Rail museum is back on fresh, gleaming tracks in Mysuru
The Mysuru rail museum, renovated and expanded at a cost of ₹9 crore, was opened to the public on Saturday, adding a new heritage site of historical value to the city.
Providing an experience of the history and evolution of the Railways, starting from the steam era down to the modern times, the exhibits, including the steam locomotives and wagons, have been refurnished and restored aesthetically.
The renovated museum was inaugurated on Saturday by H. Ashwathnarayana, a long-serving employee of the museum, in the presence of Ajay Kumar Singh, general manager, South Western Railway, Aparna Garg, Divisional Railway Manager, and other officials of SWR.
The Maharani’s Pavilion, housing the vintage saloon used by the maharanis of the Wadiyar dynasty, was inaugurated by G. Mala, a veteran staff member of the rail museum. Originally, it was supposed to be inaugurated by Jamuna Bai, one of the members of the cleaning crew of the steam era, but she could not make it owing to illness.
Ms. Garg said the renovated museum was the Railways’ contribution to the heritage city of Mysuru. “We wanted to make it more experiential, rather than a collection of exhibits. The Indian Railways and the city of Mysuru have one thing in common — a lot of heritage — and the museum complements this,” she said.
Sumedha Sah, an architect from Bengaluru who was involved in the redesigning of the museum, said a lot of thought went into it and the few old structures were renovated and connected with the walking pathway. Each site is connected visually and spatially by the pathway, inspired by how the Railways has knitted the sub-continent. Likewise, the pathways link all the exhibits, she said.
Cafeteria and galleries
A metre gauge coach has been converted into a cafeteria while there is a coffee shop with a library, complete with literature and books related to the Railways. There are pictorial galleries tracing the evolution of the steam locomotive and diesel locomotive, while the old signalling contraptions used by the Railways have been painted and displayed in the signalling section along with other equipment.
The earlier exhibits have been refurbished and given a fresh coat of paint, while the audio-visual gallery with touch-screen monitors provides complete information about the museum but the Railways in general. The toy train and the Central Park station have been redone. The museum also has a website (www.mysururailmuseum.com). A postal cover was released to mark the occasion.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home>News> States> Karnataka / by R. Krishna Kumar / Mysuru – March 15th, 2020
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Karnataka senior IPS officer passes away
Senior IPS officer of the State K S R Charan Reddy passed away in the wee hours of Friday.
He was battling cancer for at least three years now and had suffered multiple recurs after treatment. He was hospitalised for the past three days. His condition turned critical on Thursday when he went into coma and he passed away Friday morning, sources said. He was on a long leave from work since November 2019.
A 1993 batch IPS officer of Karnataka cadre, he hailed from Chittoor district, Andhra Pradesh. He was Additional Director General of Police, Criminal Investigation Department, when he passed away. Known as a “no nonsense” person in the department, he was known for his acumen in investigations.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Karnataka / by Special Correspondent / Bengaluru – March 13th, 2020
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ISRO shortlists 368 student ‘scientists’ for YuViKa
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The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has shortlisted 358 high school students from across the country to be part of its second annual ‘catch them young’ programme, YuViKa.
The provisional list has 10 local students in the Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) category. The final pool of over 100 ‘budding scientists’ from class 9 will be selected by March 31 and they will take part in a two-week residential awareness programme to be held in different ISRO centres from May 11 to 22, ISRO said.
The online selection process began in February with priority to applicants from government or aided schools in rural areas. The five girls and five boys shortlisted from Karnataka are from schools in Nipani, Challakere, Baindur, Holenarsipur, Bangarpet, and rural Mysuru.
Finally, three students from each State or UT and studying in CBSE, ICSE, and State streams will join the Yuva Vigyani Karyakram. Five additional seats are for pupils in the OCI category.
The programme includes invited talks, sharing of experiences by eminent scientists, visits to ISRO facilities and laboratories, discussions with experts, practical and feedback sessions.
Log into yuvika2020@isro.gov.in for details. YuViKa secretariat (Respond & AI) can be reached on 080 2217 2269.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Karnataka / by Special Correspondent / March 11th, 2020
10
City gets all-women post office
The post office is located in Rajajinagar Industrial Estate.
The Department of Posts, on the occasion of International Women’s Day, launched an all-women post office on Monday.
Only women staff will look after the post office and attend to postal related works. The post office is located in Rajajinagar Industrial Estate.
According to a release, the post office was inaugurated by playback singer Latha Hamsalekha and G. Rama Prasad, AGM, Karnataka State Small Industries Development Corporation Limited, Bengaluru.
Senior Superintendent of Post Offices, Bengaluru West division, B.S. Umesh, presided over the event, the release stated.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Bengaluru / by Staff Reporter / Bengaluru – March 10th, 2020
08
Puneeth Rajkumar named brand ambassador for Chamarajanagar
Actor accepts request from new DC; to highlight development efforts
Chamarajanagar district will have a brand ambassador in Kannada actor Puneeth Rajkumar.
The proposal was made by the new Chamarajanagar Deputy Commissioner, M.R. Ravi, who wrote to the actor and the later has given his consent.
The district in-charge Minister Suresh Kumar and the DC also called on Mr.Puneeth Rajkumar at his residence in Bengaluru on Saturday and thanked him for accepting their request.
The actor was felicitated with a shawl and Mysuru headgear (Pettah) on the occasion.
The appeal addressed to Mr. Puneeth Rajkumar drew attention to the current status of Chamarajanagar district that was rich in culture and tradition besides folk arts. The district is rich in natural beauty, being home to Male Mahadeshwara Betta (M.M. Hills), Biligirangana Betta (BR Hills) and Himavad Gopalswamy Betta, said Mr. Ravi, urging the actor to help take forward the vision to develop Chamarajanagar which is also the native place of Puneeth Rajkumar. It was also mentioned that the district and its people took pride in the fact that Kannada thespian Dr.Rajkumar was a native of Chamarajanagar.
Development plans
The district administration has plans for the comprehensive development of the region besides taking steps for conservation of natural resources, environment and wildlife, and beautification of towns and urban areas, said Mr.Ravi.
Literacy drive
There are plans to launch a literacy drive to cover nearly 2.5 lakh people and also take up industrialisation of the region so as to help generate jobs for the local people.
The authorities wanted the help of Mr. Puneeth Rajkumar in drumming up support for the cause.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Karnataka / by Special Correspondent / Mysuru – March 07th, 2020