Karnataka, Records – Page 15

Chairman of Canadian Canara Vision Inc Gilbert D’Souza passes away

Renowned personality Gilbert D’Souza, chairman of Canadian Canara Vision Inc (CCVI), one of Canada’s prestigious institutions, passed away on Sunday September 11 after suffering a massive heart attack.

Gilbert was known in Mangaluru, Bahrain, Oman, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Canada among the universal Konkani community. He was residing in Mississauga Canada, along with his family. Before migrating to Canada, he was the owner of Al Taqa Equipment LLC in Abu Dhabi.

After completing his graduation in Mangaluru, he worked for Reserve Bank of India, Bakelite Haylam and Hindustan Lever in Bombay, and subsequently joined Unilever in the Middle East, for 20 years and retired holding the post of sales manager.

Gilbert is survived by wife and three children.

French hospitality brand ibis opens its fourth hotel in Bengaluru

Accor will have 100 hotel properties in India in the next five years

Global hospitality chain ibis announced its fourth and 21 hotel property in the city and in the country, respectively, near Manyata Tech Park at Hebbal on Wednesday.

The 154-room ibis Bengaluru Hebbal built-in 8-floors will have a fully-electric fireless kitchen, as per the hotel chain.

J.B. Singh, President & CEO, InterGlobe Hotels, a joint venture between InterGlobe Enterprises and Accor Asia Pacific, said, “This is the fourth ibis hotel in the city. ibis Bengaluru Hebbal has been designed with our ‘New Generation’ theme, which features highly dynamic, colourful and lively public areas coupled with a unique dining experience.’‘

Puneet Dhawan, Senior Vice President, Operations, Accor India & South Asia said, “Bengaluru is known to attract both business and leisure travelers, and this launch will provide them with a comfortable stay with a dynamic atmosphere to suit a globetrotter’s tastes.”

Accor is a French multinational hospitality company that owns, manages and franchises hotels, resorts and vacation properties under 40 different brands. It operates in 5,300 locations in over 110 countries.

Mr. Dhawan said the outlook for the hospitality sector in the country looked very positive for the next five to 10 years and Accor would have opened 100 hotels in the country in the next five years, up from 56 at present.

Kundapur: 32nd annual conference of Indian Psychiatric Society Karnataka branch held

“Mental health is very important in the modern days of pressurized world. No one should hesitate to get treatement for psychological health. We will not get solutions to our mental health issues if we do not go to the psychiatrists. This conference, which is intended to extend to community is very meaningful,” said Jayaprakash Hegde, president of state backward communities’ commission.

Hegde was speaking after inaugurating the 32nd annual conference of Indian Psychiatric society, Karnataka branch that was held at Yuva Meridian auditorium at Koteshwara on Saturday.

Hegde further said, “In order to protect the mental health I am doing the work of providing cooperation from our trust with the active cooperation of renowned psychiatrists of the district. Many people ask money for treatment but do not take medical help.”

Speaking on the occasion, Dr N N Raju, president of Indian Psychiatric society said, “Karntaka is in the forefront of psychological health sector in the country. It is also leading the implementation of new projects in this connection. The service of psychiatrists of Kundapur is excellent service to society. Service of senior doctor like Dr K S Karanth is known throughout the country.”

The programmes was presided over by Dr P Kiran Kumar, president of Karnataka branch of society.

President designate of Indian Psychiatric association Dr Vinay Kumar, president of south zone Dr Udayakumar, president of Karnataka branch Dr N M Patil, honorary secretary Dr Somashekhar Bijjal, secretary of conference committee Dr Ravindar Munoli were present.

Dr Prakash Tolar welcomed the gathering. Psychiatrists of various states are partaking in this conference. Discussions and discourses about community mental health will be held. The valedictory function of the conference will be held on Sunday, September 11.

Mangaluru: H M Pernal among Karnataka Konkani Sahitya Academy honourary awardees

The Karnataka Konkani Sahitya Academy honourary awards will be conferred on H M Pernal, Ramesh Kamath and Kumuda Gadakar in a ceremony on September 18 at Kaashimata, Bengaluru.

