Monthly Archives: June 2014

Youngster from city walks the red carpet at the famed Cannes Film Festival

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Nri's / Pio's, World Opinion

by S.N.Venkatnag Sobers

Every person dreams of walking the Red Carpet at premier film festivals or at least to be a part of the festival in some way or the other. This is a talented Mysorean has had that opportunity.

Vaishak Vasanth Kumar, son of Rajyotsava awardee Vasanth Kumar Thimkapura, city’s renowned Agricultural Scientist, has just fulfilled his dream of walking the Red Carpet at Cannes Film Festival held this year.

A student at the University of Pennsylvania, USA, Vaishak was one among the 30 students selected to be a part of the Cannes Film Festival from the University.

Vaishak has been pursuing his studies in Bachelor of Arts with Political Science and Economics as his major subjects in the University.

Speaking to Star of Mysore, Vaishak said that every year his University gets 30 invitations from the organisers of Cannes Film Festival and the University conducts a selection process which includes writing essays and one-on-one interviews to select the team to represent the University at the Cannes Film Festival.

He added that he was the only student from India and the only non-American to be a part of the student delegation.

“The interview involves writing about the history of cinema and the Cannes Film Festival as well. Only after getting through the two rounds I got an opportunity to be a part the team which visited Cannes,” said Vaishak.

During his 13-day stay in Cannes, the student team was given the task of watching 25 films screened at the festival. But, Vaishak making good use of the given opportunity watched 30 movies one among them was the ‘Winter Sleep,’ a Turkish movie, which won the prestigious PALME D’OR (Golden Palm Award) this year.

He added that it was his first visit to the Cannes Film Festival and said that he got an opportunity to meet the representatives of Warner Brothers and Disney.

Vaishak also added that he also met actors James Mc Avoy of X-Men fame, Jassica Chastian of Zero Dark Thirty fame, Salma Hayek, Zoe Saldana and Indian actors Ranvir Shorey and Shashank Arora.

Speaking about movies, Vaishak said that when compared to Hollywood movies and films from other countries, Indian movies had very little international appeal as it is made only for the Indian audience and it was very hard for the producers to pitch in the Indian movie for international audience.

“There is much more to be done in Bollywood if Indian movies have to be showcased in International Film Festival like the Cannes. The only movie which was showcased was ‘Titli’ of Yash Raj Films. People in Hollywood and film makers around the world take risks while scripting a movie, but in India such risks are not taken. There is a need for film fraternity in India to also give importance for parallel movies compared to the mainstream commercial movies,” said Vaishak.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Feature Articles /by S.N.Venkatnag Sobers /  May 29th, 2014

We are the biggest southern state now

About Bangalore(Bengaluru) / Karnataka, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Records, All

by: S Shyam Prasad & Sridhar Vivan

Creation of Telangana and AP has restored geographical supremacy to the state 450 years after the Battle of Talikota. We track the journey of the region from kingdoms to modern-day Karnataka

​History was created on Monday with the creation of Telangana, the 29th state in the Indian Union. It marked another change in the contours and boundaries of southern India and although Karnataka had very little to do with the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, the creation of Telangana changed the history of Karnataka — ever so slightly.

Karnataka officially became the biggest of the South Indian states in terms of geographical area (the seventh biggest in the country). With an area of 1,91,791 sq km, Karnataka leads the ‘pack’ in the South, followed by what now remains of Andhra Pradesh (popularly called the Seemandhra region) with 1,60,205 sq km of area.

Being the biggest state in terms of area would have been a great advantage in the age of kingdoms, but no longer. Karnataka may gain very little — indeed nothing — from being the ‘biggest’. Political representation in Parliament is based on the population which means Tamil Nadu will continue to have a bigger say with its 39 MPs. Andhra Pradesh will have a diminished voice as its 42 seats would now be whittled down to 25.

But the ‘biggest’ tag does reflect (historically at least) a sort of pre-eminence. From the beginning of the sixth century, empires founded in Karnataka ruled over much of present day Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. These included the Badami Chalukyas, Rashtrakutas, Kalyani Chalukyas, Hoysalas and the Vijayanagara Empire.

According to eminent historian S Shettar, the most enduring (in terms of time) dynasties of Karnataka were the Gangas and the Kadambas. But they ruled small principalities. “The biggest imperial house was that of the Rashtrakutas,” said Shettar. “They were the most influential rulers in India of anytime. Samudra Gupta is just highlighted due to North Indian bias. The Kailasanatha temple, in Maharashtra, alone is testimony to their eminence. Their battles reached the Himalayas and Bengal.”

