Plans afoot for global Yakshagana Sammelana: Minister Sunil Kumar
Mangaluru (PTI): The Karnataka government is planning to hold a 'Vishwa Yakshagana Sammelana' and discussions on the proposal are in the initial stages, Minister for Kannada and Culture V Sunil Kumar has said.
Yakshagana is a traditional folk dance form popular in coastal Karnataka. It is an elaborate dance-drama performance that combines dance, music, song, scholarly dialogues and colourful costumes. Hence, the name Yaksha (celestial) Gana (music).
Addressing the valedictory of the first state-level Yakshagana Sammelana in Udupi on Sunday night, he said a data bank of Yakshagana artistes will be created by the culture department.
The data bank will collect information on different schools of Yakshagana and its artistes, he said.
Kumar added that the government had allocated Rs 2 crore for the state-level Yakshagana Sammelana this year.
The two-day programme resolved to make the state-level Yakshagana meet an annual event. The Sammelana next year will be held in Dakshina Kannada district.
In a resolution, the meet also demanded that a national School of Yakshagana be set up on the lines of National School of Drama (NSD). The government was also urged to increase the monthly pension of Yakshagana artistes to Rs 5,000.
The Sammelana also wanted the government to give due recognition to Kasaragod district in Kerala while nominating members to different cultural academies and announcing prizes, as the district had cultural attachment with Karnataka.
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Airlines got 999 hoax bomb threats till Nov 14 this year; 256 FIRs filed: Govt
New Delhi, Nov 28: Airlines received 999 hoax bomb threats this year till November 14 and as many as 256 FIRs have been filed while guidelines have been issued by aviation security regulator BCAS for objective assessment of threats, the government said on Thursday.
In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol said a total of 1,148 hoax bomb threat messages/calls have been received since August 2022 till November 14, 2024 threatening the operations of international and domestic air travel.
While 999 threats were received by airlines during the period from January to November 14, 2024, the count stood at 122 last year and at 27 for the August-December 2022 period.
"256 FIRs have been filed since January 2024 till 14 November 2024, out of which 163 FIRs have been filed during 14 October- 14 November 2024. 12 arrests have been made in view of hoax bomb threat since January 2024 till 14 November 2024," the minister said.
The Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) has issued guidelines for objective assessment of threats. The indicative factor has been useful in reducing time taken by the Bomb Threat Assessment Committee (BTAC) during the decision-making process.
"Also, to reduce the overall time taken for convening BTAC to less than 5 minutes, virtual assembly of BTAC through pre-generated video link has been set up. Further, advisories for compulsory 10 per cent of secondary ladder point check-in for all flights, strict monitoring of non-scheduled flight operations, enhanced security measures and surveillance at cargo terminals were issued," Mohol said.
Further, the minister said the government is considering amending the Aircraft (Security) Rules, 2023 to put hoax threat messenger in the no-fly list.
"It is also being considered to amend Suppression of Unlawful Acts against Safety of Civil Aviation for covering Aircraft in flight as well as on ground, airport etc," he added.
