A file phot of Shilpa Hegde, senior assistant staff secretary in the White House with President Barack Obama
Mangaluru :
The reach of Mangaluru origin people has touched the White House, the official residence and principal workplace of the President of the United States of America. Shilpa Hegde, an Indian American, is now senior assistant staff secretary in President Barack Obama’s office.
She belongs to Belinje family of Perdoor, an obscure hilly town in Udupi taluk. Her parents Vidya and Sadananda Hegde are well respected Medical practitioners in the US. Shilpa, however, had joined politics and worked in Obama’s campaign of in 2008 in North Carolina. In 2009, she worked as a research analyst at Atlas project and in the following year, she was appointed as the assistant director of the White House. She was later promoted as the senior assistant staff secretary there.
“Her entire family is in the medical field. Her father Sadananda Hegde is a well-known cardiologist in Lumberton town situated on Highway 99 and mother looks after the clinic. Her brother Akhil Hegde specialises in Nephrology in the US. We still are wondering what made Shilpa take up Law when she joined the Democratic party and became the field organiser of campaign in North Carolina during the first run of Obama to the office. She was just 18 then. Later, when she was appointed at the White House she had to give up her Law education. The university there allowed her, but she still have to attend the university if she wanted to complete her Law graduation,” her aunt Dr B Vasanthi Shetty told Express.
Her uncle Dr Subhashchandra Shetty said, “She loves Tulu language and I am sure she will learn Tulu one day. She still visits her ancestral house in Perdoor and loves coastal food.”
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Karnataka / by Express News Service / January 28th, 2015
Researchers at Indian Institute of Science (IISc) have developed a novel, controllable, extremely tiny vehicle to safely deliver genes into biological cells. The new vehicle, derived from a ‘lipopolymer’, is an improvement on known vehicles; it is more efficient and less toxic. Its unique structure also allows researchers to control the timing and site of gene delivery. Delivering specific genes inside cells to supplement missing and faulty genes or to silence disease-causing genes is a powerful tool in gene therapy.
Lipopolymers , as the name indicates, contain complex assemblies of fats and repeating chemical compounds. Prof Santanu Bhattacharya’s (chairman, Department of Organic Chemistry, IISc) group created the new vehicle by attaching ferrocene, a metallic compound that can switch between two chemical states, to a branched polyethylenimine (BPEI). This was then mixed with a ‘helper molecule’ – a naturally occurring lipid called 1,2-dioleoyl phosphatidyl ethanolamine (DOPE). Controlling ferrocene’s state allowed the researchers to control the vector’s structure, and in turn gene delivery. When they oxidised ferrocene, the vector’s structure became loosely packed and gene uptake by cells dropped dramatically. When they reduced ferrocenium by adding ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) to the cell culture, the vector became more compact and gene uptake by cells retained its original efficacy. This type of controlled ‘switch’ would allow researchers to pinpoint which population of cells should take up the desired gene, and when, by tweaking ferrocene’s oxidation state as needed.
“We could potentially deliver any therapeutic gene or molecule to the desired population of cells siRNA to silence mutations or p53 to stimulate cell death in cancer cells, for example,” explained Krishan Kumar and V Gururaja, IISc PhD students and joint first authors of the upcoming Journal of Materials Chemistry B paper.
Modified viruses are the most popular vectors, but they are not only expensive but also highly toxic to living cells. Recently, non-viral vectors have become popular, particularly lipopolymers. Lipopolymers are more stable, less harmful and cheaper to scale up than viral vectors. Such vectors may also be useful for gene transfer in agriculture or veterinary science, said Santanu Bhattacharya, senior author of the paper.
source: http://www.bangaloremirror.com / Bangalore Mirror / Home> Bangalore> Others / Bangalore Mirror Bureau / January 27th, 2015
A story in the media goes that one day a few decades ago, The Times Of India (ToI) cartoonist and creator of The Common Man, R.K. Laxman, retired. The following day, the legend’s cartoon was not to be found as readers rubbed their disbelieving eyes over their morning cuppa.
