Goodness Apple

Puma thinks outside the box with eco-packaging

Posted in Eco by goodnessapple on April 19, 2010
Usain Bolt crossing the winning line

Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt is one of Puma’s biggest names

Famous footballers such as Pele, Johan Cruyff and Maradona originally brought Puma’s name to UK audiences, and current stars such as Usain Bolt have kept the company in the spotlight.

But now the sports and leisure firm wants to be known as much for its sustainable business plan as for its big sporting names.

At London’s Design Museum on the banks of the River Thames the German firm unveiled its new environmentally-friendly packaging for its footwear, which will mean an end to the traditional shoe box.

After more than two years of looking at various solutions, industrial designer Yves Behar of Fuse Project has came up with what is dubbed Puma’s “Clever Little Bag”.

From the end of next year the sports kit maker aims to cut its carbon footprint by putting its shoes in a frame made from a single cardboard sheet and wrapped in reusable shoe bags.

Customers can leave the card at the store, or take it home and recycle it. The bag can be re-used or recycled, and is biodegradable.

‘Sustainability necessary’

According to Puma the move will save 8,500 tonnes of paper, and mean a reduction of 60% in water and energy used during the production process.

It will also mean a reduction in transportation, due to the lighter packaging which does away with much cardboard, tissue paper, and various forms of plastic wrappings.

Puma 'clever bag'

The new design does away with much of the traditional footwear packaging

“Sustainability in business is no longer negotiable, it is absolutely necessary, and we companies are overdue in taking responsibility,” declares Jochen Zeitz, Puma’s youthful-looking 47-year-old chief executive and chairman.

“Business is part of the environmental problem; and we need to do what we can to fix it – companies need to lead the way.

“Meanwhile, consumers are becoming increasingly discerning in their choices and we need to address this too.”

The move is part of what Puma says are ways of cutting its carbon “pawprint” over the next five years.

And the firm says it is only the limitations of current technology that is preventing its products from being totally environmentally-friendly.

“Over time we hope to be 100% recyclable, but at the moment we want to reach standards that are achievable today,” Mr Zeitz says.

No job cuts

The delay in implementing the new packaging is due to having to run tests to take the bag through Puma’s supply chain, and “educating” its partners.

Mr Zeitz says that covers everything from showing retailers how to stack the bags in stores to dealing with the conservative working traditions of German warehouse staff.

Jochen Zeitz

Mr Zeitz says the move is cost neutral in the medium to long term

Meanwhile, he says the move is “estimated at being cost neutral in the mid to long term, and slightly negative in the short term”.

Puma say it has factored this into its development costs, and is looking forward to when the programme will save it money by using less energy and less materials, while producing less waste.

At the moment the majority of its products are made in Asia, in countries such as China and Vietnam, so the bags will be initially manufactured there too.

When sub-production facilities are up and running in places like Argentina and Brazil among others, then bags will also be made in plants nearby to factories there.

Mr Zeitz says there are not expected to be any job cuts as part of this programme.

Motor sports

However, why does a company with such green aims sponsor Formula One, perhaps one of the most environmentally-unfriendly sports?

Not only are the cars burning large amounts of fuel, albeit with a biofuel element, but huge amounts of equipment have to be transported by truck or aircraft around the world from race to race.

Ferrari driver Felipe Massa

Puma is a supporter of the Ferrari Formula One team

The firm, which has a Puma Motorsports division, backs the Ferrari and Red Bull F1 teams, makes clothing for two Nascar racing teams, and sponsors and supplies the Ducati Corse Moto GP motorcycle team.

“If you look at the number of [F1] races a year, the limited amount of [carbon] footprint is small,” says Mr Zeitz.

He says motor racing body the FIA is trying to persuade F1 to become more environmentally-friendly, through increased use of biofuels and other measures.

Mr Zeitz also says that Puma is in constant discussions with its F1 and Moto GP partners to try to influence them to become more green.

Be he adds: “We don’t want to become complete purists and say we will not use our cars any more.

“We are not saying we have to be perfect, we know we are not in a perfect world, but can improve some areas through things such as better technology.”

He also points to Puma’s involvement in competitive sailing as a sign of its green credentials.

