Minister S Angara inaugurates the decennial celebrations of Karnataka Arebhashe Culture and Literature Academy in Madikeri on Friday.
Bopaiah said that Arebhashe and Kodava academies will get their own offices which are being constructed at Samskritika Bhavana in Madikeri.
Every language has its own history and cultural significance. Therefore, every language should be treated with respect, opined Virajpet MLA K G Bopaiah.
He was speaking during the inauguration of the decennial celebrations of Karnataka Arebhashe Culture and Literature Academy, held at Kodagu Gowda Samaja, in Madikeri on Friday.
Arebhashe speaking people are concentrated in Kodagu and Dakshina Kannada districts, he added.
Bopaiah said that Arebhashe and Kodava academies will get their own offices which are being constructed at Samskritika Bhavana in Madikeri.
Efforts to establish Arebhase Academy were first made by the BJP-led state government in 2008. Later, the academy officially came into being during the chief ministerial tenure of D V Sadananda Gowda in 2011, he said.
Fisheries, Port and Inland Water Transport Minister S Angara said that the emotion behind all the languages is the same. There is no use in criticizing each others’ languages.
Instead of getting identifying oneself with a particular caste, one should associate with the language and achievement. People should ignore petty political games, he added.
Madikeri MLA M P Appachu Ranjan felt there is a need to preserve the language and culture of smaller communities.
He also lauded the works done by the Arebhashe Academy.
Arebhashe Culture and Literature Academy chairman Lakshminarayana Kajegadde said that efforts are on to obtain ISI code for Arebhase. The academy has been organising various programmes including workshops.
Indian Women’s Hockey team assistant coach Ankitha Suresh was felicitated on the occasion.
MLC Sunil Subramani M P, Arebhashe Academy former chairman Kolyada Girish, Kodagu Gowda Samaja federation president Surthale R Somanna, Academy members Baithadka Janaki Bellyappa, Smitha Amrith Raj, Dhananjay Agolikaje, Dr Koodakandi Dayanand and academy registrar Chinnaswamy were present.
A documentary directed by H R Anil was released on the occasion.
Musical instruments were provided to the beneficiaries.
The official website of Arebhashe was also launched on the occasion.
source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> State> Mangaluru / by DHNS, Madikeri / August 27th, 2021
A scene from the movie ‘Nadapeda Asha’. Kodagu, the land of brave soldiers and known for its unique culture, is all set to make its own mark in showbiz.
‘Nadapeda Asha’, a full-fledged feature film produced in the Kodava language and with Kodava artistes, will hit the screens on September 6.
The film is based on a novel by writer Nagesh Kaluru. Incidentally, the work ‘Nadapeda Asha’ on which is the film is based, has been selected for the book award conferred by Karnataka Kodava Sahitya Academy.
Kottukattira Prakash, who had directed the film ‘Kodagra Sipayi’ has directed the film ‘Nadapeda Asha’. He has produced 12 films and directed four films.
Actor Bollajira B Ayyappa is playing the male protagonist in the film while Nellachanda Rishi Poovamma is his counterpart. Addanda Anita Cariappa is playing the role of an anganwadi worker.
The challenges faced by women are effectively portrayed in the film, said the film crew.
Eramanda Harini Vijay, Vanchira Vittal Nanaiah, Tatanda Prabha Nanaiah, Cheruvalanda Sujala Nanaiah, Ajjikuttira Prithvi Subbaiah, Puttarira Arun Kalaiah, Eramanda Kesari Bojamma, Bollajira Yamuna Ayyappa, Battira Kaveri Joyappa and others are in the cast.
Major scenes in the movie have been shot in Kodagu. Kodava culture has been featured in the film.
Producer of the film Harini Vijay said that the film is about the family of a soldier and it speaks about a women’s perspective in society.
Another producer Kottukattira Yashoda Prakash said that the main objective of producing the film is to introduce Kodava culture to the rest of the world. The film is not made for profit.
Director Kottukattira Prakash said that various issues such as wild animal menace and gun license have been portrayed in the film.
As there is a shortage of theatres in the district, the film team has made arrangements to screen the movie in Kodava Samaja and Arebhashe Gowda Samaja buildings.
