Chess Champ : M.S. Thejkumar

May 10, 2014Records, All, Sportsadmin

Mysore has been producing talented Chess players from time to time who have gone on to represent the country in different levels. Mysore’s IM M.S. Thejkumar, with a present rating 2460, is the highest ranked player in Karnataka. He recently took part in the National Rapid Chess Championship 2014 held at Ahmadabad from Apr. 26 to 28 and finished runner-up. He is our ‘Star This Week.’

Thejkumar, a employee with the South Western Railways, Mysore, has been consistently performing well in the National and International tournaments and has been steadily increasing his rating points and needs another 40 points to get the Grand Master title.

Representing Karnataka in National Rapid Chess Tourney in Ahmadabad, Thejkumar tied with GM Sriram Jha with 8 points from 11 rounds. As both of them tied also in their tie-break scores (70.5), they played two games in the play-off and both ended in a draw. In the final game, GM Sriram Jha triumphed and clinched the title with a cash prize of Rs. 50,000 and IM Thejkumar won Rs. 25,000 cash prize.

In the tourney, Thejkumar had wins over Raje Anil, D. Shreyansh, WGM Kulkarni Bhakti, Kulkarni Rakesh, Sharma Dinesh and Thanki Hemal Karsangi. He drew with M Dustageer Ibrahim, Matta Vinay Kumar, GM Sriram Jha and J. Ramakrishna. He had a single loss against Syed Anwar Shazuli.

An Ekalavya awardee,Thejkumar is the first Karnataka player to win the National ‘B’ Chess Championship. He has also finished fourth in the National Premier Chess Championships this year and is part of the Indian team.

Thejkumar is being sponsored by Yasasvi Shankar of Saanvi Technologies, USA and www.mysoresport.com. The Karnataka Government is also supporting him by providing him the needed help for taking part in overseas tournaments from time to time.

He will be participating in the forthcoming National ‘B’ Chess Championships at Himachal Pradesh from May 9 also and also in the International GM tournament in Mumbai.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Sports News / May 04th, 2014

Tindipotha gastronomic delight from a food truck

May 10, 2014Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Nri's / Pio's, Traveladmin

by Phalgunn Maharishi

The residents of Mysore, especially in the neighbourhoods of Bannimantap and Rajeev Nagar are now familiar with a big truck parked on the roadside near JSS Dental College with shining lights and people surrounding it eating costly food. But wait a minute! Costly food in a big truck? Well, it seems to be costly as the big truck sells fresh American-Mexican food but that’s not really costly. “A Mysorean can now fill his stomach with some classy food for just Rs. 80 on an average,” said Syed Manju while speaking about his big boy “Tindipotha.”

Syed Manju previously held the position of an Area Manager handling Public Relations and Marketing for 28 years in Costco, USA, the Number 3 retailer in the world which directly competes with Walmart, before heading towards Mysore to come up with his dream boy. “I had a passion towards cooking due to which I quit the job and came to Mysore with an interest in doing something unique, something which never existed here. That’s when Tindipotha was born,” commented Syed Manju while speaking about how it all started. The ecstatic and energetic Syed Manju keeps travelling back and forth between Mysore and Bellingham (90 miles north of Seattle in the United States) where his wife (Diane Houston), little girl Zara (16) and a little boy Iyan (14) lives.

Originally born in Channapatna and brought up in Mandya, Syed Manju is a self made man. He studied B.Sc and Diploma in Film Acting. He soon landed into Kannada Film Industry during his late 20s by directing films like Neenakkaga and Kanoonige Sawaal after which he travelled to USA for a trip to stay with his brothers and sisters for a while. Manju said, “Don’t ask me how, but I got my green card over there” with a wink and also added, “I never wanted to be there forever. Infact I had plans of directing more films in Kannada, but my fate made me stay there,” with a sweet smile. The last film produced by Manju was Appaji starring late Dr. Vishnuvardhan in the lead role released in 1996.

Coming back to Tindipotha, it all started roughly an year ago when Syed Manju and his brother Rafi Manju bought an old truck and got it rebuilt in Mandya to bring the new fancy boy to the streets of Mysore. “I was scared in the beginning. It was something new, something which the Mysoreans never experienced before. A new food to a new market. We had to prepare American-Mexican style foods with the ingredients available in Mysore and it didn’t seem easy for us in the beginning. But we did it and still doing it. It’s been an year and we are doing good,” said Syed Manju while speaking about Tindipotha.

