Art/Culture

By Madhulika Sonkar, IANS,

New Delhi, Sep 29 (IANS) Fashion designer Manish Malhotra, known for using an aesthetic blend of colours in his collections, has now joined hands with Kansai Nerolac Paints Ltd. to launch 'Colour Styles of 07-08'. An endeavour to precisely chart colour trends in India and understand the logic of colour transition, Colour Styles 07-08 gives a glimpse into how colours and moods are strongly linked with each other. "It is good to see that a paint company is now exploring the emotional aspects of consumers while connecting with them," Malhotra said at the launch here Friday evening.

By IANS New Delhi : A Central Institute of Classical Tamil is to come up in Chennai to preserve and develop one of the world's oldest and most widely spoken languages. A cabinet meeting presided over by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Wednesday gave its approval to a proposal by Human Resources Development Minister Arjun Singh, Information and Broadcasting Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi told reporters here. "The main objective of this decision would be the preservation and development of Classical Tamil, which is an integral part of India's composite heritage," Dasmunsi said.

By Dipankar De Sarkar, IANS, London : Hidden away in underground storage vaults for 164 years, more than 100 stunning Indian paintings from the Ramayana dating back to the 17th century went on public display for the first time Friday at the British Library in London. The Mewar Ramayana paintings were acquired by the then British Museum Library in 1844 in the form of bound volumes, but were kept in vaults. Until Friday, they have only been available to scholars.

By IANS, New Delhi : Remembering "Voice of India" contest winner Ishmeet Singh as a "wonderful", "down-to-earth" and "sincere" person, members of the Indian music industry said they were shocked by the drowning of the "dynamic singer" in the Maldives. The 19-year-old, from a middle-class family in Ludhiana, Punjab, had gone to the Maldives for a promotional event with the music company with which he had a contract. The singer left Mumbai Tuesday morning for the Maldives, where he was to perform Aug 1. However, he drowned Tuesday in a swimming pool at a beach resort.

By Madhusree Chatterjee, IANS, New Delhi : In the carnival days when the horrors of war were yet to break upon Italy, fashion crossed over from the showrooms to the sidewalks in Italy - and the other way round. Everyday bric-a-brac became objects de art. But it was in the post-war years when America rushed to rescue Italy's designer art that these objects presented themselves to the world. And that is how chamois leather stilettos (shoes) patented by the lifestyle giant Salvatore Ferragamo in 1955-56 and even earlier in 1947 and 1898 came to be looked upon as exquisite works of art.

By IANS Gurgaon : A group of over 150 people tried to disrupt the screening of Ashutosh Gowariker's just released epic romance "Jodhaa Akbar" at a multiplex here, shouting slogans against the film and tearing down posters. The protesters gathered outside the PVR multiplex in Gurgaon's Metropolitan Mall, demanding that screening be halted. The theatre stopped screening the movie for 5-10 minutes when the unruly crowd tried to get into the hall, said Satish Balan, deputy commissioner of police (Gurgaon East).

Mumbai: Legendary actor Dilip Kumar was on Sunday honoured with Padma Vibhushan, the country's second highest civilian award, by Home Minister Rajnath Singh. The 93-year-old...

By IANS Kolkata : The Kolkata Book Fair seems to have found a new venue, finally. After a yearlong uncertainty, the world's largest non-trade book fair, has settled for Park Circus Maidan to host the literary carnival in 2008. The 32nd edition of the fortnight-long fair, organised by the Publishers' and Booksellers' Guild, begins January 30 next.

By Xinhua, Beijing : A Chinese oil painting has fetched a record price of 57.12 million yuan ($8.2 million) at an auction here. "The Breeding Ground No.1", from the contemporary painter Liu Xiaodong's Three Gorges Series was bought by a private buyer at the China Guardian 2008 Spring Auction Monday for a record price for a single Chinese mainland oil painting. The oil, 2.6 metres high and 10 metres wide, was drawn from 2005 to 2006, depicting 11 men in their underclothes playing cards.

By IANS New Delhi : Indians might soon be sipping tea from delicate Korean ceramic bowls thanks to a group of 67 artistes from South Korea who have brought their exquisite crockery, developed according to Zen Buddhist traditions, to the country for the first time.

By IANS, Dhaka : A Bangladeshi singing couple have launched an album of Rabindranath Tagore's songs to pay tribute to the Nobel laureate ahead of his 150th birth anniversary. Sajed Akbar and Salma Akbar launched the album "Tumi Amar Chiro Kaaler" here Saturday. "The 10 songs in the album are mostly Tagore's numbers written on love, nature and puja-parban," Sajed Akbar said at the launch. "In 2011, everyone will be celebrating the 150th birth anniversary of Tagore; the album has been released as a tribute to the kabi guru," he said.

By IANS, Mumbai : Walt Disney Company (South East Asia) has raised its stake to more than 50 percent and has become the majority shareholder of UTV Software Communications, a UTV official said. Walt Disney recently acquired about 20 percent of UTV shares from the open market and increased its holding in the company to more than 50 percent. Earlier, its shareholding was 37 percent. This made Walt Disney the first Hollywood studio to have majority shares in an Indian entertainment company.

By IANS

New Delhi : Ramachandra Guha's take on "India after Gandhi" takes over from the enormously popular "The Last Mughal" as non-fiction favourite this week, while Mohsin Hamid's "The Reluctant Fundamentalist" continues as top fiction book.