Prof. Chandrashekaraiah, retd. English Professor, Mysuru, who was conferred with ‘Sri Shivarathreeshwara Award,’ is seen with Suttur Seer Sri Shivarathri Deshikendra Swamiji, National Institute of Advance Studies (Bengaluru) Visiting Professor Dr. S. Shettar, Prasaranga Director Prof. C. Naganna, JSS Mahavidyapeetha Executive Secretary B.N. Betkerur and others.
Mysuru :
Prof. Chandrashekaraiah, retd. English Professor, Mysuru, was conferred with ‘Sri Shivarathreeshwara Award’ at a programme organised by Sri Shivarathreeshwara Religious Endowment, JSS Mahavidyapeetha, at Navajyothi auditorium in JSS Women’s College here on Wednesday.
Suttur Seer Sri Shivarathri Deshikendra Swamiji presented the award to Prof. Chandrashekaraiah for his book ‘A Survey of Veerashaiva Religion and Literature.’
National Institute of Advance Studies (Bengaluru) Visiting Professor Dr. S. Shettar released eight books on the occasion — Vid. Dr. Sri Immadi Shivabasava Swamiji’s Allamaprabhudevara Teekina Vachanagalu (2nd edition), Dr. H. Thipperudra Swamy’s The Virasaiva Saints – A Study (2nd edition), Sri Siddeshwara Swamiji’s Devotional Sayings of Basaveshwara (3rd edition), Prof. B. Somashekarappa’s Divya Chethana, Prof. Chandrashekaraiah’s Ghanalinga Shivayogi – Vicharasankeerna, Dr. Sangamesha Biradara’s Vachanagalalli Bhakti, Dr. B.V. Vasanthakumar’s Vachanagalalli Sthavara – Jangama and Dr. Rajashekara Jamadandi’s Vachanagalalli Drushtantagalu.
Prasaranga Director Prof. C. Naganna and Shivamogga litterateur Jayadevappa Jainakeri spoke about the books.
Prof. S. Nanjundaiah delivered the felicitation address on the occasion.
JSS Mahavidyapeetha Executive Secretary B.N. Betkerur presided over the programme.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / Saturday – March 28th, 2015
Chief Minister Siddharamaiah presented TSR Memorial, Mohare Hanamantharaya, Development Journalism and Environmental Journalism awards to senior journalists at a function held at Sulochana Auditorium of Vartha Soudha in Bengaluru yesterday. Seen are (from left) Journalists Dr. Narendra Rai Derla, Dr. Sadananda Perla, Amshi Prasanna Kumar and Deepak Sagar, Media Academy Chairman M.A. Ponnappa, Information Minister R. Roshan Baig, Senior Journalist N. Arjun Deva, Information & Public Relations Department Principal Secretary Dr. Nagalambika Devi, Senior Journalists P.S. Eshwar Bhat and Raghavendra Aravindrao Joshi, Information Department Director N.R. Vishu Kumar and Star of Mysore Editor-in-Chief K.B. Ganapathy.
Bengaluru :
Chief Minister Siddharamaiah presented the prestigious TSR Memorial, Mohare Hanamantharaya, Development Journalism and Environmental Journalism awards to eight journalists at a colourful function organised by the Department of Information and Public Relations at Sulochana Auditorium, Vartha Soudha on Bhagavan Mahaveer Jain Road here last evening.
The TSR Memorial Journalism award- 2012 was presented to veteran Journalist N. Arjun Deva, who is presently the Editor of ‘Jaana,’ a publication dedicated to Science articles and the TSR award for 2013 was given to senior Journalist P.S. Eshwar Bhat (Eshwar Daitota), who has served in Print Media, Radio, Television and Internet Journalism for over three-and-a half decades.
The Mohare Hanamantharaya award for 2012 was presented to Belagavi-based senior journalist Raghavendra Aravindrao Joshi, who started ‘Nadoja,’ a Kannada weekly, which later became a daily newspaper while Mohare Hanamantharaya award for 2013 was presented to K.B. Ganapathy, Editor-in-Chief, Star of Mysore, an English eveninger and Mysooru Mithra, a regional Kannada morninger.
Mysuru-based Journalist Amshi Prasanna Kumar, who has been serving in Kannada Prabha daily since 1995, was presented Development Journalism award for the year 2012 and the year 2013 award was conferred on Dr. Sadananda Perla, currently serving in the programmes section of Akashavani.
Dr. Narendra Rai Derla, a lecturer by profession and who had worked as a Sub-Editor of Taranga weekly magazine, was presented Environmental Journalism award for 2012 and journalist Deepak Sagar, who is working as a reporter of Vijayavani at Sagara in Shivamogga district, was presented the award for the year 2013.
