Pejawar seer in ICU after surgery; Muslims offer prayers for his health

Bengaluru, Jul 16: Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa led state government’s move to amend the Karnataka Land Reforms Act was “a scam bigger than illegal mining” as farm lands worth Rs 50,000 crore will be lost, according to Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah.

The government on July 13 promulgated an ordinance to amend the Karnataka Land Reforms Act, allowing non-agriculturists to buy agricultural lands while also increasing the cap on the extent of such land a person or a family can hold.

Plus, the amendment will have retrospective effect, meaning over 13,000 cases registered over the years for alleged violations in acquiring farm lands will be vacated or dismissed.

“There are 13,814 cases across all 30 districts. Let’s assume that each case involves four acres of land. That’s 52,000 acres. These are lands worth Rs 45,000-50,000 crore,” Siddaramaiah told a news conference. “This is a scam bigger than illegal mining. While the mining scam had specific players, here the entire government has fallen for the corporate bodies and real estate lobby.”

The illegal mining scam unearthed when the BJP was in power was pegged at Rs 35,000 crore, which became a poll plank for the Congress to come to power in 2013.

Calling it a “black” legislation, Siddaramaiah said the amendments to the land reforms law will result in large portions of farm lands becoming real estate. “This will destroy the farming community. They’ll now have to stand at the doors of corporate bodies. Farmers will sell their land and real estate will come. What’ll happen to food production?” he said.

The ordinance amends Section 63 and 80 of the Act, while omitting Sections 79A, B and C. “These sections were inserted in 1974 under the D Devaraj Urs government. It was a revolutionary, progressive step to protect farmers and ensure social justice,” Siddaramaiah said.

The Congress leader claimed that there was a “biggest conspiracy” behind this. “All this is being driven by the Modi government. They want to privatize more and more so that reservations will go. They want to bring back the zamindari system,” he said, citing the examples of some other recent amendments to other laws.

The timing of the ordinance is suspect, he said. “If the Yediyurappa government really wanted to help farmers and had good intentions, they could’ve brought this before the Assembly or placed it for public discussion. Instead, they’ve made use of the lockdown period to promulgate the ordinance,” he said.

The Congress will fight the ordinance till it gets withdrawn, Siddaramaiah said. “We will talk to other parties, farmers organisations and Dalit groups to plan protests against the BJP’s hidden agenda and anti-farmer policies,” he added.

Belagavi, Apr 12: Karnataka police have filed cases against seven people for hiding their visit to Delhi for attending a religious congregation at Nizamuddin Mosque, last month, police said on Sunday.

The Commissioner office here, in a statement said that Hirebagewadi police filed cases against seven persons including one participant and his family members and Tablighi leader for hiding information regarding participation in the religious meeting 'Tablighi Jamaat ' at Nizamuddin in New Delhi in March.

A youth from the Hirebagewadi village had visited New Delhi and hidden information about his visit and misguiding the Task Force officials when they visited his house. COVID-19 Task Force and Model officials informed the matter to Hirebagewadi police.

Bengaluru, Jun 15: A total of over 4,000 COVID patients have been discharged in Karnataka so far, as the state on Monday reported 213 new cases of coronavirus and two related fatalities, taking the total number of infections to 7,213 and the death toll to 88.

On Monday alone 180 patients were discharged in the state after recovery. As of June 15 evening, cumulatively 7,213 COVID-19 positive cases have been confirmed in the state, which includes 88 deaths and 4,135 discharges, the health department said in its bulletin.

Out of the 2,987 active cases, 2,931 patients are in isolation at designated hospitals and are stable, while 56 are in Intensive Care Units. Among the two deaths were a 65-year-old man from Dharwad, who was the contact of another patient already tested positive.

He was admitted on June 14 at a designated hospital and died the same day. The other was a 75-year-old woman from Bengaluru, diagnosed with ILI (Influenza Like Illness) A known case of Diabetes mellitus and Hypertension , she was admitted on June 13 at a designated hospital and died on June 15.

Out of 213 new cases 103 are returnees from other states, a majority of them from neighbouring Maharashtra, while 23 are those who returned from other countries.

Among the districts where the new cases were reported, Kalaburagi accounted for 48, followed by Bengaluru urban 35, Dharwad 34, Dakshina Kannada 23, Raichur 18, Yadgir 13, Bidar 11, Ballari 10, Koppal 4, three each from Vijayapura, Bagalkote and Shivamogga, two each from Udupi, Haveri and Ramanagara, and one each from Hassan and Davangere.

Udupi district tops the list of positive cases with a total of 1,028 infections, followed by Kalaburagi 944 and Yadgir 822.

Among discharges also Udupi is on top with total of 736 discharges, followed by Kalaburagi 459 and Bengaluru urban 329. A total of 4,49,331 samples have been tested so far, out of which 5,362 were tested on Monday alone.

So far 4,32,346 samples have been reported as negative, out of which 4,738 reported negative today, the bulletin said.