Udupi: Home Minister V.S. Acharya said on Saturday that the Government was giving priority to preventing and managing disasters.

He was speaking after inaugurating a district-level public awareness campaign on disaster management, organised by the Udupi district Home Guards, Department of Fire and Emergency Services, Rotary Club, and Vidyodaya Group of Institutions, here.

Dr. Acharya said that disasters, both natural and manmade, used to cause huge loss of life and properties in the earlier times because of lack of advance warning systems, technical know-how and equipment to deal with them. “However, there has been a significant progress in detecting disasters. There are early warning systems in place to deal with various kinds of disasters,” he said.

He said that state-of-the-art equipment to handle disasters were available now. Immediate response to disasters went a long way in reducing the damage and intensity. However, there was scope for further improvement of early warning systems and equipment in preventing and managing disasters, Dr. Acharya said. District Commandant of Home Guards Ganapati Bhat, Additional Superintendent of Police M.N. Nagaraj, Deputy Superintendent of Police M.B. Nagaraj, Head of Fire and Emergency Services Shivappa Gowda, working president of Vidyodaya Trust N. Nagaraj Ballal, and secretary of Rotary Club Pushpa Ganesh were present.

President of Rotary Club K. Ganesh Rao welcomed the gathering. H. Krishna Bhat compered the programme. Jeevankumar proposed a vote of thanks.

The inaugural function was followed by a demonstration of disaster management by Home Guards and Department of Fire and Emergency Services.

Udupi: You could not help noticing the enthusiasm displayed by the 300 students participating in the fifth annual Udupi district science and technology fair, BrainQuest 2008, here on Saturday.

Some of the mechanical exhibits at the two-day fair include a power crane, an air tower, a hand-held DC generator, a dynamo flashlight and an ice-cream machine.

The robots on display include a singing Elvis Presley, a Robopanda, a dragonfly robot, a water detecting robot, and a life-like baby Pleo.

According to Poornima Kamath, Director of E-Skool which has organised the fair, 20 schools and 74 teams are participating in the fair. Competitions include strategy games, puzzles and soap-making.

“We want students in particular and the public in general to take an interest in science and technology. They should understand the field of robotics. We have conducted courses in spoken English for students of government schools so that they can participate in such fairs and competitions with confidence,” she said.

Students confidently explained the models they had made. Rainwater harvesting and shrimp farming models can be seen.

Students have also displayed their crafts and stamp and coin collections.

Deeksha, a ninth standard student of Ajjarkad Government Composite School, said, “They taught us how to speak confidently in public. I feel confident after participating in this fair and explaining the models to the public. It has given me a better perspective of science, technology and robotics.”

Shruthi Ballal, a tenth standard student at the same school, said that she was participating in the fair for the third time. She has displayed her crafts, and coin and stamp collections. “Such fairs kindle our interest in science,” she said.

At the soap-making competition, students not only had to make soap, but also come up with a slogan to market it. They had to explain the ingredients used and the economics that went into its production.

Jyothsna, a ninth standard student of Little Rock Indian School, Brahmavar, said that she enjoyed participating in the soap-making competition.

“I have come here for the first time. I enjoyed seeing the models displayed at the competition,” she said. Ms. Kamath said, “We have been exposing students in schools such as Little Rock Indian School and Sharada Residential School to the field of robotics by taking 30-hour classes. We want students to develop marketing skills and recycling habits.”

Udupi: Mahabaleshwar Rao, principal of Dr. T.M.A. Pai College of Education, said on Friday that the top-down approach was responsible for the distance and dissonance between the Government and the teachers.

He was delivering the keynote address at the Teachers’ Day celebrations, organised by the Department of Public Instruction, here.

Dr. Rao said that teachers were not being taken into confidence while making policies. Many of the schemes, started with a bang, often ended in confusion. The implementation of the trimester system was a classic example of things going awry, leaving teachers, students and authorities, wringing their hands in despair. “Constant bungling has compounded the problem, much to the disgust and detriment of teachers,” he said.

