Karnataka First

With the 30th edition of Mrs Globe set to go live in California from June 16, Veena Jain, National Director for India for Mrs Classique Globe, and Arpitha Lankesh, India’s delegate this year, speak about preparation and representing the country on the international stage.

For Veena Jain, confidence is not just a quality; it is the foundation of every successful pageant journey. As National Director for India for Mrs Classique Globe, Jain has spent months preparing this year’s Indian delegate, Arpitha Lankesh, for the global stage, convinced that self-belief often matters more than grooming, styling or even the perfect ramp walk.

The same belief will soon be put to the test as over 100 delegates from across the world gather in Palm Springs, California, for this year’s Mrs Globe pageant, to be held from June 16 to 21. Marking its 30th anniversary since its inception in 1996, the event will, for the first time, host all six Mrs Globe competitions under one roof.

Jain’s association with the pageant dates back to 2017, when she won the Best Speaker title at Mrs Globe. Looking back, she says the platform has only evolved for the better. “It’s never the same theme. Every year, they have different wardrobes, styles and makeovers. The Mrs Globe team are great communicators and works directly with the candidates. This year’s theme was announced six months in advance and we began training immediately,” she shares enthusiastically.

While the pageant has changed over the years, Jain’s philosophy has remained the same. Jain believes confidence is what truly sets contestants apart. She notes, “A candidate’s confidence can change the game. When it comes to assessing personality, confidence plays a key role. There’s nothing like it.”

This year, Jain has selected Bengaluru-based Lankesh as India’s delegate for Mrs Classique Globe. The decision, she says, was made instantly. “The moment I set my eyes on her, I knew she was going to be my delegate. Her athletic build and confidence reeled me in,” says Jain, who has been mentoring Lankesh for the past seven months. “Though she was nervous initially, as the training progressed, she became more confident with every step of the process,” she explains.

The months leading up to the competition have involved balancing work commitments with training, preparation and mentoring sessions. The experience helped Lankesh step out of her comfort zone and discover new confidence in herself.

An IT professional and entrepreneur, she admits that participating in a beauty pageant was never part of her plans. “Pageants were never on my radar. I had never imagined myself on a stage like this. At times, the process felt overwhelming, but as the training progressed, I started enjoying every bit of it,” she effuses.

Lankesh goes on to explain the essence of the Mrs Globe pageant, which is keeping in touch with other delegates through weekly meetings called ‘Monday Memos’. “I feel so connected with all the delegates competing for the Mrs Classique Globe. It feels like sisterhood. The team is professional and prepares us mentally. It’s not about winning or losing, but about building a personality where confidence plays a major role,” shares Lankesh, wife of director-producer Indrajit Lankesh.

She says she feels honoured representing the country. “I take this opportunity to meet new people and be introduced to new cultures that I had no idea about previously,” Lankesh concludes, before she returns to prep for her big day.

source/content: newindianexpress.com (headline edited)

Developed by city-based NIAS, the platform will employ satellite imagery, archival references and geospatial markers to map the sites.

A new National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS) portal, developed with an ISRO team, uses satellite imagery and archival research to uncover India’s hidden cultural landscapes, with old Bengaluru among the sites next in line. 

For most people, heritage is limited to what stands visibly before them, such as a temple, fort, palace or protected monument. “But historical landscapes often leave behind subtler traces,” says Prof M B Rajani of NIAS, who leads the heritage mapping initiative.

“A buried moat may survive as a moisture line in farmland, a vanished fort wall may appear through vegetation patterns, and an old settlement boundary may continue in the alignment of present-day roads. Individually, these may seem insignificant, but together they reveal the larger historical footprint of a place,” she says.

This led to Kasturi, a web-based geospatial heritage portal developed by the Bengaluru-based National Institute of Advanced Studies in collaboration with the National Remote Sensing Centre and hosted on ISRO’s Bhuvan platform. Inaugurated last week, it allows users to explore historical sites across India through satellite imagery, archival references, geospatial markers and curated feature-based information. The portal is named after the late Dr K Kasturirangan, who laid the foundation for geospatial heritage studies at NIAS.

“It is not simply a monument directory. We are trying to understand the larger cultural landscape around a site, how extensive it once was, what features belonged to it, and what traces of that survive even if they are no longer visibly recognised,” says Rajani.

For instance, at Halebidu, the mapping exercise went beyond the Hoysala temple complex and includes remains such as moats, water systems and associated structures extending outside the protected zone. In Agra, the portal goes beyond the Taj Mahal and Agra Fort to map portions of the wider Mughal riverfront settlement, including traces of havelis that cannot be found now. 

The portal currently has mapped 47 sites. Its first phase (2019-2023) focused on 20 UNESCO world heritage sites, including Agra, Bodhgaya, Nalanda, Mahabalipuram, Hyderabad, Sarnath and five different sites in Delhi. “From Karnataka, one could find Badami, Belur, Halebidu, Somanathapura and Srirangapatna among the first sites to go live. Another 27 landscapes were added as the project expanded,” she explains.

Next on the map:

Old Bengaluru Among the sites to be featured in the future will be the historical Pete and Kote boundaries, the old bazaar spine centred around present-day Avenue Road, the Kempegowda-era settlement edge, portions stretching towards Majestic and the railway station, the larger fortified citadel zone, and the original historical layout of Lalbagh during the Hyder Ali-Tipu Sultan period.

Temple clusters, inscriptions and other historical markers that once formed part of the city’s early urban radius will also be considered, she adds. 

How to use

Users entering the portal can navigate through the country’s map, which is marked with red dots. Each site can be zoomed into, while specific mapped features open as pop-up windows containing details such as name, category, description, protection status, whether the site was already known or newly identified, and its present condition on the ground.

Visit bhuvan.nrsc.gov.in/apps/kasturi

source/content: deccanherald.com (headline edited)