Rangayana reaches out to tribal colonies

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Rangayana Director Addanda C Cariyappa said that the repertory has launched ‘Adivasigalatta Rangayanada Chitta’, a programme to reach out to the tribal community people, from Wednesday.

Addressing a media conference here, on Wednesday, he said, “There are two initiatives: Giri Rangapayana with a street-play ‘Arivinedge Adivasi’ (tribals towards knowledge) and Giri Janothsava, a convention with tagline ‘Namma Jana, Namma Samskruthi’ (our people, our culture).”

“Under Giri Rangapayana, ‘Arivinedge Adivasi’ will be staged in the evenings in 15 tribal colonies (haadi) of Kodagu district, from Wednesday. The first street-play show was at Bommadu, near Nagarahole. Twelve artistes were chosen and trained in a 10-day camp at the Tribal Residential School at Bommadu for the street-play, based on social issues. While Radha Kodagu from the tribal community is the convener of the streetplay, Na Srinivas is the director,” he said.

Cariyappa said, “Giri Janothsava is held at Karmadu in Kodagu district on February 23 to showcase the art and culture of the tribal people.

Tribal people from various parts of the state will present their folk art. MLC Shantharam Siddi, MLA K G Bopaiah and Krishnamurthy of Vanavasi Kalyana will participate in a seminar.”

source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> States> Karnataka Districts / by T R Satish Kumar, DHNS Mysuru / February 03rd, 2021

Fashion choreographer Prasad Bidapa’s take on best, worst things in Budget

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, Famous Personalities of Kodagu / Coorg
Prasad Bidapa, Fashion choreographer and stylist

The best thing about the Budget is that it’s citizen-centric and investment-based, a national Budget for Indians, says Bidapa.

Does the Budget address the distress caused by the pandemic?

I hope the new health care package will help control the Covid-19 pandemic better and speed up the vaccination process. Efforts to tackle the crisis and vaccinate people have to be implemented better across the country.

Will this Budget help the economy and create jobs?

I should hope so. The stimulus packages featured in the Budget are good. It’s people-friendly and an overall good Budget that should drive the economic recovery.

What is the best thing about the Budget? And the worst?

The best thing about the Budget is that it’s citizen-centric and investment-based, a national Budget for Indians.

It’s a great relief for taxpayers that rates on the direct tax front have not been increased.

Senior citizens, however, could have been given relief from the age of 65 years instead of 75 given the health challenges in the post-Covid-19 scenario.

The worst thing in the Budget is the agriculture infrastructure cess that will be imposed on petrol and diesel. It is not good and will further jack up inflation.

If you were the Finance Minister, what would you have done with the Budget?

On the specific opening and promotion of textile parks, I would have reserved at least 20 per cent for the handloom and khadi sector, which have enormous export potential, especially in the luxury sector. We need to incentivise the handmade and craft sectors of India, which are unique to us.

BWF rankings: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, Ashwini Ponnappa break into world’s top 20

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Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Ashwini Ponnappa jumped 16 places to reach a career-best ranking of world number 19.

Indian shuttler Ashwini Ponnappa (Photo | PTI)

New Delhi :

India’s mixed doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Ashwini Ponnappa was rewarded for its stupendous show at the recent-concluded Asia leg as it broke into the world’s top 20 in the latest BWF rankings announced on Tuesday.

Satwik and Ashwini, who had become the first Indian mixed doubles pair to reach the semifinals of a world tour Super 1000 event at the Toyota Thailand Open, jumped 16 places to reach a career-best ranking of world number 19.

The duo had stunned fifth seeded Malaysian combination of Chan Peng Soon and Goh Liu Ying in the quarterfinals.

In the men’s doubles, Satwik and Chirag Shetty retained their world number 10 spot after reaching the semifinals at Toyota Thailand Open.

Among others, world champion P V Sindhu remained static at world number 7, while Saina improved a place to world number 19.

In the men’s singles, Kidambi Srikanth moved up a spot to 13th, while Sameer Verma jumped four places to 27th spot after his quarterfinal showing at Toyota Thailand Open.

