Bangalore, Dec 4: Two sitting MLCs from the undivided Dakshina Kannada district – Kota Srinivasa Poojary of BJP and Pratapchandra Shetty of Congress -  were declared elected to the Karnataka legislative council unopposed on Friday, the last day for withdrawal of nominations.

As the deadline for withdrawal of nominations for the 25 seats scheduled to face biennial elections on December 18 ended, 93 candidates were left in the fray as a total of 71 candidates withdrew their papers. The counting of votes is scheduled to be held on December 21.

The elections to the upper house are crucial for both the ruling BJP and principal opposition Congress in the 75-member house for gaining a majority as both are evenly matched with 28 seats each with as many as 19 of the 25 outgoing members belonging to Congress and barely four from BJP with JD(S) accounting for one. The strength of JD(S) is 12.

Of the total of 93 candidates remaining in the fray, the ruling BJP accounts for the maximum number of 21 with Congress 16 and JD(S) 8, both of which have entered into an electoral understanding the defeat the ruling party. A total of 44 Independent candidates are in the fray.

With names of only two candidates left after the end of the deadline for withdrawal of nominations from the two seats in the undivided Dakshina Kannada district, both the candidates were declared elected unopposed.

There will be direct contest between BJP and Congress in Bidar, Chikmagalur and Bangalore Urban while Congress, JD (S) and BJP are involved in a triangular fight in the five constituencies of Raichur, Chitradurga, Hassan, Tumkur, Mandya.

The JD (U) has fielded its candidates in Dharwad constituency while Kannada Vatal Paksha leader Vatal Nagaraj has contested from Mysore.

Though there are two seats each in Mysore and Belgaum constituencies, the BJP has fielded only one candidate in both constituencies.

Constituency-wise break-up of candidates in the fray are: Bidar – two, Belgaum and Gulbarga – six each, Uttara Kannada – four, Dharwad – eight, Raichur, Hassan, Tumkur, Mandya, Kodagu and Chitradurga– 3 each, Bellary six, Bangalore Rural, Kolar and Shimgoa – five each, Bangalore Urban and Chikmagalur – two, Mysore – 13 and Bijapur 11.

Though there is no limit to the check election expenses to be incurred by candidates during the run-up to the election, the officials at the state election commission office said action would be taken against candidates under the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Representation of People Act, 1951 if specific complaints were received.

Udupi, Nov 15: Sri Laxmivarateerta Swami of Shiroor Math inaugurated the taluk-level Tulu folklore games competitions at MGM College here on Sunday November 15.  

The games were held as part of the grand Vishwa Tulu Sammelan, scheduled to be held in Ujire, near Dharmasthala, during December.

Swami Laxmivarateerta speaking on the occasion said that Tulu is losing its originality due to people conversing in a mixture of English and other languages.  

“Although Tulu is one of the oldest Dravidian languages, it’s not being taught in schools along with the syllabus.  If the same trend continues unabated, Tulu will go into oblivion in the near future”, he cautioned.

MP D V Sadananda Gowda said that the process of submitting the related papers to the union government seeking to include Tulu in the eighth schedule of the Indian constitution were in the final stages. “If efforts are not made to sustain regional language Tulu, many similar languages will become extinct sooner or later”, said Gowda.

MLA Raghupathy Bhat presided over the programme.

Kaup MLA Lalaji R Mendon, MLC Pratapchandra Shetty, former MP Vinay Kumar Sorake, zilla panchayat president Gladys D’Almeida, Sri Kshetra Dharmasthala Rural Development Project CEO Dr L H Manjunath, Rabindra Nayak, Shiva Shetty, Yashpal Suvarna, and Anantharam Upadyaya were present on the dais.

Sri Sugunendra Swami of Puttige Math inaugurated the ceremonious procession of Tulunadu cultural hierarchy at Geetha Mandir in the Math.

The colourful procession passed through city streets and concluded at the games venue.

Over 950 winners of regional competitions held earlier at Hiriyadka, Udyavar, Udupi, Kaup, and Padubidri participated in the taluk-level competitions.

