Madikeri: A burqa dance by students at a cultural event in a village in Kodagu has gone viral on social media. The event has received sharp criticism even as the organizers have apologized for the same. 

A diamond jubilee celebration was hosted by the West Kolakeri Village Development Committee on May 28 and May 29.

As part of the cultural event, a few children dressed in burqa danced for the Kodava Valaga music and the same has now gone viral on social media.

The event has drawn sharp criticism from the Muslim community for hurting religious sentiment.

Following the criticism, the event organizers apologized for the incident in a press conference hosted on Monday.

“A few kids danced wearing burqa as part of the entertainment programme. However, this was not hosted to hurt any religious sentiments,” said K Muddaiah, president of the committee.

He also clarified that MLC Veena Achaiah was present for the inaugural ceremony but was not present during the burqa dance.

“There is communal harmony in the village and the programme was not intended at hurting the religious sentiments of the Muslims,” he concluded. 

NEW DELHI: After being excluded from the list of nominees for the upcoming biennial election to Rajya Sabha, Union Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi may soon find himself donning the robe of BJP candidate in a Lok Sabha by-election. A reliable source in the saffron party hinted that Naqvi, who is completing his third term in Rajya Sabha, may be fielded in the minority-dominated Rampur LS seat in UP in the upcoming bypoll.  The Rampur LS seat has been vacated by Azam Khan and the bypoll on this seat is scheduled on June 23.

As per constitutional provisions, even without being an MP, he can remain minister for the next six months. “Naqvi will be rewarded for his loyalty and nationalism. Wait for few days,” remarked a senior leader. Earlier, Naqvi had fought LS elections from Rampur seat and won once and lost two times. At present, he is Rajya Sabha MP from Jharkhand.

Observers said exclusion of Naqvi from the Rajya Sabha list has given a bad impression among the Muslim community ahead of six states going to polls by the end of this year or in the next year.

BENGALURU: Congress on Wednesday suffered another setback in Karnataka with senior party leader and former legal advisor to the State Government Brijesh Kalappa resigning from the primary membership of the party. This comes days after senior leaders Kapil Sibal and Mukhyamantri Chandru quitting the party. 

In a letter dated May 30 to AICC president Sonia Gandhi, Brijesh said, “I have been representing the party on Hindi, English, and Kannada channels since the UPA years in 2013 — for almost a decade and have clocked 6,497 debates. Besides, the party has been regularly assigning political work to me which I have performed to the best of my satisfaction. Regarding TV debates, I have done my very best at all times and have never ever appeared without adequate preparation for any debate.

Even at the worst of times for the party in the aftermath of 2014 and 2019 debacles, I have never felt enervated and lacking in energy and enthusiasm. But, in the recent past, I have been finding myself lacking in passion, while my own performance has been listless and perfunctory.”

It is said that Brijesh is reportedly upset with the party’s leadership as it had not rewarded him befitting his contribution. The Congress’ known face on news channel debates, Brijesh is likely to join the Aam Aadmi Party, said sources. A round of talks was held between Brijesh and the AAP’s top leadership which has promised him a responsible position, sources added. Before the May 30 letter, Brijesh had written 5-6 letters to Sonia Gandhi.

He, however, thanked Sonia for giving him several opportunities as he was appointed the legal advisor to then chief minister Siddaramaiah with the rank of a minister. According to sources, Brijesh was an aspirant for the MLC and Rajya Sabha polls. He was also denied Congress ticket to contest from the Madikeri seat in 2018 and the Mysore-Kodagu Lok Sabha constituency in 2019.

Brijesh also represented the state in the Supreme Court in the inter-state Cauvery water disputes case. He has worked alongside senior counsel Fali S Nariman, Sharad Jawali and Mohan Kataraki in the Supreme Court for over 18 years.

NEW DELHI: Former India skipper Sourav Ganguly on Wednesday issued a cryptic tweet about his “new journey” that raised speculations about his continuation as BCCI President, prompting the cricket board secretary Jay Shah to clarify that he has not resigned from his post.

Ganguly in his tweet said he is embarking on a new journey, which was all about launching an educational app.

