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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, Jul 5: In the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic and the fear of layoffs lurking everywhere, the state government is holding a first-of-its-kind virtual job fair on July 10, to help people find jobs commensurate with their skill sets.

Co-ordinated by the Karnataka Skill Development Corporation (KSDC), the job fair will see participation of more than 40 companies for about 6,000 job openings.

The government will connect companies with job seekers who have registered on the recently-launched Skill Connect portal or on the Kaushalya Karnataka’s portal for migrant workers from the state who have returned home.

A candidate can either directly apply to a company, or await the portal to match their skills with available jobs. There is also a self-evaluation section on the website which will suggest whether a candidate needs to further skill oneself or whether they are eligible for jobs with their current set of skills. 

Firms such as Life Insurance Corporation, Barbeque Nation and Arvind Mills are among the participants.

New Delhi, Mar 6: The Supreme Court on Friday refused to entertain a plea seeking framing of a proper mechanism to deal with alleged misuse of the sedition law by the government machinery. A bench headed by Justice A M Khanwilkar dismissed the plea filed by a social activist and said it was open for the petitioner to approach the appropriate authority.

At the outset, the apex court told advocate Utsav Singh Bains, appearing for the petitioner, that he could not seek quashing of an FIR in a sedition case filed against the management of a Karnataka school for allegedly allowing students to stage an anti-CAA and anti-NRC drama.

Bains told the bench that he was not just pressing for a prayer to quash the FIR but the petitioner has also sought a direction for framing of a proper mechanism to deal with the alleged misuse of the sedition law.

"Let the affected party come and we will hear them. Why it should be done at your instance," the bench said, refusing to entertain the petition.

The petition had sought quashing of the FIR against the principal and other staff of the Shaheen School at Bidar who have been booked under sections 124A (sedition) and 153A (promoting enmity between different groups) of the Indian Penal Code.

The plea had also sought an apex court direction for a proper mechanism to deal with alleged government misuse of the sedition law.

Section 124A of the IPC says that "whoever brings or attempts to bring into hatred or contempt, or excites or attempts to excite disaffection towards... the Government shall be punished with imprisonment for life...".

The plea had sought a direction to the Centre and the Karnataka government "to quash the FIR registered in connection of seditious charges against the school management, teacher and a widowed parent of a student for staging a play criticising CAA, NRC and NPR."

The petition had claimed that the police "also questioned students, and videos and screenshots of CCTV footage showing them speaking to the students were shared widely on social media, prompting criticism."

The drama was staged on January 21 by students of the fourth, the fifth and the sixth standard.

The sedition case was filed based on a complaint by social worker Neelesh Rakshyal on 26 January.

The complainant alleged that the school authorities "used" the students to perform a drama where they "abused" Modi in the context of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the National Register of Citizens.