Tag Archives: Kodavathi

Swimming at a positive pace: Guddanda Kavitha Chittiappa’s story

“When you cannot find the sunshine, be the sunshine!” says a cheerful 50-year-old, Guddanda Kavitha Chittiappa (married to Kodira) who hails from Maharashtra. Today, the world is rising of waters, dark and deep or so we think. Living in a perfectly Utopian world is Kavitha who is a former national level Diver and a Swimmer.

As light is to darkness, Guddanda Kavitha Chittiappa has been the light of hope to the young and old. She says, “I worked for a corporate for 29 years, then quit because I thought it was time to give back. I had reached a point in life where there was nothing to look forward to. I wanted to make a difference in my life and the lives of the people around me. That was when I decided to start, “Aqualiners” which is a swimming academy. This academy teaches swimming, Aqua Therapy, Aqua Rehabilitation, and Aqua Fitness to children and adults, differently-abled kids and adults, senior citizens.” Kavitha has been training the intermediate as well as the competitive-level swimmers in Bengaluru.

Always sporting a natural smile, Kavitha has been quick to change her stride post-pandemic. Most parents of the specially-abled children had fewer options on their plate. Thanks to Kavitha, these children could attend online classes for their physical exercises.

She has an international certification on ‘active aging’ and works with senior citizens on age-related ailments on land and water. During this lockdown, she has started an online exercise session for family and friends to ensure that they keep themselves physically fit and active. She has started land-based exercises (movement therapy) as the pools have shut post-Covid-19.

It all started with Kavitha helping her aunt with online physical exercises. What started as a “family workout hour” with her aunt became popular! “Soon, I was not just helping my aunt but her friends too,” she says. The word spread that Kavitha was helping with physical exercises. Many joined because it was not just a workout group that Kavitha had started but a therapeutic group where the participants could vent out their feelings and share their activities during the lockdown phase. “If each of us can make a difference in one person’s life, we could bring positivity to so many people. If I could get 12 ladies every day, on the line and I look at their health… If one of them misses my sessions, I can ask him or her what happened. So, I know everyone is safe for the day,” says Kavitha.

Also, a yoga teacher and a Pranik healer, she works selflessly to enable the specially-abled children with a power of positivity in the mind, in the body. Commenting on how she was coping with classes post Covid-19, she adds, “I couldn’t meet my students and I missed those hugs and smiles, the real connect. But the fact that we could still be there for each other was amazing.”

Her aura of positivity blooms in her own words, “Whatever I do, I always give my 100%. I smile because it brings out the best in me. I believe in my students’ potential, that everyone is unique and different and the best can be brought out of each student. I receive what I give. I give or receive love, hope, and power.” Kavitha has changed so many lives, especially the lives of the young and the old. This world definitely needs more Kavithas!

source: http://www.medium.com / Medium / Home / by Shrividya Somanna / February 07th, 2022

‘Mentor’ Ashwini Ponnappa finds solace in fresh challenges

Ashwini Ponnappa, who has achieved many firsts for Indian badminton, is drawing new energy from her 20-year-old partner Tanisha Crasto. But the 33-year-old says her biggest challenge is to stay motivated.

Mentor Ashwini Ponnappa finds solace in fresh challenges
Ashwini Ponnappa poses for a photo among shuttles at a badminton court. (Photo credit: Ashwini Ponnappa/Instagram)

Ashwini Ponnappa is unbothered about her age. An average female shuttler retires at 28, but Ashwini, even at 33, does not see any reason for slowing down. She does not let the thought of retirement sneak into her mind either. Having recently taken up the fresh challenge of playing two intense and physically demanding disciplines – women’s and mixed doubles – instead of one, Ashwini says she ‘finds solace’ in distributing her priorities. “It is not easy to play two events, but it is something that I want to do at this point, I kind of find solace in playing two events rather than one,” Ashwini told The Bridge.

Ashwini broke her long-standing and rather futile partnership with N. Sikki Reddy last year, following her highly successful one with Jwala Gutta which ended in 2016. She tried her hands at pottery and commentary before embarking on a fresh challenge by pairing up with Tanisha Crasto, 13 years younger than her. To put the matter into perspective, when Ashiwni had won her first title – the national sub-junior girls’ doubles gold in 2004 – Tanisha had been in her nappies.

