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The Hindu :

The new Audi A8 focusses strongly on luxury and cutting-edge technology

With its long bonnet, arching parabolic roof and squared-off rear section, the new A8 is a stunner. Everything about it spells avant-garde luxury, right from the design and build to the hint of muscle under the hood and the promise of tightly packed technology. The detailing, however, is generic Audi. The headlights, the grille and tail-lights are all familiar (maybe a bit too familiar for some) and this makes the car look similar to its stablemates.

But in the flesh, the car is sensational. The feature that simply stands out is the very strong styling crease along its wide shoulders. This fold stretches all the way from the headlights to the tail, where it uniquely branches off vertically and horizontally. These bold lines are part of Audi’s new design language and it delivers a very strong, confident look to the car.

The A8 is the biggest car in its class now and, as a result, has a massive amount of additional presence on the road. Unlike its competitors, however, this car uses a spaceframe chassis, with body panels bolted on. To keep the weight down, both of these are made of aluminium, just as on the current A8. And there is Audi’s famous four-wheel-drive system, Quattro, with its 60:40 rear bias.

Audi is also likely to make an ultra-light and efficient version of the car, which will sport only front-wheel drive and the C02 rating of a much smaller car. There will be two 4.2-litre V8 motors, a diesel and a petrol, and both will make it to the Indian market when the car is launched, towards the end of this year. The prospect of driving a big, light four-wheel-drive Audi powered by a 350bhp diesel V8 with limitless torque is just too much.

Audi’s biggest step forward, however, can’t be truly appreciated…More

The Hindu : BINDU TOBBY

The choice between scrapping junk or giving it a second chance has BINDU TOBBY in a bind

Photo: Sampath Kumar G.P.Just junk them We need to get over our attachment to our skinny college jeans

After having received a mouthful from my mom-in-law for having thrown away the readymade baby food bottles (after their use mind you), I had ensured that the next batch was promptly handed over. It was a pleasant surprise to see a few days later, a set of transformed sparkling clean tiny bottles neatly arranged in perfect rows on her kitchen shelf: with jeera, mustard, methi seeds…

One man’s clutter, another man’s (or woman’s) curios. Is junk only worth throwing away? Or should we give it second thoughts considering we are living in a recycle, re-use and conserve-energy era?

A friend had a simple solution to the ‘junk’ – anything that was not used or touched for the last one year had to be either thrown out or given away. But that’s easier said than done for most of us. Our attachment to the couch the fondness for the old jeans from college or the sentiments for the pram your first baby used maybe too overwhelming.

And it is with deep fondness that we remember those days before the air-tight containers and zip loc bags invaded our lives when we used old powder tins to keep tennis balls, carom coins or marbles. And don’t some of us (secretly at least) still have a soft spot for those ‘foreign’ biscuit boxes which were the store houses for all hair accessories – hair clips, rubber bands, safety pins and bands? And so (with warmth and affection), we make room for these knick knacks on the lofts, under the bed or in the corner of a balcony… often knowing fully that we would for the most part of our lives not use or…More

The Hindu : y>

French car maker Renault is all set to begin a renewed push into the Indian market and the big news is that it plans to bring in the next-generation Clio hatch, which is based on partner Nissan’s V-platform. This platform is also the basis for a range of new small cars from Nissan including the Micra, which will be launched in May this year. At the recent Auto Expo, the company confirmed that it had big plans for India.

Marc Nassif, country general manager and managing director of Renault India, said, “Our plan involves the introduction of several new cars within 18-24 months and a full range in a 48-month time frame. These cars will be produced in Chennai and we plan to launch the Fluence and the Koleos models in 2011. Our range will have small to luxury cars and will be a mix of Renault models and shared platform cars within the Renault-Nissan Alliance, including a crossover. We are also close to finalising our plans for a distribution network.”

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The Hindu : y>Call for applications for The Bucerius Ph.D. Scholarships

Max Mueller Bhavan has called for applications for The Bucerius Ph.D. Scholarships in Migration Studies. The ZEIT-Stiftung Ebelin und Gerd Bucerius requests applications for six to eight Ph.D. scholarships in migration studies. The Bucerius Ph.D. scholarship programme in migration studies — “Settling Into Motion” — is for Ph.D. theses addressing migration in changing societies. For 2010, research applications on “Migration, Diversity and the Future of Modern Societies” are welcome. Qualified Ph.D. students of social sciences can apply. Last date is February 25, 2010. For details log on to www.settling-into-motion.de.