“2022 marks the 30th year since the start of my journey with cricket in 1992. Since then, cricket has given me a lot. Most importantly, it has given me the support of all of you. I want to thank every single person, who has been part of the journey, supported me, and helped me reach where I am today,” he wrote in a brief statement.

“Today, I am planning to start something that I feel will probably help a lot of people. I hope you continue your support as I enter this chapter of life.”

Ganguly was elected BCCI President in October 2019 and still has four months left in his three-year tenure.

Ganguly’s tweet took the social media by storm as many, including media outlets, started speculations about his future.

“The rumours doing rounds about Mr Sourav Ganguly stepping down from the post of BCCI President are factually incorrect,” BCCI secretary Jay Shah said in a statement issued

“We have some exciting times in the form of media rights coming up and my colleagues and I are completely focused on the upcoming opportunity and safeguarding the interest of Indian cricket,” Shah further stated.

It has been learnt that Ganguly’s tweet was related to his upcoming project.

Ganguly later clarified that his tweet has been misinterpreted and it was related to his new business venture.

“I have launched a new education app worldwide. It’s an educational app launched worldwide.

“I was surprised (with the speculations). It was a simple tweet, there is no mention of resignation, nothing,” he said.

CHANDIGARH:  Punjab Police is likely to join its Delhi counterpart to question jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi in the Sidhu Moosewala murder case. The state government on Wednesday recast the Special Investigation Team and brought it under the supervision of Anti Gangster Task Force (AGTF) of the state police.

The AGTF, headed by IGP Jaskaran Singh, will function under the supervision of the Additional DGP.
Sources said Bishnoi is in the custody of the Special Cell of Delhi Police in a case under the Arms Act. A state police team is likely to question him in the presence of Delhi Police. He could be brought to Punjab for questioning.

Senior Superintendent of Police of Mansa, Gaurav Toora, said the police had inputs about the route that the assailants took while fleeing. The police are examining how the singer’s movements were followed for over a month. “It is the work of organised criminals. We have some leads in the case,’’ he said.

Bishnoi has expressed his fear of an  ‘encounter’ by Punjab Police. On Wednesday, he moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court after withdrawing his petition filed before the Delhi High Court. Moosewala’s mother Charan Kaur on Wednesday wept bitterly while collecting the ashes of her 28-year-old son who was cremated farmland on Tuesday. “My son’s enemies have reduced my tall and robust boy to ashes,’’ she wailed. The family left for Kiratpur Sahib to immerse his ashes. Moosewala’s pet dogs have refused food, and have been sitting near his tractor.

FAIRFAX: A jury sided Wednesday with Johnny Depp in his libel lawsuit against ex-wife Amber Heard, awarding the “Pirates of the Caribbean” actor more than $10 million and vindicating his allegations that Heard lied about Depp abusing her before and during their brief marriage.

But in a split decision, the jury also found that Heard was defamed by one of Depp’s lawyers, who accused her of creating a detailed hoax that included roughing up the couple’s apartment to look worse for police. The jury awarded her $2 million.

The verdicts bring an end to a televised trial that Depp had hoped would help restore his reputation, though it turned into a spectacle that offered a window into a vicious marriage.

Heard, who was stoic in the courtroom as the verdict was read, said she was heartbroken.

“I’m even more disappointed with what this verdict means for other women. It’s a setback. It sets back the clock to a time when a woman who spoke up and spoke out could be publicly humiliated. It sets back the idea that violence against women is to be taken seriously,’’ she said in a statement posted on her Twitter account.

Depp, who was not in court Wednesday, said “the jury gave me my life back. I am truly humbled.”

“I hope that my quest to have the truth be told will have helped others, men or women, who have found themselves in my situation, and that those supporting them never give up,” he said in a statement posted to Instagram.

Depp sued Heard for libel in Fairfax County Circuit Court over a December 2018 op-ed she wrote in The Washington Post describing herself as “a public figure representing domestic abuse.” His lawyers said he was defamed by the article even though it never mentioned his name.

The jury found in Depp’s favor on all three of his claims relating to specific statements in the 2018 piece.

Throughout the proceedings, fans who were overwhelmingly on Depp’s side lined up overnight for coveted courtroom seats. Spectators who couldn’t get in gathered on the street to cheer Depp and jeer Heard whenever they appeared outside.