The Konkani Sahitya Award will be conferred on H M Pernal, Konkani Art Award on Ramesh Kamath, and Konkani Folk Award on Kumudha Gadakar.

Higher education minister Dr C N Ashwath Narayana, and minister for Kannada and Culture V Sunil Kumar will be confer the awards.

Konkani Sirisampada, Parichaya Pustaka, and Buykaamp Brugana Sangile Pulla Kaanyo books will be released on the occasion.

Mangaluru south MLA Vedavyas Kamath, MLC Prathap Simha Nayak, government secretary Dr N Manjula, Prakash J T, V N Mallikarjuna Swamy and Jayashree Shanbaug will also take part in the event.

The awardees will receive Rs 50,000 cash each.

Karnataka Konkani Sahitya Academy president Jagadish Pai conducted press meet and gave the information. Member Arun G Shet, Canute Jeevan Pinto, Naveen Nayak, Gopalkrishna Bhat and registrar Manohar Kamath were also present.

About the awardees

H M Pernal

Henry Mendonca, popularly known as H M Pernal writes fluently in Konkani, Kannada, English, Hindi and Marathi languages. Initially his poems and short stories were published in Kannada periodicals like ‘Tharanga’ ‘Suddi-Sangathgi’ ‘Mallige’ ‘Sankramana’ ‘Shoodra’ ‘Thaayinudi’ etc. He debuted in Konkani as a cartoonist in the periodical ‘Yuvak’ and later started publishing, poems, articles and essays on poetry, in various other Konkani periodicals.

H M Pernal has published over 750 poems, over 100 short stories and over 2000 essays and articles in the last 38 years. ‘Cholyank Chothrai’ (1999) ‘Kaidyachyo Kavita’ (2004) ‘Bamunanchem Cheddum’ (2006) are the published anthologies of his poems. ‘Devaak sodullo Pado (2002) and ‘Beeg ani Beegatha’ (2016) are the published collections short stories. ‘Konkani Kavyem: Rupam ani Rupakam’ (2021) is a collection of critical essays on modern Konkani poetry.

He was selected as the ‘Poet of the Year’ by popular literary website daaiz.com in 2006. All India Radio Stations of Managaluru and Mumbai aired his programmes. He has represented Konkani poetry in the Amaravathi International’s Poetry Prism book.

He is the founder and editor/publisher of premier Konkani literary website www.kittall.com, which is in its 12th year of non-stop publication. He is the founder and presently publisher of ARSO Konkani magazine, edited by popular poet Wilson, Kateel. He runs a publication house in Konkani under the banner KITTALL PUBLICATIONS, which publishes quality books every year. To encourage youth writers in Konkani he started KITTALL YOUTH AWARD in the year 2012 sponsored by NRI entrepreneur and philanthropist Leo Rodrigues and family. He was conferred prestigious Smt Vimala V Pai award for the year 2018, by the World Konkani Center, for the best literary creation for his collection of short stories ‘Beeg Ani Bigath’. In the same year Kavita Trust, institution working for the promotion and promulgation of Konkani poetry conferred Mathias Family Kavitha award for his contribution to Konkani poetry and research work. His book ‘Konkani Kavyem : Rupam ani Rupakam’ published by Kavita Publications, publication wing of Kavita Trust founded by Poet Melvyn Rodrigues was adjudged best book of the year by Karnataka Konkani Sahitya Academy.

Ramesh Kamath

Ramesh Kamath is a renowned face in the field of drama, film and social activities as well. He is the only Konkani person from the state who holds degree in film making.

He has produced and directed three Konkani films. From the year 1971-1975, he has acted in 5 Konkani plays. NAKA association of US awarded him life time achievement award in the year 2016.

Kumudha Gadakar

Kumudha Gadakar is actively involved in Konkani folk. She has performed in 60-70 Konkani drama and 100 Konkani Yakshagana roles. She has performed in Karawara Karavali Utsav for the past 15 years.

