Monthly Archives: December 2012

A 17th century bell that continues to chime

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links, Pre-Independence

Mysore :

St Bartholomew’s Church , the oldest church in Mysore, is preserving a bit of history that dates back to the 17th century.

Bartholomew’s Church was established in 1830 for Europeans in the region. The single-storey church is known for its history and architectural qualities, but its fascinating association with the past is not quite well known.

A well-kept secret, the place of worship on the ever-busy Bangalore-Nilgiri Road is home to a relic from 17th century. The Church Bell which is still in use was cast in France in mid 17th century for the French Army Base Church  at French Rocks Erode village (now Pandavapur), some 25km from Mysore. After Mysore ruler  Tipu Sultan  was defeated in the war in 1799 and his ally, French Army, left from the area and the capital was moved to Mysore.

About 125 years later, the French Rocks church was broken down when Mysore administrators started building Irwin Canal (now Visvesvaraya canal). The dismantled materials from the church was gifted by the British Army to the then Chaplain Rev G A A Wright of this church. In this way, the majestic bell came to adorn this church, according to a stone plaque at Belfry of St Bartholomew’s church.

Some records claim that the church was reserved for European worshippers for sometime and British VIPs while they were touring the region. It is also said that governor general Lord William Bentinck while on visit to Mysore in 1834 visited this church.

Wilson Dev Prasad, a senior member of Bartholomew’s church, told TOI that before the present Belfry was constructed in front of the church in early 2000, the bell was at the rear end of the church.

According to the commemorative inscription, the foundation stone for the Belfry was laid on October 30th 2002 and was dedicated on December 30th, 2002, by Rev Dr C L Furtado, then Bishop of Church of South India, Karnataka Southern Diocesan. Rev Premkumar Soans was presbyter-in-charge of the church then.

Bartholomew’s Church presbyter-in-charge K P Devkumar says the bell is used every Sunday before the church service commences, during celebrations and marriages. He confirmed that the church bell is over two centuries old.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / Home> City> Mysore /  by Lawrence Milton & H M Aravind, TNN / December 08th, 2012

His 99th Xmas is coming

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Records, All

So you can understand when he finds the festival ‘stale’. Here he recalls the memorable ones to Khushali P Madhwani

Ashley Homes is an old age home situated on an isolated street in Horamavu. It is here that I met, Allan Arthur Wash, seated in the sunny verandah of the home, with an edition of Bangalore Mirror in hand. He was following the story of the “Chinese making a move on the Japanese” – it must’ve brought back old memories for he spent three years in a Japanese prison as a soldier.

Ramrod straight, an open smile and twinkling eyes match is suave self dressed in clothes as neat and crisp as rice paper. “I was always told to patch up your clothes, polish your shoes and dress your hair,” reminisces this retired army officer. And he’s been following it for the last several decades.
Wash was born in Madras on March 13, 1914. Yes, he has an elephantine memory and can rattle of time, date and year without any difficulty. He lost his father when he was a boy. His mother couldn’t support him and his sister, so he was sent to a “home in Madras called Civil Orphan Asylum” where he could “live and study too. I studied in this school till 1923.” Christmases were mostly spent in the hostel. “On Christmas day we would be served pulao, chicken, sweet, fruit custard and bread pudding.”
At 17, he began working as a telephone operator. “We had to plug the receiver and shout loudly and people would scream loudly to us. I couldn’t do it,” Wash recalls. Two years later, Wash joined the army. Today four medals – Campaign medal, star medal, victory medal and independent medal – keep him company, reminding of the bygone days.
After his stint in Bangalore, he was posted in Malay, Singapore. In 1924, he was captured by the Japanese and remained imprisoned for the next three years. “The Christmas I spent in captivity was a poor Christmas,” says Wash.”I remember eating maize and palm oil.” After three years of incarceration, he returned to India. “I lived in Hyderabad for sometime before moving to Bangalore. “The Bangalore today is not the same as I remember it. As I see it, it is the dirtiest city in the country,” he says. Wash today receives 30,000 as pension, which he passes on to his 62-year-old daughter who cares for him. “At this age what should I buy and what should I spend it on? The Lord has kept me free from wants,” he says.
While in the army, Wash married Pamela in Mysore. He had four girls and four boys. After retiring from the army, Wash worked at Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI) in Mysore. “I didn’t like civil life. Today, the civil officers are highly corrupt,” he says. In 1962, the government gave Wash eight acres of land on which he built a house. His family stayed with him on this farmhouse till 1978. “Some of Pamela’s people, her brothers and sisters joined us in the farm in 1971 for a memorable Christmas. “They made sweets. We had all kinds of meat dishes…” recalls Wash. But, his all-time favourite Christmas meal, he says, will always be the custard and roast chicken prepared by his wife. Oh, yes and he also remembers what she wore on the Christmas of 1968, “She wore a gorgeous red and black checked plaited dress stitched by a good ladies tailor from Goa.” That Christmas, Wash’s eight children and grandchildren joined them in the celebrations. When the kids were little, they would set up a tree at home, decorate it and give their Rugrats gifts. “The girls got dolls and the boys got toy trains,” he says.
In 1975, Wash spent Christmas in Mysore with an Anglo Indian German gentleman and his brother, who threw a grand party for all friends. The hosts were dear friends of Jayachamaraja Wadiyar, who looked after them. “Srikantadatta Wadiyar was a little boy then. I got some novels and something to take home… I think it was a vase,” says Wash. In 1986, Wash and Pamela entered Little Sisters of the Poor in Mysore. After nine days his wife passed away. Like last year, even this year, Wash intends on going to his daughter’s house for Christmas to be with his children and grand children.
“Christmas has become stale because it is the same thing over and over again. It is the same meal, same recipe only the environment and company changes,” says Wash. Celebrating 99 Christmases will get to me too, I guess /
source: http://www.BangaloreMirror.com / Home> Sunday Read> Special> Story / by Khushali P Madhwani / December 23rd, 2012

