World Konkani Centre to Host the ‘Vishwa Konkani Samaroh ’24 & VK Awards ’23’ on Feb 10-11
Mangaluru: Addressing the media persons during a press meet held at Mangaluru Press Club, Nandagopal Shenoy, the President of World Konkani Centre, Shakthinagar, Mangaluru said “The World Konkani Center, Mangaluru will organise two events on 10 & 11 February 2024 at Vishwa Konkani Kendra, Mangaluru, namely “Vishwa Konkani Samaroh- 2024” and “Vishwa Konkani Awards-2023 respectively.
Shenoy further said, “Prof Jayraj Amin, acting vice-chancellor, Mangalore University, Dr P Dayananda Pai, chairman, Konkani Language and Cultural Foundation, Nandagopal Shenoy, president, Pradeep G Rai, secretary, VKSSF, B R Bhat, treasurer and other trustee members will be present during the Vishwa Konkani Awards. On this day, the Vimala V Pai Sahitya Puraskar award will be conferred to Ramanand Raikar, R S Bhaskar and Dr Prakash Parinekar. The Basti Vaman Shenoy Seva Puraskar will be given to Shakuntala Ajit Bhandarkar and Joseph Crasta. The Dr P Dayananda Pai Vishwa Konkani Puraskar will be conferred to Srinivas Rao (Kasargod Chinna) and Ramesh Laad, and Dr P Dayananda Pai.
It was also revealed that Four dramas will be staged at TV Raman Pai Hall, Kodialbail on the two days which are ‘Jagalevelo Hanumanthu’ by Kochin Kalakshetra, Goshreepur, Kochi; and ‘The Skeleton Woman’ by The Fourth Wall theatre, Goa on February 10, and ‘Aavsu Anandache Pavus’ by Konkani Triveni Kala Sangam, Mumbai, and ‘Eklo Aneklo’ by Rang Chinnari Kasaragod on February 11.
Nandagopal Shenoy also said, “There are 12 schools which teach the Konkani language and Vishwa Konkani Kendra is monitoring them. We use government-issued textbooks only and from 8-10 years, the number of students who opt for Konkani as a third language in SSLC has also significantly grown. Hence, we are now asking for the same rules to be implemented for PUC students. The number of students taking masters in Konkani is also rising and students in degree colleges also opt for Konkani. The main problem is at the PUC level and with government support, we will also ensure that Konkani is added to the +2 curriculum.”
Board members of World Konkani Centre, B R Bhat, Kasturi Mohan Pai, Ramesh Nayak, and Dr B Devdas Pai were present during the press meet.