Senior advocate Prof. Ravi Verma Kumar is seen offering floral tributes to the portrait of Mahatma Gandhi at Senate Bhavan in Manasagangotri this morning as Gandhians Dr. H.S. Doreswamy, Dr. G. Madegowda, Shanthi N. Badriah, Dr. H. Srinivasaiah, Mysore University Gandhi Bhavan Director Prof. S. Shivarajappa and others look on.
Mysuru :
“It is distressing to note that the principles preached and practiced by Gandhiji, who is being praised by renowned personalities across the world, are vanishing in the very country where the Mahatma was born,” rued Prof. Ravi Verma Kumar, Senior advocate of Karnataka High Court here this morning.
He was speaking after inaugurating the Golden Jubilee celebrations of Gandhi Bhavan of the University of Mysore (UoM), said to be one of the oldest Gandhi Bhavans in India (started in 1965), at Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar Senate Bhavan in Manasagangotri in city.
Regretting that many intelligent students at various Universities across the country, who undertake many progressive activities, were being attacked and branded as anti-nationals for fighting for Freedom of Speech and Expression, the senior advocate said if Gandhiji was alive today, even he (Gandhiji) would have been branded as an anti-national.
Veteran freedom fighter and Gandhian Dr. H.S. Doreswamy, President of Karnataka Gandhi Smaraka Nidhi, Bengaluru, Dr. H. Srinivasaiah, Mandya Gandhi Bhavan Founder-President Dr. G. Madegowda and Gandhian Shanthi N. Badriah were felicitated on the occasion.
Gandhi Bhavan Director Prof. S. Shivarajappa, UoM Registrar Prof. C. Basavaraju and others were present on the occasion.
About UoM’s Gandhi Bhavan: It has a rich history of association with Gandhians and institutions committed to promoting Gandhian philosophy. It also has a collection of books that date back to the pre-independence era and is in the process of establishing a Gandhi Museum to preserve archival materials belonging to Gandhian era and other documents throwing light on Gandhiji’s works.
The foundation stone for the Gandhi Bhavan in city, which was laid on Sept.9, 1960 by the then Chief Minister B.D.Jatti, was inaugurated by former Prime Minister of India Morarji Desai on Jan.31, 1965.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / April 01st, 2016
The collection of stamps and coins is a good hobby which a few pursue. One such philatelist-cum-numismatic is S. Amrutesh, who has kept a low profile after settling down in Mysuru. Very keen to know what efforts the University of Mysore (UoM) was doing to bring out the commemorative stamp and coin during its Centenary celebrations, this shy, reticent, passionate collector opened up to Senior Journalist N. Niranjan Nikam to share his rare collection and the journey thus far.—Ed
S. Amrutesh with his wife Jayanthi.
by N. Niranjan Nikam
If the physically challenged young man had not cajoled me to start the stamp collection, I would never have started this wonderful hobby at all and my life would have been poorer today,” said the tall, erect, shy 83-year-old, even as he started looking at the many stamps and coins, he had spread on the table, through the magnifying glass.
This passionate collector who retired as Manager, Circulation, Times of India, Mumbai, after 36 years of service, settled down in Mysuru almost 24 years ago, was very excited when he heard about the Centenary celebrations of the University of Mysore. He took the stamps of the three Universities of Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai released in 1957, during their Centenary celebrations and rushed to a Professor in the University asking him whether he could do something to bring a commemorative coin and stamp of our University also.
The philatelist-cum-numismatic was very pleased to hear that the University was making all efforts to bring out both the coin and the stamp this year when it completes its Centenary.
Recalling the days when he first landed in the then Bombay to start his work as an apprentice at the Times of India in 1956, the very calm, composed and reticent S. Amrutesh said, “I used to walk on D.N. Road every evening after work and there were all these stamp dealers who were showcasing their wares in shops and makeshift stands. This boy who was differently-abled and was dealing in stamps of all hues and sizes would change the display every three or four days. One day he called me and asked me whether I collected stamps. I replied in the negative.”
The young man would not leave the passerby alone. He told him, “You just start collecting.” But the problem for Amrutesh was he did not have money to buy the stamps. The dealer asked him how much he could afford and he told him not much. He gave Rs. 60 worth of stamps and asked him to clear it in instalments. “I could afford only Rs. 5 a month for which the young man agreed!” he chuckled.
