The Hindu : Briefly

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Mar 16, 2004

Karnataka

Karnataka

Briefly

Rs. 52 crore for relief works

By Our Special Correspondent

GULBARGA March 15. The State Government has released an additional Rs. 52 crore to tackle the drinking water and fodder shortage and for drought relief works in the State. The Home Minister, Mallikarjun Kharge, who is also the Chairman of the Cabinet subcommittee on drought, told presspersons here today that the Revenue Commissioner had passed orders to release funds to the 162 taluks declared drought hit by the Government. He said that Rs. 32 crore had been released for drought relief works, with each drought hit taluk getting Rs. 20 lakh. The Government had also decided to release Rs. 10 crore to Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Ltd. (KPTCL) for providing power connections for drinking water supply schemes in villages, Rs. 3 crore for tackling the fodder shortage. The rest of the money would be used for the maintenance of existing borewells and other drinking water sources and also for drilling new borewells. Apart from this, the Government had allotted 600 tonnes of foodgrains for the food for work programme in the worst hit taluks and 400 tonnes of foodgrains for taluks not as badly affected. Mr. Kharge said the drought situation in the State was going from bad to worse each day and the drinking water shortage was becoming serious. The Government had also released Rs. 8 crore for tackling the drinking water shortage in urban areas in the State, he added.

Election panel observer arrives

By Our Special Correspondent

BANGALORE March 15. The Special Observer of the Election Commission of India, L.V. Saptharshi, arrived here today to monitor the preparations for the Lok Sabha and Legislative Assembly elections to be held in the State on April 20 and 26. Mr. Saptharshi will tour the State and monitor the preparations for the elections. He will also observe the election campaign of political parties and report to the Election Commission, an official of the State Election Commission said here.

Congress second list today

By Our Special Correspondent

Bangalore March 15. The Congress is likely to announce its second list of candidates for the Lok Sabha elections on Tuesday. The party has already announced candidates for 12 seats and all of them were members of the dissolved House. The central election committee of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) will be meeting in New Delhi tomorrow to select the candidates. The Chief Minister, S.M. Krishna, and the KPCC President, B. Janardhana Poojary, are in New Delhi in connection with the selection of candidates. The Chairman of the AICC's screening committee for Karnataka, P.M. Sayeed, has said in a statement to the press released here that the panel met in Delhi today to consider the candidates for the remaining 16 seats. The names recommended would be placed before the central election committee for its "final approval." The meeting of the screening committee was attended by Mr. Krishna; Mr. Poojary; the AICC General Secretary in charge of the State, Vilasrao Deshmukh; the Agriculture Minister, H.K. Patil, who is the leader of the Legislative Council, a member of the Congress Working Committee, Natwar Singh, and the two AICC coordinators, Shantharam Naik and Mullapally Ramachandran.

Deve Gowda's charges denied

By Our Staff Reporter

Bangalore March 15. The Minister of State for Primary and Secondary Education, B.K. Chandrashekar, today denied the former Prime Minister, H.D. Deve Gowda's charge that there were irregularities in entrusting the work of repairing and laying peripheral roads in the jurisdiction of 201 local bodies and said that one of the companies that got the contract was a Central agency. Prof. Chandrashekar, who is also the Congress party spokesman, told presspersons that the Mysore-based Chandragiri Constructions had been entrusted with the works in Mysore district. Denying that the Government had incurred a loss of Rs. 30 crore, the Minister said the contract amount had been brought down to Rs. 137 crore from Rs. 160 crore after negotiations. This was a small scheme and not an issue at all, he said. He was surprised why Mr. Gowda had written to the party President, Sonia Gandhi, instead of writing to the Chief Minister S.M. Krishna, who would have acted immediately, he said. It was under Congress governments that the Constitution was amended to give more powers and finances to the local bodies and the Act was also amended by the State legislature recently for the same purpose. The Krishna Government had spent Rs. 500 crore in 2002-03 and earmarked Rs. 594 crore during 2003-04, whereas only Rs. 341 crore was spent in 1998-99, he added.

Weavers seek representation

By Our Special Correspondent

Bangalore March 15. The Akhila Karnataka Weavers' Action Committee has demanded adequate representation for the community in the forthcoming elections to the Lok Sabha and the Legislative Assembly. The committee has said that though the population of the community is over 85 lakh in the State, political parties had not provided adequate representation to them. Addressing a meeting of the committee, V.S. Ugrappa, Congress leader and former MLC, said the Congress party had given not only representation to weavers in all the elections to the local bodies, the legislature and Parliament but also, for the first time, nominated two persons from the community to the Legislative Council. Besides adequate representation, the Krishna Government had announced a Rs. 150-crore special package to improve the lot of the weavers in the State. Among others who participated in the meeting of the weavers' action committee were C. Narayanaswamy, Secretary-General of the Janata Dal (S), and Pramila Nesargi, BJP leader and former MLA.

Woman found

murdered

HASSAN March 15. A woman was found murdered in Jajoor in Arsikere taluk on Sunday. The police have identified the victim as Mallamma (35), wife of Marulappa. The police said Mallamma's head was smashed with a boulder in the coconut grove of Shadaksharappa. A case has been registered. Investigation is on.

Falls to death

HASSAN March 15. Ramesh Bahadoor (32), an industrial labourer, was killed in an accident in the industrial area of B. Kaatihalli in Hassan taluk on Monday. According to the police, Bahadoor was standing on a lorry from which boulders were being unloaded. When the driver unknowingly started the vehicle, Bahadoor lost his balance and fell to the ground. He died on the spot. A case has been registered.

