It’s not just your pet dog that will need a licence. That cow grazing on the footpath or the buffalo which suddenly parks itself in the middle of the road need one too.
Owners of all domestic animals will henceforth have to get a licence if they want to keep them, and also ensure they are not left to stray on roads and other public places. A dedicated hygienic enclosure is part of the rules under the licensing system.
Exasperated with cows, buffaloes and other animals straying on the roads and blocking up traffic, the BBMP has submitted a proposal to the urban development department seeking its approval for extension of norms to all kinds of pets and domestic animals, including pigs, donkeys, horses etc. Currently, the licence ambit covers only pet dogs, and there is no compulsion as such.
Dr KA Nanjappa, deputy director (animal husbandry), BBMP, told TOI they have provision to impose a penalty on owners of cows and other domestic animals who let their animals out on the streets, as finding the owners has become a challenge. “If the licence is made compulsory, we can give unique numbers to these animals so the owners can be identified,” he added. From 2011 to 2015, as many as 4,730 domestic animals were caught straying on the roads by BBMP officials and a total of Rs 3,35,173 was collected in penalty from the owners.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Bangalore / TNN / June 16th, 2015
Nearly eight months after the launch of its ambitious solar rooftop project, the Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (Bescom) finally reached a milestone by generating 1,000 kW (1 MW ) of solar power.
Getting off to a slow start, the power utility now has 409 applications registered with an overall proposed solar generating capacity of 19 MW.
Among the major contributors to Bescom’s solar generating capacity are: the Karnataka State Cricket Association, which has installed a 400 kW rooftop solar power plant at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, St. Joseph’s College and National Institute of Advanced Sciences (100 Kwp each).
A Bescom release said that process and technical committees have been formed to encourage solar rooftop power distribution generation.
A solar help desk has also been constituted (080-22340816 andsolarhelpdesk@bescom.co.in) for those interested in installing solar rooftop plants.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Bengaluru / by Staff Reporter / Bengaluru – June 16th, 2015
A British-era tower clock here will be silenced forever to enable widening of a road.
Looking to widen Kalmath Road to 45 feet under its master plan, the Belagavi City Corporation has instructed authorities of the Pioneer Urban Cooperative Bank to raze the %part of the building where the tower clock stands. The bank authorities have secured a week’s time to do so.
The clock on the bank’s building on Kalmath Road sounds its bell every half an hour. Residents of surrounding areas, like %Kalmath Road, Ganapati Galli and Maruti Galli, have an emotional attachment with it. The clock helps some manage their schedules.
The building was constructed 110 years ago. In 1939, the bank management awarded the contract to manufacture the clock to Mumbai’s Swadeshi Electric Clock Company. A large bell from John Tailor Company was fitted into the clock 75 years ago.
The bank has employed a person to wind the clock once a week, and to maintain the tower.
Speaking to STOI, bank manager D R Jadhav lamented that the antique will soon become part of history.
In 1940, the management spent around Rs 40,000 on constructing the bank building. Now, the bank pays a like amount %as property tax, the manager said.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Bengaluru / by Ravindra Uppar, TNN / June 14th, 2015
There’s a new kind of shopping fad catching the fancy of Bengaluru’s fashionable set and it doesn’t have to do with sucking up tummies to fit into that impossibly small crop top or pre-ordering the next season’s collection of their favourite brand. If anything, youngsters in the city are air-kissing their approvals to the concept of clothes swapping – a trend that reportedly started in the US in the 90s and has been gaining popularity ever since recession hit the world economy in the noughties and people woke up to the burden of an overflowing wardrobe and its attendant credit card woes.
Clothes swapping, or ‘swishing’ as the movement is referred to as, involves a get-together where guests exchange their unused clothes and or accessories between themselves and the exchange is almost always done for free or for a major discount.Environment-friendly collaborative consumption that is also… no wonder the concept has the world’s shopaholics in thrall.
Last Saturday, Bengaluru’s shopaholics got a taste of this with Clothary, the brainchild of Isabella Escobedo. “Clothary is an attempt at making fashion sustainable and affordable by breaking away from conventional patterns of the retail industry. With one eye on conscious consumption and the other on the latest trends, Clothary wants to be a walk-in wardrobe, a clothes library where sharing is the new possessing and renting the new purchasing,” reads the initiative’s Facebook page. Talking about the event and how it was received by Bengalureans, Escobedo says, “The event was very successful and while around a 100 had accepted our Facebook invite, about 65 people – mostly youngsters – turned up. And by the response, the participants were happy with the exchange.There were people who’d come to access fashion for free, some came to declutter their wardrobes, and some came because they thought it was a sustainable idea that contributed to a better environment.”
