Joy, pride, honour and glory...

BANGALORE: They beamed in joy and pride. This, after all, was a recognition intimately woven into the identity of the state. And as the Rajyotsava awardees posed with their shawls and citations, their families too basked in the glory of the moment at the Ravindra Kalakshetra here on Monday evening.
Chief minister B S Yeddyurappa thought it a fitting occasion to announce that the government would build two more state-of-the-art kalakshetras on the lines of the Ravindra Kalashetra in Bangalore to promote art and culture.
After presenting the awards, he said a university for folk art would also be set up to promote, research and preserve folk arts. The government would also pay a pension to 1,200 artistes in addition to the 400 who get it now.
Lack of space was a bit of a dampener at the awards function as thousands thronged the venue. Among the awardees were environmentalist Ullas Karanth, film director Nagathihalli Chandrashekar and TOI journalist Naheed Ataulla.
About 10 awardees couldn't be there, including Infosys CEO Kris Gopalakrishnan (his wife received it on his behalf) and CWG gold medalist A Ashwini. Kannada film actor V Ravichandran, popularly called Crazy Star, was the star attraction of the programme. He was one among 20 persons included in the list at the last minute.
New inclusions
Literature: Bhasthi Vamana Shenoy (Dakshin Kannada)
Sports: D G Nagaraj (Gadag), H M Jyoti (Chitradurga), Rebecca Jose (Dakshin Kannada), Sudhir (Shimoga), Kashinath Nayak (Uttar Kannada), Bharat Chatri &Dhananjay (Belgaum).