Students sing, dance to understand subjects

February 1, 2012

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Mangalore, February 1: When most of the students attempting SSLC exams in the next few months are buried in their books studying, students of Swaroopa Adhyayana Kendra are busy singing, dancing and painting.

Students of Swaroopa Adhyayana Kendra painting a picture, while singing their institution anthem, at Town Hall in Mangalore on Tuesday.However, people who are thinking that these kids are up to tom-foolery will be shocked to find out that they know their theorems, science experiments, history dates, English poems, Kannada grammar on the tip of their tongue.

How are they able to do it? Well, thanks to the innovative learning methods of Gopadkar.

Swaroopa Adhyayan Kendra is the brain child of Gopadkar, which aims to break the barriers of conventional education system which is limited to six subjects, exams and marks.

Gopadkar showed the wonders of his alternate education methods at 'Swaroopa Shikshana Jagruti Jatha' organised at Mangalore Town Hall on Tuesday.

“Who ever knows everything and understands everything, tends to forget. One who does not understand and is ready to accept that fact and learn is a student. When you do not understand, you are forced to think. Hence, it is better not to understand than understand,” said Gopadkar.

'Swaroopa,' means understanding oneself with an aim to develop. The alternate education system aims to bring change, development, experimentation and creativity, he said.

The students of Swaroopa, then demonstrated various learning techniques they learnt at the center and left the audience awestruck. The students presented a well-choreographed Bollywood dance. Later, they explained that the dance is just not a dance, but a depiction of Flemming's Right and Left Hand Rule. The students have memorised the entire rule with the dance moves.

The students performed various other dances which depicted Maths theorems and also the multi-tasked education dance, where students presented four different subjects in one dance.

Later, Gopadkar demonstrated the memory skills of his students, who could name more than 50 items in its chronological order and also randomly. “With this technique, my students have entered the Limca Book of World Records by naming 1000 items,” he said.

The students also demonstrated their concentration power, by doing 11 tasks at once. The students drew pictures in their left hand, counted in the right and memorised items, numbers, questions asked by their teachers simultaneously and also told what the audience were doing.

Any mobile number in the world can be memorised by these children and they can remember it permanently. The students have denoted numbers to various actions and they remember them through the story technique.

The First War of Indian Independence, seemed to come alive when the students enacted an entire chapter of the social science subject with an Yakshagana.

Later, they presented a puppet show “Artha Agtha Illa” (I don't understand) which showed the plight of the students in present education system.

“Stop Bonsai education. Try to solve the lacunae in the present education system. All children are geniuses, one has to know to use the human resource,” said Gopadkar and added that he and his students have toured Karnataka for three months, demonstrating the education techniques in over 54 centers. However, the education department is not considering to include the alternative study techniques in the education system,” he regretted.

“Earth is looted by the educated. Today's education is leading one to a destructive path. The society has become monotonous. There is a great need to have a change in the education system and hence emphasise on experimentation and creativity,” said Scholar and artist Gururaj Marpalli delivering the key-note address.

The programme was inaugurated by Artist K P Shenoy, with a painting which was backed by the Swaroopa institution anthem sung by the students.

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News Network
February 1,2026

Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court has refused to quash an investigation against a WhatsApp group administrator accused of allowing the circulation of obscene and offensive images depicting Hindutva politicians and idols in 2021.

Justice M Nagaprasanna observed that, prima facie, the ingredients of the offence under Section 295A of the Indian Penal Code were made out. “The offence under Section 295A of the IPC is met to every word of its ingredient, albeit prima facie,” the judge said.

The petitioner, Sirajuddin, a resident of Belthangady taluk in Dakshina Kannada district, had challenged the FIR registered against him at the CEN (Cyber, Economics and Narcotics) police station, Mangaluru, for offences under Section 295A of the IPC and Section 67 of the Information Technology Act. Section 295A relates to punishment for deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage the religious feelings of any class of citizens.

According to the complaint filed by K Jayaraj Salian, also a resident of Belthangady taluk, he received a WhatsApp group link from an unknown source and was added to the group after accessing it. The group reportedly had six administrators and around 250 participants, where obscene and offensive images depicting Hindu deities and certain political figures were allegedly circulated repeatedly.

Sirajuddin was arrested in connection with the case and later released on bail on February 16, 2021. He argued before the court that he was being selectively targeted, while other administrators—including the creator of the group—were neither arrested nor investigated. He also contended that the Magistrate could not have taken cognisance of the offence under Section 295A without prior sanction under Section 196(1) of the CrPC.

Rejecting the argument, Justice Nagaprasanna held that prior sanction is required only at the stage of taking cognisance, and not at the stage of registration of the crime or during investigation.

The judge noted that the State had produced the entire investigation material before the court. “A perusal of the material reveals depictions of Hindu deities in an extraordinarily obscene, demeaning and profane manner. The content is such that its reproduction in a judicial order would itself be inappropriate,” the court said, adding that the material, on its face, had the tendency to outrage religious feelings and disturb communal harmony.

Observing that the case was still at the investigation stage, the court said it could not interdict the probe at this juncture. However, it expressed concern that the investigating officer appeared to have not proceeded uniformly against all administrators. The court clarified that if the investigation revealed the active involvement of any member in permitting the circulation of such content, they must also be proceeded against.

“At this investigative stage, any further observation by this Court would be unnecessary,” the order concluded.

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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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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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