Bababudangiri: Fakirs boycott Urs as dist admin says no to green Chadar, Sandal

Chennai, July 25: A widow living alone in her apartment in Chennai city suburbs has filed a police complaint against ABVP national president Dr Subbiah Shanmugam, accusing him of harassment, including urinating and throwing used surgical masks at her doorstep.

Shockingly, no action has been taken so far by the police, even though the complaint against Dr Shanmugam, who is in government service, was filed on July 11 at the Adambakkam Police Station here by the widow’s relative Balaji Vijayaraghavan. 

Dr Shanmugam and the 62-year-old widow were living in the same apartment complex in Nanganallur and an argument broke between them over a parking slot. “He wanted to use our parking lot. We agreed but demanded a nominal charge for using it. He was outraged by our demand and even broke our signboard at the parking lot,” Vijayaraghavan wrote in his complaint.

He also alleged that Dr Shanmugam began harassing her by throwing “pieces of chicken” outside her apartment despite knowing she is a vegetarian. Vijayaraghavan also alleged in his two-page written complaint that the ABVP National President had urinated outside the woman’s apartment gate and had been throwing garbage and used masks at her gate.

The 62-year-old woman has been living alone in her apartment for the last year following her husband’s death. In his complaint, Vijayaraghavan also said the family was “concerned about her safety”, while asking police to take action against Dr Shanmugam, who he says, “has a bad track record in maintaining rapport with neighbours.”

CCTV footage corroborates with the allegations of urinating outside the residence of the widow. However, the ABVP claimed the incident as a “malicious and derogatory propaganda” by the Congress’ student wing of NSUI.

Also Read: Finally FIR registered against ABVP national president for allegedly harassing widow

Mangaluru, Feb 26: The 'Yakshagana' stage in Karnataka is witnessing a curious spectacle with a Muslim woman artiste creating waves with her performances.

Arshiya, the artiste from Vittal in Dakshina Kannada district, is the first woman from the Muslim community to venture into the popular traditional theatre art form.

At one time, women were barred from Yakshagana stages.

A Muslim woman exponent on stage has attracted the attention of 'Yakshagana' lovers in the state.

Arshiya is now getting advanced training in her skills at the Kadali Kala Kendra under Ramesh Bhat here.

Arshiya, who is fond of 'Bannada Vesha' (villain roles), is now known in her stage name 'Tanu Vitla.'

She has already performed various episodes on stage and gained popularity.

Arshiya, currently working in an automobile showroom at Padil, said she was attracted to the art form from a very young age.

The initial enchantment with the art form came as she saw the role of Mahishasura in 'Sri Devi Mahatme Yakshagana Prasanga' (episode) performed near her home town.

She was attracted to all the elements of the art form, which combines music, percussion, dance, dialogues, stage techniques, make-up and costume.

Arshiya said she was also inspired by a teacher in her school at Vittal who trained her for a performance on stage during the school's annual day celebration.

She started performing on local stages at Vittal at the very young age of 10.

Arshiya now performs prominent roles on stage including Mahishasura in Sri Devi Mahatme Prasanga, the role which enamoured her in her childhood.

She also has donned the roles of Nishambhasura, Rakthabeejasura, Srinivas Kalyana, Sudarshanopakyana, Kadamba Kaushike and Shambavi Vijaya.

Her performances at Udupi and Karwar besides Mangaluru have earned her a lot of admirers, who love her 'Asura' roles, thanks to her loud voice.

Arshiya now wants to learn the 'Chende' (percussion instrument), which is an important element in Yakshagana performances.

Arshiya revealed that there was a bit of resistance from her community about her passion for the art form, but she had staunch backing of her family.

New Delhi, Jun 7: The Karnataka government has asked the railways to make announcements at originating stations that it was compulsory for passengers travelling to the state to register themselves on the ‘Seva Sindhu’ portal through which they can be tracked.

In a letter to Chairman Railway Board on Saturday, Chief Secretary of the state T M Vijay Bhaskar said many passengers are not aware of this mandatory rule of the southern state.

He said thousands of passengers are coming to Karnataka from New Delhi, Bihar, Maharashtra and other states through trains everyday, but most of them are not registered under the Seva Sindhu portal of the Government of Kamataka.

"If passengers are not registered under Seva Sindhu, the state will not be able to track them. Therefore, it is necessary to create awareness among the passengers regarding registration under the portal.

"Hence, it is requested to give instructions to origin railway stations to make announcements that ‘It is compulsory for all passengers travelling to Karnataka to register in Seva Sindhu portal. Otherwise they will not be allowed for home quarantine’, and also to give passengers awareness (about this) at the time of booking tickets,” Bhaskar said in his letter to the national transporter.

Seva Sindhu portal, under the control of the Karnataka government, provides various online services to the citizens of the state.

Currently, this portal is playing an important role in helping those stranded amid the COVID-19 pandemic to fill online registration forms for availing e-passes.