Actor Raghavendra Rajkumar’s next Sthabda was launched on Monday, and the team has commenced shooting in Bengaluru
Raghavendra Rajkumar, Harshika Poonacha and Prathap Simha.
Actor Raghavendra Rajkumar’s next ‘Sthabda’ was launched on Monday, and the team has commenced shooting in Bengaluru. Laali Raghav, who has previously helmed the Tamil film, Ariyamai, forays into Kannada with ‘Sthabda’.
The film starring Prathap Simha in the lead also marks the first collaboration of Raghavendra Rajkumar and Harshika Poonacha.
“Sthabda is a psychological thriller and deals with illusions,” says Laali.Sthabda, backed by Vidyasagar, has music by Arav Rishi and PVR Swamy for the camerawork.
Veteran music director Hamsalekha will be penning the lyrics for the songs.
Sthabda will also feature Prashant Siddi and Shruti Raj in pivotal roles .
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Entertainment> Kannada / by Express News Service / January 26th, 2022
During the natural calamities that struck the district, the Mayamudi Higher Primary School had suffered immense damage and students were forced to study under leaking roofs.
One of the new classrooms (Photo | Special arrangement)
Madikeri :
Classrooms built by OSAAT Charitable Trust at a cost of Rs 40 lakh were inaugurated at the Mayamudi Higher Primary School in Kodagu. The improved classrooms will help support the education of many tribal kids in the village.
During the natural calamities that struck the district, the Mayamudi Higher Primary School had suffered immense damage and the rural students of the school were forced to study under leaking roofs inside the vulnerable school building. Alerted by this situation at the school, One School At A Time (OSAAT) Charitable Trust members came forward to build four new classrooms at the school premises with improved facilities for Rs 40 lakh. Further, since the school lacked proper toilet facilities, OSAAT has also built a toilet for the girl students at Rs 6 lakh.
In 2020, members of OSAAT including PV Subramanya, Ramesh Babu and NV Gopalakrishna Bhat visited the school premises and assured to build improved classrooms in a year’s time. Four new classrooms and a toilet have now been completed and were inaugurated by MLA KG Bopaiah on Monday. With over 100 volunteers in the charitable trust from across the country, the Mayamudi School is the 51st school project completed by the trust.
“Education is the backbone to build a prosperous country. Promoting education in rural India will help educate the students from poor family backgrounds. The OSAAT Charitable Trust has enabled and supported the education of rural kids and the residents must be grateful for their work,” said Bopaiah, inaugurating the school building. OSAAT members Nagesh and Shrisha were present with the school management during the inaugural ceremony.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Good News / by Express News Service / January 24th, 2022
Two inscriptions, previously assumed to be in mixed language, contain a unique character set
by Mookonda Nitin Kushalappa, Engineer, Historian, Author and Researcher
In his 1914 revised Coorg Inscriptions volume of the Epigraphy Carnatica book series, B.L. Rice has listed two peculiar 14th century inscriptions. These were deciphered for Rice by Narasimhachar and Krishna Shastri. Many have dismissed the inscriptions to be a mixture of scripts and languages. It beats logic for an inscription to use a mixture of languages rather than a single language itself.
I have managed to separate the characters in the inscription and group them into an alphabet. The alphabet is midway between an intermediate transitional ‘Grantha’ script and the ‘Tulu-Tigalari’ script. It is related to the 14th century Tamil letters. Since the two inscriptions were found in two prominent temples of Kodagu, I would prefer to call the script ‘Thirke’, after the Kodava word for a temple. An online organisation called ‘Indian Roots Polyglots’ calls this “old Kodava script.”
Narasimhachar had noted in the ‘Coorg Inscriptions’ that the 14th century inscriptions’ “characters are a jumble of Grantha, Malayalam, Tamil and a few Vatteluttu. There is no doubt about portions being in Tamil, but other portions are in a language that is neither Malayalam nor Tulu but is related to them. I think the inscriptions are older than 1400 AD. Some of the characters appear to go back to the 11th century.”
