Monthly Archives: July 2015

MP Pratap Simha proposes Spices Park in Kodagu

Agriculture, Business & Economy, Green Initiatives / Environment, Leaders, Nature

Mysuru :

Mysuru-Kodagu MP Pratap Simha, who is also the member of Spices Board, has demanded setting up of a Spices Park in Kodagu district.

Pratap Simha, who was in Kashmir to attend the Spices Board meeting along with former Chief Minister and MP B.S. Yeddyurappa, urged the Board authorities to set up a Spices Park in Kodagu district, which is also famous for growing spices such as pepper and ginger apart from coffee.

Speaking to Star of Mysore, Pratap Simha said that Spices Board officials had agreed for a feasibility study and added that a team of officials would visit Kodagu in the coming days to conduct a study for setting up the Spices Park.

Setting up Spices Park in Kodagu would help pepper and ginger growers in Kodagu district and Cardamom growers in Sakaleshpur in Hassan to market and get good rates for their products, he added.

Our aim is to provide a sustainable market for the spices grown in this part of the region, he said and added that there is a proposal to start a Spices Park in Haveri which intends to provide a good market for chilli growers in the region.

But, for the growers to transport spices from Kodagu and Hassan districts to Haveri would be a problem and for that reason it was proposed to set up Spices Park in Kodagu, said Pratap Simha.

He said that the State Government has to provide 50 acre land for the Spices Park like it has been done in Haveri district.

Once the land is allotted, the work on Spices Park would commence after the proposal is approved by the Spices Board officials, Simha added.

Pratap Simha further said that issues pertaining to Saffron growers were also discussed during the meeting held yesterday in Srinagar.

He said that the Spices Board has decided to work towards providing assured market for Saffron within the country and also exporting the same throughout the world.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / Thursday – July 02nd, 2015

Kannada cinema’s blonde babe

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Famous Personalities of Kodagu / Coorg
Harshika Poonacha
Harshika Poonacha

Harshika Poonacha is currently on a holiday, which she is spending in the USA. And in preparation for her break, the actress seems to have done something special — she’s coloured her hair blonde!

Harshika looks quite different in her blonde streaks and bangs. Going by her feeds on social media, she seems to be having a ball of a time on her holiday. Here are some of her posts that will give you an insight into what she’s up to in the US:

“Now thts d reason y I love America….I can do watever I want to do….. #USA #Funnn #Ilovetravelling”

“The Deepest Lake in #USA #CraterLake #CraterNationalPark #Funnn #Holiday”

“Saw a full rainbow for the first time in my life. So beautiful☺☺☺ #USA is filled wid new surprises fr me.I love it”

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> Entertainment> Kannada> Movies / TNN / July 03rd, 2015

Robin Uthappa Vows to Make Opportunity Count in Zimbabwe

Famous Personalities of Kodagu / Coorg, Records, All, Sports

Ajinkya Rahane will lead a 15-member team for three One-Day Internationals (ODIs) and two Twenty20 matches as seniors like MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli were rested for the series. India face the hosts in the first ODI on July 10.

Was waiting for last three to four years: Uthappa / © AFP
Was waiting for last three to four years: Uthappa / © AFP

Mumbai:

India wicketkeeper-batsman Robin Uthappa said on Monday the Zimbabwe tour call-up was an opportunity he was waiting for the last three-four years, adding he would try to utilise the chance to cement his place in the side.

Middle-order batsman Ajinkya Rahane will lead a 15-member team for three One-Day Internationals (ODIs) and two Twenty20 matches as regular skipper Virat Kohli, among other seniors, were rested for the series. India face the hosts in the first ODI on July 10. (I’ve My Own Style of Captaincy: Ajinkya Rahane)

“I am very grateful that finally I will get a whole series to play after playing one or two games in a year. I am looking forward to the tour. This is the opportunity I was waiting for last three to four years. The hard work I have put in has given me positive results now,” Uthappa said here at a press conference. (Binny Determined To Showcase His All-Round Skills)

“I want to make the opportunity I have got. I want to consolidate my place in the squad, as I believe I have a lot to offer for the Indian team.” (Karn Sharma Fractures Finger)

Speaking on the aspect of being a wicketkeeper-batsman he said, “It has been quite an enjoyable journey. Initially it was a bit of a trouble, but as time went I fell in love with it. Once I kept wickets in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and Champions League, I thought of taking it as a full time. It came at a perfect time when my batting clicked.”