A partner in the mould of a mentor

Ashwin admitted that the trickiest thing for her now is to stay motivated. But Tanisha’s exuberant presence is not allowing her to lag behind. “As you get older, things get tricker. When you are young, you have time on your side, enthusiasm. For me, the challenge right now is to look after my body and keep my mind fresh. And to keep going, keep pushing and keep having that belief and hope that ‘yes, you are going to get that result, again’,” Ashwini said. “It’s tricky, especially when it comes to getting to the stadium and training every single day. The glimmer of hope is that I always believe something good is going to come my way. And starting over with a young partner is a motivating,” she stated.

Being a senior player, Ashwini is more than just a partner in this new partnership. “I love the energy and enthusiasm that she (Tanisha) brings in to the court. Partnering with her is quite fun, because she always wants to do well. And she is very gritty on court. Our age gap does not matter on court. Of course, since I have played for such a long time, I tend to be more like a mentor,” she said. But Ashwini ruled out having any seniority complex. “But having said that, when you are on board, you cannot have a seniority complex. At the end of the day, you are in a partnership irrespective of how big the age gap is,” added the shuttler.

Even though the Ashwini-Tanisha partnership is at a nascent stage now, the combination has started clicking. They claimed their first International Challenge title in Nantes, France, in June. They were also part of India’s mixed team silver medal-winning squad at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. Ranked 56th in the world, Ashwini-Tanisha is the second-choice women’s doubles pair for India after Treesa Jolly-Gayatri Gopichand. The pair will next be seen in action at the Asian Games in Hangzhou in September. However, Ashwini is no longer in the reckoning for the Olympics or BWF World Championships, as she has slipped out of the top 32. “We just started playing in January. Unfortunately, we have not played too many tournaments. But I am very happy with the fact that we won the Nantes International Challenge. We are just getting started, we have a long way to go,” Ashwini asserted.

Juggling between challenges Her women’s doubles career is already legendary, but Ashwini’s transition to mixed doubles has always been challenging. “Switching to mixed doubles has always been a challenge. It is easier to have a woman on your side and also one at the back of the court. I have been a women’s doubles specialist in my career so far. I have always been known as a player who is predominantly at the back of the court rather than front,” explained Ashwini. “The most obvious difference is that in mixed doubles, you always find the girl at the net,” she said.

But, Ashwini, like always, is not willing to give up. “I think I have adapted over the years, which also requires me to move into the net. It’s not natural for me, but I have learnt to make the transition to the back of the court,” she said about the challenge of playing mixed doubles. This challenge is precisely the reason her partnership with B. Sumeeth Reddy has not taken off yet. In the mixed-gender event, they are ranked 64th and are yet to taste success. This is the latest of Ashwini’s many attempts to make her mixed doubles career fly. She had previously paired up with Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, to whom she attributed the speed and power of her smash. But that partnership was severed soon as Satwik specialised in men’s doubles and gave up on mixed doubles.

As she is ranked outside the top rung, Ashwini is no longer a sure shot on the World Tour; she features regularly in the qualifiers. This makes her newest journey more strenuous, as she has had to juggle between smaller tournaments for ranking points, where she often plays too many matches in a day. “If I am playing the bigger tournaments, it is not much of an issue because there is enough time. But if I am playing the smaller tournaments, which we have to since we do not really have a good ranking, there are times when you could end up playing three to four matches in a day,” said Ashwini.

Pride of Indian women’s doubles

Ashwini has been a trailblazer in Indian women’s doubles along with Jwala. The duo achieved many firsts for Indian doubles, by winning Commonwealth Games gold and BWF World Championships bronze. In fact, for 11 years, Ashwini and Jwala were India’s only doubles pair to win a medal at the Worlds before Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty – pioneers in men’s doubles – matched their feat in 2022 in Tokyo.

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“We were the first to win the bronze medal at the World Championships. And we were the first ones to win a bronze medal overall in 28 years. It was a very special moment for us. The best part for me was that we enjoyed the entire tournament. The icing on the cake was the bronze medal,” Ashwini said.

Ashwini welcomes changes in women’s doubles

Though she finds herself out of favour in the Indian badminton contingent in top-notch events, the seasoned star is delighted with the changes in Indian women’s doubles, which has emerged from an earlier archaic philosophy to become an attractive discipline for youngsters.

