New Delhi, Apr 2 (ANI):

The 30th National Kannada Sammelana will be held here on April 6 and 7.

Announcing this, M B Samaga, its convenor, said the conference organised by “Dehali Kannadiga”, a Kannada monthly published from Delhi, will be inaugurated by Padmabhushan Dr. D. Veerendra Heggade, Dharmadhikari of Dhrmasthla.

Dr. K. Sudha Rao, ex vice chancellor, Karnataka Open University will preside over. Prof. B.R. Ananthan, vice chancellor, Ranni Channamma University will release the souvenir.

The conference includes a seminar on Kannada language, literature and culture, poets’ meet, women festival, music, dances, drama and other cultural programmes and book exhibition.

“Two thousand delegates from different parts of the country including writers, artists, professors, academics and representatives of the Kannada association are expected to participate, Samaga said. (ANI)

source: http://www.truthdive.com / Home> National> News / by ANI / New Delhi, April 02nd, 2013

Mangalore:

‘Manaa Dakun’, a book of editorial collections that appeared in Konkani fortnightly ‘Kodial Khaber’, written by Mavinakurve Venkatesh Baliga, was released at a programme held at Bhuvanendra Hall, Canara High School, on Sunday April 7.

The book was released by Basti Vaman Shenoy, president, World Konkani Center, while Padma Shenoy, writer, and Ranganath Bhat, secretary, Canara High School, were the guests of honour.

Baliga, in his welcome address, said that the aim of the paper when it was started five years ago, was mainly to spread news as well as to promote Konkani language. He added that the paper now reaches 3,000 families.

Lauding Baliga for all his work, Shenoy said that the editorial in a paper has special standard and importance.

“Here, the editor gives a clear cut idea on the topic of the book before a reader starts reading it. Papers should increase and grow so that people’s knowledge and capacity to understand increases,” he added. He also asked people to always support papers and writers.

Guest of honour Padma Shenoy briefed about the book and lauded the writings of Baliga. M R Ranganath Bhat also spoke on the ocassion.

M R Kamath, member, advisory committee, Naresh R Kini, and Vidya Baliga were among those present.

source: http://www.daijiworld.com / Home> Mangalore / Pics: Brijesh Garodi / Daijiworld Media Network – Mangalore (VM)

Visakhapatnam :

Their culture and cuisine is very different from that of Vizag and they account for just a small portion of the city’s population. However, the 300-400 Kannadigas, who are mostly concentrated in and around the Gurudwara junction in Vizag, have made the Port City their home.
The Kannadigas are chiefly employed in public sector undertakings such as the steel plant and banks, as well as enterprises such as the Railways and the Navy.

This culturally active community displays its rich traditions and heritage at the Kannada Kala Sangam in the city through programmes such as folk dance and theatre, including Yakshagana and Bhootkala, and also through the celebration of Ganesh Chaturthi and Mosurukudike (Sri Krishna Janmashtami), with the world-famous Carnatic music featuring during festivals. Artistes are also flown in from Karnataka to perform at the Kannada Kala Sangam on special occasions, said Vijaya Kumar, the joint treasurer of the Sangam.

Vishnumurthy Bhat of Udupi in Karnataka, who is in the city for the last seven years and is employed with a nationalised bank, is the secretary of the Kannada Kala Sangam.

“I have extended my stay here by postponing my transfer because my children are studying in the city. Vizag has good schools and hence I’m not in a hurry to rush back to work at my native place,” said Bhat.

The Kannadigas are a floating population here and try to make the most of their stay in the city. “We get everything here except perhaps the Kannada cuisine in restaurants,” he quipped.

That is one of the few things that the Kannadigas, who are in love with the beauty of the city, miss — the cuisine from various parts of Karanataka such as Mangalorian food, Mysore sweets and Bangalore cuisine.

“Each part of Karnataka has its special cuisine, such as the neer dosa (wafer-thin dosa kneaded with water), kori roti (dry rice flakes in chicken gravy), semedaidya and of course the famous Mysore-Pak sweets. There are hardly any authentic Kananda eateries in the city,” lamented Mangalore’s D Deepak, an employee at a corporate house who has been in the city for the last four months.

