Country’s ‘tallest’ flag unfurled in Belagavi

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Proud moment: The 110 m tall monumental flag being inaugurated by district in-charge Ramesh Jarkiholi in Belagavi on Monday.
Proud moment: The 110 m tall monumental flag being inaugurated by district in-charge Ramesh Jarkiholi in Belagavi on Monday.

The 110 m tall flag post at Kote Kere is near the historic Belagavi fort

It was a joyous morning in Belagavi on Monday. Schoolchildren, NGO members, leaders and others gathered at the Kote Kere lake front to witness a unique celebration: the unfurling of what is claimed to be the country’s tallest national flag.

The 9,600 sq.ft flag on a 110 m flag pole was unfurled by Ramesh Jarkiholi, District in-charge Minister.

Religious leaders of Hindu, Muslim, Christian and Sikh institutions were present. MLA Firoz Sait, who has been pushing for the project, was present along with other district officials.

Mr. Jarkiholi said the flag was a testimony to the culture of harmony and togetherness of Belagavi. “BJP is not the sole custodian of nationalism. We are all proud Indians. We respect the principles of unity and harmony enshrined in the Constitution. India is a country of many faiths and all are equal here,” he said.

Mr. Sait observed that various religious and social and cultural groups had flags of different colours, but the national flag symbolised the cultural unity of all. He described this as a historic day and said the people of Belagavi had one more reason to be proud of their city.

Deputy Commissioner S. Ziyaullah, Police Commissioner D.C. Rajappa, ZP CEO R. Ramachandran, City Corporation Commissioner Shashidhar Kurer, Maratha Light Infantry regimental centre officers, and others were present.

The 110 m tall flag post at Kote Kere is near the historic Belagavi fort in the city. It is taller than the post in Pune (107 m) and the one at the Indo-Pak border at Attari (105 m).

“The monumental flag will be flown at all times, and will be well-lit at night. It should be seen by residents of Belagavi from afar and remain visible at all times,” Mr. Sait said.

The flag is made of weatherproof Denier polyester fabric. Two shorter poles with flood lights have been erected around the flag.

Permission granted

Following a judgment of the High Court of Bilaspur in 2010, the Union Home Ministry allows the flying of national flags beyond sunset. However, these flags are considered monumental flags and special permissions are issued on a case by case basis. The Union government has issued a permission for the Belagavi monumental flag.

The Belagavi City Corporation has completed the work under the Chief Minister’s special grant. The flag post is 2 m in diameter at the base and 0.6 m at the top. It has a three horsepower motor to raise the flag to the top.

New park

A park will come up in 1.5 acres around the flag. A committee comprising citizens, district administration, revenue, police and cantonment board officials will be formed to manage the park.

Earlier, the plan was to erect the flag post on an island in the centre of the lake. However, the soil there proved unstable for such a tall structure. Hence, it was shifted to the bank, an officer said.

Five flags

Officers are keeping five flags on standby. “Khadi fabric could not be used for the flag as looms cannot produce a flag of that size and the flag code does not allow stitching of small pieces,” a city corporation engineer working on the project, told The Hindu.

Officials have got Civil Aviation Ministry’s permission to fly the flag that within 25 km of the Sambra airport. A red light is affixed on top of the post to indicate its height to pilots.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Karnataka / by Special Correspondent / March 13th, 2018

Here are innovators you wouldn’t want to miss in a science fair

Education, Records, All, Science & Technology, Uncategorized
Ramanagara GWPTR College student Arpita B(Ext. Left) and her friends displayed their Invention Bio- Electrical Body Fat Analyser, at the three day 'Engineering Fair', at Visvesvaraya Industrial and Technological Museum, in Bengaluru on Thursday. DH photo
Ramanagara GWPTR College student Arpita B(Ext. Left) and her friends displayed their Invention Bio- Electrical Body Fat Analyser, at the three day ‘Engineering Fair’, at Visvesvaraya Industrial and Technological Museum, in Bengaluru on Thursday. DH photo

Arpita B enthusiastically clamps the sensors to the wrist. With deft plucking of the keys, she feeds her subject’s age, gender and body weight.

