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The Hindu : y>

In a unique model of challenging a child’s abilities across eight intelligences, Inventure Academy hosted Multiple Intelligences Xplored (M.I.X.), an event designed to distinguish inherent talent in children, other than mathematical or linguistic intelligences, and bring about a powerful positive impact on the child’s self esteem.

The unique feature of this event is that it is the first of its kind in India. 9 schools and 300 students participated overall.

The participating schools were : Mallya Aditi International School, Indus International School, Vidya Shilp Academy, Gopalan International School , Greenwood High, Bishop Cotton Boys School, Brigade School and the Headstart Montessori House of Children .

Organised exclusively for students from grades I-VII, this event tests intelligence in children across eight categories: Word smart, logic smart, music smart, body smart, picture smart, people smart, self smart and nature smart. This event was based on a study by Educational Initiatives and Wipro Applying Thought in Schools.

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The Hindu : SUDHINDR A.B.

Celebrating Indianness: …Motivated.

At the Republic Day celebrations in schools that are part of The Hindu’s NIE programme, the students recognised the valour of our soldiers and the sacrifices made by our freedom fighters. They expressed their recognition through melodious patriotic songs, skits and speeches.Being Indian

At the Rashtriya Military School , the cadets from different classes sang patriotic songs and a few gave speeches reminding others about the importance of the day. The national flag was hoisted by the Principal Col. P. K. Sharma.

He told the cadets to be active citizens. He told them to be aware of not only their rights but also responsibilities. Col. Sharma spoke of the sacrifices made by our soldiers, whose commitment is to safeguard our nation.

At the National Public School, Rajajinagar, the students presented a Hindi song that highlighted the heritage of India. This was followed by a Kannada song that spread the message of building a successful India. The vibrant tricolour added to that touch of patriotism as the dancers swayed to the strains of Vande Mataram.

The pride of being Indian and standing united in spite of the diverse cultures was expressed through speeches both in the national language and in English. The celebrations came to an end with the distinct roll of the retreating drums played by the school band.

The 60th Republic Day celebrations at Jain International Residential School began with the unfurling of the National Flag, the symbol of freedom and hope. The day was marked by motivational speeches, patriotic songs and dances that brought a sense of belonging as well as oneness. Students also took a pledge to root out various evils that were dogging the country.

Wing Commander S K Sharma, Head Quarters, Training Command Education Officer, Indian Air Force, Bangalore, was the chief guest.

He highlighted the importance of discipline in students’ lives .

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The Hindu :

Usha Krishna, president of the World Craft Council, says her primary concern is to raise the status of craftspersons all over the globe

PHOTO: R. RAVINDRANLINKING HANDS WORLDWIDE Usha Krishna

My main focus willbe on advocacy for crafts and craftspersons. I would like to take their cause to governments, policy makers, the media and the business community,” says Usha Krishna,the first Indian to beelected president of the World Crafts Council. “Crafts have to be brought into the mainstream.Only through dialogue can we begin to understand the vital role crafts play in linking tradition with modernity, commercialism with cultural heritage,” she says. “From this understanding, we can hopefully find ways to resuscitate the dignity, economics and social status of the craftsperson.”

Usha was elected president by the members of the WCC at the 16th General Assembly held in Hangzhou, China, in November last year.Better future

The World Crafts Council helps link hands across the globe — hands that touch to transform, that imbue even objects of everyday use with beauty. Skilful hands that weave wonders out of cotton, silk and wool, that fashion lovely artefacts out of bronze, marble, wood and clay. But hands that despite wielding magic often languish, their owners frequently forsaking centuries-old skills and taking up even manual work in order to survive. The aim of the WCC is “the establishment of a craft movement to provide a better future to the craftspeople of the world.”

WCC, a non-government, non-profit organisation was founded in 1964 in New York City by Aileen Webb along with co-founders Margaret Patch and Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay. It is “the only international NGO working in the craft sector and is affiliated to UNESCO in a consultative status.” The role of the president who is elected once in four years is “to facilitate interactions between different regions by means of shared information, data and other inputs, to encourage new membership…More

The Hindu : y>

Intergalactic Good battles evil in a never-ending saga

Long ago, in a galaxy far, far away — thus began George Lucas’ “Star Wars”. The space opera that made a superstar of Harrison Ford told the story of young Luke Skywalker who finds his destiny, trains to be a successful Jedi knight under the wise Yoda, learns the truth about his father Anakin Skywalker and is all round good guy.

