News Analysis India

Tag: kannada

  • ‘People living in Karnataka should learn Kannada’: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah

    Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said that it is the responsibility of every Kannadiga to protect the Kannada language, land and water and urged everyone in the state to learn the language.

    The Chief Minister said speaking the mother tongue should be a matter of pride.

    “Everyone must decide to speak in Kannada with those who live in Karnataka. A vow must be taken that no language other than Kannada is spoken. Kannadigas are generous. That is why there is an environment in Karnataka where even those who speak other languages can live without learning Kannada. The same situation cannot be seen in Tamil Nadu, Andhra, or Kerala states. They speak only in their mother tongue. We also have to speak in our mother tongue. That should make us proud,” Siddaramaiah said while addressing a public function in Bengaluru.”It is the duty of all of us to create a Kannada atmosphere. For that, all the people living here should learn Kannada. Love for Kannada should be developed. But we should develop respect and admiration for our language, land and country,” he said.

    He was addressing the gathering after performing Bhoomi Puja for the construction of a bronze statue of Nada Devi Bhuvaneshwari near the western entrance of Vidhana Soudha as part of the Karnataka Namakarana Suvarna Mahotsava celebrations organised by the Department of Kannada and Culture.

    The Chief Minister said that a bronze statue of about 25 feet in height will be constructed on the premises of Vidhana Soudha. He said that the work should be completed by November 1, 2024.”Work has already started and there is no shortage of funds. It is directed that it should be attractive to the people. I think the statue will add to the charm of the Vidhana Soudha,” he said.November 1, 2023, marked 50 years since the state was named Karnataka and this year was named Karnataka Sambhrama along with the ‘Hesaraayitu Karnataka, Usiragali Kannada’ slogan.

    “We organized programmes for the whole year. The programme started from Hampi on November 1, 2023. A big programme was held in Gadag too. After the naming, the then Chief Minister Devaraja Arasu visited the place. It was during his time that the state was named Karnataka. Until then it was called Mysore State,” the Chief Minister recalled.

    Legislative Council Chairman Basavaraja Horatti, Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, Kannada and Culture Minister Shivraj Thangadagi and MLAs were present.

  • Karnataka government tables bill mandating 60% Kannada on signboards

    The Karnataka government on Tuesday tabled the Bill mandating the 60% use of Kannada on business’ sign boards in the Legislative Assembly, two weeks after Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot returned an ordinance to the same effect.

    Kannada shall be displayed in the upper half of the name board, according to the Bill. It would be amending the Kannada Language Comprehensive Development Act 2022.

    The Congress regime had opted to go the ordinance route in order to mollify the pro-Kannada protests searing the state over the issue. In December last year, civic body Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) had issued a notice that all business’ nameplates need to be at least 60% in Kannada by the end of February, under threat of losing their licences. The government had come out in support, with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah insisting on strict compliance with the policy on use of local language on sign boards as well. Protests on the issue however, turned violent, with pro-Kannada activists vandalising malls and blackening Hindi and English signs on prominent outlets like Starbucks, Third Wave Coffee, Theobroma, and House of Masaba. The government was forced into damage control mode with industries minister MB Patil issuing a warning, saying that such actions damaged the state’s reputation as an investor-friendly place.

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  • Google shows Kannada as ‘ugliest’ language, removes it after outrage; apologises

    By PTI
    BENGALURU: Kannada as answer to a query in Google on ugliest language in India sparked an outrage on Thursday and the Karnataka government said it would issue a legal notice to the tech leader, while that reply appeared to be a gaffe.

    With people expressing their indignation and leaders cutting across party lines slamming Google, it quickly removed Kannada “as the ugliest language in India” and apologised to the people saying the search result did not reflect its opinion.

    Karnataka Minister for Kannada, Culture and Forest, Aravind Limbavali told reporters that a legal notice would be served to Google for showing such an answer to that question.

    Later, he took to Twitter to express his outrage and demanded an apology from Google to Kannada and Kannadigas.

    Kannada language has a history of its own, having come into existence as many as 2,500 years ago, the minister said and added that the language has been the pride of Kannadigas through the ages.

    Showing Kannada in poor light “…is merely an attempt by Google to insult this pride of Kannadigas.

    I demand an apology from @Google ASAP to Kannada, Kannadigas. Legal action will be taken against Google for maligning the image of our beautiful language!” Limbavali tweeted.

    When contacted, a Google spokesperson said, “search isn’t always perfect. Sometimes, the way content is described on the internet can yield surprising results to specific queries.”

    “We know this is not ideal, but we take swift corrective action when we are made aware of an issue and are continually working to improve our algorithms.

    Naturally, these are not reflective of the opinions of Google, and we apologise for the misunderstanding and hurting any sentiments.” Former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy denounced Google in a series of tweets for the outrageous answer to the language question.

    He sought to know why Google “behaves in an irresponsible manner” in terms of language.

    Others including the BJP’s Bengaluru Central MP, P C Mohan slammed Google and asked it to apologise.

    Sharing the screenshot of the search on his Twitter handle, Mohan said Karnataka is home to the great Vijayanagara empire and the Kannada language has a rich heritage, a glorious legacy and a unique culture.

    “One of the worlds oldest languages, Kannada had great scholars who wrote epics much before Geoffrey Chaucer was born in the 14th century. Apologise @GoogleIndia.”