A month on, police yet to solve athlete 'suicide' mystery

October 27, 2011

Udupi, October 27: Even a month after the mysterious 'suicide' of budding athlete Pruthivi Amparu, who allegedly hanged herself on Septembers 27, at her hostel room of SMS College in Brahmavar, the case remained unsolved.

The much-talked about suicide had led to a fear psychosis among parents whose daughters are staying at hostels.

Despite rigorous investigation on part of Udupi district police, who have failed to find out the reason behind this extreme step.

The severity of the issue had prompted Udupi Superintend of Police YS Ravi Kumar to handover the probe into the case to a team led by Kundapur ASP Ram Nivas. Though the team has completed the investigation, it has not submitted the report so far. Mr Kumar also stated that the police are yet to finalise the investigation report.

The arrest of a local youth, who allegedly had been harassing the girl, by sending SMSs too did not help in solving the case.

The unexpected suicide of 16-year-old girl who had just returned victorious from a sports meet held in Mandya, bagging second place in in javelin throw, had left behind a number of unanswerable questions. Till afternoon everyone had seen her in a jovial mood and she also had spoken with her parents over phone.

Local people had even expressed doubt whether it was a suicide or a murder, as generally sportspersons are believed to be brave-hearts and cope with any kind of situation.

The circumstance of Prithvi's tragic end had prompted the leaders of Billava community to strongly demand for a high level probe rather than handing it over to local Brahmavar police. They also had suspected foul play in the missing pages of Prithvi's diary, which is now in the passion of police

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Mangaluru’s KPT becomes India’s first autonomous govt polytechnic

News Network

January 23,2026

Mangaluru: The Karnataka Government Polytechnic (KPT), Mangaluru, has achieved autonomous status from the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), becoming the first government polytechnic in the country to receive such recognition in its 78-year history. The status was granted by AICTE, New Delhi, and subsequently approved by the Karnataka Board of Technical Education in October last year.

Officials said the autonomy was conferred a few months ago. Until recently, AICTE extended autonomous status only to engineering colleges, excluding diploma institutions. However, with a renewed national focus on skill development, several government polytechnics across India have now been granted autonomy.

KPT, the second-largest polytechnic in Karnataka, was established in 1946 with four branches and has since expanded to offer eight diploma programmes, including computer science and polymer technology. The institution is spread across a 19-acre campus.

Ravindra M Keni, the first dean of the institution, told The Times of India that AICTE had proposed autonomous status for polytechnic institutions that are over 25 years old. “Many colleges applied. In the first round, 100 institutions were shortlisted, which was further narrowed down to 15 in the second round. We have already completed one semester after becoming an autonomous institution,” he said. He added that nearly 500 students are admitted annually across eight three-year diploma courses.

Explaining the factors that helped KPT secure autonomy, Keni said the institution has consistently recorded 100 per cent admissions and placements for its graduates. He also noted its strong performance in sports, with the college emerging champions for 12 consecutive years, along with active student participation in NCC and NSS activities.

Autonomous status allows KPT to design industry-oriented curricula, conduct examinations, prepare question papers, and manage academic documentation independently. The institution can also directly collaborate with industries and receive priority funding from AICTE or the Ministry of Education. While academic autonomy has been granted, financial control will continue to rest with the state government.

“There will be separate committees for examinations, question paper setting, boards of studies, and boards of examiners. The institution will now have the freedom to conduct admissions without government notifications and issue its own marks cards,” Keni said, adding that new academic initiatives would be planned after a year of functioning under the autonomous framework.

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