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Karnataka NRIs celebrate Rajyotsava in Jeddah

coastaldigest.com news network
December 8, 2017

Jeddah: Expatriates from high-tech Indian state of Karnataka in Saudi Arabia recently celebrated Karnataka Rajyotsava Day to commemorate the 62nd formation day of their state. The event was organized by Karnataka Non-Resident Indians (KNRI) Forum at Al Bakhira Banquet Hall, Harazath at Jeddah under the patronage of NRIs’ Forum Karnataka (Govt of Karnataka).

Consul for Community welfare, Culture, Press and Information Mr Moin Akhtar attended the event as Chief Guest, while President of the forum Mohammed Saifuddin presided over the event, large number of Kannadigas along with other dignitaries and community leaders attended the event. Dais was shared by President Mohammed Saifuddin, General Secretary Yashwant Amin, past President Mohammed Mansoor and Treasurer Aijaz Ahmed with chief guest Mr. Moin Akhtar.

Addressing to the audience Mr. Moin Akhtar said the efforts of the forum in helping the needy and underprivileged sections of society back home in Karnataka should be appreciated. Audience applauded him when he spoke Kannada language and light Urdu shayeri.

Video presentation was displayed to the audience on digital LED screen and was appreciated, in which history of Karnataka and achievements of KNRI Forum were highlighted. Dr K Muralidhara member secretary NRI Forum Karnataka message was displayed in which he wished the forum all the success for the program. Yashwant Amin General Secretary of the forum briefed about the presentation.

In this presentation KNRI Forum revealed the special features of each districts in Karnataka, aims and objectives of the forum, achievements and future goals & objectives for coming years. He requested audience to come forward and strengthen the forum to work more effectively to help needy people back home and & KSA. He requested to   visit the website www.knriforumjeddah.com   for more information.

Saoud Shaikh, Sabu Chandran and Dadapeer Hayath were appreciated and applauded for their hard work to prepare video presentation.

Forum President Mohammed Saifuddin Sami in his speech welcomed all the dignitaries, guests and attendees to the Rajyotsava Day. He informed audience that Dr. Arathi Krishna Dy Chairman of NRIs Forum Karnataka Bangalore who had agreed to attend our event as chief guest, could not make out due to official engagements in Bengaluru. But she had sent her Video message and  best wishes to the KNRI Forum and all the Kannadigas and assured that  her Department’s aims is to support and work for the well-being of the Kannadigas who are working across the world.

He thanked Chief Minister Siddharamaya and Dr. Arathi Krishna for their continuous support through NRI Forum Karnataka for not only sponsoring the event but also helping to resolve issues related to education of the KNRIs students.  

He stated that NRIs  forum Karnataka  is associated with ministry of external affairs and a great initiative has been taken by government of Karnataka by issuing NRK cards for Kannadigas, NRK cards are helpful for obtaining facilities provided by government for KNRIs, it is very simple to enrol names by visiting website www.nriforumkarnataka.org

He thanked the consul general and the consulate staff for their tremendous support to the forum, he said my sincere thanks to executive committee and sponsors as organising this huge event was not possible without support and day night hard work of our executive committee and off course financial support of the sponsors.

A famous Bollywood Playback singer Mr. Mohammed Salamat enthralled the audience by performing all-time Hindi hits as well as new songs. He sang his title song of hum dil diya chuke sanam and his new release movie song – the forest – o mere mahiya, crowd applauded with huge claps and enjoyed new Bollywood song.

Mr salamat was thankful for KNRIs forum and its president for inviting him for this event, he thanked the people of Jeddah for their love and affection on him.

As a token of appreciation memento was presented to Mohammed Salamat as he entertained our audience second time in our event.

Prominent Jeddah singers, Mohammed Kaleem who was Cultural team in charge, Mirza Younus Baig, Hidyath, Ashmita, Sangeeta, Rajiv, Asha and joint cultural secretary Altaf Almelkar entertained the audience with old and new Hindi and Kannada songs.

Dances were presented by the children of Indian schools and were choreographed by Mali Roy and Radha Suresh, these dedicated choreographers were presented mementos as token of appreciation for their hard work.

Siham Mohd Saif, Mohammed Adnan Sayeed, Nitha Naveen D’souza, Priyala cardosa, Rachita ravindra shetty, Saba Noor Shaikh, Fathima hibha and Arshiya anjilath   who had obtained 10 CGPA points in Class X examinations were felicitated on the occasion.