Asked whether he had any other influence on him, Amrutesh said that his uncle who was a Hindi Professor in the University of Mysore was a collector of stamps. But he always used to show a few collections and immediately hide them. When one is young it is common to show interest in collecting matches, marbles, stamps, coins, peacock feathers, dry leaves and flowers keeping them in-between sheets of books, pencils, pens, erasers, sharpeners and the list can go on.
A majority, however, give it up as one grows and the interests change. The passion for such hobbies is something that one needs to cultivate. “Once when the Gandhi Centenary stamp was released, I stood the whole day in the queue as it snaked its way from the GPO to the VT Station. I finally managed to buy the stamps worth Rs. 50 in the evening at 5.”
There are more than 5,000 stamps in his collection. When one looks at them each one is eye-popping. I was privy to a couple of hundreds only as Amrutesh has stacked them in all available spaces in his home — on the lofts, in the almirahs, in the old aluminium trunks and nooks and corners!
The collection of stamps includes First Day Covers. The Royal Mail First Day Cover issued when it completed 500 years is really eye-catching. The Magna Carta, 1215 — Foundation of Liberty reads, “No Free Man Shall Be Seized or Imprisoned…Except by the Lawful Judgment of his Equals or By The Law of the Land. Magna Carta, 1215.”
There is history, romance, knowledge, ideas and excitement when one embarks on such journeys that last a life time. “One day when my husband was out at work, I got a mail from England from my brother-in-law. In the eagerness to read the letter, I just tore the cover open only to realise that it was a First Day Cover featuring Prince Charles and Lady Diana’s Royal Wedding,” said Jayanthi Amrutesh and added, “I was terrified and grief-stricken to face my husband when he returned. All he did was had tears in his eyes. I promised myself that I would never again repeat the mistake.” But she was happy that her brother-in-law sent a new set which she proudly displayed to me.
Amongst the collections, one which caught my eyes again was the new UN Stamp Supporting Gay Rights, a hot topic these days on LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) which the world body has taken note of. “I had asked my son Karthik who lives in the US to send it to me, once he receives it himself at his home, as I was afraid that if I asked for it directly, it would be stolen, something that I had experienced before,” said Amrutesh.
There is also a special commemorative stamp on Mahatma Gandhi printed on Khadi in 2011, as also on First Man on the Moon-1969. The list of stamps include cinema, sports, defence, musicians, composers, freedom fighters, christmas, soccer, birds, wildlife, politicians, tribes of India, sadhus and seers, actors of the likes of Madhubala, playback singers like Lata Mangeshkar, countries that include Pakistan, Canada, New Zealand, Australia and Indonesia.
The brochures that are brought out along with the release of stamps are very informative. For instance, when you read about Nabakalebara, a stamp released in 2015, it gives so much of information that I was inspired to write on it in a Kannada magazine, said Jayanthi.
Coin Collection: Asked when the coin collection began, Amrutesh said that he started collecting them after his retirement. Taking out a collection of coins of England, America and our own country’s old coins which take us back to the ‘good old days,’ when we still used to see the annas, paise (mooru kasu) and the rupee had cent per cent value, Amrutesh said that he has more than 500 coins and still counting.
The Rs. 1000 commemorative coin of Brihadeeshwarar Temple when it completed its 1000 years is a rare collection.
In the present day when hardly anyone writes in post cards, inland letters or airmails, how does one maintain interest in stamps? This question does bother Amrutesh. The attitude of the Postal Department is also something which leaves a lot to be desired.
“The fear of stamps being stolen is always there. Once, I complained to the Royal Mail, England, that I had not received the stamps and the First Day Cover they had sent me. I had written to them after a lot of hesitation thinking that they would ignore my complaint. But I promptly received a fresh set with no questions asked,” he said.
Sadly the same is not true in our country. “I have not received any fresh set of stamps in the last six months. The Post Office in Saraswathipuram is very non-committal,” he added.
He sometimes thinks of quitting but the moment he sees on the internet the stamp on Geological Survey of India released a couple of months ago, “my heart flutters and I feel that I should continue,” said the octogenarian with agony in his voice, even as he answers a phone call from a young stamp collector wanting to know when he is going to get the new set of stamps.
If one is interested in stamp collection, his advise to the collectors is to open a “Philately Deposit Account,” by paying a minimum of Rs. 200 in the Post Office and they would get all the details about the stamps.
However, whether it is philatelist-cum-numismatist Amrutesh, the coin collector R.M. Chetty of the Senior Citizens Forum, Rajarajeshwarinagar or Sanjay Kansal, the coin expert from Delhi — their common interest is to see that the University of Mysore comes out with the Centenary Commemorative Coin and Stamp.