B Sai Praneeth, who lost in the opening round of the first event and was forced to withdraw from the second tournament after testing COVID-19 positive, slipped a spot to 17th, while Parupalli Kashyap, who struggled with a calf muscle injury, dropped two places to 26th spot.

M R Arjun and Dhruv Kapila, who started playing together in 2019, zoomed 33 places to 64th in the men’s doubles.

The BWF World Rankings reopened following the HSBC BWF World Tour Finals which concluded on Sunday.

The first tournament in the Olympic Qualifying period for the Race to Tokyo will be the Swiss Open Super 300, to be held from March 2 to 7.

The qualification period will end with the Indian Open (May 11-16), with the rankings published on May 18 to be considered for deciding the players making the cut for the Tokyo Games.

Last March, the BWF had frozen the world rankings, saying standings as on March 17 will be the basis for entry and seedings when it restarts the international calendar.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Sport> Other / by PTI / February 02nd, 2021

Happy feet

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

Dancer-actor Nithya Shri talks about her love for dance, and the new music video for Pulkit Samrat, Kriti Kharbanda-starrer Taish that she features in.

Pic: Gorkey Patwal; costume: Gopika Gulwadi/A still from the music video

Bengaluru :

Dance has always been a way of life for Nithya Shri. The dancer-actor, who is often called Sonam Kapoor’s lookalike, has featured in Sona Mohapatra’s latest music video Re Bawaree, released recently. The song is for the movie Taish, directed by Bejoy Nambiar and starring actors like Pulkit Samrat, Kriti Kharbanda and Jim Sarbh. 

In the five-minute-long video, Shri portrays the character of a young girl waiting for her beloved. “The song is about a girl who lives in her dreams. So I tried to base it on a 21-year-old who is waiting for the one she loves. She is chirpy and expresses herself through dance,” says Shri, who is currently in Bengaluru but will be leaving for Hyderabad for work soon.

The video has her sharing screen space with actor-model Yasmin Ponnappa and Odissi dancer Daksha Mashruwala. All the characters show different emotions in girls belonging to different age groups. “For example, Yasmin’s character shows sadness and longing. It was also a dream come true to share a platform with Daksha ma’am,” says Nithya, adding that her part had a mix of Kathak and contemporary dance. Besides being trained in these two, Shri is also a Bharatnatyam dancer. 

The song was shot in November 2020 and Nithya had just one day to shoot and choreograph her part. “The day was stressful, action packed and funny, all rolled into one,” she recalls. “Whatever I learnt about filmmaking is from Bijoy. He was not supposed to be on the sets that day but he suddenly decided to visit. I was so conscious to dance while he was around,” laughs Nithya, who eventually dropped her inhibitions and went with the flow. 

She is currently assisting Nambiar in one of his projects. She was last seen on the silver screen in the 2019 Kannada crime drama Virthara, starring Prakash Belawadi and Sudha Rani. Her last dance project was Mughal E Azam, a Broadway-style musical, directed by Feroz Abbas Khan, which has completed 120 shows.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Bengaluru / by Monika Monalisa / Express News Service / January 16th, 2021

Jagat and Anita Nanjappa: Meet the champion couple of Indian motorsports

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Like Dinesh Karthik and Dipika Pallikal to Sania Mirza and Shoaib Malik, Indian motorsports power couple Jagat and Anita Nanjappa are dominating Indian Rally Racing.

Jagat and Anita Nanjappa: champion couple of Indian motorsports

Couples in sports are not a rare a thing in India. From Dinesh Karthik and Dipika Pallikal to Sania Mirza and Shoaib Malik, the Indian sporting fraternity has seen quite a few powerful sporting couples. Amongst many lies the name of Jagat and Anita Nanjappa. Now, both of these names might not be as popular as others, but the efforts and hard work put in by this Karnataka couple to promote motorsports in India is second to none.

So, how did it all start for this power-couple of Indian motorsports ?

For starters, Jagat’s father Appanna was a race driver himself. It was from his father that a young Jagat imbibed the passion for fast motors.

