Dr Devi Shetty recognised as Indian of the Year

Business & Economy, Leaders, Records, All, Uncategorized
Dr Devi Shetty, who runs most economical heart care and healthcare institute, Narayana Hrudayalaya in Jamshedpur, was recognised by CNN-IBN as Indian of the Year 2012. At a star-studded awards ceremony held in New Delhi, winners across politics, sports, entertainment, business and public service categories were announced.

Over years, these awards have achieved prestige and credibility unmatched by awards instituted by other media organisations.  The awards adhere  to a transparent and unique four-tier selection process  that includes the IBN Editorial Board drawing a list of nominees, which are authorised by the Jury, followed by voting by Electoral College and India’s citizens.
http://www.dailypioneer.com / Home> PNS> Jamshedpur / Friday, December 21st, 2012

Churches in Dharwad decked up for Christmas celebrations

Arts, Culture & Entertainment

Dharwad :

All the three major churches in Dharwad are decked up for Christmas as celebrations got underway from December 1. The city has over 7,000 Christian population of which nearly 70 per cent are Protestants and the rest Catholics. What is unique about Christmas in Dharwad is that the local traditions and culture have had a great influence on the celebrations, while, at the same time, some Christian families are influenced by their counterparts in the neighbouring Goa.

Like Hindus celebrate Diwali with crackers and skylamps, Christians also burst crackers and light skylamps and more importantly prepare dishes that are akin to those prepared during Diwali. Children’s Christmas will be organized on Monday, where special programmes for children will be held.

Rev Sakri of Hebich Memorial church said monthlong programmes have been organized at these churches to mark Christmas. Several religious programmes including special prayers, rendering carols are being held.

On December 25, Christmas will be celebrated at 9 am. Bishop Niranjankumar will deliver the Christmas address. Special discourse will be held on Jesus and Christianity. On the occasion, free dress material and sarees will be distributed to underprivileged people. Special prayers will be held for world peace and brotherhood.

From December 26 to 31, church members will visit the houses of Christians located in Mission Compound and render carols. Celebrations will mark the New Year eve on December 31.

MONUMENTAL CHURCHES
Dharwad has three Churches that are more than 100 year old. The oldest is Hebich Memorial Church established in 1836 while All Saints Church was founded in 1888. The Holy Cross Church is located in Saint Joseph’s school premises and it is the Catholic Church.

Hebich Memorial Church, the oldest in Dharwad was dedicated on December 14,1845 by Rev Lehner. Built in European style of architecture, the Church initially had a tower with a 24 feet height and 42 feet width. The Church has been renovated from time to time to suit the changing requirements.

The All Saints’ Church near Haliyal toll naka is an Anglican Church of North Karnataka area. Former director of public instruction Usha Joseph recalled that the Church an antique monument of classic touch stands as a reminiscence of British imperialism in India.

The brick structure with an air of rustic splendor around it is a replica of the British County church. The chapel so solid, solemn and serene still maintains the same graceful sophistication even to this day. Speaking about the structure of the church Usha said it was made of wire cut burnt bricks.

source:  http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / Home> City> Hubli / TNN / December 20th, 2012

City’s sports stars

Records, All, Sports

By S.N. Venkatnag Sobers

Mysore:

Nobody can dispute the fact that Mysore is tagged as Heritage City or the City of Palaces. Being home to some of the best historical structures and Palaces, our City is also home for many sports personalities who have made a mark in their respective sport. Among them are ‘Mysore Express’ Javagal Srinath, Lawn Tennis player Poojashree Venkatesh, Chess players M.S. Thejkumar, Girish Koushik and others. This Weekend Star Supplement brings together some of the young and upcoming sports stars who have earned accolades both at National and International level.

Sporting talents born to excel

Pratheek Raja

Talented skater Pratheek Raja has done everyone proud with his feats in the Roller Skating scene in the National and International-level. His feats were given due recognition when the Karnataka Government awarded him with the Ekalavya Award earlier this year.

Prateek captained the Indian team in the Asian Games held at Guangzhou, China. He won 5 gold medals and the Individual Championship in the men’s section and emerged as the fastest skater of the meet at the 48th National Roller Skating Championships at Vaizag. He was part of the Karnataka team which retained the Overall Championship title in the National championship.

