Chairman of VKSS urges Konkani speakers to win Noble Awards

Chairman of VKSS urges Konkani speakers to win Noble Awards

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangalore, August 20: Senior Vice President of Infosys and Chairman of VKSS Ramdas Kamath U. called upon Konkani-speaking communities to achieve success wherever possible in spite of their low population. He was addressing the gathering after distributing scholarships to 135 engineering and MBBS students at a programme organized by the Konkani Language and Cultural Foundation in collaboration with the Vishwas Konkani Student Scholarship (VKSS) Fund of World Konkani Centre at C. V. Raman Pai Convention Centre at Kodialbail on Aug 20, Friday.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Citing the example of the Jewish community, he said that their achievements are great although they are few in number. The Jewish community has more than 15 dozen noble prizes to its credit and useful things such as fibre optics and computer chips have been invented by Jews, he pointed out. Pointing out the availability of innumerable opportunities, he said that the Konkani-speaking community must try to achieve noble awards in every possible field.

Smt. Chaya Burdekar, IAS, who was the first to pass UPSC exams with Konkani as an optional, was felicitated on the occasion. In response to the honour, she said that the Konkani language is developing slowly and the availability of the details of Shravana Belagola in Konkani is one of the steps toward success. Lauding the achievements of the community in areas of literature, science, education, and others, she called upon the community to aim for noble awards. She added that the nomination of a Konkani film for an international film festival is a great honour in itself.

MLA Yogish Bhat said that the scholarships are being distributed to financially backward students to encourage them to pursue higher education. He also informed that CM B. S. Yeddyurappa will visit Mangalore on Aug 23 to lay the foundation stone for the rope way, which will be constructed at the cost of Rs. 8 crore. The CM will also inaugurate houses for the SC/ST communities, he said. He appreciated the generosity of donors such as Dayanand Pai, who have contributed Rs. 8 crore for the development of colleges in Balmatta and Car Street.

Dr. P. Dayanand Pai, the chairman of Konkani Language and Cultural Foundation presided over the programme. Basti Vaman Shenoy, the president of World Konkani Centre, spoke about the vision and mission of the centre.

Editor of Raknno Fr. Eric Crasta and Honorary Secretary of Canara High School M. Annappa Pai were the guests of honor. Secretary of VKSSF Pradeep G. Rai and Secretary of WKC Venkatesh N. Baliga were also present. Concepta Fernandes and Mahesh Nayak compered the programme.