Man posts Facebook messages on how he killed daughter

An Australian man who stabbed his two-year-old daughter to death and posted updates on Facebook pleaded guilty on Wednesday. One message read: "I've killed her... She's just lying there... and her guts are hanging out".

Ramazan ‘Ramzy’ Acar, 24, kidnapped his daughter Yazmina from outside her home. He then gave her mother Rachelle D'Argent updates about his plan to murder the child, the Herald Sun reported.

Yazmina was stabbed with a knife in November on last year and her body was dumped in a vacant plot in north Melbourne, a court in Melbourne said on Wednesday.

The accused used Facebook and mobile phone messages to inform D'Argent and said the murder was in revenge for her ending their relationship.

In one phone call, Acar told D'Argent: "I'm going to do it. Do you have any last words for her?"

Later, in a series of text messages he updated his murder of Yazmina.

While one read, "It's ova I did it", another said "I h8t you". A Facebook status update read "Pay bk u slut".

When the woman spoke to Acar on the phone, he claimed: "I've killed her. She's just lying there next to me in her leggings and her top covered in blood, and her guts are hanging out.

Taapsee’s Telugu, a big hit

Taapsee Pannu is one delighted girl. The Punjabi actress, who’s basking in her popularity in Tollywood, is pleased about the rave reviews she has received for her latest release Mr. Perfect with Prabhas.

Speaking to this newspaper from Hyderabad, an ecstatic Taapsee said was that her decision to dub her own voice for the movie has paid off. “My mobile inbox is overflowing with congratulatory messages ever since the film got released,” she gushes.

“It’s heartwarming to see, from the kind of comments they send me, that audiences are noticing even small details and minute aspects of a film! I am so happy that my voice was liked by all. I played a bike racer, a short-tempered, bratty NRI, so my director did not want the typical Telugu lingo spoken in Andhra. I have a rather bass voice and he felt it should match the character I played.”

On her role in Vaandhan Vendran, she said it was a total contrast to the characters she had played in her earlier flicks. “You will find an abrupt transformation in the looks and dialogue delivery of Anjana, the daughter of a multimillionaire that I portray in VV. There are pages of Tamil dialogues and I am really looking forward to it.”

Taapsee and Jiiva will be flying to France soon to shoot two songs.

‘Big bite’ burgers up for grabs

Two pieces of bun, chicken, onion, celery, garlic, a huge slice of cheese, one more layer of all these with beef served in a square plate, bordered by a pack of hot French fries and a bowl of mayonnaise sauce and here comes the yummy big burger!

It is double the size of a normal burger, you can picture the big bites you will have to take. Yes this is the big boy burger — the first item on the menu of the burger fest at Cocoa Tree, Avenue Regent, MG Road in Kochi.

With 15 to 20 burgers on the menu, the fest is catching on with every passing year as fresh items are being added on to the list. “This year, we have introduced the green lamb burger and the parmesan chicken burger,” says Rajith, F&B manager of the hotel.

The green lamb burger comes with peta bread slices, which, unlike the other thick coatings of bread and bun, are thin and easy on your mouth.

The other fast moving dishes are the chicken pesto burger, the barbeque chicken burger and the Mexican ham burger among the non-veggies. The veggies prefer paneer burger hariyali, labanese vegetable burger and veg supreme burger.

Chef Benny lists the ingredients breathlessly — lettuce, tomato, cheese, lamb, Greek bread, vegetable salad — he goes on from one menu item to another — paneer and mint leaves and coriander, it is all there.

The ingredients may seem no different from a regular menu but the burger fest manages to present some unique style of burgers.

The fest is on till May 22 from 11 am to 1 am in the night at Avenue Regent. It is also on at Avenue Centre from 11am to 11 pm.

Songs of the Earth

It’s a busy day at work. The sun is shining relentlessly, its sharp rays piercing through the window, making the office annoyingly bright. You are thankful that it is cool inside and that the air conditioner is working at keeping the heat at bay. What’s definitely not cool is your head, fretting that because of work, you are stuck once again in Hyderabad’s heat. Cheer up, help is at hand. All you need is a weekend — to get away from this hothouse of a city — to the green, pastoral valley of Araku.

This beautiful hill station with its picturesque scenery, lush grasslands and amazing weather is 112 km away from Visakhapatnam. It is perfect for a short holiday, to unwind and relax. Araku Valley spreads over an area of 36 sq. km and at a height of 900 metres above sea level. A train journey to the Valley is a memorable experience. It is also connected by road to Visakhapatnam. Coffee plantations, waterfalls and tunnels greet you on your way there.

