GOVERNER PS S r e e d h a r a n Pillai along with special guest Gulzar are all set to confer the prestigious Jnanpith Award on Konkani novelist and litterateur Damodar Mauzo at a ceremonial function at the Raj Bhavan on Saturday, May 27, 2023 at 5 pm. The 57th Jnanpith Award ceremony will see HIGH CUT OFF POINTS be graced by acclaimed Urdu lyricist, poet, author and filmmaker Gulzar. Minister for Cultural Affairs Govind Gaude will be the guest of honour and amongst luminaries from the fields of literature, art, theatre and cinema invited are Justice Virendra Jain (president of the Bharatiya Jnanpith) and Pratibha Ray (chairperson of the Selection Board). This national-level award function is being held by the Bharatiya Jnanpith in collaboration with the Directorate of Art & Culture, Govt of Goa and KLJ Group. Damodar Mauzo is a novelist, short story writer, critic, and scriptwriter from Goa. He has works to his credit in Konkani and English. “Karmelin”, his Konkani novel, bagged the prestigious Sahitya Akademi award in 1983 and created a sort of record in the field of Indian literature. It has been translated into 14 Indian languages and four translations into Marathi, Gujarati, Sindhi and Maithili have also won the Sahitya Akademi translation awards. Born on August 1, 1944 in Goa, Mauzo did his early schooling up to Primeiro Grau in Portuguese, alongside Marathi primary. He graduated in Commerce from RA Podar College of Commerce & Economics in Mumbai. Many of his short stories are translated into several Indian languages as also in English, Portuguese, and French. One of his collection of stories titled “Teresa’s Man” was nominated for the Frank O’Connor International Award in the year 2015. He is the winner of several literary awards including the Sahitya Akademi Award, Katha Award, VV Pai Sahitya Puraskar, State Cultural Award, etc. Mauzo was recently conferred the “Basava Vibhushan Award 2023” by the Basava Samiti, Bangalore, Karnataka. He is the co-founder and cocurator of the Goa Arts & Literature Festival and a founding member of PEN-South India, an International Writers’ Collective. Bharatiya Jnanpith was founded in 1944 by Sahu Shanti Prasad Jain and the late Rama Jain and it has been serving the nation through literature for more than the almost last eight decades. The philanthropic couple’s Jnanpith Award has gradually emerged as the highest literary award of the country and it has so far been conferred to 62 laureates, including Damodar Mauzo. This is the second time any Konkani author is receiving the Jnanpith Award. The first recipient was the legendary Ravindra Kelekar. The Bharatiya Jnanpith is a trust and is managed by a Board of Trustees. Those wishing to attend the ceremony may register at: https://forms.gle/ bhUY6wV7wQMBubRE9. There is bus arrangement from Margao and Canacona to travel to Raj Bhavan and those who are willing to come on the bus may contact 9765661189 (Sagar) for Margao and 9923534647 (Sajjan) for Canacona. For further information about the program call on 9923442746 (Anwesha).
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WITH more and more students passing the HSSC the pressure on college admission has increased. Passing the HSSC is not enough to get admission in good college. The cutoff percentage at Demphe College of Art and Science is 94% in Science. The cut-off portion for commerce is also close to 90%. The result is that accepting the brightest students those who complete their standard 12 cannot get admission to the top colleges in Goa.
PENTAGON ATTACK
AN Artificial Intelligence created video shot shows the Pentagon, headquarters of the US d e f e n c e forces being attacked by terrorists. The video went viral till the Pentagon clarified that the image was fake. Increasingly we need to be extra careful and check on the genuineness of social media posts before accepting them as truth.