A song written, composed and sung by a College Lecturer with a folk touch on Coronavirus has gone viral. Dr. Vijayalakshmi Manapur, a lecturer working in Maharaja’s College in city, has not only written the song titled ‘Corona Bandaite Jopaana,’ she has also composed music and sung the folk song much to the delight of people living in rural areas and as a result, the song has become an instant hit in social media.
Her husband P. Premkumar Wellington, whose mother-tongue is Tamil, has also translated the song into Tamil (Coronavin Karappu Nilal) and has sung the Tamil version. And their son P. Pranil has sung the Hindi version (Corona Mahamari Ka). All the three versions of this composition are popular now.
Dr. Vijayalakshmi is an expert on folk and teaches folk subjects in her College. “Over 80 percent of our population live in rural areas. I wanted to create awareness about this deadly virus among rural folk. I thought folk tune would be a good idea and hence wrote the song, composed the music with folk touch and sung it. This song has now reached rural households in Karnataka,” she said.
The Tamil version of the same song has also been a hit. Her husband Premkumar, who works in Mysore Akashavani, is delighted about this. Interestingly, the Hindi version of the song sung by their son Pranil has now reached other parts of the country through their friends in Delhi, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> News / May 24th, 2020
From cold-pressed virgin coconut oil, dehydrated chips, shell bowls, vegan wax candle, soaps, coir dish scrubbers, the list is endless.
Tengin founder Madhu Kargund
Buy local, be vocal is the buzz in this time of corona crisis. Madhu Kargund (32) had no idea that this would be the affairs to come when he quit his corporate job a few months ago to pursue his start-up, Tengin, which turns every part of the coconut into something usable.
From cold-pressed virgin coconut oil, dehydrated chips, shell bowls, vegan wax candle, soaps, coir dish scrubbers, the list is endless. “A few years ago I took some of this coconut oil to work and found many takers. In addition, the benefits of the oil as an immunity booster has been doing the rounds,” says Kargund who took impetus from such remarks.
Hailing from Arsikere, Hassan, but who has made Bengaluru his home in the last eight years, Kargund felt the need for farmers in his village to integrate age-old practices for new-age consumers. “Ragi is sold at Rs 10 in villages, but ragi biscuits here go for Rs 40. A slight value addition can make a huge difference,” says Kargund who has five acres of farmland back home.
“Something like the coconut bowl can be used to mix hair colour. Usually a steel container is used wherein the steel reacts with the dye, which does not happen in this case,” says Kargund, whose unit belonging to a group of farmers, manufacturers 400 litres of cold pressed virgin coconut oil. On an average around 300 litres is sold.
Now, sourcing from farmers in his village, Kargund’s mission is also to retain the skilled workers in his hometown. “I noticed several young farmers were moving to cities for better opportunities. Instead, with organic products seeming to be the go-to thing, I thought it necessary to gainfully employ farmers,” he says, adding that women are employed in creating products like the coconut bowl shell.
“My parents co-ordinate with the farmers while I look into research and marketing,” says Kargund who has invested over Rs 2 lakh into the venture. Having left his job at a French MNC in the midst of this pandemic, there are times Kargund wonders if he has made the right move. But with plans like organising coconut tours something on the lines of a wine tour, and working with other crops, Kargund is hoping to make a difference both in terms of creating eco-friendly products as well as empowering women and rural farmers.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Bengaluru / by Vidya Iyengar / Express News Service / May 24th, 2020
Veteran short-story writer and thinker Shantadevi Kanavi died at the KLE hospital in Belagavi on Friday. She was 88. She was the wife of writer Channaveera Kanavi.
Her stories have been translated into English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam. They routinely found their way into anthologies that became part of university textbooks.
She hailed from Vijayapura and settled in Dharwad after marriage to Mr. Kanavi. She received awards from Karnataka Sahitya Akademi and the Dana Chintamani Attimmabbe Puraskara of the State Government.
