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Foreign nationals pledge their lives for restoration of Gurukul form of education Image by  chiragbarry via instagram Kalkeri Sangeet Vidyalaya on the outskirts of the picturesque and sleepy Kalkeri village near the culturally rich Dharwad city in Karnataka has many feathers in its cap. It’s not just another residential school imparting formal education in the rural areas but one founded by foreign nationals who have literally sacrificed their lives to ensure that the ideals of Gurukul continue to remain unabated since 2002. Mathieu Fortier from Canada and his French wife Agathe Meurisse are the co founders while Adam Woodward from Britain is the Director along with other members of the governing board who are striving incessantly to successfully run the educational cum music organization without any financial aid from either the state or central governments. Looking back at the history of inception of this residential school it reminds one like a script of a super d

‘Giant Killer’ George Fernandes passes away unnoticingly! A rare jewel in the present day politics in the form of Socialist and Trade Union leader George Fernandes is no more. His demise after a prolonged attack of Alzheimer’s disease and having remained literally a vegetable for years together is unthinkable of a fearless public figure known for volatile and candid remarks in public. Born in a joint catholic family of six children at Mangaluru in Karnataka, George as a lad of 16 years landed in Bengaluru to become the priest of a church. However within three years of his stint as a Christian missionary he underwent enough experience to realize the paradoxical situation on what was being preached and practiced. He quit his priesthood and reached the then Bombay not knowing what to do! Initially he had no one to stay in the country’s business capital and did petty jobs for livelihood sleeping in bus and railway stations. While loitering in this fashion he also got an opp

a'Walking God' says adieu to his journey Kyatasandra is a suburb on the outskirts of Tumakuru renowned for its 'Thatte Idlis'(Plate Idlis).Generally people traveling on this national highway make it a point to have a brief stopover in this place to please their taste buds. This has been the situation since decades and off late a visit to the nearby 'Sri Siddaganga Mutt' has almost become mandatory.It goes without saying that Dr Shivakumar Swamiji popularly reverred as 'Walking God' is the main attraction for such a practice. Dr Shivakumar Swamiji of the Siddaganga Mutt also popularly reverred as the 'Walking God' concluded his worldly journey at the overripe age of 111 years and 295 days!He met the lotus feet on Monday, 21st January. He was ailing for some time due to advanced age related ailments and failing health conditions and had been frequently in and out of various hospitals at Tumakuru,Bengaluru and Chennai.In the last phase he refu

Tumakuru:Coconut grove poised for another fierce battle Tumakuru is a district place and the district headquarters is just about an hour's drive from the state capital.It's also popularly known as 'Kalpataru Nadu' due to majority of the farming lands boasting of Coconut plantations all over along with Arecanut. But the once upon lush green terrain which was a feast to the eyes is now only a glory of the past as these days you only find a pathetic sight of the other kind.Thanks to failing rainy season,over exploitation of underground water and migration of people to smart cities dried up plantations makes your heart burn. Just like in other areas of the state all Taluk places are a witness of mushrooming of legal and illegal layouts on the once fertile agricultural fields on all possible directions.The others who still want to remain attached with peasantry are literally found struggling amidst a lot of adverse conditions. Well apart from such conditions

Kalaburgi Reserve constituency evokes keen interest among political onlookers Gulbarga or more well known as Kalaburagi locally is the divisional headquarters of Hyderabad Karnataka region.A division formerly part of the Nizam's kingdom at last became part of the state only in 1971 and that too after a prolonged relentless movement. If the state of Karnataka came into being on 1 November 1956 for all those residing in the erstwhile Hyderabad Karnataka areas celebrate their unification day taking into consideration the 1971 calendar as well. Well enough water has flown into Bheema,Bennithora and other rivers in the district since then apart from the district being split to carve the new Yadagiri district. Kalaburagi as it has been officially renamed has by and large remained a strong Congress bastion ever since it came into being after Independence. Right from the first ever general elections during 1951 and the subsequent polls held in 1957,1962,1967 and 1971 the con

Jaganmohan Reddy walks in father's footsteps to ascend CM's throne in Andhra Pradesh Jaganmohan Reddy, YSR Congress party leader and leader of the opposition in the Andhra Pradesh state Assembly has created a new record of sorts by walking the state on foot.He concluded his 'Praja Sanklapa Padyatra' today by addressing a mammoth public meeting at Ichchapuram in Srikakulam district. YSR party sources claim that this padyatra is the longest one undertaken by any political leader in the country.In fact he began his walk on foot across the 13 districts of the state from Idupulapaya in Kadala district from 6 November 2017. It may be recalled here that incidentally this is also the final resting place of his father YS Rajasekhar Reddy popularly referred as YSR. In over 429 days but 340 days of actual walking Jaganmohan Reddy has covered 3,648 kilometres and thereby reaching out to 134 of the total 175 Assembly constituencies. Rough estimates put the number of pe