Pratheek took up to roller skating at a young age of 7 years. He is the current National Men’s champion. Now 23 years old, Pratheek is a B.com graduate and has started his own club — Imperial Skating Club — in city and has trained many skaters who have gone on to win medals in the National and State-level championships. He is encouraged by his mother Mahalakshmi who is working in the District Training Centre.

Pratheek has won the National championship title in the men’s section for 5 years and has secured 14 golds in National championships. He has donned Indian colours five times. Presently he is training under K. SrikanthaRao, Ekalavya Awardee and Indian Team coach, at the VMRSC & Rao’s Roller Skating Club in city.

He represented the country in the 13th Asian Roller skating championship at Haining, China during 2008 and also in the 10th Asian Roller Skating championships at Akita, Japan during 2004. Pratheek intends to do well in the forthcoming championships representing India and bring laurels to our Country and State with his performance.

Shraddha Rani B. Desai

Shraddha Rani B. Desai did everyone proud with her feats in the recently concluded 24th National Inter-zone junior athletic meet held at Pune by winning gold in the 1,500 m event in the girls U-20 section. Sharaddha, 20, is a student of Teresian First Grade College in city. She is a product of the Sports Hostel Mysore and is being coached by former International athlete Damodar Gowda. With the encouragement and guidance from DYSS, College and support from her coach this talented athlete has the potential in her to make her mark in higher level.

J. Suchith

All rounder J. Suchith has been performing consistently and has represented Karnataka in the Shafi Darashah All-India cricket tournament held in Bangalore. He captained the Mysore Zone U-19 team at the Inter-Moffussil tournament which was held at Mysore. Suchith bowls left-arm spin and bats in middle-order. He has represented Karnataka in the Cooch Behar All-India U-19 tournament. He represented Mysore Gymkhana in the KSCA Mysore Zonal league in the first division. He represented the State U-13, U-15, U-17, U-19 and U-22 teams and South Zone in the U-15, U-17 and U-19 levels.

H.S. Sharath

Mandya and Mysore Zone player Hosagaviappa Shivalingiah Sharath announced his arrival in the National circuit by scalping a 5 wicket haul in his debut Ranji trophy match against Uttar Pradesh in Meerut recently. He rocked the UP batting line up and returned with figures of 5/60 on his first day in first-class cricket. His performance helped Karnataka to restrict UP to 273/9 in 90 overs on the first day.

This 19-year-old Mandya lad, who began his cricketing career at PET Cricket Club, Mandya in 1997, was initially coached by Mahadev, cricket coach at the PET Institutions. A tall lad with good pace, Sharath developed into a good medium-pacer and represented Mysore Zone in the U-16, U-19, U-22 & U-25 levels. He also earned the State cap in the U-16, U-19, U-22 and U-25 levels. His consistent performance for Karnataka in the U-25 Col. C.K. Nayudu Tournament helped him to earn a place in the State Ranji squad.

He is the son of Shivalingiah and Puttagowramma from Hosagavi village in Mandya. It was Sharath’s mother who brought him to PET grounds in Mandya to enroll him in the Cricket Club.

He attended the MRF Pace Foundation Camp in Chennai this year and learnt the finer points of fast bowling from none other than Australian cricketer Glenn McGrath. He has emerged as the front-line bowler in the Karnataka bowling line-up in the absence of Vinay Kumar and Mithun, who were out with injuries.

M.V. Spoorthy

Table tennis player M.V. Spoorthy has been consistently winning titles in the State-level both in the sub-junior and junior girls sections. Spoorthy is a product of the PTTA, Mysore and is coached by Rajashekar. Encouraged by her parents, this lass has been performing well in the State-level tournaments as well in the National-level. She has represented Karnataka in the Nationals in the sub-junior girls and junior girls sections. Spoorthy is a student of CFTRI School in city. Spoorthy won the titles in the State championships held at Belgaum, Dharwad, Bangalore and also at Mysore. An attacking player on both the flanks, this girl is seeded No.1 in the sub-junior girls section in the State and intends to work hard and win a medal in the National level in the days to come.

Nisha Joseph

Nisha Joseph of Sports Hostel Mysore, is being coached by Ashok, SAK, Volleyball coach at DYSS. Nisha is a final year B.Com student at Teresian College. DYSS volleyball team finished third in the All-India Dasara Invitation volleyball tournament and Nisha played an important role. She led the Mysore University Volleyball team at South Zone Inter-Varsity volleyball championships at Guntur in October. She captained the Indian team which finished 6th in the Asian Junior Volleyball championships at Bangkok. She is the daughter of Joseph Mari and Elizabeth Rani and a native of Dooranahally in KR Nagar. She started playing when she was in 8th standard. She joined Vidyanagar Sports School, Bangalore and started making heady progress in the sport.