Inscription word examples.
Tamil-Kodagu, Tamil-Malayalam
The Kodava language is the descendant of the Tamil-Kodagu branch of the Dravidian language family. Tamil-Kodagu is older than Tamil-Malayalam, the parent of the Malayalam language.
The ‘Brahmi’ script was used all over ancient India. Variants of it were used in South India. There were the ‘Kadamba’ and the ‘Pallava’ scripts, named after ruling dynasties of their ages. The Kadamba script gave rise to the Kannada and the Telugu scripts. The Pallava script gave rise to Tamil and Grantha. These in turn were related to the ‘Vatteluttu’ and the ‘Tulu-Tigalari’ scripts. The ‘Tulu-Tigalari’ script itself is a descendant of the ‘Grantha’ script.
However, neither is the ‘Thirke’ (or old Kodava) script itself modern ‘Tulu-Tigalari’ nor is the language used modern Kodava. The Kodava and the Tamil languages don’t have long consonants, unlike most other Indian languages. But the old Kodava script itself has a few long consonants. We can safely say that the language used is a lost language that was an ancestor of or at least related to the modern Kodava language.
Like in the ‘Tulu-Tigalari’ and other related scripts, some letters in this ‘Thirke’ (old Kodava) alphabet (such as ‘cha’, ‘pa’ and ‘va’) are like each other and may be mistaken for each other. ‘Ta’ and ‘da’ are interchangeable in this script, like in old Malayalam. Hence, ‘Nadu’ is sometimes called ‘Natu’ in the two inscriptions.
Inscription found in Vitla Palace Garden.
Evidence found at Vitla
Meanwhile, in the Palace Garden of the Heggade rulers of Vitla is a stone pot with an inscription. P. Gururaj Bhat had claimed that the script was Tulu and the language Kodava. The script used is not the same as the one used in the two 14th inscriptions of Kodagu. Recently, it has been found that the Vitla Palace inscription actually uses the Malayalam script and language.
The earliest inscriptions found in Kodagu date back to the 9th and 10th centuries and are in Kannada. An 888 AD stone inscription found in Biliyur village mentions a ‘Kadanga’, a defensive earthwork barricade against enemy soldiers and elephants unique to Kodagu and made by the Kodavas.
Thirke alphabet.
Eight householder families
The same inscription, along with a few later ones, mentions the ‘Entu Okkal’ or the eight householder families, who held some power in the region. An ‘Okkal’ is a land-owning agriculturist family. It corresponds to the Kodava word ‘Okka.’ These eight families could correspond to the eight ‘seeme thakkas’ (regional chieftain families) of Kodagu — eight hereditary chieftain families (Kallera, Bollera, Pardanda, Pandira, Mathanda, Buduvanda, Porera and Paruvanda).
The two 14th century inscriptions of Kodagu are dated around 1370-1371 AD. Both state that the king or overlord is ‘Bodharoopa Bhagavar’ who issued the two edicts. The Bhagamandala inscription mentions that the ruler of that ‘nad’ (region) is Melpundi Kunniyarasa. The name Kunniyarasa means ‘little ruler.’
The two inscriptions were found in the Bhagandeshwara Temple of Bhagamandala and the Mahalingeshwara Temple of Palur. Both temples are Shaiva temples. Both the inscriptions begin with the Sanskrit words ‘Svasti Sri’, which mean ‘Be it well’. This is similar in meaning to the term ‘Baalo’ with which most Kodava folk songs begin.
Combination syllables.
Edicts of Bhagamandala and Palur
The Bhagamandala edict goes as follows. On a Friday, when Jupiter was in Virgo, during the month of Scorpio, the Bhagamandala inscription is created. A penalty is stated for stopping the daily expenses. Even the ruler Kunniyarasa is not spared of this penalty. Curses are placed upon those who don’t pay for the daily expenses of the temple. Even if the king doesn’t punish one who doesn’t pay, he is to be cursed by the people. The ‘arm-bearing thousands’ (soldiers) of the 18 regions and merchants are to protect the temple. Blessings are pronounced upon the ascetics and the king. A mention of a copper plate and a treasury register (both of which went missing over the centuries) is also made.
