Kodaikanal coffee area down by half

Coffee News

Kodaikanal :

Kodaikanal, the princess of hill stations, is witnessing a steep decrease in the production of coffee beans lately, as area under cultivation has dwindled drastically.

Unlike Coorg district in Karnataka, where coffee is produced on large acres of land, planters’ representatives from Kodaikanal say that coffee planters here cultivate on a small scale.

Lack of promotion by the government, absence of coffee manufacturing factories and labour shortage are affecting the cultivation, planters say. A portion of the land is being diverted to real estate.

“Palani hills, which forms a part of Kodaikanal, is separated into three segments; upper, middle and lower. From the 1970s, coffee has been widely planted by farmers in the entire hills apart from upper Palani Hills.

When the mountain banana variety which was widely cultivated in these hills was attacked by a disease, they switched over to coffee plantation,” says 68-year-old Minoo Avari, president of Mya Palanimalai Farmers Association. Shekar Nagarajan, a coffee planter from lower Palani Hills said, “In a survey conducted by the government in the 1970s it was found that coffee was being grown on 14,000 acres of land. After that, no survey has been conducted .

At present, it is estimated that only 7,000 acres of land are being used for coffee plantation. The total production of coffee has also reduced by half. Initially we produced around 7,000 tonnes a year, but this has now come down to 3,500 tonnes,” Nagarajan said.

Though there have been several drawbacks, planters say their coffee beans won awards during an event which was held in Trieste, Italy, five years ago.

Planters claim that high altitude, fertile soil and organic farming methods are the key to the quality of the coffee they produce.

The coffee planters here also claim that the taste of coffee beans produced using organic method is on par with Colombian coffee, which is considered among the best in the world.

source: http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Chennai> Planters / by V. Devanathan, TNN / October 28th, 2013

TENNIS / INTERVIEW : ‘Getting back to top-5 my priority’

Famous Personalities of Kodagu / Coorg, Sports

“I am very happy to team up with Aisam again. We have had a reasonable amount of success previously and look forward to a lot more this time around,” says Rohan Bopanna in this interview with Kamesh Srinivasan.

It has been a memorable season for Rohan Bopanna. For a while, he made it to a career-best No. 3 ranking in doubles. He, along with Edouard Roger-Vasselin of France, frightened the all-conquering Bryan twins, Bob and Mike, in a thrilling five-setter in the Wimbledon semifinals.

Bopanna, 33, did raise hopes of making the season-ending World Tour Finals in London, when he won the Tokyo event, partnering Roger-Vasselin, to bag 500 ATP points. But in the end he could not make it.

In a season in which he competed with eight partners, Bopanna had done well to win two titles. Now he has decided to team up again with Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi of Pakistan for the next season, and is confident of doing very well in the professional Tour.

Though close to Mahesh Bhupathi, with whom he competed in the London Olympics and made the final of the World Tour Finals in London last year, Bopanna has a healthy respect for Leander Paes as well. The ace doubles player spoke to Sportstar.

The excerpts:

Question: How happy are you with the way the season progressed, taking you to a career best rank of No. 3?

Answer: Reaching my career best of No. 3 and making the semifinals of Wimbledon for the first time have to be the highlights of this year! Though winning an ATP 250 and a 500 title was also a great feeling. It was a tough year but I am happy with the way it eventually turned out.

The end of the season was not great, and you have not been able to make the World Tour Finals in London, after having enjoyed such a brilliant finish last year with Mahesh Bhupathi…

Yes, compared to last two seasons, this year did not end the way I would have liked to… qualification for the London Masters. A regular partner would have helped me to qualify for the London Masters. I was playing with eight different partners and that made qualification that much harder. Edouard and me had an excellent second half of the year playing eight tournaments together but this was not enough for me to qualify for the Masters.

Your ranking has slipped out of Top-10.

My ranking this year has fluctuated mainly because of change in partners. Going forward next year, I will be playing with Aisam and we will be seeded in all the tournaments. So the drop in the rankings will not have much of an effect next season.