Suraj R. Prabodh

Suraj R. Prabodh of Mysore Tennis Club in Chamarajapuram has been consistently performing well in the senior U-18 sections, both in the International and National-level. He also played in ITF One Jet Grade IV tennis tournament for juniors at Bundung, Indonesia, where he reached the semi-finals. Suraj has also taken part in the two ITF tournaments held at Mandya and Mysore in the men’s section. He won the men’s singles title in the recently concluded AITA NVK Men’s 50k All-India Ranking Tennis tournament 2012 at Hyderabad.

Suraj had represented India in Australian Open junior tournament and played in the qualifying round last season. He is presently ranked 340 in the World in the junior rankings. He is among the top 10 junior players in the country. He won his maiden ITF Junior title after winning at Indian ITF Junior tournament (Grade V) at Guwahati in 2011. He also took part in the ITF tournaments in Mumabi. Suraj performed well in the Adidas-MCC National junior tennis championship held at Chennai where he entered the semi-finals in the singles event.

He is the son of Renukananda Prabodh and Tejawathi. Suraj is so indulged in Tennis that his father Reukananda said that there were no backup career options for Suraj if tennis did not work for him as he is very confident of excelling in the sport.

S. Varun Karthik

Varun Karthik is a talented footballer from Mysore. Having started playing football from the age of 10, he has gone on to represent State in Junior National Championships. The 21-year-old Varun has represented Sports Union FC, Nanjangud, Ganesha FC and Dugramba FC in the Mysore District Football League. He is currently representing Royals FC in the league matches and credits the Club for his success. Varun plays in forward position and is a prolific scorer in the league matches held in Mysore.

Varun was also a member of University of Mysore Football team which participated at the South Zone Inter University Tournament held at Trivandrum last year.

Varun has been a getting a lot of encouragement from his parents T. Subash and N. Shantha and aims to play in higher level. He also credits his physical education teachers Mahesh and Shivanna for his success. He is currently a pursuing his 2nd year BBM at TTL college in Mysore.

M.S. Abhilash

This 23-year-old footballer started to play football at a young age of 9 years. Abhilash has achieved a rare feat of representing the State in the prestigious Santosh Trophy. He also represented Mysore University 3 times and has led the team in 2010. Abhilash has presented Karnataka in Sub Junior, Junior and U-21 National tourney. Abhilash represents Royals FC at the Mysore Division Football League. Currently, he is pursuing MBA at Bahadur Institute of Mana-gement Sciences, Manasagangothri. He credits his coaches and parents M.K. Sundaresh and Vishalakshi for his success.

S.K. Apsana

Apasana is from the Vidyanagar Sports Hostel in Bangalore. Her field of interest is 400 mts hurdles. But, she has also won medals in 4×100 relay and 4×400 mts relay events at the University level.

Apasana is currently being trained under the watchful eyes of SAK Coach Damodhar Gowda. She is a silver medallist in the 400 mts hurdles in Amateur National Championships held at Lucknow recently.

Apasana has also represented University of Mysore in All India Inter University championships. She is currently pursuing her 1st year degree at Teresian College in city.

Reena George

Reena George was a student of Vidyanagar Sports Hostel in Bangalore. She came to Mysore after completing her high school education. Later, she joined Mysore Sports Hostel and got trained under athlete coach Damodhar Gowda. Reena has emerged as undisputed champion in 400mts and 200mts run. Currently, she holds record in 400 mts for University of Mysore and also in Dasara Sports. She also won a gold medal in U-20 National Championships held recently. She has been representing University of Mysore at various levels. Reena is a part of Mysore University Athletic team which will be participating at the All India Inter University Athletic Championships to be held at Kolkata in Jan. 2013. She has been selected for the Indian camp which is preparing for the Asian Track and Field Championships to be held at Chennai in 2013. Reena is studying at Teresian College in city.

Bibi Sumaya

Bibi Sumaya is the current U-20 National 200 mts champion. A student of Teresian College, she is currently undergoing training under Damodhar Gowda, SAK Athletic coach. Sumaya is a product of Kudgi Sports Hostel in Coorg. Sumaya took up to athletics while she was studying 6 std. Later, after completing her high school she came to Mysore to pursue her training in athletics as well as higher education.

