Normal life hit across Karnataka as transport unions strike work

Indore, Jan 24: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Kailash Vijayvargiya on Thursday said that he suspected that there were some Bangladeshis among construction labourers who worked at his house recently.

Their “strange” eating habits aroused suspicion about their nationality, the BJP general secretary said at a seminar in support of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) here.

When a new room was being added at his house recently, he found “eating habits” of some of the workers “strange” as “they were eating only `poha’ (flattened rice)”, he said.

After talking to their supervisor and the building contractor, he suspected that these workers were from Bangladesh, the BJP leader said.

When reporters questioned him later, Vijayvargiya said, “I suspected these workers were residents of Bangladesh. Two days after I became suspicious, they stopped working at my house. I have not filed any police complaint yet. I only mentioned this incident to warn people,” he said.

Speaking at the seminar, Vijayvargiya also claimed that a Bangladeshi terrorist was keeping a watch on him for the last one and a half years.

“Whenever I go out, six armed security personnel follow me. What is happening in this country? Will outside people enter and spread so much terror?” he asked.

“Don’t get confused by rumours. The CAA is in the interest of the country. This law will provide asylum to genuine refugees and identify intruders who are a threat to the country’s internal security,” he added.

Bengaluru, Jul 23: The Siddi community in Karnataka got its first lawmaker as Governor Vajubhai Vala nominated five persons, including Shantharama Budna Siddi, to the Karnataka Legislative Council on Wednesday.

Shantharama Siddi had been working as a social worker and was a post holder at the Vanavasi Kalyan Prakalpa, a tribal welfare initiative of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

The Siddis, an ethnic group in India, are said to have descended from the people of the East African region. They are included in the list of Scheduled Tribes (ST) in Karnataka.

Apart from the Shantharama, the inclusion of CP Yogishwar, who had left Congress to join BJP in 2017 but failed to retain his seat in the 2018 Assembly polls, is also considered as a big decision.

Adagur H Vishwanath, another former JDS leader, who had quit his party and joined BJP but failed to retain his seat has also caught the attention of the people.

Further, Governor Vala has nominated Talwar Sabanna and Bharathi Shetty to the Upper House in the state.

Bengaluru, Jan 22: Chief minister BS Yediyurappa has urged the business community to focus on industries that are farmers and job-oriented and promised that his government would provide all the assistance it can in setting up these industries.

“My government will go the extra mile to facilitate industries that help farmers and provide jobs for youths,” Yediyurappa said during a meeting with several investors and entrepreneurs on the first day of the World Economic Forum, which brings global industry players and government representatives face- to-face, in Davos, Switzerland, on Tuesday.

The chief minister met representatives of 2000 Watt Smart Cities Association, which is represented by sustainability professionals of Nuesch Development, a Swiss Company, and ReNew Power. Both made presentations of their projects to the state delegation.

Yediyurappa appeared impressed by the 2000 Watt’s food processing clusters (development of modern infrastructure and common facilities) projects in rural areas. While presenting their concept, company representatives said they are willing to invest in food clusters, which can provide a better remunerative price for farm produce.

“We will provide all assistance and scientific farming techniques to grow healthy food and market them with added value to the produce,” said Andreas Binkert, scientist and academician, 2000 Watts.

Madhav Bhagwat, CEO of Nuesch Development India, told the Karnataka delegation that the company specialises in carbon-neutral smart township development projects and it has already signed an MoU with the Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority.

ReNew Power delegates expressed interest in setting up solar power plants in North Karnataka districts like Vijayapura, Kalaburagi, Koppal and Raichur. Samanth Sinha, CEO, ReNew Power, urged the Karnataka government to remove bureaucratic and legal bottlenecks in acquisition of land.

Industries minister Jagadish Shettar and chief secretary TM Vijay Bhaskar among others were present at the meeting.

Yediyurappa and members of the state’s delegation attended US president Donald Trump’s address at the meet. Union minister of commerce and industry Piyush Goel and Union minister of state for shipping Mansukh Mandaviya were also present in the audience.