Ransacked

HASSAN March 15. People in Belur town ransacked a shop belonging to a Tamil Nadu-based private company on Sunday for allegedly cheating them of money after promising them to deliver consumer goods at half their cost.

According to the police, the company, which gained popularity in Belur town in a short span of time, allegedly duped the people by collecting money from them. Depositors angered by this, attacked and ransacked the shop. A case has been registered in this connection.

Buried in sand

Bidar MARCH 15. A construction labour died after a heap of sand slid on her while she was working on the outskirts of Humnabad town on Sunday.

According to the police, Eeramma Jagannath Panchal (35) was buried under the heap of sand when she tried to remove some sand to load it on a tractor. Efforts of other labourers to save her by removing the sand and giving her artificial respiration did not succeed. A case has been registered by the Humnabad Police.

Dies of injuries

Bidar MARCH 15. A 22-year-old motorcycle rider died in a road accident on the Mumbai-Hyderabad National Highway in Humnabad taluk on Saturday night. According to the police, a vehicle rammed Mastanappa Bailure's motorcycle injuring him and his pillion rider, Rajappa Halladakeri. While Mastanappa died in hospital, Rajappa's condition is said to be critical.

A case has been registered by the Humnabad Police. Investigation is on.

Holiday sought for Ugadi

By Our Special Correspondent

Bangalore MARCH 15. The Karnataka Pradesh Bank Officers' Organisation has brought to the notice of the Chief Secretary to the State Government a discrepancy in not declaring a holiday for two major Hindu festivals, Ugadi and Vijayadashami, for the current year and said that this should be rectified. The General Secretary of the organisation, A.N. Madhusudan, in a letter to the Chief Secretary, has said that the two festivals falling on March 23 and October 23 should be have been declared Government holidays in the normal course. The banking sector, which comes under the purview of the Negotiable Instruments Act, normally adopts the list of holidays declared by the State Government. "We firmly believe that this denial of holidays is an infringement on the religious and social ethos of the Hindu community. On behalf of the banking fraternity working in the State, we appeal to you to respond positively and allow the people to celebrate the two festivals in a joyful and serene mood by declaring March 23 and October 23 as public holidays under the Negotiable Instruments Act," he has said. The State Government, by an order on March 1, has declared Good Friday on April 9 a Government holiday under the Negotiable Instruments Act. Good Friday had also been omitted in the list of holidays earlier.

Play home

MYSORE MARCH 15. Waheeda Rehman, cine star of yesteryear, will arrive here on Tuesday to inaugurate Pratham Mysore's Play Home and Library. A good-will ambassador of Pratham, Ms. Rehman will visit its office and undertake a padayatra to spread it's mission of "Every child in school and learning well". She will visit Pratham's Balawadis located in slums.

Seized

MYSORE MARCH 15. The enforcement staff of the Mysore division of the Department of Excise have seized illicit liquor and vehicles used for smuggling it during February. A press release said 917 litres of non-duty paid Indian Made Liquor, 325 litres of non-duty paid beer, 120 litres of rectified spirit and 16 litres of government arrack were arrested. Thirty people have been arrested during 299 raids on licensed premises.

Training

MYSORE MARCH 15. A two-week AICTE-ISTE-sponsored training programme on "Mobile computing — Issues and practices" was inaugurated at the Sri Jayachamrajendra College of Engineering here today by the General Manager, BSNL Mobile services, Farooq Ameen. A release said participants including industrialists and academics from across the country were participating in the programme.

Warned

MADIKERI MARCH 15. The Deputy Commissioner, Srikant Valagad, has warned people against disfiguring government and private buildings by sticking posters and other poll publicity material.

No individuals, political parties, associations, candidates, or party workers should disfigure the buildings, he said. They should not paste posters, paint party symbols, or tie banners. Even if private building owners gave consent to stick posters, such an act was prohibited, he said.

Suspended

UDUPI MARCH 15. The Superintendent of Police, S. Murugan, on Monday suspended a Sub-Inspector attached to the Malpe police station, Ravi Naik, for his alleged rough behaviour.

Shopkeepers downed their shutters today morning at the Kallianpur area in the city to protest against the alleged highhandedness of Mr. Naik. The people of the area also observed a bandh. The President of the BJP district unit, Raghupati Bhat, and K. Jayaprakash Hegde, former MLA, sought action against Mr. Naik.

Mr. Murugan rushed to the spot and assured the people that action would be taken against Mr. Naik. In the evening, normalcy returned to the area.

Mr. Murugan told The Hindu that Mr. Naik had been placed under suspension.

Ration cards

MANGALORE MARCH 15. The Department of Food and Civil Supplies has made arrangements to photograph the heads of families residing in "non-traditional public distribution system areas" here and those possessing temporary yellow cards.

The exercise will be carried out at designated centres between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. on Tuesday. Cardholders should report to the designated centre with the card and a fee of Rs. 10. Cards of people not having their photographs taken will be cancelled. People may contact their respective fair price shops for details.

Elected

MANGALORE MARCH 15. The president of the Sullia Taluk Cooperative Union and Sullia Agricultural Market Produce Committee, P.B. Diwakar Rai, has been elected unopposed as President of the Dakshina Kannada District Cooperative Union.

An active member of the Congress, Mr. Rai is also the President of Aranthodu Vyavasaya Seva Sahakari Bank.

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