Sustained letters and calls to the ToI offices from the loyal and casual readers finally led to Laxman being dragged out of retirement and reinstating the uncommon, signature cartoons to their dedicated slot on Page 1.
That was the command Laxman’s Common Man in “You Said It” pocket cartoons held over masses, having regaled several generations of ToI readers in Mumbai and elsewhere in the country, for decades.
ToI management rewarded Laxman with lifetime employment, while his son Srinivas Laxman, considered India’s only journalist specializing in space reporting, retired in 2009.
“He continued as a regular fulltime employee and drew his salary till the end…” Laxman’s wife Kamala told IANS.
After a rich life, the creator of the man with a bushy moustache, tufts of hair on the rim of a balding head and perenially donning a chequered coat with patch-work – The Common Man, immortalised as a statue in front of an educational institute in Pune, died Monday at the age of 94.
Born Oct 24, 1921, in Mysore, Rasipuram Krishnaswamy Iyer Laxman and his brother R.K. Narayan, who later became a leading Indian English writer – besides four other brothers – had an ordinary childhood, as evidenced from Narayan’s books, “The Malgudi Days”.
Laxman loved drawing, painting, and even writing a bit, grabbed all opportunities to practice his talents – be they books, tables, floors or walls.
At an early age, he lost his father, a school headmaster, his elder brothers took up the responsibility for managing the house while Laxman completed schooling.
He applied to Mumbai’s famed Sir J.J. School of Arts, but was rejected – his drawings failed the high expectations of the renowned institution.
Disappointed but not disheartened, Laxman joined Maharaja College, Mysore, and earned his B.A. degree from the University of Mysore, and came to Mumbai for a living.
Alongside academics, he pursued drawing, first with freelance contributions to local publications, ‘Swarajya’, ‘Swatantra’, and later sketched cartoons for brother R.K. Narayan’s stories published in ‘The Hindu’ and other newspapers.
His earliest works with Mumbai media were a stint with the defunct Blitz, and then to the leading newspaper of that era, The Free Press Journal, as a staff cartoonist.
At that time, Laxman’s colleague was one soft-spoken gent, Bal Thackeray – who later became a commanding political force in Maharashtra – and they remained dear friends till Thackeray’s death Nov 17, 2012.
Laxman later got an offer with the ToI – which proved to be the turning point in his career and made him a living legend.
As the ToI’s cartoonist, Laxman had a field day – always taking a bit cynical, humorous, and hapless, view of the country rising from the ruins of the so-called jewel in the crown of the British Empire into a force to reckon with in the global arena – through the eyes of The Common Man, his vocational trademark.
Laxman had an uncanny knack of caricaturing all humans – politicians, film stars, celebs or criminals – highlighting some or the other of their features and characteristics, which bestowed upon them an instant identity.
The antics of all his powerful subjects – who became equal under Laxman’s brutal pen and brush – were reduced to ordinary jokes or public buffoonery.
It was the bald head of the late prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, who was rarely seen without the Gandhi cap, while it was the long pointed nose and narrow eyes for his daughter, Indira Gandhi.
Rajiv Gandhi was depicted as a confused, cherubic baby-faced youth, while younger brother Sanjay Gandhi was the naughty, enfant terrible of Indian politics, and Morarji Desai was one tall thin, grim man, standing ramrod, both in Laxman’s creations and in real life.
Who can forget the short and roly-poly perpetually grinning image of former deputy prime minister Jagjivan Ram or the potbellied S.B. Chavan with a stern, headmaster expression always on.
Once Laxman said at an informal gathering that politicians of every genre used to approach him and begged of him to make their caricatures, that would make them famous and ‘noticeable’.
But, he would politely shoo them off, saying ‘when your time comes, I will make you a cartoon…’ – and mercilessly chronicled all the good, sad, grim and ugly historic events during his more than six decades of caricaturing.
His severe criticism of successive governments at the states and the centre, always highlighting their glaring acts of omission and commission in his typical wry humour, earned him fans and admirers even among his worst detractors.
Later, his works were compiled into a whopping nine volumes of pocket cartoons and a book of select political cartoons, “The Eloquent Brush” featuring his best commentaries from the Nehru to Rajiv Gandhi eras.
