Expanding its arecanut marketing, the city-based Central Arecanut and Cocoa Marketing and Processing Cooperative Ltd. (Campco) has opened its an arecanut sales depot at Porbandar, Gujarat. Konkodi Padmanabha, President of the cooperative, inaugurated it on Sunday.
M. Suresh Bhandary, Managing Director of the cooperative, said it was the 10th arecanut sales depot of Campco in North India and first in Saurashtra region.
He said in the first year, the cooperative was expecting to sell about 5,000 quintals of arecanut in the depot. It was selling retail packets of 1 kg and large bags of 65 kg at wholesale price.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Mangalore / by Special Correspondent / Mangalore – October 01st, 2013
(Top) The entry point into the world of art… (Below) An enthusiastic lot at work…at The Hobby Place.
Mysore :
Some people take years to realise and discover what their passion is. But this young lady had set her mind to see herself as an entrepreneur when she was a child. Entrepreneurship had been her dream and choosing it for life came naturally to her, courtesy: being born into a family of entrepreneurs and also being married into one later.
Some years ago, city’s Savitha Shenoy Ranga started off her career as a software engineer after graduating from NIE. Her quest to feed her brain with things knowledgeable made her do many things different. Post her tryst with a corporate firm she set out to teach graduate and undergraduate classes in Mysore and New York and even worked with non-profit organisations in the Heritage City. But she proved that dreams do come true when she established her own art studio – The Hobby Place recently.
The Hobby Place in city is a creative hobby centre that conducts for art enthusiasts, a variety of art classes and workshops each day. Home to a team of talented artists with years of experience in teaching various art forms, art lovers can go here to see, learn or even teach art if they intend to.
Talking of her firm and the reasons behind her starting it, Savitha says, “I firstly did not want to become a stereotype so always tried my hands on different things. Having travelled extensively across six continents, I realised that life is perpetually busy no matter how old you are and that taking time to live will only inspire you to work better. With this life lesson, I envisioned a hobby centre in Mysore with the aim of making learning and pursuing hobbies more accessible to Mysoreans of all age and to make childhood more fun for kids and to broaden their exposure to newer activities out of the ordinary.”
At the Hobby Place, people can conduct special events and workshops, private lessons and custom events as well. “We also undertake orders from individuals, interior designers, architects, and organisations and execute tailor-made designs. It could be anything from customised pottery to a mural and one of a kind art piece to kitchen-ware, ornament or a hand-crafted gift for a friend,” says Savitha, adding, “our team of experienced artists will make sure it is implemented right to the finest detail.”
Some of the art forms that one can look forward to learning or practicing at the place include pottery-making, mosaic art, painting, crochet, knitting, courses in theatrics and more. And the clay used for pottery making is all natural and chemical-free and most other hobby materials are hand-made by rural women, according to Savitha.
Apart from running the art studio, Savitha also volunteers as an honorary teacher at Rangarao Memorial School for disabled and is a volunteer consultant at SVYM-V-LEAD under Dr. R. Balasubramaniam.
“But if I am talking so much about my dream profession today, it’s all because of my family which has supported me extensively in making my dream come true,” the 29-year-old gushes, “if not for my husband’s help, I couldn’t have researched so much about art, found such unique artists and set up The Hobby Place,” speaking of her better half Vishnu Ranga – Managing Partner, N. Rangarao & Sons, Mysore, and adds, “and everyone else in my family including my in- laws and parents have been equally supportive as well.”
And aware of the fact that the life of an entrepreneur is all of challenges, Ms. Ranga asserts, “The Hobby Place will do its best to keep the artists and art lovers continually enthused, hosting and organising the best of things by the dexterous most. It is then that the rest will follow…”
The Hobby Place is located at Yadavagiri and is open to public between 10 am and 11 pm all days except Monday.
