MU to confer Honoris Causa on Hajabba, Soorikumeru Govinda Bhat, Raveesh Padumale

Mangaluru: Mangalore University will confer honorary doctorate degrees (Honoris Causa) on Harekala Hajabba, noted Tenkuthittu Yakshagana artiste and Yaksha Guru late Soorikumeru Govinda Bhat, and daiva narthaka Dr Raveesh Padumale during the 44th annual convocation to be held at Mangala Auditorium on the university campus on March 28.

MU Vice Chancellor Prof P L Dharma said the university had received 14 nominations for the Honoris Causa. The scrutiny committee verified and recommended the names to the Governor.

As per the guidelines, the university has to recommend names under four categories, education, literature, culture and research, for the honorary doctorate. Hajabba, known as Akshara Santa, is a Padma Shri-winning orange vendor who built a school in his village despite being illiterate. The life of Hajabba is included in the syllabus of three universities.

Well-known Thenku Thittu Yakshagana artiste Soorikumeru Govinda Bhat, who passed away on March 20, will be conferred the honorary doctorate posthumously.

Bhat was a recipient of the Kendra Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (2016) and the Karnataka Rajyotsava Award (2008), and had served Yakshagana for seven decades. He served in the Dharmasthala Manjunatheswara Yakshagana Mandali alone for 55 years and had also written Yakshagana prasangas.

As the family members are unable to attend the convocation due to rituals associated with his death, Mangalore University will hand over the degree to his family members at his residence in Bantwal on April 13 in the presence of Edneer Mutt seer Sachidananda Bharati and Dharmadhikari D Veerendra Heggade.

Dr Raveesh Padumale is the first daiva narthaka to obtain a PhD in engineering from Visvesvaraya Technological University, Belagavi. At present, he serves as the Head of the Department of Civil Engineering at SDM Institute of Technology, Ujire.

DK MP Capt Brijesh Chowta will deliver the convocation address. Chancellor Thawar Chand Gehlot will preside over the function and confer degrees on all candidates. Pro-Chancellor Dr M C Sudhakar will also take part.

Prof Dharma said Mangalore University will award 162 Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degrees (Arts – 40, Science – 92, Commerce – 25 and Education – 5). Of the 162 PhD candidates, 74 (45.67%) are women and 88 (54.32%) are men.

Among them, 10 men and one woman are foreign nationals. A total of 56 gold medals and 57 cash prizes will be awarded. There are 147 ranks in total, of which 69 (PG – 50 and UG – 19) are first ranks (Faculty of Arts – 17; Faculty of Science & Technology – 40; Faculty of Commerce – 8; Faculty of Education – 4).

Earlier, the cash prize amount was meagre as it was based on the interest accrued from deposits made by donors who had instituted the prizes. Now, the university has decided to ensure that students receive a minimum of Rs 500 as a cash prize from its internal sources. A gold medal costs around Rs 4,000.

Prof Dharma said a total of 22,050 students appeared for PG and UG university examinations, of which 19,568 (88.74%) passed. Among them, 7,284 (37.22%) are boys and 12,284 (62.77%) are girls.

In PG programmes, 3,225 students appeared for the examinations, of which 3,027 (93.86%) passed. Among those who passed, 897 (29.63%) are boys and 2,130 (70.37%) are girls.

In UG programmes, 18,825 students appeared for the examinations, of which 16,541 (87.87%) passed. Of these, 6,387 are boys and 10,154 are girls, he said.