Now, getting a licence for a fire-arm or operating an eatery will be easy with Delhi Police on Tuesday launching a dedicated website for its Licencing Branch.

Two city schools have been closed for a week from Monday after a student each from the educational institution tested positive for swine flu.

Rajib Boy from Kolkata is 16-year-old and a talented footballer, recently selected after a national scouting contest to attend a Manchester United Football Club training camp.

The refugee question in the Indian subcontinent dates back to 1947 when India was partitioned. A horrifying feature of the birth of free India – and Pakistan – was the large mass of refugees who were forced to relocate in the most adverse conditions and amidst brutal violence.

CEO of the ICC World Cup 2015 John Harnden spoke with Amin Ali about ensuring excitement in cricket's mega-tournament, clamping down on racism, managing 'minnows' matches — and how Australia is sizing up India as a rival for the trophy.

Singapore is one of India's closest partners in Asia. In his first visit to meet PM Narendra Modi after the formation of the NDA government, K Shanmugam, Singapore's foreign minister, tells Indrani Bagchi they would build some of India's new smart cities and involve themselves in skill development programmes in India.

A team of Indian-American scientists has developed a smart tracking system, which could very well provide an honourable alternative to the radio tags.

A Canadian court has sentenced an Indian-origin man to life in prison for murdering his pregnant wife in 2006.

A 23-year-old woman allegedly committed suicide at the AIIMS here after her mother died of cancer at the hospital, police said on Saturday. She was reported missing after her mother passed away on Wednesday and her body was found near the new private ward block of the hospital on Saturday, they said, adding that she fell to her death from a building.

It is also the largest asteroid expected to zoom by Earth within the next two months.

'I can do slice-of-life kind of films anytime; But playing a cop is different. It's difficult to maintain that intensity on screen. That's where the real acting comes in place.'

'Mumbai is very different from the rest of India. It can be ruthless if you don't have work or friends. The struggle time and times of disappointment are horrific and can break you.'

'Comedy comes naturally to me.'

'Who will give me that (lost) time?' 'The stress I have gone through, the stress my family has gone through.''We have not laughed in seven, eight years.'

'Everybody had told me that I was the next big thing in Bollywood because my face and body structure was like a superstar. But when it didn't happened, I learned a lot of important things in life.'

'If you don't get married, it's not a crime. If you do, it's not an achievement either.'

'There is an anger simmering in a few people whose mindsets are neck deep in tradition. They are simmering because they feel how is it that she's able to educate herself? How is it that she's allowed to talk over me? How is it that she's allowed to do what she wants to do? This is coming out in these crimes,' says Rani Mukerji.

'Ishaan was around me a lot and I was around Ishaan a lot but we were promoting Dhadak; we had no one else to be around,' Janhvi Kapoor spills her hearts out on #NoFilterNeha.

'Akshay is in the same phase that probably Mr Bachchan has gone through.''He has that kind of success and stardom, but he does not let it go to his head.''That's what I love about him.'

'Chhapaak is definitely the most challenging film of my career.''I have gone through many emotionally challenging experiences, but none affected me the way it did when I played an acid attack survivor.'

'I'd love to do more roles. But I will only accept parts keeping in mind my image as Sita.'

'The entertainment industry is on the verge of a big, big, change over the next few months and years.'

The American Folklife Center (AFC) at the Library of Congress is delighted to announce that four (4) new Occupational Folklife Project collections are now available on the Library of Congress website. They are “Working the Waterfront: New Bedford, Massachusetts;” “Funeral Service Workers in the Carolinas;” “Illuminating History: Union Electricians in New York City;” and “Homeless Shelter Workers in the Upper Midwest.” The collections consist mainly of audio recordings of oral history interviews, with supporting photos and documents. The four new collections join previously released collections documenting the experiences of home health care workers, beauty shop employees, circus workers, gold miners, ironworkers, racetrack employees, and workers in the Port of Houston.

Through the Occupational Folklife Project (OFP), the AFC has now amassed more than 1,000 interviews with hundreds of contemporary American workers representing scores of trades and occupations. These hour-long oral history interviews feature workers discussing their current jobs, formative work experiences, training, aspirations, occupational communities, hopes for the future, and on-the-job challenges and rewards. They tell stories of how workers learned their trades, their skills and work routines, legendary jobs (good and bad), respected mentors, and flamboyant co-workers. They document the knowledge, dedication and insights of American workers, and add workers’ voices to the permanent record of America’s history preserved at the Library of Congress, America’s national library. Adding the collections to the Library of Congress website enables researchers, educators, and members of the public to access them from their homes, schools, and local libraries. OFP interviews can also be accessed at the AFC’s Reading Room at the Library of Congress in Washington, DC.

