PDO?suspended in manual scavenging case

June 9, 2017

Bengaluru, Jun 9: The state government on Thursday suspended a Panchayat?Development Officer (PDO) who reportedly forced two municipal workers to enter a manhole in Mysuru district.panchayath

Quoting a preliminary enquiry, Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister H?K?Patil admitted in the Assembly that the incident had occurred in Chamundi Hills panchayat limits in Mysuru district on Tuesday.

The enquiry revealed that PDO Anand, along with Chamundi Hills Gram Panchayat?president Geetha, forced two municipal workers — Chaluva and Ganesh — to enter and clean a blocked manhole in front of Geetha's residence.

An FIR?has been filed (No 164/2017) against Anand and Geetha at Krishnaraja Police Station. Patil said action will be initiated against Geetha as per Section 43(A)?(removal of members for misconduct)?of the Karnataka Gram?Swaraj and Panchayat?Raj Rules.

He was replying to a matter raised in this regard by the BJP. Leader of the Opposition Jagadish Shettar said the manual scavenging case in the home district of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is unpardonable. The government must punish officials responsible for such an inhuman act.

Patil said Geetha had called Anand and complained about the blocked manhole. Anand told her that it was the duty of municipal workers to clean manholes and that they were appointed for that purpose. The media soon broke the story along with a video showing the two workers entering the manhole.

Manual scavenging has been banned and forcing municipal workers to clean manholes is a crime under Section 8 and 9 of the Prohibition of Employment as Manual?Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013, the minister said.

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News Network
April 21,2020

Bengaluru, Apr 21: Alarmed by reports that 53 media persons have contracted coronavirus in Maharashtra, a Minister on Tuesday urged Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa to screen all the journalists in Karnataka.

During the regular Covid-19 related briefing on Monday, a reporter had raised the issue of 53 journalists in the neighbouring state testing positive for the disease, with Minister for Primary and Secondary Education S Suresh Kumar.

In Maharashtra, out of the 171 scribes examined medically, 53 were found to have the viral infection.

In his letter to the CM, Kumar said a similar test should be carried on the journalists in Karnataka.

"The journalists wanted a similar kind of screening to be carried out on them. Therefore, please direct the health and the information department immediately to conduct the screening of journalists who are in contact with public," Kumar said.

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News Network
January 10,2020

Mangaluru, Jan 10: To mark the Karavali Utsav the district administration held a colourful procession from Nehru Maidan to Karavali Utsav Grounds Lalbagh here on Friday.

The colourful procession was inaugurated by the District Minister In-charge Kota Srinivas Poojary by lighting the traditional lamp along with other dignitaries. Various troupes from all over the state are participating in the procession from Nehru Maidan to the Karavali grounds.

Addressing the gathering Kota Srinivas Poojary said, “Karavali Utsav is a meaningful festival. The Tradition and culture of Dakshina Kannada is very meaningful. By organizing Utsav’s we are highlighting our tradition and Culture to national and international levels.

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News Network
April 26,2020

New Delhi, Apr 26: The Centre will bring back the Indian citizens stranded abroad due to the ban on arrival of international passenger aircraft, only if the respective states they belong to agree to allow them to come back home and make necessary arrangements to quarantine them after their return.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has started consultations with the State Governments on bringing back the Indians, who got stranded in the United States, United Kingdom, France, Italy, Canada and many other foreign countries due to the ban on arrival of international passenger aircraft to any airport in the country. The decision on facilitating their return to the country would be taken after getting feedback on preparedness of the States and the Union Territory to receive them following all required health precautions, Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba said.

Gauba on Saturday had a video-conference with the Chief Secretaries of all States and Union Territories to review the implementation of the restrictions on travel and transport as well as the lockdown imposed across the country to contain the COVID-19 pandemic.

Though the Government earlier either evacuated or facilitated the return of nearly 28000 Indians from a number of foreign countries affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, it almost stopped doing so after the ban on arrival of international passenger aircraft was enforced on March 23 in the wake of the spurt in the number of COVID-19 cases in India.

Thousands of Indian students, tourists, professionals and others are stranded around the world, including in the countries, where respective governments had imposed lockdowns to contain the pandemic. They have been desperately requesting the government on social media to evacuate them.

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