Category Archives: Nri’s / Pio’s

Educated abroad, love for mother tongue gets her top scores

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, Nri's / Pio's
File photo Shreya Ganapathi
File photo Shreya Ganapathi

Kundapur :

Who says you cannot master your mother tongue in a foreign land?

A Class 10 student, who was born in Karnataka but did most of her early schooling outside the state, has proved that no formal training is needed when it comes to love for your mother tongue.

Shreya, who is currently studying in Kundapur of Udupi District in Karnataka, has scored 99 out of 100 in Kannada in her board exams.

This despite the fact that Kannada was not a part of her curriculum during most part of her school education.

She has scored 600 out of 625 marks in the SSLC Class 10 exam.

Starting her education at Mumbai’s St Xavier’s play school, Shreya has studied in Lagos (Nigeria), Tanzania, Uganda, Kundapur (Karnataka), Nairobi (Kenya), Hubli (Karnataka) and Druck (Bhutan).

Shreya started her schooling from Mumbai’s St Xavier’s play school, then did her LKG in Lagos (Nigeria). She completed her UKG, 1st and 2nd standard in Tanzania, 3rd standard in Uganda.

She returned to India for a year and did her 4th standard from Kundapur.

She did the first term of her 5th standard in Nairobi, and second term in Hubli of Karnataka.

For 6th and 7th standard she was in Tumkur and for 8th and 9th standard in Bhutan’s Druck.

Finally, she returned to Kundapur for her SSLC.

Delighted with her result, she credits her teachers and parents for helping in Kannada. Like her father, Shreya also wants to be a Chartered Accountant.

(Content Courtesy: vijaykarnataka)

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Bangalore / TNN / May 18th, 2016

Bengaluru’s other Murthy is a master at handling big data

Amazing Feats, Business & Economy, Nri's / Pio's, Science & Technology, World Opinion

ArunMurthyBF06may2016

Bengaluru :

Meet the other Murthy from Jayanagar in Bengaluru -Arun Murthy. No relation of N R Narayana Murthy, also a Jayanagar resident. But the 35-year-old’s life, in some ways, is moving along the same extraordinary lines of the Infosys doyen.
Arun Murthy is one of the founders of one of today’s hottest Silicon Valley startups – Hortonworks. Yes, named after the elephant in Dr Seuss’ ‘Horton hears a who!’ The company, founded in 2011, has become the fastest ever software venture to touch $100 million in revenue – in just 4 years. Salesforce did it in 5, Palo Alto Networks and Workday in 6, Informatica in 7 and Splunk in 8, according to Barclays Research.

In 2014, when it went for an IPO, it touched a billion dollars in valuation. The valuation has dropped since then, but recent revenue numbers are again pushing the share price sharply up.

Murthy’s one of the tech brains behind Hortonworks. He started coding when he was just 10. From an early age he was fascinated by Go – the 2,500-year-old game that’s exponentially more complex than chess; in March, a computer system, built by Google, for the first time beat a Go grandmaster. Murthy would play this abstract strategy board game for hours on end.

He also had an entrepreneurial streak in him. When he was still in school, he read an article on Michael Dell in Readers’ Digest. He was inspired by that to assemble and sell computers. “I would go to Avenue Road (the hub for electronic items) and buy computer parts, assemble them and sell them to friends. By the time I was 16-17, I was making more money than my parents combined. I would also develop websites for doctors and lawyers,” Murthy told TOI on a visit last week to Bengaluru, where his mother still resides. Murthy went on to do engineering at RV College of Engineering, one of Bengaluru’s best private engineering colleges, and, on graduation, joined Yahoo’s R&D centre in the city. He was part of the small team at Yahoo that was then beginning to develop Hadoop, the open source software framework used to store and process vast quantities of data and which has become all the rage in enterprises today given the avalanche of data they have to deal with.

While working on Hadoop, Murthy and his colleague Owen O’Malley took on the Sort Benchmark challenge of sorting 100 terabytes (TB) of data in a particular order. The first attempt set a new record and when someone else beat that record, they did it again in 2009 and that record stood for several years. The Sort Benchmark home page records Murthy and Owen’s accomplishment at 0.578 TB per minute. “It’s the most amount of fun I have had in my career,” said Murthy.

In 2011, Murthy and seven others, most of them from Yahoo’s Hadoop team – five of them Indians – came together to found Hortonworks, a venture to further develop Hadoop and support it for clients who adopt it. They thought of `Horton’ because Ha doop bore the logo of an elephant. They convinced Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang that it may be the best way forward for them, and Yang was excited enough to get Yahoo to participate in the initial investment in Hortonworks.