Short-sighted policies had resulted in the creation of two groups of teachers – organised and unorganised. Teachers in the unaided schools, who drew low salaries in poor working conditions, comprised the latter group. Those employed in aided schools formed the other group. “Teachers appear to have lost their motivation. De-motivated teachers cannot be expected to teach properly,” he said. The decline in the number of students getting admitted to government schools was another matter for concern. This could be attributed to multifarious factors, including decline in growth of population and infatuation with English medium schools. Ever since the grading system was introduced, the students appear to be lacking motivation. “Some of them are content with securing a C grade,” he said. The future for teaching profession was bleak. Better job prospects in other fields were luring away talents. It was necessary to find ways and means to attract intelligent and dedicated people to teaching profession.

Teachers were now angling for awards, which was not a healthy trend. “The satisfaction that a student derives after grasping what the teacher has taught him is the real award. The respect that a student gives to his teacher after he stands on his own feet is invaluable,” Dr. Rao said.

Inaugurating the function, Home Minister V.S. Acharya said that the State Government had allocated an unprecedented Rs. 8,500 crore for education. The Government had formed a State Knowledge Commission under scientist Kasturirangan to improve the standard of education, he said.

Dr. Acharya gave away district-level best teacher award to 10 teachers: V. Sundar from Kodavoor Higher Primary School; Umesh-Bajagoli Higher Primary School; G.S. Susheela-Thekkatte Kuvempu Centenary School; G. Thimappayya-Maikal Higher Primary School, B.P. Naik-Yermal Thenka Government Composite High School; Satish Kumar Shetty-Perdoor High School; Prakash Rao Inna-M.V. Shastri High School; Sampat Kumar Pangala-Gujjady Government High School; and Uday Shetty-Bidkalkatte Government Pre-University College.

DDPI K. Ananda welcomed the gathering. MLA Raghupati Bhat presided over the programme and chief executive officer of zilla panchayat Prasanna Kumar was present.

Udupi: A demand for the formation of three new taluks — Byndoor, Brahmavar and Hebri — was made before the Taluk Reorganisation Committee by elected representatives and representatives of various organisations here on Wednesday.

Chairing the meeting, Chairman of Taluk Reorganisation Committee M.B. Prakash said there were 176 taluks in the State. There was a demand for 85 more taluks. The previous committees on taluk reorganisation had suggested the creation of 37 taluks. In Udupi, there was a demand for the creation of three taluks. The panel would study all the demands in detail before making any recommendations, he said.

. Karnataka was among the few States where large-scale taluk reorganisation had not been carried out since it was formed. The final report of the panel would be submitted in December, though it had time till January 2009, Mr. Prakash said.

Byndoor MLA K. Lakshminarayana said that there was a long-standing demand for the creation of Byndoor taluk out of the present Kundapur taluk. It should be formed with its headquarters in Byndoor only. Some villages from the Vandse hobli could be remain part of Kundapur taluk. But the matter as to which villages should remain in Kundapur taluk or in proposed Byndoor taluk could be solved through discussions, he said.

President of Udupi Zilla Panchayat Raju Poojary said that he supported Mr. Lakshminarayana’s views. Earlier, Kundapur Taluk Panchayat member Anant Movady said that Trasi should be made the headquarters of the proposed Byndoor taluk as it was more accessible.

President of Byndoor Taluk Formation Committee Jagannath Shetty said almost all government offices, including that of the special tahsildar, were located in Byndoor; hence it (Byndoor) should be the headquarters of the proposed Byndoor taluk.

Karkala MLA Gopal Bhandary said that there had been a demand for the formation of Hebri taluk since a long time. The formation of Hebri taluk would help 32 villages surrounding Hebri, he added.

