Star this week : Talented Cricketer : Naveen

Sports

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Cricket is a very popular game in our country and after the exploits of the Indian team which has been doing well in the International scene, and inspired by the legendary Sachin Tendulkar’s feats, many youngsters have taken up cricket as their career. Mysuru also has its share of producing talented cricketers who have gone on to play higher level of cricket. On these lines is Mandya-born youngster M.G. Naveen who has been performing consistently with the bat and the ball in the recent tournaments conducted by KSCA. His performances in the S.A. Srinivasan Memorial tournament and in the Inter-zonal Tournament for Mysuru zone, has earned him a place in the KSCA XI team which will take on Cricket Association of Bengal in the final of the Dr.(Capt.) K. Thimmappiah Memorial All India Cricket Tournament-2016, which will begin in Bengaluru from August 15 onwards. He is our ‘Star This Week.’

Naveen has been picked up by the Bijapur Bulls team for the Karnataka Premier League (KPL) 2016, which is set to begin in Mysuru from September, 2016. Naveen, representing Vijaya Bank in the recently held V. Prabhakar Memorial State-level Invitation Cricket Tournament conducted by Navodaya Cricket Club in Mysuru, impressed with his performances with the bat and ball for his team and has won two ‘Man of the Match’ awards in two successive games against MUCSC and Bangalore Occassionals and was responsible for his team’s win in the matches and also helped his team win the title.

Naveen, 23, hails from Mandya and plays for Vidyaranya CC in the KSCA Mysuru Zone 1st Division league. He represents Swastic Union CC in the KSCA Bengaluru league in the Group I, 1st Division.

Naveen is a top order batsman and a medium-pacer and is a utility allrounder. Naveen has represented Karnataka in the U-23, U-19, U-16 levels and has been performing well.

Naveen also represented Mangalore University in the South Zone Inter-University Championships 2015-16. He represented Mysuru Warriors in the KPL 2015 season and in the recently concluded Mangalore Premier League won the ‘Best Player of the Tournament’ award for his allround performance throughout the tournament. He captained Mysuru Zone U-23 team in the 2015 season in the KSCA Inter-zonal Tournament. Naven also played for Vijaya Bank and BEML (Mysuru) in the KSCA Group II, 1st Division matches and has gained valuable experience with the exposure.

Naveen has been encouraged in his efforts by the KSCA Bengaluru, KSCA Mysuru Zone and his team Vidyaranya CC. He intends to work hard with his batting, bowling and fitness levels and aims to represent the State in the senior level in the days to come.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Sports News / August 14th, 2016

Autorickshaw driver’s son scores big in NEET

Education, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Records, All
Dinesh Rajkumar, who got 31st rank in NEET, with his parents in Sri Channabasaveshwar Gurukul in Karadyal in Bhalki on Thursday
Dinesh Rajkumar, who got 31st rank in NEET, with his parents in Sri Channabasaveshwar Gurukul in Karadyal in Bhalki on Thursday

Dinesh studied in Kannada medium till SSLC, before joining Channabasaveshwar Gurukul for PUC.

Dinesh Rajkumar, son of an autorickshaw driver from Enakur in Bhalki taluk, has earned the 31st rank in the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET).

A student of Sri Channabasaveshwar Gurukul in Karadyal in Bhalki, Dinesh has had the smart streak from his childhood. He scored 93 per cent in the SSLC exams and got 94 per cent marks in the pre-university exam. He stood 500th in the State in the CET medical rankings and had recently joined the MBBS course at Bangalore Medical College, said Basavaraj Molkeri, Gurukul principal.

He studied in Kannada medium till SSLC, before joining the Gurukul for PUC.

His father, Rajkumar, who drives an auto in Bhalki and surrounding villages, does not know much about NEET. He thinks that if Dinesh chooses to pick a seat in the national quota, he will have to leave Karnataka. “My son is already in a medical college in Bengaluru. It will be difficult to send him elsewhere, especially to cities like Delhi or Mumbai. Those cities may be costlier than Bengaluru for him to live in,” he said.

Dinesh’s mother is a homemaker. She is just happy that her son is studying to be a doctor. She wants him to come back and heal the sick in her village.

