Karnataka First

HAL expects its Light Utility Helicopter (LUH) to be the main attraction at its pavilion.

For the first time, a full scale model of India’s fifth-generation fighter jet Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) will be on display at the upcoming Aero India.

The 1:1 model of AMCA will be placed at the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) India pavilion.

AMCA was designed and developed by the Aeronautical Development Agency while HAL will be the production agency. The Cabinet Committee on Security has approved the project for the design and development. The first prototype of the aircraft is expected to roll out in the coming years.

HAL expects its Light Utility Helicopter (LUH) to be the main attraction at its pavilion along with a functional full-scale engineering demonstrator of Combat Air Teaming System (CATS) Warrior at the upcoming Aero India 2025.

The Bengaluru-headquartered PSU’s would showcase its indigenous products and technologies centred on the theme ‘Innovate. Collaborate. Lead’ at the air show beginning on February 10 at the Air Force Station at Yelahanka.

“HAL’s indigenously designed and developed Light Utility Helicopter (LUH) will be at the centre stage. Various innovative products conceived and developed by HAL R&D divisions in the area of avionics, mechanical systems, engines and aerospace for manned and unmanned aircraft will also be the highlight at the HAL stall,” said Dr. D. K. Sunil, Chairman and Managing Director, HAL.

The major attractions at its indoor pavilion (HALL-E) will be the LUH, Hindustan Turbo Trainer (HTT)-40 Simulator, scaled models of LCA Mk1A fighter, LCA Mk1 Trainer, Hindustan Jet Trainer (HJT)-36, HTT-40, LCH and ALH Mk IV. The scaled models of Hindustan 228 and its amphibian variant will also be displayed.

The outdoor display adjacent to HAL stall will feature the LCA Mk 1A and HJT 36. HTT-40, LCA Mk 1 Trainer, Hindustan 228, Do-228 and LUH will be on static display.

The flying display will witness a unique LCA Mk 1A formation, HJT 36, HTT-40 and LUH.

According to HAL, the central theme of the India pavilion is ‘Flight of Self Reliance’. A functional full-scale engineering demonstrator of Combat Air Teaming System (CATS) Warrior will be the highlight of the India pavilion along with Advanced Light Helicopter Next Generation (ALH NG) and RUAV. ALH NG will be placed in front of the India Pavilion to signify HAL’s entry into civil aviation.

There will also be sections for new technologies and future marquee products.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

The festival, which will conclude on February 8, has performers from across India, besides Sri Lanka and Russia.

“I had no idea Bengaluru and Karnataka had so many theatre troupes. I got to meet people from close to 30 different theatre troupes due to the exhibition put up here. My classmates and I were surprised to see that there are so many teams that have been around for more than 50 years. It was a treat to watch folk artistes perform Krishna Parijatha,” said 20-year-old Ananya K., a theatre student from a popular college in the city at theatre festival Bhrangam, 2025.

Bharangam or BRM — short for Bharat Rang Mahotsav – International Theatre Festival of India, is one among the most anticipated events for theatre communities across the country. Organised by the National School of Drama (NSD), this year marks NSD’s 25th year hosting Bharangam, which is happening across several cities in India and abroad. Kicked off on January 28, the festival is on till February 16, across 13 cities in India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka featuring 123 productions by 110 Indian groups, and 10 foreign groups, in 13 different languages.

In Bengaluru, the event started on February 1 in collaboration with Karnataka Nataka Academy and the Kannada and Culture Department, Government of Karnataka. It will go on till February 8 at Kalagrama, at Mallatahalli. The Bengaluru version of the festival is hosting about 1,500 artistes and has seen a footfall of close to 5,000 people on most of the days of the festival.

The festival venue in Bengaluru is marked by an infectious enthusiasm. Likith Sharma, a visitor at the festival, said, “I never realised Bengaluru and Karnataka had such a vast theatre community… Also I had never watched a play in a different language or by a foreign group. Through this festival I got to watch The Marriage of Balzaimnov, a Russian play, and I can not wait to watch the play from Sri Lanka.“ 

BRM 2025 features international theatre groups participating hailing from Russia, Italy, Germany, Norway, Czech Republic, Nepal, Taiwan, Spain, and Sri Lanka. In the Bengaluru edition, the festival is featuring eight plays from across the country, besides Sri Lanka and Russia.

In a release, Chittaranjan Tripathy, Director, National School of Drama said, “Bharat Rang Mahotsav has become a quintessential theatre festival on the global stage with its expansive approach. It has not only served as a platform for theatre performances from around the world but has also offered opportunities for the amalgamation of various traditional performing art forms. Additionally, it has facilitated knowledge-sharing and idea-exchange among individuals from the dramatic arts and other creative fields.” He said they aim to broaden the scope of this festival further, and extend it to other continents.

