Karnataka crisis: Governor sets second deadline; asks CM to finish floor test today itself

Agencies

July 19, 2019

Bengaluru, Jul 19: Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala on Friday sent a letter to Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy to prove his government's majority in the assembly before 6pm on Friday. Vala set the second deadline for the floor test, after the first deadline went in vain on Friday without the assembly taking up the voting on the motion of confidence to decide the fate of his shaky government.

"I have respect for the governor. But the second love letter from the governor has hurt me. He only came to know about horse trading 10 days ago?" Kumaraswamy asked, flashing photos of B.S. Yeddyurappa's personal staff Santosh reportedly boarding a plane with independent MLA H. Nagesh. "I leave the decision on the floor test to you (the speaker). It won't be directed by Delhi. I request you to protect me from the letter sent by the governor." A debate on the motion of confidence is currently underway at the Vidhana Soudha.

Earlier in the day, as the deadline neared, the ruling coalition vociferously questioned the governor's power to issue such a direction, with Kumaraswamy citing a Supreme Court verdict that a governor cannot act as ombudsman of the legislature.

Kumaraswamy said he would not criticise the governor and requested Speaker K.R. Ramesh Kumar to decide whether the governor can set a deadline. As the assembly clock struck 1.30 pm, the BJP insisted on a division on the confidence motion moved by Kumaraswamy on Thursday in accordance with the letter by the governor to him. The House was then adjourned till 3 pm amid ruckus with both BJP and Congress members locked in heated exchanges over the governor's role.

Vala had on Thursday set the 1.30pm deadline for proving the majority within hours after the voting on the confidence motion could not take place with the speaker adjourning the day's proceedings in the assembly. The governor, in his letter to the chief minister, had observed resignation of 15 MLAs of the ruling JD(S)-Congress and withdrawal of support by two independents "prima facie" indicated Kumaraswamy had lost confidence of the House.

Meanwhile, the Karnataka Congress moved the Supreme Court on Friday contending that its July 17 order on the resignation of 15 rebel Congress-JD(S) MLAs was coming in the way of the party issuing whip to its legislators in the ongoing trust vote. The application filed by Karnataka Congress chief Dinesh Gundu Rao sought clarification on the order which said the 15 rebel MLAs cannot be compelled to participate in the ongoing assembly proceedings, saying that the direction compromises with the party's right to issue whip.

It said the apex court order "whittles down" the power of a political party to issue whip to its MLAs as it has a constitutional right to do so and the court can't restrict that.

Further, in the plea, it is stated that the order was passed without involving the Congress legislature party, which presently has 79 MLAs in the Karnataka assembly.

The Congress, while referring to a judgement delivered by a constitution bench of the apex court, submitted that any interpretation of the order of July 17 "which whittles down the power of a political party to issue a whip to its legislators would be in the teeth of the provisions of the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution". It sought a clarification that the direction passed on July 17 does not refer to the rights of a political party to proceed under the Tenth Schedule.

Comments

Another Gujrati of nagpur HQ spoiling our states future. MLA are choosed by state citizens and not by any Desh Drohi anti India organizations. With money power and muscle power they are spoiling our country's unity

then very soon all these will be kicked out from our state is the real fact.

Jai Hind !

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Karnataka govt slammed over deaths of eight patients in Kalaburagi hospital

News Network

July 22,2020

Bengaluru, Jul 22: Congress MLA Priyank Kharge has questioned the Karnataka government on the alleged breakdown of oxygen in the intensive care unit (ICU) at ESIC hospital in Kalaburagi, saying he had got complaints that eight persons who were on ventilators had died.

He asked the government if it is "deliberately" hiding something about the patients that were admitted in ESIC.

"I have got complaints that eight people who were on ventilators are dead in ESIC Kalaburagi because there was oxygen breakdown in ICU. ESIC has not been admitting patients as the issue has not been resolved. Nobody is confirming or denying it. Is the Government deliberately hiding something?" he asked.
Kharge also accused the government of not having adequate facilities to combat COVID-19 in different parts of the state.

"I hope I am wrong, but if it is a fact, this ascertains that the administration has lost control over Corona pandemic in the district. No addition testing centre. No beds are available. PPE Kits and medical waste is thrown in Gulbarga Institute of Medical Sciences (GIMS)," he added.

According to the Union Health Ministry, there are 67420 COVID-19 cases in the state.

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Karnataka records 99 new covid-19 cases; tally rises to 1246

coastaldigest.com news network

May 18,2020

Bengaluru, May 18: With the detection of 99 fresh cases of COVID-19, highest single-day spike, including 24 from Bengaluru Urban district, the total number of persons contracted for the disease in the state has surged to 1,246.

Apart from 24 fresh cases in Bengaluru Urban district, Mandya recorded 17 cases followed by Uttara Kannada (09), Raichur (06), Yadagiri (06), Gadaga (05), Kalaburagi (10), Hassan (04), Koppal (03), Vijayapura (05), Mysuru (01), Belagavi (02), Ballari (01), Udupi (01), Kodagu (01) and Koppal (03).

So far 37 persons had succumbed to the virus in the state.

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Reopening of mosques in Turkey creates spectacular scenes

News Network

May 30,2020

Istanbul: Mosques in Turkey reopened on Friday for mass prayers after more than two months as the government further eased strict restrictions to stop the spread of the new coronavirus.

Turkey has been shifting since May to a "new normal" by easing lockdown measures and opening shopping malls, barbershops and hair salons.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said many other sites -- restaurants and cafes as well as libraries, parks and beaches -- will reopen from Monday.

Hundreds of worshippers wearing protective masks performed mass prayers outside Istanbul's historic Blue Mosque for the first time since mosques were shut down in March.

In the Ottoman-era Fatih mosque, worshippers prayed both inside and outside, with the municipality handing out disinfectants and disposable carpets.

"I have waited a lot for this, I have prayed a lot. I can say it's like a new birth, thanks to God, he has brought us back here," he said.

Another worshipper, Asum Tekif, 50, said: "It has a been a long time... we missed the mosques."

Turkey, a country of 83 million, has so far recorded 4,489 coronavirus-related deaths and 162,120 confirmed cases.

Prayers in Hagia Sophia

Muslim clerics on Friday recited prayers in the Hagia Sophia, the world famous Istanbul landmark which is now a museum after serving as a church and a mosque.

The prayers were held to celebrate the anniversary of the conquest of Constantinople, today's Istanbul, by the Ottomans in 1453.

"It is very important to commemorate the 567th anniversary of the conquest ... through prayers in the Hagia Sophia," said President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who attended the ceremony via videoconference.

The stunning edifice was first built as a church in the sixth century under the Byzantine Empire as the centrepiece of its capital Constantinople.

After the Ottoman conquest, it was converted into a mosque before being turned into a museum during the rule of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey, in the 1930s.

But there have been hints about reconverting the Hagia Sophia into a mosque. Last year, Erdogan himself mooted the possibility of turning Hagia Sofia museum into a mosque.

Such calls have sparked anger among Christians and raised tensions with neighbouring Greece.

In 2015, a Muslim cleric recited the Koran in the Hagia Sophia for the first time in 85 years to mark the opening of an exhibition.

After Friday prayers at the Blue Mosque, a small group of Muslim worshippers shouted: "Let the chains break and let the Hagia Sophia open".

The group was later dispersed by the police who stopped them from protesting near Hagia Sophia that sits immediately opposite the Blue Mosque.