Revenue Minister V Srinivasa Prasad said he would visit Kodagu district to assess the misuse of sections 79(a) and (b) of the Karnataka Land Reforms Act.
The sale of plantation land to non-agriculturists to set up resorts and cottages would also be looked into, he said.
Replying to a calling attention motion from Janata Dal(S) floor leader M C Nanaiah in the Legislative Council on Thursday, the Minister said the government was committed to the protection of plantation land in Kodagu.
Nanaiah said plantations where coffee, cardamom and rubber are grown had been exempted from the purview of the Act.
“Revenue officials, deeming these plantations to be non-agricultural land, have been allowing its sale. According to the rules, such lands cannot be sold to non-agriculturists. The buyers plant saplings of coffee, banana and cardamom to show that they are using the land for agriculture and construct resorts,” Nanaiah said.
6,000 Acres Sold
The floor leader said the going price of an acre of plantation land was `40 lakh. Already, over 6,000 acres has been sold to non-agriculturists in Kodagu district and 3,000 applications to register properties were pending before the Revenue Department, Nanaiah alleged.
“The Kodavas are becoming aliens in their own homeland. Forest cover is being eroded due to mushrooming of resorts. There is danger in store if plantation land in catchment areas of the Cauvery is sold to non-agriculturists,” Nanaiah warned.Promise of ActionResponding to Nanaiah’s statements, the Minister declared that those revenue officials who were allegedly hand-in-glove with land sharks and fixing land deals would be dealt with an iron hand.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Karnataka / by Express News Service – Bangalore / February 21st, 2014
EMPOWERED: Attending one of the seminars organised by IISR’s Cardamom Research Centre (CRC) at Appangala in Kodagu on spices cultivation was a turning point in Mrs. Prema Ganesh’s life./ Special Arrangement / The Hindu
Agriculture is no more a male dominated sector, as many women have shown that they are second to none in this field. “Women can be successful agriculturists, if they are supported with timely technological interventions by scientists and encouragement from family”, says Dr. M. Anandaraj, Director of the Indian Institute of Spices Research (IISR), Kozhikode.
Mrs. Prema Ganesh from Maragodu village, Kodagu District, Karnataka is a role model for other women in this field.
Several problems
When she ventured to take over her coffee and black pepper plantation in 10 hectares a decade ago, several problems started surfacing, especially the low productivity of crops, making agriculture a non profitable enterprise.Keen to overcome them, she happened to attend one of the seminars organised by IISR’s Cardamom Research Centre (CRC) at Appangala in Kodagu on spices cultivation.“It was a turning point in my life,” recollects Ms Ganesh.
The scientists at CRC assured full technological support to her ventures. A team from CRC visited her plantation and identified some major production constraints such as high plant density per unit area, prevalence of diseases and pests, problems like spike shedding in black pepper etc.They provided a complete package of practices to be followed including thinning of excess plant growth to maintain optimum spacing among them, adoption of basin management techniques like application of organic manures, micronutrient application, earthing up and mulching for various crops.“In the case of black pepper, special recommendations like basin irrigation at the rate of 40-50 litres of water at 4-5 times per vine at an interval of 5-7 days during May-June in case of delayed monsoon, regulation of shade by pruning the support trees to provide minimum 50-60 per cent exposure to sunlight were suggested,” says Dr. S J Ankegowda, Head, CRC, AppangalaFor diseases and pests, spraying of two rounds of Bordeaux during June and August/September and one round of drenching with 0.2 per cent Copper Oxy Chloride (COC), and need based application of insecticides were also recommended.Trees like balangi, palawan and silver oak were planted at a spacing of 15×15 feet (random) to provide adequate shade to the crops.In addition she readied several rainwater harvesting pits of 10 feet length, 1.5 feet width and 1.5 feet depth between the coffee plants.These pits also serve as compost pits where all the farm wastes are dumped for two years to decompose after which they are removed and applied as organic manure to coffee and pepper, substantially reducing the cost on purchase of farm yard manure.
Composed husks
Ms. Ganesh makes use of composed coffee cherry husk, a by-product of coffee pulping, after mixing with cow dung as an additional source of organic manure.Annually she spends Rs. 35,000 per acre as operational cost and gets about Rs. 25 lakhs a year as net income from both black pepper and coffee. Reducing manual labour was an important initiative by her.“First thing they did was to lay motorable roads inside the plantation. This has reduced the strain in carrying the harvested produce in bags by labourers.Before the roads were laid, a labourer would take about 30 minutes to carry the bag to the main road for loading it on the lorries.“The physical strain was quite heavy. But now this has considerably reduced since the vehicles can come into the plantation,” says Dr. Ankegowda.
