Yearly Archives: 2015

Sugama Sangeetha trio to Japan

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, World Opinion

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Mysuru :

For the first time, Kannadigas in Japan have organised a Music Festival in Tokyo on April 5 inviting Karnataka’s three popular Sugama Sangeetha artistes — Ratnamala Prakash, Indu Vishwanath and Dr. Rohini Mohan — to sing Bhavageethas written by famous Kannada poets.

The artistes will be leaving for Tokyo on Apr. 2. Kyoko Miura of Japan will present a Bharathanatyam recital on the occasion.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / Friday – March 27th, 2015

University of Mysore honours Sports Persons

Sports
University of Mysore yoga team which won the bronze medal in the All India Inter-University Yoga Competitions 2014-15, held at Kurukshethra University recently was honoured by the Department of Physical Education, UoM in a function held at the University Sports Pavilion yesterday. Seen in the picture are (standing from left) Huchagowdar (Manager), S.Sanjay (Bronze medalist -JSS College, Nanjangud) and B. Ravi (Coach). (sitting from left) Dr. C. Krishna, Director, Dept. of Physical Education, UoM and P.M. Somashekar, Vice-Chairman, SAK
University of Mysore yoga team which won the bronze medal in the All India Inter-University Yoga Competitions 2014-15, held at Kurukshethra University recently was honoured by the Department of Physical Education, UoM in a function held at the University Sports Pavilion yesterday. Seen in the picture are (standing from left) Huchagowdar (Manager), S.Sanjay (Bronze medalist -JSS College, Nanjangud) and B. Ravi (Coach). (sitting from left) Dr. C. Krishna, Director, Dept. of Physical Education, UoM and P.M. Somashekar, Vice-Chairman, SAK

Mysuru :

The Department of Physical Education, University of Mysore honoured its outstanding sports persons for the year 2014-15 with cash awards and mementos at the University Sports Pavilion yesterday.

S.Sanjay, who won the Bronze medal in the All India Inter-University Yoga competitions 2014-15 held at Kurukshetra, Manager Huchagowdar and Coach B. Ravi were honoured with Rs.10,000/- cash prize each. Sanjay was also given the Mysuru University Sports Scholarship award for his performance.

The other award winners:

University Inter Collegiate Inter Zonal Games Team championship- Men and Women-Rs.20,000/- each. University Inter Collegiate Athletic Meet Team championship- Men- Post Graduate Sports Council, MGM-15,000/-; Women: Bharathi College, Bharathinagar-Rs.15,000/-. University Inter-collegiate Cross Country Team championship- Men- Govt. FGC, K R Pet & Women-Teresian College, Mysuru- Rs.10,000 each. University Inter-collegiate Athletic meet record holders- C.M. Sowmya- Bharathi College, Bharathinagar-5km walk-Rs.5000/- and T.S.Ravi, DoS in PE & SS, UoM; Broad Jump and High Jump and Mr. Mysuru University Title Winner-V Nagaraju, GFGC, Siddartha Layout, Mysuru-Rs.5000/-.

The prizes to the winners were given away by SAK Vice Chairman P.M. Somashekar.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Sports News / Friday – March 27th, 2015

Bengaluru biologist is WEF’s Young Global Leader

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Green Initiatives / Environment, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Nature, Records, All, World Opinion

Bengaluru :

It’s good that the World Economic Forum (WEF) has recognized the importance of wildlife and conservation, says conservation biologist Krithi Karanth who was recently selected as one of the 187 Young Global Leaders (YGL) of 2015.

Bengaluru-based Krithi said very few wildlife people are selected as YGL. “So I am honoured and excited about being an YGL. This provides new opportunities to engage with the world’s brightest and most creative business leaders, politicians, entrepreneurs to do more for wildlife conservation. For me, the WEF has recognized the importance of wildlife and conservation,” she told TOI on Wednesday.

She is one of the 12 Indians selected as YGL this year.

An associate conservation scientist with the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), Krithi has worked on several projects like examining human wildlife conflicts in seven states across India, bird and amphibian diversity in coffee-rubber-areca plantations of Karnataka’s Western Ghats, implementation and experiences of families being voluntarily relocated from many parks in India. “We go to villages and listen to their problems like devastation of livestock and crops caused by wildlife, and also discuss the compensation issue. We do a research paper and share it with the forest department.”