— AN
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Feature Articles / October 03rd, 2013
Darshan is seen in his paper plates manufacturing unit located at Bannimantap.
by S. N. Venkatnag Sobers
Mysore :
Being born as a differently-abled is considered to be the consequences of an impairment that may be physical, cognitive, mental, sensory, emotional, developmental, or some combinations of these. A disability may be present from birth, or occur during a person’s lifetime. Medical community has classified the condition causing disability as follows:
1.Inherited (genetically transmitted).
2.Congenital, meaning caused by a mother’s infection or other diseases during pregnancy, embryonic or fetal developmental irregularities, or by injury during or soon after birth.
3.Acquired, such as conditions caused by illness or injury or of unknown origin.
To overcome the disability and prove to the world that they are as strong as a normal person, one needs courage and guts. Normally, a person with any disability will depend on others to help with their routine. However, there are several examples where in persons with such disabilities have achieved success without much assistance from others, using their own intellectual skills. One such example is that of great Stephen Hawking, an English theoretical physicist, cosmologist, author and Director of Research at the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology at the Cambridge University. Despite being diagnosed with a motor neuron disease related to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) at the age of 21, he went on to become one of the most successful scientists of this century. Hawking is almost entirely paralysed and communicates through a speech generating device. He continues to inspire people around the world and has dreams of visiting outer space once.
The person, who I am introducing here in my story, is not Stephen Hawking, but an ordinary person, who was as normal as others until he met with an accident couple of years back in Bangalore. Meet B.R. Darshan Kumar, an entrepreneur, who runs a small-scale industry that manufactures paper plates at Bannimantap in city. Hailing from a business family, Darshan was working as a Project Manager in a software company in Bangalore. All was well until a tragedy struck him on April 1, 2011, when a BMTC bus hit him near Monotype, Banashankari 2nd Stage, Bangalore, when on his way to office.
No one came to his rescue and Darshan got himself admitted to a hospital to save his leg and life, where he was treated for 48 days. His leg was amputated after several failed attempts to save it. After this tragedy, his company asked him to continue with the job, but Darshan wanted to come back and start his own business and stay with his parents in city.
After this horrific accident, Darshan did not lose hope and courage. He instead decided to get a prosthetic leg and lead a normal life. A prosthetic leg is much more expensive when compared to the Jaipur Artificial Limb available in India. But the advantages of having a prosthetic limb are much more than the Jaipur limb.
A Prosthesic Leg has a Titanium foot and carbon fibre socket, which enables a person to continue with his normal work with optimum mobility. Speaking to Star of Mysore, Darshan said that he booked for the prosthetic leg through a company called the Otto Bock. According to Darshan, he has been leading a normal life with his prosthetic leg.
He was also recently seen participating at the Celebration Run in which he walked for 5 kms along with his friend Avinash. While most people were relaxing at their residences on a lazy Sunday, Darshan was seen participating in the Celebration Run. There are many people who feel dejected with their lives and take extreme steps. But, in case of Darshan, he was bold enough to face the reality of life and move ahead.
Today, Darshan has provided employment for about 20 persons at his factory.
Darshan’s father B.B. Rajashekar, runs Sri Nandi Agro Industries, a Neem Organic Manure. His mother K.T. Bharathi is a home maker.
Darshan has proved that the differently-abled can also lead a normal life. He is truly an inspiration for those who have lost all hopes.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Feature Articles / by S. N. Venkatnag Sobers / October 02nd, 2013
Referring to the issue related to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), which has been made mandatory by the new laws that govern companies, IT czar Azim Premji today said philanthropy cannot be forced and it has to be spontaneous.
Premji, founder-Chairman of Wipro – India’s third largest software services exporter added however that efforts towards social good need to be “meaningful” and the government alone is not responsible for “social good”.
“They are trying to force something. It should be spontaneous,” Premji said while commenting on the issue of mandatory CSR during his address at the All India Management Association’s (AIMA) 40th national convention here.
The billionaire philanthropist added that giving back to the society is important for the growth of a better world, but it should come from within.
Premji said the stipulation of spending 2 per cent of profits should not become a tax at a later stage.
Under the new Companies Act, 2013, all profitable firms with a sizable business will have to spend every year at least 2 per cent of three-year average profit on CSR works.