Then, five pairs of eyes excitedly watch the display of the gadget as it flashes some numbers. “Here’s your body fat,” 18-year-old Arpita said with a smile.

Know your body fat

The group of five girls from GWPTR College in Ramanagaram, which Arpita is part of, are proud of their invention – bio-electrical body fat analyser.

The model was one of several exhibits at the three-day engineering fair at the Visvesvaraya Industrial and Technological Museum, which showed potential for future mass production.

The girls made this device in two months at Rs 15,500. “We’ve done successful tests on people and several doctors have verified the readings,” Arpita said.

Organised by the ministry of culture for industrial training students between the ages of 18 and 23, the fair displayed several simple innovations that had practical applicability.

Bomb-detection robot

Mohammed Nuhid’s bomb-detection robot is one such invention. The fourth-semester industrial training student from the Government ITI College came up with the solution as he was moved by the scenes of soldiers being ripped apart by IEDs and landmines.

The robot can detect metal, batteries and explosive substances from a distance, Nuhid said. The battery-operated device can crawl several miles, saving the user from harm. Nuhid put the device together in 10 days, spending Rs 4,000.

Wireless CNC tractor

The wireless CNC multi-purpose tractor was one more incredible piece of innovation that five boys from the MEI Polytechnic made for cash-strapped farmers.

“This tractor can perform multiple tasks like removing weeds, tilling land, and sowing and levelling the ground to prevent birds from eating the seeds,” said Dhanush S, who is part of the team that came up with the tractor.

“We designed this exhibit after learning about the troubles farmers go through to hire field hands. This will significantly cut down their labour cost,” Dhanush added.

The team tested the tractor, which they designed in a month and made with just Rs 17,500, at a farm in Hoskote.

Automated sericulture gadget

Three innovators proudly demonstrated the Sericulture and Automation Centre, which would allow farmers to double their silk produce while halving their workload. Works are automatically fed to the centre, where temperature and moisture are moderated. The farmer can monitor the progress on CCTVs or mobile phones.

Hemanth Kumar H A, co-inventor of the technology with fellow students of APS Polytechnic, said the model can also work well for poultry, livestock and pisciculture.

In all, the fair displayed 85 different models ranging from automated money transfers with debit/credit cards, accident safety chambers in aircraft (to ensure passengers do not die in crashes), laser-based thermocol cutters, mobile phone-based home-monitoring devices to automated helmet connector with motorbikes.

A special platform had been given to students from the Association of People with Disability.

source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> City / DH News Service / Bengaluru – March 16th, 2018

The golden girls of Mysuru university

Education, Records, All
Proud moment:Gold medallists at the 98th convocation of the University of Mysore on Monday.M.A. SRIRAM
Proud moment:Gold medallists at the 98th convocation of the University of Mysore on Monday.M.A. SRIRAM

With 13 gold medals and four cash prizes in her kitty, C.N. Shambhavi emerged the ‘golden girl’ at the 98th annual convocation.

Having graduated in MSc. Chemistry, Shambhavi is a native of Chikkabagilu village in Mandya district. She has been a topper all throughout and even won gold medals in her undergraduation.

Round of applause

She drew a round of applause from the audience when her name was called out. Her parents were delighted to witness their daughter’s academic excellence.

Most women achievers at the convocation belonged to rural parts of Mysuru, Mandya and Chamarajnagar districts, and most were willing to take up research in their chosen subjects.

Vanaja K.G. was on cloud nine having won eight gold medals and four cash prizes in M.A. Kannada. Dhanalakshmi R. and Manasa D.P. won seven gold medals and nine cash prizes each in B.A. and B.Sc. respectively.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Karnataka / by Special Correspondent / Mysuru – March 13th, 2018

To UN, on mission menstruation

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

MenstruationBF14mar2018

City-based 9th graders take discussion of tabooed subject to govt schools, distribute sanitary napkins

For most adolescent girls, menstruation is a hush-hush affair.