Tindipotha has recently transformed itself from being just a food truck into a youth junction where we can find college going kids spending their cool evenings eating the sizzling new dishes like Nachos, Chicken Melt, Roti Lapat, Gilli Chicken, Turpi Chicken, Rollito, Apple Dream, Lava Pie, and many more summing up to over twenty different types of food.

“My brother Rafi Manju manages the front end and cash while my nephew Syed Umair Manju is our grill master. He even looks after the crew. Farhan, the cousin of Umair, assists the crew inside out and Tausif does all the deep fry and plating. Siddique and Atiq have been newly added to the crew and are learning ropes. Tausif, Siddique and Atiq are all family friends. We are all family and its a family business. The whole crew, except me and my brother, are college going kids,” said Syed Manju while introducing the team of Tindipotha.

People love the food. We had an interactive session with some regular customers of Tindipotha who expressed their hearts out. Bashar and Abdur Razzak, who stay in Bannimantap said, “This is really nice. It’s different than what we find elsewhere. We don’t find such tasty food at any other place, especially the Nachos! We come here for Nachos,” when asked to express how they feel about Tindipotha. Areb and his friends Mohammed Fahad and Rakshad, who come all the way from Bangalore just to eat at Tindipotha, said that they still haven’t yet got over the taste of Chicken Melt. The trio commented, “Its been a year and we still come here to eat the same thing,” with a laugh. Dental students Alley and Ahmad, who are from Iran visit Tindipotha atleast twice a week and mentioned that they love the tasty food and also the hospitality given to them by Syed Manju and his crew.

While speaking about the unpredictability of such food business in a city like Mysore, Syed Manju said, “Usually weekends are the busiest days for us, yet we can never predict. Sometimes customers ask me, which is the best dish prepared here! Well, I tell them to close their eyes and put their finger on the menu and we will serve it. If they don’t like the food, let them not pay us but if they like it, they need to pay us double.” He also added, “We are different from other eating places in the city saying that we smile at our customers which we can never find in any other hotels in Mysore. We also appreciate each and every customer, thank them and enquire in person whether they liked the dish. The food is also custom made for every single customer according to his likes and dislikes and we keep changing the taste one plate at a time.”

Tindipotha is for sure a place to be cherished and one of its kind in Mysore. It’s both vegetarian and non-vegetarian food truck with some tasty healthy and classy American-Mexican food at low prices. Do you want to try some different custom made food? Just head towards Tindipotha in Bannimantap near JSS Dental College between 7 pm and 11 pm any day! For more details, type in TINDIPOTHA in facebook and you will get the fan page.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Feature Articles / May 04th, 2014

Tipu Sultan remembered

May 10, 2014Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Leaders, Records, Alladmin

Srirangapatna :

The 216th death anniversary of Tipu Sultan organised by Hazrath Tipu Wakf Estate Development Committee was held at Gumbaz in Srirangapatna this morning.

Hazrath Tipu Wakf Estate Development Committee Chairman and MLA Tanveer Sait offered floral tributes to the tomb of Tipu Sultan located inside the Gumbaz.

Hazrath Moulana Hafiz -o-Qari-Inayath Ur Rahman, Khateeb-o-Imam, Masjid-e-Aqsa, Gumbad-e-Shahi recited versus of Holy Quran and prayed for Hazrath Tipu.

Hazrath Moulana Mahmood Ul Hassan, Moulana Ayub Ansari, Moulana Akbar Shariff, Iqbal Pasha, Allah Bakash Bakshi, Jameel Ahmed Ashrafi, Mohammed Abdul Salam, Khaleel Ur Rahman, Abdul Khader, Ibrahim Shariff, Haseena Shariff, Syed Akram Pasha, Mohammed Rafiq, Pansari Mujeeb Ahmed, Estate Officer Mohamed Ayub and others were present.

In another programme organised by Mysore City (District) Congress Committee at its office on Sayyaji Rao Road, MLA Vasu regretted that Tipu Sultan’s history had been distorted and said that even today the idol given by him to the Nanjangud Temple was being offered puja which showed his affection towards all religions.

