Rakshit Barigidad and V. Kushi emerged the men’s and women’s champions respectively as the Malleswaram Association State-ranking table tennis tournament concluded here on Sunday. Rakshit defeated Shreyas Kulkarni 14-12, 9-11, 11-1, 14-12, 11-7, while Kushi, who had won the junior title a couple of days ago, held off Koumudi Patankar 11-13, 11-6, 11-4, 8-11, 11-2, 5-11, 11-5.
Women: V. Kushi bt Koumudi Patankar 11-13, 11-6, 11-4, 8-11, 11-2, 5-11, 11-5; Girls: Sub-junior: M. Anargya bt G. Yashaswini 11-9, 9-11, 11-7, 11-7; Cadet: M. Deshna bt Sahana Murthy 7-11, 11-8, 11-9, 11-6 .
Solomon scores winner
A strike from Solomon helped Navrathna FC snatch a 1-0 win over Bangalore Youngsters in the BDFA ‘C’ division football league here on Sunday.
The results: Vel Socials 0 drew with Bentex FC 0; Navrathna FC 1 (Solomon 49) bt Bangalore Youngsters 0 .
Rail Wheel Factory posts win
Rail Wheel Factory rallied from a goal down to defeat Customs and Central Excise 3-1 in the Field Marshal K.M. Cariappa Memorial hockey tournament here on Sunday.
The results: SAI ‘A’ 3 (Stalin 19, Raheel 23, Veeranna 57) bt ASC 1 (Anand Nag 48); RWF 3 (M.G. Poonacha 21, Umesh 60, Deepak 64) bt Customs and Central Excise 1 (Nilesh 17) .
Dinesh wins title
IM Dinesh Sharma of Uttar Pradesh won his final round against K. Senthil Maran (TN) in the top board and clinched the title with eight points from nine rounds in the Open category, on the concluding day of the Late Prof. S.K. Ananda Thirtha Memorial all India FIDE-rating rapid chess tournament.
Final Placings: Open Section: 1. IM Dinesh Sharma (UP, 8 points), 2. FM Karthik Venkataraman (AP, 7.5 & 55 tie-break score), 3. Ram S. Krishnan (TN, 7.5 & 54.5), 4. FM Joydeep Dutta (WB, 7.5 & 54), 5. P. Saravana Krishnan (TN, 7.5 & 53.5).
Having taken a big step towards Formula One, Arjun Maini is working hard to realise his big dream.
confident: Arjun Maini says he is eager to learn as much as he can from the F1 paddock. DH PHOTO/ BH SHIVAKUMAR
History has been beckoning this youngster right from his formative days but still, nothing can be as sweet as hitting the right path to realising a childhood ambition.
The teenager in question is Arjun Maini, a 19-year-old who has really caught the attention of the motorsport world with his performances on the GP3 circuit. So much so that he has been roped in as a development driver for the Haas Formula One team, alongside American Santino Ferrucci.
From the go-karting tracks of Bengaluru to the historic tracks in Europe, the boy who fuelled his adrenaline rush at the tender age of five could well go on to secure a position in an F1 cockpit.
Unusually grounded for a teenager his age, Arjun says that not much will change and that he will leave nothing to chance and continue to strive towards racing at the top level. He, however, does explain the experience of witnessing an F1 paddock was the stuff of dreams.
“It’s unbelievable. It’s hard to explain. When you walk from the GP3 paddock to the F1 paddock the difference in everything, the size, the glamour, it’s absolutely unbelievable. I’m not going to lie, it does feel a bit overwhelming initially, but when you get over it, the racing is still the same.
“You still go out there to win. Haas wants me to be completely focused on what I’m doing now and that’s the GP3 series and that’s what I’m going to do,” he adds.
Interactions with the technical staff in the pit garage will only enhance his skill and knowledge of the motorsport, something that is the key for longevity in the sport. And Arjun is making use of every opportunity he receives.
“I got signed just before my first weekend of the year. I was able to be in the garage during the session. Basically understand how the drivers work with the engineers and how the teams operate at the peak hours of motorsport. That’s what’s important about this role. That’s what I want to take with me, all the experience I can to prepare me for what could be in the future.”
Two days after he was signed by Haas, Arjun reached another milestone, becoming the first Indian ever to win a race on the GP3 circuit, no mean feat considering he had Narain Karthikeyan and Karun Chandok as predecessors.
A visibly emotional and teary-eyed Arjun had stood atop the podium as the Indian National anthem wafted across the Circuit de Barcelona in Catalunya. But the Bengaluru lad admits the predominant emotion he felt at the time was relief.
