Mangaluru: ‘NITs to adopt villages, take up other social programmes’

[email protected] (CD Network)
December 19, 2015

Mangaluru, Dec 19: National Institutes of Technology (NITs) will be associated with the endeavour of fulfilling the social needs, NITK (Surathkal) Director Prof Swapan Bhattacharya said.

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He was speaking while presiding over the 10th Global Convention of NITK Surathkal Alumni Association at NITK on Friday. Prof Bhattacharya said NITs will take up social programmes, such as adoption of villages in future, according to the schemes formulated by the Union government.

NITK?has to convert itself into a 24x7 campus from the present 8 am to 5 pm campus. Also, it has to transform itself from a teaching-oriented system to a learning-oriented one. NITK is planning to offer a summer internship programme with an intake of 100 students, who will visit the top five laboratories in the world, he said and sought the cooperation from its alumni towards making the plan into reality.

Recalling the role of NITK Alumni Association, he said NITK?is the only NIT to have a Dean for Alumni Affairs. He lamented that the NITs are often compared with IITs. But, several NITs are better than IITs. Hence, the NITs should be evaluated on their own merits, he observed.

Titan Company Ltd Managing Director Bhaskar Bhat, who was the chief guest at the programme, in his keynote address, said India is a place where people aspire for better lives with rising personal income. India is like a country which is smart, liberal, progressive and tech-savvy. The country’s ability to deal with VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity) is an advantage for it, he noted.

Alumni Lawrence Mendonca, G Shankaram, Prof B Gopal, Kedarnath Mudda, Rudramani, Fekadu Mengistu and others were felicitated on the occasion. Fekadu Mengistu, an alumnus, attended the programme with his eight other fellow mates. He is the Deputy Managing Director of RIES Engineering in Ethiopia. He is also the Executive Council member of the Alumni Association.

‘Smrithi’, the?souvenir, was released on the occasion. Spiritual leader Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev was the guest of honour.

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News Network
December 16,2025

Mangaluru, Dec 16: The Mangaluru City police have significantly escalated their campaign against drug trafficking, arresting 25 individuals and booking 12 cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act between November 30 and December 13. The crackdown resulted in the seizure of a substantial quantity of illicit substances, including 685.6 grams of MDMA and 1.5 kg of ganja.

The success of this recent drive has been significantly boosted by the city’s innovative, QR code-based anonymous reporting system.

"The anonymous reporting system has received an encouraging response. Several recent arrests were made based on inputs received through this system, helping police tighten the noose around drug peddlers," said the City Police Commissioner.

The latest arrests contribute to a robust year-to-date record, underscoring the police's relentless commitment to combating the drug menace.

Up to December 14 this year, the police have registered a total of 107 cases of drug peddling, leading to the arrest of 219 peddlers. Furthermore, they have booked 562 cases of drug consumption, resulting in the arrest of 671 individuals.

The scale of the seizure for the year reflects the magnitude of the problem being tackled: police have seized 320.6 kg of ganja worth ₹88.7 lakh and 1.4 kg of MDMA valued at ₹1.2 crore. Other significant seizures include hydro-weed ganja worth ₹94.7 lakh and cocaine worth ₹1.9 lakh, among others.

The Commissioner emphasized a policy of rigorous enforcement: "We ensure that peddlers are caught red-handed so that they cannot later dispute the case or claim innocence."

To counter the rising trend of substance abuse among youth, the Mangaluru City police have rolled out uniform guidelines for random drug testing across educational institutions.

As part of the drive, tests were conducted in approximately 100 institutions, screening an estimated 5,500 to 6,000 students in the first phase. 20 students tested positive for drug consumption during the initial screening.

Students who tested positive have been provided counselling and are scheduled for re-testing in the second quarter. The testing will also be expanded to students not covered in the first phase. In a move to ensure strict implementation, police personnel were deployed in mufti in some institutions. Reiterating a zero-tolerance stance, the Commissioner confirmed that random testing will continue, and colleges have also been instructed to conduct drug tests at the time of admission to deter substance abuse from an early stage.

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