The Palur edict begins with a prayer to Vinayaka (Ganesh) and Saraswathi.
‘Bodharoopa’ is mentioned to be the disciple of a particular guru and to have made the stone inscription to the Mahadeva (Shiva) of Palayur. A curse is pronounced upon those who don’t pay for the daily expenses. The edict is made for the Srivaishnava, the merchants, the arm-bearing thousands, and the Brahmans of the 18 regions who may see and maintain it. The merchants will read out loudly the daily expenses once a year and check the temple accounts. This edict is unsigned, unlike the Bhagamandala one.
Srivaishnava was a general South Indian term for people who rendered services to a temple, such as guarding it, being the torchbearer (like the Mukkati families in Kodagu), managing its festive activities (like the ‘deva thakka’ families in Kodagu), etc.
Palayur and Vaganda
Palur is called ‘Palayur’ while Bhagamandala is also called ‘Bhaganda Ashrama’ and ‘Vaganda’ in the two inscriptions. The Bhagamandala inscription has been signed as ‘Pakandala Ayari elattu’ (the writing of the Bhagandalaya Achari). ‘Pakandala’ and ‘Bhagandalaya’ are other names for Bhagamandala. The modern Kodava word for writing is ‘elt’, which could have arisen from the word ‘elattu.’
‘Achari’ is a name used by priests and members of the Vishwakarma community. People of the Vishwakarma community served as metal, stone and woodworkers such as carpenters, smiths and stonemasons. Usually, a carpenter or a foreman was called an Achari.
It is interesting to note that Kodagu has a community of Kodava speaking smiths called the ‘Airi.’ The word ‘Ayari’ seems to indicate that the word ‘Airi’ arose from the term ‘Achari.’ Hence, the title ‘Pakandala Ayari’ could simply mean, the ‘Airi from Bhagamandala.’
[mookonda.kushalappa@gmail.com]
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Feature Articles / January 24th, 2022
Kodagu is a small and beautiful mountain district of Karnataka and is well known in the world for coffee and its ‘brave warriors’, men and women, serving in all services.
New Delhi :
It was a proud moment for the people of Kodagu district when Lt Gen CP Cariappa took command of India’s elite 1 Strike Corps at Mathura on Friday. Lt Gen Cariappa became the Corp Commander and the District boasts of rare distinction of three Lieutenant Generals serving the army simultaneously.
Kodagu is a small and beautiful mountain district of Karnataka and is well known in the world for coffee and its “brave warriors”, men and women, serving in all services. Talking only of Indian Army there are 90 posts at the rank of Lieutenant General.
Lt Gen PC Thimmaya and Lt Gen CB Ponnappa are the other two generals. Lt Gen Thimmaya is the Army Commander at the Army Training Command and Lt Gen Ponnappa is the Chief of Staff at the Northern Army Command. All three officers are a product of the National Defence Academy, Khadakwasla and joined the army at different times. Lt Gen Ponappa is the junior-most who joined the Army in June 1985.
Lt Gen CP Cariappa was commissioned in June 1984 into the 4th Battalion of the Rajputana Rifles. He served in UN Peacekeeping Forces at Mozambique (Africa) and Iraq- Kuwait. Prior to taking over command of elite 1 Corps, he was the Military Secretary to the President of India at New Delhi. The officer on taking charge emphasized that his priority is ’fight against COVID-19 threat.’
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Kodagu Connect / @KodaguConnect
Kodava population: 1.25 lakh
Number of Kodava Lieutenant Generals in Indian Army at present: 3
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At present Lt, Gen PC Thimmaya is the seniormost coorgi officer, who became Army Commander on 1 November 2018. He was the best cadet in pre-commission training at Indian Military Academy and was awarded the Sword of Honour. He got commissioned into 5th Battalion of the Mechanised Infantry in June 1981.