“When I started, I did not want to play doubles. I was more interested in women’s singles. I was asked to choose it. But over the years, I have proved myself as a women’s doubles specialist,” said Ashwini.

She welcomes the recent trend where more players are taking up the discipline and sponsors are supporting their bids. India now has two women’s doubles pairings in the top 50. There are five more in the top 100, including Ashwini-Tanisha at 56.

“It has evolved quite a bit in the last decade, especially the last few years. Especially after the Covid-19 pandemic. Youngsters are being pushed towards doubles and sponsors are supporting them. In the past, only one or two pairs were sent and not a lot of pairs went on their own. This has changed drastically,” observed Ashwini.

However, Ashwini finds the latest BWF World Tour hectic, where shuttlers are forced to compete for ranking and Olympic qualification points round the year.

“It gets really overwhelming at times. It is hard to find the right gap for a break. It would be nice if we have a streamlined year, where we would also get an off season. But I would say the sport is growing the way it should grow. There’s always good and bad, it depends on how you look at it,” opined Ashwini.

source: http://www.thebridge.in / The Bridge / Home> Badminton / by Sudipta Biswas / August 27th, 2023


Harshika Poonacha and Bhuvann Ponnanna are finally set to put a ring on it

The long-time ‘friends’ will have a traditional Kodava wedding on August 24

Harshika Poonacha and Bhuvann Ponnanna are finally set to put a ring on it
Bhuvann Ponnanna and Harshika Poonacha will get married on August 24

It was an open secret in filmi circles that actors Harshika Poonacha and Bhuvann Ponnanna were more than just friends. In fact, Harshika often introduced Bhuvann as her cousin at public events that they went to together. Since the duo were not willing to openly address their relationship status, it was left unspoken, even though there were tell-tale signs all the way, whether it was their carefully chosen solo pictures from holidays to the same destination at the same time, or their charity work during the pandemic, among others. Bhuvann and Harshika were together pretty much all the time. And now, they’ve finally decided to ‘come clean’ and declare that they are ready to take their relationship to the next level.

Bhuvann Ponnanna and Harshika
Bhuvann Ponnanna and Harshika

Harshika and Bhuvann are set to get married on August 24 back home in Kodagu in a traditional Kodava ceremony. The wedding is expected to be an intimate affair with only close family and friends in attendance, with a reception for their friends from the film industry and Bengaluru’s social circle, where both are quite active, to be held in the city later.

Harshika, who got into showbiz at a young age, way back in 2008, has, over the years, been an integral part of Kannada cinema, and in the last few years, she’d made a mark in the Bhojpuri industry as well. The actress had won a Karnataka State Award for Best Supporting actress in 2010 for her role in the film Thamassu, which had Shivarajkumar in the lead. Bhuvann, who is also an actor, became a household name during his stint on the reality show Bigg Boss Kannada. Bhuvann was a contestant in the fourth season and was later involved in a brawl with eventual winner Pratham, with the latter allegedly biting the former.

source: http://www.ottplay.com/ OTT Play / Home> News / by Team OTT Play / July 01st, 2023

Kodagu Athlete Breaks National Record; Qualifies For Asiad

Theetharamada Sinchal Kaveramma shattered the national record in the 400-metre hurdle and met the qualifying mark for the Asiad (Asian Games), during the 62nd Inter-State Athletics Championships in Odisha.

Notably, she broke the national record, crossing the finish line in a thrilling photo-finish with a time of 56.76 seconds, surpassing the previous record of 57.02 seconds. This remarkable achievement also stands as Sinchal’s personal best time. She clinched the silver medal in the 400-metre hurdles event and a bronze medal in mixed relay.

The recently concluded National Inter-State Senior Athletics Championships, held at the Kalinga Stadium at Bhubaneswar, Odisha, served as a selection trial for both the delayed Asian Games in Hangzhou, scheduled for September, and the upcoming World Championships in Hungary.

Numerous top-tier athletes travelled to Bhubaneswar with the aim of securing their spots in the Asian Games later this year. Sinchal is among the 65 athletes representing 27 disciplines who persevered through scorching heatwaves to meet the Asiad qualification standard.

