Team Mangalore ready with a 'Pushpak Viman' to sizzle at Sri Lankan Kite Fest

Mangalore, Jan 21: Former city councillor and social activists Naveenchandra and social activist Vidya Dinker have been invited to participate in two-day National Level Consultation on Urban Governance which will take place on January 22 and 23 at Juniper Hall, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi.

Urban governance stakeholders of 20 states and one union territory will be participating in this national level consultative seminar. The participants will include elected representatives, NGO representatives and urban planning experts. The seminar is being organised by Mumbai based Prajna Foundation, which has undertaken an in-depth study of the governance of the 20 states and one union territories.

Having served several terms as a corporator of Mangaluru City Corporation, Naveenchandra is knowledgeable in matters relating to urban governance. He is very popular in his constituency. Vidya Dinker is a well known city based social activist. She is the Coordinator, Citizens Forum for Mangalore Development.

Bengaluru, Feb 15: The Karnataka Legislative Assembly has decided to set aside two days - March 2 and 3 - for a special discussion over the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act continues across the country.

Assembly Speaker Vishweshwara Hegde Kageri told media persons here today that the Assembly would act as a platform for legislators to speak about the relevance of the Constitution and its contributions for the last seven decades. He had already held a round of discussions with senior legislators and all have expressed their willingness to participate in the debate. More details of the discussion would be worked out in the next few days after a meeting of the Business Advisory Committee of the House on February 18.

Asked whether it would be possible to have discussions rising above partisan politics in the present scenario, Mr. Kageri said “I have appealed to members to discuss the Constitution beyond the political prism.” Each member would be asked to speak on a specific topic of the Constitution.

Lucknow, Feb 4: Even as anti-NRC protests continue to rage across the country, the Lucknow University has queered the pitch by demanding citizenship proof from RTI applicants.

The Lucknow University (LU) refused to provide the information sought by the people who filed the Right to Information (RTI) unless they furnished the proof that they were Indian citizens.

Alok Chantia, one of the RTI applicants who was refused information by the varsity, said that he had lodged a complaint with the vice-chancellor of the varsity but even then he could not get the desired information.

"It is shocking how the university has twisted the RTI law as per its whims and fancy. It does not have any authority to do so," said the RTI applicant.

Chantia, also a faculty member at a degree college here, had sought details of appointment of teachers for self-financed courses and their pay scale.

"It is possible that some applicants who may not be familiar with the provisions of the RTI, may have furnished proof of their citizenship to the varsity to get the information but that cannot become a rule," he pointed out.

When contacted, university officials admitted that such a practice had been going on in the varsity for the past few years.

"This practice started during the tenure of the former vice-chancellor S.P. Singh and still continues," said a senior varsity official.