Category Archives: Records, All

‘Rajya Sangeetha Vidwan ‘ award presented

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Records, All
District Minister Dr. H.C. Mahadevappa, who inaugurated the Dasara cultural programmes at Mysore Palace premises in city yesterday, is seen presenting 'Rajya Sangeetha Vidwan Award-2016' to Pandit Somnath Mardur on the occasion.
District Minister Dr. H.C. Mahadevappa, who inaugurated the Dasara cultural programmes at Mysore Palace premises in city yesterday, is seen presenting ‘Rajya Sangeetha Vidwan Award-2016’ to Pandit Somnath Mardur on the occasion.

Mysuru :

PWD and District Minister Dr. H.C. Mahadevappa launched cultural programmes organised as part of Dasara festival at the glittering platform erected in front of the Palace yesterday.

The Minister also presented the prestigious ‘Rajya Sangeetha Vidwan Award-2016’ to Pandit Somnath Mardur.

Later speaking, Dr. Mahadevappa said poet Channaveera Kanavi, who inaugurated Dasara festivities and Pandit Somnath Mardur, both hailed from Dharwad, which is widely known for freedom movement, cultural and literary activities, just like Mysuru.

Recalling the contribution of the erstwhile Mysuru rulers in the promotion of music and cultural activities, the Minister said that this rich tradition can be seen in Dasara cultural programmes.

Pointing out that Pandit Somnath Mardur is an unassuming musician who has many achievements to his credit, the Minister said he felt happy to present the prestigious award to him.

Noting that many musicians have triumphed amidst great difficulties faced by them, the Minister said that Karnataka was in the forefront in promoting music and arts.

Speaking after receiving the award, Pandit Somnath Mardur said he felt too happy about receiving the award at Mysuru, the cultural capital of the State.

Stating that he would dedicate the award to Pandit Puttaraj Gawai and all his other Gurus, Mardur sought the blessing of everyone for continuing his musical journey.

Following the inauguration, Pooja Rajesh and team from Bengaluru presented a dance- drama titled ‘Jeeva Jala.’ Later, singer Chaitra and team presented a musical performance, which delighted the audience.

MLA M.K. Somashekar presided. DC D. Randeep, ADC T. Venkatesh, Kannada & Cuture Dept. Principal Secretary S.R. Umashankar, Director K.A. Dayananda and Jt. Director Balawant Rao Patil were present.

Dasara cultural programmes were also being held at Jaganmohan Palace, Town hall, Chikka Gadiyara, Kalamandira and Ganabharathi, with art connoisseur attending in large numbers.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com  / Star of Mysore / Home> General News > October 02nd, 2016

City girl packs a punch, wins bronze at taekwondo event

Education, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Records, All, Sports, World Opinion
Divya Nangaru Prabhakar with her parents, N.V. Prabhakar and T.M. Kusumavathi
Divya Nangaru Prabhakar with her parents, N.V. Prabhakar and T.M. Kusumavathi

We only hope that the State government or any sports organisation comes forward to help us and the girl realise her dreams T.M. Kusumavathi , Divya’s mother

Divya Nangaru Prabhakar is a reserved teenager, but she packs a punch, literally.

The 15-year-old city girl sheds her inhibition when she’s performing taekwondo. With little financial support but plenty of grit and determination, she won India a bronze at the Junior International Taekwondo Federation (ITF) World Championship three weeks ago.

“My dream is to head to the Olympics next,” said Divya who competed in the 70-kg category. According to her coach Pradeep Janardhana, her “power kicks” give her an edge. “It took five years of rigorous practice for me to get used to punches, kicks, power blows and knocks with rapid spinning in Taekwondo. Bagging the bronze was exhilarating,” says Divya, a class 10 student of Nava Prajna Public School on Whitefield Airport Road.

“It was rewarding to be there on the podium representing India. I owe this to my coach, school and my parents,” she said.

But it’s been an uphill struggle for the family “My father, N.V. Prabhakar retired from the Army, while my mother, T.M. Kusumavathi is a staff nurse at Vani Vilas Hospital. With their income they have strived to see my dreams take shape,” she said.