Sumaya has emerged as an undisputed queen in 100 mts and 200 mts. She currently holds record for 200 mts in Women’s Nationals, Mysore University and Dasara Sports Meet. She was also the part of the team which won the gold medal at University-level in 4×100 mts relay and also 4×100 mts relay and 4×400 mts relay in Dasara Sports. Currently, she is preparing for the Asian Track and Field Championship which is scheduled to be held in Chennai later in 2013.

Kavyashree

Kavyashree is an upcoming hockey player from city. She was trained in Kudgi Sports Hostel initially before she moved to Mysore.

Kavyashree has been representing the University of Mysore for the past four years.

She will be representing the University of Mysore at the All India Inter-University Championships to be held in Rajasthan later in January, 2014.

B. Pourush

Pourush is an upcoming swimmer from city. Having specialised in breath stroke, he has won medals at State-level Inter School Championships. He started his training since the age of 3 and continues to train under the University of Mysore Swimming Coach Puttaswamy and retired coach Nabhiram. He is currently studying 9th std. at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan in Mysore.

Muthamma

Muthamma is an upcoming hockey player in Mysore. Previously, she has been a part of Senior Women’s Hockey camp which trained in Bhopal. Having proved her potential, Muthamma has been selected to represent the State in Junior National Championship which will held in Delhi during January 2014.

Muthamma started to play hockey when she was in 6th std. and was initially trained in Kudgi Sports Hostel in Coorg. After, coming to Mysore, she has been able to reach great heights and Muthamma has represented the University of Mysore for three years at the Inter-University Hockey tournaments.

A.S.Deekshith

Deekshith is a promising swimmer from Mysore. A student of Anantha Geetha Vidyalaya in J.P. Nagar, Deekshith aims to achieve great heights in the field of sports he loves.

Deekshith has won medals in many District and State-level swimming championships. He specialises in 50 mts freestyle and 50 mts backstroke swimming.

V.N. Prathamesh

He is a student of Vijaya Vittala Vidyashala. Prathamesh has been performing consistently in every swimming championship he participates. Prathamesh has taken up all major events in swimming which includes butterfly, backstroke, freestyle and breadth stroke. He is currently studying in 5th std and aims to reach great heights in the future.

Dr. Varsha Puranik

Dr. Varsha Puranik is pursuing her M.D (Mirco Biology) at JSS Medical College. She is trained by Ekalavya Awardee Sr-ikanth Rao. She took up roller skating in 1990 after being inspired by her elder brother. Varsha is the first roller skater from India to win a medal at Asian Cham-pionship in 2001. She has won 28 gold medals at National level. She was a part of Indian contingent which took part in the world championships in Italy.

Nirmith Nityanand

Nirmith is a right hand batsman and also bowls leg spinners. He has represented U-15, U-17, U-19 and U-22 State teams. Nirmith has been representing RBNCC in KSCA Mysore Zonal-level league matches and FUCC in Bangalore league. A BE graduate in Construction Technology & Management from SJCE, Nirmith played for U-14 and U-16 National-level C.K. Naidu tournament in his school days.

V. Varshith

Varshith started his career in roller skating in 2001-2002 and from then on he has made a name for himself in roller sports. He is a remarkable skater and has been winning almost every championship he has participated in so far. Varshith has won several gold medals at National and State level championships.

Varshith won bronze medal in the 15th Asian Championship when he was 14 years in the Under 19 category, held at Kaohsiung city, Taipei from July 16 to 25, 2010. He was also impressive in the Junior Men 3,000 mts relays where he won a bronze medal and was placed 4th in 500 mt road race, 4th in 20 km elimination & 5000 m relay and also 5th in 10 km point-to-point and 6th in 15 km rink elimination races.

He has won 9 National gold medals with three Individual Championship, 6 silver medals and 4 bronze medals. His overall Medals in International, National and State championships are 45 gold, 15 silver and 13 bronze medals.

He recently participated in the 15th Asian Championship held in China and was placed 4th in 3000 mts relay. His brilliant performance in the 28th State Championship recently held at Belgaum earned him 3 gold medals and Individual Championship. In the year 2014, he will try to become the first skater in the Country to win gold medal in the 16th Asian Championship.

