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Mangaluru, Feb 18: Within days after Kambala racer Srinivasa Gowda emerged a national hero, another Kambala racer Nishant Shetty has grabbed headlines. 

Nishant Shetty from Bajagoli Jogibettu reportedly broke Gowda’s record at the Venoor Kambala on Sunday. Shetty recorded 143m in 13.68 seconds. If calculated for 100m he clocks it in 9.51 seconds. His speed is faster than Gowda who clocked 9.55 seconds.

According to Kambala organisers, with Shetty’s feat, four participants have joined the elite club of racers who have completed the 100 metres in less than ten seconds.

They are Iruvathur Anand (9.57 secs), Akkeri Suresh Shetty (9.57 secs), Srinivas Gowda (9.55 secs) and Nishant Shetty (9.51 secs). Anand and Suresh Shetty had participated in the same Venoor Kambala where Nishant emerged first.

Kambala is an annual race held in Karnataka where people sprint 143m through paddy fields with the buffaloes. During the race, the racers try to bring the buffaloes under control by holding their reins tight and beating them, making it amply clear that the animal plays an equally important role in achieving the timing. Traditionally, it is sponsored by local Tuluva landlords and households in the coastal districts of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi.

Bengaluru, Jun 30: The judicial, non-judicial and administrative functions of the Karnataka High Court has been suspended for Tuesday, for sanitisation of the entire court complex due to "unavoidable circumstances".

The High Court in a notice informed about the decision on Monday.

"It is hereby notified to the litigant public/learned advocates/party-in-person/officers and staff of the High Court of Karnataka, Principal Bench, Bengaluru that, the judicial/non-judicial/administrative functions of the High Court is hereby suspended for one day -- on June 30, 2020, for sanitisation of entire High Court complex, due to unavoidable circumstances," the notice read.

Bengaluru, Jun 18: Former Karnataka Chief Minister and Congress leader Siddaramaiah has accused the BJP-led government of not passing the benefit of the low price of crude to the common man and urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take steps to bring down prices of petroleum products.

Hitting out at the BJP-led government, he termed it as "opportunistic" and said the price of petroleum products were being increased when people were facing difficulties due to COVID-19.

"It is very disheartening to witness and unprecedented opportunistic government which is trying to extract every pound and flesh from the common man, that too when the whole country is suffering from the COVID-19 pandemic. This is in the backdrop of the continuous price hike in the last 10 days," said the letter was written on Wednesday.

The Congress leader said that the policy decisions taken by the government "with respect to managing fuel sources are inconsistent with the prudent measures generally adopted".

"When the price of crude oil was remarkably low in March, April and May 2020, your government was very reluctant to pass on the benefits to the people by reducing the fuel prices proportionately, but, instead, your government continued to capitalise by increasing the excise duty," he said.

He said the government had also "failed" in the last six years to increase the oil storage capacity which could have been used for the country's advantage when the international crude oil price fell really low.

He said the government should roll back the excise duty and help in the reduction of fuel prices.

"The reduced burden will help the common man to have additional money in hand that will be spent on essential goods and services which will ultimately help them tide over these difficult times," he said.