Congress camp worried as 20 upset MLAs team up

DHNS
June 9, 2018

Bengaluru, Jun 9: Disgruntlement in the Congress went a notch up on Friday as at least 20 estranged legislators who were not picked to become ministers, ganged up against the party’s leadership in an almost rebellious fashion, even as top leaders made all efforts to pacify them.

Chief among them is former minister M B Patil, who declared as if to send out a strong message, that he was not alone. “Just because the Congress has dumped me, I cannot dump the Congress. But I’m not alone,” Patil said, even as Deputy Chief Minister and state Congress chief G Parameshwara tried to pacify him. “I’m no senior or junior. All 20 of us are equals. We will soon sit together and decide what’s next,” he said. Patil clarified that they were not considering quitting the party. The disgruntled MLAs may knock on Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s doors for a way out.

M B Patil has been called to Delhi on Saturday, where he is likely to meet Rahul Gandhi. The disgruntled camp also includes veteran leader H K Patil, Satish Jarkiholi, M T B Nagaraju, R Roshan Baig, H M Revanna, B C Patil, N A Haris, Eshwar Khandre among others.

Yamkanamaradi MLA Satish Jarkiholi said he was contemplating resignation. “I’ve been unable to become a minister myself, or help others to become one. I’m not confined to my constituency. I have supporters all over the state,” he said.

“I will hold more consultations and I’m thinking of resigning (as AICC secretary),” he said in Belagavi.

“All of us have the same grievance,” Haris, who represents Shantinagar, told DH. “As far as I’m concerned, the party should have given me an opportunity. The leadership should have taken a clear stand that those who were ministers before will not be made ministers this time. But then, you have included those you want.”

Revanna, who belongs to Kuruba community, trained his guns on former chief minister Siddaramaiah, also a Kuruba, who has camped in his Badami constituency away from all the action. “The community demands answers. When Vokkaligas and Lingayats could be accommodated, why not us (Kurubas)?” Revanna asked. “Siddaramaiah is the leader of the Congress Legislature Party and the coalition coordination and monitoring committee. He has a role to play, but he isn’t here.”

Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy, who personally reached out to M B Patil by visiting his residence, said his coalition partner should act fast to quell disgruntlement.

“I heard Patil out and listened to his anger. But there’s nothing I can do. Only the Congress can fix this. I came to pacify him because we share a personal relationship. My work is limited to conveying to the Congress high command that they need to take remedial steps immediately,” Kumaraswamy said.

Comments

Danish
 - 
Saturday, 9 Jun 2018

I doubt that this govt can complete its 5 year term

Danish
 - 
Saturday, 9 Jun 2018

I doubt that this govt can complete its 5 year term

Kumar
 - 
Saturday, 9 Jun 2018

From the first itself ministers and leaders showing their dissatisfaction. I dont know how these people can give good administration

 

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News Network
May 1,2020

Bengaluru, May 1: As Mumbai link surfacing in some COVID-19 cases in Mandya district in Karnataka, JDS leader and former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy on Friday blamed the district administration for the situation, accusing it of not quarantining 7,000 labourers who 'returned' from the Maharashtra capital.

"The information we have is that there are about 16,000 labourers from Mandya were working in Mumbai of which 7,000 people reached the district. None of them was quarantined properly," Kumaraswamy told reporters in Bengaluru.

He claimed the district, a stronghold of JDS, was staring at a major spurt in cases due to the careless attitude of the district administration. "Government should initiate action against those who are responsible for the laxity," he said.

However, he did not specify when the 7,000 workers returned to Mandya. When asked about Kumaraswamy's claim, officials said they have to verify it. Of the eight cases reported from Mandya on Friday, three had a travel history to Mumbai, a major COVID-19 hotspot in the country, officials said.

A Health Department official said four of the fresh cases were contacts of a patient who tested positive on April 8 and admitted to a hospital. After weeks of coming in contact with him, the four were confirmed for COVID-19, an official said. The Three people with travel history to Mumbai had, in fact, brought the body of a man who died of a heart attack there on April 24, the official added.

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Agencies
July 5,2020

Dubai, Jul 5: Three Indians, who were repatriated on a chartered flight from the UAE on Friday, have been held in the state of Rajasthan after officials seized gold worth Dh2.2million from them, the government announced on Saturday.

They are likely to be placed under arrest along with 11 others, who were repatriated from Saudi Arabia, from whom gold worth Dh5.5million was seized, a statement from the government tweeted by Press Information Bureau in Rajasthan said.

The gold bars were hidden in emergency lamps, photos attached to the tweets showed.

The 14 passengers had arrived at the Jaipur International Airport by two chartered flights.

They were intercepted by the Customs team at the airport and 31.9kg of gold valued at Rs156,759,820 (Dh7.7million) concealed in the baggage was recovered from these passengers.