This would apply to companies with turnover of Rs 1,000 crore and more, or net worth of Rs 500 crore and more, or a net profit of Rs 5 crore and more.
The new rules, which would be applicable from fiscal 2014 -15, also require firms to set up a CSR committee of their board members, including at least one independent director.
However, Premji said: “If things have to change in the society then the involvement of the whole ecosystem is must. One cannot rely on government alone to do social good and one has to become a co-sharer of the goal and the outcome.”
Outlining the key factors for making CSR successful, he emphasised on the need to define the purpose and scale of CSR activities and choose a focus area.
Premji, however, cautioned against making CSR a substitute for personal philanthropy.
“There should be a distinction between a company activity which is CSR and personal activity that is philanthropy,” he added.
Known for his business acumen as well as philanthropy, Premji said the company’s and entrepreneur’s responsibility to the society are two different issues.
In 2010, Premji had donated 8.7 per cent from his personal stock-holding in Wipro for philanthropy forming the endowment for the Azim Premji Foundation , a not-for-profit organisation set up in 2001.
In February, he announced transfer of 295.5 million Wipro shares worth Rs 12,300 crore held by certain entities controlled by him to an irrevocable trust.
source: http://www.articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> News by Company> Social Responsibility / by PTI / September 26th, 2013
Running in its 20th year, Max Miss Bangalore 2013 is set to inspire many beautiful and talented girls aspiring to make headway into the glam world. The Miss Bangalore beauty pageant is getting a notch bigger with every passing year. With over 500 girls making a beeline for the auditions at Le Meridien today, it only goes to show the event’s impressive caliber that has assisted many fashion careers down the past two decades.
Feroz Khan of Dream Merchants, who started Max Miss Bangalore and has seen many runways sizzling shares, “Max Miss Bangalore is in its 12th edition and this year we will be selecting 16 girls out of over 500 that have auditioned today. We have fashion choreographer Sreedhar who will be assisting us in picking girls with the X-factor and we will be announcing the results tomorrow. The age group of these girls is 16 to 22. Most of them are college students, while some are even working with MNCs in the city. The criterion for selection is the overall confidence, height, figure and also general awareness and speaking skills which will be judged at the question round. We have categories like Miss Catwalk, Miss Hair, Miss Skin, Miss Figure, Miss Beautiful Eyes and Miss Photogenic.”
Adds, Sajad Mahajan, partner Dream Merchants and Max Miss Bangalore, “Many girls who used the Miss Bangalore pageant as their launch pad over the years have made exciting careers in celluloid, modelling, television and advertising. We can also boast of some of the previous Miss Bangalore Queens like Ruchita Prasad who became a Kannada and Tamil movie star and Sara Corner who was crowned Miss India. They also walk the ramp for the Bangalore Fashion Week that has now gone international.”
Nicole Padival, who was crowned Miss Bangalore last year is happy to be getting a lot of work. “It’s nice to get the respect and recognition from the fashion industry and modelling assighments,” says Nicole.
source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> Lifestyle> Fashion-Beauty / by Namita Gupta / DC – September 04th, 2013
Cheteshwar Pujara, Captain-India ‘A’ team, releasing the ‘World Cup 1983 World Cup triumph song” at Gangothri Glades on Saturday evening. Also seen are (extreme left) Lalchand Rajput, India ‘A’ team coach, P. M. Vijendra Rao, S. Vijayprakash, KSCA, Mysore Zone, Convener and Ashvini Ranjan, Chairman, KSCA Mysore Zone.
Mysore :
On the occasion of the 30th year of India’s World Cup triumph over West Indies in the 1983 World Cup at Lords, a song dedicated to the Indian team’s triumph, composed by Mysorean P. M. Vijendra Rao was released by India ‘A’ team’s skipper Cheteshwar Pujara at the Gangothri Glades Pavilion on Saturday evening. Both the Indian ‘A’ and West Indies ‘A’ team members were present on the occasion.