Despite playing limited tournaments together, you and Roger-Vasselin came very close to making the World Final. What is the reason for the split?

Yes, we did have a good run playing together! We chose to separate as both of us are professionals. His main focus is singles and mine continues to be doubles. Playing with him is not easy as we never practise together but only warm up just before matches and then start playing tournaments. Also, my schedule was based on his schedule, for example post Wimbledon, Edouard played a few ATP 250 events in the USA and decided to take a break and rest during an ATP 500 (Washington) and an ATP 1000 (Montreal) events, and I chose to play with a different partner. As a professional, I am trying to improve every day as a player and as a team and regular practice with the partner plays a major part in the combination trying to win a Grand Slam. Hence I wanted to play with an established doubles player for 2014. Edouard is a fantastic guy and he completely understood this decision of mine.

About your spell with Mahesh this season and why both of you decided to play separately with other partners?

Hesh had indicated that he wanted to play fewer tournaments and was looking to retirem next year. Post French Open, we decided to split and find new partners for Wimbledon. Hesh and I did very well in the ATP scoring format but struggled in the normal scoring format, so we decided to try different partners, to see how it goes, and it actually paid off for us in Wimbledon.

What had prompted you to partner Rajeev Ram?

I asked a few players who were ranked in the Top-30 but unfortunately everyone had their partners already set and the options were very limited. Rajeev and I had played together before and had reasonable success. Unfortunately post Indian Wells, Rajeev lost a few points and his ranking dropped. This made it impossible for us to qualify for tournaments on clay, prompting me to look for other options. As it turned out Mahesh was looking for a partner at the same time and since we had played together before, it was an easy choice to make.

How do you view the return of Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi as your partner after a two-year gap? Are you confident that both of you can recreate the magic and possibly win a Grand Slam?

I am very happy to team up with Aisam again. We have had a reasonable amount of success previously and look forward to a lot more this time around. We have a great understanding of each other’s game and the experience of playing with different partners has only helped both of us improve our individual games.

About your support staff.

These guys are the most important people in the circuit and in my career. My coach, Scott Davidoff, has played the sport and been coaching in the ATP circuit for many years. Scott specialises in coaching doubles. So, his knowledge has really helped me transform my game. He has helped me to become a more complete player over the last few years… making me focus on my strengths. He makes sure that I am training almost every day on my serves and volleys which are the main components of a player aiming to win doubles titles at the highest level.

My trainer, Yash Pandey, hails from Mumbai and has been with me for a year and half. Now Yash is the one keeping me healthy and fit, making sure I am well warmed up before practice and getting my stretches done at the end of the day with a recovery massage and making sure I am fit and ready for matches. These guys play a major role in my success.

Travelling around the world after marriage is tough. How has your wife taken it?

Travelling around the world as a professional is lonely and it is not fun as people think it to be. But these days playing at the highest level in the best of tournaments and having a coach, trainer and my wife with me is a major boost for sure.

Supriya enjoys travelling, especially since it is our first year together. She has always loved travelling and enjoys seeing new places. Also, watching me in action live instead of having to follow my scores online is an added incentive as it helps her understand the level of commitment required from a professional athlete to make it to the highest level. She is a psychologist by profession but at the moment she is being a very supportive wife and giving me all the courage and not worrying about herself and letting me live my dream. I can’t thank her enough for that.

What are your targets for the next season?

The target for the next year is to be a consistent contender at every tournament that we compete in. Grand Slams are the main aim, of course. Qualifying for the London Masters at the end of the year is another goal that I personally want to achieve. Career-wise, getting back to the Top-5 rankings of the world would be my priority.

How keen are you to play the Davis Cup against Chinese Taipei in Indore?

I have always said that I am available to represent my country in the coming Davis Cup ties. We will have to wait and watch whether they select me or not.

Indian tennis looks healthy now as many players are travelling around the world to become better professionals, and players like Divij Sharan and Purav Raja have made the breakthroughs.