She was part of Konkani awareness campaign in 15 districts of North Karnataka conducted by Konkani Sahitya Academy from the year 2009 to 2011.

Three Bengaluru startups win BITS Pilani event

Green Tiger Mobility, the cleantech firm, and Daffodil Health, a healthcare startup, won in the Pan India Track, where participants were invited from across the country.

Of the 15 startups, shortlisted from over 1,500 applications, four have been selected to receive an equity-less grant of Rs 30 lakh each. Of these, three are from Bengaluru. Winners were chosen based on three categories or tracks — Pan India, BITSian and Web3.0.

Green Tiger Mobility, the cleantech firm, and Daffodil Health, a healthcare startup, won in the Pan India Track, where participants were invited from across the country. Green Tiger is working on developing a hybrid vehicle, while Daffodil Health is a behavioural healthcare platform aimed at children.

The latter aims at giving parent-mediated therapy to children with behavioural and developmental disorders like autism, ADHD, dyslexia and others. Conquest, run by around 30 engineering students from BITS Pilani’s Centre of Entrepreneurial Leadership, is the first and largest student-run startup accelerator, hosting programmes every year to help startups get funding and mentors.

The Demo Day for the 18th edition of the accelerator programme was held in Bengaluru on Sunday, with 15 startups shortlisted to pitch their ideas to a panel of investors, industry leaders and others. Another Bengaluru-based company StreamMoney won in the Web3.0 Track, where the focus is on startups developing or utilising technology related to Web3.0. StreamMoney focuses on the ability to transfer conditional ownership of non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

The startup is working towards making a utility protocol, allowing NFT owners to rent out or allow ticketing or subscriptions of their NFTs. This allows owners to add in a utility contract with their NFTs that allows access to their tokens for a limited period of time.

Green Tiger Mobility, the cleantech firm, and Daffodil Health, a healthcare startup, won in the Pan India Track, where participants were invited from across the country.

A clean technology firm, focusing on building hybrid cars that allow you to switch between electric and internal combustion engines at the switch of a button, was one of the three Bengaluru startups that won big at BITS Pilani’s Conquest.

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India Foundation for the Arts offers a chance to tell stories about Bengaluru neighbourhoods

IFA seeks to implement projects that engage with the spaces, stories, and people in Bengaluru’s neighbourhoods

India Foundation for the Arts (IFA) is inviting proposals for Neighbourhood Engagements under its Project 560, which seeks to explore Bengaluru’s neighbourhoods.

IFA seeks to implement projects that engage with the spaces, stories, and people in the neighbourhoods. They can be an event or a series of events with storytelling sessions, music, street performances, art installations, mapping exercises, walks and so on.

The projects are supposed to make their neighbourhoods more visible and express through art, the joys and challenges of living together.

How can you apply?

Send a proposal with:-

1. A description of your neighbourhood and its uniqueness — the various kinds of people who live there, its history, shopping areas, housing patterns, community centres and cultural practices.

2. Details of what you would like to do and who would participate in the activities.

You may choose to write your proposal in any Indian language, including English.

If you wish to discuss project ideas before sending your proposal or have queries regarding the same, please write to menaka@indiaifa.org.

The final proposal, with all supporting materials, should be submitted online in a single email not exceeding 25 MB to menaka@indiaifa.org on or before September 5.

For your project, you can also request IFA for financial support up to ₹35,000.

More information: here

Clay seed Ganesha campaign sets a new Guinness record

People from various age groups join hands to sculpt 3,308 idols

The clay seed Ganesha campaign, organised by Bengaluru Ganesh Utsava and Shree Vidyaranya Yuvaka Sangha, in association with the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board and Rotary Bangalore Parisara, claimed to have set a new Guinness World Record for ‘the most number of people sculpting with modelling clay simultaneously’ on Sunday at National College Grounds in Basavanagudi. Although the initial goal was set to create 10,000 Ganesha idols, only 3,308 idols could be created, making it to the records book.

