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BJP veteran, union minister Ananth Kumar dies of illness at 59

News Network
November 12, 2018

Bengaluru, Nov 12: Veteran leader of Bharatiya Janata Party and Union Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers and Minister of Parliamentary Affairs H N Ananth Kumar passed away in the early hours of Monday after undergoing treatment for cancer at a private hospital in Bengaluru. He was 59.

Kumar, one of the chief architects of Karnataka BJP, was battling cancer for the last several months. Kumar's body, which has been taken to his Basavangudi residence, will be kept for public viewing at the National College Grounds from 8 am onwards.

He had undergone treatment in London and New York, before being flown to the Sri Shankara Cancer Hospital in the city a few days back.

Upon hearing the rapid deterioration of his health, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan had visited Kumar at the hospital on October 28.

Speaking to DH, surgical oncologist Dr B S Srinath who heads Shankara Hospital said that Kumar was diagnosed with advanced lung cancer in the month of June. 

"After his diagnosis in Bengaluru, he was taken to the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, where he was treated. He, however, failed to respond to the treatment, following which was brought back to Bengaluru and kept on life support," he added.

Incidentally, Kumar's wife Tejwaswini is one of the trustees of the Sri Shankara Cancer Foundation.

The six-time Parliamentarian, who had continuously represented the Bangalore South Parliamentary constituency, Kumar began his political career as an Akhila Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) leader.

After serving various positions in ABVP like the state secretary and later national secretary in 1985,  he decided to walk in the bigger ground of politics by joining the Bharatiya Janata Party in 1987.

His first important role was when he was nominated as the State President of BJP Yuva Morcha.

In 1995 he was appointed as the national secretary of the party. He was elected to Lok Sabha in 1996 for the first time. In 1998 he was inducted into Atal Bihari Vajpayee cabinet as the Minister for Civil Aviation. 

In 1999, he became one of the most important cabinet ministers in the NDA government handling various ministries including Tourism, Sports & Youth Affairs, Culture, Urban Development and Poverty Alleviation.

Born in a middle-class family on July 22, 1959, he is the son of Narayan Shastri and Girija N Shastry. Kumar is survived by his wife Tejaswini and two daughters, Aishwarya and Vijetha.

Comments

Ibrahim
 - 
Monday, 12 Nov 2018

Inna Lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un

Sandeep Ullal
 - 
Monday, 12 Nov 2018

It's a shock to me.. He was just 59

Reshma kodialbail
 - 
Monday, 12 Nov 2018

Rest in peace

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News Network
January 15,2020

Bengaluru, Jan 15: The on-going process to select a new Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president is likely to drag on for few more days with former CM and opposition leader Siddaramaiah making a strong pitch for former minister MB Patil over DK Shivakumar for the post.

Siddaramaiah, who met AICC president Sonia Gandhi and other senior Congress leaders in New Delhi on Tuesday, reportedly argued in favour of Patil, saying his elevation would help the party win Lingayats to the fold.

“Yediyurappa, the undisputed leader of the Lingayat community, is almost at the end of his career and it is an opportunity for the Congress to gain the confidence of the community. Being a leader from North Karnataka, Patil fits the bill perfectly,” Siddaramaiah reportedly told Sonia.

Siddaramaiah is said to be backing Patil over Shivakumar as he is worried about losing his hold over the state unit, given Shivakumar’s popularity. While Sonia did give the former CM a patient hearing, she is said to have told him that he should obey and cooperate with whatever decision high command takes.

The high command is looking to evolve consensus on the new state president. “Sonia’s meeting with Siddaramaiah is part of this exercise. She wants to keep everybody in the loop,” said a functionary.

Siddaramaiah also met senior leaders Ahmed Patel and AK Anthony. He is expected to meet former AICC president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday.

However, some including Mallikarjun Kharge and Shamanur Shivashankarappa have expressed reservations against Patil’s elevation, pointing to his role in the controversial separate Lingayat religion issue which dented the Congress’ prospects in the 2018 assembly polls.

“He has a very bad name among Lingayats and making him president would prove counter-productive. Moreover, it is difficult to win back Lingayats as long as Yediyurappa is active in politics,” said a senior Congress leader.

Another functionary said a majority of state functionaries — and even some in the high command — favour Shivakumar as he is not only “resourceful”, but also has momentum. “With HD Deve Gowda and HD Kumaraswamy losing popularity among Vokkaligas, the possibility of the community backing Shivakumar is high. This may land him the top job,” the functionary said.

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News Network
August 4,2020

Bengaluru, Aug 4: With preparations underway for conducting exams for the final semester/ year students in the state, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister Dr CN Ashwathnarayan on Monday directed the respective universities to conduct exams for the backlog papers as well.

"In the wake of COVID-19, it has been decided to hold exams only for the students of final semester/year courses. It has come to our notice that some universities have decided against conducting exams for final year students who have a backlog to clear from previous semesters. This is unpardonable," the Deputy Chief Minister said.

"Our intention is to see that the final year students finish their course. In the present situation, conducting only final semester exams won't help. We have to help the students in clearing their backlogs," added Ashwathnarayan, directing all universities to compulsorily conduct these exams.

Meanwhile, Ashwathnarayan thanked the staff and officials of various government departments who were responsible for successfully conducting the CET exams even amidst the difficult situation in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic.

"In all, 1,94,419 students had registered for the CET exams, of which 1,75,428 wrote the exams. The percentage of students who took up the exams this year was equivalent to that of the previous years, in normal times," the DCM informed.

"After we successfully conducted the exams, Arunachal Pradesh is going to conduct the Public Service Commission exams on the lines of how we successfully conducted the exams. Likewise, even our KPSC has said it will conduct the exams. We must appreciate the good work of the Karnataka Examination Authority (KEA), which has set an example for others," Ashwathnarayan said.

The deputy chief minister said that 33 colleges in various districts across the state faced shortage of land and that it is the responsibility of the District Commissioners (DCs) to get the lands sanctioned for all these colleges.
In Bagalkot district alone land has not been sanctioned for six degree colleges, he said.

Reacting to this, Bagalkot DC Captain Rajendra assured to look into the matter as soon as he receives the proposal from department officials.

"Similarly, there is shortage of land for five Diploma colleges and 28 ITI colleges in different parts of the state. The DCs must immediately pay attention to this. Once they get the land, buildings will come up within no time," the Karnataka deputy chief minister said.

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News Network
February 10,2020

Mangaluru, Feb 10: Life of a 40–year-old man, who suffered a massive cardiac arrest, was saved by an ambulance driver who covered 80-km distance between Dharmasthala and Mangaluru in just 40 minutes.

The patient, a Chikkaballapur native sustained a heart attack near Sakleshpur on Saturday while he was on his way to Dharmasthala. He was provided preliminary treatment at a private hospital in Ujire, where doctors advised his relatives to shift him to a hospital in Mangaluru immediately.

The patient’s condition was critical and the odds were completely against him. Moreover owing to the ongoing double lane project work, the road too had been dugout. Despite all this, ambulance driver Hameed drove at a fast pace and managed to take the patient to the hospital within 40 minutes.

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