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Empowering through embroidery
Under the guidance of textile expert Pavithra Muddaya, 40 women have tried their hands at needlework on furnishings, which will be up for sale online
Bengaluru :
In February, when Pavithra Muddaya, founder of Vimor, identified marginalised women in Gadag who would be trained for three months, she hadn’t imagined that the works by “raw hands” would be up for sale six months down the line.
Forty women worked their magic of English hand embroidery on the dead stock bought from weavers. Cushion covers, runners, curtains, stoles, quilts, and masks will be up on the virtual pop-up on September 12. It is organised by make up artist Dipthi Aashok and image evangelist Bia Sandhu Taneja.
It all started with Muddaya wanting to help women affected by the flood in North Karnataka. One thing led to another and she finally zeroed-in on a marginalised group in Gadag.
In February, two experienced trainers, Robert and Kairul, started teaching these women, and despite the pandemic and subsequent lockdown, one of the trainers continued with the classes as and when it was possible.
“A second batch was also started during the lockdown, because we simply couldn’t say no to a group which was so enthusiastic to learn. Next, we plan to hold a similar session with the differently-abled,” says Muddaya, who has just been informed that the Department of Women and Child Development has given them a building, Strishakti Bhavan, where classes can be conducted.
While everyone has been asking about sarees, which Vimor has been known for considering that even former prime minister Indira Gandhi bought sarees here, Muddaya didn’t want to overwhelm women who were newly introduced to this art.
“The weavers, though, worked through the lockdown with whatever yarn they had. In fact, they now call them ‘corona sarees’,” she says with a laugh. But back to training women, Muddaya had hoped that it would create a ripple effect.
“In fact, our initial idea was to hold three-month training sessions where women would be trained for second month and the third would be a teacher training programme which would enable them to go to other villages and teach others,” she says.
Finding that the pandemic has put lot of people on the back foot, both financially and morally, Aashok points out that this is an attempt to step up the morale. “A part of the proceeds will be going to the Vimor Foundation, because we want to empower weavers through training, mentorship,and support,” she says, adding that the biggest challenge is curating this pop up, which will feature clothes and lifestyle products. They are doing it on Zoom, which is a first for the team.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Bengaluru / by Vidya Iyengar / Express News Service / August 24th, 2020
Three teachers from State to receive national award
It recognises their contribution to education
Three teachers from Karnataka have been selected to receive the prestigious President’s National Awards for Teachers 2020. In all, 47 teachers from schools across the country will receive the award instituted by the Union Ministry of Education.
From Karnataka, Chemmalar Shanmugam, headmistress, Kendriya Vidyalaya No. 2, AFS (East), Jalahalli, Bengaluru; Yakub S., teacher, Government High School Nada, Nada, Belthangady, Dakshina Kannada, and Surekha Jagannath, teacher, Government High School, Bandarwad, Afzalpur, Kalaburagi, are the recipients.
The award, instituted in 1958, is presented to recognise the unique contribution of teachers. The award would celebrate commitment and efforts of teachers in improving quality of school education and also enriching the lives of their students. Every year, the award is presented on September 5 that marks the birth anniversary of former president Dr. S. Radhakrishnan.
Selection process
This year, the Ministry’s Department of School Education and Literacy constituted a national level independent jury to select the recipients. The jury reviewed a list of 153 teachers as shortlisted by committees set up by States and Union Territories and also organisational selection committees through a videoconference.
The jury considered the applications and presentations made by all shortlisted teachers and after detailed deliberations, recommended names of 47 teachers. Ms. Chemmalar is the only teacher from Kendriya Vidyalaya Sanghatan to be selected for the award.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Karnataka / by Sudhindr A.B / Bengaluru – August 24th, 2020
NIT-K ranked fourth globally in Google Summer Code 2020
The National Institute of Technology – Karnataka (NIT-K), Surathkal, has been ranked fourth globally in the list of universities with the most accepted students for Google Summer Code (GSoC) – 2020.
The GSoC is a global programme organised by Google Open Source team with an aim to introduce students to open source software development. The students are paired with mentors from open source organisations to work on a programming-intensive project. This year, the programme is running from June – August 2020, the institute said in a release.
It said that 23 students from NITK got selected for GSoC 2020 in some of the best open source organisations across the world. A total of 1,198 students from 550 universities globally are participating in GSoC 2020.
