Mangalore: Dr B M Hegde presents PaGo Award to journo Suresh Palli

Pics: Dayanand Kukkaje
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore(MD)

Mangalore, Mar 19: Padma Bhushan Dr B M Hegde on Wednesday March 19 honoured journalist Suresh D Palli with the ‘PaGo Memorial Award-2013' for rural reporting.

The award ceremony was held at Press Club here. He was honoured with the award for his report titled 'Koropolu Sarathyadalli Belagitu Grama'. In memory of the late Padyana Gopalakrishna Bhat, the award is bestowed every year on a deserving journalist.

Dakshina Kannada Working Journalists' Union president P B Harish Rai welcomed the gathering and a floral welcome was given to the guests.

Dr B M Hegde Former vice-chancellor of Manipal University and former director-professor and dean of Kasturba Medical College, Savitri Gopalakrishna, wife of the late Padyana Gopalkrishna Bhat, Srinivas Indaje DKWJU secretary and Suresh D Palli's family members were present.

P B Harish Rai said that there were a total of 15 entries and the winner of the ‘PaGo Memorial Award-2013’ was selected by the three judges Chidambara Baikampady, Yashwanth Boloor and Sachidanand Gopal.

Suresh D Palli said that it was his life's most memorable day. "I feel honoured to received the award from such a great personality (Dr B M Shetty)," he added.

He also thanked his family for their constant support.

Chidambara Baikampady said that it was a tough job to select the right person for this award and said that the jury were impressed by Suresh D Palli's writing style and his articles.

He also said that there is a lot of competition between journalists, and everyone wants to be on top. He advised the young journalists to work hard to earn this award in the coming years.

Dr B M Hegde said that he was happy to note Suresh D Palli and he hailed from the same place and added, "Suresh D Palli should consider this award as the first award of his life. He has many more awards to earn in future."

Further he said, "To survive in this world, a human being requires five necessities - air, water, food, sunlight and land. We are all related to each other; hatred comes from money. Journalists like Suresh can make a big difference and can change the world."

Guests were given mementoes as a token of gratitude.

P B Harish Rai mentioned that last year with the PaGo award, they had given 5,000 in cash sponsored by Dr Veerendra Heggade and this year the prize money was Rs 10,000, of which half the amount was sponsored by journalists.