Vasu urged the Tipu’s critics to study about Tipu in detail before passing any comments.

MLA M.K. Somashekar, former MLA Mukhtarunnisa Begum, Mysore City Congress Committee President C. Dasegowda, former Mayors Arif Hussain and Ayub Khan and others were present. Members present offered floral tributes to the portrait of Tipu Sultan.

It was on this day Tipu Sultan died fighting against the British Army in the year 1799. His body was found among the dead near the Ranganatha Swamy Temple.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / May 04th, 2014

Orthopaedic Surgeons from South India meet in city

May 10, 2014Education, Science & Technologyadmin

Mysore :

The Annual CME (Continuing Medical Education) programme of Orthopaedic Association of South Indian States (OASIS) organised by Mysore Orthpaedic Surgeons Trust (MOST) under the aegis of Karnataka Orthopaedic Association (KOA) began at Hotel Regaalis in city this morning.

The CME was inaugurated by OASIS President Dr. K.R. Thyagarajan. The day-long event is being held under the theme ‘Come and Enrich’.

About 200 delegates comprising Orthopaedic Surgeons from South India are participating in the meet.

Indian Orthopaedic Association (IOA) Past President and Pro-Chancellor of NITTE, Dr. M. Shantharam Shetty, IOA Past President Dr. Devadoss, First OASIS President Dr. A. Sreenivas Rao, OASIS Secretary General Dr. R. Ravishankar, CME Organising Chairman and Past KOA President Dr. Sharath Rao, CME Organising Secretary and KOA President Dr. N. Nithyanand Rao and others were present on the occasion.

Renowned Orthopaedic Surgeons from across South India will be giving lectures on recent innovations in Orthopaedic Dept.

Dr. A. Sreenivas Rao delivered his inaugural lecture of the topic ‘Diagnostic Dilemma between infections and tumors’; Dr. Devadoss spoke on ‘Management of Pauwels Type III fracture neck of femur in young adults’; Dr. M. Shantharam Shetty on ‘65-year-old fracture neck of femur- Challegnes’; Dr. Sharath K. Rao on ‘Non-union fracture neck of femur in young adult and current conecpts’; Dr. Edward Nazarath on ‘Dilemma in sub-trochanteric management plating versus IMN’ and ‘Proximal humerus fracture – Current concepts in management’; Dr. Monappa Naik on ‘Distal femur fracture and current concepts in management’ and ‘Distal humerus fracture – Current concepts in management’; Dr. Chethan Nagaraj on ‘Multi ligamentous injuries of the knee – Current concepts in management’ and ‘Recurrent dislocation – Current concepts in management’; Dr. Purushotham Shastry on ‘Proximal tibia fractures: Plate fixation versus intramedullary nailing’; Dr. Amrithlal A. Mascarenhas on ‘Cervical myelopathy – Decision making in managemen

t’ and ‘Lumbar spondylolisthesis – Current concepts in management’; Dr. N. Nithyananda Rao on ‘Ankle fracture – Current concepts in management’; Dr. Surendra Kamath on ‘Talar fracture and current concepts in management’ and ‘Humeral shaft fracture – Plating versus IM nailing’; Dr. V.J. Purushotham on ‘Distal radius fracture – Current concepts in management.’

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / May 04th, 2014

Mangala remembers Scarlett ‘Kempamma’

May 8, 2014Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, World Opinionadmin

T. Scarlett Epstein, also known as 'Kempamma'. — T. Scarlett Epstein, also known as ‘Kempamma’.

The people of Mangala, a village in Mandya district, chose to re-christen T. Scarlett Epstein “Kempamma” when she came to their village in the ’50s. They were unaware that the first name of the young woman roughly translated to the Kannada variant they had picked and that her study on their village was to bring her international renown.

Dr. Epstein (OBE), who passed away in U.K. at 91 on April 27, had a lasting connection with Mangala and Kalenahalli where she stayed in the ’50s during the course of her Ph.D on the socio-economy of Mysore villages, with renowned sociologist late M.N. Srinivas as her guide. She kept in touch with Mangala all her life, her last visit being in 2010. The villagers held a condolence meeting when they heard of her death.

