Category Archives: Arts, Culture & Entertainment

Did ‘Pyaar Ke Side Effects’ appreciations came as a Surprise for Singer Sophie Choudry

Arts, Culture & Entertainment


Mumbai:
Sophie Choudry, The Singer, The VJ, The Performer, The Actress who was discovered by Ace Musician Biddu goes one-on-one in conversation with Pardaphash.com correspondent Faisal Saif.

Question: Tell us about Sophie Choudry, The world doesn’t know.
Answer: I am an absolute nerd.. I love reading, i have always been a straight A student, i speak fluent French. I have written the lyrics for almost all of my songs, i speak fluent urdu and i prefer spending time at home rather than going out partying.

Question: You were born and brought up in London, How was your Journey in Bollywood as a VJ, Singer and Actress?
Answer: I was discovered by the music director Biddu when i was 12. I always wanted to sing and he launched me in the girl band Sansara when i was still studying! I became a VJ in London with ZEE TV while i was at college and when i decided to move to MUMBAI, MTV hired me! My solo songs “Mera Babu Chail Chabila” and “Ek Pardesi” became massive hits and i decided to stay in india. David Dhawan called and offered to launch me in “Shaadi No1”.. i was a huge Govinda Karisma fan and this opportunity was a dream come true for me!

Question: Why was the sudden Split Up from Sansara Band despite of ‘Yeh Dil Sun Raha Hai’ becoming a Chartbuster?
Answer: We had too many ego issues. generally it’s tough for girls to get along and unfortunately even though we sang really well together, we all had different ideas about how to take things forward. I was dedicated to making it work, even move to India. they werent.

Question: Your reactions when ‘Baby Love’ and ‘Sound Of Sophie’ became talk of the Music Trade?
Answer: Yes, that was incredible for me. Ek Pardesi got me immense popularity, i started doing lots of shows and like i mentioned it got me Shaadi No.1 and even Pyar Ke Side effects. I can never forget that album and T-series promoted it so well!

Question: What about Acting Side? We don’t see much of Sophie nowadays?
Answer: I wasnt getting the kind of roles i wanted so i had to take a step back and focus on myself, my music and my shows. However people thought i didn’t want to do films because i wasn’t signing anything. That isn’t true. Thankfully i signed something recently and hope to do more movies next year!

Question: Did ‘Pyaar Ke Side Effects’ appreciations came as a Surprise?
Answer: Yes it did. I loved the script because it was so different… it was a new kind of cinema with an unusual casting and it made me realize that even if i wasnt the heroine of the project i could make a lasting impact! Til this day, no one has forgotten my character Babygirl volume 3 or the famous coffee!

Question: Was the Raunchy Act video scandal was again any part of Promotional Activity?
Answer: NO!! Not at all! I didnt even know about the video until one of my twitter followers told me about it. then i got more and more tweets! I have no idea how that got out!!! If i wanted to leak something, i would have leaked the song because i want that to get popular not a raunchy clip!!!!

Question: Hows was you convinced for ‘Hungama Ho Gaya’?
Answer: It’s an amazing song which i thought we could work with to create something absolutely new! It was Vishal dadlani’s idea and me and JohnStewart the arranger worked on it for a couple of months to get it just right.. I even wrote new lyrics. I just had a feeling this song would cause a Hungama of sorts and it has!

Question: What took you so long to come up with this Song?
Answer: Non film songs dont get much exposure on TV and radio anymore and since you have to produce the project yourself it takes time to out things together. Also im a perfectionst!

Question: What preparations you went through in the Making of the Video for ‘Hungama Ho Gaya’?
Answer: I got as fit as i could by working out, we did dance rehearsals with my choreographer Arvind, Rocky S spent time on the styling, i even met him in London for some of the shopping. We worked very hard on all the planning with the video director Shiraz Bhattacharya. Most peole can believe we shot the videoin one day because it’s on such a grand scale! I wanted it to be my hottest video ever!

