Lieutenant General Pattacheravanda Chengappa Thimmaiah has been posted as commander of the Indian Army’s Training Command in Shimla, which is one of the seven commands of the army.
Thimmaiah hails from Chettalli in Virajpet taluk. He is the third commander from Kodagu to have been appointed to the post after K C Cariappa and B C Nanda.
Recently, Aichettira B Uttaiah was elevated to the rank of rear admiral in the Indian Navy.
source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> In Brief / by Ashwani Kumar NKR – DH News Service, Madikeri / September 29th, 2018
She believes the tournament will encourage young players to participate in doubles competition. Shuttler Ashwini Ponnappa interacts with media at an event in Hyderabad on Wednesday to launch a women’s doubles badminton tournament.
Hyderabad:
Ace shuttler Ashwini Ponnappa is gung-ho about an exclusive women’s doubles tournament, the first ever, that will commence from October 5 and will be played across various cities in India.
Red Bull Shuttle Up will be played in Delhi (October 5), Bengaluru (October 7), Guwahati (October 13), Mumbai (October 20) and Hyderabad (October 14). “I have been dreaming of something like this. I have spoken about women’s doubles needing motivation and encouragement. I do hope that with this tournament we do get a lot of doubles players coming out there and enjoying themselves,” she said after announcing the tournament on Wednesday.
She believes the tournament will encourage young players to participate in doubles competition. “We are encouraging young girls to take up the event. It is quite often that the young girls want to take up singles but I would like to make them believe that they can take up women’s doubles and do well,” Ashwini said.
The doubles specialist also spoke of her experiences on the badminton circuit this year, about her coach Tan Kim Her and how it feels to be the senior most player in the team.
“I am happy at the way we have performed at the Commonwealth Games. Asian Games could have been better. We reached the quarters which was the first. Personally, I am happy that we won a medal at the CWG,” she said
“I am happy that the team won a gold that was a proud moment not just for me but for the entire team. I loved how the team got together… from the support staff, coaches to the players. It’s probably one of the best feelings I have being a part of this team. I respect everyone in the team and we work together,” she added.
She also spoke of her transition in the team after Jwala Gutta’s departure from the circuit. “From being one of the youngest in 2010 to the eldest in the team now, it is funny. I think that the entire team is quite experienced. In doubles, I have much more experience than my partners but they have their mind in place, so it becomes easier for me with them. When Jwala was there in 2010, I was the rookie and I did not know anything. These guys have experience and they do not need to start from scratch,” she said.
Ashwini also feels that having a specialist doubles coach in Tan Kim Her has helped the team a lot. “He is looking at doubles in particular. He wants to make doubles players do well. His attention makes a huge difference. There are a lot of new partnerships that were formed after he came in. He broke broke the older partnerships and formed new ones. None of us were happy back then but it is nice to see that those partnerships have done well,” she expressed.
However, Ashwini feels the teams need more coaches in order to get better training. “Tan is the only one in seniors so it is really tough for him to focus on everyone who is in the national camp. It is important to get more coaches so that the entire pool can be looked after,” she said.
source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> Sports> Badminton / by Conrad Dias, Deccan Chronicle September 27th, 2018
The annual get-together of Sri Igguthappa Kodava Association, Vivekanandanagar, will be held on Sept. 30 (Sunday) at Kodagu Sahakara Sangha in Jayalakshmipuram from 9.30 am onwards.
Kalapanda B. Vishwanath, President, Sri Sri Shivabalayogi Maharaja, Mysuru Division, will be chief guest.
Sangha President Moodera B. Belliappa will preside.
The day-long event includes presentation of Scholarships to meritorious students, sports and games, lucky-draw.
For details contact Mob: 99013-92444.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> In Briefs / September 28th, 2018
Gulshan Devaiah is getting all the praises at the prestigious Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) 2018 for his performance in the upcoming Vasan Bala directorial ‘Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota’ (‘The Man Who Feels No Pain’). The actor’s film which premiered at the TIFF 2018 has gone on to win the Grolsch People’s Choice Midnight Madness section award after beating big-budget Hollywood franchises like ‘Halloween’ and ‘Predator’.
Gulshan is playing a double role in the film — a mysterious Karate Master named Mani and his psychotic twin named Jimmy. His dual performance is being lauded by the critics and audiences with Gulshan being called “an irreplaceable component to the film who brings great energy to every scene he is in”.
“Vasan and I worked again after his first film ‘Peddlers’. Vasan is a fabulous talent. I am so happy for him that ‘MKDNH’ was so widely appreciated by the audiences and critics in Toronto where they were demanding a sequel. I am so overwhelmed by what people are saying and writing about our film and my performances,” says Gulshan.
