Page 7 - Karnataka Government

Self-serving politics of BJP: Cong slams for withholding funds for K'taka

The Congress on Monday accused the Modi government of withholding funds that should "rightfully" go to Karnataka, saying the people of the state are being made to pay the price just because they exercised their democratic right to elect a Congress government. Congress general secretary in-charge, communications, Jairam Ramesh alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is constantly trying to "throttle" the finances of India's states. His remarks came after Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah alleged in a post on X that Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is consistently denying the written word. "The interim report of the 15 FC (Finance Commission) for 2020-21 sanctioned Rs 6764 crores for three states, viz Karnataka (Rs 5495 crores), Telangana (Rs 723 crores) & Mizoram (Rs 546 crores)," Siddaramaiah said. "These grants were recommended not because of any special love for these states. These were recommended to ensure that no state receives a lower share in devolution in ...

K'taka moves SC seeking direction to release funds for drought management

The Karnataka government has moved the Supreme Court seeking a direction to the Centre to release financial assistance from the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) to the state for drought management. The petition has also sought to declare that the Centre's action in not releasing the financial assistance for drought arrangement as per the NDRF is "ex-facie violative" of the fundamental rights of the people of the state guaranteed under Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution. It said the state is reeling under "severe drought", affecting the lives of its people and for the Kharif 2023 season, which starts in June and ends in September, a total of 223 out of 236 taluks are declared as drought-affected. The plea said 196 taluks are categorised as severely affected and the remaining 27 as moderately affected. "Cumulatively for Kharif 2023 season, the agriculture and horticulture crop loss have been reported in more than 48 lakh hectares with the estimated loss (cost of cultivation

Confident of resolving Eshwarappa issue, says state BJP chief Vijayendra

Amid a banner of revolt raised by senior BJP leader K S Eshwarappa, the party's Karnataka President B Y Vijayendra on Monday expressed confidence about the issue getting resolved, and said it was natural for aspirants to get upset on not getting the ticket to contest elections. Acknowledging Eshwarappa's contribution in building and strengthening the BJP in Karnataka, he said the candidates for Lok Sabha polls were decided by the national leadership of the party, and it was not his decision. Eshwarappa has announced he will contest as an independent candidate from Shimoga seat in the coming Lok Sabha polls, blaming Vijayendra and his father and veteran BJP leader B S Yediyurappa for his son K E Kantesh being denied a party ticket from Haveri constituency. Former CM Basavaraj Bommai has got BJP's Haveri ticket. Yediyurappa's son and sitting MP B Y Raghavendra is the BJP candidate from Shimoga. Eshwarappa, who is firm on contesting despite efforts by the party leaders to pacify him, h

K'taka under acute water crisis, Modi govt refusing to help, says Cong

The Congress on Monday said Karnataka is reeling under an acute water crisis due to a severe drought situation in most parts and accused the Modi government of refusing to help the people of the state. Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh's attack on the government came on a day Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to address a public meeting in Shivamogga. "The prime minister is in Shivamogga, Karnataka today. We hope he addresses some of the key issues in the state in his address," he said. Ramesh said Karnataka is reeling under an acute water crisis due to a severe drought situation in most parts of the state, with 223 of the state's 236 Talukas facing drought conditions. "The state government has requested the Modi Sarkar to release funds of Rs 18,172 crore for drought relief. Why has the Modi Sarkar refused to help Karnataka's people so far?" he said in a post on X. To help alleviate the drought-related stress on the rural economy, the Karnataka ..

PM Modi to address public meeting in Yediyurappa's home turf Shivamogga

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday will address a public meeting at Shivamogga, the home turf of former Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa. This will be his second such meeting in Karnataka since the announcement of Lok Sabha election dates. The first was on Saturday at Kalaburagi, the home turf of Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge. BJP is expecting a huge turnout at the Allama Prabhu ground (Freedom Park) for the meet in the home district of Yediyurappa, who is a member of the party's all important Parliamentary board. Yediyurappa's elder son B Y Raghavendra is the BJP candidate for the Shimoga Lok Sabha constituency, where former deputy chief minister K S Eshwarappa has announced he will contest as an independent candidate as he is upset over the denial of ticket to his son K E Kantesh to contest from Haveri LS constituency. Eshwarappa has even announced that he will skip Modi's public meeting. The disgruntled leader had earlier stated that the Prime Minister "resid

