January 2022 – Page 2 – Karnataka First

** ‘Agnihotra’ ritual conducted at Belagavi airport

Ritual held Saturday

Airport staff joined members of a religious association to organise an ‘agnihotra’ ritual on the premises of the Belagavi airport in Sambra on Saturday.

Rajesh Kumar Maurya, airport director, Vinayak Lokur, industrialist, and around 20 others lit fire in small homa kundas and chanted hymns to worship Agni, the fire God. They sat in a square-shaped formation at the entrance of the airport lounge. Mr. Maurya shared pictures and videos of the event on the social media handle of the airport.

“Agnihotra is the way to heal and purify the space. It rejuvenates and activates surrounding atmosphere. Thanks to Vinayak Lokur,’’ he said in his post.

** Journalist Mutalik Desai dead

The State government selected him for T.S. Ramachandra Rao award in 2019.

Dhruvaraj Venkatrao Mutalik Desai, veteran journalist, theatre personality, advocate and Seva Dal activist, died in Hubballi on Sunday. He was 92-years-old.

Hailing from Koujalagi village in Belagavi district, he served Kannada, Marathi and English news papers in various capacities in Belagavi and Hubballi.

** Karnataka’s first multi-organ transplant centre opens at Bengaluru’s Sparsh Hospital

The Sparsh Group of Hospitals launched Karnataka’s first multi-organ transplant centre in Bengaluru on Friday. It brings together a team of 50 transplant specialists to provide integrated care during the transplant process.

** Bengaluru-based biotech lab develops tabletop papaya variety ‘Dawn Delight’

Developed by Thomas Biotech Lab, the papaya variety, christened ‘Dawn Delight’, grows only up to three or four feet and is best for cultivation on the terrace, balconies, and kitchen gardens.

** Brook at the end of tunnel along Karnataka-Kerala border

Interestingly, these plantations are green even during the harsh and humid summers, due to the traditional water management system called ‘Suranga’ or tunnel system adopted by many hardworking farmers. In this system, tunnels are dug horizontally through the slopes of the laterite hills until a water spring is found. Water that percolates through the hill flows into the tunnel. The water is then channelled to tanks through pipes, and used for horticulture crops through sprinkler and drip irrigation

Vast swathes of land in the hilly regions along the Karnataka-Kerala border in Bantwal taluk of Dakshina Kannada, once dismissed as barren wasteland, are now lush with arecanut, banana and cocoa plantations, bringing rich dividends to farmers.

** Organic growth of this woman farmer from Karnataka

The products coming out of her initiative Tadhvanam from this remote village in Davanagere district have reached different parts of the country and globe.

It was in 1987 that Saroja took the tiny step of entrepreneurship by starting a dairy farm and starting a unit to make coir products to bring her family’s economic position back on track. This initiative gave her first lessons in earning money from home.

63-year-old Saroja Nagendrappa Patil from Nitturu village in Harihar taluk not only grows crops organically, but also adds value to her produce, increasing her earnings. She has now become a model for the womenfolk in the region.

She also took up teaching fellow women and men farmers through an agriculture department initiative and taught them how to use available resources in their neighborhood, organic pest management and other ways of growing crops. Her stint at guiding other farmers made her a better leader and also gave her new ideas to grow crops naturally. Though initial successes were small, sustained efforts helped her in enriching the family’s 30-acre plot that gave her ever better yields.

** Final electoral roll 2022: Women voters outnumber men in 15 divisions

Gender ratio up from 958 per 1,000 male in 2013 Assembly polls to 984 this year

Women voters have outnumbered men voters in at least 15 electoral divisions out of the 33 in the State, according to the revised final electoral roll 2022 published on January 13.

There has been a constant improvement in the gender ratio that has gone up from 958 (per 1,000 male) in the 2013 Assembly elections to 984 this year. It was 960 in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, 963 in 2015 final rolls, and 972 in the 2018 Assembly elections, 976 in 2019 Lok Sabha elections, 981 in the 2020 summary revision, and 984 in the final electoral roll this year.

** ‘Dabbawala’ begins operations in Hubballi

‘Dabbawala’, which has started its operations in Mumbai, Delhi, and other cities, has now entered Hubballi and will be initially delivering food, grocery items, and medicines.

n Friday,the formal launch of ‘Dabbawala’ was held in the presence of Rajashekhar Shivacharya Swami of Kashi Shakha Mutt in Hubballi and Gavi Siddhalinga Swami of Konnur. Director of KSSIDC S.C. Patil, personality development trainer Gururaj Patil, Ajay Joshi, and others were present.

Proprietor of ‘Dabbawala’ in Hubballi Chandrashekhar Hiremath said initially they would be operating in a radius of 8 km, offering service of pick up and drop of food and grocery items and medicines.

** Bengaluru’s child music prodigy, dancer from Mangaluru receive PM’s Bal Puraskar

City-based western music prodigy Syed Fateen Ahmed and Bharatanatyam dancer Remona Evette Pereira were among the 29 children who received the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar award on Monday.

** Mangaluru: Dr Venugopala bags ‘Young Professional Volunteer Award’

Dr Venugopala P S, associate professor, department of Computer Science and Engineering, NMAM Institute of Technology, Nitte received the ‘Young Professional Volunteer award’ from IEEE Mangaluru subsection for the year 2021.