In cartoons: The work of P Mahamud, the winner of the inaugural Gauri Lankesh award
Bengaluru : Political cartoonist P Mahamud has won the first edition of an award set up in the memory of journalist Gauri Lankesh, who was assassinated in Bengaluru a year ago. The announcement was made on Wednesday by two India centres of writers’ organisation PEN.
Mahamud has been given the “Gauri Lankesh Award for Democratic Idealism” award for his “exemplary commitment to the advancement of social and economic justice and political democracy”, the award citation said. The award carries a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh and will be given annually to individuals or organisations whose work “reflects an abiding passion and courage towards advancing democratic culture in India”, said PEN Delhi and PEN South India.
“Mahamud’s cartoons have offered a powerful, non-partisan critique of political corruption, communalism and caste prejudice, among other problems seen in the country in general and in Karnataka in particular,” said the awarding organisations. “The bold and passionate work of Mahamud has contributed richly to nourish a democratic spirit in public discussions.”
Mahmud began his career as a freelance cartoonist with Kannada weekly in 1986 and went on to work with several English and Kannada publications.
The jury for the inaugural award – which was given for work in Kannada – comprised sociologist Chandan Gowda, journalist Sangamesh Menasinakai, and authors Arshia Sattar and Vivek Shanbhag.
Here are a few cartoons he has drawn in recent weeks:
(A cartoon, dated August 30, that takes a jibe at the Centre for the arrest of five human rights activists while bigger problems remain unsolved.)
(A cartoon drawn on July 20, 2018, when a no-confidence motion against the government was discussed in the Lok Sabha. The government won the vote.)
(A cartoon, dated September 5, on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's reaction to the declining value of the rupee and rising fuel prices.)
(A cartoon published on August 4 after Imran Khan's party emerged the single-largest party in the Pakistan national elections.)
Gauri Lankesh was shot dead in her home in Bengaluru on the night of September 5, 2017. Unidentified men fired at least four shots at her before escaping by motorbike. A special investigation team of the Karnataka Police is investigating the murder.
courtesy : scroll.in
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Four dead in highway pile-up in Karnataka
Ballari (Karnataka) (PTI): At least four people are feared dead and some others were injured in a pile-up involving a bus, a garlic-laden lorry, a car and multiple two-wheelers near Danapur in Hospet taluk of Vijayanagara district on National Highway 50 on Saturday morning, police said.
According to police sources, the accident began as a minor collision but escalated when the speeding lorry rammed into a bike and subsequently crashed into a bus and a car before overturning.
The lorry fell onto the car and dragged it for nearly 100 metres after the impact, police said.
Preliminary inquiry suggests the driver was transporting garlic towards Chitradurga and was driving at high speed, leading to loss of control and a chain collision.
“The four occupants of the car are feared to have died on the spot after the lorry toppled onto the vehicle,” police sources said, adding that some people sustained injuries, some of them serious.
Rescue operations were underway to clear the overturned vehicle and retrieve those trapped.
The injured have been shifted to government hospitals in Hospet and Koppal for treatment, they added.
Vehicular movement on National Highway 50 was severely affected, with traffic piling up for several kilometres as locals gathered at the accident site and emergency teams intensified relief efforts.
