Mangaluru: Cong's Harinath is new Mayor; BJP's Sumithra his deputy

Thieves broke into an MSIL liquor outlet at Kuthar Nityanandanagara on the outskirts of Mangaluru and decamped with liquor worth Rs 1 lakh. The incident came to light on Friday morning. 

The outlet belongs to Purushotham Pilar. 

Before committing the crime, the thieves had hung a cloth in front of the shop shutter of the outlet to ensure that no one could notice the crime. They also stole DVR of the CCTV the was installed. 

On noticing that outlet was open, many people had even come to purchase liquor. The police took all those who had visited the outlet to purchase to the task and chased them away.

The thieves also stole 10 packets of cigarettes from a paan shop situated adjacent to the MSIL outlet.

Bengaluru, Apr 16: The lockdown in the wake ofthe coronavirus pandemic has turned out to be a deeply painful story for the Kannada film industry.

Schedules have gone awry following the stay-at-home curbs and operators in Sandalwood, as the industry is popularly known as, say about 100 films under production are affected.

They include big budget movies- 'Raja Veera Madakari Nayaka', 'Kotigobba 3', 'Robert' and 'Yuvaratna.'

Noted producer Rockline Venkatesh told P T I that the loss to the industry is to the tune of hundreds of crores of rupees.

In addition, it's a challenge for producers to secure the content of their movies from "piracy and leak" during long periods of time before their release, Venkatesh, who is Secretary of Karnataka Cine Artistes' Association, said.

A leading distributor said even after the lockdown is lifted and situation returns to normalcy, it remains a big question if investment in film business will pay off at all.

"People don't have money. We will know the impact when things become normal. Questions many ask if people will return to cinema halls like the way they did before or they prefer to stay away from crowd."

Venkatesh, who had also produced Rajinikanth-starrer 'Lingaa' and co-produced 'Bajrangi Bhaijaan' with Salman Khan in the lead role, said it would take at least one to one-and- half years for the industry to be back on its legs.

"That too if the government does hand-holding but if the industry faces a bad hit in terms of income tax and GST and other taxation, 80-90 per cent of the industry will face closure," he said.

"It does not matter if the government does not help the industry but they should not trouble us with things like IT and GST," Venkatesh, who is also a distributor and artiste, said.

A top director said people's "behaviour" towards movies is crucial for the industry's health in the post lockdown scenario.

"With people likely to shy away from going to malls, cinema theatres because of large gatherings there, it's going to be a long road to recovery for us", an industry insider said.

Striking a philosophical tone, Venkatesh said all that people worry now is to save their life and keep good health, adding, amassing money and wealth is the last thing on their mind.

Producers Soorappa Babu and Umesh Banakar, who is also Vice-President of the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce, told P T I that the industry has taken a huge hit.

Banakar said the loss to the industry due to the lockdown is at least Rs 1,000 crore.

"The coronavirus has affected the entire world. We don't know what to do; we just have to wait," Soorappa Babu, producer of Kiccha Sudeep-starrer 'Kotigobba 3', said.

Bengaluru, Jan 22: The suspected man in planting of a live bomb at the Mangaluru International Airport surrendered before the DG and IG of Karnataka Police, Neelamani Raju, here on Wednesday, police sources said.

The accused was identified as Aditya Rao, a resident of Udupi.

The accused was taken for questioning by the Halasurugate Police, where he was being interrogated intensively, the sources further said.

According to them, he confessed that he planted an explosive device at Mangaluru Airport on Monday said that it was an act of revenge for denying him an employment by the Kempegowda International Airport Limited (KIAL).

He was arrested by the Bengaluru police in the past for making a hoax call to the police stating that a bomb had been planted at the Bengaluru Airport.

Karnataka Home minister Basavaraj Bommai told the media that 'the Bengaluru police have taken the custody of Aditya Rao, who is being subjected for a thorough interrogation'.

The Mangaluru police was also likely to join the Bengaluru police into the investigation, the sources added.

Also Read: Udupi’s Aditya Rao arrested for issuing bomb threats to Airport, railway station