“The food here is quite different from our part of the country. We use a lot of coconut and banana in our food, including the use of coconut oil. However, overall, I’m enjoying my stay in the city,” he said.

Though the culture and cuisine are vastly different, Kannadiga brother-sister duo B Madhushree and B Srinidhi are all praise for the city and her warm people.

“I could learn Telugu in less than a month because of its affinity with our language and I have many Telugu friends and neighbours who are warm-hearted, soft and polite. I also like the scenic beauty of this tourist place,” said Madhushree, a class eight student of Sri Satya Sai School and a Carnatic classical singer.

For her brother Srinidhi, an intermediate student, it’s the perpetual peace and clam prevailing in the city and non-congested roads that helps Vizag score over other cities. “I’ve been in the city since the fourth standard but have never seen any political unrest or major problems in the city. The city also has good academic institutions. However, the biggest turn-off is the industrial pollution, which is getting worse with each passing year,” said Srinidhi.

source:  http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / Home> City> Visakhapatnam / by Sulogna Mehta, TNN / March 31st, 2013

The author of Akshaya Netra, with name and fame in media circles for his lucid presentations about persons and events in which they figure, is in more than one sense the book’s ‘ghost author.’

On his own admission, he embarked upon the task of narrating about an individual who dared his visual impairment (being blind) by leading a life that mocked at the disability, having convinced himself that if he did not record what the central figure of his work, Prof. M.S. Venugopal, went through in life that would amount to a betrayal to the society. The narration in first person makes Venugopal the ‘true author’ of the work, but for his being sightless.

The author has captured the saga of life’s vicissitudes that the subject (Venugopal) of his book faced with aplomb by adopting the anecdotal route as narrated to him from memory. In that sense, the work is a hybrid case of an autobiography not actually written by its own author.

The crisp script presented in 10 concise sections generates a feeling in the reader that Venugopal is himself narrating his travails and ultimate successes in all his pursuits in a one-to-one communication. While his realisation of being sightless is told in a matter-of-fact outlook, his triumphs of achieving his goals in life are told with consummate humility.

The reader is served a sumptuous fare of details of innumerable occasions that Venugopal braved to the extent of visualising those trying occasions as crystal-clear graphics. Once begun, it is well-nigh impossible to put the book away until page 112, its last page.

Prof. Venugopal, now a familiar figure among the literati of Mysore, through the pen of his biographer Ravindra Bhatta, may be inclined to agree with the thought of this reviewer that his message to everyone in society is this: It is a terrible thing to see and have no vision. The world may be full of suffering, but it can also be full of overcoming. Also, avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure to that danger (a quote from Helen Keller, the legendary deaf-blind icon). —BRS.

source: http://www.StarofMysore.com / Home> Feature Articles / March 31st, 2013

The city was awash with colour and life came to a grinding halt as people celebrated Holi on Wednesday.

A festive mood prevailed in the city throughout the day. Shops, business establishments and hotels downed shutters, and public and private vehicles were off the road until evening, as youngsters and revellers took to the streets in the morning itself.

No untoward incident was reported anywhere in the district.

The government had not declared a holiday on Wednesday and attendance at its offices was thin.

Nationalised banks suspended operations for the day.

Competition

Bidar Special Correspondent writes:

Holi was celebrated with joy across the district on Wednesday. Some residents set up temporary shelters to provide drinking water to revellers. Several NGOs distributed buttermilk and lemon juice, while yuvak mandals put up tents and served snacks.

The members of a youth club organised a ‘dahi handi’ competition in the old city.

Official reception

Government employees gathered at Durga Darshini, the Deputy Commissioner P.C. Jaffer’s residence, to play Holi.

There, they were met by Dr. Jaffer, Ujjwal Kumar Ghosh, zilla panchayat Chief Executive Officer, and Sunil Panwar, Deputy Conservator of Forests, among others.

Bandeppa Kashempur, MLA, joined a group of Lambani women in their dance in the celebrations organised outside his house. Residents of villages and tandas in the taluk participated in the celebrations there.

Rahim Khan, MLA, played Holi with villagers who visited his house on Ring Road.

source: http://www.TheHindu.com / Home> National> Karnataka / by Special Correspondent / Gulbarga, March 28th, 2013