Three youths from Dakshina Kannada perish in Goa

New Delhi, Feb 24: A book on the history of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will become a part of a course in the Islamic University of Indonesia, as the party’s two consecutive victories in India’s general elections has evoked interest among academicians, a faculty member said.

The book, titled Bhartiya Janata Party — Past, Present & Future, Story of World’s Largest Political Party and written by Shantanu Gupta, will become a part of the syllabus for undergraduate students of South Asian studies in the Department of International Relations.

Hadza Min Fadhli, a faculty member at the university, said there was a rising interest in the BJP’s rise among academicians in Indonesia, especially after the party won two general elections in India.

He said the book would be part of the syllabus for undergraduate courses in South Asian studies in the Department of International Relations.

Mr. Hadza said he got to know about the book during a recent visit to India as part of the Kautilya Fellowship programme, organised by the India Foundation. “We in Indonesia intend to further strengthen our relations with India. Therefore, it is important to understand its ruling party. We expect the BJP would also intend to do the same,” Mr. Hadza said.

When asked about the book being selected to be a part of a course in an Indonesian university, Mr. Gupta said global recognition of his work is immensely satisfying.

This book chronicles the history of the BJP which, Mr. Gupta said, described the saffron party as the latest political manifestation of the various nationalist movements that the country has seen.

Mr. Gupta has authored five other books, including a biography of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and a book on football in India.

Bengaluru, Feb 5: The Karnataka government on Tuesday launched the Janasevaka scheme in a few municipal corporation wards to ensure home delivery of various services like ration cards, senior citizen identity and health cards.

The scheme, which was launched by Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, will pertain to 53 services involving 11 departments.

"Janasevaka under the Sakala scheme is a programme to avail the benefits of government schemes at the doorstep. Our objective is to make the lives of the citizens of Karnataka easy by launching this scheme," the Chief Minister said. Sakala aims to ensure in-time delivery of government services to citizens by practising innovative and efficient management systems through capacity building in government and empowering citizens to exercise their right to service.

Minister for Sakala and Primary and Secondary Education S Suresh Kumar said: "The scheme that was implemented in Dasarahalli area on a pilot basis will now be extended to Mahadevapura, Bommanahalli and Rajajinagar areas."

He added that it will benefit the senior citizens of the city.

If the scheme works well, it will be implemented across Bengaluru in all the 27 assembly segments, Kumar said, adding that based on the experiment in Bengaluru, it will be extended to Mysuru, Mangaluru and Hubballi-Dharwad.

Under the scheme, there will be one volunteer in each ward. These volunteers have been outsourced. A toll-free helpline has been set up for this scheme which will work from 8 am to 8 pm.

A sum of Rs 115 will be charged to provide the home delivery services.

In addition to it, the Karnataka government has also decided to seek information under the RTI Act easy by making it online.

People can apply from home by paying the fee online. This will make the process hassle-free, the Chief Minister said.

Bengaluru, Apr 19: Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister CN Ashwath Narayan on Sunday said that "only essential and critical number of" employees of the Information Technology (IT) companies will be allowed to work from offices from April 20 onwards in Bengaluru, while others will have to continue working from home.

"Only essential and critical number of employees required will be allowed to turn up. In the next two days, it will be reviewed and a suitable decision will be taken. 

All the details will be communicated to the IT companies," Narayan said here.

Earlier on Saturday, in a meeting to review COVID-19 situation in Karnataka, it was considered that one-third of the employees of IT and biotechnology companies could be allowed to work from the office premises, while the rest should continue to work from home.

Earlier on April 17, the Deputy CM, after holding a video conference meeting with heads of the IT and biotechnology companies, had told reporters that up to 50 per cent of the workforce would have the opportunity to function from office premises after April 20.