It is fabulous to see Indian tennis looking up and the future looks very bright. I have always told the boys to believe in themselves because as long as they keep working and training hard the results will come their way. I think after Purav and Divij won a title together it has given them a taste of the ATP world and the belief in their abilities to continue playing at that level.

Paes’s achievement at the age of 40…

Playing continuously for number of years has taken a toll on Hesh and Paes. Tennis at the end of the day is an individual sport and it depends a lot on how the player handles his diet, fitness etc. Playing at the highest level involves a lot of travelling, staying away from family for long duration… it is quite strenuous. For Leander to win the U.S. open at 40 is a fabulous achievement and there is no doubt about his effort and commitment.

It may be too early to ask, but do you foresee competing in the Rio Olympics with Leander Paes?

It is indeed very early to be talking about Rio, especially with tennis being such an intense sport. But yes, there is always a possibility.

source: http://www.tssonnet.com / (www.sportstaronnet.com) / Sportstar (Publisher of The Hindu) / Home> Tennis> Interview / Vol.36, No.47, November 23rd, 2013

Grey Matter

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Famous Personalities of Kodagu / Coorg

Five years ago, Gulshan Devaiah quit a successful fashion business to become an actor. Today, he awaits the release of Ram-Leela, which can be a game changer for him

ALAKA SAHANI

Some years ago when Gulshan Devaiah was walking towards his Andheri pad after a particularly bad day, he got a call from Kalki Koechlin. She was having dinner with Anurag Kashyap in the vicinity and wanted him to join them. Devaiah headed there. However, there was more in store for him. Kashyap and Koechlin narrated some scenes from That Girl in Yellow Boots to him and asked him to play the role of Chittiappa.

The character of this ruthless gangster was not fully fleshed out at that time. Drawing from his experience of devised theatre where the cast improvises together and develops a script, Devaiah started working on it. “We did not want Chittiappa to be a typical gangster. Apart from theatre, what helped me was the experience of living on the outskirts of Bangalore. People I had encountered there as well as the hoodlums in my college came handy in giving shape to the character,” he says.

With this, Devaiah got his first break on the big screen that kind of justified this National Institute of Fashion Technology, Bangalore, graduate’s decision to give up a fairly successful career in fashion at the age of 30 and shift to Mumbai. Five years since, he has acted in seven films and is awaiting the release of the most commercial of them all — Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Ram-Leela, where he is cast as Deepika Padukone’s cousin Bhavani. Most of his characters, including the one in this movie, where his villainy is unveiled gradually, are marked by dark shades. “Yet with each of these roles — be it KC of Shaitan or Siddharth Dhanrajgir of Hate Story — I have attempted to do something out of the box. I don’t have a straightforward approach; I like to deviate a bit,” says Devaiah, who has done English theatre in Bangalore and Mumbai. He featured in acclaimed plays such as Butter and Mashed Banana, Hamlet: The Clown Prince and Project STRIP.

source: http://www.indianexpress.com / The Indian Express / Home / by Alaka Sahani / Thursday – November 14th, 2013

Harshika Poonacha’s Lip-Lock In B3

Arts, Culture & Entertainment

Coorg girl Harshika Poonacha, who recently won Karnataka State Award for the Best Supporting Actor (female), has done three seconds lip-lock in her forthcoming movie B3. It is reported that the actress has done the lip-lock in a song sequence, which is featured on her and lead actor Shrikanth.

Harshika, who confirmed the news to a regional daily has said that the song of the B3 has a lip-lock scene, which features her and Sriknath. “Actually, it is a song, which has the intimate scene for ten seconds, including three seconds of lip-lock,” Harshika added.

Harshika has also said that B3 is a women centric movie and she has got an opportunity to show her talent as an actor. Talking about her role, Harshika said, “I am sure, I will get a big break with the movie. I will also make few boys to remember their girlfriends after they watch me on-screen.”

