VODAFONE CEO ARUN SARIN IS A PROUDPRODUCT OF MILITARY SCHOOL BANGALORE | 7

KARNATAKA LEGISLATORS GO TECH-SAVVY, GET BRAND-NEW LAPTOPS PLUS SOME TRAINING | 5

THE TIMES OF INDIA, BANGALORE | WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2007

Musician of the Centuryaward for Balamurali Renowned vocalist M Balamuralikrishna will be

conferred the title‘Musician of theCentury’ by AdvaitaTrust on Friday.Former PrimeMinister H D DeveGowda will felicitatethe musician at thefunction to be held atthe NMKRV Collegefor Women,

Jayanagar, at 5.30 pm. It will be presided over byUnion minister of state for planning M VRajashekaran. 41200236, 9880150744.

Water Adalat: BWSSB will hold a Water Adalatto settle water disputes on Wednesday from 9.30am to 11 am at the office of the assistantexecutive engineer, central division. Disputes ofcustomers coming under the jurisdiction of HGRand Coles Park service station will be heard.22945187, 22945191.

Passports sent: Passport applicationsprocessed at the passport office during theweek ending Feb 9 have been sent, whereverdocuments were in order. A series: Jan 12, Bseries: Jan 5, C series: Jan 11, E series: Jan 29, Kseries: Feb 2, M series: Dec 19, N series: Jan 23,W series: Jan 4

Correction: In the report “Take a fishing holidayin the Lalbagh lake’’ (Feb 11), the society thatwill assist the angling facility at Lalbagh is notWildlife Association of South India but theIndian Angler. The person assisting the IndianAngler is Ravindra Kapoor and not SanjayKapoor. The errors are regretted.

METRO DIGEST

Kumba Masa 1- Sri Vyaya Nama Samvatsara -

Uttarayana- Shisira Ritu - Magha Krishna, Dvadasi

Hr. 28-38, Purvasadha Nakshatra Hr. 29-56,

Vajra Yoga Hr. 15-49, 25 Muharram, Kali Day 1865680

RAHU KALAM: 12 noon to 1.30 pm

ALMANAC (14.2.2007)

— Daivajna K N Somayaji

ponnappa48@dataone.in

Why asphalt roads which are inexcellent condition?The road leading from Kanakapura main road to ISRO Layoutvia Delhi Public School is in a bad shape. Many good roads arereasphalted across the city. Why don’t the civic authoritiesrepair neglected roads instead of wasting our money on a fewroads. The BMP relaid the Jayanagar 38th cross, JP Nagarmain road and Bata showroom road in BSK 2nd stage. Theseroads were in excellent condition and the powers that be havecompletely neglected the roads in ISRO Layout andKumarswamy Layout. Why is preferential treatment given tocentral Bangalore areas? Is it because VIPs stay in thoseareas?

— Prashant H and Pavan Kumar, Bangalore

Road in pathetic shape: The 80 Feet Road connecting MSRamaiah Hospital and Sanjaynagar main road terminates at apoint and a small, narrow link road connects the SanjaynagarMain Road. This link road has been cut several times fordrainage, cable laying, water supply and for many reasons atmany places and the entire road is in a mess. It is a nightmareeven to walk on the road. Nearly 4 to 5 thousand vehicles plyon this road daily.

— A Muthusamy, Sanjaynagar

Fix proper timings: Streetlights are switched on at 5.50 pmand switched off at 5.50 am in III main road, Mathikereextension. Since daytime is longer during these months,Bescom may reschedule the timings to 6.30 pm and 6.30 amas it too dark in the mornings. Morning walkers and studentsgoing for tuition classes find it difficult to move in darkness.

— Chandrasenan, Mathikere

Write to: CIVIC PROBLEMS, The Editor, II Floor, S&B Towers, 40\1,M G Road, Bangalore, 560001. with complete postal address and

contact telephone number. e-mail:mytimesmyvoice@timesgroup.com, with Civic Problems: Bangalore’

as the subject line NOTE: This column is ONLY for complaints about civic problems

CIVIC PROBLEMS | MY TIMES, MY VOICE

Drumming up converts for a green revolution Poornima B V | TNN

Bangalore: Imagine growing plantswithout soil and sunlight. And thattoo with one-hundredth of the wa-ter and space usually required. You

could actually havea rich harvest offresh and healthylettuce, mint, flow-ers or fruits byyour bedside. TheOmega Gardenuses both verticaland horizontalspace — a rotatingcylinder houses

rows of plants that grow toward theinterior light source.