He is currently studying in I PUC at Chaitra PU College in city. He is the son of B.Venugopal, who was recently conferred with the Rashtriya Udyog Ratna Award by the National Organisation of Commerce and Industry and Geetha Venugopal.

Ruthu Rohit

Ruthu Rohit is a student of St. Joseph’s Higher Primary School. She won her first State ranking tourney at Bangalore conducted by Canara Union Malleshwaram. She won her 2nd title in Sir M. Vishvesvarya Memorial TT Tourney at CFTRI. In the State championships conducted by Karnataka TT Association in memory of C.V.L. Shastry, Ruthu won the cadet event by beating top seed Ayesha Siddiqui. Ruthu will be representing the State Cadet team in the 74th cadet and sub junior nationals at Gandhidham, Gujrat from Jan 16, 2014. She is the daughter of Rohit Ramdev and Rekha.

Ridhi Rohit

Ridhi is one of the most promising table tennis players in Mysore. Ridhi captained Karnataka State under-14 team to 53rd SGFI National school games held at Mizoram in 2007-2008. She won 8 out of 9 State ranking tournaments in cadet (U-12) in 2008-2009. She also led State U-12, U-14, State sub-junior teams. She represented the State in National schools games held in Chandigarh in 2008-09, sub-juniors at Chennai in 2009-10, State Junior U-17 and U-21 teams at Youth Championships held at Ahmedabad in Gujrat. She is a student of St. Joseph’s High School.

Ranjitha

Ranjitha, a native of Shimoga, is an upcom-ing volleyball player and is currently pursuing final year B.Com at Teresian College. Ranjitha has also represented the State in Senior National and University-level tournaments. She was a member of the Indian team which took part in the Jr. Asian Championships at Thailand in 2011-12. She has been representing University of Mysore at Inter-University Championships for the past 3 years. Currently, she is gearing up for Senior Natl. Championships to be held in Rajasthan next year.

Akash Aaradhya

Akash Aaradhya holds the National record for under-19 short distance roller skating. He won a gold and silver medal at National championships.

Akash Aaradhya was also a member of Indian team which participated at World Championships in Italy and Asian Championship in China.

Akash is being trained by Ekalavya Awardee Srikanth Rao, who has been producing talented roller skaters from the city over the past few years.

source: http://www.StarofMysore.com / Home> Feature Articles / December 15th, 2012

Kundapur: Sripathi Hegde Haklady Bags Basava Jyothi State Award

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Records, All

Kundapur, Dec 19:

Sripathi Hegde Haklady, correspondent of Vijayavani Kannada daily bagged Basava Jyothi State Award for the year 2012.

Sri Basaveshwara Karmaveera Kala Sahitya Samskrati Vedike has been conferring national as well as state awards for the past eight years. This year they will be presenting 16 national awards and 50 state level awards.

The award ceremony will be held at Kandagal Shree Hanumantharaya Rangamantappa on December 25 where the awards will be presented by Bellabbi, district in-charge minister of Bijapur and Sudarshan, speaker.

source: http://www.daijiworld.com / Home> Karnataka / by Hemananth Padubidri – DaijiWorld Media Network, Kundapur (VM) / Wednesday, 19th December 2012

Life of a Hubli boy with Pi

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Records, All, Science & Technology

The 3-D English movie — Life of Pi, which has had movie going audiences in its thrall, specially awed by the real life actions its animated tiger and animation segments, the world over — has a Hubli connection that should do the City proud.

And if you are one who stays put till the last credit rolls past before you leave the auditorium, you would have noticed the Indian name you may have instantly connected with Tanseer Ahmed Bangewale, the local lad, who has not only carved a niche for himself on the global movie marquee, but also put the Hubli city in spotlight as well, doing its citizens proud.

Marooned on the boat with a tiger, the film’s protagonist Pi keeps the feline at bay with a long stick and a loud shout. The animated scene was achieved after six-months’ effort. Besides the entry of the strange animals towards the end of the movie was also astutely visualised and conceived by the animator Tanseer.

Basking in the glory of his achievement, and new found attention his work has brought him, Tanseer, a resident of Koppadakere, Dharwad, residing in Mumbai, was in City on Sunday and shared his experience.

Working with the Academy award-winning director Ang Lee of ‘Life of Pi’ , says Tanseer, was a satisfying experience, explaining that a degree in fine arts opened a wide opportunity, although it required a lot of effort. “One need not just become a drawing teacher. Technical expertise is an added advantage,” he says.

