Congress leader lashes out at party over JSW land deal

TNN
June 6, 2019

Bengaluru, Jun 6: Barely 24 hours after senior Congress leader R Ramalinga Reddy slammed leaders of his party for the poor show in the Lok Sabha elections, another veteran Congressman, HK Patil, hit out at his colleague, KJ George, over a land deal.

Patil criticized the Congress-JD(S) coalition government for selling 3,666 acres of land (2,000 acres in 2006 and 1,666 acres in 2007 at Toranagallu, Sandur taluk, Ballari district) to Sajjan Jindal-promoted JSW Steel for a concessional price. This, despite the company owing the state-owned Mysore Mineral Limited (MML) Rs 1,200 crore for failing to honour its commitments and unilaterally hiking premium on iron ore in its joint venture.

Ever since the cabinet decided two weeks ago to execute an absolute sale deed in favour of JSW for 2,666 acres of land — the company has constructed its steel plant and township on the land — the government has been struggling to justify the decision. Opposition from within and outside has landed the coalition in a spot of bother.

Last week, the government had claimed that Jindal fulfilled all conditions and George, who is minister of large and medium size industry in HD Kumaraswamy’s cabinet, had claimed that Jindal had no dues pending towards the state government.

However, on Wednesday, Patil released documents on his official Twitter handle citing cases filed in Bengaluru’s city civil court and also a dispute between the two parties that suggest JSW still owes the government over Rs 1,200 crore. Patil claimed he had even written two letters to Kumaraswamy in this regard, but they were ignored.

The documents included findings of the Comptroller and Accountant General (CAG) in a report probing the losses in MML. The CAG noted alleged faults in JSW’s dealings with MML and its failure to honour its agreements with the PSU.

Neither George, who was flying to Delhi, nor officials from the industries department were available for comments.

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News Network
April 6,2020

Hubli, April 6: A disinfection tunnel was installed at the entrance of the Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) market here on Sunday.

The tunnel, installed with the help of Young India.org, sprays people with a small percentage of Sodium hypochlorite solution through nozzles in order to sanitise them before they enter the market.

"It is helpful for all the farmers, vegetable vendors and other people who are coming and going to the APMC market. This is very useful," said Jagdish Shettar, Minister of Large and Medium Scale Industries, Karnataka.

With regards to any plans of more devices being added in the near future, Shettar added: "Firstly, we will have to see what would be the public's reaction and then, later on, we will decide."

President of Confederation of Indian Industry, Hubli VSV Prasad said that the setting up of this tunnel can help curtail the spread of Coronavirus "by disinfecting the bacteria of the body".

While it was on the trial stage right now, Prasad hopes that the trial is successful and the chamber is set up in more public places. With regards to the cost of the tunnel, he said: "The cost is around Rs 1.5 Lac to Rs 2 Lac and hopefully it will come down once we go for production," he added.

Srinivas Joshi, a representative of Young India.org, speaking to news agency said: "We have added 1.8 percent of Sodium hypochlorite solution in 100 litres of water. It is pumped through high-pressure pumps and sprayed like a mist via nozzles for 3-5 seconds which is very less time to cause any kind of allergy."

"People who are allergic to chemicals should avoid going through this chamber. We are putting signboard very soon," he added.

The number of positive cases of coronavirus in the country continues to surge. As per the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases is 3,577 with 83 deaths.

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News Network
June 11,2020

Bengaluru, Jun 11: A love triangle took a violent turn when a final-year engineering student was assaulted by both her current and former lovers. She's now battling for her life in the ICU, police said. 

For the 22-year-old woman, who lives in Sidedahalli, it was a case of fast-changing relationships. She broke up with a fellow student Babith, 21, a few months ago after having dated him for four years. Four months ago, she started seeing another collegemate named Rahul, 22, and everything seemed fine. 

On June 7, she went to Rahul's house, ostensibly for his birthday party, after informing her parents. Babith got wind of it and barged into Rahul's house. The trio got into an argument, and Rahul abused and assaulted her. 

The woman decided to leave him, and went with Babith to his house in Chikkabanavara, North Bengaluru. But things didn't end there. Babith picked an argument with her. Things became so bad that he attacked her with a helmet. 

He then panicked and called her parents, asking them to take her home. When her parents arrived, they found only Babith, his mother and sister in the house. Babith's family directed them to a bedroom where she was lying motionless, with her face being badly wounded. 

When her parents demanded to know what had happened, nobody responded. They took her to a hospital where her condition remains serious. A while later, Babith came to the hospital and gave her parents the key of her scooter. He told them what had happened and allegedly warned them against filing a police complaint. 

Her mother, however, filed a complaint with the jurisdictional Soladevanahalli police. According to her, Babith had fought with her daughter at their house for not taking his phone calls six months ago. 

Shashikumar N, Deputy Commissioner of Police (North), said both the men had been arrested and that further investigations are underway. 

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News Network
February 2,2020

Bengaluru, Feb 2: Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Sunday said that the cabinet expansion would take place on February 6, with 13 MLAs taking oath of office. “The cabinet expansion will take place on February 6 with the oath-taking ceremony at the Raj Bhavan at 10.30 AM,” he told reporters in Bengaluru.

Thirteen MLAs, including 10 who had joined BJP from parties, including Congress and the JD(S), will take oath, he said. The cabinet expansion is on the cards for nearly two months ever since the BJP won the maximum number of seats in the December 5 2019 bypolls and got a majority in the Karnataka assembly.

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