Latest news with #Pavan
The Hindu
14 hours ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
ECI has taken 23 initiatives to strengthen electoral system, says its Deputy Director
Election Commission of India (ECI) Deputy Director (Media Division) P. Pavan said the ECI took 23 initiatives aimed at strengthening the electoral system, with a focus on improving facilities to voters, political parties, and election staff, between February 19 and June 10, 2025. They also included some procedural reforms, legal measures and innovations, he said, while stressing the significant role played by the media in increasing voter turnout in elections. Interacting with media persons at the Secretariat on Friday (June 20, 2025), Mr. Pavan said voter information slips were being made more useful now by prominently displaying voter serial numbers and part numbers, and data related to deaths was being collected from the Registrar General of India database, and necessary changes were being done in the electoral rolls after due verification. The ECI mandated that each polling station should have a maximum of 1,200 voters, and facilities like additional polling booths in apartments/colonies were being provided. Regarding political parties, Mr. Pavan said the campaign boundary had been reduced to 100 metres from the entrances of polling stations, and noted that 4,719 meetings were held across the country at the CEO/DEO/ERO levels with various political parties involving over 28,000 party representatives. Training programmes for booth-level agents were being conducted at the India International Institute of Democracy and Election Management (IIIDEM). The procedural reforms included digitisation of Voter Trend Reports, index cards and statistical reports to ensure faster dissemination of election data. A new integrated dashboard called ECINET had been launched replacing more than 40 apps / websites with a single platform for all services. The introduction of a unique EPIC number had resolved the issue of duplicate voter IDs. Standard photo ID cards were being issued to booth-level officers. Through the offices of Chief Electoral Officers of States, special training programmes were being conducted at the IIIDEM for media / communication officers from 36 States / UTs, Mr. Pavan added.
Hindustan Times
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
Yuddhakaanda Chapter 2 director Pavan Bhat: I realized the importance of writing with this film
Yuddhakaanda Chapter 2, the latest Kannada courtroom drama, is now out on OTT after a fairly successful theatrical run. Produced by leading man Krishna Ajai Rao, who was hitherto widely known for his romantic hero image, the film was only the second directorial of Pavan Bhat, who'd made Cutting Shop earlier. During the pre-release promotions, Pavan was conspicuously absent, letting Ajai take the lead. 'I'm not a very known face, so even though I am the writer and director of the film, it made better sense to speak after the film speaks for itself. Then there's more value to what I have to say,' says Pavan, now that the film is streaming on Amazon Prime Video. Stream Krishna Ajai Rao's films like Excuse Me, Krishnan Love Story, Krishna Leela and more with OTTplay Premium For the most part, Yuddhakaanda Chapter 2 is grounded in its depiction of legal procedures, but does have its share of cinematic drama and heroism, with the latter bit likely to divide audiences. Pavan's target audience, though, seems to have loved it, especially the melodrama in the climax. 'As a writer and filmmaker, my aim is not to cater to a 'target audience'; I want everyone to enjoy my work, irrespective of their socio-economic standing, city they live in, etc. But then, no film is perfect and there's always scope for improvement,' he says. The melodrama in the climax, is, presumably, for cinematic effect, but if Pavan had refrained from doing that and stuck to a more realistic approach, would the impact have been different? 'Honestly, that's a difficult question to answer. If I'd shot two versions and then chosen only one, I'd have clarity about why I stuck with this version. But now that I have shot and released only one version, in which Ajai's character has a dramatic monologue (and looks like he's holding a sudarshana chakra) that may not seem fit for a courtroom; going by the response to the film, there are people saying it gave them goosebumps,' says the filmmaker. Yuddhakaanda Chapter 2 being his maiden attempt at a courtroom drama, what have been Pavan's learning's from the feedback he's got? 'It was a great learning. I realized how important writing is. In this script, nothing was changed once we went on floors. On the set, we just executed what was on paper. The kind of writing and the result it gave because of the honesty that the team had towards the written word was very good,' says Pavan. The director, who worked with his brother on his debut film, adds that Yuddhakaanda was also about how to work with seasoned artistes. 'I had stalwarts like Prakash Belawadi and TS Nagabharana on set and seeing how they surrender to a director, especially, one as new as me, was unbelievable," he says.
