Growing roots of tomorrow: Chamarajnagar resident shows way

Agriculture, Business & Economy, Green Initiatives / Environment

Sunlight filters through the forest. Cool and fresh air invigorates you. Staying far from the madding crowd and surrounded by nature, your happiness quotient could be high.

On his five-acre farmland in Kaniyanapura village, Karthik Davey has given a new meaning to the best usage of degraded lands and management of scarce resources.
On his five-acre farmland in Kaniyanapura village, Karthik Davey has given a new meaning to the best usage of degraded lands and management of scarce resources.

Chamarajanagar :

Sunlight filters through the forest. Cool and fresh air invigorates you. Staying far from the madding crowd and surrounded by nature, your happiness quotient could be high. But living on the edge of a forest is not so easy. And when one lives close to a tiger reserve, one has to look for solutions which are sustainable in such a fragile surrounding. For Karthik Davey, the wilds of Bandipur became his home after a decade-long stay in Germany. On his five-acre farmland in Kaniyanapura village of Chamarajnagar district, he has given a new meaning to the best usage of degraded lands and management of scarce resources.

Everybody wants to come to forests, but where is the system to manage the waste or the sewage that is generated in these pristine surroundings, he asks. During weekends, people come in hordes while there is no system for sewage disposal, garbage segregation or collection of waste. Realizing the shortcomings, Davey has shown how to maintain, harvest and recycle available resources in the dry deciduous surroundings where there is scarcity of every resource.

Karthik Davey
Karthik Davey

Davey has converted degraded lands using organic solutions while at the same time he is recycling used water for nondrinking purposes. Be it conversion of sewage water, tapping wind and solar energy for lighting and other purposes, he says they are suitable for rural areas which have no access to water or power supply or have any system for sewage disposal. Further, the waste that is generated in the kitchen is bio-digested. During the monsoon months, rainwater is harvested by installing small check ponds. Says Rahul Agarwal, cofounder, Earthcare, “Davey has undertaken several steps to ensure that nature doesn’t only survive but also thrives by creating several redundant systems.

By creating various ponds and greywater recycling pits, he has made a much-needed water positive impact in an eco-sensitive zone. He has also created a mini forest with tall trees and other bushes and plants where just outside his property you can see the forest land is degraded and no one to care for it.” Davey is a self-made person. He lost his arm in a car accident 21 years ago. He was working for a travel company in Chennai but had to leave it and found succour in Frankfurt where he set up his own company in the hospitality sector. However, returning to India – he settled down in the wilds of Bandipur – taking up organic farming and setting up a homestay – very close to nature.

He is married to a German who partners him in his business activities. Relaxing in the cool backdrop of the Nilgiri Mountains, Davey describes his 12-year-long journey in converting his land into a sustainable and workable solution where people come and stay with him and get a feel of the wilderness and their proximity to nature. Even as his pets – the dholes roam around him affectionately for any tidbits — he says, “My idea was to work from any place but which was wild and had openness. After returning to India, I was looking for a place to settle down and kept coming back to Bandipur – attracted by dholes. Falling in love with its natural beauty, I purchased land here and it took me over two years of thought process to convert this piece of land into a place with least carbon footprint.”

The concept of decentralization has been used for power, water and sewage disposal for each of the rooms in his homestay. His ideas included solar panels about 20 metres, installation of septic tanks, separate lines for hot water, natural aeration with high ceilings, rainwater harvesting and of course, an old method for sewage treatment – the Reed Bed System which goes back in time. Reed beds are aquatic plant-based systems which allow bacteria, fungi and algae to digest the sewage and clean the water. He says, “We live in a world with finite resources and therefore, every resource is precious and has to be managed with great care especially groundwater which is available here only at 600 feet. My living here has been challenging. I take people along while villagers who work for me are part of this sustainable system and do their bit to take it forward.” “We ensure that we leave nothing behind on nature’s trail except a big eco-friendly carbon free footprint. We make sure the wilderness stays with us,” Davey says.