He commanded Army’s 10 Corps and was the Commandant, Army War College at Mhow before becoming Army Commander. Like the other two officers he also had UN Stint, was a Military Observer in UN Mission, Angola. He also was Defence Attache in the High Commission of India in Bangladesh. He assumed the command of Army Training Command in Nov 2018.
Lt Gen C Bansi Ponnappa is Chief of Staff of the prestigious Northern Command since Feb 2020. He was commissioned into 2 MAHAR Regiment in Jun 1985 and later commanded the same unit. The officer had two UN Tenures. He was in Somalia under UNOSOM-II and North Kivu Brigade of UN Peace Keeping Force in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
These officers follow in the footsteps of illustrious predecessors like Field Marshal K M Cariappa and General Kodendera Subayya Thimayya. Field Marshal Cariappa was first Indian Commissioned Officer, first Indian General and then first Commander-in-Chief of India.
A total of eleven officers from Kodagu have occupied top posts in the Army so far. This apart, Kodagu also boasts of having 20 Major Generals and four Air Marshals, which undoubtedly makes Kodagu, the Land of Generals.
Although, with time the numbers of people joining forces from the district have fallen, steps are being taken to regain it. The district has its own War Memorial with names of all martyred soldiers of Kodagu. A museum in the name of former Army Chief General Thimmaiah is also being constructed. The Kodava Legacy in the Army will continue.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Good News / by Mayank Singh, Express News Service / April 05th, 2020
Perfect combo: Bopanna’s experience and Ramkumar’s powerful serves were instrumental in the Indians’ success. | Photo Credit: Getty Images
Surprise top seeds Dodig and Melo in the final
The unseeded pair of Rohan Bopanna and Ramkumar Ramanathan beat the top seeds, Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo 7-6(6), 6-1 in the doubles final of the $521,000 ATP tennis tournament here on Sunday.
It was the first professional tournament together as a pair for Bopanna and Ramkumar, who had partnered each other in the last Davis Cup tie against Finland.
In five matches, the Indian pair dropped one set and did not drop even one service game, to collect the winner’s share of 250 ATP points and $18,700.
While it was the maiden Tour title for Ramkumar, it was the 21st Tour doubles title for the former World No. 3 Bopanna, ranked 41 now. It was only the fourth doubles title with an Indian partner for Bopanna after the ones with Mahesh Bhupathi and Divij Sharan.
“Amazing feeling to win my first ATP title with Bopsy! A great week ended on a high note. Always lived for these moments and thankful to Almighty for all the blessings,” said Ramkumar.
Chance pairing
Interestingly, it was a chance pairing as Bopanna was scheduled to play with Edouard Roger-Vasselin, who subsequently got into the ATP Cup in Sydney. Since both were in the same flight from Dubai, Bopanna asked Ramkumar to travel to Adelaide for the doubles, as the latter was only scheduled to train in advance for the Australian Open qualifying event.
“I think it worked well for both of us. He got into the singles here as well. He got five doubles matches. Couldn’t have asked for a better week for both of us,” said Bopanna.
Bopanna has watched Ramkumar grow in the professional circuit and has guided him at every opportunity.
“I have seen Ram grow as a player. He has got tremendous potential. His serve is his biggest weapon. Every time I play with somebody serving that big, makes it easy for me at the net. I really felt Ram’s serve today in my ear. So I know how hard it comes through,” said Bopanna.
New-found confidence
Ramkumar has grown in stature as the current India No. 1, and has the new-found confidence as part of his arsenal. “I think what has changed is the belief in himself. That has really changed from last year. Ram was playing some good tennis by the end of the season. He is serving well, volleying well. Now, he is starting to believe he can do well at tournaments. It is just a matter of time for him to string a few matches together and break back into the top-150, 100,” observed Bopanna.
“I would love to play more with Bops, whenever we can,” said Ramkumar, who would focus on the Australian Open singles qualifying event from Monday in Melbourne .
