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Harekala Hajabba, the orange seller who set up school for underprivileged, chosen for Padma Shri 2020

News Network
January 25, 2020

Mangaluru, Jan 25: Orange vendor Harekala Hajabba, popularly known as 'Akshara Santha' (the saint of alphabets), who went on to build a school at Newpadpu village on the city’s outskirts in 1999 is among this year’s Padma Shri awardees.

When Hajabba received the call on being nominated for the award, he was standing in a queue to buy rations.

As he is not fluent in Hindi, Hajabba handed over the phone to an auto driver, who conveyed the news that the Padma Shri award will be conferred on him.

The unlettered achiever set up a primary school from his meagre savings of Rs 150 per day,  selling oranges in Mangaluru. 

“The first time I felt bad for being an illiterate was when a foreigner enquired about the price of oranges in English. I did not know what he meant. So, I decided to start a school in my village,” Hajabba had said during a felicitation programme.

When Hajabba decided to start a school, he did not get any support. He started the school with 28 children.

The school today has been upgraded to a composite high school and is catering to the educational needs of hundreds of children in and around Newpadpu.

He ran from pillar to post in the Zilla Panchayat to make his dream come true. All cash awards he had received went into building the school. The United Christians Association, moved by the sight of his dilapidated house, built a 760-square-foot house costing Rs 15 lakh for him. 

Hajabba’s life was prescribed for the syllabus of three universities - Davangere, Kuvempu and Mangalore. His success story is also included in a Tulu textbook.

He won the Karnataka Rajyotsava award in 2013, Real Heroes award from TV channel CNN-IBN.

Hajabba, when contacted, said he could not believe his ears when told about the award.

New dreams

The frail vendor, in his 60s, humbly declared that he could achieve all this because of the support of all. Hajabba now dreams of upgrading the school into a full-fledged PU college.

Comments

Meethal Kasaragod
 - 
Sunday, 26 Jan 2020

A big Salute to him!

Great effort,

fairman
 - 
Sunday, 26 Jan 2020

Where there is will, there is way

May God help him.

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News Network
May 15,2020

Belthangady, May 15: Carcases of more than 50 monkeys were found at Bandaru gram panchayat in the taluka here on Friday.

The carcasses were found on the Kundalapalke-Padmunja road in Bandar village. Locals had seen the monkeys’ carcasses night of Thursday and informed authorities about it.

Kaniyuru Health Centre’s medical assistant Swatantra Rao and Ujire health Centre’s Medical Officer, Forest Department staff, veterinarians and local Panchayat officials visited the spot.

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News Network
April 1,2020

Bengaluru, Apr 1: The state government has identified five districts, including Dakshina Kannada, as 'cluster zones' or 'Red zones,' to prevent the spread of Novel Coronavirus.

The other four districts include Mysuru, Uttara Kannada, Bengaluru and Chikkaballapur.

Mangaluru has been under strict lockdown, as it is close to Kasargod in Kerala, which reported many positive cases and is also one of the 'hotspots' in the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) list.

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Deepak Shetty Qatar
June 19,2020

Mangaluru, Jun 19: A repatriation flight from Doha brought 178 passengers to Mangaluru today. This is the first flight operated from Qatar to Mangaluru under the Vande Bharat Mission. 

The Air India Express flight, which took off from Hamad International Airport in Doha at 12 noon (Qatar time) landed at Mangaluru International Airport around 6.30 pm IST.

Indian embassy had prepared the list of passengers to be flown in the flight. Stranded people who were in need of emergency repatriation such as pregnant women, senior citizens and those in need of emergency medical treatment were given priority while finalising the list of passengers. 

Kannadiga organisations in Qatar such as Karnataka Sangha, Tulu Kuta Qatar, Karnataka Muslim Welfare Association, Mangalore Cricket Club, Bunts Qatar, Mangalore Cultural Association, South Canara Muslim Welfare Association, Qatar Billawas had been striving for the repatriation of stranded Kannadigas by exerting pressure on the elected representatives to operate flights. 

Kannadigas in Qatar have thanked former Udupi-Chikkamagaluru MP Jayaprakash Hegde for persuading the authorities concerned to facilitate the repatriation. 

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