Ravi Ramaiah is on cusp of setting a record by becoming the first KAS officer from the Soliga tribes. But to his misfortune, this 28-year-old, selected to be a Class I officer in 2011, is yet to receive his appointment order. The reason: the recruitment process has been kept in abeyance because 25 of the 362 successful candidates were found to have indulged in malpractices.
But Ravi, who hails from a hamlet near Nagarahole in Mysore district, has not given up hope. Working as a police constable in Mysore’s Jayalakshmipuram police station, Ravi began dreaming of becoming a bureaucrat after his primary school teacher Suresh and lecturer Rudrappa felt he could achieve more.
“They encouraged me to take the KSPC exams. I cleared both exams and the interview in my first attempt. I used to study at least eight hours a day,” Ravi said. He scored 956 marks out of 1,800 in the Mains exam and 150 out of 200 in the interview.
“The imbroglio over appointments has ruined my dreams,” Ravi says.
Coming out with flying colours in the face of adversity is not new to Ravi. “I did my primary education at a government school in Beeranahalli, walking alone 3 km from and to my house in the jungle. These lonely treks made me decide to be a self-made man. Jungle made me a brave and bold man,” he says.
Ravi’s father, Ramaiah, studied till class III, while mother Jayamma never went to school. “He is a born naturalist. He can smell the air and predict rain two days in advance,” Ravi says of his father. His eldest brother is an SSLC dropout, while the second brother completed his II PUC.
Ravi’s teacher Suresh took him to Hunsur and got him admitted to a government high school.
source: http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Bangalore> Government School / by Rajiv Kalkod, TNN / November 28th, 2013
Centenarian Brijita Lobo with her daughter Philomena Lobo. Rotary Club of Mysore Royal
by Rtn. Pius Saldanha
This doctor neither has a medical degree nor has she gone to any school but she was an expert in herbal medicine. Meet Brijita Lobo, who celebrated her 101st birthday recently.
Born on Sept. 30, 1913 in Betolli village of Virajpet taluk, and settled down in Beppunad (Kedamullur village) after marrying M.P. Lobo (late), who was a Shirastedar in Virajpet court, she celebrated her 101st birthday on Sept. 30 at Bangalore. Many joined the celebrations which included a Thanksgiving Mass and prayed for her good health.
Like a Kannada saying goes, ‘Aadu muttada soppilla,’ there is no ailment that she did not handle and was an expert as Gynaec. The nearest town, Virajpet being six kilometres away, she was often disturbed for midnight emergency. Any difficult delivery, she handled with confidence. She was fondly called as ‘Badavara Bandhu’ (Messiah of the Poor) by the villagers.
I was her neighbour and in the summer of 1977 came down on holidays from Haryana. Following day, I was relaxing under a tree, talking to my neighbours. I saw her coming down from a hillock, situated a kilometer away. On seeing me, she came and enquired fondly, ‘how are you my son!’ (kosuasaiputa?). I said, ‘Moushe, (O Aunt) I can’t lift my right hand, a dozen boils under my arm due to the heat of summer. On examining me, she went back to the hillock, and returned after 45 minutes and treated me with her herbs. Next day, I could lift my hand with ease and on the following day, I was cured totally.
My cousin Trecilla, a teacher delivered a baby girl in a hospital, and was suffering with acute stomach ache. After a week, this ‘doctor’ treated Trecilla with her herbal medicine, the dead twin baby was flushed out. Trecilla is enjoying her retired life with good health now. Her first twin girl is a mother of two now.
The grand-mother, Brijita Lobo is living with her children in Bangalore. Last year, well-wishers and friends wished her for her 100th birthday. She can be contact on Mob: 9482220399.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Feature Articles / by Rtn. Pius Saldhana / October 04th, 2013
Twelve persons, including a Lieutenant Colonel, died in two militant attacks on Police and Army formations in Kathua and Samba districts of Jammu and Kashmir yesterday.
The Commanding Officer of the unit, Col. Avin Uthaiya, who was seriously injured in the firing by terrorists, was one of the first people in the unit to react to the attack. He was evacuated to the Military Hospital at Pathankot with injuries in his arm and leg.
Col. Uthaiya is the son of Vir Chakra awardee Mandetira Ravi (retired), a resident of Kakotuparambu village in Kodagu district. He is presently recouping in a hospital in Delhi.
