Tilak Shatters Course Record

Famous Personalities of Kodagu / Coorg, Sports, ,

The Indian elite athletes fared the best in the men’s half-marathon one-way dash from Bandra to CST with Coorg-based BC Tilak shattering the course record. Tilak, who plans to graduate to the full marathon next year, breasted the tape in an hour, four minutes and 45 seconds and was followed by Railways’  Soji  Mathew (1:05:04), his Army Sports Institute (ASI) teammate Kheta Ram (1:05:32) and Parsaram Bhol (1:05:32), all inside the old mark of 1:05:44 set by two-time winner Surender Singh in 2008.

The ASI trio of Bining Lyngkhoi, Angad Kumar and Ram Singh Yadav expectedly topped the full marathon in that order, but none of them, however, succeeded in finishing under the targeted 2:18:00 sec timing. “I paced myself with an African runners at the start but I couldn’t generate enough power till I reached the 25k mark,” said Lyngkhoi, who finished 20th overall (2:21.16).

Kumar (2:24:32) and Yadav (2:25:33) too were at a loss for words for their poor timings. “Maybe the timing pressure played on our minds,” said Kumar. Yadav, in fact, was not unhappy. “After the hamstring injury I had 12 days back, it feel good that I was able to finish this well,” he said.

Indian women full marathoners, aside from the controversial finish by two, saw the top four also finish in the top-20 overall, although none breached the three-hour barrier.

Maharashtra’s Jyoti Gawate, who was runner-up in the Indian category last year, pulled away to finish nearly three minutes ahead of second finishing reigning champion Shastri Devi. At 3:05.30, Gawate was a good 16th overall. Also impressive was pint-sized Anuja Bijagare who finished her first full marathon run of her professional career in fourth position behind the experienced M Sudha.

Ethiopians light up Mumbai morning

Sumil VS adds: It was to be their show of strength against their Kenyan brothers. And, nothing, it seemed, could have stopped the Ethiopians, not even the brief chaos created by the security dog of Trident Hotel in the initial minutes.

And their perseverance and strong teamwork paid off 2 hours 09 minutes and 54 seconds later as one of them, 24-year-old Girima Assefa, his hands reaching for the sky, broke the white tape at the finish line. To add to it their women made it a Super Sunday  as Koren Yal, Merima Mohammed and Elfenesh Alemu completed another year of Ethiopian domination in the full-marathon.

The athletes enjoyed running in the race that began amid chilling breeze at 7.40am on Sunday.

source: http://www. hindustantimes.com / by  Camilo   Fernandes  / Hindustan Times / Mumbai /Jan 16th, 2011

Joshna Chinappa upsets Pallikal to Win Chicago Open

Famous Personalities of Kodagu / Coorg, Sports, ,

India’s Joshna Chinappa scored an upset 3-2 victory over compatriot Dipika Pallikal to win the Metrosquash Windy City Open title in Chicago.

Fourth seeded Chinappa, ranked 35th in the world, won 11-4 6-11 12-10 2-11 11-6 against another Indian Pallikal, seeded second, in the $ 8,000 WISPA World tour event.

Both the Indians were neck on neck throughout the tie and matched each other in execution of shots and dead drops for winners.

But Chinappa was able to hold her nerve better and the third game which she won in deuce put pressure on her higher ranked opponent.

In the semifinals, Chennai girl Chinappa, ranked 24th in the world, had defeated top seed Ireland’s Aisling Blake 7-11 11-5 5-11 11-8 6-11 in 59 minutes.

Pallikal, who recently became the highest ranked Indian in the world, advanced to the summit clash after her opponent USA’s Latasha Khan retired in the fifth game.

Both were locked 2-2 (5-11 11-6 8-11 12-10) after the fourth game.

 

source: http://www.coorgnews.wordpress.com / Feb 17th, 2011

 

Victoria Gowramma: The Lost Princess of Coorg

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links / Pre-Independence, , ,

Veerarajendra, the exiled raja of Coorg, and his eleven-year-old daughter of Gowramma, were the first Indian royals to land in Britain in the summer of 1852. Veerarajendra used the pretext of his daughter’s embracing Christanity and acquiring a Western education, as a ruse to secure permission to visit England.

What was his true motive behind this journey? Furthermore, as godmother to Gowramma, Queen Victoria had grand plans for the princess and another exiled royalty: Maharaja Duleep Singh of Punjab. In this book, C.P. Belliappa has reconstructed the extraordinary saga of the earliest Indian royalities to visit and live in Victorian England. He has unearthed hither to unpublished material that throws light on Veerarajendra’s and Princess Victoria Gowramma’s life in England, and the amazing affection Queen Victoria bestowed on the young princess.

source: http://www.coorgnews.wordpress.com / by P.C. Belliappa / Feb 20th, 2011

 

In 40 Years, Kodagu Stripped of Forests

Nature, Uncategorized, , ,

BRAHMAGIRI (Kodagu)

From 86 to 16 — that’s the percentage of green cover Kodagu lost over the past four decades due to unabated illegal timber smuggling and development initiatives by the government and locals.
“Kodagu, which had about 86% of its land under forest cover in the late 1970s, now has a mere 16%. This includes about 40% which has been converted into coffee estates. If things continue in this way, we may end up with no forest in Kodagu by 2025,” said K M Chinnappa , chairman of Wildlife First, a state-level NGO fighting for environment and wildlife.

He maintained that Unesco’s World Heritage tag is needed to save Kodagu’s precious forests. “I am not saying the district will get back its 86% green cover the moment it is bestowed with the heritage tag. But at least it will put a stop to further destruction,” said Chinnappa, who was with the state forest department for 26 years, before taking voluntary retirement.

Data from various sources collected by NGOs states that dense forests extend to more than 4,102 sqkm and reserved forests to 830 sqkm. The trend shows a net loss of more than 20-26 sqkm every year in greenery.
Environmentalists point out that illegal timber lobbies are active in the region – both from Karnataka and Kerala. They said that despite continuous media reports about the illegal timber trade in nexus with forest officials, there has been little impact. “It is time the authorities wake up and make their stand clear. The depleting forest cover has led to the extinction of many rare animal species and destroyed the habitats of wild animals,” said environmentalist Ravi Chengappa , principal convener of Cauvery Sene.

It’s not that the locals here are not conscious about conservation and environment, but illegal felling of forests continues. Coffee planter C K Ganapathy , residing near Srimanagala forest range close to Brahamagiri Wildlife Sanctuary, said trucks loaded with illegal timber ply frequently from forests in Kodagu but are rarely seized by forest authorities. He pointed out that the issue of Transit Permits (TP), flouting the laws of the district, is one of the reasons for the high rate of timber smuggling.

Going Bald
In 1970s, 86% of Kodagu was forest cover
40% of this land was converted into coffee estates
Development, projects shaved off green cover to 16%
Trend shows annual net loss of 20-26 sqkm

 

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / by Manu Aiyappa / TNN / Jun 18th, 2011