AFC Director Betsy Peterson notes: “AFC’s innovative Occupational Folklife Project enables researchers and members of the public to have direct access to hundreds of hours of fieldwork with some of America’s most eloquent, engaging, and passionate spokespeople for the trades and occupations that shape our shared national culture. These oral histories not only enrich our current understanding of our fellow Americans, but will inform scholars and researchers for generations to come about the lives of workers at the beginning of the 21st century. Listeners will be able to access the oral histories, images and fieldwork that previously could be accessed only by visiting the Library of Congress in Washington. ”

The OFP was launched in 2010. It is funded in part by AFC’s Archie Green Fellowships, which support teams of researchers throughout the United States, who perform interviews documenting a particular occupation.

New OFP collections available online are:

Working the Waterfront: New Bedford, Massachusetts
The New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center (NBFHC) received an Archie Green Fellowship to document workers on the New Bedford, Massachusetts, waterfront for the Occupational Folklife Project (OFP). Folklorist and NBFHC Executive Director Laura Orleans, working with anthropologists Madeleine Hall-Arber and Corinn Williams and oral historian Fred Calabretta, recorded oral histories with 58 workers involved in diverse fishing-related trades on the New Bedford waterfront. Documented tradespeople range from fish packers to net makers, navigational electronic technicians to marine divers, and maritime upholsterers to ice house workers. The individual interviews are supplemented by striking workplace portraits taken by gifted New Bedford photographer Phillip Mello, who was also interviewed about his job as general manager at Bergie’s Seafood. Mello has been taking photographs of his fellow waterfront workers since 1975, and his work is currently on exhibit at the American Folklife Center.

Funeral Services Workers in the Carolinas
Folklorist Sarah Bryan of Durham, North Carolina, received an Archie Green Fellowship from the American Folklife Center to document the work of funeral services workers in North and South Carolina. She explored how, through their work, funeral service workers engage with the funerary folklore and religious beliefs of diverse Carolina communities, including African American, Gullah, Jewish, Scottish and Scots-Irish, as well as more recently arrived immigrant groups. Interviewees included directors of multi-generational funeral homes and other funeral workers from diverse backgrounds and experiences. A total of 16 interviews are included in this collection; many are accompanied by photographs and historical images.

Homeless Shelter Workers in the Upper Midwest
Social services worker, writer, and documentarian Margaret Miles of Minneapolis, Minnesota, received an Archie Green Fellowship from the American Folklife Center to document workers in the emergency homeless services in three interrelated Midwestern urban centers: Bismarck, North Dakota; Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota; and Chicago, Illinois. She recorded interviews with overnight shelter advocates, meal and clothing center coordinators, street outreach workers, daytime drop-in supervisors, and housing case managers and others who work to resolve housing issues and assist individuals with financial crises, employment, addiction, illness, or mental health concerns. As she notes: their work makes them "master-navigators of complex systems such as healthcare, social security, corrections, veterans’ benefits, and tenant-landlord law." This collection consists of 18 interviews with shelter workers serving diverse communities of clients, including ex-offenders, abused women, LGBT and Native American youth, and individuals with HIV/AIDS. Many of the interviews are accompanied by images by Miles's co-documentarian, photographer Catherine ten Broeke. Troyd Geist, Folklorist for the North Dakota Arts Council, served as a consultant to the project.

Illuminating History: Union Electricians in New York City
New York researcher and electrician Jaime Lopez, in affiliation with SUNY Empire State College's Harry Van Arsdale Jr. School of Labor Studies (HVASLS) and The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW, Local #3) in Queens, New York, received an Archie Green Fellowship from the American Folklife Center to document the occupational culture of urban IBEW electricians, who “through manufacture, installation, and maintenance serve the greater New York City area.” Lopez worked with a research team that included labor faculty Barrie Cline and labor historian Anne D’Orazio from HVASLS, Queens-based artist/documentarian Setare S. Arashloo, and Local #3 electrician Paul Vance. Folklorist Naomi Sturm served as consultant to the project. The team recorded 22 oral histories with IBEW Local #3 electricians reflecting a wide range of ages, backgrounds, experiences, and occupational specialties. Many interviews are accompanied by worksite photographs and photographs of union-related activities.

Click here for more information.

One of the many ironies of modern living is that while technology is bringing people closer, the sense of loneliness is growing. That’s because a text message can never replace a hug, and virtual Siri a real friend. ​

Barker Library - TA440.N68 2013

Barker Library - TA439.C366 2012

Barker Library - TA440.N86 2011

Barker Library - TA440.E358 2012

Barker Library - TA441.B56 2013

Barker Library - TA439.M364 2014