Archives for October 2017

28-29 October 2017 | The Lalit Ashok Kumara Krupa High Grounds

130 speakers, unique literary events, plenty of children’s programming, interactive art installation, The Red Couch for informal author interactions, music programmes, LitMart for aspiring authors, workshops and more ~

Bangalore Literature Festival, Bengaluru’s flagship community funded literary event on the cultural calendar of the city, is all set for a sixth edition on October 28 and 29 at the Hotel Lalit Ashok lawns in Kumara Krupa High Grounds, Bengaluru.

Building on the success of over the past five years, this year Bangalore Literature Festival (#blrlitfest) has a “Speak Up, Speak Out” theme and will feature a host of distinguished authors, speakers and artistes including Ramachandra Guha, Perumal Murugan, Paul Zacharia, Ambai, Hardeep Singh Puri, Suketu Mehta, Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble, NS Madhavan, Girish Karnad, Sonal Mansingh, Gideon Haigh, Twinkle Khanna and others.

Over the years the Bangalore Literature Festival has become the most sought after and must-attend event for readers and writers, with its enriching and stimulating literary sessions, interviews and panel discussions. This year the Festival will witness authors engaging the audi­ences with diverse themes. Highlights include “Jingoism Vs. Patriotism”, “Death by Litigation – The Perils of Business Reporting”, “How India’s T-20 World Cup Win Changed Indian and World Cricket”, “Mrs. Funnybones” and “Chasing Bin Laden”.

This year too Bangalore Literature Festival sticks to its promise of something for every reader. This includes two full days of children’s programming called ‘Children | Literature | Fun (C | L | F)’ with workshops, storytelling sessions, creative games and more – with a theme that embraces the environment – Every Day Earth Day. C | L | F highlights include sessions by renowned authors such as Ranjit Lal, Reena Puri, Roopa Pai, Anjana Basu and Leela Broome. Workshops and Performances by Kirtana Kumar’s Theatre Lab and Namkampeni Interactive Theatre. Painstakingly curated by Vikram Sridhar, this promises to take not just children but the little kid in every adult too by storm.

International authors at the Festival this year include Australian cricket writer Gideon Haigh, acclaimed South African writer Imraan Coovadia, Sri Lankan humourist Chhimi Tenduf-La and British journalist Adrian Levy. Young authors will be represented by Kanhaiya Kumar, Savi Sharma, Varun Agarwal and others.

The 2017 edition of the Festival will have diverse media personalities and journalists participating, including Bachi Karkaria, Manu Joseph, Jagannathan, Meenal Baghel, Rajdeep Sardesai, Nidhi Razdan, Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, Sindhu S, Sagarika Ghose, Naresh Fernandes, Dhanya Rajendran and Baradwaj Rangan.

This sixth edition of the Festival showcases young talent in Kannada writing with Sahitya Yuva Puraskar winners Shanthi K Appanna, Vikram Hathwar and Abdul Rasheed. Eminent historian Dr. S. Settar will discuss the origin of the Kannada language, and a panel of eminent women autobiographers, including Bhargavi Narayan, Indira Lankesh and the evergreen Dr. Vijaya promise to enthral audiences with their insights.

True to the Festival’s moorings, several city authors are supporting the event and participating in the Festival. Leading names include Ammu Joseph, Rohini Mohan, Harish Bijoor and more.

The Festival has lined up interesting performances including a piano recital by Natallia Kopylova and Liudmila Alizarchyk, music by German poet Jessy James with a band and a sarod concert by Amaan and Ayaan Ali Bangash.

The Bangalore Literature Festival and Atta Galatta, the city-based bookstore and art-literature space, will also present the Atta Galatta–Bangalore Literature Festival Book Prize to honour the best of English writing. Watch out for the shortlist!

The Festival opens at 10 am on Oct 28 and 29. Entry is free, open to all and registration is recommended.

For registration, complete schedule of events, participating author bios and other information check

www.bangaloreliteraturefestival.org or follow blrlitfest on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

“Every year the festival returns in a new way. This time too we promise you the previously unsaid. Honest, direct conversations coming your way,” says festival director Shinie Antony.

This year too the Festival is anchored by Friends of BLF – a group of eminent citizens of Bengaluru, who firmly believe that the city comes alive in its public spaces, in its arts and culture events that foster meaningful dialogue, enriching discussions and healthy debates; a group whose support has laid the foundation for an independent, community-funded literary event that the city of Bangalore can be proud of and can claim as ‘nammadu‘. Friends of BLF help create – with their generosity, energy and time – this world of words.

About Bangalore Literature Festival

The Bangalore Literature Festival celebrates the creative spirit of Bengaluru and commemorates the literary diversity it offers, bringing it in conversation with the best minds in the world of literature. The 2017 edition of the Bangalore Literature Festival is a two-day literary extravaganza that will bring together some of the biggest names in literature – within and outside India.

