Robin Uthappa to lead Kerala in shorter formats for upcoming season

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

The Kerala Cricket Association (KCA) have confirmed that veteran batsman Robin Uthappa will lead Kerala in the shorter formats for the upcoming season.

An official decision is yet to be taken on who will lead the side for the longer formats, but incumbent Sachin Baby remains the favourite.

The Kerala Cricket Association (KCA) have put to bed the speculations and growing rumours surrounding a potential leadership role for Robin Uthappa after confirming that the 33-year-old will be leading the state in both the Vijay Hazare Trophy and the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20. When Uthappa captained a KCA XI side in the Captain K Thimmappiah Memorial Cricket Tournament in Bengaluru last month, it was suspected whether the veteran would do the same in the regular season. But the KCA have now confirmed it, putting an end to all chatter surrounding the matter.

“Uthappa is an India international and we will like to utilise his experience in the best possible way. We have communicated our decision to coach Dav Whatmore and he has expressed no reservation,” KCA secretary Sreejith V Nair was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz.

“We have faith in Robin’s leadership skills and that’s why we have decided to name him captain for the shorter formats,” he added.

However, Nair confirmed that a decision was yet to be taken on who will lead the side in the longer formats. While incumbent Sachin Baby remains favourite, Nair also kept the possibility of Uthappa potentially leading the side in the Ranji Trophy, stating that a decision will be taken after evaluating the Karnataka man’s performance in the shorter formats.

“We will evaluate Robin’s captaincy once both Vijay Hazare Trophy and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy tournaments end. Ranji Trophy is beginning only in December. So we still have time to take a decision on Kerala’s Ranji Trophy captain,” Nair said.

After 14 years with Karnataka, Uthappa moved to Saurashtra in the 2016/17, but unfortunately missed the entirety of the previous season due to injury. Last month, it was confirmed that the Kolkata Knight Riders man will represent Kerala in the upcoming domestic season.

source: http://www.sportscafe.in / Sports Cafe / Home> Cricket> National> News / by Sports Cafe Desk / August 28th, 2019

Destination Tokyo: Maneyapanda Muthanna Somaya

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

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Maneyapanda Muthanna Somaya is a former Indian field hockey player from Coorg, Karnataka. He was a member of Indian squad in many international games, including the team that won the Gold medal at the 1980 Moscow Summer Olympic Games.

Somaya went on to play two more Olympic Games, viz., 1984 Los Angeles Summer Olympic Games, and 1988 Seoul Summer Olympic Games. He was the captain of the 1988 Olympics team.

A member of the Indian hockey team that won gold at the 1980 Moscow Games, he is happy to see more and more youngsters coming forward to take up hockey seriously, and India’s young players impressed him with their determination at the Hockey World Cup in Bhubaneswar.

“These days, the opportunities are more in the country. A structure has been formed in most of the sporting disciplines where young talent is encouraged.

They should grab this with both hands. They should focus on sports,” said Somaya, while talking to The Free Press Journal on the eve of the National Sports Day.

Looking ahead for sports in the country in the coming years

Things are looking very bright indeed. We have established our prominence at the Asian and Commonwealth level. The next step is to make a mark at the Olympics.

There have been many new ideas and suggestions. Do you feel they have been implemented if not why?

I feel that there have been many new ideas that have been implemented successfully. The Khelo India scheme has shown great promise in identifying young talent to prepare a wide base of sportspersons for international competitions.

The central and state governments have announced many incentives for successful and aspiring sportspersons that have been well received. Private companies are setting up academies and offering financial aid for sports stars.

Do you feel there is a lack of sports culture in our country? What is the remedy

A sports culture is gradually being propagated among people. There is an increasing awareness of the contribution of sports to overall fitness of an individual.

Infrastructure is being made easily accessible in cities and smaller centres also. An effort is on to integrate sports as part of the curriculum in schools.

India has reduced sports to merely an extra-curricular activity. Your comments

There is an air of positivity in regard with sports in India today. Sports like badminton, kabaddi, table tennis are jostling for space with cricket, hockey and football for viewership.

With the IPL style format competitions in all sports there are lucrative careers on offer. Incentives by the Government and sponsorship by Private companies have given sport great impetus.

Funds have been the main crunch which has been the complaints of many. Your take.

Funds for sports are more easily available today. At the highest level the TOPS scheme provides elite athletes with substantial financial support.