Question: Future for Sophie Choudry.
Answer: I take each day as it comes. You cant make plans in this career or in life. You just have to be true to yourself, live life to the max .. But i will keep doing what i love..making more music, performing on stage and even some films! I m blessed to be able to do what i love!!

source: http://www.pardaphash.com / Homepage> Entertainment / Published by: Nitish Kapoor / Friday, December 21st, 2012

The call of Coorg

Arts, Culture & Entertainment


View to a thrill The outdoor restaurant
You can do Coorg in several ways. You could stay in a luxury resort, camp in a tent pitched on the cool hillside, enjoy a home-stay in Raj-style bungalows of coffee estates, or be a back-packer in a log room on a balcony that you reach by swinging yourself up on a rope and a prayer. Or, you could try a filthily opulent extravagance with heated pools, chocolate-dipped strawberries and champagne. I have tried Coorg in all the above ways and I must confess that while my soul might think otherwise, my body could quite easily get used to this whole filthy luxury thing.

At the slick resort that it unveiled in Madikeri last week, Taj Vivanta has pulled out all the stops to how you can experience this verdant part of the country. While we can go on about all the little details such as service, rooms and banquets that the Taj, and indeed most major hotel groups, do so well, the moment when the resort takes your breath away happens elsewhere. At the moment you enter it, in fact. You step through wide doors to a stunning wide-open, semi-circular lobby that’s perched like an eyrie on the very edge of a high hill with a spectacular view of the Western Ghats and valley spread out below. Standing there on that open terrace edged with a narrow pool of pebbled water, the strong wind tugging at your hair and nothing but sky between you and the view, it’s easy to forget humdrum earth. You could be a bird, resting before taking wing again to tumble freely in the clouds.

A cup of hot bella kaapi — Coorgi black coffee sweetened with jaggery — brings you back to earth but in a comforting way, and you are now ready for the more mundane moments. Not that I can really call the deep tissue massage that follows mundane, as the Tibetan masseuse kneads every kink out of my aching muscles most satisfyingly. I need it, especially after that very long drive (seven hours) from Bangalore that tested patience and fortitude severely. Later that evening, I find that I also definitely need the exotic cocktails concocted by celebrated flair bartender Attila. It’s getting easier to see just why all these little hedonistic details are so indispensable.

The nature walk next morning makes hardly a ripple on the surface of this lotus-eating. It’s a sweet little exercise designed to make us feel all outdoorsy while ensuring we don’t break a single pretty fingernail. But nothing can take away from the sheer beauty of a shola forest and its denizens, and our guide is a genius. We see funnel spider webs and wild cinnamon and learn about the annoyingly pushy bracken. The resort has tied up with Muddy Boots for forest walks and birding sessions and it’s a brilliant idea.

You can’t avoid Nature here — it’s vast, stunningly beautiful, and all around you. And the resort celebrates this in the best possible way. The restaurants, cottages and activity centres, sprawled across 180 acres of rainforest, are all tucked away into the hills and landscape, almost organically blended in. My cottage has three walls of windows that look out on the forest, with both bed and bath-tub facing outdoors. I wake up to the call of a Malabar whistling thrush. We have strawberries at breakfast that are grown on the property.

Of course, they organise activities — there’s pottery and meditation, yoga, tours and walks. For the launch, we even had a champagne dinner serenaded by Grammy award-winning group Deep Forest and santoor star Rahul Sharma. Left to myself, though, I would use every minute to just soak in the amazing atmosphere of the place. Read a book on that breathtaking lobby balcony, look down at a wind-rippled patch of satiny paddy or lazily track swallows wheeling in the sky. Nights would be spent star-gazing, something the manager assures me is very much on the cards. You could call me lazy and you wouldn’t be wrong. But honestly, what better place to be lazy in?

source: http://www.TheHindu.com / Home> Life & Style> Travel / by Vaishna Roy / Chennai, December 21st, 2012

Kodava Sahitya Academy awards announced

Arts, Culture & Entertainment

Karnataka Kodava Sahitya Academy President Addanda Cariappa has announced the names of the Academy awards for the year 2012-13 here on Tuesday.

The award winners are litterateur Bacharaniyanda Appanna from Kushalnagar, Madikeri AIR announcer Koopadeera Sharada Nanjappa and Kodava folk artiste Medara Thani. The award carried a cash prize of Rs 10,000 and citation.

Academy Honorary award will be conferred on A T Raghu, director of Kodava serial ‘Ain mane.’

The honorary award carries a cash prize of Rs 5,000 and citation.

