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The Hindu : y>The talk-show host did his bit with the two-hour special Larry King Live — Haiti: How You Can Help

As he did in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, CNN’s Larry King reaches around the world, this time to help the people of Haiti. King hosted a special two-hour “Larry King Live — Haiti: How You Can Help”, bringing together celebrities and opinion leaders to inspire the global community in helping the people of Haiti, in the wake of the devastating earthquake.

Some of the guests included Alyssa Milano, Ashley Judd, Ben Stiller, Benicio Del Toro, Charles Barkley, Christian Slater, Colin Powell, Danny Glover, David Spade, Garcelle Beauvais-Nilon, Jared Leto, Jeff Probst, Joel and Benji Madden, Kobe Bryant, Mick Jagger, Molly Sims, Nicole Richie, Pete Wentz, Pras Michel, Queen Rania, Ringo Starr, Russell Simmons, Ryan Seacrest, Sarah Ferguson, Scarlett Johansson, Sean Combs, Snoop Dogg, Susan Sarandon, Tea Leoni, Tom Delonge, Will.i.Am.

To learn how you can help, visit http://www.cnn.com/larryking.

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The Hindu : DEEPIKA ARWIND

Ruth Padel tells DEEPIKA ARWIND her poems on her great-great- grandfather, Charles Darwin, speak of his personal relationships

PHOTO: SAMPATH KUMAR G.P.CHANGING LANES Ruth Padel can effortlessly channel conservation and science into her poetry

Ruth Padel often gets asked about the themes that she ‘uses’ for her poetry. Her answer follows a certain trajectory, one she has fine-tuned over the years – a mixture of boredom when she hears it for the fiftieth time, surprise, and then her passionate, look-you-in-the-eye response: “You should be able to write poetry about anything.” And it is a statement that Padel has managed to stay true to through the years.

The award-winning poet and writer, also the great-great granddaughter of Charles Darwin, has been in India for the past month on the British Council Darwin Now Grant, researching her novel “Where the Serpent Lives”. Set in the jungles of India and England, the book has taken her close to five years to write, because of the intensive nature of the research that has gone into it. “I’ve edited the book about five times – looking at it through a different lens each time – language, characters and so on,” she says.

“When I was young, I could draw people but couldn’t draw faces,” she says as she talks about finally having to confront that in her book, fleshing out her characters bit by bit — which is a process a little like drawing her character’s faces. But the characters are only one layer of the book she calls an “emotional thriller.” The message of conservation is another one, and a cause that Padel has been writing about for a while now. “My research in India has been very fruitful. I’ve been working with noted conservationist K. Ullas Karanth, and the results of his organisation have been remarkable,” she says.

“In the Western Ghats, they have managed to save…More

The Hindu :

The Karnataka Ranji team stumbled in the final but kept its pride intact with a riveting performance. It is perhaps a sign of even better times ahead

Photos: Sampath Kumar G.HERCULEAN EFFORT With the influx of fresh talent, the future looks bright

It was a loss that failed to diminish Karnataka’s cricketing aura. The Ranji Trophy final that concluded at Mysore’s Gangothri Glades Ground last week, pitted domestic behemoth Mumbai against the enterprising bunch of Robin Uthappa’s men.

And in a final that bristled with energy and a hard edge between the players, Mumbai snatched a six-run triumph.

Mumbai’s 39th Ranji title might reiterate its hoary history but it was Karnataka that lured attention and envy right through the season.

A mix of young batsmen ranging from the season’s highest scorer Manish Pandey (882 runs) to the steady duo of Ganesh Satish (639 runs) and K. B. Pawan (631 runs) helped Karnataka stay ahead. Add to it the potent combine of leading wicket-takers – Abhimanyu Mithun (47 wickets) and R. Vinay Kumar (46 wickets) – and Karnataka surely was running hot.

The lone loss in an otherwise largely happy campaign came in the final and that will rankle the team. In the summit clash, Karnataka conceded the lead for the first time this season but Pandey’s stunning 144 in the second innings kept the team in the hunt before Mumbai seamers – Ajit Agarkar and Dhawal Kulkarni – shut the door with a mix of swing and acerbic words.

The season though will be remembered for a long time just for the promise of youth and the delightful fragrance it whipped up for a Karnataka team that had lost its way after its last Ranji title in 1999. “This team has the strength and potential to stay at the top for the next few years,” said E.A.S. Prasanna, the first captain under whom the team won the…More

The Hindu :

Adventure Kochi was a port on the trading route of a ninth century vessel, which the Sultanate of Oman has recreated. The Project Adviser Nicolas Swallow talks of the fascinating endeavour

Photo: Thulasi KakkatOLD IS GOLD The recreated ninth century ship called Jewel of Muscat was built mainly by Keralite workers.

Kochi will be port of call to an unusual guest in the middle of March. A recreated version of a ninth century sailing ship, the Jewel of Muscat, built at Qantab beach in Oman is ready to take off on its first voyage. The vessel will sail into the city which was one of its trading destinations of yore.

Nicolas Swallow, Project Adviser of this fascinating project initiated by the Sultanate of Oman was in Kochi on a recee to make arrangements for the berthing and dry docking of the ship, when it arrives here on its way to Galle, Penang, Melaka and finally Singapore.

In one of the most unusual projects in the maritime history of the world, an ancient sailing ship has been recreated using the exact design of the wreckage found, in 1998, off the coast of Belitung. The treasures found in the wreckage are with the government of Singapore, having been purchased after marine architects and researchers had worked on it. Called the Tang treasure, it has not been opened to the public yet. The idea is to marry the treasure to the ship when it arrives in Singapore and finally make it to the museum there.