Kannadigas from America treat theatre buffs

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

‘Ranga Dhwani’ from LA is staging two plays in city

When the stage at Dhvanyaloka here on Saturday was opened for theatre connoisseurs, it was not just an usual weekend feature, but unveiling of talent of non-resident Indian (NRI) Kannadigas.

Ranga Dhwani, a theatre troupe from Los Angeles, USA, led by Vallish Shastri, is staging plays in the city of palaces. What could endear them to the theatre buffs is, it’s also their maiden performance here.

English novels

‘Tirugetu’, a Kannada adaptation of James Hadley Chase’s ‘There is always a price tag’ and ‘Yamana Call Centre’ are being staged. ‘Tirugetu’ was staged at Dhvanyaloka on Saturday at 7 pm. On Sunday, they will be staging ‘Yamana Call Centre’  at JSS Women’s College, Saraswatipuram at 11 am and  Dhvanyaloka on Bogadi road at 7 pm.
Professionals

Vallish, who was supervising the arrangements for the show, told Deccan  Herald, his six-member troupe was eager to showcase their skills on stage. The artistes here are professionals from different backgrounds, but wedded to the field of art.
Vallish, a native of Hassan, is a software engineer who has his own IT firm ‘V3 Consultants’ in LA.

He had his nursery in acting at Benaka Troupe in Bangalore and for eight years there was no stopping him. In the year 1989, he flew to West Asia and stayed in Saudi Arabia for eight years.

He was also away from his tryst with stage. However, he renewed his ties with stage when he moved to New Jersey. After three years, he shifted to LA, where for the past 12 years he has remained fully active on the stage.

Schedule

Says Vallish; one play in a year has been their schedule and till now have staged 10 plays, including a children’s drama ‘Govina Kathe’ based on ‘Punyakoti’. ‘Jo Kumaraswamy’, ‘Paschaththapa’, ‘Yamana Call Centre’, ‘Hollywoodnalli Yama’, ‘Tirugetu’, ‘Krishna Sandhana’ are among others. ‘Yamana Call Centre’ is a take on the IT-BT life and is loaded with comedy.

“Mysore was on our mind for long, but time was the only hindrance”, explains Vallish. It was due to Srinath Vashishta, an actor on small screen who has his own Kala Vedike Trust, and Mandya Ramesh of Natana, Ranga Dhwani is in the city.

The other members of the troupe; Kannadigas settled in LA are physician Dr Kavita
Kotrappa, Somashekar, chief manager with a finance company dealing with stocks, and Girish Kannalli a software engineer, all hailing from Bangalore, Jagannath, a civil engineer from Hassan, and Vidya, wife of Vallish, having her roots in Shimoga.

source: http://www.DeccanHerald.com / Home> District / Mysore, DHNS / December 22nd, 2012

Karnataka tops in online shopping

Business & Economy, Science & Technology

Bangalore, Dec 20 (TruthDive) :

Karnataka topped the list of users who shopped online.