The Exchange Room is another city-based initiative that was started by four friends who “always had wardrobes full of clothes but never had anything ‘new’ to wear.” “It was from this dilemma that we hit upon the idea of exchanging clothes amongst ourselves rather than go on shopping sprees,” says Sai Sangeet, one of the co-founders. “But from a project that started between four close friends, the idea gained traction among our wider circle of friends; we’ve got a Facebook page and even conducted two events that were successful. Though we focus mainly on clothes exchange, we also give away clothes for low prices when some people do not have anything to offer in exchange.”
The Street Store Bangalore sets its model on the South Africa-based ‘open-source’ movement, The Street Store. Explains founder Samridhi Agarwal, “The Street Store is a worldwide movement that first started in South Africa. It’s basically a nonprofit drive where we tie up with various NGOs to set up a store in a public place and provide an amazing shopping experience to the needy.” But that’s not all. “Taking a leaf out of the clothes swap idea, we’ve recently started an exchange forum for women called Revamp My Closet where we buy used clothes from people that we personally pick from their homes.Customers can then either accept cash or shop at our store where we sell clothes at highly discounted rates,” Agarwal informs.
Finally, giving a spin to the concept of barter trading is AdalBdal (pronounced A-Dal-B-Dal). Explains founder Bal Krishn Birla, “We started AdalBdal over a year ago to kickstart the trend of moneyless transactions and renewing the system of barter. We function in two ways – one is through our online portal where people can upload pictures of things they want to give away and choose what they want in return. The second are the numerous donation drives we organize in apartments where we give away whatever is collected to the needy. “To impress upon kids the credo of sharing-is-caring, AdalBdal “has also partnered with the Freethinking School for their event Freeswap Summer Camp Barter Weekend Program, to introduce kids to the system of exchange without letting money come into the equation. We bring up the issue of money all the time in front of kids today. This initiative is a way to teach them that there is joy in giving and receiving something with no monetary consideration involved.”
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Bengaluru / by Mahalakshmi P, TNN / June 14th, 2015
The State government on Thursday launched a central remote-sensing centre that brings all remote-sensing data activity under one roof – different from the three centres that were handling the work previously.
Former chairman of Isro, K Kasturirangan, and ST, BT & IT Minister, S R Patil, inaugurated the centre – billed as the first of its kind – on Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan Road in Yelahanka.
Kasturirangan, a former member of the Planning Commission, said the centralised office would help people and institutions approach a single centre instead of three previously. All the remote-sensing data collected from Isro’s satellites would be processed here, making satellite data available at one location.
Karnataka was one among the first states in the country to use GIS-Data and remote-sensing data in planning. The technologies have been used in agriculture, farming, forestry and rural and urban development. The new centre which consolidates all technologies and data under one roof makes planning easier across sectors.
Minister Patil said Bengaluru and Karnataka were still ahead of all the cities and states in information technology. By 2020, Karnataka will have reached four lakh crore worth of IT exports. The government, he said, was ready to take measures to consolidate this lead and continue to be the number one IT destination in the country.
source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> State / DHNS – Bengaluru, June 12th, 2015
As the early-morning sun soaks the Ulsoor lake, dreamy-eyed youngsters — some sleepy, some chirpy — troop into Trishna Club in a far corner of the lake. Soon, the stillness of the lake is tattooed with the rhythmic paddling of oars. For the next couple of hours, rowers go about their routes, shouting ‘down’ and ‘bravo’.
The sport long dominated by defence personnel has new takers: civilians. A reflection of this trend is in evidence at the ongoing 18th sub-junior rowing national championships at the MEG & Centre here.
Of the 23 members in the Karnataka squad, 15 are from the civilian background.
Karnataka Amateur Rowing Association secretary G Somasekharappa says: “We usually had sportspersons from Army schools. Now, we’ve many kids from elite schools. More heartening is parents’ involvement in their children’s progress as also in improvising the sport.”