The phenomenally-successful film spawned sequels and prequels. Now there is an animation version, “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” which will air on Cartoon Network from February 13 at 8.30 p.m. The series chronicles the adventures of Anakin Skywalker, his mentor Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yoda, Ahsoka Tano and other Star Wars’ characters as they struggle against the dark side during the divisive, action-packed “Clone Wars”.

Dwindling numbers of Jedi fight to maintain freedom and restore peace to the galaxy, using their army of genetically engineered clones against the seemingly never-ending droid army. Across hundreds of planets, the Jedi and the evil Separatists fight for the future of the galaxy. The terrible conflict grows wider as our heroes are swept up into the turmoil of war, while the evil Count Dooku, his assassin Asajj Ventress, their master Darth Sidious, the mechanical General Grievous and a rogue’s gallery of never-before-seen villains scheme to defeat them.

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The Hindu :

PEOPLE BBC World’s main presenter Nik Gowing is always on the move and always everywhere, covering a world in crisis

Photo: Murali Kumar K.Nose for news Nik Gowing: ‘No one gives me a brief when I’m on air’

I have heard Brits complain about the weather and foreigners grumble about India’s painful visa process. But the BBC’s Nik Gowing really bends my ears when he persists to tell me of his journey from the World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland (where he chaired the BBC World debate) to Bangalore. So much so that I was to believe he moved mountains to be in India to chair a debate on climate change.

The BBC World News Main Presenter completely takes over the interview, as he insists on taking me through the famed Europe snow, his plane’s de-icing, cancelled flights, the confusion with his two passports, and how he got on board without a visa…“That shows my determination,” he concludes. “I’ve been on the road as a correspondent for at least 25 years and all my old instinct came back. I told myself ‘I’m not going back’. So now I’m here, I haven’t had much sleep, and I even discussed the world economy with a fellow passenger on the flight from Delhi.”

The global economic crisis is something Nik is very interested in talking about. “It’s World War III without the bullets. Everyone and everything is going to be affected. It’s far worse than anything anyone expected…the global economy is falling off the cliff,” says Nik sounding as alarmist as everyone the world over about the bang after the boom. At Davos, people were still figuring out what’s gone wrong, not just how to solve it, he commented. Is the world media blowing the recession out of proportion? “That’s rubbish and absurd. It’s a depressing and distressing situation and it would be socially irresponsible of…More

The Hindu :

De Profundis, the London-based extreme metal act, will open for Iron Maiden in Bangalore

Mind-numbing guitar riffs, funky bass slaps with some pedal-ridden power drumming make the sound of De Profundis, the London-based extreme metal act, which is all set to make its live debut in India, opening for heavy metal gods Iron Maiden at the Rock in India Festival.

The band that was initially formed by vocalist Craig Land and guitarist Roman Subbotin in late 2005 recently attained breakthrough success with their first studio record “Beyond Redemption”. De Profundis, which has proved its musical standpoint is slowly becoming a common name amongst metal heavy weights Opeth, Nevermore and Dimmu Borgir.Mixing sub-genres

With band members hailing from different countries and varied backgrounds, their influences range right from Annihilator to Queen. More constricted however is their music which overlaps slow-paced melancholy doom metal with bone-crushing hard rock and screams from the very gutters of the human soul.

“None of us are really from England. Our vocalist hails from South Africa, drummer from Norway, bassist from Russia. It is the different places and the different upbringing that plays a big part in our sound. Doom is not the only form of metal, so we keep mixing sub-genres,” points out Shoi Sengupta, who is on guitars for De Profundis. Their lyrics, though bleak and dark, do not follow the usual fray of death metal songs as it is evident with tracks like “Nihilism Vortex” and “Delusion of Life”. The band’s grey vision of the world helps vocalist Craig Land bring out pessimistic lyrics that reeks of frustration. He draws inspiration from his heart overflowing with depressing life incidents.“Our stuff is more serious. We do not write angst-ridden lyrics for those teenjobs who are hell bent on hating their parents,” says a very excited Craig Land. These musicians of the London suburbs are not very…More

The Hindu : y>Win tickets to the Iron Maiden show

Date with Ed Iron Maiden

You can not only listen to Iron Maiden concert on February 15 at Palace grounds, but can also scratch and win tickets to the most awaited rock concert of the year at your nearest Landmark store.

Landmark, the music and book store has collaborated with EMI to launch the Scratch and win contest. Those who want to participate can walk in to Landmark store between February 6 and 15, buy any Iron Maiden merchandise such as CDs, DVDs, and T-Shirts and so on and get a scratch card. On every scratch card, the customer stands to win an assured gift like Iron Maiden posters, guitar picks, DVDs, T-shirts and if you are lucky enough you stand to win yourself a ticket to the dream concert, say the organisers. This offer is valid at Landmark stores at The Forum Koramangala (42144444) and Garuda Swagat Mall (28477775).