The award will be given away at ‘Kodava Sahitya Samskrithika Manamme’ scheduled to be held at Madapura in the month of January.

source: http://www.DeccanHerald.com / Home> District / Madikeri, DHNS / December 12th, 2012

Kodava Academy spots an artiste living in oblivion

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

When there is a talk of degeneration of cultural values and all aspects associated with it, the 65-year-old Medara Taani’s name crops up as an exception. He is struggling to keep a vanishing tradition of beating drums during festivals in Kodagu that sets a rhythmic Kodava ‘kolatt’ in motion lending a special aura to the festival and raise it to dizzy levels.

Medara Taani, who has been chosen for the Kodava Sahitya Academy Award.—/ PHOTO: NANDA KUMAR / The Hindu

The sounds of ‘dol’ and ‘pare’ the traditional music instruments have their own special place in Kodagu. And Taani has over five decades of experience in playing them. It is apt that the Madikeri-based Karnataka Kodava Sahitya Academy has picked him as one of the persons contributing to the Kodava culture for this year’s award.

The dwelling of Mr. Taani in the Tadiyandamol Hills, the highest peak in Kodagu, is the only platform where he mastered the art. He is credited with producing a number of musical sounds emanating from the dol and pare during the Puthari festival held in Kodagu. Playing dol and pare is a must to the accompaniment of Hutri Kolatt, a dance performed by the Kodavas swinging reed sticks in hands, and gyrating in a set path around the ‘mand’, a place revered for the presence of niche of deities.

The musical instruments are a legacy of his father who pursued the avocation successfully. Mr. Taani has travelled to places such as New Delhi, Bangalore, and Mysore to play his musical objects in the past. But his sojourns did not help him get the better of his imperceptible background. However, his ordeals in life too never appear to end. The poor artiste walks the distance to fetch water every day. His dwelling does not have electricity. He does not possess land but has no qualms about it.

Son of Subbaiah and Seetamma from Nelaji village in Madikeri taluk of Kodagu, he is one of the nine siblings in the family. Mr. Taani, who speaks Kodava, ekes out a living with his wife by weaving baskets and other household items out of bamboo. The cash award of Rs. 10,000 which would be given to him with a citation by the academy might not change his life, but certainly send a message that artistes and art never die. And, the academy deserves kudos for spotting him from a state of obscurity. His humility came to the fore, reacting to the recognition by the Academy when he said that credit for his award should go to the people of his village.

Taani, who beats traditional drum, lives in abject penury.

source: http://www.TheHindu.com / Home> National> Karnataka / by K. Jeevan Chinnappa / Mysore, December 14th, 2012

The hospitable heiress

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, Nature

Shruti Shibulal has invested in a business that’s a world apart from that of her father. But in her unassuming demeanour she’s kept to the Infosys tradition

Her 0.64 per cent stake in the company her father co-founded is worth close to Rs 900 crore at today’s prices. But 27-year-old Shruti Shibulal, promoter of the recently-launched luxury resort The Tamara, Coorg and daughter of Infosys Co-founder and CEO S D Shibulal, comes across as remarkably down-to-earth and, well, normal. “It’s something I’ve been asked about [the Rs 900 crore] but I don’t really wake up in the morning thinking ‘oh, I’m worth this much’,” says the young entrepreneur, whose casually bunched-up curly hair and black-rimmed glasses lend her an air more grad student than entrepreneur, though she has dressed for the interview in a fitted black cardigan, onion-pink silk blouse and black trousers. (The sole concession to luxury seems to be a sparkling diamond ring on her left hand, about which she will reveal only, with a smile, that “yes, it means something”.)

The down-to-earth demeanour could also have to do with the fact that she was not born with that most desirable of appendages, the proverbial silver spoon. “We had a very middle-class upbringing till the late ’90s. I grew up seeing my dad work obscenely hard and now he’s working harder than ever. We are extremely aware of the value of money,” she says.

My entry into the conference room a little earlier had interrupted a discussion between Shibulal and one of her employees about someone she has just met who was convinced that the building of resorts like hers spelt the beginning of the end for Coorg, a pristine part of Karnataka’s coffee country and the location of Shibulal’s resort. “If she just visited the resort, I’m sure she would be persuaded to think differently,” says Shibulal, with a confidence that is also unassuming. It is a confidence that might have something to do with the fact that she has already launched two popular fine-dining restaurants in Bangalore, the high-end Caperberry known for experimenting with molecular gastronomy and the like, and Faava, which serves Mediterranean cuisine.
Shibulal says she might not always have known she wanted to be in hospitality but she knew what she did not want to do, and one of those things was a career in IT. “Oh, that was decided after the tenth standard itself, when I dropped computer science,” she says. This steering off the IT path is in line with what the children of the other Infosys promoters such as Narayan Murthy and Nandan Nilekani have done. (Infosys also has in place a policy according to which the promoters’ children cannot join the company.)

