Category Archives: Uncategorized
Virajpet TP resolves to ban plastic from April 1
At the monthly meeting held on Thursday, Virajpet Town Panchayat unanimously passed the resolution to impose ban on plastic including 40 micron plastic, in the town panchayat limits from April 1.
Town Panchayat President said although ban on plastic is in force in TP limits, 40 micron plastic is still being used. When raids were conducted on those who were trying to sell banned plastic, some Town Panchayat members tried to create pressure.
Hence, it would be better to lift the ban. This remark lead to elaborate discussions and finally the meet decided to pass the resolution to impose ban on all types of plastic from
April 1.
Border survey
TP President told Urban Development Authority Engineer that, the resurvey towards marking of town border is being conducted as flaws have been spotted in the survey work conducted in 2008 and that the resurvey is 80 percent complete.
The engineer asked the President to submit the final report on the survey work as soon as possible since a high level meeting of the urban development authority is scheduled to be held in Bangalore on February 28.
Member D P Rajesh Padmanabh alleged that the license fee of the shops of people belonging to Savitha Samaja, Madiwala and other classes. He meanwhile urged to decrease the license fee. He further urged to increase the cable license fee as a single person in operating the cable network in the entire town.
Member Rachan Medappa said that the hotels in the town are not maintaining cleanliness and hygiene. The officials should consider the matter seriously as the tourists from other places visit the town and avail hotel service in a large number.
It was decided in the meeting to rent the JCT machine purchased by the Town PAnchayat, to the needy public. Also, it was decided to officially inaugurate the private bus stand, after the completion of the development works.
The meeting resolved to cancel the no objection certificate of the wine shop at Gonikoppa road as the shop owner is availing the facilities from Virajpet Town Panchayat and paying the taxes to Bittangala Panchayat.
Though most of the offices in the government buildings in the Town Panchayat limits, have been using the basic facilities such as water and others, they have kept crore of rupees of tax pending.
If the taxes are not recovered, the maintenance of the Panchayat would be difficult, the members said. The President directed the Executive officer to serve notices to such offices.
The President meanwhile said that the licenses of some shops have not been renewed as the shop owners are paying the taxes. Hence, she told the Panchayat staff to go to the offices, collect the tax directly, before renewing the licenses.
Discussions were also carried out on providing of water facility and construction of street lights and drains.
Virajpet Town Panchayat Vice President Chandrashekhar, Development works standing committee President T J Shankar, Chief Officer M G Ramesh, Engineer Hemkumar and others were present.
source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> District / DHNS – Virajpet, February 20th, 2015
Thousands witness Cauvery Theerthodbhava
Talacauvery (Kodagu):
Thousands of devotees from Karnataka and neighbouring States thronged Talacauvery in the district, the birth place of River Cauvery yesterday to witness the annual Theerthodbhava.
On witnessing the holy water springing from the Brahma Kundike at 6.04 pm in the auspicious Meena Lagna, Thula Sankramana Muhurtham, the devotees went ecstatic shouting ‘Jai Kaverammna’ ‘Jai Jai Matha’, ‘Jai Jai Cauvery Matha’ etc., in praise of Goddess Cauvery, which reverberated along the Brahmagiri Hill range, as the priests collected the ‘theertha’ gushing out from the Kundike and sprinkled it over the crowds. Some devotees even jumped into the bathing pond breaking Police barricade.
The rituals at Talacauvery began after 4 pm, with the bringing of flowers and silver ornaments from Bhagandeshwara Temple at Bhagamandala, as per the tradition. A puja was offered to the Brahma Kundike by Talacauvery temple priests Narayana Achar, Prashanth Achar, Krishna Upadhyaya, Gopalakrishna Achar.
Devotees from across Karnataka and neighbouring States of Andhra, Tamil Nadu and Kerala, thronged Talacauvery in thousands from early morning.
The Maha puja and Mahamangalarathi took place at 5.50 pm ahead of the Theerthodbhava at 6.04 pm, which was 3 minutes earlier than the stipulated time of 6.07 pm.
The Kannada and Culture Department had organised bhajans and cultural events at Talacauvery. Kodava men in traditional attire, rendered the traditional ‘Dudikott pat.’
Mass feeding was arranged at the choultry near the shrine and other locations. The stretch of road from Bhagamandala to Talacauvery was illuminated. The KSRTC operated special buses from Mysore and Madikeri for the benefit of devotees. The Police had made tight security arrangements at Talacauvery, with the deployment of Home Guards, KSRP and DAR platoons.
