An Independence Day Cup football match being played at Cox Town in Bengaluru on Saturday.— Photo: Sudhakara Jain / The Hindu
While other localities hoist flags, Cox Town hosts a football tournament.
Fifty-nine successive years of the world’s favourite sport on east Bengaluru soil. Enthusiasm among spectators is such that they can be seen desperately grabbing seats on trees, walls and on Bengaluru East railway bridge to get the best view of the game. All this is an annual affair on Independence Day.
The Independence Day Cup football tournament final on August 15 is festive occasion for fans in Frazer Town and the rest of Bengaluru. Crowds throng the East Indian Sports Club ground on Moti Masjid Road to watch the game unfold. The roar of the fans surprises pedestrians and motorists passing near Everest cinema hall.
“I’m 42 years old and this is the 32ndyear I’m coming for the final. I used to come as a child to cheer the team wearing the jersey with the brightest colour. Now, I have come to support the home team — Camp Boys Cox Town,” says D.S. Raju, a grocery from MS Nagar. R. Giriraj (59), General Secretary of East Indian Sports Club, had played in the tournament four decades ago when the entry fee was only Rs. 5.
He describes the I-Day football tournament as a sensation among the locals. “Teams from all parts of Bengaluru, Mysuru and even Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh participate. Crowds throng the ground from around Bengaluru on August 15 to witness the two semi-finals and the grand final,” says Giriraj who doubled up as a referee for the ties on Saturday.
The club has been hosting the tournament since 1956. This year, there were 64 entries. Ambedkar Nehrupuram Football Club from Cox Town lifted the cup after a floodlit final game.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Bengaluru / by Petlee Peter / Bengaluru – August 16th, 2015
In the run up to the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, former HAL software en gineer PG Bhat formed Smart Votes, a not-for-profit organization to urge people to vote. While doing this, he and his friends realized the electoral rolls were full of errors.
“A woman was listed as male, a person who had been dead for years was still on the list, photos on voter ID cards were wrong… I could go on,” says Bhat, 65. In 2010, he wrote software that could detect obvious and logical errors in voter lists.
He paid Rs 2 per sheet to get the electoral rolls as per the rules, and began testing his software. “When lakhs of entries are made, errors are bound to creep in. Back then, the election office did not a system for verification. Even now, my software detects more errors than theirs,” he says.
For example, if a name appears twice, the age is below 18 or above 100, or the photo does not match the gender, the system throws up an alert. “I’ve found some patterns in the errors that can be fixed automatically. Other errors that the system cannot find or fix are detected by me, one by one,” he says.
Bhat looks after his grandson during the day while his daughter is at work, but once she is home after 5pm, he is at the computer cleaning up the electoral rolls. “At peak times, I have worked for 15 hours at a stretch,” Bhat says. He also gets requests from citizens to find their names on the electoral rolls and check if all their details are right. He complies cheerfully, and doesn’t charge anyone for his time or services.
He has asked the Karnataka election office to use his soft ware or adopt a similar one, but “every time I speak to the officers they insist that they don’t need it. They say their system is better though we all know it is flawed”, he says.
When Bhat did a detailed analysis of the voters’ list released recently ahead the BBMP poll, he found errors. “Such errors are a result of mistakes committed while making addition, deletion and corrections to the electoral list. There are more than 70 lakh voters in the 198 wards within the BBMP limits. The chief electoral officer (Karnataka) has said they deleted 58,110 names during the revision of the rolls. However, many of these deleted names are still in the voters’ rolls uploaded in the BBMP website,” he says.
According to Bhat, the errors could prove costly during the election. “Thousands of voters IDs don’t have the EPIC numbers. We also found that the gender of many voters is wrong and there are mistakes in the names. Voters will face problems when they go to exercise their franchise. The commission must take care while making entries as the continued presence of errors in the list would ultimately discourage genuine voters.And this is one of the reason why people don’t come out and vote,” he says.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Bengaluru / by Aparajita Ray, TNN / August 17th, 2015
City’s Karate Master Renshi Johnson became the first Karate Master from city to be trained and evaluated by 32 grandmasters (Red Belts) of four major Okinawa Karate Schools; Goju-Ryu, Isshin-Ryu, Shorin-Ryu and Uechi-Ryu, assigned by the Japan Government and successfully completed the Okinawa Traditional Karate and Kobudo Worldwide Seminar in Naha, Okinawa (Japan).
Governor of Okinawa Prefecture Takeshi Onaga certified Renshi Johnson, felicitated and awarded the certificate on July 18, 2015.
