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Foundation stone of women college laid Panchkula, January 13 Speaking at a function after laying the foundation stone of the Government College for Women in Sector 14 here, Mr Chautala said during the convocations that he had observed that the girls often performed better than the boys. Stressing the need for the promotion of girl education, the Chief Minister said it was heartening that the first Indian woman astronaut Kalpana Chawla hailed from Haryana. Saying that women were making a mark in sports also, Mr Chautala regretted that a majority of the people, including women, were keen to have a son. He added that in view of a gender imbalance, the state government had come out with the Devi Rupak Yojana. The problem of gender inequality could be checked not only by enacting laws but by creating awareness among the people, he added. Earlier, Mr Chautala laid the foundation stone of Shiksha Sadan in Sector 5. To be constructed over an area of 2.5 acres at a cost of Rs 10.5 crore, the building will house offices of the Directorate of Education. The college is being constructed at a cost of Rs 6.25 crore over an area of seven acres. Ms Kailasho Saini, MP, accompanied Mr Chautala. |
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UGC owes its new motto to her Chandigarh, January 13 Also a member of the UGC’s committee constituted to finalise the new logo and motto, Dr Goel says, “We received nearly 60 suggestions from all over the country. Most of these were picked up from quotations and none of them captured the essence of knowledge and learning. I was very disappointed.” It was then that she decided to get down to work for selecting a motto which conveyed the UGC’s philosophy of promoting quality education. “Being a teacher of Sanskrit, I turned to the Upanishads and Vedas for inspiration, for that one line which would epitomise the UGC’s mission. And ‘Gyan-Vigyan Vimukte’ was born,” she recalled. This motto was put before the committee and unanimously approved in November last year. It was announced at the concluding function of the golden jubilee celebrations of the UGC in Delhi. “Deliberations for adopting a new logo representing the authority of the UGC over all universities and colleges were on during the golden jubilee year. However, the UGC logo was without a motto since its inception in 1953. Without a purpose, the direction of progress of the UGC could not be specified. Thus started the exercise of identifying a motto along with changing the logo,” she explains. The selection of her suggested line, coupled with the release of three books on women empowerment, made 2003 a memorable year for her, she claims. “I am interested in blending the traditional with the modern in my writing and thinking. While I am committed to women empowerment, I want to utilise Sanskrit literature in developing modern knowledge rooted in ancient wisdom,” Prof Goel explains. |
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Jan 30 fixed for hearing in cop suicide case Chandigarh, January 13 Directions for the registration of an FIR against the officers allegedly involved in the incident were also sought by the widow of the deceased in the petition. It was a case of murder and not suicide, she had claimed. Arguing before the court, counsel for the petitioners had submitted that the head constable had named the officers in the note later recovered from him. He added that Jaiveer Singh was being constantly harassed. The victim had also written to the National Human Rights Commission in this regard. The counsel said the post-mortem report too had been managed. The basis requirements had not been complied with, he stated. Taking up the petition, a Division Bench headed by the Chief Justice, Mr Justice B.K. Roy, fixed November 11 as the next date of hearing.