With coffee planting being the main business for his family, Jagat had plenty of time to pursue his love for motor racing. Growing up in Kodagu district, Jagat started racing bikes as a hobby in 1981.  It was though after his marriage with Anita that success started following him in the race tracks. The couple has won countless rallies like the Time, Speed and Distance (TSD), Raid and Stage Rallies and others with Jagat as the driver and Anita as the navigator.

The tyre company MRF soon started sponsoring them owing to their tremendous success in the race track and they started competing under the banner of ‘Team MRF’.

The couple won nine out of eleven Annual Indian National Rally Riders Championships from 1986 to 1996, losing out only in the year 1990 and 1992. Besides, they also found success in The Great Desert Rally in 1988, The Coimbatore rally in 1992, The MASA rally in 1993 and 1994 and The Popular rally in Kochi in the 1993 and 1994.

Moreover, they ended as runners up with car in the Indian National Racing Championship in the year 1998, 2000 and 2001 whilst competing in the 1400cc category.

In order to give back to the society and popularise the sport of motor racing in India, Jagat and Anita set up the Universal Sports Club at Bangalore in 2002 with an aim to develop the infrastructure for the sport in the country. They also established the Nanjappa Racing Foundation to organise professional motor racing events across the country.

A large portion of the credit for the current state of motor sports in India should definitely go to this motor-couple. It is hard to imagine what the level of motor sports in India would have been if not for Jagat and Anita Nanjappa.

source: http://www.thebridge.in / The Bridge / Home> Karnataka / by Abhijit Nair / January 20th, 2021

Martyrs’ Day observed with prayers in Madikeri

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The ashes of Mahatma Gandhi were decked with flowers on account of Martyrs’ Day in Madikeri on Saturday.

The district administration and Sarvodaya Samithi observed Martyrs’ Day in Madikeri on Saturday.

The ashes of Mahatma Gandhi were taken out from the district treasury in district administration complex and floral tributes were paid to them.

The ashes of Mahatma Gandhi were taken out from the district treasury in district administration complex and floral tributes were paid to them.

All-religion prayers were offered and the Scouts and Guides sang Bhajans. Religious leaders recited the Bhagavad Gita, the Bible and the Quran on the occasion. 

Speaking on the occasion, former minister M C Nanaiah said that it is an honour that Kodagu district has the ashes of Mahatma Gandhi.

A memorial should be constructed at Gandhi Mantapa on the lines of Raj Ghat to keep the ashes of Gandhi, he said. 

“We have been demanding a memorial at Gandhi Mantapa for the last 15 years, which has not been fulfilled so far,” he added. 

Deputy Commissioner Charulata Somal, Superintendent of Police Kshama Mishra and others were present. 

source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> State> Mangaluru / by DHNS, Madikeri / January 31st, 2021

MSP for coffee sought

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

Karnataka Growers’ Federation has appealed to the State government to provide minimum support price for coffee, considering the loss coffee growers suffered in the last one year.

KGF president H.T. Mohan Kumar and secretary K.B. Krishnappa, in a press release issued here on Thursday, said that coffee growers had been in financial distress as nearly 50 pc of the yield from coffee and pepper farms was lost due to untimely rains in January. The growers were not in a position to harvest the remaining yield due to non-availability of workers. The officers of Agriculture, Horticulture and Revenue Departments had been doing survey to assess the loss suffered.

“Considering the plight of the growers, neighbouring Kerala government has initiated measures to provide minimum support price for coffee. Similarly, Karnataka government should come forward to the rescue of the growers in Chikkamagaluru, Hassan and Kodagu districts”, the Federation said.

Referring to Dr.M.S.Swaminathan’s report, it demanded MSP at the rate of 1.5 times of the production cost. The State government should take a decision on this in the coming budget, it said.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Karnataka / by Special Correspondent / Hassan – January 28th, 2021

Pramod Bopanna is now an emerging Sandalwood star

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Famous Personalities of Kodagu / Coorg
Pramod Bopanna is now an emerging Sandalwood star

Pramod Bopanna, a native of the Scotland of India, Madikeri is all set to make big in the Kannada cinema industry. Pramod, a fan of Crazy-star Ravichandran wanted to become an actor since his childhood and to be precisely said from 3rd grade. And that is because of Ravichandran himself.

