Catholic Chamber of Commerce & Industry announces names of Rachana Awardees 2023
Mangaluru: The Rachana Catholic Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Thursday issued a press statement to announce the names of Rachana awardees for the year 2023.
Leo Fernandes will receive the award in the Agriculturist category, while Jerry Vincent Dias will receive the award in the Entrepreneur category. Similarly, in the Professional category Sr., Dr. Gladys Menezes will receive the award and Michael D’Souza will be awarded under the NRI Entrepreneur category.
Dr. Laveena M Noronha will get the Outstanding Woman Award for the year 2023, the press statement added.
The award ceremony will be held on January 15, 2023, at the Milagres Auditorium in Mangaluru and will be chaired by Rt. Rev. Dr. Peter Pail Saldanha, Bishop of Mangalore. Sanjay D’Souza, Sr. Executive Vice President of the HDFC bank will also be present during the event as Chief Guest, the press release added.
Rachana was established in 1998 by Catholic businessmen, agriculturists, and professionals with the objective of encouraging youth to take up entrepreneurship, training them in investment, and supporting them with technical backup.
About the awardees:
Agriculturist of the year: Leo Fernandes, Allipade
Leo Fernandes is a farmer with a difference having focused on multiple yields like areca, pepper, coconuts, and dairy farming. The cultivation is spread across 20 acres of land comprising 15000 arecas, and 1000 coconut trees, and yields about 350 quintal areca, and about 25000 coconuts. He supports local farmers with his outlet Antony Traders, which purchases their areca yields for the best rate in the market. He has about 100 cows ranging in gyr, jersey, and Holstein Friesian cattle breeds. He supplies about 600 litres of milk daily to society and he is the top supplier of milk to Sarapady and Allipade societies during 2021 -22.
With his catering wing Fernandes Caterers, he undertakes catering for a crowd of 1,000 people, and with all his farming, dairy, and catering enterprise he has been proving a livelihood for hundreds of families in the area.
Entrepreneur of the year: Dr. Jerry Vincent Dias, Udupi
Dr. Jerry Vincent Días, chairman and managing director of Mandavi Real Estate Developers is the estate tycoon of Udupi - Manipal for the last three decades. Presently, he is the President of CREDAI, Udupi chapter. So far he has developed 4000 residential and 250 commercial units in 50 projects. He built Mandavi Times Square, the first biggest Mall in the Udupi district housing a star-category Mandavi Royal Prince, which was a luxurious hotel. His architectural marvel in Manipal was awarded Best Residential Building by Credai Care Awards. Apart from Real estate, he is the promoter and owner of J J Industries which produces solid blocks. He has produced two Kannada feature films, 'Mahanadhi' and 'DK' under his production house JJ Cine Productions. He is the promoter and owner of Hotel Sarah International, Manipal. He is actively involved in social work through the Lions Club and other social service organizations and recipient of many awards for his humane work. While Adamar Mutt awarded him with Kala Poshak Award, the Lions club bestowed on him the Vishwa Bandhu title. Billawara Sangha, Bahrain awarded him Best Business Award and the National institute for social and Economic Reforms, Bengaluru honored him with National Samaj Ratna Award. He is awarded the degree of Doctor of Letters from the Academy of Universal Global Peace
Professional of the year: Sr Dr. Gladys Menezes, Belman
A gynecologist by profession Sr Dr. Gladys Menezes originally hails from Belman, presently serving in Snehalaya Hospital, Solur, Ramnagar. She completed her MBBS and DGO from reputed St John's Medical College and Hospital, Bengaluru, and since then serving the underprivileged and marginal sections of society in remote rural villages of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. She has a record of 30 years of unflinching service in rural areas. She served backward tribals of Lambanis, golla, Gowrie, Tibetans, and Siddhis. On an average basis, she treats 150 patients a day and conducts 80 deliveries a week. Apart from serving in rural areas she spread awareness among rural women about their health and trained around 300 women as dadi who can work as village birth attendants. She has trained more than 200 community health workers who are earning a decent livelihood now in the profession. Considering her yeoman service, especially in the rural areas as a specialist, Ahind Association honored her with Karnataka Ratna and District Farmers Association honored her with Samaja Seva Rathna. She has been bestowed with the C V Raman award on Doctors Day.