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Sport> Tennis / by Sports Bureau / Adelaide – January 09th, 2022
The Karnataka State Western Ghats Chairman Ravi Kushalappa visited Hunsur on Thursday and apprised himself of the pollution in Lakshmanteertha river that flows through the town.
The tributary of the Cauvery is highly polluted, carrying untreated sewage from various towns along its course, and efforts to clean the river has not yielded the desired results so far.
Mr. Ravi Kushalappa met the local MLA H.P.Manjunath, Deputy Commissioner Bagadi Goutham, ZP CEO Yogesh, Deputy Conservator of Forests Mahesh Kumar and other officials and held extensive interaction on reviving the quality of the river.
Citizens of Hunsur including NGOs and environmentalists who met Mr. Kushalappa also gave their feedback and the latter promised to incorporate the suggestions while drafting an action plan to clean up the river.
The activists suggested that release of untreated effluents including sewage into the river should be stopped and measures should be initiated to treat the effluents and sewage and diverted for secondary use in agriculture.
There are small rivulets that join the river to augment the volume of water but some of them have been encroached and the flow has been blocked, said the activists. Hence efforts should be made to clear the encroachment to facilitate inflow of water.
S. Sreekanth, founder of Development through Education (DEED), an NGO working for tribal rehabilitation and empowerment, said it was imperative to take up massive afforestation along both the banks of the river and declare them as an eco-sensitive zone to improve the local environment.
There was also a suggestion to divert Konganahole rivulet to Lakshmanteertha to augment the river flow. Activists also called for a crackdown on sand mining along the course of the river and said that the action plan to rejuvenate the river should be implemented in a time-bound manner.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Karnataka / by Special Correspondent / January 06th, 2022
There are two basic forms of writing. One is prose and another verse. Prose is used in speaking and writing, distinct from verse. Prose follows a basic grammatical structure. In verse, poetry, there is compromise on grammar and even use of words and phrases. It is called poetic liberty. It follows a metrical structure.
With this, brief, succinct introduction to prose and verse, let me take on a book that landed on my desk for review and critique. The title of the book ‘A Place Apart – Poems From Kodagu,’ is alluring. It is originally written in Kodava language, a dialect, using Kannada script. The author, a junior college lecturer in Kodagu and a Kodava by race.
Much thought and labour seem to have gone into the writing and production of this book which carries both translation from Kodava language (written in Kannada script) into English and a transliteration where Roman script (english alphabets) is used to write the original poem, just as Kannada is used in the first part of the book that contains 21 poems.
The translation and transliteration are by Kaveri Ponnapa, the famous author of the book ‘The Vanishing Kodavas,’ a magnum opus of a pictorial, research-based book on Kodava people, their heritage, culture and a dismal future. She has a Master’s Degree in Social Anthropology from London. Naturally, the book acquires its importance because of the quality of the translation and transliteration that enables the reader to understand the sound and pronunciation of the spoken Kodava language.
She has indeed played the role of James Boswell to Dr. Samuel Johnson, the english lexicographer, so to say. Of course, Boswell made Johnson more famous by writing a masterpiece of a biography of the latter. Let it be. But here, the book of 21 selected Kodava poems written by B.P. Appanna and rendered into english by Kaveri Ponnapa, seems like serendipity for B.P. Appanna in getting a scholar of Kaveri Ponnapa’s stature to select his works for this book in english. For me those poems, described elsewhere as ‘deceptively simple poems’ did not seem to portray, as claimed, ‘the sense of dislocation and erosion of identity’ of Kodava people at all. This was the subject of Kaveri Ponnapa’s book ‘The Vanishing Kodavas.’ Here it is a poetic narration of Kodagu’s natural beauty — the deep verdant valley, the cloud kissing peaks of mountain ranges, dark forests, wildlife — almost like a prose sans soul, emotion, without igniting imagination in the reader.
Even so, this book will surely expose the author and the translator to the world outside Kodagu ignorant of Kodagu and Kodavas, a land and its people with distinctive geography and culture.