The film will be screened at the Kodava Samaja in Moornadu, Napoklu and Virajpet.
A theatre in Madikeri is closed and another theatre in Kushalnagar has not been reopened.
Bollajira B Ayyappa, the lead actor, said that the screening will be done with Covid-19 guidelines. New talents have been cast in the film.
source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> State> Mangaluru / by Adithya K A, DHNS / August 27th, 2021
Senior Congress leader B.K. Hariprasad speaks at CNC seminar
Madikeri:
Kodavas have been agitating for over two decades seeking the grant of their Constitutionally-guaranteed rights and only these rights and privileges can guarantee the survival of this rare community, opined MLC and senior Congress leader B.K. Hariprasad.
He was addressing a seminar on Kodava rights, demands and aspirations. The event was organised by Codava National Council (CNC) at a private resort in Murnad recently.
“Kodava community must get special recognition under Article 371 (k). The community deserves recognition in the Scheduled Tribe list as their lifestyle, custom, traditions, practices and festivals reflect the tribal spirit,” he noted.
CNC’s demand and claim for geo-political Autonomy is most legitimate, logical, feasible and deserving in all sense among any other demands, he opined. The Kodava tribe which is facing the threat of extinction should be enlisted under Scheduled Tribes of the Indian Constitution. “The Government should take measures to protect the tradition of Kodavas. Provision of ST tag is necessary in this regard,” he added.
On this occasion, ‘Codava Rathna’ award was conferred on Hariprasad and eminent jurist A.S. Ponnanna. The main purpose of this award is to recognise and respect those who go out of their way even risking their well-established career for the cause of the Kodava community.
Hariprasad had raised the community’s aspirations in the Parliament and in the Legislative Council. Also, he moved a “Private Member Constitution Amendment Bill 2016” to include Kodava language in the 8th schedule of the Constitution. He advocated the grant of ST tag to Kodavas and also argued that the gun licence exemption should be continued to Kodavas forever and should not be restricted to 10 years.
According to CNC President N.U. Nachappa, certain resolutions were passed at the seminar to safeguard the genus of Kodava tribe and its civilisation. The community fulfils the definition of indigenous people promulgated by the United Nations through various declarations and steps must be taken in this regard to protect it.
“By trait, Kodavas are tribals and by our miniscule size of population, we are a minority in all senses. That is tribal, racial, ethnic, linguistic and national minority. We have every criteria and right to claim for empowerment defined for various indigenous tribes, minority groups and ethno linguistic nationals enshrined in the UN Charter,” he added.
“We are indigenous primitive tribe and it is our fundamental human right and freedom to exercise internal political self-determination right and to have geo-political autonomy in our own defined, indivisible traditional homeland,” he demanded. High Court advocate Lakkavalli Manjunath, Political Science lecturer Dr. P.E. Somaiah and others were present.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> News / August 22nd, 2021
Even though colleges and schools have reopened in other districts of Karnataka, the educational institutions in Kodagu remain shut because of high Covid positivity rate. The students of Kodagu district therefore heavily rely on online classes. Ironically none of the networks function properly in Kodagu. Therefore, students from villages located near the Kerala border depend on Kerala to attend online classes.
Karike village located on the border of Kodagu and Kerala does not have any network other than BSNL 2G. If there is no power supply, even this network gets shut down. Therefore, students from Karike and Chattukaya villages go to Panathur, Kerala, to listen to their online classes. These students have to go to Panathur by using auto rickshaws or motor bikes, get seated din some open spaces or hillocks, listen to online classes, and then head back to their homes. The students are undergoing this ordeal every day. They have another problem at hand, as the Kerala police demand to see the RT-PCR negative reports from them.
The students who somehow attend the online classes and return, are often stopped by Karnataka police at Karike check post where they seek Covid negative reports. Without reports, they do not allow the students. The students need to have a negative report that is less than 72 hours old. One of the parents, Nasser, says that the students often are stranded at the border check post.
