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Renovated house of Karanth to be dedicated on his birth anniversary

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Records, All
The renovated house of late Shivarama Karanth at Balavana in Puttur.
The renovated house of late Shivarama Karanth at Balavana in Puttur.

Mangaluru :

Jnanpith awardee Kota Shivaram Karanth’s original house in Puttur, which is renovated, will be inaugurated on the birth anniversary of the celebrated writer on October 10.

The renovation of Balavana in Puttur is almost over and finishing touches are being given.

The writer, who built the house in 1930, was living there till 1973. A team of conservation architects of Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) led by Pankaj Modi  have taken up the restoration of the poet’s house.

All the old materials of the including stones, tiles, rafters, door frames and windows have been restored. Only the damaged things are replaced with the new ones to give the house an original look.

The state government has given Rs 29 lakh for the restoration of the house. Another Rs 1 crore was sanctioned in the 2015 budget for other development works to be taken up in a phased manner.

Puttur assistant commissioner Raghunandan Murthy told TOI that Kannada and culture minister Umashree will dedicate the house. “We have plans to hold programmes for children as well as cultural and literary events at the house on a regular basis,” he added.

Puttur MLA Shakunthala Shetty said the second phase of the restoration work on other buildings the writer had built 80 years ago is being taken up through a committee set up in 2016. The MLA is also a member of the committee that comprises secretary of Kannada and culture department, scholar Vivek Rai, writer’s daughter Kshama Rau and son Ullas Karanth.

“Various literary and cultural programmes will be organized to mark the inauguration of the house on October 10,” she added.

District minister Ramanath Rai inagurate the function. Chikkaballapur MP M Veerappa Moily will dedicate the museum, where books, manuscripts and other belongings of Karantha will be kept, Shakunthala Shetty said.

Literary, Cultural programmes 

A workshop on Karanth’s literary work will be held after the inauguration of the house. Vivekananda College retired principal H Madhava Bhat will chair the workshop organized for students. Sadhana Sangeetha Shale, Kombettu and Saraswathi Sangeetha Vidyalaya, Nehru Nagara, will present a musical concert. Yakshagana Kalakendra, Udupi, will present ‘Chakravyooha’, a Yakshagana bayalata.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> News> City News> Bangalore News / by Times News Network / October 07th, 2017

Nobel boost to Bengaluru’s link to LIGO

Records, All, Science & Technology, World Opinion
Elated lot A team from Bengaluru-based International Centre for Theoretical Sciences has been deciphering data from Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory. | Photo Credit: By Special Arrangement
Elated lot A team from Bengaluru-based International Centre for Theoretical Sciences has been deciphering data from Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory. | Photo Credit: By Special Arrangement

City scientists play significant role in project pioneered by this year’s Nobel laureates

As Rainer Weiss, Barry C. Barish and Kip S. Thorne take the stage later this year to accept the Nobel Prize for Physics, they will be standing on the shoulders of hundreds of collaborators from across the world, who collectively made it possible to sense gravitational waves that “shook the world” in 2016.

Of these, more than 35 scientists from India, including a team of seven from Bengaluru-based International Centre for Theoretical Sciences (ICTS), played a significant role in understanding and deciphering the data from the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO), an international collaboration pioneered by the three Nobel laureates.

At Hessarghatta, the seven-member team — led by Parameswaran Ajith from ICTS — works on modelling the sources of gravitational waves, among others; their LIGO Tier-3 grid computing centre tests Einstein’s famous Theory of Relativity with the data thrown up by the detectors in the U.S. and Europe. “The laureates associate themselves with the LIGO/Virgo collaboration rather than their individual academic institutions. They have even said the award would be received on behalf of the collaborators. It’s heartening to see this,” says Dr. Ajith.

The team, after all, finds a place amongst the thousand authors, including the three laureates, of the paper ‘Observation of Gravitational Waves from a Binary Black Hole Merger’, which announced the experimental proof of gravitational waves in 2016.

