Face-off between Yash and me was fun in 'KGF: Chapter 2': Sanjay Dutt

Interview

Hombale Films has issued a press release with Sanjay Dutt answering the burning questions that fans have for him.

TNM Staff

It's common knowledge that Sanjay Dutt is playing the antagonist in the highly anticipated sequel to KGF. The character, who goes by the name of Adheera, will be pitted against Rocky, played by Yash. With the teaser for KGF: Chapter 2 set to release on January 8, fans of the franchise can't wait to catch a glimpse of what the sequel will offer. The Prashanth Neel directorial is expected to hit the screens this year. Hombale Films, the production house, has issued a press release with Sanjay Dutt answering the burning questions that fans have for him. Give us some details about your character in KGF: Chapter 2. Adheera is one of the craziest characters I have played so far, it is fearless, powerful and ruthless inspired by Vikings. There was a lot of physical prep required to become Adheera, about 1.5 hours to do the make-up to get the look and a lot of prep mentally to get into the skin of the character. The character required a lot from me in terms of these attributes. How was your experience of working with Prashanth Neel? Prashanth is a very humble guy, it was a very smooth sailing experience to shoot with him. It was my first time working with him and I had all the comfort from him, it felt like I was always a part of this KGF universe. I share a great rapport with him now, we have shared a lot of anecdotes with each other. His work style is different and his direction has helped me learn a lot. Your character is that of an antagonist, do you like playing a baddie on the big screen? Every character has its own journey, I enjoy playing characters of this shade. Every role expects different things from you and Adheera did too. What kind of action and fight sequences can be expected between you and Yash in the actioner? The film is a sequel of KGF: Chapter 1, so you can expect all that and more. Yash and I have a face-off in the film, obviously which was a lot of fun. A lot of props were involved and the sequences are choreographed beautifully, the film is high on action. Other than that, I want the audiences to enjoy the action in the film without saying too much. What was your first reaction after the project was offered to you? It is after a long time that such a role was offered to me, I got pumped and excited for it. The character is strong and charged me up to play the role, it was an immediate yes from me! How different is this character from all the characters you've played before? For me, the script and storyline is what make the character. This one in particular is an insanely charged and ruthless character. This becomes one of my favourite characters in terms of edginess and rawness.

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Avian influenza: Karnataka issues high alert to districts bordering Kerala

Avian influenza

The Karnataka government has told officials to monitor the movement of poultry in border districts.

TNM Staff

Representative Image/PTI

Karnataka issued a high alert for four districts bordering Kerala in the wake of avian influenza outbreak in the neighbouring state. The deputy commissioners were sent a general alert and Dakshina Kannada, Mysuru, Madikeri and Udupi were put on high alert after Kerala declared avian influenza a state disaster. Karnataka has already dealt with an episode of bird flu in Mysuru last year. The Principal Secretary of Horticulture Department Rajender Kumar Kataria who also holds additional charge of the Animal Husbandry Department said officials have been told to monitor the movement of poultry in the border districts. He also added that the Union government has issued specific protocols and they are issuing guidelines based on them. The protocols state measures to observe personal safety, including wearing of protective gear, disinfecting the surfaces and administration of the antiviral drugs Oseltamivir (Tamiflu) or Zanamivir (Relenza) if symptoms upon experiencing symptoms. It also gave guidelines of handling of birds, including the wild and migratory birds, besides poultry. The Hakki Habba, a bird-watching festival, kick-started on Tuesday at Mysuru amid reports of bird flu. Surveillance has reportedly been increased and the birds are being monitored, said the organizers.s The avian influenza (H5N8) was first detected in Kerala among ducks in the Kuttanad region. Culling of the poultry began in the state on Tuesday within a one-km radius of the infected region. According to the officials, the rapid response teams had culled more than 21,000 birds, mostly ducks, at Nedumudi, Thakazhi, Pallippad and Karuvatta in Alappuzha district and Neendoor in Kottayam district. Both the districts have been put under alert. Tamil Nadu has also alerted its animal husbandry and forest departments as fears of the bird flu spreading grew. In Haryana, the “unusual” deaths of four lakh poultry birds were reported in the past 10 days, but there is no confirmation that avian influenza caused these deaths. As many as 2,000 migratory birds were also found dead in Himachal Pradesh, and several hundred birds in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), there is a low chance for humans to be infected by avian influenza. A 2016 report stated that no human cases of infection has been detected.       

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Trump administration speeds up plan to deliver Covid shots in pharmacies

The move comes after federal officials have faced fierce criticism for the slow pace of immunizations.

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K’taka Min defends Bharat Biotech, urges people to refrain from discrediting scientists

COVID-19 vaccine

Scientists have criticised the Indian regulator for granting approvals in haste to Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin despite phase 3 clinical trials not being completed.