Asked about his rowing ambitions, Frank Anthony Public School’s Eeshan Krishnan says: “I’m a keen swimmer and I like watersports. One of my father’s friends suggested I try the sport. Then I started rowing, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I was a little plump; this helped me lose the flab. My shoulders hurt initially, but then there is no gain without pain.”
Eeshan’s mother Hema, a special educator, says rowing has made her 11-year-old son responsible and passionate about the sport. “He needs no alarm and is up at 5am to go to practice. His days are long, but he doesn’t complain. There was a time when I asked him to concentrate on studies because we weren’t sure about his future in rowing. But he was very clear: he wanted to take up the sport seriously and would balance studies and sport.”
Watching other rowers in action has inspired many, like Palak Agarwal, a student of Vidya Shilp Academy. Ditto with G Annapurna, 17, who took up the sport a year ago and is participating in the Challenger Sprint category. The second-year PU student from Narayana College swapped the athletics track with the water sport after watching her brother Tarun, 14, in action.
“I was an athlete for nine years and participated regularly in high jump. But I wasn’t tall enough to take my passion forward. I often watched my brother at practice and that’s when I thought I should also try. Once in the water, I was hooked to the sport. Since I was an athlete, the strenuous routine wasn’t difficult to embrace.”
From an individual sport to participating in team events like double scull or coxed fours, Annapurna says adjustment and understanding of the teammates is the key.
“Initially, it was difficult for me. But it’s a great way to build team spirit because you learn to sync with teammates both physically and mentally. The race plan tells us the course of our action in water. Since we’ve little time to communicate during the race, we depend on the rapport we share.”
Many parents feel the state association must proactively promote the sport.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Bengaluru / by Manuja Veerappa, TNN / June 13th, 2015
Hundreds take part in day-long event including seminar, cultural programme and Kavi Goshti
Kusuma J. Shenoy, President, GSB Mahila Mandali-Mysuru, is seen lighting the lamp to inaugurate the Konkani Women’s meet at Jaganmohan Palace auditorium in city this morning as Joyce Lobo (extreme right), Principal, St. Joseph’s Central School, Vijayanagar; Roy Castelino, Chairman, Karnataka Konkani Sahitya Academy; M. Jagannath Shenoy, President, GSB Sabha-Mysuru and others look on.
Mysuru :
Over 500 Konkani women are participating in the first Konkani Mahila Samavesh organised jointly by Gowda Saraswath Brahmin (GSB) Sangha, Mysuru and Karnataka Konkani Sahitya Academy (KKSA) in association with Konkani Christian Association (KCA), Mysuru at Jaganmohan Palace here this morning.
Inaugurating the programme, GSB Mahila Mandali, Mysuru President Kusuma J. Shenoy was overwhelmed by the huge congregation of Konkani women for the first such meet in city and thanked the co-operation of members of all Konkani Associations in organising the event.
Addressing the gathering, KKSA member and Programme Co-ordinator Mamata Manjunath Kamath asked the women to be united and spread the richness of Konkani language.
Earlier to the stage programme, a procession was taken out by Konkani women from Maharani’s PU College through Krishna Vilas Road to the programme venue. The star attraction of the procession was the tableaux depicting the Konkani tradition and culture.
GSB Mahila Mandali Founder-President Mohini D. Pai was the chief guest.
Konkani Bhasha Mandali, Mangalore President Geetha C. Kini; St. Joseph’s Central School, Mysuru Principal Joyce Lobo; Sugama Sangeetha artiste Anuradha Dhareshwar; Balodayana Higher Primary School, Mysuru Head Mistress Meera Nagesh; Government Higher Primary School, Jyotinagar Head Mistress S.H. Pushpaveni; GSB Sabha Mysuru President M. Jagannath Shenoy; KKSA Chairman Roy Castelino and others were present on the occasion.
The day-long event includes cultural programmes, seminar, comedy play ‘Yeya Hasya’ and Kavi Goshti.
