Mangaluru: Vartha Bharati’s senior reporter and journalist Imtiyaz Sha Thumbe was on Tuesday awarded the BG Mohan Das award for Digital Media’s Special Report. He has conferred the award at a ceremony held at Kannada Bhavan here in the city’s BC road on Tuesday.

The award is presented collaboratively by Gulfkannada.com and Nirat Sahitya Sampad in the honor of senior journalist BG Mohan Das.

Speaking as a guest at the ceremony, member of State Media Academy member Jagannath Shetty Bala said the academy has undertaken several measures for the well-being of the journalists across the state.

Trustee of Sevanjali Trust K Krishna Kumar Punja lauded the work and efforts of Nirata Sahitya Sampada.

DK Working Journalist Association President Srinivas Nayak Indaje said the digital media was fast taking over and said the after the government regularizes digital media, the association will ponder upon giving membership to digital journalists.

During the event, BG Mohandas’ brother Laxmikanth shed light upon the life of BG Mohan Das. The event was chaired by the honorary president of Nirat Sahitya Sampad V Bhat.

Senior Journalist and advocate Sukesh Kumar, BG Mohan’s wife Shoda, daughter Yashasvi and sister Meenakshi were also present during the event.

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Kalaburagi: The Kalyana Karnataka edition of the Kannada daily Vartha Bharati was formally launched on Saturday at a programme held at Dr S M Pandit Rangamandir in Kalaburagi. The event also marked the release of the newspaper’s twenty-third annual special issue, a compilation of selected editorials, and the Kalyana Karnataka special supplement.

The programme was inaugurated by Karnataka Legislative Assembly Speaker U T Khader. The Kalyana Karnataka edition of Vartha Bharati was unveiled by Siddharth Varadarajan, Editor-in-Chief of The Wire.

The twenty-third annual special issue was released by multilingual actor Prakash Raj. The book compiling selected editorials of Vartha Bharati was released by B R Patil, Vice-Chairperson of the State Policy and Planning Commission and MLA from Aland. The Kalyana Karnataka special supplement was released by Rahim Khan, Minister for Municipal Administration and Haj.

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Chairperson of the State Waqf Board and Sajjada Nashin of the Khwaja Bande Nawaz Dargah, Hazrat Syed Mohammed Ali Al Husseini, and Kalaburagi South MLA Allamaprabhu Patil were present as chief guests.

Among the special invitees on the dais were Koraneshwara Mahaswamiji of the Tontadarya Anubhava Mantapa, Aland; Bishop Rev Fr Robert Miranda of Kalaburagi; Bhante Varajyothi of Anandur; social activist K Neela; farmers’ leader Chamarasa Mali Patil; DSS state convenor D G Sagar; and activist and singer Ambanna Arolikar.

Speaking on the occasion, Assembly Speaker U T Khader said Vartha Bharati had emerged as the voice of the weak and the voiceless in society and had earned the love, trust and confidence of people across the state. He said the newspaper had carved out a distinct identity in the media landscape and expressed happiness that it was now reaching the Kalyana Karnataka region. He added that Vartha Bharati had remained free from political pressures and inducements and expressed hope that it would continue to stand as a support system for the distressed.

B R Patil said running a newspaper in the present times was not easy, as the media sector had increasingly turned into an industry driven by profit. Amidst such challenges, he said, Vartha Bharati had maintained integrity, honesty and commitment throughout its twenty-three-year journey. He expressed confidence that the newspaper would continue on the same path. Referring to Kalaburagi, he noted that the region frequently witnessed agitations due to the large number of unresolved issues, and said Vartha Bharati should continue to bring the problems and suffering of the people to the attention of the government and contribute to finding solutions.