“I started from second and took the lead a little into the race. And then I had to battle with (Dorian) Boccolacci for two laps… I think the best laps of my career so far. The battle was so intense. I know it was very important for me to win but I did cherish that battle even though that could cause me to lose the lead.
“After that when I pulled away and crossed the flag the first feeling was relief. I was really relieved I had done that because that was very important for me. And then there were so many emotions that took over that it’s hard to explain the feeling, when you’re in the lap coming back to the pit,” he quipped.
While Karthikeyan and Chandok did not have the luxury of a step-by-step progression in the sport, it has been a lot more organised and has panned out better for Arjun, who believes that it gives him an edge.
“I am extremely lucky to be in the position that I am in right now and really grateful for everything. I’ve had fabulous support from JK Tyre during my younger days and with Haas now. Family support has been absolutely incredible from the beginning and support from Karun as well. Everything is pointing in the right direction and I’m much more prepared than Karun and Narain were and hope I can cash in on it.”
Arjun’s foray into motorsport was an obvious one with his father Gautam Maini, a former National racer, providing the necessary encouragement for both his sons. His younger son Kush races in Formula 4.
“The main thing is the support from the family. My father, mother and brother are completely supportive of what I do. My brother being a driver, we push each other when we are training or when we spend time in the simulator. I think that way I’m in a very very privileged position and I’m really grateful for that,” he said adding that another guiding force has been Chandok, who is his mentor-cum-manger.
“He started guiding me pretty much from when I got into cars. He’s guided me all throughout. It’s very important that someone like Karun is guiding me, he’s been there and he’s made it. He knows what I need to do and what not to do. And that’s what’s great. It’s made it easier for me.”
India has a real dearth of good tracks in the country — barring a few in Coimbatore, Sriperumbudur, Bengaluru and Hyderabad — so a success story like Arjun’s may not be a constant occurrance. Apart from the tracks, Arjun believes that there is also a need for further exposure if India have to announce themselves on the big stage.
“There are definitely not enough tracks. When I was young we had the Speedzone track in Bangalore and I used to go there every Sunday to drive and that’s how to start. That’s how you fall in love with the sport. Not having enough racing space is a problem but it’s coming up.
“There is also the issue of lack of exposure. There are a lot more championships and there are a lot more karters that are there in the junior karting championships. A lot more people watch motorsports there. When I got into it I started off by watching Formula One. That’s what got me into my first go-kart. But the opportunity lower down is a lot less,” added Arjun, who is an ardent Sebastian Vettel admirer.
Having taken the first step towards what could be a fulfilling career, Arjun is keen to stay grounded and take one day at a time rather than set himself any long-term goals.
“I think I am just taking it as it comes, day by day. I’ve just started doing really well. We’re third in the championship in GP3 and that’s how we want to continue, be in the top three-four in the GP3 championship. That’s what I’m looking forward to this year,” he signed off.
source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> Supplements> Sportscene / by Arjun Ganesh / June 17th, 2017
A milestone: President Pranab Mukherjee inaugurating the Green Line of Namma Metro Phase I in Bengaluru on Saturday
President Pranab Mukherjee flags off train in presence of Governor, Chief Minister, other Ministers
President Pranab Mukherjee flagged off the Green Line of Namma Metro Phase I in the presence of Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Governor Vajubhai Vala, a host of Union Ministers and State Ministers on Saturday. He said the country was lagging behind in the execution of urban infrastructure projects compared to Europe and the U.S.
Noting that Kolkata was the fist city to introduce metro rail in 1984, the President said more than a dozen cities would have metro trains in the next 10-15 years. The Delhi Metro was successfully implemented, he said, and appreciated the work of the Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Limited in the execution of Phase I project.
With the completion of the 11.3 km-line between Mantri Square and Yalachenahalli, a total of 42.3 km with 40 stations in two corridors — East-West and North-South Corridor for Phase I — has been completed at a cost of ₹13,845 crore.
Speaking on the occasion, Union Urban Development Minister and Information Broadcasting Venkaiah Naidu said the Centre would announce a new metro policy featuring innovative financing, and add a list of new cities to the Smart Cities Project on June 23.
With the opening of Saturday’s line, the total metro length operational in the country was 370 km (including 13.4 km inaugurated by Prime Minister at Kochi) in the cities of Delhi and NCR, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Chennai, Jaipur and Mumbai.
Around 517 km was under construction in various cities, including Delhi and NCR, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Chennai, Jaipur, Mumbai, Kochi, Ahmedabad, Nagpur and Lucknow. Another 522 km was under consideration, Mr. Naidu said.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Bengaluru / by Nagesh Prabhu / Bengaluru – June 17th, 2017
IIM-Bangalore attracts several students living with disabilities
The vast campus of the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB) is set to welcome a fresh batch of 400 Postgraduate Programme (PGP) students on Thursday. But a few students have arrived early for voluntary preparatory classes.