Minister for Kannada and Culture Umashree will be the chief guest at the valedictory ceremony this evening. On the occasion, Konkani Sthree Vibhushani awards will be presented to distinguished achievers in various fields.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / Sunday – June 07th, 2015
Bengaluru folk rock band Lagori share their thoughts on a one-of-its-kind music venture tying up with international DJ trio Above And Beyond
Music lovers across genres in the city were in for the ride of a lifetime as Bengaluru folk rock band Lagori launched a brand new track in collaboration with Girish Pradhan from hard rock/heavy metal band Girish And The Chronicles on June 12. What makes this collaboration actually epic is that the track and its accompanying music video is a remixed cover of English progressive trance group Above And Beyond’s title track from their latest album We Are All We Need.
Invited by the DJ trio themselves to work on the track, Lagori’s version of ‘We Are All We Need’ is a non-EDM take on it, which, the much impressed Above and Beyond are launching on their YouTube channel, simultaneous to its official release in India.
Comprising vocalist Tejas Shankar, electric/acoustic guitarist Geeth Vaz, acoustic guitarist Edward Rasquinha, bass guitarist Shalini Mohan and percussionist/drummer Vinyl Kumar, Lagori teams up with one of the rising stars in the indie scene – Girish — for the music video that blends a range of Indian elements and rock to its unique soundscape. Tejas says they are excited “in capital letters!” What got Above and Beyond’s attention on Lagori was an earlier cover of their song ‘Sun And Moon’, explains Edward. “We were approached by their label Anjunabeats to do a cover for the title track of We Are All We Need and when we heard it the first time, we knew that it’s going to be an amazing venture.”
Tejas elaborates: “We could relate to this track a lot since it’s about travelling and exploring ourselves. We all love that though we do get bored of touring and each other sometimes,” he jokes. “The song is all about hitting the road and the journey. We thought we could write a nice Hindi version of it and rope in a kick-ass western singer for the English bit.”
Shalini adds: “We retained the original feel of the song so Above & Beyond fans connect while we’ve added a bit of Lagori to it. It’s a nice mashup of Hindi and English where Girish comes in.”
They admit that Girish was the best thing that happened for the track. Tejas emphasises: “We couldn’t have found a better singer. He was our first choice. He came in and nailed it in one take.” Vinyl adds that though it is a non-EDM track going to Above and Beyond fans, it is different and appealing. “When we did ‘Sun And Moon’, we shot the video in City Market among cows and vegetable vendors. It was a massive hit.” Tejas pitches in: “That gave us the confidence that it doesn’t matter if the audience is an EDM listener base or not. At the end of the day if you can relate to the music, it’s good enough.” Shalini sums up: “It’s just our way of saying that if we can relate to EDM by covering their song, the other way round is also possible.”
Shalini points out that they are quite kicked about the video they shot for the track. “We look quite cool in it,” she beams. Tejas explains: “It’s got the whole road feel.”
Edward elaborates: “We shot the video in a garage that services bullets and other bikes. We ride in on our bikes in the biker outfits for the video.” Shalini adds that the first shot is that of a regal-looking sitar player in the midst of all the rugged bikes since the intro of the song has a sitar piece.
Tejas says they have added a whole repertoire of elements in the song – from Indian to dirty garage to even a scene on a railway track. “It’s a neat mishmash of everything.”
“The only challenge in making the video was getting Girish and Edward to ride the bikes,” Shalini laughs. “They have this whole biker appearance but they didn’t know how to ride the bikes.” Edward joins in and says: “We had a lot of cool ideas and some of them turned out to be funny like this one.”
Tejas adds that having co-written the Hindi lyrics for the track with composer Abdul, giving the completely EDM track an Indian feel and taking the challenge up made it a fun process.
What’s the take away for listeners and viewers in ‘We Are What We Need’? Shalini one lines it: “Girish’s vocals and Lagori, of course.” Tejas adds: “And the fact that an Indian band has done something cool like this. This proves that Indian music can blend with a range of other genres.”
The video is available on YouTube and was aired on Pepsi MTV Indies.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> MetroPlus / by Allan Moses Rodricks / June 12th, 2015
The other day I saw two nuns at a stationery shop in Mysuru — one dressed in a simple brown sari, with a crucifix around her neck and the other in a dress with a veil half covering her head. They were so different from the nuns I had known in 1943, when, as a five-year-old, I joined the Good Shepherd Convent of Mysuru as a day pupil.