Three passengers arrived from Ras Al Khaimah by Spice Jet Flight SG9055 and 12 gold bars/bricks weighing 9.3kg valued at Rs.45,761,100 (Dh2.2million) were recovered from them, the statement said.

The Indian Consulate in Dubai confirmed to Gulf News that the flight was chartered by a private company for repatriating its employees.

It is suspected that the passengers were used as carriers to smuggle gold.

The other 11 accused had arrived from Riyadh and 22.65kg of gold bars, predominantly with Suisse markings, valued at Rs110,998,720 (Dh5.5million) were recovered from them.

“The said recovered gold bars have been seized under Section 110 of the Customs Act, 1962. The said passengers are being interrogated and are likely to be placed under arrest in terms of section 104 of the Customs Act, 1962,” the statement added.

Indian media had earlier reported similar cases in which stranded Indians were apparently lured to be carriers for smuggling gold on repatriation flights from various countries.

A spike in gold smuggling attempts using Indians getting repatriated after losing jobs was also reported from the Indian state of Kerala.

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News Network
February 6,2020

Kalaburagi, Feb 6: The State government will take steps to ensure that Kannada as a language is taught in all private schools, Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa announced today at the 85th Akhila Bharata Kannada Sahitya Sammelana in Kalaburagi.

This comes in the wake of the demand by some Kannada activists for making Kannada medium compulsory in all schools in the State. Sammelana president H.S. Venkatesh Murthy, who spoke after the Chief Minister, also made this demand.

The Chief Minister said “We are committed to putting in place a series of steps to see that Kannada is taught in all schools, aided and private, as a language. Kannada should be taught as the first or second language. We will also take steps to strengthen government schools. However, the government alone cannot do much. The community and parents should offer support to make sure that government schools provide quality education to all.”

To inculcate the spirit of scientific inquiry, the State government is setting up mobile planetariums. This will increase the interest of children in space technology and India’s efforts in space exploration.

The government is committed to protecting the interests of the State in Mahadayi and other river water disputes. It will take the border row issue, based on the Mahajan Commission report pending in the Supreme Court, to its logical end.

The government will also address backwardness and related issues. It will make sure that adequate funds are allocated to the development of Kalyana Karnataka. Among other things, it will establish a hostel for students from Kalaburagi region in Bengaluru. Land has been allotted in Nagarabavi for the hostel that can accommodate around 200 students. The government has decided to celebrate Kalyana Karnataka Utsav once every two years. This will showcase the culture of the region.

“We are working towards forging sentimental and emotional unity of the State other than unity based on language or administration. Our dream is to see that Karnataka remains a homogeneous unit with equality and equal opportunity for all,’’ the Chief Minister added.

Kambar bats for technology

Chandrashekar Kambar, Sahitya Akademi president and former president of the Akhila Bharata Kannada Sahitya Sammelana, favoured effective implementation of technology in administration and for universal use of Kannada in computing and e-governance.

Speaking at the Sammelana inauguration, he said “Several years ago, at the insistence of writer Poornachandra Tejaswi, I appealed to the State government to give a push to Kannada computing. We were convinced that no language can survive without the use of modern technology and use of the language in computers. The Department of Kannada and Culture, headed by then director Manu Baligar, released ₹2 crore for the project. The work began in earnest and teams of technologists came up with software and fonts. Some departments started using Kannada software. But this work has stopped or slowed down at some level. I appeal to Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa to continue the work and ensure that computerised Kannada is used at all levels of government and in e-governance.’’

Supports dubbing

Mr. Kambar batted for content dubbing of informative TV channels in Kannada. Channels such as Discovery and History produce good quality content that can be educative and informative. They are very useful for children. These channels are now available in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi and some other Indian languages. But they are not available in Kannada. That is because some people in the film industry are opposing dubbing. Such opposition is not good. Informative channels are our window to the world and allowing dubbing will enhance our knowledge base. There is no merit in not allowing dubbing. I appeal to C.T. Ravi, Minister for Kannada and Culture, to allow dubbing in Kannada, he said.

Mr. Kambar favoured primary education in the mother tongue of the child and urged the State government to introduce universal and compulsory education in Kannada medium in all schools. “This will help preserve our culture. Nothing else can,’’ he said.

He blamed the East India Company administration for inculcating a craze for English education among the people. “The introduction of English education by the British was strongly welcomed by the masses in India as they had been denied the opportunity for education for millenia. The deprived classes and Dalits who had not been exposed to education till then, were excited about the opportunity. However, along with English education, the British were successful in introducing inferiority in our minds. We are yet to escape from this inferiority complex.”

Quoting from Greek mythology, Mr. Kambar said that Hercules had killed his children and relatives in a fit of alcohol-induced rage. “We should not behave like that. We may be very strong, but we should not kill our mother tongue, in our power-induced rage,’’ he said.

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