News

The Hindu : Travel dealCox&Kings continues its 250-year celebrations with a 25 per cent cash back offer on USA Tour. This offer is valid for eight days and for the first 500 customers and closes on January 31.The American Splendour is a 19-day/18-night tour and will cover New York, Niagara, Washington D.C, San Francisco, Napa Valley Wine Country, Sausalito, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Orlando. A special inclusion on this tour is a four-night luxurious Royal Caribbean Cruise aboard the “Monarch of the Seas” to Baja Mexico and visits to San Diego, Catalina Island, Ensenada Mexico. Furthermore, customers will enjoy gala dinner and receive mementos of their holiday.The tour cost will be Rs. 1,99,000 with a 25 per cent cash back of Rs. 49,750.The other packages are Coast to Coast, which is a 15-day/14-night tour to New York, Washington D.C, Niagara Falls, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Los Angeles. This one also includes a four-night cruise to Mexico aboard the “Monarch of the Seas”. The tour is priced at Rs. 1,34,960 with a cash back of Rs. 13,496. “The cash back on the tours mentioned below is 10 per cent,” say the organisers.West Coast of USA is a package that offers a 12-day/11-night tour covering San Francisco, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and will include the four-night cruise to Mexico aboard the “Monarch of the Seas”. This tour costs Rs. 1,25,520 with a cash back of Rs. 12,552.East Coast of USA tour includes a five-day/four-night package covering New York, Washington DC, Lancaster and the Niagara Falls. The tour is priced at Rs. 92,960 with cash back of Rs. 9,296.Orlando Odyssey tour is a five-day/four-night tour and will cover places like Magic Kingdom, Epcot Centre and the Sea World. The tour is priced at Rs. 90,960 with a cash back of Rs. 9,096.For details log on towww.coxandkings.com or call 1800221235/1800 2090400….More

The Hindu : Sonal brings an exhibition of Kalamkari saris to Bangalore from January 28 to February 3. Unlike the usual stiff materials available in the market with Kalamkari work, Sonal’s creations are on softer and free-flowing fabrics like georgettes, crepes, chiffons, etc. There will also be a separate range of Kalamkari saris with embroidery too. Some of the saris also have traces of zari along the borders and pallus. The saris have been designed by Saurav Bhuwalka. Kalamkari is an art form that originated in the Srikalahasti region and was initially restricted to paintings made traditionally on walls. Now it has become part of ornaments, apparel, furnishing and decorations. In fact the history of the art dates back even to the Indus Valley Civilization and Kalamkari art forms have been recovered from the Harappa sites. The exhibition will be on at Safina Plaza, main hall….More

The Hindu : Kunwar Singh switched off the safari vehicle and immediately silence engulfed us.“Have you heard the song‘Sounds of Silence’” he asked us.I nodded wondering what connection Simon and Garfunkel had with the Sal trees and grasslands that surrounded us.“Listen to the Sounds of Silence”, Kunwar said with a magnanimous sweep of his hand, presenting to us the jungles of the Pench National Park in Madhya Pradesh.I listened hard and slowly like a ship coming into sight from the mists of the high seas, Iheard an eagle crying and looked up to see a speck in the blue sky above.The wind changeddirection and riding on it camethe call of a racket-tailed Drongo, elsewhere a red-wattled lapwing seemedto be asking “did-you-do-it”.Listening even harder we heardthe tapping of a woodpecker building a home.A shadow flitted across our vehicle and we caughta glimpse of a Greater Adjutant Stork, its wings spread wide to give it last minute buoyancy before it gracefully toucheddown. Up ahead, two chittals were alternating between grazing and giving us furtive glances, their spotted coats shining in the early morning sun.From his high rise in the jungle, a langur gavea short bark like cough, much like a teenage boy after his first clandestine drag of a cigarette. And, Kunwar Singh jumpedas if he had been mildly stung by one of the huge bees hovering around the Mahua tree,“Tiger”.The jungle seemedto go still. The simian had spotted the striped cat on the move and all beings in the jungle ensured that their paths didn’tcross with that of the largest predator of the Indian jungles.Kunwar Singh, a naturalist attached to the Baghvan Resort,enhanced our jungle experience. His years of experience at jungle craft and his gentle coaxingto observe and take delight in the wonderful surroundings helped us to digress from the single-minded determination of seeing a tiger.He encouraged us to look at birds through his binoculars and as we…More