According to Krithi, red-tape is delaying compensation reaching people affected by wildlife. “The government should give compensation to the people affected by animals like tigers, leopards and elephants. There should not be any delay in this.”

On frequent elephant-human conflicts in the state, Krithi said elephants need space for their movement. “But their habitats are fragmented,” she added.

SHAPING THE FUTURE

The WEF chose Krithi Karanth as a Young Global Leader for her professional accomplishments, commitment to society and potential to contribute to shaping the future of the world through inspiring leadership.

In a letter congratulating her on her nomination, Klaus Schwab, executive chairman and founder of the Forum of YGL, said, “Your nomination is in recognition of your record of professional accomplishments, your commitment to society and your potential to contribute to shaping the future of the world through your inspiring leadership.”

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Bengaluru / by G S Kumar, TNN / March 26yth, 2015

Karnataka History Congress at Mangalore University from March 26

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

MANGALURU: Department of History of Mangalore University will host the 24th session of Karnataka History Congress from March 26 to 28. Upinder Singh, professor of University of Delhi and well-known historian on ancient and early medieval India will inaugurate the History Congress and deliver key note address at Mangala Auditorium in the campus. Upinder, daughter of former PM Manmohan Singh is an authority on ancient and medieval India.

G Ramarathan, former professor of History, Karnataka State Open University will take over as the new general president of the KHC and present his general president’s address. B N Naidu, former professor of history of Bangalore University and outgoing general president of KHC and R Rajanna, professor of history, University of Mysore and president of the KHC will be the guests of honour. K Byrappa, Vice-Chancellor of Mangalore University will preside.

About 300 delegates are participating in this session. Mega magic star Kuddroli Ganesh and troupe will present ‘Vismaya Jadoo’ as part of cultural programme on March 26. Karnataka History Congress is an academic organization of historians, teachers and research scholars of history and it has more than 600 members. Ever since its inception, it has been playing an important role in constructing the history of the land and people of Karnataka, a university release states.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Mangaluru / by Jaideep Shenoy, TNN / March 24th, 2015

Blast from the past

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

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He lives in a quaint mansion inherited from his father. But it is not just the mansion that he inherited. He has gone a step forward and acquired his father’s passion too. That is the passion for vintage cars.

Director of Advaith Hyundai, SVS Subramanya Gupta, inherited this interest from his father SV Sreenivasa Setty, who also had a great liking for cars. This passion is alive in Subramanya Gupta who is the proud owner of exotic vintage machines.

Ford Prefect, Humber Super Snipe, Adler, Austin, Citroen, Morris Mini Cooper, and the more giant Ford Grain Truck… the list of his collections go on. A true follower of the phrase ‘old is gold’, he has been successful in preserving them. “Owning and maintaining these old cars is a hobby and a passion,” he says.

Subramanya Gupta says his father, who helped the poor during World War II, was also an affluent person who had the warmth for luxury. “My father was very fond of cars and he owned four cars which were the best imported vintage cars during that time (1942). His cars were spick and span. I did not inherit those cars as I was just seven years old when he passed on. But the fervour for these cars is a genetic disposition and this is the root of my hobby,” says Subramanya.

An impassioned lover of cars, he agrees that his passion is an expensive affair. “I was fond of cars from when I was a boy. But it turned into a passionate collection after I started making money.” It was “somewhere around 1992-93” that he had his first pride possession, which was the Ford Prefect bought from a relative. The next in line was the stylish Humber Super Snipe that was originally owned by the Nizam of Hyderabad. The mesmerising beauty and comfort of these cars motivated him to include more to his collections resulting in him owning many more like the Mercedes Ponton, Ford Model AA, Jaguar, Chevrolet Fleetmaster. The Fleetmaster won the  ‘Indian Category Award’ at the Cartier Heritage Show in Mumbai. “The Humber Super Snipe owned by the Nizam was in a bad condition. There was a restoration process that took place after which it is in a perfect running condition,” he informs.

A perfectionist, he never fails to keep these cars spotless. A reckoned name in the automobile industry, he has dedicated technicians — Sirajuddin and Suri — who he says “give their heart and soul to restore these cars”.