She leaves behind nonagenarian Mr. Kanavi, five children, several grandchildren and great-grandchildren and friends.
Mangala Metgud, president of the Belagavi zilla Kannada Sahitya Parishat, has expressed grief at the death of the senior writer.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Karnataka / by Special Correspondent / Belagavi – May 23rd, 2020
Deepthi Chandra B made two visits to France in January and February to carry out the execution of her design, which is now open to public till November 1 this year.
Garden designed by Deepthi Chandra BGarden designed by Deepthi Chandra B. (Photo| EPS)
Bengaluru :
Deepthi Chandra B’s fairytale moment came complete with a castle. The city-based landscape architect was among the 20 winners at an international garden festival, which takes place in the castle of Chaumont sur Loire, Blois, near Paris.
“There were 400 entries from across the globe and this is the first time an Indian team won in 28 years,” says Chandra, who adds that other winners this year belonged to Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy and USA. She made two visits to France in January and February to carry out the execution of her design, which is now open to public till November 1 this year.
The theme for the 2020 edition of the festival was Return to Mother Earth. For her submission of the design, which Chandra called Dharitri: The Garden of Mother Earth, she decided to rely on something that would represent Indian culture, borrowing ideas from the harvest festival. The entrance to the 2,000 sq ft space begins with a walkway of bamboo and flowers one would normally use for worship, like rose and jasmine.
“These are also flowers that are used extensively by the French perfume industry,” explains the 30-year-old. As the view opens up, the visitor notices a circular water body, which was inspired by the Rig Veda’s concept of “Father sky and mother earth being complementary,” says Chandra, adding, “This way, one can see the reflection of the sky in the water.” The small pond is surrounded by step terraces that double as benches for visitors to take in the view. This part of the design was inspired by Indian paddy fields.
“If you climb them you can get a top view of the garden. The pathway finally leads to the exit point thereby completing the Pradakshina path as seen in Indian temples, thereby paying tribute to the sacredness of Mother Earth,” she says.
Chandra’s first visit to France in January involved a meeting with the local contractors. During her second trip, her architect friend Chandrakanth GM, accompanied her to execute the design. Besides a slight language barrier, the duo also had to brave temperatures as low as 7 degrees Celsius while constructing the garden.
“But we also got to see the transition to spring, which came with beautiful views of cherry blossoms,” says Chandra, adding that all the teams getting together for meals was a good cultural experience. “The culture there was different. They construct everything themselves. It was nice to see the other winners coming in with their friends, family and neighbours to build the garden together.”
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Bengaluru / by Express News Service / May 24th, 2020
Classical musician Shyamala G. Bhave, who was well versed in both the Hindustani and the Carnatic styles and earned the title ‘Ubhayagana Vidushi’, passed away in Bengaluru on Friday morning. She was 79.
Born on March 14, 1941, in Bengaluru to a musical family, she was one of the early practitioners of the Hindustani style in the city and also taught hundreds of students at her school, Saraswati Sangeet Vidyalaya at Seshadripuram.
“Last week, she was admitted to a private hospital as her BP and sugar levels were erratic and she also had breathing difficulties. For the last three days she was home. This morning she breathed her last listening to music,” said one of her senior students, Vageesh Bhat, who is secretary of the vidyalaya.
Ms. Bhave was the daughter of Pandit Govind Vittal Bhave, who sang and played multiple instruments, and vocalist Lakshmi Bhave.
Trained from an early age, she gave her first performance at 12, said Mr. Bhat. She performed, taught and held positions in institutions related to the arts for decades. She served at the Karnataka Sangeeta Nrithya Academy for two terms from 1997 to 2001. She had also composed music for some films, including the first Sanskrit film by G.V. Iyer, Adi Shankaracharya, and India’s first Sanskrit serial Kadambari.
