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Mangaluru, Mar 14: During its 41st annual convocation, the Mangalore University would confer three honorary degrees on March 15. The recipients are Haji U K Monu (Education & Social Service), G Ramakrishna Achar (Agriculture, Education & Social Service) and Prof M. B. Puranik (Education & Social Service).

Haji U K Monu

Haji U. K. Monu is the founder and managing director of Kanachur Group of Industries in Mangalore. Under his leadership, the Kanachur Academy of General Education was established in 2002 to provide quality education to the people of the locality, especially women and the underprivileged. The Academy includes a range of institutions, including the Kanachur Public School, Kanachur Pre-University College for Women, Kanachur Institute of Management and Science, Kanachur Institute of Medical Science, Kanachur College of Physiotherapy, Kanachur College of Nursing Science, Kanachur Institute of Allied Health Science, and Kanachur Hospital and Research Centre.

In addition to his outstanding achievements in the educational field, Haji U.K Monu has made significant contributions in the social and religious fields. He has served as the President and Vice President of the Syed Madani Charitable Trust and Dargah Association Ullal, Mangalore, and as the President of the Mohidin Jumma Masjid, Panjala, Mangaluru for the past 25 years. He has also served as the Vice President of the South Indian Plywood Manufacturers Association and the Karnataka Timber Importers Association.

Haji U.K Monu's business ventures have provided direct and indirect employment opportunities to many people, and his efforts have extended globally through his association with Global Business Associates in Singapore, Dubai, Myanmar, Africa, and Europe. He has been recognized for his outstanding contributions in the field of Education and Social Service by the Newspaper Association of Karnataka and by the Mangalore University on 43rd Foundation day.

Haji U. K. Monu is Self-taught and self-made entrepreneur and educationist with an undying passion for constant learning and amelioration. He is universally compassionate, empathetic and involved in social service, helping many poor families who are economically backward, facilitating fee concessions and free education for
 
deserving students, and conducting free mass marriages for poor couples. He has covered a vast sphere of business interests and diverse social ventures, providing both direct and indirect employment to many people. He has faced numerous difficulties and challenges during his initial days towards the path of achievement. His dedication, hard work, and commitment to excellence made him a role model for the younger generation. His contributions to society are truly commendable.

Ramakrishna Achar

G Ramakrishna Achar was born in a financially backward family from Gangolli in Kundapur taluk in Udupi district and due to the fact that he had to support his family he quickly took up work at a fabrication workshop and dropped out of the school early in his childhood. All the time his heart yearned for more academic education, but learnt skills from his work at an impressionable age. The self-learning desire in him took him deep into mechanics and fabrication field and made him master craftsman, when he had just reached his teenage. He upgraded his technical knowledge by working as a trainee in the Central Food Technology and Research Institute (CFTRI) in Mysuru.

From then on, he did not look back or paused on the road to his horizons. Though he started his professional life in a shed with only Rs. 25,000 capital, he ploughed hard and today he owns a fabrication company that is making waves in the field of agriculture, water management, sewage treatment having a turnover of Rs. 250 crores per annum and employed over 3000 people in skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled segments. He has built infrastructure close to Rs. 100 crores. His clientele is spread over the globe- even in the developed world.

His line up of products began in 1990 with paddy processing unit which he quickly upgraded into a modern range of machinery with inbuilt dryer that played a major role in controlling the moisture and retaining the quality of rice for a long time. This was a world innovation and many paddy growing countries around the world have subscribed to his idea and started using his machinery. As a result in India alone, the wastage of cured rice was arrested and the country gained Rs. 100 crore every season by way of stopping the rice going waste due to moisture retention.

This process also had another advantage of retaining the composition of rice that made it suitable for the modern day rice-based fastfood recipes. Today if the common rice smells and tastes better all over the country, it was due to the deep research product of Ramarkishna Achar’s ingenuity, imagination, creativity and innovative outlook.