Taekwondo demands protein-rich food and daily practice. “This is something we provide Divya. For her practice sessions she has to travel 25 kilometres to Amruthahalli from Marathahalli at 5 a.m. regularly,” said Kusumavathi.

“It cost us Rs.1.75 lakh to participate in the Taekwondo World Championships at Italy. We have to repay this loan. We only hope that the State government or any sports organisation comes forward to help us and the girl realise her dreams,” is Kusumavathi’s appeal.

Divya has also won medals at the State and national level. “I am getting used to the punches. Sometimes I hurt my lips and they bleed, but that’s what martial arts is all about.”

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Bengaluru / by Ranjani Govind / Bengaluru – October 03rd, 2016

The Mahatma’s days in Namma Bengaluru

Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Leaders, Records, All

Momentous moments

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Mahatma Gandhi visited Bengaluru for the first time on May 8, 1915, four months after he returned from South Africa.

A photograph of a young Gandhi and his wife Kasturba, taken during this visit is one of the many that are on display at a week-long exhibition that began at the Rangoli Art Center at Metro station on Mahatma Gandhi Road on Sunday.

Vemgal Somashekhara, a former teacher from Kolar who wrote a book on Gandhi’s visits to Bengaluru, ‘Bengalurinalli Mahatma Gandhi’, explained the significance of Gandhi’s first visit.

Gopal Krishna Gokhale had passed away in February that year and Gandhi had come to Bengaluru for a condolence service organised for his mentor, said Somashekhara.

“Gandhi looks very different in the picture compared to his later avatar. He is seen wearing a ‘topi’ and a kurta in the picture. By the time he comes here for the second time in 1920, we see a different Gandhi, clad in only a dhoti.”

The exhibition is based on pictures and texts from Somashekhara’s book.
Between 1915 and 1936, Gandhi would visit the city a total of five times. Pointing at an old picture of the Eidgah Khuddus Saheb on Miller’s Road, Somashekhara said, “In 1920 on his second visit, Gandhi visited the Eidgah Khuddus Saheb and stayed in the city only for half a day. However, this short visit saw a gathering of around 40,000 people in and around the Cantonment. Such a huge gathering was never seen before.”

Then, there is a picture of the Mahatma getting down from a train at Yeshwantpur and offering prayers at the platform. This is from his third and the longest visit to the city in 1927.

Another picture shows Gandhi on a visit to the Imperial Dairy College in Adugodi (now the National Dai­ry Research Centre) flanked by William Smith, the then director of the college and nationalist leader Madan Mohan Malviya.

“Gandhi stayed in Bengaluru for 87 days during this visit and visited various places. He stayed at the Nandi Hills for 42 days,” said Somashekhara.

It was in 1990 that Somashekhara took interest in chronicling Gandhi’s visit and stay at Nandi Hills. Later, he expanded his project to include Gandhi’s visit to Bengaluru and published his book in 2006.

source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> City / DHNS – Bengaluru, October 03rd, 2016

Eminent psychiatrist Ashok Pai dies at 69

Leaders, Records, All, Science & Technology

Shivamogga :

Noted psychiatrist, chairman of the state’s mental health task force and award-winning film producer, Dr KA Ashok Pai, died of a massive heart attack in Scotland in the early hours of Friday. The 69-year-old was at an international conference with his wife Dr Rajani Pai.

According to his family, Pai, who landed in Scotland three days ago, had a heart problem on Thursday night and was rushed to hospital  where he passed away. His body is expected to reach Shivamogga on Saturday or early Sunday.

Pai was committed to promoting mental health among people and set up the Manasa Trust, which treated lakhs of patients suffering from mental diseases. He would produce films which highlighted the problems of mental health. His films Prathama Ushakirana and Kadina Benki and tele-serial Antarala  bagged awards.

