Kichcha Sudeep’s upcoming project based on Mahabharata’s Ashwatthama?

Sandalwood

Anup Bhandari, who will be directing the project, is currently working with Sudeep for ‘Phantom’.

Digital Native

Kannada director Anup Bhandari announced his new project some months ago, and the poster of this film was released by Kichcha Sudeep, garnering interest amongst his fans. While the duo is associated with Phantom currently, the groundwork for this yet-untitled project is also happening simultaneously. According to the latest reports, this new project will be based on Ashwatthama, an important character in the epic Mahabharata. Sources in the know say that Sudeep will be playing the lead role. Speaking about the project in an interview earlier with the Times of India, director Anup Bhandari had said, “I have already written the first half of the script and whenever I get time off, I get cracking on the second part of the script. I have been working on the story for two years now. I’ll get clarity on this only after wrapping Phantom.” The shooting of Phantom, which is in the final stages, is currently happening in Kerala. While Sudeep plays the lead character Vikranth Rona, Nirup Bhandari will be seen in the role of Sanjeev Gambhira and Neetha Ashok as Aparna Ballal aka Panna.  Manjunath Gowda, a close associate of Sudeep, is producing the film under his banner. The technical crew of Phantom includes B Ajaneesh Loknath for music and William David to crank the camera. On Sudeep’s role as Vikranth Rona, director Anup Bhandari said in an interview earlier, “The character of Vikranth Rona is as powerful as his name. Nobody knows why he does what he does. But there is a reason behind everything he does.” Another highlight of this film is that the Bollywood diva Jacqueline Fernandez will be making a special appearance in it. We hear that she will be a part of a special musical number in the film. Earlier, there were reports that the filmmakers are planning to release the teaser of Phantom at the famous Burj Khalifa in Dubai. Confirming this, Alankar Pandian said that all plans were made for the teaser launch here, but it had to be put off due to the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. He, however, confirmed that the event will happen as planned and the team is working on a fresh release date, which will probably be at the end of January or early February. While the shooting of Phantom is on, Kichcha Sudeep’s fans are eagerly awaiting the release of Kotigobba 3. Arjun Janya is composing music for this venture while Shekar Chandru is handling the camera. Madonna Sebastian and Shraddha Das are playing the female leads in Kotigobba 3, with Bollywood actor Aftab Shivdasani playing an important role. This film is produced by Surappa Babu under his banner. Kichcha Sudeep was last seen on the silver screens in the Bollywood flick Dabangg 3, directed by Prabhu Deva and produced by Salman Khan and Arbaaz Khan under their banners Salman Khan Films and Arbaaz Khan Productions.

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Tensions grow on Biden's team over odds of making vaccination goal

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Bengaluru’s HSR Layout to face power outages this week

Power

The outages are due to works for converting overhead electricity lines into an underground system in various parts of Bengaluru.

TNM Staff

PTI : Image for representation

The Bangalore Electricity Supply Company Limited (BESCOM) on Sunday announced that there will be power outages in various areas in HSR Layout in Bengaluru between January 11 and 16. The outages are expected due to the conversion of the 11 kV overhead (OH) line to underground (UG) cables and the laying of optical fibre cables in the area. The first and second sectors in HSR Layout will have power cuts on January 11 and 12 while the 7th sector will have power outages on January 13. The third sector will have outages on January 15 while the 27th Main Road will have an outage on January 16. "The line will be taken up by BESCOM staff to carry out the work of conversion of 11 kV OH line to UG cable, LT OH line by LT UG/AB cable and laying of OFC cable. Consumers are requested to cooperate," a note issued by BESCOM's Executive Engineer for the HSR Layout Division in Bengaluru read. The note added that the areas where outages are expected will be the ones coming under 220/66/11KV HSR MUSS, as per BESCOM's terminology. Consumers can dial 1912 for lodging complaints against BESCOM. Other areas in southern Bengaluru are expected to have minor outages this month for the same reason. Meanwhile, outages are also expected in the city's east division, in Indiranagar and Whitefield areas, due to tree trimming work being taken up by BESCOM. As many as 47 areas have been earmarked for tree trimming work, with the longest outage being in Whitefield, for six hours.  BESCOM has taken up the works for converting 7,250-kilometre overhead electricity lines into an underground system, including 2,393-kilometre 11 kV high-tension lines in six areas of the city at a cost of Rs 1,400 crore. The six areas identified for the project are Indiranagar, Jayanagar, Shivajinagar, Koramangala, Whitefield and Hosur Road-Sarjapur Road divisions.  

