Media Release
Udupi, Mar 9: Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE) celebrated International Women’s Day on Friday March 8 at the Dr TMA Pai auditorium here.
The theme this year was #Balanceforbetter. Following a brief inaugural function, chief guest for the event Prof Dr Indira Chakravarthy, chief advisor to Public Health Engineering Department, Government of West Bengal delivered the keynote address.
She shared her views on balance between Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) and improvement in health and nutrition. She also presented the results of various case studies done in different parts of the country in this direction.
Dr H S Ballal pro chancellor MAHE addressing the gathered said, "It is approaching time to give one third reservation for women in parliamentary seats. Policy makers had these words on paper only. It is not happening in reality. There is need to bring women into the mainstreem. Girls perform much better than boys. Manipal medical institution stands top 5 in the country, which is also headed by a woman. We should celebrate this day, respect and recognize them."
Sheetal Tanuja set the tone for the event with her session on ‘Smile-for better balancing’. Dr Virupaksha Devaramane, consultant psychiatrist, Dr A V Baliga Memorial Hospital, Udupi spoke on how to deal with stress and anxiety, balancing work and home, importance of communication and good parenting.
‘Stigmatization of the Woman Drug User: Perceptions, Challenges and the Way Forward’, a talk by Lakshmi Radhakrishnan, deputy commissioner Mangalore Customs was interesting. This was followed by a panel discussion on ‘Women and Drug Abuse’ moderated by Dr Gayatri Prabhu, coordinator, Student Support Centre, Philosophy and Humanities.
The closing session was based on the theme ‘Why not balance physical fitness?’ conducted by the Centre for Sports Science and Medicine Research, MAHE. The session overview was provided by Dr Fiddy Davis, associate professor and head, department of Exercise and Sports Sciences, SOAHS. The resource persons for the session were Mayuri Joshi and Shifra Fernandes from the department of Exercise and Sports Science, MAHE.
During the inauguration, a short film made by the students of School of Communication under the guidance of Dr Shubha H S, head Media Studies on the theme #Balanceforbetter was presented.
A video on the activities of team WOMAN conducted in 2018 and prepared by the School of Communication was shown to the audience. The prizes for the winners of the photography, poetry and poster competitions were also given away.
Bhaskar Hande general manager, Syndicate Bank Manipal also spoke. Purushottam Shetty, proprietor, Ujwal Developers, and Dr Parvathi Bhat, medical superintendent, Dr TMA Pai Memorial Hospital, Udupi were present.
Dr Poornima Baliga, pro vice chancellor, faculty of Health Sciences, MAHE delivered the welcome address, Hilda Cornelio, management executive, MAHE proposed the vote of thanks. Dr Anitha Shivaji, associate professor, department of Forensic Medicine, KMC, Manipal compered the programme.