The Times of India reports.

Finland is wooing Bollywood producers. Finnish Tourism Board is arranging for familiarisation trips for our film-makers to igloos, Santa country, Lapland, Northern Lights and the Midnight Sun. More importantly, the board plans to facilitate Bollywood units there so that the experience is hassle-free.

Similar initiatives by Singapore, New Zealand, Australia, Switzerland and Poland have transported these countries to our cinemas and into our homes. Expectedly, the number of Indian visitors to these countries has been steadily going up.

So have shop sales. Great Britain has gone a step further. UK's Bollywood trail invites visitors to retrace their favourite movie sequences. Pan to India. Forget marketing Incredible India as a moviemaker's destination.

Even the few foreign film-makers who come to this country at their own initiative mostly because the film theme or storyline demands an Indian backdrop have had to retreat hastily after hitting roadblocks in the form of red tape, erratic schedules, lack of technical support, and overcharging.

Faced with poor service and non-availability of efficient facilitators, foreign crew tend to turn their sights to less problematic Asian or south-east destinations like Thailand and Korea.

It is quite possible that things have improved since Richard Attenborough made Gandhi here nearly 25 years ago, but clearly not enough to attract more Hollywood film-makers to shoot in India.

Tap into the network of cameras across Finland and Lapland to experience the quiet life!

A Finnish website set up primarily by the authorities to monitor weather conditions on their roads allows you to get a glimps of Finnish weather and life. Until not many years ago staff in a network of cabins along the main routes would call in weather updates but now the cameras along with other roadside technology allow authroties to decide when the snowplows should be dispatched on any given stretch.

The first thing that hits you is the lack of traffic, especially when you look at the cameras in Lapland. You will also be able to see that Lapland already has a decent covering of snow, 30cm has fallen in recent days.

To link to the website click here.

A position it has held since the index started 4 years ago!

Finland ranked first in the Worldwide Press Freedom Index 2006, published Tuesday by the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders.

Ireland, Iceland and the Netherlands share first place with Finland, with North Korea coming last at place 168.

Finland has been at the top of the ranking list every year since the publication of the first index in 2002.
At the opposite end of the spectrum on the Press Freedom Index, North Korea, Turkmenistan, and Eritrea bask in the questionable acclaim of being ranked as the most blatant violators of freedom of expression and freedom of speech.

Denmark, which belonged among the leaders in 2005, is now ranked 19th, owing to journalists having received death-threats because of the Muhammad caricatures. The United States was ranked only 53rd (in 2002 it was still in the top 20 countries) and France could place no higher than 35th, although it, too, was in or around the top 10 just four years ago.

The press freedom index is based on evaluations made by journalists, researchers, lawyers and human rights activists.

As temperatures plummet, lakes start to freeze and the snow appears.

Hotel Iso-Syote, a wonderful hotel set on of one of Finland southern most fells, just below the Arctic Circle, is enjoying the best of both worlds - bright sunshine and the arrival of winter. Temperatures are now regularly dropping below -10 which is vital at this time of year to ensure that lakes and swamps freeze before the arrival of the heavy winter snow.

The ski slopes tend to open mid November and the first husky and snowmobile safaris set off in early December or ealier if snow conditions allow.

Syote enjoys some of the heaviest snowfall in Lapland with the trees you see in the pictures being transformed into snow pyramids. The image below was taken last December from the hotel overlooking the ski lifts. The views from the hotel and cabins are breathtaking what ever the season.

For further details of spending Christmas in this Winter wonderland click here.

Life in the nursery in Lapland.

A few photos to show how Harriniva's latest puppies are progressing. They are growing so fast.

There is already snow on the ground in places in Lapland and at night time they are experiencing temperatures as low as -10.
That of course will be nothing to the puppies, as the winter progresses they must be prepared to function in tempratures as low as -40.
As a rule it is the warmer weather the dogs dislike, even temperatures of -5 are not pleasant when the dogs are working, whisking their sleds through the forzen forests. They are happiest and -10 and below! 

If you want experience husky sleding in Lapland click here.

Finland is home to 5000 reindeer herders.

About 40 percent of Finnish reindeer meat is sold by the herders themselves, or small-scale meat packers. Finnish law allows those who raise reindeer to sell the meat directly to the consumer. In direct sales, the transaction must take place on the property of the herder. 

