Monthly Archives: February 2016

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Sr. John, a Noble Soul

SrJohnBF01feb2016

Sister John Britto Durai Chetty — that was how she wanted to be called — passed away at St. Martha’s Home for the Aged in Bengaluru, on Jan. 26. She was crossing four-score and ten years in age and lived a full life in the service of the Convent and more so in the field of music. She was the one who could play with ease and dexterity, Karnatak music on piano — her favourite instrument.

My association with this gracious lady dated back to more than three decades as she was the President of Mysore Music Association (mainly catering to Western Music) of which I was a Committee Member along with Sheela Irani, Alok Gupta. M. Lakshminarayana, M.G. Narasimha, Samson and Mrs. Raman of Raman Boards. In close association with British Council and American Consulate at Madras, she could get and arrange western music concerts at the then Southern Star auditorium and Jaganmohan Palace. She had even roped in Dr. Raja Ramanna, Atomic Scientist, to give a concert in piano.

Vivid are my memories of my visits to Good Shepherd Convent School here in Mysuru, where I was a Structural Consultant for strengthening the walls and roof of their three-storeyed hostel building housing among other students, two or three aged nuns from Ireland. My work there took me to the Convent frequently and I found her teaching Western music on piano to several students from aristocratic families of Mysuru. After the classes she would offer me a few biscuits and a cup of fruit juice and ask me which song in Karnatak music she should play on the piano for me.

And when I mentioned ‘Vatapi Gana Patim’ and ‘Raghu Vamsha Sudha,’ she would immediately let her diligent fingers on the keyboard and the songs would automatically start ringing in my ears. Then, once or twice, she would take me inside the Chapel and give me a Rosary to pray for the Almighty.

I had visited her two or three times in the St. Martha’s Home at Bengaluru and she was always asking about Mysuru and the Music Association, which was her soul.

—M.L. Krishnaswami NOTE: Sr. John’s funeral took place at Bengaluru this afternoon.—Ed

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / January 28th, 2016

IISc hosts Microsoft’s first student data science hackathon

Records, All, Science & Technology

Microsoft, in collaboration with Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bengaluru, concluded the first-ever Data Science Student Challenge (DSSC), a 24-hour global hackathon series, on Saturday.

The hackathon was inaugurated on January 29 as a part of Pravega 2016, the annual tech festival by the IISc. The hackathon, which witnessed participation by close to 200 students, showcases Microsoft’s commitment to boost the ecosystem for data scientists in India by giving students the opportunity to learn and test their data analytical skills.

As part of the hackathon, students accessed open government data and derived insights from that dataset, using the power of data analytics. Along with the students, a team of senior Microsoft mentors were present onsite to support and guide participants to create solutions based on predictions from the identified issues.

The hackathon generated over 50 ideas that could help build digital solutions to address the socio-economic issues in the country and accelerate the pace of the government’s Digital India programme.

Amog Mannekote, Tanmay Chinchore and Abhilash K from M S Ramaiah Institute of Technology (MSRIT), Bengaluru, were recognised as the winners of the challenge for prediction analysis on diabetes in Indian women. G Arun Kumar and Aravind Sundaresan from People’s Education Society Institute of Technology (PESIT) Bengaluru, South Campus, won the second prize for prediction analysis on heart diseases, and Amleshwar Kumar, Indranil Bhattacharya, Raghuram D Bharadwaj, Shreyas S and Swapnil Dhama from IISc won the third prize for predicting mortality rates of patients in ICU. The winning teams were rewarded with a cash prize of Rs 50,000, Rs 25,000 and Rs15,000, respectively. Professor Yogesh Simmhan, Assistant Professor, Department of Computational and Data Sciences (CDS), IISc, says the demand for data scientists is high. “There is a critical need to address the talent gap, both in data science research and its practice. The recent creation of the Department of Computational and Data Sciences, the Big Data public lecture series, and new data science and analytics courses are some of these efforts. I am pleased that IISc’s Pravega technical fest has partnered with Microsoft to host its first global Data Science Students Challenge in India at our campus.”

source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> State / Bengaluru – DHNS, January 31st, 2016

M.L. Krishnaswami’s book “The Mysore that was…” released

Arts, Culture & Entertainment
Star of Mysore Editor-in-Chief K.B. Ganapathy (centre), who released M.L. Krishnaswami’s (4th from left) book ‘The Mysore That was...’ in city yesterday, is seen with (from left) MBCT Founder Trustee Parvez E. Rudina, MBCT Hon. Secretary K. Sriram, MBCT Managing Trustee D. Keerthi Kumar, veteran actor Srinath, MBCT Founder Trustee R. Sundara Murthy, BAI Mysuru Centre Chairman M.S. Ramprasad and Hon. Secretary J.V.R. Naidhruva.