As the parents have to accompany the students to Kerala, families dependent on daily wage, lose their earnings. The deputy commissioner and ministers have repeatedly been told about the network problem but they have not done anything to address the problem, the villagers rue.
source: http://www.daijiworld.com / Daijiworld.com / Home> Top Stories / by Daijiworld Media Network – Madikeri (SP) – August 24th, 2021
This week, Rage Coffee announced that it has raised $5 million in series A funding. A look at the company’s plans, including new launches, key markets and corporate tie-ups.
Bharat Sethi is the Delhi-based founder of Rage Coffee. He says that nearly 75% of the company’s sales are from parts of the country other than South India.
Rage Coffee has seen growth zoom during the pandemic, as people confined to their homes ordered and drank more coffee . Earlier this week, the New Delhi-based FMCG coffee startup announced that it had raised $5 million as part of its A series funding round led by Sixth Sense Ventures. In April 2021, it had raised an undisclosed amount from investors led by Refex Capital.
The company, founded in 2018, targets millennials. Around 75% of its sales come through online channels, and the rest through the offline route. It sells instant coffee, ground coffee and cold brew bags of coffee in flavours like Irish hazelnut, crème caramel and mint mocha.
In an interview, Rage Coffee founder and CEO Bharat Sethi spoke about the company’s growth during the pandemic period, development of new products including filter coffee, potential tie-ups and strategy to expand abroad. Excerpts:
How has the pandemic affected sales? Is Rage Coffee’s growth continuing after the second wave?
When the pandemic began, we were well positioned with quality coffee products using arabica beans. With more people ordering online, we doubled our marketing efforts paving the way to leapfrog the growth. From 2020-21 we grew ten times. From April to August this year, we have seen three times growth so far.
We are expecting a revenue of Rs 35 crore this fiscal compared to Rs 5 crore last year. The annualised recurring return will be much higher, in the range of Rs 65-75 crore.
Usually, instant coffee makers use robusta coffee beans. Has using the costlier arabica beans helped you in the domestic market, which, apart from South India, prefers tea to coffee?
The market is changing with availability of good products. Nearly 75% of our sales are from parts of the country other than South India. From our research, we knew that caffeine kick and sensory aspects like taste and aroma are equally important for a coffee drinker. So, we decided to use arabica beans that provide good flavour and aroma.
Our products provide 90 to 120 mg of caffeine in a single serving, compared with 30 to 40 mg of many other instant coffees available in the market. It is comparable to high-end roasted coffee. We use crystallised freeze-drying process to preserve the aroma… We source coffee beans from Coorg and Chikmagalur, and from Ethiopia.
South India prefers filter coffee mostly. Considering that majority of your sales are from outside the region, do you have plans to offer filter coffee?
Yes, we are planning to launch it by the first week of September. It will be a blend of robusta and chicory with a dash of bitterness. We believe that if made in the right manner, it will have demand in the entire country. It will be our first robusta coffee product and one more addition to the ground coffee category.
What is the size of your institutional sales? Do you have corporate tie-ups?
Of our institutional sales, 80% goes to the hotel, restaurant and catering (Horeca) segment. We are exploring the possibility of tie-ups with corporates. In most cases, we can’t come to an agreement on the prices. Many organisations have coffee-vending machines, a segment we have not ventured into yet. But we have plans to enter the coffee equipment business later. However, our products find increasing use in corporate gifting.
Are you looking at associating with airlines or railways?
Yes, we are in talks with Spice Jet and Indian Railways. Pricing is the issue. But we think we can offer products cheaply with some changes. We need to change the packaging and weight without compromising on the quality of the product. We may have to use plastic packets, which could help avoid damage during shipment. We can cover the risk of lower margin through huge volumes. At present, the company uses natural materials for packaging.
Do you plan to expand outside the country?
We have presence in the US and in the UK in Europe. The instant coffee segment in the US is growing rapidly because of convenience aspect. We sell through Amazon and through independent retailers and specialty stores. Europe is not as big a coffee drinking nation as America.
We are also starting out in the Gulf region through the UAE. The region has a mix of instant coffee and commercial coffee equipment drinkers. Instant coffee has a good market in Saudi Arabia, where we have signed up with a distributor, and are in the process of dispatching the consignment.
Any new products in the pipeline?