Senior BJP leader, K'taka ex-CM Yediyurappa booked under Pocso Act

Senior BJP leader and former Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa has been booked under the POCSO Act based on a complaint by the mother of a 17-year-old survivor, police said here on Friday. The survivor's mother alleged that 81-year-old Yediyurappa sexually assaulted her daughter during a meeting on February 2. According to police, the BJP stalwart has been booked under section 8 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offence (POCSO) Act and Section 354 A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). There was no reaction from Yediyurappa or anyone in his family on the complaint lodged against him at the Sadashivanagar police station.

Confusion around Karnataka govt's withdrawal of e-bike taxi scheme: Rapido

Rapido pointed out that recent order issued by the state government does not mention banning Rapido or any other aggregator operating under the protection of the high court order

Karnataka govt hikes dearness allowance for employees from 38.75% to 42.5%

The Karnataka government on Tuesday approved the revision of Dearness Allowance (DA) for state government employees from the existing 38.75 per cent to 42.5 per cent. The announcement comes weeks before the Lok Sabha elections. The DA will be revised from 46 per cent to 50 per cent for the employees drawing central pay scales, an official statement said. "This change represents a significant financial commitment of Rs. 1792.71 crores every year, reaffirming our dedication to our employees, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said on 'X'.

Cisco signs agreement with Karnataka govt to train 40,000 in cybersecurity

Women will represent half of the trained workforce to help meet the growing need for such skills

Karnataka didn't witness such severe drought in last 3-4 decades: Dy CM

Amid the acute water shortage in Bengaluru, Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar said on Monday the State had not witnessed such a severe drought in the past three-four decades. "In the last 30-40 years we had not seen such drought; though there was drought earlier we had never declared such a large number of taluks as drought-affected,", he told reporters here. "Wherever Cauvery river water has to be supplied, (it) is being done, but out of 13,900 odd borewells in Bengaluru, about 6,900 borewells have become defunct," he said. Shivakumar said the government has taken "things under its control" and arranged tankers to supply water.

No scarcity of water in B'luru, BJP created it: Dy CM Shivakumar slams govt

The Deputy CM highlighted that nearly 7 thousand borewells were running short in the city and efforts were on to address the issue

BJP's call on Mandya seat in Karnataka piques Independent MP Ambareesh

The BJP top brass' decision regarding the Mandya Lok Sabha seat is keenly awaited with party-backed sitting Independent MP Sumalatha Ambareesh and its alliance partner JD(S) both making a strong pitch for the ticket. While JD(S) has conveyed to the BJP leadership that it wants to field its candidate, multilingual actress-turned-politician Sumalatha has also thrown her hat in the ring and wants to contest on a ticket from the national party. JD(S) is firm on this seat--which is located between Bengaluru and Mysuru-- as the constituency is dominated by Vokkaligas, the community that forms its strong voter base. The party headed by former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda has already conducted multiple rounds of meetings under its state President H D Kumaraswamy to decide on the candidate. Incidentally in 2019, Sumalatha had defeated the then Chief Minister Kumaraswamy's son Nikhil, the joint candidate of Congress-JD(S) alliance in Mandya, known in Kannada as 'Sakkare Naadu' (land of ...

K'taka govt bans electric bike taxi services, says 'unsafe for women'

Karnataka Government has banned operation of electric bike taxi services in the state after they were found to be "unsafe for women" and being carried out in violation of Motor Vehicles Act. A government order notified that the 2021 Karnataka Electric Bike Taxi Scheme has now been withdrawn. It has come to our notice that certain private app-based firms are violating the Motor Vehicles Act and its rules and running illegal non-transport two-wheelers as the transport vehicles, it said. It also said there were often clashes between the owners and drivers of auto rickshaws and "maxi cabs" with the bike riders and cases were also registered. The scheme also made it difficult for the transport department to collect taxes. Further, to maintain law and order and keeping in mind the safety of women travelling on two-wheeler bike taxis, the government has cancelled the scheme, the notification stated. President of the Ola Uber Drivers and Owners Association, Tanveer Pasha, welcomed the ..

