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Lokayukta complaint against CM?over appointment of KSPCB?chief

[email protected] (Agencies)
May 6, 2016

Bengaluru, May 6: A complaint has been filed with the Lokayukta against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah over the appointment of real estate businessman Lakshmana as the chairperson of the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB).

siddaT Narasimha Murthy, the complainant, said that the appointment was in violation of the provisions under The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act and that it was the chief minister who chose Lakshmana, though it was not recommended by the search committee.

The complaint said that Lakshmana is a civil engineer and has no past experience relating to environment protection.

The process to choose the chairperson for the KSPCB started in August 2015 when Madan Gopal, the then Additional Chief Secretary Forest, Ecology and Environment Department, recommended the constitution of the search committee headed by the then Chief Secretary Kaushik Mukherjee.

Other members of the committee constituted were Prof Ravindranath of IISc and Capt Raja Rao, former member of KSPCB and Madan Gopal (member-secretary). The committee shortlisted five names among those who applied for the post. The names were Prof E T Puttaiah, G T Chandrashekharappa, Dr J R Mudkavi, Dr B S Jai Prakash and Prof B B Hosetti.

“As per the documents, the list finalised by the search committee did not have the name of Lakshmana till December 12, 2015. However, on December 10, Minister for Forests, Ecology and Environment Ramanath Rai inserted the name of Lakshmana stating “done as per the discussion with the chief minister,” the complainant said.

Less than 10 days after inserting Lakshmana's name, the chief minister passed an order recommending the appointment.

Required qualifications

The qualifications and experience prescribed for the post are: Masters degree in science or equivalent B Tech in discipline relating to environment, 10 years experience in government departments, institutions, central public sector undertakings, universities, recognised research institutions, autonomous or semi-government or statutory organisations or NGOs at managerial levels, with practical experience in matters relating to environmental protection.

The complaint said that Lakshmana is a civil engineer with no experience in environmental protection.

Narasimha Murthy submitted the complaint to Upalokayukta Justice N Ananda. The complaint has been filed against Siddaramaiah, Minister Ramanath Rai, Chief Secretary Aravind Jadhav, Madan Gopal and Lakshmana.

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News Network
August 3,2020

Bengaluru, Aug 3: All those who met Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, who has tested positive for Covid-19, in the last three-four days will have to be quarantined, Medical Education Minister Sudhakar K said on Monday.

He also said those who came in contact with Yediyurappa in a couple of programmes in the past week are being traced.

Sudhakar, a medical doctor himself, said Yediyurappa has "very mild cough and his chest is clear."

"I think eight to ten days," he told news agency when asked how long the Chief Minister would have to remain in hospital.

Sudhakar said he is also getting himself tested as a few of his office staff had tested positive.

"All those who met the Chief Minister in the last 3-4 days...ideally they should be quarantined till they receive their results/report. Those who came in contact with him in a couple of programmes will have to isolate themselves and subject themselves for testing," the Minister said.

On the Chief Minister meeting Governor Vajubhai Vala, along with Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai last Friday, Sudhakar said as a result "They also become primary contacts. Ideally, they should also be quarantined and tested."

Yediyurappa who was hospitalised on Sunday night after testing positive for Covid-19 was "doing well" and is "clinically stable", the hospital treating him said.

The 77-year old leader is being monitored by a team of doctors at the Manipal hospital here.

"He is doing well, is clinically stable and will be monitored closely by our team," the hospital said in a statement late last night.

"I have tested positive for coronavirus. Whilst I am fine, I am being hospitalised as a precaution on the recommendation of doctors. I request those who have come in contact with me recently to be observant and exercise self-quarantine," Yediyurappa had said in his tweet.

Yediyurappa was in home quarantine a couple of weeks ago, after some staff members in his home office were found infected with the virus. Subsequently, he tested negative for Covid-19.

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coastaldigest.com news network
June 30,2020

Udupi, Jun 30: The novel coronavirus has claimed another life in the coastal district. The throat swabs of a 48-year-old man who breathed his last two days ago tested positive today. 

With this, the covid-19 death toll in the district rose to 3.

The man, who was a native of Kalthodu in Byndoor, had returned from Mumbai on June 2. He breathed his last on June 28 at his residence. 

The deceased’s swabs were collected on the same day. The report came today. He was reportedly suffering from some illnesses.

The funeral of the deceased was held as per protocol. The swab samples of primary contacts of the deceased were also taken.

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News Network
May 20,2020

Bengaluru, May 20: Ride-sharing company Ola Cabs said on Wednesday it will lay off 1,400 of its employees due to business uncertainty caused by the coronavirus pandemic while the revenue has come down by 95 per cent in the past two months.

"The COVID crisis continues to unfold all around us causing unprecedented economic and social destruction. It has also become evident that the coronavirus will not be eliminated any time soon," wrote co-founder and CEO Bhavish Aggarwal to all Ola employees.

"In these circumstances, today I write to all of you with the toughest decision I have ever taken -- the need to downsize our organisation and let go of 1,400 of our valued employees," he said.

Aggarwal said the fallout of virus has been very tough for the cab aggregating industry in particular. "The company's revenue has come down by 95 per cent over the past two months," he said.

Initially, he said, the company hoped it would be a short-lived crisis and that its impact would be temporary. "But unfortunately, it is not been a short crisis. And the prognosis ahead for our business is very unclear and uncertain. It is going to take a long time for people to go out and about like before."
With more companies preferring to have a large number of employees work from home, air travel limited to essential trips and vacations being put off for better times, the impact of this crisis is definitely going to be long-drawn, said Aggarwal.

"The world is not going to revert to the pre-COVID era anytime soon. Social distancing, anxiety and an abundance of caution will be the operating principles for everyone," he told employees.

Aggarwal said the crisis necessitates the need to conserve cash aggressively so that Ola is able to invest in opportunities in the future, adding the downsizing exercise has been a very tough and sad decision for the management team to make.

"While we restructure our organisation to the new realities of our business, we are also going to recommit ourselves to strengthening our operational excellence and leverage a lot more technology to improve efficiencies and reduce cost across all parts of our business," he said.

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