We are looking at coffee concentrates, chewables, snacking and supplement items. Right now, 75% of the coffee sales is controlled by a few multinationals. With some products we have and some we are planning to launch, we will be directly competing with them. We are also in the process of R&D for introducing new flavours.
source: http://www.moneycontrol.com / MoneyControl.com / Home> News> Trends> Features / by PK Krishnakumar / August 24th, 2021
Ayatana Resort in Coorg, a collaboration between architect Vishal Vincent and landscape architect Paul Blanchflower, uses prefabrication technology.
Set amidst 100 acres of lush landscape in Coorg is a cluster of cottages that are an experiment in eco-friendly luxury hospitality. Ayatana Resort is the glorious result of an attempt to sustainably manifest a luxury development in the middle of lush, untouched rainforest.
Landscape architect Paul Blanchflower crafted the grounds of Ayatana Resort in Coorg
The intrigue doesn’t end there; the cottages were constructed using prefabrication technology. The outer structure is made of prefabricated steel with 40-mm concrete used to craft the roof and the floor. If the word ‘prefab’ sounds familiar, it’s because Elon Musk recently made it one of the most Googled terms.
Prefabrication is an alternative to the traditional in-situ construction method, and uses precast components to build spaces.
A prefab living space similar to the one Elon Musk lives in. Photo courtesy: Boxabl
The Tesla CEO reportedly lives in a transportable unit of about 400 square feet. It is set up like a studio apartment and features a fully equipped kitchen, bathroom, living room, and bedroom. The unit is on the SpaceX Texas site.
How Ayatana Used Prefabrication Methods
Ayatana’s indulgent spaces offer a lot more to its purveyors than the spartan space chosen by Musk. Ayatana effortlessly mixes prefabrication innovations, which are touted to be more energy- and cost-efficient than traditional construction methods, with the latest in luxury hospitality, and a generous dose of a tropical escape.
The resort is a cluster of stilted cottages that offer stunning views
Ayatana Resort is the brainchild of architect Vishal Vincent and landscape architect Paul Blanchflower. Blanchflower, who brought a lifetime of experience and wisdom as a horticulturist to the project, explains the decision to use prefab components: “While planning Ayatana, the decision to retain as much as possible of the existing landscape including the waterfall, led to the use of prefabricated steel construction for the structures. This minimized the on-site work and its subsequent impact on the natural landscape.” The structures were fabricated in a workshop in Bangalore and just assembled on-site—to keep the site activity at a minimum.
How to Build Without Disturbing Mother Nature?
“Taking inspiration from the trees on-site, the initial thought was to create treehouses, which eventually manifested into stilted cottages. These provided a similar experience to that of a treehouse without doing much harm to the existing trees and giving us the opportunity to create luxurious abodes,” says Vincent, who is the managing director and founder of the Coorg property.
Blanchflower and Vincent also guided the team in understanding what the landscape was communicating to them and in turn its importance. “Paul helped identify critical aspects of the untouched site that needed to be retained in the final design outcome. He has been responsible for the entire design being more environmentally sensitive since its initiation,” adds Vincent.
A Look Inside The Luxury Resort
The open-plan lobby overlooks the cottages and has been minimally designed. Water is an important element that has been used in the design, with a reflecting pool and a still water edge detail providing a seamless visual connection to the surroundings. The lobby’s floating globes of cane lanterns make it easily identifiable from the rest of the site at night.
The resort has 36 standard cottages, 13 luxury suites and a presidential suite. The highlight of the cottages is the luxurious cantilevered balcony that almost brings the wilderness inside. The cottages are placed far away from each other, to allow a socially distanced vacation.
The interiors of Ayatana spell minimal luxuryThe cantilevered balcony is the USP of the cottages
The Restaurant, Pool and Spa
The in-house restaurant, The Glass House, offers an indoor area warmed with teak lights, panoramic views, and an outdoor bar and deck. The deck overlooks the infinity pool and doubles as a romantic candle-lit space for al-fresco dining in the evenings.
