First female concert in Saudi: Balqees steals the show

Mumbai, Mar 7: A 'farm-to-fork' themed restaurant 'He-Man' situated on National Highway in Haryana's Karnal -- franchised by veteran Bollywood actor Dharmendra -- has been sealed for building law violations, officials said on Saturday.

The Karnal Municipal Corporation sealed the franchise outlet on Friday for not furnishing the change of land use (CLU) certificate and illegal constructions, an official said.

The restaurant is located on National Highway 44 on the outskirts of Karnal, some 150 km from here.

The franchise was given to Delhi-based businessman Pramod Kumar.

"After the success of my restaurant Garam Dharam Dhaba, I am now announcing a farm-to- fork themed restaurant 'He-Man'," Dharmendra had announced on Instagram after its launch on Valentine's Day.

Karnal Deputy Commissioner Nishant Yadav said the action was initiated as the restaurant owner did not respond to MC notice on the issue.

Dubai, Apr 16: Saudi Arabia reported 518 new cases of coronavirus, bringing the total number of infections in the country to 6380, the Ministry of Health announced on Thursday.

According to the ministry of health, the number of recoveries today were 59, making total of recoveries in the kingdom 990, with 71 critical cases in intensive care.

The ministry also confirmed 4 deaths, bringing the total number of deaths in the kingdom to 83.

Saudi Arabia imposed a 24-hour curfew and lockdown on the cities of Riyadh, Tabuk, Dammam, Dhahran and Hofuf and throughout the governorates of Jeddah, Taif, Qatif and Khobar. This week the curfew was extended until further notice by king Salman

Overall, Saudi Arabia has reported one of the lowest rates of infections in the region, with around 6000 cases in a population of over 30 million.

Private sector support

Saudi Arabia has allocated SR50 billion (Dhs49 billion)to support the private sector as part of its package of initiatives approved by King Salman on Wednesday aimed at mitigating economic repercussions from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

The package targets small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and economic activities that have been most affected by the pandemic.

Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 10: Eminent Carnatic vocalist and playback singer K J Yesudas, who has enthralled music aficionados across the world with his profound and mellifluous voice for the last six decades, turned 80 on Friday.

People from various walks of life, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and luminaries of music and film world besides socio-cultural personalities, wished the legendary singer, popularly called as 'gana gandharvan' (the celestial singer) by his fans, on his birthday.

Regional newspapers came out with special pages and television channels with exclusive programmes as a tribute to the singer, who has recorded over 80,000 songs in various genres in almost all languages of India including about 25,000 film songs, Carnatic bhajans and devotional songs.

Besides Indian languages like Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, Kannada, Bengali, Odia, his voice gave life to songs in Arabic, English, Latin, and Russian during a career spanning over six decades.

Yesudas, whom the country had honoured with Padma Vibhushan in 2017, is the recipient of eight national awards, 25 Kerala state awards, five state awards of Tamil Nadu and four of Andhra Pradesh.

"On the special occasion of his 80th birthday, greetings to the versatile K J Yesudas Ji. His melodious music and soulful renditions have made him popular across all age groups. He has made valuable contributions to Indian culture. Wishing him a long and healthy life," Modi tweeted.

The Left veteran also shared a photo of the veteran singer along with the tweet.

Meanwhile, Yesudas this morning visited the Mookambika Temple at Kollur in Udupi district of Karnataka along with his family, a practice he has been following for the last four decades.

Draped in the traditional Kerala style kasavu mundu and shawl, 'dasettan', as he is known among his hardcore fans cutting across ages, Yesudas offered prayers along with his wife Prabha and sons and performed special poojas at the Goddess Saraswathi temple.

Hundreds of music buffs gathered at the shrine to wish the octogenarian singer.

Considered as one of the best playback singers in the country, Yesudas had begun his music career in the tinsel town with the Malayalam song "Jathi bhedam matha dwesham" in the year 1961 and sang in Tamil, Telugu and Kannada films among other languages.

Yesudas's foray into Bollywood saw him recording various memorable hits, including "Jab Deep Jale Aana" and "Gori Tera Gaon Bada Pyara".