Schoolkids roped in for Road Safety Club
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, January 7
Schoolchildren have ventured into yet another operation with a social message. These students have been roped in to teach the lessons of road safety. Hero Honda and the Society of Indian Automobiles Manufacturers (SIAM) today announced the launch of a major initiative with the help of the city government and the Traffic Police to take forward the message of road safety.

The formation of Road Safety Club was announced by the Delhi Transport Minister, Mr Ajay Maken, on the occasion of the week-long Road Safety Week that began here yesterday.

The launch ceremony was attended by school students, representatives from the automobile industry, the Delhi Transport Department and the Delhi Traffic Police. Unveiling the charter for Road Safety Club, Mr Maken said that road safety must become a part of a child’s education so that it is ingrained in their attitude and behaviour.

He added that to have an everlasting impact such education is best imparted in the early stages of education through teachers. Mr Maken also expressed hope that such road safety awareness programmes would reach out to a large number of students in various parts of the city.

SIAM Director-General Rajat Nandi said his organisation and the Society for Automotive Fitness and Environment (SAFE) had undertaken a slew of initiatives aimed at providing road safety education to students, drivers and the public at large.

The Road Safety Club would be an ideal forum for spreading awareness on safe driving, he added.

CULTURE

GLITZ & GLAMOUR
AKS: A reflection beyond the obvious
Smriti Kak

The steel facade of an industrial town may not be an inspiration for many, but for designer Amit Kumar Singh, the steel town of Rourkela provided a peek into what he describes as, “veritable spring of rural tones”.

Confessing that he draws inspiration from his rooted existence as a child, AKS as he is popularly known, recalls women all around rushing to work in the factory wearing bright fluorescent colours. A memory that he has sought to recreate in his creations.

The designer likes to think of it as a combination of yesterday with today and describes it as a whole new perspective towards wearable fashion. AKS is a line that wants its clients to look beyond the obvious.

Amit received training in fashion design from the J.D. Institute of Fashion in 1999-2000. He chooses to interpret the experimental mould of design through his collections. “There are enough designers in the industry looking at the wearable section. I like to usher in drama into my clothes. And it takes little to create a whole new canvas,” he says.

Reason why he chose to take his leather collection beyond the fitted jacket and trouser route. Amit interprets that the rich textural fabric into embroidered, structured saris, salwars and lehngas. The challenge being in the intricate embroidery that he managed to achieve on an otherwise tough leather surface.

“I kept the frills and fuss minimal. Using embroidery and silhouette techniques as the only element of decorative art in design,” points out the designer.

Retailing from Naayab and Urja in Hauz Khas Village, Amit has had the opportunity to design for Star Miss India 1999.

For the winter, the designer has combined the bold with the sedate. Earth tones are relieved with bright fruity colours. The statement is bold and designer wants it shouted from the rooftop. This one here does not believe in the strength of silence.

Sitaron Ki Raat

Shaan performs at Modicare's Sitaron Ki Raat.

Modicare felicitated over 200 top Modicare Consultants in the northern and eastern region on their commendable achievements for the year 2002 at a function organised in the Talkatora Stadium.

Singer Shaan was roped in to perform at the felicitation ceremony. Sajid Khan compered the show and spiced up the evening with his humour. Felicitating Modicare star achievers, awards were presented in the categories of Gold, Silver, Star, President Star, Ruby, Pearl, President Opal, President Emerald, Sapphire, Diamond and President Diamond.

The ceremony has already been held in Bangalore on December 12 and Cuttack on December 26 for Consultants of the southern and eastern region respectively.

Kutch embroidery

Cinestars Diya Mirza and Vivek Oberoi, stars of the movie, ‘Dum’, have signed up a deal with the Café Coffee Day. As part of the promotion of this forthcoming flick, the duo will visit select outlets across the country.

Shrujan, a non-government organisation, working for the upliftment of women artisans from the Kutch region, organised an exhibition-cum-sale of their embroidered works in the Capital.

On display were sarees, kurtas, shawls and linen. The proceeds from the sale of the wares will be utilised for the construction of permanent workstations for these women artisans. “The aim is to continue to provide succour and a source of livelihood to these women, who have borne the brunt of the earthquake,” said the founder-director of Shrujan, Ms Chandraben Shroff.

The group was found in 1969 to provide relief to the victims of famine in the Kutch region. Besides providing immediate relief to these women, the group enables them to become self-reliant.

Shrujan has trained more than 18,000 women artisans of Kutch and has provided work for more than 2,000 women from over 80 villages.

Road to Ladakh

The Habitat Film Club screened Ashvin Kumar’s Road to Ladakh starring actor Irfan Khan and Koel Puri. The film is a story of a chance encounter between a terrorist and a beauty queen in the unfriendly but breathtakingly beautiful terrain of Ladakh.

Sushmit Sen of the Indian Ocean has scored the music of the film that was shown by the British Council in collaboration with the Habitat Film Club. Ashvin who has written and directed the film, is a final year student of London School of film. The producer, Shomit Mitter is a writer on theatre.

A debutante with elan

Sangeeta Kopalkar during the release of her album, ‘Humnasheen’, in the Capital.  — Tribune photo

A new singer, Sangeeta Kopalkar, has entered the world of music with her debut album ‘Hamnasheen’, a Punjabi music one. Despite being a Marathi, she has sung all the Punjabi songs with great expertise. The album was released by T- series. Besides the tittle song ‘Ae mere humnasheen’, the album has seven other sonorous songs.