** Canada: Maxim D’Mello, Vijay Dante elected to lead MAC in its 20th year

Maxim D’Mello, one of the highly acclaimed Mangalurean leaders in Canada and outside India, has been unanimously elected as the president of ‘The Mangalorean Association of Canada’ (MAC) for the fourth term during its Annual General Body Meeting (AGM) held on November 21 at Petrescue Hall, Carmen Corbasson Community Centre, Mississauga, Canada.

He was actively involved with Kuwait Canara Welfare Association (KCWA) since its inception and served as a President before immigrating to Canada in 2002. From then on, he is part of the Mangalorean Association of Canada and serves the community. In 2006 he got elected as its president for the first time.

In addition MAC is fortunate to get yet another dynamic leader Everest Vijay Dante popularly known as Vijay Dante to its fold as the vice-president. Vijay, a philanthropist is a well-focussed, dedicated and a family-oriented business professional. He is the proud son of the late ‘Sridanti’ (Francis Dante from Udupi, Karnataka, India), a renowned writer, poet and a religious leader who is also one of the founders of Catholic Sabha, Mangaluru.

He is owner of ‘Udupi Madras Café’ (UMC) one of the prestigious business houses in Toronto. The UMC has won the prestigious ‘2021 Mississauga News Readers’ Choice Award’ for the successive 2nd time in a row. Serving the international community in Mississauga, Canada for 15 years.

** Bengaluru firm Strides Pharma Science to launch oral drug to fight Covid

In a statement, Strides said it will “immediately launch” its generic Molnupiravir, indicated for high-risk adult patients with Covid under the brand Stripiravir.

Bengaluru pharma company Strides Pharma Science Limited said that it has received Emergency Use Authorisation from the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) to launch Molnupiravir, an oral medication for Covid-19 in India.

In a statement, Strides said it will “immediately launch” its generic Molnupiravir, indicated for high-risk adult patients with Covid under the brand Stripiravir. The company is commercialising the product with a group-integrated supply chain for active pharmaceutical ingredients and solid oral dosage from its large-scale WHO pre-qualified manufacturing capacities, the company stated.

** Bengaluru’s St Matthew’s Church — 125 years of blessings

For the devout, Bengaluru’s cosmopolitan culturescape provides various calm retreats. Many church spires have stood testimony to its tryst with the British Raj, with a few institutions dating bck centuries.

One such quaint, yet magnificent institution — St Matthew’s Church — tucked inside the MG Railway Colony on Magadi Road in Bengaluru, has enriched the lives of people, while also providing them a spiritual sanctuary during troubled times. This Protestant CSI church, which was consecrated on November 10, 1896, by the Bishop of Madras, is a part of Railway history in Bengaluru.

** Aerospace incubation centre launched at NAL

The centre was described as the first public-private partnership in India

The announcement was made by Social Alpha, a venture development platform for science and technology start-ups.

Dubbed mach33.aero, the centre was described as the first public-private partnership in India.

The centre is housed on the CSIR-NAL campus and will focus on aviation, defence, space exploration, agriculture and climate action.

** Discovery Channel Makes A Feature Film On The First Indian Wildlife Photographer, Yashas Narayan

Yashas Narayan, one of the most reputed wildlife photographers of India. It would be prudent to say that he is one of the best big cat trackers that India has seen. Proudly known for his astonishing and mesmerising portfolio of India’s tigers, leopards, and black panthers, he is now the first Indian wildlife photographer to get a feature film made by the Discovery networks.

Titled “Eye to Eye With a Tiger”, Yashas got an opportunity to lead a team of highly dedicated professionals to capture the serenity amidst the short lives in the modern world. Partnering with the World Wildlife Fund to support Project CAT, Discovery’s collaboration aims to double the number of tigers in the wild by 2022 by spreading awareness about deforestation, poaching, and overhunting of the tigers’ prey. Similarly, Samsung has sponsored this film to raise awareness about Project CAT.

** With second-largest AI talent pool, Bengaluru ranked fifth in world

Bengaluru has emerged among the top five cities in the world for Artificial Intelligence (AI), ranked at No. 5, with the first four being cities in the USA. The ranking is among top 50 AI cities, measured by the TIDE Framework and listed by Harvard Business Review (HBR).

The top four cities are San Francisco, New York, Boston and Seattle. The ranking factors in diversity and inclusive talent pool. Reviewers have noted that Bengaluru also has the world’s second-largest AI talent pool and is ranked fifth for diversity among AI workers, as measured by data from Fletcher school, Tufts University, and derived at based on a framework of indicators such as talent pool, investments, diversity of talent, evolution of the country’s digital foundations (TIDE). 

** Bicycle expedition to mark 1971 victory

A three-day bicycle expedition to commemorate the golden jubilee of the victory of the Indian Armed Forces in the 1971 Indo-Pak war was taken out by Indian Navy personnel in Uttara Kannada district.

According to a press release issued by the Navy, the bicycle expedition was organised by Indian Naval Ship Vajrakosh, a premier missile base of the Indian Navy. A total of 14 personnel from Karwar Naval Base participated in the expedition, covering a distance of 200 km over three days.

** Seminar on medical ethics today

BLDE (Deemed to be University) will organise a seminar on medical ethics at B.M. Patil Medical College, Hospital and Research Centre in Vijayapura on Wednesday.

Resource persons Chairman of Karnataka Science and Technology Academy S. Ayyappan and UNESCO Chair in Life Sciences S. Ayrapetyan, Executive Member of KSTA B.G. Mulimani, Excecutive Member of ISC, Paris, Hamid Mobasheri, Pro-Vice Chancellor of International Medical University, Kuala Lumpur, Zabidi Husin and Chairperson of ICMR Ethics Committee Vasantha Muthuswamy will speak.

The former Minister and society chairman M.B. Patil will inaugurate it. Vice-Chancellor of BLDE (DU) R.S. Mudhol will be present.

** First-ever Konkani song made in Canada released

A golden chapter in the history of Konkani music has been unfolded and the much awaited first-ever Konkani Song ‘Novo-Bhorvoso’ made in Canada under the newly created banner ‘DoReMiFa Creations’ released on YouTube on December 19, 2021 at 8.00 pm Toronto time.

A couple of months ago, a brilliant thought came into the minds of two stalwarts and visionaries of the Konkani literature and music world in Canada, Gerry D Mello Bendur, and Ashith Glen Pinto. Both of them have always worked in the past to exhibit and transform revolutionary ideas into reality. This time too, they thought of the same process. First, they launched a banner DoReMiFa Creations with the utmost desire to work for the Konkani Music in Canada through uniting many talents based in Canada. The second thought was to formulate and create a song in Konkani to be presented by the renowned Konkani musicians and singers residing in Canada.

** IIMB gets EQUIS accreditation for five more years

Graduates who study at an EQUIS-accredited school can be assured that they will receive international recognition for their qualification.

EQUIS is an institutional assessment, improvement and accreditation system for business and management schools.