“I want all my cars to be in mint condition. These cars were meant to be luxurious and I like to maintain that luxury in them,” he adds. An admirer of the technology of these grand-old machines, he is not a big fan of the attention he gets while driving them. He says, “We take these cars on a drive where there is not much crowd as I do not like the attention. We load the car on a flood-bed truck, take them out of the City and then enjoy the drive.” This passion of his is sure to continue as his son Agastya Gupta knows all about these antique automobiles. “I am trying to maintain whatever my family had interest in and the journey has been going on. My father owned a vintage Austin and I am looking forward to adding this to my collection,” wraps up Subramanya.

source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> Supplements> MetroLife / by  Prajna GR, Bengaluru / DHNS – March 24th, 2015

A record of time past

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

Antique beauty

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At a time when we are transitioning from the analogue to a digital medium, preserving what is left of the old-world charm is of utmost importance to some. In such an attempt, Monica Rajan, a budding entrepreneur, recently launched ‘Samaya’, a start-up that looks to retain the beauty of vinyl records by adding a hint of modern to it.   

Monica says she has always been enchanted with vinyl records. “My dad had around 30 to 40 of them just lying around. They looked so pretty but I didn’t know what to do with them. Last December, I visited Manchester where I saw a clock made from a vinyl record and that gave me the idea for ‘Samaya’. However, it was a simple round one with numbers and the hands.” When it came to designing her clocks, she made them more elaborate as she had access to all the right machines.

“After I finished my MBA, I joined my father’s business, a manufacturing unit, but that wasn’t my passion. I have always wanted to do something creative. I initially didn’t know what to do with the old records until my visit to Manchester turned things around and the tools were at my disposal.” She designs and cuts vinyl records into various shapes and sizes, be it music bands, zodiac signs, scenes from popular television shows or movies.

While most people don’t use clocks anymore, Monica thinks they still have their charm.    “Youngsters spend so much MONEY on clothes, jewellery and partying these days… these are things that have never appealed to me, but the clock did.”

She adds that it also appeals to people of a slightly older age group. “My father is big art connoisseur and he is my biggest critic. He needs everything to be perfect and my designs never are but even he liked my idea.”

How does she design the clocks? “I’ve grown up listening to bands like ‘Guns N’ Roses’, ‘The Beatles’, ‘Nirvana’ and ‘Bon Jovie’ so I know their logo, how the members look and the songs feel. I surf the internet for the correct font and work on Corel Draw or Photoshop.”

She has also designed a ‘The Big Bang Theory’ and Bengaluru clock. “The most popular clock I’ve made so far has been a clock on Bengaluru, which has the Vidhana Soudha, Namma Metro and all of the City’s landmarks carved on it.”

She already has plans to extend her business. “I have found a vendor who is willing to sell me 1,000 to 2,000 records for a reasonable rate,” she says. But Monica says it’s difficult to find English records that haven’t been touched by time.

“A negative feedback I got from customers was that the labels of the clocks were in Tamil while the designs were of popular international bands. So now I’m planning to make my own label. It’s comparatively harder to find English records and they are more expensive so it’s easier to make the labels myself,” she says. She also has plans to make clocks out of wood and stainless steel.

source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> Supplements> MetroLife / by Ananya Revanna / DHNS – March 23rd, 2015

Oracle picks Bengaluru boy Thomas Kurian for top job

Amazing Feats, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Leaders, Science & Technology, World Opinion
Boy from Bengaluru, Thomas Kurian, 48, has been elevated as president of Oracle responsible for software development.
Boy from Bengaluru, Thomas Kurian, 48, has been elevated as president of Oracle responsible for software development.

Bengaluru :

Boy from Bengaluru, Thomas Kurian, 48, has been elevated as president of Oracle responsible for software development, making him perhaps the single most senior executive in the company after co-CEOs Safra Catz and Mark Hurd. Kurian, who joined the $38-billion US company in 1996, was executive VP (product development).

Indians are now at top levels in many IT firms – the notable being Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, and Sundar Pichai, head of most major Google products. A recent entrant is Bhaskar Ghosh, management committee member and group chief executive of technology delivery at Accenture.

Kurian is an alumnus of Bengaluru’s St Joseph’s Boys High School. He holds a BA in electrical engineering from Princeton University, where he graduated summa cum laude (highest distinction). He has an MBA from Stanford University where he was an Arjay Miller scholar. He has served as an advisory member on the boards of several international venture funds and software companies. In Oracle, he has held various product management and development positions.

