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Mango processing centre inaugurated, finally, in Chintamani taluk
It is the first in Karnataka, CFTRI experts to provide technical counselling to farmers
The Mango Development and Processing Centre, established at Madikere Cross in Chintamani taluk of Chickballapur district, has been opened up for the service of mango cultivators after a long wait.
Though the construction work of the centre, set up by the Karnataka State Mango Development and Marketing Corporation (KSMDMC), ended around three years ago it was left unused in the absence of a formal inauguration. Mango cultivators from Kolar and Chickballapur beside other parts of the State will benefit now.
Transport Minister K. Ramalinga Reddy inaugurated the centre on Monday, bringing cheers to mango farmers and traders as it will pave way for processing fruits in a most advanced manner. Constructed at a cost of around Rs. 7 crore, the centre is billed as the first of its kind in Karnataka, third largest mango producing State in the country.
The centre has been established with an aim of imparting training in safety measures to procure quality crop and guiding farmers about post-harvesting maintenance of mango, says Corporation chairperson Kamalakshi Rajanna.
Kolar and Chickballapur districts account for about 40 per cent of mango production in the State. Srinivasapur in Kolar and Chintamani in Chickballapur district contribute heavily for this. In spite of large-scale production, the State lagged behind in international marketing. Lack of awareness about nurturing of saplings, pre-harvesting and post-harvesting measures and absence of scientific methods of processing are blamed for this situation.
The centre was conceived to overcome these shortcomings. Facilities such as sorting and grading, washing, hot water treatment, ripening, packing, and processing technologies would be provided at the centre. This will help the farmers in following suitable methods, from selecting plant variety to post-harvesting and export. Demonstrations would be organised for farmers at the centre.
The centre has appointed experts from the Mysuru-based Centre for Food Technology and Research Institute (CFTRI) as technical advisors.
Main features
• State-of-the-art machineries to process up to 10 tonnes of mango a day.
• Hostel to accommodate about 60 farmers visiting the centre for training.
• Practical training cell.
• Hall to hold meeting with farmers.
• CFTRI experts to provide technical counselling.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Bengaluru / by Staff Correpondent / Kolar – August 22nd, 2016
Meet Aditi Ashok, India’s future in women’s golf
The 18-year-old from Bengaluru, the only Indian woman golfer competing int the Rio Olympics, 2016, turned professional earlier this year after a sparkling amateur career.
Eighteen-year-old Aditi was slotted 58th among the women who had qualified for the Rio Games. She’s ranked 439th on the official women’s world rankings list but that didn’t make any difference to her approach coming into the Games and facing off against higher-ranked opponents.
In the 2016 Summer Olympics at Rio de Janeiro, Aditi, the youngest contender and only Indian woman golfer in the fray, was able, for the most part of the first 36 holes, to tail the top spot on the leaderboard. She even shared the lead briefly before falling away in the third round.
A student at Bangalore’s Frank Anthony Public School, Aditi has been a consistent figure on the Indian amateur golfing scene. She turned professional in January 1, 2016, after an illustrious amateur career.
She made history when she became the first player from the country to win the Ladies British amateur stroke-play championship at Leeds, in 2015.
She won the St. Rule Trophy at St. Andrews and finished second in the 2015 European Women’s Amateur Championship, also claimed the overall title called ‘The Nicholls Trophy’ as well as the ‘Dinwiddy Trophy’ given for the lowest score by an under-18 player.
She is the only Indian golfer to have played the Asian Youth Games (2013) Youth Olympic Games (2014) and Asian Games (2014).
