Alva's Virasat from Dec 24 to 27; SPB, Manu Parekh to be honoured

[email protected] (CD Network)
December 21, 2015

Mangaluru: Dec 21: The four-day Alva’s Virasat 2015, a festival of music and dance, will begin at Vivekananda Nagara in Puthige, Moodbidri, from December 24.

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Briefing media persons here on Monday, Alva’s Education Foundation Chairman Dr Mohan Alva said eminent playback singer S P Balasubrahmanyam has been chosen for the Alva’s Virasat Award 2015. The award will be conferred on him on the first day of the Virasat. The Virasat award carries a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh and a citation.

Balasubrahmanyam, who entered playback singing with ‘Shree Shree Maryadaaramanna’ Telugu film, has so far sung over 35,000 songs in 15 languages in the last 40 years.

The Virasat will be inaugurated by Dharmasthala Dharmadhikari Dr D Veerendra Heggade at 5.30 pm in the presence of Nitte University Chancellor N Vinay Hegde, Minister K Abhayachandra Jain and others on December 24.

Eminent artist Manu Parekh will be felicitated with the Alva's Varna Virasat award at the concluding ceremony of the Virasat on December 27.

Parekh is a multi-talented artist. He was design advisor for Handicraft and Handloom Export Corporation.

He has held solo exhibition of his paintings at Washington, New York, London, Ialy and Denmark. The Alva's Varna Virasat award will carry a cash prize of Rs 25,000 and a citation.

For the art connoisseurs, the inaugural session will be followed by ‘Naadasurabhi’ - a special fusion of four violins that Mysore Nagaraj, Mysore Manjunath, Vidwans Ganesh and Kumaresh Chennai will play. Ramdas Palsule, Arun Kumar and Shivashankar Swamy will accompany them on tabla, special percussions and mridanga respectively.

S P Balasubrahmanyam and troupe will enthral the audience at 9 pm. The second day of Alva’s Virasat will see ‘Raagarangoli’ with Kadri Gopalnath on saxophone, Thanjavoor Govindarajan on thavil, Vikku Vinayakram on ghata, Vijay Ghate on tabla, Praveen Godkhindi on flute, Selva Ganesh on Khanjira and V Umesh on keyboard. Ustad Munawar Masoom and team from Mumbai will enthral the art lovers with qawwali and Sufi songs at 9 pm.

On December 26, percussion artist Shivamani will lead ‘Naadasangama’, a confluence which will have Harmeet Manseta on keyboard and U Rajesh on mandolin. Students of Alva's educational institutions will present a variety of dances.

On December 27—leading playback singers Vijay Prakash, Karthik and Mahalakshmi Iyer will render songs in ‘Sangeetha Vaibhava.’ This will be followed by a variety dances by Alva’s students.

Varna Virasat, a national-level painting camp, featuring 15 tribal artists has already been inaugurated at the Vidyagiri Nudisiri auditorium in Moodbidri.

About 20 contemporary artists will join them in the camp that will go on till December 27.

The tribal artists will bring out ‘Warli,’ ‘Gondu,’ ‘Bhil,’ ‘Pithora,’ ‘Madhubani,’ ‘Meenakari’ and ‘Kalamkari’ art pieces at the venue. In fact, the Alva’s institution has a collection of more than 4,000 paintings and art works created by painters and tribal artists at Varna Virasat since its inception.

Free bus arrangement has been made for art connoisseurs to reach the campus before and after the event from Moodbidri. The bus arrangement has been made from Nishmitha Towers to the venue of the event at 5 pm. The venue of Virasat also has a spacious vehicle parking lot.

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News Network
December 7,2025

SHRIMP.jpg

Mangaluru, Dec 7: A rare bamboo shrimp has been rediscovered on mainland India more than 70 years after it was last reported, confirming for the first time the presence of Atyopsis spinipes in the country. The find was made by researchers from the Centre for Climate Change Studies at Sathyabama Institute of Science and Technology, Chennai, during surveys in Karnataka and Odisha.

