Voting underway in 102 ULB polls across Karnataka; bigwigs cast their vote

Agencies
August 31, 2018

Bengaluru, Aug 31: Moderate polling is underway for the election to 102 Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) across Karnataka, a poll official said on Friday. Polling started at 7 a.m. amid tight security, the official added.

About 40,000 security personnel have been deployed in cities and towns to maintain law and order across the state where voting will continue till 5 p.m. Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) are being used in the poll.

Voting is being held in 2,529 wards spread over 29 city municipalities, 53 town municipalities and 23 town panchayats and in 135 wards of the three city corporations.

In all, 8,340 candidates, including 2,306 from the Congress, 2,203 from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and 1,397 from the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) are in the fray for the ULBs, while 814 are contesting in the city corporations, including 135 from Congress, 130 from BJP and 129 from JD-S.

A total of 36 lakh voters are registered for exercising franchise in the ULB wards and 13.33 lakh in the three towns of Mysuru, Shivamogga and Tumakuru.

Till 9 a.m., 6.04 per cent voters in Mysuru have exercised their franchise.

In Mysuru city corporation there are 7,98,107 registered voters - women 396896, men 401113 and others 98. A total of 815 polling booths have been setup for 65 wards.

Senior Congress leader and former MLA Vasu, who cast his vote at Mahajana First Grade College in Jayalakshmipuram, while speaking to reporters supported former CM Siddaramaiah's claim of becoming CM once again.

Vasu said that Siddaramaiah's claim will not affect the JDS - Congress coalition or government.

Counting of votes will be taken up on September 3 and most of the results are expected by night or early the next day.

Though the civic election was earlier scheduled to be held in 105 ULBs, it has been postponed in three of them -- Somwarpet, Virajpet and Kushalnagar due to heavy rains and flash floods early in August in the Kodagu district, about 270km from here.

In the 2013 ULB elections held in 4,976 seats, the Congress had won 1,960 seats, while BJP and JD-S had won 905 seats each, the Independents bagged the remaining 1,206 seats.

The outcomes of these polls will not impact the stability of the government, but could change political equations since the Congress and JD(S), bowing to pressure from their cadres, decided to contest the polls independently. The party that wins the highest number of ULB seats is likely to gain momentum ahead of the 2019 polls.

Comments

Ibrahim
 - 
Friday, 31 Aug 2018

Destroy BJP completely from everywhere. Jai Congress Jai JDS

Farooq
 - 
Friday, 31 Aug 2018

Anti BJP forces are there so BJP cant win alone

Mohan
 - 
Friday, 31 Aug 2018

Hope Cong - JDS mark their victory and make combine rule as in state

Danish
 - 
Friday, 31 Aug 2018

BJP's sacking programme is underway

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coastaldigest.com web desk
June 27,2020

New Delhi, June 27: The Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led union government of India is not ready to stop all imports from aggressive China in spite of mount calls to boycott Chinese products in India.

The Centre is reportedly considering to stop only non-essential imports from the neighbouring country.

However, the Inward shipment in sectors such as automobiles, pharmaceuticals, certain electronics and others will continue until a domestic alternative is found.

“India will gradually move towards import substitution. It will not happen overnight. In the meantime, attention has to be paid on production and job creation. We cannot throttle our industry. There are certain absolutely essential imports. Needless to say, those will keep going,” official sources said.

Sources said that both the government and the industry are in the process of identifying products that can be domestically manufactured in the medium term. There are certain chemicals, automotive components, handicrafts, cosmetics, agriculture items and certain consumer electronics, which can be manufactured domestically in the short to medium term. The government is doing all it can to raise the capacity of domestic industries.

However, there are certain other imports in the automobile and the pharmaceutical sectors which cannot be done away within the short to medium term. Their domestic production at the moment may not be that cost-effective.

The six-crore strong traders’ body CAIT has been at the forefront of such a demand and has launched a campaign to celebrate Indian Diwali this year with a total absence of Chinese goods.