A crowd of about 200 people cheered when Depp’s lawyers came out after the verdict. “Johnny for president!” one man yelled repeatedly.

Greg McCandless, 51, a retired private detective from Reston, Virginia, stood outside the courthouse wearing a pirate hat and red head scarf, a nod to Depp’s famous role as Capt. Jack Sparrow in the “Pirates of the Caribbean” series.

“I do believe that there was defamation, and I do believe that it did hurt his career,” McCandless said. “I think the jury heard the evidence, and the verdict was just.”

In evaluating Heard’s counterclaims, jurors considered three statements by a lawyer for Depp who called her allegations a hoax. They found she was defamed by one of them, in which the lawyer claimed that she and friends “spilled a little wine and roughed the place up, got their stories straight,” and called police.

Sydni Porter, 30, drove an hour from her home in Maryland to show support for Heard. She said the verdict was disappointing, but not surprising, and sends a message to women that “as much evidence as you have (of abuse), it’s never going to be enough.”

The jury found Depp should receive $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages, but the judge said state law caps punitive damages at $350,000, meaning Depp was awarded $10.35 million.

While the case was ostensibly about libel, most of the testimony focused on whether Heard had been physically and sexually abused, as she claimed. Heard enumerated more than a dozen alleged assaults, including a fight in Australia — where Depp was shooting a “Pirates of the Caribbean” sequel — in which Depp lost the tip of his middle finger and Heard said she was sexually assaulted with a liquor bottle.

Depp said he never hit Heard and that she was the abuser, though Heard’s attorneys highlighted years-old text messages Depp sent apologizing to Heard for his behavior as well as profane texts he sent to a friend in which Depp said he wanted to kill Heard and defile her dead body.

In some ways, the trial was a replay of a lawsuit Depp filed in the United Kingdom against a British tabloid after he was described as a “wife beater.” The judge in that case ruled in the newspaper’s favor after finding that Heard was telling the truth in her descriptions of abuse.

In the Virginia case, Depp had to prove not only that he never assaulted Heard, but that Heard’s article — which focused primarily on public policy related to domestic violence — defamed him. He also had to prove that Heard wrote the article with actual malice.

And to claim damages, he had to prove that her article caused the damage to his reputation as opposed to any number of articles before and after Heard’s piece that detailed the allegations against him.

The case captivated millions through its gavel-to-gavel television coverage, including impassioned followers on social media who dissected everything from the actors’ mannerisms to the possible symbolism of what they were wearing. Both performers emerge from the trial with reputations in tatters with unclear prospects for their careers.

Eric Rose, a crisis management and communications expert in Los Angeles, called the trial a “classic murder-suicide.”

“From a reputation-management perspective, there can be no winners,” he said. “They’ve bloodied each other up. It becomes more difficult now for studios to hire either actor because you’re potentially alienating a large segment of your audience who may not like the fact that you have retained either Johnny or Amber for a specific project because feelings are so strong now.”

Depp, a three-time best actor Oscar nominee, had until recent years been a bankable star. His turn as Sparrow helped turn the “Pirates of the Caribbean” into a global franchise, but he’s lost that role. He was also replaced in the third “Fantastic Beasts” spin-off film, “The Secrets of Dumbledore.”

Despite testimony at the trial that he could be violent, abusive and out of control, Depp received a standing ovation Tuesday night in London after performing for about 40 minutes with Jeff Beck at the Royal Albert Hall.

Heard’s acting career has been more modest, and her only two upcoming roles are in a small film and the upcoming “Aquaman” sequel due out next year.

Depp’s lawyers fought to keep the case in Virginia, in part because state law provided some legal advantages compared with California, where the two reside. A judge ruled that Virginia was an acceptable forum for the case because The Washington Post’s printing presses and online servers are in the county.

KOLKATA: Renowned Bollywood singer Krishnakumar Kunnath, popularly known as KK, had several heart blockages and he could have been saved if CPR was administered on time, a doctor who conducted autopsy said on Thursday.

KK died on Tuesday night due to a massive cardiac arrest after a live performance at Nazrul Mancha in Kolkata.

“He had a major blockage in the left main coronary artery and small blockages in various other arteries and sub-arteries. Excessive excitement during the live show caused stoppage of blood flow leading to cardiac arrest that claimed his life,” the medical practitioner told PTI on condition of anonymity.