Tanseer, 28, completed his BFA (Bachelor of Fine Arts) from a local college at Gadag with a first class. He followed it up with a course in animation in Mumbai from Hindi movie director Ketan Mehta’s Maya Academy of Advanced Cinematics (MAAC) studio. He was employed by the Rhythm and Hues Animation Studio at Malad, Mumbai, during campus recruitment.

At the studio, Tanseer, who animated for the Hollywood movie ‘Hulk-2’, also worked with the makers of ‘The Mummy Returns’, ‘The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor’, ‘Incredible Hulk’ and ‘Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian’, besides animating for the chipmunk in the movie ‘Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel and ‘Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked’.

Impressed by his animation skills, especially for the movie ‘Yogi Bear’, visual effects experts at Rhythm and Hues headquarters in the US took him on board for their works which saw Tanseer join a 20-member team for the movie by Company ‘Golden Compass’, released in 2007. The movie went on to win an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects in 2008.

Happy that the family’s effort in enabling Tanseer achieve his ambition had borne fruit, a beaming father M J Banglewale, a senior professor at Vijaya Mahantesh Arts Institute, said: Tanseer is my younger son. I sent him to Mumbai so that he could learn something special, since we had to pay a fee of Rs 1.20 lakh for his course in 2005. Funds were difficult, but we did not refuse.

Sure enough, Tanseer has been true to the faith reposed in him.

source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> Entertainment / Hubli, DHNS / December 16th, 2012

Infosys HR team wins Zenith 2012 award

Business & Economy, Records, All

A seminar on ‘ Building an engaged workforce’ was held by the National HRD Network (NHRDN) Bhubaneswar Chapter at the Infosys campus here on Friday.

A panel discussion held during the seminar that included a 360 degree view on workforce engagement, in which NHRDN office-bearers including its president Dr Saroj Mohapatra and vice-president Dr Suvendu Das focussed on important issues relating to present-day HRD (human resource development.

The NHRDN members informed about their reward and recognition programme, Zenith, which was organised as part of the seminar to celebrate excellence and reward high performers in the HR fraternity in the State. This year, the HR team of Infosys won the Zenith 2012 while the HR team of JSPL became the runners-up and the PPL HR team got a consolation prize.

Among others, Kalinga Soft CEO Srijat Mishra, National Board member of NHRDN Sourav Daspatnaik, general secretary of NHRDN Dr Isa Mishra and principal consultant of Think Talent India Bhabani Mohanty were present.

source:  http://www. dailypioneer.com / Home> State Editions> Bhubanewsar / Monday, December 17th, 2012

Remembering T.S. Satyan : The invisible lensman

Arts, Culture & Entertainment

 

 

 

 

Caption: T.S. Satyan

Today, December 13, 2012, is the third death anniversary of city’s well-known legendary photojournalist T.S. Satyan. Here is a tribute to Tambarahalli Subramanya Satyanarayana Iyer by one of his friends and close associate Ashvini Ranjan, Founder-Trustee of Pratham Mysore, an NGO imparting education to the less privileged children in the slums of Mysore and presently the Chairman of Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA), Mysore Zone.

Ashvini Ranjan, who also owns a manufacturing industry in office stationery under the name of AJ Stationery Pvt. Ltd in Mysore since 1987, recollecting his association with the lensman, says Satyan would give thought to all possible situations that he was likely to encounter before venturing out on an assignment.

By Ashvini Ranjan

All photographers working with life forms, more so the humans, at some point in their careers will have wished they had the power to become invisible. A power to enable them to take pictures without the subject becoming conscious of being photographed. The sight of a camera has something hypnotic on the human mind. It deep freezes expressions and transforms them to look anything but natural. A kind of rigor mortis of the facial muscles. Further damage is caused when the photographer announces his readiness by saying ‘smile please’. Barring the blissfully ignorant children who have not yet come under the spell of the camera, the effect is universal. Even veteran actors struggle all their lives to look their natural self in front of a camera. The incredibly true to life human portrait that T.S. Satyan was able to capture in his camera was largely due to his remarkable skills of camouflaging not only the camera but himself as well.

Satyan’s presence in a crowd was hardly noticeable. The man was of average height, lean, brown skinned, soft spoken, dressed in a dull bush shirt and pant, wore chappals for foot wear, seldom established eye contact. As nondescript as R.K. Laxman’s ‘Common Man.’ He spoke the language of the common man. Unlike most of us who are prone to draw attention or be recognised in an assemblage of people, Satyan worked hard on remaining unnoticed. He seemed to have perfected the art to the extent he came close to being non-existent. Being physically small made, his movement too was easy and without a rustle. He took small steps when he moved. Everything about him was casual and unhurried.

