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Has Tulu found a new lease of life?

By
Pranesh Rangan
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Article 29 of the Indian Constitution protects the interest of not just religious but also linguistic minorities. It states that any section of the citizens residing in the territory of India or any part thereof having a distinct language, script or culture of its own shall have the right to conserve the same.

Tulu is one of the oldest languages spoken by the people of South Coastal Karnataka and North Coastal Kerala. Census 2011 notes that there are 18,46,427 native speakers of Tulu in India. The cities of Mangaluru, Udupi and Kasaragod are the epicenters of the Tulu language. As Tulu is not one among the official languages in India, speakers of the language have a sense of discontentment and feel that over the next couple of decades, they might lose their identity as Tulu speakers. Hence, many have started raising their voices to include Tulu in the 8th Schedule of the Constitution.

It is said that Sri Madhvacharya, the 13th century spiritual leader and the founder of the Dvaita school of Vedanta was born to a Tulu speaking family. While popular belief/notion is that Tulu language does not have a script, there are inscriptions available that proves the contrary. The oldest available inscriptions in Tulu are from the period between 14th to 15th century AD. Unfortunately most of the Tulu speaking people from Karnataka today, write Tulu in Kannada.

 

Image Courtesy: www.tuluacademy.org

 

Image Courtesy: www.tuluacademy.org

Today, Jai Tulunad’, an organization is at the forefront promoting the language through its online teaching programmes free of cost to people who are interested in learning Tulu in its native script. However, for many years Tulu was taught using Kannada, Hindi or Malayalam scripts depending on the location of people attending the class. Jai Tulunad is now requesting the Governments at the State and Centre level to include Tulu to the 8th schedule of the Constitution.

The Karnataka Tulu Sahitya Academy is an autonomous organization under Government of Karnataka established in 1994. Tulu Sahitya academy organizes workshops, seminars, cultural events and gatherings for Tulu public. It also provides research grants for research in Tulu language and culture, publishes books and presents the annual awards in the fields of Tulu literature, Tulu folk arts, Yakshagana, research and novel writing.

According to the Karnataka Tulu Academy and other Tulu institutions, a total of over 40 lakh Tuluvas are spread over different parts of Karnataka including Bengaluru. More than 1.5 crore people are using Tulu across the globe. On August 28, 2020, a delegation of people’s representatives from coastal Karnataka met chief minister B S Yediyurappa, seeking state official language status for Tulu and handed over a memorandum. BJP state minister Kota Srinivas Poojary, Mangaluru (north) MLA Dr Bharath Shetty, Puttur MLA Sanjeeva Matandoor, MLCs Pratap Simha Nayak and Shantaram Siddi were present on the occasion.

On January 9, 2021, Udupi-Chikmagalur MP Shobha Karandlaje inaugurated the renovated Uchila branch of Mahalakshmi Cooperative Bank Ltd. Karnataka Tulu Sahitya Academy president Dayanand Kathalsar unveiled the Tulu name board of the cooperative bank. This move was appreciated by social media users saying that this is the first bank having Tulu name board.

Udupi Sri Krishna Mutt ( Paryaya – Admaru Mutt) has organised various cultural and religious programmes as part of the fifth centenary celebration of the Paryaya puja system of the Ashta Matas. On January 22, on the Occasion of  Saura Madhwa Navami, Tulu script learning session will be inaugurated at Udupi Sri Krishna Mutt. Udupi Krishna Mutt also has a nameboard that has Tulu and Sanskrit.

It would be surprising to know that there is also a Tulu film industry. While it took almost 43 years from 1971, for the first 50 Tulu movies, the next 50 came in just four years. The 100th Tulu movie was released in 2018. There is also a Tulu matrimony site as part of Bharat Matrimony.

It is also to be noted that Prime Minister Modi spoke Tulu during his election campaign at Mangaluru. Few months ago, the hashtag #TuluTo8thSchedule was trending on Twitter where several social media users demanded the official language status for Tulu.

As people from different backgrounds have started promoting the usage of Tulu and learning Tulu scripts, revival of Tulu as a written language is definitely not far away.

