Category: Arts, Culture & Entertainment

** Self-taught vector artist turns passion into profession

Ananth Talam spotted vector art on Pinterest and instantly fell in love with it.

A pencil and paper might sound like a good start for anyone who wants to create visual art.  But not for 27-year-old Ananth Talam. He makes life-like vector art that has been lauded by thousands of people, including celebrities, with just a mouse and a computer. To top it all, Ananth did it without any formal training and taught himself to do vector art through YouTube videos. What began as a hobby is now a full-fledged profession for Ananth.

However, the skill and recognition did not come easy. Hailing from a middle-class family in Hyderabad, Ananth did a Bachelor of Science and worked in the digital marketing field since 2012. 

Hyderabad, Telangana

** In search of everything desi

Sundeep Bhutoria’s ‘The Global Desi’, is an account of his travels abroad looking for Indian connections

Author Sundeep Bhutoria’s book The Global Desi: Reflections on Home and Away is a compilation of his travel memoirs; made unique by his constant search for the Indian connect. Be it Norway, Poland or Chile, Sundeep manages to search for and connect with people of Indian origin (PIO), wherever he travels.

** Gira Sarabhai, co-founder of NID, passes away at 98

Along with her brother Gautam Sarabhai, she laid the foundation for design education in the country.

Gira Sarabhai, co-founder of the renowned National Institute of Design (NID) in Ahmedabad and a pioneer of design education in India, passed away in Ahmedabad on Thursday. She played a crucial role in setting up several other institutions and contributed immensely in the field of art and architecture.

With her brother Gautam Sarabhai, she founded the NID and also prepared its academic curricula, which laid the foundation for design education in the country.

Besides NID, another notable institution both Gira and Gautam were involved in setting up is the Calico Museum, one of India’s most famous private museums. The Calico was one of the textiles mills run by their father Ambalal Sarabhai, along with a range of other businesses in Gujarat.

** MANUU’s 9 films selected for UNESCO-supported festival

Nine short films and documentaries made by the Instructional Media Centre (IMC) of Maulana Azad National Urdu University (MANUU) have been selected for Cultural Cinema Fest 2021, supported by UNESCO, Delhi office.

The online festival scheduled to begin on July 17 and films from more than 100 countries are participating in the festival.

The selected films are – Aristotle, Stephen Hawkins, Dr C V Raman, Bharat Ratna Dr A P J Abdul Kalam, Nawa-e-Sarosh Mirza Ghalib, Al Zahrawi, A Tribute to Prof Yashpal, Sir Isaac Newton and Prof U R Rao. They were selected from among 44 films under the category.

IMC director Rizwan Ahmad said it is a huge recognition of the films at global level.

** Indian seaman makes $1mn in Dubai sitting at home

An Indian citizen, who purchased his ticket online from Thane, won the $1 million first prize in the latest Dubai Duty Free Millennium Millionaire draw.

On Wednesday, ticket number 0207, which was the chosen one in the 363rd Millennium Millionaire draw, belonged to a 36-year-old seaman, Ganesh Shinde.

** How Hindi helped to build a bridge to Manipuri language and culture

As early as in 1928, Manipur witnessed a movement to propagate Hindi that further strengthened its links with mainland India

It is an unfortunate but undeniable fact that in the imagination of most of those who live in the Hindi heartland, India is a near mirror-image of the Hindi region.

While India’s “unity-in-diversity” is routinely emphasised and its multicultural, multi-ethnic and multi-religious character is iterated and reiterated, the sad reality is that dwellers of the Hindi region have very little familiarity with other regions of the country, especially those that lie in the south and the northeast. The reality in those regions is fortunately very different, and Manipur’s case has a distinct resonance in this respect.

** Sports Minister launches official song on Indian contingent at Tokyo Olympics

Grammy Award winner composure A.R. Rahman and young singer Ananya Birla collaborated to present the official song of the Indian contingent for the Tokyo Olympics

Sports Minister Anurag Thakur on Wednesday launched the ‘Cheer4India’ song of the country’s Olympic contingent and urged the public to wholeheartedly rally behind its athletes during the Tokyo Games.

Grammy Award winner composure A.R. Rahman and young singer Ananya Birla collaborated to present the official song of the Indian contingent for the Tokyo Olympics, titled Cheer4India: Hindustani Way.