Mangaluru: Hyderabadi Food Festival kicks off at Hotel Ocean Pearl; to be open till March 10
Mangaluru: A 15-day Hyderabadi Food Festival organised by Coral Multi Cuisine Fine Dine Restaurant by Hotel Ocean Pearl kicked off on February 25, Tuesday, providing a wide range of variety of Hyderabadi cuisine and food for the food lovers.
Located at Navabharat Circle, Kodialbail in the city the food festival will offer a wide range of cuisine and variety of dishes for the food enthusiasts for 15 days during the lunch and dineer hours.
The food festival will offer variety of food and dishes in both Vegetarian and Non-Vegetarian cuisine and assures people of food being ‘Strictly Halal’.
“To bring the international cuisine to the people of Mangaluru and Dakshina Kannada, we organise food festivals of different cuisines every now and then. The foodie community likes it. So this time we have organised this Hyderabadi Food Festival. This will allow the food lovers to taste the cuisine of Hyderabad. We are offering Biryani, Dessert, Kebab and other variety of dishes from this delicious cuisine” Girish, Vice President of Ocean Pearl Group of Hotels told Vartha Bharati.
Girish also asserted that the motive behind organising food festivals every year was to promote positivity among people who look for peace and stress-free time away from all their worries for some time. He further added that the worrying conditions of the market is also a factor that prompted them to organise this food festival so that people can enjoy time away from their worries and stress.
“We want to provide good food to people so that people can come in with their families and enjoy quality time and quality food. That is why we organise such food festivals” Girish said.
“Hyderabadi cuisine is dominantly full of street food that food enthusiasts love to eat. Also, these dishes are not available anywhere in and around Mangaluru, so this is an opportunity for the people of Mangaluru to come and enjoy one of the most sought after cuisines of India” he added.
Asked about which cuisines he plans to bring to Mangaluru as a part of coming food festivals, Girish hinted that the hotel will go with international cuisine and people might get to taste quality food from Mexican or Italian cuisine in coming days.
Haleem, Murgh Malai Korma, Hyderabadi Dum ka Murgh, Vegeterian Main Course, Dessert, Bagare Baigna, Murgh Nizami Seekh, Noorani Subz Seekh, Aloo Nazaqat, Gosht Shikampuri Kebab, Margisi Kofta, Dalcha Gosht are some of the significant Hyderabadi dishes that will be available at the food festival.
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UK Professor Nitasha Kaul's Overseas Citizenship of India cancelled
Academician decries move as "transnational repression"
London/New Delhi: Professor Nitasha Kaul, a London-based academic, announced on May 18, 2025, via a social media post that her Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) card has been cancelled by the Indian government. She described the move as a "bad faith, vindictive, cruel example of transnational repression" intended to punish her for her scholarly work critical of the Modi government's policies concerning minorities and democracy.
The cancellation follows an incident in February 2024 when Professor Kaul, who holds a British passport and held an OCI card, was denied entry into India upon arrival at Bengaluru airport. She had been invited by the then Congress-led Karnataka state government to speak at a conference on "The Constitution and Unity in India."
According to an image of the letter shared by Professor Kaul, the Indian government stated that it had been "brought to the notice of the Government of India that you have been found indulging in anti-India activities, motivated by malice and complete disregard for facts or history." The letter further accused her of regularly targeting India and its institutions on matters of India's sovereignty through "numerous inimical writings, speeches and journalistic activities at various international forums and on social media platforms."
Professor Kaul, who is a Professor of Politics, International Relations, and Critical Interdisciplinary Studies and the Director of the Centre for the Study of Democracy (CSD) at the University of Westminster, London, vehemently rejects these accusations. She stated she had provided a 20,000-word response to what she termed the government's "ridiculous inanity about ‘anti-India’," but the OCI was cancelled through a "rigged process."
In her social media posts, Professor Kaul lamented the decision, questioning how the "mother of democracy" could deny her access to her mother in India. She characterized the action as stemming from "thin-skinned, petty insecurity with no respect for well-intentioned dissent."
The February 2024 denial of entry had already sparked controversy. At the time, immigration officials reportedly cited "orders from Delhi" without providing formal reasons, though Professor Kaul mentioned informal references to her past criticism of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). The Ministry of External Affairs had then responded by stating that the entry of foreign nationals into India is a "sovereign decision." Unofficial government sources had indicated that a "preventive lookout circular" was issued against her due to her alleged "pro-separatist" and "anti-India" stance on Kashmir.
The BJP in Karnataka had criticised the state government for inviting her, labelling her an "anti-India element." Conversely, the then-Karnataka government and various international human rights organizations and academic bodies had condemned the denial of entry.
Professor Kaul has been an outspoken commentator on Indian politics, including the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, and has testified before international bodies such as the US Congress on human rights in the region. She maintains her work is academic and pro-democracy, not anti-India.
The cancellation of her OCI card effectively bars her from entering India, a country to which she has personal and academic ties. This incident adds to a growing list of academics, journalists, and activists of Indian origin whose OCI status has been revoked or who have been denied entry to India in recent years, raising concerns about freedom of speech and dissent. Reports indicate that over 100 OCI cards were cancelled by the Indian government between 2014 and May 2023. Furthermore, in 2021, new rules were introduced requiring OCI cardholders to obtain special permission for activities such as research and journalism.