‘Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota’ is Gulshan and director Vasan Bala’s second collaboration after the 2012 crime thriller film ‘Peddlers’.
source: http://www.freepressjournal.in / The Free Press Journal / Home> Entertainment / by FPJ Bureau / September 25th, 2018
Deputy Chief Minister Dr. G. Parameshwara, who unveiled the statue of Field Marshal K.M.Cariappa at Miller’s Road Junction near Kodava Samaja in Vasanthnagar, Bengaluru, this morning, is seen with Bengaluru Mayor Sampath Raj, Samaja President Ravi Uthappa, Advocate M.T. Nanaiah, former Karnataka Media Academy Chairman M.A. Ponnappa and others.
It may be recalled, a life-size bronze statue of Field Marshal K.M. Cariappa, the first Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army, was unveiled at the Officers Training Academy (OTA) in Chennai during June 2018 by his son, retired Air Marshal K. C. Cariappa.
Also, Chief of the Army Staff, General Bipin Rawat had unveiled the bronze statues of Field Marshal K.M. Cariappa and General K.S. Thimayya at Cauvery College in Gonikoppal, Kodagu district, in November 2017.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Gallery> Photo News / September 26th, 2018
Indian doubles star Rohan Bopanna was recently awarded the Arjuna Award and the Asian Games Gold Medalist could not have been happier. The 38-year old won the French Open Mixed Doubles title last year and the Asian Games this year would have loved to be present for the Award distribution ceremony but had to travel for the China Tournament.
“The Asian Games gold was more special, especially because of the fact that I had a tear on my Latissimus Dorsi (shoulder muscle) and was out for six weeks. To come straight back to competitions like the Asian Games and the US Open, I was extremely happy with my performance,” said Bopanna, who also reached the US Open Doubles Quarter-Finals.
Bopanna was hoping that he was in contention for India’s highest sporting honour – the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award. “It has been a long wait for me to get the Arjuna award. It truly means a lot. I was heart-broken last year when I did not get it.
I can surely keep trying in the future for the Khel Ratna,” Bopanna added. With four big events lined up in the season, Bopanna stays focussed to play his best. “Edourad (Roger-Vasselin) and [I] have an outside shot for the London Masters.
With two ATP 500 and two ATP 1000 Masters left, I still believe that we have a great chance to qualify for the year-end championship,” said Bopanna.
source: http://www.tennisworldusa.org / Tennis World / Home / by Philip Anderson / September 23rd, 2018
“A forestdepleted Kodagu basin will have reduced capacity to capture and store rainwater.” It is a picture of destruction in Hattihole near Somwarpet, Kodagu, after the floods. | Photo Credit: Sampath Kumar G.P.
Protecting the Kodagu watershed is essential to ensure the water security of three States
We require water for everything: drinking, growing crops, producing electricity and industrial production. With the world population projected to grow to about 10 billion by 2050, according to the United Nations, and with climate change discernible, both the quantity and quality of freshwater will become critical, affecting health, food security, and economic well-being. A 2015 UN report, Water for a Sustainable World, pointed out that the gap between the availability of water and our need for water is only going to increase.
Projects in the river basin
The growing demand on freshwater resources demonstrates the need for sustainable management of water. In this context, projects that are being contemplated, such as the laying of multiple railway tracks in the critical Cauvery river basin in Kodagu district, Karnataka, are not only economically unviable but also ecologically damaging. Mega projects pose a clear threat to the long-term water security of the three States that depend on the Cauvery (Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu), and exacerbate the threat posed by seasonal droughts and floods.
The Cauvery basin drains an area of about 81,000 sq. km. Originating in Talakaveri, Kodagu, the river irrigates agricultural fields, generates electricity, and provides drinking water to downstream communities across south India. The Cauvery and its tributaries contribute the bulk of water to the Krishna Raja Sagara dam near Mysuru, the primary water source for Bengaluru. However, increasing development pressure from the transportation and construction sectors poses a severe threat to the forests, riverbeds, wildlife and agricultural lands. This March, for the first time in decades, towns such as Virajpet in Kodagu faced a severe shortage of drinking water. The continuing loss of forest cover and illegal sand mining from river beds endanger water and food security for all the downstream communities in the Cauvery basin.