It is said that three unidentified militants in combat military uniform, who were believed to have infiltrated through the meticulously fenced international border in the Raj Bagh area on Tuesday, appeared in an interior neighbourhood of Hiranagar, in Kathua district, in the morning. They commandeered a load-carrier at gunpoint, and on sighting a police station at Hiranagar, they alighted and trooped into the premises, killing the sentry. There they killed three more Policemen and injured three others.
The militants also fired upon the driver and left him wounded when he attempted to escape. Thereafter, they hijacked a truck towards the highway after killing its cleaner who reportedly offered resistance. They abandoned the truck on the highway and used another vehicle to reach an Army camp at Samba, on the road to Jammu.
Both the drivers later revealed to the Police that there were three militants. Sources said the three heavily armed militants stormed the military formation and took positions close to the officers’ mess. Two soldiers and a Lt. Colonel died and two more soldiers sustained injuries. The DIG Jammu said that early reports of six fatal casualties were not true. Some officials initially mistook the injured for the dead, he added.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / September 27th, 2013
As a child M Jadeyegowda first saw Dr H Sudarshan dispense medicines to tribals at Biligiri Ranaga Hills near here. Initially, he stayed away from the doctor. Later, curiosity drew the tribal boy to the doctor. Dr Sudarshan and his Karuna Trust became the biggest influences on his life. (Other than providing medical…)
Other than providing medical help, Dr Sudarshan taught children in the tribal parts of Karnataka’s Chamarajnagar district. Jadeyegowda was a reluctant student. Today, he’s an assistant professor at Kodagu’s College of Forestry. “As a kid, I saw the doctor conduct surgeries with minimum facilities,” Jadeyegowda,43, says.
In October 2006, when the Vivekananda Girijana Kalyana Kendra (VGKK) — to which Karuna Trust is affiliated — celebrated silver jubilee, Jadeyegowda, MSc, shook hands with President Abdul Kalam. He was one of the six students who had attended the tribal school set up by the NGO 25 years back. Jadeye now heads VGKK and is a trustee of the Karuna Trust. “I’m more comfortable being recognised as a beneficiary,” he says. “Jadeye is a beneficiary of our health and education programmes. That helped him,” Dr Sudarshan says.
source: http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Mysore> Silver Jubilee / by H M Aravind, TNN / February 01st, 2013
Virajpet MLA K.G. Bopaiah and others offering floral tributes to the portrait of Ajjamada Devayya at the Circle named after him in Madikeri on Saturday./ The Hindu
Rich tributes were paid to late Squadron Leader Ajjamada B. Devayya, a Kodava hero who showed exemplary courage to shoot down a Pakistani Supersonic F104 aircraft in the 1965 war under adverse conditions, at the Circle named after him at the private bus stand in Madikeri on Saturday. Sq. Ldr. Devayya carried out the attack on this day in 1965 to lay down his life for the nation.
Garland
Virajpet MLA K.G. Bopaiah, Ajjamada family members, officials, and guests garlanded the portrait of Devayya in the morning to remember the heroics of the war veteran with Mr. Bopaiah promising to find a suitable location to set up a statue in the city in honour of Devayya for upholding military traditions of Kodagu.
Sq. Ldr. Devayya was born on 24 Dec 1932. He was the only one among the members of the strike force who sacrificed his life for the nation after carrying out the task of attacking the Sargodha airfield in Pakistan on September 7, 1965.
This was revealed in a book written by English journalist John Fricker, after he was party to the description of an episode by the then Flight Lieutenant, Amjad Hussain, of Pakistan.
The private bus-stand circle in Madikeri was named after the war hero on September 7, 2009.
Sq. Ldr. Devayya was conferred with the Maha Vir Chakra for his illustrious service to the nation posthumously which was received by his wife Sundari from the President of India.
Delay
Though the State government sanctioned Rs. 5 lakh for setting up a statue of Devayya, the project was being delayed over a court order, he said. Efforts were on to talk to Bal Bhavan authorities to secure land to set up the statue of Devayya, he said. Deputy Commissioner Anurag Tewari, Ajjamada family members Karumbaiah, Katti Mandaiah, ex-servicemen, officials of Department of Sainik and Resettlement Board, Madikeri, were present.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Karnataka / by Special Correspondent / Madikeri – September 08th, 2013
Joshna Chinappa will receive the Arjuna award today, a recognition that has come after a long wait for the Chennai squash player.
