Celebration of Kannada ‘power’ at BIFFes

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Posters of Kannada films at the 10th Bengaluru International Film Festival at Orion Mall in Bengaluru on Monday. | Photo Credit: Sudhakara Jain
Posters of Kannada films at the 10th Bengaluru International Film Festival at Orion Mall in Bengaluru on Monday. | Photo Credit: Sudhakara Jain

12 films are in the competition section of the Kannada cinema category

The tenth edition of Bengaluru International Film Festival (BIFFes) has become a carnival for the celebration of the eight-decade-old Kannada film industry.

Reservation, directed by Nikhil Manjoo, which bagged the Rajat Kamal for the best Kannada film, and T.S. Nagabharana’s Allama, recipient of best make-up and best music direction national award, are among the 12 films in the competition section in the Kannada cinema category.

Beti (which dispels the myth that gender discrimination has religious sanction and cultural intolerance) by P. Sheshadri, Dr. Sukanya (about female foeticide)by Srinath Vasistha, March 22 (on water conversation) by Koodlu Ramakrishna, Mooka Hakki (on cow slaughter) by N. Manjunath, Mookanayaka (which discusses relationship between art and social life) by Baraguru Ramachandrappa, Moodalaseemeyali (on patriachy) by Shivarudraiah, Neeru Tandavaru (on water and caste system) by Asif Kshatriya and Nemodaya Boolya (a Tulu film set in a village nearly two centuries ago) by Gangadhara Kirodian are competing for the coveted prize.

In a further proof of the celebration of Kannada films, renowned film maker N. Lakshminarayana, who was influenced by directors De Sica and Satyajit Ray, is being honoured with the screening of Bettada Huvu, Abachurina Post Office, Naandi and Uyyale. These movies are milestones in Kannada film and art cinema. Naandi, for instance, was the first ever Kannada film to be screened in an international film festival.

Besides these films, Bhakta Kanakadasa, Mithileya Seetheyaru, Edakallu Guddadamele, Avale Nanna Hendti, Chigurida Kanasu and Vijayanagarada Veeraputra are being screened in the homage section to pay tributes to departed artistes Krishna Kumari, B.V. Radha, Edakallu Chandru, Kashinath, Parvathamma Rajkumar and R.N. Sudarshan.

In its attempt to remember classics, BIFFes has chosen Samskara by Pattabhirama Reddy. The path-breaking film is supposed to have pioneered the parallel cinema movement in Kannada. In 50th year of making Samskara, Tom Cowan, the renowned cinematographer from Australia who worked for this film, shares his experience.

Besides these, mainstream Kannada films are being screened in the popular entertainment section.

Tulu film in Asian section

Paddayi, a Tulu film by national award winning director Abhaya Simha, is competing in the Asian Section. This is one among the Indian language contingent including Paathi (The half) by debutant Chandran Narikkod, which arrests the attention with its straightforward presentation, and Ashwathama by Pushpendra Singh, which explores undertones of superstition. Paddayi is a modern day adaptation of the epic drama Macbeth by Shakespeare.

Similarly, Hebbettu Ramakka by N.R. Nanjunde Gowda is the only Kannada film figuring in the Indian cinema section. The film deals with a village woman standing up to the patriarchy and caste systems of her village.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Bengaluru / by Muralidhara Khajane / February 26th, 2018

Bengaluru-based firm saves kids with birth defect

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Bengaluru :

The year is 2012. Dr Meenakshi Bhat, a clinical genetics consultant at Centre for Human Genetics, approached the country’s premium research institutes to devise low-cost nutrition products for children with the birth defect Phenylketonuria (PKU), but to no avail.

Enter Bengaluru-based Pristine Organics, and today at least 5,000 children aged below 9, and who are suffering from 27 different conditions, have benefited from ‘Metanutrition’. This is a formula powder for those whose body cannot turn food into energy for the lack of specific enzymes or proteins.

On the sidelines of Blue Ribbon Rare Diseases Symposium held here, Dr Meenakshi told The New Indian Express, “It costs Rs 16,000 to get a tin of this powder meant for PKU-1 children from outside India. Pristine offers it for Rs 1,000.”

PKU is a birth defect that causes an amino acid called phenylalanine to build up in the body. Untreated PKU can lead to brain damage, intellectual disabilities, behavioural symptoms or seizures. Treatment includes a strict diet with limited protein. It can last for years or be lifelong. In India, one lakh children are diagnosed with it annually. In December last year, Pristine was one of the five companies that the country’s food regulator Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) gave licence to, to manufacture specialised diet for inborn errors of metabolism (IEM).

