furniture with intricate ivory inlays and a panoramic window offering a glimpse of the hurtling world outside. The 20 deluxe cabins and 22 other suites also don't fall short in the departments of good looks and luxury. The crockery and cutlery are 24- carat gold- plated at the Mayur Mahal restaurant and water comes from a purification plant on the train.
" High- end luxury is a rarity and you cannot afford to make your guests unhappy," assures Arup Sen, Director, Royale India Tours, a joint venture between the IRCTC and tour operator Cox and Kings, which owns the train.
Maharajas Express offers four different packages for its high- end users: Royal India ( eight days; Delhi to Mumbai with halts at Agra, Ranthambore, Jaipur, Bikaner, Jodhpur, Udaipur and Vadodara); Classical India ( seven days; from Delhi to Agra, Gwalior, Khajuraho, Bandhavgarh, Varnasi and Lucknow; Royal Sojourn (stops at Jaipur, Kota, Ranthambore and Agra; and Princely India (seven days; Mumbai to Delhi. If you have the money and the inclination, this could be the holiday of your lifetime.

Gets Paid To Sleep On The Job

For most of us sleeping at office is the stuff dreams are made of, but a Chinese man, who only sleeps during his working hours, still gets paid for it.

Lee Jia, 27, earns 10,000 renminbi every month just to test the comfort levels at hotel rooms.
His other activities include checking out the scent of the rooms, the cleanliness, the brand of toiletries and the type of TV programmes available.
However, according to a Chinese daily, Jia finds just sleeping in hotel rooms a bit more stressful at times than one might have thought.
Lee, who loves travelling, said that he is paid to observe his surroundings and then write a review of the hotel and its facilities on his blog.
"You need to be highly focused and articulate to observe every detail in order to produce a comprehensive report," Star Online quoted him as saying.

PM, Wife Pledge Do Donate Eyes

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his wife Gursharan Kaur Thursday pledged to donate their eyes -- on the occasion of National Eye Donation Day.

According to a statement from the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), Manmohan Singh and Gursharan Kaur signed a form to this effect.
The couple said in a joint statement: 'We are aware that there are innumerable corneal blind patients in our country for whom the gift of sight will be a priceless one.
'We hope that people across the country will rise to the occasion and support the National Programme for Control of Blindness and help their fellow brethren.'
They also lauded the National Eye Bank and corneal transplantation teams at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences here and across the country for their efforts to illuminate the lives to those in need.
According to the World Health Organisation, there are 284 million visually impaired people in the world -- 39 million are blind and 245 have low vision.
About 90 percent of them live in developing countries.
Eye donation means donating one's corneas after his or her death. In India, there are many organisations that act as eye banks that facilitate removal of corneas and distribute them to the needy.
Cornea is a clear tissue -- a focusing element -- that covers the front of the eye. People suffering from corneal blindness only can benefit from eye donations through corneal grafting.
State run telecom companies BSNL and MTNL have a toll free number 1919 all over the country to facilitate easy access to the nearest eye bank.

Admitted to AIIMS

Rajya Sabha member and former Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh was Monday evening admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) by Tihar Jail authorities for a kidney-related problem.

According to sources at the hospital, Singh was admitted in a private ward of the hospital.
He arrived at around 7 p.m. and was admitted to ward 218.
'His treatment has started and tests have started,' a hospital source said, declining to be named.
Special Judge Sangita Dhingra Sehgal Monday reserved hearing on Singh's interim bail plea in the cash-for-votes scam till Tuesday.
Amar Singh and two former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MPs - Faggan Singh Kulaste and Mahavir Singh Bhagora - were arrested Sep 6 for their alleged involvement in an attempt to bribe MPs ahead of the July 2008 parliament trust vote.

GE Hopes To Double German Business

General Electric Co hopes to double the company's German business in five years through a combination of organic and inorganic growth, a company executive told the Wall Street Journal in an interview.
On Tuesday, GE plans to announce its full German management team, an expansion of facilities including its Munich-based research center and a German marketing campaign, as the company tries to gain market share in the world's fourth-largest economy that is now dominated by Siemens , the paper said.
The new management team, under the leadership of Ferdinando Beccalli-Falco, will be responsible for its own profit and loss account and will take aim at two key German markets -- gas turbines and health care, the Journal said.
"Germany has always been the engine and the locomotive of the European economy. One of the things we have to do is improve our position there," Beccalli-Falco told the Journal in an interview.
Beccalli-Falco sees strong potential in energy, health care and finance, and expects to add 400 to 500 jobs in the process, according to the newspaper.