Five, including Dr. Thumbay Moideen, Jayaprakash Hegde, Vinaya Prasad, to receive ‘New Year Award’
Udupi: Five eminent achievers, including UAE-based Thumbay Group founder and chairman Dr. Thumbay Moideen, former Minister and senior politician Jayaprakash Hegde, and multilingual Actress Vinaya Prasad, will be conferred with the ‘New Year Award’ for the year 2026.
The other awardees are K. Lakshminarayan, retired Executive Director of nationalised Canara Bank, and Lt. Gen. (Dr.) M.D. Venkatesh, Vice-Chancellor of Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE).
The awards are jointly presented by the Manipal Academy of General Education, MAHE, Manipal Education and Medical Group (MEMG), Manipal Media Network and Dr. T.M.A. Pai Foundation.
The felicitation ceremony will be held at Fortune Valley in Manipal on Saturday, January 10, at 5.30 pm, according to a release by the organisers.
Dr. Ranjan R. Pai, Registrar of the Academy and President of MEMG, T. Satish U. Pai, Dr. H.S. Ballal, Vasanthi R. Pai, and T. Sachin Pai are expected to attend the program, the release added.
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Udupi: Woman, bank employee arrested in property tax fraud case
Udupi: Udupi City Police have arrested two persons, including a woman, in connection with the alleged misappropriation of property tax funds belonging to the Udupi Municipal Council.
The accused have been identified as Shalini, who was working as a tax consultant outside the municipal office, and Ganesh, a bank employee.
According to police, Anand Suvarna had paid Rs 34,730 towards 12 years of property tax for his building in Kalmadi to Shalini on October 16, 2025. She reportedly issued him a receipt acknowledging the payment.
However, when Suvarna recently checked the status of the payment on the property tax portal, he found that the amount had not been credited and was still shown as pending. He then brought the matter to the notice of the Municipal Commissioner, who verified that the payment had not been recorded.
During questioning, Shalini allegedly admitted to the lapse. On February 16, 2026, she generated a new challan in Suvarna’s name and paid Rs 35,213 towards the dues.
Police said a case has been registered at the Udupi City Police Station against the accused for allegedly misappropriating tax money and defrauding the government by affixing the seal of Union Bank on the challan without remitting the amount initially received from the taxpayer.
Further investigation is under way.
