Gauri Lankesh murder: SIT picks up another accused from Kodagu; total climbs to 10

New Delhi, Apr 9: The Delhi Police has traced Tablighi Jamaat leader Maulana Saad Kandhalvi, who has been on the run after an FIR was registered against him for organising a religious gathering last month despite restrictions to combat the coronavirus, sources said on Wednesday.

The cleric has been traced to Zakir Nagar in southeast Delhi, sources said.

His lawyer Tauseef Khan, however, said Saad is under self-quarantine and will join investigation after his quarantine period is over.

On March 31, Delhi Police's Crime Branch lodged an FIR against seven people, including the cleric, on a complaint by Station House Officer Nizamuddin for holding the congregation here allegedly in violation of the orders against large gathering and not maintaining social distancing to contain the spread of coronavirus.

A day later, the Delhi Police's Crime Branch wrote to Saad and others, seeking the details under Section 91 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. A second notice was also issued to him this week.

"Saad is currently under self-quarantine and will join investigation once the period of 14 days gets over," his advocate, Tauseef Khan, told PTI.

Saad's quarantine is expected to end next week.

His lawyer said a reply to the second notice will be given soon.

In an audio message last week, Saad said he was exercising self-quarantine after several hundreds who visited the Tablighi Jamaat's Nizamudddin markaz tested positive for coronavirus.

Visited by thousands last month, the Nizamudddin centre also turned out to be a hotspot for spread of coronavirus not only in national capital and country.

According to the FIR, the Delhi Police contacted the centre on March 21 and reminded them of the government order that prohibited any political or religious gathering of more than 50 people.

However, no one paid any heed to the police's direction, it said. Moreover, an audio recording purportedly of Saad was found in circulation on WhatsApp on March 21, in which he was heard asking his followers to defy the lockdown and social distancing and to attend the religious gathering of the Markaz.

On March 24, the government ordered 21-day nationwide lockdown and restricted any social, political or religious gathering.

The same day a meeting was held at Hazarat Nizamuddin police station between SHO and officer bearers of the centre.

The meeting was attended by Saad, Mohammad Ashraf, Mohammad Salman, Yunus, Mursaleen Saifi, Jishan and Mufti Shehzad and they were informed about lockdown orders.

So far, several hundred cases of COVID-19 cases across the country have been found to be linked to the Tablighi Jamaat congregation held in Delhi last month.

More than 25,500 Tablighi members and their contacts have been quarantined in the country after the Centre and the state governments conducted a "mega operation" to identify them.

At least 9,000 people participated in the religious congregation in Nizamuddin. Later, many of the attendees travelled to various parts of the country.

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.

Abu Dhabi: Yogish Prabhu K is the newly elected president of Abu Dhabi’s prestigious India Social & Cultural Centre (ISC) and he will serve for the period 2020-2021. ISC’s annual general body meeting and Election for 2020 were held on Thursday, February 27 and the election results of the election were announced during the early hours of Friday, February 28th morning.

In the keenly contested election, Yogish Prabhu emerged victorious. Humble origin and hailing from a small town of Karkala from Udupi district of Karnataka state has never deterred him from setting challenging goals. He belongs to a well-known Gouda Saraswat Brahmin family of K.V.Prabhu Coconut oil mill in Karkala. He is the eldest son of Late Rtn. Krishna Prabhu and Rtn. Bharati Prabhu.  His father and grandfather were freedom fighters who left a profound impression on him and their ideology “serving people is like worshiping God” (Jana seveye Janardhana seve) inspired and guided his life ever since. Prabhu has been a privilege member of ISC since 2003 and has been actively involved in ISC activities throughout. His relationship with ISC spans over 2 decades during which he has immensely contributed in many ways to ISC and the Indian community at large. A banker by profession, Yogish Prabhu is currently working as Vice President, Group Finance & Treasury, First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB).

With some new initiatives in his mind, Prabhu wants to creatively improve the quality of ISC’s services, its humanitarian impact as well as the diversity of its membership. His intentions are always to help everyone irrespective of caste, creed, religion, language or status. As a new elected President of ISC, Prabhu’s main objective is to strategically plan and implement his vision through his ABC 5 Year Plan i.e.,

A-    Accountability & Transparency,

B-    Build a Sound Financial Plan and

C-    Compassion & Affection for the needy

so that ISC is recognized not just in UAE, but worldwide as a mascot of the great Indian community.

Prabhu thinks “as individuals, we can do only so much but with the support of Elected ISC Committee members and all the ISC members together, there is no limit to what we can achieve, and in the process, we can truly transform the ISC”. He proudly says, “I have a strong treasury management experience in ISC as well as in the bank which we need now more than ever”.

With his dynamic leadership, sheer dedication and ambition, ISC will definitely be scaling new heights of glory and prestige in Abu Dhabi and beyond. His humble nature, leadership qualities coupled with his rich administrative experience will surely help boost ISC’s popularity and meet its challenging goals and can serve people in a better way and contribute to the Indian community at large.

Yogish Prabhu has been married for 28years. His wife Chethana Prabhu Kasaragod too has been equally active in ISC and continuously supporting and participating in various sports, entertainment and literary committees throughout these years. She became ISC Women’s Forum Convener in 2016-2017. Their daughter, Aarti Prabhu is an IT Engineer from NITK Suratkal, working in Bangalore. Son, Ajith Prabhu finished his Masters in Mechanical Engineering and Management in Industrial Design in Queens University, Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK and at present doing his internship there. Both Aarti and Ajith are alumni of Abu Dhabi Indian School and both have represented National level CBSE Badminton meet. Also, Aarti was a Gold medalist in the school for scoring 100 in Mathematics in SSLC.

Following are few of his contributions and achievements:

•          Hon. Asst. Treasurer of ISC for consecutive years from 2005 till 2007

•          Hon. Treasurer of ISC in 2011.

•          Member of Finance Committee of ISC new infrastructure and premises from approval till completion.

•          In 2016, initiated the participation of ISC members as officials for International Yoga Day organized by Indian Embassy

•          In 2017, initiated the participation of children as officials to help the organizers so that children could learn their social responsibility and become good citizens.

•          In 2012, initiated ladies throw ball tournament in ISC and now it is extended to men too.

•          Member of IPEF since its inception in 2014. Also served as its Governing board member in the same year.

•          Founder member of ‘UAE GSB group’ since its formation in 2004

•          Committee member of ‘Gandhi Sahitya Vedi’ Abu Dhabi

•                    Treasurer of Abu Dhabi Karnataka Sangha

•          Head of Finance and member of other committees of ‘World Tulu Convention’ held in Dubai - 2018

Election was held for other Posts too. The other office bearers elected to the present committee are:

Vice-President: George Varghese.

General Secretary: Jojo J Ambooken

Asst.Gen.Secretary: C. George Varghese

Treasurer: Shijil Kumar N K

Entertainment Secretary: Jayapradeep K P

Literary Secretary: Elias Padavetty

Sports Secretary: Freddi J. Fernandes

Secretary Southern Region: Raja Srinivasa Rao Aita

Auditor: G.N.Sasikumar