Karkala : Konkani Sahitya Academy Awards were presented to outstanding achievers at a function held at the B Manjunath Pai Auditorium here on November 11, Monday. N Yogish Bhat, Deputy Speaker inaugurated the programme.

The Academy Honorary Awards were presented to writer S M Krishna Rao (Konkani language and literature), Harry D’Souza   (Konkani art) and Baabi Nayak (Konkani folk).

The Book Award was conferred on writer Maxi G Pinto for ‘Satham Khatham’, Ronald Vaz for ‘Awaaz’, a poetry collection and Ron Michael for ‘Vodthanthle Gulob’, a Konkani short story.

The Academy Youth Award was presented to  Mahalakshmi Shenoy for classical singing, Mahadevi Kulal for pottery art and  Vilas Nayak for painting.

MLA H Gopal Bhandary presided over the programme.  Capt. Ganesh Karnik, MLC was present as a chief guest. Former Karkala MLA Sunil Kumar distributed fellowships.

Konkani writer Valerian D’Souza, Kasargod Chinna, Academy President, Dr B Devadas Pai, Registrar and others were present. Gopalkrishna Pai released ‘Konkani Ujwadu’, a special issue brought out by the Academy. A Janapada Yatra was taken out on the main streets of Karwar prior to the function.