Udupi judge’s daughter Meghana is 1st lady fighter pilot from South India

coastaldigest.com news network

June 17, 2018

Udupi, Jun 17: India’s coffee cradle Chikkamagaluru has given South India’s first ever woman fighter pilot. Meghana Shanbhag was the only woman among the 113 flight cadets who graduated as flying officers of the Indian Air Force at the combined graduation parade at Telangana’s Dundigal yesterday.

She has joined the club of five other women fighter pilots of the IAF, who hail from Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

Meghana was born in Chikkamagaluru in a family of lawyers. Her father M K Ramesh is a practising lawyer and mother S C Shobha serves as a judge in the district consumer forum in Udupi. She had her schooling at Little Rock Indian School, a boarding school at Brahmavar, Udupi. She did her BE in Information Science and Engineering at the Sri Jayachamarajendra College of Engineering, Mysuru in the 2011-15 batch.

After joining the flying branch of the Air Force Academy in January 2017, she was cleared for flying in the fighter stream in a trifurcation board in December 2017. She will be the sixth woman fighter pilot to be inducted into the IAF. The other five are north Indians. After her graduation in 2015, she did basic mountaineering course in Manali and trained in paragliding at Goa during 2016, before joining the Air Force.

A TV channel quoted the Meghana as saying that she got inspired to become a fighter pilot in June 2016 when she read the stories of Indian Air Force’s first fighter pilots Avani Chaturvedi, Bhawana Kanth and Mohana Singh.

Comments

Congratulations on this achievement. This motivates girls to take-up challenging assignments in Services.

Its a good sign that a woman choosing this field and achieving heights.

Proud moment

Great to see this..

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International Airport in Udupi, Metro to Mangaluru…: Pontiffs present comprehensive Udupi development plan to PM

News Network

November 30,2025

Udupi: The pontiffs of Sri Paryaya Puttige Mutt, the sacred seat of Jagadguru Shrimad Madhvacharya Moola Samsthanam, have submitted a proposal to the Prime Minister seeking comprehensive development for Udupi district.

Proposal for International Airport

A key request is the establishment of an international airport. Highlighting that around 1,000 acres of land are available and suitable, the pontiffs noted that the existing Mangalore Airport provides limited international connectivity. They suggested the airport be developed under a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) or as a Greenfield Airport to boost trade, education, healthcare, and spiritual tourism.

Metro and Rapid Transit Connectivity

The proposal also calls for Metro Rail or Rapid Transit between Mangaluru and Udupi. The 55 km coastal stretch experiences heavy daily commuter traffic, causing congestion. The district administration is ready to prepare an initial project report for a Mass Rapid Transit corridor and requested inclusion under national urban mobility programmes to ensure safe, green, and time-efficient regional transport.

Port and Coastal Development

The pontiffs urged the development of an international-standard port with a cruise terminal along Udupi’s coast. They also requested fast-tracking of pending coastal tourism projects and revising Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) norms to encourage sustainable infrastructure and hospitality investment.

IT, AI and Technological Infrastructure

Support was sought for an IT and AI Innovation Park with incubation facilities under Digital India and Startup India initiatives. The proposal also emphasized the need for strengthened data security and cloud computing infrastructure to boost India’s technological independence.

Sports and Education Initiatives

The pontiffs requested national sports status for Kambala, along with financial and infrastructure support. They also sought the establishment of an AIIMS in Udupi, a new IIT campus, and approval for an IIM to promote higher education in the district.

Representation to the Prime Minister

Sri Sugunendra Tirtha Pontiff and Sri Sushrendra Tirtha Swamiji represented the pontiffs in submitting the comprehensive development proposal to the Prime Minister during his recent visit.

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