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The Hindu : y>Nirmala Narayanan feels that children performing in reality shows must also be brought under the ambit of labour laws

The fare being dished out in the guise of entertainment on television channels has reached a stage where ethics are ignored and TRP ratings are the lone criterion for determining the fate of most programmes.

Numerous reality shows have children participating and showcasing their dancing or singing skills. Such shows are a common feature in all channels.

Watching young children gyrating to lewd songs with obscene body movements is not acceptable. I feel that some guidelines should exist and an age limit should be set in place for children participating in reality shows. In these shows, though some children manage to gain fame and attention, they are also humiliated by the judges occasionally.

The channels feel that they can gain more TRP ratings by showing children crying and creating unnecessary controversies. The anchors often ask the losing children uncomfortable questions, zoom in on their faces and make an attempt to show some artificial concern over the elimination. I condemn the parents and the viewers of such shows, who expose the children to such unethical competitions. The effect of participating in such shows will be injurious to children, both at a physical and mental level.

Children being used in advertisements and films are also a matter of concern. Even small babies are being used in ads to market various products like nappies, detergents, health drinks, biscuits, cleaning liquids, refrigerators etc.

Young children mouthing adult jargon, mouthing the dialogues written by them, adopting the styles of adults, what more can we do to kill the childhood in them? Don’t these children come under child labour law? We must have special laws to ensure that children cannot be exploited in such a manner.

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The Hindu :

Documentary filmmaker Nicholas Bruckman insists emigration is a good thing

Photo: by authorEmigrant song Nicholas Bruckman

The documentary “La Americana”, ( http://www.la-americana.com/in) winner of several prestigious international awards was recently screened at the fifth Tri-Continental Film Festival at AllianceFrancaise de Bangalore. The film narrates the trials of an illegal immigrant from Bolivia, Carmen, and her invalid daughter. Nicholas Bruckman, director of “La Americana” shares his thoughts about the film and the ongoing debate on immigration.

Do you think a human interest story can serve a political purpose?

The problem today is that there is too much of politics and statistics on the immigration issue. People like Carmen are identified as immigrant, but most people seem to have forgotten that they are human beings with real problems.

What is your stand on immigration?

I think immigration is a good thing, simply because it gives a chance for people from different races, cultures, ethnicities to come together. But, that’s a very general answer. Immigration policy is a very complicated topic in almost every country in the world and I understand why countries don’t want to open their borders.

But, in general, if we can take an approach that will slowly lead to a world where people are free to move around, free to live and work wherever they choose – I think that is a good goal to work for.

The same kind of issues has been dealt with in feature films like Babel. Is the documentary better equipped to deal with the question?

I think it can be more effective to know that it is a real person being portrayed as opposed to a scriptwriter in Hollywood telling you what to think.

Personally, I think the documentary actually gives you a chance to relate to the people and their problems.

When you show the film in documentary festivals and not to the general public, aren’t you preaching to the converted?

We are making…More

The Hindu :

Kalki Koechlin on playing a modern-day Chandramukhi

Bold portrayal Kalki Koechlin

They are poles apart,” exclaims Kalki Koechlin. We are comparing the Chandramukhi of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s “Devdas” and the Chanda of Anurag Kashyap’s “Dev. D”. “I only watched Sanjay’s version, and after that Anurag reprimanded me not to watch any more Chandramukhis. But bare them down to the bones, you will find the same skeleton,” says the youngster, who has taken the industry by storm with her bold portrayal of today’s Chandramukhi — a college goer during the day and asex worker by night.

The depiction of the MMS scandal and lusthas made this simple girl form Puducherry a darling of not only tabloids but broadsheets as well. “A section of the media refuses to separate a character from real life. As I know they will move on to ‘Billoo Barber’ in a week’s time.” Kalki has in fact learnt to love the ‘different’ status. Born to French parents, she speaks fluent Tamil and feels an Indian at heart. But her skin plays the spoilsport. “Even during the shooting in Paharganj, the unit could hide the cameras, but my skin colour would give it way. People would think a Hollywood film is being shot.”Have faith

Kalki says the film has many elements that today’s youth can relate to. “I find more and more youngsters are experimenting with drugs and sex. But when you do it make sure you don’t cut off from people who love you and care for you. So if you have a bad experience you can go back to them.”

In the industry, her Hindi is proving to be a hindrance. “When I was called by UTV for an audition after going through my theatre background, they gave me the script in Hindi. I was already overawed by the fact that Ihad been called for an iconic character that Madhuri…More