This original series is directed by Syed Ahmad Afzal.
An OTT platform will soon launch ‘Shiksha Mandal’, a hard-hitting narrative inspired by true events that revolve around the biggest scam in the educational system in India.
‘Shiksha Mandal- Power Paise Ka… Scam Shiksha Ka’ will reveal corruption, fraud, cheating and criminal conspiracy that affects vulnerable students in India.
This original series is directed by Syed Ahmad Afzal and stars Gauahar Khan, Gulshan Devaiah and Pavan Malhotra in lead roles.
Gauahar Khan will be seen as a no-nonsense cop, Gulshan Devaiah will enact the role of a simple, hardworking young man running a coaching centre with aspirations for his family and Pavan Malhotra will portray the role of a villain who is behind many illegal activities.
With a socially relevant premise and equally talented cast, audiences can expect to see a riveting storyline inspired by true events.
source: http://www.freepressjournal.in / The Free Press Journal / Home / by FPJ Web Desk / July 19th, 2022
The government has started post and pre matric hostels and residential schools to impart free education to the students.
MLA K G Bopaiah hands over a laptop to a student at the Government First Grade College in Madikeri. Credit: DH Photo
MLA K G Bopaiah said that students should make use of the facilities from the government for their bright future.
He was speaking after distributing free laptops to the SC/ST students who had secured highest marks in the II PUC exam during 2020-21 at the Government First Grade College.
The government has started post and pre matric hostels and residential schools to impart free education to the students, he added. Deputy Director PU department Puttaraju said that laptops have been distributed to 24 students.
“I am happy for receiving the laptop. One of my lecturers has helped me financially to continue with my education,” Aloor Siddapura PU College student K Vijaya said.
source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> State> Karnataka Districts / by DHNS, Madikeri / July 16th, 2022
In 2021, he had safeguarded 17 eggs of a snake found in the coffee estate of Panyada Ananda Basappa.
Many people cause harm to snakes but only a few rescue and release them into the forest. Snake expert Pushpadhara is one among them.
A resident of 7th Hosakote in Suntikoppa, he is popularly called ‘Snake Shaji.’ On getting information on snakes entering houses or shops or other places, he rushes to the spot, rescues and releases them into the forest.
He has been engaged in rescuing snakes for the last 20 years. He has rescued around 4,000 snakes (both venomous and non-venomous).
A majority of the rescued snakes are cobras. More than 30 pythons were caught and released into the forest.
“I am also trying to create awareness among people on snakes. Many have a notion that touching snakes will decay a part of their body. I am trying to create awareness on the superstitious beliefs on snakes,” he said.
In 2021, he had safeguarded 17 eggs of a snake found in the coffee estate of Panyada Ananda Basappa. After the hatchlings came out of the eggs, they were released into the forest.
“People should not panic on noticing snakes inside the house or farmland or inside the vehicles. Nobody should hurt the reptiles. If they dial me, I will rescue the snakes,” said Pushpadhara.
“Snakes play a pivotal role in maintaining balance in nature,” he said.
The snakes eat rats and rodents that damage crops in the field and help in saving the crops. These creatures are helpful to farmers, he added.
He has caught snakes not only in the district but also in Sringeri, Mysuru, Sullia, Kushalnagar, Suntikoppa, Madikeri and Periyapattana. “I don’t ask money for rescuing a snake but some people give money for the fuel expenses of the vehicle,” he said.
For details, people can contact Shaji at 94487 92261.
source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> State> Karnataka Districts / by DHNS, Suntikoppa / July 16th, 2022
84 school buildings, 39 anganwadi centers partially damaged in torrential rain
Even as Kodagu received 458.5 mm rain in the last one week, the forecast for the next 24 hours indicated an orange alert and the district authorities are keeping a close watch on the rain situation. The local authorities cleared roadblocks caused by fallen trees and electric poles following heavy rains with gusty winds in several parts of the district.
Based on the previous experiences of handling the flood situation in Kodagu, the administration has identified 44 villages as “vulnerable” to floods and another 43 villages prone to landslides. All five taluks are rain-affected with about 580 persons so far affected by the rain fury.
The district administration has told the local administrations in the taluks to extend all possible assistance to the rain-affected and persuade the people in “unsafe” zones to shift to the relief camps for safety reasons.
Meanwhile, compensation has been paid to 76 families whose houses were damaged in the rain. Out of 180 houses damaged in the rain till date, 4 were fully damaged, 33 severely damaged and 143 partially damaged.
Out of 1,378 damaged electric poles, a total of 1,175 have been replaced by the CESC personnel besides replacing 132 transformers.
As many as 39 anganwadi centres were partially damaged besides 84 school buildings across Kodagu.