Both TSR Memorial and Hanamantharaya awards comprised a cash prize of Rs. 1 lakh each and a citation while the Development Journalism and Environmental Journalism awards carried a cash prize of Rs. 50,000 each and a citation.
Veteran Journalist Arjun Deva, who spoke on behalf of the awardees, observed that the print media has not lost its sheen despite the advent of electronic media.
Stressing on the need for brining the electronic media under the ambit of the Press Council of India, he said that with the media becoming highly powerful, shedding light on all issues, politicians are making a beeline to enter the media field.
Maintaining that politicians with different backgrounds and conflicting views were confusing the people, Arjun Deva regretted that the present situation was conducive only for the wealthy to start news- papers.
Shedding light on the growth of media over the years, he referred to a recent incident where it was reported that the High Court was haunted by spirits and questioned whether the reported missing of certain documents from the High Court can be attributed to the spirits, which remark sent the entire audience into peels of laughter.
Information and Infrastructure Development Minister Roshan Baig presided.
Information and Public Relations Department Principal Secretary Dr. Nagalambika Devi, Awards Selection Panel head former Justice Arali Nagaraj, Information Department Director N.R. Vishu Kumar, Karnataka Media Academy Chairman M.A. Ponnappa and others were present at the function.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / Saturday – March 28th, 2015
The Ganga never ceases to evoke awe despite all the clamour about its cleanliness or lack of it. Veeral Parekh, a photographer from Bengaluru, visited Varanasi to capture the vignettes of life and death which blend seamlessly on the river’s 100-odd ghats. Life on the Ghats is an exhibition of Parekh’s photographs, frames captured from a faraway land. A former student of Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath, he is known to aesthetically capture quotidian existence in his works which primarily revolve around travel. “I visited Varanasi in 2013. I was there for two days and moved around the 100-odd ghats from morning to evening, capturing the lives of middle-class people there. It was a touching experience,” he recalls.
Parekh was taken in by the uniqueness of Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh. “As you walk in the city, you will see that buildings and streets over 100 years old throbbing with life. It’s exciting to see and experience something like this. The city has more than 100 ghats (a series of steps leading down to a water body). They are used to perform ceremonies, and a lot of them are also used as cremation sites. People take bath in the holy river; it’s an amazing feeling to witness life and death in this incredible city, especially when you share the experience with others and not keep the moments to yourself.” Parekh’s photographic ensemble of Varanasi comes in colour as well as black and white. From flower sellers to people burning bodies on the ghats or throwing them into the river, to elderly people regurgitating memories in solitude, the photographs reflect the essence of Varanasi’s way of life. What: Life on the Ghats, an exhibition of Veeral Parekh’s photographs Place: Shades of Art Gallery, Koramangala Timing: 11 am to 6.30pm (till April 20)
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Bengaluru / by G S Kumar, TNN / April 02nd, 2015
Preethy Vijay, the mother of a four-year-old, decided to start a home venture out of sheer boredom. Little did she know that her home venture, ‘Pretty Creations’, would one day become her passion. ‘Pretty Creations’ was started in 2013 and is a place where one can find exquisite and unique handmade crafts and paintings with a fun twist and a dash of creativity.
She hand paints on products like mugs, and also makes birthday candles, photo frames, magnets, keychains, gift tags, accessories and much more, as per the theme of the party. Crafts like miniature dolls, bikes and name boards can also be found as part of her designs. She also makes quilled jewellery and self-designs and paints them. Lately, she is also trying her hand at dress design to create something of her own. She constantly posts her designs on Facebook and receives feedback. “I feel very happy when my customers like my work. Their feedback really matters to me and motivates me to do better,” says Preethy.
Her inspiration stems from her surroundings. “One can learn a lot from the little things that we see around us,” she says.
Her products are colourful and she makes each of them using air-dry clay. For example, if it’s a miniature bike, she takes pictures of them and designs the creations accordingly.
Balancing time between her venture and her four-year-old son is a hard task. “I usually work on my craft when my son is sleeping or away at school. But I also feel that if you are passionate about something, no matter what, you will make time for it,” she adds.
