Bengaluru: The Karnataka government on Wednesday issued an order announcing the State Annual Film Awards for the calendar year 2019. Popular Actor Kiccha Sudeep and Anupama Gowda were selected for the Best Actor and Actress awards for their roles in Pailwaan and Thrayambakam respectively.

The prestigious first best film award went to Mohanadas, followed by Love Mocktail and Arghyam as second and third Best films, respectively. Kanneri received the special concern award for addressing significant social issues, while India V/S England was honored as the best popular entertainment film. The title of best children’s film was bestowed upon Ella Aadodu Navu Elli Aadodu.

In the supporting roles category, Tabala Nani won the Best Supporting Actor award for his role in Chemistry of Kariyappa, while Anusha Krishna earned the Best Supporting Actress title for her performance in Brahmi.

In the music section, V. Harikrishna was recognized as the Best Music Director for his work in Yajamana. Raghu Dixit won the Best Playback Singer (Male) for his song in Love Mocktail, and Dr. Jayadevi Jingama Shetty was awarded Best Playback Singer (Female) for her rendition in Ragabhairavi.

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Mumbai (PTI): The rupee depreciated 31 paise to settle at 91.99 against the US dollar on Wednesday, touching the lowest closing level for the second time in less than a week, amid increased month-end demand for the greenback.

Forex traders said the rupee opened higher as the US dollar index softened and a long-awaited trade breakthrough with Europe offered quiet reassurance. However, increased month-end demand for the American currency as well as the ongoing geopolitical tensions dented investors' sentiments.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 91.60 and touched an early high of 91.50, but pared all the gains to touch an intra-day low of 91.99 against the greenback.

The domestic unit settled 31 paise down, revisiting its lowest-ever closing level of 91.99 against the greenback. The Indian currency previously ended at this level on January 23 when it also hit its all-time intraday low of 92 against the US dollar.

On Tuesday, the rupee rebounded from its all-time low levels and gained 22 paise to close at 91.68 against the US dollar.

Analysts said the rupee opened higher as the US dollar index softened and a long-awaited trade breakthrough with Europe bolstered investor sentiment.

India and the European Union on Tuesday announced the conclusion of negotiations for the free trade agreement (FTA), under which a number of domestic sectors such as apparel, chemicals and footwear will get duty-free entry into the 27-nation bloc, while the EU will get access to the Indian market at concessional duty for cars and wines, an official said.

The deal has been dubbed the "mother of all deals" as it will create a market of about 2 billion people.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.07 per cent lower at 96.14.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading 0.43 per cent lower at USD 67.28 per barrel in futures trade.

On the domestic equity market front, Sensex jumped 487.20 points to settle at 82,344.68, while Nifty surged 167.35 points to 25,342.75.

Foreign Institutional Investors turned net buyers and purchased equities worth Rs 480.26 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.