We only hope the Ministries concerned are listening to the call of the collectors.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Feature Articles / March 11th, 2016
Cine actor and Theatre Director Mandya Ramesh has been selected for Rotary Kadamba Theatre Award – 2016, given jointly by Rotary Mysore North and Kadamba Rangavedike.
A native of Mandya, Ramesh, who was interested in theatre since his childhood, was trained at Ninasam. Later, he joined Rangayana under the guidance of B.V. Karanth and worked under directors like C. Basavalingaiah and Prasanna.
He made his debut on silver screen through Shiva Rajkumar starer ‘Janumada Jodi’ and went to act in many movies. Mandya Ramesh won the State Award for Best Supporting Role for the movie ‘Nagamandala.’ He has also built a theatre of his own in Mysuru — ‘Natana Rangamandira’ which has been catering to the needs of many theatre buffs in the city.
The Rotary Kadamba Theatre Award-2016 will be presented by Film Director Nagabharana at a function to be held on Mar. 18 at 6.30 pm, according to a press release from Rajashekara Kadama, President, Kadamba Ranga Vedike.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / March 08th, 2016
Front view of Chaturmukha Basadi; (right) Gerusoppa is very close to Jog Falls
Bengaluru :
Stories of kings and queens always attract the young and the old alike. Indian history is abundant with interesting tales of brave queens. In India, where women strive to emulate Sita, and are often docile and meekly submit without resisting , there were valiant women taking up arms against enemies and often succeeded in their attempts. One such brave ruler was Rani Chennabhairadevi, the queen of Gerusoppa, who ruled for 54 years — the longest reign by any Indian woman ruler.
Gerusoppa, situated on the banks of the river Sharavathi in Uttara Kannada, was under the control of the Vijayanagara kings. In the decentralised Vijayanagara empire, various regions were ruled by royal families known as Mahamandaleshwaras. By the early 1550s, Chennabhairadevi, who belonged to the Saluva dynasty, became the queen. As per the inscriptions, her kingdom extended from south of Goa to Uttara Kannada, Dakshina Kannada and Malabar. This region is known not only for harbours like Bhatkala, Honnavar, Mirjan, Ankola and Baindur but also for pepper.
A brass idol of Chennabhairadevi
Honnavar and Bhatkala served as internal and international, flourishing trading centres. Arabian horses and weapons were imported from the West. Pepper, betel nut and nutmeg were exported to European and Arab countries. Chennabhairadevi found herself at confrontation with the neighbouring rival kingdoms as well as the Portuguese. The attempts of the Keladi kings and Bilgi chieftains to pull the queen down proved futile.
The queen had to resist the Portuguese who tried to grab the ports and take over the trade. She was at war with the Portuguese in 1559 and again in 1570. She crushed the Portuguese army with her intelligent battle strategy. One of the Portuguese chronicles states that during the war of 1570, the Portuguese attacked Honnavar and burnt it to the ground. After the decline of Vijayanagar, Chennabhairadevi dealt with the Portuguese diplomatically, who nicknamed her ‘Raina de Pimenta’ — the Pepper Queen.
A letter sheds more light on the importance of pepper trade with the Portuguese. Affonso Mexia, the Portuguese Captain of Cochin, writes to the King of Portugal: “Between Baticala and Goa there are certain places called Onor, Mergen and Ancola, from which I hear 5,000 crusados worth of pepper are annually shipped… These places are under the dominion of Queen of Guarcopa… This pepper is larger than that in Cochin, but is lighter and not so hot. It appears to me that we ought to secure…”
Queen Chennabhairadvi was a Jain. The Chaturmukha Basadi of Gerusoppa is attributed to her. She gave grants to Shaiva and Vaishnava temples too. Saraswath Brahmin businessmen and skilled Konkani craftsmen took shelter in her kingdom to escape Portuguese persecution. Jain scholars Akalanka and Bhattakalaka were under the Queen’s patronage. She is credited with building the Mirjan Fort and is believed to have lived there for several years.
The Keladi and Bilgi chiefs adopted ‘Unity is Strength’ formula. Matrimonial alliances brought these two families together. The combined forces of Keladi and Bilgi attacked Gerusoppa, finally defeating the Queen. Gerusoppa came under the control of Keladi. The ageing queen was taken prisoner to Keladi and she breathed her last in prison. If the strategy of unity was adopted against the foreign intruders, India’s history could have been different.