With the growing need for customised items and unique birthday party themes, ‘Pretty Creations’ offers customisation of all products. “It sometimes brings out the best in me. When I take the customised order I’m a little skeptical at the beginning, but slowly I draft out a graph and work towards it.”
source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> Supplements> MetroLife / by Preethi Ravi / March 05th, 2015
Better connectivity and space utilization can make Church Street a great urban hangout
Church Street is perhaps one of the most well-connected and accessible roads in Bengaluru. In fact, its name has been derived from the fact that it used to lead directly to St Mark’s Church, which was also visible while walking on the street. This trivia, however, alludes to a time when buildings were much smaller and before the strong axis connecting the street and the church was lost due to replanning. Today’s Church Street is replete with businesses, restaurants, pubs and arcades, and retains most of its road connections.Mahatma Gandhi Road, St Marks Road, Museum Road and Brigade Road surround and flow into this modest street that ensures a continuous flow of people passing by . If one were to look at high streets or shopping streets around the world, one would encounter `accessibility’ as the overriding factor -accessibility with respect to their space utilization and how well connected they are to the surroundings.
An analysis of high streets in London (as per the land use pattern) by Space Syntax would reveal that 80% of retailers have located themselves on the 20% most spatially accessible streets. This revelation seems to be a no-brainer as shops cater to locations frequented by people. The literal meaning of the Greek word Agora is a “gathering place” or an “assembly”. This also highlights the twin function of the well-connected marketplace, as both a po itical and commercial space. The Italian Piazzas are commonly found at the meeting of two or more streets. Several businesses and small shops are located within the Piazzas, which form the leitmotif for the traditional Italian city. The modern shopping street, traditional Agora and Piazza are perfect examples of what a good urban space is like when integrated into its urban setting.Such spaces create an ecosystem that thrives on their diversity.What makes Church Street so special is that it shares characteristics of all three archetypes of a great public space.
Sensitive placemaking through intelligent urban design solutions has given New York its Highline project, Seoul its Cheonggyecheon and Japan its Isezakicho of Yokohama. Why not start with Church Street for Bengaluru? Discontinuing street parking will do its bit to encourage public transport and make room for pedestrians on the footpath. Regulating food and garbage truck movement will ensure pedestrians don’t have to hold their breath while walking around. Street furniture will definitely be convenient for those who shop till they drop. Putting dustbins and planters in place will ensure a clean and green street.
While these solutions may improve the image of Church Street, they fail to address more serious underlying issues. The need of the hour is to call on experts and placemakers who understand the need to relay the underground sewage system in tandem with the existing network.
(The writer is an architect)
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Bengaluru / by Naresh V. Narasimhan / April 02nd, 2015
Making furniture from lantana is a practical way to deal with the weed
Queen’s Road :
Lantana is a common weed seen in almost any wasteland or forest. It bears colourful flowers with tiny pink and yellow florets. The species is invasive and kills other native vegetation by running riot.
Bengaluru scientists have now found a practical way of dealing with Lantana camara, as it is formally called. They have found that people in some rural areas of the Western Ghats make furniture out of it and this is perhaps one of the best ways to deal with the invasive nature of the weed.
Ramesh Kannan from Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE),
Bengaluru, and Rhodes University, South Africa, Prof R Uma Shaanker of ATREE and UAS GKVK, and Charlie M Shackleton from Rhodes University have worked on analysing the effects of the weed on people whose livelihoods depend on the forests.
The paper is published in Environment Development and Sustainability. Prof Uma Shaanker told Express, “The total income derived by the two groups (lantana users vs non-users) was nearly the same, the income deficit in the user group due to forest resources and trading was made good by the income from Lantana.”
Invasive alien species (IAS) are those species that are not native to a certain habitat or ecosystem. Native species are those that are naturally found in an ecosystem. IAS are serious threats to biodiversity and ecosystems everywhere. This is mainly because once they have spread to a significant level, it is very hard to curb further invasion. The British introduced this plant at the East India Company Botanical Garden in Calcutta as an ornamental in 1807.
Prof Uma Shaanker
The species has spread tremendously since then — enough to be listed as one of the 10 worst weeds in the world. In fact, the species poses a threat to several native plants and species today. It has managed to displace several indigenous plant types, causing serious shifts in the socio-economic situation for people in rural areas, who depended on the native species for their livelihood.
The researchers chose six hamlets in southern India, in areas where lantana is found in abundance in the forests: Hannehola, Kommudikki, Pudhupatti, Anjukullipatti, Vedasandur and Cheelampalle. The people who lived here belonged to one of the following castes/tribes: Korava, Soliga, Madiga, Irula or Pallar. Of these communities, all but the Soligas are engaged in basket making; the Soligas make furniture. With no access to proper irrigation, they practise rain fed agriculture and it is not their primary source of income.
