Google doodle celebrates Indian-American artist Zarina Hashmi's 86th birthday
New Delhi (PTI): Search engine giant Google on Sunday celebrated the 86th birth anniversary of Indian-American artist and printmaker Zarina Hashmi, widely recognised as one of the most significant artists associated with the minimalist movement, with a special doodle.
Born on this day in 1937 in the small Indian town of Aligarh, Zarina's family was forced to flee to Karachi in the newly formed Pakistan during the Partition in 1947.
"Today's Doodle celebrates Indian American artist and printmaker Zarina Hashmi... Illustrated by New York-based guest artist Tara Anand, the artwork captures Hashmi's use of minimalist abstract and geometric shapes to explore concepts of home, displacement, borders, and memory," said the search engine in its description of the doodle.
At 21, Hashmi married a young foreign service diplomat and began travelling the world. She spent time in Bangkok, Paris, and Japan, where she became immersed in printmaking and art movements like modernism and abstraction, according to Google.
She moved to New York City in 1977 and became a strong advocate for women and artists of colour and taught at the New York Feminist Art Institute, which provided equal education opportunities for female artists.
In 1980, Hashmi co-curated an exhibition at A.I.R. Gallery called "Dialectics of Isolation: An Exhibition of Third World Women Artists of the United States". This ground-breaking exhibition showcased work from diverse artists and provided a space for female artists of colour.
A part of the Minimalism Art movement, Hashmi became internationally known for her striking woodcuts and intaglio prints that combine semi-abstract images of houses and cities where she had lived.
People all over the world continue to contemplate Hashmi's art in permanent collections at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Solomon R Guggenheim Museum, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, among other distinguished galleries.
Hashmi died in London from complications of Alzheimer's disease on April 25, 2020 at the age of 83.
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41 lakh illicit liquor seized, 1.84 lakh arrested in major drive: K'taka Minister tells Assembly
Belagavi (Karnataka) (PTI): The Karnataka Excise Department has conducted a statewide crackdown on illegal liquor trade over the last two years, resulting in arrests and seizures of alcohol, Karnataka Excise Minister R B Timmapur said on Tuesday.
As many as 1,09,017 people were arrested, and seizures included 13.66 lakh litres of liquor and 27.19 lakh litres of beer, he said in a written reply to a starred question by Harihar BJP MLA B P Harish in the Karnataka Assembly.
The Minister said the enforcement drive covered the financial year 2023–24, 2024–25 up to June, and 2025–26 from July to October, targeting unauthorised liquor manufacture, storage, sale and transportation across the State.
"During this period, statewide enforcement drives resulted in a total of 1,84,570 raids against illegal liquor sales,” Timmapur said.
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He noted that 9,179 non-bailable cases and 91,968 bailable and compoundable cases under Section 15(A) of the Karnataka Excise Act, 1965, were registered during the same period.
According to him, there have been no reports indicating that students have become addicted to alcohol due to illegal liquor sales.
The sale of alcohol to minors is strictly prohibited under the Karnataka Excise Act, 1965, and the department has issued periodic instructions to initiate legal action against violators, with strict enforcement and investigation measures in place, the Minister said.
Excise officials are carrying out regular road and night patrols, collecting intelligence, monitoring habitual offenders and conducting raids to identify illicit distillation units, unauthorised liquor outlets and spurious liquor manufacturing centres, he said, adding the department is also enforcing the law to prevent the production, storage, sale and transport of spurious, non-duty-paid and unauthorised liquor.
Regular patrols are being conducted on national and state highways, with suspicious vehicles being subjected to checks.
At the district level, standing committee meetings are held under the chairmanship of Deputy Commissioners, and joint operations are carried out with the police and forest departments to curb excise-related offences.
The department is also conducting awareness programmes through Gram Sabhas and in schools and colleges to educate the public and students about the physical, mental and social health hazards associated with alcohol addiction and substance abuse, Timmapur added.
