Leaders – Page 4 – Karnataka First

Mangaluru: H M Pernal among Karnataka Konkani Sahitya Academy honourary awardees

The Karnataka Konkani Sahitya Academy honourary awards will be conferred on H M Pernal, Ramesh Kamath and Kumuda Gadakar in a ceremony on September 18 at Kaashimata, Bengaluru.

The Konkani Sahitya Award will be conferred on H M Pernal, Konkani Art Award on Ramesh Kamath, and Konkani Folk Award on Kumudha Gadakar.

Higher education minister Dr C N Ashwath Narayana, and minister for Kannada and Culture V Sunil Kumar will be confer the awards.

Konkani Sirisampada, Parichaya Pustaka, and Buykaamp Brugana Sangile Pulla Kaanyo books will be released on the occasion.

Mangaluru south MLA Vedavyas Kamath, MLC Prathap Simha Nayak, government secretary Dr N Manjula, Prakash J T, V N Mallikarjuna Swamy and Jayashree Shanbaug will also take part in the event.

The awardees will receive Rs 50,000 cash each.

Karnataka Konkani Sahitya Academy president Jagadish Pai conducted press meet and gave the information. Member Arun G Shet, Canute Jeevan Pinto, Naveen Nayak, Gopalkrishna Bhat and registrar Manohar Kamath were also present.

About the awardees

H M Pernal

Henry Mendonca, popularly known as H M Pernal writes fluently in Konkani, Kannada, English, Hindi and Marathi languages. Initially his poems and short stories were published in Kannada periodicals like ‘Tharanga’ ‘Suddi-Sangathgi’ ‘Mallige’ ‘Sankramana’ ‘Shoodra’ ‘Thaayinudi’ etc. He debuted in Konkani as a cartoonist in the periodical ‘Yuvak’ and later started publishing, poems, articles and essays on poetry, in various other Konkani periodicals.

H M Pernal has published over 750 poems, over 100 short stories and over 2000 essays and articles in the last 38 years. ‘Cholyank Chothrai’ (1999) ‘Kaidyachyo Kavita’ (2004) ‘Bamunanchem Cheddum’ (2006) are the published anthologies of his poems. ‘Devaak sodullo Pado (2002) and ‘Beeg ani Beegatha’ (2016) are the published collections short stories. ‘Konkani Kavyem: Rupam ani Rupakam’ (2021) is a collection of critical essays on modern Konkani poetry.

He was selected as the ‘Poet of the Year’ by popular literary website daaiz.com in 2006. All India Radio Stations of Managaluru and Mumbai aired his programmes. He has represented Konkani poetry in the Amaravathi International’s Poetry Prism book.

He is the founder and editor/publisher of premier Konkani literary website www.kittall.com, which is in its 12th year of non-stop publication. He is the founder and presently publisher of ARSO Konkani magazine, edited by popular poet Wilson, Kateel. He runs a publication house in Konkani under the banner KITTALL PUBLICATIONS, which publishes quality books every year. To encourage youth writers in Konkani he started KITTALL YOUTH AWARD in the year 2012 sponsored by NRI entrepreneur and philanthropist Leo Rodrigues and family. He was conferred prestigious Smt Vimala V Pai award for the year 2018, by the World Konkani Center, for the best literary creation for his collection of short stories ‘Beeg Ani Bigath’. In the same year Kavita Trust, institution working for the promotion and promulgation of Konkani poetry conferred Mathias Family Kavitha award for his contribution to Konkani poetry and research work. His book ‘Konkani Kavyem : Rupam ani Rupakam’ published by Kavita Publications, publication wing of Kavita Trust founded by Poet Melvyn Rodrigues was adjudged best book of the year by Karnataka Konkani Sahitya Academy.

Ramesh Kamath

Ramesh Kamath is a renowned face in the field of drama, film and social activities as well. He is the only Konkani person from the state who holds degree in film making.

He has produced and directed three Konkani films. From the year 1971-1975, he has acted in 5 Konkani plays. NAKA association of US awarded him life time achievement award in the year 2016.

Kumudha Gadakar

Kumudha Gadakar is actively involved in Konkani folk. She has performed in 60-70 Konkani drama and 100 Konkani Yakshagana roles. She has performed in Karawara Karavali Utsav for the past 15 years.

She was part of Konkani awareness campaign in 15 districts of North Karnataka conducted by Konkani Sahitya Academy from the year 2009 to 2011.

Padma Shri awardee Tulsi Gouda gets bridge after decades

After an outburst over the pathetic condition that Padma Shri awardee Tulsi Gouda was living in, as she and her family were forced to stay indoors during monsoon with the stream in front of their house overflowing, now a temporary bridge has been constructed.