Dholes’ Den 

Dholes’ Den, the unique homestay, set up with sustainable solutions, is an oasis that is dedicated to the Asiatic Wild Dog which Davey says is one of the most fascinating hunters in the Indian jungle with a complex and unique social hierarchy. And he says, “It is our endeavour to emphasize the importance and the beauty of this animal which wrongly stands in the shadow of bigger animals like the tiger, leopard or elephant and win support for the conservation of the jungle in Bandipur with the dhole as its mascot.”

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Karnataka / by Meera Bharadwaj / Express News Service / August 04th, 2019

Mysuru’s Wodeyar royal family-preserved Bhagavat Purana manuscript turned into book

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Records, All, World Opinion

The Bhagavata Purana concerns itself with various aspects and incarnations of the god Vishnu, and book 10 of this long text has to do with the life of Krishna.

The Great Mysore Bhagavata
The Great Mysore Bhagavata

New Delhi :

A surviving manuscript of the Bhagavat Purana from South India, detailing the exploits of Lord Krishna in his later years, has been transformed into an illustrated book by eminent art historian B N Goswamy.

The manuscript was once in the library of the royal house of the Wodeyars of Mysore before it landed at an exhibition in London. Soon afterwards, Edwin Binney III acquired it, added it to his rich collection of Indian paintings and later donated it to the San Diego Museum of Art.

The subject of the manuscript is the ancient religious text, the ‘Bhagavata Purana’, and we know that it was written and illustrated for the Mysore ruler, Mummadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar (born 1794, died 1868; period of effective rule 1799-1831), said Goswamy.

His book ‘The Great Mysore Bhagavata’ with essays by Robert J Del Bonta and Caleb Simmons seeks to do a complete study of the manuscript.

The intention is to enable the reader to access all that is there in the manuscript, save the complete text in Kannada which in any case is based on the original Sanskrit text of the Bhagavata Purana, he added.

According to the author, the Bhagavata Purana, as a subject, has been painted over and over again, but the section of it which this book deals with – the latter half of the tenth ‘skandha’, which leaves the winsome childhood and the seductive growing years of Krishna far behind – does not have too many precedents.

In ‘The Great Mysore Bhagavata’, published by Niyogi Books, there are leaps of imagination that can mesmerise the readers, and the episodes picked up by its great but unnamed illustrators are explored in dense, brilliant detail.

At each step, the painters seem to have been aware of the importance of the text itself.

The author also describes in detail 60 significant paintings, most of which are related to Krishna.

Although the San Diego manuscript of the Bhagavata Purana is unfinished, it is remarkable for the quantity and intricacy of its illustrations.

The Bhagavata Purana concerns itself with various aspects and incarnations of the god Vishnu, and book 10 of this long text has to do with the life of Krishna and is separated into two parts; this would have been intended to be that second part dealing with Krishna’s adulthood, said Robert J Del Bonta.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Lifestyle> Books / by PTI / July 31st, 2019

Engineering students create GPS-enabled clock

Education, Records, All, Science & Technology, World Opinion

This processes the GMT time and converts it to Indian time. 18 Light Emitting Diodes (LED) bulbs give off red, green and blue light to indicate hours, minutes and second hand on a single strip.

Bengaluru :

Six students of Sapthagiri College of Engineering, with help from their faculty designed a clock of 3 feet diameter, which takes the time from the satellite through GPS (Global Positioning System). Much like how location information is enabled through satellites, time information can also be received.

Dr Dinesh K Anvekar, head of Research and Development as well as faculty in the Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering (ECE) said, “The chip or micro-controller called Arduino was fed with a programme prepared by the students in C language. This processes the GMT time and converts it to Indian time. 18 Light Emitting Diodes (LED) bulbs give off red, green and blue light to indicate hours, minutes and second hand on a single strip. There are no moving hands like a regular clock.”

The clock was designed in over three weeks and was done during their holidays. Only an uninterrupted power supply is required to keep the clock running. However, solar power-based supply has also been included in the design.