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Property of Shakti Bhavan attached Panchkula, January 13 The then Haryana State Electricity Board had placed an order with East India Udyog Limited to supply distribution transformers in 1997. Even as the board demand was met only partially, the board cancelled the order and asked the supplier to pay Rs 4.4 lakh as damages. The earnest money amounting to Rs 1 lakh was also forfeited by the board. The supplier approached the arbitrator who was the director of the Haryana Vitran Prasaran Nigam (HVPN). The arbitrator reversed the Power Department's order and awarded a compensation of Rs 5.44 lakh to the supplier. The HVPN dithered on the payment and the company filed an execution suit in the local court in 2001. |
Fitness Trail But like most Gen X youngsters he finds it difficult to stay interested in a definite routine over a longer period. So he is always on the lookout for something new, something exciting, some thing more — be it clothes, shoes or an exercise routine. Dancing is the new fitness craze that is sweeking the Gen X. People who like to move to the rhythm of music sometimes find that they would rather dance than get on an exercise bike or a treadmill. Because dancing feels like fun rather than exercise, which can turn into a chore after sometime. Fitness experts say that dancing can be a good exercise. Aerobics, too, incorporate many dance movements. But normal dancing does not have the strict discipline of aerobics. It is just a way of letting yourself go. Fitness is just an added attraction. All fast-paced dances like salsa, swing, hip-hop, jive, rumba and Tango can make you work out as good a sweat as an exercise session. Most of these movements increase the heart beat and burn calories. According to a fitness instructor, dancing the salsa can burn up to 10 calories a minute. That is a whopping 600 calories in one hour. And it does not cause side effects associated with other high impact exercises like running and jogging. Salsa means “sauce” in Spanish. Just as a sauce is a combination of many tangy ingredients, salsa music and dance has Latin American roots and is combination of Cuban, Puerto-Rican and jazz rhythms. Salsa is a form of ballroom dancing. It comprises mambo, rumba, merengue and cha cha cha dances. One of the most dynamic forms of dancing, the salsa has a pattern of eight steps over eight counts of music, according to Dev Paul Singh, a salsa dance instructor at Planet Fitness. The Afro-Americans popularised salsa in America in 1960s and 1970s. From America it evolved into various styles, though the basic steps remained the same. Salsa steps include leg and hip movements. It also has sways, turns, swirls, swinging and bending movements. Salsa has four styles. LA or Los Angeles-style salsa is danced on three-count music, the New York style has a four-count music. The Miami-style salsa is also danced on a four-count music. This is an advanced style where couples dance with couples within circles. And then there is the Cuban style, which is the basic Latin style. It has a pattern of four steps on four counts of music. This style has more swaying movements and involves more swirling and shifting movements. The current salsa dancing craze is here to stay because it is fun and a terrific exercise as well. The movie “Dance with Me,” starring Vanessa Williams brought this exciting dance into the mainstream. “Kal Ho Na Ho” has brought this trendy dance on the Indian scene. Salsa has become a rage among the Indian youth after Preity Zinta swayed into the arms of Saif Ali Khan. Dev says there has been a rush of youngsters in his classes after the movie was released. The fitness industry has long been aware of the lure of dancing. Many recent fitness programmes focus on a range of dance styles. According to a fitness instructor, salsa dance movements strengthen the legs and muscles supporting the spine, tone the inner and outer thighs, raise the heartbeat and stamina. So if you want to be a part of the “hip” crowd, learn salsa. It will not only keep you fit but you will also meet lots of new exciting people and learn a new skill as well. Happy dancing! |
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It’s my life Since childhood I have been very conscious about my dress. I want to always look smart. This encouraged me to step into the glamorous world of modelling. I was adjudged Mr Aurangabad, out of 400 contestants. I was the ‘Best Dressed Boy’ in Class X and Class XII of my school. In order to fulfil my creative instincts, I took up a three-year course in fashion designing at the NIIFT (Northern India Institute of Fashion Technology), Mohali. I have recently started my practice independently. My collection attempts understanding human psyche and hidden emotions through clothing. I believe that nothing can substitute hard work for achieving any commendable results in the area where you work. I have been lucky to enter into a profession of my choice. I eat, drink and sleep fashion. So do all achievers in their fields. As told to Sanjeev Singh Bariana |
Amartex has launched its all new line of clothing called the “Vivaha” range. This exclusive range comprising of sarees, suits and lehangas for women, and designer kurtas and formal suits for men, are made to order and suit each pocket. From jamdanis to jamavaars, Benarasi silk to Mysore georgettes and exquisitely embrioidered crepes to South Indian silks, the range in suits and sarees and lehangas in different fabrics and with different embroideries are worth looking out for. All clothes are available in a variety of hues — red, green, blue, yellow and even in pastel shades. As many as 10,000 clothes for women are on display in this line. The sarees are brought directly from the weavers who are spread all over the country, and will be sold at the company’s retail outlets. The prices of women’s clothing range from Rs 200 to Rs 20,000. The men’s line of clothing comprises of Jodhpuris, kurtas, formal suits and sherwanis in pastel and dark shades. Says Mr Arun Grover, MD of Amartex Industries,”By introducing direct selling concept, we have been able to bring down the prices. While big brands cater to the niche 1 per cent section, Amartex caters to the remaining 99 per cent, and has, thus, become a brand in itself.” He informs that the company has so far had a turnover of Rs 80 crore and hopes to cross Rs 100 crore by the end of this financial year. He said that they were planning to open 51 outlets all over the country by March, and also plan to set up a
manufacturing unit at Shanghai in China.