Two of them chat as if they are old friends, although they met only weeks ago.
What’s special about the duo? Bengalurean Kunal Mehta, 24, is visually impaired. After initial schooling in an institution for the visually impaired, his parents shifted him to a regular school in Class 8. His father is in the automobile spare parts business and his mother, a home maker. He shifted to management studies for undergraduate education after taking up arts in pre-university
Mr. Mehta was then recruited to a top multinational finance company. Two years down the line his thirst to learn more caught up with him. “I started preparing for competitive exams such as the Common Admission Test (CAT),” he says. He managed to clear it in his second attempt with an impressive 97.7 percentile.
Awareness challenge
For Himanshu Mittal, 23, who has spent all his life in Faridabad and is wheelchair-bound after an accident at home, IIMB is a dream. Mr. Mittal attended a regular school. “There is very little awareness about the needs of persons with disabilities,” he says on his experience.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Bengaluru / by K.C.Deepika / Bengaluru – June 14th, 2017
Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar with Shrishti Kulkarni (third from the left in front row, wearing a brown shirt and trousers), Joel Tony (in blue jeans and white shirt, next to the minister) and other winners of a national-level science contest in New Delhi. PIB
Two students from Bengaluru have won a national-level science contest organised by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)-backed outfit Vijnana Bharati in association with Central government institutions.
Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Prakash Javadekar felicitated the winners — Shrishti Kulkarni, a student of Gear Innovative International School, Koramangala, and Joel Tony, a student of Inventure Academy, Whitefield – at a function here.
The minister also felicitated 12 other winners of the ‘Vidyarthi Vigyan Manthan’ awards for 2016-17. Each of the winners of the contest was awarded a medal and certificate of merit.
“Physics is my favourite subject. It just fascinates me because I feel Physics has answers to every problem,” Tony, who will now be a student of Class IX, told Javadekar, when the minister asked him about his academic interests.
Tony, however, kept his cards close to his chest about future plans. “I wouldn’t mind,” he said, when Javadekar asked him if he wanted to become a physicist.
Shrishti, who has been promoted to class VIII, told the minister she aspired to become a scientist. “I have interest in Mathematics and Science,” she said.
Vigyan Bharati organised the nationwide contest in three stages in collaboration with the National Council of Educational Research and Training and Vigyan Prasar, an autonomous institution under the Centre’s department of science and technology.
A total of 1.4 lakh students from 1,472 schools, including 264 Kendriya Vidyalayas, participated in the contest. Out of them, 14 students were declared winners. The contest was held for students of Classes VI to XI.
source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> City / DH News Service / New Delhi / June 15th, 2017
Designer Latha Puttanna says you cannot duplicate the intricate handwork done over time through machines
From being a housewife and a beautician to one of the most-sought after designers, Latha Puttanna has had an interesting journey. This year, she celebrates 25 years of being a designer with an exhibition of over 100 hand-made designer blouses.
“I was already thinking out-of-the-box, drawing, sketching and executing the design on fabric. Marriage was the best thing to happen to me as I was just not interested in studies. I was just 16 then,” she says with a laugh.
Latha gave up her salon as she felt “stagnated in it” and started “designing my clothes. Whatever I wore was appreciated and friends and family asked me to makefor them too. As an experiment, I designed 80 salwar suits and had my first exhibition in 1992. They were all sold out. That is how my label – Latha Puttanna – came into being. What you see today is a result of my passion and a quarter century of experience. It is not a by-product of any training. The very essence of being an Indian is the USP in my designs. We have such a vast range of textiles and heritage. I am inspired by that.”
Latha has always worked with natural fabrics. “Embroidery is my biggest strength. Today it is hard to find skilled craftsmen, but every design or thread work comes with a piece of history, be it the fabric or the crafts used. They are priceless and can be handed down to the next generation too.”
Latha says the blouse she is wearing has embroidery from “over 25 years ago. This was originally used on a kurta. I cut off the sleeves as the work is priceless and has every kind of embroidery on it. Then I attached it to a new blouse and I got a new design. The blouses that we will display has one style of thread work taken from this very blouse and worked in varied designs.”
Latha says the exhibition is a “tribute to all that I have done over the years, to the people who have worked with me and to our rich culture and heritage.”