This is the first time a Karate instructor from Mysuru was selected and invited by the Okinawan Governor himself to take part in a worldwide Karate and Kobudo event and was evaluated by the living legends (grandmasters) of Okinawan Karate.
Renshi Johnson, a resident of Roopa Nagar, Bogadi in city, is a 5th Dan Black Belt in Karate and 2nd Dan Black Belt in Kobudo.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Sports News / Sunday – August 09th, 2015
The centenary of late Prof. E.N.K. Viswanathan, who was a Mathematics Professor at St. Philomena’s College, Mysuru, was celebrated in city recently.
Prof. E.N.K.V., who served the institution from 1947-1973, retired as Head of the Department of Mathematics. Some of the many disciplines he taught were geometry, algebra, trigonometry, calculus, analytical geometry, and astronomy. He also wrote a number of books on the various disciplines of mathematics.
Known to everyone as a teacher par excellence, he was also a great father to three daughters and a considerate human being to all his friends and colleagues. Prof. E.N.K. Viswanathan and his wife Vinodha Viswanathan were residents of Mysuru for over 50 years.
The centenary celebration at Dasaprakash Paradise was attended by over 125 people from far and near. Among the attendees were members of the family, students, colleagues, friends and well-wishers. Fr. Leslie Moras of St. Philomena’s College graced the function and spoke about Prof. Viswanathan. He belonged to the last batch of students taught by the Professor.
Family members, colleagues, and students spoke about Prof. Viswanathan, recollecting various facets of his personality, sharing anecdotes and sweet memories about the great teacher. They also spoke about his humble nature, honesty, integrity, and teaching skills. During the function, colleagues of the professor who had worked with him were felicitated.
One of the books written by Prof. Viswanathan, containing articles on mathematics and astronomy, was released during the function. A copy of the book was distributed to all the attendees.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / Sunday – August 09th, 2015
Atul Vikas Kulkarni, an engineering graduate from The National Institute of Engineering (NIE), Mysuru, has secured All-India 180th rank in Civil Services Examination-2014 conducted by UPSC recently. He belongs to Computer Science batch of 2007.
Kulkarni hails from Gokak, a small town in Belagavi. After he graduated from NIE, he served at MindTree as Senior Software Developer for three years and later joined Tata Institute of Social Sciences, School of Habitat Studies, Mumbai, to pursue M.Sc in Habitat Policy and Practice. After M.Sc., he served at CRISIL Risk and Infrastructure Solutions Limited (CRIS), Mumbai, as Consultant at Nashik Municipal Corporation and Arghyam, Bengaluru, as Project Officer.
On getting motivation to join Civil Services, Kulkarni said that during his field visits to slums and homeless, he understood the ground realities related to water issues, sanitation and poverty that shook his conscience. The sufferings of the poor people who came from other geographical area to city in search of income and harassment of women and children living on pavements motivated him to become a civil servant.
Currently an independent Research Consultant, he is also involved in making handmade paper, paper products and eco-products at ‘Divya Sparsha,’ a social enterprise based in Bengaluru.
He represented India in the first South Asia Youth Conference held in IIM, Bengaluru, in 2011. He was the finalist in International Business Summit, IIM Calcutta, Antyodaya for a concept of “Environment Museum” on sustainable development; was selected for Tata Jagriti Yatra in 2010; was national winner of Mahindra’s “Spark The Rise” competition for project titled “Smart Sanitation and Solid Waste Management: A Holistic Approach”, “Water Ambassador” by World Bank in Water Hackaton event; winner in Vodafone Mobiles for Good programme in 2012 for his project titled “Locating and Rating of Public Restrooms in Indian Cities” and many more. He did his thesis on the lakes in Bengaluru “Land, Water and Local People: A Case Study of Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor.”
NIE has, in a press release, congratulated Atul Kulkarni for his achievement.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / Sunday – August 09th, 2015
Kannada University at Hampi has condoled the death of renowned litterateur Kayyara Kinhanna Rai.
A condolence meeting was held at the university on Monday, where a two-minute silence was observed to pay respect to the departed soul.
K.M. Metry, dean, Social Science faculty, recalled Rai’s relentless struggle for getting the Mahajan Commission report implemented in toto , to ensure that Kannada-speaking border areas, including Kasargod, were merged with Karnataka.