India and LIGO

Indian scientists have a long, often unacknowledged presence in the fledgling field. For instance, the works of C. V. Vishveshwara, who died in the city earlier this year, in the 1970s continues to remain highly relevant.

And, it is perhaps these initial forays that has seen India do better in this field of research than others. “A few decades ago, it was just two of us in gravitational waves,” says Bala Iyer, chairperson of IndIGO (Indian Initiative in Gravitational-wave Observations) consortium and also associated with ICTS. “Now, there is a community of over 200 and we are struggling to keep up with the interest.”

With the ₹1,500-crore Indian LIGO detector expected to be operational by 2024, India is expected to play a key role in utilising the discovery that many scientists say is bigger than X-ray or microwave radiation that gave unparalleled views of the universe.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Karnataka / by Mohit M. Rao / Bengaluru – October 05th, 2017

Gauri Lankesh honoured with Anna Politkovskaya Award

Amazing Feats, Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Records, All, World Opinion
Gauri Lankesh
Gauri Lankesh

Journalist-activist Gauri Lankesh, who was shot dead by unknown assailants on September 5, has been posthumously accorded with the prestigious Anna Politkovskaya Award, instituted by Reach All Women (RAW) in War.

RAW, in a statement, said that it was honoured to award the annual Anna Politkovskaya Award for women human rights defenders from war and conflict zones jointly to Gauri Lankesh posthumously, and to a brave Pakistani activist Gulalai Ismaial, who similarly is fighting against Islamic extremism. Ms. Ismail has faced the death threats for speaking out against the Taliban in north-west Pakistan.

Gauri is the 12th woman to receive this prestigious award. Nominations Committee members have observed that they were deeply moved by Gauri and Gulalai’s bravery and dedication to peace and human rights. The citation reads: Gauri Lankesh was a major figure in India, critic of right-wing Hindu extremism, campaigner for women’s rights, fiercely opposed to the caste system, campaigning for rights of Dalits and so on.

With mixed feelings, Kavitha Lankesh, Gauri’s sister, told media persons here on Thursday that the Anna Politkovskaya Award was a morale booster for people who want to write and continue to fight against injustice. It was an honour not only for the members of Gauri’s family, but also to “huge family” that loved Gauri for her commitment to the cause of secular ideals, justice, equality and women rights. “In fact, the award honours what Gauri stood for throughout her life… that ‘you cannot silence me’,” said a teary-eyed Ms. Kavitha.

The announcement of the award was an emotional one, as Gauri’s brother Indrajit Lankesh, mother Indira Lankesh and close friend M.S. Ashadevi struggled to find words to express their feelings on RAW honouring Gauri with this international award.

Gauri was awarded with Periyar Award posthumously by the Thinkers Forum on September 17 in Bengaluru.

Anna Politkovskaya, a Russian journalist was killed in 2006 in Moscow for her courage to speak out on behalf of the suffering of the civilians in the war in Chechnya. “It is not by coincidence that Gauri’s work, her personality and the way she was killed for her work reminded us so much of the way Anna lived and died for the truth,” said members of nominations committee.

To mark the anniversary of Anna Politkovskaya’s murder on October 7, 2006 and to honour Anna and the women like in the world, RAW in War annually presents the award to a female human rights defender from conflict zone.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Bengaluru / by Special Correspondent / Bengaluru – October 05th, 2017

Freedom fighter Srirangaraju no more

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S. L. Srirangaraju
S. L. Srirangaraju

Freedom fighter S.L. Srirangaraju, 97, died at his residence at Ravivarma Street in the city on Friday. He was suffering from age-related illness.

The deceased had participated in Quit India Movement for which he was jailed by the British government. He was a teacher by profession and was honoured with national-level Best Teacher Award in 1975. by then President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed.

Mr. Srirangaraju had served as director of Deshiya Vidya Shala Samiti, National Education Society, Karnataka Sangha and Shivamogga City Cooperative Bank.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Karnataka / by Staff Reporter / Shivamogga – Ocotober 06th, 2017