NRI of the year: Michael D'Souza, Puttur – Abu Dhabi
Born to an entrepreneurial family in Puttur Michael D’Souza started his journey through Souza Metal Mart in Puttur. He expanded his base to Mangalore with Souza Electronics finally shifting to Dubai. Presently he is in the hotel apartments business under the brand name Dunes and Ivory Grand in Dubai. His Flagship Company HAS Hospitality is providing employment and livelihood to many families. Through the EDUCARE program under the auspices of CODP, Dioceses of Mangalore he is helping the higher education of the students. He has established a fund of Rs. 25 crores exclusively for this purpose. So far 3500 students benefited from this program. He has also established a separate fund of Rs 10 crore which is helping marginalized sections of society with self-help groups and so far 10,000 families benefited from this program. To encourage youth to take up civil service as a career he has initiated setting up Civil Service Academy at St Aloysius College Mangaluru where students are trained for competitive and civil service exams. He is referred to as a cheerful donor among the Mangalureans. Apart from donating to the housing and medical needs of individuals, he has helped to upgrade healthcare facilities in existing hospitals, and special schools and donated generously to the churches of Mangalore and Udupi dioceses. He is also extending financial support to self-employment projects and supporting Konkani literature and cultural activities in India and Dubai. Presently he is living in Abu Dhabi with his family.
Women Achiever of the year: Dr. Lavina M Noronha
With MSW and Ph.D. degrees from the reputed NIMHANS, Bengaluru, and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA, Dr. Lavina M Noronha is the director of 15-bed hospice facility Ave Maria Palliative Care at Mangaluru with utmost professionalism and dedication. Dr. Noronha has vast experience teaching at foreign universities and several years of clinical practice in the fields of mental health, crisis respite, employee assistance, and hospice in the USA. She also has several professional publications and presentations on a variety of topics to her credit and is the founder and president of CREST International Inc USA and a member of the Indian Association of Palliative Care. Dr. Lavina's dream project, Ave Maria palliative care has patients suffering from cancer, liver diseases, renal failures, and dementia, who need holistic comfort and care. The home is free and anyone is welcome, regardless of religion, class, and cast.
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EC begins phased publication of post-SIR rolls in Bengal; 1.18L names deleted in Bankura
Kolkata (PTI): The Election Commission (EC) on Saturday began publishing the post-SIR electoral rolls in West Bengal in phases, with figures from Bankura district indicating that around 1.18 lakh names have been deleted since the exercise commenced.
Hard copies of the updated rolls were put up in districts including Bankura and Cooch Behar, even as the lists were yet to be made available online on the designated EC portals and mobile application till reports last received.
In Bankura, where the electorate stood at 30,33,830 when the SIR exercise began on November 4 last year, the number in the draft rolls published on December 16 had come down to 29,01,009.
Following hearings and scrutiny during the subsequent phase of the SIR, around 4,000 more names were deleted. However, a few thousand fresh applications under Form 6, meant for the inclusion of new voters, were approved.
As a result, the final electoral roll of Bankura, considered a turf where both BJP and TMC have equal political dominance, now stands at approximately 29,15,000, indicating a net deletion of around 1.18 lakh names since the commencement of the SIR, a senior district official said.
Election Commission officials said the deletions were primarily due to death, migration, duplication and untraceability, while additions were processed after due verification.
Reports from other districts are still awaited.
The publication of the rolls is being carried out in phases across districts, and supplementary lists are expected to be issued as adjudication of pending cases continues.
According to officials, the publication classifies 7.08 crore electors, whose names appeared in the draft rolls issued on December 16, into three categories -- 'approved', 'deleted' and 'under adjudication/under consideration'.
Commission sources also indicated that in parts of north Kolkata, nearly 17,000 names were found missing from the approved rolls, further fuelling political reactions from rival parties.
The draft rolls published on December 16 had already seen the state's electorate shrink from 7.66 crore -- the figure based on names appearing in the rolls till August 2025 -- to 7.08 crore, with over 58 lakh names deleted during the first phase of scrutiny.
The SIR process, the first such statewide revision since 2002, began on November 4 last year with the distribution of enumeration forms. The commission took 116 days to provisionally complete the exercise and publish what officials described as a "final but dynamic" list, as adjudication in several cases is still underway.
The second phase involved hearings for 1.67 crore electors -- 1.36 crore flagged for 'logical discrepancies' and 31 lakh lacking proper mapping.
Around 60 lakh voters continue to remain under adjudication, meaning their inclusion or exclusion will be determined in supplementary rolls to be issued in phases.
Meanwhile, long queues were seen outside district election offices and cyber cafes across the state as anxious voters thronged centres to check their names in the updated rolls.
In districts such as Bankura, North 24 Parganas and parts of Kolkata, hard copies of the lists were put up on notice boards, drawing steady streams of residents since morning. Many were seen scanning page after page of printed sheets, some taking photographs on their mobile phones, while others sought help from officials to trace their entries.
At several district magistrate and sub-divisional offices, voters waited in serpentine queues for their turn to verify whether their names figured under the 'approved', 'deleted' or 'under adjudication' categories.
With the updated rolls yet to be fully accessible online, cyber cafes reported a sudden surge in footfall. In many neighbourhoods, small computer centres witnessed lines of people waiting outside, clutching voter ID cards and enumeration slips, reflecting both public anxiety and the high political stakes surrounding the revision exercise ahead of the assembly elections due in April.