Sinchal receives training from Bollanda Vikram Aiyappa and Pramila Aiyappa in Bengaluru. Speaking to Star of Mysore, she attributed her record-breaking performance to her coaches and family, expressing her full dedication to them.

Sinchal has already commenced her preparations for the main Asian Games, scheduled to take place from Sept. 15 in Bangkok.

Sinchal is the daughter of Theetharamada M. Ravi and Rashmi (Kuppanda), residents of Nalloor village near Ponnampet. Her grandparents are Theetharamada Mudappa and Chondamma of Nalloor, as well as Kuppanda C. Thimmaiah and Muthakki of Nalvathoklu.

Sinchal completed her primary education at Lions Primary School in Gonikoppa and attended high school at Alvas English Medium High School in Moodbidri. She pursued her pre-university course at Alvas PU College and is currently in her final year of B.Com studies at Bishop Cotton Women’s Christian College in Bengaluru.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Sports /June 21st, 202

Yash, Rajinikanth, Mohan Babu attend wedding of Aviva Bidappa and Abishek Ambareesh

Actor Ambareesh’s son Abishek and Aviva Bidappa tied the knot in a grand Hindu wedding ceremony. An even more grand reception is planned on June 7.

Rajinikanth at the wedding of Aviva Bidappa and Abishek Ambareesh
Rajinikanth at the wedding of Aviva Bidappa and Abishek Ambareesh

Veteran Kannada actor Ambareesh’s son Abishek Ambareesh got married to entrepreneur and model Aviva Bidappa on Monday, June 5, in a grand ceremony that was attended by many notable personalities of the film industry as well as several politicians. Actors Rajinikanth, Mohan Babu, and Yash among others attended the wedding ceremony and blessed the couple.

Rajinikanth has starred alongside Abishek’s mother Sumalatha in a few films and the two get along well. Murattu KaalaiAnbukku Naan Adimai, and Kazhugu are three Tamil films in which Rajinikanth and Sumalatha collaborated. The ceremony also included KGF celebrity Yash who can be seen hugging Abishek in a video.

According to reports, the family will host a grand reception on June 7 in Bengaluru on a large scale. The pair appeared ethereal in the wedding photographs wearing traditional South Indian clothing. Aviva wore a red saree with gold jewelry, while Abhishek wore a beige kurta and a dhoti combo with sunglasses. The stars who attended the wedding also captured everyone’s attention with their simplicity. Rajinikanth was attired in a white kurta and dhoti, while Yash was dressed in a light pink sherwani.

Abhishek made his acting debut in the 2019 Kannada film Amar. He has also worked in the upcoming film Bad Manners, directed by Duniya Suri. Aviva is the daughter of Prasad Bidappa, a well-known celebrity fashion designer. Aviva herself is a popular model, TV personality, fashion designer and a successful businesswoman.

For the uninitiated, Ambareesh was an Indian film actor and politician from Karnataka. Ambareesh made his acting debut in Nagarahavu, Puttanna Kanagal’s National Award-winning film.. After that, his acting career continued with a brief phase of portraying antagonistic and supporting characters in Kannada films.

source: http://www.indulgexpress.com / The New Indian Express – Indulge Express / Home> Entertainment> Celebs / by Team Indulge / June 06th, 2023

First Kodavathi Army Officer To Be Promoted As Colonel

Mysore/Mysuru: 

Lt. Col. M.A. Smitha of Mysuru has become the first Kodavathi Woman Army Officer to be selected for promotion to the rank of Colonel.

Commissioned to Army Service Corps (ASC) in 2005 from Officers Training Academy (OTA), Chennai, she has had a illustrious career of 18 years in the Army service in challenging appointments and locations across the country.

A few major achievements include a tenure in UN Peace Keeping Mission in Israel and Syria (UNDOF) where she was awarded a Force Commander’s Commendation Card for displaying exemplary courage under challenging situations.

 She displayed her multi-talented skills in 2013 by winning the Raid Himalayan Car Rally along with her Army Team in a Gypsy in women’s category. She also summited Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest peak in Africa, in 2014.

