Mangaluru: The house of Souza's - a household name through the length and breadth of coastal Karnataka will launch its retail outlet for Cashews and dried fruits in Mangaluru on Sunday, December 1 at 11.30 am.  The new outlet is set to be inaugurated at "Janvi Plaza", Opp: Kamath & Rau, situated on the Bunts hostel Road, Mangaluru.

"S-Nuts" was first launched in Udupi four years ago. And have since went on to become a popular brand as a healthy snack nut and a must for food ingredients.

The Mangaluru outlet will be inaugurated by Dr. M. Shantharam Shetty, Pro-Chancellor, Nitte University and will be blessed by Rev. Fr. Robert D'Souza, Principal, Lourdes School, Bejai.

MLA D. Vedavyas Kamath, will light the lamp, while MP Oscar Fernandes, MLA U.T.Khader and former minister, Govt. of Karnataka, Shri Ivan D'Souza, MLC, will be the Chief Guests.

Bhaskar Hande, General Manager, Syndicate Bank, Zonal Office, Manipal, Isaac Vas, President, KCCI, P. Subraya Pai, President, KCMA will be the guests of honour. Inaugural purchase will be made by eminent CA Shri S. S. Kamth of Kamath & Rau.

“The new retail outlet will be a One Stop Shoppe for Nutritious Nutty Delights like plain Cashew nuts, Almonds, Walnuts, Dates, Pistachios,Figs, Apricots, Raisins, salted & flavoured Cashews, spices, gift boxes and gift items. Since the opening of the first ever outlet in Udupi, there has been increasing demand from Mangaluru consumers of "S-Nuts" to start an outlet in Mangaluru, who will now on have regular access to the finest nut-food in their city” a release from the company stated.

The house of Souza's is one of the oldest and most reputed in the field of Raw Cashewnut imports, processing & exporting of Cashews, Cashewnut Shell Liquid for the last four decades and has factories in Puttur, Mangaluru and Udupi. Their export destinations are spread over 40 countries of the world including USA, Canada, European Union, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Australia, New Zealand, Middle-East and the African continent.

A lucky draw coupon sale is an added attraction for customers. One coupon for every purchase of Rs. 500 will to given to the customers who will stand a chance to win attractive prizes.

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Siddaramaiah in 'helpless situation', under some 'compulsion', claims Cong MLA Rajanna

17-04-2026 ¦ 17-04-2026 IST

MLA K N Rajanna (File Photo)

Bengaluru (PTI): Amid claims that Siddaramaiah's confidants are being targeted within the ruling Congress in Karnataka, following recent actions against some party leaders, senior MLA K N Rajanna on Friday alleged that the chief minister is "helpless" and under some "compulsion" as he is not standing up to defend his people.

The comments from the former minister, who is considered close to Siddaramaiah, came after Congress took action against some of its minority community leaders--considered close to the CM--following allegations of an internal conspiracy against the party candidate in the Davanagere South bypoll held on April 9.

Rajanna himself was sacked from the Ministry last August on the instructions of the party high command, following his alleged comments criticising top party leader Rahul Gandhi's "vote theft" charge.

"There will be vested interests in the party who will try to conspire against those who have been loyal to the party and want the party to grow for the welfare of the people. Nothing can be done about it. What we expect from our chief minister is that when such a situation arises, he should stand strong, but he is not standing and that is a sad thing," Rajanna said in response to a question whether Siddaramaiah's followers were being targeted in Congress.

Speaking to reporters here, he said, "... I don't know what his thinking is. But we did not expect such a helpless situation from Siddaramaiah."

When asked who had made Siddaramaiah helpless, the former minister said, "I won't say who, you understand it yourself."

"People are saying that those close to Siddaramaiah are being targeted...I don't know what compulsions Siddaramaiah has. If he tells, we can know, but he won't say. I don't know under what compulsion he is following this neutrality," he said, adding that the CM is helpless and a person becomes "helpless" when his/her voice shrinks.

The Congress recently suspended MLC K Abdul Jabbar from the party's primary membership and relieved another MLC Naseer Ahmed from the post of chief minister's political secretary. This action came after a group of Muslim leaders accused members of their own party of "conspiracy" to defeat the official candidate in Davanagere South.

Following the action against Jabbar and Naseer Ahmed, speculation is that Housing Minister B Z Zameer Ahmed Khan may also face action during the next cabinet rejig, as these three wanted a Muslim to get the bypoll ticket in Davanagere South, which the party gave to the late MLA Shamanur Shivashankarappa's grandson Samarth Mallikarjun. They also did not actively participate in campaigning.

Citing a Kannada saying that there is no punishment for the mistakes committed by the King, Rajanna, in what seemed to be a veiled dig at Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, asked, "Does sharing a stage with a person (referring to Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev) who said, 'Who is Rahul Gandhi? I don't know,' not amount to indiscipline?"

Referring to AICC chief Mallikarjun Kharge's statement on whether poverty could be ended by taking a dip in the Ganga at Prayagraj, he said, "...but this person (again referring to Shivakumar) goes there and compliments UP CM Yogi Adityanath for arrangements made for the Kumbh Mela. He also goes to Ambani family marriage, while Rahul Gandhi did not even accept the invitation."

"I'm not saying that action should be taken against this person too, but the party will have to observe these things also," he added.

Rajanna further pointed out that no action was taken when veteran Congress leader and late MLA from Davanagere South Shamanur Shivashankarappa made a speech seeking votes for BJP candidate B Y Raghavandra during Shivamogga Lok Sabha polls, and asked if this did not amount to indiscipline.

"The same people were at the helm then (referring to Shivakumar as KPCC chief), even a verbal warning was not given to him (Shivashankarappa)," he said, adding that, similarly no action was taken when Samarth Shamanur filed his nomination in Davanagere South before the party announced its candidate for Davanagere South-- that was also an act of indiscipline.