A. Venkatesh, Deputy Registrar, also spoke. Heads of various departments were present.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National / by Special Correspondent / Ballari – August 11th, 2015
Above: Last year’s Independence Day ride to Nandi Hills
The city’s bikers will ride to different locations this Independence Day in a quest for freedom, to chase a record, and for a good cause
The wind in your face and the open road ahead – it’s the ultimate symbol of freedom for bikers. It’s what the city’s bikers will be celebrating on August 15. While RD350, along with about 25 clubs from Bengaluru – including Bangalore Jawa Yezdi Club, Avenger Club, Riders of Bangalore, Bikers of India and more – will be taking to Nandi Hills on Saturday morning, Free Spirits Motorcycling Club will be taking to Honur Village, Kolar District. Both have different purposes – the former aims to celebrate the meaning of freedom, while the latter is dedicated to the late Dr APJ Abdul Kalam and is for the benefit of Government Model Higher Primary School or Sarkari Madari Hiriya Prathamika Shalle in Kolar.
Vishal Agarwal (29), Founder of RD350 Club, says this will be their 7th annual Independence Day ride, one they always do in conjunction with clubs across the city. Last year they had 1,000 riders, while this time, they hope to enter the Limca Book of World Records by having 1,200 bikes – the largest number in one place. Each bike will also display an Indian flag – “upright, we follow all the rules,” Agarwal says. They will ride up to the hill together, and have a small function on top, where they will sing the national anthem. Why Nandi Hills? “It’s the best location in Bengaluru for bikers because it offers 40 curves. And the road is great for riding,” he says.
In contrast, Free Spirits Motorcycling Club is a younger affair, started in November 2014, with their first official club ride on April 12, 2015 to Melkote to commemorate the “One Ride” with Royal Enfield, where they had 36 participants including women and children. This time, the school has been chosen because one of their club members hails from the place and suggested the school.
The Nandi Hills ride will have the bikers going in single or double line formation that they will maintain throughout. Agarwal says they advocate safety – riding gear, helmets and shoes, and staying within the speed limit of 50-60 km per hour. “We request people to check air pressure, fill fuel and have their bikes ready a day before. We’ll make two stops and leave the start line in lots of 30 bikers at a time, every 10 minutes,” he says. It is their way, he says, of saluting the freedom fighters – the same idea that led him to launch this ride back in 2009. Then, it was 30 people, but today, he is confident of breaking the record.
Some of their oldest riders are veterans Chakravarty R (84), a regular since five years, and Amit Dutta (55), a veteran member of Jawa Yezdi club. “They will share some of their stories and tell us how the clubs were started and so on. We will then have breakfast, wind up and proceed back group wise,” Agarwal says.
The Kolar ride will have approximately 50 bikes and five cars with 80 plus participants – including family. “Bikers often put their passion for riding on the back burner after the pressures of work and family come along. So the philosophy of our group is one that includes family too – often in the car behind them,” explains Pravan Biddappa, moderator. They will have 20 women, of which five will be riding, 10 senior citizens out of which one rider will be “67 year-young” GV Acharya, a Limca Book World Record holder, and 10 children. It will be mandatory for all riders on the 80 km ride to follow safety and security precautions – both riders and pillion need to wear helmets, riding jackets, boots and knee guards, and not cross the speed limit of 60km/hr.
At the school, they will have breakfast with the children, sponsor 10 benches for the children to sit on, distribute uniforms, bags, water bottles, stationery, chocolates, install a 20 litre water purifier, play games and felicitate five retired schoolteachers.
Free Spirits Motorcycling Club will depart at 7am from ITI Gate after KR Puram hanging bridge, and return by 1 pm. Log on to Free Spirits Motorcycling Club (F.S.M.C)
The Nandi Hills ride will begin at 6.15 am from Columbia Asia Hospital, Hebbal. Individual groups will return on their own. Contact the local admins of different clubs if you want to participate.
source: http://www.bangaloremirror.com / Bangalore Mirror / Home> Bangalore> Others / by Sowmya Rajaram, Bangalore Mirror Bureau / August 14th, 2015
The Golden Jubilee celebrations of All India Institute of Speech and Hearing (AIISH), Mysuru, will be held at AIISH Gymkhana auditorium in Manasagangotri on Aug.9 at 10.30 am. Dr. P.Satishchandra, Senior Professor of Neurology and former Vice-Chancellor, National Institute of Mental Health & Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS), Dr. H.A. Ranganath, former Director-NAAC and Dr. Ramachandra Bhat, Vice-Chancellor, Swami Vivekananda Yoga Research Foundation, Bengaluru, will be the guests at the inaugural function.