World Cup hopes

Mr Zeitz has spearheaded the worldwide restructuring of Puma, and made it one of Germany’s best-known businesses abroad.

Since 2007, Puma has been majority-owned by PPR, the French luxury goods maker that also owns Gucci, and has expanded into the lifestyle clothing arena as well as making sports kit.

Yves Behar

The new packaging has been designed by Yves Behar

And with less then two months to go until the World Cup in South Africa, the firm is hoping the football jamboree can boost sales.

Puma sponsors 12 African teams, so it expects a “home field advantage” with the tournament being in Africa.

It sponsors Ghana, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Mozambique, Egypt, Tunisia, Namibia, Morocco, Angola, Senegal, Togo and Algeria.

Before the World Cup kicks off on 11 June, Puma’s fourth-quarter results are due out at the end of April.

The company’s third-quarter pre-tax profits, released last November, before interest fell 21.6% to 98m euros ($145.8m; £87m).

Big rivalry

Meanwhile, Mr Zeitz has promised more progress on one of Europe’s biggest sporting business stories of last year – the move to end its long and bitter rivalry with Adidas.

The rivalry was started 60 years ago by their founding brothers – Adi and Rudolf Dassler, who had started making sports shoes together in the 1920s.

Diego Maradona in action

Diego Maradona wearing Puma boots in the 1986 World Cup final

They fell out during World War II and founded firms on either side of a river in southern Germany, Adi with Adidas and Rudolf with Puma.

Last year the two firms played a friendly football match to try to end the feud.

“It’s something we want to continue,” Mr Zeitz says.

“I would certainly hope and believe we will do something again, it should not be a one-off.”

For now the firm is concentrating on telling the world about its new packing system.

Deyan Sudjic, director of the Design Museum, says: “They have invested time and money in the project to come up with something that is elegant yet meets its objectives.”

Reference Link
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8619165.stm

Courtesy
BBC News

Cameroon's conjoined twins help spread Islam

Posted in Healthcare, Social by goodnessapple on April 19, 2010
Formerly conjoined twins

By Francis Ngwa Niba
Babanki Tungo, Cameroon

Cameroonian conjoined twins Pheinbom and Shevoboh were seen as a bad omen when born, but their successful separation by Saudi surgeons has changed their lives – and the faith of some in their village.

People used to see me carrying them and run away and I felt so guilty and alone
Twins’ mother Emerencia Nyumale

They were joined at the chest, abdomen and pelvis when born and some of the delivery nurses in Babanki Tungo, a village in north-west Cameroon, were so shocked by the “strange birth” that they ran out of the small clinic.

The basic medical services in Babanki Tungo were ill-equipped to care for the girls and, following an internet appeal, the Saudi king agreed to pay for them to be flown to Saudi Arabia for surgery in 2007.

The 16-hour operation succeeded in separating the twins and now they each have their own stomach.

Parents of formerly conjoined twins, Cameroon

Ngong James Akumbu (r), aka “Abdallah”, has fathered 13 children

However, nearly three years on from the surgery, serious physical challenges remain.

After the separation, the girls were left with one leg each, and they are now waiting to return to Saudi Arabia to be fitted with artificial limbs and begin the arduous task of learning how to walk.

At the moment, they can only crawl. Even so, the twins are playful, talkative and mischievous – typical four-year-old girls, in fact.

But when they were born, they were anything but typical.

Islamic conversions

Some people in Babanki Tungo – a farming village known for producing many of Cameroon’s vegetables – thought they were “satanic gifts” sent to punish their father, who already had 13 other children by two different wives.

Before the school was opened, I was unemployed, had many girlfriends and drank a lot
Koranic school teacher Kum Edwin

Others believed that Pheinbom and Shevoboh were sent to punish the whole village, after a traditional leader in the region was burnt alive by his angry subjects.

“It was very difficult when the babies were still joined together,” the girls’ mother Emerencia Nyumale remembers.

“People used to see me carrying them and run away and I felt so guilty and alone,” she says.

“Thank God all that has ended now since their separation.”

The girls’ story has had another importance consequence for the people of Babanki Tungo.