With regard to the damage to road infrastructure, 437-km long roads, maintained by the Panchayat Raj Engineering Department, have been damaged in the rain and landslides and the cost of repairing them has been estimated at ₹70.62 crore. The PWD-maintained roads of 9.47 km length that were damaged in the rain would require about ₹24.60 crore for the repair.
Kodagu recorded 1,116.3 mm rain in a span of 45 days – from June 1 till date. The district received 65.8 mm rain in the last 24 hours.
So far, 49 bridges under PRED (Panchayat Raj Engineering Department), 8 bridges under PWD, 123 culverts under PRED have been damaged due to incessant rain and 437-km long roads maintained by the PRED were damaged due to torrential downpour and landslides in parts of Kodagu since the onset of the monsoon.
As many as 122 families displaced by the rains have taken shelter in five relief camps. The district administration has identified a few more locations for converting them into relief camps for accommodating the displaced if the situation demanded based on the rain conditions.
Madikeri, Napoklu, Somwarpet, Kodlipet, Kushalnagar, Shanivarasanthe, Shanthalli, Suntikoppa, Virajpet, Ammatti, Hudikeri and Sriramangala have been recording heavy rains. As many as 23 houses were partially damaged in the rain havoc since Thursday besides 103 electric poles.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> India> Karnataka / by Special Correspondent / July 15th, 2022
Through her institute Karaumbiah’s Academy for Learning and Sports, Olympian Ashwini Nachappa is aiming to bring potential athletes from Kodagu on the right track.
After a foray into films in the 90s, Nachappa in 2004 established her own institution, Karaumbiah’s Academy for Learning and Sports or KALS (named after her husband Datha Karumbiah) in Gonikoppal, Kodagu.
While sports enthusiasts around the globe are hooked on to the World Athletics Championships that kicked off in the USA, in Bengaluru, Karnataka’s very own former track and field athlete Ashwini Nachappa is single-mindedly focused on reviving activities at her sports academy in Kodagu after a “difficult two years”.
A Kodava by birth, Nachappa’s drive for athletics picked up when she was just eight years’ old. While her father worked in Kolkata, Nachappa lived with her mother and sister Pushpa, who is also an athlete, near Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru. Little did Nachappa know that the stadium would be a turning point leading to her accomplishments in the track and field discipline.
“My sister and I used to love running on the tracks of the stadium every morning. The late Mohinder Singh (triple jumper) saw us and bribed us with sweets and wanted to see us more on the field. For every round, he would offer sweets and I ended up taking more sweets. Since then, there was no looking back,” said the Olympian, who bagged her first gold at All Indian Open Nationals in Bengaluru in 1980.
Nachappa began her career in track and field as a hurdler and long jumper, before making the switch to sprints. She participated in two Asian Games, one held in 1986 at South Korea, and the other in 1990 at Beijing, China where she bagged a silver medal in 4 × 100 m relay. She also represented India in two World Championships, one in 1987 in Rome, and the other in 1991 in Tokyo, as a member of the 4 × 400 m relay. She also won the 200 m gold at the 1990 National Open Meet in New Delhi ahead of P T Usha, clocking 24.07 seconds.
After a foray into films in the 90s, Nachappa in 2004 established her own institution, Karaumbiah’s Academy for Learning and Sports or KALS (named after her husband Datha Karumbiah) in Gonikoppal, Kodagu. Later in 2010, Ashwini’s Sports Foundation, a non-profit organisation, was built in the same academy to nurture potential athletes from Kodagu.
“We realised that Kodagu produced some excellent sporting talent but the children either had to travel to Mangalore or Bangalore to pursue their dreams. That is when we decided to blend academics and sports through the foundation and the school to embolden the sporting culture from the grassroots level in Kodagu,” said Nachappa, who is also associated with Parikrma Humanity Foundation, an NGO providing English language education to the poorest from the slums of Bengaluru. In fact, she was also associated with the Special Olympics programme for 12 years, offering year-long sports training to specially abled children.
A venture that started with 25 students has now grown with 850 students who are into athletics, hockey, and air rifle shooting. Some of them have made it to the Indian hockey team in the junior category and have represented the state at National Athletic Championships and National Shooting Championships. The sports academy consists of a synthetic athletic track and an astro turf for hockey.
“It has been a difficult two years for all, financially and emotionally. At our academy, we have re-started sporting activities this year with a new set of athletes across three core sports. Keeping in mind the impact of the pandemic over students, we have also started addressing physical and emotional challenges of children through small initiatives,” said Nachappa, adding that raising funds for the academy remains a challenge.
“Raising funds has been quite a challenge over the years for the sporting academies. However, we are using the revenue generated from the KALS to develop the amenities at our academy. We have also received grants from the national and state’s sports funds,” said Nachappa who believes that the participation of women in sports has increased over the years.
