Udupi: Employees and officers of the Udupi division of the Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India went on a day’s strike here on Wednesday demanding revision of salaries.

The protesters said their salaries had not been revised since August 1, 2007. The Government and the Board of Directors had not taken any steps in that direction.

The Government kept stating that LIC was a profitable public sector enterprise and could take its own decisions. But the fact was that it was setting roadblocks at every step on the issue of pay revision.

Due to the global economic meltdown, financial institutions in the country and the world had either become bankrupt or made losses.

But LIC had shown signs of consistent progress over the past two years. In the last fiscal, LIC earned Rs. 1,57,186 crore as income from premium.

Though it had 1,10,000 employees, they took care of the needs of 25 crore policyholders. Since the last pay revision, every employee was servicing double the number of policies, they added.

A similar protest was held by employees of the corporation in Mangalore on the day.

Udupi: The issue of Dasara holidays for schools dominated the general body meeting of the Udupi Zilla Panchayat here on Wednesday.

Raising the issue, Bhujanga Shetty, member, said the entire holiday schedule had been changed. According to the original schedule, the holidays were to be from October 3 to 19. Now the Government had decided to keep it from September 19 to October 4.

Dasara was a big festival, but had more significance in Mysore and neighbouring districts rather than in the coastal belt. The earlier schedule of holidays, from October 3 to 19, made more sense as it coincided with the agricultural operations in the district.

Hence, a request should be made to district in-charge Minister V.S. Acharya to stick to the original schedule, Mr. Shetty said. But BJP members opposed his suggestions. After a telephonic conversation with Dr. Acharya, it was decided to stick to the changed schedule.

Mr. Shetty said that although the zilla panchayat had demanded immediate filling of potholes on National Highway 17 in its last meeting, nothing had been done. The condition of the highway was pathetic. Chief Executive Officer of the zilla panchayat Prasanna Kumar said a team of engineers from the Centre and the State had inspected the National Highway on Wednesday.

Sarasu Bangera, member, said the implementation of the Indira Awas Yojana in the district was tardy. Intervening, Mr. Kumar said a meeting of executive officers of the three taluk panchayats and secretaries of the gram panchayats would be called for to identify beneficiaries for the scheme.

Mr. Shetty said that 540 schoolteachers had been assigned for National Population Registry work in October. This would affect the education of students. Mr. Kumar said the zilla panchayat would try and employ anganwadi workers to reduce the burden on teachers. Asked why 450 teachers of aided schools did not receive their salaries in August, Mr. Kumar said this was owing to a budgetary shortfall.

The zilla panchayat was talking to the departments of Finance and Education and the matter would be resolved soon.

Raju Poojary, member, said the Morarji Desai Residential School in Byndoor did not have furniture. Mr. Kumar warned the Backward and Minorities Classes Officer Girish against being sloppy in his work and directed him to procure the furniture by the end of the month.

President of the Udupi Zilla Panchayat Gladys Almeida and vice-president Santosh Kumar Shetty were present on the occasion.

Udupi, September 15: An annual conference was inaugurated about ‘Neurovascon’ Indian Society of Cerebrovascular Surgery on September 11th. It was sponsored by Neurosurgery Department of Manipal KMC.

“Drastic changes are taking place in Neurosurgery. Radiology and neurosurgery departments should join hands for societies’ welfare”, said Prof. V S Mehta President of ISCVS.

Such conferences will minimize global distance, said Nimhans Retired Director Prof. R M Varma. Dr Ramdas M Pai, Manipal University Chancellor gave best wishes. Assistant Pro-chancellor of Manipal University, Dr H S Ballal released a souvenir. Manipal is a central place of surgeons. Such workshops guide juniors, he said.

Neurovascon President Prof. A Raja, Dr Muralidhar Pai K, ISCVS Secretary Prof S N Maturi were present.

Udupi: Executive Committee of the Nagarjuna Virodhi Horata Samiti president Vijaykumar Hegde said on Tuesday that the samiti would launch a systematic agitation in November against the 1,015 MW coal-based thermal plant being set up at Yellur in Udupi district.

Mr. Hegde told presspersons here that the samiti would hold a conference to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the thermal project in November. Besides scientists and experts, representatives of the thermal plant and the Government would be invited to the conference. Such a conference would be held under the leadership of Vishwesha Thirtha Swamiji of Pejawar Math. The company would be given an opportunity to explain its stand.

The samiti had all along maintained that a coal-based thermal plant would be disastrous and affect the livelihood of a large number of fishermen and farmers in the region. He alleged that the company did not have proper environmental clearance and other documents. The movement against the thermal plant had fizzled out in the last two years because of the opportunism of some political and religious leaders. “But this time, we are determined to fight the thermal plant in a systematic manner,” he said.