There are many interesting places to visit in the vicinity. The Borra Caves, which are located 29 km away, are a great attraction, with their incredible stalactites and stalagmite formations. The Anantagiri Hills are well-known for their coffee plantations. Other attractions include the Padmapuram Botanical Gardens, Araku Tribal Museum and Government Silk Farm and Mulberry Gardens. From the Damuku viewpoint, you have a spectacular view of the whole valley spread out in front of you.

Araku has something for everyone. Adventure freaks can roll out their tents and camp here. The terrain is perfect for trekking. You can take your kids to the Tyda Park, giving them a taste of wildlife viewing and birdwatching. The Bheemunipatnam beach is one of the most beautiful beaches on the Eastern coast.

It is safe for swimming and its serene, calm beauty will definitely take your breath away. Even If you are not in the mood to do anything at all, just sit back and relax. Let the beauty of the valley weave its magic on you.

PIT STOP
The Araku Tribal Museum offers a unique gastronomical delight. After treating your mind to the amazing world of different tribal lifestyles, you can treat your taste buds too by indulging in a hot serving of Bamboo Chicken. The chicken, a tribal speciality, is an equivalent to the ultra-popular tandoori chicken. Hollow bamboo stems are stuffed with chicken and cooked over an open fire. It is ideal for health freaks as no oil goes into the dish. Besides, no salt is added to the masala as the bamboo renders enough salt for the chicken. You can have half a plate of chicken for Rs 130 and a full plate for Rs 500.

TRIVIA
The Araku Valley area is famous for its coffee plantations. The coffee produced here is exported not only to different parts of the country, but abroad as well. After the importance of this region was recognised, the Coffee Board started a “brown revolution” here to encourage the tribal farmers to practise environmentally-friendly methods of cultivation while helping them adopt better farming techniques and marketing to cater to the demands of developed countries desiring to import the coffee.

CURIO STOP
The Araku Tribal Museum houses artefacts related to the Eastern Ghats’ tribal culture. It gives us an insight into the lifestyle of the ancient tribes of the region by means of statues and installations. There is also a stall where one can purchase handicrafts produced by the tribals who continue to inhabit this area. You can buy dolls and small statues of animals here that are indigenously made out of moulded metal and carved wood.

Growers upset as watermelons shrink

The markets are flooded with them as people relish the cool sweetness of watermelons in a scorching summer.

While most growers are raking in the moolah, farmers of Ankola taluk, Uttar Kannada district, who usually produce the largest quantity of the fruit with its hard green cover and juicy red interior, have this year become disgruntled bystanders, watching others grow rich while their stunted and disfigured melons have few takers.

And most are blaming the low quality seeds they were sold by a merchant from Haveri.

With 150 farmers growing watermelon over 500 acres, the fruit dominates the fields in Ankola taluk. But instead of acres of healthy fruit, all you can see are the long faces of farmers left with a poor crop and huge losses. So angry are the growers that they have lodged a police complaint against the seed merchant, S.K. Patil.

“Every year we buy the Namdhari 295 variety of seed from Bidadi. But this year a merchant called S.K. Patil came to our doorsteps claiming to have a better variety of seed that would increase our yield. Because of its easy availability, about 90 per cent of the farmers in Ankola bought the seed, only to find that they had been cheated,” says Aravinda Vittobha Naik of Ankola who has filed a case with the police against the vendor.

Although the farmers paid Patil Rs 350 for 100 grams of the seed as against Rs 280 for 100 grams that they usually paid for the seeds in Bidadi, they got a crop of undersized watermelons. Their losses are huge as they are able to sell the watermelons for merely Rs 500 a tonne as against Rs 8,000 a tonne in the past.

Naik for instance has got a return of a mere Rs 10,000 on an investment of Rs 1 lakh, living him bitterly resentful and worried Some are in worse trouble than others as they had borrowed money from moneylenders at high interest rates to invest in their crop. They are now hoping for justice from the law.

Big B to launch his voice blog in Britain

Almost a year after launching his voice blog called 'Bachchan Bol' in India, Amitabh Bachchan is all set to launch vogging or voice blogging in Britain on May 18 on Wednesday.

"Bachchan Bol gets all geared up in the coming days. We launch this in the United Kingdom on May 18. It's my Vog, or in simpler terms, my Voice Blog," Big B posted on his blog Bigb.bigadda.com.

The 68-year-old has reached London and is excited to be able to connect to his fans worldwide.

"Greetings from the United Kingdom, which as you may observe is where I have landed myself this morning... and which as you will observe in time will be where I shall be launching the Bachchan Bol Vog facility for the UK... and which in time to come, perhaps not very long, about a month, shall initiate the possibility of connecting to my Vog worldwide … excited !!," he posted.