The plants grow faster too, almostfour times than normal ones, andsince the medium used is sterile,pests and diseases are minimised.What you harvest is highly nutri-tious and tastes better too. Since ithappens indoors, it doesn’t matterwhether it’s summer, winter or a

storm’s brewing outside!Ted Marchildon invented this ma-

chine — a rotating drum with a flu-orescent tube at the centre. The

plants are on horizontal trays laidin the drum. The stainless steeldrum rotates constantly at a slowrate, with the root zone passing

through a nutrient solution when itreaches the bottom. The energy con-sumption is 200 watts; Ted plans touse LED light which is 12 times moreefficient. He also plans to tap solarenergy where sunlight is in abun-dance. It’s currently available inCanada, the US, Australia, Switzer-land, Tasmania, Holland and the UK.

The Omega garden is availablein three sizes.

The Volksgarden is designed tohold 3’’ root medium and can ac-commodate up to 80 plants. The ba-sic unit can accommodate up to 50-300 plants, depending on the species.The carousel has 6-8 foot-long Omegagardens, the equivalent of 1,500 sqftof greenhouse, yet only using 150 sqft of floor space.

Vancouver-based Ted felt the needto grow plants indoors, given the con-ditions there. “I had to go throughseveral steps before I hit upon thateureka moment”, says Ted, currentlyin Bangalore. Ten years ago, he start-ed with a 5-foot diameter drum

which cracked. The next version wasrather unwieldy.

As he practised Tai-Chi, he hitupon the idea of having the lightsource at the drum centre. “It’s highnoon all day and every plant has thebest seat in the house,” says Ted. Therotation of plants actually makesthem stronger. The fact that theplants are turning at a constant rateutilises the effects of geotropism andthe growth hormones (auxins) thathelp orient a plant by forcing growththrough the production of elongat-ed cells, where they are concentrat-ed. Auxins are now distributed even-ly throughout the plant.

Ted calls it orbotropism, in whichall plant parts receive auxins as it isrotated constantly. This also meansan even distribution of sugars andoils and so the plant tastes better.

(For more details, go towww.omegagarden.com)

(Ted is in Bangalore and this write-up is based on a chat with him)

Ted Marchildon

FOR A RICH HARVEST: Ted Marchildon invented this machine — a rotating drumwith a fluorescent tube at the centre. The plants are on trays laid in the drum

Take suo motu actionagainst bandh organisersTo the best of my knowledge, the Kerala HighCourt had declared that organising a bandh forany reason is illegal and a crime punishable bylaw. This decision has also been endorsed by theSupreme Court. In spite of this, bandhs such asthe one on Monday are organised. Does the statehave no responsibility to ensure that the rule oflaw is respected and strictly followed? Doesn’tthe violation of these orders amount to contemptof court, and should not the court take action suomoto in such cases?

C V K Moorthy, RECD VIA E-MAIL

Bangalore traffic policestage show for Italian PM

Time: Saturday, Feb 10. 2 pm to 4.30 pm; Place:Airport Road, Ring Road stretch; Scene:Marthahalli Junction with no beggars, AirportRoad with only Volvo buses, cars and bikesplying, Ring Road with very few trucks, notractors, no cars parked in no-parking zonesalongside the road, no crowd waiting at bus-stops. In short, Bangalore city was playing therole of a rich, affluent and beautiful heroine in aneffort to attract the hero, the Italian PrimeMinister. Kudos to Bangalore traffic police forbringing out such a good stage show.

Viswanathan Raman, RECD VIA E-MAIL

We want your views and comments. Please write to us at MyTimes, My Voice, c/o Editor, Times City- Bangalore, The Times ofIndia, 40/1, S&B Towers, M G Road, Bangalore — 560001. Email:mytimesmyvoice@timesgroup.com with Times City, Bangaloreas the subject line; or SMS MYVOICE <space> your commentsand name to 8888.

