Karnataka News Archive: January 2005

Vishnuvardhan-Manya-Ramesh Aravind in Varsha
Sunday, January 30, 2005 | Editor

Director S Narayan is teaming up with Vishnuvardhan after a long time. They come together in Varsha produced by Rockline Venkatesh. The film has Ramesh Aravind-Anu Prabhakar-Sunil Rao in the cast. Manya plays the female lead.

A remake of Hitler the film is about an elder brother who brings up his seven sisters like a father. He is very protective of his sisters. Manya is the sister of Ramesh Aravind a relative of Vishnuvardhan. She is in love with Vishnu but he does not show it. Ramesh is in love with Anu one of the sisters of Vishnu. This love affair leads to problems and finally the sisters themselves turn against their brother.

Premji `honoured' by Padma Bhushan award
Wednesday, January 26, 2005 | Editor

Wipro magnate Azim Hasham Premji Tuesday said the Padma Bhushan awarded to him by the central government was an honour to him and his company Wipro, India's leading IT bellwether.

In a statement, Premji said: "I am honoured by the award. I deem it as a recognition for all my colleagues in Wipro and outside in the industry."

According to the Forbes magazine, Premji is India's richest billionaire with a net worth of $2.8 billion.

The Padma Bhushan is awarded to recognise distinguished service of a high order to the nation.

[IANS]

Bangalore International Airport project gets all clearance
Friday, January 21, 2005 | Editor

Bangalore, Jan 20 (PTI) Karnataka government today signed the much awaited Land Lease and State Support Agreements with the Bangalore International Airport Ltd (BIAL), paving way for financial closure and setting stage for commencement of work by March.
With the inking of these two vital agreements, the state has cleared the way for the project, jinxed for about 14 years, to take off and put the ball in the BIAL court to commence the work.

Under the land lease agreement, Karnataka would transfer about 4,000 of acres of land at Devanahally to BIAL and the state support agreement entails Rs 350 crore funding.

Karnataka State Industrial Investment Development Corporation Managing Director, I M Vittal Murthy, and Infrastructure Development Department Principal Secretary Vinay Kumar signed the agreements on behalf of the state and BIAL chief Albert Bruner on behalf of the stake holders of this first ever private sector green field project here.

The signing event was witnessed by Chief Minister N Dharam Singh, Deputy Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Industries Minister P G R Sindhia, Cooperation minister R V Deshpande and representatives of L and T, Zurich airport and BIAL board of directors.

Siddaramaiah and Sindhia announced that the BIAL would complete the financial closure with ICICI bank in about twenty days and the work was expected to commence on the first phase of the project by this march.

The airport would be ready for operations in 33 months. PTI

Bangalore International Airport project gets all clearance
Friday, January 21, 2005 | Editor

Bangalore, Jan 20 (PTI) Karnataka government today signed the much awaited Land Lease and State Support Agreements with the Bangalore International Airport Ltd (BIAL), paving way for financial closure and setting stage for commencement of work by March.
With the inking of these two vital agreements, the state has cleared the way for the project, jinxed for about 14 years, to take off and put the ball in the BIAL court to commence the work.

Under the land lease agreement, Karnataka would transfer about 4,000 of acres of land at Devanahally to BIAL and the state support agreement entails Rs 350 crore funding.

Karnataka State Industrial Investment Development Corporation Managing Director, I M Vittal Murthy, and Infrastructure Development Department Principal Secretary Vinay Kumar signed the agreements on behalf of the state and BIAL chief Albert Bruner on behalf of the stake holders of this first ever private sector green field project here.

The signing event was witnessed by Chief Minister N Dharam Singh, Deputy Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Industries Minister P G R Sindhia, Cooperation minister R V Deshpande and representatives of L and T, Zurich airport and BIAL board of directors.

Siddaramaiah and Sindhia announced that the BIAL would complete the financial closure with ICICI bank in about twenty days and the work was expected to commence on the first phase of the project by this march.

The airport would be ready for operations in 33 months. PTI

Three die in road accident
Tuesday, January 18, 2005 | Editor

Twenty four year old Regina George was killed in a car accident on Bangalore-Bellary road on Jan 9 2005. Twenty four year old Lakshman Kumar and thirty year old Chandrasekhar were also killed in the accident.

Regina George was the daughter of Thomas George, a prominent businessman in America. Lakshman Kumar was a software engineer and a resident of Basaveshwarnagar, while Chandrashekar was a businessman from Chamarajpet.

'Aaptha Mithra', a big money spinner
Saturday, January 1, 2005 | Editor

Bangalore, Jan 1 : Kannada film "Aaptha Mithra", still drawing in the crowds, has turned out to be the biggest money spinner of the year.

1. "Aaptha Mithra": As the film completes 125 days in many theatres, there is expectation that it may cross the silver-jubilee mark in many theatres and run on for 30 to 40 weeks. The film is expected to gross over Rs.100 million ($2.3 million). There has been a dramatic rise in the number of people visiting the theatres after the film completed 100 days. Even in B and C centres, the film is proving to be a great success, belying the expectations of trade analysts.

2. "Joke Falls": This has been a year of great success for Ramesh. First it was "Aaptha Mithra", in which he has a major role. Now it is this remake of Hindi film "Chupke Chupke", running to packed houses. The film was made at a moderate cost by NRI Kannadiga, Atlanta Nagendra, and directed by another NRI Kannadiga, Ashok Patil. It is a laugh riot and the family audience is lapping it up.

3. "Mourya": Producer Rockline Venkatesh's film is racing towards the 100-day mark. Directed by S. Narayan, it has confirmed the super-star status of Puneet Raj Kumar. Meera Jasmine is another attraction of the film. The producer increased the publicity after the fifth week, and this has helped. Though the collections have dropped, they exceeded Rs.10 million in Bangalore city. The film, a remake of Telugu Hit "Amma Naanna Oka Tamil Ammaayi", directed by Puri Jagannath, is certainly among the big hits of the year.

4. "Kalasi Palya": Though the film's appeal is beginning to taper off, it must be counted among the year's hits mainly because of the bumper collections in the initial weeks. Action hero Darshan has been able to get a big push in the commercial circuit because of the film's success. The collections have grossed over Rs.10 million in Bangalore city. Credit is equally being given to heroine Rakshitha and her dare-bare act in the film.

5. "Jyeshta": The film's good opening in the first week was due to the charisma of Vishnuvardhan. But it has not met the expectations of the superstar's fans and collections are dipping in the second week. Since the producers have sold the film and made a small profit, it is to be seen whether the distributors will be able to recover the costs in the coming weeks.


Indo-Asian News Service

Archive: 2004, 2003