This cop turns 'lathi' into flute to play folk songs

Agencies
May 29, 2019

Bengaluru, May 29: A head constable in Karnataka's Hubli rural police station turned his fibre-made lathi (cane) into a flute to play folk songs as a hobby.

"Making musical instruments and playing them have been my hobby for long. I turned the fibre lathi, given to me for policing, into a flute to play folk songs when free from work, Chandrakant Hutgi told IANS.

The 52-year-old Hutgi's skill and artistic talent earned him recognition from the state police department and a special cash award (inam) from Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) Bhaskar Rao in Bengaluru.

"Rao called me to Bengaluru on Monday with the musical lathi and play for him in his office after he heard from his colleagues at Hubli that I converted it into a flute. He also rewarded me," said Hutgi.

Using local tools, Hutgi skillfully drilled eight holes into the lathi, including one for blowing air, six for playing his fingers and another smaller outlet to let out the air.

"Chandrakant Hutgi, head constable from Hubli Rural police station has converted his deadly fibre lathi into a musical instrument... we are proud of him," tweeted Rao after recording video of a folk song Hutgi played in his office here.

Soon after Rao posted the video clip on the social media -- his Facebook and Twitter handle, Hutgi's skill and musical talent went viral.

The video was also circulated on Whatsapp by his colleagues. "Since the video clip went viral earlier in the day, I have been getting calls from colleagues, friends and relatives and congratulatory messages," chuckled Hutgi. When Hutgi was posted on security duty at Dattapeetha shrine in Chikmagalur's Baba Budangiri hills for a week in December 2017, he converted the lathi into a flute in free time and fine-tuned it to play folk songs and Kannada film songs some times.

"To kill boredom or break monotony, I play the flute and entertain my colleagues after duty hours. My seniors asked me to play the flute on May 23 after vote count at the Dharwad counting centre," recalled Hutgi.

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News Network
April 10,2020

Kasaragod, Apr 10: Eleven people died so far in Kerala's northern district Kasargod as they could not access medical facilities in Mangaloru since the border roads were blocked by the Karnataka Government, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said.

Addressing a press conference at the Government Secretariat here, the Chief Minister said, "It is really unfortunate that people from Kasargod district in Kerala are still being denied treatment in hospitals at Mangalore in Karnataka State."

"We will improve the medical facilities in Kasargod and if necessary, patients will be airlifted to the neighbouring districts in Kerala to provide emergency medical assistance," he added.

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News Network
February 12,2020

New Delhi, Feb 12: Buoyed by the Aam Aadmi Party's stellar performance in the Delhi Assembly elections, the Maharashtra unit of the party has decided to fight all forthcoming local elections, including the Mumbai elections.

The AAP’s Bengaluru unit will also contest the municipal corporation polls likely to take place in August or September.

AAP National Executive Member Preeti Sharma Menon said the party will try to “replicate the Delhi model of pragmatism, performance, and people centric policies”.

“We are sure that Maharashtra will shower us with the same faith and love as Delhi has done so,” she said.

The party has decided to field candidates in all the 198 wards of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP).

"We have been planning to contest the BBMP election when we received a major shot in the arm. The Delhi victory happened because of the good work, which we want to replicate here," AAP's co-convener in Karnataka and party's BBMP campaign in charge Shanthala Damle told PTI on Tuesday.

Born out of an anti-corruption movement, the AAP led by Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal registered the second landslide victory by winning 63 out of 70 seats in the Delhi Assembly elections.

According to Damle, AAP in Bengaluru was working in full swing to make its presence felt in the city. "The party has already done its ground workin terms of election campaign and reaching out to the people in Bengaluru," she added.

According to her, the party has already opened around 10 offices and about 50 people have been announced as the assembly president or ward president.

Last month, the party launched a 40-minute movie called 'Hosa Bengaluru' (New Bengaluru) and conducted 50 shows already.

"It shows the Delhi model and explains what can be done in Bengaluru. So that is part of our vision," the AAP leader said.

In its next level of the campaign, AAP intends to conduct 'Jana Samvada' (Dialogue with people) in every street and in every ward.

The preparedness of the party can be gauged from the fact that it has identified many of its candidates for the BBMP elections.

The party has never tasted success in Karnataka anywhere but the Delhi's success story has kindled a new hope as many people would now be waiting to join the AAP, Damle said. The AAP cadres in Bengaluru burst into celebration soon after it became clear that the party was going to script history by forming government for the third consecutive time since its inception.

Sporting their signature caps, party workers lit crackers, danced on the Delhi election song 'Lage Raho Kejriwal'.

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News Network
January 30,2020

Jan 30: One positive case of novel coronavirus has been found in Kerala. The student was studying at Wuhan University in China. The patient is stable and is being closely monitored.

This is the first case of coronavirus that has been reported in India.

Until now, there have only been many suspected cases across the country. A total of eight patients, five of them in Mumbai, are under observation in Maharashtra for suspected coronavirus infection. Six patients were already under observation and two more people, who complained of cough and mild fever, symptoms similar to the coronavirus, were put under medical watch on Tuesday evening.

One suspected case each has been reported in Rajasthan and Chandigarh.

Novel coronavirus (nCoV) is a large family of viruses that causes illnesses ranging from the common cold to acute respiratory syndromes. However, the virus that has so far killed 170 people and affected 7,000 in China is a novel strain and not seen before.

It has emerged from a seafood and animal market in Wuhan city and is suspected to have spread to as far as the United States.

According to the World Health Organisation, the common symptoms of the novel coronavirus strain include respiratory symptoms such as fever, cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties.

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