An Oracle India spokesperson confirmed Kurian’s elevation, but did not respond to a question whether any other executive had been similarly promoted. On Oracle’s website, the highest designation among executives below the CEOs is executive vice-president. If no other executive has been promoted, then Kurian becomes the only president in the company.

Oracle chairman Larry Ellison wrote an email to employees to announce Kurian’s elevation. “I’m pleased to announce that Thomas Kurian has been promoted to president of Oracle, responsible for software development. He has a long track record of developing suites of software products that go to achieve pre-eminent success in the marketplace. His first major engineering effort was developing the Oracle suite of Fusion Middleware,” he wrote. Oracle Fusion Middleware is a business innovation platform for the enterprise and the cloud that enables enterprise to create and run applications maximizing IT efficiency.

Ellison, in his email to employees on Thursday, said Kurian was focusing on engineering products required to transition software technology to the Oracle Cloud. “The transition is going well with the Oracle cloud sales starting to take off…The world can get a glimpse of how well Thomas and his team are doing their job,” he said.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> Tech> Tech News / TNN / January 09th, 2015

‘StartUp Fest-15’ to start today

Business & Economy, Education

To encourage management students to take up entrepreneurship, Hubballi-based Institute of Management Studies and Research has organised a two-day ‘StartUp Fest-15’ on Friday and Saturday.

According to a release issued by director of KLE Society’s IMSR Prasad Roodagi, the event took shape after the ‘Make In India’ call by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and developed keeping in mind the subsequent economic development and emerging opportunities in the field of entrepreneurship in the country.

As many as 25 teams are participating in the event.

Prof. Roodagi has said that the event was exclusively for students from undergraduate courses who are on the verge of completion of their degree exams and looking for building a successful career.

While each event would have three prizes, teams with highest score in all the events will be adjudge as general champion.

Registrar (Evaluation) of Karnatak University M. Basavanna will inaugurate the management festival on Friday at 9.30 a.m.

Event is only for undergraduates about to complete their degree exams

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National> Karnataka / by Girish Pattanashetti / Hubballi – March 27th, 2015

Talented Tennis player : C. Varunya

Records, All, Sports

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Tennis is a global sport and Mysuru has been producing talented tennis players from time to time who have gone on to represent the country in different levels. One such player, who has made her mark in the National level is city’s Varunya Chandrashekar. Ranked No. 3 in the State and No.54 in the country, Varunya has been regularly taking part in the ITF women’s circuit to improve on her rankings in the National and International level. Varunya, recently taking part in the Blue Jay AITA 50K Women’s Tennis Tourney at Bengaluru, on Friday finished runner-up in the Women’s Doubles event partnering West Bengal’s Shivika Burman. She also entered the quarter-finals in the Women’s Singles. She is our ‘Star This Week.’

Varunya is the daughter of Chandrashekar and Anitha, residents of J.P. Nagar, Mysuru, has been consistently performing well in ITF and National tournaments. She trains with Hemant Bendre, a reputed National level tennis coach at Pune.

Varunya, taking part in the 50K AITA Women’s Tennis Tourney, partnering Shivika Burman of West Bengal lost in the Women’s Doubles finals. S. Soha (Kar) and Shrishti Das (Mah) beat Varunya and Shivika Burman 6-0, 1-6, 10-8 to clinch the title. In the semi-finals, Varunya and Shivika beat Simran Kejriwal and Nikita Pinto of Mumbai 7-6,6-3,10-2 and entered the title round.

In the quarter-finals, Varunya and Shivika Burman beat Anusha Kondaveti and Shivani of Andhra Pradesh 7-5,6-4 and entered the semi-finals.

In the Women’s Singles event, Varnya lost in the quarter-finals to Preeti Srinivasan 3-6, 4-6. Sixth seeded Varunya beat Nidhitra Rajmohan 6-3, 6-2 to enter the quarter-finals.

She also entered the quarter-finals in the 50k AITA Women’s Tennis Tourney held at Delhi recently and lost to Sneha Padam 3-6, 4-6. Varunya represented Karnataka women’s tennis team in the National Games held at Kerela recently and fared well.

