M'luru: AIE launches standalone flights to Muscat, Abu Dhabi; timings revised

Bengaluru, May 12: Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa had promised to extend all co-operation for the safe and early return of the Karnataka ex-pats, living in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), here on Tuesday.

He was speaking to the Karnataka ex-pats living in UAE, who had pleaded the chief minister to make arrangements for their return to the state.

Those who had spoken to the Chief Minister had informed that there is a large number of people, landed into a great difficulty ever since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and eager to return to their home state, Karnataka.

Bengaluru, Jun 9: JD(S) patriarch H D Deve Gowda on Tuesday filed his nomination as party's candidate for June 19 Rajya Sabha elections from Karnataka.

The former Prime Minister was accompanied by his sons former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy and former Minister H D Revanna, state JD(S) chief H K Kumaraswamy and others, as he filed his papers at the office of Legislative Assembly Secretary M K Vishalakshi, who is the returning officer for the polls. JD(S) on Monday had announced that Gowda will be contesting the Rajya Sabha polls.

Announcing the decision, Kumaraswamy had said Gowda decided to contest following the request of Congress President Sonia Gandhi, several national leaders and party legislators, and it was not an easy task to "persuade" him to enter the Rajya Sabha.

The JD(S), which has 34 seats in the assembly, is not in a position to win a seat in Rajya Sabha on its own and will need support from the Congress with its surplus votes. A minimum of 45 votes are required for a candidate to win. If he wins, this will be the second Rajya Sabha entry for 87-year-old Gowda, the first time being in 1996 as the Prime Minister.

Gowda was defeated in Tumkur constituency by BJP's G S Basavaraj by over 13,000 votes in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. As joint candidate of the then ruling Congress-JDS coalition, Gowda had chosen to contest from Tumkur at the last minute after vacating Hassan-his home turf, to grandson Prajwal Revanna (a current MP).

Election is scheduled on June 19 to fill four Rajya Sabha seats from Karnataka, represented by Rajeev Gowda and BK Hariprasad of Congress, Prabhakar Kore of the BJP and D Kupendra Reddy of JD(S) that will fall vacant on June 25, with their retirement. Today is the last date for filing nominations. With BJP not fielding any candidate against Gowda, his election is likely to be unanimous.

Tirupati, Jul 5: The Karnataka government will soon build a massive pilgrim amenities complex and marriage hall at Tirumala, the hill abode of Lord Venkateswara, at an estimated cost of Rs 200 crore, a temple official said here on Saturday.

The state would soon submit a blueprint for the construction of the Rs 200 crore mega complexes to the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) that governs the hill shrine, the official said.

Consequently, based on the designs, TTD would construct the complexes with the given fund and after completion, they would be handed over to the Karnataka government, he said.

Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa would lay the foundation stone for the mammoth complexes on the hills some time next month, he said.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy is likely to take part in the programme, he added.