Ph.D. students dealing with broad issues in different regions of the world are invited to apply for a scholarship. Topics such as Diversity and political order, Migration and cultural, ethnic and religious diversity, Integration policies, Cultural policy and the management of diversity and Concepts and categories in migration and integration debates will also be considered, say the organisers.

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The Hindu :

Decorate your homes with Italian silverware

ArtisticMargerita motifs add to the aesthetics

It is the artistic margerita motifs that capture your attention as you zoom in on the Stilarte range of silverware from Italy at The Collections, UB City. Next is the finesse of pure form of silver showcased in photo frames, vases, candle holders, clocks and beautiful tea lamps. Other attractions are the crystal ware from Pierre Cardin and Arde. “The floral motif is the logo of the company and it lends an exclusivity to the design,” says Bela Bose of The Gift Shop, Delhi, who is the distributor of Stilarte in India.

All the products carry a guarantee for tarnish treatment and quality of silver. “All the decorative and utility items come in the purest form of silver on resin and there are no alloys,” she adds. The prices start at Rs.1,500 and go up to Rs. 50,000. You have exquisite small bowls (Rs.1, 650), Mughal style vases (Rs. 9,000), candle holders (Rs.1,500), small photo frames (Rs. 3,100) and lamp stands (Rs. 22,500) to choose from. A breeze bowl, which captures the rotation of the wind, is priced at Rs.16,000. “All the products are maintenance-free. Just dust it with a soft cloth and keep it away from detergents and alcohol,” says Bose. Elegant geometric vases and platters come in varying sizes and are available in silver and in combinations with crystal. There are artistic tea lights too that come at Rs. 3,500.

Multi-purpose silver pots come in three sizes and prices begin at Rs. 3,600. “You can use them for drinking water or growing plants. To ensure protection to the metal, the interiors are treated and have a soft finish,” she says.

The Arde range of crystal ware sport silver motifs on the outside. For instance, the cake platter —priced at Rs. 9,800, the design becomes complete with a silver base and…More

The Hindu : C.K. MEENA

Cloaking myth in a shroud of so-called rationale does not change facts

WATCH IT It’s the witching hour

When I was a child my parents told me that looking directly at a welding flame would damage my eyes. Somehow, those words, spoken casually and just once, left a permanent impression on my brain. Whenever I passed by a garage where a mechanic wearing goggles wielded the welder’s torch I would quickly avert my eyes. I thought that if I caught even a glimpse of the incandescent light I would lose my vision. This irrational fear runs so deep that even now, at 52 plus, I only have to hear the harsh burr of a welding torch to instinctively look the other way.

I suppose you’ve guessed that I’m drawing a comparison to people’s fear of the “evil rays” of the sun during a solar eclipse. On a normal day you would not be able to look straight at the midday sun, wide-eyed, for more than a few seconds. During an eclipse the sun burns just as bright although you don’t sense it, and if you stared at it for a long time your eyes would obviously be injured. That’s how you would see it in the light of reason. But reason is a puny fighter and no match for the towering presence of myth.

Thus you have people who refrain from eating, bathing or going outdoors for the entire duration of the grahana. Trying to couch their behaviour in scientific-sounding terms they will speak of the sun’s “harmful radiation”. As a clincher they will declare that modern science cannot explain everything, but that scientists of the future might prove ancient wisdom right. One is lost for words in the face of such arguments. In a room with ten people, if five say they see a blue cat, can the other five convincingly prove…More

The Hindu : KARTIKEYA SINGHEE

Testdrive With unheard-of reliability and retro-chic styling, the Royal Enfield Classic 500 is ready to cast its spell on a new generation of Bulleteers, writes Kartikeya Singhee

Photos: Kartikeya SingheeRide into the future Though the Classic is almost entirely a new motorcycle, it can hardly be mistaken for anything other than a Royal Enfield

A 600km ride from Chennai to Ooty in a single day, in a group of nine Enfield Bullets is quite an ambitious task. Bullets require some form of looking after on journeys such as this. The number of time-consuming pit-stops, therefore, multiplies in proportion to the number of bikes. But Royal Enfield was calmly confident of its latest creation, the new Classic 500.

Though the Classic is almost entirely a new motorcycle, it can hardly be confused for anything other than a Royal Enfield. The big headlamp housing with its twin pilot still doubles up as the instrument console housing. The chrome-rimmed speedometer is where it always has been traditionally, but the ammeter has been replaced by an engine light and a fuel-level warning light. There’s no fuel gauge — the new Classic is enhanced by fuel-injection technology. On a more keeping-up-to-the-time note, the Classic sports a pass-light flasher and an engine-kill switch. The flat, forward-inclined handlebar holds the chromed mirrors, which offer a decent view of what’s behind. But once the vibrations kick in, vision of what follows you can get very blurry. The bulbous tank remains unchanged and is embellished with quality rubber knee-pads.

