Belagavi, Dec 12: Senior Legislator K Pratapchandra Shetty of Congress was unanimously elected as Karnataka Legislative Council Chairman here on Wednesday during the ongoing Winter Session at Suvarna Vikas Soudha.
Mr Shetty was the lone candidate who had filed his nomination papers yesterday. The senior leader from Udupi has been a four-time MLA and three time MLC.
Senior member of the house and former Minister S R Patil and Allam Veerbhadrappa, both from Congress proposed Mr Shetty's name.
Bengaluru, Feb 29: Dreaded underworld don Ravi Poojary's lawyer Dilraj has allegedly been kept out of hearing distance and as a mute spectator during interrogation by the police.
"The lawyer is a mute spectator out of hearing distance from the interrogation. He is not privy to what police ask Pujari," a source told media.
As directed by the court and requested by Poojary, Dilraj is allowed to be present near the interrogation for him to consult on legal issues, but the cops have made sure that he does not hear anything for fear of leaking information.
The court has also ordered the interrogation to be video graphed, which the police are carrying out.
Police sources said that Ravi Poojary is relaxed and cool during the multi-lingual interrogation.
"He is cool, giving frank replies. Poojary is exhibiting confidence in whatever he is telling. Maybe confidently lying, police are not new to him," said the source.
According to source, the gangster knows how to handle police, with sufficient knowledge to reveal how much he wants to, when to stop, when to talk, when to mislead and plant false information.
"Poojary is being interrogated in his mother tongue Kannada, Hindi and English. He is fluent in English," the source said.
However, the source denied speculation gaining currency that Poojary requested police not to send him to Mumbai fearing of being eliminated by the henchmen of dreaded underworld dons Dawood Ibrahim and Chota Rajan.
"Nothing of that sort happened. It doesn't work like that. He has been captured after 25 years, and he is not a king to choose. Wherever the law takes him, he will go there," said the source.
Rajan is serving a life sentence inside a high security cell in Delhi's Tihar jail.
Currently, the probe is focused on Tilknagar Shabnam Developers double murder shootout case. Police are discovering information, verifying it with respect to evidence and building the case.
Taking regular breaks, police are interrogating Poojary from morning till evening.
Of the over 200 cases against Poojary in the southern state, 39 are in Bengaluru, 36 at Mangaluru, 11 in Udupi on the state's west coast and one each at Mysuru, Hubballi-Dharwad, Kolar and Shivamogga in Malnad.
The other cases are in Mumbai (49) and in Gujarat (75) pertaining to extortion, kidnapping, ransom demand and murder threats.
Poojary also extorted huge amounts from popular Bollywood stars and realtors. He was also involved in an attempt to murder case, aimed at killing a prominent lawyer of Mumbai.
A four-member Karnataka police team led by Pandey brought the 52-year-old underworld don to Bengaluru from Dakar in Senegal via Paris in an Air France scheduled flight during the wee hours and kept him at an interrogation centre in the city's south-east suburb.
Bengaluru, Apr 9: The Karnataka government is currently engaged in discussions with experts, specialists and other stakeholders to decide on its lockdown exit strategy and would take a final view by April 13, a key Minister said on Thursday.
"Day after tomorrow we have a VC (videoconference) with the Prime Minister," Medical Education Minister Sudhakar K, who is in-charge of all matters related to COVID-19, noted when asked about the States strategy.
He said a task force of specialist doctors on Wednesday submitted its report to the government, giving its recommendations.
"We are meeting lot of stakeholders of the society taking their views," the Minister said, adding, the Cabinet would also hold discussions.
"Finally, day after tomorrow, after discussing with the Prime Minister during the VC, the government will take a view on this by April 13 or so. As of now, we have not taken any view on it. We are studying all the reports," Sudhakar told PTI.
The Minister observed that the COVID-19 cases were slowly spiking in India but not multiplying the way they have in some other countries like Italy, Spain and the United States as the government had declared 21-day national lockdown early and taken other strict measures. "Let's see for one week and see."
"We need to fight this out collectively and by strictly following the quarantine methods and social distancing," Sudhakar stressed.
The Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa had on Wednesday said his government was in favour of lifting lock-down in districts which remained free from COVID-19 after April 14 subject to approval from the Centre.
"If the Prime Minister suggests to States to take decision (on lock-down) based on the situation in their respective States, my position is to take a call (on roll- back) in districts free from COVID-19," he had said.
"This is to allow people to go about their business and move about within the district and not from one district to another, after April 14, after taking the approval of the Prime Minister."
According to State officials, as many as 12 districts continue to remain free from COVID-19.
The task force has recommended continuation of lockdown at "hot spots" beyond April 14.
It has suggested that schools and colleges be shut till May 31, while non-air-conditioned shops can be opened.
Also, IT/BT companies, government offices providing essential services and factories can function with 50 per cent staff, the task force said in its recommendations for 15-day period after April 14.
Bengaluru, Apr 8: In a strong show of support, Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa stood behind the minorities in the state and said no one should target the Muslim community over the coronavirus crisis and the Tablighi Jamaat.
He said those communalising the issue will be dealt with strictly.
BS Yediyurappa was speaking to a regional media channel when he said "Nobody should speak a word against Muslims. This is a warning. If anyone blames the entire Muslim community for some isolated incident, I'll take action against them also without a second thought. Will not allow that to happen."
Since then, many have welcomed the CM's remarks including the opposition.
Former Karnataka Congress president Dinesh Gundu Rao tweeted and said that other BJP leaders should follow the Karnataka CM and that it's a welcome step.
Congress president DK Shivakumar too said he agrees with the chief minister and that no one should target one community. "The CM should also act strictly against people posting communal remarks on social media and issue an order."
Earlier, Karnataka CM BS Yediyurappa held a meeting with minority opposition MLAs and MLCs and urged them to pass the message within the community asking those who had attended the Delhi Nizamuddin Markaz event to come and get tested for Covid-19.
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CONGRATULATIONS AND ALL THE BEST ON THE OCCASSION OF ELECTED KARNATAKA SPEAKER.
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