Manipal: Tonse Mohandas Pai passes away at 89
Manipal: One of the most prominent members of Manipal’s Pai family, Tonse Mohandas Pai passed away on Sunday evening at a hospital in Manipal. He was 89.
He was recently admitted to a hospital in Manipal due to ill health where he breathed his last on Sunday evening.
Tonse Mohandas Pai was associated with several organisations including Dr. TMA Pai Foundation, MGM College’s Trustee, ICDS Limited, Manipal Media Network Limited, and others.
Tonse Mohandas Pai was born on June 20, 1933, and was the eldest son of Dr. TMA Pai. He is an alumnus of MGM College, Udupi having studied in the very first intermediate batch during 1949-51 when the college started on the premises of the Mahatma Gandhi School run by the Udupi Municipal Council. After Intermediate he attended a course in law in Kolhapur (1951-53) securing the First Rank from Poona University and then he decided to become an entrepreneur in Manipal.
He joined the family business in 1953 as the General Manager of Canara Land Investments (which was running the Tile Factory in Manipal) and took additional responsibilities at Manipal Power Press as Managing Partner where he was later joined by Satish Pai in the year 1957.
He has largely been responsible for the safekeeping of Dr. T.M.A. Pai’s belongings in Smrithi Bhavan in Manipal the museum devoted to the memory of Dr. T.M.A. Pai. An upright person in matters of public life he is highly respected for his straightforwardness, and independent decisions. A great lover and connoisseur of art, he is also deeply interested in Indian heritage and is responsible with Vijaynath Shenoy in launching the Hasthashilpa Heritage Village in Manipal a multi-dimensional cultural project which aims at restoration and conservation of the nation’s cultural wealth expressed in the form of traditional buildings and objects of art, craft and other artifacts of aesthetic interest, some dating several hundred years ago.
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Right to vote under threat, must be made fundamental right: Cong's Jairam Ramesh
New Delhi (PTI): Congress leader Jairam Ramesh alleged on Thursday that the right to vote is under threat and the time has come when it should be made a fundamental right for citizens.
Speaking with reporters, Ramesh lashed out at Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, saying the Election Commission (EC) has never been as compromised as it has been under him.
"The rot started under his predecessor. This man is a player and not a neutral observer," the Congress leader said, slamming Kumar.
Kumar is completely compromised and has become a player in elections, he alleged.
"Home Minister Amit Shah had talked about three Ds -- detect, delete and deport. So we want to know how many non-Indian citizens have been detected, how many have been deleted and how many have been deported," Ramesh said, adding that the right to vote is now under threat.
On opposition parties submitting a fresh notice in the Rajya Sabha, seeking to move a motion for the CEC's removal, the Congress leader said they will continue to make efforts for Kumar's removal as he is "compromised".
Ramesh also batted for the right to vote to be recognised as a fundamental right.
"I believe that the time has come that the right to vote should be made a fundamental right. It is a statutory right, it is not a fundamental right. Fundamental rights are justiciable," he said.
The former Union minister said this was discussed in the Constituent Assembly, but it was eventually decided that it should be made part of the Constitution.
B R Ambedkar and Jagjivan Ram had warned that in the future, governments might try to disenfranchise voters, he added.
"Once and for all, include the right to vote as a fundamental right for Indian citizens," Ramesh asserted.