Star of Mysore Editor-in-Chief K.B. Ganapathy (centre), who released M.L. Krishnaswami’s (4th from left) book ‘The Mysore That was…’ in city yesterday, is seen with (from left) MBCT Founder Trustee Parvez E. Rudina, MBCT Hon. Secretary K. Sriram, MBCT Managing Trustee D. Keerthi Kumar, veteran actor Srinath, MBCT Founder Trustee R. Sundara Murthy, BAI Mysuru Centre Chairman M.S. Ramprasad and Hon. Secretary J.V.R. Naidhruva.

“Somehow I have an emotional connect to Mysuru. The very name Mysuru beings joy to me. Reason could be that it is my mother’s native place. Whenever I came to Mysuru in my student days, my maternal uncle (MLK) would give me one Anna. With that I would go to a hotel and eat masala dosa. My uncle would support me whenever I became naughty in the family.”

—Srinath, cine actor

Mysuru :

Mysore Builders’ Charitable Trust (MBCT) and Builders’ Association of India (BAI), Mysuru Centre, had organised a programme at MBCT premises, Sterling Theatre Road, in city last evening to release the book ‘The Mysore That was…’ (a compilation of articles published in Star of Mysore) authored by M.L. Krishnaswami (MLK).

Speaking after releasing the book brought out by MBCT Prakshana, Star of Mysore Editor-in-Chief K.B. Ganapathy called upon the builders to give a heritage touch to important public and huge private buildings as Mysuru is a heritage city.

Recalling an incident wherein the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, while inaugurating a public building in Jammu and Kashmir, had expressed displeasure about the lack of heritage architecture in the building, KBG highlighted the need for builders to give an artistic touch to structures specially in a Royal City like Mysuru.

Pointing out that MLK had captured the minds of citizens by writing exhaustive articles on important historical events, buildings and great personalities of the city in SOM, Ganapathy said that MLK had tried to preserve the history of Mysuru in a small way.

Noting that doctors, engineers, politicians and other eminent personalities from different fields write their autobiographies or get it done by others as biographies, he complimented MLK for writing on the city’s biography through this book.

Terming MLK as the city’s biographer, Ganapathy said that MLK is widely acclaimed by SOM readers for his elaborate articles on Mysuru of the past.

Cine actor Srinath, speaking as the chief guest, said that MLK was his uncle. Every photo published in his (MLK) book tells a story, he said.

Noting that MLK’s writing skills were magnificent, Srinath observed that MLK has recorded the legacy of Mysuru in a wonderful manner.

Pointing out that MLK had made references to him (Srinath) and his actor-brother C.R. Simha in his articles, Srinath said that Simha played an instrumental role in his success as an actor.

Expressing his wish to be a centenarian, Srinath became emotional when he said that his uncle MLK has to live long to felicitate him (Srinath) on his centenary.

M.L. Krishnaswami, who was born and brought up in Mysuru, in his address, said that this was a golden day for him and added that it was KBG, who provided a platform to pen his articles.

Stating that Ganapathy has suggested him to continue writing, he thanked KBG for his support all through these years.

On the occasion, the author M.L. Krishnaswami and his wife Prabha; MBCT Founder Trustees Parvez E. Rudina and R. Sundara Murthy were felicitated.

Legal expert Dr. C.K.N.Raja, sugama sangeetha artiste H.R. Leelavathi, art patron K.V. Murthy, neurosurgeon Dr. M.S. Bhaskar, Pt. Veerabhadraiah Hiremath and others were present on the occasion.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / Monday – February 01st, 2016