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Diet supplements latest fashion fad Bulging biceps and sinewy muscles are in... just as the style gurus of these biceps — desi Salman Khan with his pierced torso, or the hunk forever and Governor of California, Arnold Schwarznegger — are. The city boys, aiming for the perfect chiselled body of a Greek god, are not to be left behind. Never mind their side effects, but energy boosters and diet supplements to increase the lean body mass for increasing the biceps are a growing fashion fad. Amino acids, DHEA (dehydroepiandrosterone), heavy proteins, creatine monohydrate, glutamines, antioxidants are in, just as the vitamin and mineral capsules are passe. A visit to any of the umpteen gymnasiums in the city shows that these compounds — which help in building biceps and triceps — are quite a rage with the clients aiming for a perfect body. The fact is that these supplements cost anything between Rs 3000 to Rs 100 each, and a person taking the supplements can end up spending Rs 10,000 a month. Even if ill-effects are caused by this foodstuff, young men are making a beeline for these medicines. Says Mr Sunil Walia, a coach at Bon Sante, one of the leading gyms in the city, “The craze for these diet supplements has definitely increased over the years, just as the quest for a body beautiful has. Inspite of the fact that these are quite expensive, most of the men, especially the younger generation, in its quest to have a body of any of their Bollywood or Hollywood idols, ask for these to achieve what exercise alone cannot help”. These days almost every one is turning to be a ‘gymaholic’ (a species that likes to workout at the gym). Mr Walia adds that with job avenues in modelling, acting in music videos, or setting up their own gyms, besides taking up body building as a sport increasing, a number of people are regular at the gym. Also, considering that flaunting good bodies is no longer the domain of the fairer sex, city boys, too, like to show off their biceps in the skin-fitted tees and jeans. The popularity of these medicines cannot be underestimated. Rahul Sood, a young businessman, says that he begins his day with a workout at the gym. “It is equally important for men to have a great body. And if these diet supplements can get you a great body, what’s the harm? In any case, these supplements are administered only under the guidance of the gym instructor,” he adds. But are these coaches actually trained to administer such heavy doses of compounds to the gymaholics? Most of the trainers say that it is only after extensive study that they recommend these supplements. Also, we are prescribing only good ‘phoren’ supplements. Moreover, we prescribe these only after a person has been exercising for a long time and has built enough lean body mass that we begin administering these drugs, they say. Eminent sports physician and former physician of Indian cricket team, Dr Ravinder Chaddha, cautions against the excessive use of these supplements. He advocates that the daily diet itself should give the required nutrients for body building. “There have been cases where excessive intake of proteins have damaged the kidney. The body requires 62 to 70 per cent of carbohydrates, 20 to 25 per cent of fats and merely 10 per cent of proteins. One can increase protein intake to 20 per cent for muscle building by taking a protein rich diet, but not more than
this”. TNS |
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Lohri a dull affair this time Fire was lacking in Lohri celebrations. Being Tuesday, several residents had to dance around bonfires without drinks in their hands, making Lohri a “dull affair” in several parts of the city. The reason was obvious. A substantial number of Hindus consider the intake of alcohol and non-vegetarian food on Tuesdays and Thursdays to be inauspicious. A large number of residents did not leave the cozy comfort of their homes to attend functions organised by friends and relatives. “Buy two, get one free” offer on Lohri also failed to draw crowd in several bars and pubs in Sector 35. They remained almost deserted throughout the evening. Roadside rehri and dhaba-walas also failed to do good business. “Every year we make special preparations for handling the crowd on the occasion,”says Raghu, a worker with a “chicken corner” in Sector 35. “However, very few people turned up this year,” he says. As drinks and celebrations go hand in hand in the region, parties failed to gain momentum. “Lohri or marriages — what are parties without drinks? Useless,” says Vikram Sharma, a Sector 39 resident. “I attended two parties,” says Narinder Kumar of Sector 35. “at both parties, the organisers were offering drinks but hardly anyone took them,” he says, adding that only those who had had drinks came forward to dance around the bonfire. Others simply savoured popcorns and groundnuts, besides soup and soft drinks. Narinder plans to celebrate the occasion again on Wednesday. |
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The 24th fps Visual Effects Awards, being organised by the Maya Academy of Advanced Cinematics (MAAC), brought in a plethora of entertainment industry, on the lookout for animators. The who’s who of leading television channels and animation studios had converged here to attend the awards ceremony and for talent hunt amongst the budding animators. From the big bosses in special effects division of Aaj Tak to Sahara TV, and professionals from studios like JadooWorks, Sigma Interactive, Moving Lines and Wide Angle Films, besides the management of Maya Entertainment Limited, were in the city. Speaking to TNS, Mr Rajesh Turakhia, CEO of Maya Entertainment, said the city was fast emerging as a breeding ground for visual effects professionals. He said following the response and talent of young computer-savvy populace here, they were planning to open a ful-fledged animation studio in the city. He said though the MAAC centre here was creating 3-D animation work and architectural walk throughts for various clients, there was a need to set up a ful-fledged studio, considering the umpteen Punjabi channels that had been launched, and the number of Punjabi music videos that were being churned out. Mr Turakhia said they had trained the talented youth. By providing infrastructure at a studio, Maya Entertainment would be able to provide superior quality visual effects to the local television industry, he added.