Google India search results reveal that Karnataka web users spent more time on the web for utilitarian services and the visual web in the country when compared to Delhi, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal according to searches conducted in India featured in Google India annual Zeitgeist.

The highest searches show a growing interest by the residents of Karnataka in ‘Flipkart’, ‘online shopping’ and ‘online recharge’ with HQ in Bangalore. Flipkart services are featured in the top three fastest rising keywords in Karnataka.

Tripura, Meghalaya, Jammu & Kashmir, Assam, Pondicherry and Orissa users used the keywords online shopping more despite them having few offline retail stores. Bangalore was pushed back by Bhubhaneswar and Vizag to search for online shopping. It searched ‘online shopping India’, ‘online mobile shopping’, and ‘shoe online shopping’.

Smartphones and tablets are what Bangalore spends searching for most of the highest amount of time online. Dell laptop, iBerry tablets, Nikon and Canon’s digital camera and Samsung TV sold the most.

On eBay it was Sony with 20% of market share across the televisions.

eBay takes 43 minutes to sell a TV but a tablet sells every 11 minutes and a mobile handset sells every two minutes.

Models and budgets provide customers of eBay India’s range of gadgets easy access to the best deals.

Sales have gone up by 27% in this quarter in non-metros where it fills in distribution gaps in their city. E-commerce is said to replace direct selling in coming months. Meanwhile, the Government has put the e-commerce firms under scanner to known about their investors.

E-commerce firms in India are suspected to be acting as retail agents for brands abroad and doing business much before FDI in multi-brand retail was approved. ED has already sent notices to these firms.

source: http://www.truthdive.com / Home> Business> Exclusive> Headlines> News / by Ayyappa Prasad / December 20th, 2012

Dr Devi Shetty recognised as Indian of the Year

Business & Economy, Leaders, Records, All, Uncategorized
Dr Devi Shetty, who runs most economical heart care and healthcare institute, Narayana Hrudayalaya in Jamshedpur, was recognised by CNN-IBN as Indian of the Year 2012. At a star-studded awards ceremony held in New Delhi, winners across politics, sports, entertainment, business and public service categories were announced.

Over years, these awards have achieved prestige and credibility unmatched by awards instituted by other media organisations.  The awards adhere  to a transparent and unique four-tier selection process  that includes the IBN Editorial Board drawing a list of nominees, which are authorised by the Jury, followed by voting by Electoral College and India’s citizens.
http://www.dailypioneer.com / Home> PNS> Jamshedpur / Friday, December 21st, 2012

Churches in Dharwad decked up for Christmas celebrations

Arts, Culture & Entertainment

Dharwad :

All the three major churches in Dharwad are decked up for Christmas as celebrations got underway from December 1. The city has over 7,000 Christian population of which nearly 70 per cent are Protestants and the rest Catholics. What is unique about Christmas in Dharwad is that the local traditions and culture have had a great influence on the celebrations, while, at the same time, some Christian families are influenced by their counterparts in the neighbouring Goa.

Like Hindus celebrate Diwali with crackers and skylamps, Christians also burst crackers and light skylamps and more importantly prepare dishes that are akin to those prepared during Diwali. Children’s Christmas will be organized on Monday, where special programmes for children will be held.

Rev Sakri of Hebich Memorial church said monthlong programmes have been organized at these churches to mark Christmas. Several religious programmes including special prayers, rendering carols are being held.

On December 25, Christmas will be celebrated at 9 am. Bishop Niranjankumar will deliver the Christmas address. Special discourse will be held on Jesus and Christianity. On the occasion, free dress material and sarees will be distributed to underprivileged people. Special prayers will be held for world peace and brotherhood.

From December 26 to 31, church members will visit the houses of Christians located in Mission Compound and render carols. Celebrations will mark the New Year eve on December 31.

MONUMENTAL CHURCHES
Dharwad has three Churches that are more than 100 year old. The oldest is Hebich Memorial Church established in 1836 while All Saints Church was founded in 1888. The Holy Cross Church is located in Saint Joseph’s school premises and it is the Catholic Church.

Hebich Memorial Church, the oldest in Dharwad was dedicated on December 14,1845 by Rev Lehner. Built in European style of architecture, the Church initially had a tower with a 24 feet height and 42 feet width. The Church has been renovated from time to time to suit the changing requirements.