Of these five companies, Pristine was the only Indian company. In India, the prevalence of IEM is one in 2,497 newborns. Children affected by IEM don’t survive beyond the age of one, due to complications caused by protein build-up in the body.

Shruti Kumbla, senior nutritionist, Pristine Organics, said, “Previously, parents would import it from US-based Nutritia, Abott, Mead Johnson Nutrition and Switzerland-based Nestle that would cost a lot.”

Low-cost nutrition solutions for children suffering from rare diseases can do wonders if Indian companies take up manufacturing, Dr Meenakshi said.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Bangalore / by Suraksha P / Express News Service / March 15th, 2018

Women as game-changers

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The 8th International Women’s Conference will host women from all over the world who share the objective of a stress and violence free society

Since its first edition in 2005, the International Women’s Conference (IWC) has hosted over 375 speakers and 5,500 delegates from over 100 countries. This February (23-25) in its eighth edition, it is all set to host 500 women delegates from diverse backgrounds and professions, across the world.

“This year’s theme is ‘Life: A Mystical Journey’. In the past we have dealt with a wide variety of subjects from women in technology to women in leadership, and exploring inner beauty. This time, our chairperson, Bhanumathi Narasimhan, wanted to explore the mystical aspect, through spirituality. We will have sessions on everything from the relationship between science and spirituality to 360 degree views on behaviour patterns,” says Chinky Sen, one of the lead organisers of the conference.

The 2018 edition of the conference will feature a range of speakers from actor Rani Mukherji to environmentalist Vandana Shiva; Mridula Sinha, Governor, Goa; Adriana Marais, theoretical physicist, head of innovation at SAP Africa; Professor Maithree Wickramasinghe, founder director of Center for Gender Studies at the University of Kelaniya to Arundhati Bhattacharya, former chairman, State Bank of India; and Chetna Gala Sinha, Founder-Chairperson Mann Deshi Bank and Mann Deshi Foundation.

“Women are leading peacemakers. They work together towards creating a stress-free, violence-free society. The conference is a message in peace and unity,” says Bhanumathi Narasimhan, Chairperson, IWC.

The goal of the conference, which is hosted at the Art of Living International Centre, is individual development and collective action and to ‘facilitate partnership-building and leadership development among women leaders globally’.

“The sessions at the conference will be engaging and exciting. Among the highlights this year, is an exclusive dialogue with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar (Founder, Art of Living), called ‘Mind Matters’. There are some interesting sessions on topics such as ‘Intuition, Innovation and Creativity’; on life as a game, a play, a war; and the session on 360 degree behaviour patterns will also address how they can be changed through yoga and meditation,” says Sen.

The conference is also associated with the Art of Living’s ‘Gift A Smile’ project, which offers education to over 58,000 students in 435 free schools across 20 Indian states. Girl children comprise 48 per cent of the student demographic and 90 per cent of the students are first-generation learners.

This year the conference will also support the creation of open-defecation free districts in India. The project involves two phases. In the first phase, the organisation will work towards sensitisation and awareness, on the importance of health and hygiene. “We have already reached out to 12 gram panchayats in seven states. We will be presenting the report in the conference. We will then build toilets in the second phase.”

The organisation plans to build over 4000 toilets. In keeping with another social impact tradition, the conference will also include a signature campaign on violence against women and on gender equality.

The IWC in its previous editions, has worked on initiatives such as constructing homes for the underprivileged, creating awareness on environmental care, organising a movement to stop violence against women, and empowering women through skills training. It has also worked with the World Bank Institute to develop empowerment schemes for women in vulnerable nations and expanded vocational training for widows in Iraq.

The 8th International Women’s Conference will take place between February 23 and February 25 at the Art of Living International Centre on Kanakapura Road. For details visit artofliving.org/iwc.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Society / by Harshini Vakkalanka / February 20th, 2018

Theatre Olympics comes to Bengaluru

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24 world-class performances to be staged over 15 days from Tuesday

As the city is gearing up for the weeklong Bengaluru International Film Festival (Biffes) from Thursday, it is all set for a mega theatre event. The 8th Theatre Olympics, organised by the National School of Drama (NSD) along with the Department of Kannada and Culture, will be held for 15 days here from Tuesday.