S.Vijayaprakash, KSCA Mysore Zone Convener and Ashvini Ranjan, Chairman, KSCA Mysore zone were also present. To listen to the song log on to www.vijil365.com.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Sports News / September 29th, 2013
THE Record breakers: From left – Afsana Begum (4x400m Relay), Reena George (Best athlete & 4x400m Relay), K. R. Meghana (800m), Shraddha Rani S. Desai (4x400m Relay), K. Yeshaswini (4x400m relay) and Pushpa S. Gadadi (Hammer Throw).
Mysore :
K. P. Sumanth of Post Graduate Sports Council, Mysore, with 1,632 points and Reena George of Teresian College with 1,982 points were adjudged as Best Athletes in the men’s and women’s sections respectively on the concluding day of the 85th Annual Mysore University Inter-collegiate athletic meet at the University grounds here yesterday.
New record
T. S. Ravi of PGSC, Manasagangothri, created a new meet record in men’s long Jump with a leap of 6.73 mtrs erasing the previous mark of 6.55 mrts set by himself in 2012-13.
Equals meet record:
In another highlight of the day, Reena George of Teresian equaled her own record of 56.40s (2012-13), in the women’s 400m race with an identical timing to bag the gold.
PGSC’s men’s athletic team won Team championship title with 96 points. Teresian won the team championship title with 96 points.
The prizes were given away by Jayadevaraja Urs, Registrar, Examinations, UOM.
Results
Men: 1. C S Anu Kumar (PGSC-51.25s); 2. Mahesh Kumar (Sri Madeshwara FGC, Kollegal); 3. Bharat Nag (PGSC); 1500m: 1. H. S. Darshan (Vijaya FGC, Pandavapura-4:25:37s); 2. M R Ranjith (NDRK, Hassan); 3. Mahadev Prasad (PGSC); Half Marathon: (21kms) 1. Nanjundegowda (GFGC, Bharathinagar, Mandya- 1hr: 16:54s); 2. Y C Ravikumar (GFGC, K R Pet); 3. H H Nataraju (Govt. Home Science College, Hassan); Decathlon: 1. M. A. Manjunath (PGSC-3880 points); 2. Raghavendra (Marimallappa BBM); 3. Y. N. Badhuraj Bhat (Yuvaraja’s College); Shot Put: 1. K B Harsha (Basudeva Somani -12.49 mts); 2. N Chandan (GFGC, Nagamangala); 3. M Ganesha (JSS Ooty Road); Long Jump: 1. T. S. Ravi (PGSC,NMR-6.73 mtrs- Previous record- Self-6.55 mtrs-2012-13); 2. Mohit Kumar Chavan (Basudeva Somani); 3. H. P. Sunil (Govt. HSC, Holenarasipur).
Women
400m: 1. Reena George (Teresian-EMR- 56.40s- Previous- Self-56.40s- 2012-13); 2. K. R. Meghana (Maharani’s Arts & Commerce); 3. K. Yashaswini (Teresian); 1500m: 1. Shraddha Rani S. Desai (Teresian-5:17:25s); 2. C. Navyashree (Teresian); 3. Suchithra (Maharani’s Arts & Commerce); 10,000m: 1. B. J. Suma (Govt. Arts College, Hassan-47:07:65s); 2. K. Suma (Govt. College, Mandya); 3. B. R. Swetha (SAC, Nagamangala); Discus: 1. A. D. Lakshmi Devi (Govt. Arts College, Hassan-25.98mtrs); 2. R. Radhika (AVK, Hassan); 3. C. M. Reshma (PGSC); Long Jump: 1. J. S. Ashwini (Govt. College for Women, Mandya-3.97mtrs); 2. N. Madhuri (Govt.College for Women, Maddur); 3. H. S. Ramya (GFGC, C R Patna); 4x100m Relay: 1. Teresian- 57.41s; 2. JSS College for Women; 3. Maharani’s Arts & Commerce.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Sports News / September 29th, 2013
The city is arguably the best city to live in India. The first thing that comes to the mind when any Bangalorean thinks about the city is its conducive climate. The moderate temperature and the luscious and vast greenery make anyone to love this place. The fastest growing metropolitan city has always attracted tourists and immense talent from all over the country as well as across the globe.
