** Shashwat Rao wins Snow Marathon in Lahaul, Dolma Tenzin first among women

: Shashwat Rao of Karnataka won the Snow Marathon with a timing of 4:41:07, here on Saturday. Meanwhile, in the women’s category, local girl Dolma Tenzin was the fastest and she completed her race in five hours and five minutes, thirty seconds.

Snow Marathon Lahaul, conceptualised by Event Founder Guarav Schimar and organised by Reach India and supported by the District Administration of Lahaul and Spiti district (Himachal Pradesh) saw the participation of over 100 sportsmen and women.

“This was the first time that a snow marathon was organised in the country. Till now, snow marathons were conducted in countries of the cold icy regions such as the polar circles, Antarctica, Russia and northern Europe. With Snow Marathon Lahaul, India not only stepped into the elite club of countries where Snow Marathons are organised but by organising it at an elevation of above 10,000 feet, it now holds the distinction of organising a snow marathon at the highest altitude,” said Gaurav.

In the 21 kilometres – Half Marathon category, Rohan stood first in the men’s section with two hours 53 minutes while amongst the women, the title went to Diksha, who clocked two hours 59 minutes.

The ten-kilometre run was won by Daulat Ram who took one hour and four minutes while Hemlata placed first in her category who covered the distance in one hour and twenty minutes. Navneet emerged as winner in the five-kilometer category while Shrishti grabbed the title in women’s category.

In view of creating enthusiasm among locals for running, a one-kilometer race was also organised wherein a massive participation from children and women was seen. The brand ambassador of the marathon – Kieren D’Souza also graced the occasion and ran 10 kms along with the participants.

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** Bosch signs MoU with JSS STU for courses on cyber security

Bosch Global Software Technologies (BGSW) recently signed an MoU with JSS Science and Technology University (STU) to start an industry elective course on Cyber Security and Industry 4.0.

BGSW is a 100 per cent owned subsidiary of Robert Bosch GmbH. It is one of the world’s leading global suppliers of technology and services, offering end-to-end Engineering, IT, and Business Solutions, a release from JSS STU said.

Courses offered by industries will give a lot of practical exposure to students and will help universities to implement and teach the latest technologies. JSS STU is the first university in India to have collaborated with Bosch for cyber security courses, it said

** Bengaluru tops in financial cover in tier 1, 2 cities 

According to a survey released by Max Life Insurance and Kantar, Bengaluru has topped the charts as the most financially protected city in India.

The survey, titled ‘The India Protection Quotient 4.0’, had 5,729 respondents from 25 cities in India.

Bengaluru had a protection quotient of 56 per cent, the same as Delhi. Compared to other metropolitan and Tier-1 cities, Bengaluru has the highest percentage of life insurance ownership, at 91 per cent. However, the city ranked lowest in terms of financial security, with 53 per cent.

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** Interview With Renowned Economist Devaki Jain: ‘Mysuru Is Close To My Heart Though I Don’t Visit Often’

Renowned feminist-economist Padma Bhushan Devaki Jain was in Mysuru on a private visit last weekend. She is the daughter of M.A. Sreenivasan, who was Minister in the Princely State of Mysore. He was a Member of the Constituent Assembly representing the Princely State of Gwalior during 1947-48.

He had an illustrious career in the Civil Service in the then State of Mysore  headed by Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV, commencing from 1918. He also served as Mysore’s Trade Commissioner in London.

Devaki Jain spoke to Star of Mysore about her affinity to Mysuru and her memoir ‘The Brass Notebook’ that has now been translated into Kannada apart from being translated in Marathi, Hindi, Tamil and Malayalam.  Excerpts:

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** Dubai: Udupi’s Gulshan Banu Kazi sets world record in national Push-Pull Championship 2022 

 Powerlifter Gulshan Banu Kazi has not only made her native Udupi, India  proud but also Dubai proud by securing a world record among the master category athletes in the Professional Raw Organisations Push-Pull Championship 2022, a national level event held in Bengaluru recently. 

This sporting event held at Onyx Fitness was one of the most popular internationally sanctioned national powerlifting championships, consisting of three main events -Bench Press, Deadlifts and Push-Pull.

Record holder Gulshan Banu Kazi is a 43-year-old mother of three, working six days a week at a corporate office in Dubai.

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** Mangaluru International Airport bags ACI certificate

Airports Council International (ACI) has issued certificate to Mangaluru International Airport, certifying the airport’s commitment towards improving the experience of the passengers using this airport. This certificate is valid for a period of one year.

This system of recognition was started to strengthen the efforts of the airports towards further improving the experiences of passengers. The airport, it may be recalled, bad bagged the prestigious ACI World Voice of the Customer award in February 2021. This airport is the third airport from India in Asia Pacific zone to have won this recognition.

A release stated that this is a programme of airport service quality programme that has been globally launched to implement good practices in airports, educating the employees and provide high quality services to the airport users.

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** Farmer-bred paddy variety gets official recognition

Shankar Guru of T.Narispur bred NMS-2 variety of rice

In a significant development, a variety of rice bred by a T.Narsipur-based farmer has been recognised for its salient features and qualities by the Plant Varieties Registry, Government of India, which has issued its stamp of approval.

The certificate issued under the provisions of Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Act, 2001, also gives Shankar Guru exclusive rights to produce, sell, market, distribute, import or export the variety for an initial period of 6 years and renewable subsequently subject to certain conditions. 

Firsts

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** Prof CNR Rao conferred Energy Frontiers 2020 award by CM

 Eminent scientist and Bharat Ratna Awardee Prof CNR Rao was conferred the Energy Frontiers 2020 award by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Wednesday.

The Italy Government’s prestigious Energy Frontiers Award is considered the Nobel prize for the Energy Sector and Prof Rao is the first recipient of the award from entire Asia.

Higher Education, Science and Technology Minister Dr CN Ashwath Narayan, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advance Scientific Research Chairman Prof GU Kulkarni, noted scientist Dr Indumati Rao and other dignitaries were present.

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** Karnataka’s bio-economy to reach $50 billion by 2025

Karnataka is the third-largest producer of bio-fuels among the States which have reached 9% blending of petrol in 2021, he said, adding that the State’s Bio-tech industry crossed $180 million in R&D spend. A total of 95 bio-tech start-ups were set up in Karnataka in 2021, averaging almost 8 start-ups every month, the Minister stated.

Karnataka has emerged as the preferred destination for bio-tech investments in India. At present, the State hosts about 60% of the bio-tech companies in India and employs about 54% of the country’s total bio-tech workforce, according to Mr. Narayan.

Also, the bio-technology industry in the State has been at the forefront of fighting the Covid-19 pandemic by developing and deploying a variety of anti-virals, diagnostic tests, and administering vaccines. For instance; the State provided 2.3 lakh doses of Covid-19 vaccines per day totaling 86.4 million doses in 2021, he added.

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** ‘Mahad agitation India’s first civil rights movement’

Comparing the Mahad Satyagraha of 1927 with the Dandi March of 1930, progressive thinker and social activist Shivasundar has held that the former was against feudal oppression at home by Brahminism and the latter against external colonial oppression of the British.

“We are taught of the Salt March led by Mahatma Gandhi against exploitation by British colonialism. But, we are seldom taught of the Mahad movement led by B.R. Ambedkar against caste-based oppression by the so-called upper castes.

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