Month: December 2014

First Indian to Win ‘Miss. Supranational’ : December 2014

Asha Bhat, Bhadravati/Bengaluru (Bangalore)

December 05th, 2014.  22-year old beauty – Asha Bhat was crowned Miss Supranational 2014. She made the country proud by becoming the First Indian to win the coveted title

Asha Bhat wearing a gown designed by Gavin Miguel contested along with 70 beauty contestants from around the world.  She was crowned by the reigning Miss.Supranational, Mutya Datul from the Phillipines at a glittering ceremony held at the Krynica-Zdroj, Poland

Earlier in the pageant, Asha Bhat also won the title of ‘Miss Talent’ by giving a Bollywood fusion performance choreographed by Khush Numa Daruvalla

Asha Bhat is the daughter of Subrahmanya Bhat and Shymala Bhat who run a clinical laboratory in Bhadravati

She did her early schooling upto 10th standard in St.Charles School, Bhadravati. Her Pre-University at Alva’s College in Moodbidri. Asha is currently in her final year of Bachelors degree in R.V.College of Engineering, Bengaluru (Bangalore)

India’s First ‘AUSTSWIM’ Presenter for Swimming & Water Safety : December 2014

Partha Varanashi, Puttur, Karnataka

29-year old Partha Varanashi is the first Indian to be accredited by Austswim . With this swimming training is expected to get a whole new dimension in India

Austswim is Australia’s national organisation and is the industry standard for Swimming and Water Safety Teachers

The curriculum is vast which includes child psychology, behaviour patterns and safety. A 200-page manual is referenced for study and candidates have to undergo online tests

Partha was (**)Mangalore University’s champion swimmer for 3 years 2003, 2004 and 2005 (**) He was also 3-times finalist  in National swimming contests (**) South Australian Masters swimming record holder 2009 (**) Over 10 gold medals in Aussie Masters 2001-2010

Masters Degree holder in Plant biotechnology, University of Adelaide, Australia

In June 2012, Partha Varanashi returned to India to join his family’s bio-technology venture ‘Varanashi Farms’ in Adyanadka, Bantwal taluk (60 Km near Mangalore)

www.austswim.com.au

First time sale of ‘Live Fish’ in the State by Karnataka State Fisheries (KCFF) : December 2014

Karnataka State Co-operative Fisheries Federation Ltd (KCFF), Mysuru (Mysore)

December 05th, 2014. Live fresh water fish is being sold for the first time in the State by KCFF

The live fish (Pangasius fish) has been cultured for the first time by the Federation at KRS from August this year. This live fish is being brought from KRS and stored live in water tanks. After customer selection the fish is weighed and sold live – fresh.

The fresh water live fish is being sold on an experimental basis at 2 centres in Mysuru : Kukkarahalli lake and at the Fish Centre on Hunsur road and Valmiki road junction

India’s First privately-funded Badminton Academy founded in Bangalore : 1994

Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy (PPBA), Bengaluru (Bangalore)

PPBA was initially set up at the Canara Union courts in Malleswaram. Subsequently it moved to the Karnataka Badminton Association premises

PPBA was founded in 1994 by Prakash Padukone, Vimal Kumar and Vivek Kumar

Way back when PPBA was started, BPL came forward in the presence of Rajeev Chandrasekhar (BPL Mobile Founder) and Ajit Nambiar (BPL Chairman) to sponsor the Badminton Academy, making it the first privately-funded badminton academy in India and possibly the world . BPL provided the funds and the infrastructure

The current sponsors are TATA Capital

Some of the players amongst others, who went onto become famous National and International champions are:

** P. Gopichand, Dronacharya awardee and 2001 All-England champion -** Aparna Popat, 9-time National champion -** Vimal Kumar, Olympian -** Ashwini Ponnappa, Asian championship bronze medallist -** Vijay Lancy, former Indian International

PPBA celebrated its 20th Anniversary this month in December 2014

South India’s First Orchestra founded in Bangalore : 1935

Saraswathi Orchestra, Bengaluru (Bangalore)

Mayavaram Subramaniam Natarajan (aka..Silk Natarajan…aka…Banjo Nataraj) a maverick genius, in the 1930’s set out to put together his own band.