Hindustani singer Sangeeta Katti, said, “I have been associated with Shyamala Bhave for three decades, and she was one of the foremost vocalists to propagate classical melodies in Bengaluru.”
The last rites of the musician were performed at Friday evening at Chamarajapet crematorium.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States > Karnataka / by Ranjani Govind / Bengaluru – May 23rd, 2020
Arka Rakshak, a high-yielding and disease-resistant variety of tomato brought out by IIHR in Bengaluru. | Photo Credit: B.S. Satish Kumar
The Indian Institute of Horticultural Research (IIHR) in Bengaluru has launched a seed portal through which people living anywhere in the country can get quality seeds at their doorstep after paying online.
Said to be the country’s first such seed portal from a public sector unit in horticulture with a wide range of seeds, it offers more than 60 high-yielding varieties of seeds for vegetables, flowers and fruit crops. Though the ICAR-IIHR seed portal(https://seed.iihr.res.in) was launched by Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) Director-General Trilochan Mohapatra during the National Horticulture Fair organised by the institute on its campus this February, it has become functional now.
According to institute director M.R. Dinesh, the portal aims to take the institute’s quality seeds to even remote places of the country which do not have access to quality plant material through this portal. “This helps in increasing productivity of horticultural crops as all our seeds are high yielding and have resistance to several diseases,” he said.
Pointing out that IIHR has adopted a novel seed village concept of using skilled farmers to produce seeds, he said the income of farmers who are into seed production is also bound to increase thanks to the seed portal. Environment protection will also get a boost as the use of pesticides will reduce since IIHR varieties have resistance to many diseases, Mr. Dinesh said.
K.K. Upreti, principal scientist and nodal officer of the Agricultural Knowledge Management Unit of the institute, said the institute produces over 15 tonnes of seeds of fruits, vegetables and flower crop varieties annually for sale to farmers. The sales are expected to increase by 20-25% now. When a farmer registers online for buying seeds, he will also be told whether the location is suitable for cultivation of such a variety, he said. In the coming days, the institute also plans to provide counselling on cultivation practices. It has prescribed norms on maximum purchase of each variety, to ensure that quality seeds are available to a large number of farmers.
IIHR has branded all of its seeds with the prefix “Arka”, as it is located on the banks of river Arkavathi. Some of the popular varieties of vegetable crops developed by the IIHR include tomato (Arka Rakshak), chilli (Arka Meghana), onion (Arka Kalyan), ridge gourd (Arka Prasan), French beans (Arka Arjun), and okra (Arka Nikita and Arka Anamika).
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Karnataka / by B.S. Satish Kumar / Bengaluru – May 22nd, 2020
Both facilities are aimed at helping farmers, students
The University of Agricultural Sciences-Bengaluru (UAS-B) has launched its official YouTube channel and toll-free telephone number to help farmers and students as well as the general public.
Both the facilities were launched by Vice-Chancellor S. Rajendra Prasad on Friday. The YouTube channel which can be viewed on https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCT3_lfb8uL8gXMJtckT3Bq provides information on the university, agricultural education, research and extension, research stations and Krishi Vigyan Kendras of the university and various facilities available for agriculture.
The vice-chancellor said farmers could also get information on the services available from the university through this channel while students could get information on various agricultural courses that can be pursued after completing II PU.
Similarly, farmers could get technical information related to agriculture by calling the toll-free telephone No: 18004250571. Also, farmers could WhatsApp pictures related to diseases and pest attack to mobile No: 9482477812 to get accurate information related to remedial measures, the Vice-Chancellor said.
He called upon farmers to make use of the above facilities.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Karnataka / by Special Correspondent / Bengaluru – March 22nd, 2020
Dermatologist and comedian Dr Anil Abraham has come out with a series, Ungle’s Simbil Solutions, which provides humorous lockdown advice.
