Mangaluru girl Beulah Ruth Pinto is UAE’s Best Young Singer

Bengaluru, Jul 7: There seems no impact of Covid-19 on kharif crop sowing in Karnataka with the current year actually being ahead of previous years, according to an official here on Monday.

"In agriculture, as far as sowing is concerned, there is no impact of COVID-19," Agriculture Commissioner Brijesh Kumar Dikshit told IANS. One of the reasons, according to Dikshit, is that people in rural areas are aware, but not scared of the pandemic.

"In rural India, coronavirus is there. People are aware, not scared. They are taking precautions, but don't have any phobia," he said.

Another reason was that by June the number of infections in Karnataka was not as high as other states, when a lot of sowing was done, he said.

By the end of June, Karnataka saw 15,242 Covid-19 cases. Of that, 7,074 were active.

The sowing is ahead of previous year as it's mostly dependent on weather. "It's ahead of previous years. Agriculture is directed by weather and rains had been slightly earlier this year," he said.

According to Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre, at 185 mm the state received 14 mm less rain in June against the normal 199 mm. "It's like a normal year, or slightly a good year," he said.

Some crops will be sown in the last fortnight of July and few more will extend up to August 15. "The last two weeks will be critical and on July 31 we should be able to tell whether we are short or ahead," he said.

According to preliminary indications, the Commissioner said the area under agriculture is increasing this year, which could also be because that labourers might have come back.

Bewngaluru, Jun 23: Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Tuesday said Covid-19 related fatalities in the state was far less compared to other major states, as he called on people and front line corona warriors infected by the virus not to lose courage.

The Chief Minister made the statement following the alleged suicide of a constable attached with the Karnataka State Reserve Police after he tested positive for Covid-19. "The total number of COVID related deaths in the state is very less compared to other major states.

There is no reason for any infected citizen or government employees to lose courage. The government is always with you," a tweet on the Chief Minister's official twitter handle said.

Of the total of 14,011 deaths reported so far, Maharashtra accounted for the highest with 6,283 fatalities, followed by Delhi with 2,233, Gujarat with 1,684 and Tamil Nadu with 794.

Acknowledging that police form the frontline of corona warriors and were working putting their lives at stake, he said a special Covid-19 testing center is being set up for them and all measures will be taken to provide the best treatment for those infected.

As of June 22 evening, cumulatively 9,399 Covid-19 positive cases have been confirmed in the state, which includes 142 deaths and 5,730 discharges.

The constable, aged about 50 years, was attached with the Karnataka State Reserve Police and was said to be depressed after getting tested positive for Covid-19, sources said.

Expressing condolence over his death, another tweet on the Chief Minister's handle said he has directed officials to to provide all necessary compensation and facilities to the family of the deceased at the earliest. Bengaluru has in the last few days has seen a spike in the number of police personnel getting infected by the virus. At least 74 of them have tested positive in the city and are undergoing treatment, while three have died so far, official sources said.

Global Toastmasters Club conducted Youth Leadership Program (GTC YLP– 2020), which  culminated with an extraordinary show at the Grand Finale in Puli Restaurant, Jubail, Saudi Arabia on Friday, January 31, 2020.

Toastmaster Mohammed Abul Khasim, who hails from Karnataka, Gulbarga was the Chief Coordinator for this Youth leadership program YLP, In this 10 weeks intensively focused program, the young future Leaders in the age group 13 to 15 were given quality coaching on Public Speaking, Listening, Writing, Evaluating and Life Skills, under the able guidance of Chief Coordinator.

The keynote speaker at the event was well-known veteran distinguish Toastmaster Dr R J George who motivated everyone to speak the language of love, removing all boundaries and barriers and invest on spending quality time together.

The performances of Youth Leaders were extraordinary and flawless and it was witness by top prominent figures of Jubail toastmaster fraternity likes of DTM Jamil Akhter,TM Nasiruddin Ansari, DTM Oomen Thomas, MTM Sair Oomen, DTM Hareesh, TM Amitab Serna, DTM Kotesh, MTM Shanti Rekha, DTM Suresh Kumar, TM Imtiyaz Khan, TM Asif Ali khan, MTM Farha Naved,TM Naved Hussain, Madam Sheeba, Dr Saleem Khan,TM Ashik Nazeer and TM Suhail Rais Khan. GTC YLP team thanks the Guest of Honor Mr. Abdul Majeed the Managing Director of Universal Inspection Company for sparing the valuable time as one of the sponsor of the event.

The Chief Guest at the Finale was Toastmasters District 79 Club Growth Director DTM Rami Jawad, laud the efforts of GTC for community service and urged all students to take full advantage of such chances as they present life changing opportunities, Division Direct ‘L” DTM Sadagopan address the audience and District PQD DTM Madhusha Grace the occasion. 

During the span of 10 weeks, more than 40 senior member of Jubail Toastmasters fraternity contributed to the success of this program as one to one mentors, Workshop Presenters and Assistant Coordinators. DTM Uzma Siddiqui, DTM Aziz Ahmed Siddiqui, DTM Safare Mohammed, DTM N V Arasu and DTM Jeyasankar and DTM Asif Ali Siddiqui, led the team of Toastmasters as overall Program Advisors, MTM Samina Mazher was chief judge for the event.

The grand finale saw four absorbing contests in Table Topics, Evaluation Speech, International Speech and Debate conducted by YL Ayesha Safare, YL Sai Pranav, YL Mohammed Saad and YL Fawaz Kannan respectively and YL Jaweriya conducted the banner parade.
Maliaka Maryam won the first prize in International Speech, while the second and third were earned by Mohammed Saad and Mohammed Umair. The Table topic contest was won by Ahmed Khan, where Jayveer Prajapati and Fawaz Kannan stood second and third respectively.

Sreena Nanda Kumar won evaluation Speech Contest, while Mohammed Sufyan and Sai Pranav stood second and third respectively. In Debate contest the team speaking against the topic represented by Hasib Javid, Muzaffer Shaik and Nabil Bin Tasnim stood first and runner team was represented by Sarah Nasir, Fathima Badruddin and Shanum Rabia . Hasib Javid was declared the best debate speaker.

The first term President Sarah Nasir and second term President Mohammed Ahmed Khan started the program with their presidential addresses after the Surah recitation by Nabil BinTasnim. YL Jumana Jaffer & YL Arman Raiq Siraj hosted the finale as Master of ceremonies. Immedate past Youth leaders and assistance Coordinators and workshop presenters Jaweriya Mariyam and Ayesha Safare conducted the award ceremony, while DTM Safare Mohammed handled contest operations.

Global Toastmasters President DTM Khalid Siddiqui and YLP Chief Coordinator TM Mohammed Abul Khasim thanked all Youth Leaders, Parents Sponsors and Toastmasters for their contribution in making the program successful. 

Past President of Global TMC, past Area63 Governor and first ever Joint Division E & L conference chairman Mangalorean DTM Shameer Ahmed Kudroli congratulated the Chief Coordinator Mohammed Abul Khasim for the effort and dedication to make the event a grand success and his journey to accomplish the DTM title soon.