IAS 2nd topper Kashmir's Khan turned failure into opportunity

Kasaragod, May 30: Karnataka origin IPS officer D Shilpa has been appointed the new Superintendent of Police of Kasargod district.

The 35-year-old 2016-batch IPS officer is the first woman SP of Kasaragod. 

Her appointment follows the sudden transfer of P S Sabu who was hitherto holding the post. He has now been appointed as SP of Alappuzha.

Shilpa has earlier served as ASP of Kasargod. She was also ASP of Kannur during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Shilpa was one of the three IPS officers assigned to Kasaragod with IG Vijay Sakhare during the first phase of covid lockdown.

A native of HSR Layout in Bengaluru, Shilpa holds a Bachelor's degree in Electronics Engineering and a Masters Degree in Business Administration.

Bengaluru, Mar 6: In the face of unprecedented economic difficulties, Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa has chosen to hike the prices of fuel and liquor to fund development in his 2020-21 Budget, which tries to offer something for everybody with the available resources.

Yediyurappa announced a 3% hike in the rate of tax on petrol and diesel. This will result in the prices of petrol going up by Rs 1.60 per litre and diesel by Rs 1.59 per litre. This is expected to fetch the government Rs 1,500 crore.

By hiking additional excise duty on Indian Made Liquor (IML) by 6%, the government hopes to mop up Rs 1,200 crore.

In essence, Yediyurappa, the finance minister, pointed fingers at the Centre for the state’s fiscal woes. He said Karnataka’s share in Central taxes has come down this fiscal by Rs 8,887 crore. Plus, Rs 3,000 crore GST compensation will also be reduced as collections from the GST cess are not on expected lines, he said in his Budget speech. 

“It has become difficult to reach the 2019-20 Budget targets due to these reasons. To manage this situation within the bounds of the Karnataka Fiscal Responsibility Act, it has become inevitable this year to cut down the expenditure of many departments,” he said.

Under the 15th Finance Commission, Karnataka will see a reduction of Rs 11,215 crore in the state’s share of central taxes in 2020-21, Yediyurappa said. He also pointed out that expenditure on salaries, pensions and loan interest payments had risen by Rs 10,000 crore. “Serious difficulties are being faced in resource mobilisation efforts of the state. The state never faced economic difficulties of this magnitude in the previous years,” he said.

But in an attempt to please all, Yediyurappa made announcements across sectors and communities. Instead of the usual department-wise announcements, the CM chose to divide the Budget into six sectors: agriculture & allied activities; welfare & inclusive growth; stimulating economic growth; Bengaluru development; culture, heritage & natural resources and administrative reforms & public service delivery.

Farmers will get additional incentives under PM-KISAN costing Rs 2,600 crore and a waiver of interest on loans they have borrowed from cooperative banks worth Rs 466 crore.

The CM has earmarked Rs 500 crore to start work on the Kalasa-Banduri canals under the Mahadayi project. Also, Yediyurappa has given Rs 1,500 crore to commission the Yettinahole drinking water project.

This project will cater to the districts of Hassan, Chikkamagaluru, Tumakuru, Bengaluru Rural, Ramanagara, Chikkaballapur and Kolar.

For Bengaluru, the CM has made an allocation of Rs 8,772 crore. This includes Rs 500 crore for the suburban rail project, an electric bike taxi project and bus priority lanes.

Significantly, Yediyurappa has not made any allocation to mutts. However, the government will spend Rs 100 crore on the Anubhava Mantapa at Basavakalyan, Rs 66 crore for a 100 ft Kempegowda statue in Bengaluru and Rs 20 crore on a 325 ft statue of Basavanna at the Murugha Mutt in Chitradurga.

The CM has given Rs 305 crore for the development of various communities — Christians (Rs 200 crore), Upparas (Rs 10 crore), Vishwakarma (Rs 25 crore), Ambigara Chaudaiah (Rs 50 crore), Arya Vysya (Rs 10 crore) and Kumbara (Rs 10 crore).

Also, nearly 22.5 lakh government employees and their dependents will get cashless treatment facility for surgical treatment procedures at an estimated annual cost of Rs 50 crore under the Jyothi Sanjini scheme, the CM said.

Bengaluru, Apr 5: Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on Saturday said the state government will double down for 100% compliance to the lockdown in the next 10 days, warning action against those found roaming the streets.

Dismissing reports of a shortage of ventilators, he said the state was bringing in reinforcements over the next few days and expressed relief that none of the Covid-19 patients of the state has required a ventilator so far.

"None of the Covid-19 patients are on ventilators; two of them require oxygen," Yediyurappa told reporters after he met ministers and MLAs of Bengaluru and apprised them of steps taken to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

The CM said the government had placed orders for 1,570 ventilators, of which 17 have been supplied and another 20 would arrive by next week. The government has also ordered 18.3 lakh N-95 masks, of which more than 4 lakh have been supplied. To ensure a steady supply of hand sanitiser, manufacturing licences have been issued to 36 pharma companies and 29 distilleries.

While the state readies the medical infrastructure, the CM urged the legislators, cutting across party lines, to ensure full compliance to the lockdown. "If people fail to cooperate with the government and respect the nationwide lockdown, there will be no option but to enforce it in a more stringent manner from Sunday," he said.

As people continue to crowd markets amid growing fears of a shortage of essentials, the CM reiterated that all measures have been put in place to get the supply chain moving. 

He also assured that food will be provided to migrant workers and the poor. "There is enough stock of foodgrains and medicine in the state. The government has set a taskforce of ministers, 17 committees under additional chief secretaries, several helplines and a war room to fight the pandemic and they are all working round the clock," he said. 

The government has also issued direction to authorities to provide rations to those who do not have BPL or APL cards. Since many people from other states have settled in Bengaluru and they don't have ration cards, we have taken this decision," Yediyurappa said.

On reports of many private hospitals being closed and refusing to treat patients, the CM said: "We have already warned private hospitals to remain open and provide treatment to patients failing which strict action will be initiated."

Kisan Nidhi, 2 months' pension by April 10
The CM said an installment of Rs 2,000 under PM Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana and two months' pension under the various social security schemes will be credited to bank accounts of beneficiaries by April 10. 

The process of crediting subsidy to 15 lakh beneficiaries under Ujjwala Yojana is on, he said.