Congress, Left want single-phase polling

DHNS
February 1, 2018

Bengaluru, Feb 1: The Congress and Left pitched for single-phase Assembly polls during their meeting with Chief Election Commission Om Prakash Rawat on Wednesday.

The BJP, however, was silent on the dates, only requesting the Election Commission to hold the election in the middle of the week and not on a weekend. The JD(S) has sought multi-phase polls.

Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Sanjiv Kumar had recently recommended to the Election Commission for single-phase elections akin to the 2013 polls. This, he argued, would deter "bad or rowdy elements from indulging in multiple or bogus voting and intimidation of voters".

An Election Commission of India (ECI) delegation led by Rawat met representatives of various political parties as part of a two-day review of the state's election preparedness.   

The Congress urged the ECI not to announce election dates in a hurry, KPCC vice-president B L Shankar told reporters. "The model code of conduct should not be imposed earlier than prescribed, because the term of our government ends in May," he said.

The Congress demanded "complete transparency" in the use of the electronic voting machines, while the JD(S) has asked for ballot papers to be used given the "suspicions that EVMs can be tampered with".

Shankar said the Congress asked for votes cast on the EVM and the printouts from the Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines to be tallied in all polling booths of a constituency if there were doubts raised. "Also, we want every single EVM to be used in mock-polling."

The JD(S) has sought voter IDs to be linked with Aadhaar to weed out bogus voters, its leader Ramesh Babu said. "We have also told the ECI that officials are colluding with the Congress. We will give them names," he said.

The BJP highlighted irregularities in the inclusion of new voters.

"In the KR Puram constituency, people are being enrolled on the basis of just an affidavit. This has to be reviewed," BJP leader Vivek Subba Reddy said. "We have urged the ECI to take note of officials colluding with the Congress in KR Puram and BTM Layout."

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News Network
July 8,2020

Bengaluru, Jul 8: In yet another revenue generation measure, the Revenue department has issued an order permitting the sale of government land leased to various religious, industrial and other organisations.

Officials say that around Rs 2,250 crore will be generated in Bengaluru Urban district alone, if the order is implemented.

While rules for the process are yet to be formed, it has directed deputy commissioners of various districts to submit proposals for the sale of such lands leased by the government to various institutions under the Karnataka Land Grant Rules, 1969. The order came after a recent Cabinet decision. 

The order issued on July 6 says that government lands leased to private organisations, trusts, industries, educational, social welfare, religious and agricultural purposes can be regularised by paying the guidance value of the land, provided the organisation continued to use the land for the same purpose it was granted for.

If an organisation or trust wanted to convert the land for other purposes, it will be charged twice the guidance value. According to the order, land leased to organisations that are unwilling to purchase the land will be surveyed. “DCs should initiate measures to survey such lands and recover the unused land to the government,” it said.

Revenue Principal Secretary N Manjunath Prasad told DH that rules for the sale of such lands will be formulated shortly. “We have directed deputy commissioners to compile the extent of land leased to various organisations in their respective districts,” he said, noting that 921 acres were leased to private parties in Bengaluru Urban district.

From the 921 acres, the state government used to receive an annual rent of Rs 6.50 crore per year. Sale of leased land in Bengaluru Urban alone will generate around Rs 2,250 crore at current guidance values, Prasad said. 

The government is also pushing for regularisation of unauthorised buildings on Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) land and auction of corner sites to mobilise resources due to the severe economic difficulties in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic and the state’s reduced share in central taxes.

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News Network
June 24,2020

Bengaluru, Jun 24: The Karnataka government on Tuesday announced that fever clinics would be established at all district-level and taluk-level hospitals, wherein fever cases would be screened in a separate area.

"Fever clinics to be established at all district hospitals/district-level hospitals and taluk-level hospitals, wherein all fever cases should be screened 24x7 in a separate area and for Influenza-Like Illness (ILI) and Severe Acute Respiratory Illness (SARI) cases to be subjected for swab testing," read a circular from the Department of Health and Family Welfare dated June 22.

The circular said that private institutions in the corporation areas should also be designated as fever clinics.

"100 per cent of Community Health Centres (CHC), 50 per cent of Primary Health Centres and Urban Primary Health Centres (UPHC) to be converted as exclusive fever clinics to screen ILI/SARI during working hours. The remaining PHC/UPHC to cater to non-COVID-19 cases. All health institutions need to have a separate entry for COVID and non-COVID services," the circular further said.

Karnataka on Tuesday reported 322 fresh COVID-19 positive cases and eight deaths.
According to the state health department, the total number of positive cases has mounted to 9,721 and 150 deaths. So far, 6,004 people have been discharged.

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News Network
April 10,2020

Bengaluru, Apr 10: Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, expressing his concern over the plight of stray animals struggling during lockdown, called upon people to feed the animals near their houses and provide them drinking water.

In a tweet he said "Due to scorching heat and Lockdown, cats, dogs and birds are suffering without water and food. In cities this situation much serious. So I appeal to people that people should see that dogs and birds their get food and water.

Please be kind and take some time off to feed stray animals and birds around your homes. Try providing them with water and leftovers so they're not parched and left hungry. Stray animals depend on wastes and leftovers from hotels and restaurants and have been hit by the Lockdown to check the spread of Corona virus.

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