Karnataka-based empires stayed the biggest in the South until the collapse of the Vijayanagar Empire 450 years ago when the hegemony ended. “The Vijayanagara Empire was different in many ways,” said Shettar. “For the first time people speaking Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, Oriya and Marathi were one empire.”

This year marks the 450th anniversary of the Battle of Talikota (also known as Battle of Rakkasa-Tangadi) which put an end to more than 1,000 years of Karnataka’s pre-eminence in politics of south India and the Deccan.

The political pre-eminence led to some of the most famous medieval cities, centres of trade and temples in India. The most famous of these was the Vijayanagara capital — now Hampi — which is said to have taken six months to destroy. Following the battle in 1565, the Vijayanagara Empire continued to exist nominally for nearly a century. Scores of Vijayanagara feudal lords began ruling over petty kingdoms. Kannada-speaking areas were never united again until 1956.

“The 1565 battle was a colossal loss,” said Shettar. “Like the French will never celebrate the Battle of Waterloo, similarly the Battle of Talikota cannot be celebrated. But there is much to learn from defeats. Now some intellectuals and politicians from the Hyderabad-Karnataka region are demanding a separate state. It is because of the belief that there is neglect and also to some extent jealousy. This is similar to the demand for Telangana. But we have to learn from that battle (1565) and stay united.”

Ironically, says Shettar, the fight for linguistic states began in Andhra Pradesh because they felt dominated by the Tamils of Madras Presidency. “In south India, the opposition to linguistic states was confined only to a small extent from the Tamils because they feared losing territory. But slowly there are feelings that linguistic identity is not giving the requisite economical benefits. People of Karnataka are more or less emotionally reconciled to a linguistic state now.”

MOST BORDERS IN SOUTH

With the creation of Telangana, Karnataka now shares its borders with six states —Maharashtra, Goa, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. The state administration has to get in touch with the Telangana as well as the residual Andhra Pradesh for inter- state issues. Apart from river water sharing — for example, Karnataka needs to deal with Andhra Pradesh for Tungabhadra and Telangana for Krishna —and other border issues, the transport body also has to have new agreement on travel.

‘KARNATAKA’ IN HISTORY

* Sanskrit texts: Shudraka’s Mruchhakatika, Varaha Mihira’s Bruhat Samhite, Somadeva’s Katha Saritha Sagara refer to Karnata
* 455 CE: Kadamba king Shantivarma called, “The master of the entire Karnataka region”
* 7th Century CE: Feudatories Rashtrakutas refer to Chalukyan Army as ‘Karnataka Bala.’
* 850 CE: Amoghavarsha’s Kavirajamarga calls land between Kaveri and Godavari as ‘Karnata.’
* 10th Century CE: Rajashekara’s Kavyamimase: Karnataka
* 14-16 Centuries: Vijayanagara Empire referred to as Karnata Empire by its people.
* After Talikota battle the first of the Aravidu dynasty ruler Tirumala Deva Raya called ‘reviver of the Karnata Empire’ in the Telugu work Vasucharitamu.

THE BATTLE OF 1565

The first skirmishes of the Battle of Talikota started on December 29, 1564. It was on January 26, 1565 that a full-scale historic battle took place at Rakkasa- Tangadi villages — near what is Bijapur district today. The five Deccan sultanates of Ahmadnagar, Berar, Bidar, Bijapur and Golkonda defeated the Vijayanagara army, a defeat that resulted in the dramatic capitulation of the Vijayanagara Empire. For more than 1,000 years prior to that battle, Karnataka as we now know it was part of empires such as Badami Chalukyas, Rashtrakutas, Kalyani Chalukyas and later the Hoysalas. These were the largest empires in South India. The loss in 1565 was so severe that Karnataka was to have a united rule again only in 1956. In between, large swathes of Karnataka were briefly united under Hyder Ali. By the time Karnataka was unified post-Independence, the region was under 20 different administrations ranging from the Wodeyars to the British and a host of small principalities.

source: http://www.bangaloremirror.com / Bangalore Mirror / Home> Bangalore> Cover Story /  S Shyam Prasad & Sridhar Vivan / Bangalore Mirror Bureau / June 03rd, 2014

Karnataka sites make to Unesco world heritage tentative list

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Records, All, Travel, World Opinion

Mysore :

Architectural jewels in Belur and Halebid in Hassan, historical monuments in Srirangapatna and remnants of history from Deccan sultanate are in line to be declared as the world heritage site by the Unseco.