Among the other Indian founders, Suresh Srinivas was also in Bengaluru and had studied at NIT Karnataka. Devaraj Das studied at BITS Pilani and IISc Bengaluru, Mahadev Konar graduated from IIT Bombay. Sanjay Radia, who grew up in Uganda and Canada, is the oldest among them, having held senior positions at Sun Microsystems before moving to Yahoo to be an architect of a Hadoop project.

In 2014, the year Hortonworks went for its IPO, Fortune Magazine ranked Murthy among its 20 Big Data All Stars – “20 extraordinary people who we think are the best at connecting the dots, digging deep, and discovering the information that will transform the way businesses operate.”

Fortune noted Murthy at Yahoo had helped develop a sort of OS for Hadoop, called YARN, that lets users plug many applications into the system to store all sorts of data. “I have two kids at home.YARN is sort of my third,” Murthy told the magazine.

He is also a Murthy and has a lot in common with legend NR Narayana Murthy: Tech entrepre neurial streak, a house in Jayana gar, and looking into the future.

Arun Murthy, 35, is a product of RV Engineering College and a big-data star, write Shilpa Phadnis and Sujit John. He is a cofounder of Hortonworks, one of Silicon Valley’s hottest startups which was the first to clock $100 million in revenue in just four years. In 2014 when the company went for an IPO, it touched a billion dollars in valuation.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Bangalore / Sujit John & Shilpa Phadnis / TNN / May 06th, 2016

KMC alumnus has a street named after him in Mississippi

Amazing Feats, Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Leaders, Nri's / Pio's, Records, All, Science & Technology, World Opinion

Manipal :

Dr Sampat Shivangi, a 1962 batch alumnus of Kasturba Medical College (KMC), Manipal is in the news once again as a street in the US state of Mississippi has been named after him for the services rendered to local community there. The Dr Sampat Shivangi Lane was formally named on Saturday in recognition of Shivangi, eminent Republican from the state. Dr Shivangi conveyed news of street being named after him Dr M Ramdas Pai, Chancellor, Manipal University.

Dr Ramdas Pai as per a communique shared by Manipal University on Monday, in reply wrote: “I am glad to have your e-mail of 24th instant and to know that a street in Mississippi has been named after you. It is indeed a great recognition of your services to the community. My congratulations to you.” Dr Pai said, “It is indeed a joyous moment for Manipal University. All of Manipal (University) is proud of the great work Dr Shivangi is doing in the US”

Phil Bryant, state governor reappointed him for second sever-year term to board of Mississippi’s department of Mental Health. In June 2014, he became first Asian-American to become chairman of the Board which has close to a billion dollar budget with staff strength of over 8500. From 2005-2008, Dr Shivangi served as adviser to US secretary of health and human services. He is the founding president of American Association of Physicians of Indian origin in Mississippi.

He is also the past president and chair of the India Association of Mississippi.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Mangalore / by Jaideep Shenoy / TNN / April 25th, 2016

London-based Bengaluru girl gets highest score in Mensa test

Education, Nri's / Pio's, Records, All, World Opinion
Saanya Verma, 11, the youngest to get the maximum possible score of 162 in Mensa IQ test, with parents
Saanya Verma, 11, the youngest to get the maximum possible score of 162 in Mensa IQ test, with parents

Bengaluru:

When Saanya Verma took the Mensa IQ challenge, her aim was to win a bet of 10 pounds with her father. The 11-year-old from Bengaluru went on to crack the toughest test and bag the maximum score of 162.

 People of all age groups participate in this IQ competition; it can be taken by people over the age of 10 and half years.
Her mother Sunita Verma said Saanya has always been eager to take part in competitive exams. She had challenged her father Sunil Verma of cracking the Mensa IQ test to get 10 pounds, she recalled.

Saanya, who was born in Bengaluru, is a class VII student in London. Sunita, an HR professional, and Sunil, a banker, shifted to London a decade ago. “I want to participate in as many competitions as possible,” said an elated Saanya.

“Saanya has won public speaking, robotics and many other competitions at the school level. She is gearing up for a regional-level French spelling competition in London. I think very few children have cracked the test in the world,” Sunita added.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Bangalore / Pavan M V,  TNN / February 19th, 2016

Call of the green thumb

Business & Economy, Green Initiatives / Environment, Nature, Nri's / Pio's
Madhu Chandan: Founder, Organic Mandya
Madhu Chandan: Founder, Organic Mandya

Madhu Chandan left his IT job in the U.S. to come back to India and farm. He decided to change age-old methods and introduce new ones.