Defending the lip-lock scene, Harshika said, “Actress Sridevi was also seen in wet dress in the movie Mr India. I don’t see any vulgarity in that. We should change our mind set.” B3 reads the tagline – Love U, and it is directed Ghanshyaam.

source: http://www.entertainment.oneindia.in / OneIndia Entertainment / Home> oneindia> Entertainment> Kannada> News / by Sandesh / Wednesday – November 13th, 2013

When Ram-Leela’s costume gave Gulshan Devaiah trouble

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Famous Personalities of Kodagu / Coorg

Not everything went well for Gulshan Devaiah, who plays the chief antagonist in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s ‘Ram-Leela’. Since the movie is based in Gujarat, the actor had to wear traditional costumes and jewellery for the film. A key element of that look is the earrings he is wearing.

(Gulshan Devaiah )
(Gulshan Devaiah )

Gulshan was initially excited with the idea of wearing the heavy earrings as the script, the look and the director demanded it. He, however, realised that they were pressing against his ear lobes and as a result gave him headaches and radiating pain down his neck & shoulders. “I spent hours and days trying to manipulate the shape of the earrings to fit my ears comfortably but it just didn’t work. They were really painful. I just had to put up with the pain as the earrings were such an integral part of the brilliantly designed look .”

Gulshan plays the character of Bhavani . The movie is slated to release on 15th November, 2013.

source: http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> Entertainment> Bollywood> News & Interviews> Costume / by Tanvi Trivedi / November 13th, 2013

Even semester class at Chikkaluvara campus from January

Education

Mangalore :

Mangalore University is all set to start even semester classes on its Chikkaluvara campus in Somwarpet taluk of Kodagu district from January 2.

While plans were drawn to inaugurate the campus on November 18, the mandatory presence of vice-chancellor T C Shivashankara Murthy to receive the Indira Gandhi NSS Award-2013 from President Pranab Mukherjee now means the formal inauguration will be held mid January.

However, the university authorities have decided to make best use of the infrastructure ready by commencing classes on the new campus spread over 73.4 acres of land when the even semester of the academic year 2013-14 gets underway in January 2014. For now, the university authorities will shift the post-graduate courses in microbiology and bio-chemistry to the new campus from the Field Marshal K M Cariappa College in Madikeri.

Shivashanakara Murthy said as things stand now, work on the science building and staff quarters on the campus is ready. “The work on the women’s hostel is in the final stages. If the inauguration had been held as scheduled on November 18, we would have to contend with some pending works with the arts building and the boy’s hostel,” he said, adding that work on overhead tanks and other sundry works too will be attended to in this duration.

Noting that no decision has yet been taken on naming the Chikkaluvara campus, the VC said. “Local sentiments in Kodagu district favour the campus to be named as Cauvery campus. However, the university is yet to form any opinion on this issue. This is a decision that has to be taken by the Syndicate,” he said. The Mangalore campus of the university is named Mangalagangothri.

source: http:articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Mangalore> Mangalore University / TNN / November 13th, 2013

Indian Army hosts KM Cariappa Memorial Lecture

Famous Personalities of Kodagu / Coorg, Historical Links / Pre-Independence, Leaders

New Delhi :

The 18th Field Marshal KM Cariappa Memorial Lecture was held on Monday at the convention hall of Manekshaw Centre in New Delhi.

The event is held annually as part of the Infantry Day celebrations, which over the years, has become an occasion for prominent speakers to share their insights and thoughts on dynamically evolving strategic national security issues and imperatives of higher military leadership.

Lieutenant General SK Sinha (Retd), the erstwhile Vice Chief of Army Staff, a renowned veteran who has also rendered distinguished services to the nation in his capacity as India’s ambassador to Nepal as well as Governor of J&K and Assam, shared his experiences of the critical phase of transformation of the Indian Army at the time of India’s Independence and dwelt upon the personality and leadership traits of the Field Marshal.

He credited the Field Marshal with displaying visionary leadership and laying the foundations of the core values and military ethics of the modern Indian Army.

Chief of Army Staff General Bikram Singh speaking on the occasion, stressed on the continued relevance and necessity of upholding the core values of integrity, loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, courage and honour, as well as the necessity of ensuring financial probity in all dealings.