The 25-year-old became the first Indian girl to win the prestigious British Junior under-19 title in 2003 and followed it up with a gold at the South Asian Federation Games gold in 2004. Joshna Chinappa
Chinappa, currently ranked 27 in the world, spoke to MiD DAY on what the Arjuna award means to her and other aspects of the sport.
Excerpts:
What does the Arjuna award mean to you?
It means a lot to me. This is one of my biggest achievements. I have been recognised by the government and the feeling is special.
With you and Deepika Pallikal being the only two faces in Indian squash, what will it take for more of your kind to emerge?
Hopefully, there will be more kids taking up squash after us and pursuing it as a career. But for that, there has to be better structure to develop squash and reach out to all sections of people in different parts of the country. There is a need for good coaches, facilities, conducting tournaments all over the country and helping kids financially to play international as well as national tournaments.
How has the progress of you and Deepika changed the popularity of the sport in the past few years?
I think more people are aware of squash because of what Saurav Ghosal, Deepika Pallikal, Siddharth Suchde, Harinder Sandhu and myself have been doing on the international circuit. There have been some international events that have helped in bringing more recognition to the sport. Squash has grown a lot in Chennai, but needs to develop more in other parts of the country.
What needs to be done to give the sport a boost? It is restricted to cities and has not entered rural areas…
Squash is still a club-level sport in many cities and not everyone can afford a membership to play. We need to develop courts that are easily accessible at the grassroots level. Courts have to be built with the help of the central and state governments along with the federation. Also, a program to develop squash in particular areas. Hopefully, with a good plan, corporates will come on board to support squash and then we can see more kids
taking up the sport.
Since squash has been short-listed now for the Olympics, how difficult will it be for the federation to convince the International Olympic Committee for the final spot?
Squash being short-listed is amazing and hopefully, we can make it to the Olympics as it deserves to. But we are competing with wrestling which has a better chance of getting back in. I’m just hoping for the best.
source: http://www.mid-day.com / Mid Day / Home> Sports / by Sundari Iyer / Mumbai – August 31st, 2013
British Deputy High Commissioner, Chennai, Mike Nithavrianakis presenting the scholarship to Natasha Bopaiah. P.M.Belliappa looks on. / Photo: V. Ganesan / The Hindu
Pemananda Monappa Scholarship helps deserving students pursue higher studies abroad
A twenty-year-old law graduate from Coorg has won The Pemanda Monappa Scholarship this year. Natasha Bopaiah, a graduate from Symbiosis Law School (Pune) will be leaving for Cambridge University this September to pursue her Masters degree. The scholarship is being offered by the Pemanda Monappa Trust and has funded four students in the last four years. Offered by P.M. Belliappa in the name of his late father, the scholarship, is awarded to Indian citizens who have completed a first degree at a recognised university in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala or Tamil Nadu, have been admitted to graduate studies in Cambridge, and have demonstrated financial need. It covers university tuition fees, college fees and allowances paid to scholars for living expenses in Cambridge. “I hope she returns home after her studies to contribute to society in a manner resembling what my father did many years ago,” Belliappa said at an event recently, where the scholarship letter was handed over to Natasha by Mike Nithavrianakis, British Deputy High Commissioner.
Natasha, a gold-medallist from Symbiosis, will be pursuing a degree in corporate and environment law at the University. “I would like to focus on issues such as the impact of climate change on human beings and also on farmers in particular,” she said, “Initially, I will be working on litigations but I hope to eventually handle politics.”
N. Ravi, Director, The Hindu Group of Publications Ltd., said “People from Coorg, though small in number are high achievers. There are so many names you can quote in the field of sports and academics. So it comes as no surprise that the scholarship, this year, goes to Natasha, who hails from there.” While Leela Samson, chairman of Sangeet Natak Akademi and Central Board of Film Certification, who presided over the event added, “Everything we have to offer the world is influenced by who we are. And they are unmistakably Indian… The wise explore and accept each new idea in their merit and with the holistic learning that Natasha will go through in another country will help her discover her strengths and weaknesses.”
