Kolkata Knight Riders’ Robin Uthappa reached a memorable milestone with his innings against the Mumbai Indians, becoming just the sixth player in the history of the IPL to cross the 4000-run mark. He reached the landmark after hitting a six off Markande in the eighth over of the innings.
Robin Uthappa |Photo Credit: AP
The Kolkata Knight Riders lost out to the Mumbai Indians in a hard-fought encounter at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday, falling short by 13 runs. It was the home side that batted first, putting up a strong total of 181/4 in extremely challenging conditions with valuable contributions from Suryakumar Yadav, Evin Lewis and Hardik Pandya, with Yadav scoring a half-century opening the innings.
In the chase, Robin Uthappa survived an early scare to reach the half-century mark himself and with Nitish Rana, he forged a valuable partnership that looked to take his team to the total. However, he gave away his wicket to Mayank Markande after scoring 54 off 35 and from there on, his side lost the needed momentum and stumbled in their pursuit of the target.
However, Uthappa reached a memorable milestone with this particular innings, becoming just the sixth player in the history of the IPL to cross the 4000-run mark. He reached the landmark after hitting a six off Markande in the eighth over of the innings and was 17 runs short of the mark at the start of his knock.
With this latest feat, he enters an elite club that features four Indian superstars, including Virat Kohli, and an Australian dynamo.They are Virat Kohli (4775 runs), Suresh Raina (4801 runs), Rohit Sharma (4438 runs), Gautam Gambhir (4217 runs) and David Warner (4014 runs).
Uthappa had joined KKR in 2014 and was an important member of the Knight Riders side that won its second IPL trophy.
source: http://www.timesnownews.com / TimesNowNews.com / Times Now Digital / Home> Sports> Cricket> IPL 2018 / May 07th, 2018
Courtesy our friends Pemmanda Jepu and Jemy Ganapathy, we spent four wonderful days at the Ooty Club, a place steeped in colonial history. The trophies, the silverware, the honour lists and the photographs of the ‘Masters of the Fox Hunt’ date back to early 1840s.
During our stay, I got an opportunity to read a well-documented book titled ‘Ootacamund – A History,’ written by Sir Frederick Price in 1908, which is otherwise kept in the safe locker. Only two copies of this book exist. I was particularly interested in the visit of Governor-General Lord Dalhousie to Ooty in 1856, few details of which I had gathered while writing about Victoria Gowramma. However, what I stumbled upon was even more interesting — Governor-General William Bentinck’s journey to Bangalore, Mysore and Ooty in 1834. This trip was primarily to coordinate the attack on the ‘problematic’ Raja of Coorg: Chikka Veerarajendra.
Chikka Veerarajendra and the East India Company were at loggerheads since 1830. Governor-General William Bentinck, who was more interested in reforming India than in annexing new territories, had to finally deal with the Raja of Coorg who had dared the British by keeping in custody one of their emissaries — Kullapalli Karunakaran Menon.
A frontal view of the Ooty Club, which was originally Sir William Rambold’s Large House.
Lord William Bentinck set out from Calcutta on 3rd February 1834 on board the Curacoa to Madras. Bentinck reached Madras on 15th February 1834 and journeyed to Bangalore via Vellore. Travel those days was by horse carriages, bullock carts, palanquins and on horseback, with frequent camping en route.
He wanted first-hand assessment of the situation in Coorg, and for this purpose, the Commander-in-Chief Sir Robert O’Callaghan was in attendance. Strategies on military action against Coorg were finalised in consultations with Sir Robert O’Callaghan while at Bangalore. The Governor-General also had administrative issues concerning Mysore to be discussed. The reason for him to visit Ooty for an extended stay was to improve his rather poor health.
Lord Bentinck stopped over in Mysore and was put-up at the precursor to the Rajendra Vilas Palace atop Chamundi Hill, which was originally built by Robert H. Cole who was the earlier British Resident at Mysore (1811-1827). Bentinck set out for Ooty and it was while camping at Gundlupet on 15th March 1834 that he officially declared war on Coorg. Col. James Stuart Fraser was in overall command. Coorg was encircled from three fronts. Chikka Veerarajendra surrendered on 10th April 1834 and Coorg was annexed by the East India Company. Incidentally, Coorg was the only province to be added to the John Company during William Bentinck’s tenure, for which he came under criticism back home in England.
