Page 70 - Karnataka

K'taka coastal districts likely to receive heavy rainfall, NDRF deployed

The coastal districts of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi are likely to receive widespread rainfall with certain areas getting very heavy rains in the next 10 days, the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSNDMC) said. The coastal districts are expected to receive moderate to heavy rainfall (64.5 mm to 115 mm), with isolated places receiving very heavy rains (up to 244.4 mm) during the period, a KSNDMC release said. Thunderstorms with lightning are also likely to occur at isolated places over all the districts of coastal Karnataka. Heavy rains in coastal areas may coincide with high tide, resulting in waterlogging and flooding of low-lying areas. District administrations have been asked to deploy de-watering pumps and other equipment in such areas in advance to handle the situation if needed. The monitoring centre also asked the administrations to station National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and state DRF personnel in vulnerable areas to be at the ready to prevent any

Karnataka HC refuses to reject FIR against Rahul Gandhi over KGF copyright

The complaint alleged that the party had posted two videos during the Bharat Jodo Yatra with songs from the movie without permission, in violation of the Copyright Act

Lokayukta police raids the office, premises of 15 govt offices in DA cases

The Karnataka Lokayukta police on Wednesday conducted massive search operations across the state in connection with 15 Disproportionate Assets (DA) cases registered against as many government officers in various Lokayukta police stations across Karnataka. According to a statement issued by the office of the Lokayukta, the cases were registered in Bengaluru city, Bengaluru Rural, Ramanagara, Chikkaballapura, Chikkamagaluru, Madikeri, Tumakuru, Vijayapura, Bagalkote, Kalaburagi, Raichur, Belagavi, Kolar and Yadgir. Simultaneously, a search of the residences and offices of the accused government officers and their relatives were conducted in 62 locations across the state, the statement said. The Searches led to the disclosure of properties of approximate value of Rs 1.90 crores, including Rs 40 lakhs in cash. The searches also disclosed documents related to several properties in the names of other people running into hundreds of acres of land and also several high end cars which are ..

Cabinet entrusts Siddaramaiah with appointing members for 3 sub-committees

The Karnataka Cabinet on Wednesday entrusted Chief Minister Siddaramaiah with constituting three Cabinet sub-committees to deal with three areas, namely irrigation projects, withdrawal of criminal cases, and for giving thrust to investment in the state. Briefing reporters here, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H K Patil said that one of the sub-committees that the CM has been entrusted with constituting is for the implementation of various projects on river Krishna, Cauvery, Mahadayi and other rivers. That sub-committee will also look into the implementation of various court and tribunal orders related to these river projects. Another sub-committee would be formed to withdraw criminal cases, as various individuals and organisations have made such requests regarding cases related to various agitations, Patil said. The minister said the chief minister will appoint members for it. He added that duration for the withdrawal of cases is not specified. The third sub-committee will

HC refuses to quash FIR against Rahul, others over KGF song copyright

The High Court of Karnataka has refused to quash the FIR against Congress party leaders Rahul Gandhi, Jairam Ramesh and Supriya Shrinate for the alleged copyright violation of music from the hit film KGF Chapter-2. The single judge bench of Justice M Nagaprasanna pronounced the judgment on Wednesday, dismissing the petition filed by the three Congress leaders. M Naveen Kumar of MRT Music, a sister concern of Lahari Music, had filed the complaint at Yeshwantpur police station in Bengaluru alleging that the music from the film, to which it has the copyright, was used by the Congress party in a promotional video of 'Bharat Jodo Yatra'. The HC in its order dismissing the petition said, "The petitioners appear to have tampered with source code without permission, which would undoubtedly amount to infringement of the copyright of the company. The petitioners seem to have taken the copyright of the company for granted. Therefore prima facie all these as a matter of evidence has to be trash