Dinesh, who came to see his teachers at the Gurukul on Thursday, said he wants to continue studying and pursue research. Teachers and staff were present at a felicitation organised for him and his successful batchmates.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Karnataka / by Special Correspondent / Bidar – August 19th, 2016

Narayana Health launches Robotic Surgery Training programme with support from Infosys Foundation

Education, Records, All, Science & Technology
Dr. Devi Shetty and Sudha Murty unveiling the plaque at the launch of ‘Infosys Institute of Robotic Surgery.’
Dr. Devi Shetty and Sudha Murty unveiling the plaque at the launch of ‘Infosys Institute of Robotic Surgery.’

Bengaluru :

Narayana Health (NH), Bengaluru, has launched the Institute of Robotic Surgery supported by Infosys Foundation at its flagship unit at Narayana Health City.

The da Vinci Robotic Surgical System will be used primarily for prostate, kidney, gynaecological, colorectal and select head and neck cancer surgeries.

Symbolically unveiling the plaque, signifying the launch of ‘Infosys Institute of Robotic Surgery,’ Sudha Murty, Chairperson, Infosys Foundation said, “The need to adopt and continually update treatment protocols that reduce errors is crucial for a country like India, which sees high patient volumes and a wide spectrum of complex diseases. Robotic surgery, with its high degree of precision and faster recovery time, has the potential to address this efficiently. Our partnership with Narayana Health, incontestably a pioneer in delivering world-class healthcare, is aimed at encouraging rapid adoption of robotics in healthcare in India. Through this endowment, we also intend to provide impetus for further research in this area, and enable the masses to reap the benefits of affordable and high-quality treatment.”

“Technique of surgical intervention on the human body is undergoing dramatic change. It took over 30 years for laparoscopic surgery to replace open abdominal operation. World is on the threshold of a major transition from laparoscopic surgery to robotic surgery,” said Dr. Devi Shetty, Chairman, Narayana Health.

Robotic surgery has proved that inaccessible areas of the human body like deep in the pelvis where a prostate surgery needs to be done for a patient with cancer of the prostate can easily be accessed. Robotic surgery has proven beyond doubt its supremacy.

“It is a matter of time before most procedures on the human body will be done better with robotics. However, for the large scale technical adoption of robotic surgery major hitch is the surgeon’s skill,” informed Dr. Devi Shetty. Today surgical robots are available in very few centres across the world and the training programme to train an experienced surgeon as a robotic surgeon is expensive and inaccessible.

Explaining further on the need for such training programmes, Dr. Devi Shetty said, “Infosys Foundation always believed in the power of technology to transform the world and address the human sufferings. With that objective, Infosys Foundation donated ‘da Vinci Surgical Robot’ to develop Infosys Institute of Robotic Surgery to train robotic surgeons for the future. The philosophy of creating the institution is to train any surgeon with a passion to learn robotic surgery and certify them to start robotic surgical programme in different parts of the country. NH Foundation along with Infosys Foundation believes that this is the only way robotic surgery services will be available to the common man of this country.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / August 19th, 2016

CSIR-CFTRI enters into MOU with Karnataka State Mango Development Corporation

Business & Economy, Green Initiatives / Environment, Science & Technology
Prof. Ram Rajasekharan (right), Director, CSIR-CFTRI and Kadrigowda, MD, KSMD&MCL, seen exchanging the MoU.
Prof. Ram Rajasekharan (right), Director, CSIR-CFTRI and Kadrigowda, MD, KSMD&MCL, seen exchanging the MoU.

Mysuru :

CSIR-Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Karnataka State Mango Development and Marketing Corporation Ltd. (KSMD&MCL) under Department of Horticulture, Government of Karnataka recently for establishing a Mango Development Centre (MDC) at ChintamaniTaluk, Kolar.

As per the agreement, CFTRI will function as a technical consultant for creating infrastructure for post-harvest handling of mangoes. The plant with unit operations such as washing, sorting, pre-cooling, cold storage, pulp extraction and processing will be commissioned by CFTRI under the agreement.

The Institute has developed number of technologies on mangoes which include, Technology protocols for shelf-life extension that enable export of mango var. Alphonso by ship, Fortified mango bar, osmo-air dried mango slices, Ready-To-Serve fruit beverages, fruit syrups and squashes, pickles & chutneys, Jam and jellies. A few of these technologies will be transferred to MDC.

MDC personnel will be trained on processing and quality analysis of products. In turn, the MDC will also impart training to farmers and entrepreneurs.

