Cong govt too indulged in illegal mining, MML sold iron ore worth Rs 5000 cr illegally: HDK

News Network
January 13, 2018

Bengaluru, Jan 13: Not only previous governments, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah led Congress government too has indulged in rampant illegal mining, according to former chief minister and JD(S) state president H D Kumaraswamy.

Speaking to media persons here on Saturday, Mr Kumaraswamy, who is also facing illegal mining charges, claimed that iron ore wroth over Rs 5,000 crore has been illegally lifted and transported by the state owned Mysore Minerals Ltd (MML) between 2014 and 2017.

Kumaraswamy said that an internal inquiry by senior officers of the department of Mines and Geology had revealed that 60,56,440 MT of ore had been illegally lifted and sold by MML.

He said, MML had entered into a three-year agreement with Subbarayanahalli Iron Ore Mines and Thimmappanagudi Iron Ore Mines, to mine ore in Sandur taluk in Ballari district from November 27, 2014 to March 31, 2017.

Contracts had also been awarded to S S Muchandi (excavation); Amit Earth Movers (drilling); Vishal Enterprises (crushing/screening); and South West Mining Ltd Kumaraswamy alleged.

The former CM said that as per the committee report dated April 27, 2017, Rs 2,062 crore worth ore was illegally lifted and transported within the state between 2014 and 2015 itself.

MML officials had swindled money by tampering with the records of the production register book. Officials had shown records of less quantity of ore being mined, where the quantum of ore excavated was much higher, he said.

As many as eight IAS officers (serving as Director, Mines and Geology) who tried to expose the scam had been transferred by the government in quick succession.

"IAS officer Munish Moudgil was transferred barely one month after he took charge. The office of the chief minister is directly involved in this illegality," he said.

He also pointed out that the IAS officer Tushar Girinath was heading the department at the height of the scam. Girinath is Siddaramaiah's principal secretary.

"The government was forced to constitute the inquiry committee after another IAS officer P Hemalatha wanted to refer the matter to the Lokayukta," said Kumaraswamy.

He also said that though the contractors had single permits, they had made multiple trips and transported the raw material illegally.

The committee had also highlighted that South West Mining Ltd had carried out excavations on behalf of S S Muchandi, as the latter had no excavation equipment.

"It is a fact that BJP leader B S Yeddyurappa has links with South West Mining Ltd. Ironically, the illegal mining activities carried out by the Congress government is worse than previous BJP regime. These people are more intelligent - they know how to escape, unlike Yeddyurappa who was caught red handed with a cheque," he said.

Kumaraswamy also hinted that Siddaramaiah was in the know of the illegalities. "The Mines department continues to be under Siddaramaiah. Minister Vinay Kulkarni holds the portfolio in name alone. This kind of rampant illegalities cannot be carried out without the blessings of the higher ups," he added and demanded a fair probe into the matter.

Comments

Danish
 - 
Saturday, 13 Jan 2018

HDK targeting only congress and siddaramaiah.

Kumar
 - 
Saturday, 13 Jan 2018

How many allegations? how many promises? Hyperactive Devegowda Kumaraswamy = HDK

Mohan
 - 
Saturday, 13 Jan 2018

Wow.. HDK became hyperactive in these days

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coastaldigest.com news network
May 21,2020

Mangaluru, May 21: The third repatriation flight from Dubai to Mangaluru will operate on Saturday, May 23, confirmed union minister D V Sadananda Gowda. This will operate via Bengaluru.

The first and second direct repatriation flights from Dubai had landed at Mangaluru International Airport on May 12 and May 18. There were more than 175 passengers on board each of these flights.

On May 23, Air India flight (IX 0384) will take off at Dubai at 4:30 p.m. and land at Bengaluru at 9:50 p.m. It will again take off at 10:50 p.m. and land at Mangaluru at 11:45 p.m.

However, ministry of civil aviation sources said that no final decision has been taken about carrying passengers by these flights to Mangaluru.

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News Network
April 14,2020

Bengaluru, Apr 14: The Karnataka government has decided to adopt “remote monitoring” of COVID-19 positive patients in order to ensure the safety of healthcare professionals - the frontline warriors against the pandemic.

Two doctors treating COVID-19 patients tested positive recently and in to check such instances in future, the Department of Medical Education is planning remote monitoring, which reduces doctors’ exposure to patients.

Medical Education Minister Dr K Sudhakar has consulted some of the doctors in the United States who are already using this technology to treat the COVID-19 positive cases. The minister is also having a meeting with representatives of some of the companies which provide such technology.

“I spoke to a team of epidemiologists and heads of certain departments at the United States to know about the remote monitoring technology they are using. I am also meeting the representatives of a few such companies which can provide us with the technology at our hospitals,”  Dr Sudhakar said.

Track state-wise coronavirus cases here

The minister added, “We have heard reports of many doctors and other health professionals succumbing to COVID-19. We don’t want to take risk.” Explaining the technology, Dr Sachidanand, Vice Chancellor of Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences said that remote monitoring uses a software with which specialist doctors can monitor health condition of patients and treat them by not getting exposed directly.

The presence of all the doctors in COVID-19 is not necessary when patients are monitored remotely. 

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News Network
July 7,2020

Bengaluru, Jul 7: There seems no impact of Covid-19 on kharif crop sowing in Karnataka with the current year actually being ahead of previous years, according to an official here on Monday.

"In agriculture, as far as sowing is concerned, there is no impact of COVID-19," Agriculture Commissioner Brijesh Kumar Dikshit told IANS. One of the reasons, according to Dikshit, is that people in rural areas are aware, but not scared of the pandemic.

"In rural India, coronavirus is there. People are aware, not scared. They are taking precautions, but don't have any phobia," he said.

Another reason was that by June the number of infections in Karnataka was not as high as other states, when a lot of sowing was done, he said.

By the end of June, Karnataka saw 15,242 Covid-19 cases. Of that, 7,074 were active.

The sowing is ahead of previous year as it's mostly dependent on weather. "It's ahead of previous years. Agriculture is directed by weather and rains had been slightly earlier this year," he said.

According to Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre, at 185 mm the state received 14 mm less rain in June against the normal 199 mm. "It's like a normal year, or slightly a good year," he said.

Some crops will be sown in the last fortnight of July and few more will extend up to August 15. "The last two weeks will be critical and on July 31 we should be able to tell whether we are short or ahead," he said.

According to preliminary indications, the Commissioner said the area under agriculture is increasing this year, which could also be because that labourers might have come back.

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