College was in the US, at Haverford, where she majored in chemistry, with a minor in philosophy. “I was much better at doing things and dealing with people than academics,” she says. This and a determination to be in New York meant a stint with Merrill Lynch’s wealth management division in NYC which, while enjoyable, also made her feel she could do something more.

The foray into the restaurants business happened soon after she returned to India, and more or less by chance — she was looking around for an investment opportunity and chef Abhijit Saha, who was all ready with the blueprint for his restaurant, needed an investor. “I initially thought I’d be a passive investor because it was a business I knew nothing about, but then Abhijit convinced me to get involved,” she says. That involvement covered the entire gamut, from finance and management to taking orders, being the receptionist and spending the odd night in the restaurant. Everything that is, apart from cooking. “I wasn’t allowed to enter the kitchen,” she laughs. “They tried to teach me but I’m not a good cook.”

“When she came on board, she did not have any knowledge about the food and hospitality industry but she used this as a learning opportunity,” says Saha, who is an equal partner in the venture. Saha describes Shibulal as someone very calm and collected, who was also “a very very quick learner” and very easy to work with.

For Shibulal, the time spent in the restaurant business led to many realisations, the first of which was that starting a business in India is not easy. “It was a bit of a shock to realise you can’t get things done just because you want to, especially when you’re coming from the US, where you are used to things working.” It was a year before Caperberry could finally open, a frustratingly long period for any young and enthusiastic promoter, but a time she now views philosophically. “It took me through a lot of learning — you don’t usually have to go through so much disappointment that early in your career,” she says.

She also had to deal with the fact that at 23, she was much younger than most of the people she was working with, which meant it was that much harder to be taken seriously, even if you were one of the promoters. But there were also positives — like the instant gratification the restaurant business provides, unlike other sectors. “Within five minutes you’ll get to know whether the customer likes what you’ve served him. And that’s a bit of a high.”

Though she continues to be a promoter, her involvement in the restaurants had to take a backseat when she returned to the US, to study for her postgraduate degree in management from Columbia University. Meanwhile, The Tamara, Coorg (Tamara means lotus in Malayalam, Shibulal’s mother tongue) was already taking shape, with the land, a 170-acre coffee plantation, having been bought in 2005.

* * *

The resort, in which she is one of the three promoters, opened in April this year and, currently, that’s the business she is focusing on. With rooms starting at Rs 18,000 a night, it’s positioned at the top end of the segment, but for competition, it has to contend with the venerable Orange County and the newly opened Vivanta by Taj.

But Shibulal, who also heads corporate strategy, is unfazed. For one, she believes Coorg is nowhere near being a saturated market, even with the new Vivanta. And the Tamara, she feels, will stand out because of the kind of service it offers. “It’s a place where you can unwind completely while at the same time having the option to do that one hour of work, just in case you need to,” she says. The resort has a five-star rating on popular travel portal Trip Advisor with many ecstatic comments by guests, but then so does the competition.

In her role, Shibulal looks after the direction the company will take, including acquisitions — the next resort they are working on will be in Kodaikanal, a hill station in Tamil Nadu, and another in Alappuzha, Kerala’s backwater country, is also under consideration. She says she also has to ensure every decision the company takes is in line with its philosophy of “sustainable good living”, part of which meant getting more trees planted than were cut down during the construction of the resort, something attested to me earlier by a rival promoter.

Shibulal declines to reveal the exact investment on the grounds that it’s a privately-held company, and says only that they hope to break even in a few years.

Her family does not interfere in any of her business decisions, she says, though she does turn to her parents for advice, at times. “It’s always been that way, our professional lives are quite separate.” In fact, her father met her business partner, Saha, only six months after she had invested in the company. Neither do dinner-table conversations revolve around Infosys or, for that matter, Tamara. “There are so many other things to talk about,” she says.

Outside work, dancing used to be a passion. “I’ve been dancing from three and have learnt everything from ballet to bharatnatyam and have taught hip-hop while I was in university.” But an injury has put a stop to that.

Meanwhile, she has decided to try her hand at cooking again, though she says it’s particularly hard in a city like New York with its smorgasbord of dining options. (She divides her time between New York, where she looks after the family’s investments in the US, and Bangalore.)