It may be noted that CSIR-CFTRI has been working with various State government departments for catalysing the growth in the nascent sector such as Nutraceuticals with Karnataka Biotechnology & Information Technology Services (KBITS), skill development in association with Karnataka Council for Technological upgradation (KCTU), Department of Industries and Commerce, ensuring nutritious meal to Hostelmates with Department of Social Justice and providing nutritional supplements to Anganwadis with Department of Women and Child Development.

The MoU documents were exchanged between Prof. Ram Rajasekharan, Director, CFTRI and Kadrigowda, Managing Director, KSMD& MCL, at a simple function held at CFTRI.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / August 12th, 2016

Mahout Dodda Masti passses away

Arts, Culture & Entertainment

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Mysuru :

Dodda Masti (63), the former Mahout of howdah elephant Arjuna during Jumboo Savari, the stellar event of Dasara festivities, passed away at Balle Haadi in D.B. Kuppe forest range this morning after a brief illness.

Dodda Masti, who joined forest service 42 years ago as a kavadi, had handled Arjuna during Jumboo Savaris from 2013 to 2015 before retiring last year. Leading the main elephant is considered a highly demanding job, as the tusker has to carry a 750 kg golden howdah on his back, and managing him through the milling crowd is important.

Dodda Masti, who was associated with howdah elephant Arjuna for over 15 years, was well-known for his skills in taming wild elephants trapped during Khedda and such other operations.

He leaves behind three sons and two daughters. Last rites would be held at Balle Haadi later today.

I will come back if alive: It may be recalled that Dodda Masti, while leaving Mysuru after Dasara-2015, had told Star of Mysore, “I will come back next year if I am alive.”

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / August 11th, 2016

No stings in this tale of celebrating scorpions

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Records, All, Travel
On Nagara Panchami, people offer puja to scorpions and hold them in their hands.
On Nagara Panchami, people offer puja to scorpions and hold them in their hands.

Kandkur village in northern Karnataka worships and plays with venomous stingers.

You may have heard of different kinds of fairs including cattle fair. But this village in Yadgir district of Karnataka on Sunday celebrated a “scorpion fair.”

In this annual fair on Nagara Panchami, people not only offer puja to scorpions, but also take these venomous stingers in their hands and allow them to move freely over their bodies.

This year was no exception with scorpion devotees from the district and across the border in Maharashtra, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh converging on the village to celebrate scorpions.

Devotees young and old, women and men thronged the temple on the village hillock where they first offered pooja to Goddess Konddammai who is said to be a scorpion goddess. Later, they searched for scorpions, which were found in plenty under the rocks and the stones of the semi-arid region.

Having caught the venomous insects, the devotees proceeded to play with them. Some let the creatures crawl over their bodies, some pop them into their mouths, letting the insect rest on their tongues for a few minutes. Children, too enjoyed playing with scorpions, exhibiting no fear.

The devotees’ courage stems from the belief that Goddess Kondammai will save them should the scorpion bite.

If bitten, they apply a paste of herbs, largely consisting of turmeric, on the wound. Shankar, a regular to this fair, however, claims that no serious injury or death has occurred so far at the fair over the years.

Government precaution

The State Health Department, however, is taking no chances. Concerned over such a “dangerous tradition”, officials deployed additional doctors at the primary health centre in Kandkur village.

Dr. Diwakar, District Health Officer, cautioned that scorpion bite could turn out to be very dangerous for children below 10 years. “But people don’t heed to our request to desist from touching the scorpions. Hence, we have kept ready a team of doctors for any emergencies,” he told The Hindu.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Karnataka / Ravikumar Naraboli  / Kandkur – August 08th, 2016

Excel Public School student attends GSA Summit at New York

Education, Records, All, World Opinion

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Mysuru :

Prithve K. Shekar, a Class X student of Excel Public School (EPS), attended GSA (Global STEM Alliance) Summit, an initiative of The New York Academy of Sciences (NYAS) held at New York recently.

Being the only Indian student selected, Prithve was part of the virtual program by The Junior Academy’s Innovation Challenge for creating novel solutions addressing major planetary challenges.

He was selected to be one among the 123 students from 13 countries to network with international students and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) experts. He was invited for an all-expense paid trip to New York recently for the Award Ceremony, where he also got a chance to interact with top-notch scientists and executives. The team was also invited to the R&D unit of the PepsiCo at New York.