The three proposed railway plans have major implications. One, all the tracks will cut through large swaths of agricultural farms and fields as well as Protected and Reserve Forests that are spread across Kodagu and Mangaluru districts of Karnataka, and Wayanad and Kannur districts of Kerala. Along this sparsely populated area, transportation needs can be met by simply improving existing roads at a fraction of the monetary and ecological cost of the proposed railways. In fact, in its feasibility report of the Mysuru-Thalassery line, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation stated that the project would not be beneficial to the State. In response to protests by the people of Kodagu in February, the plan to build the Mysuru-Thalassery line was scrapped in March. However, if history is any guide, plans to build the tracks will reemerge in time.
Two, they will affect the Western Ghats, one of the most biodiverse regions on earth. Kodagu has about 45% forest cover and about 30% agroforestry systems (coffee plantations and paddy fields). Between 2013 and 2015, a high-tension power line linking Mysuru and Kozhikode resulted in the loss of about 50,000 trees in Kodagu alone. If the proposed railway lines are constructed, they would conservatively result in tree loss that is 10 times more than this. Forests help capture rainfall, reduce run-off and soil erosion, recharge groundwater aquifers, mitigate flooding, support local communities, and provide refuge for native flora and fauna. Raised railway tracks will also impede wildlife and could result in the deaths of endangered animals such as elephants. Most importantly, a forest-depleted Kodagu basin will have reduced capacity to capture and store rainwater. Even without the railway tracks, a satellite-based report titled India State of Forests 2017 noted that Kodagu lost 102 sq. km. of tree cover in just two years.
Variable monsoon
The Kodagu basin receives heavy rainfall, mainly during the southwest monsoon (June-September), that feeds the Cauvery. However, studies by the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology and others, published in the journal Nature, have found evidence for increasingly variable monsoon rainfall. Thus, we can expect to experience more extreme floods as well as droughts in the future. These are scenarios that make preserving forest cover more vital in order to mitigate the collateral effects of these extreme events.
During this year’s southwest monsoon season, Kodagu received twice as much annual rainfall as usual and with greater intensity. This resulted in landslides and floods. A recent study of nearly 5,000 landslides around the world, published in Earth and Space Science News (Eos), has revealed that activities like construction, illegal mining and hill cutting are increasingly responsible for the uptick in fatal landslides, particularly in Asia. It will be hard to claim that the uncontrolled development and forest clearance in the steep slopes of the Western Ghats in recent years has not been a factor in the tragedy that just unfolded in Kodagu, and in the coastal districts of Kerala. With 100-year storms likely to become more frequent as the climate becomes warmer, business as usual is sure to increasingly endanger lives and property.
Erratic monsoon rains can cause flooding, droughts, water and food security. Preserving existing forests in the watershed provides an effective ‘insurance policy’ for reducing the effect of floods and droughts while recharging groundwater across the Cauvery river basin. Nature has reported that diminished access to water resources increases the risk of social unrest, political instability, intensified refugee flows and armed conflicts, even within borders. The variable nature of monsoons makes India one of the most vulnerable regions to water-related disasters associated with climate change and extreme weather events. According to a BBC report, Bengaluru is likely to run out of drinking water in the next decade. Economists should estimate the monetary and human cost of cities like Bengaluru becoming dry, and implement policies focused on achieving and maintaining sustainable water resources.
We are at the start of the UN Decade for Water, which emphasises water security for all. Everyone lives in a watershed, yet water remains a remote concept for those who consume it the most — people, industries and farmers. There are no substitutes for water as the very basis for life. Protecting the Cauvery’s source is essential for the sustained well-being of the entire basin and of the three States that the river nourishes. In fact, good water governance of the nation’s watersheds will be key to its sustainable future. We can begin by saving Cauvery’s cradle.
Bopaiah Biddanda is Professor of Water Resources at the Robert B. Annis Water Resources Institute, U.S.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Opinion> Comment / by Bopaiah Biddanda / September 24th, 2018
The birth anniversary of ancient poet of Kodagu Haradasa Appaneravanda Appacha (Sept.21) will henceforth be celebrated as ‘Kodava Sahitya Dina’ in recognition of the poet’s immense contribution to Kodava literature.
A decision to that effect was taken at a function organised jointly by Shivamogga Agriculture and Horticulture University, Ponnampet College and Kodagu Rangabhoomi Pratisthana to mark the 150th birth anniversary of Haradasa Appacha Kavi at Forest College auditorium in Ponnampet on Friday.
A declaration to that effect was released by M. Asha Mandanna, Chairperson, Appacha Kavi College Management Council, Ponnampet.
Inaugurating the programme after offering floral tributes to a portrait of poet Appacha, Star of Mysore Editor-in-Chief K.B. Ganapathy recalled that Appacha had come out with many poems on spirituality and wished that the poet could have written a few poems on reformation of the social system for which the poet had enough knowledge and strength. He contended that theatre and poetry were powerful tools to correct society.
