Tribals empowered to collect minor forest produces: Rameshwar Oraon

About Kodagu / Coorg, Agriculture, Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Green Initiatives / Environment, Nature


Rameshwar Oraon, Chairperson, National Commission for Scheduled Tribes, addressing tribals at Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Bhavan in Hunsur yesterday, accompanied by other members of the Commission. Pictures centre and right show the tribal dances performed to welcome the Central team.

Mysore, Nov. 9 (RK&RNN)
Tribal people have every right to collect and sell Minor Forest Produces (MFP) and no one could interfere with this, observed Rameshwar Oraon, Chairperson, National Commission for Scheduled Tribes.

Addressing members of the tribal community at Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Bhavan in Hunsur after visiting several Haadis in H.D. Kote taluk of Mysore district yesterday, he said the Union Government was taking steps to fix a minimum price for the MFP to avoid exploitation from middle men.

He also added that The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 made all tribal people living in the forest eligible for title deeds of their lands and urged Adivasis to take benefits due to them.

He also elicited the opinion of tribal people and others who participated in the meeting on whether they were getting the benefits given by the Centre.

Stating that the tribals would be given compensation four times higher than the existing value of the land if the same was acquired for any government purpose, Oraon added that the Centre was planning to bring legislation in this regard.

Many of those present complained that they were denied benefits like schools, angan-wadi centres, drinking water and ration under the Public Distribution System (PDS) to which Oraon replied that he would take up the issue with the State Chief Secretary at a meeting scheduled to be held today and added that he would also discuss it with Deputy Commissioner and CEO of Mysore Zilla Panchayat.

Food security to tribals

It is reported that Rameshwar Oraon has directed the District Administration to provide food security to tribals and adivasis living in the periphery of forests through Fair Price shops and also urged the District Administration to provide them alternative land for agriculture.

Stressing for education to tri-bal children at Ashraya Schools from first to seventh standards, Oraon instructed ADGP Chikkanur to withdraw false cases filed against tribals and also called for making arrangements for selling of products manufactured by tribals through Lamp Societies at good prices.

He directed early completion of probe into the missing cases of Jiyamballi Raju and Hunsekoppa Bheemasena besides ensuring avoidance of harassment of tribals by forest officials.

A traditional welcome was accorded to the visiting team by tribals who performed folk dan-ces following which Prasanna, Convenor of South India Cell for Human Rights Education and Monitoring (SICHREM) and Vaddaragudi Chikkanna gave a presentation of problems being faced by tribals.

The team consisting of Rameshwar Oraon, Commission members Kamala Kumari, B.L. Meena, Jt. Secretary Aditya Mishra, Dy. Director K.D.Bansar, SC/ST Regional Office (Bhopal) Asst. Director R.K.Dubey and others who arrived from Bangalore in the morning drove straight to Morarji Desai School Hostel in Hunsur for an inspection.

Dy. Commissioner P.S. Vastrad, ZP CEO Dr. Ajai Nagabhushan, SP R.Dileep, MLAs Chikkanna and Manjunath, Asst. Commissioners, Tahasil dars and other officials provided necessary information to the team.

source: http://www.StarofMysore.com / Home> General News / November 09th, 2012

Teppadakandi gets hanging bridge connecting Mysore, Kodagu

Business & Economy, Nature

Teppadakandi, a small village in Guddehosur connecting Mysore and Kodagu districts, has witnessed several causalities of those trying to cross the river Cauvery. Residents, including students, cross the river to reach Rani Gate, Maroor, Doddaharave and Tomabathu Acre villages as it is the shortest route.

Now, with the hanging bridge that was inaugurated on October 30, the distance which was 18 kilometres earlier, has been cut down to three. The concept of a hanging bridge was first conceived by Guddemane Vishu Kumar, a photographer from Guddehosur who is also the brother-in-law of former chief minister D V Sadananda Gowda. When Gowda became the chief minister, Vishu Kumar generated publicity about the subject and took it to Vidhana Souda with the help of then member of Legislative Assembly M P Appachu Ranjan.

