The 103rd Convocation of University of Mysore (UoM) was held at Crawford Hall in city this morning. On the occasion, Honorary Doctorates were conferred on Nadoja Dr. P.S. Shankar, Emeritus Professor of Medicine, Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, Bengaluru and Senior Journalist K.B. Ganapathy (KBG), Founder-Editor, Star of Mysore and Mysuru Mithra newspapers.

However, another Honorary Doctorate awardee Javagal Srinath, former International Cricketer, could not make it to receive the honour at the Convocation today. Following is the profile of the three Honorary Doctorate awardees:

Dr. P.S. Shankar

Nadoja Dr. P.S. Shankar is an Emeritus Professor of  Medicine at Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS), Bengaluru. Born in 1936 at Halageri in Ranebennur taluk of Haveri district, Dr. Shankar is also a prolific writer on Medical topics. He has more than 250 works to his credit. He is getting the Honorary Doctorate for the sixth time in his life.

Bengaluru-based RGUHS, NTR Health Sciences University of Andhra Pradesh, Gulbarga University, Tumakuru University and Hampi Kannada University have already bestowed him the Honorary Doctorate.

After schooling at his native village and at Chitradurga, Dr. Shankar earned his Medical degrees at Mysuru and New Delhi and served as a faculty and Principal of M.R. Medical College at Kalaburagi.

His works include ‘Old Age Diseases’, ‘Dr. Vikram Sarabhai’, ‘Cancer’ etc.  He has won many awards and prizes including Soviet Land Nehru award, Rockefeller Scholar in Residence, Best Science Communicator award given by the Government of India, Mysuru Vishwamanava award, Karnataka State Rajyotsava award and Nudisiri award.

K. B. Ganapathy

K.B. Ganapathy, the Founder-Editor of Star of Mysore and Mysuru Mithra, has over five decades of experience in the field of Journalism. He started Star of Mysore English eveninger in 1978 and Mysuru Mithra Kannada morning daily in 1980.

Born in December 1939, he obtained his BA and BL degrees from Mysore University. Later, he went to Mumbai, where he obtained Diploma in Journalism from Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. He practised as an advocate in Bengaluru for three years before joining Free Press Journal and Indian Express as Reporter and Sub-Editor till 1970. Later he worked as Executive Director of an Advertising Agency in Pune.

After his marriage in 1976, Ganapathy shifted to Mysuru and set up a printing press. Soon he ventured into Journalism and started Star of Mysore in 1978. Even though Mysuru had many newspapers then, Star of Mysore stood out for its factual reports and in-depth coverage. His two columns every other day — Abracadabra and Hocus Pocus — helped popularise the paper. These columns were enlightening, informative, risqué and soon captured the attention and imagination of lakhs of Mysureans. He continues to write these columns even today.

It is noteworthy that Star of Mysore is probably the country’s only evening subscribed English newspaper delivered home. He achieved this task by building a strong distribution network while paying attention to reportage. Also, Star of Mysore is the only Berliner sized newspaper in the country.

With his two newspapers, Ganapathy created awareness among the people of Mysuru city about the usefulness and impact of an influential local evening newspaper to the community. Today Star of Mysore and Mysuru Mithra are the voice of the people for justice.

KBG, as he is popularly called, has written books in English and Kannada. They include ‘America – An Area of Light’, a travelogue in English (1993), ‘The Cross and the Coorgs’, an English Novel (1993), ‘Abracadabra,’  a collection of Abracadabra columns published in ‘Star of Mysore’ (2003), ‘Gandhi’s Epistle to Obama,’  the journey of a Communist towards Capitalism (2009), ‘Star of Mysore — Story of a unique evening English newspaper’ (2018), ‘Sword of Shivaji,’ history of Chhatrapati Shivaji (2021) and ‘Life and Times’ (2023).

His Kannada works include Adarshavadi (1992), Kodagina Mele Shilubeya Neralu (2005), Choomantra, a collection of articles published in Mysuru Mithra (2005) and Shivajiya Khadga (2021).

KBG has won numerous awards and prizes in his over five decades of illustrious career including Karnataka Media Academy award in 2001, H.K. Veerannagowda Journalism award in 2005, KUWJ’s P.R. Ramaiah award in 2005, Karnataka State Rajyotsava award in 2008, Mohare Hanamantharaya award for 2013 (presented in 2015), Lifetime Achievement Award of Mysuru District Journalists Association in 2023 and Lifetime Achievement Award by The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE), Mysuru Chapter, in 2023.

Besides, K.B. Ganapathy has instituted Star of Mysore Silver Jubilee Endowment Medal in the University of Mysore. This gold medal is awarded to the candidate who has passed M.A. Exam in Journalism in first attempt and securing the highest marks in the entire course (in all the papers).

Javagal Srinath

Former Cricketer Javagal Srinath is known as ‘Mysuru Express’ for his fast bowling that unnerved his opponent batters in the cricket field for years. Srinath, a native of Javagal in Arsikere taluk of Hassan district, was born in 1969 and got his Engineering degree from Mysuru’s Sri Jayachamarajendra College of Engineering (SJCE).

Srinath developed a craze for cricket during his school days at Marimallappa High School in city. After getting his B.E. degree, Srinath moved to Bengaluru and played Club cricket at Bengaluru, when he caught the eyes of cricketing legend G.R. Vishwanath. Later, Srinath played his first Ranji Trophy match for Karnataka in 1989  when he got a hat-trick of wickets.

After excellent performance in Ranji and other National  tournaments, Srinath joined the National team and represented the country in Test and One-Day International (ODI) matches.

During his illustrious career, Srinath bagged 236 wickets in 67 Test matches and 315 wickets in 229 ODIs. In domestic cricket, Srinath bagged 533 wickets playing in 147 first class matches. Srinath was also a useful  lower order batsman and was known for his pinch hitting. Srinath retired from International Cricket  after the ICC World Cup in 2003.

He also played county cricket in England representing Gloucestershire and Leicestershire. After his retirement, Srinath continued to serve the game he much loved, as the Secretary of KSCA (Karnataka State Cricket Association). He has also served as ICC Match Referee in 65 Tests, 261 ODIs and 208 T-20 matches.

Considering his yeoman service to the game of cricket, the Government of India bestowed him the prestigious Arjuna award.