Cabinet reshuffle by month-end, says Siddaramaiah

April 14, 2016

Bengaluru, Apr 14: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday reiterated that he would reshuffle his council of ministers by this month end, rekindling hopes of party MLAs who are aspiring to be ministers.

sidda22Speaking to reporters at his official residence Cauvery, he said he has discussed about the reshuffle with AICC general secretary in-charge of Karnataka Digvijaya Singh. The reshuffle will be done by the end of this month, he added.

Many Congress MLAs, who met Singh earlier in the day at Kumara Krupa Guest House, were disappointed as the Congress leaders indicated that the reshuffle was not likely to happen till May-end. Singh was in Bengaluru to attend a seminar organised by the KPCC on B R Ambedkar.

Not appropriate'

Sources in the Congress said Singh told the MLAs that it would not be appropriate for the party to undertake the reshuffle exercise when the state is reeling under drought. Moreover, the party leadership is currently busy in the Assembly elections to five states.

The elections are scheduled to conclude in the third week of May. R V Devaraj, Dr A B Maalakaraddy, S T Somashekar and Munirathna were among over a dozen MLAs who met Singh at Kumara Krupa guest house.

The MLAs had recently submitted a memorandum to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, urging him to reshuffle the council of ministers. They demanded that at least 25 non-performing ministers should be dropped.

Siddaramaiah was scheduled to visit Delhi on April 15 and 16 to discuss the reshuffle with the party high command. But he later cancelled his Delhi visit and, instead, chalked out a plan to tour the drought-hit areas of the state.

CM's discretion'

On seeking his reaction on the demand for reshuffle, Singh told reporters that the reshuffle is left to the discretion of the chief minister.

“Whether to reshuffle or not is left to the chief minister's discretion. He will take an appropriate decision at the right time,” he added.

The Congress leader ruled out the possibility of leadership change in the state, saying that the question does not arise.

Comments

Mohan
 - 
Thursday, 14 Apr 2016

Cabinet alla yenu melu kelage madidru nimma yella corruption horege baruthade. karnataka's no 1 corrupted politician.

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July 5,2020

Mangaluru, Jul 5: A veteran politician and former union minister has repeatedly tested positive for COVID-19 in the Dakshina Kannada.

The former minister, who resides in Bantwal taluk, is said to be asymptomatic.

His wife and children have also tested positive for the coronavirus.

Meanwhile, one of the kin of the former minister said that he is undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Mangaluru. "He is asymptomatic and doing well," he said.

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News Network
August 9,2020

Bengaluru, Aug 9: A youth was killed and three others injured as a pillar of an old temple on the outskirts of Bengaluru fell on them as they and five others dug under it in search of treasure, police said on Saturday.

"One treasure hunter got crushed under a pillar, three suffered injuries and have been hospitalised while five are on the run," a police official said.

The incident occurred at a centuries-old Anjaneya temple in Hindiganala village near Hoskote, around 50 km away from the city, on Thursday night.

Suresh, 23, got crushed to death while Manjunath, 23, Srinivas, 22, and Sebastian Raja Rathna, 22, were injured.

Following the unexpected accident, the injured treasure hunters called a 108 ambulance, leading to the entire incident coming to light.

The ambulance staff helped the youth stuck under the temple pillars and took them to hospital.

Police have registered a case under various sections of the Ancient Monuments Act, the Karnataka Treasure Trove Act, and the Indian Penal Code.

According to the official, local youth the village as well as a nearby village were involved in the hunt.

Police are on the lookout for the five treasure hunters on the run.

However, the police official said that it was an old ruined temple and there was nothing there.

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News Network
May 17,2020

Bengaluru, May 17: Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister and Transport Minister Laxman Savadi on Sunday wrote to Union Minister Nitin Gadkari requesting to issue new lockdown guidelines including permission to operate public transport and said the lockdown has caused a financial loss of Rs 16,00 crore to all four Karnataka Transport Undertakings.

In view of these problems, the state Transport Minister requested Gadkari to permit the deployment of Non-AC buses on scheduled routes to ensure the adequacy of services.

The four State Transport Undertakings (STUs) in Karnataka which are providing bus-based public transport services within the state and to the neighbouring states are Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC), North West Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (NWKRTC), North Eastern Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (NEKRTC) and Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC).

"KSRTC, NWKRTC and NEKRTC operate buses for mofussil services i.e. Interdistrict, intradistrict and interstate, whereas BMTC operates only in urban and suburban areas in the city of Bengaluru. The four STUs put together hold a fleet of about 24,900 buses including 1,520 air-conditioned buses and operate about 71.00 lakh km. per day and carries about 98.00 lakh passengers every single day," Savadi outlined in the letter.

The Minister said due to the COVID-19 outbreak and the lockdown that ensued have brought regular bus operations and functioning to a grinding halt.

"This has caused a devastating impact on the operations of all the four STUs due to the combination of lack of revenue and continuing fixed costs such as salaries and pensions to staff, payables against existing loans etc. It has been estimated that the lockdown has caused a financial loss of INR 1,600/- crore to these four STUs," he added.

Savadi said even after post-COVID lockdown, operations and revenues won't reach its previous demand& supply patterns in the next six to eight months due to reduced economic activity and users' perceived risk of contacting COVID in public transport.

In addition to that, "occupancy should be allowed up to seating capacity (without standees). This is essential to meet minimal demand," he said in the letter.

"The crew should wear facemask and hand gloves. The crew with health issues should not be deployed. The face masks should be made mandatory for all the passengers. Only asymptomatic persons should be allowed to travel in public transport. The Government of India may consider staggering working hours for various sectors to reduce peak hour traffic demand," the minister listed out these recommendations in the letter.

Savadi said that with social distancing norm of reduced seating capacity in public transport, it will not be possible to provide transport facility to all the daily passengers. This will create demand for more buses, which cannot be met.

"Restrictions on public transport will lead to passenger commute by overcrowding in smaller vehicles like cars, maxi cabs, goods tempos etc. which will adversely affect preventive measures," he added.

Therefore, Savadi requested Union Minister to look into the above matter and issue fresh guidelines to all the states / UT's.

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