Lord Bentinck’s entourage reached Ooty on 22nd March. At Ooty the only suitable accommodation for the Governor-General and his staff was ‘Sir William Rambold’s Large House.’ It was a grand hotel built in 1832 by an influential British entrepreneur named William Rambold. However, Rambold soon ran into financial difficulties. The hotel was frequently rented for extended periods of time by senior officers of the East India Company. It was in 1842 that ‘Rambold’s Large House’ became the Ootacamund Club, or the Ooty Club. During Lord Bentinck’s sojourn in Ooty, Lord Babington Macaulay arrived at the hill station on 25th June 1834. The Governor-General and Macaulay met each other for the first time at Rambold’s Large House. Macaulay chose a small cottage nearby where he lived for several months to draft the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Governor-General Bentinck stayed on in Ooty till the end of September 1834. On his return journey he again passed through Mysore and reached Bangalore on 9th October. He sailed aboard the Curacao on 26th October from Madras and reached Calcutta on 14th November 1834.
Rajendra Vilas Palace atop Chamundi Hill, Mysore.
I checked on Lord Dalhousie’s sojourn in Ooty from 7th March 1855 to 29th October 1855. Dalhousie’s visit was also for health reasons, and he was due to retire soon. However, he was not too comfortable in Ooty, and shifted to Kotagiri.
During Dalhousie’s stay in Nilgiris, one of his ADCs took permission to visit Coorg, where the ADC’s brother was a coffee planter. It was in 1852 that Dalhousie had reluctantly given permission to the ‘rascally Raja of Coorg’ to travel to England along with his daughter Gowramma.
The ADC, on his return, narrated an amusing incident to his boss. Coorg being a rather remote province, news from the outside world took time to percolate. Very often, wild rumours floated amongst the small but growing community of British planters and officers. One such rumour was that the British and their allies had lost the Crimean War, and that Queen Victoria and her family had fled to India! However, Dalhousie who had had a temporary telegraph line installed at Nilgiris had already received the news that the British and their allies had in fact wrested Sevastopol from the Russians.
On his journey back to Calcutta, Dalhousie stopped over in Bangalore during early November 1855, and was the guest of Sir Mark Cubbon. Dalhousie narrated the ‘Coorg rumour’ to the British officers, much to their amusement. After inspecting the troops, he formally announced the British victory at Sevastopol. Fast forward, 2014: Vladimir Putin has Crimea back in the Russian fold.
About the author: C. P. Belliappa, born in 1946, is a Chemical Engineer. Currently settled in Coorg, he is known for his writings on issues pertaining to Kodagu. Four of his books — Tale of A Tiger’s Tail & other Yarns from Coorg, Nuggets from Coorg History, Victoria Gowramma: The Lost Princess of Coorg, and Tongue of the Slip, have been published by Rupa Publications.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Feature Articles / by C.P.Belliappa / March 2018
The Badminton Association of India (BAI) on Saturday handed out cash rewards to the medallists of the Commonwealth Games held in Gold Coast, Australia last month.
While Saina Nehwal was presented a cheque of Rs 20 lakh for the individual women’s singles gold medal, PV Sindhu – who lost to her in the final – was given Rs 10 lakh.
The bronze medal-winning women’s doubles specialists Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy were handed cheques of Rs 3.75 lakh each.
The men’s doubles team of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty got Rs 7.5 lakh each.
The mixed team gold medal-winning squad was rewarded with a cheque of Rs 50 lakh.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> News> Sports News> Badminton News / IANS / May 05th, 2018
India, for the first time, will chair the board of International Coffee Organization (ICO) for a term of one year with Anil Kumar Bhandari, president of India Coffee Trust (ICT), getting elected as the chairman of Private Sector Consultative Board (PSCB) of ICO.