K'taka govt to give money instead of 5 kg additional rice to BPL families

As the Karnataka government is facing difficulty in procuring large quantities of rice required to fulfil its poll guarantee, it has decided to pay beneficiaries cash at the rate of Rs 34 per kilo, for the additional 5kg of the foodgrain promised under the 'Anna Bhagya' scheme. The Congress, in its election manifesto, had promised to give an additional five kg rice a month along with five kg given by the Centre for free. The state government said the disbursement of money will start from July 1. The FCI (Food Corporation of India) has a standard rate of Rs 34 per kg rice. We tried to get rice but no institution came forward to supply us the required amount of rice (to give additionally), Karnataka Food and Civil Supplies Minister K H Muniyappa briefed reporters here after a Cabinet meeting chaired by the Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday. He said, Since the date for launching Anna Bhagya has arrived (July 1) and we had given word, today in the cabinet Chief Minister ...

FIR against Amit Malviya to intimidate, silence him: BJP slams Congress

The BJP on Wednesday described the lodging of an FIR against its IT department head Amit Malviya in Congress-ruled Karnataka as "pathetic" and alleged that it was done to intimidate and silence him. Karnataka police has filed an FIR against the BJP's Amit Malviya for alleged defamation and instigating people against the Congress and Rahul Gandhi. Reacting to the development, BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla took to Twitter to slam the Congress and alleged, "The FIR against Amit Malviya is nothing but a malicious use of provisions of law to silence, intimidate." "At best, if Rahul Gandhi was aggrieved by any tweet, he could have filed a defamation case in court," he said. "Using the state machinery to settle scores only shows that Congress' own communication and social media paraphernalia is supremely incompetent and hence needs a state police to fight its battles! Pathetic. See you in court," Poonawalla said. The FIR was lodged based on a complaint by Karnataka Pradesh

Karnataka govt hands out largest drone-based land parcel mapping contract

Geospatial organisations Allterra and NeoGeo said on Wednesday that they have collaboratively won the "largest-ever" drone-based land parcel mapping contract through an open tender process from the Karnataka government. The project covers an area of 68,000 SQ. KM. and 10 districts in Karnataka Gadag, Koppal, Kodagu, Chamarajanagar, Chikkamagaluru, Vijayapura, Yadgir, Raichur, Bidar, and Kalaburagi, the companies said in a statement. Both companies have chosen Aereo (formerly Aarav Unmanned Systems) as their technology partner for this project, which will be done using Aereo's state-of-the-art drone solutions. This work envisages deployment of approximately 60 survey-grade 'PPK' (Post Processed Kinematic) drones to capture high-resolution images to generate maps with a resolution better than 5 cm per pixel, it said. At full scale, the fleet of drones will be mapping an approximate area of 1,75,000 acres in a single day on an average. Furthermore, the Survey Settlement and Land Rec

Karnataka's dairy brand Nandini puts on hold its Kerala expansion plan

Popular Karnataka dairy brand Nandini, which opened a few of its outlets in Kerala recently, has decided to put on hold its expansion plan in this southern state. Kerala Minister for Animal Husbandry, Dairy Development, and Milk Cooperatives J Chinchurani said she has received information in this regard from the CEO of the Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF), which uses the trade name Nandini. "Information has been received from the CEO that Nandini will not open new outlets in the state for the time being," the minister told reporters here. Welcoming the KMF's decision, Chinchurani said this shift has come in the wake of change of government in Karnataka following the victory of the Congress. She also said the state wanted the milk and milk products of the Kerala Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation's (KCMMF) Milma. The CPI (M)-led LDF government in Kerala had recently expressed concern over the entry into the state of milk and dairy products from Karnataka's Nandini. The Kerala ..

Karnataka govt to reopen Bitcoin scam, to get it probed thoroughly

The Congress government in Karnataka on Tuesday said it will get the Bitcoin scam taken place during the previous BJP government thoroughly investigated. The case is likely to be handed over to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Home Minister Dr Parameshwara has hinted. Speaking to reporters in Hassan today, CM Siddaramaiah said all irregularities and scams of the BJP government including the Bitcoin scam will be probed. Parameshwara charged that the BJP tried to close the matter but the Congress government will get it investigated. "Regarding Bitcoin, I have said that whatever incident has happened will be thoroughly investigated. For whatever reason, the previous government had closed it. When we were in the opposition, we had said that we will get it investigated if we come to power. We will take all steps to reinvestigate it, Parameshwara told reporters here. He also said the Bengaluru Police Commissioner has written to the Director General of Police recommending tha