Islamic centre, Babanki Tungo, Cameroon

Babanki Tungo has seen several conversions to Islam following the twins’ separation

The Saudi government is funding an Islamic centre in the village consisting of a mosque, nursery, primary school and health centre.

This has led some village elders to predict that the largely Christian Babanki Tungo will be slowly Islamised.

The twins’ parents have taken the lead.

As a mark of appreciation to their daughters’ Saudi benefactors, they have converted to Islam.

The girl’s father, Ngong James Akumbu, now calls himself “Abdallah”, Emerencia goes by “Aisha”, and five or their children attend the Islamic primary school.

Blessing or curse?

Kum Edwin, a teacher at the school, has also converted.

“Before the school was opened, I was unemployed, had many girlfriends and drank a lot,” says Mr Edwin, who has changed his name to “Abdallah Wagf”.

CONJOINED TWINS
Conjoined twins are extremely rare, occurring in as few as one in every 200,000 live births
They are created just a few days after conception – most likely by the incomplete splitting of the fertilised egg
Most are stillborn, and a proportion of those who are born alive do not survive long afterwards

“When I heard an Islamic school will be opened here, I did a three-month Islamic studies [course]… I no longer drink a lot and I am now searching for a wife because having lots of girlfriends is not good.”

Many people in Babanki Tungo now see the birth of Pheinbom and Shevoboh as a blessing rather than a curse.

The sight of the twins crawling around the village no longer attracts mistrustful looks, as once it did.

“I always tell every parent to be patient because God always tempts people by showing them bad things which are good things in the future,” muses the girls’ father.

Indeed, the twins have seen a remarkable change in their fortunes.

From outcasts at birth, they now have their own, separate lives and have played an important part in changing the lives of the people around them.

After all that, learning to walk may prove to be easy.

Reference Link
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8605403.stm

Courtesy
BBC News

The men who built Brazil's modern capital Brasilia

Posted in Social by goodnessapple on April 19, 2010
Monument to Juscelino Kubitschek in Brasilia

Brasilia is one of the world’s most famous planned cities

Three years before John F Kennedy declared that he too was a Berliner, a Brazilian president made a similarly striking claim: that he was a candango, one of the thousands of poor people who left their homes and families for a better future building the country’s new capital, Brasilia.

“Brasilia is only here… because the faith in God and in Brazil supported all of us, all this family here today, all you candangos to whom I am proud to belong,” said President Juscelino Kubitschek when the city was inaugurated on 21 April, 1960.

It was President Kubitschek’s leadership that had won the political support and the financing for Brasilia, in the face of significant public opposition.

But it was the candangos who gave their sweat, toil and – in some cases – their lives for its construction.

In just three years, filled with dizzying optimism, they built what is now one of the world’s most famous planned cities.

Vicente Castro and his wife

Vicente Castro has seen Brasilia grow and spread

“At the beginning, it was difficult. We worked like slaves – 48 hours without a break – to finish the city in time for the inauguration,” said Vicente Castro, 78.

Mr Castro arrived in Brasilia on a flatbed truck after hearing a radio advertisement. He now has children and grandchildren in the city.

This year, as Brasilia celebrates its 50th anniversary, the candangos are finally gaining public recognition for their contribution.

“Those who worked in the construction [have been] considered simple people. The public knows more about the story of the ‘pioneers’: people who were of a higher social class and who arrived after the city was built,” says Luciana Maya, of the Living Museum of Candango Memory in Brasilia.

“This year I’ve seen the media become interested in the candangos’ stories… and their role in creating not just the buildings, but also the soul of the city. I think the courage and fortitude of the candangos make them really important.”

Carving city out of forest

Work on Brasilia began in earnest in 1957. A few hundred workers cleared the forest and carved out the city’s main thoroughfares.

BUILDING OF BRASILIA
Inauguration of the city

“The solitude [was] our worst enemy,” observed Manuel Mendes, an administrator at the time, in his diary.

“We [had] no radio, no electricity, nowhere to go. We [satisfied] ourselves telling anecdotes or jokes in order not to die of boredom and homesickness.”

There were so few workers that construction companies were in a race to to hire them.

Soon, however, a city began to take shape out of the forest.

