An Indo-Austrian deal

An Indo-Austrian deal
The spokesman for the Austrian government in the meeting of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) in Vienna, Peter Launsky, has a strong India connection.

He was posted as the deputy ambassador for his country to New Delhi in the late 1990s and made many friends in the city’s cultural and social elite. It helped that he is married to Aradhana Seth, a designer by profession, and the sister of novelist Vikram Seth and daughter of Justice Leila Seth. Last week it fell upon Launsky to explain his country’s concerns about the deal, though eventually the Austrians came around.

Monopoly gets new real estate stars
Montreal and the Latvian capital of Riga have been selected to be the most expensive properties in a new global Monopoly game called Here & Now. The choice of the two cities to replace Boardwalk and Park Place is the result of worldwide voting by more than 5 million fans of the board game, according to Hasbro.

The new game will include updated Chance and Community Chest cards that highlight events and culturally relevant scenarios from countries around the world. Different modes of transportation will replace the four railroads. Helen Martin of Hasbro hopes that fans of the world’s most popular board game will enjoy buying, selling and trading real estate from around the globe in the new Monopoly game that they created with their votes.

Other cities selected were Cape Town, Belgrade, Paris, Jerusalem, Hong Kong, Beijing, London, New York, Sydney and Vancouver, among others.