The All Saints’ Church near Haliyal toll naka is an Anglican Church of North Karnataka area. Former director of public instruction Usha Joseph recalled that the Church an antique monument of classic touch stands as a reminiscence of British imperialism in India.

The brick structure with an air of rustic splendor around it is a replica of the British County church. The chapel so solid, solemn and serene still maintains the same graceful sophistication even to this day. Speaking about the structure of the church Usha said it was made of wire cut burnt bricks.

source:  http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / Home> City> Hubli / TNN / December 20th, 2012

City’s sports stars

Records, All, Sports

By S.N. Venkatnag Sobers

Mysore:

Nobody can dispute the fact that Mysore is tagged as Heritage City or the City of Palaces. Being home to some of the best historical structures and Palaces, our City is also home for many sports personalities who have made a mark in their respective sport. Among them are ‘Mysore Express’ Javagal Srinath, Lawn Tennis player Poojashree Venkatesh, Chess players M.S. Thejkumar, Girish Koushik and others. This Weekend Star Supplement brings together some of the young and upcoming sports stars who have earned accolades both at National and International level.

Sporting talents born to excel

Pratheek Raja

Talented skater Pratheek Raja has done everyone proud with his feats in the Roller Skating scene in the National and International-level. His feats were given due recognition when the Karnataka Government awarded him with the Ekalavya Award earlier this year.

Prateek captained the Indian team in the Asian Games held at Guangzhou, China. He won 5 gold medals and the Individual Championship in the men’s section and emerged as the fastest skater of the meet at the 48th National Roller Skating Championships at Vaizag. He was part of the Karnataka team which retained the Overall Championship title in the National championship.

Pratheek took up to roller skating at a young age of 7 years. He is the current National Men’s champion. Now 23 years old, Pratheek is a B.com graduate and has started his own club — Imperial Skating Club — in city and has trained many skaters who have gone on to win medals in the National and State-level championships. He is encouraged by his mother Mahalakshmi who is working in the District Training Centre.

Pratheek has won the National championship title in the men’s section for 5 years and has secured 14 golds in National championships. He has donned Indian colours five times. Presently he is training under K. SrikanthaRao, Ekalavya Awardee and Indian Team coach, at the VMRSC & Rao’s Roller Skating Club in city.

He represented the country in the 13th Asian Roller skating championship at Haining, China during 2008 and also in the 10th Asian Roller Skating championships at Akita, Japan during 2004. Pratheek intends to do well in the forthcoming championships representing India and bring laurels to our Country and State with his performance.

Shraddha Rani B. Desai

Shraddha Rani B. Desai did everyone proud with her feats in the recently concluded 24th National Inter-zone junior athletic meet held at Pune by winning gold in the 1,500 m event in the girls U-20 section. Sharaddha, 20, is a student of Teresian First Grade College in city. She is a product of the Sports Hostel Mysore and is being coached by former International athlete Damodar Gowda. With the encouragement and guidance from DYSS, College and support from her coach this talented athlete has the potential in her to make her mark in higher level.

J. Suchith

All rounder J. Suchith has been performing consistently and has represented Karnataka in the Shafi Darashah All-India cricket tournament held in Bangalore. He captained the Mysore Zone U-19 team at the Inter-Moffussil tournament which was held at Mysore. Suchith bowls left-arm spin and bats in middle-order. He has represented Karnataka in the Cooch Behar All-India U-19 tournament. He represented Mysore Gymkhana in the KSCA Mysore Zonal league in the first division. He represented the State U-13, U-15, U-17, U-19 and U-22 teams and South Zone in the U-15, U-17 and U-19 levels.

H.S. Sharath

Mandya and Mysore Zone player Hosagaviappa Shivalingiah Sharath announced his arrival in the National circuit by scalping a 5 wicket haul in his debut Ranji trophy match against Uttar Pradesh in Meerut recently. He rocked the UP batting line up and returned with figures of 5/60 on his first day in first-class cricket. His performance helped Karnataka to restrict UP to 273/9 in 90 overs on the first day.

This 19-year-old Mandya lad, who began his cricketing career at PET Cricket Club, Mandya in 1997, was initially coached by Mahadev, cricket coach at the PET Institutions. A tall lad with good pace, Sharath developed into a good medium-pacer and represented Mysore Zone in the U-16, U-19, U-22 & U-25 levels. He also earned the State cap in the U-16, U-19, U-22 and U-25 levels. His consistent performance for Karnataka in the U-25 Col. C.K. Nayudu Tournament helped him to earn a place in the State Ranji squad.