Udupi, Nov 6: Featherpix – 2009, birds stamps exhibition by Daniel Monteiro will be held S M S Community Hall, Brahmavar  on November 8 and 9. Exhibition will be held from 10.30 am to 5.00 pm on November 8 and 10.00 am to 4.30 pm on November 9.

PPC, Udupi retired principal Dr N A Madhyastha will inaugurate the exhibition on November 8 at 10.30 am. Little Rock Indian School, Brahmavar principal Prof Mathew C Ninan will be the chief guest and the programme will be presided by S M S Group of Institutions, Brahmavar correspondent Fr L David Crasta.

The exhibition has been jointly organized by St Mary’s Orthodox Syrian Youth Association and St Mary’s Orthodox Syrian Cathedral, Brahmavar.

47-year-old Monteiro, who hails from Kumaragodi village in the district, is a veteran of 152 philatelic exhibitions so far. Assistant and typist in SMS College, Brahmavar has been pursuing bird watching, philately as birds as his specialization and ornithology as his passion for over two decades now. He has also attended several workshop on environment and philately as resource person and also created wildlife awareness in association with Forest department in Shimoga, Madikeri, Bhadravati, Moodbidri, Karkala and Udupi.  He also contributed write-ups on birds to different newspapers and also in commemorative issues.

These apart, he has also organized district-level exhibition and philately competition for children and public. He is a recipient of several district and state-level awards such as District Rajyotsava Award, Udupi, Konkani Prachar Sanchalan and Mandd Sobhann Asadharan Konkni Vyakti Puraskaar 2009 and APJ Abdul Kalam Award from Janata Sangha Seva Trust, Bangalore to name a few. He has also participated in exhibition outside state and abroad and won many prizes. He has participated in exhibition such as Biopex and Ecopex held in places such as Mumbai, Chennai, Ernakulam, Kolkata and such other places. He has also been part of exhibitions in places such as Bangkok, Singapore, Hongkong and Austria abroad.    

Udupi, Oct 31: The annual Laksha Deepotsava was given an auspicious beginning at Srikrishna Mutt here on Friday October 30, by the Paryaya Puttige Mutt head, Sri Sugunendrateertha Swamiji.

Friday being Utthana Dwadashi as per Hindu calendar, Tulsi puja and Ksheetrabdi were also organized. The Deepotsava programme started with ‘Nityotsava’, performed after the ‘Utsava Murty’ of the Lord was brought out after the conclusion of Chaturmasya period of the Swamiji. The chariots carrying the ‘Utsava Murtys’ of Lord Srikrishna, Mukhyaprana, Ananteshwara and Chandramouleeshwara were taken around the car street.

The procession was accompanied by the bursting of fire crackers by enthusiastic youths and the teams of devotees chanting Bhajans. The saxophone contest organized on this occasion, added colour to the festivities.

Thousands of people have congregated here to witness this annual festival. Although the Laksha Deepotsava is being normally held for three days, this time, this will be extended till November 3 as volunteers have shown keen interest in extending the Deepotsava. The young saxophonists too will continue to compete till November 3, it is learnt.

Dubai, Oct 26: ‘Karaval Milan’, the unified voice of the last decade for 19 coastal parishes of Mangalore diocese stretching from Kundapur to Kallianpur under the current astute leadership of Eric D’Souza will hold a Twin Sports Gala for all Kannada, Tulu and Konkani speaking people.

The sports event comprising volleyball for men and throwball for women is planned for February 12, 2010. The efficient team of Karaval Milan is working hard to present the sports gala that will have lots of other fun activities for all age groups to keep the whole family entertained, stated a media release from the organization.

So here the wait is over. Mark the date on your calendar, get your training shoes on and fine tune your lifts and spikes. Come and cheer your team. Complete tournament details will be posted later, please keep watching this space.

About Karaval Milan

The organization has been conceptualized to serve the weaker sections of society and also to get all the members of the 19 parishes to relive  through cultural programmes and sports activities their most fond and rich memories of rich Mangalorean cultural heritage. It has also enabled the children being raised in the UAE to showcase their talent and understand their rich cultural heritage.

More info - contact: 050 4548235