Monthly Archives: August 2012

Kumble’s call to save rare birds

Green Initiatives / Environment, Nature, Sports

Caption: Cameramen taking shelter from the rain under an umbrella along with Anil Kumble as they and the villagers run for cover.

Mysore, Aug. 8- Former cricketer Anil Kumble has given a call to save rare species of birds by creating an environment which will aid their breeding.

Anil Kumble, who is also the Vice-Chairman of the State Wildlife Board, was on a visit to Naguvanahalli and Chandagalu on the banks of River Cauvery in Sriranapatna yesterday.

The place is known for breeding of many small birds like blue-tailed bee eaters, white breasted king fisher, pipit, bushchat etc., which nest on boulders or bushes. However in recent days, many who come to the river to wash clothes put them for drying on the ground and on boulders, thereby hindering nesting of the birds. Sand mining in the area too has led to the decrease in birds nesting here.

Following complaints about this from the local villagers, bird-watchers and wildlife photographers, Anil Kumble took note of the situation from the villagers and Gram Panchayat members present there.

Speaking to media persons, Kumble said that the place used to see birds numbering to thousands, which has now drastically reduced. If the same continues, the birds may stop coming here.

Observing the clothes dried on the ground and sand mining, Kumble discussed with forest officials about the measures to be taken to ban such activities. “Steps will be taken to fence around 7 acres of surrounding land where birds breed and a guard will be appointed to safeguard the place,” he said.

APCCF Shivananda Murthy, Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary Forest Officer M. Shivappa, Village head Javaregowda and others were present during Kumble’s visit.

source: http://www.StarofMysore.com / General News / August 08th, 2012

Students celebrate national year of Mathematics

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education

Bangalore:

Infosys Science Foundation in association with Sishu Griha Montessori and High School organized an inter-school mathematics fest ‘Limit Infinity – The Number Games’. The day-long event on Saturday witnessed participation from over 160 students from 25 schools in the city.

“The Limit Infinity fest was aimed at inspiring a love for Mathematics and to help eliminate the fear of Math in young minds. With the year 2012-13 being celebrated as the ‘National Year of Mathematics’ in India in honor of the renowned mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan’s 125th birth anniversary, we thought it apt to organize this fest to demystify Math and overcome the myths and fallacies associated with numbers. The aim was also to encourage students to pursue the field of Math in future,” said Sujatha Mohandas, the principal of Sishu Griha School.

The event hosted interesting sessions that focused on combining Math and fun, while engaging youngsters in group discussions, quizzes, and relay of problem solving sessions. Presentations and a skit on the life of Ramanujan by the Sishu Griha students were also organized to help children understand the application of Math in day-to-day lives.

K Dinesh, co-founder Infosys said, “It is important to encourage and influence the young minds in our country to pursue Math at advanced levels and bring back the romance in this field of study. Limit Infinity, organized by Sishu Griha and Infosys Science Foundation is our effort in this direction. I am sure it demonstrated how exciting a subject Mathematics can be.

source: http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / Home> City> Bangalore> Mathematics / TNN / August 05th, 2012

Mysore’s own pak, a piece of royalty that melts

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links, Pre-Independence

Mysore:

Break a small piece, put it into your mouth and wait for it to melt… the three simple steps to savouring the world famous ‘Mysore Pak’.

The sweet dish was first prepared in the royal kitchen of Mysore Palace during the regime of Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV. It stole the hearts of the royals then and continues to be the preferred take-home sweet for every visitor who comes to the heritage city.

Shivananda S, owner of a premium sweet store which has been serving the traditional sweet for 90 years, says the royal sweet has not lost its ground though it is almost a century old. People still prefer it the way they used to in the previous decades.

The sweet dish is prepared by adding generous amounts of ghee, sugar and gram flour. Many people buy it in large quantities during festivals and functions. But there is no season in the year when Mysore pak is sold any less. The demand remains the same throughout the year.

Shishir M, a student, who was seen buying the sweet, said: “We received guests from Udupi and they wanted to taste the speciality of the city. So I am here buying Mysore pak.” He got two kg of the sweet packed separately for the guests to take back to Udupi.

Sweet shops prepare a variety of Mysore pak including special Mysore pak, butter Mysore and ordinary Mysore pak.

Ashish Gupta of Bombay Tiffanys Annex shop on Devaraj Urs Road reveals that most of the time it is North Indians who buy Mysore pak from his shop. The demand increases during Dasara. “On a normal day, we sell about 50kg of the sweet. But during Dasara it goes up to 70kg. We also have customers who buy the sweet in large quantities and send it to their friends abroad,” he added.