The view from the deck of The Glass House includes the swimming pool and the waterfalls beyond
The infinity pool, with a view of the waterfall, stands out from its surroundings, thanks to its blue mosaic tiles, which appear in sharp contrast to the yellow Jaisalmer stone that has been used on the deck. This deck leads us to the lobby of the Wilderness Spa, nestled under the deck of the restaurant. Its treatment rooms are crafted in exposed brick, with framed vistas of the surroundings.
The pool at Ayatana, CoorgA peek inside The Wilderness Spa
source: http://www.architecturaldigest.in / Architectural Digest / Home> Architecture & Design / by Bindu Gopal Rao / Photography by Ayatana Coorg / August 20th, 2021
Estate owners urged to discourage it over COVID-19 fears.
Amidst the growing fears of an impending third wave of pandemic, it has now come to light that workers from Kerala bordering Kutta village in Kodagu were being employed in coffee estates and are shuttling daily by foot for work.
The State government has made it mandatory for those coming into the State from Kerala to carry an RT-PCR negative report not older than 72 hours irrespective of whether the travellers were vaccinated – either first or both doses of vaccine.
When former Speaker and Virajpet MLA K.G. Bopaiah visited the checkpost at Kutta on Tuesday to oversee the COVID-19 surveillance at the border over a spike in cases in the neighbouring State, he came to know about workers belonging to a Kerala village bordering Kodagu coming daily to Kutta by foot to work in the estates.
Mr. Bopaiah advised the coffee estate owners to provide accommodation to the workers after complying with the guidelines in case they have emergency works in their plantations and would like to employ workers from Kerala.
As per the district administration’s order, persons from Kerala travelling daily to Kodagu must carry out COVID-19 test once in 15 days and always carry the RT-PCR negative report with them. It is not clear whether the employers were cross-checking the details while engaging them in their estates.
“The task force set up in each gram panchayat must look into all various aspects for controlling COVID-19 in the border villages. It must work on preventing daily commuting of workers from Kerala to the border estates. This can help prevent the COVID-19 spread,” he opined.
The staff roped in from various departments for work at the checkposts in Karike, Kutta, Makutta and Sampaje in Kodagu have been categorically told to ensure that no vehicle enters the State without the travellers producing valid RT-PCR negative report not older than 72 hours.
The district officials have been told to continue with the guidelines issued based on the test positivity rate which is currently below 5 per cent. If the TPR crosses 5 per cent, stricter measures were needed.
About 40-50 vehicles from Kerala cross the border at Kutta daily.
source: http:// www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Karnataka / by Special Correspondent / Mysuru – August 03rd, 2021
A file photo of a server collecting coffee from a container in a restaurant. | Photo Credit: K. Murali Kumar
‘Nations should jointly combat issues in coffee sector’
Coffee growing countries, India, Brazil, and South Africa, should collaborate to combat common challenges they face such as global price volatility, high cost of production, and labour shortage, suggested International Coffee Organisation (ICO).
At the opening session of the two-day IBSA Coffee Festival on Wednesday, ICO executive director Jose Sette said India, Brazil, and South Africa had several opportunities to work together to address common issues they face in the coffee growing, processing, and marketing fronts.
India produced over 3,20,000 tonnes of green coffee in the last harvest season that ended in March 2021. Karnataka alone accounts for over 70% of the country’s total coffee production, with Kodagu, Chikkamagaluru, and Hassan districts being the State’s coffee heartlands.
Coffee Board chairman M.S. Boje Gowda said, “It is great that we are joining hands with the international coffee community to improve the coffee scene of India and this exercise means a lot for coffee farmers across the country, and especially for an army of them in Karnataka.”
Suresh K. Reddy, Ambassador of India in Brazil, said coffee production had increased 34% in that country in the last two decades although the area under production had only reduced. Indian coffee community had to adopt cost-effective growing techniques and yield enhancing practices from Brazil, he recommended.
“We are also looking forward to collaborating with Brazil in enhancing domestic consumption of coffee in India,” said Mr. Reddy. India’s per capita coffee consumption is around 200 grams while it is 6 kg in Brazil.
Mr. Reddy further said time had come for the commodity apex body, Coffee Board, to position itself as a holistic organisation for the overall development, promotion, and growth of Indian coffee.