MY TIMES, MY VOICE

CITY MAILBOX

Shopkeepers make a kill;dreamy lovers go for it

Laveena Shetty | TNN

Bangalore: Cupid has struckBangalore with love blossomingin every nook and corner forValentine’s Day. Lush red rosesare all around, painting the cityred — literally.

This symbol of love has be-come dearer by almost Rs 12,when on other days it costs ahumbler Rs 10 per stem.

Garden City has lived up to itsname offering an array of com-binations for love birds to choosefrom — ‘More than words’ a flo-ral composition of nine red ros-es and one orchid costing Rs 400and ‘Heart to heart’, where 18 redroses are placed aesthetically ina heart-shaped basket for Rs 600

are the show-stealers. “We usu-ally sell 1,000 roses everyday. Buttoday, we are expecting that fig-ure to cross 3,000,” said a floriston Brigade Road.

Gift shops are raking in themoolah that moony-eyed loversare readily doling out. “Sales thisV-Day are six times more than ona normal day. Profits soar by atleast 20 per cent,’’ said a gift shopoutlet proprietor Vivek Chandi-ramani. Over 50 new designs ofsoft toys, candles, jewellery, per-fumes, fancy pillows and mugsare on display at many gift shops.

Red hearts ruled the scene. Pil-lows, cards, balloons are also sell-ing fast along with teddies anddoggies which bore mushy ‘LuvU’ and ‘Hug Me’ messages.

Shopping seemed to have be-come the male domain these days.Jewellery stores, for instance,were bustling with Romeos buy-ing heart-shaped bracelets, ringsand necklaces for their Juliets.The average bills here are up toRs 3,000. For sparklers in the yel-low metal, credit card swipes reada cool Rs 10,000.

“Men dole out at least Rs 500to Rs 800, whereas women spendaround Rs 60 to Rs 200. Womenexpect to be on the pamperedend,” noted Chandiramani. Stu-dent budgets did not allow formore than dripping sweet cardsand soft toys.

For a hearty laugh, all one hadto do was observe a few confused

men trying to figure out sizes,cuts, fabrics and colours at ap-parel sections. “For some strangereason, most men wind up buy-ing full-sleeved tops and longdresses for their women. Shop-ping malls seemed dressed to killfor lovers’ day with lighting andplastic flowers streaming fromthe roof tops. Even the man-nequins sported crimson T-shirts,trousers, salwars and sarees cel-ebrating the spirit of the day.

Bangalore Central couldn’thave timed their happiness salebetter where customers werethrilled to avail of discounts. Cou-ples thronged every section fromapparel, cosmetics, watches, di-amond jewellery with men read-ily loosening their purse stringsfor their lady love. Surprisingly,candies and chocolates did notsell like hot cakes. Even the heart-shaped brown goodies did not at-tract youngsters. “Unlike Diwali,we haven’t done bumper businesson Valentine’s Day,” said a dis-appointed chocolate merchant atGaruda Mall.

Hotels, restaurants, pubs anddiscs — every table for two isbooked as Bangalore plans to gocandle-light on Wednesday.

EVENTS

PUBLIC FUNCTIONS

Minto Ophthalmic Hospital and Dept of Ophthalmol-ogy, Bangalore Medical College and Research Insti-tute & CAMHADD: CME programme on diabeticretinopathy and squint, pathology lecture hall, Victo-ria Hospital, 9 am inauguration.

UAS, Terra-Firma Biotechnologies Ltd., NABARD:Inaugural function of interface meeting, SeminarHall, Veterinary college, KVAFSU, Hebbal, 10 am.

Karnataka Sangeet & Nritya Academy: Talent prizeat 3 pm, Kannada Bhavan, Nayana.

TALKS

The Bangalore Science Forum: Talk on “Municipalsolid waste: current practices and need for moderni-sation” by Shambhavi Kamath, Dr H N Hall, NationalCollege, Basavanagudi, 6 pm.

The Indian Institute of World Culture: G R Bhatkalendowment lecture - “A Strategic vision for India”by Dharen Chadha, 6, Shri B P Wadia Rd., 6 pm.

Mythic Society: Lecture on “The enchanting story ofnumerals” Nrupathunga Rd., 6 pm.