He is the son of Shivalingiah and Puttagowramma from Hosagavi village in Mandya. It was Sharath’s mother who brought him to PET grounds in Mandya to enroll him in the Cricket Club.

He attended the MRF Pace Foundation Camp in Chennai this year and learnt the finer points of fast bowling from none other than Australian cricketer Glenn McGrath. He has emerged as the front-line bowler in the Karnataka bowling line-up in the absence of Vinay Kumar and Mithun, who were out with injuries.

M.V. Spoorthy

Table tennis player M.V. Spoorthy has been consistently winning titles in the State-level both in the sub-junior and junior girls sections. Spoorthy is a product of the PTTA, Mysore and is coached by Rajashekar. Encouraged by her parents, this lass has been performing well in the State-level tournaments as well in the National-level. She has represented Karnataka in the Nationals in the sub-junior girls and junior girls sections. Spoorthy is a student of CFTRI School in city. Spoorthy won the titles in the State championships held at Belgaum, Dharwad, Bangalore and also at Mysore. An attacking player on both the flanks, this girl is seeded No.1 in the sub-junior girls section in the State and intends to work hard and win a medal in the National level in the days to come.

Nisha Joseph

Nisha Joseph of Sports Hostel Mysore, is being coached by Ashok, SAK, Volleyball coach at DYSS. Nisha is a final year B.Com student at Teresian College. DYSS volleyball team finished third in the All-India Dasara Invitation volleyball tournament and Nisha played an important role. She led the Mysore University Volleyball team at South Zone Inter-Varsity volleyball championships at Guntur in October. She captained the Indian team which finished 6th in the Asian Junior Volleyball championships at Bangkok. She is the daughter of Joseph Mari and Elizabeth Rani and a native of Dooranahally in KR Nagar. She started playing when she was in 8th standard. She joined Vidyanagar Sports School, Bangalore and started making heady progress in the sport.

Suraj R. Prabodh

Suraj R. Prabodh of Mysore Tennis Club in Chamarajapuram has been consistently performing well in the senior U-18 sections, both in the International and National-level. He also played in ITF One Jet Grade IV tennis tournament for juniors at Bundung, Indonesia, where he reached the semi-finals. Suraj has also taken part in the two ITF tournaments held at Mandya and Mysore in the men’s section. He won the men’s singles title in the recently concluded AITA NVK Men’s 50k All-India Ranking Tennis tournament 2012 at Hyderabad.

Suraj had represented India in Australian Open junior tournament and played in the qualifying round last season. He is presently ranked 340 in the World in the junior rankings. He is among the top 10 junior players in the country. He won his maiden ITF Junior title after winning at Indian ITF Junior tournament (Grade V) at Guwahati in 2011. He also took part in the ITF tournaments in Mumabi. Suraj performed well in the Adidas-MCC National junior tennis championship held at Chennai where he entered the semi-finals in the singles event.

He is the son of Renukananda Prabodh and Tejawathi. Suraj is so indulged in Tennis that his father Reukananda said that there were no backup career options for Suraj if tennis did not work for him as he is very confident of excelling in the sport.

S. Varun Karthik

Varun Karthik is a talented footballer from Mysore. Having started playing football from the age of 10, he has gone on to represent State in Junior National Championships. The 21-year-old Varun has represented Sports Union FC, Nanjangud, Ganesha FC and Dugramba FC in the Mysore District Football League. He is currently representing Royals FC in the league matches and credits the Club for his success. Varun plays in forward position and is a prolific scorer in the league matches held in Mysore.

Varun was also a member of University of Mysore Football team which participated at the South Zone Inter University Tournament held at Trivandrum last year.

Varun has been a getting a lot of encouragement from his parents T. Subash and N. Shantha and aims to play in higher level. He also credits his physical education teachers Mahesh and Shivanna for his success. He is currently a pursuing his 2nd year BBM at TTL college in Mysore.

M.S. Abhilash

This 23-year-old footballer started to play football at a young age of 9 years. Abhilash has achieved a rare feat of representing the State in the prestigious Santosh Trophy. He also represented Mysore University 3 times and has led the team in 2010. Abhilash has presented Karnataka in Sub Junior, Junior and U-21 National tourney. Abhilash represents Royals FC at the Mysore Division Football League. Currently, he is pursuing MBA at Bahadur Institute of Mana-gement Sciences, Manasagangothri. He credits his coaches and parents M.K. Sundaresh and Vishalakshi for his success.