She has been living on an elevated platform at Honnali along the Hubballi-Ankola highway for decades. During the rainy season, it used to be a nightmare as the overflowing stream would cut them off from the main road. She poured out her woes with the authorities, who visited her house and saw her plight first-hand. “Water comes till our house, even if it rains for half-an-hour,” Shekar Gouda, her grandson, said.

Tulasi said, “I don’t step out much as I am old and weak. But my family members have to go out and work for a living.” Responding to her pleas, Karwar-Ankola MLA Rupali Naik ensured that the makeshift bridge was constructed.

“We have completed the temporary bridge now. But we are planning to construct a permanent foot over bridge. Rs 45 lakh has been sanctioned,” Naik said. “But the neighbouring property owner claims that the land on which the bridge is coming up belongs to him. We will resolve the issue once the monsoon gets over,” she informed.

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CPSI launched to boost mental healthcare

More investment should come into the crucial clinical psychology segment, said Capt. P Manivannan, secretary to the government, Social Welfare Department.

At the launch of the Clinical Psychology Society of India (CPSI), he said 75 per cent of employees face mental health issues because of an unstable work environment and initiatives like CPSI will help in educating professionals to provide the right care.

NIMHANS Director Dr Pratima Murty said the number of clinical psychologists at 2,900 is meagre in the country. Efforts are required to bring a drastic change in resolving mental health issues. CSPI will help in providing quality healthcare to people and training and education to medical graduates, she said.

CPSI president Dr Jamuna Rajeshwaran said the organisation will establish evidence-based care for psychological disorders. CPSI was formed as a regulating and monitoring body was lacking, she added.

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Pink Samosa to help women entrepreneurs launched

Pink Samosa, an initiative to help women entrepreneurs with finance and mentoring, was launched in Belagavi on Saturday. The first meeting pledged ₹50 lakh for entrepreneurs.

The meeting focused on providing technical, financial, legal and marketing support to women working from home. As many as 150 women participated in the meeting and 15 of them pitched their ideas. They were assured of ₹50 lakh funding.

Leela Kamath and Shraddha Khatwate chaired the sessions.

Mani Pavitra spoke to the attendees. Lakshmi Khilari promised to continue the support for budding entrepreneurs. Divya Mehta and Tejal Khoda, organisers, said that it will be a regular event. They said that a common online platform will be built for the participants. NGOs such as Education India are supporting the initiative.

Freedom fighters gallery launched in Bidar

Bidar-based Shaheen Group of Institutions has launched a multi-media programme to spread awareness among the general public about freedom fighters and their contribution to India’s Independence movement.

A school and colleges run by the group have shared database of the lives of 100 freedom fighters that includes photos, videos, audios and documents. The sharing has been done online using social media and websites and offline by attaching Quick Response codes (QR codes) to images of freedom fighters that are pasted in prominent places across the State.

They were showcased in an offline exhibition on the college campus in Bidar between August 8 and August 10. It is on continuous online display on the Shaheen College website, https://shaheengroup.org/.

“We hope to reach at least one crore people with this project,’’ Abdul Quadeer, school society chairman, said at the inauguration. “Our freedom fighters are already well known. We hope that the exhibition and the online data base will kindle the spirit of the Independence movement among the youth and students,’’ Dr. Quadeer said. This programme is part of the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav event.

Each one of the 100 photographs has a QR code at the bottom. Scanning it will lead to the database of text, audio and video clips in Kannada, English and Urdu.

The exhibition has images of Mahatma Gandhi, Subhas Chandra Bose, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Bhagat Singh, Sukhdeo, Chandrashekar Azad, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Nana Saheb, Lala Lajpatrai, Rani Lakshmibai, Tipu Sultan, Hyder Ali, Mirza Khasim Ali Khan, Siraj-ud- Daula, Haji Shariatullah, Begum Hazrat Mahal and others.

After the exhibition, the images will be kept in public places around the State.

Shaheen Group is also promoting flag hoisting as part of the Har Ghar Tiranga programme. At least 1,000 students have hoisted the tricolour in their homes. “We have distributed to the public, 50,000 pocket sized flags and 10,000 hand-held flags,” he said.

Deputy Commissioner Govind Reddy and Superintendent of Police Dekka Kishor Babu inaugurated the exhibition.

ATREE celebrates its silver jubilee this year

The two-day event is open to the public that will include discussion on state of conservation science, sustainable development debates and other activities

Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE) is celebrating its silver jubilee on August 18 and 19 at the JN Tata Auditorium in IISc campus with several panel discussions, guest talks, film screenings and other events taking place.