Mr. Hegde said that Minister for Energy K.S. Eshwarappa had recently stated that he was ready to convert the thermal plant at Hankon in Uttara Kannada district from coal-based to a gas-based one. The environmentalists in Udupi district had pressed for a gas-based plant instead of a coal-based one. But Mr. Eshwarappa had turned a deaf ear to it. “This only exposes Mr. Eshwarappa’s double standards,” he said.

He said that the Mangalore City Corporation had agreed to provide a huge quantum of water to the thermal power plant without understanding its implications for the city. The company should clarify whether it would use the water from the Shambhavi River for cooling its boiler. According to the Department of Environment, the chimney of the plant should be 275 metres in height, but according to the Airports Authority of India, it should not be above 210 metres. If the chimney was 275 metres in height it would create a problem for flying aeroplanes.

A massive signature campaign would be launched against the thermal plant, Mr. Hegde said.

The former MP Manorama Madhwaraj, Bhakti Tirtha Swamiji, Subashchandra Rai, Balasubrahmanya, Louis D’Costa, Nagesh Bhat, Damodara Suvarna, K. Rohitaksha Rai, Muddanna Shetty, Nityananda Volakadu, Shekhar Kotian, and Hussain Kodibengre.

Udupi: B. Govindaraj Hegde, convener of the Save National Highway 17 Committee, said on Monday that a public interest litigation (PIL) would be filed in the Karnataka High Court demanding repair of national highways 17 and 48 in Udupi and Dakshina Kannada districts. Both these highways were in poor shape, he said.

Mr. Hegde told presspersons that the authorities should take up the repair work on National Highway 17 and make it fit for vehicular traffic. Although the officials of the National Highway Department here submitted a Rs. 13.19-crore proposal for repair of the stretch between Sasthan and Santhekatte in Udupi district, the higher officers had asked it to be brought down to Rs. 9 crore. The department was now hesitating to sanction even the reduced estimation, he said. Mr. Hegde claimed that the stretch between Sasthan and Santhekatte was repaired once in 2008 only after the committee launched an agitation. However, parts of the NH 17 that pass through Uppinakote, Brahmavar Akashvani, Heroor, and Santhekatte were damaged owing to heavy rains this year. The officials of the National Highways Department had said that it was not possible to release funds for the repair of NH 17 as it would be converted into a four-lane road. Hence, a delegation of the committee, led by Karakala MLA Gopal Bhandary, met Union Law Minister M. Veerappa Moily and the Additional Secretary in the Union Transport Ministry, recently and appraised them of the issue. Subsequently, Mr. Moily directed the chief engineer of National Highways Department to inspect the NH 17 and NH 48 in the two districts and submit a report. A team under the chief engineer was expected to undertake the inspection shortly, Mr. Hegde said.

Udupi: The Government has renamed the Byndoor Railway Station as “Mookambika Road, Byndoor”, according to a press release issued by the President of Mookambika Railway Yatri Sangha Venkatesh Kini, here on Saturday.

The authorities renamed the station as it was found to be close to the Sri Mookambika temple at Kollur.

Udupi: The festival of Krishna Jayanti was celebrated with traditional pomp and gaiety here on Friday.

A large number of devotees visited the Sri Krishna Temple/Math and offered prayers. Elaborate rituals marked the festivities at the temple. The “Lakshaarchane” and the “Mahapuje” were held in the morning. Sugunendra Tirtha Swamiji of Paryaya Puttige Math supervised the rituals. The “Anna santharpane” was held at 11 a.m.

The folk artistes performing “Hulivesha” attracted the attention of the people. Haridasa Jayanandakumar from Hosadurga began his 26-hour “Dasavani” at the Gita mandir, near the temple.

A public function was held at the Rajangana in the evening. This function was interspersed with cultural programmes such as “Kalinga Mardhana” dance by the Bhargavi Team and Sri Krishna Leele by students of Yakshagana Kendra. Deputy Leader of Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj, who attended the public function, said that the teachings of Lord Krishna had eternal value. General Secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) H.N. Ananth Kumar said that economic slowdown, terrorism and onslaught on Indian culture were the three major issues facing the country. A national campaign was essential to deal with these problems, he said. Youths were attracted by western culture. They loved western music. All this should change. The Krishna Janmashtami should become a people’s festival and celebrated in every village, Mr. Kumar said. Sugunendra Tirtha Swamiji of Puttige Math said that Sanskrit was the mother of all languages and should be given due importance.

MLA K. Raghupati Bhat, former MLA Araga Jnanendra, journalist Sandhya S. Pai, Lakshmivara Tirtha Swamiji of Shiroor Math, and Raghumanya Tirtha Swamiji of Bheemanakatte Math were among those present.