Prithve is the son of Roopa Viswanath and Kiran Shekar residing at Gokulam. It is the second time that an Excelite was selected to the prestigious scholarship of Junior Science Academy, New York.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / August 09th, 2016

Endowment Awards presented to promising Journalists

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Records, All

Instituted by senior journalist K.V. Sreenivasan

Sitting from left: K.V. Sampath Kumar, Editor, Sudharma Sanskrit Newspaper; K.H. Chandru, Photojournalist, Vijayavani Kannada Daily; Rajendra Rao, Reporter, Vijayakarnataka (K.R. Nagar); B.S. Prabhurajan, UNI Dist. Correspondent; Gayathri V. Raj, Sub-Editor, Deccan Herald and Mullur Shivaprasad, Senior Reporter, Andolana, who received the awards instituted by senior journalist K.V. Srinivasan at a function organised at MDJA yesterday, are seen with (standing from left) Karnataka Media Academy Member K. Shivakumar, MDJA General Secretary K.J. Lokesh Babu, Karnataka Media Academy Chairman Siddaraju; Mayor B.L. Bhyrappa; Senior Journalist K.V. Srinivasan (Brother); MDJA President K. Deepak and Vice-President S.T. Ravi Kumar.
Sitting from left: K.V. Sampath Kumar, Editor, Sudharma Sanskrit Newspaper; K.H. Chandru, Photojournalist, Vijayavani Kannada Daily; Rajendra Rao, Reporter, Vijayakarnataka (K.R. Nagar); B.S. Prabhurajan, UNI Dist. Correspondent; Gayathri V. Raj, Sub-Editor, Deccan Herald and Mullur Shivaprasad, Senior Reporter, Andolana, who received the awards instituted by senior journalist K.V. Srinivasan at a function organised at MDJA yesterday, are seen with (standing from left) Karnataka Media Academy Member K. Shivakumar, MDJA General Secretary K.J. Lokesh Babu, Karnataka Media Academy Chairman Siddaraju; Mayor B.L. Bhyrappa; Senior Journalist K.V. Srinivasan (Brother); MDJA President K. Deepak and Vice-President S.T. Ravi Kumar.

Mysuru :

Mysuru District Journalists Association (MDJA) had organised a function at its premises here yesterday to present various endowment awards to journalists for their contribution to the sector, instituted by senior Journalist K.V. Sreenivasan (Brother).

The awardees are B.S. Prabhurajan, senior journalist, UNI – Dr. Nadig Krishnamurthy award; K.V. Sampath Kumar, Editor, Sudharma Sanskrit Newspaper – Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam award; Mullur Shivaprasad, reporter, Andolana – Mahatma Gandhi award; Gayathri V. Raj, Sub-Editor, Deccan Herald – Janakamma Venkatappagowda award; K.P. Chandru, Photographer, Vijayavani – K.V. Srinivasan award and Rajendra Rao, Correspondent, Vijaya Karnataka, K.R. Nagar – J.P. Youth award.

Presenting the awards, Karnataka Media Academy Chairman Siddaraju sought good encouragement for new enterprising journalists that would enthuse the tribe. He lauded the performance of the awardees and expressed gratitude to K.V. Sreenivasan for instituting the six awards. He said that the Academy had come out with a programme to provide 10-month internship for young journalists with a poor background and also provide a monthly scholarship of Rs. 10,000.

Mayor B.L. Bhyrappa, MDJA President K. Deepak, General Secretary K.T. Lokesh Babu, Vice-President S.T. Ravikumar and senior journalist K.V. Sreenivasan were present on the occasion.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / August 09th, 2016

B’luru’s under-17 footballers emerge champions in england

Sports, World Opinion
Forty footballers underwent an intense six-day training session at the Manchester City Football Academy with the leading club’s coaches
Forty footballers underwent an intense six-day training session at the Manchester City Football Academy with the leading club’s coaches

Bengaluru :

A Bengaluru Under-17 football team has emerged champions in a tournament in England, against three Indian and one British school teams. The 16 students from different schools were playing at the first edition of Premier Explore Cup 2016, organised by a UK-based travel company Premier Explore.

A former English Premier League player Darren Sean Barnard selected teams from four cities — Kolkata, Mumbai, Bengaluru and New Delhi. Barnard, who is now a manager and a coach, was a wing back and midfielder from 1989 until 2010, notably in the League for both Chelsea and Barnsley.