Dr. Ashfaq Maniyar while presenting mementos to the students said that brilliant and outstanding students are the leaders of tomorrow in different fields, recognizing and encouraging the meritorious students is our moral responsibility.

On behalf of KNRI Forum Dadapeer Hayath conducted the raffle draw and 12 gifts were given to lucky winners. Jet Airways sponsored two tickets as bumper prize, Jeddah Bangalore Jeddah air tickets  were received by lucky winners Razi momin and Lancy vincent Dsouza.

Quiz program was conducted by Sabu chandran with interesting questions and was applauded by the audience, poetic and humorous anchoring was done by Dr Firoz Mulla and Syed Nasir Khursheed with flavours of Kannada Urdu and English.

Krish Jangal, Manzour Ahmed, Ilyas Momin, Mohammed Arifullah, Syed Kowsain Pasha, Rajesh Kumar, Mahboob Ali Khan, Saleem Khaleefa, Mukkaram Khan and Jalal Baig welcomed the guests.

Registration desk for attendees was handled by Peter Mascarenhas, Mohammed Saheb, Habeeb Rahaman, Faizee Razak Shaikh, Nazeer Ahmed, Asif Momin, Tanveer Ahmed and M R Shareef.

Vote of thanks was delivered by Event Manager Shaikh Saud, he expressed his deep sense of appreciation to Chief Guest Mr Moin Akhtar for sparing time with us and to audience who spared valuable time from their busy schedule to attend the event and remained focused till the end of the function.

On behalf of the Forum, he expressed sincere gratitude to all the sponsors of the event, starting with main sponsor NRIs Forum Karnataka Bangalore, he said we are sincerely  thankful to our beloved chief Minister Shri Sidharamayyaji and Dr. Arathi Krishna for their continuous support and being golden sponsor of the event.

He appreciated and thanked other sponsors such as Intermodal Services, Zafiro fine dining, Jet Airways, Dastar Restaurant, Saggaf Hospital Ajmal real estate Bangalore, Brooq Trading, Splash, Golden Travels, Hassan Ghazawi hospital, Al Berry foods, Al Kabeer foods Ziyaraah dot com, Vishwanath Karkera, Al Asaasiya, Village Restaurant, Premier food, Shahi Rasoi Restaurant, Luminous contracting company, Global Alliances, Kwality Ice Cream, RF Developers, Al Rayan Hospital, AB Industries, London Dairy, IMAS, Hussain Manzur contracting Est.,  Mr. Manzur, Mr. Liyakat Belvai, Valiora Events, Bariz Global, C System, Hashim Mubarak, Horizon Properties, MS Beverages, NBCC(Popcorn),  Master Trading Contracting Est, and  Binzagar for their valuable support.

Snacks, juices, and delicious dinner were served to all attendees and complimentary gifts were distributed among all the audiences, function concluded with national anthem.

 

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Suresh
 - 
Friday, 8 Dec 2017

Good work team. Well done

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News Network
January 23,2026

Karnataka Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot read only three lines from the 122-paragraph address prepared by the Congress-led state government while addressing the joint session of the Legislature on Thursday, effectively bypassing large sections critical of the BJP-led Union government.

The omitted portions of the customary Governor’s address outlined what the state government described as a “suppressive situation in economic and policy matters” under India’s federal framework. The speech also sharply criticised the Centre’s move to replace the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) with the Viksit Bharat–Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act, commonly referred to as the VB-GRAM (G) Act.

Governor Gehlot had earlier conveyed his objection to several paragraphs that were explicitly critical of the Union government. On Thursday, he confined himself to the opening lines — “I extend a warm welcome to all of you to the joint session of the State legislature. I am extremely pleased to address this august House” — before jumping directly to the concluding sentence of the final paragraph.

He ended the address by reading the last line of paragraph 122: “Overall, my government is firmly committed to doubling the pace of the State’s economic, social and physical development. Jai Hind — Jai Karnataka.”

According to the prepared speech, the Karnataka government demanded the scrapping of the VB-GRAM (G) Act, describing it as “contractor-centric” and detrimental to rural livelihoods, and called for the full restoration of MGNREGA. The state government argued that the new law undermines decentralisation, weakens labour protections, and centralises decision-making in violation of constitutional norms.