The Hindu
4 days ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
When Union Finance Minister personally clarified about GST for traditionally hand-crafted musical instruments
CHENNAI Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman found time recently to reply to a post on Thanjavur veenas by social media influencers Pavan and Nandhini. M. Com student Subhashini Kannan, who belongs to a family of veena makers from Thanjavur, had expressed concern over rumours that such instruments too would attract GST. 'We don't get much in terms of profit since we have to invest in the wood and other items. It takes atleast 15 days to make one veena. In such a situation, if GST was also imposed it would be a burden for instrument makers,' she said on the video posted by the Instagram handle @inthemoodforsouth. Responding to her concern, Ms. Sitharaman, thanked Instagrammers Nandhini and Pavan for bringing out the cherished tradition of making handcrafted veenas in Thanjavur and how a few families are keeping the tradition alive. 'We are reaching out to the girl who mentioned her plight about GST in the video, as you have mentioned her number.' Further, she added: 'Just for the information of viewers, would like to state, as per the rules, indigenous handmade musical instruments are completely exempt from GST and hence attract zero GST.' The exemption list includes instruments such as sitar, sarasvati veena, mohan veena, nakula veena, thanthi Panai, elathalam among many others,' the Finance Minister explained. Speaking to The Hindu, Ms. Subashini said she was thankful to Ms. Sitharaman for exempting the instrument from GST. 'Someone else also later clarified that veenas don't attract GST. It came as a relief. After the post, we got orders for three veenas,' she said adding that veenas can be bought from ₹24,000 onwards depending on the colour and designs. They are all made using jackfruit wood. EOM
Indian Express
11-06-2025
- General
- Indian Express
Cobra swallows 1-foot knife in Karnataka, rescuers use scissors to pull it out. Watch
In a shocking incident, a cobra managed to swallow a kitchen knife in Karnataka's Uttara Kannada district. According to reports, the incident unfolded when the cobra entered a house in search of food, mistaking the knife for prey. The incident occurred at the residence of Govinda Naik in Hegde Village, located around 4 km from Kumta Taluk's sub-district headquarters, NDTV reported. Snake rescuer Pavan and veterinary assistant Advaith Bhat were called to the scene to help rescue the cobra. A now-viral video shows the rescuers carefully removing the cobra from a sack used to capture it. As the reptile slithers out, the outline of the knife is visible inside its body. The knife was 12 inches long (1 foot) and two inches wide. In another video, the two men are seen carefully working to pull out the knife. While one held the cobra's upper jaw, the other inserted medical scissors to gently open and stabilise its mouth. A second pair of scissors was then used to carefully remove the embedded knife from the snake's throat. Sharing the video on X, Yasir Mushtaq, a journalist, wrote, 'In a rare incident in Hedge Village in #Karnataka's #Karwar,a #Cobra mistakenly swallowed a kitchen knife while searching for prey. #snake rescuer Pavan & veterinary assistant Advaith safely removed the 12-inch #knife using medical tools. The cobra was unharmed & later released.' Watch here: In a rare incident in Hedge Village in #Karnataka's #Karwar,a #Cobra mistakenly swallowed a kitchen knife while searching for prey. #snake rescuer Pavan & veterinary assistant Advaith safely removed the 12-inch #knife using medical tools. The cobra was unharmed & later released. — Yasir Mushtaq (@path2shah) June 10, 2025 In September 2024, an 11-foot cobra was rescued and entered a house in Bangra village in Odisha while chasing a monitor lizard. The video of the giant snake being rescued from the house emerged on social media. The reports stated that it weighed 6.7 kgs and was released into the Dukra wildlife range in Mayurbhanj. In the same year, in July, rescuers captured a 12-foot-long King Cobra in South Karnataka. The snake was spotted crossing a main road, following which the locals alerted the forest department.
United News of India
29-05-2025
- United News of India
Telangana: CID arrests two more key accused in inter-state Human Organ trafficking case.
Hyderabad, May 29 (UNI) The Telangana CID arrested two more key accused from Chennai in connection with the inter-state human organ trafficking case. Earlier, 13 accused persons were arrested in this case, said Shikha Goel, Director General CID, Telangana, in a release here on Thursday. Based on a complaint from the Deputy DM & HO, Ranga Reddy, a criminal case was registered under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act, 1994, at Saroornagar Police Station, she said.. The case was later transferred to the CID for further investigation last month. On May 26, 2025, two more accused persons Shankaran alias Sai Shankaran (56) and N. Ramya (36)both residents of Chennai were apprehended in Chennai by a special team of CID. A passport and two mobile phones were seized from them. They were brought to Hyderabad on transit remand and produced before the Magistrate for judicial remand here on Thursday. The accused targeted innocent and economically disadvantaged individuals from Tamil Nadu by luring them with false promises of employment. The victims were trafficked to Hyderabad, where illegal kidney transplants were conducted with the assistance of other accused persons, including Pradeep (from Bangalore), Pavan, and his associates. For each illegal transplant, the accused received a commission of Rs. 10 lakhs, out of which Rs. 4–5 lakhs were given to the donors. Efforts are in progress to apprehend seven more absconding accused persons, including Pavan, Poornachander and their associates. UNI KNR BD