Karnataka govt to take all measures, including use of AI, to curb fake news

Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara on Tuesday said the state government is ready to take all measures required to curb 'fake news', including use of technology like 'Artificial Intelligence' (AI), aimed at taking such cases to a "logical end". He said, the government is ready to bring in necessary laws, in case there is no provision to punish those involved in such cases, under the existing legislations. "Some people are involved in spreading fake news, whether it is on political issues or on those aimed at disturbing peace in the society. We have observed that fake news are posted on various platforms and social media. Photographs are morphed aimed at projecting it to be linked to some sensitive issue, to which the photo is actually unrelated," Parameshwara said. Speaking to reporters here , he said, "we have observed this during the elections and even now after the formation of the government. If we don't stop it, it may lead to several kinds of wrong notions whether at ...

Will probe all scams, irregularities during BJP regime, says Karnataka CM

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday said his government will get all the alleged scams and irregularities that have taken place during the previous BJP regime probed and punish the guilty. Noting that the government will fulfill all the poll promises, he said, implementation of Congress' five guarantees will cost Rs 59,000 crore a year to the exchequer, and there is a slightly higher burden on the administration this year. "We will get scams inquired into. Four medical colleges were constructed and there are allegations about irregularities in it, we will get it investigated. Also we will get allegations of 40 per cent commission probed. There were irregularities in health related procurements during COVID-19 period, irrigation projects related irregularities and Bitcoin scam, all of them will be probed," Siddaramaiah said. Speaking to reporters here, he said investigation is on into the Police Sub Inspector (PSI) recruitment scam by the CID; it will be further ...

Rs 60,000 cr required annually for 5 Congress 'guarantees': Karnataka CM

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday said a total of Rs 59,000 crore to Rs 60,000 crore is required annually, for the implementation of Congress' five poll 'guarantees'. He said, the fresh budget of the new Congress government, which he will be presenting on July 7, is likely to be of the size Rs 3,35,000 crore. The Chief Minister, who also holds the finance portfolio, was speaking after inaugurating the training camp organised for the newly elected MLAs of the 16th Legislative Assembly. "The first budget after independence was twenty one crore three lakh rupees, today it is about three lakh nine thousand crore rupees. I will be presenting a new budget on July 7 it may be (of the size) three lakh thirty to thirty five thousand crore rupees," Siddaramaiah said. Addressing the newly elected legislators, he said, "the present budget is around three lakh nine thousand eight hundred and ninety six crore rupees, as I'm implementing five guarantees, I will have to provide rupee

Yediyurappa's protest on poll guarantee implementation a gimmick: K'taka CM

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday said veteran BJP leader B S Yediyurappa has "no moral rights" to call for protests demanding that the Congress government implement its poll guarantees and termed it as a "political gimmick". Noting that the Congress has fulfilled the poll promises while in power in the past, he said, this time too it has already taken a decision to implement five "guarantees" announced in the election manifesto. "What moral right he (Yediyurappa) has? He was the President of the party, then he became the Chief Minister, did he implement the promises made in the (BJP) manifesto? No, when such being the case, what moral right does he have? He has no moral rights," Siddaramaiah said. Speaking to reporters here, he said, "as far as the Congress party is concerned, we have implemented all the promises we had made in the 2013 manifesto (while in power from 2013-18), now we have made a promise to implement five guarantees, we have already taken a decision to

Eshwarappa displeased over indiscipline in BJP, blames Cong turncoats

With statements from some Karnataka BJP leaders that adjustment politics contributed to the party's rout in the Assembly elections sparking off a political debate, veteran leader K S Eshwarappa on Monday expressed displeasure about party discipline being "flouted", and urged the state president to take necessary steps to curb it. Accepting that there is some amount of indiscipline in the BJP, the former deputy chief minister, while blaming the Congress' "influence" on a few in the party for it, said that the party high command is strong and will take action at an appropriate time to control it. "It is unfortunate that such discussions are happening openly in the BJP. If such things have happened, it should have been discussed sitting inside four walls. I have spoken to our state president and have requested him to call those who were speaking openly, and talk to them and end the issue," Eshwarappa said. Speaking to reporters here, he said, "I will also request those who are making .