“I could invest the same time which I did in batting, in the wicket-keeping as well. Today I am enjoying keeping the wickets. It gives us so much of information while you are standing behind the wickets and see what’s going on in the field.”
With the new rules in ODIs coming into play, the 29-year-old said five fielders outside the 30-yard circle wouldn’t matter to him as he would look for runs and try to hit boundaries.

“I don’t think it makes a difference as a batsman as you are looking at the gaps and not at the fielders. But I think from the bowlers perspective it gives them a bit of confidence,” Uthappa concluded.

source: http://www.sports.ndtv.com /NDTV Sports / NDTV Sports> News / by Indo-Asian News Service / Monday – July 06th, 2015

Call to use digital lockers to secure documents online

Science & Technology

Deputy Commissioner Meer Anees Ahammed has said people should make use of digital locker system launched by the government to securely store documents online.

Speaking at a programme organised as a part of Digital India organised by the department Electronics and Information Technology, at Madikeri on Saturday, he said that with the advance in science and technology, facilities are available online.

With digital locker facility, paper-less system will be created in the future. There is a need to create awareness on the same.

The users can store their documents such as school certificate, passport and other documents in the digital format.

Zilla Panchayat Chief Executive Officer M Kurma Rao said one can avail postal, airlines, train, bus, banking services through online. This will help in checking the intervention of middlemen.

Additional DC M Sathish Kumar said efforts will be made for Aadhaar registration in schools, colleges and hostels in the future.

Lead Bank Manager K A Devaiah said Digital India depends on connectiovity.

The digital India will be a success with the effective connectivity system by the telecom operators. Banking system has been computerised.

Biometric system will be introduced in place of ATM to withdraw and deposit money in the future. Kushalnagar Engineering College lecturer Prof Vani also spoke.

Winners

Prizes were distributed to the winners of essay, elocution and painting competition held as a part of Digital India week in Kodagu district. The winners in painting Jeen Salong, St Michael School (I), Meghana, St Jospeh School (II) in Madikeri taluk; Brijesh of Fathima School (I), Tejaswini of Kanbail Government High SChool (II) in Somwarpet taluk; Dilip (I) of Heggala Government High School and Venisha (II) of St Annamma School in Virajpet taluk.

Essay contest winners are— Chaitanya of St Michael School (I), Rasheela Deeksha of St Jospeh School (II) in Madikeri taluk; Tejasri N R (I) of Hudikeri Janata School and Prajna P V of Gonikoppa High School (II) in Virajpet taluk and Hemanth Kumar (I) of Morarji School and Cinchana M D of St Joseph School (II) in Somwarpet taluk.

Elocution contest winners are —Sathish R S of Madikeri Junior College (I), Nireeksha of St Joseoh School (II) in Madikeri taluk; Leena K L of Srimangala Junior College (I) and Dhanya of St Anns High School (II) in Virajpet taluk and Chinmay of Aloor Siddapura School (I) and Akshatha Bhat of ST Joseph School (II) in Somwarpet taluk.

source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> District / DHNS, Madikeri – July 04th, 2015

The Power of Yoga

Arts, Culture & Entertainment

Yamini’s gift on International Yoga Day

YogaKF06jul2015

Following United Nations (UN) declaring June 21 of every year, beginning from this year, as the International Day of Yoga, there has been a plethora of publications on Yoga almost all over the world in different languages.

We find most of those books, richly produced on art-paper with any number of Yoga postures by sexy looking females along with men, looking like coffee-table books. This is not to belittle their purpose and quality. Some of the books are indeed excellently produced with inputs sourced from experience and research on the subject of Yoga.

One such book landed on my table by courier last evening and being such a beautiful book, I couldn’t wait for another day to browse through it. The cover of the book is produced above.

There is also another reason why I decided to write immediately about the book. Its creator, Yamini Muthanna, is a Mysuru girl, a highly talented daughter of my classmate in Madikeri, Kodagu, who mastered the art of Bharathanatyam, for whose arangetram in Mysuru, I had the opportunity to attend. That was decades ago. Being a distinguished Bharathanatyam danseuse, Yamini apparently is using her Yoga skills to enhance the beauty of her dance adding grace to this classical art form.