“We are elated because we have broken our own record that we had created three years ago. We would like to do this more and more. We couldn’t reach our desired number, but I’m glad that we could set a new benchmark,” said Nandish Mariyappa, managing trustee of Bengaluru Ganesh Utsava.

The campaign saw over 3,000 people from various age groups and professions joining hands to sculpt their personal Ganesha idols. Idol-making materials such as clay, sculpting popsicle sticks, plant seeds, and water were provided at the venue. Many professional artist volunteers were also assisting participants. The live screening of the sculpting procedure by an artist was also organised. Seeds of plants such as tulsi, ashwagandha, sunflower and other flowering plants were provided for embedding within the idols. QR codes were also allocated to individual idols.

“We are so happy about the Guinness record. It’s a milestone for the KSPCB because we had planned to execute this systematically and create awareness about environmental pollution. We have all created our green Ganapa and seed Ganapa. This has been a success not only because of the record but also because of it being environment friendly,” said Shanth A. Thimmaiah, KSPCB Chairman.

Bengaluru Poetry Festival 2022: Celebrating the spoken word

The Bengaluru Poetry Festival is back for its sixth edition this weekend after a two-year break

The Bengaluru Poetry Festival (BPF) returns to the city this weekend after a gap of two years. Presented by Atta Galatta, the event spread over two days will see as many as 70 poets and artistes participating in various interactive sessions and workshops.

Subodh Sankar, founder of Atta Galatta and one of the organisers of BPF, says one of striking features of the festival is its inclusion of poetry in multiple languages. “We have readings by poets in different languages. We don’t restrict ourselves to a theme as it ends up creating boundaries where none need exist,” he says, adding, “It is a celebration of Indian poetry and a chance to bring those voices to a live audience.”

For Bengaluru-based poetess Mani Rao, the joy of being part of BPF is a celebration in itself. “The BPF is one of those events where there are no overlapping sessions; everyone can enjoy every module without having to scurry out of one halfway, just to attend another. Here, there will be two intense days poetry sessions. Today, there are so many people writing poetry in different styles and through their work one can get an idea of their views. The spoken word has really taken off in India,” says Mani, who is looking forward to meeting poets she has read at the fest as well as other members of the poet community.

Japanese company Rakuten opens office in Bengaluru

Rakuten India is a global product and innovation centre for Tokyo-based Rakuten Group that focuses on electronic commerce and online retailing

Rakuten India, a global product and innovation centre for Tokyo-based Rakuten Group that focuses on electronic commerce and online retailing, has opened an office in Bengaluru to grow its customer base in India.

Rakuten’s new office is situated near Cubbon Park. The 20-storey building, Rakuten-Crimson House, has office space of 3 lakh sq.ft. with a capacity to accommodate over 3,000 persons.

The office is expected to enhance the company’s capability for deep-tech innovation and R&D in e-commerce, fintech, content and entertainment, as well as AI in computer vision, speech, and natural language processing (NLP).

“India is and has been central to our growth strategy. Our new R&D centre will build on the high value-added engagements that Rakuten has been delivering from India in deep tech and product innovation,’‘ said Yasufumi Hirai, CIO, CISO, Group Executive Vice President of Rakuten Group, Inc.

Udupi: SMVITM’s Dr Sachin Bhat wins Karnataka State Urban Mobility Grand Challenge

Dr Sachin S Bhat, head of the Department, Electronics and Communication Engineering of Shri Madhwa Vadiraja Institute of Technology and Management (SMVITM), Bantakal had won the prestigious Karnataka State Urban Mobility Grand Challenge conducted by the Department of Electronics, IT, BT, government of Karnataka.

He won the startup grant of Rs 10 lac for his work to assist the Police department in capturing the accident information on-site with minimal manual inputs and to register an online First Information Report. This tool uses Artificial Intelligence technique to extract information of accidents from photographs from an image captured at the accident spot and notifies the nearest hospital regarding the location and severity of accident.

Automated generation of accident data would help in capturing of better quality of data that can further be utilized for analyzing accident causes and remedies. Principal and management have congratulated Dr Bhat for his stupendous achievement.