Muda-hadu kudru, falling within the Pandeshwar Village Panchayat, finally succeeded to convince NABARD officials to get the final nod to their long pending demand to have Bridge to link Sastan.

On 10th June popular M.P. Shri Vinaya Kumar Sorake, visited the site, together with various leaders and ordered immediate commencement of work costing Rs.35 lakhs.

Earlier only link was via wooden hanging bridge, built in 1982/83, now will be replaced by 43 Meters long 4 meter in width concrete construction.

Also a Road passing through this Sastan - Mudahadu Kudru – Japkali – Hosala – Barkur also taking shape provided the landowners must not be a hindrance.

The local young leader, Wilfred Roche, Gurkar of Kudru ward, Panchayat President Gopalkrishna Shettty putting in pressures to get this done on a war footing. It may be recalled here that on 19^th November 2001 the people of Moodahadu Kudru in the leadership of Mr Wilfred Roche have organised a rally and the members of ICYM, Barkur went to Moodahadu Kudru along with the Parish Priest Rev. Fr. Silvester D'Souza. During the meeting the Parish Priest presented the views of the local people and the problems they are facing and requested the M. P. to initiate the steps to find a permanent solution.

The distinguished guests who visited the spot on 10th include Mrs Geetha Shambhu Poojary, Z.P. member, Mr B. N. Shanker Poojary, Z. P. member, Mr Rajaram and Ms. Rathna Jayaraj, Taluk Panchayath members, Mr Gopala Shetty, Local Panchayath President.

We at Barkur.com wish Mr. Roche and eachone involved, all success and others to follow suit to execute many such pending developmental works at and around Barkur, especially the Ring road via Kachhur fields and half finished Nagermutt – Barkur.

It appears like, winning trophies and awards in all levels of public speaking, including International level, has become a habit to Ronald Olivera, a fervent toastmaster, natural humorist, Professional Public Speaker and a well known Master of Ceremonies.

Ronald Olivera has once again proved his command in the arena of Public Speaking by winning the second place in the prestigious "International Taped Speech Contest" held in California, USA.

He will receive this outstanding award in a special ceremony during the "72nd Toastmasters International Annual Convention" to be held in Atlanta, Georgia (USA) from August 20 to 23, 2003. It may be recalled that Ronald Olivera had won the second place in 1997 and third place in 2002 in similar contests, thus qualifying himself to be the first Toastmaster in the Gulf to win three times in the esteemed "International Taped Speech Contests".

Ronald Olivera is the proud son in law of Mr. Staney Pais , Barkur, President of the popular Rotary Club , Barkur, which is in news now  for the record breaking number of  awards, husband of Mrs. Smitha Olivera nee Pais. It looks like stealing the limelight is the second nature of this father and son in law duo.

Ronald also has an incredible record of winning four first places in four consecutive years from 1993 to 1996 in Gulf level during the Gulf Toastmasters’ Annual Conventions. After keeping his public speaking activities on a low profile for a few years from 1997 to 2002, Ronald came back with a bang when he won three first place awards in all the three categories (International Speech Contest, Humorous Speech Contest, Speech Evaluation Contest) he had participated in at the "Bahrain Toastmasters Area Contest" held on March 15, 2002. He further went on to win three trophies in the Gulf Level at the "Gulf Toastmasters Annual Convention" held on April 10-12, 2002 in Al Bustan Palace Hotel, Muscat, Oman.

Ronald Olivera is a Konkani writer and a well-known Master of Ceremonies in Konkani, English, Kannada and Tulu. He has organized several Speech Craft programs and Youth Leadership programs to various organizations in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and India. He has delivered a number of "Guest Speeches" in various subjects to different groups, clubs, Institutions and Organizations. 

Toastmasters International is a worldwide organization with its headquarters in California, USA, having over 8800 clubs in approximately 70 countries all over the world. There are more than 80 clubs in seven Gulf Countries (Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait, UAE, Qatar and Jordan) and recently the region has been awarded the Provisional District Status. With pride and prestige it is expected that from year 2005 onwards, the top speaker of the Gulf will represent the region in "World Championship Speech Competition", which is the topmost award in the world in the arena of public speaking and will be conducted by Toastmasters International every year during the "Toastmasters International Annual Convention".

Rotary Club of Barkur which was in news regularly has bagged 18 awards for its all-round activities and has also won 4 best club awards in RI District 3180 . The award distribution ceremony was held in Mysore recently. It has got the awards in the following category :

1. Four way test                     : Excellence Award

2. Rotary Foundation               : do

3. Village Adoption                   : Grade I

4. Matching Grant Programmes   : do

5. Carrier Guidance                  : do

6. Consumer Activities              : do

7. Attendance                         : do

8. Functional Literacy               : Grade II

9. Interact                              : do

10. Medical & Health Care          : do

11. Drug Abuse Prevention         : do

12. Youth Activities                  : do

13. Vocational Awareness          : do

14. Rotary Information               : do

15. Public Relation                     : do

16. Fellowship                          : do

17. Rotract                              : do

18. District Projects                    : do

1. Best Club in Vocational Service : Grade I

2. Best Club in International Service : do

3. Best Club in Club Service             : Grade II

4. Best Club in All Avenues              : do

The Rotary Club, Barkur which is presently having 31 members and 2 honourary members (Dr N C Kalkur and Mr. V L Roche) is making its presence felt in all walks of life. The present committee is consisting of dedicated leaders and they are

President              : Rtn Staney Pais

Vice Presidents      : Rtn N Bhojaraj Shetty , Rtn H. Govinda Shetty

Secretary             : Rtn. B. Sudhakar Rao

Joint Secretary      : Rtn. K. Seetharam Shetty

Treasurer              : Rtn K. Santhosh Rao

Sergeant -at- arms : Rtn. G. Prabhakar Shetty

Directors               : Rtn. Kasim B. (Club Service)

                           : Rtn. Seetharam S. (Vocational Service)

                           : Rtn. Ganesh Vakuda (Community Service)

                           : Rtn. N. S. Rao (International Service)

                           : Rtn. Augustine A. Dias (Youth Service)

At this happy occasion we like to remind our visitors that last year , in its first year of inception itself , Rotary Barkur, created history by winning the maximum number of awards  and wish the President and members every success in the days to come.