Among the talented visually impaired students, who have achieved great feats in their respective fields of interest is C. Manjunath, a guest faculty for Political Science at Maharani’s Arts and Commerce College in city, who has obtained Ph.D in Political Science from Mysore University.
Born to Susheelamma and Chandrachari at Kattikyathanahalli in Pavagada Taluk, Tumakuru, Manjunath comes from a poor background. Though his family was facing economic problems, his parents made sure to provide him good education. After completing primary education at his native village, Manjunath travelled to his neighbouring village Maridasanahalli where he completed his middle school and high school education before shifting to Mandya.
After shifting to Mandya, he joined Government PU College and got BA degree from Government Boys College. He later completed his PG in Political Science at Manasagangothri following which he successfully pursued M.Phil through distance education. Now, he has completed Ph.D under the guidance of Dr. Dayananda Mane by submitting his thesis titled ‘Student Movement in Karnataka: Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishat, A Study (since 1990).’
Manjunath was also actively involved with the student movement and has been guiding students on choosing their career path and subject of study.
Manjunath is not the first visually-impaired person to get Ph.D from the University of Mysore. Earlier, city’s noted musician K.T. Udaya Kiran secured Ph.D in Music during 2011 while S. Kavyashree completed her Ph.D in Political Science during 2014. Adding to this list are: Prof. Arun Kumar and Krishna Hombal who have received Ph.Ds in History and Political Science respectively.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / December 03rd, 2016
Mysuru’s talented junior golfer Pranavi S. Urs representing Karnataka in the IGU West Bengal Ladies & Junior Girls Golf Championships 2016 at the Tollygunge Golf Club, Kolkata won a triple crown by clinching the Ladies Category A & B, Category B & Category A&B combined titles.
Pranavi won the Category ‘B’ title with a three-day aggregate score of 222 (71+81+70). Anika Varma of Uttar Pradesh with a three-day card of 229 (77+77+75) emerged second. Vasundra Thiara of Chandigarh with a three-day score of 235 (86+74+75) secured the third place.
She also won the Category A & B title with a three-day aggregate score of 222. Ananya Barthakur of Delhi with a three-day card of 223 (78+74+71) finished second while Sifat Sagoo of Delhi with a three-day score of 223 (73+75+75) secured the third place.
Pranavi completed the triple crown by clinching the Ladies Category A & B title with a three-day card of 222. Ananya Barthakur of Delhi with a three-day card of 223 (78+74+71) finished second while Sifat Sagoo of Delhi with a three-day score of 223 (73+75+75) secured the third place.
Another Mysuru girl, Disha Kaveri finished eighth with a three-day card of 240 (85+80+75) in the Category ‘C’ section.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Sports News / December 02nd, 2016
The Avva Awards ceremony will mark the seventh death anniversary of Guravva Shivalingappa Horatti.
As many as fourteen achievers from different fields will be honoured with ‘Avva Awards’ by the Avva Seva Trust in Hubballi this Sunday.
The ‘Avva Awards ceremony’ will also mark the seventh death anniversary of Guravva Shivalingappa Horatti, in whose memory the Trust has been set up. Writer Baraguru Ramachandrappa will confer the awards, while High Court Judge Justice Koratageri Narasimhamurthy Phaneendra will inaugurate the award ceremony to be held on Dec. 11 from 10 a.m. at Gujarat Bhavan in Hubballi.
Addressing the media along with vice-president and MLA N.H. Konaraddi, secretary Shashi Sali and others chairman of Avva Seva Trust, former minister Basavaraj Horatti said that most of the awardees had been chosen based on reports in newspapers and electronic media and a few through nominations. The selection committee finalised awardees after due discussion, he said.
Mr. Horatti clarified that they had not considered nominations that had come with recommendations. “At a time when awards are losing their credibility because of recommendations, we preferred to cross check through our own network before finalising the list,” he said.
He said the list included a 76-year-old newspaper hawker, visually-impaired person who planted 1,000 saplings, a ‘full time’ teacher, the woman from the region who climbed Mount Everest, artistes, musicians and journalists.
Special honour
Mr. Horatti said the Trust would accord special honour to the residents of Talakawada village in Badami taluk of Bagalkot district, where upper caste people have taken it on themselves to conduct funerals of the dalits in a bid to alleviate untouchability. Freedom fighter, former MLA and centenarian Mahadevappa Pattan and his wife Sharada would also be felicitated on the occasion.