“It is very useful for providing accurate time for the public in railway and bus stations. Maintenance required is very minimal,” he added.With the procurement of materials, the clock costed Rs 10,000. However, if the size is reduced to 1 feet in diameter, it would cost Rs 4,000.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Bengaluru / by Express News Service / August 04th, 2019

Isro’s Peenya facility to track space debris

Amazing Feats, Records, All, Science & Technology, World Opinion
NASA estimates that over 20,000 pieces of debris larger than a softball orbit the Earth. Illustration: NASA
NASA estimates that over 20,000 pieces of debris larger than a softball orbit the Earth. Illustration: NASA

To protect Indian satellites from collision with thousands of space debris, the Indian Space Research Organisation just got dead serious. On Friday, Isro made the first step to build a Space Situational Awareness Control Centre at Peenya.

Over 10,000 debris of 10-cm diameter or more float dangerously in the orbits, increasingly populated by satellites big and small launched by countries worldwide. Space situational awareness and management has become increasingly critical to tackle the heightened threat of these debris with operational spacecraft.

The control centre will be part of the Directorate of Space Situational Awareness and Management set up by Isro recently. The directorate’s mandate is to protect high-value space assets from space debris close approaches and collisions.

On the Centre’s radar will be inactive satellites, pieces of orbiting objects, near-earth asteroids and adverse space weather conditions. Data from inactive satellites will be tracked from indigenous observation facilities and analysed to generate information critical for active satellites, informs Isro.

Eventually, the control centre will be part of an ecosystem that boosts research into active space debris modelling and removal. Isro chairman K Sivan laid the foundation stone for the centre on Friday.

As a top space scientist explained to DH, the chances of a debris colliding with an active satellite is still remote. “There is still only a one-in-a-million chance. But both the low orbit of 500 to 2,000 km and the geostationary orbit of 36,000 km are getting populated fast with such debris, and will eventually become a dangerous junkyard,” he noted.

To avoid future collisions, the United Nations Committee on Peaceful Use of Outer Space (COPUOS) had come out with a set of guidelines. One of these is to actively track satellites nearing their life span and lower them to an orbit so that they are burnt on entry into the earth’s atmosphere.

The UN panel had urged the states and intergovernmental organisations to develop technologies to measure, monitor and characterise orbital and physical properties of space debris, determine the risk of collision and make trajectory adjustments to avoid it. The Isro centre will also follow these guidelines.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) estimates that over 20,000 pieces of debris, larger than a softball, orbit the Earth. They travel at speeds up to 17,500 mph (over 28,000 kmph), fast enough for a relatively small piece of orbital debris to damage a satellite or a spacecraft.

source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> Cities> Top Bengaluru Stories / by Rasheed Kappan, DH News Service / Bengaluru – August 04th, 2019

India-UK initiative to launch unique air quality measurement system

Business & Economy, Education, Records, All, Science & Technology, World Opinion

The Catapult network has decided to focus on Bengaluru to enhance the progress already made in air quality and electric vehicle transition in Bengaluru.

Bengaluru :

British Deputy High Commissioner Dominic McAllister on Wednesday launched a two-year India-UK joint initiative in Bengaluru that would provide a unique air quality measurement system by integrating satellite and sensor data and support India’s transition to Electric Vehicles (EVs). The initiative – Innovating for Clean Air (IfCA) will identify innovations having potential to improve air quality and contribute to a more detailed localised map of the air quality of Bengaluru through the unique combination of satellite and sensor data, including both on-the-ground and mobile data.

The programme will identify relevant challenges around EV-charging infrastructure, grid management and integrating renewable energy to ensure a sufficient, reliable and clean source of power. It will also facilitate opportunities for Indian and UK innovators to collaborate in developing long-lasting relationships to address these challenges.

The programme is led by Innovate UK — part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) — and is funded by the Newton Fund with matched resources from various key partners in Karnataka and India, like Indian Institute of Science, Enzen, Project Lithium, Confederation of Indian Industries, C40 Cities and Clean Air Platform.

Other partners include Citizens for Sustainability, World Resources Institute, Indian Institute for Information Technology Bangalore (IIIT-B), Shakti Foundation, Shell Technology Centre, Global Business Inroads and India Smart Grid Forum. A current UK partner, Earthsense is  working in collaboration with the UK Catapults.

The Catapult network has decided to focus on Bengaluru to enhance the progress already made in air quality and electric vehicle transition in Bengaluru.

