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Picnickers from Hyderabad are making the most of the relatively cool weekend mornings, venturing out on day trips to Vikarabad, Warangal and Siddipet. En route, they are waylaid on the highways by a motley bunch of vendors seeking to lure them with clay cookware — pots, pans, glasses and bottles brought from Kota in Rajasthan. The highways that are usually dotted with fresh vegetable and fruit sellers are now proving to be a good market spot for the clay pot sellers; they cleverly position themselves close to fruit and vegetable vendors for easy access. Makeshift ‘shops’ on open mini trucks display their wares on the footpath, to catch the attention of motorists. The clay utensils include pots in black and brown, ‘cook and serve’ curry pots as well as pans with heat resistant handles, tava for rotis, teacups and drinking water bottles, all priced from ₹100 to ₹700. Rajnath Singh, a 35-year-old seller says the bottles are a favourite with those travelling in autorickshaws, as they ... » Learn More about Clay takes over Hyderabad’s highways

Top directors of Texas 's electric grid operator , who faced sharp criticism from the massive failure of the state power system last week that left millions without heat or light, resigned en masse on Tuesday. The board's chairman, vice chairman and two other directors of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) resigned effective on Wednesday, according to a notice to the state Public Utility Commission. Craig Ivey, who was nominated Feb. 16 to fill a board vacancy, also withdrew before he could be seated, according to the notification. "To allow state leaders a free hand with future direction and to eliminate distractions, we are resigning," wrote Chairman Sally Talberg, Vice Chairman Peter Cramton and directors Terry Bulger and Raymond Hepper in a joint resignation. "Our hearts go out to all Texans who had to go without electricity, heat and water during frigid temperatures and continue to face the tragic consequences of this emergency," they added. ... » Learn More about Several board members of Texas’s electric grid operator to resign

Next 'When Sikhs were killed in the Afghan-Sikh war in 1837, the Afridis used to bury their heads like flowerpots in the ground,' writer and popular historian William Dalrymple tells Rediff.com 's Syed Firdaus Ashraf. "T his obsession of linking Islam and violence is a false one," says writer and popular historian William Dalrymple , whose latest book Return of a King is a historical work based on the First Afghan War. In the second part of an interesting conversation with Rediff.com 's Syed Firdaus Ashraf , Dalrymple discusses how the defeat of the great imperial power in that war is central to what the Afghans think of themselves. Dalrymple, who has written two widely acclaimed books on the Mughals, counters the view that peace eludes the Islamic world and says that in the last 300 years there have been more instances of Muslim countries being invaded than them being invaders themselves. "The British are partly responsible for ... » Learn More about Writer Willam Dalrymple: ‘I don’t believe Muslims are a problem and Islam a threat’