The awardees
The awardees include: vocalists Pt. Venkatesh Kumar and Nanda Patil, theatre artistes Chindodi Shrikanthesh and Yashwanth Sardeshpande, writer Bhuvaneshwari Hegde, journalist Markandeya Doddamani, environmentalists Appaji Wadeyar and Parashuraam N. Habib, Gamaka artiste Khaseem, mountaineer Nandita Naganagoudar, child prodigies Shivappa Kodli and Pooja Milke, teacher Rajkumar M. Mali, newspaper hawker Veeraiah V. Shirahattimath.
Mr. Horatti also said that Avva Trust would adopt a government school and develop it into a model school.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Karnataka / Hubballi – December 07th, 2016
Sporting a crisp blue coat, cream trousers and a champion’s smile, Peter England Mr India World 2016 Vishnuraj S Menon looked the part for his homecoming to Bengaluru after having won the pageant.
Sporting a crisp blue coat, cream trousers and a champion’s smile, Peter England Mr India World 2016 Vishnuraj S Menon looked the part for his homecoming to Bengaluru after having won the pageant. Awaiting his arrival outside the airport were his parents and elder brother, who had travelled from his hometown of Thrissur just to welcome and congratulate him, his close set of college friends and the media. Upon seeing his inner circle on arrival, the reigning Peter England Mr India World 2016 let out a victory scream. He then let his emotional side get the better of him, tearing up after he embraced his parents warmly. His friends expressed their joy for his victory by hoisting him on to their shoulders and carrying him out of the airport.
Following this, Vishnuraj and team left for his residence in Whitefield, where an even grander welcome awaited him. His house was decorated colourfully, and delicious chocolate cake was presented for him to cut. Once they were rested, they headed to his college MVJ College of Engineering , where he was welcomed by loud cheers from his juniors. He then took a trip down memory lane, visiting his classes and favourite hangout spots in the college. The college then felicitated Vishnuraj, following which he shared some interesting snippets from his college life and his journey from a college student to a pageant winner.
The day could not be complete without the hunk visiting one of his most favourite place in the city — his gym. Vishnuraj and his friends, who are also his workout buddies, visited two gyms — one that he regularly works outs at, and the other a new one run by his trainer. At both the places, he showed off his grueling routine and ripped muscles. “I spend a lot of time at the gym, and especially love working out my chest and biceps. It’s rare that I miss my gym days, and that’s something I’m proud of,” he says.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Bengaluru / by Mohammed Waseem / TNN / December 03rd, 2016
K.G. Somashekar with his portraits in an exhibition recently held in Mysore. — Photo: M. A. Sriram | Photo Credit: M_A_SRIRAM
K.G. Somashekar (79), renowned portrait photographer, died of pneumonia here on Sunday evening. He is survived by his wife, Pushpa Kampli, son Trilochan and daughter Kanchanamala.
Mr. Somashekar, who never believed in digital photography, had a vast collection of portraits to his credit. “His dream was to build the largest digital library with his black and white portraits, and he was in the process of documenting his mammoth 1,300 portraits of personalities, which included artists, authors, musicians, and scientists,” Mr. Trilochan said.
Mr. Somashekar had 130 photographs of Hindustani vocalist Mallikarjun Mansur and had also shot literary greats such as Kuvempu, Masti Venkatesh Iyengar and D.V. Gundappa.
Born in 1937 in Davangere and brought up in Hirekerur in Dharwad district, Mr. Somashekar came to Bengaluru when he was nine. He worked in Mumbai in the late 1960s along with artist K.K. Hebbar. He did not believe in taking photos of politicians, sportspersons and film stars, although Indira Gandhi, Prakash Padukone and D. Devaraj Urs were exceptions in his collection.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Bengaluru / by Ranjani Govind / Bengaluru – December 05th, 2016
A 12th grader from the city has developed what is possibly the world’s only online audio-based debating platform. The website ‘Debate for Change’, developed by Siddharth Pandiya (16), a student of Greenwood High International School, allows members world-wide to engage in debates on either any of the given topic or a topic of their choice.
The website is functioning since mid-October, currently has 150 members and took Siddharth, a month-and-a-half to build. Members can choose a topic and their stand on it, upon which the website pairs that member with another member who has an opposite stand, and then the debate is conducted by a moderator.