By 1959, an estimated 30,000 candangos were at work. Despite mostly having no experience in building work, they pieced together today’s Brasilia, with its modernist icons designed by Oscar Niemeyer.

And while they did so, they created their own, temporary Brasilia: a place of wooden houses and bars, cut off from the rest of the country except for the occasional airplane.

Brazil’s Wild West

The workers brought traditions from all over Brazil with them. But many commented that the place Brasilia most resembled was the Wild West.

The first candango settlement was known as Cidade Livre – Free Town – because all trade was tax-exempt. In other ways, the name was inappropriate.

“Freedom was what we left behind. Freedom here [in Brasilia] meant the freedom to work,” says another candango, Raimundo Aguilar.

Maria Araujo
My husband helped to build the cinemas, hospitals, the Senate. He saw lots of deaths, people falling from [the scaffolding of] the Senate
Maria Araujo

But he still believes the 18-day journey from his hometown in Brazil’s north-east was worth it: “Life was hard here, but it was worse back in Ceara.”

During the construction, the emergent Brasilia was a man’s world: few builders brought their wives with them. Maria Araujo’s fiance left for Brasilia in 1958 without telling her.

Six years later, however, he returned to marry her, and the next day, they flew off to live in the new Brasilia together.

“My husband helped to build the cinemas, hospitals, the Senate. He saw lots of deaths, people falling from [the scaffolding of] the Senate. Ave Maria, it makes you proud to be able to call yourself a candango!” she said.

“We adapted to life here – the only thing was the mud. Most roads didn’t have asphalt, so you couldn’t go out because you came back dirty.”

Like many candangos, she is quick to recognise a debt to President Kubitschek, who died in a car crash in 1976, having left office.

“JK was someone truly special,” said Mrs Araujo. “He was a father to us.”

Vicente Castro remembers a personal encounter with the president: “He was so humble. Once he came into a restaurant where I was having lunch. He told us not to get up, that he didn’t want to interrupt our break. Later, presidents didn’t value our work in the same way.”

Lasting influence

Paradoxically, many candangos were unable to afford homes in the new Brasilia that they had built. After the inauguration, they moved out to Brasilia’s satellite towns.

Wooden house built by the candangos

Some of the wooden houses built by the candangos remain in Brasil

But Mr Castro still lives in Vila Planalto, the site of the workers’ camp where he arrived 50 years ago.

Today, Vila Planalto retains a community spirit that betrays its origin. The streets are thick with fruit trees, and locals fish in the nearby lake.

“It’s like a city of the interior right in the middle of Brasilia,” says the parish priest, Rodrigo Amaral.

Nearby, Maria Araujo still lives in the wooden house that her late husband built.

Successive governments had tried to knock down all remaining wooden houses to make way for modern buildings, but in 1988 the structures were recognised as national heritage.

“Now they should recognise our ownership of the land – free of charge. Without us all this would be forest,” she said.

Of course, the building of Brasilia didn’t stop with the candangos or with the city’s inauguration in 1960.

New buildings were added, and some of the modernist architecture of the 1960s, like the National Theatre.

But the candangos’ story testifies to an age when construction was a truly heroic exercise.

Reference Link
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8604666.stm

Courtesy
BBC News

Mobile unit for cancer treatment to be launched

Posted in Healthcare by goodnessapple on April 19, 2010

Unit has been developed by C-DAC


Virtual super-specialty treatment in four districts

Patient visits to hospitals to come down


KANNUR: A national seminar on tele-medicine for cancer treatment will be held here on April 25 under the aegis of the Kannur-based Malabar Cancer Care Society (MCCS) in association with the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC).

The seminar titled ‘Mobile tele-medicine and low-cost cancer control in rural areas’ is being held in connection with the launching of Sanjeevani, the mobile oncology tele-medicine unit developed by C-DAC that covers Kannur, Kasaragod, Wayanad and Kozhikode.

Experts in the field would speak on tele-medicine, Information Technology, cancer diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation at the seminar, the organisers said.