He highlighted various initiatives which the Army was relentlessly pursuing towards reinforcing these core values amongst all ranks, especially in the changing socio-economic milieu.

A large number of serving officers and the veteran community attended the event.

source: http://www.indiablooms.com / India Blooms / India Blooms News Service (IBNS) / New Delhi – November 11th, 2013

Ancient microcontinent discovered in Coorg block

About Kodagu / Coorg, Historical Links / Pre-Independence, Nature, Records, All, World Opinion

MicroContinentKF16nov2013
A team of scientists from four research institutions have reported the discovery of an ancient microcontinent in India.

Based on extensive investigations in the Coorg block comprising parts of Kerala and Karnataka, the scientists have confirmed the existence of a 3.1 billion-year-old exotic microcontinent that could have broken off from Madagascar or Africa and drifted across the ocean to get wedged into the Indian landmass.

Based on the geological formations that characterise the block, the researchers assume that it could have been part of the earliest ‘Ur’ supercontinent formed through microcontinent amalgamation.

The age data of the rock samples collected by the researchers showed that the peak of continental building in the exotic Coorg block occurred around 3.1 billion years ago. The studies indicated that the crust building might have also involved partial recycling of basement rocks as old as 3.8 billion years.

The team comprising M. Santosh from India, now working at the China University of Geosciences, Beijing, Q.Y. Yang from the same university, E. Shaji from the Department of Geology, University of Kerala, T. Tsunogae from Tsukuba University, Japan, and Ram Mohan and M. Satyanarayanan from the National Geophysical Research Institute, Hyderabad, has published the discovery in Gondwana Research, an international journal on earth science with particular focus on the origin and evolution of continents.

According to the paper, the Coorg block, a continental fragment sandwiched between the Dharwar craton (a craton is a piece of a continent that has been stable for over a billion years) in the North and several younger crustal blocks to the South, is composed dominantly of a suite of arc magmatic rocks.

“Considering the age of the rocks from the periphery of the Coorg block, the microcontinent could have got wedged with peninsular India around 1.2 billion years back in time,” says Dr. Santosh, the lead author.

“This exotic microcontinent could have come from any of the cores of the earliest supercontinent Ur. The possible sources are Madagascar or Africa.”

The study revealed that the Coorg block was unaffected by major tectonothermal (geological episodes that shape rock formations) events in the rest of southern India.

The team relied on Uranium-Lead dating and Lutetium-Hafnium analyses of zircons separated from the different rock types. They also carried out petrological and mineralogical studies and geochemical analyses of the rocks.

The study is significant in understanding the supercontinent cycle, the amalgamation of continents into large land masses and their disruption.

“The Early Earth was dominated by island arcs in an oceanic realm analogous to the modern Pacific region. The formation and collision of arcs gave rise to the birth of microcontinents,” explains Dr. Shaji.

The landmass arrangement on earth today is the culmination of a long history of continental movement. The Indian subcontinent is believed to be one among the several landmasses that emerged from the break up of the Gondwana supercontinent about 180 million years ago. The Coorg block covers an area of over 3,000 sq km and includes the whole of Kasaragod district in Kerala and parts of Kodagu district in Karnataka.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National> Kerala / by T. Nandakumar / Thiruvanathapuram – November 12th, 2013

Coorg: A Green Escape in Karnataka

About Kodagu / Coorg, Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Nature

If you find Ooty, Kodaikanal or Munnar a bit too touristy and crowded a destination in southern India, Coorg is that perfect holiday spot in Karnataka that is sure to please toddlers, youth and the old alike.
CoorgKF16nov2013
Not that this hill station needs to be chosen for a sojourn by eliminating other similar destinations in the vicinity. Just a three-hour drive from Mysore, 150 km away, Coorg district on its own has much to offer, beyond its coffee, cardamom, pepper and beetelnut estates.

