Police stations in Dakshina Kannada, Udupi to be sanitized in a phased manner

Bengaluru, Mar 20: The high court on Thursday directed the government to notify on its official website the penal provisions to be enforced against private schools violating norms relating to fees and safety of students, among other things. A division bench of chief justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka granted six weeks to the authorities to comply while disposing of a PIL filed by advocate NP Amrutesh.

Earlier, the state government submitted a memo stating that necessary amendments have been brought to Karnataka Education Act in 2017. It said any breach of students' safety entails a minimum jail term of six months and Rs 1 lakh fine for a convicted employee or member of the management. Any institution found guilty by the District Education Regulatory Authority will face disaffiliation and must pay a fine of Rs 10 lakh, the memo said.

Schools collecting donations and other fees beyond what is prescribed can be fined up to Rs 10 lakh and they must refund the excess fee.

In relation to schools charging for applications and brochures, the state capped their prices at Rs 5 and Rs 20 respectively, by issuing a gazzette notification last year.

Feb 3: The Karnataka government is probably the only state to have so many nodal agencies to deal with investment proposals. There is the KIADB, Karnataka Udyoga Mitra, State High Level Clearance Committee (SHLCC), State Level Single Window Clearance Committee (SLSWCC) and District Level Single Window Clearance Committee.

While the government claims these have been created to speed up the process of setting up industries, they’re only delaying it. “A four-to-five year delay in acquiring land has become the norm,’’ say industry sources.

“These entities are only adding layers of obstacles to investors and is not really helping industries,” said a senior IAS officer.

While DLSWCCs are headed by deputy commissioners are empowered to clear investment proposals up to Rs 15 crore, SLSWCC, headed by the industries minister, clears proposals more than Rs 15 crore and up to Rs 500 crore. Proposals worth more than Rs 500 crore have to be cleared by SHLCC chaired by the CM. These entities have to meet regularly and clear proposals. But often, these meetings don’t happen as scheduled. “The delay starts from here,” said Vasant Ladava, industrialist and member of Karnataka Industries and Commerce, Bengaluru.

The single-window agencies involving representatives of departments like industries, revenue, pollution control board and forest are supposed to collectively give necessary clearances required for industries. “But, of late, they have become only project approvers without other responsibilities, leaving investors in the lurch,” said Ladava.

Davanagere, Jan 16: Congress leader D K Shivakumar on Thursday turned down all the recent media reports of him aspiring for the coveted Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committe (KPCC) president post.

Terming all the news, doing rounds, as baseless, Shivakumar said that he never made any attempt to become KPCC president. "All I want to do is work for my people and party", he asserted.

Referring to Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa's visit to Harihar's 'Our Lady of Health Minor Basilica' programme, Shivakumar said."I'm not concerned about what others are doing, everyone is free to take part in the programmes."