Put together, these sites represent the pluralistic spiritual beliefs that the state government is planning to preserve and promote.

The three sites have been included in the Unesco’s world heritage tentative list, thanks to the department of heritage, archaeology and museum which is now working with experts to prepare dossiers of each of them. Experts from across the world will evaluate the submission of the department and make recommendations. To be included on the world heritage list, the sites must be of outstanding universal value, according to the Unesco.

The chief minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday announced the inclusion of the three sites in the tentative list of the Unesco indicating that the government is serious in protecting the monuments. He linked it to tourism promotion in the region where the government is planning to create a tourist circuit comprising Mysore, Mandya, Hassan and Chamarajnagar to revive the local economy pointing out that many nations depend on tourist inflow to sustain their economies.

Heritage commissioner C G Betsurmath said he submitted the proposal to the Union ministry of culture in mid-February. “We consulted the experts and prepared the proposals focusing on the unique character of each of the sites identified,” he told The Times of India. The sites of Belur and Halibedu throws light on the pluralistic spiritual beliefs of Vaishnavism, Shaivism, and Jainism. Here the spiritual intersected with ordinary people while monuments at Srirangapatna we’ve projected different developmental stages of defence architecture in Hindu and Islamic traditions, he stated adding that the fort is a symbol of strength given that it was breached only four times. The Deccan sultanate properties indicate the convergence of different styles of Islamic architecture and their intersections with the prevalent Hindu architecture of the period, he stated.

A string of monuments in historical Srirangapatna, including the Fort, Bahmani monuments at Gulbarga, Bahmani and Barid Shahi monuments at Bidar and Adil Shashi monuments at Bijapur and properties of heritage value at Belur and Halebid have made it to the tentative list. He has received a communication from Shikha Jain, the member-secretary of the advisory committee on world heritage maters, in the Union ministry of culture asking him to work on presenting the dossiers. There are several parameters and we are keenly working them out, Betsurmath stated.

The world heritage site gets international attention for conservation and helps attract visitors from across the globe. The state’s prized possessions have passed the stage two among the five stage process. The next is be evaluation by two advisory bodies– the International Council on Monuments and Sites and the World Conservation Union. They will provide the world heritage committee with evaluations allowing it to make a decision. According to Shikha Jain, the dossiers can be submitted after February, 2016.

Presently group of monuments at Hampi and at Pattadakal are recognized as the world heritage sites by the Unesco. This comes a decade after Srirangapatna, Bidar among other towns were declared as heritage cities.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> India / by H M Aravind, TNN / May 22nd, 2014

Minister to release Dr. M.R. Ravi’s books

Arts, Culture & Entertainment

Mysore :

District in-Charge Minister V. Sreenivasa Prasad will release Additional Regional Commissioner Dr. M.R. Ravi’s books — ‘Ee Jeevana Nammadu,’ ‘Modern Education & Social Change’ and its Kannada translation ‘Adhunika Shikshana mattu Samajika Badalavane’ — at a function to be held at Rani Bahadur auditorium, Manasagangotri, here on May 31 at 6 pm.

Dr. Shivamurthy Murugha Sharanaru, President, Sri Muruga Mutt, Chitradurga, will grace the occasion. MP R. Dhruvanarayan will be the chief guest.

Prof. A.V. Narasimhamurthy, former Head, Department of Ancient History and Archaeology, will speak on the book. Star of Mysore Editor-in-Chief K.B. Ganapathy will preside. Author Dr. M.R. Ravi will also be present on the occasion.

The books have been published by Samvahana, Mysore.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / May 28th, 2014

CET: City’s Chinthan Maiya secures 16th rank in engineering

Education, Records, All
Chinthan Maiya, Y. Poojitha, Apoorva, Aditya, P.S. Ganesh, Ananya G. Bhat, Nitin V. Gowda, Rakshith
Chinthan Maiya, Y. Poojitha, Apoorva, Aditya, P.S. Ganesh, Ananya G. Bhat, Nitin V. Gowda, Rakshith

Mysore :

U. Chinthan Maiya, a student of Mother Teresa PU College, Srirampura, has secured 16th rank in Engineering CET conducted by Karnataka Examination Authority recently.

Chinthan’s father, Prof. U. Krishnamurthy Maiya, is a Professor in Department of Commerce at Devaraja Urs Degree College and his mother Neerada is a home-maker. Chinthan had scored 576 in II PUC with 100 marks in both Physics and Mathematics.