Through the Malnad Area Development Board, `83.75 lakh was sanctioned and Girish Bharadhwaj took up construction. It was finally inaugurated on October 30 by Sadananda Gowda in the presence of District In-cahrge Minister Appachu Ranjan and others who strived to make this dream a reality. Gowda said the state government had managed to reach rural areas by providing basic facilities.

Ranjan told Express that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government was committed to the overall development of the district, the hanging bridge being one such example.

Vishu Kumar told Express that after the inauguration, an average of 500 to 600 people had crossed the bridge, some even on motorbikes.

Earlier, people used rafts made of bamboo to reach their destinations, which took several hours to cross the river. During the rainy season, it was very risky and sometimes people were marooned for months together, he added.

Vincent M B from Sunticoppa, who worked with Vishu Kumar, said that a six decade-long dream had finally come true.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / Home> States> Karnataka / by B C Dinesh, Madikeri / November 05th, 2012

Birds of the same feather

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Green Initiatives / Environment

Kodagu, straddled on the Western Ghats, boasts of more than 300 varieties of birds. This pristine area abounds in an assortment of rare flora and fauna as well.

One of the unique selling propositions for coffee grown in these environs is that the berries develop under dappled sunlight filtered through friendly shade trees, to a medley of melodious sounds of numerous feathered bipeds.

It is claimed that these ‘happy’ berries are imbued with the finest qualities of the salubrious sylvan surroundings. Just as in a popular commercial for a Scotch that says, “as you sip their whiskey you hear hundred pipers playing,” the coffee planters in this area market their produce with the hype that the consumers could listen to chirping of birds as they savour the brew which is famously known as: the cup that cheers but not inebriates!

When it comes to these bright coloured feathered bipeds, there are two medical doctors in Kodagu who have evocatively captured the images of local birds in all their splendour, through different art forms.

Besides their medical profession, they are well-known ornithologists as well. The first, Dr S V Narasimhan, has brought out a bilingual (English and Kannada) book titled ‘Feathered Jewels of Coorg’ in which he has painstakingly colour-sketched 310 birds of this region.
He has meticulously described each species giving their popular English names along with their scientific Latin names. Also included are the names of each species in Kannada as well as in Kodava languages.

However, Narasimhan’s efforts go far beyond just documenting bird-life in Kodagu. He is actively involved in bringing about environmental awareness and wildlife conservation in a unique way. Every year, Narasimhan hand-paints thousands of postcards of birds and animals of Kodagu with specific messages composed by him pertaining to our milieu.
He then mails them free of cost to a host of recipients.

His modest request, however, is for postage stamps so that he could distribute his hand-painted postcards to even more beneficiaries to spread his message on conservation and protection of wildlife, so very crucial to our environment. Narasimhan has, as on date, hand-painted 56,590 cards in a span of 28 years! I am sure it’s a world record. I am one of the lucky beneficiaries this year.

Aim and shoot

The other doctor, Dr Bishan Monnappa, an orthopaedician, is a keen photographer. He brilliantly captures wildlife in their natural habitat through powerful cameras. His high-definition photographs of birds of various plumages are simply spectacular.

Dr S V Narasimhan and Dr Bishan Monnappa are popularly known as ‘Bird-men of Kodagu’. They are extending their healing touch beyond humans to the wellbeing of Mother Nature as well.

Now, who can resist drinking coffee that has bird songs recorded in its brew!

source: http://www.DeccanHerald.com / Home> Supplements> Spectrum / by C.P. Belliappa / November 06th, 2012

Exploring the unknown this festival

Arts, Culture & Entertainment

This Diwali vacation, families are looking to experiment with their travelling plans. Exploring new places in domestic travel is the new trend.

“Going to places like Mahabaleshwar or Lonavala does not make sense. They are commercialised and we have been there several times,” said Vrinda Choughule, a Mahim resident who has decided to go on an eight-day vacation to Coorg. Coorg, surprisingly happens to be one of the most happening destinations amongst vacation-goers.“My family wanted to be close to greenery and hence we chose Coorg. Besides, it’s nice living at a home stay,” said a traveller from Borivli who will be visiting Coorg, Vainad and Kabini.

