Retired IAS officer, NASA scientist, aeronautical engineer among AAP candidates for Karnataka polls

coastaldigest.com news network
December 22, 2017

Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party which had contested from Karnataka in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls and lost deposits, is reportedly planning to field a few highly qualified candidates in 2018 Karnataka legislative assembly.

According to sources, the party is keen on breaking ice in all 28 Assembly segments in Bengaluru. This is where the party plans to field former NASA scientist and urbanist Ashwin Mahesh, who had unsuccessfully contested from Bommanahalli as a Loksatta candidate. While BJP's Satish Reddy won with over 86,000 votes, Mahesh finished third with about 11,900 votes.

Santosh Nargund (41), an aeronautical engineer and alumnus of Indian Institute of Management, Bengaluru, will be the AAP candidate taking on BJP leader and former chief minister Jagadish Shettar from the Hubli-Dharwad (central) constituency. This will be his maiden electoral plunge.

"I decided to contest as an independent candidate, but AAP reached out to me and gave me a platform," said Nargund, who worked on the Light Combat Aircraft Tejas, during his stint at the Aeronautical Development Agency.

 "Two years ago, I resigned from my professional job and went back to Hubballi-Dharwad, which is my native. Shettar has been the MLA there for the past 28 years, and there's only dust and bad governance. I hope to change this," he said.

1971-batch IAS officer Renuka Viswanathan, who worked in the Planning Commission and Finance Ministry before her retirement in 2008, is also on the AAP's list of candidates.

The party plans to field corporate leader Lingaraj Urs to take on Congress’ B A Basavaraj (Byrathi) in the KR Puram constituency. In fact, Urs became a gram panchayat member in 2015, after he won from ward 4 of the Kannamangala village in the Whitefield area. AAP Karnataka incharge Pankaj Gupta said the party had received "a huge response" in at least 20 districts.

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News Network
June 26,2020

Bantwal, Jun 26: A day after expressing gratitude for the overwhelming response from students for the SSLC examinations, Karnataka Minister for Primary and Secondary Education S Suresh Kumar on Friday took to Twitter to laud a student who didn’t let his physical hurdles deter him from writing the examination.

Sharing image of the student, Kaushik, who wrote the SSLC examination at Bantwal’s SVS High School, the Minister said that he was taken aback by the boy’s spirit for writing the exam independently without relying on anyone’s help. Such individuals give new meaning to life. Others should learn from this.

In the picture, Kaushik is seen seated on the floor and using his toes to write answers.

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coastaldigest.com news network
May 29,2020

Mangaluru, May 29: The southwest monsoon is expected to reach the Karnataka coast on June 1 or 2, earlier than forecast by the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

Normally, Karnataka witnesses the onset of monsoon either five or six days after it had entered Kerala. However, this time, Karnataka will also witness the arrival of monsoon either on June 1 or June 2, according to meteorologists at the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Cell (KSNDMC).

The gradual formation of two low-pressure areas over the Arabian Sea located close to the western peninsular coast and gaining momentum has helped Karnataka mark the start of the four-month-long rainy season expected to revive the back-to-back drought-stricken state.

Confirming the changes in the atmospheric pattern, Dr GS Srinivasa Reddy, Director KSNDMC said, “Karnataka will also witness the onset of monsoon on the same time that of Kerala.”

The early onset of monsoon over Karnataka coast is attributed to prevailing to weather pattern over the Arabian Sea. 

“The two low-pressure areas over the Arabian Sea are steadily gaining momentum. They may reach the peak by the weekend and may concentrate further into depression causing widespread rainfall in the peninsular region and thereby advancing the onset of monsoon over the region,” Dr Reddy explained.

The KSNDMC, based on the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) forecast, stated that due to 'prevailing favourable conditions over the Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean regions', the monsoon will be normal and above normal over coastal and south-interior Karnataka according to the present scenario.

The IMD, which had initially issued a forecast of five-day delay in the onset, had issued a fresh forecast on Wednesday cautioning the states along the West coast about the formation of two intense low-pressure areas in South-East and East-Central Arabian Sea region.

Following the forecast, a yellow alert has also been issued in Kerala and coastal areas suggesting significant rainfall starting from this weekend. “Fishermen have also been advised not to venture into deep-sea due to high turbulent conditions,” an IMD official revealed.

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News Network
March 24,2020

Mysuru, Mar 24:m who returned from foreign travel and flouted home quarantine guidelines has been arrested in Mysuru on Monday. 

The man, who returned from Australia, had a seal on his hand but was roaming around the city. 

According to police, he was supposed to be under home quarantine till April 6. V V Puram Police took him into custody.

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