President on two-day visit to Karnataka from Sep 23

President Pranab Mukherjee will visit Karnataka for two days from Sep 23 to participate in functions at Mysore, Bangalore and Bijapur in the northern region of the state.

"The president will inaugurate the new facility of the JSS Hospital at Mysore Monday and later attend a banquet in Bangalore, hosted by Governor H.R. Bhardwaj in his honour," the state information department said in a statement here Tuesday.

Mukherjee, who will be visiting the southern state for the second time after become president last year, will participate in the golden jubilee celebrations of Sainik School at Bijapur, about 510 km from Bangalore, the following day (Sept 24).

"He will leave for Chennai same day from Belgaum (in the northern region of the state)," the statement added.

The president visited the state for the first time Oct 11, 2012 to inaugurate the Suvarna Soudha, the state legislature building at Belgaum, about 500 km away from Bangalore, and address the lawmakers on the occasion.

The nearly four-decades-old JSS Hospital at Mysore, about 140 km from Bangalore, is one of the largest of its kind in the state with 1,200 beds and 35 specialties.

Pioneered by Shivarathri Rajendra Mahaswamji, the private hospital offers comprehensive medical services to urban and rural people in the old Mysore region. The hospital also has a medical college attached to it.

As one of the 25 such schools across the country, the Sainik school was set up in the backward district of Bijapur to enable people join the armed forces. Spread across 400 acres, it enrolls about 100 students every year in the class 6 through a selection process.