The Hindu : Fashion hungamaHungama Mobile has entered into to an exclusive partnership with Fashion TV which will enable the mobile users across India to download clips as well as interactive content on fashion and lifestyle on their mobile phones. FTV India has also launchedan India-centric fashion portalwww.ftv.co.in, which would be a one stop destination for the fashion enthusiast.The mobile content would be made available across various categories as images, videos, ring tones, games and many more exciting features. The tie up will enable the Indian consumers and fashion lovers to download exciting and fun fashion videos, models and designer profiles, photo shoots, and fashion tips by FTV.On Airtel, Vodafone, Tata, BSNL, BPL and Reliance, you can access FTV content directly through the operator portals across all the carriers listed above. One can also access FTV content on all GPRS enabled devices by logging into mobile.ftv.co.in or by sending ‘FTV’ to 54646Visitwww.brandingbrands.netwww.hungamamobile.comwww.indiafm.comwww.gaminghungama.com…More

The Hindu : He comes across as a gentle soul who would be eking out a living as a software engineer or a banker, but a closer look reveals that Kanishka Sharma is no ordinary person. At 29, he is the only accomplished Shaolin warrior in India trained at the famous Shaolin Temple.“I am the first Indian to be trained at Shaolin Temple Secular Disciple Union, Shaolin Temple, China. When I was seven, I happened to watch “36 Chambers of Shaolin”.“Since then for 22 years I have been in love with the art. I was first introduced to martial arts in 1986 when I started training under Sensei Murugan in the art of Okinawa Te and practised it till 1990.“Later I was introduced to Kungfu Toa. Then I started my study of Shaolin Chan (Zen), Wu (martial arts) and yi (medicine) under Master Shi Heng Jun, Head of Shaolin Temple Secular Disciple Union, Shaolin Temple, China,” says Kanishka who trains students in many premier schools in the Capital and also imparts training to policemen.Currently he and his teacher Shifu Liu Ze Fang are looking for a place in the Capital to establish a branch of the Shaolin Temple. “I want this craft to continue its traditional form and be included in the curriculum of schools.”Kanishka is also good in shaolin weapons like Shaolin Dao (Broad sword), Drunkard stick and shaolin Magic Wind Cudgel.He has mastered the art of shaolin Qinna (catch and lock) and Dian Xue (pressure point punching).However, he insists that shaolin is not like any other martial art. “It is not just a means to fight or of self defence. It keeps you calm and is also a means of quick healing.”Training starsKanishka has also trained Bollywood stars Shah Rukh Khan and Priyanka Chopra for “Don” and was recently seen in “Goal”.“Bollywood has exploited only one aspect of shaolin. I want people to see the larger…More

The Hindu : Stir your dreamsTalented actors now have their chance to fameBuzz18.com is organising the “Stir Up Your Dreams” contest in association with Tanuja Chandra, Café Coffee Day and Fun Republic. The winner gets a “chance to work with Tanuja Chandra and also gets trained by Anupam Kher,”say the organisers. The aim is “to provide a platform for those unnoticed, talented actors, add the organisers.Interested candidates are required to record a monologue, which should not be more than two minutes, on the theme of “Hope” either in English or Hindi, upload it on the special window created exclusively for the initiative namely – “Stir Up Your Dreams” contest onwww.buzz18.com.You can also courier the demo CD/DVD to Buzz 18’s office or submit it to their nearest Café Coffee Day outlets. The last date is February 20….More

The Hindu : The link between media violence and real world violence is in the spotlight again, this time thanks to a “freakonomics”- style paper recently presented at the American Economic Association. The study, authored by economists Gordon Dahl and Stefano DellaVigna argues that violent movies help to check violent crime in the short term by keeping would-be assailants cloistered for hours in an alcohol-free environment. The paper backs the statement, say media reports, by correlating a decade of crime data from across the US with cinema ratings and movie audience data.Many researchers look askance at the study for what they say is essentially empiricism. However, the study presents an opportunity to flip the debate around and examine what some media observers say is an over-simplification of the relationship between onscreen and off-screen violence. While there are numerous studies that support the generally accepted conclusion that violence on screen increases aggression in real life, researchers caution that the relationship between the two is far more complex. A direct, causal link, typically the basis for censorship of the media, fails to account for the highly diverse set of factors that contribute to violence, and hence exaggerate the role media violence plays.One of the primary problems with theories of media impact such as the “bullet theory” is that they are based on a shaky premise of the relationship between the reader and the text. “Many of these theories originated in the 1950s, as a response to the hyper reality of modern media,” says Lawrence Liang, a researcher with the Alternative Law Forum. “But subsequent authorship has shown that it is impossible to arrive on a universal theory of spectatorship.” For example, Lawrence points to a study on homeless men in the US by John Fiske, where Fiske finds that a group of 20 men watching the popular action film “Die Hard” read the film in a manner that is exactly…More