Wuhan virus found in Chinese ice cream

By
The Commune
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Traces of the coronavirus was found in cartons of ice cream produced by the Daqiaodao Food Co., Ltd. in Tianjin,  place close to the Chinese capital Beijing. The factory was sealed and the employees were tested for the virus. It was found that no one had contracted the virus from the ice cream.

Over 29,000 cartons were produced by this factory, but most of them were left unsold. The 390 cartons that were sold in Tianjin were being tracked down and authorities elsewhere were notified of sales to their areas. The ingredients included New Zealand milk powder and whey powder from Ukraine, the government said.

The authorities said the coronavirus survived in ice cream because of the cold temperature. They believe the virus reached the ice cream through an infected person.

Meanwhile, China on Sunday reported 109 new confirmed COVID-19 cases, two-thirds of them in a northern province close to Beijing, though no deaths have been reported.

Land worth ₹3 crores belonging to Tiruporur Kandasamy Temple retrieved

By
The Commune
- 
Feature Image Credits: marvelmurugan.com, The Hindu Tamil

The Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) department has retrieved land worth ₹3 crores belonging to the Tiruporur Kandasamy Temple from encroachers.

The Tiruporur Kandasamy Temple temple is administered by the HR&CE department and owns property worth over ₹1000 crores in various parts of the state including Chennai and Kancheepuram.

The lands belonging to this temple continues to come under attack from land sharks who from time to time encroach these lands or sell them off using fake pattas.

The temple has a chatram (inn) and 20 cents of empty land on Survey No. 270/16 located in the South Mada street near the temple. The temple administration had arranged money for annadanam (food donation) and other rituals through the money raised from these properties. The Executive Officer was appointed as the in-charge to carry out these works.

Howeverr, it was revealed that all these properties were encroached. Thereafter, the Executive Office and other temple staff engaged in the identification of encroachments and retrieve the lands.

The authorities have now fenced the property with a barbed wire fence and placed a sign saying ‘This plot belongs to Tiruporur Kandasamy Temple’. The property recovered is worth around ₹3 crores, officials of the Temple Endowments Board said. Activists are demanding that a thorough inspection should be done to ensure safety and security not only for the recovery of the property but also to prevent them from being encroached again.

(With inputs from Kathir News and The Hindu Tamil)

Two female judges of Afghanistan’s Supreme Court killed

By
The Commune
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Pictured: Relatives carry the body of a female judges shot dead by unknown gunmen in
Kabul, Afghanistan on January 17, 2021. REUTERS/Mohammad Ismail

Two female judges from Afghanistan’s Supreme Court were killed by unidentified gunmen on the morning of  January 17, police said.

The two judges have not yet been named. The attack, which took place at around 8.30 AM, also resulted in the judges’ driver being injured. The case is being investigated by security forces.

A spokesman for the Taliban said that its fighters were not involved in the attack.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani condemned the attacks on civilians by the Taliban and other militant groups. President Ghani said “terror, horror and crime” was not a solution to Afghanistan’s problem and asked the Taliban to accept “a permanent ceasefire”.

While government and Taliban representatives have been holding peace talks in Qatar, there has been a wave of assassinations in Kabul and other cities in Afghanistan in recent months. Journalists, activists and government officials have been targeted. Although the Taliban has denied involvement in some of these attacks, it has said that its fighters would continue to “eliminate” prominent government figures, though not journalists or civil society members.

Escalating violence has complicated the U.S.-brokered peace talks taking place in Doha as Washington is withdrawing troops from the war-stricken nation. The number of U.S troops in Afghanistan has been reduced to 2,500, the lowest level of American forces there since 2001.

Negotiations between the Taliban and the Afghan government are only likely to make substantive progress once U.S. President-elect Joe Biden takes office and makes his Afghan policy known.

Sports Ministry to name new, upgraded sporting facilities after famous sportspersons

By
The Commune
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The Sports Ministry has decided to name all upcoming and upgraded sporting facilities of the Sports Authority of India after renowned athletes who have contributed to sports in India. This decision is an effort to honour the sporting heroes of the country, the Ministry has said.