UK Research and Innovation India (UKRI) Director Rebecca Fairbairn said, “UKRI has been working with India for over a decade, focussing on research that makes a difference to society and to our economies but this is the first time the UK Catapult network, which drives innovation in highly targeted industries has been implemented here and it demonstrates the creativity possible through India-UK partnership.”

British Deputy High Commissioner Mc Allister said, “Such collaborative initiatives are an example of how the UK and India can work as a joint force for good on innovative solutions, and can bring the best of our research communities, academia and businesses together to address shared challenges, such as clean air.”

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Bengaluru / by Express News Service / August 01st, 2019

The journey of a lens man over 25 films in Kannada cinema

Arts, Culture & Entertainment

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Cameraman PVR Swamy, whose work was celebrated in ‘Reservation’, believes the cinematographer is the beating heart of the film

PVR Swamy, started his journey as a cameraman a decade ago in Kannada cinema. And as most back screen workers, he too went unnoticed till the release of Reservation. The film, directed by Nikhil Manjoo, went on to win the National Award in the best film category. Reservation was screened at many prestigious film festivals, including BIFFes, two years ago.

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That was when people started talking about the visuals in the film and the name Swamy emerged. At the many discussions after the film’s screenings, Swami’s work was appreciated and the man finally came into the spotlight.

Born in Googara Doddi, a small village in Kanakpura, to a famer, Swamy did not want to limit himself to working on the fields. He had larger dreams. In his free time he would read “everything about cinema. I wanted to be in films and camera was something that fascinated me,” says the young cameraman, who started reaching out to people to get into the film industry. “I finally met a man, also from my village, working in the film industry. However, when I called him, he said he was back to farming as life here was tough.”

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Dejected Swamy continued his quest of finding an opening in the film industry and met Srinivas Prasad, an established cameraman here, who introduced Swamy to Techno Mark Television Company. “I was immediately appointed as the cameraman.”

Swami was sent to Hyderabad and worked as the cameraman for almost 6,000 episodes of serials such as Kamanabullu, Arunaraga, Shalini, Cinema Sanchike and Sakshi.

In 2014 that he got an offer to work in the Tamil film Aiyyamai, directed by Vijay Raghavan. “Though I had worked with Technomark, it was Vijay who taught me the nuances of how the camera can be used for films.”

Swamy04BF01aug2019

After this, came many more projects in Kannada including Prathima, made by Techno Mark and Tulu films White and Malladaana. Swamy, who has worked with cinematographers such as PKH Das and HM Ramachandra, has also worked in comnmercial films such as Manvantara, HS Venkatesh Murthy’s Hasiru Ribbon, Halmidi, Only Srikrishna, Kantri Boys and Ojas.

He is currently working on Vyapthi Pradeshada Horagiddare, Shalini IAS (the biography of IAS officer, Dr Shalini, directed by Manjoo) and Kranthiveera, based on the life of freedom fighter Bhagat Singh.

The man, who is 25 films old in the industry, reveals that he had never held a camera till he started working with Techno Mark. “I had to learn everything from scratch. The trick about being a good DOP is to visualise the director’s dream and to capture things as he has put on paper. So, in a way, the director’s dream becomes the cameraman’s vision. For me, being a cameraman is like being the heart of a human body. It is a tiny organ which is capable of so many emotions and also keeps this huge body living. That is the same job of a cameraman. The lens may be small but it can capture many things.”

He adds that even a tiny flower looks beautiful through a lens. “Beauty, which is normally ignored in reality, can be celebrated through the camera.”

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Entertainment> Movies / by Shilpa Sebastian / July 31st, 2019

Karnataka govt awards 100 startups, 29 co-founded by women

Business & Economy, Records, All

Elevate 2019, organised by the state Department of IT, BT and S&T (Information Technology, Biotechnology, Science and Technoloy) concluded on Tuesday.

Bengaluru :

Elevate 2019, organised by the state Department of IT, BT and S&T (Information Technology, Biotechnology, Science and Technology) concluded on Tuesday. Of the 270 startups that made their pitch, 100 of them were selected as winners.