Underground irrigation
Another initiative was the underground pipe-lining for irrigation. Today the entire plantation has well connected irrigation line ready for irrigation all through the year.For more details readers can contact Mrs. Prema Ganesh, Prema Estate, Maragodu Village, Madikeri, Kodagu district- 571 201, Ph: 08272-241555, or Dr. S. J. Ankegowda, Head, IISR Cardamom Research Centre, Appangala, Madikeri-571201, Karnataka, mobile: 09663069241 and phone: 08272-245451.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> S & T> Science / Farmers Notebook> Karnataka / by M.J.Prabu / February 26th, 2014
Harshika Poonacha turned paparazzi when she met her childhood idol, Anant Nag, in Hubli recently. She had always yearned to meet the yesteryear hearthrob.
Harshika got her moment under the sun during the state film awards ceremony. When the awardees were invited on stage she found herself standing next to Nag. It was definitely an ‘aha’ moment for the leggy lass.
It then got better:
The ever-charming Anant complimented Harshika on her dress (now here’s a man who knows how to treat a lady) and the fact that she was a qualified engineer.
Unfortunately, she couldn’t capture the moment for posterity. But not one to give up, she cornered Nag at breakfast the next day and got a photo clicked, which she promptly shared with all friends. Nice!
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> Entertainment> Kannada> Movies / TNN / February 13th, 2014
Goal would earn Wizards a couple of points as well but it left coach Roelant Oltmans with some areas to think about as well.
On the face of it Delhi Waveriders have had a decent outing. Their 1-1 draw with the UP Wizards on Wednesday maintained their impressive home record — they have been unbeaten for the seventh time in nine games played at the Dhyanchand Stadium — and the two points they earned from the result took them to the top of the HIL league on 19 points.
However Delhi skipper Sardar Singh wasn’t a particularly happy individual at the end of the game. “This was a game that we should have won,” he said. Delhi had taken the early lead through Yuvraj Walmiki and dominated early play and even though UP had surged in the second half of the match, had held on until the equaliser by SK Uthappa with eight minutes to go.
Sardar’s reaction was more disappointment than a fair assessment of the game. Both teams had their chances although Wizards had the more clear cut opportunities.
So far in the HIL, Waveriders have shown an inclination to attack constantly from the first whistle but they chose a more cautious approach in Wednesday’s encounter. “We knew that Wizards would be patient and would keep the ball with them and so we tried to show patience ourselves,” said Sardar after the game.
While Waveriders had better possession in the midfield, there were few circle penetrations and no shots on target as Wizards’ keeper George Bazely wasn’t called into play once.
Yuvraj Walmiki would go on to have an average game but he would put Waveriders on the scoreboard. The hard work was done by Simon Child on the right flank as he broke past a couple of defenders then passed to Walmiki who had been left unmarked in the front of the goal. Wizards had an opportunity to equalise soon after through a PC.
However the fact that their regular drag flicker VR Raghunath was sitting in the timeout zone after earning a green card meant that Luke Doerner took the flick. Doerner tried for a variation but ended up holding on to the ball for too long and gave it away.
Wizards and Raghunath had the chance to make amends in the third quarter through another PC in the 47th minute but Waveriders keeper Stockmann got a sliver of leg to deflect the ball to safety. As time ticked by, Waveriders slowly reverted to all out defence and were helped by the fact that Wizards’ forwards weren’t able to finish their moves. Their midfield built around Sardar Singh was expected to dominate but failed to exert itself.