Under the hot sun, a group of farmers huddle around a man. They are brimming with excitement as the man plants paddy saplings. He is one of them, yet different. While they are farmers who have almost lost hope of a decent livelihood, this man is a farmer by choice, one who is quite new to farming, yet is bringing back hope to the farmers of Mandya, Karnataka. A software developer from the U.S, Madhu Chandan S.C. plants the last sapling and stands up to cheers and applause from the bystanders.

Chandan, or “Madhu anna” as he is referred to by the farmers, came back from the U.S. after giving up his job as a software developer. He started Organic Mandya, in association with the Mandya Organic Farmers Cooperative Society, in November 2015.

The goal of the Society was to highlight the importance and need for organic farming. There were organic farmers in Mandya, but they found the returns were low. The Society aimed to uplift these farmers. It began with 270 members and now has 350.

The goal of the Society was to highlight the importance and need for organic farming. There were organic farmers in Mandya, but they found the returns were low. The Society aimed to uplift these farmers. It began with 270 members and now has 350.

Last week, Organic Mandya was in the news for having organised a Sweat Donation for agriculture. The idea was to sweat for a cause by working on the farm and learning about organic farming and the healthy benefits of eating organically grown food.

Reaping benefits

Chandan says he and his wife gave up the American Dream to come back and take up farming. In Mandya, he realised that farmers had been using pesticides and chemicals which led to the soil quality being compromised. Consequently, the Society was formed. “After starting the Society, we realised that we needed a good marketing channel. The Society did not have enough to take care of the marketing of the produce. This is how Organic Mandya was born,” says Chandan. Only marginal or small land-holding farmers — those with holdings that range from 0.5 to 2.5 acres — are part of the Society.

Organic Mandya bridges the gap between farmers and those who buy their products. Set up on the Mysuru-Bengaluru Highway, it has a supermarket, an organic food restaurant, and an oil extraction mill. However, the organic products are expensive. When asked about the higher prices, in an interview, Chandan said, “I never understand how people are willing to spend hundreds of rupees on medicines, but when it comes to shelling out a little extra money for organic products they think twice. In fact, I would recommend that everyone tries going completely organic for a year. And then see how much money you save on hospital bills and medicines.”

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> Young World / by Madhuvanti S. Krishnan / February 11th, 2016

Mysore Varsity to host MAIDEN

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, Nri's / Pio's, Records, All

Global Alumni Meet tomorrow

Alumni Centenary Walk from entrance Arch at 3.45 pm

Mysuru :

University of Mysore Alumni Association (UMAA) will host the first Global Alumni Meet on Feb. 6 at 5 pm at the Bahadur Institute of Management Sciences in Manasagangotri here.

Nearly 300 alumni including about 25 from USA and other parts of the world are expected to participate in this event.

Prof. B. Sheik Ali, former Vice-Chancellor of Mangalore and Goa Universities and also an alumnus of the University, will be the chief guest while Dr B.N. Bahadur, Overseas Brand Ambassador of the UoM Centenary Celebrations and President UMAA Overseas Chapter will be the guest of honour. Prof. K.S. Rangappa, Vice-Chancellor, University of Mysore and Chairman UMAA, will preside.

Seven distinguished alumni including Dr. S. Kantha Jadhav (Medicine), Dr. Roddam Narasimha (Science & Technology), Dr. R. Balasubramaniam (Youth Service), Dr. Y.K. Puttasome Gowda (Public Service), Dr. Na. Rathna (Science and Art), Dr. B.N. Bahadur (Philanthrophy) and Prof. M.H. Dhananjaya (Education), will be felicitated on the occasion.

Alumni Centenary Walk: The members of the University of Mysore Alumni Association and the students of the University of Mysore will gather at the Kuvempu Statue at the main entrance arch of the Manasagangotri Gate at 3.45 pm on the same day (Feb. 6) and walk towards the Centenary Clock Tower to create awareness among the students and faculty of the University to become members of UMAA.

The symbolic Alumni Centenary Walk will be led by Prof. K.S. Rangappa. Faculty, students, officials and alumni are requested to take part in large numbers.

New team of UMAA: The new team of UMAA was formed last year. Vice-Chancellor Prof K.S. Rangappa is the ex-officio Chairman of UMAA and Pramoda Devi Wadiyar is the Chief Patron.