Jaideep Sarkar, High Commissioner of India in South Africa, said under the free trade agreements of WTO regime, it was tough for individual governments to promote their own coffees beyond a point and therefore working together was the best option for the global coffee growing community.
Andre Aranha Correa do Lago, Ambassador of Brazil in New Delhi, said, India was beginning to see a lot of speciality coffee coming via exports and this would open up newer opportunities for coffee entrepreneurs in India to process, value add, and re-export.
“We want to be part of the growing India coffee story and IBSA is an ideal platform for a unique partnership between these coffee producing countries,” Mr. Lago added.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Karnataka / by Mini Tejaswi / Bengaluru – August 05th, 2021
It is rare for the country’s hockey team not to have a player from Kodagu.
‘Shift in focus from sports to academics a reason for fewer players making it’
While the nation basks in the glory of the Indian hockey team scripting history at Tokyo Olympics by winning a medal (bronze) after 41 years, absence of even a single player from Kodagu in the current team has become a talking point among sports aficionados in the State.
Kodagu has a legacy of producing outstanding hockey players who have played for India in the World Cup and the Olympics and they include M.P. Ganesh, B.P. Govinda, Arjun Halappa, A.B. Subbaiah, M.M. Somaiah, and Len Aiyappa, to name a few.
It is rare for the country’s hockey team not to have a player from Kodagu, as it was during this Olympics. Experts say that a series of factors are at work as a result of which there is a decline in the number of players from Kodagu breaking into the national team.
Focus on academics
Mr. Ganesh, who played for India in the World Cup, Olympics, and Asian Games, said the shift in focus from sports to academics was a factor for this decline though both sports and academic are not mutually exclusive.
Though Karnataka in general and Kodagu sportspersons perform well at the junior levels, parents do not allow children to pursue sports beyond a certain age. Their intention is to get children admitted to professional courses through the sports quota, he added.
“Karnataka has reserved 91 seats in various professional courses for sportspersons. But once they secure admission, we don’t see them in the national camps as the focus shifts to academics,” said Mr. Ganesh.
Besides, the drive to excel in sports has waned to an extent due to the fact that many among the new generation of Kodavas are not given to hard work, said the Arjuna award winner. “During our times, we had to walk 5 to 6 km daily to reach our schools and hence, physical fitness was a natural attribute but it is not so in the present generation,” he added.
A unique hockey festival
The Kodava Hockey Festival, held every year since 1997, draws nearly 300 teams which is a record for any tournament. This is testimony to the continued though latent interest in the sport. But veteran B.J. Cariappa says it is not competitive enough for budding players to break into national team. For that, players have to work harder, have to be coached better, and be exposed to national-level tournaments where the competition is more stringent, he added.
B.J. Cariappa, hockey coach for junior men’s team, faulted the system run by officials which, he said, was not accountable. Apart from creating additional facilities and infrastructure which was the need of the hour, there was a lack of accountability among officials and coaches, according to Mr. Cariappa.
“I have visited a few training centres where trainees were not attentive and the coach wasn’t serious,” he added, pointing out that in one such centre the sole reason the coach was in Kodagu was for its pleasant weather.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Karnataka / by R Krishna Kumar / Mysuru – August 07th, 2021
The Indian pair lost in three games to the home duo of Amalie Magelund and Freja Ravn of Denmark.
In a match lasting just under an hour, the top-seeded home duo came from behind to beat the Indian pair in three games.(File Photo)
The Indian women’s doubles pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and N. Sikki Reddy finished runners-up at the Denmark Masters after going down narrowly against top seeds Amalie Magelund and Freja Ravn of Denmark in the final.
The duo, seeded second, squandered an opening game advantage to lose 21-15, 19-21, 14-21 to the Danish combination in just under an hour’s contest.
Among other Indians, Lakshya Sen had lost in the semifinals to France’s Christo Popov, while his brother Chirag Sen and Subhankar Dey, seeded fourth, bowed out at the quarterfinal stage.
In women’s singles, Aakarshi Kashyap was the most impressive but lost the semifinal to fourth seed Dane Julie Dawall Jakobsen.
source: http://www.sportstar.thehindu.com / Sportstar / Home> Badminton / by PTI / August 09th, 2021
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