The experts include Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) former chairman and current president of Paris-based International Academy of Astronautics G. Madhavan Nair, Founder-Director of Regional Cancer Centre, Thiruvananthapuram, M. Krishnan Nair, C-DAC Director General Rajan T. Joseph, C-DAC Senior Director Raveendra Kumar, oncologists Babu Mathew, K. Ramadas, P. Usha Rani, Tele-medicine Advisor to the Central government B.S. Bedi and C-DAC scientist M.C. Kartha.

Modern facility

Sanjeevani, a project funded by the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, is in pilot implementation in the four northern districts and is being executed by the MCCS with the cooperation of the Central IT Department, ISRO and C-DAC. It is conceived as a model to be implemented in other parts of the country. The mobile tele-medicine unit with its state-of-the-art medical equipment, satellite connectivity and other facilities would provide virtual super-specialty environment in the rural areas of the four districts for early cancer detection, follow-up consultation, palliative care and cancer eradication programmes. The scheme would also reduce patient visits to cancer hospitals by 30 per centre.

MCCS president D. Krishnanadha Pai said the scheme was envisaged as a facility to provide cancer care to patients at their doorstep and ensure consultation and treatment by the oncologists of the RCC. The project would be a model for other parts of the country if it was successful, he added.

Sanjeevani scheme offers services including follow-up monitoring and palliative care of cancer patients, screening of women for cervical cancer and treatment for early stage cervical cancer using cryo-surgery, among others.

Mr. Pai said representatives of local clubs and voluntary organisations, members of local bodies, doctors and medical students would participate in the seminar. Those interested in participating in the seminar should contact the MCCS (phone: 0497-2705309, 9446525309) before 4 p.m. on April 21.

Reference Link
http://www.hindu.com/2010/04/19/stories/2010041954760300.htm

Courtesy
The Hindu

Organic farmers presented awards

Posted in Agriculture by goodnessapple on April 19, 2010

The award function was organised as part of an exhibition of organic products.


KOCHI, India: Noottupara Haritha Sangham, an organic farmers’ group, based at Kanjikkuzhi in Alappuzha district, won the award for the best group of organic farmers at the Organic Kerala agricultural exhibition, organised here on Sunday.

The programme was organised by the Organic Kerala Charitable Trust, in association with the Kerala State Biodiversity Board and Rajagiri Outreach, another organisation based in Kochi.

Organic practices

More than 20 farmers of the group are employing organic practices in 17 acres to produce vegetables at Kanjikkuzhi.

The local panchayat development committee is undertaking the marketing of the produce.

The award was received by K.P. Bhasuran, on behalf of the group, from Jayakrishnan, chairman of the trust.

Exhibition

The award function was organised as part of an exhibition of organic products. Paddy, wheat, vegetables and fruits were among the items on show.

The four-day exhibition will conclude on Monday.

Farmers from Palakkad, Kozhikkode, Kottayam and Alappuzha, who are participating at the exhibition, explained the farming methods to the visitors, the general convenor of the event, M.M. Abbas, said.

Reference Link
http://www.hindu.com/2010/04/19/stories/2010041959600300.htm

Courtesy
The Hindu

Textbooks by post

Posted in Education by goodnessapple on April 19, 2010

India Post signs MoU with KBPS


3,200 textbook societies are the target destinations

All books to be delivered before new academic year


KOCHI, India: The Department of Posts will this year deliver textbooks to various societies that route them to schools in the State. Textbook depots had been doing the job earlier.

India Post, Kerala, has entered into a memorandum of understanding with the Kerala Books and Publishers Society (KBPS) that publishes the entire lot of textbooks for State schools.

The delivery of textbooks had been a problem as various agencies had been taking up the endeavour each year and many complaints cropping up owing to delays.

Shibu M. Job, Director, Postal Services, Central Region, said the department had already picked up a consignment of two volumes of Class X books for delivery on April 10. The MoU was inked the day before. The printing of these textbooks, along with the first volumes of books for classes I to IX, had been completed months ago. It is the first time that the KBPS has been entrusted with not just printing but also delivery of the books.

Special system

As the quantum of cargo is huge and destinations many, the postal department has devised a special system for delivery, Mr. Job said.

The entire lot of class X textbooks, weighing about 1,100 tonnes, and also the first volume of textbooks for classes I to IX will be delivered before the start of next academic year, he said. The 3,200 cooperatives of textbook societies in the State are the target delivery destinations, he added.