In the first leg of this exercise, the newly built air-conditioned wrestling hall and the learners swimming pool in the National Centre of Excellence (NCOE) in Lucknow, the 100-bedded hostel in NCOE Bhopal, the multipurpose hall and Girls’ hostel in NCOE Sonepat, as well as the new STC In Guwahati which has a hostel, multipurpose hall and staff quarters, will be named after local star sportspersons.

Speaking about the decision, Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports, Kiren Rijiju said, “To build a sports culture in the country, it is important that our sportspersons get the honour that they deserve, because only then will the younger generations be enthused to take up sport as a career. The government is already providing all support to present and even past athletes to ensure that they have a life of comfort and dignity. Acknowledging their contribution to sports by naming sporting facilities after them is yet another endeavour of the Government to strengthen its commitment to sportspersons.”

(Published from PIB)

Information & Broadcasting Ministry summons Amazon Prime Video officials over controversial web series Tandav

By
The Commune
-

Following the severe outrage on social media against the web series Tandav streaming on Amazon Prime Video, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has summoned the management of the over-the-top video streaming service provider for its controversial content.

Released on January 15 on Amazon Prime, the web-series is gaining criticism for Hinduphobic content where it mocks Hindus Gods Shiva and Ram. Viewers have alleged that it also has casteist content against the Dalits.

Ram Kadam of the BJP has filed a complaint against actor Zeeshan Ayyub and the web series demanding an apology for insulting Hindu Gods.  Zeeshan Ayyub is the actor who has portrayed Lord Shiva in a derogatory manner.

BJP leader Kapil Mishra too apprised the Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadaekar over the issue.

https://twitter.com/KapilMishra_IND/status/1350285350514483207?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1350285350514483207%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.opindia.com%2F2021%2F01%2Fpolice-issue-summons-to-makers-of-tandav-for-its-hinduphobic-content%2F

 

Record construction of 534 km of National Highways in one week

By
The Commune
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The Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MoRTH) has created a record by constructing 534 km of National Highways (NHs) in the last week commencing 8 January.

The Ministry has constructed 8,169 km of National Highways (NHs) from April 2020 to 15 January 2021 in the current financial year 2020-21. In other words, on average, about 28.16 km of roads were constructed per day. During the same period in the last fiscal, 7,573 km roads were constructed, with a speed of 26.11 km of roads constructed per day.

The Ministry also awarded NH projects of 7,597 km during this period (April 2020 to 15 January 2021), whereas, in 2019-20, projects of 3,474 km were awarded during the same period. Thus, the pace of awarding NH projects has also more than doubled this fiscal.

In total, projects of 8,948 km of roads were awarded in 2019-20 while 10,237 km of roads were constructed.

The achievement assumes significance given the fact that the first two months of the current fiscal were lost due to the nationwide lockdown in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Ministry has taken several initiatives to increase the pace of construction. The pace of construction is expected to increase further in the remaining months of the current financial year, which are conducive for construction activities. The MoRTH expects to cross the construction target of 11,000 km by 31 March this year.

(Published from PIB)

India sees a landmark dip in COVID cases: Active cases dip below 2% for the first time but Kerala continues to see spike

By
The Commune
- 
Feature Image Credits: Weather.com The New Indian Express, She The People

India continues on its steady trajectory of reporting a sustained downfall in the daily new cases and consequential decline in the active cases.

For the first time, India’s share of Active Cases within the total Positive Cases has shrunk below 2% (1.98)%.

In the last 24 hours, 15,144 daily cases have been recorded. The Active Caseload of the country has fallen to 2,08,826. The daily new cases have been below 20,000 for the past 10 days.

The figure shows the change in the Active Cases in the last 24 hours. Kerala has recorded the maximum positive change with an addition of 922 cases whereas Madhya Pradesh shows maximum negative change with a drop of 433 cases.

17,170 new recoveries were registered during the last 24 hours. The share of recovered cases stands at 96.58%. The total recovered cases are 10,196,885. They exceed the active cases by 99,88,059 (48.83 times more).