NEEDED: BETTER MAN MARKING“We could have been better was in our man to man marking in the midfield,” said Sardar who was seen constantly exhorting his line to stay with the opposition players assigned to them. The mistakes eventually caught up and in the 62nd minute Wizards’ midfielder SK Uthappa got a ball which had been stolen from inside the Waveriders half line. To his credit, Uthappa, at the top of the circle turned and blitzed a forehand stroke into the board.The goal would earn Wizards a couple of points as well but it left coach Roelant Oltmans with some areas to think about as well.“Uthappa had a good game, but that is expected because he is one of India’s better midfielders. He has scored in this game as well as the last game but while that is good for the team, we need our strikers to be scoring goals for us as well,” he said.
source: http://www.indianexpress.com / The Indian Express / Home> Sports> Hockey / by Jonathan Selvaraj / New Delhi – February 06th, 2014
Gulshan Devaiah, who was last seen in Sanjay LeelaBhansali’s ‘Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela’ flagged off the’ iRUN for Indian Hockey’ at the Hiranandani Thane Half Marathon yesterday. The theme of the run is to spread the message of promoting Indian hockey.
Gulshan was very ecstatic to flag off the race and to witness the energy on the ground. Talking about the event Gulshan says, “I was very excited to flag off the race, especially as it was promoting hockey. “Hockey has always had a special place in my heart since childhood. In fact the very first toy I got from my parents was a hockey stick. I even played a bit of hockey in my school days.”
The actor has a great road ahead with 3 movies in his bag. Gulshan will be seen in new avatar in Phantom’s next Hunter. He has also signed a two movie deal with Pooja Bhatt.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> Entertainment> Hindi> Bollywood / by Renuka Vyavahare, TNN / February 18th, 2014
Actress-turned-politician Ramya has been splitting her time between her constituency Mandya and the Centre in Delhi, ever since she was elected to the Parliament. Also in focus, right now, is the party’s youth icon — Rahul Gandhi — who has made quite a few visits to Karnataka lately. Well, according to Ramya, the young leader’s focus is indeed on the state.
In fact, when Rahul came to Karnataka last weekend, he visited Ramya’s constituency, Mandya. “It was great when he visited. We were travelling on the left side of the road and he wanted to know what the logic in blocking even the right side of the road was. In fact, all the way from Tumkur to Mandya, we took the outer road to avoid stalling any traffic whatsoever. I was impressed, as he actually practises what he preaches,” says Ramya.
As a result of his many visits to the state, there was a clamour last month that Rahul would contest the Lok Sabha polls from Karnataka. Although Ramya dismissed this as a rumour, she said, “I would be really happy if he were to contest from Mandya, but it’s just a rumour. He has done extremely good work in Amethi and I would like to go there, see the things he has done and maybe implement a similar model here,” says Ramya.
Politics apart, Rahul apparently took some time off to experience the best that the state has to offer. Says Ramya, “He loves masala dosa and really likes Coorg (a destination we guess he must have gone to on one of his many visits to the state).”
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> Entertainment> Kannada> Movies / by TNN / February 21st, 2014
District-in-Charge Minister K J George has said that he will make a honest effort to take up development works in the district. Speaking to mediapersons, he said that with the increase in crimes in Kushalnagar, a circular has been issued to set up Kushalnagar rural police station.
He said that district administration has sought additional Rs 2 crore to take up 63 works related to drinking water, to mitigate shortage of water in villages. “I have appraised the CM to sanction Rs 100 crore special package to maintain roads in the district. Six kilometre road covering Kedaka-Horoor-Bhoothanakad will be re asphalted at a cost of Rs 50 lakh. Virajpet-Madikeri and Somwarpet-Madikeri road will be concreted,” he added.
“The government has sanctioned Rs eight crore to take up work on Balele-Nittur bridge. Rs 10 crore to construct a bridge across Lakshmanatheertha on Harihara-Balyamandoor. A sum of Rs 10 crore will be provided for the development of Jenukuruba and tribal colonies in the district. As form 9 and 11 while registering a property has been causing inconvenience, the Minister has been asked to drop the proposal,” George said.
He said that Revenue Minister has been asked to appoint a Special Tahsildar to Kushalnagar. Measures will be taken to lay 400 metre synthetic track and synthetic football ground in Madikeri. “The district administration has sought funds for the development of Gaddige park, Mallalli waterfalls and Rajaseat.”
Rules to be relaxed
In a separate meeting with the tribals, the minister said rules would be relaxed for tribal people in recruitment to police force. “Tribals and forest dwellers are leading a pathetic condition even after 67 years of independence. Rules regarding physical standards would be relaxed.”
The Minister said that he will discuss with Forest Minister on wages for mahouts working in Dubare forest. “Traditional dwellers should not be cleared. The department should come forward to provide basic facilities for the tribals residing on the periphery of the forest,” he said. He directed the officials to initiate measures to distribute 270 individual claims under Forest Rights Act.