Yamini, who studied Ashtanga Yoga in Mysuru under the renowned Yoga Master B.N.S. Iyengar, later shifted to Bengaluru establishing a Yoga School called simply as ‘Yoga Sthala.’ Soon people from all walks of life — from professionals to students — began to make a bee-line to Yoga Sthala. From then on, there was no stopping her from spreading her wings and soaring high in the art and craft of Yoga. She has conducted workshops at Yoga-studios in London, New York, Washington DC and Los Angeles. She gives Yoga demonstrations with different postures interpreting the Yoga Sutras. A Baba Ramdev in female Avatar !

Yamini strongly believes that if every individual practices Yoga daily, making it a way of life, there will be much benefit to the practitioners of Yoga because it brings about mental transformation bestowing good health and peace of mind. That is the power and glory of Yoga.

The pictorial book running to 286 pages with an index and more importantly, [probably this is one of the good reasons to buy this book] it has in section D titled ‘Precautions’ under chapter 10, information about the common injuries that a Yoga practitioner may suffer and hence the need for taking caution.

The reason for some of the common injuries may be due to faulty practice of Yoga. Which is why one should always learn Yoga from a real Guru, an authentic master like for example the great late K. Pattabhi Jois and B.N.S. Iyengar of Mysuru or late B.K.S. Iyengar of Pune. These giants have produced many students who have perfected Yoga as propounded by its originator Patanjali. Apart from benefiting from it themselves, they have themselves become teachers of Yoga like Yamini Muthanna. It may be said that one of the reasons for its popularity is because these Yoga Asanas are therapeutic in nature and many have got cure from its practice for some of the ailments which could not be cured by allopathic or other alternative medicines.

While there are hundreds of books that have sought to explain different dimensions and perspectives of Yoga and its accompanying sub-types, ‘The Power of Yoga’ is a one-of-its-kind, hands-on guide that takes the personalised and customised approach to Yoga. It offers Yoga lovers the opportunity to get right to the heart of different kinds of Yoga.

Culled from years of teaching and learning Yoga, these sequences help incorporate combinations of the thousands of recorded asanas into tailor- made daily practice to suit particular lifestyles. The user can choose routines according to the levels of emotional, mental and physical fitness that he or she would like to reach. With bold visuals, illustrations and a go-to sequence manual, the book aims to be a dynamic and user-friendly guide to Yoga, rather than a stodgy reference book on it.

Not many of us are aware of the fact that Yoga routines can be customised and varied to suit our professions, body types, physical ailments, state of mind, mental make-up, work patterns and day-to-day life. It’s a book for the quintessential urbanite looking for physical fitness and mental balance.

Asanas are not mere physical exercises but therapeutic postures that activate certain chakras and nadis in the body. The techniques taught in this book are completely authentic and haven’t been improvised in anyway, claims the author.

Yamini has students from many parts of the world. She conducted a session for more than 100 people on the World Yoga Day as part of the celebrations. The book is a part of her endeavour to spread the knowledge of Yoga and what a purposeful endeavour !

At Rs. 995, this book must find a place in every home and benefit from it. The book will be launched on 3rd July, 2015 in Bengaluru at the Om Book Shop at the Phoenix Mall, Mahadevapura, by the noted artist (painting) Anjolie Ela Menon.

e-mail: kbg@starofmysore.com

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Abracadabra….Abracadabra / by K. B. Ganapathy / Tuesday – June 30th, 2015

LAST PAGE – Coorg Diary

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Nature

Here’s hope that Coorg will never become the tourist haven many feel it should aspire to.

CoorgKF04jul2015

Raining old women with clubs
This ancient Namibian proverb only partially describes our wet week-long sojourn in this utterly beautiful part of Karnataka. We’re 10 minutes up a steep hill (which till recently used to house a coffee plantation) in Bittangala, a short distance from the only golf course in south Coorg, or Kodagu. But no one can play golf. For four straight days and nights, it doesn’t stop raining. The wind howls for hours on end, abating for barely 10 minutes, before picking up again with renewed ferocity. Trees are uprooted, roads are blocked (and miraculously unblocked) and we survive thanks to a generator for the entire period. This continuous sound-and-water show plays tricks on the mind—and I’m not talking about board games Boggle et al. After a while, my sons Kabir and Krishna refused to go up to the bedroom alone to fetch a book—or even a gadget!

