For centuries, the bacterium that causes tuberculosis has been man's public health enemy No. 1. A fitfully reliable skin test developed in 1908 was all we had to hunt down the bug before it attacked. Almost 100 years later, Ajit Lalvani, a Delhi-born professor at Oxford University, has developed a rapid, reliable blood test that can expose the clandestine bacteria in seemingly healthy people.

REVEALING TEST: Lalvani (second from left) with his team (above); a TB patient

Lalvani's test, called elispot, exploits the clues left by the bacteria in the body. The TB bacteria have certain identifying protein tags. These tags are recognised by immune cells in the blood called T-cells that let loose a volley of a chemical called gamma interferon when they encounter the TB protein tags. These chemicals can be detected from blood samples of patients as dark blue spots. "Each spot is thus a footprint of the T-cell specific for the TB bacterial protein," says Lalvani.

The new test, which took seven years to develop, will be marketed worldwide, including in India. A report in the prestigious medical journal The Lancet proved the new method's efficacy during a large tuberculosis outbreak in a UK school. "elispot could play a very important role in combating TB in India," Lalvani told India Today. Finally, a big step forward in the long war against the disease.

-Supriya Bezbaruah

Curry Beer

There is competition for Cobra Beer, which ruled the roost in Indian restaurants and clubs in the UK. A new Indian beer brand, Tikka Gold, is to hit the market. The proprietors say it is the first premium imported beer brewed specifically with curry eaters in mind.

Rohit Amin, director of Tikka Beer, says: "As a beer lover, I decided to create Tikka Gold for curry lovers." In addition to using only the finest European malts, hops and spring water in the brewing process, Tikka Gold uses rice in order to bring a taste of the exotic to the traditional Pilsner recipe.

Explaining the choice of the name Tikka, Amin says other than lending its name to Britain's favourite dish, a tikka is a mark made on the forehead during Indian marriages.

Tikka Gold and curry is a partnership of Indian creativity and Belgian know-how. Blending the right amount of rice with the perfect balance of malts, hops and spring water gives the beer its distinctive golden colour. The lustrous hue provided Tikka Gold with the ideal name. The new beer will be available in 275ml and 500ml bottles.

-Ishara Bhasi

A Rendezvous With Everest

What does it take to reach the world's highest summit? Stamina and skill, of course. Also money, hype and luck. Starting this week, Mission Everest, a nine-part series on National Geographic, will track the selection of five men and women to scale the peak from a nationwide contest.

Celebrating the 50th anniversary of the first Everest summit, 30,000 contestants of Everest Se Takkar contest were whittled down. The top 20 got to train at the National Institute of Mountaineering in Uttaranchal, of whom only five managed to achieve their dream. The winners' identities will be revealed as the series tracks the desperation and excitement. The show ends with Jamling Tenzing Norgay and Peter Hillary, sons of the first two men to scale the peak, commemorating the 50th anniversary of their fathers' ascent in May 1953.

-Nidhi Taparia Rathi