Society

3 years ago, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and Population First launched the Laadli Media Awards for Gender Sensitivity. Their objective is to annually recognize and reward gender just perspectives, stories and analyses by various newsmedia between 1st July of the previous year and 30th June of the current year. Comprising of regional and national awards, they are given in each category including print, internet, audio (radio) and audio-visual (television) media. Apart from this, there are also all India awards for similar efforts in advertising. Importantly, the awards include various vernacular tongues in addition to Urdu, Hindi and English. National…

Nishanth Repello, 15- years-old, idolises Nadal and pursues tennis full time at the Bangalore Tennis Academy (BTA) in JP Nagar. He is currently ranked 28 in the under-16 at the national level. Playing tennis since he was nine, Nishanth is being schooled through National Institute of Open Schooling. He says it gives him the flexibility to travel widely for tournaments and still not miss out on education. "I will be travelling to Mysore and Chandigarh to play in National Level tennis tournaments soon but my studies won't be affected", says Nishanth. Nishanth Repello, 15, aims to follow in the footsteps…

Dalai Lama, the Noble peace prize laureate is scheduled to visit St. Joseph college of Arts and Science, Bangalore this coming Sunday. Source: Wikimedia Commons. (Jamling_with_HH_Dalai_Lama.jpg) "H.H. the Dalai Lama has been invited to attend S Nijalingappa memorial function at Chitradurga, 500 km from Bangalore on coming Saturday", said Tashi Phuntsok, the chief representative of Central Tibetan Administration in South India (CTA). Nijalingappa was the first Karnataka chief minister, and the one who initially welcomed the Tibetan refugees into Karnataka state. The address at the college will be followed by a public talk on “Finding Happiness in Troubled Times,” organized…

In the Whitefield campus of technology major iGate, a most unusual tournament was on last week. It appears to many a curious bystander that all these people - of various ages and nationalities-were spending Monday morning playing intense games of Scrabble. At a table in the first row sits a man in a New Zealand t-shirt having just finished a game that his opponent is intently analysing. Nigel Richards at the tournament. Pic: Siri Srinivas You and I will not recognise the name but 42-year-old, Nigel Richards is the current world champion of Scrabble and a veritable legend. He had…

At a time when Bangalore's restaurants are more interested in hanging 30 ft high billboards that says "Buffet at 199", "Combo meal for 99" than serving an authentic meal, I happened to visit Fiorano, a classy Italian restaurant which believes in marketing their restaurant purely by the ‘word-of-palette'. In fact, this restaurant is so understated from the outside that we spent a good ten minutes to locate it despite knowing exactly where to look. This upscale restaurant’s interiors, though simple, are quite elegant. Pic: S K Shivashankar Located on the busy 100 ft road in Koramangala, Fiorano is one of…

No One Killed Jessica It was a murder and a trial that transfixed India. Now the story returns to celluloid in director Raj Kumar Gupta's account of the murder of model Jessica Lall and the subsequent trial of Manu Sharma. It remains an important film of our times, yet it is not always landmark cinema. The film narrates in dramatised documentary style the events surrounding Jessica's murder and the subsequent investigation and trial. Certain movies will also be remembered for the manner in which they caricature a city. No one killed Jessica is a film that also puts Delhi on…

18-year old Aaron D'Souza, based in Bangalore, is Karnataka's fastest swimmer. He is currently in an intensive training programme in preparation for the London Olympics next year. D'Souza won 2 gold medals at the South Asian games in 2009 (Dhaka) and was a finalist in the 4x100 medley relay at the 2010 Asian Games (Guangzhou, China). Rani Rampal is India's unheralded hockey wondergirl. At 15, Rani has proved to be one of the best hockey players in India. She was the top goal scorer of the Women's Hockey World Cup in 2010. Few know that Rani was so impressive that…

The Namma Bengaluru Awards, set up by the Namma Bengaluru Foundation (NBF), in its second edition has recieved a massive 10,463 nominations, says a release by the foundation on Tuesday, January 11th. This is an increase of more than 150% since last year.   One of the nominations was sent in by Narasingh, visually challenged by birth. He sent it in Braille format for Dr V Ashok Kumar, an Ayurvedic doctor. Nomination forms had been made available at more than 133 retail outlets of Food World, Bangalore One, Coffee Day, and CUPPA across the city. Jury members. From right to…

When most citizens of Bangalore were wrapped up under blankets on a cold Saturday morning, 43 adventure lovers set out to cycle, kayak and go bouldering. Bangalore Adventure Race or BAR 101 kicked off from Turahalli, off Kanakapura Road, Southern Bangalore at 4.50 am. The participants cycled 50 kms to the Manchanbele reservoir to face more tasks to test their endurance. Cycling part of the race. Pic courtesy: Bangalore Adventure Race. The 15 teams made it to Manchanbele in about two hours. And plunged straight into trail biking, bouldering or Kayaking, depending on the tasks they felt most confident of.…

After almost three decades of nurturing their dream, theatre personalities Arundhati and Jagdish Raja have finally seen it turn into a reality. Their dream was simple - a centre for the performing arts. Jagriti, which means awakening, aims to be a hub for the performing arts when in people have the opportunity be participate rather than just be an audience. Jagriti is located in Whitefield. The theatre intends to be a community centre where you can become involved, not just as audience, but be it as a participant in special workshops and lectures; an usher for shows or even as…