S.K. Apsana

Apasana is from the Vidyanagar Sports Hostel in Bangalore. Her field of interest is 400 mts hurdles. But, she has also won medals in 4×100 relay and 4×400 mts relay events at the University level.

Apasana is currently being trained under the watchful eyes of SAK Coach Damodhar Gowda. She is a silver medallist in the 400 mts hurdles in Amateur National Championships held at Lucknow recently.

Apasana has also represented University of Mysore in All India Inter University championships. She is currently pursuing her 1st year degree at Teresian College in city.

Reena George

Reena George was a student of Vidyanagar Sports Hostel in Bangalore. She came to Mysore after completing her high school education. Later, she joined Mysore Sports Hostel and got trained under athlete coach Damodhar Gowda. Reena has emerged as undisputed champion in 400mts and 200mts run. Currently, she holds record in 400 mts for University of Mysore and also in Dasara Sports. She also won a gold medal in U-20 National Championships held recently. She has been representing University of Mysore at various levels. Reena is a part of Mysore University Athletic team which will be participating at the All India Inter University Athletic Championships to be held at Kolkata in Jan. 2013. She has been selected for the Indian camp which is preparing for the Asian Track and Field Championships to be held at Chennai in 2013. Reena is studying at Teresian College in city.

Bibi Sumaya

Bibi Sumaya is the current U-20 National 200 mts champion. A student of Teresian College, she is currently undergoing training under Damodhar Gowda, SAK Athletic coach. Sumaya is a product of Kudgi Sports Hostel in Coorg. Sumaya took up to athletics while she was studying 6 std. Later, after completing her high school she came to Mysore to pursue her training in athletics as well as higher education.

Sumaya has emerged as an undisputed queen in 100 mts and 200 mts. She currently holds record for 200 mts in Women’s Nationals, Mysore University and Dasara Sports Meet. She was also the part of the team which won the gold medal at University-level in 4×100 mts relay and also 4×100 mts relay and 4×400 mts relay in Dasara Sports. Currently, she is preparing for the Asian Track and Field Championship which is scheduled to be held in Chennai later in 2013.

Kavyashree

Kavyashree is an upcoming hockey player from city. She was trained in Kudgi Sports Hostel initially before she moved to Mysore.

Kavyashree has been representing the University of Mysore for the past four years.

She will be representing the University of Mysore at the All India Inter-University Championships to be held in Rajasthan later in January, 2014.

B. Pourush

Pourush is an upcoming swimmer from city. Having specialised in breath stroke, he has won medals at State-level Inter School Championships. He started his training since the age of 3 and continues to train under the University of Mysore Swimming Coach Puttaswamy and retired coach Nabhiram. He is currently studying 9th std. at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan in Mysore.

Muthamma

Muthamma is an upcoming hockey player in Mysore. Previously, she has been a part of Senior Women’s Hockey camp which trained in Bhopal. Having proved her potential, Muthamma has been selected to represent the State in Junior National Championship which will held in Delhi during January 2014.

Muthamma started to play hockey when she was in 6th std. and was initially trained in Kudgi Sports Hostel in Coorg. After, coming to Mysore, she has been able to reach great heights and Muthamma has represented the University of Mysore for three years at the Inter-University Hockey tournaments.

A.S.Deekshith

Deekshith is a promising swimmer from Mysore. A student of Anantha Geetha Vidyalaya in J.P. Nagar, Deekshith aims to achieve great heights in the field of sports he loves.

Deekshith has won medals in many District and State-level swimming championships. He specialises in 50 mts freestyle and 50 mts backstroke swimming.

V.N. Prathamesh

He is a student of Vijaya Vittala Vidyashala. Prathamesh has been performing consistently in every swimming championship he participates. Prathamesh has taken up all major events in swimming which includes butterfly, backstroke, freestyle and breadth stroke. He is currently studying in 5th std and aims to reach great heights in the future.

Dr. Varsha Puranik

Dr. Varsha Puranik is pursuing her M.D (Mirco Biology) at JSS Medical College. She is trained by Ekalavya Awardee Sr-ikanth Rao. She took up roller skating in 1990 after being inspired by her elder brother. Varsha is the first roller skater from India to win a medal at Asian Cham-pionship in 2001. She has won 28 gold medals at National level. She was a part of Indian contingent which took part in the world championships in Italy.