A full circle

Speaking to The Hindu, Meeta Mishra, senior theatre person and coordinator, NSD, said that 25 years of Bharangam feels like a full circle. “The festival has happened every year since its inception, except for one year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Many years ago, NSD’s current director Chittaranjan Tripathy had directed a play called Taj Mahal Ka Tender, which became quite popular, and is still running. This year the same play with a new set of actors is being presented at the festival, after 25 years. This feels complete now.” What stands out in this year’s festival is that there are plays by close to 23 women directors, she added.

“After almost two decades the festival is being hosted at Bengaluru. Shashidar Adapa who is a well know production designer from Bengaluru, has transformed the whole look of Kalagrama with the decor, set and exhibitions which should not be missed,” Mishra added.  

Cultural heritage

Nagaraj Murthy, Chairman, Karnataka Nataka Academy, said that hosting the festival has been an honour for the Academy, and an opportunity to showcase the rich cultural heritage of Bengaluru and Karnataka. “Every day we have managed to showcase the folk forms of Karnataka. Radha Nata, a form under Doddata, was showcased recently. We also had Yakshagana and Krishna Parijata, another form of folk theatre. We had artistes who presented the company style theatre form,” he said.  

Murthy added that the festival is not just focusing on presenting productions but also making it more educative for young theatre practitioners, “Every day we are hosting poets from across the state who come and present their work and have a discussion with the audience through Kavi Goshti. We also have Janapada artistes conducting workshops for children and seminars by theatre scholars for theatre artistes. Book stalls by well-known publishers, and exhibitions by 45 theatre troupes from across Karnataka and majorly from Bengaluru who are showcasing their work through these exhibitions. Every evening, we have theatre troupes volunteering to present Ranagageete (theatre songs), which is a new experience for theatre makers coming from other states. We are also honouring teams that have been in the community for more than 50 years like Samudaya, Spandana, Benaka, Kalagangotri and more, which many young artistes need to know about. These teams have contributed a lot to Kannada theatre over the years.”

Murthy said that what stands out in this festival is that thousands of artists are participating, and many are working through day and night without seeking payments. “When we went to the Chief Minister with the idea of a Ranga Parishe or an exhibition, he was thrilled with the idea and immediately gave us a nod to go ahead. While NSD is taking care of logistics and accommodation, the Kannada and Culture Department has willingly offered to incur majority of the expenses, which is close to a crore. From equipment to print material everything has been provided by the department. However, it is the ethics and commitment to theatre that troupes from across the state have. Many artistes are volunteering and contributing to the festival without a fee. Even the 45 exhibitions put up by the troupes has been at their own expense,” he explained.   

For theatre students 

Veena Sharma, Centre Director, NSD, Bengaluru, said that his has been a great exchange programme for the students. “The NSD Bengaluru students got to interact with the students from a drama school from Russia. Both the students presented their work to each other, and the Russian students were thrilled to know that Indian theatre is beyond just the Natya Shastra. Our students got an opportunity to discuss the Russian’s style of theatre and how they work majorly on body movements,” she said.

Sharma added that apart from the exchanges, all the students from NSD Bengaluru are actively participating in the festival. “The students are performing Jasma Odan, a play directed by B. Jayashree on February 8, they rehease through the first half of the day, and during the second half they are actively participating in the events and also helping with management of the festival,” she added.

The schedule for the Bengaluru edition of the festival going on at the Mallatahalli campus of NSD is available at https://brm.nsd.gov.in/bengaluru-schedule/

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

While Subramaniam was conferred the Padma Vibhushan, the second highest civilian award, Nag received the Padma Bhushan.

Violin maestro L Subramaniam (77), veteran Kannada actor Anant Nag (76), and music composer Ricky Kej (43) are among the nine Padma award winners from Karnataka announced by the Union Government on the eve of Republic Day on Saturday.

While Subramaniam was conferred the Padma Vibhushan, the second highest civilian award, Nag received the Padma Bhushan. Their awards are for their contributions in the field of art. Author and journalist A Surya Prakash was awarded the Padma Bhushan for his contributions in the field of literature, education and journalism.

Martial arts coach Hassan Raghu (Art), business icon Prashanth Prakash (Trade and Industry), music composer Ricky Kej (Art), Oncologist Dr Vijayalakshmi Deshamane (Medicine), master puppeteer of Togalu Gombeyaata (leather puppetry) Bhimavva Shillekyatar (Art) and Gondhali folk maestro Venkappa Ambaji Sugatekar (Art) are the six Padma Shri award winners from Karnataka.