Coalition disasters, manmade tragedies mark 2018 The bye gone year had been a bundle of good, bad and worse for Karnataka if you were to glance at the important developments that took place during this period. General elections held on 12 May for the 224 members state Assembly paved way for a hung house thereby depriving the Bharatiya Janata Party from assuming power. Heavy rains along with unheard floods, landslips and major landslides resulted into the death of a few people apart from displacing many more people of the picturesque, coffee rich Kodagu district. Likewise 30 passengers lost their lives in a ghastly bus mishap and more than 17 people died after consuming prasadam at a temple in Chamarajnagar district. Karnataka also lost three political and cultural personalities during this period. HN Ananthkumar, Union Parliamentary Affairs, Fertilizers and Chemicals Minister, CK Jaffer Shariff, former central minister and octogenarian Congress leader and MH Ambareesh,

Forest cover increases by 1,100 sq. kms. in the state If you have been tired of hearing depletion of forests elsewhere there’s good news to all wildlife enthusiasts as the forest cover in the state has been enhanced to 1,100 square kilometers in the past decade according to Shiv Raj Singh, APCCF. He revealed this interesting piece of information during a media interaction at Male Mahadeshwara Hills in Chamarajnagar district on the eve of a media seminar recently. At the same time he also admitted that such a feat was made possible due to a combination of multiple efforts: Probably there are any numbers of stake holders in the accomplishment and they include the people, public representatives and the media. Apart from the increase of forest cover a simultaneous development in the hilly and forest terrain is the increase of wild animals, both vegetarian and non vegetarian which again is a welcome development in the overall increase of wildlife. Perhaps after the ‘killing

Devegowda family relies heavily on divine power to retain power The temple run spree of HD Kumaraswamy, Chief Minister of the Janata Dal Secular- Congress alliance government continues to keep going unabated and the pace has dwindled now with the ten days state legislature session scheduled to commence from 10 December in Belagavi Suvarna Soudha. HD Kumaraswamy has reiterated umpteen number of time that he has occupied the chief minister’s position only because of the grace of almighty although the people of the state gave only 38 legislators to the party in the state Assembly. HD Devegowda family is again seeking divine blessings to manage the unstable power boat which has started making dangerous tilts, thanks to the frequent threats of ‘Operation Kamal’ by the 104 member Bharatiya Janata Party. A 20 days yaga for the improvement of HD Kumaraswamy’s fragile health apart from totally destroying all enemies on the political front is currently on at Sringeri, the abode of

Ramya stirs another controversy by vacating rented house in Mandya  overnight Ramya alias Divya Spandana,popular Kannada heroine turned Congress MP,spokesperson is again back in news by vacating her rented bungalow at Mandya overnight. She had taken the house on rent with an intention of resuming her political career in Mandya from where she had been elected to the lower house of Parliament once. It may be recalled here that during the 2014 Parliament elections she had lost to CS Puttaraju of the Janata Dal Secular by a meagre margin of 5,518votes.In the photo finish polls she had polled 5,18, 852 votes. After the closely drawn battle and losing the elections she had shifted from Mandya and was also maintaining a low profile in the district Congress politics. Of late she had attracted ire of the district people by condoling the death of MH Ambareesh over twitter and failing to pay her tributes in person in spite of being very much in Bengaluru. Fearing mob frenzy over

CK Jaffer Shariff Congress loses its prominent Muslim face in Karnataka Challakere Abdul Kareem Jaffer Shariff was an embodiment of the proverb: Small is beautiful. A relatively dwarf personality by physical stature but made it big on the national politics in general and in a dominant manner on the home turf of Karnataka. But no one disputes the fact of a prominent face of the Congress in the state being withered away with the demise of CK Jaffer Shariff. Unfortunately the former Union Minister’s death went unnoticed in the mainstream media as MH Ambareesh, another former union minister and popular Kannada film personality also passed away the very same day. In fact the local vernacular TV channels beamed live the developments related to the actor’s death and funeral day in and day out but chose to ignore a political leader who had immensely contributed to the state and nation. CKJS’s meteoric rise in politics is typical to the rags and riches stories. He hailed from a

MH Ambareesh:Sandalwood loses another popular hero In the passing away of MH Ambareesh, former Union Minister of state for Information and Broadcasting the Sandalwood (Kannada film industry) has lost one more legendary actor. The former state Housing minister who was ailing for some time had also been treated in a Singapore hospital a few years back. Of late he had distanced himself from politics and had refused to contest the May 2018 general elections to the state Assembly. He entered the celluloid world through a small villain role in late Puttanna Kanagal’s directorial venture, Nagarhaavu(Cobra).In fact this film also happened to be the maiden picture of Vishnuwardhana as a hero. Then on there’s no looking back to him in the regional film industry. He slowly started climbing the ladder of success by acting in supporting characters and villain roles. But his performance in SV Rajendra Singh Babu directed ‘Antha’(End) took his film career to a new high. Perhaps it’s the