All arrangements made in Udupi for smooth polling; tight security in place

coastaldigest.com web desk
April 17, 2019

Udupi, Apr 17: The district administration of Udupi, which falls under Udupi-Chikkamagaluru Lok Sabha constituency, has made all arrangements to facilitate smooth polling in the four Assembly constituencies under its jurisdiction.

Deputy Commissioner Hephsiba Rani Korlapati told media persons that there were 15,13,231 voters in the Udupi-Chikkamagaluru parliamentary constituency, including 7,74,674 women and 7,38,503 and 54 others. The total number of polling booths in the constituency, which included eight Assembly segments of Kundapur, Udupi, Kaup, Karkala, Sringeri, Mudigere, Chikkamagaluru and Tarikere, was 1,837.

The administration had made arrangements for setting up 25 Sakhi booths, two booths for differently abled persons and one ethnic booth. The administration had also made arrangements to provide for wheelchairs, magnifying glass, Braille script ballot papers, ramp and other facilities for the differently abled.

The administration had identified the vulnerable and critical booths and there would be additional vigil in these places. As many as 996 presiding officers, 996 assistant presiding officers, 1,367 security personnel, 952 Group D employees, 206 micro observers and 1,972 booth officers would be pressed into service on the polling day.

The administration had distributed voter slips to 99.05 % voters. The booth-level officers would be present at the help desk at polling booths. Electronic Voting Machines along with VVPATs had been arranged for polling in the district. The first and second rounds of randomisation of EVMs had been done in the presence of political parties and candidates.

The administration had received 222 complaints on C-Vigil app. Of them, 178 cases had been investigated and disposed of, while 44 were dummy cases. Action had been taken on 166 cases within 100 minutes.

As many as 1,513 calls had been received on the voter helpline and all of them were attended to. Of the 97 complaints received on NGRS portal, 90 had been disposed of.

Security stepped up

Udupi Superintendent of Police Nisha James said that tight security arrangements had been made for the smooth conduct of parliamentary elections in the four Assembly constituencies of Udupi-Chikkamagaluru parliamentary constituency in Udupi district.

Addressing presspersons here, Ms. James said that of the 865 polling booths in the four Assembly constituencies of Udupi, Kundapur, Karkala and Kaup in the district, 685 were normal, while 36 booths were in the naxalite-affected areas.

Personnel from the Police Department, Home Guards, Forest, four units of Karnataka State Reserve Police (KSRP), two companies of Indo-Tibetan Border Police, were being deployed in the district.

Already the police along with the Anti-Naxalite Force (ANF) had taken up combing operations eight times in the naxalite-affected areas.

As regards firearms, of a total of 3,733 arms, 3,696 have been deposited, while 29 had been exempted, one impounded and while licenses of six arms holders were cancelled and one case was pending as the permit holder was abroad, she said.

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News Network
January 2,2020

Kalaburgi, Jan 2: At least 10 students sustained injuries when a private bus carrying students of a school on an educational tour rammed into a tree today morning.

The mishap occurred when the students of Ayyappa School located in Chennaveera Nagar were going around the city in a bus during their tour.

The bus crashed into a tree near Venkatagiri Hotel on New Jewargi Road in the city.

A case has been registered at a traffic police station.

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News Network
February 16,2020

Kalaburagi, Feb 16: Fourteen years of life in jail has not deterred Subhash Patil from fulfilling his dream of becoming a doctor.

The 40-year-old man from Afzalpura in Karnataka's Kalaburagi was put behind bars in a murder case while doing MBBS in 1997.

Speaking to media, Patil said, "I joined MBBS in 1997. But, I was jailed in a murder case in 2002. I worked at the jail's OPD and was released in 2016 for good conduct. I completed my MBBS in 2019."

Earlier this month, Patil completed a one-year mandatory internship for getting the MBBS course degree.

Police arrested Patil in 2002 in a murder case when he was in his third year of MBBS course. A court sentenced him to life imprisonment in 2006.

He was put behind bars but he did not give up his childhood dream of becoming a doctor.

In 2016, police released Patil on Independence day for his good conduct.

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News Network
January 18,2020

Kozhikode, Jan 18: A "fifth-generation dynast" Rahul Gandhi has no chance in Indian politics against a "hard-working and self-made" Narendra Modi, and Kerala did a disastrous thing by electing the the Congress leader to Parliament, historian Ramachandra Guha said here on Friday.

Guha said the reduction of the Congress from a "great party" during the freedom movement to a "pathetic family firm" now is one of the reasons for the ascendency of Hindutva and jingoism in India.

"I have nothing against Rahul Gandhi personally. He is a decent fellow, very well-mannered. But young India does not want a fifth-generation dynast. If you Malyalis make the mistake of re-electing Rahul Gandhi in 2024 too, you are merely handing over an advantage to Narendra Modi," said Guha on the second day of the ongoing Kerala Literature Festival (KLF) during his talk, "Patriotism Vs Jingoism".

Addressing the crowd, full of Keralites, he said, "Kerala, you have done many wonderful things for India, but one of the disastrous thing you did was to elect Rahul Gandhi to Parliament."

"Narendra Modi's great advantage is that he is not Rahul Gandhi. He is self-made. He has run a state for 15 years, he has an administrative experience, he is incredibly hard working and he never takes holidays in Europe. Believe me I am saying all this in all seriousness," he said.

But, even if Rahul Gandhi was "much more intelligent, more hard-working, never took a holiday in Europe, as a fifth generation dynast he still will be at a disadvantage against a self-made person", the 61-year-old author said.

He took on Congress president Sonia Gandhi too who, he said, reminded him of the "late Mughal dynasty" and how aloof they were of the state of their kingdom.

"India is becoming more democratic and less feudal, and the Gandhis just don't realise this. You (Sonia) are in Delhi, your kingdom is shrinking more and more but still your chamchas (sycophants) are telling you that you are still the badshah," he said.

Further, he quoted his teacher and noted Indian sociologist Andre Beteille to describe the story of Nehru-Gandhi family as a classic "reversal of the famous Biblical injunction": the sins of the father will be visited upon seven successive generations.

"In the Nehru's case, it is the sins of the seven successive generations have been re-visited upon Nehru... look at the national debate today. Why is Nehru evoked everytime? Why does Modi always say Nehru ne Kashmir mein yeh kiya, China mein yeh kiya, Triple Talaq mein yeh kiye ... because Rahul Gandhi is there.

"Now if Rahul Gandhi disappears, Modi has to talk about his own policies and why they failed," he said.

According to Guha, "Hypocrisy of the Indian Left -- the fact that they loved other nations more than India", "rise of aggressive nationalism worldwide" and "the rise of Islamic fundamentalism in neighbouring countries" are some other reasons behind the evident leap of Hindutva in India in the recent times.

Historian William Dalrymple, novelists like Benyamin, Namita Gokhale, Chetan Bhagat and journalists Karan Thapar and Rajdeep Sardesai are among the many other writers who will be attending the four-day festival.

The focus theme of KLF 2020 is environment and climate change.

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