Dr. Harsh Vardhan Batra, Director, Defence Food Research Laboratory (DFRL), Mysuru and Dr. V. Sivaprasad, Director, Central Sericultural Research & Training Institute (CSRTI), Mysuru, will be the guests for the cultural programme at 6.30 pm on the same day. Prof. S.R. Savithri, Director, AIISH, will preside. On the occasion, a Golden Jubilee video, online system for hearing screening, new-born hearing screening centres, research publications, clinical tests and tools will be released. The event also includes felicitation to Ph.D awardees, meritorious students, retired employees and AIISHian of the year award.
The All India Institute of Speech and Hearing (AIISH), Mysuru, established in 1965, for human resource development, research, clinical services, and public education in the field of communication disorders, will complete 50th year of its journey on 9th August, 2015.
On the invitation of Government of India, Dr. Martin F. Palmer, Director, Institute of Logopedics, Wichita, Kansas, USA, visited India in 1963 and recommended for setting up an institute of Logopedics in India at Mysuru.
On 9th August 1965, All India Institute of Logopedics started functioning in Rama Mandira (a rented building) with Dr. N. Rathna as the first employee. Dr. B.M. Rao was appointed as the first Director later.
On 25th July 1966, Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, the then President of India, laid the foundation stone for the institute building in the 22-acre campus presented by the Maharaja of Mysore. On 2nd October 1966, M.Sc. programme in Speech and Hearing, the first-of-its kind in the country, was initiated by the institute with affiliation to University of Mysore. On 10th October 1966, the institute got registered with the name “All India Institute of Speech and Hearing.” What started as a small institution in 1965 has today blossomed into one of the premier establishments across South Asia in the field of communication disorders.
Over the last 50 years, growth of the institute has been phenomenal on all four fronts: Academic, research, clinical services and advocacy. The institute, which started with one PG programme, now offers 16 academic programmes. In addition, it offers two Ph.D. programmes and Post doctoral fellowship. The institute has been recognised as a Centre of Excellence in the area of Deafness by WHO, as a Centre for advanced Research by UGC, as a Science and Technology Institute by DST, as a Centre of Excellence by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and is accredited by NAAC with highest A grade.
Nodal Centre
The institute has been also recognised as a Nodal Centre for the implementation of National Programme for Prevention and Control of Deafness and Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram (RBSK) of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.
The institute, which started with one Department of Logopedics, now has 11 Departments with state-of-the-art facilities to provide best available clinical services in the entire Asia. The complete diagnostic and therapeutic services focussed on holistic rehabilitation of persons with communication disorders are provided under one roof at a nominal cost by the most experienced professionals in the field.
AIISH also runs 8 centres at RML Hospital, New Delhi; AIIPMR, Mumbai; JLMNC, Ajmer; SCBMC, Cuttack; CSMMU, Lucknow; IGMC, Shimla; RIMS, Ranchi and JNMC, Bhagalpur for Diploma in Hearing, Language and Speech programme. The institute conducts this diploma in virtual mode through video conferencing in these centres and also provide clinical services.
Further, the institute provides mentoring to RIMS, Imphal; JIPMER, Puducherry and NSBMC Jabalpur for BASLP programme. It also provides tele-rehabilitation and tele-diagnosis services at these centres. The institute has 4 outreach centres to extend its services to the masses at Akkihebbalu, Hullahalli, Gumballi and Sagar Taluk in Karnataka.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Feature Articles / Saturday – August 08th, 2015
CM Siddharamaiah paying his last respects to veteran journalist Krishna Vattam at his residence in city this morning. Also seen are District In-charge Minister V. Sreenivasa Prasad, Co-operation Minister H.S. Mahadevaprasad and MLA Vasu
Mysuru :
Veteran journalist Krishna Vattam (82), who was known as Bhishmapitamaha among Mysuru Journalists, passed away at JSS Multi-speciality hospital in city this morning owing to prolonged illness. Vattam was being treated at Intensive Critical Care Unit (ICCU) after complaining of breathing problem since Friday last.
He breathed his last at around 8.30 am following car- diac arrest.
The doctors at the hospital said that Krishna Vattam showed signs of recovery yesterday and day before but suffered cardiac arrest this morning and could not recover. Vattam, who was a cancer survivor, was ailing from heart problem, the doctors said. Krishna Vattam is survived by his wife Kamala Vattam, son Shyam Sundar Vattam, a Senior Journalist in Bengaluru and two daughters Saraswathi Vattam, who lives in USA and Parvati Vattam, who works as Manager with State Bank of India, host of relatives and friends.
