DNA

The lesser-known cousin of Bangalore’s IT/ITes industry, the animation-visual effects-gaming-comics sector, or AVGC for short, is looking out for that great leap forward. The promise to that effect came from minister for information technology, biotechnology, and science and technology, SR Patil. The minister, who inaugurated a two-day industry meet in the city on Wednesday, asserted that his government would do all it takes to make the city the most preferred and lucrative outsourcing...

No, the Karnataka animation industry is not planning to catch them young. That may come in later; but it will nevertheless start with those who catch the young – faculties. The state government, in collaboration with the Association of Bangalore Animation Industry (ABAI), will launch a Train-The-Trainer Institute in the city next month to train up faculty members from across the state who teach animation techniques to young professionals. The institute, which will be located in HSR Layout, is...

Prominent players of the digital content industry will gather in the city next week to participate in the annual summit of the Association of Bangalore Animation Industry (ABAI). The AVGC (Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming and Comics) sector forms a significant portion of the fast growing digital content industry. This segment in India was pegged at $685 million in 2011 by Deloitte and NASSCOM, growing at 18-20% CAGR. In recent years, the Karnataka government has been launching initiatives to...

In a decision, being described as unprecedented and significant, the National Green Tribunal has ordered a status quo on all project activities proposed in the ecologically-fragile Amrit Kaval grasslands of Challakere talkuk in Chitradurga district. More than 10,000 acres of this grassland had been diverted by the Karnataka government for nuclear, defence and scientific projects. On Wednesday, the National Green Tribunal (South Zone), Chennai, comprising Justice P Jyothimani and expert member R...

For a water-scarce city where there's a vehicle for every two persons, a cutdown in water consumption towards cleaning cars would be a most welcome step. A high-pressure car washer launched on Tuesday can bring down this water consumption by 55 per cent — something that may be welcomed by many. "By falling back on the usual way of cleaning cars with buckets, one would end up using as many as four of them — that would be roughly 100 litres of water. However, with a high-pressure washer, you would...

When someone organises a retrospective of as many as 71 young artists, that too from the state, you are likely to do a double take. And when you are told about the sheer scale of the project, of which the said exhibition is only a launch, you are going to sit up and be all ears. And that’s what it will be like when KalaRasa’s inaugural art exhibition Rendezvous with 71 opens for the public come Sunday. Simply put, KalaRasa is an art studio – complete with a gallery, workshop space, resident...

Non-profits, as the urban legend goes, are supposed to be averse to technology. But that is only an urban legend, and Google wants to demolish this myth once and for all. On Monday, Google launched its Google Impact Challenge in India with little fanfare, as is characteristic of the company. A post on Google India's official blog said the US-based Internet giant is asking Indian non-profits how they would use technology to tackle problems both in the country and around the world. The four...

The proponents of a mini-hydel project, who were asked by the authorities to halt work since the projected area of submergence had not been communicated to affected villages, have jumped the gun. The Kukke Hydro Project Pvt Ltd (KHPPL) has requested for CDM credits with the United Nations Framework for Climate Change (UNFCC), without complying with the directive of the Karnataka Renewable Energy Development Limited (KREDL). There were several serious issues with both the 214MW Kukke project...

And when they came for the men, there was nothing left to complain about. The men in question were three unsuspecting individuals who were attacked by detractors in Hubli last week. All three men were victims of acid attacks; and the fact that acid can be easily procured perhaps had made the incidents appear more facile. Yet, the consummate ease with which acid can be bought from hardware or even grocery stores, is something that campaigners have been screaming hoarse against all these years...

It’s getting warmer and wetter up there in the Himalayas, and that may not augur well for Himalayan states where riverine disasters, like the recent Uttarakhand floods, have wreaked havoc. New research indicates that although the size of glaciers in the basins of the Indus and the Ganga will decrease in the 21st century, water discharge will, however, increase. While the results of the research predict a sombre future for Himalayan glaciers, they offer some good news for water and food security...