Laxman was invited by various organisations and governments to travel around and write and illustrate his memoirs – in the form of short stories or travelogues – as he did for Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal and also Australia.
However, the government mandarins and politicians whom he slaughtered with his pen and brush, proved a forgiving lot when they honoured him with top civilian awards like Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan, and on the international stage, he bagged the Magsaysay Award.
Laxman also wrote a few novels, many short stories and directed a movie “Wagle Ki Duniya” for the national television, his autobiography “The Tunnel Of Time” and later, a tele-serial based on his works was also launched.
Doted by his writer wife Kamala, son Srinivas, and daughter-in-law Usha, Laxman preferred to discard his home in the posh Malabar Hill, south Mumbai, to live in the quiet environs of Pune, just a couple of hours’ drive away.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Nation / by IANS / January 27th, 2015
Popular numismatist P.K.Keshavamurthy of Hunsur is exhibiting his formidable range of rare and bygone coins, notes and stamps today and tomorrow (Jan. 23) at the BSNL Regional GMT Office, Jayalakshmipuram (behind St. Joseph’s School) from 10 am to 6 pm.
The exhibition, inaugurated by the Principal General Manager BSNL Mysore T.V. Venkatram, is Keshavamurthy’s 132nd expo and boasts of having coins as old as 5th century BC on display.
Visitors can see coins issued by the Greek, Romans, Kushans, Guptas, Satavahanas, Cholas, Pallavas and Pandyas apart from the monetary units issued by the Delhi Sultans, the British Raj along with numerous coins and currency notes from the post-independence era.
Speaking to SOM, Keshavamurthy, Sub-Divisional Engineer at BSNL Regional GMT Office, said that he has been collecting coins, notes and stamps for the last 30 years and has collected some of the rarest coins like the gold coins from Vijayanagara period and a host of commemorative coins and notes.
He further added that his collection would give a visual testament to historical facts and narratives.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / Thursday – January 22nd, 2015
Dr Baba Adhav, veteran activist and president of Mahatma Phule Samata Pratishthan, Pune, will be honoured with the “Rashtriya Basava Krishi Award-2015”.
The award, constituted by Lingayata Panchamasali Jagadguru Mahapeetha of Kudalasangama, will be presented to Adhav at the fifth Krishi Sankranti at Kudalasangama on January 15, said Basava Jaya Mrutyunjaya Mahaswami of Kudalasangama Lingayata Panchamasali Jagadguru Maha Peetha here on Saturday. The award carries Rs 50,000 in cash and a citation. Agriculture ministers of Maharashtra and Karnataka will be present at the award presentation function, he told reporters.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Hubballi / TNN /January 11th, 2015
It’s the age of startups and e-tailing. And hopping on to this bandwagon is Deepali Gotadke. This computer science engineer has managed to carve a niche in an e-comm world where big players call the shots. Deepali’s ClickHubli.com helps deliver flowers, delicacies like Dharwad peda, jowar roti and cakes and traditional Ilkal and Kasuti sarees across the globe, sitting in Hubballi. Deepali has 18 techies working under her with several women from poor families also doing part-time jobs. She has also developed a network of 30 bakers/sweetmakers and 50 florists to ensure fresh flowers and food items are delivered.
The idea of becoming an entrepreneur took shape when she settled down in Hubballi after marriage. She found that while online services were well-entrenched in metros and big cities, their reach in smaller cities was minuscule. Initially, her website that was started in 2001 offered services in Hubballi-Dharwad. Later it extended its network in cities like Belagavi, Solapur, Mangaluru, Mysuru, Pune and Goa and finally had a global footprint too. The firm now has 12 e-commerce portals and a network of florists, sweetmakers and bakers across the country through which it delivers gifts of and flowers. However, durable items like Ilkal and Kasuti sarees are delivered across India and abroad.
“Now we deliver flowers and eatables all over India with the help of florists and bakers of respective area. For instance, If we receive an order of Dharwad pedha from Bengaluru, we will convey it to our network of sweetmakers in Bengaluru, who deliver the order to the door -step of the costumer,” she says.
