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The Hindu :

Roan International School, Vijayanagar conducted Vibgyor 2010, the science and art exhibition recently. The future scientists were in action and showcased their projects.

Starting from the Mayan Calendar (based on which the 2012 conclusions arose), to the facts of global warming, the children touched all the fields having contemporary values.

Little ones also could be seen catching up with others with equal spirit.

Vibgyor saw a kaleidoscope of talents as ornaments and accessories made of dry fruits and vegetables provided a feast to the eye.

(INPUT FROM SUDHINDR A .B)

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The Hindu : SUDHINDR A. B.

There’s no time like that spent at school…but everyone has to say goodbye.

Future beckons elhi Public School, North Bangalore

It is time to bid adieu to one’s alma mater and cherish memories of school life. The graduation ceremonies held in schools that are part of The Hindu’s NIE programme were filled with nostalgia.

The graduation ceremony at Delhi Public School, Bangalore North, was held recently. The occasion was graced by K. Rahman Khan, Deputy Chairman, Rajya Sabha and members of board of management.

Symbolic

He told them to be aware of their strengths and choose their careers accordingly. Lighting the symbolic candle of wisdom and hope, he reiterated the need to be worthy citizens of the country, spreading peace, brotherhood and knowledge every where. The event was attended by the parents of the outgoing batch.

The school also held a blessing ceremony for students appearing for the Std. X board examinations. Headmistress Geetha Kandaraji gave tips to the students saying that the will to excel is the key to success.

National Public School, Rajaji Nagar held a graduation ceremony for the outgoing students of Std. XII recently. Justice M. Rama Jois, who was the chief guest, spoke about the need to strengthen character, attain wisdom and follow the path of virtue which would in turn help them become better human beings which would lead to the progress of the nation.

The school prefect, Nidhi Ramara,j representing the outgoing batch spoke nostalgically about the indelible memories of the school that they would carry with them.

Heart warming

The school Principal, Shanthamma Gopalkrishna declared the students graduates and administered the school pledge.This was followed by a heart-warming rendition of the school hymn, “Shine On Us”. The memorable evening ended with inspirational songs by the teachers dedicated to the students.

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The Hindu : y>

Shake a leg Catch the show on AXN

Hollywood has been incorporating Indian traditions, be it Madonna’s henna tattoo, Gwen Stefani’s Bindi or Uday Shankar jamming with The Beatles.

With the success of “Slumdog Millionaire”, Bollywood music and dance has won accolades and is being accepted as a separate genre of music. Viewers of “So you think you can dance”, get an opportunity to watch Caitlin and Jason grooving to the beats of the runaway hit, “Jai Ho”.

The dances have been choreographed by Nakul Dev Mahajan and will be aired tonight at 9 p.m. only on AXN.

Catch the special episode with Bollywood beats only on AXN.

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The Hindu : PHEROZE L. VINCENT

Pheroze L. Vincent joined the British Council’s International Climate Champions on a trip through the Nilgiris

Photo: By AuthorBritish Council’s international climate champions At the Mukurthi National Park, Nilgiris

“T here’s so much natural beauty and diversity in just one district of India,” remarked Sumaiya Firoze, a participant from Bangladesh. Sadly, this district saw some of its worst landslides in the torrential rains last year.

It is for this reason that the climate change action trail, organised by the British Council (BC), Nilgiri Documentation Centre and The Energy Research Institute, took International Climate Champions around the Nilgiris, from January 24 to 30, to understand climate change. The Hindu was the media partner.

Who are the champions?

The champions are young people trying to stop climate change. People like 21-year-old Dina Hestad, a geography student from Oslo. Dina and six others in Oslo monitor statements made by their politicians on climate change. The moment they do anything that could harm the environment or if they drag their feet on environment issues, Dina promises to “blow it in their face.”

Through the internet, her group Accountability Now creates awareness and debate. “We don’t just hang them (the politicians) out. We also highlight any good work they do,” she added smiling. While Dina became a climate champion through the BC’s Challenge Europe scheme, others had to clear an online test and submit a project proposal.

Sundar Layalu’s project is to make the Namo Buddha Monastery, in Nepal, carbon neutral. Sundar found that the monastery has surprisingly high carbon emissions due to the multitude of visitors. “In their five hectares of property they can plant trees that serve as carbon sinks,” he said. Sundar’s M.Sc dissertation at Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan University was on the carbon footprint of the members of Nepal’s constituent assembly. The dissertation, which has a party wise comparison of carbon footprints, will be published soon.