Silk Natarajan was born to a famous Dental Surgeon in Bangalore. He had mastered at least 18 musical instruments by the time he was a teenager

By early 1935 he got 5 like-minded friends (vidwans) together to form the ‘Saraswathi Orchestra’

Within a year the band Saraswathi Orchestra went on to become a 25-member Bangalore band that mixed Hindustani, Carnatic and Jazz music

Silk Nataraj gave India fusion music way back in the silent era. He met the famous dancer Maya Rao in one of his programmes and who would become his future wife

The Saraswathi Orchestra ran for 20 years before being disbanded in the 1950’s. Some of the members of the select group of 25, went to become very famous. A few of the well known are Mridangam Vidwan Veerabhadrappa, Vidwan Anoor Suryanarayana (vocalist and veena player), Vidwan Srikantiah (veena player) and Vidwan Krishnamurthy Rao (Violinist)

M S Natarajan passed away in September 1997 in Bangalore

Bangalore’s St.Andrew’s Church First Opened for Worship : 1866

St. Andrew’s Church (formerly St. Andrew’s Kirk), Cubbon Road, Bengaluru (Bangalore)

November 18th, 1866. St. Andrew’s Church – a Presbyterian church built with massive Scottish architecture is a prominent edifice in the city’s landscape which has retained its old glory. Named after the patron Saint of Scotland – St.Andrew , the church was originally home to the Scottish regiment in the Bangalore cantonment

The foundation stone for St.Andrew’s Kirk (as it was called then) was laid on November 22nd, 1864 by Lady Grant the wife of Lieutenant-General Sir.Hope Grant ,the Quartermaster-General of Her Majesty’s Forces

Designed by engineers Major Sankey, Chief Engineer and R.C. Dobbs, Executive Engineer of Mysore. The building was completed and opened for worship on November 18th, 1866

Heritage: (*) It has a 90-foot belfry tower that houses the church bell that has been ringing since 149 years  (*) The clock has been installed in 1893  (*) The church houses an 800-odd pipes-fitted pipe organ. Built by Peter Gonacher & Co., England. The pipe organ was installed on May 03rd, 1881

St.Andrew’s Church joined the C.S.I in September 1959

www.standrewschurch.org.in

World’s First – Bengaluru City NCBS Neuroscientists determine how PTSD occurs : December 2014

National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS) , Bengaluru (Bangalore)

December 01st, 2014. In a world first , Bengaluru based city Neuroscientists determine how the debilitating Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) occurs. Pave the way for Drugs leading to a potential cure

For the first time in the history of neuroscience – two scientists from the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS) in Bengaluru have conducted a detailed study on why and how one suffers from PTSD

The research published online on Nature Neuroscience website on December 01st, 2014 have paved the way for scientists all over the world to study ways to reverse PTSD or even develop medical aids to cure the condition

Professor Sumantra Chatterji, NCBS neuroscientist and also Director of the newly founded ‘Centre for Brain Development & Repair (CBDR) and Supriya Ghosh his student researched and engaged in the amygdala neuron research

They discovered that PTSD sets in when individual neurons in the amygdala lose their capability to discriminate between dangerous and safe stimuli

The team also identified the precise biochemical signalling mechanism inside the amygdala neurons which cause fear and PTSD

This potentially serves as a target for designing new treatments against PTSD

India’s First Tile Factory in Mangalore : 1860

The Basel Mission Tile Factory, Mangaluru (Mangalore)

India’s first tile factory was established in Mangalore in 1860 . The tiles were first introduced in India by a German Missionary – Plebot

Located on the banks of the river Nethravathi at Morgan’s Gate, close to the Ullal bridge in the Western Coast of India

This venture gave the now world famous ‘ Mangalore Tiles’. The British preferred these tiles for their Government buildings

The famous Architect Fredrick William Stevens used Mangalore tiles in constructing the Chhatrapati Sivaji Terminus, Mumbai(Bombay)

Some of the other heritage buildings in Mangalore that showcases these classic tiles are : (1) Office of the Deputy Commissioner (2) Government University College (Hampankatta) (3) St. Aloysius College (4) Rosario Church etc..