Satyan belonged to the age of Black and White films and SLR cameras. He refused to be lured by the technological marvels of the digital camera. He remained a Brahmin in that sense. The camera he used was basic, compact and each exposure required manual settings. He carried the equipment in a cloth bag slung over his shoulder which reached down to his hip. It had a wide opening at the top which enabled him to remove and slip in with ease. The camera came out of the bag only after he had seen a setting worthy of a picture. With a basic camera that Satyan carried, there wasn’t too much scope for fiddling with the settings. He seldom carried more than one lens and therefore no fuss about changing them and drawing attention. The picture quality was discovered only after the film was processed. To Satyan genre of photographers, the mind, eye and the body had to be in total sync, before freezing the frame.

Once I spotted Satyan in Devaraja vegetable market at Mysore. His favorite haunt in Mysore where he has taken some of his best known pictures. I resisted the temptation of catching up with him. Instead, I walked behind him keeping a distance. There was a young man selling raw peanuts. Satyan stopped a distance from the vendor, stood awhile possibly assessing and exploring the possibility of a picture. He then went round the subject looking at the surroundings, frequently looking up at the mid-day sun and the shadows it cast. He then went and sat on a folded gunny sack used as a mat not far from the peanut vendor and the heap of his merchandise in front. The young man momentarily noticed the presence of a stranger sitting close by. I soon noticed that Satyan’s disarming smile and the banter that had put the youngster at ease.

After perhaps a few pleasantries, the peanut vendor went about his business unmindful of the stranger. The time Satyan sat there hunched and cross leg-ged, the world went by including the local populace. Neither the vendor nor the many shoppers noticed that the man sitting there was a celebrated photo journalist whose photographs had appeared in the prestigious Time and Life magazines. A recipient of the coveted Padmashri award and an internationally acclaimed photographer.

Contrary to my expectation, Satyan did not take a picture of the young man. When he got up to leave, the peanut vendor picked up a fistful of peanuts and offered it to Satyan. The gesture was gratefully accepted and Satyan put the offering into his camera bag. Later when I caught up with Satyan, I found him feasting on the nuts that he had received. Curiosity got the better of me when I asked Satyan why he had not taken a picture of the peanut vendor. It was when he told me that the young man was too conscious of his presence. With this acquaintance established with the peanut vendor, he would come back at a later date to shoot him.

Satyan once volunteered to take pictures of children of Pratham Mysore Balavadi schools. When we arrived at Kesare, one of the less developed areas of Mysore, Satyan insisted that we park our car at a distance and walk the last stretch to the school where the children had assembled to make a quiet entry into the school.

He preferred to be by himself with the children and sat on one of the steps outside a class to talk to the children in Urdu as it was predominantly a Muslim locality. The chocolates that he had carried in his camera bag attracted the children like ants to a honey pot. Of the hour that we spent at the school, Satyan played with the children for a good part of our stay. They were all over him playing and tugging at his clothing and his bag. All the pictures that he finally captured were taken in less than ten minutes. The children continued to play paying little or no heed either to Satyan’s camera or his work. Needless to say, the man had given thought of all possible situations that he was likely to encounter before venturing out on the assignment.

I met Satyan through his son Nagendra. I was drawn to Satyan from our first meeting both because of my interest in his profession, his inimitable sense of humour and his unique story- telling abilities. During our meetings, Rathna-mma, his wife would sit through the evening unmindful of the number of times she had heard the stories. Except for the occasional reminder not to exceed the quantities of his favorite cashew nuts, she remained the quiet dutiful wife.

On the 13 December 2009, I was away in Bangalore when I received a call from his son Nagendra informing me that Satyan was no more. By the time I reached Mysore that evening, the house was nearly empty with only members of the grieving family. True to his persona, Satyan had made quick and quiet exit.

This time to remain truly invisible and forever.

source: http://www.StarofMysore.com / Home> Feature Articles / December 13th, 2012

Karnataka plans to set up separate secretariat for SMEs soon

Business & Economy

The Karnataka government will create a secretariat  for small and medium enterprises  (SMEs) in the state to facilitate speedy redressal of their grievances, minister for small-scale industries Raju Gowda said.