From AustriaDr. Epstein’s journey to academia was nothing short of an adventure. The social anthropologist and economist was a Jewish refugee from Vienna who left Austria in 1938, as a high school girl, after Germany annexed it during World War II. She eventually made her home in the UK, working as a labourer in a clothes factory as she studied, slowly gaining a foothold in academia, she reveals in her autobiography, Swimming Upstream. Her visit to Mangala was the first leg of her long and illustrious journey.

Manjamma, an elderly resident of Mangala, recalls Dr. Epstein as someone who was always interested in studying the routine activities of rural women. “She learnt to put rangoli and got used to our ragi mudde and naati chicken curry,” she says.

Though she later worked in others parts of the globe and published over 15 academic works, her link to Mangala was special, recalls T. Thimme Gowda, a former bureaucrat who hails from Mangala and worked with Dr. Epstein on her field studies. “I was a boy of seven when she first visited our village,” he says.

In KannadaHer Ph.D work, as well as two of her important works rooted in Karnataka — ‘South India Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow’ and ‘Village Voices’ — have been translated into Kannada and brought out by the University of Agricultural Sciences, says Mr. Gowda.

“When she visited the village in 2010, she was worried about the large-scale migration because of agrarian distress and wanted to write about it and also do something to prevent it,” recalls Mr. Gowda.

source:http//www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Bangalore / by Bageshree S. and M.T. ShivaKumar / Bangalore – Mandya, April 29th, 2014

In the company of two Governors

May 8, 2014Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Leadersadmin

Pages from History

by Prof. A.V.Narasimha Murthy

Dr. Channa Reddy was the Governor of Lucknow University and at the suggestion of Prof. B.N. Puri, we went to the Raj Bhavan and called on the Governor. When I was introduced by Prof. Puri to His Excellency, I told him, ‘Sir, I have met you twice in Hyderabad; once in the company of Mallampalli Somasekhara Sharma and on another occasion with Oruganti Ramachandariah, both my gurus.’ He was pleased and told me, ‘in that case why are you not talking to me in Telugu.’ The Governor continued, ‘you are fortunate that you were a student of Mallampalli. He is a great man. You know, he is not even a graduate but his book History of Reddi Kingdom is an authoritative book on the subject. Four doctorate degrees can be awarded to that research work. When I had recommended his name for professorship at the Andhra University, the authorities turned it down on the ground that he has no Master’s degree and a doctorate. Finally, I got him selected as a Visiting Professor…’

The other day I was reading my own book Chadurida Chitragalu in Kannada published on the occasion of my 75th birthday by Talukina Venkannaiah Smaraka Publications of T. S. Chayapati. It contains 75 anecdotes relating to me which incidentally throw light on the contemporary academic and social scene. Fortunately this book was welcomed by Kannada readers and it has become out-of-print and its next edition is due. I thought I should share with my readers two of the incidents which I considered interesting.

Lucknow University in Uttar Pradesh has a renowned Department of Ancient Indian History and I used to visit that University for many official purposes. Prof. B.N. Puri was the Professor at Lucknow University and on his invitation I visited the University. At that time, Dr. Channa Reddy was the Governor and at the suggestion of Dr. Puri we went to Raj Bhavan and called on the Governor. I was introduced by Dr. Puri to His Excellency, the Governor. I told him, ‘Sir, I have met you twice in Hyderabad; once in the company of Mallampalli Somasekhara Sharma and on another occasion with Oruganti Ramachandariah, both my gurus.’ He was pleased and told me, ‘in that case why are you not talking to me in Telugu.’ He turned towards Dr. Puri and said, ‘hope you don’t mind if we talk in Telugu.’

The Governor continued, ‘you are fortunate that you were a student of Mallampalli. He is a great man. You know, he is not even a graduate. But his book History of Reddi Kingdom is an authoritative book on the subject. Four doctorate degrees can be awarded to that research work. What a pity! When I had recommended his name for professorship at the Andhra University, the authorities turned it down on the ground that he has no Master’s degree and a doctorate. Finally, I got him selected as a Visiting Professor. I felt the Andhra University should have considered itself proud to have such a great scholar on its faculty.’ Thus he expressed his unhappiness over the way in which the University behaved.

