Girl's tale and boy's courage save lives

She managed to persuade dacoits not to harm her family; he jumped into a river to save a pal

Bhumika R Nayak (11) of Lakkinakoppa of Shimoga Taluk received the Keladi Chennamma Award and Praveen A K (15) of Ambadimale, Jalsur village, Sullia, Mangalore received the Hoysala award.

Dacoits moved

Two men approached H V Ramesh Nayak’s family at Lakkinakoppa in Shimoga taluk on April 26, on the pretext of seeking water to cool down the radiator of their car.
Finding Ramesh Nayak was out of the house, the two men tipped off their gang.

Taking advantage of a power cut in the area at the time, the five-member gang barged into the house brandishing lethal weapons.

They locked up the family members in a room, disconnected phone connection and looted valuables using the torch in their mobiles. For, nearly three hours, the gang searched the entire house.

Bhumika, daughter of Ramesh Nayak, told the dacoits that their family had spent a huge amount on medical treatment of their father who was severely injured in an accident. She also informed them that her father had availed loans from several sources and that the family was under severe financial strain.

Bhumika begged them not to harm her grand parents, and instead offred to undergo whatever they had in store for her. Moved by Bhumika’s appeal, the intruders left the house without harming any of the family members.

Saves friend’s life

Badr Muneer (12) was washed away by flash floods in a river on July 17, 2009 at Ambadimale at Jalsur village near Adkaru. Praveen A K and Ganesh jumped into the river to rescue the drowning boy. Ganesh, however drowned. Undeterred, Praveen managed to rescue Badr Muneer.

State Awards

Governor H R Bhardwaj presented the State awards to Nele, a rehabilitation centre for orphaned children on Bull Temple Road in Bangalore, Sri Kanakadas Seva Shikshan Samsthe of Yaramarus Camp in Raichur (both NGOs) and Phoolchand Pasha and P P Baburaj for their services in the area of child welfare.

Exceptional Talent

Women and Child Welfare Minister C C Patil presented Exceptional Talent Awards to the following 24 children for their brilliant performance in the fields of sports, art, culture and education: Rashmi Ravishankar, B K Swaroop, Harshitha G Topkhane, Rakshitha S, Prakrithi M Krishna , B P Aditi, Sahana Hegde (Bangalore),  Shivaranjini Hiremath, Pooja N Bhavikatti, Vaishnavi Deshpande (Gulbarga), Greeshma M G, Chaturya V Dev (Hassan), Girish A, Sanjana Srinivas (Mysore), Saniha K Kuppetti (Puttur), Shashwatha (Mandya), Bharath M C (Mulbagal), Manasa D (Davangere), Pallavi Rao H (Virajpet), Hamsa K N (Hassan), Akash (Chitradurga), Anjali Shyanbog (Udupi), Pallavi Desai (Bellary) and Ishwarya S (Bijapur).