He said, the cabinet has taken a decision in this regard and the formal notification would be issued soon. The government has also raised the capital limit of  SMEs  from Rs 3 crore to Rs 15 crore and speedy clearance through the single window, he said while addressing the national vendor development seminar at MSME Development Institute here at the weekend.

He also emphasised on the cluster development approach for MSMEs for its development to evolve into a global leader.

Gowda also expressed his desire to provide a rebate on trade licensing, setting up of industrial estates in each district headquarters of Karnataka, like the one in Koppal. He also informed of the developments on the Greater Peenya Project and promised to distribute sites to the entrepreneurs soon.

Emphasising the need for taking up large infrastructure development projects in the state, the minister for large and medium industries Murugesh R Nirani said the government was working on developing high-speed rails connecting various district headquarters with the state capital.

He also spoke of the government’s initiatives in the port development in Mangalore and Karwar to facilitate industrialisation.

The vendor development programme was organised in association with the Department of Industries & Commerce, Government of Karnataka, District Industries Centre, Bangalore (Urban), The National Small Industries Corporation Ltd, Bangalore, Khadi & Village Industries Commission, Coir Board, Small Industries Development Bank of India, Karnataka Small Scale Industries, Bangalore.

Public and private sector undertakings such as BHEL, BEML, BEL, South Western Railway, HMT Ltd, HAL, Toyota Kirloskar Motors Pvt Ltd, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India Pvt Ltd, Pushpak Products India Pvt Ltd, 3M India Limited, Berger Paints India Limited, DGS&D, KSSIDC, KIADB, Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce & Industries, Peenya Industries Association, Laghu Udyog Bharati, Karnataka, Consortium of Electronics Industries of Karnataka and Association of Women Entrepreneurs of Karnataka participated in the two-day programme.

source: http://www.Business-Standard.com / Home> Economy & Policy /by BS Reporter / Chennai-Bangalore / December 17th, 2012

Krishi Mela in Bidar from December 29

Arts, Culture & Entertainment

An integrated Krishi Mela will be organised at the Krishi Vigyan Kendra in Bidar from December 29 to 31.

Experts from the fields of agriculture, horticulture and animal husbandry will interact with farmers.

An exhibition of traditional farming method would be held too. Farmers who use native seeds, traditional methods of preservation and processing, traditional tools of farming can display these at the exhibition. The University of Agricultural Sciences, Raichur; University of Horticultural Sciences, Bagalkot; or Karnataka Veterinary, Animal and Fisheries Sciences University are jointly organising the mela.

For details, call Ravi Deshmukh, training coordinator, on 94806-96318.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National / by Special Correspondent / Bidar, December 10th, 2012

Belli Bedagu, seminar on Indian Cinema

Arts, Culture & Entertainment


Cine artiste Mandya Ramesh is seen inaugurating ‘Belli Bedagu,’ a seminar on Indian cinema at KSOU auditorium in city this morning as AIR Mysore Assistant Director (Programme) Dr. Anand Patil, Prof. V.N. Lakshminarayana (retd.) and Prof. N.S. Sridharamurthy look on.

Mysore, Dec. 10

A day-long seminar on 100 years of Indian Cinema titled ‘Belli Bedagu,’ organised jointly by Prasara Bharathi and All India Radio, Mysore, commenced this morning at Thungabhadra auditorium of Karnataka State Open University here.

Over 200 students of Journalism are attending the seminar featuring lectures on Indian Cinema followed by an interaction.

Inaugurating the programme, Theatre Artiste Mandya Ramesh said, “Cinema is a great medium of education but unfortunately has fallen in the hands of land mafia. The great people who produced meaningful black and white movies during yesteryears are now forgotten with the advent of commercial movies. Like politicians, the journalists and artis-tes need no eligible qualification as everything is centered around money-making. Nevertheless a few producers continue to give movies with good messages but are not encouraged by the masses. Movie is a great medium of education for kids which should be understood by the film makers.”

Speaking as the chief guest, Retd. Professor V.N. Lakshmi-narayana pointed out that Indian cinema had a history of over 200 years taking into consideration the movie ‘Flower of Persia’ produced well before 1886. He regretted that a good medium of education has been totally commercialised.

AIR Mysore Assistant Director (Programme) Dr. Anand Patil presided

source: http://www.StarofMysore.com / Home> General News / December 10th, 2012