The first consignment picked up by the postal services was for Thodupuzha and Kattapana in Idukki district, a difficult terrain topographically. The non-delivered books from textbook depots of the Education Department were also picked up.

The first lot would be delivered to the post office warehouses in Kattapana and Thodupuzha, from where these would be delivered to the various textbook societies under which come a group of schools in the area.

The work involves picking up books from the KBPS in Kakkanad and combining it with the lot available in textbook depots and then delivering it to the respective school societies.

All the Class X lots will be picked up by Monday and delivery will be completed by April-end, Mr. Job said.

The second phase will be to pick up the first volume of books for classes I to IV, after which comes books of classes VI and VII and lastly those of classes VIII and IX will be picked up. All books will be delivered before the start of the next academic year, he said.

Reference Link
http://www.hindu.com/2010/04/19/stories/2010041955660400.htm

Courtesy
The Hindu

Teach art in schools, says artist

Posted in Education by goodnessapple on April 19, 2010

Exhibition of paintings inaugurated at Vibhuti Art Gallery in Udupi

KEEN INTEREST:Artist Gunasagari Rao explaining her paintings to Dean of Kasturba Medical College Sripathi Rao (second from left) at the exhibition in Udupi on Sunday.

Udupi, India: Veteran artist and former chairman of the Karnataka Lalit Kala Akademi Peter A. Lewis said on Sunday that art should be taught to children in schools.

He was presiding over the inaugural function of an exhibition of paintings of Gunasagari Rao, organised by junior artists here. The exhibition is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Vibhuti Art Gallery here till April 20.

Significance

Mr. Lewis said that art helped children in giving vent to their feelings and creativity through drawings and paintings. This would also help children in their studies. They would be able to understand their culture. Children should not become mere book-worms. “Art is an integral part of every person’s life,” he said. Mr. Lewis said that it was essential that artists supported their fellow professionals in trouble. M.F. Hussain was one of the greatest artists of India. But, it was saddening that he had to seek nationality of Qatar. “Artists are never interested in politics. They are above it,” he said.

Inaugurating the exhibition, dean of Kasturba Medical College Sripathi Rao said that art was meant for all. Nobody could confine art. Hitler tried doing it and failed. Manipal University always encouraged artists and art exhibitions, he said.

Artist P.N. Acharya welcomed the gathering. Director of Chitrakalamandir College of Arts K.L. Bhat was present.

Reference Link
http://www.hindu.com/2010/04/19/stories/2010041959340300.htm

Courtesy
The Hindu

19 theatre artistes presented awards

Posted in Arts by goodnessapple on April 19, 2010


Honour:Theatre personalities along with the awards given to them by the Karnataka Nataka Academy in Mysore.

MYSORE, India: The Karnataka Nataka Academy (KNA) conferred its annual awards upon 19 theatre personalities at a function at Jaganmohan Palace auditorium here on Saturday evening.

Nadoja Prof. D. Javare Gowda, Chairman of the KNA D.V. Rajaram, and Secretary, Department of Kannada and Culture, B.R. Jayaramaraje Urs, presented the awards.

Noted theatre personality N. Rathna released the Academy’s award-winning work, Ranga Brindavana, and Mr. Urs distributed grants for theatre organisations that supplied sceneries and costumes to rural theatre.

Ranga Meravanige — a colourful procession of theatre personalities accompanied by folk troupes, was flagged off by Mayor Purushottam at Town Hall, and it concluded near Jaganmohan Palace.

Programme on culture

A 60-minute programme that presented the rich tradition, history and culture of theatre was the main attraction for those assembled. It provided a brief glimpse into theatre in Karnataka so far.

A Lifetime Achievement Award was conferred upon theatre personality S.R. Shankar Rao. Lakshman Rao Muttagi was given the K. Hiranniah Award.

