A disgraceful defeat for overconfident Prakash Rai

coastaldigest.com news network
May 23, 2019

Bengaluru, May 23: Film actor-turned-activist Prakash Raj aka Prakash Rai, has described his defeat in Bangalore Central constituency as “a solid slap on his face.”

Mr Rai, who contested independently, not only faced a disgraceful defeat but also lost his deposit. Mr left the counting centre midway after learning that he was trailing at number three behind the BJP and the Congress.

He took to Twitter to accept defeat and said that a tough journey had just begun and his resolve to fight for a secular India will continue. "a SOLID SLAP on my face ..as More ABUSE..TROLL..and HUMILIATION come my way..I WILL STAND MY GROUND ..My RESOLVE to FIGHT for SECULAR INDIA will continue..A TOUGH JOURNEY AHEAD HAS JUST BEGUN ..THANK YOU EVERYONE WHO WERE WITH ME IN THIS JOURNEY. .... JAI HIND," he tweeted.

The National Award winning actor is pitted against Rizwan Arshad of the Congress and sitting BJP MP P C Mohan.

A video posted by a prominent Karnataka daily on Twitter showed Rai, sporting a slight smile, leaving the counting centre with his supporters in tow.

Mohan was leading from the seat with over 4.9 lakh votes as against Arshad's tally of 4.7 lakh votes. Rai was way behind at 23,980 votes, according to the Election Commission.

Bengaluru Central is traditionally a BJP bastion, with Mohan winning the seat in both the 2009 and 2014 elections.

On May 19, the actor trashed the exit polls which showed a clean sweep for the ruling party in the polls.

"With the exit polls, let some daydream that nightmare will come back. But ON 23rd, I believe citizens will prove it wrong. Till then let's sing and celebrate. What Bapu Ji Taught us.," he had posted.

Rai has been vocal about his views on the current BJP-led government at the Centre. He has also been one of those seeking justice for his friend and journalist Gauri Lankesh, who was shot outside her residence in September 2017.

The actor earlier claimed that Bollywood filmmakers stopped offering him roles as he has been critical of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government.

Rai is the latest celebrity to join politics from the south after veterans Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan.

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coastaldigest.com web desk
July 2,2020

When the black and white photos of the ‘London to Calcutta (Kolkata) bus service’ went viral on social media recently, the response of some of the netizens was “stop spreading fake news!” But, it isn’t a fake news. The late 1950s indeed offered people a lavish bus trip from London to Kolkata. 

While one of the viral images shows passengers at the Victoria Coach Station, London, boarding 'Albert', the other image show the same bus travelling through a valley. In another image the bus is stationed at a tourist spot. All these photos were captured during the bus’ maiden international journey in 1957.  

An image of the bus ticket is also making rounds on social media, that shows the route of the bus — London, Belgium, West Germany, Austria,Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, West Pakistan, India. The route in India followed Delhi, Agra, Allahabad, Banaras and finally Calcutta.

The ticket shows that a one side travel cost 145 pounds (13,644 Rupees at the present day) back then, and it was inclusive of all the luxury provided during the run.

The luxurious bus provided the facilities of reading, individual sleeping bunks, radio/taped music for parties and pleasure and fan heaters, among other things. The brochure reads, "Your complete home while you travel."

Some of the tour highlights included Banaras on the Ganges, The Taj Mahal, The Raj Path, The Rhine Valley and The Peacock Throne. Passengers reportedly got free shopping days in New Delhi, Tehran, Salzburg, Kabul, Istanbul and Vienna.

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News Network
July 22,2020

Mangaluru, Jul 22: On the direction of the Karnataka government, private medical colleges in Dakshina Kannada have reserved 4,000 beds for the treatment of Covid-19 infected patients.

With this, the district will have a total of 4,720 beds for the treatment including that from the government set up.

The district administration has directed the eight private medical colleges to reserve 50 of its beds for treating the infected patients. Accepting the direction of the district administration, the management of medical colleges have submitted details on the beds reserved to the authorities concerned.

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News Network
February 2,2020

Newsroom, Feb 2: American business magnate Bill Gates has congratulated her daughter Jennifer Gates after she announced her engagement to her Muslim boyfriend Nayel Nassar.

“I am completely thrilled! Congratulations, @jenniferkgates and @nayelnassar”, commented the Microsoft boss to her daughter’s surprise Instagram story.

The proposal took place on a ski getaway. "Nayel Nassar, you are one of a kind. Absolutely swept me off my feet this past weekend, surprising me in the most meaningful location over one of our many shared passions," she wrote on Instagram. The pair does have one very significant shared passion - horses.

Nassar, 29, is a showjumper. Gates, 23, has famously grown up an equestrian, and has even competed against Steve Jobs' daughter.

In October, Nassar helped Egypt qualify for Tokyo 2020 - Egypt's first Olympic equestrian qualification in 60 years. He has been jumping since he was 10 years old and has the accolades to show for it - he has taken first place in a number of notable competitions, including the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup.

Nassar was born in Chicago to Egyptian parents and spent many of his formative years in Kuwait, where his well-to-do parents run an architecture and design firm, according to People. He is fluent in English, Arabic, and French.

He moved back to the US in 2009 and graduated from Stanford with an economics degree in 2013 - later, he supported Gates at her own Stanford graduation in 2018.

The couple received well wishes from many notable personalities on each of their Instagram posts, including comments from Bill and Melinda Gates, Georgina Bloomberg, and Eve Jobs.

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