The Hindu : From the Districts

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Mar 23, 2004

Karnataka

Karnataka

From the Districts

Vendors seek protection

By Our Staff Correspondent

MANGALORE MARCH 22. The Women Vegetable Growers and Headload Vendors' Co-operative Society Ltd. has urged the Government to ensure that their livelihood was not hit by the market conditions. In a press release here today, the members of the society said at present they were functioning from the central market and alleged that big merchants were marginalising the small headload vendors. As a result, their livelihood was under threat. The director of the society, Mary Machado, said in the press release that the society had written to the Government to give a part of the old APMC yard at Nellikai Road in the city for setting up a "Raitha Bazaar" to grow their produce. She said the Department of Agricultural Marketing and Co-operation of the University of Agricultural Sciences had made a study on the viability of establishing the Raitha Bazaar and found that Mangalore was a fit case to have one. There were over 500 headload vendors functioning from the central market but as the day progressed the other large operators were chasing them away even though they paid Rs. 5 towards market fee every day. There was nobody to protect them from the large operators, Ms. Machado said.

Illicit liquor seized

By Our Staff Correspondent

Belgaum March 22. The Belgaum city police chased a lorry and seized illicit liquor worth over Rs. 10 lakh that was being transported in the vehicle on Sunday. Acting on a tip-off, the police, including the Superintendent of Police, Sunil Agarwal, the Additional Superintendent of Police, Rajendra Prasad, and the Deputy Superintendent of Police, M.A. Sheik, and their personnel tried to stop the truck (Reg.No.HR55/0129). But the driver sped away. The police gave a chase and stopped the vehicle. Illicit liquor worth over Rs.10 lakh and 100 bags (of 50 kg. each) of wheat were recovered.

Villagers, officials in verbal duel

By Our Staff Correspondent

TUMKUR MARCH 22. Villagers of Kodlapura in Koratagere taluk of Tumkur district and a group of Government officials were involved in a verbal duel when the villagers stopped a borewell drilling machine from moving out of the area on Sunday. As drinking water has become scarce ever since the borewell went dry a month ago, officials decided to refracture the borewell. The contractor, who was entrusted with the job, took the machinery to the village, but found that the borewell could not be refractured. Then, villagers urged him to drill a new borewell. Officials said for that a sanction from the Government was necessary. A large number of people then gathered at the site and prevented the contractor from taking away the machinery.

`Focus on quality education'

By Our Staff Correspondent

Belgaum March 22. The Additional Director-General of Health, R. Sambasiva Rao, has hoped that the Medical Grants Commission will be set up soon. He was speaking at a function after inaugurating the "Eighth International Workshop on Medical Education' at K.L.E. Society's J.N. Medical College here on Monday. Touching upon qualitative improvement in medical education, he said the Planning Commission had approved a proposal to set up the Medical Grants Commission. But for some reasons there had been no progress in that direction. He said medical institutions need to focus on the quality of education imparted. Mr. Rao said Karnataka was the first the country to have a Ministry for Medical Education. The workshop was organised by the Department of Medical Education, JNMC, Belgaum, and the University of Illinois, Chicago, United States, under the auspices of the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences.

Faculty from institutions in Karnataka and Maharashtra are attending the five-day workshop. The former Vice-Chancellor of Karnatak University, S.C. Desai, said merely producing competent doctors was not enough. The institutions should pay attention on developing the right attitude among students. It was necessary to inculcate in them the traits of compassion, care, and sympathy among them.

Students bag prizes

By Our Staff Correspondent

MANGALORE MARCH 22. Two final year diploma students of Mahalasa School of Arts, Mangalore, have bagged prizes at the 33rd annual competition organised by the Karnataka Lalithakala Academy, Bangalore for 2004. The award winning entries included Niguda Sangharsha, a colour painting by Sooryakanth Pajeer, and Untold Story, a graphic work by Harish Acharya, a press release from Purushottam Nayak, principal of the school, here said. Mr. Pajeer and Mr. Acharya received the prize at a function organised on the premises of Benan Smith School of Arts, Belgaum, recently.

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