PSCB is an international coffee organisation body comprising 16 leading industry representatives from producing and consuming countries. The board’s main mission and objective is to increase the world coffee market in value and volume and also support various initiatives in the field of coffee and health.
Bhandari is the first representative from India to occupy the important position and his election is significant in the backdrop of World Coffee Conference (WCC) scheduled in Bengaluru, in April 2020.
Speaking about his election, Bhandari said, “My election as chairman, Private Sector Consultative Board of International Coffee Organization is an honour for India and India Coffee Trust. This is the first time that India has chaired the PSCB. I see this as the confidence reposed in India and ICT, going into the World Coffee Conference in 2020, which would be hosted by India and will be held for the first time in Asia. It also indicates the interest that the global coffee sector has in the Indian coffee industry and the Indian coffee market.”
The 121st Session of International Coffee Council (ICC) under ICO was held in Mexico City from April 9 to 13, 2018. ICO is an intergovernmental body of coffee buying & producing nations, having more than 72 member countries and India is one of the founding member.
It is the main intergovernmental organisation for coffee, bringing together exporting and importing governments to tackle the challenges facing the global sector through international cooperation. Its objective is to strengthen and promote its sustainable expansion in a market-based environment for the betterment of all participants in the coffee sector.
source: http://www.fnbnews.com / FnBnews.com / Home> TopNews / by FnB News Bureau, Bengaluru / April 30th, 2018
Mukkatira Punith Kuttaiah from Kodagu has secured an All India Rank of 324 in the Civil Services examinations that were conducted by the UPSC in 2017, the results of which were announced on Apr.27.
He is currently undergoing training in New Delhi for Indian Defence Estate Service under the Ministry of Defence.
Punith studied at Good Shepherds Convent Ammathi and at Coorg Public School. He has scored 90 percent in SSLC and 92 percent in PUC. He appeared for UPSC Central Armed Police Force in 2015 and secured 8th rank (all India) and was selected for Central Industrial Security Force.
In 2016, he appeared for UPSC Civil Services Examinations and secured an All India Rank of 501. This time, he has improved in his ranking and has secured 324th rank.
Speaking to Star of Mysore yesterday, Punith said that he loves trekking and his other interests are reading, football and hockey.
Punith is the son of Mukkatira (Devanageri) Prakash Belliappa of Byrambada village in Kodagu and Jamuna Akkamma (Baduvanda).
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> News / May 01st, 2018
Neglected: A tribal hamlet at Kollangere in the Nagarahole National Park where no candidate has campaigned for votes. | Photo Credit: M.A. SRIRAM
Few candidates want to invest their time and resources to reach interiors of Nagarahole forests to seek votes from Jenu Kurubas.
The dense jungles of the Nagarahole National Park, 60 km from here, are an unlikely setting for the heat and dust of an election campaign.
The national park where nearly 90 tigers and 800 elephants roam free in their natural habitat is a no-go area for the general public, except for the guided safari. But there are about 1,250 Jenu Kurubas — an indigenous tribal community — still living in the national park and approaching them is inevitable during election times when every vote matters. But few candidates want to invest their time and resources to reach the forest interior, given the lack of easy access to the hamlets and the distance to be commuted.
Kolangere — a tribal hamlet of about 25 families — is a case in point. It is located about 20 km from the Veeranahosahalli checkpost gate at the entry of Nagarahole from the Hunsur side and around 35 km from Nanchi gate from the Kutta side.
The meandering potholed road is open only from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. during which there is limited access to vehicles. There are 29 votes in this hamlet which falls under the Virajpet Assembly segment in Kodagu district. The nearest polling booth is at Moorkal, about 6 km by walk through the jungles, but there is a motorable road leading to it.
“No MLA has visited any of the tribal hamlet so far, but their representatives approach us for votes once in five years,” said Muthanna, a Jenu Kuruba.
The adivasis subsist on roots and minor forest produce. Though their needs are few, they work in coffee plantations in Kodagu to earn a living.
“All we seek is a settlement on the forest boundary along the elephant-proof trenches but our requests are rejected,” said Mr. Muthanna whose community has refused to relocate away from the forests.
