Naxal-affected Amasebail becomes Udupi’s first fully solar-enabled GP

[email protected] (CD Network)
April 28, 2017

Udupi, Apr 28: Naxalite-affected Amasebail Gram Panchayat of Udupi is now first fully solar GP in the coastal district. Pramod Madhwaraj, Minister of State for Fisheries, Youth Affairs and Sports, on Thursday formally declared this.

AMASEBAIL

The Amasebail GP has three villages — Amasebail, Rattady and Machattu — with 1,872 houses. While 1,000 houses have been provided with four solar lamps, 497 houses have been provided with two. The remaining houses already had solar lamps thanks to previous schemes.

As many as 20 solar street lamps too have been installed in the GP. The total cost of installing solar lamps in these 1,497 houses was Rs. 2.13 crore, and the beneficiaries contributed Rs. 77.13 lakh.

The installation of solar lamps in the 1,497 houses, taken up in May 2016, was completed in three phases owing to the efforts of the district administration, gram panchayat, Amasebail Charitable Trust, Karnataka Bank, and Sri Kshetra Dharmasthala Rural Development Project. SELCO Solar Light Pvt. Ltd., selected through e-tender, was entrusted with the installation.

Mr. Madhwaraj said the State government was giving importance to renewable energy sources, especially solar and wind. The power generated from renewable energy sources has increased in the past four years. “Amasebail GP is a model not only for the State but also for the country,” he said.

Delivering the keynote address, H. Harish Hande, Magsaysay award winner and president of Selco India, said nearly 30 crore people still live without electricity in the country. The regional rural banks, commercial banks and Sri Kshetra Dharmasthala Rural Development Project have supported the solar initiative in the State.

He said Karnataka was a model for the entire country to follow, especially in promoting renewable energy. But the State has not marketed its success in the field, he said. States such as Chhattisgarh and Odisha, apart from the north-eastern ones, could follow the Karnataka model, he said.

“While Mahatma Gandhi brought independence to the country, it is now the responsibility of the youth to bring in ‘energy independence’ to the country by 2020,” he said.

A.G. Kodgi, president of Amasebail Charitable Trust, welcomed the gathering. Halady Srinivas Shetty, Kundapur MLA, Pratapchandra Shetty, MLC, B. Appanna Hegde, former MLA, Jayalaxmi Shedti, president of Amasebail Gram Panchayat, Ananthakrishna, former chairman of Karnataka Bank, and L.H. Manjunath, executive director of SKDRDP, were among those present.

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News Network
December 15,2025

Mangaluru, Dec 15: Air India Express has announced that it will resume direct flight services between Mangaluru and Muscat from March 2026, restoring an important international air link for passengers from the coastal region.

Airport authorities said the service will operate twice a week—on Sundays and Tuesdays—from March 1. The initial flights are scheduled on March 3, 8 and 10, followed by March 15 and 17, with the same operating pattern to continue thereafter. The flight duration is approximately three hours and 25 minutes.

The Mangaluru–Muscat route was earlier operated under the 2025 summer schedule, with services beginning on July 14. At that time, Air India Express had operated four flights a week before suspending the service.

Officials said the summer schedule will come into effect from March 29, after which changes in flight timings and departure schedules from Mangaluru are expected. Passengers have been advised to check the latest schedules while planning their travel.

The resumption of direct flights to Muscat is expected to significantly benefit expatriates, business travellers and others, further strengthening Mangaluru’s air connectivity with the Gulf region.

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News Network
December 5,2025

Mangaluru: In a significant step to curb online hate and intimidation, Mangaluru City Police have registered a suo motu case against multiple Instagram accounts accused of circulating alleged provocative and threatening content.

While monitoring social media activity on Tuesday, Kankanady Town PSI Anitha Nikkam identified the Instagram handle ‘team_targetttt_900’ for posting a hate message alongside images of lethal weapons. Another account, ‘team_nagara_900’, allegedly shared a threatening post targeting activist Bharath Kumdelu, tagging additional pages such as KARAVALI-OFFICIAL.

Several other accounts — including ‘immu_bhai.fan’, ‘target_boy_900’, ‘kings_of_manglore’, ‘team_target_boys.900’, ‘arshad_mangalore’, ‘target_ka19_ullal’, ‘team_target__’, ‘troll_tigersz_900’, ‘tr_group_900’, and ‘team_target_900’ — are also under scrutiny for spreading similar inflammatory material, police said.

Authorities have urged citizens, especially young social media users, to report suspicious pages and avoid engaging with groups that glorify violence or threaten individuals. Online hate can quickly escalate into real-world harm, and police stress that sharing or promoting such content can attract legal consequences.

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News Network
December 3,2025

arrival.jpg

Mangaluru, Dec 3: A group of Congress workers gathered at the Mangaluru International Airport on Wednesday to welcome AICC general secretary K C Venugopal, but the reception quickly turned into a display of support for Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar.

Venugopal arrived in the city to participate in the centenary commemoration of the historic dialogue between Mahatma Gandhi and Narayana Guru. The event, organised by the Sivagiri Mutt, Varkala, in association with the Mangalore University Sri Narayana Guru Study Chair, is being held on the university’s Konaje campus.

KPCC general secretary Mithun Rai and several party workers had assembled at the airport to receive Venugopal. However, the moment he stepped out, workers began raising slogans backing Shivakumar.

The university programme will be inaugurated by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.

This show of support comes just a day after Siddaramaiah remarked that Shivakumar would lead the government “when the high command decides.” The chief minister made the comment after a breakfast meeting at Shivakumar’s residence—another public display of camaraderie between the two leaders amid ongoing attempts by the party high command to downplay their leadership rivalry.

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