Whiz kids in gaming bout

They love video games. Now, they will not just play them, but design one of their own.

Four Indian students from a Chennai-based animation school flew to Scotland for a 10-week competition in which they will have to come up with an original gaming software.

Sundarajan from Madurai, Pradeep Kumar and Siddartha from Andhra Pradesh, and Ankit Agarwal from Rajasthan have been picked by the British Council to take part in the “Dare To be Digital” contest, to be hosted by Abertay University in Dundee. Sundarajan will lead the team, which likes to call itself Phoenix.

The students of Chennai’s Image College of Arts, Animation and Technology (Icat) will be the first Indian team in the competition’s history. They will be pitted against 10 teams from the UK and one from China.

At the end of weeks, sometime in August, all teams will present their designs to be judged by a panel of industry experts.

Ad legend between covers

From a Thanjavur village to the top rungs of advertising — that was just how far R. K. Swamy went in life.

Not many outside advertising know the guru who set up RK Swamy BBDO Advertising made it big in the profession. Now, they have a tome that will tell them all.

RK Swamy — His Life and Times chronicles the struggles and triumphs of the legendary adman who worked at a time when selling stuff wasn’t easy. After all, they weren’t many mediums to do it.

Union minister Jairam Ramesh, who released the biography last week, recalled how Swamy changed the image of PSUs — not really an adman’s delight in the 70s and 80s.

Others remembered the way Swamy, along with the likes of Mani Iyer and Alyque Padamsee, created short ad films for television while sticking to the core values of the business.

The book is penned by V. S. Chakrapani and V. Ramnarayan and describes the pre-Independence days when young people like Swamy flocked to Bombay to chase a dream.

Name game turns costly

It’s all in the name. That is what a Kerala hotelier found out last week, when he was slapped a fine of Rs 23.59 lakh by Delhi High Court for using a name deceptively similar to that of prominent hospitality chain Hilton.

The hotel group had accused K.V. Kumar — who christened his hotel “Hilten” — of violating its global trademark.

When the matter came up for hearing before a single-judge bench of Justice S.S. Sistani, Kumar looked stunned at the order. The judge rejected his argument — that the mistake was unintentional.

He also imposed an immediate and permanent injunction on any use of the “Hilten” brand, or any other similar- sounding name.

Kumar will have to pay the fine in six weeks.

On track

Mumbai’s lifeline should be in better shape at the end of this month. And, life for commuters in some areas should be back on track.

Western Railway has assured Bombay High Court that quadrupling of tracks from Borivli to Virar will be complete by June 30. Last month, a block on this section had thrown office-goers into a tizzy.

Railway authorities gave an assurance to Bombay High Court last week after a public interest litigation was filed highlighting the difficulties of commuters travelling from the northwestern suburbs to south Mumbai because of limited trains.

Earlier, the court had set a May 31 deadline for completion of the track work, but later gave an extension on the request of railway officials.

Chennai: Art lovers can add a dash of colour to their lives this week. They can drop in at an exhibition of paintings by Latha Sundar Rajan. The event is on till June 15 at La Galeries D’ Expression in Hotel Ambassador Pallava. The venue is 30 Montieth Road, Egmore, near the Connemara Public Library.