Nirmith Nityanand

Nirmith is a right hand batsman and also bowls leg spinners. He has represented U-15, U-17, U-19 and U-22 State teams. Nirmith has been representing RBNCC in KSCA Mysore Zonal-level league matches and FUCC in Bangalore league. A BE graduate in Construction Technology & Management from SJCE, Nirmith played for U-14 and U-16 National-level C.K. Naidu tournament in his school days.

V. Varshith

Varshith started his career in roller skating in 2001-2002 and from then on he has made a name for himself in roller sports. He is a remarkable skater and has been winning almost every championship he has participated in so far. Varshith has won several gold medals at National and State level championships.

Varshith won bronze medal in the 15th Asian Championship when he was 14 years in the Under 19 category, held at Kaohsiung city, Taipei from July 16 to 25, 2010. He was also impressive in the Junior Men 3,000 mts relays where he won a bronze medal and was placed 4th in 500 mt road race, 4th in 20 km elimination & 5000 m relay and also 5th in 10 km point-to-point and 6th in 15 km rink elimination races.

He has won 9 National gold medals with three Individual Championship, 6 silver medals and 4 bronze medals. His overall Medals in International, National and State championships are 45 gold, 15 silver and 13 bronze medals.

He recently participated in the 15th Asian Championship held in China and was placed 4th in 3000 mts relay. His brilliant performance in the 28th State Championship recently held at Belgaum earned him 3 gold medals and Individual Championship. In the year 2014, he will try to become the first skater in the Country to win gold medal in the 16th Asian Championship.

He is currently studying in I PUC at Chaitra PU College in city. He is the son of B.Venugopal, who was recently conferred with the Rashtriya Udyog Ratna Award by the National Organisation of Commerce and Industry and Geetha Venugopal.

Ruthu Rohit

Ruthu Rohit is a student of St. Joseph’s Higher Primary School. She won her first State ranking tourney at Bangalore conducted by Canara Union Malleshwaram. She won her 2nd title in Sir M. Vishvesvarya Memorial TT Tourney at CFTRI. In the State championships conducted by Karnataka TT Association in memory of C.V.L. Shastry, Ruthu won the cadet event by beating top seed Ayesha Siddiqui. Ruthu will be representing the State Cadet team in the 74th cadet and sub junior nationals at Gandhidham, Gujrat from Jan 16, 2014. She is the daughter of Rohit Ramdev and Rekha.

Ridhi Rohit

Ridhi is one of the most promising table tennis players in Mysore. Ridhi captained Karnataka State under-14 team to 53rd SGFI National school games held at Mizoram in 2007-2008. She won 8 out of 9 State ranking tournaments in cadet (U-12) in 2008-2009. She also led State U-12, U-14, State sub-junior teams. She represented the State in National schools games held in Chandigarh in 2008-09, sub-juniors at Chennai in 2009-10, State Junior U-17 and U-21 teams at Youth Championships held at Ahmedabad in Gujrat. She is a student of St. Joseph’s High School.

Ranjitha

Ranjitha, a native of Shimoga, is an upcom-ing volleyball player and is currently pursuing final year B.Com at Teresian College. Ranjitha has also represented the State in Senior National and University-level tournaments. She was a member of the Indian team which took part in the Jr. Asian Championships at Thailand in 2011-12. She has been representing University of Mysore at Inter-University Championships for the past 3 years. Currently, she is gearing up for Senior Natl. Championships to be held in Rajasthan next year.

Akash Aaradhya

Akash Aaradhya holds the National record for under-19 short distance roller skating. He won a gold and silver medal at National championships.

Akash Aaradhya was also a member of Indian team which participated at World Championships in Italy and Asian Championship in China.

Akash is being trained by Ekalavya Awardee Srikanth Rao, who has been producing talented roller skaters from the city over the past few years.

source: http://www.StarofMysore.com / Home> Feature Articles / December 15th, 2012

Kundapur: Sripathi Hegde Haklady Bags Basava Jyothi State Award

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Records, All

Kundapur, Dec 19:

Sripathi Hegde Haklady, correspondent of Vijayavani Kannada daily bagged Basava Jyothi State Award for the year 2012.