When asked about the focus on blouses, Lata says, “People have always asked me for blouses and I tell them it is attached to this sari or that. I felt the time now was right to display the wide range of blouses we have created. Women can buy, mix and match and wear them with the saris of their choice. The best part of our blouses are that they can be worn on a western skirt or a ghagra, with pants, palazzos or saris. You can match them up and go completely ethnic or blend it with western wear, the choice is yours.”
“The sad thing is that today, in the fast-paced world, everything is done in a jiffy, from food to designs. So people are losing out on our rich textile history. You can’t duplicate this intricate handwork done over time through machines. I find it hard to cope with that mentality. People are willing to shell out huge amounts for clothes that are mass produced. But with us, every piece has a story attached. So you are wearing a slice of history when you drape our saris or blouses, so why not invest in a design with a story?”
The exhibition offers over 100 blouses with unique designs. The blouses are priced at ₹4,000 upward and come with Kalamkari prints for lining “so that even the inside looks gorgeous.” Various peek-a- boo openings are in the back with aari work, zardosi and silk patchwork. The venue is Arts village, opposite Bowring Institute, St Mark’s Road, on June 16 from 10 am to 7 pm. Call 7338335169 for details.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Life & Style / by Shilpa Sebastian R / June 14th, 2017
When a 15-day-old baby, who had a bout of mild diarrhoea and vomiting became severely dehydrated, the parents, though worried, did not sense something could be seriously wrong. However, they were shocked when their doctor diagnosed the baby with Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia (CAH).
CAH is an inherited disorder that affects the adrenal glands where the glands cannot produce cortisol and aldosterone, and instead produce an unwanted excess amount of androgens.
A child with CAH lacks enzymes the adrenal glands use to produce hormones that help regulate metabolism, the immune system, blood pressure, and other essential functions. Parents with children suffering from it often have great difficulty in the upbringing of the child, including treatment, getting school admission and other support issues.
For the first time, Shyam Nair and Deepa Kannan, parents of a CAH child, have started a support group called ‘CAH Support India’ ( www.cahindia.org ) involving a community of parents, grandparents and caregivers of CAH children. The International Coalition for Endocrine Patient Support Organisations worldwide has listed this support group as the first such group for endocrine disorders in India.
Shaila S. Bhattacharyya, paediatric endocrinologist at Manipal Hospitals, who is also part of the support group, said: “A CAH child gets severely dehydrated even with a mild episode of diarrhoea and needs hospitalisation, which is stressful both for the child and the caregivers.”
Although about one in 10,000 children are born with CAH, awareness about the condition is low. It is either not detected early or is misdiagnosed and turns fatal in most children within months of their birth. A neonatal hormone test 17-OHP should be done to screen for CAH in children before symptoms appear. “However, not all hospitals do this test,” the doctor added.
Ms. Deepa Kannan, a yoga teacher, said she and her husband are trying to spread awareness about the condition, which is not known even in educated circles. “Having experienced the challenges in bringing up our child, who is seven years old now, our aim is to support parents and help them in bringing up their children,” she told The Hindu.
Narrating how difficult it is for CAH children to get admission in regular schools as the child needs continuous monitoring, she said the aim of the support group is to change this mindset of schools. “Such discrimination towards children for no fault of theirs is unfair,” she said.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Karnataka / by Afshan Yasmeen / Bengaluru – June 14th, 2017
Bengalureans Santosh Chandrasekhar, 26, Aiman S, 24 and Sumit Dasgupta , 24 started working on their dream project Rangzen – a 39-minute-long documentary film on Tibetans, hardly did they know it will fetch this trio the award for best documentary in Bangalore Short Film Festival 2017.
Not just that, this documentary film featuring lives of Tibetans who had escaped Chinese invasion and took refuge in India has made three Bengalureans proud by bagging a special jury award at International Film Festival of Prayag, Delhi and the audience award at Feel the Reel International Film Festival in the UK, this year.
Santosh Chandrasekhar, assistant professor at a city college, “The movie is all about their struggle to hold on to their Tibetan identity in a foreign land and how they dream to go back to a nation that doesn’t exist anymore. The film has got answers to seeking their identities and their perpetual fight for freedom and a struggle to find their self.”
“We, through this documentary, were trying to initiate discourses related to the Tibetan struggle for freedom and generate awareness about our ‘guests’ among our fellow Indians. Although in exile for over 56 years, we fail to recognise Tibetans. We ignorantly see them as either northeasterners or Chinese. The Tibetan freedom struggle being one of the longest after the exodus of the Jews can put this documentary film into major political articulation,” added Aiman S, a copy writer and another maker of this documentary. The documentary has also made an entry to official selection category at International Documentary and Short Film Festival, Kerala and Calcutta International Cult Film Festival, 2017.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Bangalore News / by Sreemoyee Chatterjee / TNN / June 13th, 2017
Researchers from the School of Life Sciences (SOLS) and Kasturba Medical College, Manipal University , have identified cancer causing mutations in long standing ulcerative colitis subjects at risk of progressing into colorectal cancer. They have identified cancer causing mutations in new as well as previously identified oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes.