Kudiyara Muthappa said that tribals who have been residing inside the forest are not ready to come to the mainstream of the society. Those tribals who have passed tenth standard should be provided job opportunity in police department.” Tribal leader J P Raju said “the government should purchase paisari land and distribute it among the poor.”
MLC T John, IGP Ramachandra Rao, Zilla Panchayat Chief Executive Officer P I Srividya, Deputy Commissioner Anurag Tiiwari among others were present.
source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> District / Madikeri – DHNS, February 11th, 2014
Model turned actress, Shubra Aiyappa is all set to make her debut in Tollywood this year. She’ll soon be seen in Nara Rohit-starrer Prathinidhi in which she’s playing the role of a journalist. While it’s not yet clear when the film is going to release, we hear that Shubra has signed yet another Telugu film.
“I’m playing Arvind Krishna’s romantic interest in my next Telugu film. It’s a romantic comedy and I’m lucky to be working with a wonderful team,” Shubra says. The film’s shooting recently began in Hyderabad and Veera Prasad is weilding the microphone for this one. “I’m playing quite a serious role in Prathinidhi and I wanted to do something different this time. I can’t talk much about the role, but I can say that it’s going to be a sweet film,” she adds.
The actress was supposed to make her debut in YVS Chowdhary’s Rey; however, she opted out of the project soon after she signed it. “That was quite unfortunate. In fact, I was happily doing modelling and TV commercials, when YVS Chowdhary saw my portfolio. I became an actor by chance when he called me for an audition. And then more people approached me after that. I’m here to stay,” she avers.
Ask her what she likes about Tollywood and Hyderabad which makes her come back again and again, she confesses, “I’m a Bangalorean and I’ve a soft corner for South Indians. What I love most about Hyderabad is its relaxed pace of life and food. Besides, people are extremely nice. I would love to do more Telugu films in future.
Contributor: Hemanth Kumar
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> Entertainment> Telugu> Movies / TNN / February 04th, 2014
Mysore-Kodagu MP H Vishwanath has said that he would also support the legal fight to include Namadari Gowda community in 2(A) category. He was speaking after inaugurating Banashankari community building belonging to Namadari Sangha at Hebbale near Kushalnagar on Sunday.
Without taking the name of former prime minister H D Deve Gowda, he indirectly flayed at him for making false allegations on him (Vishwanath) of removing Namadhari Gowda community from 2(A) category during 1994 Lok Sabha elections.
MLA M P Appachu Ranjan who was present at the programme, said that strengthening of associations belonging to different communities will help in the progress of the community. Presiding over the programme, Namadari Sangha Kodagu zone President G L Ramappa expressed happiness over the community members for donating fund to build the community building in Kushalnagar.
ZP former President H S Ashok, Congress leader Natesh Gowda and others were present.Villagers of Huluse submitted a petition to MP H Vishwanath to sanction a Ambedkar community hall, during his visit to the village on Sunday.
Speaking on be half of the villagers after submitting the petition, Karnataka Raitha Sangha Village Committee President Venkatesh said “we have submitted petitions to all the elected representatives, demanding a community hall. But none of them have responded to our demand so far.” The demand to build steps to Kaveri lake in the village too has not been fulfilled, the villagers said and urged the MP to solve their problems.
source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> District / DHNS / Kushalnagar – February 09th, 2014
We had reported earlier that Kannada actress Harshika Poonacha will be making her Telugu debut in the Surya Teja- starrer Panipuri, and the actress took to Twitter recently to announce that she has started rehearsing for the songs of the film.
Harshika tweeted, “Good morning Darling twps. My Telugu debut #Panipuri song shoots are ahead. At the rehearsals,Dance in my mind” (sic).
The actress, who has worked in Konkani and Kodava films apart from Kannada, is keen on branching out as says is fluent in all South Indian languages. Eager to leave a mark in all the industries, she will also soon debut in Kollywood with the Tamil film Anandha Thollai, apart from her Telugu film Panipuri.
Harshika debuted in 2008 with the Kannada film PUC, and has gone on to play prominent roles in several other films. She won the Karnataka State Film Award for Best Supporting Actress for the 2009 Shivarajkumar-starrer Thamassu.
source: http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> Kannada> Entertainment> Kannada> Dance / by Dhwani Desai, TNN / February 01st, 2014
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