ClickHubli also provides information on Kasuti, an embroidery typical of north Karnataka, and undertakes the responsibility of booking and delivering saris and dress material with Kasuti work. This has provided employment to rural Kasuti artisans.
Apart from this, Deepali also does web designing and development works and has developed over 500 websites for government agencies and business establishments.
Deepali has also been recognized for her efforts. She has won various awards including ‘High Performing Women IT Entrepreneurs’ by software technology parks of India and IT/BT, Karnataka government for 2010. She has also helped Hubballi-Dharwad police solve a cyber crime case involving misuse of credit cards on e-commerce sites in December 2009 and is also on the IT advisory committee of the HDMC.
Waiting for land:
Deepali, who launched the first e-commerce website in North Karnataka region, is struggling along with five other IT companies, to get a site at Aryabhata Technological park since 2010. “Though HDMC had recommended 10.5 acres of land for six IT companies, it was pending before the government. Without offeringany reason, now HDMC itself has taken U-turn and called for fresh applications. This is a hurdle for the growth of IT sector in NK region,” Deepali said.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Hubballi / Sangamish Menasinakai, TNN /January 07th, 2015
It wasn’t only in Delhi that women took centre stage during the Republic Day celebrations.
While the all-women’s contingents of the Indian Army, Navy and Air Force stole the show at the Republic Day parade in Delhi, Bengaluru girls also won many accolades in the Republic Day march past here.
The accomplishment could not have been more timely, considering that this year, the theme for the celebration is women’s empowerment.
The CRPF women’s team headed by Usha Shetty won second place in the march past in group one while the NCC girls and the Civil Defence girls’ teams won first and third place respectively in group three. The NCC girls’ team was headed by Ranjita Raj G while the Civil Defence team was headed by Pavithra Raghu. In group four too, two of the prizes were won by teams led by women, including SARS Carmel School (first) led by Hima Gowri and SARS Florence Public School (third) led by Bindushree. In group four, the first and second place was won by women-led teams, including Asha P of BMS College Ranger School and Gayatri Prabhakaran of Alpine Public School.
“The most difficult part was moving our hands and feet together with those beside and in front of us,” said Himashree, who participated in the march past.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> City> Bengaluru / by Express News Service / January 27th, 2015
Dr Smitha Hegde, associate professor, department of post-graduate studies and research in biotechnology, St Aloysius College, Mangaluru, has been awarded the Professor SS Bir gold medal in Pteridology for her scientific work towards advancement of science in the area of ferns.
The award was recently handed over by Dr PS Ahuja, director general, Council of Industrial Research (CSIR) and Dr SP Khullar, secretary treasurer of Indian Fern Society at the National Conference on ‘Modern Approaches to Pteridophytes: Biology, Biodiversity and Bioresource’ at the CSIR-Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology, Palampur.
Dr Hegde is currently screening ferns of the Western Ghats region, particularly the Kudremukh National Park region, for their capacity of hyper accumulation of heavy metals. She said, “As a first step, a field guide has been written reporting 38 ferns of the region.
Simultaneously, I am undertaking a project on DNA fingerprinting of ferns of the region to confirm the identity of selected ferns of the region.” She has developed a technique of encapsulating sporophytes produced in vitro as ‘Protocorm-like bodies’ in Alginate beads to enable transportation of the in vitro produced planting material to the field with minimum shock and damage, thus producing the first ‘Synthetic seeds’ for ferns in 1995.
She worked on (Cyathea spp) tree ferns of the Western Ghats for post-doctoral studies .
source: http://www.bangaloremirror.com / Bangalore Mirror / Home> News> State / by Deepthi Sanjiv, Bangalore Mirror Bureau / January 12th, 2015
Born in Mysuru on Oct. 24, 1921, R.K. Laxman grew up in the old locality of Laxmipuram and was always enthralled by the sights and soul of the city. It was the charm of the old Mysuru that moulded Laxman’s simple yet fascinating world view and honed his eye for details.
He used to visit his old haunts like the Devaraja Market, Clock Tower and Sayyaji Rao road whenever he used to visit Mysuru.