Forty footballers underwent an intense six-day training session at the Manchester City Football Academy with the leading club’s coaches. The boys also toured and played futsal at St George’s Park Centre, run by one of the oldest football associations in England. Another highlight, of the eight-day experience, was playing at City of Manchester Stadium (also known as Etihad Stadium). This is the third-largest stadium in Premier League.

Mohammad Dhaisam was the Bengaluru team captain. One of the two students selected from Ebenezer School, he says, “The coaches had come to Bengaluru in the beginning of this year for selection… All the teams played well in the tournament.” Kolkata was the toughest contender, according to the students. They were the runners-up.

Kirthan Shaker from Delhi Public School says that day one of coaching in Manchester was revelatory. “We realised that we lacked coordination,” he says. But they defeated the English team. “The second match against Mumbai was an easy win,” says Kirthan. “Then we were confident of winning.”

It was a “life-changing experience” for Anirudh Madhava Mugalihal, a student of Jnanaswikar PU College. He took his first flight, for this trip, and says, “They treated us like professionals… I learned discipline and how to deal with things.”

The students underwent coaching in India first. The brothers Maahir Aszaskazi and Raashid Aszaskazi who run Bangalore Soccer Academy trained eight students for the tournament for eight days. Maahir says, “It was just a basic coaching of how to attack and defend yourselves… The first two to three classes were focused only on fitness and team-building exercises as there were students from different schools.”

Next year, the company plans to organise a tournament with eight Indian cities including Hyderabad, Pune, Chennai and Kerala.

source:  http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Bengaluru / by Akhila Damodaran / August 13th, 2016

IISc bags maximum number of INSA Medals for Young Scientists

Records, All, Science & Technology

The Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore had the lion’s share of medals with five of its faculty members being awarded the Indian National Science Academy (INSA) Medal for Young Scientists 2016, making it the institute with more awardees than any other, a release said.

The winners from IISc this year are: Prabeer Barpanda, Sai Siva Gorthi, Praveen Kumar, Anshu Pandey and Chandan Saha.

The INSA annually presents the Young Scientist Award to distinguish young scientists who have made notable research contributions in science and technology. Started in 1974, about 760 scientists have been recognised so far. A maximum of 30 awards are given each year.

Terming it a matter of pride for its faculty, Anurag Kumar, Director, IISc said: “These awards have recognised work that cuts across boundaries of basic research and applied research, and of science and engineering. Their conferral on our faculty is testament to the success of the rich and varied, interdisciplinary intellectual atmosphere of the institute.”

The winners

Praveen Kumar, Assistant Professor at the Department of Materials Engineering: Awarded for his discovery of electric-field induced changes in the mechanical behaviour of Carbon Nanotube (CNT).

Prabeer Barpanda, Assistant Professor at the Materials Research Centre: Awarded for his work on the development of new classes of Lithium and Sodium cathode materials for next generation battery and storage application.

Sai Siva Gorthi, Assistant Professor at the Department of Instrumentation and Applied Physics: Awarded for his contribution to the field of Innovative Optofluidic technologies, an area that combines the advantages of microfluidics and optics. His recent work includes research and development of in-vitro diagnostic tools, biomedical instrumentation and microfluidic nanotechnology.

Chandan Saha, Assistant Professor at the Department of Computer Science and Automation: His work on arithmetic circuit lower bounds, polynomial identity testing and reconstruction of arithmetic circuits has led to the discovery of new mathematical techniques and substantial progress on these problems.

Anshu Pandey, Assistant Professor at the Solid State and Structural Chemistry Unit: Made it to the list with his contributions in the area of low threshold quantum dot lasers.

Praveen Kumar, Assistant Professor at the Department of Materials Engineering:

“In our work, we discovered that the strength and the energy absorption capacities of CNT cellular structures could be dramatically enhanced by applying an electric field. In addition, we also studied how we can manipulate the stress relaxation and creep behaviours, which are important for knowing the long-term applications of these samples.”

Chandan Saha, Assistant Professor at the Department of Computer Science and Automation:

“Understanding computational efficiency is a great challenge in theoretical computer science. Our work in the last eight years has revealed new insights into the behaviour of low-depth circuits that capture highly parallel computations. Low-depth circuits also form a gateway to understanding the intricate nature of general arithmetic computations. So, there is hope that some of the ideas and proof techniques introduced in our work will continue to generate exciting new research in the area.”

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Staff Reporter / Bengaluru – August 12th, 2016