Started in January 1996 as a research organisation to address environmental challenges of biodiversity loss and conservation for sustainable livelihoods, ATREE has worked in the areas of conservation of biological diversity and sustainable development, improvisation of institutional and policy framework for conservation of biodiversity and has helped several government and Non Government Organisations to make best use of the scientific knowledge to solve the problems of conservation.

After its initial days, a PhD in Conservation Science and Sustainability Studies programme was started in 2008 and in 2009, another interdisciplinary research institution, CISED was also established by ATREE with donor support. Further, the Centre for Environment and Development, the Centre for Biodiversity Conservation and 20 research faculty members including environmentalists, geographers, sociologists and hydrologists also emerged. In 2019, ATREE launched two new centres, the Centre for Social and Environmental Innovation (CSEI) and the Centre for Policy design (CPD) for scaling up its environmental knowledge to the society and for engaging more with the government towards effective policy design and implementation.

Speaking to The Hindu on the occassion, Kamal Bawa — Founder, President & Chair, ATREE, said, “Our country has rich biodiversity and when we established ATREE, there was no institute that was looking at biodiversity in a holistic manner, that is all life in our forests, wetlands, rivers, oceans. Furthermore, we all know that biodiversity is declining all over the world and India was no exception, but this decline had ecological, social, political and economic dimensions. Thus, an institution was needed that had an interdisciplinary approach to conserving biodiversity and thus ATREE was born. ATREE is one of the few institutions that deals with the three major environmental challenges of declining biodiversity, water, and mitigation of climate change.”

The two-day event which is open to the public, will have discussion on state of conservation science and sustainable development, debates, book launches, film screenings and traditional performances.

Udupi: MAHE to launch online course ‘Discerning India- Living Cultures of Tulunadu’ on Aug 18

The official launch of the course ‘Discerning India: Living Cultures of Tulunadu will take place on Thursday, August 18 in front of EDU building Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), Manipal at 4.30 pm. This will be flagged off by Dr Ranjan Pai, chairman of Manipal Education and Medical Group (MEMG), pro chancellor of Manipal Academy of Higher Educaiton (MAHE), Dr H S Ballal, vice chancellor, Lt Gen Dr M D Venkatesh and the registrar Dr Narayana Sabhahit.

The course is an extension of efforts made by MAHE to highlight the knowledge systems of local community to the larger world. It is designed and offered by the Centre for Intercultural Studies and Dialogue (CISD), MAHE. The event will be marked by a special performance of ‘Tiger Dance (Pili Vesha) by Ashok Kadubettu and Team, a well-known Tiger Dance Performers of Udupi.

Details about the course

Discerning India: Living Cultures of Tulunadu is a self-paced online course that introduces the participants to the essence of the region. The course comprises the following units: Theatre and Performance: Yakshagana; Community and Sports: Kambala; Worship Traditions: Bhutaradhane; Nagaradhane.

The broader idea of this course is to nurture critical thinking and facilitate dialogue on different aspects of cultures. There are culture specific reasons and meanings for practices and activities that are an integral part of people’s lives. The course opens a space for analysis and reflections on these values. This course is designed for all those who are interested in exploring new cultures and understanding diversity of living. This is a two- credit online certificate course delivered in English and powered by the Directorate of Online Education, MAHE. It includes video documentaries, series of video lectures, readings and quizzes.

Mangaluru: Fashionavya, exclusive collection by country’s best designers inaugurated

A much-awaited event for all fashion enthusiasts, a two- day ‘Fashionavya’, was inaugurated at Hotel Moti Mahal on Tuesday, August 16.

President of Ladies Circle 82 Monisha D Souza, president of Ladies Club Shirley Coelho, secretary Nayana Fernandes, JCI member and social worker Sumayya S K, psychologist Dr Ruksana Hasan, public relations officer Akshatha Lathish, president of Inner Wheel Club of Mangaluru North Vasanthi Kamath, immediate past president of Inner Wheel Mangaluru North Bharathi Prakash, member Sudha Jairam, counsellor, astrologer Kavitha and others were the guests for Fashionavya inaugural ceremony.

Fashionavya curates the exclusive collection of some of the latest and sought-after enthusiastic designers, who are mindfully handpicked from all over India. These designers bring in the best of the in-season assortments at the cost-effective latest designs on August 16 and 17, 11 am to 9 PM at Hotel Moti Mahal. Entry is free for visitors with all Covid safety protocols.

Fashionista, serving fashion lovers since 2008 with 350+ exhibitions in 40 Indian cities, is set to fascinate Mangaluru this time, with its 3rd Edition of Fashionavya.