A native of V. Nalkeri in Kakotuparambu, Virajpet taluk, Smitha is the daughter of ESM  HSM,  Mevada S. Appanna [37 (Coorg) Medium Regiment and 35 Medium Regiment] and Radha, who are presently residing at Vijayanagar 3rd Stage, Mysuru. She is married to Col. Mandepanda Aiyappa (Maratha Light Infantry) and they are blessed with two daughters.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> News / April 14th, 2023

Badminton: Ashwini Ponnappa interview – ‘I’m starting from scratch, ground zero’

Ponnappa, 33-year-old former World Championship bronze medallist, has formed a new partnership in women’s doubles with 19-year-old Tanisha Crasto.

Ashwini Ponnappa along with her new partner Tanisha Crasto in Pune | Senior Badminton National Championships

Through the course of her career, Ashwini Ponnappa has been part of many firsts in women’s doubles for Indian badminton. Ponnappa and Jwala Gutta, became the first Indian women to win a badminton BWF World Championship medal (bronze in 2011). She has won gold, silver and bronze medals at the Commonwealth Games and also the women’s team bronze medal at the Incheon Asian Games in 2014. She has been part of Uber Cup bronze medal-winning squads.

But now the 33-year-old, a veteran of the sport in India, finds herself in the nascent stage of a women’s doubles partnership. In December, she made the decision to pair up with 19-year-old Tanisha Crasto for women’s doubles.

The change sees the once world No 10 women’s doubles player now find herself ranked 141 as a pair with Crasto, albeit they’ve played just two international competitions together – a quarterfinal finish at the Super 500 event in Indonesia in January, followed by a first round exit at the Thailand Open Super 300.

A third event was the quarterfinal finish at the 84th Senior National Championships, at the Balewadi Sports Complex in Pune on Sunday as they put up a good fight before losing against the in-form top-seed pairing of Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly.

It’s a long way back to the top, but in an interview with Scroll in Pune she asserted she’s looking forward to climbing back up the ladder, while also exploring a new role in commentary.

Excerpts from the interview:

How has the new partnership been working for you?

It’s good. Tanisha is young, she’s very energetic. It’s nice to play with that energy. We haven’t really had many tournaments together, we’ve played two and this is the third. But I’m excited to be here at the Nationals, it’s been a while since I played at this competition.

Earlier you had Jwala Gutta as a partner who was senior to you, then N Sikki Reddy who was not much dissimilar in terms of age. Now you have a partner who is 19. Are you also playing the role of mentor?

You could say that. I would say there’s a vast difference from when I started playing with Jwala to the youngsters now. They’ve all been playing international tournaments from when they were 17 or 18. They’ve all been there, done that. The doubles game has changed and the approach has changed. There’s not a lot of mentoring, she is good in mixed doubles and she’s done well there. Women’s doubles is a little different, but it’s good to have someone who moves into the net. She has that energy and speed on the court.

With age have you changed your approach to the game?

Of course. It’s inevitable for that to happen. I can’t be compared to a 19-year-old in terms of fitness and energy on court. I definitely have to be smarter on court towards the game in order to make sure that I can physically take the toll that badminton has on the body. I have to be very mindful of my training and how I approach the game.

Is it about the warmups and cooldowns getting longer now for you?

Yeah. Probably. But I’ve always been someone who had a longer duration for warmup. But cooldown definitely still needs to get better.

Recently we saw a different side to you – as a commentator. How was that experience?

I happened to be at the tournament and they asked me if I’d like to give it a shot. I felt no harm in doing that, although I feel that it’s not my cup of tea in terms of how I speak. I’d love to get better at it.

But I loved the experience. It was fun being on the other side of the TV. Watching players play you see things differently. You see patterns which you otherwise don’t look out for unless you’re getting ready for a match. That was interesting for me.

I sat for five matches during the Thailand Open, it was interesting for me to watch patterns match out of match. Like if one side was slower or faster, how players dealt with it. You understand that the player who is actually smarter on that day in dealing with the conditions has the upper hand. So that was very interesting that way.

Do you feel there were more expectations when you’re in the commentary box? Since people know here’s someone who has played at the highest level, is there an expectation for some insight which you’d not get otherwise?

Yeah, I am supposed to be the expert. The colour commentary part of it. It does get tricky because, that’s what I meant that it’s not my cup of tea. Not in a bad way, but being articulate about what I see, I’m not a journalist, I’m don’t have the lingo for it. So sometimes I feel, ‘what am I saying?’ Sometimes it’s so repetitive. But it was nice. Although I was a bit nervous, it was an enjoyable experience.

