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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
May 5,2020

Bengaluru, May 5: The Karnataka government is planning to maintain a Health database of its citizens in the backdrop of experience gained from the COVID-19 pandemic, Medical Education Minister K Sudhakar said on Tuesday.

In a statement issued here, he said a “Health Register” will be maintained to keep track of all health issues of the people and the project will be implemented first in Chikkaballapur district on an experimental basis.

“COVID-19 has provided enough experience for all of us and therefore, there is a need to maintain health data of each person. The government will be undertaking a survey using a team of Primary Health Centre officials, Revenue officials, Education department staff and Asha Workers,” the Minister said in a release here.

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coastaldiget.com web desk
June 18,2020

Amidst heightened border tensions between Indian and China, senior BJP leader and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan's two year old tweet comparing his party with Communist Party of China started going viral. 

The tweet, dated 26 June, 2016 reads: "Communist Party of China & BJP have done numerous works in social field. This way, there is tremendous similarities between the two parties." (sic)

Twitterati dug up this tweet after over 20 Indian Army personnel, including a colonel, were killed in a clash with Chinese troops in the Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh earlier this week.

Soon after Chouhan's tweet went viral, netizens took to the micro-blogging site and slammed BJP. One user said, "Interesting comment by Hindutva ITSELF to recognise how similar they are with China. No doubt. Both believe in Dragon Throne .... and brutal absolute control." Another user said, "No wonder the BJP & China both agree that PLA never crossed into Indian territory."

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News Network
April 17,2020

Bengaluru, Apr 17: Forty-four new cases of coronavirus have been reported in the State till now, said Karnataka's Health Department on Friday.

"44 new COVID-19 cases reported in the State from 5 pm Thursday to 5 pm on Friday. The total number of positive cases in the State is 359 including 13 deaths and 88 discharges," said the Health Department.

Meanwhile, a meeting was convened to review the situation on the rising cases of coronavirus in the State. According to Karnataka Chief Minister's Office (CMO), the meeting was attended by Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa, Home Minister Basavaraja Bommai, Health Minister B Sriramulu, and Deputy Chief Minister Ashwath Narayan.

The CMO said: "Earlier we used to do 500 tests per day. Now we are doing 2,000 tests. The suggestion was made to take care of the people who are in the ICU to prevent death. It was suggested and planned to work out a protocol for the treatment of COVID-19 patients all over the state."

The meeting also stressed the need for plasma treatment. Experts opined that people having influenza-like symptoms like fever, cold, breathlessness, etc., need to get tested for COVID 19.

The CMO said: "Officers were directed to conduct tests of the people with influenza-like symptoms in the districts where nil cases have been reported. ICMR has issued circular to set up two labs in each district and one lab in each medical college. In this direction, efforts are being made to set up 10 more labs in the State by the end of April."

"It was also decided to be prepared for treating an increased number of patients after relaxing in lockdown. It was also decided to issue guidelines to companies that would start working after relaxing lockdown. It was also decided to appeal to people to download Arogya Setu App. We will meet on April 21 again to decide further course of action," added the CMO.

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