But Nina Reddy and Preethi Subbiah, 9th graders from The International School Bangalore (TISB), want to change this dismal scenario. They have started a project, Svaasthy, to spread awareness on menstruation to girls from underprivileged families. The two girls will also present their work to policy-makers at the UN headquarters in New York.

“We want to educate young girls who are unaware of menstruation because it is a taboo. One of the most integral parts of being a woman is a taboo, and we want to change that. It happens to half the world, why should we hide our feminine nature? What is there to be ashamed of? Being a woman? We think it is necessary to educate girls that menstruation is what makes us women and we need to be able to take care of our menstrual health with the right products and pride,” Reddy said.

“Young girls who cannot possibly ask women in their family about such a tabooed topic, need to know what’s going on inside of them and how to deal with it,” she added. These two girls have found a two-fold solution to the menstrual problem in Indian. “One, is to generate awareness about menstrual health and hygiene via workshops in rural areas as well as to underserved communities and second is to distribute sanitary napkins and the Menstrupedia comic as a guide to girls,” Reddy said.

The girls have been working on implementing their solution and in the last two months they have impacted the lives of 200 girls and handed out over 1,600 sanitary pads with the aid of Apollo Hospitals in three locations in Bengaluru- Government Higher School, Doddakanneli, Namma Mane Orphanage and Samarthanam High School.

They have also created a website (www.svaasthy.net).

About their next project, Subbiah said, “We plan to hold at least two workshops every month in various orphanages and government schools of Bengaluru and distribute more than 5,000 sanitary pads by the end of April, hold fundraisers like bake sales and walkathons and to decrease the overall hesitation around menstruation.”

source: http://www.bangaloremirror.indiatimes.com / Bangalore Mirror / Home> Bengaluru> Others / by Kumaran P, Bangalore Mirror Bureau / March 14th, 2018

Centre’s help may be sought to get Kittur Rani’s sword

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Bengaluru :

Running against time in fulfilling politically significant obligations days before announcement of the assembly elections, the government is likely to seek the Centre’s help to bring back 19th century queen Kittur Rani Chennamma’s sword, believed to be kept in the London Museum.
Lingayat community members, especially those from the politically dominant Pachamasali sect which the queen is believed to be from, have been demanding that the sword, reportedly used by Chennamma while fighting the Britishers, be brought back.

Sources said chief minister Siddaramaiah is likely to write to the ministry of external affairs about the sword after the state cabinet meeting scheduled on Wednesday. The meeting is expected to approve the report, recommending separate religion status to the Lingayat community.

The community members met Siddaramaiah at Koodalasangama in Bagalkot district on Monday, and urged him to expedite the process. “The issue will get complicated if the government fails to fulfil the procedural steps before the announcement of elections,” said Shivanand Jamdar, a former bureaucrat and general secretary of Lingayat Mahasabha Vedike.

Demanding initiation of diplomatic consultations between India and Britain in the matter, Jagadguru Jaya Mrutyunajya Swamy, pontiff of Lingayat Panchamasali Mahapeetha of Koodalasangama, said: “We’re ready to fulfil all formalities and mobilise required funds to bring back the sword.”

Earlier in 2012, the BJP government had set up a committee headed by scholar M M Kalburgi to look into the issue. But efforts came to a standstill after he was gunned down by unknown assailants in 2015.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Bangalore News / by B V Shiva Shankar / TNN / March 13th, 2018

Foodpanda launches tech centre in Bengaluru, to hire 100 personnel

Business & Economy, Records, All

New Delhi:

Online food delivery marketplace Foodpanda on Tuesday announced the launch of its dedicated technology centre in Bengaluru, thus venturing into advanced technology such as machine learning and data analytics.

The state-of-the-art tech centre will be aimed to strengthen the technology infrastructure, product capabilities and end user experience for the company. A blueprint has been drawn to hire 100 team members with strong tech background in a span of six to nine months.

The tech center will be fully operational in a couple of weeks, and will be headed by Nitin Gupta, who was recently appointed as the Head of Engineering at Foodpanda.

