Kavita annual Konkani Fest to be held in Bela on January 8
Kasaragod: Bela, a place known as the capital of the Konkani-speaking community in Kerala is all set to host Kavita Fest, the annual poetry festival hosted by Kavita Trust.
The day-long event includes poetry-related activities scheduled to be held in the courtyard of Stany Bela here on Sunday, January 8. Poets and poetry lovers from Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra and Kerala will take part in the event.
The programme will begin at 9 am with a procession accompanied by bands. The final round of Nelson and Lavina Rodrics, Cha Fra D Costa Memorial Poetry Recitation Competition will be held after the inaugural event.
Eminent Konkani author and journalist Austine D'Souza Prabhu will inaugurate the festival. Stany Bela, Konkani author, and Anwesha Singbal, president, KBM Goa, will attend as guests of honours.
Santhosh Perla, a renowned leader and a writer from the Konkani-speaking community in Kerala, will participate in an interactive session in the afternoon. Trustee of Kavita Trust and author William Pais will chair the session.
A collection of poems titled 'Chiturleche Acche Din' by Wilson Kateel will be released on the occasion.
Prashanth Naik, president, Nirakar Education Society and former president, KBM, Goa, will be the chief guest for the valedictory session.
Rathnamala Divakar, author, lyricist and former vice-president, KBM, and Gokulnath Prabhu, NRI entrepreneur, will be the guests of honour.
Poet Indu Ashok Gerusoppe will be honoured with Mathias Family Poetry Award. The award carries a cash prize of Rs 25,000, a memento and a certificate.
Bela is a village situated in Kerala and represents the highest number of Konkani-speaking people in Kerala. Although Malayalam is the state language, Konkani still has a strong influence over the village art and culture like in coastal Karnataka and Goa.
It is said that more than 25,000 Konkani-speaking people reside in various parts of Kasargod district, which has a major share compared to other districts of Kerala.
Christians, Gowda Saraswatha Brahmins and Rama Saraswatha Brahmins are the major religion-based communities who speak Konkani as mother tongue in Kerala, especially in Kasargod district.
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Israel launches first airstrike on Lebanon since ceasefire, accusing Hezbollah of breaching truce
Beirut, Nov 28: The Israeli military on Thursday said its warplanes fired on southern Lebanon after detecting Hezbollah activity at a rocket storage facility, the first Israeli airstrike a day after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took hold.
There was no immediate word on casualties from Israel's aerial attack, which came hours after the Israeli military said it fired on people trying to return to certain areas in southern Lebanon. Israel said they were violating the ceasefire agreement, without providing details. Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said two people were wounded.
The back-to-back incidents stirred unease about the agreement, brokered by the United States and France, which includes an initial two-month ceasefire in which Hezbollah members are to withdraw north of the Litani River and Israeli forces are to return to their side of the border. The buffer zone would be patrolled by Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers.
On Thursday, the second day of a ceasefire after more than a year of bloody conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, Lebanon's state news agency reported that Israeli fire targeted civilians in Markaba, close to the border, without providing further details. Israel said it fired artillery in three other locations near the border. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
An Associated Press reporter in northern Israel near the border heard Israeli drones buzzing overhead and the sound of artillery strikes from the Lebanese side.
The Israeli military said in a statement that “several suspects were identified arriving with vehicles to a number of areas in southern Lebanon, breaching the conditions of the ceasefire.” It said troops “opened fire toward them” and would “actively enforce violations of the ceasefire agreement.”
Israeli officials have said forces will be withdrawn gradually as it ensures that the agreement is being enforced. Israel has warned people not to return to areas where troops are deployed, and says it reserves the right to strike Hezbollah if it violates the terms of the truce.
A Lebanese military official said Lebanese troops would gradually deploy in the south as Israeli troops withdraw. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media.
The ceasefire agreement announced late Tuesday ended 14 months of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that began a day after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack out of Gaza, when the Lebanese Hezbollah group began firing rockets, drones and missiles in solidarity.
Israel retaliated with airstrikes, and the conflict steadily intensified for nearly a year before boiling over into all-out war in mid-September. The war in Gaza is still raging with no end in sight.
More than 3,760 people were killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon during the conflict, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. The fighting killed more than 70 people in Israel — over half of them civilians — as well as dozens of Israeli soldiers fighting in southern Lebanon.
Some 1.2 million people were displaced in Lebanon, and thousands began streaming back to their homes on Wednesday despite warnings from the Lebanese military and the Israeli army to stay out of certain areas. Some 50,000 people were displaced on the Israeli side, but few have returned and the communities near the northern border are still largely deserted.
In Menara, an Israeli community on the border with views into Lebanon, around three quarters of homes are damaged, some with collapsed roofs and burnt-out interiors. A few residents could be seen gathering their belongings on Thursday before leaving again.
