Awards given at a glittering ceremony at Ravindra Kalakshetra; CM announces free water, power for Government Schools

Bengaluru: The State Government conferred Kannada Rajyotsava Award on 68 eminent achievers from various districts of the State and 10 Associations, at a glittering ceremony organised at Ravindra Kalakshetra in city last evening.

Speaking during the ceremony, Chief Minister Siddharamaiah announced free electricity and drinking water supply to Government Schools, thus fulfilling the long-pending demand of teachers, as most of them were paying electricity and water bills from their pockets.

The CM’s announcement indeed came as a surprise for Chandrashekar Nugli, General Secretary of Karnataka State Primary School Teachers Association, who had submitted a memorandum in this regard.

Nugli said: “I had passed a chit to the Chief Minister reminding the latter about our request. After discussing with the Chief Secretary and Principal Secretary of Education Department,                             CM announced it.”

Kannada and Culture Minister Shivaraj S. Tangadagi, Home Minister Dr. G. Parameshwar, Urban Development Minister Byrati Suresh, Higher Education Minister Dr. M.C. Sudhakar, Political Secretary to the CM and MLC K. Govindraj, Secretary of Kannada and Culture Department Manjula and others were present.

Notable among the 68 recipients of Kannada Rajyotsava Award were Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) S. Somanathan, retired Supreme Court Judge V. Gopalgowda, Director of Kidwai Institute of Oncology Dr. Ramachandra, senior journalist Maya Sharma, freedom fighter Puttaswamy Gowda and Prof. Gopalan Jagadish to name a few.

Rajyotsava awardees were conferred a Gold Medal weighing 25 grams and Rs. 5 lakh cash.

Following is the list of recipients of the Award:

Social Service: Huchchamma Basappa Choudhary (Koppal), Charmadi Hasanabba (Dakshina Kannada), K. Roopa Naik (Davangere), Nijagunananda Swamiji (Nishkala Mantapa, Belagavi), G. Nagaraju (Bengaluru).

Administration: G.V. Balaram (Tumakuru).

Medical: Dr. C. Ramachandra (Bengaluru) and Dr. Prashanth Shetty (Dakshina Kannada).

Literature: Prof. C. Naganna (Chamarajanagar), Subbu Holeyar (H.K. Subbaiah, Hassan), Satish Kulkarni (Haveri),  Lakshmipathi Kolar (Kolar), Parappa Gurupadappa Siddapura (Vijayapura) and Dr. K. Sharifa (Bengaluru).

Education: Ramappa Havale (Raichur), K. Chandrashekar (Kolar) and K.T. Chandu (Mandya).

Sports: T.S. Divya (Kolar), Aditi Ashok (Bengaluru) and Ashok Gadigeppa Enagi (Dharwad).

Film: Dingri Nagaraj and Bank Janardhan (Bengaluru).

Theatre: A.G. Chidambara Raj Jambe (Shivamogga), P. Gangadhara Swamy (Mysuru), H.B. Sarojamma (Dharwad), Thaiyab Khan M. Inamdar and Dr. Vishwanath Vamshakruthamata (Bagalkot) and P. Thippeswamy (Chitradurga).

Music: Dr. Nayana S. More (Bengaluru), Leela M. Kudli (Dharwad), Shabbeer Ahmed (Bengaluru) and Dr. S. Balesh Bhajantri (Belagavi).

Sculptures/ Fine Arts: T. Shivashankar (Davangere), Kalappa Vishwakarma (Raichur), Martha Jakimovich (Bengaluru) and P. Gowraiah (Mysuru).

Yakshagana and Bayalata: Argodu Mohandas Shenoy (Udupi), K. Leelavathi Baipadithaya (Dakshina Kannada), Keshappa Shillikyathara (Koppal) and Dalawai Siddappa (Vijayanagara).

Folklore: Husenabi Buden Sab Siddi (Uttara Kannada), Shivangi Shanmari (Davangere), Mahadev (Mysuru), Narasappa (Bidar), Shankuntala Devala Naik (Kalaburagi), H.K. Karamanchappa (Ballari),  Dr. Shambu Baligara (Gadag), Vibhuti Gundappa (Koppal) and Chowdamma (Chikkamagaluru)

Agriculture/ Environment: Somanatha Reddy Poorva (Kalaburagi), Dhyavanagouda T. Patil (Dharwad) and Shivareddy Hanuma Reddy Vasana (Bagalkot).

Miscellaneous: A.M. Madari (Vijayapura), Haji Abdulla Parkala (Udupi), ‘Mimicry’ Dayananda (Mysuru), Kabbinale Vasanth Bharadwaj (Mysuru) and Lieutenant General Codanda Poovaiah Cariappa (Kodagu).

Media: Dinesh Amin Mattu (Dakshina Kannada), Javarappa (newspaper distributor from Mysuru), Maya Sharma (Bengaluru) and Rafi Bhandari (Vijayapura).

Science and Technology: S. Somanath (Bengaluru)  and Gopalan Jagadish (Chamarajanagar).

NRIs: Seetharam Iyengar, Deepak Shetty and Shashikiran Shetty.

Freedom Fighter: Puttaswamy Gowda (Ramanagara).

Organisations/ Associations: Karnataka Sangha (Shivamogga), B.N. Shivarama Pustaka Prakashana (Mysuru), Mythic Society (Bengaluru), Karnataka Sahitya Sangha (Yadgiri), Moulana Azad Shikshana mattu Samaja Kalyana Samskrithika Sangha (Davangere), Muslim Education Institutions Federation (Dakshina Kannada), Sneharanga Havyasi Kala Samsthe (Bagalkot), Chinnara Bimba (Mumbai), Maruthi Janaseva Sangha (Dakshina Kannada) and Vidyadana Samithi (Gadag).