Over the past three years, there has been a voluntary and organised effort led by Mohit P. Tahiliani, Assistant Professor, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, and interested students from various departments of NIT-K to structurally plan out open source activities in the institute. The first batch which was a part of the effort resulted in seven selections in GSoC and the number has increased in the past two years, thereby showing the growth of NITK in the field of open source contributions, the release said.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Karnataka / Mangaluru – August 21st, 2020
Kalaburagi teacher chosen for MHRD’s national award
A science teacher from the Government High School at Bandarwad village in Afzalpur taluk of Kalaburagi district has brought laurels to the district by bagging the national-level Best Teacher Award for this year.
Surekha Jagannath Dengi has been selected for the prestigious award constituted by the Ministry of Human Resources Development (MHRD).
Ms. Surekha, speaking to The Hindu on Sunday, said that a team of State Selection Committee and Organisation Selection Committee along with jury members shortlisted the teachers and held a videoconference on August 13. “The 10-minute interaction with the jury included a presentation of our contributions towards teaching methods besides publications, research papers, and teaching skills,” she added.
Ms. Surekha was conferred the taluk-level best teacher award in 2016 and district-level best teacher award in 2017.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Karnataka / by Staff Reporter / Kalaburagi – August 23rd, 2020
Karnataka’s Jude Felix, Aditi Ashok elated with elite honours
Former athletics coach from the state, Purushotham Rai will also receive the Dronacharya award in the life-time category.
Bengaluru :
Karnataka’s Jude Felix and Aditi Ashok are set to be conferred with the prestigious Dronacharya and the Arjuna Awards respectively on August 29, National Sports Day. The former has been awarded for his contribution as a hockey coach while the latter, who is India’s top woman golfer, has won international golf titles.
Former athletics coach from the state, Purushotham Rai will also receive the Dronacharya award in the life-time category. The 79-year-old trained various athletes, including Ashwini Nachappa, MK Asha and several others, who have done well at various levels.
Felix was India men’s senior team assistant coach when they won gold at the Asian Games and silver at the Commonwealth Games, both in 2014. He was India’s head coach for the men’s junior team from 2017 -19. He also runs the ‘Jude Felix Hockey Academy’ to promote the sport in Bengaluru for underprivileged kids.
“It is definitely a satisfying moment as it is the highest award for coaching. As a player, I won the Arjuna award and now when coaching, you want to reach the highest level. You always feel good when all the hard work over the last few years has been recognised. It is a good feeling. Such things are always going to motivate you,”said Felix, who had won the Arjuna Award in 1994.
Aditi is one among the 27 Arjuna awardees and the sole golf player on the list. The 22-year old was the first Indian to clinch a Ladies European Tour title when she won the 2016 Hero Women’s Indian Open and also featured at the Olympics in the same year.
“It’s immensely gratifying to be conferred with the Arjuna Award and I’d like to thank the Sports Ministry of India for this national honour. This recognition will definitely motivate me to work harder to excel at the highest level. Historically male golfers have won the award more often so it’s great to be a woman golfer getting this recognition and hopefully it will help grow women’s golf in India,” said Aditi, only golfer from country with LPGA Tour card.
source: http://www.indianexpress.com / The Indian Express / Home> Sport> Other / by Ashim Sunam / Express News Service / August 22nd, 2020
Short film in Betta Kuruba language to be screened at Wildscreen festival
It took about two years to make the film
‘Flying Elephants – A Mother’s Hope’, a short film narrated in Betta Kuruba tribal language, in the voice of a mother elephant, is part of the inaugural Official Selection Programme at the Wildscreen Film Festival 2020.
The film is supported by the Centre for Wildlife Studies and Saving Nature. A release said the film was picked as one of 18 short films from hundreds of submissions from more than 40 countries. The film took about two years to make and is six minutes long. It depicts how human interventions such as forest fragmentation and wildlife trade have disrupted the movement and lives of elephants, the release added.
“Flying Elephants, told through the eyes of a mother elephant, pits their glorious past against this century’s reality of survival in the Anthropocene, where elephant habitat is being destroyed at an alarming rate. With this film, it has been my mission to shed light on these sensitive, emotional, and socially intelligent creatures that rightfully deserve their natural world,” said Prakash Matada, the director of the film.
Aditi Rajagopal, the writer of the film, told The Hindu that documentaries based on India and Indian wildlife are often told through a western lens. “We wanted to bring out some of the wealth of ancient Indian storytelling through the film, but within the context of what is happening to our forests and its animals today. We used a scripted narrative style, told through the voice of a betta kuruba woman, because tribes in India are extremely under represented in art in the country, though they have some of the oldest and most beautiful traditions and still pass down their ancient wisdom through oral stories told to their children,” she added.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Bengaluru / by Staff Reporter / Bengaluru – August 12th, 2020