He was supported by former vice-president of zilla panchayat H. Prasanna Ballal, president of Hebri Gram Panchayat H. Jayakar Poojary, and heads of various organisations.

Udupi MLA K. Raghupati Bhat said that there was a long-standing demand for the formation of Brahmavar taluk. The villages of Shiroor, Bairampalli, Perdoor, Kukkehalli, Padutonse and Mudutonse could be retained in Udupi taluk. Brahmavar taluk could be created out of the villages in present Brahmavar hobli and Kota hobli. There was no controversy regarding the formation of Brahmavar taluk, he said.

Members of the Taluk Reorganisation Committee Chiranjeevi Singh and H.K. Shivananda and Deputy Commissioner P. Hemalatha were present.

Udupi: Primary and Secondary Education Minister Vishweshwara Hegde Kageri has said he is committed to ensuring transparency in the functioning of Block Education offices and the offices of Deputy Directors of Public Instruction. He was speaking at the Education Conference organised by the Udupi District High School Headmasters’ and Pre-University College Prinicipals’ Association, here on Wednesday. Mr. Kageri said that the problems relating to services of teachers would also be addressed. The department planned to launch a joint insurance scheme for teachers with contributions both from the teachers and the Government, he added.

Earlier, inaugurating the building of the Government High School at Indira Nagar, he said there was a shortage of teachers in urban areas and it would be set right.

Udupi: Twenty houses have been damaged and many houses in low-lying areas have been flooded following heavy rain and strong winds in Udupi district on Wednesday.

According to the Udupi Taluk Office, rainwater has inundated low-lying areas in villages such as Uppoor, Aroor, Heroor and Shivally. Rainwater entered many houses, especially in Uppoor.

Fire and Emergency Services personnel visited these areas and helped evacuate people. Since roads were flooded, boats were used to evacuate people. A gruel centre (ganji kendra) has also been opened.

The Udupi Taluk Office has received reports of sea erosion from Tenka Yermal and Muloor villages.

Fifteen houses have been partially damaged in Udupi taluk.

They include seven houses and a temple at Majur village, two houses in Neelavar village and one house each in Herga, Nanchar, Nalkur, Perdoor and Puttur villages.

According to the Kundapur Taluk Office, five houses at Yeljit village and a house at Thekkatte village were partially damaged due to the rain.

According to the Deputy Commissioner’s office here, Udupi district received an average rainfall of 93.70 mm in 24 hours till 8.30 a.m. on Wednesday.

The rainfall received in the three taluks in mm are: Udupi 83.30; Kundapur 80.60; and Karkala 117.20 mm.

Kolalgiri, Aug 5: Kamal A .Baliga charitable trust ,Mumbai and Dr. A .V. Baliga Hospital Doddanagudde,Udupi jointly organized an awareness camp on Chikun gunya with the help of Sacred Heart of Jesus Church, Kolalgiri and Sriganesh Clinic,. kolalgiri and also with other local associations ICYM  -   Kolalgiri  Parish, Yuva vichara vadekae, kolalgiri, Galayara balaga, Sinchana Nodel  munduvarika shikshana Kendra, Lakshminagara and Sneha sports club, Havanje. at sowardha sabha bavana ,kolalgiri church parish hall on 03-08-2008 Sunday .

The camp was inaugurated and Presided by Kolalgiri church parish priest Rev. Fr. Jerome Monterio and told “we have to start fight against chicken gunya disease , otherwise it cause destruction in total development of nation” in his message .

 The president’s of all above mentioned association were present on this occasion .

 Dr. Shashikiran Shetty, Medical pacticioner of Sriganesh clinic kolalgiri, took major responsibility to organize this camp . Dr.Chandrashekar Shanuboga Rtd .District surgeon Dr.KrishnaM.B.B.S ,Dr.Prasad shetty B.A.M.S gave major information regarding chickun gunya disease.

 Lastly preventive homeopathic medicine was given to people .about 500 people got benefit by this camp.