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> MetroPlus / by Anusha Parthasarthy / Chennai – August 08th, 2013
Sree Kaveri Kodagu Mahila Sangha’s Advisor Parwati Cariappa (extreme left) and Sangha President Sarasu Nanaiah are seen lighting the lamp at the inauguration of the free health camp in city yesterday as chief guest Dr. P.A. Kushalappa, Sangha Organising Secretary Gowri Mandanna and Hon. Secretary Lovely Appaiah look on. Mysore :
A free health check-up camp was held under the aegis of Sree Kaveri Kodagu Mahila Sangha at the Kodagu Sahakara Sangha premises in Jayalakshmipuram yesterday.
The camp was inaugurated by dermatologist Dr. P.A. Kushalappa and Mahila Sangha’s Advisor Parwati Cariappa.
The health camp was held in memory of late Ursula Kariappa, wife of Karthamada Kariappa.
Sangha President B. Sarasu Nanaiah presided. Hon. Secretary P. Lovely Appaiah welcomed.
A large number of people availed of the opportunity at the camp in which Physician Dr. Latha Muthanna, Dr. Padmini Kaveriappa, dentist Dr. Manasa Sendil, Paediatrician Dr. Jyotsna Prasad, Dr. P. P. Aiyanna (Ayurveda), gynaecologist Dr. Kamalamma, orthopaedic surgeon Dr. Ajay Hegde and Dr. Rajesh of Vasan Eye Care participated.
Sangha Vice-President Bollamma Appanna and the guests presented mementos to the doctors who participated in the camp.
Treasurer Jyothi Kashi, Joint Secretaries Bollamma Kuttappa and Kavya Kuttappa, Organising Secretaries Gowri Mandanna and Sumi Gopal and other members were present on the occasion.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / July 29th, 2013
The scheme will be launched by Dist-in-Charge Minister Dr H C Mahadevappa on July 10
About 68,773 BPL card holders will benefit from the ambitious programme of the Congress-led State government —Anna Bhagya scheme which will be launched on July 10, in Kodagu district. The programme will be inaugurated by the District-in-Charge Minister Dr H C Mahadevappa.
Accordingly, the BPL card holders will get rice at Re 1/kg. If there is one member, then he will get 10 kg rice, two persons will get 20 kg and more than three members in a family will get 30 kg rice.
There are 15,359 BPL card holders in Madikeri taluk, 28,002 in Somwarpet taluk and 25,372 in Virajpet taluk, said Department of Food and Civil Supplies Deputy Director Dr S E Mahadevappa.
Out of 68,733 BPL families, about 2,596 ration cards have single members, 7,977 cards have two members in the family. About 19,299.10 quintal rice would be required for supply.
Madikeri taluk has 572 BPL cards with single members, 1,653 cards with two members and 13,133 cards with more than two members. Somwarpet taluk has 798 cards with single members, 2,767 cards with two members and 24,436 cards with more than two members. Similarly, Virajpet taluk has 1,226 cards with single members, 3,557 with two members and 20,578 cards with more than two members.
There are 9,679 families in Anthyodaya Anna yojana in the district. This includes Madikeri taluk—1,693, Somwarpet—3,463 and Virajpet—4,523. Anthyodaya families will get 29 kg rice, and six kg wheat in a month.
There is no unit system for Anthyodaya anna yojana.
Four litre of kerosene will be supplied to those who do not possess LPG in rural areas and six litre of kerosene is supplied among those in urban areas.
All those card holders who have not yet given their thumb impression and photographs can provide their information at gram panchayats and franchises in cities.
Online applications can be submitted for availing new ration cards.
source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> District / Madikeri – DHNS , July 06th, 2013
Dr Hemant Deshmukh with Jeevandayee scheme’s beneficiary Sadhna Dattaram Sawant at Mumbai’s King Edward Memorial (KEM) hospital / Photo: Bhaskar Paul
In October, Madrira Ganapathy, a rice and coffee grower in South Coorg, Karnataka, was told by doctors that he had four arterial blocks, all of them above 85 per cent, around his heart. He had to undergo surgery quickly. The following month, he got himself admitted at Fortis Cauvery Heart Hospital in Mysore and underwent surgery successfully.
The operation cost Rs 1.5 lakh but Ganapathy, who earns about Rs 60,000 a year from farming his four acres of land, did not have to pay. Why so? His bill was settled by Yeshasvini Trust, a non-profit organisation under the Karnataka government which runs a micro health insurance scheme for rural folk.
