Ghulam Nabi Azad hits the campaign trail in Dakshina Kannada, Udupi; says JD(S) is finished chapter

Bengaluru, Jan 13: RSS leader Kalladka Prabhakar Bhat on Monday held a protest march at Ramnagar district’s 
Kapalabetta under the aegis of Hindu Jagran Vedike’s ‘Kanakapura Chalo’ campaign against the construction of the world’s largest Jesus statue there.

Hundreds of protesters of the Vedike staged a protest march in the city starting from the Kanakapura Ayyappaswamy temple.

“We are not here to disturb the peace. We have met each other at the wedding of Sriramulu’s daughter. So you know who I am, DK Shivakumar. How long will you continue with these lies? Is the intention behind the statue of Jesus to solidify your vote bank? Build the statue in America or England, we will not allow it here,” said the RSS leader as the keynote speaker at the rally.

Bengaluru, May 18: Over two months after his appointment as the Karnataka Congress President, DK Shivakumar is likely to take-over the reigns of the party officially on May 31.

"There are two dates, May 31 and June 7. He is most likely to officially take over as KPCC President on the 31st," sources close to Mr Shivakumar told PTI.

After remaining in a virtual vacuum for nearly three months, the party high command on March 11 appointed Mr Shivakumar, known to be the Congress' chief troubleshooter in crisis situations, replacing Dinesh Gundu Rao as KPCC chief.

Mr Rao had quit the post in December 2019 after the party's dismal show in the bypolls when it won only two of the 15 seats and yielded 12.

Congress sources said once the appointment letter came from the high command, he has been KPCC president and officially taking charge was just a formality.

"He will be officially handed over the party insignias and responsibilities relating to bank accounts and cheques, among other things, that has been traditionally followed," they said, adding the official take over was delayed by the coronavirus.

After his appointment as KPCC president, Mr Shivakumar has been meeting a host of senior party leaders and leading the party in the fight against coronavirus.

These include setting up of Congress' COVID-19 task force, alerting the government in its management of the crisis, holding weekly video conferencing with leaders of party's local units to gather information, among other things.

Sources close to Mr Shivakumar said the official take over would be a simple event, looking at the current situation due to the pandemic.

"Very few select party leaders and office bearers, say about 50 odd people, are likely to be in attendance at the simple event at KPCC office," they said, adding that arrangements may be made to telecast the event live for the benefit for party workers and local leaders.

A six-time MLA, Mr Shivakumar had a long wait for his appointment to the coveted post, due to opposition within. There were reports that Congress Legislature Party leader Siddarmaiah had lobbied in favour of one of his confidants for the top job.

In a first, appointment of three KPCC Working Presidents- Satish Jharkiholi, Saleem Ahammed and Eashwar Khandre, was seen as an attempt by those apposing Mr Shivakumar, to weaken his hold on the party.

Bengaluru, Apr 16: The Karnataka government on Wednesday identified 14 departments as essential and asked all its employees to attend work during the extended period of lockdown to check coronavirus spread in the state.

According to a circular issued by Chief Secretary TM Vijay Bhaskar, all classes of officials/employees in these departments must attend to their work.

The departments are: Health and Family Welfare, Medical Education, Home, Revenue, Rural Development and Panchayat Raj, Urban Development, Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs, Information and Public Relations, Transport, Energy, Personnel and Administrative Reforms (e-Governance), Finance (including treasuries), Animal Husbandry and Fisheries and Forest, Ecology and Environment.

In all other departments, only Group-A officers have been directed to report for duty.

However, those visually-impaired or physically-

handicapped are exempt from work, the circular said, adding that this norms will be valid till April 19.