Mysuru-Kodagu MP Pratap Simha is seen submitting a memorandum to Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu at his office in New Delhi yesterday.
Mysuru :
Mysuru-Kodagu MP Pratap Simha called on Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu at his office in New Delhi yesterday and submitted a memorandum with a request to speed up the works related to laying of Railway track between Mysuru-Kushalnagar, which has already been approved by the Railway Ministry in this year’s Railway Budget.
Pratap Simha also requested the Minister to introduce an additional train from Bengaluru to Mysuru between 4.30 pm and 5.30 pm to ease the congestion in Chamundi Express, which is used by majority of the passengers on daily basis.
Besides, he sought establishment of a new Railway Station at Metagalli for the benefit of general public.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / Thursday – May 05th, 2016
Rich brew:A tribal woman serving cold coffee at the Coffee Museum at Araku in the Agency area of Visakhapatnam district. Photo: K.R. Deepak
Flavours from all over the world tingle taste buds at museum in Araku
Wish to relish freshly brewed Araku Coffee where it is grown? The Coffee Museum at Araku is the place to be. It’s no surprise that coffee connoisseurs drive down all the way from Vizag city, 120 km away, just to relish its rich taste!
Come ‘Aashadam’ (the month when traditionally newly married bride and her mother-in-law are not allowed to stay under the same roof) young couples come in droves to the museum to spend the day exchanging sweet nothings.
The museum had been catering to discerning palates for over six decades now, say its organisers. The buzz around ‘Araku Coffee’ has been growing after it bagged awards at international competitions during the last few years. Araku Coffee once again grabbed headlines when it tickled the taste buds of Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the International Fleet Review (IFR) in Visakhapatnam.
Located right behind the Tribal Museum here, the Coffee Museum provides a wide array of coffee flavours from different parts of the globe. At first glance, visitors and tourists may dismiss it as just another museum to promote coffee consumption. They are sure to be bowled over by the rich aroma, the taste of a wide range of freshly brewed coffee varieties.
The coffee-based confectionaries are sure to leave a lingering taste of coffee in one’s mouth.
One can visualise the journey of coffee down the ages through the dioramas, photographs, and charts from ancient literature as they relish the piping hot coffee along with coffee-based snacks. Video and audio presentations on the subject add pep to the scenario.
Coffee chocolates in different flavours, concept-based chocolates with a mix of various spices, chocolate truffles, chocolate-covered coffee beans, liquid coffee-filling chocolates and baked coffee snacks can be had in the concept-based ‘Gourmet Coffee House’ section.
“We use high-quality local ingredients with international formula,” says A.S. Prakasa Rao, one of the organisers of the museum.
History of coffee
Can you hazard a guess as to who discovered coffee? You might not have, perhaps, imagined even in your wildest of dreams that coffee beans were first discovered (eaten) by goats in Ethiopia in the 7th Century AD.
A shepherd became curious on seeing his goats becoming hyperactive after eating the berries of wild plants on the hill slopes. At first he thought that they must have gone crazy. But, after observing them over a period of time, he realised there was something in the wild berries, which was giving them the kick. He carried some of the berries to the monastery and shared them with the monks. That’s how goats first discovered coffee in Ethiopia! Arab traders from Yemen carried the seeds home and were the first to cultivate the plants. The Arabs had closely guarded the secret and allowed only the roasted beans to be exported.
“Instant coffee was first introduced for Army jawans in 1901. Blended coffee (coffee/chicory mix) was introduced in 1958 only in India and France, while at other places of the world only pure coffee is used,” says Mr. Rao.
“An Indian Muslim managed to smuggle some coffee seeds and planted them at Chikmagalur in Karnataka. The Maharaja of Jeypore in Odisha was the first to introduce coffee at Araku during the 1890s. However, commercial cultivation at Araku in a big way started only during 1970s by the ITDA, Coffee Board, and AP Forest Development Corporation Limited mainly to wean away tribals from ‘podu’ (shifting) cultivation,” says Mr. Rao, who has an in-depth knowledge of various aspects of the subject.
Heritage status
The Coffee Museum at Araku is claimed to be India’s first thematic coffee museum. The museum should have acquired heritage status by now as it is being run for over six decades.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Visakhapatnam / by B. Madhu Gopal / Araku(Visakhapatnam District) – May 04th, 2016
Is the modern day coffee cultivation threatening our biodiversity? Read on to find out how you can responsibly source your favourite morning cuppa
It’s the quintessential breakfast drink, the morning elixir, the ambassador for good days and the one drink with absolute power to wake you up. Yes, our morning cuppa coffee is what we all look forward to wake us up from a slumber hangover.
But, what if we didn’t have coffee anymore? Or, if the modern day production of coffee is impacting forests and wildlife, in turn, affecting our consumption? Alarming isn’t it?
Arshiya Bose has set out on a quest to responsibly source coffee without making an imprint on our environment. She started Black Baza Coffee in an attempt to save biodiversity. Technically, coffee is grown under a marquee of trees.
But, because of deforestation, coffee is now grown under direct sunlight, giving way to monoculture which affects our biodiversity levels drastically. “After my Ph. D., I started spending time at coffee landscapes in India, mostly Coorg,” says Arshiya, a wildlife scientist.
