You, your kids should learn Kannada: Zoho CEO Sridhar Vembu's advice to Bengaluru residents
Bengaluru: Zoho CEO Sridhar Vembu waded into the language debate that has gripped the state of Karnataka over the past few months. He recently reacted to a post on X by sharing that people who have made Bengaluru their “home” should know how to speak Kannada. In his opinion, not doing so is “disrespectful.”
The comment was in response to a post featuring two men wearing T-shirts with the phrase "Hindi National Language" written on them, accompanied by the caption, “Perfect T-shirt for Bangalore trip.”
Vembu, in his reply, emphasised the importance of cultural assimilation. Vembu wrote, “If you make Bengaluru your home, you should learn Kannada and your kids should learn Kannada.”
“Not doing so after living many years in Bengaluru is disrespectful. I often request our employees in Chennai coming from other states to make an effort to learn Tamil after they come here,” he added.
Vembu’s comments drew support from some, while others disagreed. "I agree. I took pride in learning Kannada, watching Raj Kumar movies and try to speak Kannada where possible. It's been 25 years now and from salfa salfa barute, now it's become gotila. One day, I do want to learn Tamil and Sanskrit when am back to India," a user said.
However, another user argued that this is immature, adding “being disrespectful for any language, culture is unacceptable but not learning a language is being disrespectful? Logic dies there.”
Another user wrote, “I have many Kannada friends in Mumbai, living here for decades. No one can speak Marathi. Not one word. Fair?”
Sridhar Vembu, whose net worth is estimated at $5.8 billion according to Forbes, is the founder and CEO of Zoho, a company that creates cloud-based business software.
I agree with this sentiment. If you make Bengaluru your home, you should learn Kannada and your kids should learn Kannada.
— Sridhar Vembu (@svembu) November 15, 2024
Not doing so after living many years in Bengaluru is disrespectful.
I often request our employees in Chennai coming from other states to make an effort to… https://t.co/1cIQ47FMjn
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Firefighting equipment at Jhansi hospital 'completely fine': UP Dy CM
Lucknow/Jhansi (PTI): Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak on Saturday dismissed media reports that the Jhansi Medical College, where a blaze claimed the lives of 10 newborns, had expired fire extinguishers.
In a statement, Pathak said a fire safety audit was carried out at the medical college in February and a mock drill was conducted in June.
At least 10 children died on Friday night in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of the Maharani Laxmi Bai Medical College, one of the largest government hospitals in the state's Bundelkhand region, possibly due to an electrical short circuit. Another 16 children are battling for life after being injured in the incident.
Some media reports have claimed that the hospital had expired fire extinguishers and faulty alarms.
"The Yogi Adityanath government is standing with the children and their families. Our staff, doctors, and rescue team have worked bravely to save the children. All the firefighting equipment in the medical college was completely fine. A fire safety audit was conducted here in February and a mock drill was also conducted in June," Pathak said in the statement.
Principal of the medical college, Dr Narendra Singh Sengar, also termed as "baseless" the allegations that the hospital had expired fire extinguishers.
"A total of 146 fire extinguisher systems are installed in the medical college. At the time of the accident, the fire extinguisher of the NICU ward was also used. All these equipment are also audited from time to time. During this, the deficiencies are removed," Sengar said.
"All these were audited in February while a mock drill was conducted in June. The claim of fire extinguishers being faulty in the medical college is completely baseless. The fire broke out in the ward due to a short circuit. The accident is being investigated," he added.
Meanwhile, Senior Superintendent of Police Sudha Singh told reporters that the 16 injured children are being treated. All the doctors are available for them with adequate medical facilities, she said.
Singh said there were inputs that some parents took their kids home after the fire erupted in the NICU. She said efforts were underway to find out the exact number of children who were in the NICU when the fire broke out and their current status.
"The medical college has informed that 52 to 54 children were admitted at the time of the incident and 10 of them have died while 16 are undergoing treatment... verification for others is ongoing," Singh said.
The rescue operation in the NICU was completed at around 1 am, she added.