CULTURAL

Sri Rama Lalitha Kala Mandira: Vocal by Vishakahari, Violin- Charulatha Ramanujam, Mridanga- BGanapathi Raman, Ghatam by Sukanya Ramgopal, ,22nd cross, 3rd block, Jayanagar, 6 pm.

Ranga Shankara: Play ‘Singaaravva Mattu Aramane’,director T Chandrashekar Kambar, Kriyative The-atre, J P Nagar, 2nd phase, 7.30 pm.

SPIRITUAL

Sree Ramakrishna Bhajana Sabha Trust: 56th annu-al Mahashivarathri cultural/vedic/bhajan - 5.30 am:Mahaganapathi homam; 7 am: Commencement ofMaharudra Yagna; 1.30 pm: Deeparadhana and aaa-dithyam; 6 pm: Bhajan by Udayalur Sri KalyanaramaBhagavathar & party, Odukathur Mutt Hall, Gangad-

hara Chetty Road, Opposite Ulsoor Lake, 6.30 pm.

Sri Sai Spiritual Centre: Sri Saipadananda Radhakr-ishna Swamiji birth centenary celebrations, 8.30 am:Sudarshan homa, 6 pm: Geeta talks: Swami Brah-manandaji, 1st Block Thyagarajanagar, 6 pm.

Sripaadakshetra: Shivarathri celebrations ‘Shivasa-hasranama Laksharchane, Srtipadakshetra, 1, 4thCrs. 4th Phase, Dollars Scheme, J P Nagar, 11 am to12 noon & 6.30 to 7.30 pm, till Feb 15.

Sree Gurushaneswaraswami Mahakshetra, Kempe-gowda Nagar: Sree Shivratri celebrations- Ganap-athi puje, Punyaha, Kalash sthapana, homa man-galarti, Kempabudhikere.

Sri Maruthi Mahaganapathi Seva Sangha: Discourseon “Sri Lakshmi Shobhane” by BrahmanyaTeerthacharya at Punyadhama, I/N Blk, Rajajinagar,till Feb 18, 7 pm.

Ragigudda Sri Prasanna Anjaneya Swamy BhakthaMandali Trust: Sixth year Pravachana Vahini Pro-gramme- Upanyasa on Sadguru Krupamruta, Krish-na Karnamruta, Gangamruta, till Feb 16, Kuchalam-ba Samskruthika Mandir temple premises, 6.30 pm.

EXHIBITION

Al-Ameen Arts Science & Commerce College: Annu-al exhibition till Feb 16, college premises, Hosur Rd.

Magnitude Art Gallery: Omkara- at 140/13, 27thcrs., 13 Mn., 3rd Blk., Jayanagar, 10 am to 8 pm.

Lakshana Art Gallery: Paintings exhibition, 29/2,Race Course Rd., till Feb 28, 10 am to 7 pm.

Max Mueller Bhavan : George Baselitz exhibitionprinted works 1965-1992 till Feb 23, 716, CMH Rd.,Indiranagar, 1st stage.

Gallery Sumukha: Presents works by M Shan-thamani till Feb 23, 10.30 am to 6.30 pm., Mondayto Saturday, Wilson Garden.

Md Asad

JUST FRESH: A shopkeeper gets ready to sell the symbol of love in Bangalore on Tuesday

VALENTINE’S SPIRIT

Ugly side is hereNew Delhi: This Valentine’sDay when you gift a rose toyour beloved, there is all pos-sibility of child labour beingengaged in processing it.

Malur, on the Karnataka-Tamil Nadu border, whichcaters to a large domesticand export market, engagesmore than a thousand girlchildren in this chain of roseproduction, according toJohn Devaraj, a film makerand a child rights activist.

“These girls are swift intheir work and can pluck upto even 10,000 roses per dayand that too with extremedelicacy. So we have these lit-tle angels spoiling theirchildhood in this boomingindustry,” he said.

Devaraj, says the employ-ers find the child labour‘cheap’ as well as ‘suitable’ towork in these plastic housesof rose gardens as they are

short statured and ‘lessharsh’ in handling the roses.

These girls get paid Rs 20 toRs 25 per day while a singlerose is sold at a cost of morethan Rs 100 in internationalmarket like Holland andJapan, he says.