Cheap rentals and a greater distance from home rank high on the list when choosing a destination. “The per head cost is around Rs20-25,000 for places like Coorg and these can also be customised according to preference enhancing their appeal,” said Yogesh Lele, director of Dadar based Sanyog Tours Pvt. Ltd.

Another destination that is hot on to-do list is wild life sanctuaries. The sanctuaries appeal to people who are tired of the same old hills and beaches. “A lot of youngsters like going with their families to places like Gir, Kanha and Ranthambore. Besides the novelty of a safari ride, they like being in the lap of nature,” said Gaurav Athalye, director of Jungle Lore, a Mahim-based tour operator. “My brother and I have planned a trip to Ranthambore this year. We like Rajasthan and feel that this is the right time to go there as the weather will be pleasant too,” said Vidhi Salla, a 27-year-old Kandivli resident.

In the international market, it is popular destinations like Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand that are still the favourites fro travellers. “Better connectivity and cheaper travel is what attracts people to these palces,” said Iqbal Mullah, president of Travel agents association of India.

source: http://www.dnaindia.com / Daily News & Analysis / Home> Mumbai> Report / by DNA Correspondent, Place: Mumbai, Agency: DNA / Sunday, November 04th, 2012

Bhupathi-Bopanna win Paris Masters

Leaders, Records, All, Sports

Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna clinched the Paris Master, their second title of the year, after scoring a hard-fought win over Aisam-ul-haq Qureshi and Jean-Julien Rojer, here today.

The fifth seed Indian pair, playing their fourth final of the season, struggled past the Pakistan-Dutch combination 7-6 (6) 6-3 in the summit clash, lasting one hour and 24 minutes.

Bhupathi and Bopanna had won the Dubai ATP event and ended runners-up at Cincinnati and Shanghai.

The Indians could not convert a single breakpoint of the six chances in the opening set but held nerves in the tie-breaker to take the lead.

They saved a crucial break chance in the second set and cashed in on both the chances on opponents’ serve to seal the win.

The Indians have already qualified for the season-ending finale, where they will make debut as a pair.

The 38-year-old Bhupathi is a four-time runner-up at the event, losing the final in 2010 with Max Mirnyi and 1997, ’99 and 2000 with Leander Paes.

Bopanna, 32, had made his debut at the year-end championships last year with Qureshi.

source: http://www.DeccanHerald.com / Home> Sports / by PTI / Paris, November 03rd, 2012

Rajyotsava in Kodagu

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

A variety of dances by school children, attractive march past by men in uniform, Naadageethe and Raita Geethe sung in unison marked Kannada Rajyotsava, organised by the district administration at the fort here on Thursday.

Amid drizzle that drenched the earth in the morning, district in-charge minister Appachu Ranjan hoisted the national flag and Kannada flag and inaugurated the celebration. In his inaugural address, the minister gave a call for the people to unitedly work towards preserving Kannada language and culture. Kannada language, which we speak today, has a history of 2,000 years. Apart from shouting slogans hailing Kannada, we should work in the ground level to preserve and promote the language. Specially, the emphasis should be laid on schools and colleges where they should be taught the skills of reading and writing Kannada.

“Language is a symbol of the richness of life and it reflects the culture. Kannada could be developed only when each of us dedicate ourselves and work proudly for the language and culture. The Central government has already given the classical status to Kannada. We should make an organised effort to gain all profits that the status would bring to the language,” he said.

Award Winners

Kodagu Zilla Rajyotsava award was conferred on several achievers from different fields on the occasion. The awardees are as follows: B S Lokesh Sagar (light music); B N Mohan Palegar (folk song); Roopa Srikrishna Upadhya (Bharatanatyam); Addanda Anitha Kariyappa (drama and cinema); B R Sathish (art); C N Boapaiah, Kayapanda Shashisomaiah, Nandagujar, Umesh (journalism); P M Appaiah, K Aine Asmakhanam, (sports); Dr Korana Saraswati Prakash, Paradanda Changappa (literature); Jeevan T B, P Mahadewaswami (education); Koodakandi Kaveramma Somanna, Manavattira Kaveriyamma Poovanna, Prakash B N, N S Kandadevaiah, P M Ravi (social service).