Indumati Deshmani, sister of Dr Vijayalakshmi, told The New Sunday Express, “Our mother used to sell vegetables by visiting houses while our father was a freedom fighter and labourer in MSK Mills.

Dr Vijayalakshmi used to assist my mother in selling vegetables.” Indumati is a lecturer at PDA College of Engineering in Kalaburagi.

Recalling their childhood days, Indumati said, “Though our parents were not educated and were poor, they took all efforts to give us a good education. Dr Vijayalakshmi is an oncologist and was the former director of Kidwai Cancer Hospital. Now she runs an orphanage in Bengaluru. She did not marry to serve the people more. We five sisters are PhD holders, and our brother is an advocate in Kalaburagi.”

Bhimavva Shillekyatar (96) has been conferred the Padma Shri for preserving and nurturing the rural art form of Togalu Gombeyaata. Bhimavva, though not educated, has preserved the art form that has been passed down through generations. This is the only family in the entire Koppal district that has been performing leather puppetry for hundreds of years.

Bhimavva, who mastered puppetry at the age of 14, primarily performs shows based on mythological stories of the Ramayana and Mahabharata and has been active for the last 70 years. Apart from performing across the country, she has taken the art to 12 other countries, including Japan, Germany, USA, France and Saudi Arabia.

To keep the art alive, Bhimavva continues to train the youth in this art form through workshops. A proud Bhimavva said that the award was due to blessings of the God and that the honour is not for any one individual but to puppetry and to all the artistes involved in keeping it alive.

Venkappa Ambaji Sugatekar (84), a folk artiste of Bagalkot district, has received the Padma Shri. He is one of the few artistes who is still preserving the folk art of ‘Gondhali’. Sugatekar has been involved in this folk art since his childhood.

“He was only 17 when he started learning Gondhali. He became so fascinated by it that he turned it into a passion and profession. It has continued till date with the same intensity,” said Sachin Sugatekar, the veteran artiste’s grandson.

Known as the ‘Bhishma’ of Gondhali music and storytelling, the artiste has reportedly sung more than 1,000 Gondhali songs and narrated over 150 stories. He has also trained more than 1,000 students.

source/content: newindianexpress.com (headline edited)

Dakshina Kannada Zilla Panchayat has been adjudged as the best district in the State for implementing Mahatma Gandhi National Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) for the year 2023-24

Similarly Kadaba Taluk Panchayat and Alankar Gram Panchayat have been adjudged as best taluk and gram panchayat respectively for implementation of MGNREGA during the same period.

The awards will be presented during the MGNREGA Habba event of Department of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj to be held at Ambekar Bhavan in Bengaluru on February 5.

Zilla Panchayat Chief Executive Officer K. Anandh said the panchayats in the district stand out as they have good women participation in MGNREGA works. “The panchayats have good work completion rate and a better file management system. All the works are geo-tagged. Social audit of all works are done and most suggestions made in the audit are implemented,” Dr. Anandh told The Hindu.

As per the data available on the MGNREGA website of Union Ministry for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj, the district provided 13.9 lakh man days and and 7.55 lakh women person days of work in 2023-24. The average days of employment given per household in the district in the period was 47.67.

A total of 1.67 lakh job cards have been issued and it covers a total of 3.51 lakh workers. There are as many as 1.23 active workers and 67,000 active job cards.

As many as 312 households have completed 100 days of employment and average wage per day per person stood at ₹315.65 in 2023-24. A total of 12,794 works were taken up and 10,414 works were completed in the period. The total expenditure for 2023-24 was at- ₹5,8.96 crore.

In Kadaba Taluk there were a total of 15,925 job cards of which 9,212 were active. It covered a total of 33,300 workers of which 18,200 were active. A total of 2.24 lakh man days and 1.25 lakh women person days of work was generated in 2023-24. The average days of employment provided per household in the period stood at 47.94, a total of 22 households completed 100 days of work. The average wage rate per person per day in 2023-24 was ₹315.58. As many as 1,813 works were taken up and 1,609 works were completed in the period in Kadaba taluk. A total of ₹9.32 crore was spent in 2023-24.

The Alankar Panchayat recorded 15,389 man days and 9,802 women person days of work in 2023-24. In the period total of 268 households and 480 individuals worked of which six households completed 100 days of work. The average days of employment per household was 57.42 and average wage per day per person stood at ₹315.77.

The gram panchayat took up a total of 136 works in 2023-24 of which 135 were completed. The total expenditure was at ₹61.6 lakh, the MGNREGA website mentioned.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)