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Special court for land-grab cases to become functional tomorrow

August 30, 2016

Bengaluru, Aug 30: After a long wait and several delays, a special court for speedy trial of cases pertaining to land encroachments will finally be inaugurated in Bengaluru on Wednesday.

landgrab

Speaking to reporters here on Monday, Law Minister T?B?Jayachandra said the special court will be headed by retired High Court judge Justice H N Narayana. Retired district judges Rayappa Hanumanthappa Reddy and B Balakrishna will be judicial members. A premises for the court has been provided on the third floor of Kandaya Bhavan on KG Road.

The orders for establishing the court was issued on March 22. Chairman and members of the special court have a three-year term. The court is set up as per the provisions of Karnataka Land Grabbing (Prohibition) Act, 2011 which provides for putting a curb on grabbing of government lands, including properties coming under Wakf or religious institutions, charitable endowments, local authorities or other statutory or non-statutory bodies owned, controlled or managed by government.

It has been a long journey for setting up of the special court. The Act which provides for setting up of the special court was passed by the state legislature in 2011. However, the bill was returned by the President, seeking clarifications. Then, there was a delay in finalising the location and staff for the court.

The special court has state-wide civil and criminal jurisdiction to complete trials within six months. Under the Act, punishment for land grabbing, is imprisonment not less than one year and up to three years and fine up to Rs 25,000.

Lake encroachments

A report being prepared by a legislature committee constituted to study lake encroachments in and around Bengaluru will be encyclopediac in nature and comprehensive, panel chairman K?B?Koliwad said on Monday.

Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru, Koliwad, who is also the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, said the report which will be submitted by October end is likely to run into around 8,000 pages. Details of the quantum of encroachment of each of the 1,545 lakes surveyed in Bengaluru Urban and Rural districts will be included in the report. It was left to the government to implement the recommendations, he said.

Koliwad said the government had done the right thing by taking up demolition and eviction drive to clear encroachments. The Speaker said he had directed Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike officials several months ago to clear encroachment on rajakaluves to prevent floods and water logging. “Bengaluru should not become like Chennai when it rains”, he said referring to the floods in the Tamil Nadu capital last year. However, his directions were ignored then, Koliwad added.

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Agencies
August 1,2020

New Delhi, Aug 1: Rajya Sabha MP and former Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh has died in Singapore where he was undergoing treatment.

Amar Singh, 64, had undergone kidney transplant in 2011 and was not keeping well for a long time.

“Saddened to know about the death of senior leader and parliamentarian Amar Singh,” Defence Minister Rajnath Singh tweeted.

Earlier in the day, the former Samajwadi leader had posted messages on Twitter, paying tributes to Bal Gangadhar Tilak on his 100th death anniversary and also wishing people on Eid.

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Agencies
August 8,2020

Idukki, Aug 8: Nine more bodies have been recovered from the landslide ravaged Pettimudi near Munnar in Idukki on Saturday. With this the death toll in the tragedy reached 26. Around 40 are feared to be still trapped under the debris or washed away.

The rescue operation by NDRF and Fire and Rescue Services that was stopped by Friday evening due to poor light and bad weather resumed by Saturday morning.

Horrifying scene prevailed in the area as relatives of the missing people screamed around in search of their beloved ones. As it is nearly 48 hours since the incident happened, the chances of recovering missing persons alive from the debris is becoming bleak. Three of the bodies recovered on Saturday could not be identified till evening.

Kerala Revenue Minster E Chandrasekharan, who visited the area on Saturday, said that search operation would be carried out until all the missing are recovered.

It was by around 11.30 pm on Thursday that landslide had hit the Nayamakkad estate of Kannan Devan Hills and Plantations. Settlement clusters of plantation workers where 83 persons were staying were reduced to debris as the huge rocks came bulldozing. Five of the residents were reported to be not in the spot while the mishap occured.

Meanwhile, heavy rains led to floods at many parts of the state. Red alert has been issued at Idukki, Malappuram and Wayanad districts for Sunday also. A total of 11,446 persons of 3,530 families were shifted to relief camps across the state, of which major chunk is at Wayanad.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that water level at most dams is increasing swiftly.

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News Network
March 5,2020

New Delhi, Mar 5: Retirement fund body EPFO on Thursday lowered interest rate on provident fund deposits to 8.5 per cent for the current financial year, said Labour Minister Santosh Gangwar on Thursday.

The EPFO had provided 8.65 per cent rate of interest on EPF for 2018-19 to its around six crore subscribers. The decision was taken at a meeting of the the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation's (EPFO) apex decision making body -- the Central Board of Trustee.

"The EPFO has decided to provide 8.5 per cent interest rate on EPF deposits for 2019-20 in the Central Board of Trustees (CBT) meeting today," Gangwar told reporters after the meeting here.

Now, the labour ministry requires the finance ministry's concurrence on the matter. Since the Government of India is the guarantor, the finance ministry has to vet the proposal for EPF interest rate to avoid any liability on account of shortfall in the EPFO income for a fiscal.

The finance ministry has been nudging the labour ministry for aligning the EPF interest rate with other small saving schemes run by the government like the public provident fund and post office saving schemes.

The EPFO had provided 8.65 per cent rate of interest to its subscribers for 2016-17 and 8.55 per cent in 2017-18. The rate of interest was slightly higher at 8.8 per cent in 2015-16.

It had given 8.75 per cent rate of interest in 2013-14 as well as 2014-15, higher than 8.5 per cent for 2012-13.

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