Kodagu District in-charge Minister K.J. George, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister T.B. Jayachandra, Irrigation Minister M.B. Patil, Madikeri MLA M.P. Appachhu Ranjan and other dignitaries were present on the occasion.
Govt. moots construction of overbridge at Bhagamandala
“The Government is planning to construct an overbridge at Bhagamandala, which loses contact with the outside world during the rainy season,” according to Irrigation Minister M.B. Patil.
Speaking to press persons here yesterday, the Minister said Kodagu District in-charge Minister K.J. George had appealed for construction of an overbridge, following which Chief Engineer Srinivas Murthy has been assigned the task of preparing a blue print for the project.
However, the project will be executed so that the sentiments of locals would not be hurt. Chief Engineer Srinivas Murthy will make a spot inspection and will discuss with the local people, following which the project will be finalised, Patil said.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / Saturday, October 18th, 2014
Madikeri Dasara committee submits audit report
Committee had spent ` 91.31 L in 2013 Dasara
For the first time, Madikeri Dasara Committee has submitted the audit report of the expenditure of 2013 Dasara to the district administration. The State government has been giving funds to the committee to organise Dasara with grandeur, from last few years.
According to the audit report, the government had sanctioned Rs 75 lakh for organising the programme. The total expenditure during 10 days was Rs 91,31,711 which includes funds collected from general public. Dasara Utsav Committee Working President K M Ganesh told Deccan Herald that the report which has been audited by chartered accountants has been submitted to the district administration. “As we requested the chief minister to release additional fund this year, he has agreed to release an additional Rs 25 lakh. We will upload the expenditure of this year’s Dasara on the website – www.madikeridasara.com, which can be viewed by general public.
However, the government has imposed three terms and conditions while sanctioning the amount. They are, to use the money for the same purpose for which it has been sanctioned, to submit an utilisation certificate of the proper use of released fund and to follow the rules under Transparency Act, 1999 in collection of public fund.
Meanwhile, the district registration officer has reported the district administration stating that Madikeri City Dasara Committee has not renewed its registration since 18 years. The committee was registered on May 4, 1987. Though it is supposed to be renewed every year, it was last renewed in 1995-96.
source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> District / by Shrikanth Kallammanavar / Madikeri – DHNS , September 03rd, 2014
Rohan Bopanna rises to Ice Bucket Challenge
Bangalore :
After Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, Cristiano Ronaldo and Oprah Winfrey, I-League champions Bengaluru FC and doubles ace Rohan Bopanna have taken up the Ice Bucket Challenge, which has gone viral on social media.
The challenge involves participants dumping a bucket of ice water over their heads to raise awareness about Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), commonly called Lou Gehrig’s disease.
Once completed, the individual posts the video on social networking sites and nominates three people to take up the challenge within 24 hours or donate $100 to any charity working to fight the neurodegenerative disorder.
Bopanna, who was nominated by Indian-American tennis player Amrit Narsimhan, took to Twitter on Sunday to post his icy video. A shivering Bopanna nominated Bengaluru FC and actor Rahul Bose for the challenge.
Bose chose to opt out, tweeting, “Been chosen by Rohan Bopanna for #IceBucketChallenge to raise money/awareness for ALS. Hv decided not to waste clean water, but will donate!” However, Bengaluru FC were happy to oblige.
“We accept Rohan’s challenge and nominate Ashwini Ponnappa, Sania Mirza and Yuvraj Singh. Good luck guys, let’s end ALS,” Club COO Mustafa Ghouse said.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> Sports / by Maxin Mathew, TNN / August 19th, 2014
New Chiefs Appointed to Academies
Bangalore :
The Department of Kannada and Culture has appointed heads and members to various academies.
M S Murthy (Bangalore) has been appointed the Chairman of Karnataka Lalithakala Academy, B A Mohammed Hanif (Dakshina Kannada) is the new chairman of Karnataka Beary Sahitya Academy while Kolkada Girish (Madikeri) has been appointed as the Chairman of Arebhashe Samskruthi Sahitya Academy and Biddatanda S Thammaiah has been appointed the Chairman of Kodava Sahitya Academy.
Members Named
For Karnataka Lalithakala Academy, B L Chauhan, Mahalingappa, Prabhu Urs, B K Badigera, Vishweshwari Tiwari, Devarishi, C Chikkanna, Krishna Devadiga, T H Shanmukappa, Khasim I Kansavi, Sharanappa B H, Wajid Sajid, Vedamurthy, Bargur Markandeya and C Rajashekar have been appointed the members.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Karnatkaka / by Express News Service / August 14th, 2014
M.C.Nanaiah urges Government to honour Joshna Chinappa
Bangalore :
Veteran politician and former Minister M.C. Nanaiah has urged the State Government to honour Kodagu sports person Joshna Chinappa who won gold medal in the Squash Doubles in the CWG-2014.
