| |
Planetarium; Probable ADLABS site | Photo: Shaz Mohd
Manipal: ADLABS, one of the biggest multiplexes in India, will soon be coming to Manipal. The project is currently at a proposal stage, and the preliminary agreements between the Manipal University and ADLABS, for the place and permissions, will be drawn out soon, according to sources. The vice-chancellor, Dr RP Warrier confirmed these facts, but refused to comment. “I only deal with the academic part of the University work,” he said.
“A multiplex in Manipal is necessary to attract students. Most of the students come from comfortable backgrounds, and the University wants to provide them with all the entertainment facilities that they would find in foreign Universities like Oxford and Cambridge,” said a source close to the Pai family, who wished to remain anonymous. “Talks are on with ADLABS, but the government needs to give permission. There are some laws regarding the placement of a multiplex near an educational institution. MU will help ADLABS overcome these difficulties by providing no-objection certificates,” he added.
“Officially, I haven’t received any notification about this matter,” said Col Badri Narayan, Director, Purchase and General Services, MU. Any purchase made from or by the University, will have to go through him before reaching its final stage.
The ADLABS management has visited Manipal, and are looking for a suitable place to build a multiplex. One of the probable places seems to be the TMA Pai Planetarium. “The Planetarium has an auditorium already, and they are thinking of taking it up and converting it into a multiplex. But nothing has been finalised yet,” said Dr GK Prabhu, Registrar, MU. “But ADLABS is definitely coming to Manipal soon,” he added.
The Planetarium auditorium is currently being maintained by Manipal Institute of Communication, and is used by the students as part of their course. Sources tell us that MIC will have a new auditorium inside the college campus, which, once completed, will serve the purpose the planetarium auditorium did. Also, though MIC maintains the auditorium, the profits from the place go to a different fund and do not come to MIC, according to sources.
Sub-edited by Akruti Rao |
|