“We found that compared to other parts of the world where forests had been clear-felled to grow coffee, India had retained forest trees and planted coffee underneath the shade of these trees. This meant that coffee farms in India have supported all kinds of beautiful biodiversity for decades. The challenge arises because, since the 1970s onwards, many farms have been removing shade trees in the hope of better coffee yields. The trade-off here is that the yields of coffee are actually higher when coffee is grown under direct sun (which is why in high coffee producing nations like Brazil, Vietnam etc., there are no shade trees). This was the problem we were trying to address. How can we make it economically viable for farmers to grow a more ecologically-friendly coffee?”
The first step involves identifying farms in places like Kodagu and B.R. hills, based on factors like potential of the farm to support biodiversity and willingness to participate in conservation projects. A conservation agreement is then drawn up with the farms that include maintaining 100 trees per acre, protection of water sources, restricting the usage of chemical pesticides and maintaining 60-80 per cent shade cover which means no cutting of tree branches.
“In 2009 I met a young scientist – Claude Garcia, a French, who spoke fairly good Tamil,” recalls Arshiya. “He told me: ‘if we can’t achieve biodiversity-friendly farming with coffee we probably can’t achieve with any other farming system either’. That sentence stuck on as I believe that coffee is the perfect crop to experiment with. Coffee gets the attention of people and then becomes a way to engage someone who previously never cared about conservation. I always say: we want to bring conservation to everybody’s breakfast table.”
Black Baza Coffee is already available at natural and health food stores, where they partner with like-minded cafes and institution who would want to serve great coffee with a story.
The bean cause – Working together for that perfect cuppa
Aesthetic packaging and cheeky questions on their cover makes Black Baza Coffee a unique product. “What does moth-friendly coffee taste like?” “What does Otter-friendly coffee taste like?” – are some of the questions you get to see on their packages. “All of our coffee varieties are a tribute to the charismatic plant and wildlife species that share the Western Ghats landscape with coffee,” says Arshiya, “For example, the Otter coffee comes from two riverside farms in Kodagu where we are protecting the Cauvery River from effluents and degradation of riverside vegetation. The Luna Moth is a magnificent indicator of ecological health as well. So while we could test our coffees in the lab for chemical residues etc. (which we do), we also go out to the farm and count Luna moths or Ficus trees or Otters because these species tell us the whole ecological picture – lab tests don’t tell us whether farms are biodiversity-friendly or not.”
Black Baza Coffee now works with 30 farmers and there are over three lakh small-medium growers in India. While Arshiya isn’t sure about the future of the model in India, she is positive and fiercely relentless about being a major coffee player that makes biodiversity-friendly coffee a household staple instead of an exception.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> MetroPlus / by Rehna Abdul Kareem / May 03rd, 2016
Senior IPS officer M A Ganapathy, who hails from Karnataka, has taken over as the new Director General of Police in Uttarakhand.
The 53-year-old officer, who is from Kodagu, succeeded B S Sidhu who retired on Saturday.
The raging forest fire in Uttarakhand forests will be one of the first tests for the officer to ensure better coordination between several agencies in the state under President’s Rule to douse it.
The 1986-batch officer of the Uttarakhand cadre was on central deputation for the past six years and was holding portfolios like Internal Security and Left Wing Extremism in the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
He also served as spokesperson of MHA.
Ganapathy was relieved from central deputation on April 13.
After his post-graduation from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), he had joined the IPS in 1986 in Uttar Pradesh.
After the bifurcation of UP, he was shifted to Uttarakhand cadre. During his 30 years of service, Ganapathy has served as Superintendent of Police at Moradabad City, Sonebhadra and Hardoi and as Senior Superintendent of Police at Nainital, Meerut and Kanpur.
He also served in the CBI from 1999 as Superintendent of Police and promoted as Deputy Inspector General (Anti-Corruption).
source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> National / DHNS – New Delhi – May 02nd, 2016
A 1986 batch IPS officer M A Ganapathy has been named the ninth Director General of Police (DGP) of Uttarakhand. The present DGP B S Sidhu is set to retire on April 30. Ganapathy would take charge from May 1.
Confirming the fact, Principal Secretary Home Umakant Panwar said, Ganapathy would take charge from May 1.”
When contacted Ganapathy told TOI that is was a big responsibility being given to him. “At the moment I can say that I will work in the interest of people and try to provide a people friendly atmosphere,” said the senior police officer.
Ganapathy, who was on deputation duty, was relieved of his duties in the ministry of home affairs on April 13 and his services “”placed at the disposal of his parent cadre viz. Government of Uttarakhand,” according to a circular issued on April 13 and posted on the website of the ministry of home affairs.
After the 2010 Maha Kumbh, he shifted to Delhi on Central deputation. Prior to being relieved by the ministry, Ganapathy was serving the post of Joint Secretary in the MHA.
Sidhu is the eighth DGP of Uttarakhand, since its creation on November, 2000.
A 1965 batch IPS Ashok Kumar Saran was the first DGP of the state and his successor was Prem Dutt Raturi, who took over charge on April 30, 2002 and was on the post till June 15, 2004.
A 1973 batch IPS officer Kanchan Choudhary Bhattacharya, who was the first woman DGP of the country, held the position from June 15, 2004 to October 31, 2007.
Subhash Joshi was the state’s fourth DGP who held the post from October 31, 2007 to July 15, 2010.
A 1976 batch IPS Jyoti Swaroop Pandey was the fifth DGP from July 28, 2010 to April 12, 2012.
The sixth DGP was Vijay Raghav Pant who held the position from April 13, 2012 to September 30, 2012.
Satyavrat Bansal was the seventh DGP from September 30, 2012 to September 30, 2013.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Dehradun / by Kautilya Singh / TNN / April 28th, 2016
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