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Arun D'Souza from Mangalore strikes gold for Andhra

Hyderabad , December 17: It has been a long, lonely ride for the 25-year-old Arun D'Souza thus far. From Mangalore to the coffee plantations in Chikmagalur, where his father worked as a supervisor and he helped his uncle in a local bakery, until he got roped in to the Centre of Excellence scheme, D'Souza has walked it alone. So at the G. M. C. Balayogi Stadium today, in the 3000M steeplechase, when the Traveling Ticket Examiner with the Railways left the competition behind him after just thr ee laps, he was in familiar territory, doing it alone.

He did not have to finish hard, running in the second position was Services Sports Control Board's R. Suresh and he was some 100M behind. But when D'Souza hit the straight he broke into a smile and gave it the final kick to stop the clock at 8:54.07 seconds, breaking Pradeep Kumar Dogra's National Games record of 8:58.1 seconds set in 1985. This is D'Souza's second National Games gold. In Punjab , in the last edition of the Games, his gold medal boosted Karnataka's tally but his gold today went to Andhra Pradesh, a state offering rich rewards for its winners.

"I need the money," D'Souza said. "I have to take care of my family; we don't even have a proper house of our own. I also have dreams of improving as an athlete. I want to finish among the medals at the Asian level. I also want to go to Kenya to train and I am collecting money for that. Karnataka has yet to pay me for the gold I won in the last games. Karnataka is where I am from -- it is my home state and that won't change."

D'Souza, who finished sixth in the Asian Athletic Championships earlier this year, made it a start to finish affair here. Going smoothly over the hurdles, he made the trying race look like a walk in the park and with every stride he took the distance between him and silver medallist R. Suresh lengthened until he was out of sight and out of reach. Suresh of Services Sports Control Board finished a comfortable second and teammate Ranjan Kumar Jha came in thi rd.

In the men's 200M dash, Anand Menezes, from Mumbai but running for Andhra Pradesh, piped Jagdish Basak at the tape to claim gold. Both men timed 21.63 but the technical delegate awarded the race to Menezes. The 22-year-old Basak, who had earlier won the 100M gold, took control of the race at the 150M mark but Menezes, after a poor start, was rapidly gaining ground. With five metres to go Basak still led but the seasoned Menezes finished strongly topping the podium. Ajay Raj Singh of Punjab took the bronze.

Results: Men: 200M: Anand Menezes (AP) 21.63 secs 1 - Gold Medal
3000M steeplechase: Arun D'Souza (AP) 8:54.07 secs 1 - Gold Medal

Two buses collided face to face in Perdoor

Udupi, December 17: Near Hebbar Bridge at Perdoor, Tuesday evening two buses collided face to face and as a result 14 people got injured.  Both bus drivers fractured their bones and severely injured said Sub Inspector Mr. Lancy D'Souza who registered the case.  A mini bus travelling from Sagar and a service bus collided and 5 people admitted as inpatients.  Rest were treated as outpatients.  One bus driver was stuck between the structure and had a hard time to pull him out.  He broke his leg said police.  Injured were taken to Manipal Hospital .

Minister urged to repair road

Mangalore, December 17: A delegation of Bajpe Autorickshaw Drivers and Owners Association led by the association president Rolphie D'Costa met Transport Minister B. Ramanath Rai recently and apprised him about the poor state of Bajpe-Kaikamba Road.  The delegation also requested him to initiate action to repair the Bajpe-Kaikamba Road immediately. Rai said Rs. 15 lakh had already been sanctioned and tenders would be called soon.

Foundation stone laid for GP building

Mangalore, December 17: Suratkal MLA K. Vijaykumar Shetty laid the foundation stone for Maravur Grama Panchayath's new office building, recently.  South Kanara Zilla Panchayath Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Gonal Bheemappa, Zilla Panchayath member Rolphie D'Costa, Mangalore Taluk Panchayath members Chandrahasa Rai, Monappa Shetty, Shakunthala, Maravur Grama Panchayath president M. Bhaskar, secretary Pushpalath and others were present on the occasion.

Construction of dist offices at Ajjarkad opposed

Mangalore, December 17: Udupi Senior Citizens' Association has opposed the plan of building district offices complex at Ajjarkad.  In a memorandum submitted to the Chief Minister S. M. Krishna, the association president K. K. Nambiar said that the State Government's decision to select Ajjarkad area was not in the over all interest of the general public.  Describing the proposed project of building the complex at the cost of existing Government staff quarters as wasteful expenditure, Nambiar argued that this would benefit only contractors and related persons.