The only indulgence she will confess to is travel, mostly to see her friends scattered around the globe. That and the “Tropical Iceberg” from Cafe Coffee Day a thoughtful employee suddenly enters the conference room with. “They know me well here,” she says with a smile.

source: http://www.Business-Standard.com / Home> Life & Leisure / by Indulekha Aravind / Bangalore, December 15th, 2012

Madikeri: Flag Day of Armed Forces Observed with Commemoration of Martyrs

Arts, Culture & Entertainment

Madikeri:

The armed forces’ Flag Day was observed with dignity and dedication under the aegis of the district administration and district ex-Servicemen’s welfare and rehabilitation department, in front of the cenotaph near the fort hee on Friday, Dec 7.

Brig (retd) K M Muthanna, deputy commissioner Dr N V Prasad, district superintendent of police Manjunath Annigeri and others offered their respects to the martyrs by laying wreaths at the cenotaph. Others who laid wreaths were Lt Gen B C Nanda, Air Marshal K C Cariappa, Air Commodore K A Devaiah, Group Captain Hudianda Kushalappa, Col N A Appaiah, ECHS manager Col K M Nachappa, Lt Col P S Ganesh, Col P S Nanaiah, Capt Bhaskar, Col Pattamada Muthanna, Maj B A Nanjappa, B R Shetty of the department of ex-Servicemen’s welfare, Paradanda Chengappa and TMC commissioner N M Shashikumar, besides many other prominent citizens.

Patriotic songs were presented on the occasion. A two-minute silence was observed as a mark of tribute to all the armed personnel who died a heroic death in the service of the nation.

The event was attended by officials from different departments, former Service personnel, NCC cadets, students of the army school and citizens. The flags of Armed Forces Day were symbolically distributed to mark the occasion.

source: http://www.mangalorean.com / Home / by Team Mangalorean – Madikeri / by Ashwin Appaiah / Pics by Vartha / December 08th, 2012

Coorg wins ‘Favourite emerging Indian destination’ Award

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Records, All


G. Satyavathi, Director, Karnataka State Tourism Development Corporation and Arvind Jadhav Singh, Addl. Chief Secretary, Tourism, Govt. of Karnataka, seen receiving the award for Emerging Destination in India for Coorg at the Readers’ Travel Awards 2012 function in Delhi recently as Alex Kuruvilla, MD, Conde Nast India and Divia Thani, Editor, Conde Nast Traveller India look on.

New Delhi, Dec. 10

Condé Nast Traveller India, the last word in travel, has announced the winners of the second edition of the Readers’ Travel Awards-2012.

Coorg, with its abundant natural beauty, wooded grandeur and unique culture, was recognised as the Favourite Emerging Destination in India. Located in Karnataka, Coorg attracts travellers and nature lovers, mainly due to its scenic landscape, coffee estates, plantations and rich heritage.

Parvez Dewan, Secretary Tourism, Govt. of India, who was the chief guest at the awards ceremony said, “My connection with Condé Nast Traveller goes back to my earlier days. When I started doing my research on hotel standards I used Condé Nast Traveller as a benchmark to better understand the industry. Having such credible lineage, I feel that that the Condé Nast Traveller Readers’ Travel Awards have become the Oscars of the Indian travel industry.”

Readers of Condé Nast Traveller India had the opportunity to vote across 22 categories for their favourite destinations, hotels, airlines, spas, airports and more. The winners were then chosen after being scored on several parameters unique to each category.

Commenting on the success of the awards ceremony, Alex Kuruvilla, MD, Condé Nast India, said, “Having introduced the prestigious global Readers’ Travel Awards last year and set a benchmark in excellence for the travel industry, I feel that Condé Nast Traveller India has outdone itself this year. We are proud to host the most credible awards for the discerning luxury traveller, and spearhead growth in luxury travel space in India.”

Conde Nast Traveller Readers’ Travel Award-2012 winners are:

1. Country – Thailand

2. Overseas City – London

3. Indian City – New Delhi

4. India Leisure Destination – Goa

5. Emerging Overseas Destination – New Zealand

6. Emerging Indian Destination – Coorg

7. Overseas Business Hotel – London Hilton on Park Lane.

source: http://www.StarofMysore.com / Home> General News / December 10th, 2012

And what about traditional healers?