R.K. Laxman shared a great bond with Maharaja’s College where he had studied Politics, Economics and Philosophy from 1942 to 1944. During one of his recent visits to the city, Laxman visited his college more as an alumnus rather than as a guest. He had searched for an etching he had made in one of the class-rooms and had found the scribble “RKL” on one of the walls along with ‘RKS’ (R.K. Srinivasan), ‘RKP’ (R.K. Pattabhi) and ‘RKN’ (R.K. Narayan) — his brothers. Laxman had also recalled that it was his English lecturer, B.S. Keshavan, who had encouraged him to draw cartoons.
The last time Laxman visited Mysuru was in 2009. He was bound to a wheel-chair and had visited Maharaja’s College with his wife Kamala. When asked by a student what his connection with Mysuru was, since he was not living here, Laxman had said, “I always miss Mysuru and Maharaja’s College.”
Dignitaries tweet tributes
Prime Minister Narendra Modi: “India will miss you R.K. Laxman. We are grateful to you for adding the much needed humour in our lives & always bringing smiles on our faces. My condolences to the family & countless well-wishers of a legend whose demise leaves a major void in our lives. RIP R.K. Laxman.”
Sonia Gandhi: “Shri Laxman’s ‘Common Man’, for more than one generation, represented India, served as conscience-keeper of establishment. His death is passing away of an institution.”
Sachin Tendulkar: “The man who expressed so much for and as the Common Man is no more. Deepest condolences to his family and friends.”
Ramachandra Guha: “R.K. Laxman was the greatest member of a great Mysore generation — among them M.N. Srinivas, R.K. Narayan, T.S. Satyan, A.K. Ramanujan…”
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / Tuesday – January 27th, 2015
Lakshman Hogebandi’s cow bags first place, yields 43.35 kg milk
Actor Darshan is seen after presenting the first prize to Lakshman Hogebandi (with garland) of Bengaluru at the State-level milking contest organised by the Mysuru City Cow Owners Association at J.K. Grounds in city on Sunday as Mayor R. Lingappa, Hotelier Sandesh of Sandesh the Prince, Hunsur MLA H.P. Manjunath, former Mayor D. Dhruvakumar and others look on.
Mysuru :
Cow owners from Bengaluru dominated the State-level Milking contest organised by the Mysuru City Cow Owners Association in memory of late actor Thoogudeepa Srinivas at J.K. Grounds here on Sunday by bagging all the five prizes that were at stake.
Lakshman Hogebandi of Beguru in Bengaluru won the first prize of Rs. 1 lakh cash and a two-kg silver lamp, by milking a total of 43.35 kg milk in two sessions.
Nagaraj of Chandapura Circle, Anekal taluk, bagged the second prize of Rs. 75,000 cash and silver articles weighing 1 kg, by milking a total 41.2 kg, while M.G. Somanna of Nettakallappa Circle, Basavanagudi, won the third prize (Rs. 50, 000 cash and 1 kg silver articles) by milking a total of 40.30 kg milk.
C. Chowdappa of Padarayanapura won the fourth prize (Rs. 25,000 cash and 1 kg silver article) by milking 39.80 kg of milk and Gagan Reddy of Nirmal Milk Suppliers, Lalbagh West, Basavanagudi, womn the fifth prize (RS. 20,000 cash and 1 kg silver article) by milking 37.9 kg of milk.
More than 25 cow owners from Mysuru, Bengaluru, Hassan and other districts took part in the contest. Cine actor Darshan Toogudeepa gave away the prizes.
Hunsur MLA H.P. Manjunath, Mayor R. Lingappa, Cauvery-CADA Chairman C. Dasegowda, Hotelier Sandesh and other dignitaries were felicitated on the occasion.
Former Mayor D. Dhruvakumar, Corporator D. Nagabushan, former MDCC Bank President C. Basavegowda, Congress leader Siddaraju, Cow Ownwers Association President Desigowda, actor Dhruva Keerthi, Veterinary Department Deputy Director Dr. Devadas and others were present on the occasion.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / Tuesday – January 27th, 2015