Through radio shows…More

The Hindu :

Traditionally prepared kohl is soothing for the eyes

Try this grandmother’s recipe for a non-messy kanmashi. Immerse a cotton cloth in concentrated lemon juice or kayyonni juice until the juice is completely soaked. Dry it in moderate sunlight. Burn the wicks made from this cloth in castor oil or gingely oil, preferably in a mud lamp. Hold a piece of tile or a steel spoon over the burning wicks to collect the soot-like residue. Mix it with half/one drop of castor oil. Wear it, bat your eyelashes and then watch people eye you

For your eyes only Beautify them using traditionally made kajal or kohl

In Ankhon ki masthi mein…

A thousand expressions glimmer and disappear in those liquid black depths. One could drown in the whirlpool of emotions portrayed there. Who is she with ‘looks’ that can kill? She is the ordinary Indian woman.

Our literature, sculptures, music, films all speak of the seductive promises held in the hypnotic gaze of the Indian woman. Be it Rekha in “Umrao Jaan” or Bipasha Basu in “Ajnabee” or Kavya Madhavan in “Ananthabhadram”, Indian eyes have mesmerised thousands through generations.

Eye makeup

“Eye makeup is very much in fashion,” says Gayathri, a medical student. “The trend is to darken eyes thickly with kaajal (in the stick form) and leave out the bindi.” About Kerala’s traditional kanmashi however, her response was: “Are such products available in the market?”

There is no exact English counterpart to the Malayalam word, kanmashi. The word kohl, in spite of its foreign roots (the kohl-rimmed eyes of Cleopatra), comes very close. It originates from the Arabic kuhl, which has strong ties with the Arabic word for alcohol. No prizes for guessing where the phrase ‘ sharaabi aankhen,’ popularly used in vintage Hindi films, came from.

“Traditionally prepared ( naadan) kanmashi cools and soothes the eye and removes signs of fatigue,” says Dr. Nisha Jayaraj, a practising Ayurvedic…More

The Hindu : y>Srinivasa Ramanujan talks about the need to implement new methods of waste management

Is daily waste management such an unmanageable challenge for our city’s civic authorities? That does seem to be the case considering our common pathways and roads that are full of litter and plastic filth. The major share of the blame has to go to the civic authorities, though the general public must also be blamed for this state of affairs. It isthe responsibility of the authorities to lay down and enforce the guidelines for waste categorisation, set up a proper disposal method , monitor the method of collection and ensure eco-friendly disposal of waste. If the authorities show some determination, it is an easily achievable task.

Currently, we witness half-hearted attempts by the BBMP contractors to ‘collect’ waste, . Waste management is neither systematic nor sufficient in keeping with the requirements for a metropolitan city. For example, waste should be segregated at the origin by the residents themselves, as is done in developed countries. Some limits must be imposed on the amount of waste disposed per household.

Of course, many sceptics would feel that these measures will not work in the Indian context . However, that may be proved wrong, if the government takes these initiatives.

It takes both citizens and the authorities to change their attitudes and restore the true beauty of this city.

Do you have anything to say? About the state of the world, the city, your angst? Pen it stylishly and you might get it published. And dash off your piece with your photograph. Email it to bangmetro@gmail.com or post it to MetroPlus, The Hindu, 19 & 21, Bhagwan Mahaveer Road (Infantry Road), Bangalore 1.

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The Hindu : y>Here are some simple rules to choosing and eating your food

Photo: Murali kumar K.Golden rule If the food comes from a plant, eat it; if it was made in a plant, don’t

T he 64 principles outlined in a slender, easy-to-digest new book called “Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual,” (Penguin) by Michael Pollan are sure to get you motivated to make some important, lasting, health-promoting and planet-saving changes in what and how you eat. Pollan is not a biochemist or a nutritionist but rather a professor of science journalism at the University of California, Berkeley. He’s the author of two highly-praised books on food and nutrition: “In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto” and “The Omnivore’s Dilemma.”

Two fundamental facts provide the impetus to make the dietary changes. One, as Pollan points out, is that populations who rely on the so-called Western diet — lots of processed foods, meat, added fat, sugar and refined grains — “invariably suffer from high rates of the so-called Western diseases: obesity, Type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer”. Indeed, four of the top 10 killers of Americans are linked to this diet.

As people in Asian and Mediterranean countries have become more Westernised (affluent, citified and exposed to the fast foods exported from the United States), they have become increasingly prone to the same afflictions.

The second fact is that people who consume traditional diets, free of the ersatz foods that line our supermarket shelves, experience these diseases at much lower rates. And those who, for reasons of ill health or dietary philosophy, have abandoned Western eating habits often experience a rapid and significant improvement in their health indicators.

