Karnataka Media Academy announces awards for 2023, 2024
Vartha Bharati's Editor-in-Chief gets Lifetime Achievement Award
Bengaluru: The Karnataka Media Academy announced its Lifetime Achievement Awards, Annual Awards, and Endowment Awards for 2023 and 2024 on Thursday.
The prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award for 2023 was announced for veteran journalist A.C. Shivanna. For 2024, Abdussalam Puthige, Editor-in-Chief of Vartha Bharati, was selected for this honor for his significant contributions to journalism.
Among the Annual Award recipients for 2023 was Ibrahim Adkasthala from Vartha Bharati, recognized for his outstanding work. Muhammad Akheel, also from Vartha Bharati, received an Endowment Award for his impactful reporting.
Several other journalists were acknowledged for their exceptional contributions over the two years. Notable recipients of the 2023 Annual Awards included Gangadhar Modliyar, Prof. Usha Rani N., Sushilendra Nayak, Vasudeva Holla, Alfred Tennison, and others who excelled in various fields of journalism.
For 2024, recipients of the Annual Awards included Prof. A.S. Balasubrahmanya, Rishikesh Bahadur Desai, Subhash Huggar, and several other notable journalists whose work brought significant attention to pressing issues in society.
The Endowment Awards highlighted excellence in specific categories. The Kannadamma Patrike Award was given to Ravi Kumar Channabasappa Kagganavar for his report on KYC updates and Vijay Kotiyaan from Vijay Karnataka for his feature on intellectuals. The
Mysuru Diganta Award recognized Shivananda Gombi of Kannada Prabha for his report on villagers emptying lake water and Sandhya Hegde of Prajavani for her feature on a beedi worker’s dream cut short.
Other significant awards included the Praja Sandesha Award for Shilpa P. of Deccan Herald for her report on manual scavenging, the Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Mookanayaka Award to K. Neela from Kalaburagi, and the C.V. Rajagopal Memorial Award to K.M. Ravishankar from Kannada Prabha.
Special mentions for 2024 included Muhammad Akheel from Vartha Bharati for his report on untouchability in Koppal, B.K. Devayya from Republic Kannada News for his report on delayed pensions, and Nandeesh Mallenahalli from Suvarna News for a series on land allocation for the specially-abled.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Parliament passes Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025
New Delhi (PTI): Parliament early Friday passed the contentious Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025, after it was approved by the Rajya Sabha.
The Lok Sabha had on Thursday approved the Bill after over a 12-hour debate.
In Rajya Sabha, the Bill got 128 votes in its favour and 95 against after all the amendments moved by the opposition were rejected.
In the lower house, the bill was supported by 288 MPs while 232 voted against it.
Participating in a debate in the Rajya Sabha, Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said the Bill was brought with a number of amendments based on suggestions given by various stakeholders.
"The Waqf Board is a statutory body. All government bodies should be secular," the minister said, explaining the inclusion of non-Muslims on the board.
He, however, said the number of non-Muslims has been restricted to only four out of 22.
Rijiju also alleged that the Congress and other opposition parties, and not the BJP, were trying to scare Muslims with the Waqf Bill.
"You (opposition) are pushing Muslims out of the mainstream," he added.
He said for 60 years, the Congress and others ruled the country, but did not do much for Muslims and the community continues to live in poverty.
"Muslims are poor, who is responsible? You (Congress) are. Modi is now leading the government to uplift them," the minister said.
According to the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, Waqf tribunals will be strengthened, a structured selection process will be maintained, and a tenure will be fixed to ensure efficient dispute resolution.
As per the Bill, while Waqf institutions' mandatory contribution to Waqf boards is reduced from 7 per cent to 5 per cent, Waqf institutions earning over Rs 1 lakh will undergo audits by state-sponsored auditors.
A centralised portal will automate Waqf property management, improving efficiency and transparency.
The Bill proposes that practising Muslims (for at least five years) can dedicate their property to the Waqf, restoring pre-2013 rules.
It stipulates that women must receive their inheritance before the Waqf declaration, with special provisions for widows, divorced women and orphans.
The Bill proposes that an officer above the rank of collector investigate government properties claimed as Waqf.
It also proposes that non-Muslim members be included in the central and state Waqf boards for inclusivity.
