Karnataka, Records – Page 143

** Of stitches and stories

A Good book can stay with you long after you turn over its last page. And a well-crafted novel can often be a muse to many. It certainly is for Anuradha Bhaumick, an embroidery artist from Bengaluru, whose latest series is called Booked For Life

** Jeevan Rekha gets permission for Sanofi vaccine trials

Belagavi-based Jeevan Rekha Hospital has obtained the Union government’s permission to conduct safety and efficacy trials of Sanofi COVID-19 vaccine, developed by a French company.

Jeevan Rekha has been part of the trials of Covaxin and ZyCov-D vaccines.

Trials for the new vaccine will start in 10 days, hospital director Amit Bhate told journalists in Belagavi on Thursday.

** UAS-B Alumni to impart digital training to urban dwellers

Subjects include importance of medicinal plants, making wine and gulkan, balanced nutrition and Bonsai

Urban dwellers will get an opportunity to connect with the University of Agricultural Sciences-Bengaluru as the UAS-B Alumni Association is organising short-term digital training and specialised talks on a wide range of subjects for people from urban and peri-urban areas.

The Alumni Association, which comprises experts from agriculture and allied sectors, will offer digital training in 22 subjects ranging from balanced nutrition for healthy living to wine-making and from management of indoor plants to Bonsai.

The wide range of subjects for training include importance of medicinal plants, importance of fruits and vegetables in human diet, home made bakery products, maintenance of landscape garden, mushroom cultivation, kitchen garden, bee keeping, gulkan-making and management of pets. Preservation of fruits and vegetables, rat and household pest management, caring of coconut trees in home garden, millets and their uses for a healthy life are also among the subjects.

According to Association President Dr. K. Narayana Gowda, any person can register himself for this course, which is being offered free of cost. The participants will get a certificate from the Association.

They have to register through a Google form (https://forms.gle/cXtQH825ZN11hC1X6) and indicate their subject of preference. The Association will inform them about the training schedule and their meeting ID, he said.

Course directors Dr. P.K. Basavaraj (9449152884) and Dr. Saralakumari (9611567094) can be contacted for clarifications.

Dr. Gowda told The Hindu that the Association had decided to particularly focus on urban dwellers as the university had always been reaching out to farmers through its frontal organisations like Krishi Vigyan Kendras and extensive network of specialists. “But for an occasional workshop or talk on urban gardening, we have not shared our expertise with urban dwellers. However, a large number of urban dwellers too are interested in some of our research subjects. Hence we decided to reach out to them,” he says, while pointing out that specialists in different fields would handle the courses.

In the second phase of the digital training, the Association is thinking of utilising the services of final year students from related subjects in the UAS-B or its graduates to physically reach out to participants in terms of supplying seeds or any other material required.

“For example, if somebody wants to grow mushrooms, we are thinking of getting our students and graduates to supply them at the prescribed or a nominal rate so that urban dwellers can actually benefit from our technologies,” he said.

Interestingly, 58% of persons, who have registered for the courses, have opted for importance of medicinal plants followed by kitchen gardening (52.3%), indoor plants’ maintenance and balanced nutrition for healthy life (both 50.7%). Twenty per cent have opted for management of pets.

** New Skoda Kushaq model unveiled

The new Skoda Kushaq model was unvieled at the Tafe Assessment showroom on St. Mark’s Road in the city on July 12 by Damodar L., head of TAFE Assessment Branch.

There are more opportunities now in the luxury travel market for customers, said Mr. Damodar. Kushaq is available in two engine variants, 1.0 TSI and 1.5 TSI, and in five colours, a release from the company said.

** ISRO conducts hot test of liquid propellant Vikas engine for Gaganyaan

The test was done for the core L110 liquid stage of the human rated GSLV MkIII vehicle

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Wednesday successfully conducted the third long-duration hot test of the liquid propellant Vikas engine for the Gaganyaan programme, the country’s first manned mission to space.

The test was done for the core L110 liquid stage of the human rated GSLV MkIII vehicle, as part of the engine qualification requirements for the Gaganyaan programme, the space agency said in a statement.

** In Karnataka, a silent revolution with bananas

Farming communities, homemakers ignite culinary change by popularising banana flour

Farming communities in Uttara Kannada and Dakshina Kannada in Karnataka are demonstrating that much more than banana bread — the flavour of the first year of lockdown — can be made with the fruit.

In rain-rich Karnataka, banana cultivation is common but farmers have no control over prices. “Merchants categorise the fruit into first and second quality. It was being bought at ₹4 and ₹5 per kg during the lockdown. The farmers were forced to take back the seconds. When there is a glut, distress sales are common in this region,” says farm educator Shree Padre.

Now, homemakers are helping these farmers by experimenting with banana flour, which can be used for everything from dosas to gulab jamun.

** Unique tamarind tree to fetch ₹9 lakh over next one year

Indian Institute of Horticultural Research has identified this particular tree for further propagation under revenue sharing model of Tamarind Improvement Project

A 40-year-old tamarind tree in Tumakuru district in Karnataka has brought sweet tidings for its grower, though its speciality is very high sour content. The tree, with distinct properties, is set to fetch a revenue of over ₹9 lakh in the course of the next one year, as the Indian Institute of Horticultural Research (IIHR) has identified it for further propagation under revenue sharing model of Tamarind Improvement Project.

The institute has named the tamarind variety after the 66-year-old farmer Lakshmana, who has grown this tree in his farm in Nandihalli of Tumakuru district. The initiative by the institute comes close on the heels of massive response to two such earlier efforts with jackfruit, including a special variety of ‘Siddu jackfruit’.

Category: Karnataka, Records