He alleged that the government is planning to demolish more than 70 government staff quarters which are in good condition, only to re alise the new project. He said that this would cause unnecessary hardships to the staff and exchequer.

Applications invited for training in apparel making

Mangalore, December 17: Karnataka Minorities Improvement Authority has invited applications from Muslims, Christians, Jains, Sikhs, Parsis, and Anglo-Indians in the state for a one-year training at the apparel training and design centre.  Eligible candidates should fulfill the following conditions. They should have a minimum qualification of PUC. For the six-month combined course in production supervision and quality control and pattern cutting masters course, they should have a minimum qualification of degree or diploma.

The candidates should be below 25 years, as on 1.11.2002 and the annual income from all sources should be below Rs. 22,000. They should be residing in the state for at least 1 0 years.  The association will pay a fee of Rs. 20,000 per candidate of which 10 per cent should be repaid in installments during the training programme.  No student scholarships will be paid and if any candidate leaves the programme before completion, he or she will have to refund the full fees. The candidates have to give an undertaking to this effect in a specified form.

Interested candidates may apply on a plain paper with their bio-data, diploma marks sheet, caste certificate, and income certificate from Thahshildar, with three recent passport size photographs to Resident Director, Karnataka Minorities Improvement Authority, 12th Floor, Main Tower, Vishweshwarayya Centre, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Road, Bangalore.

Programme to eradicate bad habits held

Puttur, December 17: Bad habits are pushing the humans to death trap. With proper awareness and determination bad habits could be shed, Abubakkar, senior health inspector of Puttur Town Municipality , said here recently.  He was speaking at a programme on 'Awareness about bad habits' at Balnad Anganawadi centre near Puttur. The programme was organised by the Karnataka Urban Development Scheme and Continuing Education Scheme. Balnadu School headmaster Tabura presided over the function.

Gumless Jackfruit, Short arecanut tree:
Innovations by Puttur farmer

New Delhi, December 17: India's first gumless jackfruit that does not sully hands while cutting has come not from agriculture scientists but a 69-year-old farmer in Puttur who received the reward for his innovation from President A. P. J. Abdul Kalam.  In fact, years ago when S. Harishchandra Shetty began working on latexless jackfruit, his wife thought it was a waste of time. However, after grafting different varieties, he found one in 1988 whose fruits did not have the sticky gum.  Three years passed for the tree to bear fruit. Nevertheless, in the first year, fruits dropped at an immature stage. Next year ten fruits ripened. "With surprise, I found that the fruits had good taste and aroma, but not the gum," Mr. Shetty told Media people.

Scientists at Central Plantation Crop Research Institute (CPCRI) at Kasargod understood the potential of the new variety. With encouragement from them, Mr. Shetty was able to mass-produce the particular variety. In the last decade, he has distributed more than one lakh gumless jackfruit seedlings to farmers not only in the nearby regions, but in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh as well.  " Malaysia is the only country so far to have a latexless jackfruit variety. But people like Mr. Shetty have shown that even Indian farmers are capable of finding new varieties," said Dr. Anil K. Gupta, executive vice president of the National Innovation Foundation (NIF).

In another cl ear testimony to the innovativeness shown by Karnataka farmers, M. Lingamadaiah, a former Bharat Petroleum worker from Channapatna taluk in Bangalore (Rural) district, has bagged the first prize in the plant variety section for his innovative 'Mysore Mallige' paddy variety.  Developed through systematic recurrent selection, the unique variety is an early bearing one with a yield of 9,000 kg per hectare.  "The variety which Mr. Lingamadaiah developed from 10 gm of seeds collected from a Philippines farmer i n 1994 is now covering 25 to 30 per cent of the paddy growing area in the region," Dr. Gupta said.  To spot such innovations 12 states including Karnataka, on the advice of the Planning Commission, has recruited officials, who also help in disseminating information about these innovations, he added.

The NIF is negotiating with institutions such as SIDBI for finance so that many such innovations can reach a larger population, noted NIF chairperson and CSIR director general Dr. R. A. Mashelkar.  Three other innovators from the State also received prizes from the President. While Bangalore-based M. S. V. Naidu, a former employee of West Coast Paper Mills, won the prize for his idea of making a coconut-breaker and water collector; Chikmagalur based G. K. Ratnakara bagged the prize for coming up with a modified hydroelectric turbine.  Adyanadka based arecanut cultivator Narayan Bhatt won a prize for growing a dwarf arecanut tree that can reduce the labour of climbing the taller version.

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