Vattam’s body was shifted to his residence at #3, ‘Malahari’, near T.V. Srinivasa Rao Circle in Vidyaranyapuram. Prior to this, Krishna Vattam’s eyes were donated to JSS Hospital as per his last wish.
Star of Mysore Editor-in-Chief K.B. Ganapathy, Mandya Deputy Commissioner Dr. Ajay Nagabhushan and Deputy Director, Department of Information and Publicity, Mysuru A.R. Prakash visited JSS Hospital and paid their last respects.
Chief Minister Siddharamaiah, who arrived in city this morning, too visited Vattam’s residence and paid his last respects.
CM condoles: The demise of Krishna Vattam, who was known as ‘Bhishma of Journalism’ is a great loss for the field of journalism. He was the person who uplifted the spirit of journalism with the accurate presentation of news and stories. I have known him for the past 40 years since the days when I was practising as an advocate in Mysuru. Krishna Vattam is a great personality who will be remembered always. I pray for his soul to rest in peace and give strength to his family.
Others who visited and paid their last respects were: Ministers V. Sreenivasa Prasad and H.S. Mahadevaprasd and Umashri, MLAs Vasu and G.T.Devegowda and M.K. Somashekar, Mayor R. Lingappa, MUDA Chairman K.R. Mohan Kumar, Karnataka Exhibition Authority Chairman R. Murthy, DC C. Shikha, MCC Commissioner Dr. C.G. Betsurmath, MUDA Commissioner M. Mahesh, City Police Commissioner B. Dayananda, DCPs Dr. H.T. Shekar and N.D. Birje, former Minister S.A. Ramdas, actor Prakash Rai, Rangayana Director Janardhan, District Co-operative Union President H.V. Rajeev, Mysore District Journalists’ Association (MDJA) President K. Deepak, Vice President S.T. Ravikumar, General Secretary K.J. Lokesh Babu, Senior Journalists Srinivas (brother) and M.B. Maramkal, Former MDJA Presidents C.K. Mahendra, M. Shivakumar and Amshi Prasanna Kumar, Mahajana Education Society President R. Vasudeva Murthy, State Safai Karmachari Commissioner Chairman Narayan, Retired Prof. K.C. Belliappa and Retired Prof. R.N. Padmanabha.
Last rites were held at the crematorium at the foot of Chamundi Hill this afternoon.
MDJA will hold a condolence meeting at Pathrakarthara Bhavan tomorrow at 10.30 am.
Condolences
District In-charge Minister V. Sreenivasa Prasad: One of the great journalists in the State Krishna Vattam will be known for his simplicity and friendly nature. His demise is not only a loss to Mysuru but to the entire State. His ideals should be followed by present generation of young journalists to achieve great heights in their profession. He used to advise me during my early days in politics. Krishna Vattam’s demise is a personal loss.
Mysuru-Kodagu MP Pratap Simha: The demise of veteran journalist Krishna Vattam is a huge loss to the profession of journalism in which he worked for more than six decades. Having started his career at Deccan Herald, Krishna Vattam also worked for ‘Mysore Mail’ and ‘Prajanudi’ newspapers in Mysuru after his retirement. His demise has created a vacuum in the field of journalism. May his soul rest in peace and may God give strength to his family to bear the loss.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / Wednesday – August 012th, 2015
A girl, who first started solving Sudoku with her grandfather and father last year, has bagged the silver medal at the inaugural Qianán Water City Cup 2015 World Junior Sudoku Championship held at Beijing, China, recently.
Aditi Sheshadri, a student of Delhi Public School (Bangalore North), says that her interest grew during the school rounds of the Sudoku Champs. “It was a pleasant experience to win the Bengaluru round and get selected for the Indian Under-18 team for the World Junior Sudoku Championship in Beijing,” she says.
Apart from Aditi, the team comprised Shristi Kejriwal (Mahadevi Birla World Academy, Kolkata) and S. Pranav Kamesh (Maharishi Vidya Mandir).
The team won the silver medal while Aditi finished ninth in the individual U-18 category. She was also part of a record-breaking event for the largest multi-Sudoku puzzle consisting of 200 standard grids achieved by Beijing Sudoku Association (China), in which 200 participants from 10 countries took part. She received a certificate of participation from the Guinness World Records in the Officially Amazing category.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Bengaluru / Sudhindra A.B. / Bengaluru – August 11th, 2015