The Hindu : Go trekkingSet out on a mountaineering expeditionThe International Academy of Mountaineering and Allied Sports (IAMAS) and Rotary Mysore Midtown Adventure Foundation will take a team on the National Himalayan Trekking Expedition 2008 to Himachal Pradesh from April 28 to May 22. DSD Solanki, adventure enthusiast and PRO of IAMAS, will lead the team. The team will leave Mysore on April 28 to reach Manali on May 1.It will visit Rohtang Pass and Manikaran hot springs. There will also be rock climbing, rappelling and paragliding at Solang Valley. Anyone aged between eight and 70 years can take part.As only 20 persons can participate, registrations will be on a first-cum-first-served basis. The last date to send in your entries is February 10.For details, call 098802-73405 and 098451-16835….More

The Hindu : Now Hollywood heartthrobs Brad Pitt, Keanu Reeves, George Clooney, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Orlando Bloom could be seen talking in Hindi on Zee Cinema as the channel announces the launch of an exciting weekend entertainment series – Namaste Hollywood.Carrying on its tradition of presenting the audience with movies, masti and magic, Zee Cinema will showcase two of Hollywood’s biggest blockbusters dubbed into Hindi on the last Sunday of every month. Namaste Hollywood kicked off with a flourish at 3:30 p.m. yesterday with thrillers like “Eraser” and “Matrix Reloaded”.Commenting on the initiative, Zee Cinema Business Head, Mohan Gopinath says, “Hollywood is synonymous with world-class technology in filmmaking, mind-blowing special effects, breathtaking stunts and superior editing that produces edgy thrillers. At Zee Cinema, we want every Hindi-speaking cinema lover to relish the magic of Hollywood films just as much as he enjoys the masti of Bollywood.”The channel has an interesting line-up of blockbusters such as “Batman Returns” and “Batman & Robin”, war films and high-voltage dramas like “Troy” and “The Last Samurai” and family entertainers like “Free Willy”….More

The Hindu : The first thing that strikes you at Minc are cool, pastel shades and clean cuts of the clothes. The ‘eco-friendly’ fashion store for women and young girls was initiated by Mini Shibu, a post graduate in Apparel Design from NID, Ahmedabadand her husband Kochery C. Shibu under Mishan Design Point Private Limited.The couple spent about six months researching various prospects of sourcing organic material and vegetable-dyed cloth. They then narrowed down to a rehabilitation centre for weavers near Thiruvannamalai, which was set up to promote craftspeople and their trade, and Gandhigram Dundigal, where tribal formers make organic cotton.Cotton, casual and comfortable clothing seems to be Minc’s trademark – from loose cotton pants to kimono throws – they all integrate to mean “fit, function and fashion or F3I”.Thick grey cotton wraparounds, button-less jackets, cross-chest kurtas all give a hint of something different – what you don’t get to see in regular stores.There are sleeveless kurtas and kimono throws in pinks and yellows with a touch of embroidery and sequins on the border – which still manages to be subtle in the way of the use of toned-down shades.Says Kochery C. Shibu: “The idea was to use hand-spun and hand-woven materials without overdoing the whole ‘khadi’ image. We wanted to give a modern approach to Gandhi’s use of khadi.”And you can see that Khadi has worked its way out of the image trap quite well – by way of the tailoring, cuts, style and designs. The clothes then have a very contemporary look that is minimalist and not overdone.What are definitely eye-catching are the brush cotton jackets – again without any buttons – giving a very stylish, modish look.The tussar silk jackets are also worth a buy – they are chemical-free and very chic. Minc is very careful about using fabrics and dyes that are eco-friendly and azo-free.Something else that you’d want to check out are kurtas…More