K. Arkesh was elected the President of the Association. The other office-bearers are: Dr. M.A. Shekar, Vice-President; Arjun Ranga, Vice-President; Hemant Achaya, Secretary; K. Narendra, Joint Secretary and Prof H. Rajashekar, Treasurer. The following are the executive members: Prof. Chambi Puranik, M. Mahadevaswamy, Prof. M. Hemanth Kumar, Prof. C. Naganna, Prof. B. S. Vishwanath, Prof. B.K. Jagadisha, Dr. Vasanth Thimkapura, Prof. Ramachandregowda, Prof. H.M. Vasanthamma, D. Sudhanva and N. Niranjan Nikam.

Chief Minister Siddharamaiah and former Minister M.C. Nanaiah are among the alumni members of UMAA.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / Friday –  February 05th, 2016

AKKA Office-Bearers felicitated

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Nri's / Pio's
Sitting from left: AKKA Vice-President Sharath Bhandari, founder-President Amarnath Gowda, Joint Secretary Yamuna Nagaraj, incumbent President Raj Patil and former President Dr. Halekote Vishwamitra, who were felicitated at a function organised by Kannada Abhimani Balaga in city on Wednesday, are seen with folklorist Prof. Kalegowda Nagawara, former MP A.H. Vishwanath, writer Gubbigoodu Ramesh and others.
Sitting from left: AKKA Vice-President Sharath Bhandari, founder-President Amarnath Gowda, Joint Secretary Yamuna Nagaraj, incumbent President Raj Patil and former President Dr. Halekote Vishwamitra, who were felicitated at a function organised by Kannada Abhimani Balaga in city on Wednesday, are seen with folklorist Prof. Kalegowda Nagawara, former MP A.H. Vishwanath, writer Gubbigoodu Ramesh and others.

Mysuru :

The office-bearers of Association of Kannada Kootas of America (AKKA) were felicitated at a function organised by Kannada Abhimani Balaga at Nagamma Nagaraj Kalyana Mantap in Vishweswaranagar in city.

Speaking after inaugurating the function, former MP A.H. Vishwanath lauded the role of AKKA in spreading the aroma of Kannada in America. Recalling his visit to USA for the AKKA meet chaired by its Founder- President Amarnath Gowda a couple of years ago, Vishwanath said that AKKA is doing its best to introduce Kannada language and culture to Americans.

He further said that Amarnath Gowda, a lawyer by profession, was always keen on resolving issues concerning Kannadigas in America.

AKKA President Raj Patil in his address, said that AKKA was introducing a tour package for Kannadigas visiting AKKA conferences in USA. Pointing out that efforts will be made for issuing passport, visa and travel arrangements through local travel agents, he said that more details will be hosted in the website shortly. He further said the next AKKA meet will take place in Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA from Sept. 2 to 4 this year.

‘Pouranika Ranga Chavadi’ President Sangapura Nagaraj, who delivered the keynote address, gave a brief on the activities of AKKA and Kannada Abhimani Balaga.

AKKA founder-President Amarnath Gowda, incumbent President Raj Patil, former President Dr. Halekote Vishwamitra, Vice-President Sharath Bhandari and Joint Secretary Yamuna Nagaraj were felicitated. Later, AKKA office-bearers honoured farmer Gowregowda of Chikkakoppalu village in K.R. Nagar Taluk, Ravi Varma School of Arts Principal H. Krishnamurthy, Vyjayanti Chitrakala Mahavidyalaya Principal Shivakumar and Charan of Karunamayi School for the Specially-abled. Littérateur Prof. Kalegowda Nagawara spoke on the topic ‘The relevance of Kannada literature in other countries’.

Writer Gubbigoodu Ramesh presided. Karnataka Nataka Academy member B.M. Ramachandra, former District Kannada Sahitya Parishat President M. Chandrashekar, former Secretary K.S. Shivaramu and teacher C.T. Dharmapal were present.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / January 29th, 2015

Sydney pathway named after Indian victim

Nri's / Pio's, Records, All, World Opinion

Bengaluru  :

About 9,000 km away, Bengalurean Arun Kumar helplessly heard his wife Prabha, 41, crying for help on the phone when she was being stabbed inside the Paramatta Park, Sydney , on March 7.

Eight months on, Arun, his 11-year-old daughter Meghana and in-laws visited the park on Sunday as the pathway was named after the 41-year-old techie who was killed when she was walking through it. It was an emotional moment for the family of the Bengalu ru techie to witness the nction where memorial function where plaque was unveiled in the memory of Prabha. The New South Wales (NSW) government had made arrangements to fly Prabha’s family members to attend the ceremony . “This shouldn’t happen to anyone else and it shouldn’t have happened to my wife either,” said Arun Kumar, in his address to the media.