Kodagu zilla panchayat president B Shivappa, vice-president Usha Devamma, CMC president H M Nandakumar, deputy commissioner Dr N V Prasad and others were present.
Arogya Shri soon
Minister Appachu Ranjan announced that Vajpayee Arogya Shri scheme which helps the BPL families to avail free medical check-up and treatment at select facilities will be launched at Virajpet taluk on November 17.

source: http://www.DeccanHerald.com / Home> District / Madikeri, DHNS, November 01st, 2012

Grand procession marks end of Madikeri Dasara

Arts, Culture & Entertainment

The entire city was illuminated for the grand finale.

Madikeri Dasara celebrations concluded with the grand procession of Dasha mantapas on Wednesday night. The celebrations culminated with the pooja at the Banni mantapa at Mahadevpet.

A large number of people, who had arrived from across the district and outside, participated in the procession. The public watched the procession of Karaga of Shakthi Devathas with devotion.

The entire city was illuminated for the grand finale. Post office, BSNL and police station buildings and temples of the four Shakthi Devathas were decorated for the occasion.
The mantapas depicted mythological stories.

Depending on the story, the tableaux, sound and lighting effect, the judges adjudged the best mantapas. The tableaux were taken out in a procession in the mainstreets at private bus shelter, in front of Basaveshwara temple, KSRTC bus shelter, Bata main road, Indiragandhi Circle, in front of police station, Anand Bakery and at Town Hall.

The police had made elaborate arrangements. In fact, CCTV cameras were installed at six places, to keep a watch on the movement of the people.

Mantapas were restricted in two tractors. Sound and light experts from Bangalore, Mangalore and Mysore were hired by the Dasha Mantapa committees to make the mantapas look attractive. Laser effect on the Dasha Mantapa was another attraction.

The mantapa of Kote Mahaganapathy temple had depicted ‘Ganapathi Gajamukhanada kathana,’ Sri Kanchikamakshi temple had highligted on ‘Manikantana mahime,’ Pete Sri Rama Mandira on ‘Veerajaneya darshana,’ Sri Kote Mariamma temple —’Andhakasurana vadhe,’ Dechoor Sri Rama Mandira temple committee— ‘Parashuramaninda Karthyaveeryarjunana samhara,’ Sri Chowdeshwari temple— ‘Saptha mathrike killing Daarigasura,’ Sri Dandina Mariamma temple— ‘Seethapaharana,’ Sri Karavale Bhagavathi Mahisha mardini temple — ‘Shumba-Nishumbhara samhara,’ Sri Kodanda Rama temple— ‘Moshikasurana vadhe’ and Kundurumotte Sri Chowti Mariamma temple— ‘Andasurana vadhe.’

source: http://www.DeccanHerald.com / Home> District> Madikeri / DH News Service / October 25th, 2012

Tata Coffee to close ranks with Starbucks

Business & Economy, Coffee News, Coffee, Kodagu (Coorg)

To have one among the seven highly specialised global coffee roasteries.
Tata Coffee, the Bangalore-based publicly-held coffee bean supplier, is set to storm into the closely-knit roasteries group of Starbucks. The latter has just six roasteries (five in the US, one in Amsterdam) that supply to 17,000 Starbucks cafes across the world, and the roastery set up by Tata Coffee, at Coorg in the pristine Western Ghats in Karnataka, would be the next in line.

“The technology used in the roasteries for Starbucks is closely guarded and our roastery has been set up directly under Starbucks’ technical overview. The 375-tonne roastery was set up with an investment of Rs 4 crore, and will supply to the Starbucks cafes in India. Next on the agenda is to gradually start supplying to the cafes in South Asia, and eventually various other global cafes for Starbucks,” a senior management official of Tata Coffee told Business Standard. This is in line with the stated agenda that the Indian Espresso Roast will be the hallmark feature of all Starbucks stores in the market. As part of the agreement, Starbucks and Tata Coffee will work towards developing and improving the the profile of Indian-grown arabica coffees round the world by elevating the stature of Indian coffee. “However, it will be a while before Tata Coffee gets its place in mature global markets where Starbucks is present, as the processes are being fine-tuned to match the exacting standards,” the official added.