Pramod witnessed the shooting of Crazy start Ravichandran’s Chinna in Madikeri and decided to become an actor. Walking towards the goal he started as an anchor in a local channel and then as a news anchor in Udaya News Channel for 9 years.

His itch to become an actor got stronger and he said bye to his job as a news anchor and started working as an actor in television serials. Raghavendra Mahime, Samartha Sadguru Saibaba, Rangoli, Sukanya are some of the serials he has played pivotal roles in.

The talented actor has also started working in movies now. Andukondante, Mareyade Kshamisu, Balepete are the movies he has played lead roles in.

Pramod Bopanna has also appeared in two Tamil movies and has been offered many other movies. he is also working on a movie called Climax.

source: http://www.freepressjournal.in / The Free Press Journal / Home> Entertainment / by FPJ Web Desk / January 30th, 2021

Rohan Bopanna gets new Australian Open doubles partner

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India’s Rohan Bopanna will emerge from his 14-day quarantine in Melbourne later on Saturday with a spring in his step after his quest for a new doubles partner for next month’s Australian Open finally ended.

The former doubles World No. 3 is one of 72 players who have been confined to their hotel rooms in Melbourne after fellow passengers on the flights that brought them to Australia tested positive for COVID-19.

Compounding his problem, Bopanna was forced into searching for a new partner after Joao Sousa was unable to travel to Australia on time after testing COVID-19 positive.

“Playing with Ben McLachlan from Japan in Australian open,” Bopanna told Reuters in a message on Saturday.

McLachlan is a New Zealand-born player who represents Japan. He will team up with China’s Duan Yingying for the mixed doubles.

In next week’s ATP event at Melbourne Park, Bopanna will partner Denmark’s Frederik Nielsen in the men’s doubles.

Denied training like most other players, Bopanna earlier told Reuters he had been relying on exercise bands and mats to stay fit.

source: http://www.sportstar.thehindu.com / Sportstar / Home> Tennis / January 30th, 2021

Work On Kootupole Bridge On Karnataka-Kerala Border Resumes

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Virajpet:

Virajpet MLA K.G. Bopaiah recently inspected the work on a bridge across Kootupole near Makutta which provides connectivity between Karnataka and Kerala.

The bridge is at the Karnataka-Kerala border and is part of the Kerala State Transport Project (KSTP) road between Thalassery and Valavupara. The bridge work has resumed as Karnataka Wildlife Board has decided to give permission for the construction of the bridge.

The old bridge, built during the British era across Kootupole, has been providing interState connectivity at Makutta and it was narrow and in dilapidated condition. With the construction of Kannur International Airport, the density of vehicles on the old bridge had increased. To provide connectivity to the Airport, the Kerala Government had developed a 55-km road at an estimated cost of Rs. 360 crore till Kootupole.

However, the Karnataka Forest Department had stalled the work in 2017 considering that the land belonged to Brahmagiri Wildlife Division. Now, the work has resumed once again.Though the claim of Kerala was that the river is in its territory, the Karnataka authorities claimed that a portion of the bridge is in Brahmagiri Wildlife Sanctuary in Karnataka and also they claimed that half the river belongs to them, following which the work had to be stopped.

The project has already missed many deadlines. Though Kerala had given the documents to assert its right over the river and the officials held meetings at various levels, there were many objections on the part of Karnataka authorities. This road is a major link between Kerala and Karnataka and it would be beneficial for the residents in many parts of Karnataka, including Kodagu to come to Kannur Airport.

Realising the importance of the bridge, Bopaiah had brought the issue of the stalling of work to the notice of Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa, who in turn had brought it to the notice of the Central Government.

The Central Government cleared the hurdles for the bridge and the work has commenced. The MLA said that the Central and State Governments have given conditional approval for the work on the bridge. The completion of the bridge will benefit passengers travelling to Mysuru and Hassan from Kodagu.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> News / January 20th, 2021