In his last book, Pollan summarised his approach in just seven words: “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” The new book provides practical steps, starting with advice to avoid “processed concoctions”, no matter what the label may claim (“no trans…More

The Hindu :

It is time educational institutions encouraged children to think out of the box

Honing future leaders Classroom education should be more interactive

As a young girl growing up in Delhi and attending a convent school in the 70’s, students were seen and not heard. What your teacher told you was never debated or questioned. And your opinion — no one ever wanted it. Later in University it was rather much the same. A top-down approach to teaching was followed by our lecturers and one just took notes and spilled them out verbatim to score top grades. The closer your answer was to the teacher’s notes, the better the ranking you finally boasted.

“Whatever teachers say is accepted as the golden rule. I have never questioned a teacher and for us, as children, they were infallible beings,” says Lila Singh who schooled in La Martinere Girls’ School in Lucknow.

In 2010 that attitude is debatable. Are we bringing up a generation of young adults who are expected to abide by the rules and disallowed from being given the freedom to question or to speak? “This is the system we follow,” says the controller of examinations of a reputed local college. “If a student fails to abide by them, his project is not accepted, however minor the error is.”

There is no discussion and there is fear of a backlash if the student or parent spoke their mind. However, in the West a student is encouraged to bring new dimensions to their classroom assignments. Classes are interactive and students are encouraged to think ‘out-of-the-box’. Studies by rote are discouraged and students are instead encouraged to spend long hours in well-equipped libraries doing their own research. They enrich the classes they attend as they have already read up on their own. Teachers are considered as mentors and not just strict disciplinarians.

It therefore takes time for a student who…More

The Hindu :

The Indian Premier London Fashion Week hopes to open up the UK market to established and budding Indian designers

Photo: Rajeev BhattNEW RAMPS Designers Anamika Khanna and Narendra Kumar will be at the Indian Premier London Fashion Week

Here’s yet another fashion week, this time round to tap the large British-Asian market. The Indian Premier London Fashion Week, organised by Idea Weavers, plans to take Indian designers abroad and give them their own platform there.

While retailers do form a major chunk of the target buyers, the aim is to tap the huge (and well-off) British-Asian community there. As Vivek Agarwal, chief events co-ordinator, Idea Weavers, explains: “About four per cent of the total population of the UK is made up of British-Asians, and they contribute six per cent of the GDP. It’s a huge market just waiting to be tapped.”

The India Premier London Fashion Week’s Autumn/ Winter 2010 edition will be held from April 9 to 14 at London’s The Old Truman Brewery. So far, designers Anamika Khanna, Narendra Kumar, Ritu Beri, Rohit Gandhi, and Rahul Khanna have confirmed their participation.

The event will be divided into five categories: individual collections, group designer collections, Gen-Next show (for new designers), trade show and shows by established, as well as new designers. Applications are invited online, the last date being February 20. New designers need to send in photographs of their recent collections as well as information about their production capacities.

Driven by buyers

“The best talent that has the potential to cater to an international market will be selected,” adds Agarwal. Elite Model Management will provide models for the event.Target buyers include international retail chains and departmental stores like Harvey Nichols, Liberty, Harrods, Net-a-Porter and Browns, to name a few.

London, much revered for its rich fashion heritage and old-world charm, has been considered by many as just that, labelled second cousin to Paris or Milan in…More

The Hindu :

Horologist Pradipta K. Mohapatra is a treasure trove of information on watches

Time tales Pradipta K. Mohapatra says watches are like diamonds and do not age

Watches often draw much attention, and are in many circles as much a status symbol as a Lamborghini sedan or a diamond set.

As the renowned horologist, Pradipta K. Mohapatra who holds one of the largest collections of private watches in the country says: “In many cases watches are like diamonds and do not age. The watches you are wearing today may fetch you a fortune in a couple of decades.”

He adds: “Many people will not think twice before dumping an antique watch, without making any effort to understand the significance that such timepieces hold. Those rusty timepieces could make you richer than your wildest dreams.”

Apart from being a collector of watches from across the globe, Mohapatra is also a treasure trove of information as far as tales about watches go.

He narrated many stories, ranging from the emergence of wristwatches as an offshoot of an attempt to see time when manoeuvring an aircraft, to the creation of the self-winding mechanism, which made winding time much easier and created a revolution of sorts as far as the watch making industry was concerned.

Talking about the launch of wristwatches in the early 20 {+t} {+h} century, Mohapatra says: “In that period, wristwatches were mostly worn by women. In 1904, a Brazilian aviator Alberto Dumont wanted his friend Louis Cartier to come up with an alternative timepiece that would allow him to keep both hands on the controls while timing his performances during a flight.”

Cartier and Edmond Jaeger, renowned watchmaker created the Santos wristwatch, which was the first men’s wristwatches. The Santos watches were launched in 1911 and gained public acceptance in the course of World War I.

Before the war, wristwatches were considered part of women accessories. “It was considered very…More