A ranking system has been incorporated in the website, wherein the winner of a debate, decided by the moderator, gets 100 points and the loser 25 points for participation. Until now, Siddharth himself would moderate the debates but now has a team to assist him.
Speaking about what led him to the idea, Siddharth, himself an avid debater since middle school, said, “When I went for debates I only learnt by watching other debaters, I didn’t have any platform to learn. I also feel the overall quality of debating, on TV for example, has deteriorated a lot.
People don’t even care so much anymore, they go to debates because it’s cool, not because they actually like talking about issues. Hence I created this.”
The teen has plans to incorporate many other features into the website, including an option to have video debates .
“I wanted this to be accessible to people with a 2G connection and hence began with only audio input,” he says, and adds, “You can also watch debates that are currently going on with the ‘spectate’ option and you can join tournaments.” He also plans to combine the service with Facebook by next week. He himself has represented India at 14 UN conferences until now and has won awards at every single one, including being awarded the best delegate at Harvard.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Bengaluru / by Express News Servic e / December 06th, 2016
The National Day Receptions were glittering occasions which enabled us to meet our own counterparts from other Embassies. Old photographs revive memories of past friendships. Our lives were enriched by reaching across national borders, to find that despite linguistic or cultural differences, we were fellow travellers in distant lands
A Toast at a National Day Reception.
by Girija Madhavan
My husband, A. Madhavan and I started life in the Indian Foreign Service in Rangoon [Yangon, Myanmar] from 1958 to 1961. Over thirty three years, we lived in nine posts abroad and two in New Delhi. We wandered from one metropolis to another, facing linguistic and life style challenges in different settings. We confronted cultural, climatic and political problems in some countries; we also experienced moments of delight in others. Such are the coloured skeins woven into the tapestry of our memories. Meeting people of different nationalities and cultures and forging friendships with them has been fulfilling.
The “Ministry of External Affairs and Commonwealth Relations” was formed in 1947 from the former “Foreign and Political Department” of the British Indian Government. The Indian Foreign Service [IFS] started in 1948, is its diplomatic wing. It is distinct from the Indian Forest Service, also “IFS,” which can be confusing. Among the early Indian diplomats is Sri V. Siddharthacharry of Acharya Vidya Kula, Mysuru. The first recruits were selected by of the Union Public Services Commission in 1948. Madhavan was a member of the batch of 1956. He was sent to Trinity College, Cambridge as part of his training. Burmese was his “Compulsory Foreign Language.” He also had to pass a Departmental exam in Hindi which he did not know. The poet Harivansh Rai Bachchan, father of Amitabh Bachchan, headed the Department of Hindi. This was the only exam in which Madhavan did not do well!
Now, IFS Trainees go to the Lal Bahadur National Academy of Administration in Mussoorie. Earlier it was in Metcalfe House, Delhi, near the Jamuna River. The training with the Police included horse riding. Madhavan remembers a Police horse which would obstinately try to trot back to its stable with him on its back in the middle of the exercise.
I first heard the words “Ambassador” and “Embassy” as a girl of twelve. This was when Dr. S. Radhakrishnan came to Yadavagiri, Mysuru, for the wedding of his son, Dr. S. Gopal, to a Mysurean bride. At that time he was the Ambassador of India to the USSR [1949 to 1952] and had come from Moscow for the wedding.
The bride was “Kaveri”, later re-named “Indira” by her parents-in-law. She was the second daughter of Dr. and Mrs. H.V. Ramaswamy, our close friends and a respected Mysurean family. They belonged to the Babboor Kamme community and hailed from Belavadi. Kaveri was tall, lovely and highly educated. The Ramaswamy home still stands in Yadavagiri and now houses the “Hobby Centre” for young people.
I remember Dr. Radhakrishnan walking down Vivekananda Road to the wedding venue in a gas lit marriage procession, standing out among the glittering, sari clad participants, a striking figure in a white Achkan and dhoti, worn in the “panchakaccham” style.