Political awareness
It is the same scenario at Nagarahole, Nanachigadde Haadi, Gonigadde, Kolle Haadi, Tattekere or Kumbarkatte. But not withstanding the indifference of politicians, political awareness among the tribal people has increased over the years.
“Jenu Kurubas have traditionally supported the Congress. But the new generation has different views,” said Sanappa, head of the tribal community who relocated from the forests to Nagapura at Veeranahosahalli. Drinking water scarcity, lack of basic health care and educational facilities, and unemployment plague them even after relocation. The tribal people who volunteered to be relocated in 1998 were promised 5 acres of land as compensation, but 20 years on, it is yet to be fully implemented. “Yet there is no talk of boycott as we are hopeful that the government will act,” said Kalappa, a resident of Nagapura.
Survey under way
But a section of the adivasis of Nagapura whose patience is running out, launched an agitation on January 26, 2018, which lasted 75 days, forcing the authorities to take up a survey to demarcate the land. “We have now adopted a wait-and-watch policy on whether to boycott the polls or not in view of the ongoing survey,” said M.B. Prabhu, a tribal leader spearheading the agitation.
Tribals in Hunsur threaten poll boycott
Jenu Kuruba tribals from six hamlets in Hunsur have threatened to boycott the elections if their long-pending demands for proper rehabilitation and land allotment are not fulfilled.
The hamlets come under Hunsur Assembly constituency and banners announcing poll boycott have come up in some of them. There are about 300 families in these six hamlets and they account for at least 1,000 votes. The boycott threat indicates their frustration, according to Sreekant of Development Through Education, an NGO working for uplifting tribals. “Their language betrays their feelings and it is the successive governments that are to blame for the sad state of affairs as [the tribals] are left begging and pleading for basic amenities,” he said.
The hamlets that have called for election boycott include Hebbala, Neralakupe B. Haadi, Billanahosahalli and Chikkejejjur. Though the local authorities have been directed to prevail upon the tribals not to boycott the polls, DEED has sought the intervention of the Assistant Commissioner to end the impasse.
“He should visit the hamlets affected, understand the condition of these communities and list out the pending works for their comprehensive rehabilitation. Though most of the demands are outside his immediate purview, the Assistant Commission can make recommendations to improve their living conditions,” Mr. Sreekant said.
The demands include land allotment as part of the rehabilitation package that was promised to the tribals when they were shifted from Nagarahole and clearing land encroachment reported in 10 hamlets.
Tribal communities threatening to boycott elections is not something new, and they always end up exercising their franchise, according to DEED. But the larger message being sent out is the failure of the authorities to fulfil the promises made decades ago.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Elections> Karnataka 2018 / by R. Krishna Kumar / Mysuru – April 30th, 2018
Coorg Assembly was constituted in 1924 and the only election was held in 1951
Though reduced to two Assembly segments after the 2008 delimitation, the hilly district of Kodagu from where the Cauvery takes its birth has a royal pedigree and boasted of its own Legislative Assembly to frame law for the local region and the people.
What is more, Coorg (as the district was then called), which was merged with Mysore State in 1956, also had its own Chief Minister to govern the province from 1952 to 1956.
The Legislative Assembly of Coorg was constituted in 1924 and the first and only election was held in 1951. The members represented 18 constituencies, which had 24 seats as six of the constituencies had to elect two members each.
The constituencies were Sanivarasanthe (2 seats), Somwarpet north and south, Fraserpet, Sunticoppa (2 seats), Mercara town, Murnad, Mercaranad, Srimangalanad (2 seats), Hudikeri, Berriathnad, Ponnampetnad (2 seats), Virajpet town, Virajpetnad (2 seats), Ammathinad, Siddapur (2 seats), Napoklunad, and Bhagamangalanad, according to the Election Commission of India data.
Of the national parties, only the Indian National Congress and the Communist Party of India were represented and 15 seats were won by the INC and Independents won 9 seats. While the 15 councillors represented the prevailing majority view that Coorg should merge with Mysore, the 9 Independents were against the merger. There were 60 candidates in fray and the number of voters was 1,38,440 of whom 87,947 exercised their franchise (63.53%).