Dr Anil Abraham
Bengaluru :
Sanskaari yet savvy. Naughty and naati. That’s Ungle Appukuttan, the elderly uncle in every neighbourhood, who means well and helps solve seemingly complex problems with his years of life experience. The creative brain behind a one-episode video based on issue-based content, for every day of the lockdown, is leading dermatologist and trichologist Dr Anil Abraham, who after being flooded with quack remedies, complicated jargon, silly suggestions and completely fake forwards, thought it’s time for a ‘reliable neighbourly uncle’ to deal with situations sensibly and offer simple solutions. “Corona was the crisis. And another avatar of Ungle was needed to offer a bit of advice,” says Dr Abraham, a popular stand-up comedian, known for his series, Ungle’s Simbil Solutions.
Ungle and his advice are spontaneous creatures. A news item, a chat with a friend throws up an idea which quickly evolves into an episode. Since Ungle’s solutions are common-sense based and humorous, it doesn’t involve much research.
“All I need is a little talcum powder sprinkled on my hair and a quiet place with telephone in hand to record an episode,” he says. Minimum frills and fancy have kept this endeavour lockdown friendly. “My wife, Veena and my sons, Anirudh and Aaditya, are my toughest critics. So I have my team at arm’s reach,” says the medico who recently played a key role in the Malayalam movie, Uyare, with Tovino Thomas and Parvathy.
With a house full of family, finding a quiet place to record has been a challenge sometimes. As has been staying clean and funny, as with any work of comedy. “Staying consistent and prolific is also tough, but the lockdown gave creative people enough material to keep creating content. Training in improv and theatre for several years helped to overcome these challenges,” he says.
A popular misconception, Abraham rues, is that doctors are boring, serious people. He believes that meeting hundreds of people every day, and hearing all their stories, involves a lot of communication. “Often, it is delivering philosophy or a message, gift-wrapped neatly in comedy. Laughter is the camouflage that makes the medicine palatable,” says Abraham who has been practising and teaching medicine for 30 years. With his interest in theatre, he has also worked with acclaimed artistes like Girish Karnad, Arundathi Raja, and Prakash Belwadi.
According to Abraham, one of the first lessons of comedy is the forgotten art of listening. This simple trick, he says, makes comedy interactive and alive. “It’s the same skill that makes someone a good doctor. Listen to what is being said and listen to non-verbal clues too. Very often a patient is communicating, not just with words , but with body language and facial expressions,” he explains.
Ungle’s words of wisdom
From sleazy sadhus to ‘whats appu’ gurus everyone is a doc.
Not the city, not the people, our tongues should be in lock
This lockdown should not be labour only for the mother or wife.
You also help little if you want to improve quality of life
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Bengaluru / by Vidya Iyengar, Express News Service / May 19th, 2020
The other 5-star garbage-free cities are Ambikapur, Rajkot, Surat, Indore and Navi Mumbai.
Mysuru city (Photo | EPS)
Mysuru :
Centre has declared Mysuru a 5-star garbage-free city.
Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs on Tuesday announced the names of 5-star garbage-free cities in India and Mysuru is the only city in South India to make to the list. The other 5-star garbage-free cities are Ambikapur, Rajkot, Surat, Indore and Navi Mumbai.
The effort of Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) to make the city garbage-free bore fruit in the annual Swachh Survekshan ranking and star-based ranking of cities.
The star rating was given based on 25 key parameters across the solid waste management spectrum. Mysuru had submitted a self-assessment and self-verification for achieving the star rating early in the year and a third party inspection was carried out.
Expressing his happiness, MCC commissioner Gurudatta Hegde thanked the health team and pourakarmikas who worked hard to get the 5-star rating to the city for the second consecutive time.
“This is a good recognition to the city and also to the brand Mysuru. Though we aimed for the 7-star rating, we couldn’t bag that due to the stringent rules,” he said.
Meanwhile, MCC health officer Dr Nagaraju thanked the support extended by citizens and organisation in making this feat.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Karnataka / by Express News Service / May 19th, 2020