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New year, same old BBMP: Civic body misses another deadline to fix potholes

Civic

Administrator Gaurav Gupta had issued a 10-day deadline for engineers to fill Bengaluru’s potholes on December 29.

Shishir Rao

Representational image

The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike has missed yet another deadline for filling potholes in the city, nearly two weeks after Administrator Gaurav Gupta had issued a 10-day deadline to engineers to do the same. Explaining the reason for the delay some engineers have blamed the unusual January rains for not being able to start the work. Another reason that has been cited is lack of sufficient hot mix as the in-house hot mix plant for the BBMP is partially closed for the repairs. However, Gaurav Gupta and Commissioner N Manjunatha Prasad have said that sufficient hot mix has been supplied to various parts of the city. It has been reported that the task has not begun in the city’s Bommanahalli, Yelahanka, West Zone and South Zone areas. In several other areas, residents and other citizens’ associations have expressed anger and dissatisfaction about the work that has been done, which according to them is shoddy.  “We must understand that there are nearly 15,000 km of roads in Bengaluru and over time traffic also has increased a lot. Before, we used to take a week to fill a pothole but we have improved the process from seven days to just two days. Despite this, roads will keep getting damaged and to imagine that one day all potholes would be gone is not possible. However, we are working to make Bengaluru pothole-free,” BS Prahalad, Chief Engineer (Roads), BBMP told TNM. Meanwhile many roads in the city are in a deplorable condition due to ongoing Smart City Project, water pipe laying and metro construction works. BBMP officials said that the roads will be repaired only after the works done on them are completed.   However, residents are unhappy with the pace and quality of work done by the civic body engineers. “In our area there has been no work done at all. While travelling to other areas, I have seen the work done here and there. It is such a shoddy job that one good rain will wash it away. All the repairs are done for namesake and it really doesn’t do much to improve roads. On the contrary, when they are improperly repaired, the potholes get worse and the loose stones create a dangerous surface to ride on.” N Ravi, a resident of Bengaluru’s Kathriguppe, told TNM.

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Air India's all-women crew complete longest flight from San Francisco to Bengaluru

Aviation

The direct distance between the two cities at opposite ends of the world is 13,993 km with a time zone change of around 13.5 hours.

Twitter/ Air India

Air India's longest direct flight from San Francisco to Bengaluru with an all-woman cockpit crew successfully landed in the southern city on Monday. The national carrier had said on Saturday that this flight would be the longest commercial flight in the world to be operated by any Indian airline and the total flight time on this route would be of more than 17 hours depending on the wind speed on that day. Members of the crew are: Captain Zoya Aggarwal, Captain Papagari Thanmai, Captain Akansha Sonaware and Captain Shivani Manhas. The direct distance between the two cities at opposite ends of the world is 13,993 km with a time zone change of around 13.5 hours. "In a moment to cherish and celebrate, women professionals of Indian civil aviation create history," Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Puri said on Twitter. "Heartiest Congratulations to Capt Zoya Aggarwal, Capt Papagari Thanmai, Capt Akansha Sonaware & Capt Shivani for flying over North Pole to land in Bengaluru from San Francisco, he stated. Flight AI176 departed from San Francisco in the USA at around 8.30 pm (local time) on Saturday and landed at the Kempegowda International Airport at around 3.45 am (local time) on Monday.   #WATCH via ANI multimedia: With four women pilots, Air India's longest direct route flight landed at Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru (Karnataka) from San Francisco, flying over North Pole & covering a distance of about 16,000 kilometres.https://t.co/vcy94g6fz0 — ANI (@ANI) January 11, 2021   The all-women crew was given a warm welcome at the Bengaluru airport.   A historic moment for us! BLR-SFO route commences with the arrival of flight AI 176. This marks the first non-stop connection between #Bengaluru and #SanFrancisco. #BLRAirport @airindiain @MoCA_GoI @HardeepSPuri #GOK pic.twitter.com/8pFLSbRaVh — BLR Airport (@BLRAirport) January 10, 2021   The flight was operated with a Boeing 777-200LR aircraft with a seating capacity of 238 seats, including eight First Class, 35 Business Class,195 Economy class configuration besides four cockpit and 12 cabin crew. Air India too expressed its elation when it tweeted "Imagine this: -All Women Cockpit Crew. -Longest flight into India. -Crossing the North Pole, it’s here & happening! Records broken. History in the making by AI176 from @flySFO to @BLRAirport. AI 176 is cruising at 30000 feet.” Air India has said this was the longest commercial flight in the world to be operated by it or any other airline in India. The total flight time on this route would be more than 17 hours depending on the wind speed on that particular day, it had said in a statement on the eve of the historic flight. Aggarwal, the lead pilot on flight, had told NDTV that the crew was going to try and fly over the North Pole on the eve of this historic flight. “However, it depends on multitude of factors like solar radiations and the turbulence,” she added. “So, we are going to sit tight and hope that we will go polar and break all sorts of records.” With PTI inputs  

