North Karnataka to observe bandh on August 2 for separate statehood

TNN
July 26, 2018

Bengaluru/Hubballi, Jul 26: After a long lull, the clamour in North Karnataka for separate statehood has gained momentum once again.

A forum comprising various farmers and student organisations has called for a bandh on August 2 demanding separate statehood for North Karnataka. “The bandh will be in all 13 districts of North Karnataka,’’ forum leader Somashekhar Kotambari said in Hubballi on Wednesday.

CM HD Kumaraswamy’s alleged discrimination in the budget towards the region and his recent remarks against North Karnataka leaders are believed to have triggered this agitation, with the veiled backing of some BJP and Congress leaders, sources said.

The forum called Uttara Karnataka Pratyeka Rajya Horata Samiti (North Karnataka Separate Statehood Protest Committee) has planned a rally at Suvarna Vidhana Soudha in Belagavi where several North Karnataka leaders will address the gathering.

Kotambari said North Karnataka has been given stepmotherly treatment by all political parties for seven decades and governments have not developed the region. “Though the region is rich in natural resources, problems like unemployment are unsolved. As governments neglected the recommendations of the Nanjundappa Committee report, the region has been suffering from poverty,” he added.

He said though the government, in 2006, took the initiative to build the Suvarna Vidhana Soudha in Belagavi to focus on overall development of North Karnataka, it has not yielded results. “Suvarna Vidhana Soudha is a white elephant with no government office located there,” he added.

Karnataka Rajya Raita Sangha president Basavaraj Karigar said major irrigation projects have been initiated in South Karnataka, while North Karnataka has been struggling to get the Mahadayi project up and running for years.

“The Krishna river benefits are not yet available for farmers. All development work is concentrated in Bengaluru, Mysuru, Ramanagara, Hassan, Mandya and other districts,” he alleged. At a rally last week in his home constituency Channapatna, Kumaraswamy took a dig at BJP leaders for demanding separate statehood during the recent budget session.

Comments

Ramprasad
 - 
Thursday, 26 Jul 2018

Protesters argumenting with contrasting statements. They claimed that the area rich in natural resources and at the same time they uttered about water scarcity. If north karnataka rich in natural resources, then political parties might have been utilised long back before. That shows the area not rich in natural resources. Water scarcity is there

Rahul
 - 
Thursday, 26 Jul 2018

In a glance, seperate statehood will be better for administration but still it will raise more complications in future

Ibrahim
 - 
Thursday, 26 Jul 2018

Similar in Kasaragod. Its part of Kerala but political parties are ignoring that district. But Kasaragod cant demand seperate state tag. Either it should be a part of Karnataka or remain same as a part of Kerala. 

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News Network
July 31,2020

Bengaluru, Jul 31: The Karnataka government on Wednesday put on hold a controversial proposal to drop certain chapters, including on Islam, Christianity, Tipu Sultan and his father Hyder Ali, from social science textbooks to reduce the 2020-21 syllabi for students in classes 1-10.

Citing the COVID-19 pandemic and the disruption caused to the academic calendar of the year, the government had earlier dropped the chapter on Tipu Sultan and Hyder Ali from the Class 7 social science textbook, saying chapters on Tipu Sultan have been retained in the Class 6 and 10 textbooks.

The move did not go down well with the opposition, which saw certain ulterior motives behind the decision.

Apparently under sharp criticism, the Department of Public Instruction issued a new notification on Wednesday "on the directions of the Karnataka Primary and Secondary Education Minister S Suresh Kumar".

There is a delay in opening the schools during the academic year 2020-21 due to COVID-19 pandemic, said the latest order.

In this context, the order said, chapters were dropped to fit in 120 days of the academic year for classes 1 to 10 and the same was published in the department's website.

"However, on the directions of the Minister for Primary and Secondary Education, the decision to drop certain chapters has been put on hold. A review will be done following which the deleted chapters will be uploaded in the website," the order read.

Earlier in the day, Mr Kumar had issued a statement, saying that the decision to truncate the syllabus has not been finalised yet. He also made it clear that his department would not remove chapters unnecessarily.

Former chief minister and Congress leader Siddaramaiah had attacked the government on the issue.

"The government, which has failed to control the spread of coronavirus, is using it as an opportunity to push its clandestine agenda of saffronising the textbooks," Siddaramaiah tweeted.

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News Network
June 28,2020

Bengaluru,  Jun 28: Sixteen deaths due to COVID-19 and 1,267 new cases of COVID-19 were reported in Karnataka, according to information provided by the State Health Department.

The total number of COVID-19 cases in Karnataka has reached 13,190, including 783 cases from Bengaluru Urban. While 7,507 patients have been discharged after treatment, 207 deaths have been reported, said the health department.

With 19,906 new cases, the highest single-day spike so far, India's COVID-19 count touched 5,28,859 including 2,03,051 active cases, 3,09,713 cured/discharged/migrated, according to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. 410 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours and the cumulative toll reached 16,095 deaths. 

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News Network
May 9,2020

Bengaluru, May 9: The bar owners in Karnataka, while welcoming the state government's decision to allow takeaway sales of liquor, said that the move is not going to benefit them much.

Venkatesh Babu, a Bengaluru-based bar owner said, "We welcome this move, our bar was closed for two months due to coronavirus crisis. We have been facing losses since then."

"The state government has told us to sell our stocks at maximum retail price (MRP). It is difficult for us to manage as the rent is high and we also have to pay salaries," he added.

The owner of Pingara Bar and Restaurant, Shivamogga said, "The government has said that is for parcel only and that too at MRP. There is no benefit to our business. We are only clearing the existing stock. They have given us time till May 17 and are not even giving us fresh stock. We are only allowed to sell what we have already."

Karnataka government in its Friday order allowed restaurants, pubs and bars to sell liquor at retail prices from May 9 till May 17, the day the third phase of lockdown is slated to end.

Earlier, the government had allowed the opening of liquor shops in order to mobilise revenue.

However, bars, pubs, restaurants were ordered to remain closed amid the COVID-19 lockdown.

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