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Green Initiatives / Environment, Science & Technology

All the medicines he gives are derived from herbs, collected from the forests and not chemically spiked.

The steady stream of patients has been increasing over the years for this ayurvedic practitioner, whose knowledge has been handed down the generations

The sick and anxious queue up every day at the clinic of a popular ayurvedic pandit in a north Kodagu village, hoping to find a solution to their ailments, and many undertake an arduous journey to reach this remote place nestled in coffee plantations.

His medicines — mostly herbs, powdered and packed in plastic covers — are handed out along with a pamphlet providing details about dosage and diet. The steady stream of patients has been increasing over the years for this ayurvedic practitioner, whose knowledge has been handed down the generations, but not through any formal method.

All the medicines he gives are derived from herbs, collected from the forests and not chemically spiked, he claims, telling patients to test them for heavy metals or steroid if they so wish.

“Most come after allopathic drugs fail to provide relief. Many come with faith in traditional knowledge,” he says.

There are thousands like him, claiming to use remedies handed down generations in a State that has rich biodiversity. Sources in the Department of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy (AYUSH) estimate that there could be around 40,000 to 50,000 traditional healers, mostly in rural areas, in the State.

However, without a recognised degree, the medicines they prescribe have not gone through the rigours of modern testing methods.

The role of the traditional healer is thus a matter of debate. Lack of government-monitored system to test their medicines and validate their practice has also not helped.

No recognition

Officially, their role in the health system has not been recognised either by the Karnataka Medical Council or by the AYUSH Department. According to a senior official in the Drug Controller’s Office, prescribing allopathic medication without medical qualification is illegal under the Drug Rules and it is also illegal to prescribe ayurvedic drugs without recognition by the Directorate of AYUSH. AYUSH Department sources said that though no time-frame has been set, there is a loud thinking in the government to address issues pertaining to traditional medicine and healers as this knowledge is considered an important element in society that should not be lost.

source: http://www.TheHindu.com / Home> News> Cities> Bangalore / by Sharath S. Srivasta / Bangalore, December 04th, 2012

Miss.Tibet – 2013 Pageant at Bylakuppe next year

Arts, Culture & Entertainment

Dharamsala, Dec. 4\
The Miss Tibet Pageant-2013, which was held in Dharmasala for 10 years since it began in 2002, will now be held in Bylakuppe, one of the largest Tibetan settlement.

The organisers have decided to shift the venue since most of the Tibetans-in-exile live in South India. The contest will be held from Feb. 10 to 13, 2013 and the applications will be online soon with Jan. 15 as the last date to submit the form.

The organisers have also changed the timing of the event from June to February. “This is the time of Tibetan New Year, Losar, and hence the event is being held in the starting of 2013,” organisers said and added that eventually the event would be held in other parts of the country where Tibetan people are settled in large numbers.

The organisers had decided to forgo this year’s Miss Tibet Pageant 2012 in the wake of the growing unrest, to protest Tibet’s “grim” condition under the Chinese government. They said that the next year’s Miss Tibet will be dedicated to the critical situation in Tibet and especially for those who have sacrificed their lives for the Tibetan cause. The controversial event was vehemently opposed by many including the Tibetan government-in-exiles, saying it was not part of Tibetan tradition.

Till date, winners of the contest have twice won Miss Earth in the Philippines and Miss Asia Pacific World once

source: http://www.StarofMysore.com / General News / December 04th, 2012

AGM of Coorg Home Stays Association held

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy


Mysore, Dec.1:
The 7th Annual General Body Meeting (AGM) of Coorg Home Stays Association was held at Capitol Village in Madikeri on Nov. 27.

Association President K.M. Karumbaiah welcomed and briefed the gathering. Secretary P.U. Preetham presented a detailed report on the activities of the Association. Briefing the gathering about the new ‘Karnataka Tourism Trade Act-2012’ proposed by the Department of Tourism and to be passed during the winter session of the Assembly, he said as per the policy registration of Home Stays with the Tourism Department was a must. Treasurer Dambecodi Prem also presented a report.

Past Presidents of the Association Micky Kalappa and Dilip Chengappa briefed about various tax problems and policy matters.

On the occasion, an official directory of registered Home Stays was released by Dilip Chengappa. In all, 110 members attended. Secretary P.U. Preetham proposed a vote of thanks.

source: http://www.StarofMysore.com / Home> General News / November 01st, 2012