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'Paid news' claim lands Udayavani in a fix, Congress complains to EC

March 15, 2012
Udupi, March 15: The Congress has submitted a complaint with the election officer here against Udayavani for carrying out 'paid news' in favour of BJP in the run up to the March 18 byelection to the Udupi-Chikmagalur Lok Sabha constituency.

Vijay Hegde, an advocate and the election agent of the Congress candidate K. Jayaprakash Hegde on Wednesday met the deputy commissioner Dr. R Reju, who is also the election officer, and handed over the written complaint.

The Coastal Karnataka's popular Kannada daily has been publishing a series of pro-BJP reports for the last couple of weeks. These pro-BJP advertisements have been camouflaged into news stories and lakhs of rupees have been paid to the paper's owners, the complaint said.

It was said that Mr. Hegde was not keen on taking on one of the mightiest newspapers of the coastal Karnataka, but since the one-sided publicity continued unabated, the Congress candidate had to petition the election officer.

Mr. Hegde was initially apprehensive that if he went against the paper, his pictures and news would be blacked out. But the Congress leaders, including Pramod Madhwaraj, had made public their resentment about the 'paid news' without naming any newspaper.

In the March 14 edition, the Udayavani had carried a 'news story' titled 'State Government's bumper offer for fishermen', which hailed the contribution of the State Government to the fishermen without going into any analysis.

The 'report' also quoted presidents of government-appointed bodies of fishermen, who are also active in BJP. For the last few days, Udayavani has been publishing such pro-BJP special stories on page 12 evoking criticism from its readers and non-BJP party workers.

Speaking to presspersons in Udupi on Wednesday, Mr. Madhwaraj hit out at BJP for misleading people throw 'paid news' and taking the credit for the welfare schemes implemented by the Central Government for fishermen. "The Union Government has implemented several schemes for the fishermen, but the BJP is indulging in cheap politics by taking the credit," he said.

"Doctor Acharya Abhivruddi Kodugegale BJPige Srirakshe," "Sri Kshetra Kachchurina Abhivriddi: Rajya Sarakaradinda eradu Koti Rupaigu mikki anudana," are some of the headlines given to the alleged 'paid news' items. Interestingly, most of these items do not have a dateline, which is a clear deviation from the Udayavani's stylesheet.


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Media Release
June 9,2020

Mangaluru: Continuing the relief work they started in the wake of the Corona Lockdown, ‘Team B-Human’ a local social organization is reaching out to the migrant workers who are stuck here in the region, unable to return to the homes.

Team of volunteers of the organization reached out to the migrant workers and distributed essential items including clothes and footwear of men, women, and kids.

Earlier, the organization had reached out to thousands of migrant workers and needy families and had helped them with food kits, Ramadan Kits along with medical assistance to many.

Several migrant workers recently moved back to their respective states, villages with their families, while others, unable to move back for various reasons are stuck here facing several difficulties and plights. The relief work by ‘Team B Human’ has helped several families of migrant workers in these distressing times.

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News Network
March 23,2020

Bengaluru, Mar 23: Film producer, philanthropist and entrepreneur V K Mohan committed suicide by hanging himself in a hotel in the city on Monday, police said.

Mohan, who hailed from Kundapur Taluk, Udupi District, was a famous film producer and hotelier.

According to police, Mohan arrived at the hotel on Sunday night and when he did not open the door of his room on Monday, hotel staffs, grew suspicious and peeped through the room window, found him hanging.

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News Network
June 30,2020

Shivamogga, Jun 30: The organic farmers' market in Shivamogga in Karnataka has seen a rise in the demand for organic fruits and vegetables in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Residents of nearby areas frequently visit the market to get fresh produce.

According to Sridhar, a farmer who sells his produce in the market, the demand for organic fruits and vegetables was very low before the coronavirus outbreak.

"I have been involved in organic farming for the last two decades but there was no real market. Since these days everyone is trying to boost their immunity, we are getting a lot of positive response from the locals," he told news agency.

Sridhar and other farmers come from villages near the city. They are authentic organic farmers under the Vikas Trust and Savayava Krishi Parivar, a federation of organic farmer's families based in Karnataka, and they promote pesticide and fertiliser free agriculture.

Gurumel Singh, who often comes to the local market said, "My family has started eating more organic fruits and vegetable now because of the pandemic. We have been told it is important to take care of our health and organic fruits and vegetables are good immunity boosters. The fruits I buy from the organic market are also much sweeter than the ones I get elsewhere."

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