A diverse city founded by Kempegowda it is the software hub of India due to the presence of large number of software companies and industries. Along with these highlights Bangalore has many tourist attractions. Starting from the Kengal Hanumanthiah built Vidhana Soudha to the Tippu palace, Lal Bagh, Cubbon Park, etc.
Another thing that makes Bangalore likeable is its variety of food. Irrespective of where you are from, you get all kinds of food here, be it Chinese, Rajasthani, Punjab etc.
The quality of education here is excellent with more than 25 engineering colleges which is very high. Bangalore is a vibrant and colourful city with fashion weeks, musicians, comedians and artists performing everyday. Bangalore also has a high number of public sectors and government organisations. These are only few of the reasons for anyone who is staying or has stayed in this beautiful city to fall in love with it.
Now coming to what I dislike or things I would want to see changed in Bangalore. First thing anybody would agree is the Bangalore traffic. The heavy traffic, the traffic jams and the accidents are a major drawback. Also, the nightlife here dies after 10. Bangalore being a metropolis should have a better deadline. There is also the garbage disposal problem. We see garbage thrown everywhere on the road. Another issue people face is the poor roads. While some roads like Nice road or the Malleswaram flyover are good, there are many roads which are filled with potholes; roads which are dug up and left unattended and constructions going on from eons causing inconvenience to the citizens. Bangalore also has a very high water scarcity problem which is hampering our daily lives.
Irrespective of these problems, being a Bangalorean since my birth, I love this place and for me without doubt it is the greatest city in the world and I believe that the present, past and future residents and tourists of Bangalore will agree with me.
(The writer is a resident of Yelahanka)
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Bangalore / by Sagar Kashyap – Bangalore / September 25th, 2013
The ‘54th Annual Ramnarayan Chellaram Shield RotoQuiz’ was held at the Rotary Club of Bangalore, Lavelle Road recently. With interesting and intriguing questions spread into a format which consisted of three rounds, including questions for the audience, the quiz was a refreshing experience.
This quiz, which is held every year, saw four teams in the finals — National Law School of India University, RV College of Engineering, BNM Institute of Technology and St Joseph’s College of Commerce (Autonomous).
The first round of the quiz was ‘Potpourri’, where a mix of questions like ‘What does ‘Al-Qaeda’ mean?’, ‘Which animal has the most similar set of fingerprints to human
beings?’ were asked, which helped pep up the participants. The second round ‘Connection’ included different images projected on one screen. It had one thread connecting the images, which was the answer to the question. The last and most challenging round was ‘The Last Picture Show’, which had only a part of a face showing and the participants had to guess the person.
The audience was very excited and appreciated the participants with applause, and the quizmaster made sure that the participants never crossed the time set by the buzzer.
About the quiz, president Rotarian Purnimaa Ranganath, said, “We’re very proud to host this quiz every year. As I’m told, it is one of the longest running quizzes. Although there are many quizzes nowadays, when this quiz was started, there were not many events held for the youth and it stands apart because of the same.” Rotarian Suri Menon, the quiz master, said that he was happy to have hosted the quiz for the fifth consecutive year. About the competition he saw this year, he said, “The scores were a bit low compared to last year, but the reason could be that the quiz was more challenging.”The team comprising Jeydev CS and Abhishek from NLSIU won the first prize.
An elated Jeydev said, “It’s an honour for us to have won it. Most quizzes are unique, but this one has professionalism and seriousness to it, compared to others.” The team from St Joseph’s College of Commerce (Autonomous), won the second place. BNMIT bagged the third place.
Enterprising individuals have begun door-delivery of food and booze right through the night to cater to the demand of graveyard shift workers.
– Anantha Subramanyam K/ DNA
“When I finish work and come out of office, I find that there is nothing to eat or drink,” says Tushar Nadkarni, an online retail businessman. Tushar’s lament is the lament of scores of people and professionals working in Bangalore, which calls itself a global city but behaves like a small town.