M.A. Aditya of Vijaya Vittala PU College secured 54th rank in Engineering and P.S. Ganesh Subramanian of VVS Golden Jubilee PU College has secured 66th rank in Engineering.

M.P. Apoorva, a student of Sadvidya PU College, has secured 52nd rank in Medical. Nithin V. Gowda of Marimallappa PU College secured 72nd rank in Medical; Ananya G. Bhat of Mother Teresa PU College has secured 67th rank in Medical and 103rd rank in Engineering. Rakshith R. Gore of the same college secured 80th rank in Engineering. Y. Poojitha, also of Mother Teresa PU College, has secured 35th rank in National Aptitude Test in Architecture (NATA).

Speaking to SOM this morning, Chinthan expressed his happiness over emerging a topper in Mysore and added that it was a surprise for him to have got 16th rank in the State.

Chinthan added that he wants to pursue Computer Science engineering in any one of the top colleges. He also said that he had secured good ranking in some of the other entrance exams and was yet to decide on the college.

Meanwhile, Poojitha, who has secured 35th rank in NATA, said that she wanted to pursue Architecture since her childhood. She expressed her gratitude to her parents and teachers for their support in all her endeavours. She also thanked Gowri, who trained her for NATA.

Poojitha said that she would join R.V. Engineering College or BMS College in Bangalore to pursue her Architecture course. Poojitha had scored 563 marks in II PUC with 98 marks in Physics and Chemistry.

M.A. Aditya of Vijaya Vittala PU College, who has secured 54th rank in Engineering, said that he wanted to study Aerospace Engineering and Nithin Gowda of Marimallappa PU College, who has secured 72nd rank in Medical, said that he wanted to be a Cardiologist.

The students of Deeksha Network at Mother Teresa PU College have also excelled in Manipal University Competitive Exam, results of which were announced on May 23. Manipal Institute of Technology- Ananya G. Bhat (Rank -160); U. Chinthan Maiya (Rank – 16); Manipal Institute of Medicine- Ananya G. Bhat (Rank – 130)

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / May 28th, 2014

State ranking veterans TT: City’s Mamatha wins Women’s title

Sports

Mysore :

City’s Table Tennis player J. Mamatha won women’s Singles title by beating Nagarathna (KPCL) 11-9,11-4,12-14,14-12 in the L.M. Inamdar Memorial State Ranking Veteran’s TT Tourney-2014 played at Malleshwaram Association, Bangalore, on May 25.

City’s K.V. Krishnamurthy lost to K. Sathyanarayana of Bangalore 10-12,7-11,14-12,12-14 in the Men’s 70 plus Singles final.

Results

Men 40+ finals: M.K. Shivakumar (GUL) bt Jagadish Bidarkoti (HOR): 9-11,11-9,11-3,8-11,11-5; Semi-finals: M.K. Shivakumar (GUL) bt S.S. Sundeep (CRJ) 11-6,11-2,11-4; Jagadish Bidarkoti (HOR) bt D.P. Gopinath (BNG) 7-11,12-10,6-11,12-10,14-12.

Men 50+ finals: Ravinarayan (CRJ) bt Manideep Sen (DELL) 7-11,11-9,11-3,6-11,11-7; Semi-finals: Ravinarayan (CRJ) bt Y. Gangadhar (BNG) 10-12,11-6,8-11,11-3,11-4; Manideep Sen (DELL) bt H.K. Umesh (RBI) 11-6,9-11,11-8,11-4.

Men 60+ Finals: Prasannakumar (MY) bt Hyder Alikhan(BNG) 6-11,11-4,10-12,11-5,11-5; Semi-finals: Prasannakumar (MY) bt G. Manoharan (BNG) 11-9,8-11,7-11,11-8,12-10; Hyder Alikhan (BNG) bt S. Mani (BNG) 15-13,11-6,10-12,4-11,13-11.

Men 65+ finals: S.K. Balakrishna (MALL) bt Sannakki (DWD) 11-4,11-4,11-6; Semi-finals: S.K. Balakrishna (MALL) bt Udayshankar Rao (CU) 11-7,11-3,7-11, 5-11,12-10; Sannakki (DWD) bt Damodharan (MALL) 11-7,11-5,8-11,7-11,13-11.

Men 70+ finals: K. Sathyanarayana (BNG) bt K.V. Krishnamurthy (MTTC) 12-10,11-7,12-14,14-12.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Sports News / May 27th, 2014