Subsequently, he remembered with respect many of his Professors working at the Andhra University. He continued, ‘you are from Karnataka. There was a great visionary by name R.R. Diwakar, a scholar and Statesman. He planned a work called Karnataka Through the Ages and it was published under his guidance. After seeing that wonderful volume, I told many Professors and Vice-Chancellors to take up the work Andhra Through the Ages. But nobody took any interest in it and such a book has not been published for Andhra so far and again he felt sad about it.

Finally, he turned towards Dr. Puri and said what is the purpose of your visit. Dr. Puri talked about some official matters and added that it will be good if Prof. Narasimha Murthy is nominated for Selection Committees of the Universities in UP. He smiled and said no problem. It was done and I was nominated as the Chancellor’s nominee which gave me opportunities of visiting Lucknow, Banaras Hindu University, Allahabad, Garhwal etc. We took leave of the Governor. Dr. Puri was highly pleased. After my retirement I have not visited Lucknow University nor Dr. Puri. Only memories remain.

Dr. T.N. Chaturvedi was the Governor of Karnataka and I knew him as a great scholar in Ancient Indian History prior to his becoming the Governor. I used to meet him at functions and talk to him. Infact he released my book on Sringeri at the Gokhale Institute, Bangalore, and had praised my book. As General Secretary of South Indian Numismatic (coin) Society, I wanted to arrange the annual conference at Dravidian University, Kuppam. Dr. Gangiraju Lakshminarayana was its Vice-Chancellor. As soon as I told him that I was a student of Mallampalli and Oruganti, he got up from his seat, hugged me and said, ‘You are a fortunate person.’ Immediately he agreed to my suggestion of holding the Numismatic Conference at Kuppam.

He added, ‘I have been trying to arrange the visit of His Excellency Dr. T.N. Chaturvedi to our University. But travelling by road is very tedious and hence it has not materialised. I will be grateful if you can request Dr. Chaturvedi to inaugurate this conference.’

I went to the Raj Bhavan and personally invited the Governor. His Private Secretary suggested the Governor not to accept the invitation because of the tedious and hazardous journey to Kuppam. Further it is outside the Karnataka State. I lost hopes. But His Excellency, the Governor, turned towards me and said, ‘but I cannot say no to Prof. Murthy; let us somehow manage.’ As I felt happy, the Secretary was disappointed. After a couple of days, I met the Governor and handed over the printed invitation. ‘I will definitely come,’ he assured me.

One day before the conference, I went to Kuppam to look into the arrangements and I was satisfied by the arrangements made by the Vice-Chancellor. The Governor arrived at 10 am on 21.1.2006 at the venue and he inaugurated the conference and made a good speech about our coins. He even traced the antiquity of our coinage during the Vedic period when a gold coin called Nishka was used. He referred to the coin reforms made by Muhammad-bin-Tughlaq. Finally he referred to the British coins and post-independent era coins. He called upon the coin collectors to collect as many coins as possible and save them for posterity as they have a heritage value.

I felt very happy as he mentioned my name three times during his speech and I also felt proud. That year I was awarded the P.L. Gupta Medal for my contribution to South Indian Numismatics. I received that medal from T.N. Chaturvedi.

The inauguration was over and it was lunch time. The Police and the Collector had arranged his lunch at the Vice-Chancellor’s Bungalow and the invitees were the Police and Revenue Officials. As soon as he saw them, he called the ADC and told him to invite me, Krishhnamurthy, Conference President and others so that he could talk to them over lunch. All of us had good lunch in the exalted company of the Governor with lot of academic discussions.

After some rest, he sent for me and said, ‘Prof. Murthy, I would like to meet the delegates for sometime over a cup of tea.’ It was arranged and he mixed freely with all the delegates and enquired about their collections. Some of the specialists showed some coins which he saw with the help of a lens and appreciated their efforts.

It was time for him to leave for Bangalore at 5 pm. His car came and I went upto him and thanked him profusely. He said, ‘special thanks to Prof. Murthy for having given me an opportunity to inaugurate this conference and thereby educating me regarding our ancient coinage which is a valuable heritage.’ The car left and Vice-Chancellor Dr. Lakshminarayana was supremely happy and said, ‘my desire of getting the Governor Dr. Chaturvedi to our University was fulfilled by you, Prof. Murthy; I am grateful to you.’