There is much to see, admire and soak in at this hill station, which the locals call Kodagu, on the slopes of the Western Ghats, what with some pristine trekking trails, picnic spots, waterfalls, wildlife, woods, forests, valleys and some mouth-watering cuisine. Situated at a height of 1,525 metres, Madikeri or Mercara is the capital of Coorg, with a nice bazaar, quaint houses with red-roofs and liberal use of teakwood reapers for doors and furniture, so common among homes and clubhouses in Indian hill stations.

It may come as a surprise to some that Coorg has one of the largest settlements of Buddhists in India, just about 30 km away from Madikeri, with their own Namdroling Monastery built in 1963, which the locals call the Golden Temple. Once you enter the monastery, you feel transported into some other world in the Orient, packed as it is with some 5,000 monks in bright yellow and red robes, with some soothing Buddhist chants, smell of incense and breathtaking sights of pagodas.

After seeing those large golden statues of the Buddha and Tara, the intricate murals and Tangkha paintings, don’t forget to taste some authentic Tibetan food here, especially the delectable momos and the subtle thugkpa, their noodle soup. One is told it is the largest teaching centre of Nyingmapa – a major lineage of Tibetan Buddhism in the world – and the present Dalai Lama gave its shorter name, as opposed to Thegchog Namdrol Shedrub Dargyeling that this mesmerising place was called originally.

Before dwelling further, where to stay is a question that is bound to crop up. While there are plenty of hotels and resorts, including the Orange County, that can even set you back by as much as Rs.25,000 per day, it is best to opt for a home stay. There are some 35 of them in and around Medikeri in a range of Rs.1,000 to Rs.5,000 per day where one gets not just to retire but also taste authentic Coorgi food and take some refreshing strolls on their plantations that grow coffee and other cash crops.

As far as the season goes, October to March — like most places in India — are the best months. The weather is pleasant with that welcome nip in the air. But Coorg during monsoons can be equally mesmerising and enchanting. There are also plenty of places one can go to. There is Abbey Falls, not far, where one has to make his or her way through some dense woods, dotted with coffee bushes, trees and creepers, to suddenly find a cascading gush of water.

Then about 80 km away is the Iruppu Falls, right next to the Rajiv Gandhi National Park, also called Nagarhole, which is famous for its elephants, with a lot of other game and some 50 species of birds. Children, especially, are certain to enjoy a visit to Dubare Forest, around an hour and a half from Medikeri. A ferry there takes you across to an elephant camp where one can see the pachyderms being bathed and fed, after which they are ready for a joy ride.

Talacauvery, around an hour away, is the source of the river Cauvery, with a temple to pay homage to this main source of water for some parts of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Not far is Bhagamandala, the confluence of three rivers: Cauvery, Kanika, and Sujyothi.

Another must-see is Tadiyendamol, which is the tallest peak in Kodagu and gives a breathtaking view of the entire Coorg, apart from the distant Arabian Sea. There is also the Naalkunaadu Palace built by Kodagu king Dodda Raja Veerendra in 1792. After all this exploring, a bungalow at the plantation is perhaps the best place to retire. Toddlers can chase butterflies, and a hammock and freshly brewed coffee are sure to be at hand!

How far: Around 150 km from Mysore and 260 km from Bangalore

How to reach: By bus or car from Mysore. Closest airport is in Bangalore; the airport in Coimbatore in neighbouring Tamil Nadu is another alternative.

Cost: Around 35-40 home stays in Coorg ranging Rs.1,000 to Rs.5,000 per day.

source: http://www.indiatimes.com / India Times / Home> Lifestyle> Travel / November 11th, 2013

Obituary : Lt. Col. (Retd.) M.C. Uthaiah

Famous Personalities of Kodagu / Coorg

LtColKF14nov2013
Mysore :

Lt. Col. (Retd.) M.C. Uthaiah (76), hailing from Munjandira family and a resident of Vijayanagar First Stage, passed away at the Jayachamaraja Wadiyar Golf Course here this morning.

He is survived by wife Chummi Uthaiah and a large number of relatives. Last rites took place at Chirashanthidhama in Gokulam this afternoon. Uthaiah was an ardent golfer and an active member of the Mysore Kodava Samaja.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / November 08th, 2013