Snippet: Kannada TV channel on Chiru's hand!

Karnataka Chief minister H D Kumaraswamy's wife Anita's Kannada TV channel "Kasturi" will be launched in a big way on August 18. Bollywood's actor Amitabh Bachchan and Mega Star Chiranjeevi are among the invitees.

"The function, to be held at the Bangalore Palace grounds, will be one of the most talked-about event in recent times. A cultural troupe from Australia will perform a dance set to Kannada music. Over a lakh are going to attend the launch," Kumaraswamy told media on Thursday.

The channel, which will have news and entertainment programmes, will officially begin to function from August 27. "We have tied up with a New Delhi-based English news channel. It will not be a JD(S) channel," the CM stated. Taking pride that Kasturi will be the first Kannada channel to be started by a Kannadiga, Kumaraswamy said the idea was conceived by him in 1995, when he was into film production.