SydneyPrabhaBF25oct2015

Prabha would have turned 42 on Saturday. The pathway links Argyle Street and Amos Street. Prabha’s killer is still at large. Arun Kumar made an appeal to people to come forward and share information with the investigating authorities.”She was very caring; she sa crificed many things, especially by staying away from family , for us. But we are happy that she will be remembered here,” he added.

When asked how their daughter was coping with loss, Arun said: “She is moody but we are taking care of her.”

The investigation into the case has not yielded any result so far. NSW police have not been able to ascertain the motive behind the murder. According to them, the case is open and all angles are still being probed.

“We are happy that the lane way has been named after Prabha and a plaque has been installed at the site where she was senselessly murdered, but our community is disappointed that culprit(s) have not yet been found. We urge NSW police to put every effort in finding out the perpetrators and bringing them to justice. Our true tribute to Prabha will only be fulfilled when perpetrators are arrested and charged,” said Dr Yadu Singh President, Federation of Indian Associations of NSW.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Bengaluru / TNN / November 24th, 2015

Former National Chess Champ from City conducts camp in USA

Nri's / Pio's, Records, All, Sports
Kavana Mallanna (left), a National Chess Medallist and an eight-time State Champion from Mysuru, is seen being felicitated by a representative of JSS Spiritual Centre, Maryland, USA, for conducting chess coaching classes.
Kavana Mallanna (left), a National Chess Medallist and an eight-time State Champion from Mysuru, is seen being felicitated by a representative of JSS Spiritual Centre, Maryland, USA, for conducting chess coaching classes.

Mysuru :

Kavana Mallanna, a National Chess Medallist and a eight time State Champion, from Mysuru, conducted a free chess coaching camp under the banner of JSS Spiritual Mission, Maryland, USA, recently.

Kavana’s credentials and JSS SM attracted over 30 Chess players and enthusiasts from the Washington DC area. Players got encouraged to pursue this mental game and have shown inclination for more courses by her at the Spiritual Centre.

Kavana was felicitated by the organisers on the last day of the camp. Kavana, who hails from Mysuru, currently works as a Business Process Consultant at IBM, USA.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Feature Articles / Thursday – June 25th, 2015

Sound of music binds this Mangalurean Abreo family

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Nri's / Pio's

Mangaluru :

Like sound of music filled the von Trapp house, the Abreos’ home in Texas Houston, US, is filled with the sweet notes of violin. For, this family has seven child violinists and another two are in the making! This probably makes them the only family in the world to have so many fiddlers under one roof.

Dr Gerard Abreo, hailing from Kulshekar here married to Nicole has settled in the US. They have nine children – Michael Joseph, 16, Daniel Francis, 15, Christine Marie, 13, Maria Therese, 11, Jane Elizabeth, 9, Rachel Ann, 7, John Paul, 5, Luke Walter, 3 and the one year old Joseph. Of them while seven play the violin, John Paul has started practicing to join the group. “Luke will also join soon,” says the proud Dr Abreo, a well-known cardiologist. Nicole is an accomplished violinist with a degree to boot.

Why violin? “Violin is a difficult instrument to master. It requires immense concentration, perseverance, endurance and discipline. I believe this helped children do well in studies and it has spilled into their education and moral fibre,” says Dr Abreo adding soon the last one will also hold the fiddle. “They may have been forced to learn violin when they were young. But they play with joy now,” said Dr Abreo to TOI.

He admits the children have a lot of talent, which is backed by lot of hard work. The truth is that both paternal and maternal side has plenty of musical notes in them. Dr Gerard was the part of the Abreo Quartet David, Patsy, Gerald and Peter in the early 70’s at Bengaluru. They performed at various clubs, including the Catholic club, till the quartet broke in 1985 when brothers went to pursue their careers. Dr Abreo had organized a band when studying medicine at St John’s in Bengaluru and his band became the first college band to play at the St John’s Ball in 1990.

To help matters, his wife Nicole, a bachelor in Music from University of Toronto, assists the children in keeping in tune. Daniel says: Since everybody plays, it caught on. We practise every day for an hour at home. Once a week we get tutored. It’s fun.

Nicole, a home maker, says: Gerard helps a lot at home, hence things are easy and manageable even with nine kids around.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Mangaluru / by Stanley Pinto, TNN / June 25th, 2015