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The Hindu :

Bangaloreans gave bicycles and their legs a good workout at the city’s first duathlon

WE ARE IN IT TOGETHER Running and cycling, not for a prize, but to better oneself

Some looked adept on wheels. Others simply ran. Bangalore had another first — a combined marathon of cycling and running. Runners For Life, a group of enthusiastic runners conceived this event — the duathlon — held on the picturesque Sarjapur-Varthur stretch on the outskirts of the city around Inventure Academy.

Just a fortnight after the Sunfeast World 10K, Bangloreans seem to have caught onto the marathon fever. The bug is visible everywhere — in parks, jogging tracks, open grounds and some of the stadiums. Some run for fitness, some for fun and many more just for the “heck of it”.

The likes of Janardhan, who cycled all the way from BEL to participate and then cycle back home after the event, and George Leveinger, who cycles around the city for greener surroundings, made their message evident with their participation.

But the duathlon – which the organisers split into two events: the longer distance of five kms of running and then 20 kms cycling, followed by another five kms of running.

Both brought out the endurance skills in participants.

Shammim Rizvi, a cycling enthusiast, pedalled away to glory but could not put one foot in front of the other, struggling throughout the run, while a few others ran like there was no tomorrow, but cut a sorry figure on the bicycle.

The 320 plus participants ranging from seven to 76 years ran for varied causes. Many were involved in animated conversation, their legs slowly but steadily eating away the distances. IT professionals, trainers, fitness freaks, students and many expats made the numbers, with women, though small in number, equally enthusiastic.Running for fitness

Jiju Grieve, a 50-year-ol Indonesian housewife now residing in Bangalore, participated with her husband, and won…More

The Hindu : y>Today, one can virtually meet, date and communicate with anyone across the globe on sites such as Facebook and Orkut. Criminologist Megha Asher discusses the perils of invasion of privacy via the Internet

A very real threat Cyber Stalking.

In 2001, India’s first cyber stalking case was reported. The offender, Manish Kathuria was stalking the victim, Ritu Kohli by illegally chatting on the website ‘MIRC’ using her name and exploiting her personal details. He gave out her residence phone number and invited people to chat with her. This resulted in Ritu receiving obscene phone calls, who contacted the Delhi Police. An arrest was made under section 509 of the Indian Penal Code for outraging the modesty of Ritu Kohli”.Identity theft

In the above case Kohli acted promptly by contacting the local police, hence was protected by law. What if the victim was a 12-year-old girl and the offender a paedophile? The list is endless. Identity theft as in the mentioned case is not the only threat while posting your profile online. Lurking offenders can cause a lot of mental anguish in ways one cannot imagine.

While reading about the case the word that struck me was ‘Cyber Stalking’. This crime has come to light only in the past decade, and research on the subject is very limited. However, cyber stalking is of growing criminological concern as it is on a rise. Recently, many cases have been investigated by the Cyber Crime Cell, Mumbai, where misuse of another’s personal details online through social networking sites has taken place.

A recently published Malayalam book on cyber crime.

Reports suggest that, through these sites, many college students target people they don’t like by cyber stalking.

Cyber stalking is the use of electronic communication including pagers, cell phones, emails and the internet, to bully, threaten, harass, and intimidate a victim. Cyber stalkers can easily disguise themselves; adopt several false identities,…More

The Hindu : y>

Amara Raja batteries has launched an online contest – “Funk My Ride” for artists, designers, professionals and amateurs, who have to design the new look of Amaron Pro Racing Team. Amaron brand ambassadors Narain Karthikeyan, Karun Chandok and Armaan Ebrahim will judge the contest. For details and to participate log on to http://amaron.in/funkmyride.

The contest can also be accessed through social networking sites like facebook/ orkut.

The contest is open till June 21 and winners will be announced on June 23 and get a chance to travel to any of the Rotax or Formula racing series in India.

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The Hindu :

Artiste Alka Raghuvanshi’s paintings resonate with rhythm and soul

Photo: Murali Kumar. KInterplay of spontaneity and planning Alka Raghuvanshi

She is enthused by the concept of light. She describes her paintings as having divine light. “It is more of a meta physical concept, about light within every human being,” says artiste Alka Raghuvanshi. A trained art curator, she is in Bangalore to exhibit her abstract works at a solo show— Resonating Reflections. This is part of the series titled Silences of Solitude.

“I do abstract not because I cannot sketch, but abstract works have the ability to grow with you and have a longer shelf life,” she adds.Capturing movement

She uses liquid form of metallic colours in her work to show movement. “Metals represent purity and reflect light,” says this artist, who is also a trained Kathak dancer.

Sterling silver and 24 carat gold leafing figure in her work, inspired from calligraphy and her writing. “One half in me is a writer and this is my way of paying obeisance to the written word,” Alka says. She sources gold and silver ink from a calligraphist in Dubai.

A celebration Of fluidity and movement

The trigger point to take up painting happened when she was in London pursuing her Ph.D in art curator course.

“The walls were bleak, the weather was bleak and I was missing home. I started painting landscapes, flowers and portraits and lot of figurative works,” she narrates.

It was a big beginning and very quickly she found herself accepting the rhythm of abstract paintings. “As a dancer we create images with just rhythm, and it is the same thing with my painting, something like a shared heritage of art within art,” the multi-faceted artiste explains. That explains why there is fluidity and movement in her work.

“When I put my brush to canvas, what unfolds is a manipulation of a drama which…More

The Hindu : y>

HOT WHEELS Action-packed ride

Star World presents “Knight Rider” with Michael Knight and his super-smart turbo-charged K.I.T.T who are back to bust crime. The classic 1980s television series “Knight Rider” revs into action with this high-octane remake. Thestory takes place 25 years after the events of the original series. Secret Agent Mike Traceur (Justin Bruening) steers K.I.T.T. (Knight Industries Three Thousand), now a Ford Shelby GT500KR Mustang. Along with a former fiancée Sarah Graiman (Deanna Russo), the daughter of the scientist Charles Graiman who designed both KITTs, Mike becomes the new champion of Knight Industries, a high-tech government and law enforcement contractor. The new-look K.I.T.T is now capable of hacking into almost any computer system, can change its shape and colour, and is equipped with an artificial intelligence, making this one-of-a-kind vehicle the ideal crime-fighting partner!

Boasting state-of-the-art special effects, Knight Rider is an action-packed ride. “Every episode has some amazing feats,” says Bruening. “I always wonder how they’re going to pull off on-screen what I read in the scripts because we always have some cars and missiles blowing up.” The pilot episode also features guest star David Hasselhoff, returning to the role that launched his career. Catch “Knight Rider” tonight at 10 p.m. on Star World.

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