After a bout of injury problems for two months, Varunya has recovered back well and is playing in the National and ITF circuit with the help of her sponsors M/s. Cycle Pure Agarbathis, Mysuru, Dr. Prashanth and her coach.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Sports News / March 22nd, 2015

Tribute : Remembering Dr. R.M. Varma of NIMHANS

Leaders, Records, All, Science & Technology

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He gave to society an asset that will be cherished for all times to come

by Krishna Vattam, Senior Journalist

Dr. Raja Martanda Varma, Founder-Director of NIMHANS (the Bangalore-based National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences), who passed away on March 10 at the age of 94, was a Karma Yogi and truly symbolised the noble concept of ‘Vaidyo Narayana,’ a patient who sees Narayana, God, in a doctor, the reliever of pain and suffering.

He lived upto the Hippocratic oath he had taken at the time of his graduation that requires a new Physician to swear upon a number of healing Gods, to uphold specific ethical standards. “If I faithfully observe this oath (so goes the other important aspect of the Oath), may I thrive and prosper in my fortune and profession in the estimation of posterity, or on breach thereof, may the reverse be of my fate.”

In his long life and profession, it was the first aspect of the oath, faith, that governed his conduct, and fortune, here in Dr. Varma’s view had been ‘fortune’ to have been blessed not with materialistic wealth, ‘fortune’ to have been blessed with an opportunity to serve the society.

Dr. Varma did not visualise science and spirituality as different streams in the approach to life but he saw the convergence of these two streams and as the Founder-Director of NIMHANS, he pioneered the now globally accepted holistic approach for mental and neurological disorders. It is no exaggeration to say, and it is true, that if NIMHANS enjoys as a pre-eminent position as Asia’s best and one among the leading mental health and neurological sciences teaching hospitals in the world over, it was because of the total dedication of Dr. Varma in the functioning of the Institute.

How conscientious and devoted to his duties Dr. Varma had been can be appreciated from an incident as narrated to me by a close friend of Dr. Varma. It appears that after a long time Dr. Varma wanted to take his wife Dr. Malathi Varma for an outing and was driving in Bengaluru. On the way, he noticed a pedestrian being knocked down by a vehicle and the injured was rushed to NIMHANS. Dr. Varma drove back to the Institute telling his wife he will just find out the condition of the patient and asked her to stay in the car itself. Once he was there, he found that the patient needed immediate surgery. After operation, it appears, he came out and asked one of his assistants to find out who was in the car, unaware of the fact for a moment that he had brought his wife in the car.

In the early years of the Institute, which was known as ‘Hucchara Aspatre’ during those days, when the facilities available there were meagre, a patient urgently needed blood transfusion. The doctors went in a car to Avenue Road, brought the donors and saved the patient’s life. The market economy driving the forces and corporate sectors ruling the roost, with greed being the sole aim and deep erosion of values, how many such persons with such concerns can one find in the society at large.

Dr. Varma, hailing from Travancore Royal Family, was a prolific speaker and while I was the President of the Mysore District Journalists’ Association in 1970s, an independent entity and was not affiliated to Karnataka Union of Working Journalists’ Association then, I wrote to him to deliver the Venkatakrishnaiah Memorial Lecture that was instituted by another great freedom fighter and Editor of Sadhvi with an endowment. (I do not know why our Journalists’ Association has lost sight of the endowment and not continued the lecture).

It was a memorable evening and it was here on the occasion the philosopher in him found an expression to expatiate on the limitation of science to perceive certain aspects beyond our comprehension and dwelt on meta-physics and forged a grand convergence of science and spirituality.

Journalist K. Balakrishnan, who profiled Dr. Varma for The Hindu in 2003, summed up the persona of this legendary doctor thus: “Multi-faceted would prove to be an inadequate definition to describe Dr. Varma. A gifted surgeon, relentless researcher, teacher par excellence, exceptional organiser, able and proven administrator, a practical visionary, adventurer, courageous, willing to venture into hitherto untrodden realms, philosopher, artist, a giant among men and above all, self-effacing genuinely caring human being. Dr. Varma is all this and more. He best symbolises the concept of the ideal man who always aspires to better the lot of others without consideration to self.”

I wonder ‘kahan gaye vo log’ (where they have all gone).

[email: krishnavattam@gmail.com]

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Feature Articles / March 22nd, 2015