We were in regular correspondence till Dr. Lakshminarayana retired from the Vice-Chancellorship of the Dravidian University. He had invited me to deliver special lectures at this University.

Almost after many years, the memories of these two events with two enlightened Governors are still green in my memory. That gives me the satisfaction of having accomplished a responsibility that was expected of me. Perhaps that is my strength.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Feature Articles / May 03rd, 2014

Bangalore boys come first in aero competition

May 7, 2014Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Records, All, Science & Technology, World Opinionadmin

Bangalore :

Bangalore, the aviation capital of India, has often had its young opting for careers in aerospace, many displaying their skills at various forums. Two teams from Bangalore only reaffirmed this fact by bagging the first two places at the recently concluded (April 12) Boeing India-IIT national-level aeromodelling competition.

The four Bangalore boys — three from ASC College of Engineering, and one from BMS — competed against 560 participants to clench the contest.

At one point, Tabrez Nadvi Anser, Pavan MJ, and Vignesh Arul of ASC College, who bagged the first place, stared at a missed opportunity. “Selection for the finals was to happen at four zones, IIT Madras (South), IIT Kharagpur (East), IIT Bombay (West), and IIT Kanpur (North). Unfortunately, we couldn’t enter the zonal-level competition at IIT Chennai, as it coincided with our semester exams. We finally got permission to participate from the East zone, and our college helped us with the funding,” Tabrez told TOI.

In the zonal round, Pavan said, the team focused on design and building of the remote control (RC) aircraft, keeping in mind the ability to glide. “We did not buy a ready-made aircraft,” Tabrez added.

Having qualified for the finals with 12 other teams from various zones, the four shifted their focus to flying and acrobatic flying, as per the problem statement given by the organizers. They built a depron-made 3D RC aircraft which performed all manoeuvres as planned. “Eventually, we won because of our strategy which was duly acknowledged by the jury,” Tabrez said.

While team ASC was busy clearing hurdles at the zonal levels, Mohammed Shadman Alam was steering a solo show. “While other teams had at least two participants, with the upper limit set at four per team, Alam did everything alone,” said one of the organizers.

At the end, the battle was between the two Bangalore teams, and Alam came second. “Going alone has its perks. I could conceive and design what I wanted, and also perform manoeuvres I liked. Also, if something were to go wrong, the blame would be all mine, and so was it with the credit,” he said.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Bangalore / by Chethan Kumar, TNN / April 30th, 2014

Inaugration of Veena Chokkamma Hall and Veena Concert at Ganabharathi

May 7, 2014Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Educationadmin

Mysore :

The newly-built Veena Chokkamma Hall in Veene Seshanna Bhavana of Ganabharathi, Adichunchanagiri Road, Kuvempunagar, will be inaugurated today (May 2) at 5 pm by Vidushi M. K. Saraswathi, Senior Veena artiste of Mysore. Following this event, Vidu. Saraswathi will present a Veena recital at 6 pm accompanied by Vid. G. S. Ramanujan on Mridanga and Vid. S. Manjunath on Ghata.

The programme is sponsored by Veena Vidushi Chokkamma Memorial Trust. All are invited.

Profile: Vidu. M. K. Saraswathi was initiated into music at a young age by her mother Kamalamma. Later, she received advanced training from Dr. Gowri Kuppuswamy and Veena Maestro M. J. Srinivasa Iyengar. She is thus an embodiment of the legendary GNB and Saint Thyagaraja parampara. Saraswathi is a top grade artiste of AIR and Doordarshan.

Saraswathi is a Veena player par excellence. When she plays this vedic instrument, it appears as if it sings ! Dignity, simplicity and profundity set to creative melody are the key ingredients of her style. Several major music organisations and doyens of music have showered her with accolades and honour. Some of the titles she has been awarded are Veena Gana Visharade, Gandharva Gana Vidhyadhari, Sangeetha Kala Tapasvi and Lalitha-kala Ratna. Her lifetime contribution to Music has been very well recognised and evident by titles like Karnataka Kalashree by Karnataka Sangeetha Nrithya Academy in 2006 and Ananya Puraskara in 2005 in addition to several other decorations by prestigious music sabhas in Karnataka.

She has performed at many prestigious music Sabhas all over India and has enthralled international audiences in Brisbane and Melbourne in Australia with much appreciations.

