Did JD(S) reach secret pact with BJP to defeat Siddaramaiah, his son in 2018 polls?

Bengaluru, Apr 21: Alarmed by reports that 53 media persons have contracted coronavirus in Maharashtra, a Minister on Tuesday urged Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa to screen all the journalists in Karnataka.

During the regular Covid-19 related briefing on Monday, a reporter had raised the issue of 53 journalists in the neighbouring state testing positive for the disease, with Minister for Primary and Secondary Education S Suresh Kumar.

In Maharashtra, out of the 171 scribes examined medically, 53 were found to have the viral infection.

In his letter to the CM, Kumar said a similar test should be carried on the journalists in Karnataka.

"The journalists wanted a similar kind of screening to be carried out on them. Therefore, please direct the health and the information department immediately to conduct the screening of journalists who are in contact with public," Kumar said.

Bengaluru, Jan 28: The state government is set to allow investors who bought farmland for industrial and other purposes to sell it off if they fail to use it within seven years. The new buyers, however, must utilise the land parcel for the same purpose for which it was allotted.

An amendment bill in this regard will be tabled during the joint session of the assembly, which begins on February 17.

Currently, investors remain tied to unused parcels. Law and parliamentary affairs minister JC Madhuswamy said the amendment to Section 109 of the Karnataka Land Reforms Act, which deals with the purchase of farmland for non-agricultural purposes, would remove hurdles for disposal of such plots. “To prevent misuse of land, the bill makes it mandatory for the new buyer to utilise it for the purpose for which the land was purchased by the first investor,” he said.

The government will also table a bill which seeks to regulate the affairs of religious and educational trusts. It will empower the government to intervene in the affairs of the trusts when irregularities come to light.

“Currently, the government has no role to play when allegations of irregularities and mismanagement crop up against trustees. The bill seeks to address this,” Madhuswamy said. He clarified the government didn’t want to interfere in trusts’ affairs. But some issues, he added, were of concern: trustees illegally selling off the trust property.

Bengaluru, Jan 6: Activist Irom Chanu Sharmila took part in a protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), National Register of Citizens (NRC) and National Population Register (NPR) at Sir Puttanna Chetty Town Hall here on Sunday.

Sharmila, who came in the protest along with her child, took part in a 'burqa and bindi' protest marking the birth anniversary of social reformer Savitribai Phule.

Protests have erupted across the country over the CAA which grants citizenship to Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Parsi, Buddhist, and Christian refugees from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh, who came to India on or before December 31, 2014.