Udupi: The feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, also called the Monti Fest, was celebrated with devotion in Udupi district on Saturday.

Christians gathered in their respective churches and children offered flowers to Mother Mary. The church parish priests blessed the new paddy and took it in a procession inside the church.

Most Rev. Dr. Gerald Isaac Lobo, Bishop of Udupi Catholic Diocese, participated in the feast ceremony at St. Joyner Church of Shankarpur here and blessed the new paddy and concelebrated the holy Eucharistic mass.

Fr. Valerian Mendonca, parish priest of the church, blessed the new paddy at Mother of Sorrows Church in Udupi.

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Bengaluru: A life convict lodged in Ballari Central Prison has successfully cleared the second PUC examination.

Ashok Kumar S, who appeared for the examination under prison escort, secured 481 marks out of 600, registering 80.1 percent. 

Director General of Police (Prisons and Correctional Services), Alok Kumar (IPS), shared the development on his official ‘X’ handle, commending the inmate’s achievement.

In his post, he stated that it was heartening to see a life convict score over 80 percent in the examination, adding that the inmate had appeared from Ballari Central Prison under escort.

He further noted that the achievement reflected that the “walls of the prison have not subdued his hopes for a better future.”

Alok Kumar in his post also shared the result sheet of Ashok. 

The Karnataka School Examination and Assessment Board (KSEAB) declared the second PUC results for 2026 on April 9.

A total of 6,32,200 students appeared for the examination across all streams, of whom 5,46,698 passed, recording an overall pass percentage of 86.48 per cent.