The chassis is a hybrid solution, using the front portion of the 500 chassis, while the rear portion has been designed ground up. Touches such as the slim chassis pipes that wrap around the utility boxes give the Classic a clean, naked feel while improving on the stiffness.

Eye-catching styling

Flourishes from a bygone era such as the headlamp shade, the covered front-fort tubes,…More

The Hindu :

Pratima Sheth displays semi-abstract and figurative paintings at an exhibition

EVOLVEDPratima experiments with new techniques

One could say artist Pratima Sheth is a product of talent and the societal influences that shaped her as the artist that she is today. Pratima was encouraged by her father in her formative years; he bought her art books and also organised a room in the house to be set aside as her studio. After a year at Nirmala Niketan, she joined the JJ School of Art for a five year course in 1970. “Later the joint family that I married into also encouraged me a lot, allowing me to continue at JJ and then become a full fledged artist,” says Pratima with pride.

In ‘81 she had her first show of abstract landscapes and figurative art. “Figurative art is my impression of a real object or person as I see it,” she explains. She uses water colours or oil on canvas. “This is my 27 {+t} {+h} solo show,” reveals Pratima of the show she had put up at the BIEC centre on Tumkur Road. “As you can see, here too my paintings are semi-abstract and figurative.” Over the years, Pratima evolved her own style. She has experimented with brush, knife, rollers and today it’s a ‘wash’ technique that she prefers. “It was in the 80s that I began a new technique where I first put colour on the canvas with a medium of turpentine and linseed oil. Then with a brush or a cloth, depending on the result I am looking for, I add other colours and create my composition. When my art is done, it is not a definite landscape or a figure, but from a distance it resembles a landscape. I use my imagination to fill in the colours, and the title is given much later,” she says.

Shades of blue are her…More

The Hindu :

Engineer Mansoor Ahmed’s desitara.com hopes to promote fresh talent on the Net

Photo: V. Sreenivasa MurthyREAL WEB Mansoor Ahmed’s website works on the lines of reality shows

When he was pursuing an MBA in England, Mansoor Ahmed decided to give his creative side a shot. “I was always interested in pursuing a career in a creative field.I had completed a degree in mechanical engineering to ensure that my parents do not worry too much. I was always interested in filmmaking and decided to make some short films.”

He went on to make a number of short films, which bagged awards and screenings at international film festivals, but were not successful commercially.

“This was in early 2005, when reality shows had not become the phenomenon it is now. With the emergence of broadband connections, most of the country was only discovering the many possibilities high-speed Internet access offered.”

Though Mansoor was disappointed at his lack of success, he wanted to start a website. And, he attributes it to a “Eureka!” moment.

“I felt that a website would help promote fresh talent, by allowing users to upload videos and showcase their talent.”

Ahmed roped in a software engineer friend for this project and soon, desitara.com was born.

“When I was making short films, I often rued the fact that the lack of a good platform could kill a lot of potential talent. That was one of the major reasons I decided to launch the website.”

The site was soon set up and S. Lad, a mining firm, took over a majority stake in the website. “That helped us with finances and to expand operations a great deal.”

Ahmed adds, “Everyone should get an opportunity to showcase their talent. This website allows registered users to upload videos, be it in singing, dancing or sports.” Though reality shows are promoting fresh talent from across the country in a big way, not everyone gets an…More

The Hindu : y>

Royal treatment Get a real feel of Jaipur at various homestays

The fairs and festivals of Rajasthan, with the numerous forts and palaces have attracted domestic and international tourists. Mahindra Homestays has launched a 50 percent off offer on select Mahindra Homestays at Jaipur. The offer is available at the Madhu Pushp Bhawan, Rawla, Aashirwad, Jai Villa, and Silver Sand homestays. The homestay offers rooms for two people starting from Rs. 1,150 per night. It will include a clean and comfortable room with various facilities and complimentary breakfast. Other home-cooked meals are also available on request.

The homestay experience has its advantage, as guests can witness the hospitality of the owners and listen to tales about the city. One can also learn delectable family recipes and attempt to crack the secrets of Rajasthani cuisine. There are melas and traditional festivals to be witnessed. The home owner often accompanies the guest on sightseeing tours. For more information call 1800-4252737 or visit www.mahindrahomestays.com

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