Speaking to press persons here yesterday, Nanaiah said the Karnataka Olympics Association (KOA) must honour Joshna as she hails from Polibetta in Kodagu, with her grand parents and parents all belonging to this place.
Pointing out that her parents moved to Chennai seeking a career, Nanaiah said that Joshna was born and brought up in Kodagu and she belonged to the State. The squash player was living with her parents in Chennai and it was not correct on the part of the KOA for not honouring her citing that she was a resident of Chennai.
Noting that the KOA honoured Vikas Gowda who is settled in the US and others such as cricketer Azaruddin and tennis player Sania Mirza earlier, Nanaiah wondered why the Association ignored Joshna, who through her feat in the Commonwealth Games (CWG) had brought good name to Karnataka.
Pointing out that the Tamil Nadu and Andhra governments had announced cash rewards ranging from Rs. 20 lakh to Rs. 50 lakh for CWG achievers, the former Minister urged Chief Minister Siddharamaiah and Minister for Youth Services and Sports Abhayachandra Jain to look into the discrimination against the squash players, which has hurt sports lovers across the State and take measures to felicitate and reward Joshna as early as possible.
Referring to the spurt in atrocities and sexual violence against women in the State, Nanaiah observed that the effective implementation of the POCSO Act will go a long way in preventing crimes against women.
Reiterating the need for implementing the POCSO Act to curb sexual abuse of women and children, Nanaiah said that the Government has constituted a 26 member committee, headed by him, to look into effective measures needed for preventing sexual violence and other crimes against women and chilren, including implementation of POCSO Act.
The Committee, which is due to begin work shortly, will deliberate on the laws related to sexual violence and atrocities against women and children and come up with practical measures for tackling such crimes, he added.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / August 09th, 2014
GROUND ZERO – Lessons only a mother can teach
GROUND ZERO
Lessons only a mother can teach
The understanding of our existence is a lifelong quest on a path strewn with flowers and thorns. Urbanisation and materialism have seen many of us lose our moral compass. My mother taught us to stay connected to those around us and Nature even as we travelled far and wide.
Raj Chengappa
My mother went gently into the long night last week. She had lived a full life of 85 years. We had known that the end was near for the past couple of months. She herself had wanted to go ever since she had lost her life’s companion, my father, a decade ago but her spirit and body would not give up. She had prided herself that she had never visited a hospital for treatment and she was determined not to do so in her twilight years. We respected that, and though her last couple of months were tough as her body wilted, she coped with it in the familiar surroundings of her children’s houses.
When I got the call just before midnight from my sister, whom my mother had been staying with in Bangalore, the finality of her passing away hit me. As I prepared to take the flight to Bangalore from Chandigarh, the memories sped by in staccato frames with no particular narrative or continuity. There was a feeling of immense gratitude and love for someone who along with my father had ensured that each of her four children was sufficiently equipped to face life’s struggles and had the freedom to pursue their dreams.
Uppermost among them was the fact that she opted to say alone in Bangalore for five years when my father, who was in the Army, was posted in Kashmir, so that we would get the best of education. All of us were below eight years of age and she would bundle us every day to school, our uniforms starched and ironed and tiffin boxes packed. On our return, a hot snack would be waiting for us. She made sure we had our baths in the evening and prayed before going to bed. It was only when I became a parent I truly appreciated the effort.
As I got on in life, my mother’s primary question till the very last was, “How is your health — hope you are taking care of yourself?” She rarely asked me questions as to how successful I was in terms of my career, how much money I had saved or what kind of house I was living in. She only wanted to know if I was maintaining my health. The old saying ‘health was wealth’ still held good for her.
Perhaps an equally important lesson she taught us was never to forget our roots or humble beginnings. Though educated in Bangalore and Delhi and having lived in Jammu, Ferozepur (where I was born) Kolkata, Deolali, Hyderabad and Nellore, my mother never ever forgot the village in Kodagu (Coorg) where she lived in the formative years of her life.
When my maternal grandfather was alive, she ensured that we spent many holidays in her village. To reach her ancestral house we had to walk over 5 km from the bus stop, past hills clad in thick forest, valleys with verdant paddy fields and the swift flowing Cauvery river that originated not far from her village.
It taught us to love nature and understand how most of India lived then and many do even today — no roads, tap water, toilets or electricity. We learnt to wake up to the call of the rooster in the morning, to milk the cows, help plough the fields, call cattle back from the meadows in the evening and read under oil lamps or listen to grandpa’s experiences.