The objective of the Bangalore Literature Festival is to put together a literary experience that brings writers – both established and aspiring, readers, publishers, students and young professionals and other stakeholders of the city together on a common platform and create a compelling space for engaging and thought-provoking discussions on literature and life.

The Bangalore Literature Festival is a non-profit run by an eclectic pro bono team of Shinie Antony, V. Ravichandar, Srikrishna Ramamoorthy, Subodh Sankar and Vikram Sridhar, supported by advisors and volunteers.

More information at: www.bangaloreliteraturefestival.org //blrlitfest

Taramani Sahu

Ranchi: Activists alleged that PDS outlets in Jharkhand’s Simdega district refused to give ration to a family, since their ration cards had gotten cancelled for not being linked to Aadhaar. Eleven-year-old Santoshi Kumari allegedly died of starvation on 28 September, after going without food for eight days.

In an exclusive report, Scroll found out that in Simdega’s Karimati village, the local dealer had been refusing to give ration to the Kumari’s family, saying that their ration card wasn’t linked to Aadhaar and hence was no longer valid.

The family does not have Aadhaar cards. Non-profit organisations Right to Food Campaign and NREGA Watch discovered that the PDS outlet had taken off the name of Koyli Devi, the child’s mother, along with those of 10 other families as their cards were not linked. Activists confirmed with Jaldega block office that Koyli Devi’s card had indeed been cancelled. The activists placed a request for a new card explaining the circumstances, but the card arrived two weeks after Santoshi’s death.

In February this year, the Centre made it mandatory to have Aadhaar numbers to access subsidised ration under the Public Distribution System (PDS). The victim’s mother said that since school was shut for Durga Puja holidays, Satoshi didn’t have access to the mid-day meals she usually had. The girl’s father is not sound of mind and her mother and sister makes no more than Rs 80-90 a day cutting grass for others, reports Scroll.

Government officials, however, have argued that Santoshi died of malaria, not starvation.

Not just subsidised ration, the February 28 notification from the government also made it mandatory for children to have Aadhaar cards for access to mid-day meals in government schools. In August this year, Hindustan Times reported that only 42% children in the state have enrolled for Aadhaar. It also said that according to a notification from the Union ministry to Rajasthan government, the deadline for enrolling into Aadhaar was 31 August, 2017. Hindustan Times reported that 37 lakh students in 49,000 government schools in the state ran the risk of being denied mid-day meals if they did not get enrolled under the Aadhaar scheme within the stipulated deadline.

(Agencies)

Personnel of the Fire brigade and National Disaster Response Force, who rushed to the spot, recovered the bodies including that of two women.(ANI Photo)

Bengaluru: At least seven people were killed and some feared trapped on Monday after a 20-year-old, two-storeyed building collapsed following a suspected cooking gas cylinder blast near Ejipura area in Bengaluru, the police said.

Eyewitnesses said they heard a noise at around 7am and saw the building reduced to rubble.

Personnel of the fire brigade and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), who rushed to the spot, recovered the bodies including that of two women.

Two of the deceased have been identified as Kalavathi (68) and Ravichandran (30). Police said two children, who were rescued from the debris, were out of danger.

Karnataka home minister Ramalinga Reddy, who visited the spot, told reporters that the building belonged to a person called Gunesh. He rented the building to four families, he added.

“Two families were residing in the ground floor while one was on the first floor. Kalavathi and Ravichandran were on the first floor. They died on the spot while two children sustained injuries. They are safe. In the ground floor, members of two families might have been trapped,” said the minister.

Bengaluru Mayor R Sampath Raj said four families were residing in the building

At least 40 firefighters and NDRF personnel were carrying out the rescue operation.

While clearing debris to pull out those trapped in the building, three fire-fighters were injured as a wall fell on them, police said adding they had been shifted to a nearby hospital.

(Agencies)

Bengaluru: The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the murder of journalist-activist Gauri Lankesh on Saturday released three sketches of two persons suspected to be her killers.

“Three sketches of two suspects have been made on the basis of their description by eyewitness. Two sketches of one suspect were made by two sketch-makers as per eyewitness account,” SIT Head and Inspector General of Police (IGP) B.K. Singh told reporters here.

Lankesh, 55, editor of Kannada weekly tabloid “Gauri Lankesh Patrike” was shot dead outside her house in the city’s southwest suburb on the night of September 5, sparking outrage and nationwide protests.

“We have got video clips of a motorcycle rider who is suspected to be involved in the commission of the offence,” asserted Singh.

Giving an account of the investigation conducted over the last one month, Singh said the suspects, aged between 25-35 years, were residing in the city for at least one week before they committed the crime.

They carried out a “recce” around Lankesh’s home prior to committing the crime, he said.

“We request the public to help us find them or their hideouts in the city, across the state or country,” added Singh.

(IANS)