Fashionista has recently won ‘The Gold Award 2022 in the Regional Star Category’ in the ‘Exhibitions Excellence Awards 2022,’ Delhi for conducting the greatest number of exhibitions in B-Cities of India. The award is one of the highest accolades an exhibition company can receive.

Fashionavya will offer apparel, jewellery, accessories, beauty products, cosmetics, fragrances, home decor, gifts, consumer durables, etc. If one is looking for some exclusive additions to their wardrobe for the upcoming season, then one must check in with the Fashionavya exhibition.

Fashion and lifestyle brands will be participating in this exclusive event from 20 diverse cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Jaipur, Pune, Jalna, Raipur, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Bhopal, Surat, Dharwad, Kolhapur, Belgavi, Coimbatore, Mangaluru and many more.

Managing director of Fashionista Pawan Shankar, propreitor Yukthi Shankar and floor manager Vinod were present.

Contact:

+91 9930734181

+91 9820175842

+91 9619780555

+91 9619780581

Website: www.fashionistaindia.com

Puttur: Historical well with Gandhiji connection exists here

Even as the country celebrates ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ this year it is time to remember, recall and respect all the political sufferers and freedom fighters who have fought for India’s independence.

Mahatma Gandhi who played a key role in India’s freedom struggle is remembered for his visit to Dakshina Kannada district. He was on a visit to Puttur as part of the campaign to eradicate untouchability against the dalits.

He was instrumental in galvanising the freedom struggle and in ensuring equality in society especially with regard to the dalits.

In 1934, Mahatma Gandhi had paid a visit to Puttur on his way from Sullia by foot. He was received then by M S Kille, Mallya, Molahalli Shivarayaru and Shivarama Karanth among other luminaries. Gandhi had participated in a small meeting below a large peepal tree at the present Puttur government bus station.

Gandhi had given a call to eradicate untouchability. He paid a visit to two dalit colonies in Puttur and in particular his visit to Ragikumeru colony is still remembered. There was no supply of drinking water to the families of Ragikumeru. It is said that people of the colony were consuming drainage water that was flowing adjacent to their colony. Noticing this, Gandhi directed his confidants to immediately construct a well which exists even to this day next to the Ragikumeru road.

The youths have come to know of Gandhi’s visit to the colony today. Gandhi’s visit was and has been fondly remembered by the people of the colony as he had directed his confidants to construct a well at a time when the region was facing a shortage of food.

This well falls under the ambit of the city municipal council. However, the water in the well is not being widely used these days as adequate drinking water is being supplied through pipelines to the inhabitants of Puttur. But, the existence of this well brings back memories of Gandhi among the people of Puttur and Gandhi’s largesse in getting a well constructed.

The lives of the residents of Ragikumeru have considerably improved but residents feel a lot more needs to be done.

‘American firms in Bengaluru bolstering US-India economic ties’

On her first visit to Bengaluru after assuming charge in September 2021, US Mission India Charge d’Affaires, Patricia Lacina met with business leaders and entrepreneurs to underscore the strong US-India economic and commercial ties.

Lacina acknowledged the immense contributions of over 650 US companies in Bengaluru that employ tens of thousands of Indian citizens in high-standard work environments in the formal sector.

She applauded their immense contribution to the US-India bilateral relationship — not only through their economic ties and investments, but also through corporate social responsibility initiatives and a commitment to the development of employee skills.

“This year, as our two countries commemorate 75 years of diplomatic relations and trusted partnership, we celebrate a US-India partnership defined by US President Joe Biden recently as deep connection between our people – ties of family, of friendship, and of shared values. It is because of these shared values that US and Indian firms work so well together, forging a path for innovation and prosperity.”

Joining her in Bengaluru were US Consul General in Chennai Judith Ravin and Director of the US National Science Foundation (NSF) Dr. Sethuraman Panchanathan.

The NSF Director visited Bengaluru to expand upon the strong partnership within the fields of science and technology. A Chennai native and graduate of the Indian Institute of Science, Panchanathan is in India to announce NSF funding for 35 collaborative research projects between US and Indian university laboratories.

NSF, under the direction of Panchanathan, is tasked with keeping the US at the leading edge of discovery in a wide range of scientific areas.

NSF has recently been the subject of major legislation which, in addition to supporting funding in all areas of basic research, establishes a new directorate for Technology, Innovation, and Partnership to greatly accelerate the translation of research to application.

Panchanathan also gave the Dr. M.A. Govind Rau Founder Memorial Lecture at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru.

Lacina used the occasion to mark the arrival of the new Counsellor for Commercial Affairs Carey Arun.

Based in Chennai, Arun will oversee the US Commercial Service’s efforts in south India, supporting opportunities for US-India trade and business. The US Commercial Service has offices in Chennai and Bengaluru.