Pai was a writer, brilliant orator, TV presenter on psychoanalysis, environmentalist/filmmaker Suresh Heblikar said. Pai felt psychiatry shouldn’t be restricted within the confines of a counselling chamber… he wanted to popularize it as a treatment available to all, he added.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India /News Home> City News> Bangalore / TNN / October 01st, 2016

Bengaluru researchers discover rat-like mammal species in Sikkim Himalayas

Green Initiatives / Environment, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Nature, Records, All, Science & Technology

Bengaluru :

When PhD student Nishma Dahal  embarked on her first trip to east Sikkim, little did she know it would lead to a stunning discovery in the eastern Himalayas . The efforts of Nishma and other researchers from National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS) have led to the identification of a new species of pika, a mammal which resembles a tailless rat.

ratbf27sept2016

The new species, Ochotona sikimaria, is an important part of the ecosystem and is vulnerable to climate change. Members of the rabbit family, pikas have been in the news in North America for their sensitivity to increasing temperature, which has caused several populations to go extinct. Pikas live on high altitudes in mountianeous regions, which makes them more susceptible to habitat loss due to the increasing global temperature.

The discovery was a great challenge for Nishma as most pika species closely resemble one another. She started her work by collecting pika pellets to extract the DNA and identify the species.

Though the pellets are puny, Nishma was successful in amplifying the mammal’s DNA from them. When Nishma compared these DNA sequences to those of other pika species in the world, she found them to be quite different. But this was only the beginning of her mission.

To prove it was indeed a new species, Nishma had to compare the Sikkim pika to its close relatives, which are found in China. It took Nishma and Uma Ramakrishnan, whose laboratory at NCBS led the study, two years to build collaborations with researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Zoological Museum of Moscow and Stanford University  to get detailed data on the sister species.

The NCBS research reveals while Ochotona sikimaria appears similar to the Moupin pika (found in China), they are quite distinct from a genetic and ecological perspective. So far, the new species seems to be limited to Sikkim. The NCBS team searched for the Sikkim pika in other Himalayan regions, including  Arunachal Pradesh, central Nepal (Annapurna and Langtang), Ladakh and Spiti but to no avail.
All is not well for this tiny mammal, says Nishma. “Unlike other mammalian species inhabiting such harsh environments, Pikas do not hibernate. They prepare for winter by collecting and storing hay piles. We must investigate their vulnerability to increasing global temperatures, and to do so we must better understand their ecology and population dynamics. Such information is lacking in the case of Asian Pikas,” she said.
“The opportunity to work on Himalayan biodiversity has been amazing, and I have learned how little we know about our own species. Pikas are ecosystem engineers, and we must understand more about them to protect them,” said Uma. The study has been published in the journal Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City News> Bangalore / TNN / September 27th, 2016

School reunion: Old boys look back at happy days

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, Records, All

Bengaluru :

They had grown up together on the same campus. And when they returned to their alma mater, St. Germain High School, on Sunday, it was time to soak in memories through the day.

About 600-odd alumni turned up for the annual general meeting of the Old Boys’ Association of St. Germain High School, Promenade Road, Fraser Town.

The day started with a holy mass, followed by hoisting the school flag and singing the anthem. Resolutions were passed and a new alumni team constituted.

After hours of celebrations, the old boys concluded the day with a group photograph.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City News> Bangalore / TNN / September 26th, 2016

Capturing poetry in stone

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Records, All, Travel
A picture from ‘Beluru Halebeedu Shilpa Kalasamrajya’ by Pundalika Kalliganuru.
A picture from ‘Beluru Halebeedu Shilpa Kalasamrajya’ by Pundalika Kalliganuru.

D.V. Gundappa, a prominent poet of Karnataka, had penned 60 Kannada poems in his book ‘Antahpura Geetegalu’ in 1950 after being mesmerised by the dexterous chisel of the stone sculptures at Belur.

After that poetic attempt, a book, ‘Belu-Halebeedu Shilpakala Saamrajya’, brought out by Kikkeri Publications, Bengaluru, tells tales through the photography of illustrator and photographer Pundalika Kalliganuru.

The pictures in the book are also enhanced with commentaries, verses, and hymns penned by Pramod Nallur and Kalliganuru.

The 400-page book, with around 2,000 pictures, is a compilation of Mr. Kalliganuru’s four years of painstaking effort.

Assisted by other photographers, such as Mahalingu, Deepu, M. Viswanath and Vipin Baliga, the work of the 10th century Hoysala sculptors of the Jakkanachari style comes through splendidly in the book.

“If you see the grandeur of Hoysala architecture you will know that sculptors created more than 1,500 Hoysala temples. Belur and Halebeedu were their signature works. I wanted to showcase them pictorially giving them a huge spread,” says Kalliganuru.