Key points from the unread sections of the speech:

•    Karnataka facing a “suppressive” economic and policy environment within the federal system

•    Repeal of MGNREGA described as a blow to rural livelihoods

•    VB-GRAM (G) Act accused of protecting corporate and contractor interests

•    New law alleged to weaken decentralised governance

•    Decision-making said to be imposed by the Centre without consulting states

•    Rights of Adivasis, women, backward classes and agrarian communities curtailed

•    Labourers allegedly placed under contractor control

•    States facing mounting fiscal stress due to central policies

•    VB-GRAM (G) Act accused of enabling large-scale corruption

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News Network
January 20,2026

Mangaluru: In a major step towards strengthening rural innovation, the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser (PSA) to the Government of India is supporting the establishment of RuTAGe Smart Village Centres (RSVCs) across the country through collaborations with academic institutions, civil society organisations and philanthropic partners.

As part of this national initiative, Nitte (Deemed to be University) will set up the first RSVCs in the region at Nitte GP in Udupi district and at the Nitte Health Centre, Sevanjali Trust, Farangipete, in Dakshina Kannada district. The centres will be inaugurated on January 21. In South India, the programme is being implemented by the Section Infin-8 Foundation (SI-8).

Speaking to reporters on Monday, SI-8 founder-director Vishwas US said experts from Nitte University and SI-8 would work closely with farmers, students, youth and local entrepreneurs to adapt and deploy technologies tailored to local needs.

Project head Prof Iddya Karunasagar, representing Nitte DU, said the RSVCs at Nitte and Farangipete would serve as demonstration hubs for a wide range of agriculture, energy, skill-development and assistive technologies. These include solar dryers for fruits, vegetables and crops; soil-testing solutions; power weeders and women-friendly farm tools; wind-powered devices for rural artisans; grain storage systems; grass-cutting and tree-climbing equipment; and liquid fertiliser production using cowshed waste.

SI-8 CEO Aravind C Kumar said the centres would also provide access to digital and knowledge-based platforms such as ISRO applications, government scheme portals, market linkage tools and gamified learning resources, along with assistive technologies for persons with visual impairments.

Highlighting the broader impact of the initiative, Principal Scientific Adviser Prof Ajay Kumar Sood said it demonstrated how applied research could bridge the rural–urban divide and help create self-reliant, technology-enabled villages.

The initiative has been made possible through philanthropic support from Dr NC Murthy of ACM Business Solutions, LLC, USA. Dr Sapna Poti, Director (Strategic Alliances) at the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser, said the long-term objective is to build self-sufficient, technology-driven communities capable of generating sustainable livelihoods on their own.

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News Network
January 31,2026

Roy.jpg

Bengaluru: The shooting incident involving CJ Roy, founder of the Confident Group, has once again put the spotlight on a businessman whose life has swung between flamboyant global success and persistent controversy at home.

Though Roy’s business interests extended across continents, his roots lay firmly in Karnataka. An alumnus of Christ School in Bengaluru, he later moved to Tumakuru to pursue an engineering degree. Those familiar with his early years describe him as intensely ambitious, beginning his career as a salesman at a small electronics firm dealing in computers.

Roy’s entry into large-scale real estate came through the Crystal Group, where he worked closely with Latha Namboothiri and rose from manager to director. However, the launch of the Confident Group in 2005 was clouded by industry speculation. Insiders speak of a fallout involving alleged “benami” properties and claims of deception that ultimately led to his independent venture—an episode Roy spent years trying to distance himself from, according to associates.

A tale of two cities

Roy’s professional trajectory diverged sharply across geographies.

In Dubai, he built a reputation as a bold and efficient developer, completing massive luxury residential projects in record time—some reportedly within 11 months. His rapid project delivery and lavish lifestyle in the Emirates earned him admiration and visibility in the real estate sector.

In Bengaluru, however, his image remained far more fractured. Sources say Roy stayed away from the city for several years amid disputes over unpaid dues to vendors and suppliers. Several projects were allegedly stalled, with accusations of unfulfilled commitments to cement and steel suppliers continuing to follow him.

Roy’s return to Bengaluru’s business and social circles began around 2018, marked by a conscious attempt at rebranding. His appointment as Honorary Consul of the Slovak Republic added diplomatic legitimacy, which he complemented with visible CSR initiatives, including ambulance donations and high-profile charity events.

Heavy police presence in Langford Town

Following the incident, police personnel from the Central division were deployed outside the Confident Group building in Langford Town, which also houses the Slovak Honorary Consulate in Bengaluru.

The otherwise busy premises near Hosur Road wore a deserted look on Friday, reflecting the shock and uncertainty that followed the tragedy.

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