The tech centre will extensively work on re-imagining the product, integrate functions and introduce specialised domains of machine learning and data sciences. This would be directed to develop more personalised offerings for the restaurant partners and millions of prospective customers in the country.

The tech centre is envisioned to become a hub for the best tech talent working in the food tech space in the country, and will also be used for aggressive R&D functions in the future while leveraging best practices from around the world.

“Through the technology centre in Bengaluru, we envision to bring together the best team of tech enthusiasts working on building a future ready product. Leveraging robust data sciences and machine learning, we intend to personalise offerings for all our stakeholders. Following the commitment to strengthen our delivery network, this is an instrumental step towards building a strong food tech ecosystem in the country,” said Foodpanda India CEO, Pranay Jivrajka.

With Foodpanda’s recent allocation of Rs. 400 crores for delivery logistics, the tech centre will ensure an aggressive push in the direction of building a seamless experience for all its stakeholders – partner restaurants, riders, and end consumers – and creating a significant long-term business value.

source: http://www.gadgetsnow.com / Gadgets Now / Home> News> Tech News / by ANI / March 14th, 2018

Goshanas unearthed at village near Dharwad

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GoshanasBF14mar2018

Archaeological evidences from the periods of the Shatavahanas, Rashtrakutas and Kalyana Chalukyas (9th century to 13th century AD) have been unearthed at Yadwad in the taluk.

Goshana inscriptions were found while digging the ground for the construction of a temple in a farm belonging to Vittal Dindalakoppa. Idols of Mahishasura Mardini, Saptha Mathrukas and two Shivalingas have also been unearthed.

Idols had been found here in the past also. R M Shadaksharaiah, retired professor at the archaeology department in Karnatak University, Dharwad, said, “Pots unearthed here are from thue Shatavahana period (2nd century).

Of the four Goshanas, two have been partially damaged and have Halegannada words carved on them. One of the Goshanas is a pillar-like structure with eight faces carved at its top. The objects of archaeological importance found here date back to a 1,000 years and a one-of-its-kind statue of Shivaji on horse back had been unearthed here in the past.

source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> States / by DH News Service, Dharwad / March 10th, 2018

Indo-French centre of excellence

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

The Indo-French Centre of Excellence in Electricity Automation and Energy was inaugurated by French Minister of Higher Education, Research and Innovation Frédérique Vidal on Monday at the New Horizon College of Engineering.

According to a press release issued by the Consulate General of France, this was an initiative of French company Schneider Electric, which would impart technical training to future professionals. It would have a combination of theoretical knowledge with practical use of tools and equipment, the release added.

At the same event, the Minister also witnessed the signing of a partnership between New Horizon College of Engineering and CMQ3M of Rouen, France, which is an institute specialising in electrical engineering and efficiency.

The Minister was on a three day visit to India. On Monday, she also visited the ISRO Satellite Integration and test establishment, and had a collective meeting with French companies which have research and development centres in the city.

She visited the Indian Institute of Science to focus on Indo-French collaborations in the field of scientific research undertaken at IISc. She met French scholars and students on the campus.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Bengaluru / by Staff Reporter / March 12th, 2018

Soulfood for craftsmen

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, Records, All
An artisan weaving a Gomi Teni sari | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
An artisan weaving a Gomi Teni sari | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Hemalatha Jain is reinventing ancient, forgotten weaves from India’s heartlands

The Gomi Teni sari from North Karnataka, was worn by women in the 12th century.

“They haven’t been worn in over 40 years, though their border styles are used in some versions of the Ilkal sari,” says Hemalatha Jain, who is bringing the sari to Bengaluru, after having worked on its revival through her Punarjeevana initiative which seeks to empower the weavers and sustain such crafts.

“The sari’s motifs (especially on the border) evoke the patterns of jowar seeds, a prominent crop in North Karnataka, and are represented by the herringbone stitch. Gomi Teni saris used to be gifted to pregnant women and were worn by married women during the Sankranti festival. The sari is gifted on these occasions because it represents prosperity.”

