Kundapur, March 13: Alvin Quadrus of Kota Parish has been elected unanimously as the New President of Catholic Saba Kundapur Varado in its General Body meeting held recently.

The General Body meeting was held at the  auditorium of St. Mary’s College, Kundapur. During the occasion the Office bearers for the Year 2009-2010 were also elected under the supervision of electoral officer. Dr. Sony D’Coasta the Ex-President of the association.

Rev. Fr. Alban D’Souza Vicar Var of Kundapur Varado and Roopas Baretto Ex President of the association were present on the podium.

Vinaya Pais, Kundapur elected as the Vice President &  Sylvia Rodrigus Kundapur as the Secretary.

Shanthi Pereira Byndoor, Pricilla Menezes Tallur, Moly D’Souza Trasi, Stany D’Silva Tallur, were elected as Joint secretary, Sandesh representative & Treasurer  respectively.

Kundapur, Mar 17: Miscreants who entered a mosque located in Madikal near Uppunda, Byndoor on the night of Sunday March 15, damaged and broke things found there into pieces.

The mosque, existing since about a century, is being visited by around 25 to 30 families residing in Uppunda-Madikal area. The trouble mongers gained entry into the mosque by breaking open the lock of the door. They strew around things found inside, broke down furniture and damaged electrical equipments.  A complaint filed by the mosque management states that the holy religious book found in the prayer hall of the mosque was also thrown away.

Microphone and other equipments belonging to the mosque were found near the sea shore. President of the Mosque Managing Committee Nizam said that they came to know about the damage when the people visited the mosque to perform namaz on Monday morning. "We smelt kerosene. As no Muslims reside near the mosque, the misdeed did not come to light till then," he described.

Jamaat members convened a meeting about the incident and filed complaint with the police. This mosque had been targetted by miscreants in 1992. After the news spread, the environment in Byndoor and Shirur turned tense but the policemen took timely steps by deploying forces at strategic points.

Circle inspector Kantaraj and station house officer Yogish Kumar have camped at the site. Additional reserve police personnel have been posted at sensitive areas.

Kundapur, Mar 10: Inaugurating a seminar on media and morality organized by Beary's Group of Educational Institutions at Kodi Kundapur on Monday March 9, Kundapur Association of Working Journalists president Vinay Pais called upon the media to keep in mind the problems currently being faced by the nation while reporting news and incidents. The seminar was organized for the benefit of journalism students.

Pais pointed out that sadly, today's journalists and the print media are falling prey to the lure of advertisements, at a time when the era of instant publication of news from all over the world holds hope for the enlightenment of the people. Under these circumstances, the students of journalism should strongly vow to carry on the onus of preserving the sanctity of their profession, but also discharge their duties to keep the public well informed of the true, impartial facts.

Beary Group of Educational Institutions correspond Syed Beary also addressed the gathering on the occasion. "Good journalists always benefit thousands of people. However, often the modern media finds itself on the wrong side. As different media come out with varied versions of the same story, the reading public is at a loss to find out which of them is true and every person comprehends news as per his own liking. A true journalist should steadfastly stick to his professionalism and love his work as a reporter and provide correct, undiluted facts to the people," he asserted.

Vijay Karnataka reporter John D'Souza spoke on the art of reporting and the media, on the occasion. He noted that the modern society is made up of a mixture of bad and the good things. He said, a professional journalist is expected to react judiciously to events and emotions of the people with a sense of holistic approach.

Principal Dr G H Prabhakar Shetty presided. Earlier in the day, Hajji Master Mohammed, president of the Group, was present at the inaugural. Lecturer in journalism Srinivas welcomed the gathering. Manjappa proposed vote of thanks. Rajaram Tolpady, head of the political science department, Mangalore University, delivered a special discourse o media and morality.

Gangolly, Mar 1: The residents of Gangolli, a village near Kundapur woke up on Sunday March 1 to the disturbing news that a statue of St Bernadette at the 400-year-old Church of Immaculate Conception, had been broken by unknown miscreants.

The statue was installed in the grotto. Its pieces were discovered in a gutter by some devotees of the church. The incident has marred the usually peaceful and serene atmosphere on the church precincts. 

However, the situation is under control and locals claim that it is an attempt by anti-social elements to disturb the peace in the area. 

Sources claim that it is an isolated incident which is not to be linked  with anything else. Strangely, the other three statues in the church compound were left untouched.  

A police squad accomanied by a sniffer dog and fingerprint experts inspected the area in search of clues. 

Kundapur, Feb 25: Mysore University has decided to confer  Ph D degree on scholar Kanaradi Vadiraja Bhat for his thesis on Dwaita Vedanta and Prajapita Brahma Kumari Eshwariya Vishwavidyanilaya, a comparative study.

The thesis was written under the guidance of Dr M Ramachandra, professor in the department of philosophy, Manasa Gangotri, Mysore University, Bhat said.

Kanaradi Vadiraja Bhat is a renowned scholar in folklore literature and has been practising Rajayoga for the last 25 years. The degree will be presented to him at the next convocation of the university.