Y.M. Puttannaiah of Mysore, H. Pandurangappa (Bellary), Lingaraju Palled (Koppal), Hanumanthu (Hassan), Manjunath Belakere (Mysore), N. Ravindra (Bangalore), Jayamma Kallur (Bijapur), Jayaprakash Mavinakuli (Udupi), Shanthabayi Diggi (Gulbarga), Rangashree R. Rangaswamy (Bangalore), Prakash (Mandya), Husenappa Pulameshwara Dinni (Raichur), T.V. Kabadi (Haveri), Prakashrao Payyar (Dubai), and S.M. Nagarajachar of Tumkur were given annual awards.

Ranga Mukhagalu, a work by Rajashekara Kadamba of Mysore and Rangabhoomi Diggaja Natashekara Pandita Basavaraja Mansoor Jeevana Saadhane of Martandappa M. Katti of Hirebasuru Haveri got the awards for the best works on theatre.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Urs said it had been decided to increase the annual income limit fixed for paying monthly pension to artistes from the present Rs. 3,000 to Rs. 12,000. Similarly, pension which was being given to dependents of artistes in case of death, would be increased from Rs. 300 to Rs. 500.

Presently, over 3,600 theatre artistes were getting pension of Rs. 1,000, another 400 artistes would be given pension this year based on a report submitted by a committee headed by Hampa Nagarajaiah. The Government was not interfering in the work of Academies and were in fact encouraging them to work independently by earmarking Rs. 160 crore for the Department of Kannada and Culture. “No other government in the country has earmarked this huge amount for language and culture,” he said.

Expressing his gratitude to the Government for increasing grants, Dr. Rajaram said that while the previous governments were providing grant of Rs. 15 lakh, the present government had increased it to Rs. 40 lakh. “However, there is a need to increase the grants to facilitate Academies to expand their activities,” he said.

Recalling the contribution of theatre to society, Prof. Javare Gowda underlined the need to stage plays that highlighted social concerns. He urged the Government to construct auditoriums in all taluks in the State to promote theatre.

Reference Link
http://www.hindu.com/2010/04/19/stories/2010041950590200.htm

Courtesy
The Hindu

Centre to release coin on Thanjavur Big Temple

Posted in Enterprising by goodnessapple on April 19, 2010

CHENNAI, India: The Centre has agreed to release a commemorative coin of Thanjavur Big Temple, which is completing 1,000 years.

An official release stated that Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi had written to the Centre with a request to issue a commemorative coin, stating that the temple had unique Dravidian architecture and was listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Monument.

In response, Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had said that the Centre had decided to issue the special coin based on the unique and outstanding architecture.

Mr. Karunanidhi has also written to Union Minister for Communications and Information Technology A. Raja to release a special stamp to commemorate the occasion.

Reference Link
http://www.hindu.com/2010/04/19/stories/2010041955720400.htm

Courtesy
The Hindu

Students' pictures portray dreams, aspirations

Posted in Arts by goodnessapple on April 19, 2010


Creative eye: Students take a look at the pictures displayed at a photo exhibition in Chennai on Sunday. —

CHENNAI, India: Some photographs chronicle visual history. A few others capture a glimpse of life’s happenings. But an exhibition of pictures by students of Olcott Memorial High School here on Sunday talks about stories behind the pictures.

Nearly 100 photographs, all taken by students of Class IX of the school, have in them the aspirations of children. Classified into different themes such as nature and place, the pictures were captured in and around Theosophical Society. A solitary crab crossing a road adjacent to the beach, a tiny worm slithering on a man’s foot and dry twigs surviving the windy afternoon were pinned one after another, each with impressive lighting and exposure. Sunshine, flowers, market and the sea also featured in the work of 16 students, who were selected from 50-odd students for their willingness to learn. A group of teachers and volunteers got together to train the children for the project, funded by the Youth Parliament Foundation and UNESCO. Their lessons began with the basics. For the next 3 months, the students learnt all about flash, shutter control, exposure and aperture. They were sent on assignments around Oorurkuppam and Theosophical Society. “It was fun, as we were seeing such sophisticated cameras for the first time. We weren’t told about any theme. They wanted us to shoot whatever we found interesting,” says B. Suresh, one of the student participants.

“It is an attempt to change perceptions about young people. Their creations testify the latent talent in them and their attitude towards society,” says Shoba Narayana, programme coordinator.

Reference Link
http://www.hindu.com/2010/04/19/stories/2010041958510200.htm

Courtesy
The Hindu