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Karnataka cabinet expansion likely on January 13: CM Yediyurappa

Politics

This comes after BS Yediyurappa met top BJP leaders, including Amit Shah and JP Nadda, in New Delhi on Sunday.

PTI

Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on Sunday said that the much-awaited cabinet expansion is likely to take place on January 13. This comes soon after he met top BJP leaders, including Union Home Minister Amit Shah and the party's national president JP Nadda, in New Delhi on Sunday. "We have finalised seven names. January 14 is the festival. Most probably the oath-taking ceremony will take place on January 13 afternoon. I will confirm the names and portfolios later," the chief minister told reporters after arriving in Bengaluru from Delhi. Earlier, speaking to reporters in New Delhi after meeting Nadda and Amit Shah, Yediyurappa said that he would give good news soon. "On cabinet expansion, there was a detailed discussion. You will get good news soon," the chief minister told reporters after an hour-long meeting held at Shah's residence in Delhi during which state party in-charge Arun Singh was also present. He, however, evaded queries on whether he would be able to complete his tenure, as there has been speculation about a possible leadership change in the state following murmurs of discontent in the party. Sources said the cabinet rejig is most likely to take place before January 20. The chief minister said this was the "last meeting" to discuss the cabinet expansion and the final names will be cleared as early as possible. The state can have a total of 34 ministers and has 27 now. There was a "positive, fruitful and satisfactory discussion. I am happy with the discussion... we will wait for their instructions," he said, adding the central leadership has assured its support. The cabinet expansion in the state has been on the cards for over a year now, and the delay has led to some unease in the state unit. The chief minister said he suggested some names and expressed confidence that the central BJP leadership will respond positively. "One hundred per cent, this is the last meeting. They are going to clear the names as soon as possible," he said replying to a query. Asked if he is confident about completing his tenure as chief minister, Yediyurappa replied, "It is a question which only you can answer." Amid reports of simmering discontentment among a section of legislators on the functioning of the government and certain ministers, the chief minister recently held region wise meetings with party MLAs for two days. All 118 BJP MLAs have expressed faith in Chief Minister Yediyurappa's leadership, state ministers had said on Tuesday, while asserting that the government was stable. However, it was not clear if the leadership issue was discussed during Yediyurappa's meetings with senior BJP leaders on Sunday. Apart from the cabinet rejig, the chief minister said there were discussions also on the upcoming bye-polls in the state for one parliamentary and two Assembly seats. "They asked me to send the names of the candidates at the earliest for clearance," he said, adding the leadership also told him to ensure the party's victory on all three seats. The senior party leaders also expressed happiness over recent gram panchayat results, Yediyurappa added. Yediyurappa's son and state BJP Vice President BY Vijayendra also stressed that the discussions on cabinet expansion were complete. "The chief minister has said clearly that there won't be...further talks on cabinet rejig. All issues have been discussed in detail," he said. Vijayendra accompanied the chief minister to Delhi but was not present during the meetings with BJP leaders. The cabinet rejig is expected to be a tightrope walk for the chief minister, considering that there are too many aspirants, from the party's old guard to Congress and JD(S) rebels who are now BJP legislators. Among those in the ministerial race in the state are MLAs Umesh Katti, Munirathna, Basanagouda Patil Yatnal, MP Renukacharya, Aravind Limbavali and SR Vishwanath. Three MLCs — CP Yogeshwar, MTB Nagaraj and R Shankar — are too aspiring for a ministerial berth. Another MLC, AH Vishwanath, was also in the race but his hopes were dashed when the Karnataka High Court on November 30 barred him from becoming a minister until at least May this year. Bye-polls are scheduled for Maski and Basavakalyan assembly seats and Belagavi Lok Sabha constituency. While Maski fell vacant due to the resignation of Congress MLA Pratap Gouda Patil in 2019, the bye-poll to Basavakalyan and Belagavi seats were necessitated following the death of their representatives B Narayan Rao and Suresh Angadi, respectively, due to the coronavirus.

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