Siblings show their pedigree

Children hog the imelight

Staff Correspondent - The Hindu

AMAZING FEAT:Roshni Pawar's Bharatanatyam on rollerskates had the audience in a trance on the final day of Dharwad Utsava in Hubli on Tuesday.

HUBLI: It was children's day of sorts on the final day of the Dharwad Utsav at Sawai Gandharva Hall here on Tuesday.

It may be recalled that the final day programmes of the Dharwad Zilla Utsava that were to be held at the hall on Monday were put off to Tuesday following the demise of vocalist Pt. Bhimsen Joshi.

While students of Kaizen Roller Academy mesmerised the audience with their performances which was a mix of roller-skating and dance, students of NLE Society's Slow Learners' School presented a dance programme.

Roshani Pawar, a class 7 student, presented her skills in roller skating. Draped in the Bharatanatyam attire she presented yoga and Bharatanatyam on skates which won thunderous applause from the audience. Later, she paired with Rohan Kokani to present the “Bannada Tagadina Tuttoori”, a composition by poet G.P. Rajaratnam.

Four-day Dharwad Utsav ends on a vibrant note

Jan 26, 2011, 10.20am IST

DHARWAD: Even as the winter is slowly on its way out in North Karnataka and the weather is getting warmer by the day, the connoisseurs in the twin cities of Dharwad and Hubli were in for a thrill for four days in a row with a variety of cultural extravaganzas at Dharwad Utsav 2010-2011 to keep them amused. Tuesday saw the curtains coming down on the festivities that succeeded in strengthening the impression that Dharwad is still the cultural hub and holds out a promise of being so for several more years.

But for the sad demise of son of the soil Pandit Bhimsen Joshi which made the art lovers dedicate the programmes scheduled for Monday to the departed doyen of Hindustani music, the Utsav became a people's festival with a large number of eminent singers, writers, poets, painters, actors, students and social activists enthusiastically participating in the programmes and organizing them.

Presence of nonagenarian Patil Puttappa, poet Channaveera Kanavi, Gidaddi Govindraj, M M Kalburgi and others made the event more memorable. The Karnataka bandh call given by BJP on Saturday did not deter the people of Dharwad from turning up at the main venue, Karnatak College, in large numbers.

Poetry sessions, drawing and painting exhibition, dance, music, folk arts, symposium, drama and film festival among others provided the art lovers a rich cultural feast.

The sprawling Karnatak College ground with the monumental main building in the backdrop stood testimony to another historic event.

Illuminated beautifully, the entire campus was bustling with cultural activities. The Utsav provided a platform for several young artistes and college students to exhibit their talents.

That the events were spread over 14 venues in Dharwad and Hubli besides Kundgol and Annigeri proved to be a boon for the people, allowing them to attend the programmes of their choice.

Dharwad to have new IIIT

Dharwad to have new IIIT

Shamsheer Yousaf, Bangalore, Jan 24, DHNS:

The IT dream in north Karnataka has just gotten more distant. In a surprising volte-face, the state government has proposed shifting the new Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) from Gulbarga to Dharwad.

Earlier this month, the state government had announced that a new IIIT would be housed at Gulbarga as part of the 20 such institutes being set up by the Centre across the country. But the state government has now written to the Centre to locate the new IIIT in Dharwad instead of at Gulbarga. Confirming the move, state Higher Education Minister V S Acharya said the IIIT was being shifted as Gulbarga already had two universities—a central university and a state university. “Moreover, the Employment State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) is establishing a medical college and hospital in Gulbarga. Since there is a constraint on land, we decided to shift the IIIT to Dharwad,” he said. Acharya said Dharwad was chosen as Hubli-Dharwad was the second largest city in Karnataka. “Dharwad has a very supportive academic environment, and we felt that it would be better suited to have the IIIT in Dharwad,” he said. Since Karnatak University in Dharwad was nearly 50 years old, it would provide a supporting environment for the IIIT. The state government will now have to identify around 50 acres to hand over to the Central government. Interestingly, Hubli-Dharwad already has a functional IIIT. With the present proposal, the twin city will have two IIITs. The Bangalore unit of IIIT has opened a centre in Hubli that offers a finishing school programme in collaboration with the IT industry. Currently, it offers certification programme in Information Technology Management, and Embedded and Real Time systems. The institute has also been holding special recruitment drives for students from the region. The IIIT will be established on a private-public partnership model, with Centre bearing 50 per cent of the cost of establishing the institute. The state government will bear 35 per cent, and industry will bear 15 per cent of the total cost. The capital expenditure will be around Rs 128 crore, while the Centre will provide partial support towards recurring expenditure of upto Rs 10 crore to the IIIT depending on requirements.