In those days, the nuns were mostly English women, wearing the traditional nun’s attire… a white habit belted at the waist with a woollen cord to which a rosary was fixed, a long panel of cloth over the habit called the ‘scapular,’ a tight fitting wimple framing the face, topped by a black veil. A chain bearing a heavy crucifix hung over the scapular. Stockings and sensible flat shoes completed the outfit which was stiff and crackling with starch. Mother Dominic was a stern disciplinarian and could use her cane too. Mother Martha taught the piano and was given to outbursts of temper. Young Mother La Salatte was gentle and sweet tempered allowing small children to sit on her lap, hold the crucifix or even to stroke her clipped hair under the wimple.
I had special piano lessons with Mother Martha and learnt to sing and play two lines:
‘Little birdie on a tree
Shakes his head and
looks at me.’
The notation as I remembered it, went C B C D C B C. But I am told that could not be right. The lessons ended in floods of tears after Mother Martha ‘accidentally’ poked me in the eye. Another song that all the children sang together was, as I later learnt, a hunting song.
‘Do you ken John Peel, do
you ken John Peel,
At break of day, with his coat
so gay,
Do you ken John Peel?’
The last line went into the upper octave and I loved shouting it out with no idea what it all meant.
In those days of the World War, some Anglo-Burman children lived in the Convent. I was fascinated by Pauline, who always wore white stockings. I so longed for such a pair that they were ordered from Bengaluru for me. I put them on without a belt or garter and by the time I walked into class they were forming pouches at the knees and soon drooping down in sagging folds. I began to cry. Children then had their faces powdered with talcum, the popular one being Johnson’s. Soon my face was streaked with runnels of grey and brown where teats washed away the powder. Pauline was beside herself and everyone was tittering until Mother Dominic settled them in neat rolls around my ankles. One remembers a shame into old age!
Years later one of Mother Martha’s successors, a nun who was an excellent pianist, did some innovative work on the piano. This was Sister John Britto. She belonged to a Railway family of the Dorechettis, who had Pondicherry connections. Years ago when we went to visit her at the Convent, she received us in the Music Room and played a few bars of Raga Hamsadhvani for us. The tune was recognisably that of the Kriti, ‘Vatapi Ganapathim Bhaje,’ the room with the cross and the pictures of saints on the wall, an unusual place to hear this composition. Sister John later held a full concert of Karnatak music in Jaganmohan Palace. The piano was set at an angle so that the pianist had her back partially to the audience but her hands were visible to the listeners. She was accompanied by musicians on the mridanga and the ghata as well as a sari-clad lady who kept the tala. Surely this was a Catholic with very Catholic tastes. At 91 years of age, she no longer plays the piano but lives in Bengaluru with a community of nuns who work for St. Martha’s Hospital.
The nuns were very dedicated to their work. They asked for no favours, only asking children who had gardens for flowers for the altar, help with the reredos, or, rarely, to ask the loan of a car for medical appointments. I never knew what became of them because I myself fell ill and stayed in bed for a whole year and stopped going to school to be tutored at home. Our tradition is to acknowledge every teacher, however, short the learning period. To the distant memory of these teachers I tender my salutations.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Feature Articles / Sunday – June 07th, 2015
A worker giving final touches to a replica of Sanganakallu gudda, said to be South India’s largest neolithic site, inside the museum
Ballari :
To preserve the stone artifacts found in South India’s “largest neolithic site” located in Sanganakallu village, Ballari, and other places such as Vijayapura and Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh, a mini museum is being readied at the cultural complex here.
The goal behind setting up this museum is preserving the neolithic stone artifacts in a scientific manner and documenting them properly to help research scholars. A few artifacts will also be kept on display for the public.
According to Prof Ravi Korishettar, who conducted research on the site in Sanganakallu for 10 years, the site is the largest neolithic site in South India.
The hilltop site is spread over 1,000 acres. However, he told Express that rampant stone quarrying has been destroying the site. At the museum, the artifacts Korishettar found during his small-scale excavations will be preserved.
He said as part of his research, he explored around 40 neolithic sites in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, and found artifacts after excavations in 20.
In 2008, he appealed to the Ballari deputy commissioner to take steps to set up a mini museum to preserve the artifacts. The DC approved the proposal, but work was delayed for years due to technical reasons.
But the museum is now nearing completion and according to sources, is expected to be thrown open in two months.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Karnataka / by Bhukker Madhu Kumar / June 10th, 2015