She is a three-time National Junior Champion for 2014, 2013, 2012 and a two-time National Amateur Champion for 2014, 2011.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Sport> Other Sports / Internet Desk / August 20th, 2016
Star this week : Talented Cricketer : Naveen
Cricket is a very popular game in our country and after the exploits of the Indian team which has been doing well in the International scene, and inspired by the legendary Sachin Tendulkar’s feats, many youngsters have taken up cricket as their career. Mysuru also has its share of producing talented cricketers who have gone on to play higher level of cricket. On these lines is Mandya-born youngster M.G. Naveen who has been performing consistently with the bat and the ball in the recent tournaments conducted by KSCA. His performances in the S.A. Srinivasan Memorial tournament and in the Inter-zonal Tournament for Mysuru zone, has earned him a place in the KSCA XI team which will take on Cricket Association of Bengal in the final of the Dr.(Capt.) K. Thimmappiah Memorial All India Cricket Tournament-2016, which will begin in Bengaluru from August 15 onwards. He is our ‘Star This Week.’
Naveen has been picked up by the Bijapur Bulls team for the Karnataka Premier League (KPL) 2016, which is set to begin in Mysuru from September, 2016. Naveen, representing Vijaya Bank in the recently held V. Prabhakar Memorial State-level Invitation Cricket Tournament conducted by Navodaya Cricket Club in Mysuru, impressed with his performances with the bat and ball for his team and has won two ‘Man of the Match’ awards in two successive games against MUCSC and Bangalore Occassionals and was responsible for his team’s win in the matches and also helped his team win the title.
Naveen, 23, hails from Mandya and plays for Vidyaranya CC in the KSCA Mysuru Zone 1st Division league. He represents Swastic Union CC in the KSCA Bengaluru league in the Group I, 1st Division.
Naveen is a top order batsman and a medium-pacer and is a utility allrounder. Naveen has represented Karnataka in the U-23, U-19, U-16 levels and has been performing well.
Naveen also represented Mangalore University in the South Zone Inter-University Championships 2015-16. He represented Mysuru Warriors in the KPL 2015 season and in the recently concluded Mangalore Premier League won the ‘Best Player of the Tournament’ award for his allround performance throughout the tournament. He captained Mysuru Zone U-23 team in the 2015 season in the KSCA Inter-zonal Tournament. Naven also played for Vijaya Bank and BEML (Mysuru) in the KSCA Group II, 1st Division matches and has gained valuable experience with the exposure.
Naveen has been encouraged in his efforts by the KSCA Bengaluru, KSCA Mysuru Zone and his team Vidyaranya CC. He intends to work hard with his batting, bowling and fitness levels and aims to represent the State in the senior level in the days to come.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Sports News / August 14th, 2016
Autorickshaw driver’s son scores big in NEET
Dinesh studied in Kannada medium till SSLC, before joining Channabasaveshwar Gurukul for PUC.
Dinesh Rajkumar, son of an autorickshaw driver from Enakur in Bhalki taluk, has earned the 31st rank in the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET).
A student of Sri Channabasaveshwar Gurukul in Karadyal in Bhalki, Dinesh has had the smart streak from his childhood. He scored 93 per cent in the SSLC exams and got 94 per cent marks in the pre-university exam. He stood 500th in the State in the CET medical rankings and had recently joined the MBBS course at Bangalore Medical College, said Basavaraj Molkeri, Gurukul principal.
He studied in Kannada medium till SSLC, before joining the Gurukul for PUC.
His father, Rajkumar, who drives an auto in Bhalki and surrounding villages, does not know much about NEET. He thinks that if Dinesh chooses to pick a seat in the national quota, he will have to leave Karnataka. “My son is already in a medical college in Bengaluru. It will be difficult to send him elsewhere, especially to cities like Delhi or Mumbai. Those cities may be costlier than Bengaluru for him to live in,” he said.
Dinesh’s mother is a homemaker. She is just happy that her son is studying to be a doctor. She wants him to come back and heal the sick in her village.
Dinesh, who came to see his teachers at the Gurukul on Thursday, said he wants to continue studying and pursue research. Teachers and staff were present at a felicitation organised for him and his successful batchmates.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Karnataka / by Special Correspondent / Bidar – August 19th, 2016
Narayana Health launches Robotic Surgery Training programme with support from Infosys Foundation
Bengaluru :
Narayana Health (NH), Bengaluru, has launched the Institute of Robotic Surgery supported by Infosys Foundation at its flagship unit at Narayana Health City.
