MANGALURU: This village panchayat building in Padupanamboor in Mulki runs entirely on solar energy and saves Rs 3,000 on electricity bills monthly .
This is thanks to the initiative of panchayat members, who have become role models by meeting all the electricity needs of the the building by using solar energy. The idea to go solar was mooted after the panchayat won the Gandhi Gram Puraskar which comes with a cash purse of Rs 5 lakh. The members, who wanted to use money for development work, proposed installing solar panels to power the building.
With this, not only does the panchayat save big on electricity bills, but is also spared of power outages, due to which villagers were earlier sent back due to non-functioning systems during power cuts. “We will save nearly Rs 36,000 per year by going solar, but more than that it saves us from sending villagers back whenever there is a power cut,” said Mohandas Thokur.
The panchayat building is installed with a 2,400 watt solar panel with battery and inverter. It helps power13 lights, 12 fans, five computers, a laptop, two printers, drinking water filters and other equipment. The battery lasts up to seven years, while solar panels have a warranty of 25 years. “We are thinking of installing additional solar facilities and sell power to Mescom to generate income for the panchayat. The income generated will be utilised for development works of the pachayat. Ivan D’Souza, MLC, Meenakshi Shantigodu, president, zilla panchayat, and rural development and panchayat raj minister K S Eshwrappa have sanctioned a total of Rs 6 lakh for the same,” said Anitha Catherine, panchayat development officer.
The Padupanamboor village panchayat has been at the forefront for implementation of several projects and schemes. It was lauded for successful implementation of a vented dam under a World Bank Scheme, clean village, plastic-free village, MGNREGA implementation, and made a short film for electoral awareness. It is also the second cashless panchayat in the district.

MANIPAL: S Gopalakrishnan (Kris), chairman, Axilor Ventures, Pvt Ltd, Bengaluru, called upon students to contribute towards building a new India.
“It is our responsibility to steer India to the top of the global economy in the coming decade. I have confidence that our current generation of young leaders like you have the capability and skills to make this happen. You can all play an important role in such a transformation of India and contribute to build new India,’’ he said.
He was addressing young graduands during the 27th Manipal Academy of Higher Education Convocation which got under way on Friday. As many as 1,389 undergraduates, postgraduates, superspecialty and research scholars were awarded degrees on the occasion. A total 4,177 graduates will receive their degrees in person on all three days. He impressed upon them to take advantage of the opportunities available now. To drive his point home, he chose ‘Navigating Disruptions’ as the title of his address. “We are living in interesting times with emerging technologies creating multiple disruptions in industry, economy and our lives,” he said, and added, “This is the era of the fourth industrial revolution which is powered by several technological advances. It is characterized by a fusion of technologies that is blurring the lines between the physical, digital, and biological domains”.
He pointed out some of the technologies defining this era—digital computing, high speed internet, mobile phones, social networks, robotics and drones, nanotechnology and several others. “Microsoft, Amazon, Apple, Alphabet (parent company of Google) and Facebook, which were all startups, are companies with the largest market capitalisation in the world today,” he said. “All these companies have leveraged technology innovations that were emerging when they were founded and disrupted exiting business models. The speed at which knowledge is growing and being put to good use is amazing. Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming one of the most important technologies of all time. AI is now getting deeper into what were so far specialist human domains, and gave the real-time example of image-guided and robot-assisted surgery.”
He advised the graduands to look at these technology and industry shifts as opportunities to build their careers. “But of course, there are fundamental traits of dedication, discipline, passion, leadership, communication, networking and empathy which don’t change whether you aim to become a corporate professional or an entrepreneur,” he said.
The 3 students who received Dr TMA Pai Gold medals were: Gaurav Rawat and Radhika Gupta (BDS), Manipal College of Dental Sciences, Mangaluru and Saraswati Sanjay Chavda (MSc molecular biology ) Manipal School of Life Sciences.

Twenty years after he last performed at a public concert in Kudla, Sonu Nigam is set to enthrall the city once again. The Bollywood singer will be in the city in a few weeks to perform for fans at a charity event. “It is Sonu’s popularity among fans that made us approach him, and he graciously accepted. Bollywood may have many new singers, but Sonu is someone who appeals to all categories of listeners,” says Rohan Pereira, the curator of the event.
“Although Sonu had performed at a college a few years ago, he’s not had a mega concert in Mangaluru in two decades. Excitement among his fans in the city is at an all-time high,” Rohan adds. It may be recalled that Sonu had earlier lent his voice to the song Nina Teliken in the Tulu film Dhand.

MANGALURU: Abu Dhabi based entrepreneur Ramdas Kamath and his wife Jayashri Kamath donated Rs 15 lakh to Pilikula Biological Park for construction of animal houses for the newly born five tiger cubs.
Recently, tigress Rani had given birth to five cubs. After visiting Pilikula, Kamath promised to provide more financial help for the development of the park.

Tigress Rani with cubs.
Park authorities have decided to name the cubs as suggested by the couple. At present, Pilikula has 13 tigers including five cubs, said H J Bhandary, director, Pilikula Biological Park.