The first sweet

The royal sweet was prepared in the palace kitchen by then cook Kakasura Madappa. Legend has it that the cook prepared a mixture of besan, ghee and sugar to prepare a new kind of sweet. The sweet that emerged delighted the royalty. When asked what it was called, Madappa did not have a name for it, so he simply called it ‘Mysore pak’. The name stayed and the sweet became the ‘Royal Sweet’. Later, his son Basavanna opened ‘Guru Sweets’ on Sayyaji Rao Road, which has been serving the authentic Mysore pak for the last nine decades. Shivananda S, who is the fourth generation of the family, says: “We still follow the same recipe our ancestors followed and use the same ingredients,” he said.

source: http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / Home> City> Mysore / by Yashaswini S N, TNN / August 06th, 2012

Wooden replica of palace being made for the visually impaired

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Records, All

They can touch the model to get an idea of the palace’s structure

Tourists with visual impairment can soon feel the majestic architecture of the iconic Amba Vilas Palace or the Mysore palace, which is in its centenary year.

A satin-lined wooden replica of the architectural wonder is being made, and it will be placed at the entrance of the palace (near Gombe Totti) so visually impaired visitors can touch the model to get an idea of the structure.

Braille guides

As the popular tourist destination also attracts a limited number of visually impaired visitors, the Mysore Palace Board, the caretaker of the structure, recently published the Palace Guide in Braille.

The Braille guides are available at the office of the board, and are given for reference on request.

The Braille guides were released at the celebration of the 150th birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda on the palace premises.

Ready soon

Deputy Director of the board T.S. Subramanya told The Hindu that the replica of the palace may be ready in a fortnight.

“Though the number of visually impaired visitors is very low, we do not want to deprive them of knowing more about the palace by going through the Braille guide and feeling the wooden replica,” he said.

Mr. Subramanya said: “The model is roughly three ft long and two ft wide. It is being designed by a person who has experience in making intricate handicrafts.”

He said an association of persons with visual impairments based in Mysore took nine palace guides in Braille for their library. At present, the board has five Braille guides that were printed at the Government Printing Press for Braille here. “Each book cost us Rs. 300. If necessary, we will order more such guides.”

Guiding devices

Sources in the board said it had plans to introduce wrist-mounted electronic devices for visitors with visual impairments, for navigation inside and outside the palace court.

“The information about the attractions and how to access them will be fed into the device, which will guide the visitors. Two such devices would be procured soon,” they added.

source: http://www.TheHindu.com / Home> National> Karnataka / by Shankar Bennur / Mysore, August 02nd, 2012

‘Tiger Ashok Kumar’ retires

Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Leaders, Records, All


Caption: A file photo of Governor H.R. Bhardwaj presenting President’s Medal to ACP B.B. Ashok Kumar.

Mysore, Aug. 2

ACP B.B. Ashok Kumar, nicknamed Tiger Ashok Kumar for his valorous feats, retired on Tuesday.

He earned the epithet of Tiger when he was PSI at Ulsoor Police Station, B’lore for chasing and catching chain-snatchers.

He won the President’s Medal thrice and CM’s medal once. Other Police officers who won the President’s Medal thrice are Shankar Bidari, Gopal Halsur and G.A. Bawa.

Biddanda Ashok Kumar, hails from Parane village in Kodagu.

He was a terror for criminals and is credited with 18 encounters. While being a part of STF to nab Veerappan, Ashok Kumar had slain 13 accomplices of the brigand and shot down three notorious anti-social elements.

His promotion to DCP was challenged by some at KAT. It is said that even though KAT favoured Ashok Kumar, he was deprived owing to petty politics.

Finally, when the order for promotion came last month, some petitioned against it at High Court. The court’s verdict was expected on the very day he was to retire. Ironically, the court deferred the verdict to a further date.

source: http://www.StarofMysore.com / General News / August 02nd, 2012

School Leadership Development Program to empower teachers

Education, Leaders

Mysore:

The rural kids studying at the government schools in Tirumakudlu Narsipur will get some special lessons.

They will be told the importance of leadership and their skills will be honed by their head masters or head mistress, who will be trained by experts to empower them to take lead in their assignments. An initiative of the Azim Premji Foundation aimed at improving the quality of primary education, the Vivekananda Institute for Leadership Development (V-LEAD), which is  Swami Vivekananda Youth Movement (SVYM), will train the head of the primary and higher primary schools in the district asking them to take leadership in addressing the issues locally. Be it addressing the concerns raised by the parents or challenged related to infrastructure, the HMs will be trained to handle them independently so that such issues doesn’t affect the education of the kids.