The da Vinci Robotic Surgical System will be used primarily for prostate, kidney, gynaecological, colorectal and select head and neck cancer surgeries.
Symbolically unveiling the plaque, signifying the launch of ‘Infosys Institute of Robotic Surgery,’ Sudha Murty, Chairperson, Infosys Foundation said, “The need to adopt and continually update treatment protocols that reduce errors is crucial for a country like India, which sees high patient volumes and a wide spectrum of complex diseases. Robotic surgery, with its high degree of precision and faster recovery time, has the potential to address this efficiently. Our partnership with Narayana Health, incontestably a pioneer in delivering world-class healthcare, is aimed at encouraging rapid adoption of robotics in healthcare in India. Through this endowment, we also intend to provide impetus for further research in this area, and enable the masses to reap the benefits of affordable and high-quality treatment.”
“Technique of surgical intervention on the human body is undergoing dramatic change. It took over 30 years for laparoscopic surgery to replace open abdominal operation. World is on the threshold of a major transition from laparoscopic surgery to robotic surgery,” said Dr. Devi Shetty, Chairman, Narayana Health.
Robotic surgery has proved that inaccessible areas of the human body like deep in the pelvis where a prostate surgery needs to be done for a patient with cancer of the prostate can easily be accessed. Robotic surgery has proven beyond doubt its supremacy.
“It is a matter of time before most procedures on the human body will be done better with robotics. However, for the large scale technical adoption of robotic surgery major hitch is the surgeon’s skill,” informed Dr. Devi Shetty. Today surgical robots are available in very few centres across the world and the training programme to train an experienced surgeon as a robotic surgeon is expensive and inaccessible.
Explaining further on the need for such training programmes, Dr. Devi Shetty said, “Infosys Foundation always believed in the power of technology to transform the world and address the human sufferings. With that objective, Infosys Foundation donated ‘da Vinci Surgical Robot’ to develop Infosys Institute of Robotic Surgery to train robotic surgeons for the future. The philosophy of creating the institution is to train any surgeon with a passion to learn robotic surgery and certify them to start robotic surgical programme in different parts of the country. NH Foundation along with Infosys Foundation believes that this is the only way robotic surgery services will be available to the common man of this country.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / August 19th, 2016
CSIR-CFTRI enters into MOU with Karnataka State Mango Development Corporation
Mysuru :
CSIR-Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Karnataka State Mango Development and Marketing Corporation Ltd. (KSMD&MCL) under Department of Horticulture, Government of Karnataka recently for establishing a Mango Development Centre (MDC) at ChintamaniTaluk, Kolar.
As per the agreement, CFTRI will function as a technical consultant for creating infrastructure for post-harvest handling of mangoes. The plant with unit operations such as washing, sorting, pre-cooling, cold storage, pulp extraction and processing will be commissioned by CFTRI under the agreement.
The Institute has developed number of technologies on mangoes which include, Technology protocols for shelf-life extension that enable export of mango var. Alphonso by ship, Fortified mango bar, osmo-air dried mango slices, Ready-To-Serve fruit beverages, fruit syrups and squashes, pickles & chutneys, Jam and jellies. A few of these technologies will be transferred to MDC.
MDC personnel will be trained on processing and quality analysis of products. In turn, the MDC will also impart training to farmers and entrepreneurs.
It may be noted that CSIR-CFTRI has been working with various State government departments for catalysing the growth in the nascent sector such as Nutraceuticals with Karnataka Biotechnology & Information Technology Services (KBITS), skill development in association with Karnataka Council for Technological upgradation (KCTU), Department of Industries and Commerce, ensuring nutritious meal to Hostelmates with Department of Social Justice and providing nutritional supplements to Anganwadis with Department of Women and Child Development.
