Ananthamurthy cremated with full state honours

Bengaluru, July 17: The government of Karnataka has decided to issue caste and income certificates to Brahmins in the state to reduce the socio-economic inequality faced by the community.

“A notification has been issued to tehsildars in all 30 districts to issue caste and income certificates to Brahmins so that they can also benefit from the government schemes and scholarships,” a Revenue Department official told said.

The notification comes a month after the Karnataka State Brahmin Development Board on June 10 appealed to Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa to issue the certificates to the traditionally dominant community, which accounts for 3 per cent of the 7 crore state population.

“Though Brahmins are in ‘minority’ in terms of their population across the state, they need caste and income certificates to benefit from the welfare schemes meant for the economic weaker sections such as SC, ST and OBC groups,” the official said.

The board was set up in March 2019 as a state-run company with Rs 5 crore authorised capital and Rs 5 crore equity and is registered with the Registrar of Companies.

The notification was issued to the local bodies and taluk offices after several members of the community complained to state Revenue Minister R. Ashoka that they were unable to benefit from the welfare schemes in the absence of the certificates.

The certificates will also help students from the community to avail scholarships for higher studies from the state-funded board if their gross annual family income is less than Rs 8 lakh per year.

The board has also urged the state government to implement the 10 per cent quota for its community members under the economically weaker sections, as applicable for Central government jobs and admissions to central institutions.

Noting that every community has people who are forward and backward economically for various reasons, including historical, the official said the board would be empowered to serve the Brahmins.

“The board will provide interest-free loans to the financially weaker sections of the community,” said its Chairman H.S. Sachidananda Murthy.

Bengaluru, June 1: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today praised the Karnataka government for its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Addressing the silver jubilee celebrations of the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS) via a digital platform, he spoke about the Karnataka government's efforts.

He appreciated the work of front-line warriors who are fighting every day in the war against COVID-19 and stressed the need to respect them.

"Doctors and other medical workers are soldiers without wearing the uniform of soldiers. Any kind of attack or violence against them is not acceptable," said Modi.

"There are incidents of violence against the front-line warriors. Any kind of abuse, violence or rude behaviour is not acceptable. The world is looking at doctors and medical staff with gratitude," he said.

"This is the biggest crisis since the two World Wars," the prime minister said. "Pre- and post-COVID-19, the world will be different. The discussions now at a global level are humanity-centric."

Stressing the importance of medical infrastructure, the prime minister spoke about the decision taken by the Union Government to set up a medical college in every district.

"A nation like ours has to have the medical infrastructure and medical education. Now, every district is going to have a medical college," he said.

However, the PM remained silent on salaries of front-line warriors. The Karnataka government has so far not released the salaries of doctors, nurses and lab technicians hired under National Health Mission.

Kasaragod, June 2: As Kerala commenced fresh academic year with online classes from Monday, a ninth-standard student at Malappuram district in North Kerala ended life allegedly owing to lack of online study facilities like television connection and a smartphone at her house.

Devika, daughter of Balakrishnan, hailing from a Dalit community at Valancherry, about 25 kilometres from Malappuram town, ended her life.

Balakrishnan told the media that he could not recharge the television connection owing to financial crunches. He was working as a daily wage worker and owing to COVID-19 and lockdown, he was not having much work these days. 

The family also did not have a smartphone or computer. The family members alleged that Devika was quite upset as she could not attend the virtual class that began on Monday. She was a student of a nearby government school.

Local police said that Devika, who was the eldest among four children of Balakrishnan, was suspected to have self-immolated using kerosene at a premise close to her house on Monday evening. The cause and provocations were still being probed only. No suicide notes were recovered yet.