“During my early days as a sportsperson, I never thought gender would be a barrier to achieve your dreams. It’s all about talent and it is important to keep doing what you do. For me, life has been a learning experience, even now. With the pandemic putting a full stop to sports for the last two years, we are going to restart training processes at our academies and go on to produce more young athletes for the country,” said the Arjuna awardee.
source: http://www.indianexpress.com / The Indian Express / Home> Cities> Bangalore / by Sanath Prasad, Bengaluru / July 16th, 2022
Nidhi Subbaiah is excited as she finally gets to work with Upendra. There were films that she was supposed to have worked with the Real Star before, but they never materialised. But she is now happy that she not only gets to work alongside him, but it is a pivotal role in his directorial comeback, UI. As she speaks to us, she tells us that she has already finished shooting for a couple days for the film.
The excited actress shares, “I’m finally in a movie that I really want to be in. The roles and scripts that I’ve been listening to so far weren’t fitting the bill.” As for how it all happened, she says, “I was in Goa when I got a call from the team. I cut short my trip to meet Uppi sir. It was nice to know that he was keen on casting me specifically, and I readily agreed after the narration. I am super excited to work with him.”
Nidhi says that she was previously supposed to work with Upendra on a couple of projects, but they didn’t work out due to various reasons. “Uppi sir’s memory is amazing. He recalled all those projects and also reminded me of the couple of times when we had met at different events. I was awestruck,” she says, adding that she immediately began shooting for the film after the narration and has been enjoying her time on the set.
“Uppi sir has a novel way of filmmaking. He is particular about the details and is also a perfectionist. He treats everyone like a child and patiently explains everything. The added bonus of working in this film is that we have a great production house that has delivered cult hits,” explains Nidhi, who adds that they want to keep the details of her character under wraps.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / Times of India / Home> E-Times> News> Entertainment?> Kannada> Movies / by TNN / by Sunayna Suresh / July 14th, 2022
Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai began his two-day, four-district tour this morning to assess the flood damage and provide relief measures.
He arrived at the Mysore Airport on a special flight this morning and travelled by road to Madikeri via Kushalnagar. Accompanied by Revenue Minister R. Ashoka, Energy Minister V. Sunil Kumar and Kodagu District Minister B.C. Nagesh, the CM held a high-level meeting with district officials at the DC Office.
MP Pratap Simha, MLAs M.P. Appachu Ranjan and K.G. Bopaiah and MLC Suja Kushalappa, Deputy Commissioner Dr. B.C. Satish were also part of the meeting that was in progress when we went to press.
Earlier, the CM visited the flood-hit Manjunathanagar in Madikeri and inspected a house that collapsed. The CM released a cheque for Rs. 95,000 to Gopal, the owner of the house.
After the meeting, the CM is expected to interact with the people who have been provided food and shelter at Koynadu Ganapathi Temple Hall. He is also expected to visit Chembu village in Madikeri Taluk where a couple of quakes have been reported. The CM will later proceed towards Mangaluru and will visit Udupi and Karwar tomorrow.
CM Basavaraj Bommai addressing media persons at Mysore Airport in Mandakalli this morning before travelling to Kodagu by road. Ministers S.T. Somashekar and Sunil Kumar, MLAs S.A. Ramdas and L. Nagendra, Deputy Commissioner Dr. Bagadi Gautham and others are seen.
‘State prepared to tackle floods’
Earlier, speaking to reporters at the Mysore Airport, Bommai said that the entire Government machinery is on the job of tackling floods and other natural disasters caused by torrential rains. He maintained that rescue, relief and rehabilitation operations in areas affected by natural calamities are on in full swing.
“The survey to assess loss of lives, livestock, livelihood and damages caused by floods, landslides, landslips, tremors, earthquakes, sea erosion etc., is almost complete. There is no dearth of funds under NDRM (National Disaster Response Management),” he claimed.
The Government has sought the help of experts to find permanent solutions for the problems faced by people living along river beds and catchment areas. Efforts are on to shift people living in low-lying areas and other dangerous zones to safer places.
Commenting on the flood situation in Kodagu, Bommai said that he came to know that people living in danger zones were hesitant to relocate to safer places. As such, the district administration has been instructed to convince them to move to safer locations as a permanent solution.
Boards and Corporations
When asked about reports that Heads of several Boards and Corporations would be changed, Bommai said that the BJP Core Committee has decided to replace Chairmen of Boards and Corporations who have completed 18 months in office. Accordingly, the list is being prepared, he said while refusing to divulge more.