“Amongst the 5,000 pictures clicked in four years, I felt bad that 3,000 could not be accommodated. This speaks of the specifics of detailing in each stone sculpture of Belur and Halebdu,” he adds.

The assortment in the stone art made Kalliganuru present his pictures in 39 chapters with nearly 10 categorisations of the sculptures.

“The carvings are intensely soaked in their explicit details. The only way that I could mirror them was shoot them in both natural sun and in rain where they reflected their true poetry in stone,” says Kalliganuru.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Bengaluru / by Ranjani Govind / Bengaluru – September 26th, 2016

City Artist Ganjifa Raghupathi Bhat Honoured in USA

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Records, All, World Opinion
Artist Ganjifa Raghupathi Bhat with his paintings at Arizona, USA.
Artist Ganjifa Raghupathi Bhat with his paintings at Arizona, USA.

Arizona, USA :

The Mayor of the City of Tempe, Arizona, USA, Mark W. Mitchell, has honoured the well-known Mysuru artist Ganjifa Raghupathi Bhat, a visiting artist at the local temple, by declaring September 16, 2016 as Sri Ganjifa Raghupathi Bhat Day in Tempe, Arizona.

This honour is for his two painting masterpieces of Hanumantha and Garuda, two Hindu mythological characters, for the temple in Sri Venkatakrishna Kshetra, Tempe, established by Sri Sri Sugunendra Theertha Swamiji, the 30th pontiff in the lineage of Puthige Matha, Udupi, India.

The proclamation of the Mayor says that his paintings are exhibited in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. He is also the first artist to revive the dying ancient Indian art of Ganjifa miniature painting and has done much acclaimed work in the field.

He is also known as a restorer of ancient, heritage paintings and buildings like temples and Palaces. His restoration work of walls and ornate pillars at the Mysore Palace was much appreciated by the connoisseurs and qualified experts.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / September 19th, 2016

Global food with an Indian twist on wheels

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Records, All, Travel

7thSinBF30aug2016

Food trucks may not be new to Bengaluru but one run on women power alone is a novel and refreshing sight. Founder Archana Singh and CEO Praveena Nandu along with the all-women team of five launched the food truck in Bagmane Tech park on Monday. And it is already a hit with customers.

After years of working in corporate communication, Archana left to pursue her two passions- children and food. Heading operations for a pre-school chain, she fulfilled the first. She had been playing with the idea of starting a food truck for two years before she founded the company, 7th Sin Hospitality Services in November last year.

“When the remodelling of the truck delayed the launch, I got an offer from a corporate to run a bistro on their premises.” Archana said. With the bistro up and running, it was time for the truck to roll out. The ‘Glocal’ cuisine they serve at the bistro got the corporates interested.

The food truck too serves the same food. One can find unusual items on their menu- malai tikka pasta, quesadillas with Chettinad chicken filling, paan cheesecake- essentially, global food with an Indian twist. “Since gluttony is the seventh sin, I thought this would be an appropriate name, Our portions are also large, in keeping with this,” Archana said.

Having been independent all her life, she wanted women from all strata of society to be able to experience the same freedom. Most of the women she hires, be it at the bistro, the truck or the central kitchen in Mahadevapura, are from underprivileged families, often school dropouts and victims of domestic abuse. Archana wanted to empower such women to become financially independent and get a new lease of life.

“I believe that with training, unskilled labour can be converted to talented workers.” she said.  Professional chefs in the company train the women and according to Archana, now they cook just as well as them.  Hemavathi, who studied till class 10, said: “This is my first job and I love the work. It is a new experience for me and it feels good to be earning.”

The food truck will be open for business six days of the week, parking in colleges, IT parks, at events and even birthday parties. On Sundays, the truck will park in different parts of the city to provide free food to those in need of it.
The truck is already grabbing attention of other states with people from Hyderabad and Chennai asking if franchises could be opened in those cities. Praveena Nandu, CEO, said, “It’s been less than a week but the response has been great. People are being drawn in by curiosity and we are being invited for many events.”
DH News Service

source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> City / by Meghana Chaukkar / Bengaluru – DHNS, August 30th, 2016