Is that something you’re looking to pursue later on?

Maybe later. Honestly, I don’t know. Right now, I’m definitely focusing on the game. But if I get these opportunities in between to commentate, I’ll definitely give it a shot.

What are the kind of things you and Tanisha have to do off-court just to get the chemistry going to gel on-court? And what are the targets?

This was our third tournament together. We’ve sent out entries for tournaments where we haven’t got an entry. But Tanisha will be playing in mixed doubles (with Ishaan Bhatnagar) in those tournaments. We haven’t had so much time in general to build the partnership because it is brand new, we just started. There’s still a long way to go, we still need that bonding time.

Is that, perhaps the target?

I would say the first target is to get an entry.

You mentioned the doubles game has changed. How?

Over the years the whole approach has changed. When Jwala and I were playing, we were kind of like the path-breakers in a way for doubles. There wasn’t a lot before us. Nobody we could look up to, nobody who had ever won. We had a lot of firsts together. But the game-changer has been that youngsters have been given a lot of exposure to tournaments. They’ve been playing tournaments since they are 17 – that was unheard of back then. We didn’t even have those tournaments in India.

Right now we have four international tournaments in India. You’re giving youngsters an opportunity to get that hunger at a very young age because you’re giving them a taste of what international badminton is. Also, everyone is going out, everyone is sponsored. That’s changed.

That’s why you see a lot of youngsters playing and taking it up. Otherwise, our generation, people in the past, they trained a lot, but never played tournaments. I wouldn’t say you didn’t have that talent back then, you just didn’t know. They were just training, they didn’t have the exposure, no push to go out. That has changed, and that’s why we see a rise in a lot of doubles players playing and doing well.

It’s because they’ve been pushed from a young age, getting out to participate, get that exposure, start training at a young age. These girls are 19. At that time, at 19, nobody was really encouraged to go out.

Yet you’ve remained relevant throughout this. What’s been the changes you’ve had to make in the way you approach the game to continue playing at the highest level?

I would say, I still need to get to the top. I have, in the past. But currently I’m starting from scratch. Ground zero. It’s challenging because you’ve been there and you’re coming back all the way down. It’s a reset.

source: http://www.scroll.in / Scroll.in / Home> Badminton / by Shahid Judge / February 27th, 2023

Mindset needs to change in governance of sports: Ashwani Nachappa

IANS Photo

Mumbai (IANS) :

The issues and problems affecting women in sports in the country came up for discussion with Olympian wrestler Vinesh Phogat focussing on sexual harassment faced by women sportspersons and badminton star Jwala Gutta pointing at the lack of a proper attitude towards female athletes.

Former sprinter and Olympian Ashwini Nachappa pointed at the need for change in the mindset of administrators and in the governance of sports.

All these issues were raised during the ‘Fight like a Woman – Guts, Grit and Glory’ session during the second edition of ABP’s ‘Ideas of India’ summit here.

Speaking on the occasion, Arjuna Awardee and Commonwealth gold winner, Vineesh Phogat opened up about her own struggles of sexual misconduct that goes unnoticed in the field of sports.

“Every day was an internal battle to not let powerful people break you with their antics and torture,” she said.

After playing at a senior position for several years, she added “I felt in a secure position to be able to speak about the issues so girls at the start of their career don’t face what I had to go through.”

Vinesh believed that “A clean-up of society is essential for women to flourish in sports and speak about sexual misconduct.”

Jwala Gutta, also spoke about her struggles in the #MeToo movement. �

“I was threatened where ultimately I had to knock on the doors of the High Court,” she said.

“Sports in our country is considered as a good hobby or habit for girls until you win a medal, and then suddenly you become ‘Bharat ki Beti’,” added Jwala, Arjuna Awardee and Commonwealth Games gold medal winner.

The panel was further enlightened by Nachappa, former international athlete and Arjuna Awardee, who spoke about the evolution in sports over the past few decades.

“I think the process of a complete overhaul of the sports federation has begun as we see a lot more women across the sports board,” she said.

In 2010, she started the ‘Clean Sports India Movement’ with 8-9 other sportspersons to speak about the issues in the federation.

