Protests by BJP force cancellation of Karnataka govt seminar

Agencies
January 22, 2019

Bengaluru, Jan 22: Protests by BJP and some pro-Kannada organisations, citing the three-day mourning announced for the death of Siddaganga Math head Shivakumara Swamiji, forced the cancellation of a Karnataka government seminar on Tuesday.

The seminar titled 'Conversations of the Constitution', which was organised by the state social welfare department and a television channel, was called off after the first session, Karnataka Social Welfare Minister Priyank Kharge said.

Former vice president Hamid Ansari, CPI(M) leader Brinda Karat, BJP MP Rakesh Sinha, retired Supreme Court judge Santosh Hegde, student leader Kanhaiya Kumar, social activist Medha Patkar, film actor Prakash Raj and AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi were among the prominent speakers.

A highly revered seer known for his stellar contributions in the field of education and social service, Shivakumara Swamiji died at 111 on Monday.

Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumarasamy had announced one-day government holiday on Tuesday and a three-day state mourning as a mark of respect for the Siddaganga Math head.

"The state government is organising this event in the name of Constitution when it has declared three-day mourning. It should have cancelled the event," Karnataka BJP spokesperson Go Madhusudan told reporters outside a hotel where the seminar was organised.

The BJP leader said he had spoken to Kharge, asking him to call off the event as it was unfair, but the government remained adamant.

Madhusudan claimed he had been invited to the event by one of the organisers, but he chose to boycott it.

"Shamelessness of @INCKarnataka reaches new heights.While State is mourning the loss of Shri Shivakumara Swamiji, Congress Minister @PriyankKharge has organised a luxury event inviting Tukde gang head Kanhaiya & Owaisi to speak on democracy. May God do well to you," BJP's Karnataka unit said in a tweet.

In a statement released here, BJP SC Morcha national general secretary Chi Na Ramu and state general secretary Ravi Kumar also slammed the state government for holding the event.

The statement said organising an event like 'Conversations of the Constitution' by inviting Owaisi was "laughable".

When Karnataka Pradesh Youth Congress pointed out that Sinha, BJP Rajya Sabha member, was also a panelist, he clarified that he had withdrawn from the event.

"I withdrew from the event, didn't join opening session...I openly insisted the programme should be cancelled as a mark of respect to Swamiji. Don't disguise your discourtesy using my name," Sinha said in a tweet.

Kharge said the decision to cancel the seminar was taken because it had hurt the sentiments of a section of people.

The social welfare minister told reporters that there was no direction to stop all government work.

"Mourning means doing some good work that can give peace to the departed soul. There are clear directions that no entertainment programmes are organised. The apolitical programme was based on a serious topic of the Constitution," he said.

Comments

shiju
 - 
Thursday, 24 Jan 2019

BJP is really a trouble maker.   They never respected this Swamiji and hence dont pay homage to him. 

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News Network
July 11,2020

Bengaluru, Jul 11: Karnataka on Saturday reported the biggest single-day spurt of 2,798 cases and a record 70 related fatalities, taking the total number of infections in the state to 36,216, the health department said.

The day also saw a record 880 patients getting discharged after recovery.

Out of 2,798 fresh cases, a whopping 1,533 cases were from Bengaluru urban alone.

The previous biggest single-day spike was recorded on July 10 with 2,313 cases.

As of July 11 evening, cumulatively 36,216 COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in the state, which includes 613 deaths and 14,716 discharges, the health department said in its bulletin.

It said out of 20,883 active cases, 20,379 patients are in isolation at designated hospitals and are stable, while 504 are in ICU.

Out of 70 deaths reported, 23 are from Bengaluru urban, 8 from Mysuru, five from Dakshina Kannada, among others.

Most of the dead are either with a history of Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI) or Influenza-like illness (ILI).

Out of 2,798 cases tested positive today, contacts of the majority of the cases are still under tracing.

Among the districts where the new cases were reported, Bengaluru urban accounts for 1533 cases, followed by Dakshina Kannada 186, Udupi 90, Mysuru 83, Tumakuru 78, Dharwad 77 and Yadgir 74.

Bengaluru urban district tops the list of positive cases, with a total of 16,862 infections, followed by DakshinaKannada 2,026 and Kalaburagi 2,024.

A total of 7.99 lakh samples were tested so far, out of which 20,587 were tested on Saturday alone.

So far 7.46 lakh samples have been reported as negative, and out of them 17,488 were reported negative today.

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News Network
February 28,2020

Bengaluru, Feb 28: The Liquefied Petroleum Gas penetration in Karnataka is 'absolutely 100 per cent' due to the Prime Minister Ujjwala Yojana, Indian Oil Corporation Karnataka Executive Director D L Pramodh said here on Friday.

In 2014, LPG penetration in the State was only 68 per cent, but after the PMUY, massive number of gas connections were given in the last five years, he said, adding, "It is absolutely 100 per cent today."

"There are 1.6 crore LPG connections out of which around 31.5 lakh -- or around 20 per cent -- come under the PMUY. The 100 per cent LPG penetration in the state will help women in rural areas to make their kitchens smokeless. Against the national average of 2.88 cylinders per family per PMUY annually, the figure is Karnataka 3.4 cylinders in Karnataka," Pramodh told reporters.

On the initiative of blending ethanol with petrol, he said it's 8.6 per cent in Karnataka, the highest comparedto other states, where it's five per cent to 5.5 per cent. The state aims to increase it to 10 per cent. By March 31, the IOC would commission the Rs 10 crore Vapour Recovery System at the Devanagonthi terminal on the city outskirts which would ensure that vapour does not go out in the air when tankers are being filled with fuel. "This is an important measure taken tominimise pollution", he said.

Pramodh also said the IOC has started mobile fuel dispensers, delivering fuels at the doorsteps.

Regarding the IOC's preparedness for Electric Vehicle charging stations, Pramodh said the Ministry of Power has given the company a target to set up 500 charging stations across India in the first phase. The IOC has already signed MoUs with NTPC, Power Grid Corporation Limited, Hyundai Motors, Tech Mahindra and Tata Power in this regard.

In Karnataka, 58 sites have been identified for setting up charging and battery swapping stations.

"Total electric vehicle charging facilities planned by IOC in Karnataka by March 31 is 34, out of which 26 will be EVcharging sites and eight battery swapping stations," Pramodh said.

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News Network
May 10,2020

Bengaluru, May 10: Karnataka on Sunday reported 59 new cases of coronavirus, taking the total number of cases in the state to 848, informed state health department.
Out of the total number of cases, 422 people have been discharged and 31 have died due to the infection in the state.
The health department further informed that six COVID-19 patients are currently in the Intensive Care Unit.

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