Talking to newsmen here yesterday, Prof Shankar of `Shankars' World Of Magic' said his troupe was the first in the country to be invited for the conference in the last 70 years. During the 20-minute presentation, the Indian basket, the improvised version of Indian street magic, is going to be the highlight. His son, Junior Shankar, will also be performing the umbrella trick developed by him. Besides them, his wife, daughter and two others would be taking part. The troupe will be using purely ``Indian'' music and magic at the International Stars of Magic gala show, for which 20 magicians from across the world were invited.

He said that they were looking out for sponsors for their trip. He said he would perform a vanishing trick on an aeroplane model togive publicity to the airlines offering them concession. But, he said that the troupe would attend irrespective of getting the sponsorship. He had used magic to improve condition of patients, Prof Shankar added magic could also be used as a tool for imparting education.

Prof Shankar had been popularising the schemes of Nationalised Syndicate Bank as its ``industrial magician''.