According to the district gazetteer published by the State government, the Indian Constitution recognised Coorg as a Part C State and thus it was entitled to posses a responsible government. This came into vogue in 1952 and the post of Chief Commissioner also continued and C.M. Poonacha, who was elected to the Coorg Legislative Assembly from Berriathnad, was the first and only Chief Minister of Kodagu.
When the State Reorganisation Commission recommended the merger of Coorg with the new Mysore State, Coorg became one of the districts on November 1, 1956 and Poonacha became a Minister in the S. Nijalingappa Cabinet.
He later became a Rajya Sabha member (in 1964) and was elected as MP from Mangalore Lok Sabha seat in 1969 (Kodagu was then attached to the Mangalore Lok Sabha constituency) and went on to hold different portfolios, including that of Minister of Railways.
C.P. Muthanna, son of Poonacha, recalled that there were hundreds of administrative entities, including princely States, at the time of Independence and they wanted to merge them into larger States to create a more cohesive administrative unit. “Since my father was the Chief Minister of Coorg at that time, there were many — keen on maintaining Coorg’s distinct identity — who imagine it was my father responsible for merging Coorg with Mysuru State.”
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Karnataka / by R. Krishna Kumar / Mysuru – April 29th, 2018
The tentacle solar fencing project, aimed at reducing man-elephant conflict in Kodagu district, kick started in Kushalnagar-Thithimathi forest range.
Madikeri :
The tentacle solar fencing project, aimed at reducing man-elephant conflict in Kodagu district, kick started in Kushalnagar-Thithimathi forest range. The 67.91 lakh project will have improved fencing hanging from 20 ft above and promises to keep the check the conflict.
Green tall posts were planted beside the roads bordering Maldare and Chikka Reshme forest area and steel wires were hung from these posts as opposed to the earlier fences that ran across the polls vertically. Solar power generation systems too were connected and had a tagline ‘save wildlife, save forest’ imprinted on them.
Forest officials confirmed that the fencing would be carried out across 24 km of the stretch. One km fencing with two posts will cost `2.80 lakh and the tender for this project was grabbed by Mysuru bidder Ambarish Gowda.
While the old solar fences in the range were blamed for their under-maintenance, the new project promises to overcome this issue as the bidder has signed the contract agreeing upon to maintain the installed solar fences for a span of three years.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Karnataka / by Express News Service / April 20th, 2018
Yuki Bhambri achieved a career-high rank of 83 in men’s singles and Rohan Bopanna is the French Open mixed doubles champion.
AFP
The All India Tennis Association (AITA) has nominated country’s top singles player Yuki Bhambri and doubles expert Rohan Bopanna for the Arjuna award.
AITA Secretary General Hironmoy Chatterjee confirmed that they have nominated the two players.
Yuki recently reclaimed his place in top-100 after a string of impressive performances, achieving his career-best rank of 83.
“It’s an honour to be nominated. It’s acknowledgment of my hard work,” said Yuki.
Bopanna, who had won the French Open mixed doubles title last year with Canadian Gabriela Dabrowski, was nominated last year after the deadline had passed.
Since only one athlete is presented the award from a discipline, most likely it will be Bopanna who will bag the award if a tennis player gets it this year.
Winning a Grand Slam is equal to winning a World Championship as per the points system.
“There are definitely many players who deserve it and Rohan is one of them. He has done well over the years,” said Yuki.
source: http://www.scroll.in / Scroll.in / Home> Indian Tennis> The Field / April 27th, 2018
Cherumandanda Kamini Joyappa (Mandachanda), wife of C.K. Joyappa and a resident of V.V. Mohalla in city, passed away at her native place Parane in Kodagu on Sunday. She was 77.
She leaves behind her husband, two sons, a daughter, daughters-in-law, grandchildren and a host of relatives and friends.
Last rites were performed in Kodagu yesterday, according to family sources.
Family can be contacted on Mob: 98456-36948.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Obituary / April 25th, 2018
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