Clean and pure water to the last person in society- Elixir of life

Ramakrishna Achar’s quest for research took another turn which was towards providing safe drinking water to the masses. His ‘Elixir’ brand of water purifier with different configuration is now a standard equipment for water dispensing in public places all over the country and in the neighbhouring countries. Heeding to the call of honourable Prime Minister Narendra Modiji for clean and safe water for every citizen under ‘Sujala’ programme, Ramarkishna Achar upgraded his range of water purification plants and made it more affordable to install them in more places where people can fill up one litre of purified water at Rs. 1 per litre. This worked like a charm in rural areas where the drinking water supply quality was always wanting for improvement. Thanks to the efforts now thousands of villages, temple complexes, public offices, schools, colleges or wherever there is a good number of visitors the ‘Elixir’ machines were installed providing safe drinking water.

The Elixir machines also minimised the use of pet bottles being littered after the use that led to plastic pollution. This innovative product also gave jobs to many urban and rural youths by installing the Elixir water dispenser machines and earned their livelihood. In fact, the Elixir Machines have taken care of three objectives together, namely stand-up India, Skill India and clean water programme which the honourable Prime Minister of India had envisaged.

Effluent treatment plant -micro and macro operations.

Another area of vital importance where Ramkrishna Achar concentrated is the treatment of effluent water or what we call municipal waste. There are a number of scientific findings and research papers that indicate untreated sewage discharge from towns and cities polluting the surface water resources and gradually turning the surface water and the sub-terranean water sources unusable, especially in the highly urban areas and cities.

To deal with this problem, he has designed sewage water treatment plants of various configurations that can cater to individual households, medium and large housing colonies, industrial houses, high-rise apartment blocks. Since space is always a constraint in housing complexes, the design of these new-generation effluent treatment plants can fit in a corner of any independent house and what is more? The system does not need any civil work and is fully automated and requires no or minimal human intervention for maintenance purposes. This model also has been widely accepted in many parts of the globe including some developed countries. To put it simply it is a ‘plug and play’ system.

Industrial Training Institute- a ray of hope for the rural youth.

His deep understanding of the social system around the youth was instrumental in promoting an Industrial Institute at Bannadka near Moodbidri. He has developed thousands of skilled youth who have populated Industrial set-up in various countries in the world and are gainfully employed in ancillaries and mainline industrial houses in fabrication, technology integration and adoption, and mechanical automation. The National Council for Vocational Training has recognised the Institute. Many of them already own SMEs in the rural engineering and fabrication in small towns and cities. Even here, the Skill India programme of our honourable Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji has been a motivating factor.

Go Dhama - a passion and a mission

In another initiative towards making the farmers self-sufficient, Ramakrishna Achar has launched a ‘Go Dhama’ in a remote village - Muniyal in Karkala taluk about 25 kilometers from Moodbidri on a 35 acres of land. His idea was to create a model, micro self-sufficient village led by the cow-rearing and value- addition to the milk and milk products. It started as a passion and later became a mission of his life.

The Go Dhama has 37 Indian breed cows from different parts of the country. A fully machinised production unit, in-house veterinary service, composting, fodder development, training programmes for the farmer in integrated farming and intercropping and developing nutrition programme for the cows for better milk-yield and healthy progeny. The Go Dhama also has plans for development of the hyper local variety of cows and cattle.

The wider vision of Go Dhama is to have a SME level Dairy development based on modernisation and Technology based on PLC norms.

Social service

His heart and mind fill with joy when he talks about the social work aspect in his life so far. The Sri Kalikamba temple in Moodbidri of which he is a trustee has climbed from strength to strength over the last few years. The managing committee and devotees acknowledge the growth with high degree of confidence.

The Bala Samskara Kendra is an institution he launched with help from his own community. The basic objective of the institution is to impart traditional knowledge and Indian ethos along with the school curriculum tapping into the forgotten traditions of our society.

The SKF has also laid out substantial funds for taking up Corporate Social Responsibility projects. It participates in water conservation, water body revivals, Human Resources Development and holding regular medical camps.

Prof. M. B. Puranik

RajyotsavaPuraskar Recipient, Prof. M. B. Puranik is a visionary, a philanthropist, an educationalist, an entrepreneur, a social worker and a politician committed to the nationalist idea that is India.