Her music recordings are in wide circulation, carrying the Mysore bani all over the globe, according to Dr. T. P. Krishnakantha, Joint Secretary, Ganabharathi.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / May 02nd, 2014

JSW Steel commissions Cold Rolling Mill in Karnataka

May 6, 2014Business & Economy, Records, All, Science & Technologyadmin

Company has invested Rs 4,500 cr to set up the 2.3 mn tonne per annum plant to manufacture high-end auto-grade steel, first time in India

JSW Steel has taken one more step forward in its journey of diversification by commissioning the first phase of 2.3 million tonne per annum (MTPA) Cold Rolling Mill -2 at Toranagallu in Karnataka’s Bellary district. The company has invested Rs 4,500 crore to set up the plant in technical collaboration with Japan’s JFE Steel.

The CRM-1 is already operational since 8 years and manufactures special steel for under body parts in passenger cars.

With this, the company aims to capture a sizeable portion of auto-grade steel market in India. Currently, Indian automobile industry imports about 1 million tonnes of high-end steel with a strength level of 980 MPA (Megapascal) annually to manufacture premium passenger cars and sports utility vehicles (SUVs). The company plans to capture a sizeable portion of this market, which is estimated to grow at 0-15% in the coming years.

“We have invested a huge amount of money to set up this plant, which will help the automobile industry save precious foreign exchange and also reduce dependency on the imported steel. We will be able to supply the high-quality steel at shorter duration (4 weeks) compared to the present time period of 3 months to import. We can also offer the steel at 15% lesser cost compared to the imported material,” said Vinod Nowal, deputy managing director, JSW Steel Limited.

He said the company has entered into a dialogue with several automobile companies to test its new steel. They include Honda, Hyundai, Maruti, Toyota, Ford, Nissan and Volkswagen among others.

“The entire process of test and try our new steel will take at least 8 months for the automakers and once they place the order, we will start the supplies. Until then, we will manufacture the product for general engineering industries,” he told reporters, here today.

Nowal said the new CRM-2 complex, with a production capacity of 2.3 million tonnes per annum has capability to produce high strength and advanced high strength steel, both in uncoated and coated (galvanized and galvannealed GI and GA) categories and wider width up to 1,870 mm. It also includes a Continuous Annealing Line, which is the first to start operations in India, he said.

JFE Steel of Japan has a 15% stake in JSW Steel and has provided technical assistance to develop various grades of auto steel, including steel for external panels for automobiles, to meet the high demand from both domestic and international arena, he said. The phase-2 of the CRM-2 plant consisting of 0.95 MTPA Continuous Annealing Line (CAL-2) is targetted to be commissioned during the first half of FY16.

source: http://www.business-standard.com / Business Standard / Home> Companies> News / by Mahesh Kulkarni / Toranagallu (Bellary District) / April 23rd, 2014

University of Agricultural Sciences to tie up with Australian centre for crop development

May 6, 2014Education, Green Initiatives / Environment, Nature, Science & Technology, World Opinionadmin

Hubli :

The University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad, has sent a proposal to the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), Canberra, Australia, seeking collaboration in natural resources management, crop improvement and agriculture business development.

The proposal was submitted to Dr Ejaz Qureshi, the research programme manager of the Agricultural Development Programme for South Asia and the Pacific (ACIAR). The varsity is in the process of signing an MoU with the government of Monitoba.

If it happens then the varsity can have the expertise in food technology to provide exposure in the food processing technology. It is also decided to create experiential learning opportunities for students, establishing pilot plants for food technology centre and academic exchange programme for scientists.

The initiation was taken up during the visit of Dr Robin Young, project coordinator of Food Development Centre, Government of Monitoba, Canada in the month of February, 2014, said Dr Rajendra Potdar, Head, Project Planning & Monitoring Cell, UAS.: The University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad, has sent a proposal to the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), Canberra, Australia, seeking collaboration in natural resources management, crop improvement and agriculture business development.

The initiation was taken up during the visit of Dr Robin Young, project co-ordinator of Food Development Centre, Government of Monitoba, Canada in the month of February, 2014, said Dr Rajendra Potdar, Head, Project Planning & Monitoring Cell, UAS.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Hubli / by Srinivas Reddy, TNN / April 23rd, 2014

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