The mutations identified in the study can be used as marker for early diagnosis of ulcerative colitis associated colorectal cancer. The finding of the study is published in Nature Publishing Group journal British Journal of Cancer entitled “Targeted sequencing based analyses of candidate gene variants in ulcerative colitis-associated colorectal neoplasia”.
SOLS has been working in the field of cancer biomarker discovery, disease modelling and targeted drug delivery for the past several years, says its Director, Dr K. Satyamoorthy. He said: As there is an increased incidence of ulcerative colitis in India due to altered food habits, increased awareness, surveillance and availability of better diagnosis, it is important that early diagnosis of patients who are at risk of developing colorectal cancer is of paramount interest”.
Dr. Satyamoorthy who also led the investigations said the major challenge in the study was long-period of follow up required to monitor the patients with the ulcerative colitis and reluctance of the patients to undergo colonoscopy. Innovative discoveries such as this can lead to better management of individuals with the disease for early detection and personalized care”. While congratulating the researchers Dr. H. Vinod Bhat, Vice Chancellor, Manipal University said the University is supporting molecular genetics programme as there is plenty to discover to the benefit of patients. Manipal University is in unique environment that researchers, clinical practitioners and public health experts can work together to bring about change in the society on how the diseases are managed in individuals”.
Ulcerative colitis is a chronic inflammatory bowel condition with clinical symptoms of ulceration and bleeding of inner lining of colon. The age of onset for ulcerative colitis varies between 30 to 50 years. Ulcerative colitis subjects with more than seven years of pancolitis or more than 10 years of left sided colitis, experience a higher incidence of colorectal cancer than the rest of the population.
Dr. Sanjiban Chakrabarty, lead author of the manuscript said the DNA mutations discovered in the study could distinguish early dysplastic changes in high risk ulcerative colitis and has the potential to predict an adverse outcome.” Lead clinical investigator Dr. Ganesh Pai said the results of the studies are important in view of the rising incidence of both ulcerative colitis and colorectal cancer in the Asia Pacific in recent years. The results can help to better understand the development of colorectal cancer in ulcerative colitis, to develop tests for early diagnosis and to possibly select the best treatment strategies for subgroups of patients in the future”.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> News> City News> Mangalore News / by Stanley Pinto, TNN / June 07th, 2017
Dr. Neeraj Patil who lost to Justine Greening in the British Parliamentary elections held on June 8.
The first Kannadiga ever to stand in the British Parliamentary elections, Neeraj Patil lost to Justine Greening, a Conservative Party candidate and the Education Minister of Britain, in the polls held on June 8. A native of Kamalapur in Kalaburagi district and former Mayor of London Borough of Lambeth, Dr. Neeraj was selected by the Labour Party to represent the constituency of Putney considering his service as an emergency doctor at St George’s Hospital in London, used by the residents of Putney.
Dr. Patil lost by a narrow margin of 1,554 votes to Ms. Greening who secured 20,679 of 46,894 the votes polled. Though there were six candidates in the fray, the fight was between Mr. Patil and Ms. Greening. Liberal Democrats candidate Ryan Mercer polled 5448 votes followed by Green Party candidate Benjamin Joseph Fletcher (1,107), UK Independent Party candidate Patricia Mary Ward (447) and Independent candidate Catherine Jane Richardson (58). There were 112 invalid votes. The counting of the votes was held at Wandsworth council with James Maddan as returning officer of Putney constituency.
Addressing the gathering after the vote-count, Dr. Patil congratulated Ms. Greening, who has been retaining the seat since 2005 and thanked the Labour Party for selecting him to run for the British Parliament. Mr. Keith Vaz, the longest serving Labour MP of Indian origin, campaigned for Dr. Patil in Putney constituency.
Dr. Patil is attributed to have played an instrumental role in getting the statue of the 12th century philosopher and social reformer Basavanna installed at the Albert Embankment Gardens in the London Borough of Lambeth. He was honoured with “The Rajyotsava Award” by the Government of Karnataka in 2008.
Labour Party had selected 14 Indians, Conservative party 13 and Liberal Democrats 9, respectively as their Parliamentary candidates. The general elections were called following the Brexit referendum by Prime Minister Theresa May.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Karnataka / by Kumar Buradikatti / Kalaburagi – June 09th, 2017
