Dr V S Acharya honours Udupi district Rajyotsava awardees
Mangalore Today News Network
Udupi, Nov 1, 2011: The temple town of Udupi celebrated Kannada Rajyotsava today by carrying an idol of Bhuvaneshwari in a grand procession comprising colorful tableaux to the venue, which was the Mahatma Gandhi Municipal Ground Ajjarakadu.
Dr. V. S. Acharya, the district-in-charge minister of Udupi, hoisted the national flag as well as the Kannada flag before receiving a guard of honor from the NCC, the district police, and the scouts and guides.
Addressing the gathering, Dr Acharya said that the state government is contributing a lot toward the promotion of Kannada language, art, and culture and that the government has given Rs. 1 lakh to Yakshagana artistes through the Yakshagana Academy. He also said that awards worth Rs. 1 lakh each will be instituted shortly in honor of Haradi Rama Ganiga for Tenku Tittu and Badaga Tittu artistes.
Further, he said that the state government has raised annual grants for the promotion of Kannada culture and art. He also expressed his appreciation of Kunjalu Ramkrishna Nayak, a Yakshagana artiste; Neramballi Raghavendra Rao of Hyderabad, a social worker; and Harish Shetty Aikala, an outstation Kannadiga, who have been chosen for the Rajyotsava Awards this year.
Dr. Acharya also said that the government has released Rs. 37.75 crore for the third phase of the Malpe Port development project and Rs. 2 crore for the dredging work at Hejamady Port. Work on Koderi Port will soon commence, he added.
He said that the CM will officially inaugurate the newly constructed Udupi DC Complex at Rajatagiri Manipal by the end of this month.
Dr. Acharya also revealed that a special grant of Rs. 50 crore has been announced by the CM for the development of roads and infrastructure in Udupi.
School children presented a colorful cultural show as part of the celebrations.
The Rajyotsava Awards were conferred on the following achievers:
Sheela K. Shetty Yermal – Yakshagana, Nagaraj Kharvi – Social Work, K. Krishna Kulal – Organic Farming, Dr. K. Krishna Prasad – Eye Donation Campaign, Dinesh Acharya – Architecture, Yakshagana Kalaranga Admar – Yakshagana, K. Rajgopal Shetty – Art, Vilas Kumar Nitte – Tulu Literature, Bogra Sherigar – Nagaswara, Hemanath Padubidri – Photography, Rajesh Prabhu – Social Work, Prakash Kharvi – Swimming, Raghavendra Kote – Stage Artiste, Venkataramana Kamath – Drawing Artist, Manisha B. D’Souza – Shuttle Badminton, Ramesh Kidiyoor – Folk Art, Pundalika Nayak – Photography, Bharathi Gopal – Saxophone, Sadashiva Shetty Vaddarse – Rural Development.
MLAs Raghupathi Bhat and Lalaji R. Mendon, DC Dr. M. T. Reju, TMC President Kiran Kumar, ZP President Katapady Shankar Poojary, and ZP CEO S. A. Prabhakar Sharma, were also present.