Meetings with Uddhav will continue to take place, says Raj
Mumbai (PTI): Amid the buzz of an alliance between their two parties, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena president Raj Thackeray on Thursday said meetings with his cousin and Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray will continue to take place.
Addressing party workers here, Raj Thackeray targeted the Election Commission over discrepancies in the voters list.
Slamming the poll body for denying CCTV footage to political parties, Thackeray said the answer given by the EC is difficult to digested.
"What is happening in the country is an insult of an honest voter. Results are an insult to the votes the voter casts. Elections should take place in a transparent manner," Thackeray said, adding no developed country has EVMs.
On his frequent meetings with his cousin Uddhav, Thackeray said, "Meetings and interactions with Uddhav will continue to take place."
Although the two parties have given enough signs of rapprochement, they are yet to officially announce an alliance.
Targeting Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde over the state tourism department's decision to have NaMo tourist centres on four forts of Chhatrapati Shivaji, Thackeray asked whether there was any limit to mortgaging one's self-esteem.
The NaMo tourist centres were announced by the tourism department headed by Shiv Sena's Shambhuraj Desai on the occasion of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 75th birthday.
How desperate can one be to become chief minister, Thackeray said targeting Shinde.
The MNS chief said the tourist centres will be vandalised.
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Karnataka approves AI Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru's Electronics City
Bengaluru (PTI): The Karnataka government has approved the establishment of a CoE for AI in Biotechnology at IBAB in Electronics City (Phase 1), here.
The decision, taken by the state Cabinet on Thursday night, marks a significant step towards strengthening Karnataka’s leadership in emerging technologies, IT and biotechnology, Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge said on Friday.
The centre will be established over four years with a total outlay of Rs 20 crore, in partnership with the Institute of Bioinformatics and Applied Biotechnology and the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Platforms (C-CAMP), according to a statement from the minister’s office.
"Karnataka has consistently been at the forefront of technological innovation. As we enter the decade of deep tech, our focus is on building future-ready capabilities at the intersection of artificial intelligence and biotechnology," Minister for IT and Biotechnology said.
"This Centre of Excellence will strengthen our research ecosystem, accelerate innovation and enable Karnataka to lead in high-impact next-generation technologies," he added.
Priyank added that the state government, through the Departments of Electronics, IT, Biotechnology, and Science & Technology, is actively investing in emerging technologies and taking steps to strengthen Karnataka’s AI and deep-tech ecosystem.
The minister said the Cabinet has also approved the transfer of a 51 per cent stake in the Karnataka Technology & Innovation Museum Foundation (KTIMF) to the Unboxing BLR Foundation.
KTIMF was established by the Government of Karnataka as a not-for-profit organisation to promote innovation, technological awareness, startup culture and public engagement in science and technology, aligned with the state’s vision of building a robust innovation ecosystem, he said.
The Technology & Innovation Museum will be developed at the NGEF campus in Baiyappanahalli, Bengaluru, under a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model, with a total project cost of Rs 100 crore. Of this, Rs 49 crore will be contributed by the state government and Rs 51 crore by the private partner, he said.
