Alumni of Karkala Sri Bhuvanendra College reunite in Dubai

Shodhan Prasad
November 9, 2017

Dubai, Nov 9: The old students of the well-known Sri Bhuvanendra College (SBC), Karkala joined together in a unique event held recently in Dubai. The college re-unions provide a unique opportunity for reuniting with friends of yester yearsand a chance to relive some of the messy fun of college days. It was really an excitement when this re-unionhappened and that too in a foreign destination, along with their family members.

The B.Com, batch of 1983-84 of SBC celebrated their re-unions at the City of Gold, Dubai along with their families between 1st & 5th November 2017. Prabhakar Kamath, Managing Director, KPI - Global, Dubai,  a Business Advisory  and Accounting Firmand RaviKarkala, Group Finance & Admin Manager of Gorica Industries LLC, in Dubai were the key persons who organized this weeklong event in Dubai.Whereas back in India, GuruduttShanbhouge, a Bengaluru based businessperson, Ashok Shetty, Bengaluru based Chartered Accountant, Jnaneshwari, Lecturer at Karnataka Polytechnic, Mangalore&PrashantKarkala, a career bankerprovided the logistic support for the travel & other arrangements.

It started with prayers rendered by Shilpa&Shetal followed by inauguration.  Dr. M.P.Hrishikesh, Director, CMR  Institute for Business Studies, Bangaloreand Prof Nagaraj Nayak, Head of the Department of Commerce, Vijaya College, Mulky inaugurated  the reunion at Hotel Raviz, Bank street, Bur Dubai. In their speech, the two professors, reminisced their teaching days with the batch.  They expressed their happiness over the professional success of their students and also the bond getting stronger among themselves and with their alma mater even after a gap of more than three decades.

Prof. K Damodar Kini, founder principal of SBC, Karkala was fondly remembered .The guests released the souvenirs brought out on the occasion.Prabhakar Kamath welcomed the invitees from India. Ravi Karkala Dubai outlined the programmes lined up during the stay in Dubai.

During their five day stay in Dubai the group had an extensive tour of the historic places of the City of Gold and also the neighboringAbudhabhi. Besides, the group had a firsthand experience of the Arab culture, especially, dhow cruise, desert Safari and traditional Arab dance and music.

The tour concluded with a fun-filled evening and dinner at Hotel Holiday Inn, Bur Dubai. As many as 47 persons, their families included, were gathered for the reunion. The participants shared happy and sad moments in pursuit of their professional success and also their experience about the Dubai trip. Teachers and students dug out old memories with a new perspective.

1983-84 Commerce Batch of SBC, Karkala has been holding such re-unions for quite some time. The first such re-union wasofficially held at Pilikula in Mangalore in the year 2005. The then Principal of SBC, Karkala, Prof Padmanabha Gowda, Prof M Ramachandra had presided the programme. Since then the 1983-84 batch has been gathering at regular intervals at different places in India, albeit informally. The Dubai event is the sixthformal event and the first one overseas.

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News Network
January 23,2026

Karnataka Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot read only three lines from the 122-paragraph address prepared by the Congress-led state government while addressing the joint session of the Legislature on Thursday, effectively bypassing large sections critical of the BJP-led Union government.

The omitted portions of the customary Governor’s address outlined what the state government described as a “suppressive situation in economic and policy matters” under India’s federal framework. The speech also sharply criticised the Centre’s move to replace the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) with the Viksit Bharat–Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act, commonly referred to as the VB-GRAM (G) Act.

Governor Gehlot had earlier conveyed his objection to several paragraphs that were explicitly critical of the Union government. On Thursday, he confined himself to the opening lines — “I extend a warm welcome to all of you to the joint session of the State legislature. I am extremely pleased to address this august House” — before jumping directly to the concluding sentence of the final paragraph.

He ended the address by reading the last line of paragraph 122: “Overall, my government is firmly committed to doubling the pace of the State’s economic, social and physical development. Jai Hind — Jai Karnataka.”

According to the prepared speech, the Karnataka government demanded the scrapping of the VB-GRAM (G) Act, describing it as “contractor-centric” and detrimental to rural livelihoods, and called for the full restoration of MGNREGA. The state government argued that the new law undermines decentralisation, weakens labour protections, and centralises decision-making in violation of constitutional norms.

Key points from the unread sections of the speech:

•    Karnataka facing a “suppressive” economic and policy environment within the federal system

•    Repeal of MGNREGA described as a blow to rural livelihoods

•    VB-GRAM (G) Act accused of protecting corporate and contractor interests

•    New law alleged to weaken decentralised governance

•    Decision-making said to be imposed by the Centre without consulting states

•    Rights of Adivasis, women, backward classes and agrarian communities curtailed

•    Labourers allegedly placed under contractor control

•    States facing mounting fiscal stress due to central policies

•    VB-GRAM (G) Act accused of enabling large-scale corruption

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