Kundapur, Mar 3: Dr H V Narasimha Murthy was formally invited for the 7th Kannada Literary conference by the reception committee of Chikmangalore recently here.

The conference will be held on Friday March 7 to Saturday 9 in Kundooru near Herodru of Koppa Taluk in Chikmangalore district. He was formally invited to preside over the function.

President of Kannada Sahitya Parishat H V Shrivatsa, president of Koppa Taluk Kannada Sahitya Parishat H S Kalasappa and secretary N L Subramanyam were the delegates who visited the house of Narasimha Murthy.

Accepting the invitation he said that it was his privilege to preside over the conference in a Malnad village close to his birth place and added that it would be an unforgettable event in his life. Malnad is also a place which had left an indelible impression in his mind ever since his childhood days, he reminisced.

Founder president of Udupi District Kannada Sahitya Parishat A S N Hebbar, Narasimaha Rajapura and former president of taluk Kannada Sahitya Parishat Nacilooru Prakash appreciated the hard work and service rendered by Murthy.

Rotary deputy governor N G Krishna Murthy, writer B S Chandrakala, and Seethalaxmi, B S Sheshagiri of Nudichitra, former president of Koppa KS P Hosakoppa Subbanna and president of Chutuka Sahitya Parishat Dinesh Irater were present on this occasion.

H S Vikas welcomed the gathering and Shubha Kumari proposed the vote of thanks.

Udupi: Konkani Sangatan ( Kala, Sahitya,ani Sanskriti) Udupi District had conducted various competitions for the students of 6^th Standard who are studying Konkani as third language in school.  The event was organized at Donbosco Hall Udupi recently.

Prof. Vincent Alva the member of Karnataka Konkani Sahitya Academy inaugurated the competitions. He congratulated the students and their parents for taking Konkani as third language.

Competitions were held in Story telling, Letter writing and Konkani Quiz etc.  Alphonse D Costa, Lidwin Pinto, Joseph Fernandes, Clotilda Fernandes, Veronica Saldanha were the judges & the quiz competition was conducted by  Dr Gerald Pinto.

 Rev.  Fr Vishal Lobo of Udupi Parish and Edwin D Souza Principal of St Philomena P U College Puttur were the guest of honour. 

The following schools participated in the competitions. St Francis Eng. School Mudarangady, Milagres Eng. School Kallianpur, Marynol School Barkur, St Francis  Udyavar, St Lourdes Kanajar, St Philomena Kemmannu, St Cicily’s Udupi, St Lawrence Belle.

The Winners are as below:

Story Telling:

1st: Jane Mathias Mudarangadi, 2nd: Melisha Fernandes St Francis, Udyavar 3rd: Ruth d Silva Milagres kallianpur

Letter writing:

1st: Carol Ferrao Milagres Kallianpur, 2nd: Akshitha Sonia Lobo, Barkur 3rd: Lavita Sequeira St Lourdes Kanajar

Konkani Quiz:

1st: Alita Anna Fernandes and Renisha Dias  barkur, 2nd: Flaksan D Silva and Jeevan D Souza Kanajar  3rd: Arlin Mendonca and Carol almeida  Mudaragadi.

Dr Gerald Pinto the President of the Sangatan Presided over the function. Alphonse D Costa and Lidwin  Pinto compered the programme. Louis D Almeida the secretary proposed the vote of thanks.

The members of Executive committee Anita Monis, Ignatius Monis, Walter Cyril Pinto, Valerian Fernandes, Thomas Carnelio worked hard to organize this program.

Raknno, Kajulo, Amcho Sandesh Konkani Magazines and Edwin D Souza were the spornsors of the prizes. All the participants were given consolation prizes.

Udupi, Feb 27: With the objective to start a group each in every ward to protect rich Konkani culture Voveo training was organized by Catholic Sabha, Kallianpur unit recently at the Milagres Tri-centenary Hall.

Fr Marcel Saldahna inaugurated the programme. Prof Vincent Alva was the resource person.

Richard D Souza welcomed the gathering and introduced the speaker. Edward Lewis, past president and Dr Gerald Pinto, editor of Amcho Sandesh was on the dais. Rosy Baretto, secretary proposed the vote of thanks. Marcelline Pinto, convener of the programme compered the programme.

Prof Alva trained the partcipants on the Voveo of Roce. Groups were formed ward-wise to sing during the Roce programme of their respective wards.

Mangalore, Feb 24 :According to a press release from H.S. Shivarudrappa, registrar of the Karnataka Konkani Sahitya Academy, here on Saturday, Feb 23 the award winners are as follows: Gerald Pinto (Gerry Niddodi) of Udupi for literature, Manjaiah Shivu Kumbri of Honnavar for folk arts and Francis Fernandes Cascia for drama, as informed earlier too.

(Dr. Gerlad Pinto, Francis Fernandes Cascia and Manjaih Shivu Kumbri)

The general body meeting of the KKSA took a decision to this effect here, on Thursday, Feb 21 taking into consideration the contribution of individuals to their respective fields, Shivarudrappa informed. The award carries a cash prize of Rs. 10,000, a certificate and a memento. These will be presented to the winners individually at a function to be held at Honnavar in Uttara Kannada district on March 9 at 5.30 p.m. The function will be presided over by the president of the academy Eric Ozario.
 
Brief note on awardees: Francis Cascia (63) is a popular Konkani writer, director and actor who has written several plays and dramas. He is also popularly known as 'Comedy King' and has been involved in the field of dramatics for nearly 40 years. He is settled in Dubai, U.A.E.

"Kityak Negar Karthai?" his first play, staged numerous times including the famous Don Bosco Hall. It is claimed to be the first play to be taken part  by both men and women together. In 1967 same play was staged in  St. Mary's Hall Mumbai and admired by a vast group of audience.
 
28 Konkani plays written during 1967-1977 and staged more than 150 times between that period in Mumbai and Mangalore. Seven of his plays staged have been staged in Dubai as well as Abudhabi."Maldisaanv" and "Avoi thi Avoi" plays  gained tremendous popularity, eventually more than 3000 video cassette  copies of both plays sold out worldwide.

Apart from stage plays, he has also written short stories, articles in various Konkani periodicals. "Dhulimthli Phulam" and "Mojya Voili Kaals Nivaar" his two serial stories published in "Poinaari" Konkanni weekly. His first novel was "Konn Aikaatha Mojo Thaallo"
 
Apart from his literary work, Francis is known for helping poor families back home in India. He also contributed monetarily to numerous Konkani magazines, sponsored Konkani events. He was the sole sponsor for publishing and distributing "Amchi Kursachi Vat" (Romi and Kannda script) in St. Mary's church Dubai. Francis is active member of "Daiji Dubai"  Currently Francis holds the key position of Co-Ordinator of Daiji Dubai writer's forum.
 
The other two awardees Gerald Pinto (51) is a resident of Kallianpur in Udupi, is the editor of “Samparka”, a Kannada quarterly. He has written stories, short stories, poems and more than 340 articles in his career spanning 34 years. Manjaiah Kumbri (55) is an active folk artiste heads the Gudde Sidda Konkani folk troupe in Honnavar.