The affable Kodendera ‘Nanda’ Cariappa—the retired Air Marshal with an enviable lineage who got famously shot down and taken prisoner in the 1965 war with Pakistan—informs me that it has never rained so heavily in this part of Coorg since he’s been back 19 years ago. Located right in the middle of a forest, we soak in the green (and many more shades of green than you can imagine). Thankfully, no snakes and leeches show up.

Green politics

This onslaught of nature—mind you, the monsoons have barely begun—has given me some hope that Coorg will never become the tourist haven many feel it should aspire to. Des­pite thousands of plantations and homestays knitted together by excellent roads, connectivity to the rest of the country is poor. But given that the builder lobby is busy carving up “layouts” all over the district, there are fears that residential complexes and hotels will destroy the unique eco­system of this Western Ghats hotspot. Thanks to growth and poor sanitation, the capital Madikeri is fast becoming another Mussoorie. As writer Roopa Pai put it in a piece for the Outlook website: “Coorg is a small coffee-growing, pork-eating, hard-drinking, gun-toting district of Karnataka with a terrible superiority complex.” If you ask me, it’s in the national interest that it continues to remain so.

Right-wing rumblings

We’re in Coorg to celebrate the 75th birthday of my wife Rat­hi’s uncle G. Parthasarathy, the diplomat-turned-news-TV-hawk. There’s much family bonding—anecdotes are swapped, tall stories told, and I’m happy to report no one is provoked enough to spill a glass of wine. As word gets around, the invitations start flying in—everyone wants to meet the man on national TV! During one such interaction at a 100-plus-year-old house in Siddapur, it emerges that a key concern is “population control”—there has been a steady influx of Muslims from Kerala into the district. Despite assuring many of these guests that it is statistically impossible to overrun the Hindus, the older generation is clearly worried. The silver lining—one gets a calmer, more accepting view on migration when one speaks to some members of the younger lot.

Bittersweet partying

This is a first for me: I have never partied for an entire week with a group whose average age is 85, with the eldest being a sprightly 92-year-old Lt General Somanna, the former deputy chief of the army. His wife Renu, an irreverent and charming motormouth, was the star of one afternoon. You have to admire the zest for life here—they show up on time, eat and drink well, leave late, and drive their Dusters back to their estates themselves. Despite everyone knowing each other, I’m sure there’s loneliness and boredom too in these massive estates. And of course, there are limits to age. I get into a discussion on the joys of the drink Campari with a gentleman, telling him that some of the best things in life are bitter. A bit tipsy, he turned to me with a twinkle in his eye: “Well, I wouldn’t know if my wife’s bitter…it’s been a while since I’ve tasted her.”

National food integration

High up above the beautifully sleepy Mysore rests the famous Chamundeshwari temple. The tourist-clutter-complex also hosts Durga restaurant which has the best menu-teaser I’ve seen in a while: “South Indian meals, Kerala meals, Rajasthani thali, Gujarati thali, Punjabi thali, Bengali thali, Bombay thali, UP and MP, idly, dosa, alu parota, parota, puri, chapathi & side dishes Punjabi.” According to my vagabond friend Siddheshwar Wahi’s ast­ute analysis on Facebook, “Punjabi rulz! It appears twice.” A family elder asks an important question: “Surely, parotta tastes better than parantha?”

Last week…

While visiting Mysore, I text a colleague in Delhi whose hometown it is. I get the following response: “Good. Make sure you leave it the way I left it.”

Sunit Arora is the associate managing editor of Outlook; E-mail your diarist: sunit [AT] outlookindia [DOT] com

source: http://www.outlookindia.com / Outlook / Outlook> Magazine> Last Page> Diary / by Sunit Arora / Magazine – July 13th, 2015

Land price skyrockets in Kodagu as outsiders rush in droves

Business & Economy

Madikeri :

In the midst of protesting voices against large scale purchase of lands in Kodagu district, a mountainous district with rain forests and known for the cultivation of paddy, coffee, pepper, cardamom etc., there seems to be a ray of hope in addressing this problem.

It is learnt that about 10 young and enterprising planters came together to form a company called ‘Consolidated Coffee Plantation Pvt. Ltd.,’ about two years back and have been purchasing properties from intending sellers instead of allowing outsiders to purchase these properties. And they seem to have succeeded to some extent looking at the properties they have already purchased in places like Birunani, Badaga and Ponnampet in Kodagu, totalling an area of over 100 acres.