Prof. M. B. Puranik has a rich 34 years of experience in teaching as the Professor and Head, Dept. of Botany. He was initially associated with St. Mary’s Junior College, Shirva and later on with Canara College, Mangalore. Education is his passion and he realised that a lot of problems in the society could be solved by empowering the youth with education and employment. Over the past thirty years he has been successful in building 10 institutions in four different campuses. He is currently the President of Tulunad Educational Trust and Sharada Group of Institutions. He is a noted alumnus of Sri. Rama Higher Elementary School, Majur; Sri. Vishnumurthy Hayavadana Swamy High School, Innanje; Poorna Prajna College Udupi, Regional College of Education Mysore, and Sardar Patel University, Anand Gujarat. All his alma maters have known him for his leadership skills and diligence. He was the Union President in College, and Senior Under Officer in NCC (Army) having C-certificate with distinctions. As a Professor, he was also the Associate NCC Officer (ANO) in the Air Wing branch, Student Welfare Officer, and Fine Arts Association Convener.

Prof. M. B. Puranik has always been interested in social welfare – he believes that one should be able to give back to the society at least a small portion of what one has taken from the society. His interests apart from education and social work are animal husbandry and agriculture. He is a President of an orphanage called Mangala Seva Samiti Trust (Bala Samrakshana Kendra, Kuttarpadav) and started the Gowvanithashraya Trust in Pajeer which shelters 400 cows and a few destitute women. He is also the president of RCPHD Trust, which runs a school for the economically deprived as well as physically handicapped children. Due to his philanthropic leadership, every year nearly 100 students receive free education, and so far 21 orphan girls have entered into wedlock.

From a Karyakartha in Udupi, he was raised to the level of the Working President of VHP (Karnataka state),a responsibility of a very grave nature, which he is very proud of, till date. His association with the RSS starts from his early youthful days, and though he was elevated to the position of the Vibhag Sangha Chalak, Mangaluru, he had to renounce it later to take
 
up larger roles. Prof. M.B Puranik was also appointed as State Committee Member of Rajya Dharmik Parishat and the Chairman of Gau-SevaAayog in 2013 by the then BJP Government under Sri. B. S. Yediyurappa.

Philanthropist, Prof. M. B. Puranik born in 1945 in Majuru, a small village of undivided Dakshina Kannada, as the 7th son of Late Sri. Ramkrishna Puranik and Smt. Jalajakshi Ammais thus a doyen of education, empowerment, and social upliftment which sums up to patriotism.

Institutions under Prof. M.B. Puranik’s Leadership:

Sharada Vidyalaya - 1992

Sharada PU College - 1998

Shubhodaya Vidyalaya - 2003

Sharada Vidyanikethana Public School - Residential - 2005

Sharada Vidyanikethana Public School - Day Boarding - 2005

Sharada Vidyanikethana P.U. College - 2010

Sharada First Grade College - 2010

Sharada Ayurdhama Medical College & Hospital - 2016

Sharada Shishu Vihara - 2017

Sharada Yoga & Naturopathy Hospital & Research Centre - 2019

Awards & Honours:

Best NCC Officer - Karnataka State Government - 1984

Rajyothsava Puraskar - Karnataka State Government - 2010

Ahara Rathna - Hotel Owners Association - 2011

Seva Rathna - by Swarnavalli Mutt, Sonda - 2015

Krishnanugraha - by Pejavara Mutt - 2018

Hari Bhaktha Netha - by Paryaya Sri.Adamaru Mutt - 2021

Ananda Samaja Bhushana - Ananda Balaga Bengaluru - 2022

Shivalli Shikshana Ratna - Shivalli Spandana, Mangaluru– 2022
 
Vidyanidhi Shilpi – Shanbhog Dasappa Datti – 2023 (100th Silver Crown)

Prof. M. B. Puranik has been a member of many other organisations and associations in various capacities and has been honoured with multiple recognitions. However, only a few have been listed above.