The Indian hockey player, Sushila Chanu Pukhrambam and the Pro Squash player and Arjuna Awardee and Commonwealth gold Winner, Joshna Chinappa also highlighted the positive change they witnessed.

“We have come a long way from when we started out,” they said.

Further commenting on the changes required in the sports administration in India, Nachappa said, “Its important that more professionals come into the management of sports, under an umbrella that is autonomous, which actually manages and holds federations accountable.”

Adding to this, Vinesh said, “If a sportsperson or professional leads the federation, it can create a positive impact on the industry as they understand the needs of an athlete and can even support them emotionally.”

A need for better coaches and support staff in the industry was also highlighted by the panel. “We need a good programme for coaches to overcome the lack of the same, only then we will be able make good athletes.”

The summit had an invigorating line-up of speakers with prominent figures from the world of business, politics, artists from the Hindi film industry, authors and other eminent sectors. The two-day event primarily addressed India’s stand as a burgeoning economy and global leader in shaping the future.

source: http://www.morungexpress.com / The Morung Express / Home> Sports / by IANS / February 25th, 2023

Daisy Bopanna wants to be more self-aware

Daisy Bopanna

In 2022, Daisy Bopanna wants to be more self-aware. The actress says, “What I mean by ‘awareness’ is to be conscious about my action. Be conscious about situations around me and take responsible action and responsible decisions in life.”

She says she is usually not the resolution kind of a person, but since the year 2018, she’s been following this resolution quite consistently.

She adds, “In today’s world, we live in so much chaos, there’s a lot of noise around. People keep telling you what to do on social media, what not to do. You know, you’re always being influenced by a lot of people.”

Daisy added, “In this world, there’s good and there’s bad and the volume is up on both sides. I think being self-aware and just generally conscious about everything that I do is something I would love to enhance in this coming year and the years after, that’s it.”

source: http://www.tribuneindia.com / The Tribune / Home> Entertainment / January 02nd, 2022

Mysuru Entrepreneur Is National President Of Business Women Association

Mysore/Mysuru:

Mysuru entrepreneur Kuppanda Chayaa Nanjappa Rajappa has been appointed as the National President of Association of Business Women in Commerce and Industry. She is a first generation rural woman entrepreneur and Founder-Managing Partner of Nectar Fresh. 

Nectar Fresh, backed by Khadi and Village Industry Board, has its unit in Srirangapatna, Mandya district. It offers various products like honey, jams, sauces, chia seeds and natural vinegar.

A recipient of various awards like CNBC-TV18 and Women Entrepreneur Award in 2014-2015, Chayaa was also honoured by Indian Federation of Culinary Association for breaking the monopoly of the international brands. She bagged the Business Person of the Year Award by Mysore Chamber of Commerce & Industry (MCCI) in 2019. 

Nectar Fresh has been the first brand in India to be using the ‘Women Owned’ logo of ‘We Connect’. Their latest venture ‘Veeravrutham’ is the first social enterprise in ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ which will support over 3,000 tribals and rural artisans locally. Tribal and rural artisans’ products will gain place not only in the Indian market but will also find place in the international market.

Born to Paruvangada Nanjappa and Poly Nanjappa of Nalkeri village in Kodagu, Chayaa is married to Kuppanda Rajappa, who was the first businessman to bring in the concept of supermarket (Nilgiris) to Mysuru. The couple has donated one acre of land for a Bharat-Israel Study Centre through Diya Minora Foundation, a sister concern of Veeravrutham Foundation. It will be a culture and technology exchange platform between India and Israel. 

Chayaa is motivated by the principles of Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh (RSS) and has implied the principles in her profession besides working in various fields apart from business. She is the first woman to hold a national-level position in Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and also holds a position in the State Committee of RSS’ Laghu Udyog Bharti.

She is a member of the executive committee of the R&D Institute for Food and Technology at Indian Institute of Food Processing Technology (IIFPT) and is one of them from the industry to be chosen as part of the National Honey Mission. 

IIM Professors chose Nectar Fresh story as a case study for the Ivy League Competition, adding another feather to the cap of Nectar Fresh that grew up as a brand with ethics and quality than investing in marketing. 

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> News / June 25th, 2021