In these areas, some people used lantana for their livelihood while the others didn’t. All these communities used to be dependent on bamboo until a few decades ago, after which they were forced to move on and find alternate resources like lantana. There were two main reasons for the shift. One, a steep decline in the amount of bamboo available, due to commercial activities.
The bamboo forests were exploited, which eventually led the government to declare the areas of Cowdally, Chikkailur, and MM Hills as reserve forests, in order to protect the remaining bamboo. This made it necessary for the communities dependent on bamboo to pay for the resource. Secondly, the sheer abundance of lantana proved to be an alternate resource that people could use almost all year round, except in the summer months when the plants dried up.
The authors compared the differences between groups of people who used Lantana to make baskets, and those who didn’t. Lantana was the main source of income to the group using it. The groups not using lantana had more daily wage labourers and traders. They also found that people over the age of 51 didn’t use lantana as much because older people found it difficult to go out to the forest and get it.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Bengaluru / by Papiya Bhattacharya / April 02nd, 2015
The students were guided by Ganesh R. Chitnis, head of the department of mechanical engineering, R.N. Shetty Polytechnic, Belagavi, and C.C. Gavimath of Visvesvaraya Technological University. —PHOTO: by Special Arrangement.
A strong urge to innovate, willingness to work in a team, and readiness to welcome new ideas have helped students of R.N. Shetty Polytechnic to evolve a technique to extract bio-diesel from decayed coconuts.
The sixth semester students of diploma in mechanical engineering came out with a process to extract bio-diesel using chemicals such as methanol and sodium sulphate. They were guided department head Ganesh R. Chitnis and C.C. Gavimath of Visvesvaraya Technological University
Byproducts
Byproducts such as oil cakes and glycerine could be used for fertilizer and cosmetics industries, said principal S.P. Hiremath here on Wednesday.
He said the production of bio-diesel was the need of the hour as it was eco-friendly and relatively cheaper and could be made available at Rs. 34 a litre. It could be used on any diesel engine and for generating electricity in a cost effective way. Riyaz D. Maskewale, Manjunath Udameeshi, and Milton Carvalho had taken keen interest to complete the project, he said.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National> Karnataka / by Vijaykumar Patil / Belagavi – April 02nd, 2015
His age did not let him drive on the public roads. But his talent never stopped him from driving off road. Chandan Gowda, a third-year BBM student of Dayananda Sagar Institutions, was only 16 when he first took to driving on autocross. He was issued a special licence by the ‘Federation of Motor Sports Club of India’ (FMSCI) and it was just a stepping stone to move into more competitive rallies. The young boy, who drove a non-professional rally car in Chikkamagaluru autocross then, was ranked the youngest driver in the championship.
“I always loved riding and driving. My father, who is also my mentor, is interested in cars too,” says Chandan. Starting off as a professional driver in 2009, Chandan has taken part in several rallies in Chikkamagaluru, Coorg, Mudigere, Bengaluru, Nasik, Chennai and many other places.
Topples and crashes were part of his journey. There were times when his parents opposed him from taking part in these rallies due to safety issues. But nothing seemed to have detered his passion for driving. Instead, all these experiences made him love the sport more and he says, “It was all part of a learning experience and it has helped me become who I am today.”
After the autocross, his first official rally was for the ‘Coffee Day Rally’ in Chikamagaluru. Driving no fancy car, he ranked third in the rally and proved that it is the driver that matters more than the car. Emerging as a winner, he was recognised by the sponsors and from then began his journey to the competitive world.
He took part in the same rally the next year in 2013 and he moved a step closer by ranking second. In 2014, he was approached by the Volkswagen company who supported him with subsidiary parts and he was back with a bang in his new car Polo 1600cc where he ranked second once again. “I was registered under Indian Rally Championship (IRC) and ranked among the top five rallyists,” he informs.
He did face initial opposition from his parents. But once he achieved success in the field, his parents became more supportive than ever. “My parents have encouraged and supported me to a great extent,” he says.
He is also grateful to his tuner and well-wisher, Monish, an automobile engineer who helps him give his best in all the rallies. “He tunes my cars in the rallies and it would have been impossible to be where I am today without his support,” he says.
An active rallyist, he also has great passion for riding and he owns a ‘Triumph Daytona 675’. A very ambitious youngster who has role models like Gaurav Gill, Lohit Urs and Girija Shankar; he wants to see himself emerge as the Champion in ‘Asian Specific Rally Championship’ and also in the ‘World Rally Championship’. “I want to take part in more rallies and do better each time. I hope to find more sponsors who would help me achieve my dream,” wraps up the young rallyist.
source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> Supplements> MetroLife / by Prajna GR, Bengaluru / DHNS – April 02nd, 2015