The artiste could have been saved if someone had administered cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) immediately after he fell unconscious, the doctor said.

He said that the singer had prolonged cardiac problems which remained unaddressed.

“The vocalist had 80 per cent blockage in the left main coronary artery and small blockages in various other arteries and sub-arteries. None of the blockades were 100 per cent. During Tuesday’s performance, the singer was walking around and at times dancing with the crowd which created excessive excitement that caused stoppage of blood flow leading to cardiac arrest,” he said.

The doctor said that excessive excitement stopped blood flow for a few moments resulting in an irregular heartbeat for a very short time.

“As a result, KK fell unconscious and had a cardiac arrest. If CPR had been given immediately, the artiste could have been saved,” he said.

CPR is an emergency procedure comprising chest compressions as well as artificial ventilation to manually maintain brain function until further steps are taken to restore normal blood circulation and breathing in a person experiencing cardiac arrest.

The doctor said the autopsy revealed that the singer was on antacids “probably considering some pain which he mistook as digestive problems”.

Incidentally, a senior officer of Kolkata Police revealed that the singer’s wife has admitted that KK used to take a lot of antacids.

“He had told his wife during a telephonic conversation of experiencing pain in his arm and shoulders,” the IPS officer said.

Police has also recovered several strips of antacids from the hotel room where KK was staying.

The post-mortem examination, which lasted for nearly an-hour-and-a-half and was videographed, has rejected any foul play and suggested that the singer died because of a massive cardiac arrest after almost a three-hour performance.

Police have registered a case of unnatural death and started an investigation.

The vocalist, who is known for his versatility, has sung in different languages including Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi and Bengali.

Initial hits such as ‘Pyaar Ke Pal’ and ‘Yaaron’ made KK popular among the youths of the country.

As a playback singer, he has recorded Bollywood numbers such as ‘Ankhon Mein Teri’ (Om Shanti Om), ‘Zara Sa’ (Jannat), ‘Khuda Jaane’ (Bachna Ae Hasino) and ‘Tadap Tadap’ (Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam).

NEW DELHI: The price for a commercial LPG cylinder has been reduced by Rs 135 with immediate effect from today. With the latest reduction, a 19-kg commercial Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinder in Delhi will now cost Rs 2219.

Prior to the reduction in prices, the commercial LPG cylinder was priced at Rs 2454 in Kolkata, Rs 2306 in Mumbai, and Rs 2507 in Chennai. After the respite, the rate for a commercial LPG cylinder in Kolkata is now Rs 2322, Rs 2171.50 in Mumbai, and Rs 2373 in Chennai.

This reduction in price is only valid for commercial ones, and not the domestic LPG cylinders.

Earlier, in the first week of May, the price of an LPG cylinder was hiked by Rs 50.On May 1, the price of a 19-kilograms commercial LPG cylinder was increased by Rs 102.50, to Rs 2355.50.

Last month, on May 1, Oil marketing companies organized more than 5000 LPG panchayats on the occasion of Ujjwala Diwas, where apart from experience sharing, aimed at safe and sustained usage of LPG, all-out efforts were made to maximize customer enrolment.

NEW DELHI: A petrol pump dealers’ association has announced that no purchase of petrol and diesel will be done from oil marketing companies (OMC) on Tuesday as a mark of protest against no increase in the commission of petrol pumps by the OMCs.

“In 24 states in the country, we will not purchase petrol and diesel from oil marketing companies (OMC) on Tuesday, 31 May in protest of no revision in their commissions despite the rise in petrol and diesel prices,” said President, Delhi Petrol Dealers Association.

According to the Association, the dealer margins are to be revised every six months but the OMCs have not done the same since 2017 despite a steep increase in fuel prices and operational costs.

The Association said the reduction in prices of petrol and diesel by the central government through excise duty cut has put the burden on petrol pumps leading to further losses.

Earlier this month, in a significant step aimed at providing relief to people from high fuel prices, the Centre announced a reduction in excise duty on petrol by Rs 8 per litre and on diesel by Rs 6 per litre.

The states where the petrol dealers will join the protest include Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Assam, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Sikkim and West Bengal.