Time to make India Muslim-free: Sadhvi Prachi

Mangaluru, Apr 23: The scarcity of water in Kukkavu area of Belthangady town in Dakshina Kannada district has forced school-going children to dig a well with their hands.
The children studying in primary schools were seen lifting the heavy buckets of water from the well.

The residents were facing the water shortage from the past couple of days, amid the coronavirus lockdown.
A group of five adolescents managed to dug the well as deep as 12 feet within just a span of four days.

" We are facing water problem now. With the support of my five more friends, we dug this well. At the beginning we just found soil, then in the deeper layers, we also found stones. We got access to the water at 10 feet down," said Dhanush, a class 9th student, while speaking to news agency.

The shortage of water during the summer months is a perennial problem in across several states in India, and the growing population has only added to the woes.

In extreme conditions, poor have to draw water from small water holes.

Mangaluru, Jan 22: Eminent industrialist Dr Mohammed Yusuf has been elected the chairperson of the Karnataka State Board of Auqaf. 

10 members of the Board cast their votes in the election held to the top post today at its office in the city. While Dr Yusuf, who was backed by the Congress, secured six votes, K N M Shafi Sa’adi, who was backed by the BJP, secured only 4 votes.

Addressing reporters, Dr Yusuf said that there was 1.32 lakh acres of Wakf land at the time of Independence. A large number of the properties were lost under various laws, including the Inam Land Abolition Act.

Flanked by Congress MLA Tanveer Sait and Minorities Welfare Dept secretary A B Ibrahim, Dr Yusuf vowed to strive hard to make the Board an example for the entire country. 

74-year-old Dr Yusuf had held the post more than once in the past. A veterinarian, Dr Yusuf had quit the government job and set up business in Bengaluru and Dubai decades ago and has earned considerable success.

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.