Kodava language, the dialect, has its vocabulary limited to that of the hunter-gatherer of the early ages related to agriculture, hunting and skirmishes. Naturally, a Kodava writer or a poet has to express himself using these limited vocabulary only. To overcome this handicap, perforce he has to borrow words from another language, here Kannada. Which is why, for example, in one poem where he should have used the pure Kodava word ‘Batte’ for road, he has used the word ‘Marga’, road in Kannada. May be for the purpose of alliteration in the stanza.
The transliteration section of the book is a testimony to Kaveri Ponnapa’s patience, tenacity and dedication to her work. It is a transliteration of the Kodava poems (written in Kannada script) using Roman, with a Kodava-english key to reading them. It offers an opportunity to those who do not know Kannada but know english to approach the sound and sense of Kodava language.
According to Kaveri Ponnapa, Romanisation like this will offer a practical opportunity to keep the language alive by reaching out to maximum number of speakers. Indeed, very true. As she further avers, “If we are looking at a way to taking endangered languages into the future, we need more speakers (and also readers).”
Here is her final word to those who tried to develop a new script for Kodava language, including the well-known Kodava author I.M. Muthanna. She says: “Languages like Kodava Takk do not need new scripts, they need more accessible scripts that open them up to a greater number of speakers or readers.”
We read in ‘Alice in Wonderland’, ‘What is a book without pictures’ and ‘A picture is worth a thousand words.’ Fortunately, for the reader of this book, there is much consolation and compensation when he sees those water-colour illustrations of people, places and artefacts of Kodagu the land, by artist Rupesh Nanaiah. Wish they were in colour. They speak about the subject of the book more eloquently than all those words.
I also wish Kaveri Ponnapa had chosen for this book some poems from other Kodava poets also.
There are some brilliant poems written by non-Kodavas about Kodagu and Kodavas like Panje Mangesh Rao, for example. A Kodava Sanyasi of Ramakrishna Ashram Swami Shambhavananda, I.M. Muthanna and others too have written about the people, flora and fauna of Kodagu that evoke nostalgia among the old and the diaspora.
Anyway, A Place Apart is a significant contribution to the Kodava community and its literature. The book must adorn every Kodava household and also the libraries of every Kodava Samaja. To purchase the book, contact: Dushyant on WhatsApp 99009-99994 or place your order at: https://www.coorg.com/kaveri.
e-mail: voice@starofmysore.com
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Columns> abracadabra / by K.B. Ganapathy / January 08th, 2022
Rampant illegal mining of precious stones has been reported from Pattighat Reserve Forests (Nishane Motte) near Bhagamandala of the Western Ghats under the very nose of the Forest Department and those who are duty-bound to protect it have now been accused of openly allowing plunderers to loot the forest wealth.
These smugglers are unearthing gemstones from the forests with the help of locals and selling them at a premium to luxury hotels, jewellery shops, spas and massage parlours. These virgin forests are an integral part of Kodagu and the Western Ghats and except for wild animals and Forest Department staff, no one — not even cattle — is allowed inside.
In such a forest, covered with fully grown trees, deep pits are dug and mud is lifted out and loads and loads of mud are sieved for precious stones, especially red ones, resembling rubies. Ironically, the Forest Department camp and the tents where they stay guarding the jungles are located metres away from the places that have been dug up and still, this has not come to the notice of the Department.
The Pattighat Reserve Forests begin at the very end of Thannimaani village that can be reached from the entrance gate of Bhagamandala via Karike Road. One has to trek around a six-kilometre area that is full of ravines and steep gorges to reach there. The Reserve Forest is spread across 2,200-hectare land and joins the Subramanya- Kadamakal Forests.
While Subramanya Range Forest comes under Dakshina Kannada, Koojimalai, Suttathmalai Pushpagiri Wildlife Sanctuary and Pattighat (Nishane Motte) comes under the jurisdiction of Kodagu district. Public entry has been banned here and unfortunately, this ban is a blessing in disguise for smugglers to carry out the illegal stone mining.
The 30-ft pit dug up to extract precious stones.