Trainer aircraft makes emergency landing in K'taka, no casualties reported

A two-seater trainer aircraft operated by a private flight training academy made an emergency landing on agricultural land at a village in Chittapur taluk of Kalaburagi district in Karnataka on Sunday, police said. There are no casualties in the incident, nor is there any major damage to the aircraft, they said. The trainer aircraft, which was owned by 'Redbird Flight Training Academy', made the emergency landing on an agricultural field near Pete Sirur village in Chittapur taluk of the district. Police said, according to Kalaburagi Airport authorities, the aircraft developed technical glitches a few minutes after taking off from the domestic airport, forcing the pilot to make a landing on the farmland after informing the Air Traffic Control (ATC). The pilot instructor and a trainee onboard the aircraft are safe, they said, adding that a local police team has visited the spot. All the authorities concerned including the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) have been inform

Never seen PM who speaks lies: Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah targets Modi

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Sunday hit out at the Narendra Modi-led central government and claimed that in his 40 years of political career he has never seen a prime minister who speaks "lies". Addressing a rally in Kannada in Sangli district of Maharashtra, where the state Congress felicitated him for the party's win the recent Karnataka Assembly polls, the CM accused the BJP of indulging in corruption in his state. He said it was the responsibility of every Congress worker to defeat the Narendra Modi government and save the Constitution and democracy. "Never in my 40-year political life have I seen a prime minister who speaks lies. In 2014, he (Modi) spoke of depositing Rs 15 lakh into the bank accounts of people, two crore jobs and bringing acche din (good days). Did anything of this sort happen?' the Congress leader asked targeting Modi. Siddaramaiah said he and his deputy D K Shivakumar, who is the Karnataka Congress president, visited every nook and corner of the

Isolated rainfall in East Central, parts of NW India in next 5 days: IMD

It also said that the Southwest Monsoon has further advanced into some more parts of the Central Arabian Sea, some more parts of Maharashtra, remaining parts of Karnataka, Telangana and Chhattisgarh

Siddaramaiah uses 'inauspicious' south door of his office in Vidhana Soudha

For years, the 'inauspicious' south door of the Chief Minister's office in Vidhana Soudha remained shut but on Saturday Chief Minister Siddaramaiah got the door opened as he decided to make an entry and exit from there. The 'rational' Chief Minister, who arrived at the Vidhana Soudha to hold a meeting with senior officials regarding Anna Bhagya scheme, noticed the south door closed. When he inquired with the officials about it never being opened, they told him that south door was considered inauspicious and hence it was never ever opened. Siddaramaiah stood right in front of the door for a while and then directed the officials open it. After entering his office, he explained his interpretation of 'Vaastu.' "A good Vaastu is the one where you get a healthy mind, clean heart and concern for people. It should have natural light and fresh air coming in," the Chief Minister said. According to an official, no other Chief Minister in the past had ever dared opening the south door. "To m

Nalin Kateel rubbishes reports of resigning as Karnataka BJP chief

Bharatiya Janata Party Karnataka unit president Nalin Kumar Kateel on Saturday dismissed the reports about his resignation as rumours and said such reports were far from truth. In a statement issued in Bengaluru, Kateel clarified that he has not resigned as the party state president. During an interaction with reporters in Ballari, Kateel took the moral responsibility of his party's defeat in the Assembly election last month. The BJP lost power in the state as the Congress coasted to victory with 135 seats in the 224-member Assembly while the saffron party could only muster 66 seats. Kateel, the Dakshina Kannada MP, said he has already explained to the party leaders about the reasons behind the rout. "Regarding the appointment of new state president, the party will take the right decision at an appropriate time. However, I did not say anything on my resignation as the party state president. My statement has been misconstrued, the BJP state president said. The confusion started af