But not all have surrendered to the temptations of a goodnight sleep, as Tushar recently found out.
Tushar had a gastronomic surprise when he discovered Biryani Night Out through a phone inquiry service. “I ordered food at 1.30am for myself and two colleagues. The food was superb. We felt like ordering more, and there it was, again, with the delivery boy at our doorsteps smiling,” says Tushar.
Like Tushar, many professionals working in the IT/ITeS sectors are a relieved lot to find midnight eating options in the city: where there is demand, there will eventually be supply.
Enterprising individuals in the city are supplying food and drink right at the doorsteps between 11.30 pm and almost until pre-dawn.
For instance, one such enterprise Biryani Night Out in Yeshwanthpur even has a Facebook page which states “Treating tastebuds at midnight”. It caters to clients until 3am from its outlet in Yeshwanthpur.
Nayaz Pasha, owner of Biryani Night Out, says that he always wanted to be his own boss; and after completing his engineering degree last year, he did just that: he opened Biryani Night Out after realising that there was a large demand for night delivery services.
On Jan 18, 2013, based out of Yeshwanthpur, Biryani Night Out began dishing out biriyanis to famished Bangaloreans within a 10-km radius.
“I don’t charge for delivery as everyone gets hungry. So even if someone wants just one biryani, we deliver,” he says, adding that response has been so good that he now has five delivery boys, two chefs, a manager and a marketing consultant.
Vaibhav Ali, who runs Midnight Hunger Solution 24/7 from Indiranagar, used to be an event manager. “Events and parties go on till late night. After all the hard work, when we are hungry, there were very few options. I wanted good, hygienic, tasty and reasonable food available 24/7. That apart, MHS was born out of another need too. February-March-April season is a lean period for events. So there was a gap in business for me then. That’s prompted us to come up with Midnight Hunger Solution,” says Vaibhav Ali, co-owner.
Then there is SRS Restaurant 24/7. Started six months ago by Satish M, the restaurant is now doing roaring business, confirming once again that the city is very alive, kicking and hungry through the night.
Satish’s biryanis (chicken and mutton) and Andhra-style meals are a hot favourite and he delivers “anywhere in the city”, he says.
Senthil Kumar, owner of KFDS 24/7 (KFDS stands for Kevin Food Delivery Service), too has a smile on his face, as his gamble to open a 24/7 restaurant paid-off. He has a regular clientele with IT offices. “They (IT professionals) asked me to start late night delivery as well. I tried it out and found the business to be roaring,” says Senthil.
According to legal experts, there is no prohibition on delivering food after 1pm. “A commercial establishment has to be closed at 11pm. However, there is no prohibition on delivering food to homes post 11pm,” says senior advocate Ravi B Naik.
Former advocate general Uday Holla, too, agrees: “There is absolutely no bar on delivering food post 11pm. Home delivery for food is not illegal post 11pm.”
However, such night delivery services are set to witness a boom in the near future with National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) predicting more than a three-fold increase in IT/BPO workforce by 2020 — a sizable portion of which will be Bangalore-bound.
(Inputs from Suchith Kidiyoor and Odeal D’Souza)
Midnight Hunger Solution 24/7
Phone: 080-66534184,
8088922299, 8088922295
Email: midnighthungersolution@gmail.com
Service started on Feb 24, 2012.
They deliver anywhere in the city.
Serves Mughlai, Indian and Chinese food.
Meal for two would approximately cost Rs 300-400. Delivery charges are Rs 100.
Biryani Night Out
Phone: 09741109909
Serves chicken, vegetable biryani, kababs and soft drinks.
Veg biryani is priced at Rs 139, chicken biryani at Rs 159 and kababs at Rs 159 or 179 for 10 pieces.
SRS Restaurant 24/7
Phone: 080-49152614, 9738973503
They deliver anywhere in the city.
Late-night delivery charges around Rs 100-Rs 150 (based on the distance from Kammanahalli — their base).
Biryanis and Andhra-style meals are hot favourites.