Well-concealed operation
When the first report of this rampant precious stone mining was reported by some local villagers of Bhagamandala a week back, teams from the Forest Department were sent to inspect the area. But strangely, the inspecting teams did not find any pits dug up deep inside the forest. They only found mounds of mud from where the pits were dug and the same was reported by the teams to their higher officers.
Even as the Department justified that there are no pits, local villagers said that a little bit of effort would have unearthed the entire racket as the pits were cleverly covered with hay stack, small wooden blocks and mud.
The pits were finally spotted on Jan. 6 by the Forest Squad personnel who were accompanied by Assistant Conservator of Forests Mohiseen and Chairman of Karnataka State Western Ghats Task Force, Shantheyanda Ravi Kushalappa.
The Forest Department base camp at Pattighat.
Mining network spread out
According to people in the know of things, this mining activity has been going on in many reserve forests around Kodagu especially in the Bhagamandala region for the last 20 years. Before the Pattighat was declared as a Reserve Forest, the illegal mining was concentrated on one or two locations from where the stones were extracted. However, after the Reserve Forest restrictions came into place, mining spread out to many locations.
For instance, one deep pit that was used to excavate soil was closed in 2020 with cement. Recently, another 4-ft wide and 30-ft deep pit has been dug nearby and from there, another ‘L’ shaped pit has been dug up connecting this deep pit, shocking the Forest Squad.
The tent set up by forest watchers 10 metres from the pit.
Organised gangs camp in woods
So organised the gangs are that many earth-digging implements, pulleys and ropes to pull out mud, sieves, cooking vessels, fireplaces and iron rods and pipes have been recovered indicating that the smugglers camp inside the area, set up fireplaces and even prepare food. How can this be possible without the Forest Department knowing, ask local villagers. The stones earlier used to fetch a price of Rs. 500 to Rs. 700 per kg, now costs over Rs. 30,000 to Rs. 50,000 per kg, making it a lucrative deal for smugglers. The illegal trade was first reported in the 1990s at Subramanya Forest Range and Pushpagiri Ranges. Gradually, the trade spread to Madikeri and Bhagamandala ranges.
Once the stones are extracted, they are polished and marketed to massage parlours, five-star hotels and spas. Once polished, the texture and appearance of the stones change and they look similar to precious gemstones.
Jewellery shops too purchase these precious stones and they are sold with actual precious stones. The stones, in different colours, are used in ‘hot stone massage’, ‘aromatherapy’ and the quality is decided on the stones texture after polishing.
Excavation materials camouflaged to prevent detection.
Regular affair since 2007
Illegal mining at Pattighat Reserve has been rampant since 2007 and the name of an influential person from Madikeri circling around the racket. All the investigation that has been conducted so far is just an eye-wash and only lower-rung Forest Department staff has been the targets. All the senior officers who have been in-charge of Pattighat Reserve Forests since 2007 must be investigated for the truth to come out. It is clear that the Forest Department is complicit. I will press for a detailed investigation and impress upon the Government to conduct a high-level probe. — K.G. Bopaiah, MLA Virajpet
1 guard, 2 watchers missing
Our inspection clearly establishes the involvement of Forest Department staff and without their knowledge, no one can enter the core area of the Reserve Forests. This is a classic case of the fence eating the crop. Villagers here say that some unscrupulous Forest Department officers take bribes up to Rs. 5 lakh to Rs. 10 lakh to allow mining once inside the forests. One forest guard and two watchers are missing from duty and they must be arrested.
— Shantheyanda Ravi Kushalappa, Chairman of Karnataka State Western Ghats Task Force
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> News> Top Stories / January 08th, 2022
Varsha Acharya with versatile talent is making her big career in both acting and fashion designing industry at the same time.
Coastal region always known for producing talents and Varsha Acharya is one who manages both professions with ease. In her short span of career, Varsha has grown exponentially with managing multiple roles that can set example for young generations.