This is for the first time the country is hosting the largest international theatre festival, and Bengaluru is one of the co-hosts. Plays will be staged at Ravindra Kalakshetra and at Kalagrama, Mallathahalli Road, Jnana Bharati campus, from 7 p.m. till March 6.

The event will provide people of the State a chance to watch 24 stimulating world-class performances, including six specially invited plays from renowned theatre maestros — Kabeer (Shekhar Sen), Esranga Rod (Pranjal Saikia), Madaiah the Cobbler (Ramaswamy Prasanna), Gunamukha (C. Basavalingaiah), Parindey(Satish Anand), Krapp’s Last Tape (Jaroslaw Fret, Poland) — and international productions The Method of National Constellations (Michal Stankiewicz), Women of Passion, Women of Greece (Tatiana Ligari, Greece), and Arrived(Adrian Schvarzstein, Lithuania).

The other plays that will be staged include Kuthirai Muttai (Sanmugaraja), Karnabharam (Chandradasan), Abayab (Nebakumar Banarjee), Allasani Peddana(Akella), Jathegiruvanu Chandra (Hulugappa Kattimani), Actress Are Not Allowed (V. Arumugham), Moment Just Before (Liju Krishna), Laagi Chhute Na(Veena Sharma), Mahabharath (Anurupa Roy), Prof. Kelfa’s Factory (Ranhang Choudhury), Tansen (Govind Singh Yadav), Dhaubar Ratani (Bidyut Kr. Nath), and Antariksha Sanchar (Jayalakshmi Eshwar), Indur O Manushi (Bebashis Biswas), and Naganandam (Kavalam Padmanabhan).

C. Basavalingaiah
C. Basavalingaiah

The 8th edition of Theatre Olympics, according to C. Basavalingaiah, director of NSD Bengaluru chapter, is “a celebration of universal friendship and human values by showcasing theatre traditions of India and the world. It is an attempt to bridge the borders across countries through the call of theatre and engage in creating a global village.”

Over 450 performances

The Theatre Olympics, which opened in Delhi on Saturday, will span 17 Indian cities with over 450 performances, seminars, and youth forums in which 25,000 artistes from 31 countries will participate, said Mr. Basavalingaiah.

The festival, spread over 51 days, will be held in cities including Mumbai, Kolkata, Patna, Imphal, Varanasi, Chandigarh, and Thiruvananthapuram.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Bengaluru / by Special Correspondent / February 18th, 2018

Kalaburagi gets State’s first smart pole Wi-Fi

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Congress Leader in Lok Sabha M. Mallikarjun Kharge inaugurating the State’s first smart pole providing high speed wi-fi services on the municipal corporation premises in Kalaburagi on Wednesday.
Congress Leader in Lok Sabha M. Mallikarjun Kharge inaugurating the State’s first smart pole providing high speed wi-fi services on the municipal corporation premises in Kalaburagi on Wednesday.

As part of the State government’s initiative to provide free Wi-Fi services to people at select places, a Wi-Fi smart pole was inaugurated on the premises of Kalaburagi City Corporation by Congress Leader in the Lok Sabha M. Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday.

Speaking on the occasion, Minister for Information Technology and Bio-Technology and Tourism Priyank Kharge said that the smart pole was the first of its kind in the State and 12th in the country.

“With this smart pole Wi-Fi, one can have unlimited browsing and 100 MB download a day with a data transfer speed of 1 mbps. We are planning to shortly establish similar smart poles in 18 other places in the city,” he said.

Mr. Priyank said that as per the announcement made in the last budget, work to provide free Wi-Fi services in 2,500 gram panchayats was under way. “The task would be completed by the end of March,” he said.

Indus Tower Karnataka is implementing projects to establish smart poles in association with the government. Subbu Ayyar, a representative of the company, said that each pole cost about IRs. 5 lakh.

“The smart pole is so powerful that it can offer free Wi-Fi service up to 300 m,” he said.

Medical Education Minister and Kalaburagi in-charge Sharanprakash Patil, Mayor Sharankumar Modi, Deputy Commissioner R. Venkatesh Kumar, Corporation Commissioner Raghunandan Murthy, District Congress Committee president Jagadev Guttedar and others were present.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu> News> States> Karnataka / by Staff Reporter / Kalaburagi – February 15th, 2018