IANS

PTI

Karnataka Health Minister K Sudhakar on Tuesday urged people to refrain from unwarranted criticism of scientists that discredits their hard work. His appeal followed Bharat Biotech Director Krishna Ella’s response to criticism that the Hyderabad-based vaccine-maker lacked efficacy data on Covaxin—the COVID-19 vaccine. In a series of tweets, Sudhakar came out in defence of Bharat Biotech and said that Covaxin's phase-3 clinical trial involves 24,000 volunteers and its data will be available soon. "I humbly appeal to everyone, not as a Health Minister but as a fellow medical professional, to refrain from unwarranted criticism which discredits the hard work of our scientists," he said.  The approval of @BharatBiotech's Covid-19 vaccine 'Covaxin' marks a significant milestone in India's indigenous novel vaccinology. India being one of the largest exporter of vaccines, the world is looking up to us in the common fight against this global pandemic. (1/4) — Dr Sudhakar K (@mla_sudhakar) January 5, 2021   Covaxin's phase-3 clinical trial involves 24,000 volunteers & it's data will be available soon. I humbly appeal to everyone, not as a Health Minister but as a fellow medical professional, to refrain from unwarranted criticism which discredits the hard work of our scientists.(4/4) — Dr Sudhakar K (@mla_sudhakar) January 5, 2021   He added that the approval of Bharat Biotech's vaccine marks a significant milestone in India's indigenous novel vaccinology. He added that as the largest exporter of vaccines, the world is looking up to India in the global fight against the pandemic. He contended that Bharat Biotech is a globally reputed company with experience of developing 16 vaccines, including for influenza, Rotavirus, Japanese Encephalitis, Rabies, Chikungunya, Zika and world's first tetanus-toxoid conjugated vaccine for Typhoid. "Hailing from a humble background, Bharat Biotech's founder Krishna Ella is a passionate professional with the credibility of delivering over four billion vaccine doses to underprivileged people in more than 150 developing countries through UNICEF and other channels," he said. Heaping praise on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's inspiring leadership, the Minister said that India is at the forefront of scientific innovation to combat COVID-19 pandemic. "In line with our philosophy of 'Sarve Jana Sukhino Bhavantu' and 'Vasudaiva Kutumbakam' India will play a significant role in healing humanity," he tweeted. Hitting out at the critics, Ella had said on Monday that "I think people should have the patience to read on the Internet and look at what our articles are."

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States struggle for control of chaotic vaccine rollout

The patchwork of responses comes as desperate governors are facing a vacuum of federal support, along with dire funding and workforce shortages.

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Karnataka governor promulgates stringent anti cow-slaughter ordinance

Law

Under the new law, penalty for any other slaughter than what's allowed will range from Rs 50,000 to Rs 10 lakh per animal and 3-7 years’ imprisonment.

TNM Staff

Image for representation

Slaughtering of nearly all cattle - cow, calf of cow, bull, bullock - is now illegal in the state of Karnataka as the Governor Vajubhai Vala has promulgated the anti-cattle slaughter ordinance. The Yediyurappa-led BJP government in the state passed the bill in the Legislative Assembly but failed to introduce the Karnataka Prevention of Slaughter and Preservation of Cattle Bill in the Legislative Council. The government then took the ordinance route and the cabinet passed the ordinance. According to the new law, only male or female buffalo above the age of 13 can be slaughtered. However, cow, calf of a cow, bull, bullock are prohibited from slaughter. This means that beef meat will be unavailable in the state and only buffalo meat from buffaloes above 13 years of age can be sold.  The existing Karnataka Prevention of Cow Slaughter and Cattle Preservation Act, 1964 had banned the slaughter of cows and calf of she-buffalo. However, the older law had permitted bull, bullock, buffalo (male or female) to be slaughtered if the animal was above 12 years of age, or if it was incapacitated for breeding, draught or giving milk due to injury, deformity or any other cause. Under the new stringent law, penalty for any other slaughter will range from Rs 50,000 to Rs 10 lakh per animal and three to seven years’ imprisonment. It also gives the police power to search and seize on the basis of “reason to believe” that cattle is being sold, purchased or disposed of for the purpose of slaughter. The Karnataka Prevention of Slaughter and Preservation of Cattle Bill was passed in the Legislative Assembly last month amid ruckus, wherein the Congress legislators walked out. The Bill was thus passed without any discussion. The Congress had said then that it would go the legal route to oppose the anti-cow slaughter law in the state.  The legislation also penalises people who indulge in smuggling, illegal transport, and atrocities on cow by slaughtering them. It could also effectively bring a beef ban in the state as it defines beed as the flesh of cattle.   

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Karnataka's annual birdwatching festival Hakki Habba kicks off

Environment

The festival, hosted by the state Forest Department, aims to promote the rich biodiversity of the BRT Tiger Reserve near Mysuru.

Sanjana Deshpande

The annual birdwatching festival popularly known as Hakki Habba kicked off on Tuesday, at the Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple (BRT) Tiger Reserve in Chamarajnagar near Mysuru. The three-day festival was started in 2015 by the Karnataka Forest Department, in a bid to create awareness about the environment and to attract more people to the cause of bird conservation. The festival also aids in finding birds that are largely seen only in the region and to make note of new species that fly in. “The organisers and forest officials involved create a checklist of the species of the birds they find,” said District Forest Officer Yelakundala. In the seventh edition of the Hakki Habba or Bird Festival, he said that they were hoping to revise the list as well as record new sightings. When asked about the activities planned to engage the participants over three days, the DFO added, “Lectures by experts have been arranged for. Before taking people on the field for bird watching, we brief the participants and other attendees. We also show films and documentaries and engage the audience.” The festival also aims to promote the biodiversity of the tiger reserve. The Director of the BRT Tiger Reserve, Dr Santoshkumar G, through the Hakki Habba, also aims at showcasing the unique and rich biodiversity of the sanctuary.  The attendees are made aware of the speciality of the landscape by the movies and tours organised. The tiger reserve is located at a crucial link between the Eastern and Western Ghats complex. From semi-arid to evergreen forests, the reserve boasts of diverse landscapes and wildlife within its limits. “The activities are mindfully planned so that people can spend more time on the field and engage. We believe this will inculcate interest towards bird and wildlife conservation,” added the DFO. The BRT Tiger Reserve has multiple variants of forest environments like moist deciduous, evergreen, semi-evergreen, scrub and so on, which attracts many types of birds including migratory species. The vegetation is ideal for birds breeding, officials said. In 2020, the Hakki Habba was hosted from January 17 to January 19 at Nandi Hills, Chikkaballapur.    

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