Releasing a book of Appacha, Akhila Kodava Samaja Working President I.K. Biddappa expressed happiness that Kodava literature had gained importance and popularity despite a thin population of Kodavas.
Speaking on the occasion, Kendra Sahitya Academy Member A. Cariappa recalled that the then Chief Minister of Kodagu ‘C’ State C.M. Poonacha had conferred the title of ‘Varakavi’ on poet Appacha who popularised Kodava literature using Kannada script.
Kodagu Rangabhoomi Prathistana Chief Convenor Anitha Cariappa welcomed the gathering. Former College Dean Dr. C. Kushalappa and others were present. Cariappa and other artistes presented a programme ‘Amarakavya’ featuring poems of Appacha Kavi.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> News / September 23rd, 2018
When you’ve successfully built a modelling career, what do you do when you get a call from Mani Ratnam’s production house?
When you’ve successfully built a modelling career, walking for the biggest designers and working with international brands, what do you do when you get a call from Mani Ratnam’s production house? “I thought I was being pranked! I really didn’t think it was real,” says Dayana Erappa, one of the leading ladies in Mani Ratnam’s multi-starrer Chekka Chivantha Vaanam. But it really was Madras Talkies reaching out to her, asking if she knew Tamil and Telugu.
Dayana, who’s from Coorg, said she was fluent in Tamil and Kannada, and sent over her portfolio and forgot all about it. Two months later, she was called for an audition in Mumbai, for a project with Mani Ratnam. When it was time for her to meet the man himself, Dayana had no idea what to expect. Describing the meeting, her voice still has a starstruck quiver, “On the entire flight to Chennai, I was thinking about what I would do when I finally faced him. I grew up watching and falling in love with his movies, how could I be anything but excited?”
The meeting went well. A chat, a script reading with him, and a few weeks later, she got the call confirming her part. “I knew nothing about the role or the character, but I had zero worries. Women have been depicted beautifully in all of Mani sir’s movies, so I knew I was in good hands.” In fact, she says she had no idea she was one of the leading ladies in the movie until the film’s cast poster was released.
With no previous training or experience in acting, Dayana attended a few acting workshops to prepare herself. “When I found out I’d be acting opposite Simbu, I was quite nervous because I’d heard how talented he is. I’d also seen his movies and I wasn’t sure if I could match up to him.” And the first day on set she told Simbu exactly that. But he was supportive, telling her not to worry even if she needed 10 takes to get it right. “Sometimes it did take 10 takes,” she says laughing, but it was the encouragement she received on set that gave her the confidence to pull through. “From the actors to the ADs and stylists, it felt as though the entire crew was rooting for me.”
The transition from a successful model to an actor could not have been easy, but she says, “Even modelling is not something that you learn in a day or two; you work at it every day. So I was prepared to put in the hard work necessary to act from the get-go.” It also helped that she was surrounded by veteran actors. “I got to learn from just being around all that experience. Everyone was easy to talk to. No one treated me like a newcomer.”
Get her talking about her director and she switches to fangirl mode, “Mani sir is a patient craftsman and definitely a man with a vision. He works with you in a way that puts you at ease; so he gets the best performance out of his actors. His movies like Kannathil Muthamittaal and Thalapathi are my favourites. Now I see where the magic comes from.”
Ask her about Chaaya, the character she’s playing, and she won’t say anything more than that she’s a fun and adventurous girl, quite like herself. With a dream début in her hands, Dayana says she will continue modelling while she works on her acting skills, in case an interesting script comes knocking.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Entertainment> Movies / by Anugraha Sundaravelu / September 24th, 2018
With a view to empower and encourage young women achievers, St Agnes College (autonomous) organized a felicitation programme for Poovamma, an Indian spinster who hails from the district.
The programme was held on September 14 at St Agnes College.
Sr Dr M Jeswina AC principal St Agnes College, Sr Dr Venisssa AC, vice principal St Agnes College, Malavika, dean administration and Vasudha, physical education directress were present for the programme.
Vasudha, the physical education directress of the college welcomed the gathering.
Ladleen Monteiro introduced Poovamma to the gathering who was then felicitated by the dignitaries on the dais. Poovamma addressed the gathering and said that with hard work and determination, one can surely achieve great heights.
This was followed by a short message by the principal Sr Dr M Jeswina AC wherein she encouraged the students to take inspiration from Poovamma’s life.
Vijayashree, the sports secretary proposed the vote of thanks.
The programme concluded by singing the college anthem.
source: http://www.daijiworld.com / DaijiWorld.com / Home> CampusBeat / by Media Release / Mangaluru – September 18th, 2018
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