“I am not a BPL (below poverty line) card holder but, at the same time, I could not have afforded a surgery like this. The scheme is of big help to people like me,” says Ganapathy, 48, who has been part of Yeshasvini for five years. “I am now asking my friends also to enrol in the scheme.” Karnataka official P. Ramakrishne Gowda enrolling a farmer in the Yeshasvini scheme in Mandya district./ Photo: Deepak G. Pawar
Yeshasvini was launched in June 2003 and now covers about three million people in the state. It is open to all income groups in rural areas, provided the applicant has been a member of any cooperative society for at least six months. It costs Rs 210 a year per family member and covers 805 surgeries in 446 network hospitals.
The hospitals offer medical consultation for free and diagnostic facilities at a discount. In cases involving hospitalisation, the trust clears the bill via a third party administrator. In 2011/12, Yeshasvini Trust settled bills worth Rs 60.27 crore against 77,738 surgeries.
Besides, as many as 116,000 people were treated as outpatients. Since the scheme’s inception, the trust has paid Rs 412 crore for 469,000 surgeries. “We expect the outgo to hospitals to be around Rs 90 crore in 2012/13 because of the increase in hospital charges from April 1,” says Yeshasvini Trust CEO R.M. Nataraja. The trust is largely self-funded – it will mobilise about Rs 60 crore in premiums this year while the government pays Rs 40 crore.
“Yeshasvini is the first insurance programme in the world to coin the term micro health insurance, and its success is because poor people trust only the government,” says eminent heart surgeon Dr Devi Prasad Shetty, Chairman of Narayana Hrudayalaya, and a member of Yeshasvini Trust. “This is the greatest advantage the government enjoys as a large scale health insurance provider.”
The biggest success of Yeshasvini, however, is in proving that, with just about Rs 17 per person a month, it is possible to run a massive, sustainable health insurance programme. “Yeshasvini has demonstrated a model that works with the willing participation of the beneficiaries,” says G.V. Krishna Rau, Chairman of the trust, and Principal Secretary, Department of Cooperation, Karnataka. “The challenge now is to take this forward by enlarging its scope and making it a universal scheme.”
The model has inspired other states such as Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh to start similar programmes. In April 2008, the Centre launched the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana, a health insurance scheme for BPL card holders which covers costs up to Rs 30,000. In late 2011, the Maharashtra government introduced the Rajiv Gandhi Jeevandayee Arogya Yojana covering about 490,000 people in eight districts.
According to programme officer Mukesh Mohode, the Maharashtra government paid a premium of Rs 180 crore to Kolkata-based National Insurance Company for coverage of these districts. The scheme provides a family floater cover of Rs 1.5 lakh a year covering 972 procedures, including cancer treatment. For kidney transplants the scheme provides up to Rs 2.5 lakh. The scheme, unlike the Yeshasvini plan, is fully funded by the state government and the beneficiaries do not have to pay any premium. Maharashtra aims to extend the scheme to all districts in two to three months.
While the Yeshasvini plan is for rural families, the Jeevandayee scheme benefits both BPL and above poverty line (APL) people (but only up to those with a maximum income of Rs 1 lakh a year) in urban areas as well. One of its recent beneficiaries is Sadhna Dattaram Sawant, a 71-year-old widow who lives in Mumbai’s Parel with her son who does not hold a regular job. She holds an orange ration card, given to people with annual income below Rs 1 lakh. Sawant had been suffering from kidney and cardiac ailments and needed a renal angioplasty to help increase blood supply to her left kidney. This would help solve her hypertension and reduce chances of a heart attack.
On November 26, doctors at the King Edward Memorial (KEM) hospital, run by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, conducted Sawant’s angioplasty. Sitting on her hospital bed the following day, wearing a hospital-issued white dress, Sawant looked happy. “I thought I would be lying in bed for a long time. I am so happy I am able to walk around a day after the procedure,” she said.
Sandhya Kamath, Dean at KEM, says the hospital has so far handled about 1,700 cases under this scheme. Hemant Deshmukh, the doctor who conducted Sawant’s procedure, says his department alone takes up at least seven or eight similar cases under the scheme every month. “The procedure would have cost Rs 50,000 at King Edward and Rs 1 lakh at a private hospital,” he says. “Under the scheme, the cost to the patient is zero.”
source: http://www.businesstoday.intoday.in / Business Today / Home> Archives> Business Today> Cover Today / by K.R. Balasubramanyam and Sumar Layak / January 06th, 2013
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