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City team wins gold award in one-minute animation films
The two best individual performance awards were won by Anmol Thakur, the team leader of the Chandigarh team, and by Saurabh Sameer of ‘Pixalato v1’ from Preet Vihar, New Delhi. Seven teams comprising of five members each made their final presentation of their one-minute animation film to an expert panel of jury members comprising Mr Rahul Kulshrestha, Director, Technical Operations, Aajtak; cine director Mr Soumitra Ranade; Mr Rajiv Chaudhary of JadooWorks, Bangalore; and Mr C.B. Arun Kumar, Chief Technology Officer of the Moving Pictures, Mumbai. The teams had developed their own storyline of one-minute duration using computer graphics, 3D animation and live sequence to a common musical composition given to each one of them. The 35 young animators , who were divided into seven teams — Digital Nuclei from Mumbai, while Delhi had five teams — Pixelato v1, Active Mouse, Noise, Kamakazi, and Kyasis, while Chandigarh team was called Origin 5. They worked for a week on separate computers provided to them at seven studios created at the Hotel Parkview. Chandigarh team Origin-5 had created a live character working on a computer while the 3D character in the project he is working on starts acting funny to destroy his work and the fight between them executed imaginatively had a good feel about it. The team coming second, ‘Kyasis’, from Delhi had ‘Music at life’ as the theme, where musical notes danced to the music. The bronze award winners ‘Digital Nuclei’ from Mumbai had ‘Dead Emotions’ as the theme where a character enters in a pyramid and finds a mummy of a lady dancing to the music. He runs away but she intercepts and asks him to dance with him. Other teams had also come up with interesting themes interpreting the musical score given to them in their own way. While Kamakazi from South Extension, New Delhi, had a dream sequence of a computer operator where his animated computers emerge from the computer and start a ruckus, the Active Mouse from Preet Vihar, New Delhi, took up the social issue of promoting literacy where a maid servant is given a book by a kind girl, and feels blessed on gaining knowledge. The Noise from South Extension, New Delhi, presented the creation of the world by Brahma and its ultimate destruction by the man while Pixelato v1, from Kamla Nagar, New Delhi, demonstrated the bond between a bird and a boy who loses his kite and the bird brings it back to him. Mr Rajiv Chaudhry, representing JadooWork from Bangalore, said that the entire competition was not so much about winning as it was for each team to get a unique exposure to work in a real studio environment, for which he commended MAAC for providing the students this platform. Mr S.P. Singh, Managing Director, Chandigarh Industrial & Tourism Development Corporation, was the chief guest while Mr Vivek Atray was the guest of honour in the award ceremony. Discreet, one of the world’s leading producers of animation and visual effects softwares and systems, is supporting and co-sponsoring “24FPS”.
— TNS |
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Prateek is a fitness freak. He likes to keep his body in good shape. So he jogs three times a week and goes to a gym twice a week.
THE home team ‘Origin 5’ won the 24fps 2003 Visual Effects Gold Award followed by Kyasis of Kamla Nagar, New Delhi, and ‘Digital Nuclei’ from Mumbai winning the silver and bronze medals, respectively.