Sri Basaveshwara Karmaveera Kala Sahitya Samskrati Vedike has been conferring national as well as state awards for the past eight years. This year they will be presenting 16 national awards and 50 state level awards.

The award ceremony will be held at Kandagal Shree Hanumantharaya Rangamantappa on December 25 where the awards will be presented by Bellabbi, district in-charge minister of Bijapur and Sudarshan, speaker.

source: http://www.daijiworld.com / Home> Karnataka / by Hemananth Padubidri – DaijiWorld Media Network, Kundapur (VM) / Wednesday, 19th December 2012

Life of a Hubli boy with Pi

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Records, All, Science & Technology

The 3-D English movie — Life of Pi, which has had movie going audiences in its thrall, specially awed by the real life actions its animated tiger and animation segments, the world over — has a Hubli connection that should do the City proud.

And if you are one who stays put till the last credit rolls past before you leave the auditorium, you would have noticed the Indian name you may have instantly connected with Tanseer Ahmed Bangewale, the local lad, who has not only carved a niche for himself on the global movie marquee, but also put the Hubli city in spotlight as well, doing its citizens proud.

Marooned on the boat with a tiger, the film’s protagonist Pi keeps the feline at bay with a long stick and a loud shout. The animated scene was achieved after six-months’ effort. Besides the entry of the strange animals towards the end of the movie was also astutely visualised and conceived by the animator Tanseer.

Basking in the glory of his achievement, and new found attention his work has brought him, Tanseer, a resident of Koppadakere, Dharwad, residing in Mumbai, was in City on Sunday and shared his experience.

Working with the Academy award-winning director Ang Lee of ‘Life of Pi’ , says Tanseer, was a satisfying experience, explaining that a degree in fine arts opened a wide opportunity, although it required a lot of effort. “One need not just become a drawing teacher. Technical expertise is an added advantage,” he says.

Tanseer, 28, completed his BFA (Bachelor of Fine Arts) from a local college at Gadag with a first class. He followed it up with a course in animation in Mumbai from Hindi movie director Ketan Mehta’s Maya Academy of Advanced Cinematics (MAAC) studio. He was employed by the Rhythm and Hues Animation Studio at Malad, Mumbai, during campus recruitment.

At the studio, Tanseer, who animated for the Hollywood movie ‘Hulk-2’, also worked with the makers of ‘The Mummy Returns’, ‘The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor’, ‘Incredible Hulk’ and ‘Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian’, besides animating for the chipmunk in the movie ‘Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel and ‘Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked’.

Impressed by his animation skills, especially for the movie ‘Yogi Bear’, visual effects experts at Rhythm and Hues headquarters in the US took him on board for their works which saw Tanseer join a 20-member team for the movie by Company ‘Golden Compass’, released in 2007. The movie went on to win an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects in 2008.

Happy that the family’s effort in enabling Tanseer achieve his ambition had borne fruit, a beaming father M J Banglewale, a senior professor at Vijaya Mahantesh Arts Institute, said: Tanseer is my younger son. I sent him to Mumbai so that he could learn something special, since we had to pay a fee of Rs 1.20 lakh for his course in 2005. Funds were difficult, but we did not refuse.

Sure enough, Tanseer has been true to the faith reposed in him.

source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> Entertainment / Hubli, DHNS / December 16th, 2012

Infosys HR team wins Zenith 2012 award

Business & Economy, Records, All

A seminar on ‘ Building an engaged workforce’ was held by the National HRD Network (NHRDN) Bhubaneswar Chapter at the Infosys campus here on Friday.

A panel discussion held during the seminar that included a 360 degree view on workforce engagement, in which NHRDN office-bearers including its president Dr Saroj Mohapatra and vice-president Dr Suvendu Das focussed on important issues relating to present-day HRD (human resource development.

The NHRDN members informed about their reward and recognition programme, Zenith, which was organised as part of the seminar to celebrate excellence and reward high performers in the HR fraternity in the State. This year, the HR team of Infosys won the Zenith 2012 while the HR team of JSPL became the runners-up and the PPL HR team got a consolation prize.

Among others, Kalinga Soft CEO Srijat Mishra, National Board member of NHRDN Sourav Daspatnaik, general secretary of NHRDN Dr Isa Mishra and principal consultant of Think Talent India Bhabani Mohanty were present.

source:  http://www. dailypioneer.com / Home> State Editions> Bhubanewsar / Monday, December 17th, 2012