Deve Gowda pays tribute to Basaveshwara statue in London

Media Release

October 27, 2018

London, Oct 27: The Former Prime Minister of India H D Deve Gowda paid tribute to Basaveshwara statue in London on Friday, October 26. He was accompanied by Member of Parliament Kupendra Reddy.

The event was organized by The Basaveshwara Foundation, a non-profit organization based in UK that has erected the statue of Basaveshwara on the bank of river Thames.

Former Mayor of London borough of Lambeth and Chairman of the Basaveshwara foundation Dr Neeraj Patil welcomed the Prime Minister & Member of Parliament Shri Kupendra Reddy on behalf of the British Indian/Kannada community.

Members of the two important Kannada Diaspora organizations, Kannadigaru UK and Sandalwood UK, joined the Hon Prime Minister on this important occasion.

Basaveshwara fought for eradication of caste discrimination and social justice in the Indian society and unfortunately India still remains divided along caste and religious lines and this must end, there is no place for discrimination in the modern world, said the Former Prime Minister.

The Hon Former Prime Minister expressed tribute to Basaveshwara for his contribution towards democracy and social justice in India. He said, I am extremely delighted to see the statue of an Indian philosopher in the backdrop of British Parliament overlooking the river Thames. This makes every Indian & Kannadiga proud.

The project was approved by the planning department of The London borough of Lambeth and subsequently by the British Cabinet minister for culture media and sports as per the Public Statues Act, 1854. The Basaveshwara statue and its vicinity is the intellectual property of the Basaveshwara Foundation.

The Basaveshwara statue erected at the Albert Embankment is not only the first statue to be unveiled by an Indian Prime Minister in the UK, but is also the first conceptual statue approved by the British Cabinet in the vicinity of the Parliament. This is located at Albert Embankment in London opposite the British Parliament.

The approval was given as a mark of respect to 12th century Indian Philosopher and social reformer Basaveshwara for promoting democratic ideals, social justice and gender equality during the 12th century. Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled the Basaveshwara statue 14th November 2015 in London.

Comments

No doubt Basaveshwara was one the reformers in Kannada Nadu.

The tribute for such people is not by errecting their statue.

A tribute and memory is by implementing, propogating their ideologies. The amount spent for statues should be reserved for such purpoese, so that the purpose is served.

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Not running for KPCC chief post, says D K Shivakumar

News Network

January 16,2020

Davanagere, Jan 16: Congress leader D K Shivakumar on Thursday turned down all the recent media reports of him aspiring for the coveted Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committe (KPCC) president post.

Terming all the news, doing rounds, as baseless, Shivakumar said that he never made any attempt to become KPCC president. "All I want to do is work for my people and party", he asserted.

Referring to Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa's visit to Harihar's 'Our Lady of Health Minor Basilica' programme, Shivakumar said."I'm not concerned about what others are doing, everyone is free to take part in the programmes."

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Kerala NRIs continue fight for voting rights for diaspora

News Network

February 29,2020

Kochi, Feb 29: The Kerala Non-Resident Indians' Commission on Friday passed a resolution to request the Centre and Election Commission (EC) to make appropriate amendments in the Representation of Peoples Act, 1951, to ensure voting rights to the non-resident Indians working abroad. According to People’s Representation Act, 1951, None-Resident Indians (NRIs) can vote by proxy.

The Commission is a statutory body constituted for the welfare of Non-Resident Keralites working outside India.

The Centre had introduced a bill for this purpose which was passed by the Lok Sabha in 2018, but the same has since lapsed.

Therefore, the Kerala NRI Commission decided to request the Centre to consider introducing the bill in the next session of Parliament considering the interest of the NRI community at large.

The resolution was moved by commission member and NRI entrepreneur Shamsheer Vayalil, who is also a petitioner in the writ petition, filed regarding this in the Supreme Court.

"The central government may consider introducing the bill in the next session of the Parliament session considering the interest of the NRI community at large," read the resolution which will now be sent to the Ministry of Law and the Election Commission (EC).

Commission chairman Justice PD Rajan said the right to vote for NRIs is a genuine demand.

"This is the time that we step up pressure on the agencies concerned to implement this. Voting from the workplace would be a different experience for them. It would be a decisive step," he said.

This fresh development comes at a time when a petition filed in the Supreme Court on the same topic last week came before a bench headed by Justice Deepak Gupta, which considered the case and said it will be heard in April.

"We are expecting a favourable decision from the Supreme Court. We would also approach the NRI commission in other states and request them to raise the same demand," said Vayalil.

If implemented, millions of NRIs around the world would be able to exercise their franchise in the electoral processes of the nation. According to the estimate of the Ministry of External Affairs, there are about 3.10 crore NRIs.

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