In 1959 we settled into the diplomatic circuit, the youngest in the official hierarchy. Getting on with our Embassy folk, Burmese officials and our neighbours was not so hard. At the core, diplomacy is what is known as “Jana Balike” in Kannada. The intricacies of protocol and entertaining were more complex. Now the Ministry of External Affairs arranges courses for young Indian diplomats and their spouses on etiquette, table arrangements and menus. Coming from a small town, I only knew of Rotary events in Hotel Metropole or Hotel Krishnaraja Sagara which I attended with my parents. Those parties were unlike the formal events we were invited to or had to host. We learnt by observing and adjusting. The National Day Receptions were glittering occasions which enabled us to meet our own counterparts from other Embassies. Old photographs revive memories of past friendships. Our lives were enriched by reaching across national borders, to find that despite linguistic or cultural differences, we were fellow travellers in distant lands.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Feature Articles / November 28th, 2016
Golf is played and patronised in Mysuru at Jayachamaraja Wadiyar Golf Course (JWGC). With its development programmes, JWGC has produced talented golfers from time to time. One such product out of its junior programme is Pranavi S. Urs, who has been performing consistently in the National junior circuit. Pranavi, representing Karnataka in the IGU Eastern India Ladies & Junior Girls Golf Championships at Royal Calcutta Golf Club, Kolkata, from Nov. 23 to 25, won the Category ‘B’ Junior Girls title with a three-day aggregate score of 233 (77+79+77). She has been performing consistently in the National junior circuit in the junior level. She is our ‘Star This Week.’
Pranavi won the Category ‘B’ junior girls title. She also finished runner-up in the Category A & B combined section. Diksha Dagar of Delhi with a three-day aggregate score of 225 (70+80+75) won the title in the Combined A & B section.
Pranavi, taking part in the 8th Albatross International Golf Championships-2016 from Nov. 8 to 11, at Classic Golf & County Club, New Delhi, finished runner-up in the Category ‘B’ girls section with a three-day aggregate score of 232 (79+78+75) after a play-off for the title with the ultimate winner Nicha Kanpai.
Pranavi won the Category ‘B’ title in the Bombay Presidency Golf Club’s All India Ladies & Junior Girls FALDO Series Golf Tournament from Oct. 19-21 and won the title in the category ‘B’ section.
She also took part in the Maharaja’s Cup Open Golf Tournament held recently in Mysuru and performed well. Pranavi had finished runner-up in the team event representing Indian team in the True Visions International Junior Golf Championship at Siam Country Club, Pattaya, from Apr. 5-7 and also finished fourth in the Individual Category ‘C’ section.
Pranavi taking part in the Ladies Amateur Golf Championship at Karnataka Golf Association (KGA), Bengaluru, on Feb. 9 and 10, won the ladies title with a two-day aggregate score of 150 (6 over).
This 12-year-old golfer is the daughter of Sharath Chandra Raj Urs and Kaivalya Urs, residents at Lakshmipuram in Mysuru and is a seventh standard student of National Public School, Mysuru.
Pranavi started playing golf at the age of 8 and after her success in the South Zone Sub-Junior Golf Tournament the next year, she took up to the game seriously and has made steady progress since then. Pranavi presently trains under Vijay Divecha at the Eagleton Golf Course, Bidadi.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Sports News / November 27th, 2016
Shihan S. Naveen, President of Fit India Karate Research Academy, Karate and Taekwondo trainer, has been selected for the ‘Dr. B.R. Ambedkar National Award’.
The Award will be given during the IKU Asian Karate Championship -2016 to be held at Talkatora Indoor Stadium, New Delhi, from Nov. 28 to 30.
United World Karate Federation Chairman Imtiaz Abdulla, Dr. Daniele Lazzarini, Secretary General, International Karate Union and grandson of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Prakash Yaswant Ambedkar, will present the award to Shihan S. Naveen for his excellence in work, outstanding performance and remarkable role in the field of Sports.
He is a recipient of the Ekalavya award and is also a gold medallist in the World Cup Karate Championship.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / November 27th, 2016
The University Visvesvaraya College of Engineering (UVCE) principal has been recognized for his contribution to computer science and engineering education.
The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) conferred Venugopal KR the ACM Distinguished Educator Award 2016. Venugopal has 11 degrees, including a PhD in computer science engineering from IIT-Madras, and another PhD in economics from Bangalore University.
He has authored and edited 64 books and published more than 600 papers. “The contributions of our distinguished members led to breakthroughs that improve our lives, advance the frontiers of scientific discovery and boost economic development,” said Vicki L Hanson, president, ACM.