“Of the 100 winners, 29 are co-founded by women entrepreneurs and 23 are from Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities. 76 startups from Bengaluru, 10  from Dharwad, 3 from Dakshina Kannada, 2 each from Mysuru and Udupi, and 1 startup from Bijapur, Chamarajnagar, Chikballapur, Davangere, Mandya, Tumakuru and Uttara Kannada respectively won Elevate 2019,” a press statement by the department said.

TM Vijay Bhaskar, chief secretary, said, “Karnataka is the first state in the country to initiate grant in aid to start-ups without taking equity. We will soon set up an innovation authority headed by the CM to empower start-ups to overcome legal hurdles in innovating technologies and ideas.”

“The funds are regularly monitored by the government. Funds are released to the start-ups based on their progress. Elevate 2019 generates a lot of visibility for innovative start-ups and enables them to raise further funds from angel investors and capitalists at a later stage,” said Gaurav Gupta, principal secretary of the department.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Karnataka / by Express News Service / July 31st, 2019

Brindavan Gardens’ Designer Krumbiegel’s Great-Granddaughter In Mysuru

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Records, All, World Opinion

To immerse ashes of her mother in Cauvery

Krumbeigel01BF31jul2019

Mysuru:

Brindavan Gardens’ designer Gustav Herman Krumbiegel’s great-granddaughter Alyia Phelps Gardiner Krumbiegel is on a visit to the city.

She is visiting Mysuru and Bengaluru on a purpose and that is to immerse the ashes of her mother Jean Maureen Phelps Gardiner, who had passed away in Jan. 2018 in England.

Speaking to Star of Mysore here this morning, Alyia said that she had brought her mother’s ashes to India to immerse it in the rivers here, as she (Jean Maureen) always felt that her home was in India.

“My mother passed away on Jan. 18. 2018 and I was very clear that her body had to be cremated and not buried. Hence, I had to wait for nearly three weeks as I had to book the slot for her cremation in advance. Finally, the slot that was available was Feb.5, 2018 and it was then she was cremated. She had told me that her heart was always in India and hence to respect her last wishes I have brought her ashes to the country she always loved,” said Alyia.

Krumbeigel02BF31jul2019

Alyia  has already immersed a part of the ashes in Waynad, Kerala and she has plans to immerse it in River Cauvery in Srirangapatna shortly, she said.

She will also be visiting the Mysuru Zoo with a letter to the Executive Director requesting him to display a plaque of her great-grandfather Krumbiegel who had also planned the Gardens in Sri Chamarajendra Zoological Gardens.

Alyia will also be visiting the Brindavan Gardens to see for the first time the work of her great-grandfather which all these days she had only heard about.

She had cycled to Mysuru all the way from Bengaluru a couple of years ago and she had time only to visit the Mysore Palace where she had met Pramoda Devi Wadiyar, she recalled.

Alyia will later go to Bengaluru and plans to participate in the Independence  Day Flower Show at Lalbagh. In this year’s flower show, there will be a floral tribute to Sri Jayachamaraja Wadiyar, the last Maharaja of the erstwhile State of Mysore, to mark his birth centenary celebrations.

“My great-grandfather had a big role in designing the Gardens at Lalbagh and I am so happy that this year floral tributes are being paid to Maharaja Jayachamaraja Wadiyar for whom Krumbiegel had worked,” she said.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> News / July 30th, 2019

IISc. researchers develop protein to kill drug-resistant bacterium

Education, Records, All, Science & Technology, World Opinion

They used a bioinformatics approach to design protein

Researchers at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc.) have designed an anti-microbial peptide (AMP) that, researchers say, can effectively and quickly kill a notorious multidrug-resistant bacterium called Acinetobacter baumannii.

According to a press release by IISc., the bacterium tops the WHO’s list of threats that urgently need new antibiotics because it is “remarkably adept at developing drug resistance”. The release also stated that it is among the six species responsible for most infections in hospitals and health care centres.

In a new study published in Science Advances, IISc. researchers used a bioinformatics approach to design a new short protein (peptide) called Omega76 that can kill A. baumannii by breaking down its cell membrane.