“Ease of doing business, capital availability at lower rates and globally competitive logistics and energy costs are some of the prerequisites that the government should look into to ensure the growth of the domestic auto component industry,” according to Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA) Director General Vinnie Mehta.

Maruti Suzuki Chairman R C Bhargava said, “People who are boycotting Chinese goods have to remember that in some cases it may lead to their being asked to pay more for the same product."

Meanwhile, domestic rating agency Acuite Ratings & Research has analysed the current import portfolio from China and found 40 sub-sectors have the potential to lower their import dependency on China. These sectors contribute to $33.6 billion worth of imports from China and about 25% of these imports can be substituted by local manufacturing without any significant additional investments.

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News Network
August 7,2020

Bengaluru, Aug 7: Amid the rising number of COVID-19 cases in Karnataka, the state's health department issued fresh guidelines for the disposal of bodies of COVID patients.

"Although an increased risk of COVID infection from a dead body to health workers or family members who follow standard precautions while handling the body is unlikely, the lack of scientific data requires the utmost care to avoid the inadvertent spread of COVID-19 during these times," the statement from the health department's press release read, emphasising on the dignity of the dead and the religious and cultural tradition.

The 23-page press release elaborated on guidelines regarding testing, handling of dead bodies and other specificities in relation to the management of COVID-19 bodies.

"Testing should not be insisted in every case of death, but only when they have a recorded history of influenza-like symptoms. The body should be handed over to the family members/ relatives in a dignified manner immediately after swab collection and hospitals should provide handouts with a list of dos and don'ts in English and Kannada laying down relevant information," the statement said.

It added, "At the mortuary, health care workers, mortuary staff and the family of the deceased body shall not come in direct contact with the dead body and must wear full personal protective equipment (PPE). If the family or relative are for any reason unable to cremate or bury the body, the local health authority shall arrange for the dignified last rites as per the religious traditions of the family."

Regarding autopsies (post mortem) on COVID-19 bodies, the state department said that they should be avoided, except in necessary circumstances.

The statement also gave detailed guidelines regarding the appropriate recording of COVID-19 deaths in line with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) guidelines.

Additionally, the health department made a statement about the admission procedure for COVID positive patients referred by other district administrations saying, "It is now mandatory for all the referrals from the BBMP admission and discharge of COVID positive patients to be done through the online COVID Hospital Bed Management System (CHBMS)."

The state's count of coronavirus cases was 1,51,449 in the past 24 hours.

So far, a total of 2,804 people have died due to COVID-19 in the state, while the average recovery rate in Karnataka is 49.3 per cent.

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News Network
August 8,2020

Bengaluru, Aug 8: Anticipating a huge number of pilgrims from Karnataka to start visiting Ayodhya following the foundation stone laying ceremony of the Ram temple, Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa on Friday requested his Uttar Pradesh counterpart Yogi Adityanath for two acres of land to build a 'yatri nivas' (guest house).

"A large number of pilgrims from Karnataka would be visiting Ayodhya. The government of Karnataka wishes to construct a yatri nivas for the pilgrims visiting Ayodhya," Yediyurappa wrote to Yogi.

"I request you to grant two acres of land in Ayodhya for this purpose," he said.

The Chief Minister said the yatri nivas will be constructed for the benefit of pilgrims from the southern state.

He also congratulated the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister for successfully laying the foundation stone for the Ram temple on Wednesday.

Comments

M SHARIEF SULTAN
 - 
Sunday, 9 Aug 2020

Use our money for corona patients. Dont waste tax payers money.

For Ayodhya pilgrims, Spend from your BJP looted money.

Ahmed A.K.
 - 
Sunday, 9 Aug 2020

Our ruling govt is only interested in RAM Mandir and spending crores of rupees for the temple. Why the other community is not demanding fund from the GOVT?

Not bothered about the development of the country as currently we have no idea how to tackle the corona viurs. Ministers are keen on builing Guest house for pilgrims, Statue of RAM etc etc.

Please concentrate on how to minimise the Virus issue in KARNAKATA like other Gulf countries.

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