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Karnataka to bypass transparency act to hasten coal procurement

DHNS
October 25, 2017

Bengaluru, Oct 25: In the wake of acute shortage of coal, the state government has decided to procure coal bypassing the Karnataka Transparency in Public Procurement (KTPP) Act, Energy Minister D K Shivakumar said on Tuesday.

The state government will invoke Section 4 of the KTPP Act to bypass the tender procedure for coal procurement from the Western Coalfields Ltd (WCL), a subsidiary of the Coal India Ltd (CIL). This, he said, will avoid delay of two to three months, and ensure immediate lifting and transportation of coal to Karnataka.

Shivakumar told reporters that the present coal availability would meet only half a day’s requirement of the thermal power generating stations of the state. One of the main factors for the crisis was the shortage in supply of coal by WCL to Karnataka. The company had supplied only 43% of state’s coal demand between April and October, he added.

Another reason for the crisis was the cancellation of six coal blocks in Maharashtra following the Supreme Court ‘coal scam’ verdict. Karnataka has been unable to lift coal from these blocks for the last 30 months, owing to the lawsuits filed in the apex court. The KPCL has also paid a penalty of Rs 447 crore to the Ministry of Coal and sought reallotment of the coal blocks.

Incidentally, the state BJP had recently accused Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar of causing a loss to the exchequer by paying the penalty.

Dismissing the charges as baseless, Shivakumar said that the state had incurred losses of Rs 1,500 crore in the last 30 months, for being unable to lift coal from these blocks.

Shivakumar said that following Karnataka’s appeal, the Ministry of Power had intervened and directed WCL to supply 3 lakh MT of coal immediately. However, Karnataka has to bear the responsibility of transporting the coal -- hence the exemption under the Act.

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News Network
July 31,2020

Bengaluru, Jul 31: The Karnataka government on Wednesday put on hold a controversial proposal to drop certain chapters, including on Islam, Christianity, Tipu Sultan and his father Hyder Ali, from social science textbooks to reduce the 2020-21 syllabi for students in classes 1-10.

Citing the COVID-19 pandemic and the disruption caused to the academic calendar of the year, the government had earlier dropped the chapter on Tipu Sultan and Hyder Ali from the Class 7 social science textbook, saying chapters on Tipu Sultan have been retained in the Class 6 and 10 textbooks.

The move did not go down well with the opposition, which saw certain ulterior motives behind the decision.

Apparently under sharp criticism, the Department of Public Instruction issued a new notification on Wednesday "on the directions of the Karnataka Primary and Secondary Education Minister S Suresh Kumar".

There is a delay in opening the schools during the academic year 2020-21 due to COVID-19 pandemic, said the latest order.

In this context, the order said, chapters were dropped to fit in 120 days of the academic year for classes 1 to 10 and the same was published in the department's website.

"However, on the directions of the Minister for Primary and Secondary Education, the decision to drop certain chapters has been put on hold. A review will be done following which the deleted chapters will be uploaded in the website," the order read.

Earlier in the day, Mr Kumar had issued a statement, saying that the decision to truncate the syllabus has not been finalised yet. He also made it clear that his department would not remove chapters unnecessarily.

Former chief minister and Congress leader Siddaramaiah had attacked the government on the issue.

"The government, which has failed to control the spread of coronavirus, is using it as an opportunity to push its clandestine agenda of saffronising the textbooks," Siddaramaiah tweeted.

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News Network
January 17,2020

Madikeri, Jan 17: Kannada and Telugu actor Rashmika Mandanna is likely to be further interrogated by Income Tax (I-T) officials on Friday.

The residence and properties by the family of Rashmika were raided by I-T officials on Thursday morning. Following summons issued by I-T officials, Rashmika rushed to her residence on Thursday night and gave details on investments and other financial transactions.

After the interrogation, the I-T officials left for Serenity hall, which is owned by Rashmika's father, at Virajpet at around 2.30 am and stayed back there.

The I-T officials have reportedly directed Rashmika and her father Madan Mandanna not to leave the house.

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coastaldigest.com news network
April 30,2020

Mangaluru, Apr 30: Yet another case of covid-19 reported in the coastal city of Mangaluru today.  

The Dakshina Kannada district administration confirmed that a 58-year-old woman hailing from Boluru area in the city was tested positive for the coronavirus.

The woman was undergoing treatment in First Neuro Hospital at Padil where a woman from Bantwal (identified as P-501), who died of coronavirus had undegone treatment before being shifted to Wenclock. 

With this, total number of positive cases in Dakshina Kannada district has gone up to 22.

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