80.53% of the new recovered cases are observed from 10 States/UTs.

Kerala has reported the highest number of recoveries with 5,011 newly recovered cases in a single day. 3,039 people recovered in Maharashtra in the past 24 hours followed by 930 in Uttar Pradesh.

81% of the new cases are from 8 States and UTs.

Kerala continues to report the highest daily new cases at 5,960. It is followed by Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu with 2,910 and 610 new cases, respectively.

Daily fatalities in India are also registering a consistent decline. India has recorded less than 300 daily deaths for the last 23 days.

Six States  & UTs have reported 66.30% of the 181case fatalities in the past 24 hours.

Maharashtra has reported 52 deaths. Kerala saw a fatality count of 27 while West Bengal reported 15 new deaths.

(Published from PIB)

This tiny little village in Tamil Nadu has 108 Sivan temples

By
The Commune
- 
Feature Image Credits: Dinamalar

Koppur is a village in Tiruvallur district and is a wonder in the sense that it has 108 Sivan temples. Located in the Kadambathur block of the district, this small village located around 30 kms from the district headquarters was known as Tirukkapur 250 years ago. In course of time, the name changed to Koppur.

It is said that many Saivite sages used to live in this region before Vaishnavite Sage Ramanuja was born in Sriperumbudur, which is around 15 kms from this village.

The significance of this village is that there are 108 Shiva temples each having a Nandi (Lord Sivan’s vehicle) and small tank near. The water from these tanks were used to perform abishekam to the Siva Lingams once upon a time.

It is said that after the birth of Ramanuja in Sriperumbudur, many Saivite people were attracted to Vaishnavism as a result of which these temples became dilapidated with no rituals being done.

The villagers painfully note that there are only 10 Shiva temples that are above the ground now. Other temples have been encroached upon with houses and other properties built on them. The remaining temples and tanks are nowhere to be found now.

The people of the region have long demanded that these temple be taken up for renovation and the area be converted into a spiritual tourist destination.

(With inputs from Dinamalar and Kathir News)

 

Iran test-fires ballistic missiles at targets in the Indian Ocean; missiles land near two US ships

By
The Commune
-

Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) on Saturday fired long-range ballistic missiles over a distance of 1800 km into the Indian Ocean on the second day of a military drill. Codenamed ‘Great Prophet-15’, the manoeuver consisted of the detection of hostile mock warships by the surveillance systems of the IRGC’s Aerospace Force, and their destruction using ballistic missiles of various classes within a 1,800 km range.

American news outlets reported that the missiles landed 20 miles from a commercial vessel and 100 miles from the the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz. At least two Iranian ballistic missiles sent pieces of debris splashing in all directions after they exploded on impact with the ocean.

“One of our most important defence policy goals is to use long-range ballistic missiles against enemy warships, including aircraft carriers and warships,” said the IRGC commander-in-chief Major General Hossein Salami. With these missiles, which have a range of 1,800 kilometres, he said, “we can now strike moving targets in the ocean,” instead of the usual low-speed cruise missiles.

Chief of Staff General Mohammad Baqeri said that while Iran had “no offensive intentions”, it would now be able to “respond to any hostile and malicious act in the shortest time”.

The targets for Saturday’s missile drills were in the Gulf of Oman and the northern Indian Ocean. It followed Friday’s testing of surface-to-surface ballistic missiles and locally manufactured new drones in the same area. On Wednesday, Iran tested short-range naval missiles in the Gulf. Earlier this month, Iran also held exercises that featured a wide range of domestically produced drones.

The gamut of military exercises comes amid the end of President Trump’s administration, which oversaw a turbulent period in the US-Iran relations. After President Trump abandoned Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal and reinstated harsh sanctions against Tehran, periodic confrontations between the Iranian and US militaries in the Gulf have  become much more frequent.

Iran has also vowed revenge against the US and Trump for the killing of Iran’s Major General Qassem Soleimani January last year. An Iranian court also issued an arrest warrant against President Trump on the charge of premeditated murder. While it is highly unlikely that it will be carried out, the warrant is symbolic in the waning days of the Trump presidency.

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TheCommune
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