Mangaluru: Cashew baron, industry doyen Gurpur Sadanand Prabhu dies at 93

coastaldigest.com news network
March 4, 2018

Mangaluru, Mar 4: Cashew industry pioneer and founder of city based Achal Industries Gurpur Sadanand Prabhu passed away on Sunday morning (March 4, 2018). He was 93.

He died peacefully at about 4:30 a.m. at his residence due to old age, it is learned. He is survived by his wife Rohini Prabhu and three children, son Giridhar Prabhu and daughters Prafulla Kamath and Anuradha Shenoy.

He was a past president of Kanara Chamber of Commerce and Industry and was also actively associated with Mangalore Cashew Manufacturers Association. He was also a member of Rotary Club Mangalore North.

Last rites will be at his residence ‘Ananya’ at Bejai Kapikad Road at 12:00 noon today, followed by funeral at1:00 p. m. at his home town Gurpur, according to family sources.

Cashew industry leaders and past presidents of Karnataka Cashew Manufacturers Association Kalbhavi Prakash Rao, Bola Ramanath Kamath, Bola Rahul Kamath and others have condoled the demise of Sadanand Prabhu.

Personal Profile

Born in 1925, Sadanand Prabhu was a native of Gurpur town in the outskirts of the city. After completing his matriculation, he started his career as teacher and then moved into business.

Then on he joined as a partner with his relative in Konchady Appayya Shabhogue and Co, at Bunder. Subsequently he started Sadananda Prabhu and Co., a groundnut oil manufacturing unit.

Then in 1981, at the age of 55, he established Achal Industries, which was one of the first industries to start at the newly formed Baikampady Industrial Area. In 1983, he started his second unit Achal Cashews at Turkewadi, a small village in Maharashtra.

Today Achal is a Rs. 125 crore group comprising four family owned companies with manufacturing units at multiple locations and 950 employees. It became an exporter of processed cashew in 1984 and its products are now reaching North America, the EEC countries, Middle East and Japan. His son Giridhar Prabhu is presently the proprietor of the flagship unit Achal Industries.

According to M. N. Pai, General Manager of Achal Industries and director of three other Achal group companies, Gurpur Sadanand Prabhu had retired from business about two years ago due to his advancing age. “He was a self made man and always had a vision to build a customer friendly business. He was an innovator of several processes in cashew industry,” he said.

Sadanand Prabhu was known as an unassuming and simple person always clad in white dhoti and white shirt. He liked to encourage the younger generation and many entrepreneurs credit him with being their mentor.

He took pride in tax compliance and ethical business practices. Cashew industry being a labour intensive sector, he showed keen interest in employee welfare and always put the workers first. He was one of the first to introduce bus transport for workers. Every worker he employed was well taken care of for the contribution he or she did. Productivity linked wages is one of the innovations practiced at his cashew processing units which enable the labourers to earn more.

According to sources close to him, Sadanand Prabhu always believed that tax paid money is more worth than any other wealth. He was well known for insisting on full tax compliance in his own firms and also had a prodigious knowledge of commercial law. “He was always up to date in all the laws applicable to the industry and even the tax authorities respected him for his knowledge,” said M. N. Pai.

Comments

Mohammed
 - 
Sunday, 4 Mar 2018

Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un

Hari
 - 
Sunday, 4 Mar 2018

RIP sir.. Condolence to his family

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News Network
July 3,2020

Mangaluru, Jul 3: Four central crime branch (CCB) police personnel tested positive for coronavirus on Friday in Dakshina Kannada district in Karnataka.

So far, eighteen police personnel, including an official of the ACP rank and 12 from Ullal police station, have tested positive for Covid-19 in the district in the last few days, police sources said.

A policeman from Mangaluru Rural station and another from Puttur station have also been infected.

All the personnel who tested positive have been admitted to the designated Covid-19 hospitals.

City police commissioner Vikash Kumar Vikash said adequate protection has been provided to police personnel who were fighting the pandemic and the members of their families.

As of Thursday, the total coronavirus cases in the district stood at 923 and the toll 18 while the state's infection count has crossed the 18,000 mark with 272 deaths.

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Agencies
January 1,2020

Kanpur, Jan 1: In a seemingly bizarre development, the IIT in Kanpur has set up a panel to decide whether the poem "Hum dekhenge lazim hai ki hum bhi dekhenge", penned by Faiz Ahmad Faiz, is anti-Hindu.

The panel has been set up in response to complaints filed by a faculty member who claimed that the students, during a protest, sang this poem which was anti-Hindu.

The poem reads thus -- "Lazim hai ke hum bhi dekhenge. Jab arz-e-Khuda ke kaabe se. Sab bhut uthwaye jayenge, Hum ahl-e-safa mardood-e-harm. Masnad pe bithaye jayenge. Sab taaj uchale jaenge. Sab takht giraye jayenge. Bas naam rahega Allah ka. Hum dekhenge."

It was the last line that has turned into a bone of contention. Translated into English, it means, 'When thrones will vanish, only Allah's name will remain' -- implying the misleading translation by the professor.

The poem had been written by Faiz in reference to military dictator Zia-ul-Haq in 1979 and was against the military rule in Pakistan. Faiz had left leanings and was an atheist. He was known for his revolutionary writings that kept him in jail for several years.

It may be recalled that the IIT-Kanpur students had taken out a peaceful march on the campus on December 17 in support of the students of Jamia Millia Islamia and during the march, the students sang the Faiz poem.

According to IIT Deputy director Manindra Agarwal: "In the video, the students are seen reciting the Faiz poem which can also be perceived as being anti-Hindu.

The IIT faculty member, in his complaint, has alleged that the students made anti-India and communal statements during their demonstration in solidarity with the Jamia students.

The complaint was based on two lines of the poem, which have obviously been misinterpreted -- "When all idols will be removed, only Allah's name will remain."

The faculty member has stated that "organisers and masterminds must be identified and expelled immediately."

Fifteen other students have also signed the complaint filed by the professor against the protesting students.

Meanwhile, IIT students have said that the faculty member who lodged the complaint has been banned on a social networking site for posting communal content.

In an article published on the IIT-Kanpur student media portal, the students clarified what exactly happened on the day of protest and how their chant was given a 'communal and misleading' turn. They stated that they had recited a few lines of the Faiz poem in reference to the police crackdown on the Jamia students.

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News Network
February 26,2020

Mysuru, Feb 26: Twenty-nine students of the Government Primary School fell sick after consuming milk supplied at the school on Wednesday morning at Kiranguru village, in Hanagodu hobli, in the hunsur taluk in the district.

Police said the students were immediately rushed to the primary health centre in Hanagodu and provided first aid.

Tahsildar and Police personnel visited the health centre and inquired about the health of the students. "All the students are responding to the treatment," sources said.

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