The Tang treasure consists of 60,000 beautiful ceramic pieces, mostly intact, “incredibly well preserved as if they have come right out of the kiln last week,” said Nicholas Swallow adding that there are many gold and silver artefacts too.

The Kerala connection

The Jewel of Muscat has a strong Kerala connection. To begin with, in its old form, the ship had definitely called at the…More

The Hindu : y>

AB’S BABY Abhishek Bachchan will host the show

Idea National Bingo Night would be launched on Colors on Saturday at 9 p.m. It will be hosted by Abhishek Bachchan. The launch Episode will feature Amitabh Bachchan as the special guest.

‘National Bingo Night’ is a show that brings together the energy and drama of a nationwide television event, in a game show format. It comprises the host Abhishek Bachchan’s close celebrity friends, music and a opportunity to participate in an interactive game. The game will be played by the studio contestants or Abhishek’s guests, driven by numbers drawn from the Bingo Bubble. The studio audience will also get an opportunity to participate by predicting the numbers and match them with the tickets that will be handed out to them. Tickets for the show can be downloaded from www.bingo.colorstv.in.

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The Hindu : y>A three-day tribute to Alfred Hitchcock will be screened from tomorrow

ICONIC Martin Scorsese called Vertigo a beautiful nightmarish obsession

Bangalore Film Society declares 2010 open with a three-day tribute to one of the greatest of films of all time — Alfred Hitchcock’s “Vertigo”. The fest begins on January 22 with the screening of the film “Vertigo”. This ‘Hitchcockian’ thriller is a surreal tale of a cop who develops agoraphobia, a fear of heights, and is set on a trail of a seemingly disturbed or possessed women. Every bit of the film is iconic from the hallucinatory title sequence to the chemistry between James Stewart and Kim Novak to Bernard Hermann’s piercing score to the locations around San Francisco. On January 23, the film “In the City of Sylvia” will be screened. The film is directed by Jose Luis Guerin. Nominated for the Golden Lion at Venice 07′, it was announced that the debut director and former film critic Jose Luis Guerin, as a talent, is to be watched out for. It confirmed him as yet another soul who thrived in the enchantment of “Vertigo”. Guerin distils some of the essence of the Hitchcock classic into a beautifully told tale of a wanderer who has returned to a relive a fateful encounter six years ago where he met the girl of his dreams and she drew a map for him to lead him to her. On January January 24, watch the film Eric Rohmer’s “The Green Ray”. Bangalore Film Society remembers him not only as a great director of droll and eccentric cinema but also as a great film critic, one of the first to experience and declare the genius of Alfred Hitchcock and Howard Hawks (whom we will be screening quite shortly). The film is about a lost soul – Delphine – searching restlessly and obsessively for that one ineffable abstract just…More

The Hindu :

Tabla maestro Ustad Zakir Hussain on music, its future and young artistes

PERSPECTIVE Zakir Hussain: ‘Why is that one award from the goras is the big recognition?’

U stad Zakir Hussain who will soon turn 60 was in Hyderabad for a performance and at his quirky best. “I think I should wait for my team members to come or they will not know what I spoke. Is that good or bad?” he winks.

But deciding to carry on with the conversation, Zakir Hussain chose to speak about music, his colleagues and the budding artistes of India.

“After boarding the flight I was delighted to read a piece by Pandit Hari Prasad Chaurasia on the talent young musicians of today posses. I couldn’t agree more with him. In his article he said today’s musicians are far more talented and they need to be recognised. Niladri Kumar and Sabir Khan who’ll be playing with me today are few of the best young musicians.”

Talking about Sabir Khan, Zakir Hussain says: “he is the seventh generation Sarangi player, he is the son of Ustad Sultan Khan. Do we know him? No. What about the person who composed Piya Basanti Rey? See, we know the music but the artiste goes un-noticed.”

Emphasising the need for awards to recognise artistes, Zakir Hussain further says, “Confer someone with a Grammy Award, or an Oscar and apne wale will definitely know him. Why is that one award from the goras is the ‘big recognition’?”

Recollecting the day he received the Padma Shri, Zakir says more than the award it is his father and guru Ustaad Alla Rakha’s happy face that made him feel victorious.

“I was playing with Pandit Ravi Shankar at St Xavier’s in Mumbai. At 35, my father was sitting in front and still directing me that day. It was around 3 or 4 in the morning and the morning papers were just…More

The Hindu :

2010 has a lot in store for shuttler couple Chetan Anand and Gutta Jwala

ROBUST START They hope to continue their winning ways throughout the year

For the most popular badminton couple in Indian circuit – Chetan Anand and Gutta Jwala – the start of New Year 2010 could not have been more perfect. Chetan won the men’s singles title in the Senior National for the third time and Jwala picked her ninth national women’s doubles title.

For the elegant Chetan, ranked World No 16, this served as another reminder of the old adage that class is permanent and form is temporary. He is, by all means, an exceptional player who on song is a treat to watch. “Very few can match him in his artistry at his best,” is the regular compliment of former All-England champion Pullela Gopi Chand about this champion shuttler.

What is significant for the 29-year-old Chetan in picking up his third men’s singles Senior National title in the recently-held edition in Guwahati is it has come close on the heels of an equally impressive win in last week’s Syed Modi Grand Prix championship. So he proved in a way that the Lucknow triumph was no flash in the pan and that he still means business.

“I am enjoying the game as I much as I used to seven years ago. The hunger to win is still there and the biggest motivating factor is that I want to break into the top 10 in the world,” says the ONGC officer. “Yes, the Senior National title to start with is a good sign for things to come as I plan out the schedule for the next few months. Thanks to Arif Sir (Dronacharya S. M. Arif) and Jwala, there is no dearth in commitment in training.”

For Jwala, who parted ways with her former doubles partner Sruthi Kurien with whom she won eight…More