Reindeer meat is low in fat and high in protein. Reindeer have their calves in the late spring. 
Most of the reindeer that are slaughtered were born the same year, because the meat of a young reindeer is considered to be of higher quality. More mature individuals are left in the forest to multiply. 
   

The reindeer herding area of Finland comprises one third of the country's surface area. It includes all of the Province of Finnish Lapland, as well as the northern and eastern parts of Oulu Province. Finland has about 5,000 reindeer herders, who comprise 56 reindeer-owners' associations.

Reindeer, or rangifer tarandus tarandus are ruminants - the semi-domesticated version of a wild animal of the same species. 
In 2005 predators killed nearly 3,000 reindeer.
     

Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 17.10.2006

But be warned, the first snow falls in Helsinki later every year

The City of Helsinki's Public Works Department has announced a competition to guess the date when the first snow will be cleared from Helsinki's streets. The date has appeared to be later and later in recent years.

      Those who intend to take part in the competition will have to know more than just the date of the first snowfall. One has to be able to predict also how fast the Public Works Department is ready to get the ploughs out.

     
According to the rules of the competition, the criterion of the first snowfall is met when three out of the Public Works Department's six maintenance districts set off with their snowploughing vehicles to clear snow from the streets of the capital.
      "The snowfall has to be a bit heavier than a dusting", says engineer Juha Mäkelä from the City's Public Works Department.
      "It is rather difficult to say exactly how many centimetres the snow cover should be, and it also depends on the snow itself. Whether it is wet or dry, or whether it comes with strong winds and gets packed" , he notes.

      Mäkelä reports further that the foreman of the Public Works Department will be on duty at night from the beginning of November.
      "He will go around the city and evaluate when there is enough snow for the crew to set off", Mäkelä explains.

"However, each district is to assess the situation in its own area. The city is large, and if it is snowing in the district of Pitäjänmäki, it may be raining by the coast", he concludes.
      The six maintenance depots of the Public Works Department are situated in the districts of Kamppi, Pitäjänmäki, Kyläsaari, Tattarisuo, Oulunkylä, and at the Roihupelto industrial area.
     

In addition to the criteria set by the Public Works Department, even some more official definitions of the first snow exist.
     
According to the Finnish Meteorological Institute, the first snow means an intact snow layer of at least one centimetre that has been measured in the morning.
      Statistics of the first snow have been gathered since 1900. The earliest day for the first snow was recorded in 1928, when the first dump came in Kaisaniemi on September 29th.
      On the other hand, the first snow has appeared later and later every year. Over the 30-year period from 1971 to 2000, the first snow appeared in Helsinki's Kaisaniemi around November 14th on average, while the first years of the current millennium saw the first snow around November 16th on average.

      A hint for those who plan to participate in the competition: last year, the first snowplough based on the criteria of the Public Works Department set out on November 28th.

For further details on visiting Helsinki click here.

According to Swedish Radio's Kulturnyttat, the change will take place at the beginning of 2007

The opposition Social Democrats have said they will fight against the reforms.
"We want to have culture policies for everyone and we noticed that this has been greatly appreciated," said Margareta Israelsson, a Social Democrat member of the parliamentary culture committee.

The vice chairman of the committee, Cecilia Wikström (Liberal Party) said she was surprised by the announcement and asked for a full analysis. She pointed to research from the Swedish National Council for Cultural Affairs, which found that 70% of Swedes were in favour of free museum entry.

Writing in Dagens Nyheter, 19 museum bosses have demanded that free entry remains in place.

The Alliance parties made clear before the election their view that free entry to museums should be abolished, but that young people up to the age of 19 should still be able to visit without charge.

Lars Amréus, head of the Historical Museum, is one of those who wants to keep free entry.

"We have doubled our visitor numbers. In 2005 we had 200,000 visitors, and before that we had 100,000 in a normal year."

There have also been many new visitors, he said.

The government's budget proposal will be made public on Monday, but the 21 state-run museums were informed of the move on Wednesday in a letter from the Culture Department.

"We have had part of the budget proposal and the only issue we have to comment on is that free entry will be abolished from 1st January 2007," said the finance director at the Nordic Museum, Karin Englund.

Published: 11th October 2006 The Local