Cases against Kannada activists will be withdrawn: CM Siddaramaiah
Bengaluru: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has assured that his government will withdraw the cases filed against those who have fought for the Kannada land and language.
He was speaking on Saturday after inaugurating a grand procession of Bhuvaneshwari and Annamma deities at the city's Mysuru Bank Circle, organised under the leadership of Vatal Nagaraj, president of the Kannada Chaluvali Vatal Paksha, as part of the Kannada Rajyotsava program.
"Vatal is a fighter who does not compromise on the issue of Kannada. Even when Devaraj Urs offered him a ministership, Vatal did not agree to leave the Kannada party and the Kannada struggle," the Chief Minister said in praise.
"We all must cultivate pride and love for the Kannada land, water, language, and culture. We must foster a Kannada atmosphere in our land. For this, no matter what language anyone speaks to you, you must reply in Kannada," Siddaramaiah called upon the people.
"Everyone who has built a life on Kannada soil respects the Kannada environment. Let's take an oath that we will speak in Kannada on Kannada land. May everyone feel the pride that this is our land, our soil, our water, our language," the Chief Minister said.
Responding to the demand by Vatal Nagaraj and Sa.Ra. Govindu to confer a posthumous doctorate on Devaraj Urs from the University of Mysore, the Chief Minister assured that he would discuss the matter with the syndicate members.
"Mysore University had offered me a doctorate in the past. But I did not accept it. I said no. It is my personal feeling that one should earn a doctorate by studying and expanding one's knowledge," the Chief Minister stated.
In favor of two-language policy: "I am personally in favor of a two-language policy. However, for a two-language policy to be implemented as law, it needs to be discussed in the cabinet meeting," Siddaramaiah said on this occasion.
"The members of the Maharashtra Ekikaran Samithi (M.E.S) are Kannadigas. If any of them create mischief, we will quell it. The government is ready to do everything necessary for the development of Kannada schools in the border areas," he said.
Belagavi is a part of Karnataka: "There is no compromise on the Belagavi issue. The Mahajan report is final. Belagavi is Kannada land, a part of Karnataka. No one can deny this," the Chief Minister clarified.
Vatal Nagaraj, President of Kannada Chaluvali Vatal Paksha, Sa.Ra. Govindu, President of Dr. Rajkumar Fans' Association, and others were present at the event.
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Screenwriter Salim Khan on ventilator support and stable, say doctors
Mumbai (PTI): Veteran screenwriter Salim Khan suffered a brain haemorrhage which has been tackled, is on ventilator support as a safeguard and stable, doctors treating him said on Wednesday, a day after he was admitted to the Lilavati Hospital here.
The 90-year-old, one half of the celebrated Salim-Javed duo which scripted films such as "Sholay", "Deewar" and "Don" with Javed Akhtar, is in the ICU and recovery might take some time given his age.
"His blood pressure was high for which we treated him and we had to put him on a ventilator because we wanted to do certain investigations. Now the ventilator was put as a safeguard so that his situation doesn't get worse. So it is not that he is critical," Dr Jalil Parkar told reporters.
"We did the investigations that were required and today we have done a small procedure on him, I will not go into the details. The procedure done is called DSA (digital subtraction angiography). The procedure has been accomplished, he is fine and stable and shifted back to ICU. By tomorrow, we hope to get him off the ventilator. All in all, he is doing quite well," he added.
Asked whether he suffered a brain haemorrhage, the doctor said, "Unko thoda haemorrhage hua tha, which we’ve tackled. No surgery is required.
As concern over Khan's health mounted, his children, including superstar Salman Khan and Arbaaz Khan, daughter Alvira, and sons-in-law Atul Agnihotri and Aayush Sharma, have been seen outside the hospital along with other well-wishers. His long-time partner Akhtar was also seen coming out of the hospital.
Khan, a household name in the 70s and 80s, turned 90 on November 24 last year. It was the day Dharmendra, the star of many of his films, including "Sholay", "Seeta aur Geeta" and "Yaadon Ki Baraat", passed away.
Hailing from an affluent family in Indore, Khan arrived in Mumbai in his 20s with dreams of stardom. He was good looking and confident he would make a mark in the industry as an actor. But that did not happen. And then, after struggling for close to a decade and getting confined to small roles in films, he changed lanes.
He worked as an assistant to Abrar Alvi and soon met Akhtar to form one of Hindi cinema's most formidable writing partnerships. They worked together on two dozen movies with most of them achieving blockbuster status.
Other than "Sholay", "Deewar" and "Don", Khan and Akhtar also penned "Trishul", "Zanjeer", "Seeta Aur Geeta", "Haathi Mere Saathi", "Yaadon Ki Baarat" and "Mr India".
