Konkani writers urge CM to cancel grant to Mandd Sobhann over hate campaign

[email protected] (Media Release)
August 31, 2016

Mangaluru, Aug 31: Konkani Writers and Artistes Association (KWAA) has accused Mangaluru-based Mandd Sobhann, a recipient of government grant, of indulging in character assassination and abuse of leading Konkani writers and artistes. The association has charged Mandd Sobhann Gurkar Eric Ozario of using yellow journals and web media for using derogatory language to abuse leading Konkani luminaries.

Konkani Manavi

In a letter to the Chief Minister the association says Eric Ozario has used unparliamentarily words to insult the proud son of Karnataka, Melvyn Rodrigues, who is also the Sahithya Academy Award winner as spineless and a man who has no essential body organs below the waist'. He has also abused writers and artistes calling Gowda Saraswath Brahmins (Konkane) as fathers of Konkani artistes and writers. He has also likened Konkani writers to Koragas (Harijans) comparing them to those who used to wait outside homes of people to eat leftover food and thus indulged in caste abuse.

In its bylaws Mandd Sobhann which is registered under Society's Registration Act clearly states that it works for the unity, integrity and communal harmony of Konkanis spread across Karnataka, Goa, Cochin, Diu and Daman without discriminating them on religious bases as Hindus, Christians and Mulsims. The different types of scripts used to write Konkani language is used as a tool by Mandd Sobhann to create discord between Konkani speaking people of Goa and Karnataka.

To carry out these evil activities it has established several letterhead organisations making Shakthinagar as its base. Eric Ozario is the Gurkar of all these letterhead organisations and the mastermind behind the various wicked activities carried out through them. In the name of these organisations he holds press conference and creates a fear among people saying he would organize public protests and is also creating an atmosphere of fear in the minds of common Konkani speaking people. He is also resorting to character assassination of eminent Konkani writers and artistes by using web media and yellow journals.

It is a matter of great concern to note that the state government has allotted Rs. 2.5 crore grant in the 2016 budget for Mandd Sobhann which is blatantly carrying out disruptive acts like caste abuse, insults, , maligning name of writers and is creating hatred and ill-will among Konkani speaking people belonging to different religions. This is in fact giving credence to the prevailing belief among the enlightened people of Mangalore that by giving grant to Mandd Sobhann government is encouraging this institution which is inimical to promoting harmonious relationship.

Taking into consideration all these aspects KWAA members have written a letter to the Chief Minister of Karnataka requesting him to withhold the grant given to Mandd Sobhann and also to cancel its registration as part of the disciplinary action. Office bearers of KWAA Ronald J Sequeira, Florine Roche, Roshan Madtha and Member Henry Mendonca handed over the letter to the Deputy Commissioner of Dakshina Kannada along with suitable records to substantiate the charges. Copies of the letter have been sent to the Chief Minister of Goa, the Prime Minister, and to the Ministry of Human Resource Development, government of India.

Comments

Joel Bendoor
 - 
Wednesday, 31 Aug 2016

Sorry i share my name with a 'bozo' of same name. So now Joel why dont you prove what you charged the others. If taken money why dont you prove it. And how you came to know all this is not true. U spoke to them?

look like u r one of those who Mandd Sobhann feeds from time to time. Repaying like a truthful or faithful....

Lloyd
 - 
Wednesday, 31 Aug 2016

Maand Sobhaan has crossed all the limits. I hope the chief minister notices all their misdeeds.

Joel
 - 
Wednesday, 31 Aug 2016

Look who is talking, Bunch of Jokers, for publicity and for money these people will go to any extent

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Agencies
July 5,2020

Dubai, Jul 5: Three Indians, who were repatriated on a chartered flight from the UAE on Friday, have been held in the state of Rajasthan after officials seized gold worth Dh2.2million from them, the government announced on Saturday.

