In a league of their own
Young, upcoming designers from the city are taking rapid strides by launching their own brands
Manish Arora, Rocky S, Wendell Rodricks, Ritu Kumar, Manish Malhotra, Pallavi Jaikishen…a line that inspires thousands of young fashion designers in the country. They are successful, have an elite clientele and are hot with their Haute Couture!


Vipin Batra shows his collection at Bangalore Fashion Week

Jhankaar 2010
Fun, frolic & much more
Finally, it's curtains up, after the countdown. Post elections, the next big thing on the campus. Life-size posters announce the arrival of the National Youth and Heritage Festival by the Panjab University Campus Students Council.
Photos: S. Chandan

Going hi-tech
Television is no longer the same, thanks to better gadgets. Read on…
Sometime back, there was nothing unusual on television (some feel there still isn’t). A perfect family showcasing with all the elements in place — conniving mother-in-law, sick, tired and loving father-in-law, helpless handsome husband, divorced sister-in-law and a perfect bahu, bearing the brunt of her decision!

Key to ease
Computer giant Apple is set to revolutionize the traditional door key with introduction of a hi-tech alternative nicknamed the iKey. It means people can stop carrying around a bunch of keys, and instead use a single electronic device to unlock their car, front door and gain access to their office.

Launch PAD
Net profit
Reliance Communications Limited has announced the roll-out of its wireless broadband service (Netconnect Broadband Plus) for Rs 2,299 only.  Netconnect Broadband Plus is India’s fastest Internet service and has a downlink speed of up to 3.1 mbps and uplink speed of up to 1.8 mbps, offering 30 per cent higher downlink rate in comparison to other wireless broadband offerings.

For U too
YouTube videos can now be more accessible to the deaf and hard of hearing thanks to new automatic captions technology. The feature will initially apply to English language videos, but other languages will be added in future.

Geek SPEAK
Save the wet phone!
A waterlogged cell phone often means that the instrument has to be replaced, but if the device is rescued in time one can reduce the possible damage and even save it. Albeit the method isn’t guaranteed, it is certainly worth a try.

Raising a voice
Punjabi singer Manmohan Waris was in the city to announce a social initiative on the International Women’s Day
We talk about development, about female foeticide, about pollution and resource crunch; we talk about cultural corruption and we talk about a thousand other issues. That’s the only thing we do best!

Manmohan Waris with Arvind Kumar of Reliance Communications

Maiden attempt
Singer Raj Brar forays into movies with Punjabi flick Jawani Zindabad
Raj Brar is the latest entry into the Punjabi singer-cum-actor league with Jawani Zindabad. “This flick is an entertainer on the theme of generation gap,” says Raj, who has already made his mark in the field of music.

Mudgal’s Mehfil
The rigidity of pristine classical, scintillating semi- classical format and rustic folk forms of Indian music, blended together to create a melodic spectacle as acclaimed classical vocalist Padmashri Madhup Mudgal presented Rituraj Mehfil at Tagore Theatre. It was a treat to watch him serving the complex classical music in simple compositions and simple content in highly convoluted phrases making even the naive and connoisseur to equally relish the melodic splendour of Indian music.

Crafty scene
It’s artisans’ corner. The exhibition cum sale by the North Eastern Handicrafts and Handlooms Development Corpn. Ltd. brings to the city the artisans and master craftsmen of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Maghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura and Sikkim.

Spade work
City of joy
Whenever a friend or a relative asks me when they should visit me in Chandigarh, I always tell them to do so in the first week of April. That indeed is the best time to visit the city. It is the time when the city wears different colours. The plants respond to changing weather conditions, is not new. They do so due to the biological clock fit into their system. After going through the winter vagaries, this is the time for the plants to smile, reflected in putting forth different colours.

Comic relief
Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin tickle the funny bone at this year's Oscars
Comedy stars Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin, the first duo to share the Oscar stage as co-hosts in the television age, traded punch lines and barbs in Sunday's show as they gently roasted this year's nominees. Working the room like a pair of Hollywood insider insult comics, Martin and Baldwin singled out many of the assembled Oscar contenders for some light, deflationary ribbing, starting with each other.

Zero down
Deepika doesn't believe in size zero
Bollywood actor Deepika Padukone, who is blessed with a good figure, says she does not believe in being size zero as the Indian body type is not meant for it.

Gimme green
Bollywood actor Vivek Oberoi walked the ramp for designer Digvijay Singh at the Lakme India Fashion Week (LIFW) on Saturday. Top line models set the ramp on fire with their impeccable catwalk as they showcased the collection titled Bhusattva, a collection styled in 100 per cent organic cotton and silk fabrics.The collection consisted of ecofriendly fabrics like cotton, silk and a mix of cotton and silk.

American dream
Hollywood production "American Empire" will have three-four Bollywood stars, according to reports. Filmfare nominated John Abraham (Dhoom), Filmfare winner Arjun Rampal (Rock On!!), and Ashmit Patel (Banaras) are reportedly starring in it and BAFTA nominated Freida Pinto (Slumdog Millionaire) are rumored to be in its cast.