Amidst the rise in concerns over the cardiac health of youth in the country, a wrestler in Pune died due to a heart attack in his talim (traditional wrestling and associated gyms) in Pune. He died after working out in Marunji's Mamasaheb Mohal Kusti Sankul on Wednesday, March 8, in the early hours. 

As per the report, the name of the wrestler is Swapnil Padale (31). He was taken to hospital after he collapsed in the gym. However, he was declared dead by the doctors. He was a renowned name in the wrestling circle in Pune and recently was awarded the 'Maharashtra Campion'.

Pune is becoming a rising hub for wrestlers in Maharashtra after Kolhapur. Wrestling enthusiasts from the state join several Talims in the city. The wrestling industry is morning the death of the young wrestler. 

This is not the first case of a heart attack in the recent past. Several videos of youth collapsing and dying due to heart attacks are doing rounds on social media. Last week former Miss Universe and actor Sushmita Sen shared her health status on Thursday in an Instagram post informing her fans about a heart attack she suffered a few days ago.

Since Covid, the cases of heart attack are increasing rapidly. Along with the elderly, there has also been an increase in cases of heart attack and sudden cardiac death among the youth, said doctors at Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in Delhi.

Dr Tarun Kumar, Professor, Department of Cardiology, Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, Delhi, said, "Many cases of sudden cardiac death have been seen, in which many cases of sudden fainting or heart attack while doing gym have come to the fore. Many such videos have also come to the fore, in which people suddenly fell and died while dancing or walking. Such cases are heart attack patients only, in which there are cases of sudden cardiac death. The cause of sudden cardiac death is heart attack only." 

The doctor also highlighted that earlier heart attack was mostly seen in people of 60 years of age, but now cases of heart attack are also coming in the youth of 20 to 30 years of age and the important reason behind this can be your bad lifestyle, unhealthy food, smoking and consumption of alcohol etc.

Bengaluru, Mar 18: Senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah on Saturday said the party's first list of candidates for the Assembly polls, which is likely by May, will be announced on March 22, the day of Ugadi festival, which is observed as New Year by Kannadigas.

The former Chief Minister, who took part in the Congress' Central Election Committee meeting in New Delhi on Friday, said, the meeting also discussed regarding poll strategy and Rahul Gandhi's visit to the state. "We were preparing election strategy at the meeting yesterday. Also Rahul Gandhi is coming to Belagavi on March 20 to attend a state-level youth rally, we have discussed its preparations," Siddaramaiah told reporters in New Delhi.

Asked about discussions regarding candidates selection, he said, the first list will be released on March 22 morning, on the day of Ugadi festival. The Congress’ Central Election Committee, headed by the party’s national president Mallikarjun Kharge met on Friday in New Delhi, during which according to reports they have approved the first list of 125 candidates, which include 61 sitting Congress MLAs.

The screening committee of the party had earlier this month reviewed all the applications of the ticket aspirants, and their opinion was sent to the central election committee of the AICC for the final review. Karnataka Congress president D K Shivakumar after the meeting on Friday night had said that the CEC deliberated on names recommended by the state screening committee, and it has approved most names, and AICC will announce it.

He also indicated that most of the sitting MLAs may get the ticket, stating that "all of them have done a good job." Responding to a question on the possibility of any alliance, the KPCC chief said, "there is no alliance with any one, for one seat there is a proposal request, we will discuss and decide on it" The Congress has set a target of winning at least 150 seats in the 224-member Assembly, to come to power in Karnataka, with a clear majority. While JD(S) has already announced the first list of 93 candidates for Assembly polls, BJP and Congress are yet to announce their list.

Asked about the constituency he will be contesting from, Siddaramaiah today said, he will abide by the high command's decision. To a question on reports about Rahul Gandhi advising him not to contest from Kolar, the Leader of Opposition in the Karnataka Assembly said, "Who said? Either Siddaramaiah or I will have to confirm this....I have left it to the high command. Whatever the high command decides, I will go by that."

Stating that his name has not been cleared yet by the party, he said, "I had said in Kolar that I will go by the high command's decision." Siddaramaiah, who is currently MLA from Badami, had earlier said that he has decided to contest the upcoming Assembly polls from Kolar, subject to approval from the party high command.