The School Leadership Development Program (SLDP) is devised based on the premise that the quality of leadership directly influences the quality of education imparted. Over the next two years, HMs and cluster resource persons (CRPs) will be trained. The CRPs are tasked with monitoring 10 schools. The training sessions were formally launched on Thursday at the V-LEAD. In the first installment, HMs and CRPs in T Narsipur will be trained. The Sarva Siksha Abhiyaan and UNICEF are supporting the SLDP. The Azim Premji Foundation leader M Manjunath said at the inauguration that the quality of education primarily depends on the teachers and there is need for capacity building among the teachers serving in the government schools. The SVMY founder Dr R Balasubramaniam said teachers should stay put at the villages for increased focus on their students.

The Block Education Officer (BEO) will select the HMs and the CRPs for the batches, who will have in-house training and also visit the fields. “We will ask the trainees to locate the challenges they are facing and work on it when they are here,” the V-LEAD’s team leader (Education Leadership Management) Bellegowda said. The training sessions are spread over 15 weeks and they will have in-house training for 22 days. The Azim Premji Foundation has selected us for the project, he told The Times of India. The V-LEAD will implement the SLDP in Mysore, Chamarajnagar, Kodagu and Mandya districts starting with Mysore’s three educational blocks-T Narsipur, Mysore rural and Krishnarajnagar.

There are 229 HMs in T Narsipur taluk, who will undergo training first. The HMs who will have at least 4 years of service are favoured since they need time to implement what they pick up during training at their schools.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / Home> City> Mysore / HM Aravind, TNN / August 02nd, 2012

Avnet’s X-fest Breaks Records in Bangalore

Records, All, Science & Technology

More than 300 engineers scramble to attend global technical seminar

Bangalore, India

Avnet’s X-fest 2012 ( http://www.xfest.avnetasia.com/ ) global seminar series, which took place in Bangalore on July 17, set a new country attendance record by attracting more than 300 engineers, more than doubling the number of attendees who attended the same event last time and significantly exceeding the expected 200 attendees. The X-fest series of one-day training events for FPGA, ARM MCUs, DSP and embedded system developers, was organized by Avnet Electronics Marketing Asia ( http://www.em.avnetasia.com/ ), a business region of Avnet, Inc ( http://avnet.com ) (NYSE: AVT ( http://ir.avnet.com/ )).

X-fest has attracted significant interest in sessions held in Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu and Guangzhou. Beijing X-fest also set a new breaking record with almost 1,000 people attending the event, while the Shanghai, Chengdu and Guangzhou sessions also drew higher-than-expected numbers of Avnet customers. Planning is already underway for upcoming events in Singapore, Bangkok, Xi’an, Nanjing, Hangzhou and Shenyang, where there are signs of equally healthy interest. The seminar series will continue until the end of August. Registration is open at Avnet’s online portal: http://www.xfest.avnetasia.com .

“The success and overwhelmingly positive responses for X-fest Bangalore demonstrate that engineers find the event truly helpful to their work. They learned a lot about how to design their products with new technology,” said Terence Tan, regional president, Avnet Electronics Marketing, South Asia and Korea.

“The record attendance at X-fest in India is a testimony to our ability to understand what our partners truly need and demonstrates our commitment to delivering added values,” said Tan.

His views were echoed by Ramani Sundaresan, managing director of Avnet Electronics Marketing India.

“Avnet is committed to bringing new technology to customers and at this year’s X-fest, we feature revolutionary technology – 28nm, Zynq-700 EPP and Xilinx 7-series as well as new applications. Through this event, we are also able to deliver system level solutions that facilitate time-to-market benefits for our customers. Our team of experienced engineers and our partners have come together to directly interact with their fellow engineers, showing them the best ways to integrate today’s leading technology into their designs,” said Sundaresan.

The X-fest 2012 program features twelve technical courses based on Xilinx’s new Artix(TM)-7, Kintex(TM)-7 and Virtex(TM)-7 FPGAs, as well as the new Zynq(TM)-7000 Extensible Processing Platform (EPP) family. Attendees have the ability to customize their day by selecting four courses from any of the three unique training tracks:

— The FPGA Fundamentals track features four courses aimed at common

design issues facing both new and advanced FPGA designers. Topics

around Xilinx 28nm 7 series FPGAs include power design,

optimizing memory interfaces, clocking and PCIe interface

implementations.