Private organisations like TATAs, Reliance, Jindal and a host of NGOs like Olympic Gold Quest are ensuring that there is a steady stream of funds for sportspersons at different stages of their career.

Your take on lack of Infrastructure, recognition of sports other than cricket, lack of ambition or national plan? I am sure you have a bag full of remedies. Please share

There is already a lot of improvement in infrastructure for other sports in India. These need to be taken to rural areas soon since a lot of the talent is emerging from smaller centres, 2-3 tier cities and villages.

Public-Private Partnership is critical to ensuring that the Infrastructure in the country reaches people even in the remotest areas.

Your comments on our athletes who would board the flight to Tokyo for the 2020 Olympics, and hockey in special

I’m certain that India will put up a good showing this time at Tokyo 2020. Shooting, Wrestling and Badminton are good medal prospects. In other events too India can push hard for medals.

Our hockey team has done well in the recent Pre- Olympic test event at Tokyo and this augurs well. We have a sound blend of effervescent youngsters and battle hardened players. We have consistently maintained our fifth position in the FIH rankings for the past year.

source: http://www.in.news.yahoo.com / Yahoo News / by Free Press Journal / August 29th, 2019

State’s first BJP chief, A.K. Subbaiah, became one of its fiercest critics

Leaders, Records, All

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Senior politician and the first State president of the BJP A.K. Subbaiah, 85, who passed away in Bengaluru on Tuesday, was responsible for the party taking roots in the State in the 1980s. Later in life, this plain-speaking politician, was also one of the saffron party’s most bitter critics.

Mr. Subbaiah (called AKS) was an enigma for many. He was born on August, 9, 1936, in Belluru village of Virajpet taluk. He began his career as an advocate but then moved to politics. He was imprisoned during the Emergency, later drifted towards Bharatiya Jana Sangh and was elected the first State president of the Bharatiya Janata Party in 1980. Known for his fiery speeches, he played a major role in the BJP’s expansion during its infancy in Karnataka along with others like V.S. Acharya and B.S. Yediyurappa. So much so, that by 1983, the BJP had emerged as a significant political force in Karnataka. AKS had rocked the Congress government of Gundu Rao exposing some of its scandals, and the BJP contested in the Assembly elections on its own and won 18 seats.

In view of a hung Assembly and at the instance of the party’s national leadership, BJP ended up extending outside support to the Janata Party which had won 95 seats and formed the government with Ramakrishna Hegde as Chief Minister.

Though influenced by the RSS and the Jana Sangh, he subsequently began speaking out against them and often landed in controversy. Mr. Subbaiah’s views used to be at variance with the BJP’s official stance on various issues, but he was known to speak his mind.

Falling out
As he fell out with the party’s leadership that began to ignore him, Mr. Subbaiah was marginalised within the BJP and began leaning towards the Congress. He served as Congress MLC from 1988 to 1994. Later, he launched his own party — Kannada Nadu — without success. Though he was not a force to reckon with politically in later years, he remained active in public life.

More recently, he had questioned the BJP for its stance against the Tipu Jayanti celebrations, even though it had drawn the wrath of a large number of Kodavas. In the run up to the Assembly elections in 2018, he called for a coalition of like-minded forces to keep communal forces at bay. He had written a book titled RSS Antharanga, critiquing the organisation. He was also part of a three-member committee, along with freedom fighter H.S. Doreswamy and the late editor-activist Gauri Lankesh, formed by former CM Siddaramaiah, to rehabilitate and bring to the mainstream left-wing extremists. The committee mediated the mainstreaming of nine of them.

Leaders across party lines condoled his death. CM Yediyurappa said that Mr. Subbaiah built the party from the grassroots and always fought against injustice.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Bengaluru / by R. Krishna Kumar / Mysuru – August 28th, 2019

Biddanda K. Subbaiah No More

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Famous Personalities of Kodagu / Coorg, Leaders

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Madikeri:

Biddanda K. Subbaiah, fondly called as Jack Subbaiah, who was revered as a Guru by thousands of people in Kodagu and outside, passed away in Bengaluru last evening. He was 84. Subbaiah founded Soham Dhyana Yoga and owned Modur Estate near Madikeri. He was also the President of Kodagu Vidyalaya.

