Puneeth Rajkumar to be conferred Karnataka Ratna posthumously on Nov 1

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

Bengaluru, Aug 05:
Karnataka
Chief
Minister
Basavaraj
Bommai
on
Friday
said
that
Kannada
film
star
Puneeth
Rajkumar,
who
died
last
year,
will
be
conferred
with
the
‘Karnataka
Ratna’
award
posthumously,
on
November
1,
which
happens
to
be
Kannada
Rajyotsava,
the
state’s
formation
day.

He
will
be
the
10th
recipient
of
the
state’s
highest
civilian
honour.

”We
have
decided
to
confer
the
Karnataka
Ratna
award
to
Puneeth
Rajkumar
on
November
1,
we
will
be
forming
a
committee
consisting
of
Rajkumar
family
members
to
prepare
for
it,
it
will
be
conferred
with
full
honour,” Bommai
said.

He
was
speaking
after
inaugurating
the
annual
Independence
Day
flower
show
at
Lalbagh’s
glass
house
here.

BSY
can
never
retire;
will
fight
2023
polls
under
his
guidance:
Karnataka
CM
Basavaraj
Bommai

This
year’s
flower
show
pays
a
special
floral
tribute
to
Kannada
thespian
Dr.
Rajkumar
and
his
son
and
actor
Puneeth
Rajkumar.

Considered
the
Kannada
cinema’s
reigning
star,
Puneeth,
the
youngest
of
five
children
of
Kannada
matinee
idol
Dr
Rajkumar,
died
of
a
cardiac
arrest
on
October
29
at
the
age
of
46.

The
Chief
Minister
had
made
an
announcement
to
confer
the
award
on
the
late
actor
in
November
last
year,
at
the
”Puneetha
Namana,”
an
event
to
pay
homage
to
Puneeth
Rajkumar,
organized
by
the
Karnataka
Film
Chamber
of
Commerce
(KFCC),
in
association
with
Sandalwood
film
actors’
and
technicians’
associations.

The
Karnataka
Ratna
was
last
awarded
to
Dr
Virendra
Heggade
for
social
service
in
2009.

Interestingly,
Puneeth’s
late
father
Rajkumar
is
among
the
first
recipients
of
the
Karnataka
Ratna
award
in
1992,
along
with
poet
Kuvempu.

Other recipients of the award include S Nijalingappa (Politics), CNR Rao (Science), Dr. Devi Prasad Shetty (Medical), Bhimsen Joshi (Music), Shivakumara Swamiji (Social Service), and Dr J Javaregowda (Education & Literature).

”
title=”Shows
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sensitivity:
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Agnipath

Puneeth,
popularly
known
as
‘Appu’ and
‘power
star’
by
his
fans,
made
his
debut
on
screen
when
he
was
just
six
months
old
and
went
on
to
win
a
national
award
as
a
child
artiste
for
the
film
‘Bettada
Hoovu’.
He
then
re-emerge
as
a
lead
actor
in
2002
and
went
on
to
star
in
29
films,
delivering
some
big
hits.

Noting
that
the
flower
show
has
been
on
since
1922
and
attracts
a
large
number
of
people,
Bommai
said
this
being
the
75th
year
of
India’s
Independence
it
has
a
special
significance
and
from
tomorrow
lakhs
of
people
will
be
coming
for
next
ten
days
to
witness
the
show.