Queen Chennabhairadevi projects herself as a powerful woman, when other women stayed indoors under submission. She was the contemporary of the Queen Elizabeth I of England and succeeded in ruling for the longest period against all odds.
(Lakshmi Murthy is the principal of J V Vidyapeetha, Bengaluru. Ravi Hegde is a researcher in the field of biological sciences from NIMHANS. They are working as a team in conserving archaeological, cultural and natural heritage of Uttara Kannada district.)
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Bengaluru / by Lakshmi Murthy & Ravi Hegde / March 07th, 2016
A joint initiative of HKRDB and Calcutta University to document an Ashoka Circuit for Karnataka from Sannati to Siddhapura has been launched.
Head of Ancient History Department of Calcutta University Prof Susmita Basu Majumdar is the Principal Investigator. As part of this expedition, a documentary will be filmed and a pictorial Pali-English-Kannada dictionary will be compiled.
Karnataka has perhaps the largest number of Ashoka sites and those dating back to the 3rd century BC are the earliest legible records found from Afghanistan in the northwest, Andhra Pradesh in the south, Odisha in the east to Girnar in the west. The project will first document all the Ashokan sites in Karnataka and then establish the full circuit from Afghanistan.
A team of three, Prof Susmita Basu Majumdar, artist Rajib Chakraborty and film maker Ranjay Ray Choudhury visited the Chandralaparameshvari temple at Sannati on Sunday, to document the spot where the Ashoka edict was found. They found the original idol of deity Mahakali broken into four pieces lying on the western side of the temple on the banks of river Bhima.
Prof Basu Majundar took the initiative to re-join the idol and narrated the interesting story behind the discovery of the Ashoka inscriptions. In 1986, a portion of the roof of the temple collapsed and caused damage to the 12th century seated four handed figure of goddess Mahakali wearing mundamala and holding damaru, trishula, kapala and sword.
Presently, this beautiful piece of sculpture only shows the trishula and kapala and the other two hands are broken but the temple authorities informed that the present image of Chandraparameshwari which is worshiped in the temple is a replica of the previous Goddess.
The khandita pratima of the deity lying on the banks of Bhima was almost awaiting the visit of this team and when the sculpture was joined it looked as if the beautiful Goddess had reappeared.
The idol base had a protruding pillar like hinge which was fitted into a stone socket. The stone on which the Ashoka inscription was engraved was used to form the base of this deity. When the idol was damaged, the inscription was discovered.
This inscription carried the separate edicts one and two and rock edits 12 and 14 of Ashoka (274-232 BC). Karnakata was the southernmost boundary of the Ashoka’s Mauryan Empire.
This inscription was discovered in 1989. Now the original idol which is about 600 years old is also restored to the temple. The matter is being reported to the ASI for further action.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Karnataka / by Express News Service / March 02nd, 2016
Renovated and upgraded Emergency Room and Trauma Care Centre inaugurated
Star of Mysore Editor-in-Chief K.B. Ganapathy, who released the educative brochure on emergency care and actions to be taken, during the 7th anniversary celebrations of Cauvery Heart and Multi-Speciality Hospital in Siddarthanagar this morning, is seen with (from left) Dr. R. Vaidyanathan, Director of the Hospital, Dr. G.R. Chandrashekar, Chairman, Dr. H.S. Manjunath Bharghava, Director & Trauma Surgeon and B.J. Sandeep Patel, Facility Director.
Mysuru :
As part of the 7th anniversary celebration of Cauvery Heart and Multi-Speciality Hospital in Siddarthanagar, the renovated and upgraded Emergency Room and Trauma Care Centre of the hospital was inaugurated this morning by Star of Mysore Editor-in-Chief K.B. Ganapathy, who also released the educative brochure on emergency care and actions to be taken.
Speaking on the occasion, Ganapathy stressed the need for humane touch, better interaction between patient and medical personnel.
He appreciated the initiative and efforts of Cauvery Heart and Multi-Specialty Hospital Management, Consultants, Doctors, Nurses, Para medical staff and supportive staff to provide the much sought after emergency care facility.
Hospital Chairman Dr. G.R. Chandrashekar and staff were present on the occasion.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / February 17th, 2016
Rachel Althea Sequeira from Mangaluru has topped the Consortium of Medical, Engineering and Dental Colleges of Karnataka’s (COMEDK) Post Graduate Entrance Test (PGET) in the medical stream while Siddharth Datta Bandodkar from Goa topped the dental category.