However, according to real estate agents, this effort may not succeed in preventing rich money bags, specially from Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, from purchasing lands in Kodagu where they are offering over Rs. 25 lakh per acre.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / Saturday – June 27th, 2015

GCC re-entering coffee mart after two decades

Coffee News

Visakhapatnam :

After nearly two decades, the Girijan Cooperative Corporation (GCC) is re-entering the coffee sector in the Visakha Agency again and is targeting marketing around 2,000 metric tonnes of coffee procured from small tribal farmers in the Visakha Agency this year.

According to records, there are around one lakh tribals cultivating on nearly 96,337 acres and producing around 6,500 metric tonnes of coffee every year, which fetches around Rs 65 crore. With GCC’s support, the farmers are expected to earn around Rs 91 crore.

GCC has already identified 14 godowns to store the coffee stocks in the Agency and collection of material will start from December this year. It plans to set up one procurement centre each at the village level and two big centres each at the mandal level. GCC has already initiated awareness campaigns in each hamlet in June, inviting coffee growing farmers to enroll their names.

The corporation plans to register the data such as names of farmers, bank account numbers and Aadhaar number in July and August. It is likely to recruit separate manpower for coffee-related activities in September.

“The output and price realization in the Agency areas is very low due to improper harvesting techniques and marketing. If we provide guidance to coffee growing farmers in harvesting and marketing the produce, they will surely benefit. Currently, farmers get a very low price for their produce. If we market the same stocks, their earnings will increase by nearly 40% as we will ensure that each farmer gets the maximum price for his produce. GCC will be taking care of marketing the coffee from this financial year,” GCC managing director A Ravi Prakash said.

“GCC will take care of the pruning, curing, transport and auction of coffee. GCC will bear the entire cost of this and will be reimbursed by the government later. The state government will give Rs 25 crore initially and the Coffee Board will give a subsidy too. GCC will an organized marketing platform for small farmers,” he said.

This is not the first time that GCC is involved in the coffee sector. It had floated the Girijan Plantation Cooperative Development Corporation (GPCDC) in 1986 and developed 40,000 acres of plantation. However, GPCDC wound up its activities in 1997 and the plantation area was distributed among farmers and ITDA staff, sources said.

Meanwhile, the state government has also announced that GCC will provide marketing support for the Paderu Coffee Project, under which the government will invest Rs 526.16 crore in adding another one lakh acres under coffee plantations in the next 10 years. The project was announced by chief minister Chandrababu Naidu on October 17 last year after Cyclone Hudhud and a GO was released by the tribal welfare department last month.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Visakhapatnam / TNN / July 03rd, 2015

Spices Park proposed in Kodagu district

Business & Economy

A Spices Park has been proposed in Kodagu, which is also known for spices besides coffee.

Mysuru MP Pratap Simha, who is A member of Spices Board, suggested to the Board for establishing the park in Kodagu at its 50th meeting at Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir.

Responding to the MP’s request, board chairman A. Jayatilak asked officials to look into the matter and take appropriate steps, a release from the MP’s office said here.

“Kodagu is not just known for coffee but also for black pepper. Sakleshpur, which neighbors the district, is well-known for cardamom. Mysuru is emerging as one of the major producers of turmeric and ginger. Taking these facts into consideration, it is ideal to establish the Spices Park in Kodagu,” the MP argued.

There is a possibility to develop the park if the State government allots a 50-acre plot for the facility, he pointed out.

A Spices Park is coming up in Haveri district after 50 acres was handed over for establishing the facility. Byadagi is known for chilli, one of the major spice products.

A Spices Park is coming up in Haveri district after 50 acres was handed over for establishing the facility

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Karnataka / by Shankar Bennur / Mysuru – July 02nd, 2015

PM congratulates Indian badminton players Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa, on winning women’s doubles title in Canada Open

Sports

Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has congratulated Indian badminton players Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa, on winning women’s doubles title in Canada Open.

“Very proud of Ashwini P. and Jwala Gutta for the wonderful victory at the Canada Open. Congratulations to the brilliant sportspersons”, the Prime Minister said.

source: http://www.pmindia.gov.in /PMIndia / Home> News Updates> June 29th, 2015