According to information available, Starbucks decided on the roastery with Tata Coffee after a series of rigorous checks on the various parameters at the Kushalnagar plant in Coorg.

An indication on the kind of ground work Starbucks does is visible in this fact when it scouted for its first roastery outside of the United States in Europe. “In the late 90s, when Starbucks considered its ambitious expansion plans for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, the company spent close to three years looking at various sites across Europe before they chose Amsterdam in the Netherlands for their first roastery outside the United States,” a Netherlands Government statement highlighted.

Ever since, Starbucks and Tata Coffee announced the pact during late January 2012, the stock of Tata Coffee has so far gained 23 per cent on the hope that there will be substantial uptake in volumes from Starbucks. The global major in coffee retailing bought over 428 million pounds of coffee in fiscal 2011 and it paid an average price of $2.38 per pound for premium green (unroasted) coffee in 2011 – up from $1.56 per pound in 2010.

Tata Coffee, a subsidiary of Tata Global Beverages, has been betting big on instant and specialty coffee to differentiate in the marketplace and is also the third largest exporter of instant coffee from India. Tata Coffee produces more than 10,000 metric tonnes of shade grown Arabica and Robusta coffees at its 19 estates in South India and its two Instant Coffee manufacturing facilities have a combined installed capacity of 6,000 metric tonnes. It exports green coffee to countries in Europe, Asia, Middle East and North America.

Tata Coffee for the second quarter of Fy13 has reported a healthy 109 per cent growth in its second quarter net profit to Rs 36.8 crore as compared to corresponding previous quarter riding on good growth in its instant coffee division and a sharp turnaround in its global subsidiary Eight O’ Clock Coffee. Total income at Rs 477 crore for the quarter was up 15 per cent.

source: http://www.afaqs.com / Home> News> / Category: Marketing / by Raghuvir Badrinath, Business Standard, Bangalore / October 25th, 2012

Revathi launches Rajiv Menon’s book

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

Actor and director Revathi launched author Rajiv G Menon’s book ‘Thundergod: The Ascendance of Indra’ in Mumbai recently.

VJ Nikhil Chinappa and actor Purab Kohli were seen in a scintillating conversation with author regarding his popular fiction book at Aurus, Juhu. Gul Panag, Aditi Rao Hydari, Sandhya Mridul, Cyrus Sahukar, Shonali Nagrani and many more were seen enjoying the launch.

Before setting out on a writing career, Rajiv G. Menon was an actor, occasional screenwriter, traveler and beach bum. A voracious reader since childhood, he was fascinated by stories and characters from Indian, Greek and Norse Mythology. Thundergod was born as a result of that fascination.

source: http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / Home> Entertainment> Regional / TNN, October 26th, 2012

Temple mantap winners announced

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Records, All

Madikeri:

Manikanta Mahime Mantap of the Shri Kanchi Kamakshi temple bagged the first place in the Madikeri Dasara festival.

This was announced by the Madikeri Dasara Janothsava Committee here on Thursday. The other prize winners are mantap depicting the killing of Darigasura by Saptha Mathrikas of Sri Chowdeshwari temple (2nd prize) and Ganapathi becoming Gajamukha by Shri Kote Mahaganapthi temple (3rd prize). All the mantaps took part in the Shobha Yatra held from Wednesday night to Thursday morning.

A large number of people had gathered to watch the procession. There was also a stampede in which a person was injured. Police were also forced to resort to mild lathi charge to disburse the crowd.

Presiding over the Dasara function, Kodagu district in-charge minister M P Appachu Ranjan said he had instructed the district administration to stop the implementation of high tension electric line project work in south Kodagu which would affect the ecology. On cloud seeding in Kodagu, he said that he had spoken with to the ministry concerned not to conduct cloud seeding in Kodagu as it would affect the whole plantation area.

He also announced that for the construction of a swimming pool in Madikeri, for providing turfs in Somwarpet and Kudige, and also an indoor stadium in Madikeri, a special grant of Rs13 crore has been released by the government. State film academy president Tara took part in the event.

source: http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / Home> City> Mangalore / TNN, October 27th, 2012