Bangalore, on an average,exports one aircraft load fullof roses everyday and with

occasions like Valentine’sDay it multiplies manytimes, says Devaraj addingthese are the days “when thelittle girls work two shifts aday to keep pace with the de-mand”.

The legal ban on childlabour has failed to check the“blatant” use of child labourin the rose-farming industry AGENCIES

CHILD LABOUR

Around the countryin just 30 days

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Bangalore: If glory is thename of guts, then spunkyPrakruthi N Banwasi is allset to achieve that. This bikeenthusiast will across the na-tion covering 16,288 km in 30days to claim his name inLimca Book of WorldRecords.

He will begin his endeav-our on February 15, fromNrupatunga Road. Trying tocover an average of 600 to 800km per day, Banwasi’s bikewill connect the capitals ofall the 28 states and five unionterritories.

“It is a way to celebrate

spirit of adventure,’’ saysBanwasi. “Skill to manoeu-vre the roads and a lot ofpractice has given me thecourage to take up this chal-lenge,’’ he adds.

His journey will be close-ly monitored by GPS track-ing device fitted in the bike,which will provide the loca-tion of the rider, fuel con-sumed, speed and other de-tails.

Hardcore motorcycle en-thusiasts can update them-selves on Banwasi’s ride bylogging on to www.naviq.netwhich will enable them to fol-low this breathtaking jour-ney.

ADVENTURE-ORIENTED: Prakruthi N Banwasi will begin hisjourney on February 15, from Nrupatunga Road

Indian Ocean tomake waves

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Bangalore: It’s the perfectchill pill to unwind the jan-gled nerves. Foodies and mu-sic buffs in Bangalore canhave the best of both worldson February 15 and 16.

Dhwani 2007, the inter-col-legiate cultural fest of StJoseph’s College of Com-merce, has the perfect menufor youth to showcase theirtalent. This gala event willwitness over 1,000 under-graduates from all over Ban-galore participating in ex-citing competitive rounds ofliterary, art, music and danceevents.

When a fest like thiscomes along can food be farbehind? Indian cuisine is theflavour of Dhwani this year.With the sensational fusionband Indian Ocean perform-

ing live at the college groundsat 7 pm, you would’nt wantto be some place else. TheDelhi based trio — IndianOcean — have been voted thebest fusion group in the coun-try. Their blend of folk andcontemporary music has giv-en them a unique identity

and cannot be categorised inany specific genre of music.

Their repertoire spans anumber of genres from rock-ing political anthems to med-itative spiritual ballads. In-dian Ocean’s label-defyingmusic is a confluence of myr-iad musical influences andcan perhaps be best describedas Indian folk-rock-jazz.

Tickets are priced at Rs 49and are sold at the venue.

DHWANI 2007

Harrowing taleof a 6-year-old

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Bangalore: What happens when your child goesmissing on a bandh day when the police are busytackling law and order? Fend for yourself.

That’s what happened to six-year-old Vikas’s parents. OnMonday, when the entire citywas shut, the little boy suddenlywent missing from his cousin’shouse. When his parents did notfind any policeman to file amissing complaint, they fittedloudspeakers atop an au-torickshaw and went fromstreet to street, shouting out fortheir little one.

By then, Vikas had walked till the KSRTC out-post police station, who informed Bosco, an NGOwhich looks after streetchildren, that they founda boy in their station. “We took him to our shel-ter and decided to trace his parents. But a citizenspotted this autorickshaw with speakers an-nouncing for Vikas and directed them to the NGO,’’Fr George of Bosco said.

Vikas’s uncle Thimmappa immediately wentto Bosco Mane and took back the child. “If the po-lice had filed a missing complaint, it would havebeen easy for us to trace the child,’’ he said.

Vikas

TIMES CITY

No power: There will be unscheduled powershutdown from 12 midnight to 5 pm onWednesday due to maintenance. Affected areasinclude Attur, Thirumalanagar, Mother Diary,Vidyaranyapura, MS Palya, Tindlu, Canara BankLayout, Virupakshanagar, Kodigehalli,Marutinagar, Byatarayanapura, Jakkur,Chikkabommasandra, Allasandra, TelecomLayout, Kirloskar Business Park, Kempapura andsurrounding areas. Dial 12660 for complaints.

PUBLIC INCONVENIENCE

1