He propagated Advaitha philosophy and had many followers even in foreign countries and he used to stress on Dhyana Yoga. Oneness and unity with God was among his preaching and he criticised the common habit of praying for divine intervention for problems faced by human beings. Whenever problems bother a person, Jack used to say, “Time to Pass”. He used to advise people that like passing clouds, problems too will pass.

A distinct quality of Jack Subbaiah was that during Satsanga, he used to preach Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Sikhism, Buddhism, Sufi philosophy Zen Buddhism, Kabala and Shaivism. He used to preach in a language that is understood by common man.

Apart from being a Guru, Jack was a good photographer, avid agriculturalist and had a deep interest in sports. Despite being a Guru, he lived the life of a common man and this character made him connect with the masses. He was way apart from other spiritual leaders who with a little spiritual knowledge lead a lavish life. Subbaiah leaves behind his wife, a son and two daughters. The mortal remains will be cremated on Aug. 27 in Bengaluru, said family sources.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> News / August 27th, 2019

Madikeri trader donates bags to flood victims

Business & Economy, Green Initiatives / Environment, Inspiration / Positive News and Features
Madikeri Hitharakshana Vedike members with Bag Palace owner E J Peter (third from right).
Madikeri Hitharakshana Vedike members with Bag Palace owner E J Peter (third from right).

A trader in Madikeri has handed over more than 350 valuable bags to rain-affected people.

His act comes close on the heels of a Kerala merchant donating dress materials to the flood victims.

The humble act by E J Peter of Bag Palace on College Road in Madikeri is well-appreciated by many.

Madikeri Hitharakshana Vedike members had posted on collecting relief materials on Facebook and WhatsApp. More than 20 members of the Vedike had been visiting shops and business establishments. They have been collecting essential commodities like clothes, umbrella, rain coat and medicines and supplying it to the relief centres.

Responding it, Peter handed over all the bags in his shop. “It has given me the satisfaction of helping those in distress. The financially well-off should support the education of children who are in distress,” said Peter.

“When we visited Peter’s shop, he lauded our efforts and handed over school bags and hand bags,” said Vedike member Acchandira Pavan Pemmaiah.

Vedike president Ravi Gowda said, “Many have come forward to help those who are in distress. Many are unaware of how to reach materials to the relief centres. The Vedike is bridging the gap and is helping reach relief materials to the needy at the relief camps.”

Shop-keepers have helped by donating textbooks, notebooks, pens, bed, clothes, vessels, rice, jaggery, sarees, sweater, oil and other essential commodities, he said.

Pavan Pemmaiah said, “The collected commodities have been distributed among rain victims at Nelyahudikeri, Valnooru, Tyagathooru, Moornadu, Dubare, Theppadakandi, Balamuri, Siddapura, Kattimadu and other areas.”

source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> State> Mangaluru / by DH News Service, Madikeri / August 19th, 2019

Built-up area in buffer zone threatens Cauvery

About Kodagu / Coorg, Green Initiatives / Environment, Nature
This collapsed house on the river bank at Karadikodu in Virajpet taluk of Kodagu districtis a tell-tale sign of disaster. A study by EMPRI shows that encroachment and construction activities in the 300-meter buffer zone on either side of the river pose a
This collapsed house on the river bank at Karadikodu in Virajpet taluk of Kodagu districtis a tell-tale sign of disaster. A study by EMPRI shows that encroachment and construction activities in the 300-meter buffer zone on either side of the river pose a

The submergence of hundreds of houses on either side of Cauvery river in Virajpet taluk may only be the beginning of a major disaster in riparian states as destruction of river ecology and encroachment of buffer zones have made the region vulnerable to climate change.

Entire villages have washed up within 100 meters from the river basin, with the distance between the house and the river reduced to about 10 feet at Bethri, Karadigodu, Guhya and Kondangeri. As flood survivors complained about the damage, Cauvery flowed quietly, taking the rejects from the houses pushed into its basin.

A study by Environment Management and Policy Research Institute (EMPRI) submitted to the government last year shows that the encroachment and construction activities in the 300-meter buffer zone on either side of the river poses a serious threat to both the river and people dependent on it.

To analyse land use, the study relied on satellite data, census maps which were verified with GPS-based data from the ground. Tracking change in land use and land cover along the buffer zone in Karnataka, experts saw that the built-up area alone increased by 941.05 acres between 2003-04 and 2014-15. “Built-up (rural area) expanded by 77% and built-up (urban area) expanded by 31%. This is identified as prominent change. In Kodagu, the total built-up area along the buffer zone jumped from 3% to 8%,” the study says.

Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (EWPRT) Ritu Kakkaar, who headed the working group that conducted the study, said the absence of a law to monitor the buffer zones should be rectified. “The 300-meter standard buffer zone should be monitored constantly. Any development activities in that area should be restricted and sand mining should be stopped immediately. These are major reasons contributing to floods,” she said.

There are 260 villages, 168 in upper Cauvery sub-basin and 192 in mid sub-basin and some, as seen in Virajpet, have come up within 100 meters of the river. Besides encroaching the buffer zones, the human activity has also eroded the river ecology.

The study has also raised concerns over the lack of coordination in monitoring water quality of the river. While the water quality data by Central Pollution Control Board revealed that 24.6% of Cauvery river stretch in Karnataka has been polluted and is unfit to drink without proper treatment, the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board data put the water quality at Class C (fit for drinking) for years. The central body’s number puts the water in Class E category.

Worryingly arsenic, chromium, copper, cadmium, zinc and lead were found in river water and the study attributed this to the human activities through industrial effluents, sewage and automobile wastes.

Minister S Suresh Kumar said he has already proposed shifting of the flood-hit villages located on river banks. “I have urged the zilla and town panchayats to pass a resolution to shift them to alternative houses in safe zones, instead of awarding compensation. Ultimately, people have to be taken into confidence,” he said.

The minister said he has told district officials to stop the flow of raw sewage into the river in Kushalnagar and set up a treatment plant at the earliest.

source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> State / by Chiranjeevi Kulkarni / DH News Service / Virajpet (Kodagu District) / August 23rd, 2019

Preparations for Madikeri Dasara kickstart

Arts, Culture & Entertainment
Members of Dasara Dashamantapa Samithi plant banni saplings near Banni Mantapa in Madikeri on Saturday.
Members of Dasara Dashamantapa Samithi plant banni saplings near Banni Mantapa in Madikeri on Saturday.

The office-bearers of the Dasara Dashamantapa Committee in Madikeri have begun preparations for Dasara celebrations by planting a ‘Banni’ sapling near Banni Mantapa on Saturday.

As Dasara is fast approaching, members of Dashamantapa Samithi and Temple committee are engaging themselves in various activities. The members participated in various puja rituals after planting banni saplings.

On the day of Mahanavami, it is a tradition to offer puja to Banni tree. Unfortunately, due to heavy rain, Banni tree was uprooted. Accordingly, Banni sapling was planted under the leadership of Mantapa Samithi President C S Ranjith Kumar.

Ranjith Kumar said, “Dasara is observed traditionally in Madikeri. All preparations are being made for the Shobhayatre of Dashamantapa.”

He said necessary arrangements need to be made for the Dasara festival.

The deputy commissioner who is also the chairperson of the Dasara Utsava Committee should convene a meeting to make preparations for the festival.

The second meeting of Dashamantapa Samithi will be held at Kaveri Kalakshetra in Madikeri at 3.30 pm on August 27. The process to select working president, Dasara Utsav vice president and joint secretary of the committee for 2019-20 will be held.

Samithi office-bearers expressed displeasure at the failure of the state government to release Rs 50 lakh as promised last year for the Dasara Utsav. Owing to flood and natural calamity, Dasara was celebrated in a simple manner last year.

source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> State> Mangaluru / by Adithya K A / DH News Service / August 24th, 2019

‘Kail Muhurtha’ on September 1

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Famous Personalities of Kodagu / Coorg, Green Initiatives / Environment, Historical Links / Pre-Independence, Leaders, Nature

Codava National Council (CNC) will organise the 25th annual ‘Kail Muhurtha’ at the Mand at Junior College Ground in Madikeri at 10.30 am on September 1.

CNC President N U Nachappa said that a puja will be offered to ‘Thok’ (gun), ‘Odi Katti’, ‘Peeche Katti’ and agricultural equipment on the occasion.

A procession will be taken out from Junior College Road to Capital Village, via Chowki – College road – SBI – Kohinoor Road – bus stand – GPO – Kodava Samaja – JT Circle route.

CNC members Kaliyanda Prakash, Katumaniyanda Umesh and Areyada Girish were present in the press meet.

source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> State> Mangaluru / by Adithya K A / DH News Service, Madikeri / August 27th, 2019