— The Applications track delves deeper into design methodologies

and techniques required in designing with the Zynq(TM)-7000 EPP

and 7 series FPGAs. Application-oriented topics include wireless

communications, motor control, video and real-world analog

processing.

— The Zynq(TM)-7000 EPP track provides four courses dedicated to

the ARM dual core Cortex(TM)-A9 MPCore(TM) based device. Topics

include an introductory overview of the Zynq-7000 EPP

architecture, Zynq-7000 EPP development tools overview and

software acceleration techniques using the Zynq-7000 EPP’s

programmable logic.

Connect with X-fest

Watch X-fest’s videos at www.em.avnetasia.com or Avnet OnDemand (http://avnetondemand.com/avnet-in-asia/channel/74/ )

Like X-fest on Facebook ( http://www.facebook.com/#!/xfest2012 )

Follow X-fest on Twitter ( http://twitter.com/AvnetXfest )

About Avnet Electronics Marketing Asia ( http://www.em.avnetasia.com/ )

source: http://www.equities.com / Home> News> Technology /Aug. 02, 2012 / PRNewswire-Asia/

Vally Vagga bags Konkani Kutam Bahrain Award -2012

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Nri's / Pio's

Mysore:

Well-known Konkani writer, poet and entrepreneur Valerian D’Souza, popularly known as Vally Vagga, who is a resident of Mysore, will be conferred with the Konkani Kutam Bahrain award-2012 at a function to be held on July 28 at 6.30 pm at St. Sebastian Platinum Jubilee Hall in Mangalore.

The award consists of a cash prize of Rs. 50,000, a citation and a memento.

Vally Vagga had an interest in Konkani literature right from his young age. He began writing in Konkani from 1964. For the past 48 years, he has published over 125 short stories, 120 poems and more than 50 articles on various subjects. His works include Jinni Konnachem? (1966), Sot ani Jivit (1967), Dhull (1990), Jivitachim Mettam (2003) and Dongra Voili Vaatt (2007).

His stories have been translated to Hindi and Telugu. He writes in Kannada as well and has translated many of his original Konkani stories into Kann-ada. Vally Vagga also started Lourdes Prakashan, which has published many Konkani books.

Well-versed in poetry, Vally Vagga has participated in various poetry sessions during Mysore Dasara Festival, organised by Karnataka Konkani Sahitya Akademi, Dept. of Kannada and Culture, All India Konkani Sahitya Parishad, Kavita Trust and Doordarshan. He has presented papers during various literary events and seminars. Karnataka Konkani Sahitya Academy had bestowed on him its Honorary Award in 2009.

Vally Vagga is the proprietor of Lourdes Engineers, an ISO 9001-2000 Quality Management System Company at Hootagalli Industrial Area in Mysore.

source: http://www.StarofMysore.com / General News / July 27th, 2012

Karnataka government nominates Beary Sahitya Academy members

Arts, Culture & Entertainment

Mangalore:

The state government has nominated 10-members to the city-based Karnataka Beary Sahitya Academy.  The list of members has given representation to hitherto unrepresented districts and taluks in the state where the language is spoken, Rahim Uchil, president of the Academy said, adding that the government has nominated people with a deep-rooted commitment and passion to develop Beary language, arts and culture.

The academy will shortly convene the meeting of all newly nominated members and chart out the future course of action based on mutual exchange of ideas and strive to implement them successfully, Rahim said. The nominated members are Ahmad Bava and Abdul Ameer Ansari (Mysore), AK Jamaluddin (Mangalore), Ummar J (Sullia), Kasim (Belthangady), Fazal Assaigoli (Assaigoli, DK), Muhammad Kalladka (Bantwal), Khalid KA (Chikmagalur), Yakub Khader Gulvady (Kundapur) and TK Muhmmad Sharief  (Domluru, Bangalore).

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / Home> City> Mangalore / by Jaideep Shenoy, TNN / June 14th, 2012

Writer Sudarshan Desai dead

Arts, Culture & Entertainment

Dharwad:

Detective novelist Sudarshan Desai(67) breathed his last at a private hospital in Dharwad on Tuesday, after a brief illness. He is survived by wife and three daughters.

Desai was a primary schoolteacher.

Attracted by the Hindi detective literature, he started writing detective novels in Kannada.

A majority of his detective serials were published by leading magazine houses. He has authored 85 detective novels and 35 on social themes.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / Home> City> Hubli / TNN / August 01st, 2012