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Cong out to win over Lingayats, to push for separate religion tag

DHNS
July 25, 2017

Bengaluru, Jul 25: The ruling Congress appears to have decided to step up its efforts to woo the dominant Lingayat community: Five Lingayat ministers in the Siddaramaiah Cabinet will embark on a state-wide tour next month to campaign for declaring the Veerashaiva-Lingayat dharma as a separate religion.Basavaraj

Addressing a press conference in Bengaluru on Monday, Higher Education Minister Basavaraj Rayareddi said ministers — Sharanprakash Patil, Eshwar Khandre, Vinay Kulkarni, S S Mallikarjun and himself — will tour the state, meeting community leaders, Lingayat math heads, office-bearers of Ahkila Bharatha Veerashaiva Mahasabha among others to push for declaring the Veerashaiva-Lingayat dharma as a separate religion.

He said once the Lingayat-Veerashaiva dharma is declared an independent religion, the community will seek “minority” status. “What is wrong in that.... Veerashaivas are neither Hindus nor any sub-sect of the Hindus. They are groups that emerged following a movement against casteism, inequality, feudalism and gender discrimination in Hindu society. We must be declared a separate religion and given minority status,” Rayareddi said, replying to a volley of questions from reporters.

The move by the ministers, which comes close on the heels on the demand for an official status to the state flag, is seen as a well planned strategy by the Congress to politically take on the BJP ahead of next year’s elections. The Lingayat community, by and large, is considered to electorally back the BJP across the state. By playing the separate religion card, the Congress is keen to make inroads into the BJP support base, say political observers.

Last week, a section of the Lingayat community took out a rally in Bidar and revived the demand for the formation of a separate religion for the community. They submitted a memorandum to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who said he was ready to take it up with the Centre if there is unanimity among the community leaders.

However, Rayareddi denied that the move to seek a separate religion tag for Veerashaiva-Lingayat dharma was politically motivated. On the timing of the revival of the demand, the minister said it was just a coincidence and had nothing to do with the Assembly elections. He also denied that the Congress was playing the “Lingayat card” to take on the “Hindutva card” of the BJP and that the minority tag for Lingayat-Veerashaiva dharma will be used to bring the community into the Ahinda vote bank.

Rayareddi criticised BJP state president B S Yeddyurappa for stating that Veerashaivas are Hindus and that Siddaramaiah was trying to divide the community. “Yeddyurappa does not know anything about Lingayats. He follows the RSS ideology which has its foundations in Hindu philosophy,” Rayareddi said.

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iqtidar
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Tuesday, 25 Jul 2017

Innalillahi wa Inna Ilahi Rajiwun, may allah subhanawatala grant him jannatul firdaus

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News Network
February 14,2020

Bengaluru, Feb 14: BJP leader and Karnataka Revenue Minister R Ashok refused to comment on the Bellary car accident case, allegedly involving his son, saying that the matter was still under investigation and that they did not have anything to do with the said car.

The car crash took place on February 10, when a speeding red Mercedes Benz allegedly driven by Ashok's son rammed into a tea stall by the roadside killing two people. While a 16-year-old boy Ravi died on the spot, one of the car's passengers was also killed in the accident.

"I came to know about the incident and also heard that two people have died and a few others have sustained injuries. Everybody is equal under the law. It is not fair to comment as a minister when the case is being investigated," Ashok told reporters here on Thursday.

However, the minister avoided answering questions about his son's presence in the car and said that they had "no connection" with the car.

"The case is in the investigation stage, I don't want to comment on anything. My son's name is not present in the FIR. We have no connection with the car," he said.

Superintendent of Police CK Baba told reporters that Ashok's son was not present in the car.

"There was no senior BJP leader and Revenue Ministers's son in the car. We will not hide anything and the case will be investigated," Baba said.

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News Network
August 7,2020

Bengaluru, Aug 7: The Karnataka government would provide Rs 10,000 immediate relief to families affected by heavy rains and flooding in districts across coastal, central and southern areas of the state, an official said on Thursday.

"Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa has directed all the Deputy Commissioners in the rain-cum-flood-hit districts to provide Rs 10,000 interim relief to the affected families and Rs 5 lakh to those whose houses were completely damaged in the natural disaster," a Revenue Department official told media persons here.

As the south-west monsoon advanced and intensified, heavy and widespread rains with gusty winds have been lashing 12 of the 30 districts across the state, wreaking havoc and disrupting normal life due to flooding, landslides, lakes and ponds overflowing, and rivers and their tributaries in the spate.

"The Chief Minister also instructed the officials to make use schools, colleges and public places as relief centres to shelter the rain-cum-flood-hit families, as hostels and community halls have been converted into Covid care centres in the affected districts," said the official.

The affected districts have also been advised to conduct a survey of crop loss suffered by farmers for compensation under the centrally-sponsored Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana and the Weather Based Crop Insurance Schemes.

Deputy Commissioners have been told to take preventive measures to protect and provide relief to the people from heavy rains, floods and landslides in the affected districts.

"Yediyurappa also directed ministers in-charge of the districts to remain in their constituency and visit the affected areas to assess damage caused by the rains and flash floods for compensation and relief aid," noted the official.

The Chief Minister on Wednesday announced Rs 50 crore for rescue and relief operations in the affected districts across the state.

Meanwhile, the Meteorological department has issued a red alert on heavy rains in the affected districts of Kodagu, Udupi, Dakshina Kannada and Uttar Kannada in the coastal region and in Shivamoga, Chikkamagaluru, Hassan and Haveri in the Malnad region.

"Bagamandala in Kodagu district where Cauvery river springs near Talakaveri received a whopping 486 mm rain during the last 24 hours, causing flash floods and disrupting normal life as offices, shops and eateries remained shut and public transport was affected," added the official.

The water-level in Cauvery and Lakshmanatheertha is flowing at high level while the Sayi layout and Kuvempu layout Kushalnagar is inundated and the affected residents were shifted to safer location.

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News Network
May 20,2020

Bengaluru, May 20: Ride-sharing company Ola Cabs said on Wednesday it will lay off 1,400 of its employees due to business uncertainty caused by the coronavirus pandemic while the revenue has come down by 95 per cent in the past two months.

"The COVID crisis continues to unfold all around us causing unprecedented economic and social destruction. It has also become evident that the coronavirus will not be eliminated any time soon," wrote co-founder and CEO Bhavish Aggarwal to all Ola employees.

"In these circumstances, today I write to all of you with the toughest decision I have ever taken -- the need to downsize our organisation and let go of 1,400 of our valued employees," he said.

Aggarwal said the fallout of virus has been very tough for the cab aggregating industry in particular. "The company's revenue has come down by 95 per cent over the past two months," he said.

Initially, he said, the company hoped it would be a short-lived crisis and that its impact would be temporary. "But unfortunately, it is not been a short crisis. And the prognosis ahead for our business is very unclear and uncertain. It is going to take a long time for people to go out and about like before."
With more companies preferring to have a large number of employees work from home, air travel limited to essential trips and vacations being put off for better times, the impact of this crisis is definitely going to be long-drawn, said Aggarwal.

"The world is not going to revert to the pre-COVID era anytime soon. Social distancing, anxiety and an abundance of caution will be the operating principles for everyone," he told employees.

Aggarwal said the crisis necessitates the need to conserve cash aggressively so that Ola is able to invest in opportunities in the future, adding the downsizing exercise has been a very tough and sad decision for the management team to make.

"While we restructure our organisation to the new realities of our business, we are also going to recommit ourselves to strengthening our operational excellence and leverage a lot more technology to improve efficiencies and reduce cost across all parts of our business," he said.

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