Infected mice treated with Omega76 had much better survival rates. The team also found that high doses of Omega76 given for prolonged periods did not produce any toxic effects. Since it is safe and effective, it is a promising candidate for developing new antibiotics, the researchers say.

Dipshikha Chakravortty, Professor at the Department of Microbiology and Cell Biology, who was part of this research, was quoted as saying, “The significance of A. baumannii infection was not sufficiently understood earlier… It was regarded as just another bug in the environment. It has now become a major threat, especially in the intensive care units.”

The release stated that antibiotics for such infections may soon become ineffective, as resistance to even last-resort drugs such as carbapenems is on the rise.

“They are not entirely safe either; a drug called colistin, which is considered the last hope for multidrug-resistant infections, has been found to cause severe kidney damage,” said postdoctoral fellow Deepesh Nagarajan.

While standard drugs act by “blocking specific pathways or processes in bacterial cells,” bacteria can evolve to gain resistance against such drugs. Nagasuma Chandra, Professor at the Department of Biochemistry, said, “On the other hand, anti-microbial peptides (AMPs) actually punch holes in the bacterial cell membrane. The chances of drug resistance are much lower because they act by multiple ways and cause actual physical damage.”

The researchers plan to improve its design further, and explore clinical uses.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Bengaluru / by Staff Reporter / Bengaluru – July 30th, 2019

Soccer love drives this CEO to coach kids

Business & Economy, Sports

Instamojo co-founder Sampad Swain takes to football to unwind from work stress.

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Bengaluru :

Numerous meetings with investors, clients and his own team members is how Sampad Swain, CEO and co-founder of Instamojo, a Bengaluru-based fintech company, spends his weekdays, along with heated discussions with his in-house software developers and product engineers. Though he enjoys his role as an entrepreneur, his regular football practice keeps him going in a busy work life. “I work for around 10 hours during the week. My job as a start-up entrepreneur is thrilling and satisfying. But we also need to invest some time for other interests. For me, it’s my love for sports. I love to play football during my free time and also coach children in the weekends. It keeps me active and feels refreshing to take a break from work,” says Swain.

The 37-year-old father of eight-year old twin boys, finds coaching children as interesting as playing football. Today, coaching has evolved from a hobby to serious responsibility for Swain. “Coaching started off as an offshoot hobby. One evening, I had taken my kids out for football practice, and when I saw them playing with their friends, it struck me that I had not played in a really long time. I joined the little champs and started playing along. I also taught them little tricks along the way. That’s how I picked on this hobby. Since then, I go to the ground as often as possible during weekends, coach and play with them. It has been almost a year since I started pursuing this as a weekend getaway hobby,” he says. The sessions are held mainly on Saturday evenings or Sunday mornings at a playground in Koramangala. The tech geek also justifies his reason for coaching just kids. “It is fulfilling to coach enthusiastic children, there is so much to learn from their energy and ideas.”

Being a fan of Cristiano Ronaldo, he flew down to Russia in June 2018 to watch the FIFA World Cup. “Ronaldo is my all-time favourite soccer player, simply due to his positive attitude and strong work ethics. In a field like sports, talent may have probably 30-40 per cent role to have a successful career, but the rest is determined by one’s work ethics and attitude. We have a lot to learn from him. This helps me at work too,” he says. Though he is a football fanatic, Swain has not taken this sport as a competition. “Football has always been my first love. Back in the day, I spent a lot of time playing football with my society friends, and this was mostly on the road or a nearby playground. I picked up the sport on my own and built on my skills by observing the senior boys in the school football team,” he says, adding that he has never pursued football as a competitive game. “That’s one lesson I’ve learnt in life – you need not pursue everything with a competitive spirit. Sometimes, it is completely okay to pursue something simply because you enjoy it,” he says.

The entrepreneur also has a message for those who give up their hobby or passion because of their busy work schedule. “Pursuing a hobby is as important as performing well at your job. Some of us really love our jobs, but we need something to break away from our regular routine, and a hobby can help with this. It not only helps as a stressbuster, but gives us something more to look forward to in life.”

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Bengaluru / by Lesly Joseph / Express News Service / July 30th, 2019