She has already revived the Patteda Anchu craft, in collaboration with local craftsmen in Karnataka. She began her work in the town of Gajendragarh (Gadag district).

“When I was working in Karnataka on these crafts, I came across historical evidence for seven saris. The Gomi Teni is among them. It is an everyday kind of sari worn by farmers and other locals. It died out because of power looms and the availability of cheaper material. I was able to get a worn out sample of the sari and I decided to stick with cotton for the revival because of the hot weather in these regions,” explains Hemalatha.

“The reason I took this up is that many weavers want to work with art and I wanted to help them increase the number of looms so more artisans can come together and create a prosperous cluster.”

Beginning with one weaver, she now has a team of 45, including over 35 weavers and other artisans associated with ancillary activities around weaving.

Through her intervention in the revival process, she has brought out saris featuring check body with 2/20 s × 2/40s count and a five-inch border with Gomi design. The saris are reversible with two different pallus (there is no right-side or wrong-side to the sari) and two different borders. They have been dyed using eco-friendly dyes.

“The saris were traditionally made in red, brown and yellow because those were the colours that were available there. They didn’t use colours like black. But now we have saris in a range of colours from navy blue to black and pastel shades, apart from red,” explains Hemalatha. “We are also working to use as little water as possible because North Karnataka doesn’t have much water. Our saris are low-maintenance, the colour fastness is good. They can be washed in the machine, they don’t need any starch, they don’t even need to be ironed.”

Hemalatha brought in these characteristics by keeping the yarn count thick, so the sari doesn’t normally wrinkle.

“I am working on more such saris but I don’t want to talk about them just yet because there is a high danger of replication and duplication in this field.”

The Gomi Teni sari will be brought to Bengaluru tomorrow at Kamalini, the craft store by Crafts Council of Karnataka.

The saris will be on display at Sri Bhooma, 17th Cross, Malleshwaram until March 10. For details, call 23567470.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Bengaluru / by Harshini Vakkalanka / March 08th, 2018

Karnataka takes historic decision to have separate State flag

About Bangalore(Bengaluru) / Karnataka, Records, All
Karnataka government took a historic decision to have separate State flag on Thursday. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Karnataka government took a historic decision to have separate State flag on Thursday. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

The flag will be yellow, red and white with the State emblem in the middle

Karnataka government, on Thursday, took a historic decision to have separate State flag.

The decision was taken at a meeting convened by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to discuss the recommendations of the nine-member flag committee. The committee had recommended yellow, red and white with the State emblem in the middle. The meeting was attended by representatives of Kannada organisations, littérateurs and official representatives.

After arriving at a consensus with regard to accepting the flag recommended by the expert committee, an elated Chief Minister said: “The long pending demand of having separate State flag has finally been realised with the support extended by all the concerned.”

Exhibiting the State flag, he said the “government, which felt the need of having separate flag, lent voice to the demand by setting up expert committee to decide on colour and emblem of the State flag.”

An expert committee was constituted following representation from renowned journalist and writer Patil Puttappa.

After examining the legal and Constitutional provisions, the committee submitted its report on February 6. “When the report was tabled in the State Cabinet, it was unanimously accepted. This further empowered me to take a final call on the issue after consulting leaders of Kannada organisations. Leaders of Kannada outfits agreed to the recommendations on the design of State flag,” he added.

In the tri-colour Stage flag, white symbolises peace with State emblem. While yellow symbolises the auspiciousness and well-being of Kannadigas, the red colour symbolises courage.

“The state government had no power to announce its State flag. A proposal in this regard will be sent to the union government. We will urge the centre to approve the proposal and make an official announcement at the earliest,” Mr. Siddaramaiah said.

If centre agrees to the proposal, Karnataka will be second state in the country to have a separate State flag, after Jammu and Kashmir. This is due to J&K’s special status under the Constitution. “There is no opposition for States to have separate flag in the Constitution. But, the State flag will always fly below the National flag, as prescribed,” said Mr. Siddaramaiah.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Karnataka / by Special Correspondent / Bengaluru – March 08th, 2018