They are likely to be placed under arrest along with 11 others, who were repatriated from Saudi Arabia, from whom gold worth Dh5.5million was seized, a statement from the government tweeted by Press Information Bureau in Rajasthan said.

The gold bars were hidden in emergency lamps, photos attached to the tweets showed.

The 14 passengers had arrived at the Jaipur International Airport by two chartered flights.

They were intercepted by the Customs team at the airport and 31.9kg of gold valued at Rs156,759,820 (Dh7.7million) concealed in the baggage was recovered from these passengers.

Three passengers arrived from Ras Al Khaimah by Spice Jet Flight SG9055 and 12 gold bars/bricks weighing 9.3kg valued at Rs.45,761,100 (Dh2.2million) were recovered from them, the statement said.

The Indian Consulate in Dubai confirmed to Gulf News that the flight was chartered by a private company for repatriating its employees.

It is suspected that the passengers were used as carriers to smuggle gold.

The other 11 accused had arrived from Riyadh and 22.65kg of gold bars, predominantly with Suisse markings, valued at Rs110,998,720 (Dh5.5million) were recovered from them.

“The said recovered gold bars have been seized under Section 110 of the Customs Act, 1962. The said passengers are being interrogated and are likely to be placed under arrest in terms of section 104 of the Customs Act, 1962,” the statement added.

Indian media had earlier reported similar cases in which stranded Indians were apparently lured to be carriers for smuggling gold on repatriation flights from various countries.

A spike in gold smuggling attempts using Indians getting repatriated after losing jobs was also reported from the Indian state of Kerala.

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coastaldigest.com news network
May 25,2020

Udupi, May 25: In an early morning robbery, two miscreants snatched around 1.2 kilo grams of gold jewelleries from a jeweller and ran away in Udupi.

The incident took place at around 5:30 am near Beedinagudde junction when jeweller Vijay was carrying the gold for lapidary work from his house at Bannanje to his store at Sri Laxmi Towar in Beedinagudde. 

They bumped into him when he going to the second floor of the Sri Laxmi Towar.

According to him, the miscreants who were wearing helmets threatened him with a knife then robbed jewelleries worth around Rs 50 lakh.

While decamping, the robbers also snatched his mobile phone and threw down from building.

Udupi town police conducted the spot investigation and registered a case. Further investigations are on.

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News Network
April 29,2020

New Delhi, Apr 29: WhatsApp on Tuesday said it will now allow up to eight people to connect on a group video call as an increasing number of people turn to digital platforms to connect with friends and family amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Facebook-owned company said over the last month, people on average are spending over 15 billion minutes talking each day on WhatsApp calls, well above a typical day before the pandemic.

"...we see that people all over the world are turning to voice and video calling on WhatsApp more than ever before. Group calling has been particularly useful and our users have asked to connect with more people at once," WhatsApp said in a blogpost.

Starting Tuesday, the company is doubling the number of participants one can have on a WhatsApp video or voice call from 4 to 8 people at a time, it added.

WhatsApp emphasised that like written messages, all calls on its platform are protected with end-to-end encryption.

"We have built group calling in a way that makes it available for as many users as possible, including people on lower-end devices and slow network conditions," it added.

Also Read: Coronavirus India update: State-wise total number of confirmed cases, deaths

WhatsApp said that to access the new, higher participant limit on WhatsApp calls, all participants in a call need to update to the latest version of WhatsApp available on iPhone or Android.

Video calling tools like Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Zoom and others have also seen a significant jump in userbase and traffic as people connect while maintaining social distancing amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Last week, Facebook had introduced Messenger Rooms that will soon hold up to 50 people with no time limit.

It had added that the company will also add ways to create rooms from Instagram Direct, WhatsApp and Portal.

Noting that between WhatsApp and Messenger, more than 700 million accounts participate in calls every day, Facebook had said, adding that video calling on Messenger and WhatsApp more than doubled in many countries.

Also, views of Facebook Live and Instagram Live videos have also increased significantly in March, it said.

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