The results were announced on Thursday and the counselling will begin shortly.
The first three toppers in the medical stream are from Karnataka. Anand K N N and Devesh Sanjeev Ballal, both from Bengaluru, secured the second and third rank respectively. In the dental stream, the second topper is B S Sai Harinath from Telangana and the third topper Shilpi Tiwari from Uttar Pradesh.
The entrance test for admissions to postgraduate medical and dental courses in unaided colleges in Karnataka was held on January 17, 2016. For the first time, COMEDK conducted the test online at 141 centres in 72 cities across the country.
As many as 17,482 candidates applied for the medical test, but only 16,577 of them took it. In the dental stream, the number of examinees was 4,462 as against 4,659 applicants.
Out of the first 1,000 rank holders, 248 had scored more than 70 per cent marks in the MBBS examination, 287 between 66 and 70 per cent, 395 between 60 and 65 per cent and the remaining 70 less than 60 per cent but more than the minimum marks required.
In dental stream
In the dental stream, out of the first 1,000 rank holders, 216 had scored more than 70 per cent marks in the BDS course, 280 between 66 and 70 per cent, 426 between 60 and 65 per cent and the remaining 78 students less than 60 per cent but more than the minimum marks required.
source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> States / DHNS, Bengaluru – February 05th, 2016
One of the oldest charitable hospitals in Mysuru is Kamakshi Hospital, a multi-specialty hospital run by Bantwal Sulochana Madhava Shenoy (BSMS) Trust. Located in the heart of the city at Saraswathipuram, the hospital has been catering to the health needs of middle class, lower middle class and the poor.
Star of Mysore and Mysooru Mithra printing unit was close to this hospital, enjoying a cordial relationship with its genial, ever smiling, kind and compassionate Dr. K.R. Kamath as its administrator, till the unit was shifted to its present location in the year 1989.
Kamakshi Hospital is the brain child of philanthropists late Bantwal Madhava Shenoy and Sulochana Madhava Shenoy, the famous Ganesha Beedi Baron of Mysuru, who wanted to serve people by providing them quality health facilities at affordable rates.
The hospital was started on Apr. 23, 1973 with 16 beds and today, it has grown to a 220-bedded hospital, all because of the dedication put in by the Trustees and the members of the Trust.
The foundation stone for the hospital was laid during the 70th birthday celebrations of Madhava Shenoy. After the hospital became operational during April 1973, the first Operation Theatre was started on Nov. 19, 1973. Today, the hospital has nine state-of-the-art Operation Theatres (OT) with expert OT staff to assist the surgeons.
BSMS Trust, which has been managing the hospital, is constantly upgrading the hospital according to the advancements in the medical field. The popularity of the hospital is such that around 300 patients on an average come to get themselves checked at the OPD everyday.
The credit for developing the hospital goes to the previous Managing Trustee M. Vinod Rao, the fourth son of Madhava Shenoy, who served as the Managing Trustee for 10 years.
He is credited for his vision to bring more facilities to the hospital and provide quality health service to the patients. When he took over as the Managing Trustee, the hospital was 96-bedded but on the day he left, the hospital was developed into a 220-bedded multi-specialty hospital.
Vinod Rao’s younger brother Vishwanth Rao, who was the Managing Trustee for more than two decades, is also credited for safeguarding the Trust’s property before handing over the reins to Vinod Rao, who took over for the second time.
Speaking to Star of Mysore, BSMS Trust’s Managing Trustee, the young and dynamic, Mahesh Shenoy, son of Vinod Rao, said that it was because of his father’s vision that the hospital saw a lot of development and emerged as one of the finest hospitals in city.
Significantly, the Trust has never faced problems from the employees as there has always been a cordial relationship in the true spirit of running a charitable hospital.
Vinod Rao, who was an active partner of Mangalore Ganesh Beedi, chose to come out of the business and involve totally in charity and social service works. He has made sure that his children, his brothers and their children are also involved in social service through this hospital. More importantly, it is one of the spacious, airy and clean hospitals in the city. A model for a Swachh Hospital Abhiyan. Surely, Kamakshi Hospital is a role model for any hospital run as a charitable hospital.
The Trust, which is currently run by the grandchildren of Madhava Shenoy, on Founder’s Day every year, makes sure to honour doctors and staff for the service they have rendered to the hospital. Employees, who have completed 25 years of service, are felicitated during the event.
Talking about the future plans, Mahesh Shenoy, the Managing Trustee, said that the Trust has plans to expand the activities of blood bank by adding Blood Components Separation Unit.