Varsha Acharya hails from Kodagu, has done her pre-university at Canara College and fashion designing at Karavali College. Varsha is the daughter of Venkataramana Acharya and Vidyalatha Acharya and has a sibling Vrushab Acharya. Varsha was titled ‘Princess of Malnad’ in a beauty pageant in 2016.
During her fashion designing course at Karavali College, Varsha used to do lots of shoots, designing where the opportunity popped out for Varsha four years ago through Hombanna.
Varsha Acharya was always passionate about designing, illustrations, paintings. Apart from acting Varsha has shown interest towards fashion designing for several occasions. Kannada movie Padavipoorva was the first breakthrough for Varsha to showcase her creativity in fashion designing. Apart from fashion designing, Varsha is playing a key role in the movie Padavipoorva.
Varsha has also designed a main sequence in the movie Abracadabra directed By Shishir in the banner of Paramvah Studios. She is also the designer for an album song as well in a movie starring Pruthvi Ambar And Kushee Ravi, while two projects as an actor is on card. Varsha is delighted to pull of both the professions equally by being an actress and a designer.
Speaking to daijiworld.com about her dual job Varsha Acharya said, “Although they are two different professions, there is quite a bit of overlap but it all comes under how passionate I am about the work I do to manage both the professions equally. Being an actor was always my passion, as I have done my Fashion Designing i love to carry forward that in the industry too as if feel I can put both under the same roof.”
She also says, “Acting is all about fitting into the character and requires more of homework, practice and so on. Perhaps in Fashion Designing we have lot of groundworks, pre-production, try to figure out different looks of the character, fitting them in , figuring out the exact time scales per project for the preparations of the attire, time management, sudden schedule changes, being active, involvement, interest. I love to take challenges. It’s a whole different feeling being in both the professions.
“I will have a clear idea about the costumes once the script is narrated. I always have a word with my directors if they have any particular visually planned ideas, so that I can get an actual output as per the director’s plan, she says.
When asked about managing tight deadlines, Varsha says, “Tight deadlines have always made me feel good, that makes me happy knowing that I am doing good at it. However tight the schedule is, I keep my charm and smile on my face that makes my work even easier.”
source: http://www.daijiworld.com / DaijiWorld.com / Home> Coastal> Cine World / by Daijiworld Media Network – Mangaluru (ANK) / January 05th, 2022
The petition was filed by PS Mohan and others from Kodagu district on the ground that permission was not obtained from the central government under the provisions of the Forest Conservation Act.
Bengaluru :
The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday slapped a cost of Rs 50,000 on a group of petitioners for wasting the precious time of the court by filing a public interest litigation challenging the construction of the Jungle Lodges and Resorts (JL&R) by the Karnataka State Tourism Development Corporation (KSTDC) at Dubare forest in Kodagu district.
“We are of the view that the writ petition is filed without any material to support the contention raised in the petition and it appears that it has been filed with ulterior motives in order to pressurise the respondents — the state authorities. The conduct of the petitioners as such is deprecated for the purpose of wasting the precious time of the court by imposing cost of Rs 50,000 which has to be paid to the Karnataka State Legal Services Authority,” said a division bench of Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi and Justice Suraj Govindaraj.
The petition was filed by PS Mohan and others from Kodagu district on the ground that permission was not obtained from the central government under the provisions of the Forest Conservation Act for construction of JL&R.
In counter, the government advocate contended that no permission of the central government is required for construction of the jungle lodge by the KSTDC in the reserve forest area coming under the state government.
The counsel of JL&R raised preliminary objections regarding the maintainability of the petition. It was alleged this petition was filed on some personal interest and that JL&R has installed river rafting activities in Dubare area which adversely affected the petitioners. But no public interest is involved in the petition and it has been filed with ulterior motives, the counsel of JL&R argued.
After hearing the parties, the court noted that the JL&R which was constructed in Dubare is a body created by the KSTDC which itself is totally controlled by the state government and no private interest is involved in the activities of the JL&R.
source: http://www.newindianexpess.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Karnataka / by Yathiraju, Express News Service / January 04th, 2022
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