My mother’s last wish was that part of her ashes be strewn in the Cauvery river flowing near her house, a part buried near the house where her parents’ ashes were interred and the remaining buried next to those of my father in the fields in his village some 30 km away.
Heavy monsoon rain lashed Kodagu when we took the urns carrying her mortal remains. We were warned that the river was in spate and the roads leading to her village were inundated. But Mother Nature obliged and the rain abated just enough for us to fulfil her last wish of being forever back among the people and place she loved the most.
Her final journey was a lesson too. The search for our roots and the understanding of our existence is a lifelong quest on a path strewn with flowers and thorns. Rapid urbanisation has seen many of us lose our moorings and moral compass. The pursuit of materialism as an end itself has only made emptiness and disquiet grow.
My mother taught us the importance of staying connected to nature, family, friends and those who worked or lived around you. Never to forget your roots even as your body and mind took you far and wide. So that when the bell tolled, Nature would welcome you with open arms and to limitless warmth, as it did her.
raj@tribuneindia.com
source: http://www.tribuneindia.com / The Tribune Online edition / Sunday, July 27th, 2014
Datty Sadananda Gowda ‘s pressure helped get Mysore-Kushalnagar rail link : MP
Mysore-Kushalnagar rail line may extend till Madikeri
Mysore :
Mysore-Kodagu Lok Sabha MP Pratap Simha has expressed happiness over the announcement of Mysore-Kushalnagar-Madikeri railway link in yesterday’s railway budget.
Speaking to SOM yesterday, Pratap Simha said the Mysore-Madikeri railway link was a long standing demand of the people of Kodagu. He had promised the railway link during his campaign for the Lok Sabha, which has now been fulfilled with the announcement, he remarked. Pointing out that he had met railway Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda thrice and PM Narendra Modi for fulfilment of the railway needs of the region, Pratap Simha thanked the Railway Minister for making the announcement.
Asserting that the Railway Minister had promised execution of the Mysore-Madikeri rail link soon after the completion of Kushalnagar-Madikeri stretch survey, the MP said Sadananda Gowda’s wife Dattay Sadananda Gowda too had exerted pressure on her husband for the rail link.
City BJP President Maruti Rao Pawar has expressed delight over the maiden Railway Budget presented by Railway Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda yesterday.
Addressing a press-meet here yesterday, Pawar said that the BJP as promised is promoting tourism in Mysore region by providing a new Mysore-Kushalnagar train which is bound to boost tourism in Mysore and Kodagu districts.
Stating that the State has got 10 new trains in the budget, the City BJP President said the Railway Minister taking into consideration MP Pratap Simha’s appeal has promised to complete the Mysore-Bangalore track doubling within a year.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / July 09th, 2014
Coffee Board finds a way to tackle arabica stem borer
Kochi :
Coffee Board has achieved a breakthrough in its research to combat white stem borer attack, which has become the single largest threat to the survival of arabica coffee cultivation in India.
Management of this devastating pest has been increasingly difficult due to the vagaries of Nature and shortage of skilled work force. It has threatened to bring down arabica crop to 65,000 tonne this year.
Among the various control measures currently available, pheromone technology is the latest one which can be adopted easily. The Central Coffee Research Institute (CCRI) has been working on the refinement of the pheromone technology and had identified the existence of female sex pheromones and some attractants known as kairomones, within the plant itself. Kairomones are the chemicals released by host plants that attract the pests towards them.
Earlier, Coffee Board through a tie up with Bio Control Research Laboratories (BCRL) succeeded on the production of the male pheromone compound. The Board is now providing traps baited with this pheromone at 50% subsidised rates to the coffee growers. The traps help the growers to monitor the borer emergence and assess the spread of the flight season which are crucial to initiate the control measures.
Coffee Board had launched a collaborative research programme with BCRL in 2012 to identify the role of female sex pheromones and kairomones in mating and infestation process.
The studies conducted by BCRL scientists revealed the existence a female sex pheromone compound. A plant volatile from attacked plants, which attracted the stem borer, was also identified.
Preliminary field studies using combinations of these two in traps attracted maximum beetles when compared to the male pheromone alone.
These findings offer scope for improving the pheromone technology, which could form the basis for a breakthrough in eco-friendly stem borer management. Further field trials to arrive at the optimal and cost effective combinations are under way, according to an official statement from Coffee Board.
Source: http://www.articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com / The Economic Times / Home> News> Economy> Agriculture / by ET Bureau / July 08th, 2014