“There is also a plan to install an MRI scanner to add to the present facilities. The OPD and the emergency unit will be renovated in the coming days. There is also a need for a bigger and better medical stores to provide medicines 24×7 to patients at the hospital as well as the general public,” he added.
The BSMS Trust will soon take up the construction of another hospital in J.P. Nagar which will provide similar services as the one in Saraswathipuram. The construction of the hospital is set to begin once the clearance is given from the government agencies. Once the hospital is functional, people living in the J.P. Nagar, surrounding areas and villages will be benefited.
Kamakshi Hospital, apart from being known for offering health services at an affordable price, is known for its cleanliness. Though the inflow of patients is more, the hospital authorities have made sure to provide a clean and serene atmosphere for the patients.
The hospital has a total of 400 employees who have been working in different shifts to take care of patients and their needs. A total of 40 consulting doctors visit hospital every day to attend the patients at the OPD from 9 am to 1 pm and 3.30 pm to 7.30 pm.
Dr. K.R. Kamath, the Administrator of the hospital, has been working at the hospital since day one. It has been almost 43 years since Dr. Kamath joined Kamakshi Hospital. Dr. C. Umesh Kamath, who is the Medical Superintendent, has been serving the hospital for more than 15 years now.
Kamakshi Hospital is also visited by many eminent surgeons like Dr. C.G. Narasimhan (General Surgeon), Dr. Ajay Hegde (Orthopaedic Surgeon), Dr. M.G. Anil Kumar and Dr. Kumar (Paediatric Surgeons), Dr. C.D. Sreenivasa Murthy (Physician), Dr. Shivakumar (General Surgeon), Dr. B.S. Jayaraj (Pulmonologist), Dr. Roopa Prakash (Gynaecologist) and Dr. M.S. Vishweshwara (Oncologist).
The BSMS Trust is offering free education at the Bruhaspathacharya School for children from poor background. This apart, the Trust has also plans to start orphanage and old age homes in the days to come. It has also helped around 200 children with various congenital anomalies to undergo procedures free of cost.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Feature Articles / February 14th, 2016
Want to be aggressive like Gordon James Ramsay, the Scottish-born British chef and restaurateur. Or would you like to be the likeable and lovable judges of MasterChef Australia, George Calombaris, Matt Preston or Gary Mehigan?
Star Chef, a mobile game developed by Udupi-based 99Games, is making waves on the iPhone. Revenue from the app has just crossed $5 million on Apple’s App Store, giving an indication of its popularity among people trying to becoming a MasterChef in the virtual world.
Anila Andrade, associate vicepresident-operations, says: Star Chef is a lovingly crafted cooking and restaurant management game where players progress from chefs to five-star chefs, and expand their restaurant business in the process.
“The game mainly targets women aged 20-55 and those who love cooking-related apps and games.When players begin, they start off as an amateur chef and are given a small restaurant space with one cooking appliance. Customers start dropping in, requesting different items from the menu. While the menu catalogue is limited during the initial phases, newer recipes are unlocked as the game progresses,” Anila says.
There are eight to 10 cuisines – American, French, Korean, Italian, et al – and over 100 recipes to unlock as the game evolves. The player can purchase ingredients for the menu from in-game supermarkets. Eventually, the backyard is opened up, where they can farm and produce their own organic veggies.
The game has several fun social features, including an option to trade their produce with other realtime players via a Food Truck.
Star Chef was launched worldwide on the iOS platform in August 2014. The game is free to download and players can spend on the game eventually to buy upgrades like cook ing appliances, restaurant decor and other ingredients and goodies.
Star Chef is available in English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Korean, Simplified and Traditional Chinese. “The game is showing strong potential when it comes to numbers. Where the most popular cooking TV show, Master Chef has a run time of 40 minutes, Star Chef has an average game time per day of 42 minutes including different sessions,” notes Anila.
“While it took us around six months to reach our first $500,000, it took us about nine months to get to $5 million,” she notes. The game is growing 20-25% month on month in revenue. 99Games has 16 games in their catalogue so far. Star Chef is their 15th game. She attributes success of Star Chef to a great combination of a good concept that has a universal theme (cooking), art, technology , analytics and well-targeted user acquisition. All these play a very important role in defining a great game with good monetization capabilities, she adds.
An Android version is already in development. The pilot launch will be done in Canada and Australia next week.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Mangalore / by Stanley Pinto, TNN / December 23rd, 2016