Mysuru District Minister S.T. Somashekar, Energy Minister V. Sunil Kumar, MP Pratap Simha, MLAs L. Nagendra, S.A. Ramdas and G.T. Devegowda, MUDA Chairman H.V. Rajeev, Deputy Commissioner Dr. Bagadi Gautham and other officials were present at the airport.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> News/ July 12th, 2022
After Ganga, Brahmaputra Galleries, first such Gallery in South India
Gallery timings: 10 am – 6 pm
Entry ticket: Adults – Rs. 20, children – Rs. 10
Mysore/Mysuru:
The Cauvery Gallery that has been set up at Karnataka Exhibition Authority (KEA) Grounds showcasing the life, culture and biodiversity of the River from its birth at Talacauvery in Kodagu till it reaches the Bay of Bengal at Poompuhar in Tamil Nadu will be open to the public on July 13.
The visually appealing Gallery with many 3-D presentations has been built jointly by Karnataka Knowledge Commission and Tourism Department. It has been modelled as per the design, specifications and imagination of the National Academy of Sciences, India (NASI) and has been built at a cost of Rs. 3.5 crore.
KEA Chairman Hemanth Kumar Gowda told Star of Mysore that Tourism Minister Anand Singh will inaugurate the Gallery on July 13 at 11 am in the presence of Mysuru District Minister S.T. Somashekar. In-Charge Mayor Sunanda Palanetra, MPs V. Sreenivasa Prasad, Pratap Simha and Sumalatha Ambarish, MLAs G.T. Devegowda, Tanveer Sait, S.A. Ramdas and L. Nagendra will be the guests.
NASI-NCSM project conceptualisation
The project is based on research conducted by the National Council of Science Museums (NCSM), an autonomous society under the Ministry of Culture. Officials of the NASI and the State Tourism Department had signed an agreement to establish the gallery in the KEA complex (at Kannada Karanji). It is the first river gallery in South India.
The Gallery highlights the geological and ecological characteristics of the Cauvery River apart from projecting the social and cultural characteristic features of civilisation that have evolved along the river bank.
NASI is the implementing agency and would train the authorities from Mysuru on how to maintain and administer the gallery. The NASI and NCSM have completed the establishment of the Brahmaputra River gallery project in Guwahati, Assam, and the Ganga River gallery project in Allahabad.
15,000 sq.ft. area covered
The Cauvery Gallery has been built on an area of 15,000 sq.ft. and highlights the geological and ecological characteristics of the Cauvery apart from projecting the social and cultural characteristic features of civilisations that have evolved along the banks of the river.
Artefacts and dolls tell the story of the Cauvery River from Talacauvery (birthplace in Kodagu) to Poompuhar. Pictures, live visuals and models of the river flowing from one part to another criss-crossing the hills and plains narrate the story giving an audio-visual and also pictorial presentation to the viewer.
Ticket pricing
The mega project includes multimedia features and an electronic display to provide visitors with an immersive experience of life and culture along the Cauvery. After the viewers see the gallery, there will be a 20-minute short film on Cauvery.
Adults will have to pay Rs. 20 for an entry ticket while children have to pay Rs. 10. The Gallery will be open from 10 am to 6 pm and the timings will be extended based on the tourist response and tourist seasons.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> News / July 09th, 2022
Plans expansion into Southern markets with premium offerings
Tata Consumer Products Ltd. (TCPL) aims to be a serious player in the coffee business in India by reaching out to more customers in the South and non-southern markets. The company is also focusing on introducing more premium coffee brands to grow its market share, said Puneet Das, president, Packaged Beverages (India & South Asia).
Puneet Das
Currently, the market is dominated by Nestle’s Nescafe and Hindustan Unilever’s Bru brands and Tata has a share of less than 2%.
The company, which introduced Tata Coffee Grand in the instant category for the first time in 2015, has chalked out a strategy to grow the business significantly in the coming years, according to Mr. Das.
“We have doubled our focus, particularly in the last two years. Recently we have had a series of launches,” said Mr. Das. “We also got into the D2C [Direct to Consumer] space. We are really expanding the Tata Coffee portfolio. We recently launched Sonnets by Tata Coffee, which is a premium range in D2C,” he added.
Mr. Das said the company had introduced Tata Coffee Gold, a premium offering. “Today, the coffee category is premiumising a lot and consumers are willing to experiment a lot, especially in the South. That’s where our foray is,” he added.
“For us, there is a lot of headroom for growth. We want to be a serious coffee player and we should become a sizeable player as we move up,” he added.
“Our coffee business has grown 45% in volume on a small base (FY22 vs FY12). It continues to grow well y-o-y leveraging on TCPL’s network and distribution reach,” he said.
“Currently about one-tenth the size of tea market, the coffee segment is fast-growing and more in the premium end in the instant coffee space,” he said. “Outside South we are seeing sales coming from the metros in the premium end. We’re also coming up with innovations.
We had launched Tata Coffee Quick Filter, which is a first-of-its-kind instant coffee powder that gives you the taste of a filter coffee and we found good acceptance. We are scaling it up across modern trade, e-commerce and select markets,” he added.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Business / by Lalatendu Mishra / Mumbai – July 09th, 2022
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