The MoU documents were exchanged between Prof. Ram Rajasekharan, Director, CFTRI and Kadrigowda, Managing Director, KSMD& MCL, at a simple function held at CFTRI.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / August 12th, 2016
Mahout Dodda Masti passses away
Mysuru :
Dodda Masti (63), the former Mahout of howdah elephant Arjuna during Jumboo Savari, the stellar event of Dasara festivities, passed away at Balle Haadi in D.B. Kuppe forest range this morning after a brief illness.
Dodda Masti, who joined forest service 42 years ago as a kavadi, had handled Arjuna during Jumboo Savaris from 2013 to 2015 before retiring last year. Leading the main elephant is considered a highly demanding job, as the tusker has to carry a 750 kg golden howdah on his back, and managing him through the milling crowd is important.
Dodda Masti, who was associated with howdah elephant Arjuna for over 15 years, was well-known for his skills in taming wild elephants trapped during Khedda and such other operations.
He leaves behind three sons and two daughters. Last rites would be held at Balle Haadi later today.
I will come back if alive: It may be recalled that Dodda Masti, while leaving Mysuru after Dasara-2015, had told Star of Mysore, “I will come back next year if I am alive.”
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / August 11th, 2016
No stings in this tale of celebrating scorpions
Kandkur village in northern Karnataka worships and plays with venomous stingers.
You may have heard of different kinds of fairs including cattle fair. But this village in Yadgir district of Karnataka on Sunday celebrated a “scorpion fair.”
In this annual fair on Nagara Panchami, people not only offer puja to scorpions, but also take these venomous stingers in their hands and allow them to move freely over their bodies.
This year was no exception with scorpion devotees from the district and across the border in Maharashtra, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh converging on the village to celebrate scorpions.
Devotees young and old, women and men thronged the temple on the village hillock where they first offered pooja to Goddess Konddammai who is said to be a scorpion goddess. Later, they searched for scorpions, which were found in plenty under the rocks and the stones of the semi-arid region.
Having caught the venomous insects, the devotees proceeded to play with them. Some let the creatures crawl over their bodies, some pop them into their mouths, letting the insect rest on their tongues for a few minutes. Children, too enjoyed playing with scorpions, exhibiting no fear.
The devotees’ courage stems from the belief that Goddess Kondammai will save them should the scorpion bite.
If bitten, they apply a paste of herbs, largely consisting of turmeric, on the wound. Shankar, a regular to this fair, however, claims that no serious injury or death has occurred so far at the fair over the years.
Government precaution
The State Health Department, however, is taking no chances. Concerned over such a “dangerous tradition”, officials deployed additional doctors at the primary health centre in Kandkur village.
Dr. Diwakar, District Health Officer, cautioned that scorpion bite could turn out to be very dangerous for children below 10 years. “But people don’t heed to our request to desist from touching the scorpions. Hence, we have kept ready a team of doctors for any emergencies,” he told The Hindu.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Karnataka / Ravikumar Naraboli / Kandkur – August 08th, 2016
Excel Public School student attends GSA Summit at New York
Mysuru :
Prithve K. Shekar, a Class X student of Excel Public School (EPS), attended GSA (Global STEM Alliance) Summit, an initiative of The New York Academy of Sciences (NYAS) held at New York recently.
Being the only Indian student selected, Prithve was part of the virtual program by The Junior Academy’s Innovation Challenge for creating novel solutions addressing major planetary challenges.
He was selected to be one among the 123 students from 13 countries to network with international students and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) experts. He was invited for an all-expense paid trip to New York recently for the Award Ceremony, where he also got a chance to interact with top-notch scientists and executives. The team was also invited to the R&D unit of the PepsiCo at New York.
Prithve is the son of Roopa Viswanath and Kiran Shekar residing at Gokulam. It is the second time that an Excelite was selected to the prestigious scholarship of Junior Science Academy, New York.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / August 09th, 2016