-- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE --

February 4, 2001

Ammas.com, which emphasizes but is not restricted to South Asian expertise, has over 1300 registered experts in cooking and lifestyle issues, the very best of which are promoted to the "Council of Ammas." The 5% equity will now belong to the Council of Ammas.

"The decision to distribute shares to the Council of Ammas highlights Luminova's belief that these Ammas offer real value in the knowledge economy," says Ramana Reddy, financial officer and spokesman for Luminova Inc. "We believe that the automated Ammas.com system evaluates and promotes expertise in cooking and lifestyle-related issues, and that this expertise ads significant value to the Ammas.com community and network of affiliate sites. We want to encourage the Ammas' continued involvement with Ammas.com and the expansion of the Ask Amma system."

The site's "Ask Amma" system allows users to pose natural language queries and receive responses from registered "Ammas" -- or experts in such lifestyle topics as cooking, parenting, marriage, beauty and household affairs. The Ammas receive their own home page, where they can publish recipes, newsletters and lifestyle tips. An automated rating system, which is based on accumulated points and quality review, promotes the registered Ammas to become Featured Ammas, and finally to become members of the Council of Ammas in their specific category.

"Asking Amma is much easier than searching the Internet," says Lakshmi Krishnan, Content Manager of Ammas.com. "You just ask a question and wait. It's like talking to your computer about anything you want, but the information you receive in return is evaluated by knowledgeable sources. No one can sit on the Council of Ammas without having demonstrated a tremendous amount of expertise in their field."

The site started in 1996, out of New Delhi, as a simple recipe page featuring the authentic recipes of "Amma," who prefers to remain anonymous (though a rough sketch of this original Amma's background is available on the website). Since then the site has grown rapidly and boasts the largest South Asian spice database on the Internet, a complete US Department of Health nutritional database, a collection of over 36,000 recipes, not to mention the Internet's largest collection of South Asian lifestyle advice.

The site has recently opened an Amma's School, which offers such courses as "Amma's Secrets to Cooking Indian Breads" and "How to Tie a Sari." It also offers several advanced affiliate features, including the Ammas.com Search Engine and an "Ask Our Experts" system which are channeled through numerous affiliate web sites. And as if that's not enough, Amma's Cookbook, published by HarperCollins, is due to appear in bookstores -- and to be sold through the site -- in the next few months.

"Many Westerners see the Internet as this vast, omniscient repository of information," says Krishnan. "In fact, the information available on most the Internet is quite limited, focusing mainly on entertainment. For most South Asians, the real source of information -- information that really matters in our daily lives -- exists in the minds of our elders. Ammas.com is about making that knowledge available to those South Asians who otherwise wouldn't have access to it. I believe that's why the Luminova group believes the Council of Ammas has so much value."

Ammas.com is a privately held company, based in New Zealand. Luminova Inc, owned in part by the original Amma, is the majority shareholder.

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For more information, please visit http://www.ammas.com, or email info@ammas.com.