Clive D'Souza, Boliye and Avil Rasquinha were chosen for the 'Leo Rodrigues Family Kittall Youth Award' and 'Austin D'Souza Prabhu Family Arso Journalism Award' for the year 2022.

Both the awards carry a cash component of Rs 25,000 and citation.

The awards will be conferred on Avil Rasquinha and Clive D'Souza on 1st January 2023 at 6.00 pm at a function to be held at Maria Jayanti Hall, Jeppu, Mangaluru. Ln Dr Austin D’Souza Prabhu, Chicago, editor–publisher of Veez Digital Konkani Weekly and CA Valerian D Almeida, Abu Dhabi-based entrepreneur and mentor of spearhead group will be presenting the awards.

Every year premier Konkani web portal kittall.com honors a youth writer with the Kittall youth Award and Abu Dhabi-based NRI Mr Leo Rodrigues sponsors the award for the last 10 years. Arso launched as a fortnightly in the year 2013 by H M Pernal, now successfully running in the 9th year as a monthly magazine under the editorship of noted poet and lyricist Wilson Kateel. Starting this year, ARSO will honor a senior Konkani journalist who has contributed substantially to the growth of Konkani journalism. The award is sponsored by Ln Dr Austin D'Souza Prabhu, the editor and publisher of the only illustrated digital Konkani Weekly published in Chicago in the last five and half years.

Mr Avil Rasquinha, served as an editor and publisher of the fortnightly 'Kannik' for 20 years from 1977 to 1997. He started writing at the age of 14 years and became the youngest editor-publisher at the age of 20 years. Apart from publishing 'Kannik' from his Santacruz Press, Avil has published 12 Konkani books. He has also acted in Konkani, Kannada, and Tulu Dramas and is an active member of the Lions Club. Presently, he lives in Bellore with his family.

Mr Larry Clive D'Souza of Kutalnagar writes under the name Clive Souz, Boliye for the last several years. So far, he has penned more than 140 poems, two short stories, and about six essays. Presently, he is promoting Konkani on digital platforms. So far he has posted seven singles on Youtube and four are ready for launch. Along with singles, he has written and composed two hymns. A graduate of Hospitality Science from the University of Mangalore, he is working as a chef at Indian Ocean, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom.

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Bengaluru: In a major crackdown on drug trafficking and illegal narcotics trade, Bengaluru City Police have arrested 16 accused persons and seized narcotic substances worth Rs 36.67 crore.

According to Bengaluru City Police Commissioner Seemanth Kumar Singh, those arrested include four foreign nationals, eight persons from other states and four locals. Police said the network had interstate as well as international links.

Police recovered 9 kg 64 grams of MDMA, 5 kg 195 grams of hydro ganja, 19,755 LSD strips, 156 grams of heroin, 618 grams of charas, 332 grams of cocaine, 315 grams of drug-mixed gummies and 11 kg 470 grams of ganja from the accused.

The Commissioner said the action was carried out as part of a major anti-drug operation in the city. The network was busted with the support of the CCB Narcotics Control Squad and police stations of Bagaluru, Adugodi, Chikkajala, HSR Layout, Yeshwanthpur, Jalahalli and Jnanabharathi.

Cases were registered in CCB, East Division and West Division police stations based on specific intelligence received on different dates, following which raids were conducted.

Preliminary investigation revealed that the accused were procuring drugs at lower prices from foreign, interstate and local sources and selling them in Bengaluru at higher rates.

Police said college students and working professionals were among the main targets of the accused.