The team — shrimp expert Dr S Prakash, PhD scholar K Kunjulakshmi, and Mangaluru-based researcher Maclean Antony Santos — combined field surveys, ecological assessments and DNA analysis to identify the elusive species. Their findings, published in Zootaxa, resolve decades of taxonomic confusion stemming from a 1951 report that misidentified the species as Atyopsis moluccensis without strong evidence.

The shrimp has now been confirmed at two locations: the Mulki–Pavanje estuary near Mangaluru and the Kuakhai River in Bhubaneswar. Historical specimens from the Andaman Islands, previously labelled as A. moluccensis, were also found to be misidentified and actually belong to A. spinipes.

The rediscovery began after an aquarium hobbyist in Odisha spotted a shrimp in 2022, prompting systematic surveys across Udupi, Karwar and Mangaluru. Four female specimens were collected in Mulki and one in Odisha, all genetically matching.

Researchers warn the species may exist in very small, vulnerable populations as freshwater habitats face increasing pressure from pollution, sand mining and infrastructure development. All verified specimens have been deposited with the Zoological Survey of India for future reference.

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News Network
December 19,2025

Mangaluru: In a decisive move to tackle the city’s deteriorating sanitation infrastructure, the Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) has announced a massive ₹1,200 crore action plan to overhaul its underground drainage (UGD) network.

The initiative, spearheaded by Deputy Commissioner and MCC Administrator Darshan HV, aims to bridge "missing links" in the current system that have left residents grappling with overflowing sewage and environmental hazards.

The Breaking Point

The announcement follows a high-intensity phone-in session on Thursday, where the DC was flooded with grievances from frustrated citizens. Residents, including Savithri from Yekkur, described a harrowing reality: raw sewage from apartments leaking into stormwater drains, creating a "permanent stink" and turning residential zones into mosquito breeding grounds.

"We are facing immense difficulties due to the stench and the health risks. Local officials have remained silent until now," one resident reported during the session.

The Strategy: A Six-Year Vision

DC Darshan HV confirmed that the proposed plan is not a temporary patch but a comprehensive six-year roadmap designed to accommodate Mangaluru’s projected population growth. Key highlights of the plan include:

•    Infrastructure Expansion: Laying additional pipelines to connect older neighborhoods to the main grid.

•    STP Crackdown: Stricter enforcement of Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) regulations. While new apartments are required to have functional STPs, many older buildings lack them entirely, and several newer units are reportedly non-functional.

•    Budgetary Push: The plan has already been discussed with the district in-charge minister and the Secretary of the Urban Development Department. It is slated for formal presentation in the upcoming state budget.

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News Network
December 19,2025

Mangaluru: The Mangaluru CEN police have arrested a 23-year-old man for allegedly posting provocative and misleading content on an Instagram page named “mr_a_titude”, targeting the Bajpe police.

Mangaluru Commissioner of Police Sudheer Kumar Reddy C H identified the arrested as Abhishek M, a resident of Katipalla in Mangaluru.

A case has been registered at the Bajpe Police Station under Sections 353(1)(c), 353(2), 56, and 57 read with Section 189 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) in connection with the post.

According to police, the accused uploaded a photograph of a hotel on the Instagram page and alleged that accused persons in a murder case under the Bajpe police jurisdiction were being given “royal treatment” by the police, including being served beef meals daily from the hotel.

The post further accused the police of supporting criminals, misusing their authority, and betraying public trust. Police said the content was provocative in nature and aimed at inciting public outrage against the police.

Following the post, a case was registered at the Bajpe police station, and further investigation was transferred to the CEN police station.

Police records indicate that the accused has a criminal history, with multiple cases registered against him, including murder, attempt to murder, assault, and robbery at the Surathkal Police Station, and one case at the Kaup Police Station.

The Commissioner said the accused was traced and arrested using technical evidence.

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