K'taka bans use of drinking water for car washing, gardening, imposes fine

As per the Bengaluru district administration, for up to 5 km, a 6000-litre water tanker will cost Rs 600, an 8000-litre water tanker will cost Rs 700, and a 12,000-litre water tanker will cost Rs 1000

K'taka, Rajasthan begin exploration licenses' auction for critical minerals

Karnataka and Rajasthan have launched an auction of exploration licenses for critical and deep-seated minerals, according to an official statement on Thursday. Karnataka launched the auction of one block each of gold, copper and lithium while Rajasthan launched the auction of three blocks of rare earth elements, rare metal and potash minerals, it said. According to the Ministry of Mines, the two states launched the auction of exploration licenses on March 6. Exploration licence blocks are being auctioned for the first time in the country, it said. The Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957, was amended through the MMDR Amendment Act, 2023, with effect from 17.08.2023, inter alia, to introduce new mineral concession of exploration licence for 29 critical and deep-seated minerals to further boost exploration and mining of critical and deep-seated minerals in the country. Critical and deep-seated minerals such as cobalt, lithium, nickel, gold, silver, and copper are

Karnataka faces acute water crisis due to poor rainfall, B'luru worst hit

A coaching centre in Vijayanagar in Bengaluru asked its students to attend classes online due to an 'emergency' for a week. Similarly, a school on Bannerghatta Road in the city shut down, asking the students to attend classes virtually. The 'emergency' is the acute water crisis. Karnataka, especially its capital, is facing one of the worst water crisis in recent years due to poor rainfall in 2023. The Indian Meteorology Department has attributed the scanty rains to El Nino effect. One can gauge the grim situation from the fact that water tankers were seen inside Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's office residence on Kumarakrupa Road in Bengaluru. Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar said the borewell in his house in Sadashivanagar in the state capital has gone dry for the first time. This happened despite the fact that Sadashivanagar is located next to Sankey Lake. Water tankers running frequently on the Bengaluru roads have become a common sight now. On normal days, the w

Several Oppn leaders will join Congress, says K'taka Dy CM Shivakumar

Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar claimed on Wednesday several leaders from opposition parties will be joining the ruling Congress in the coming days, and that he does not want to divulge the "secret" now. He also did not rule out the possibility of "rebel" BJP MLAs S T Somashekar and Arabail Shivaram Hebbar joining Congress. "Why take just two-three names?" Shivakumar asked reporters here, in response to a question on whether Somashekar and Hebbar are joining the Congress. He subsequently nodded his head in agreement, when asked whether more people will be joining the party. Questioned as to how many will be joining Congress from other parties, the state Congress chief said: "why talk about it now? I have told our party workers to induct all those willing and who have regards for the party, locally." Asked if MLAs from other parties will be joining Congress, he said, "How can I divulge the secrets?" Hebbar, MLA from Yellapur, did not turn up for the voting despite a

K'taka HC stays proceedings to hand over Jayalalithaa's jewellery to TN

The Karnataka High Court has stayed the process of handing over gold and diamond jewellery belonging to former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister late J Jayalalithaa to the neighbouring state Government till March 26. The stay was granted by a single judge bench of Justice Mohammed Nawaz on a plea by Jayalalithaa's niece J Deepa on Tuesday. The valuables were confiscated in a disproportionate assets case against the late AIADMK leader and slated to be handed over to the Tamil Nadu authorities from Wednesday by a special court. The petitioner questioned the July 12, 2023 special court order contending that Jayalalithaa should be treated as "acquitted" as the Apex court had stopped the proceedings against her. The special court here had said 27 kg of gold and diamond jewellery -- part of the material evidence in the case against Jayalalithaa and others -- would be handed over to the Tamil Nadu government on March six and seven, paving the way for unlocking value of the assets to mobilise Rs 1

Karnataka govt's first priority is irrigation, water projects: Shivakumar

"The priority is the development of irrigation projects and filling up tanks. Other works, such as roads, will be taken up subsequently. We have already discussed this with the Chief Minister"

Nasscom urges Karnataka govt to review the uniform taxi fare rules

Government of Karnataka, revised the fare structure applicable to taxis (both mobile application (app)-based and non-app-based city taxis)