Khader who saved Congress' honour in Karavali gets ministership
Mangaluru: MLA UT Khader has been appointed as a minister in the Congress-JDS coalition government. Among the ministers who sworn-in today, UT Khader is one who took the oath for the second consecutive term for the state cabinet.
U.T. Khader, who was interested in politics since studenthood, was trained by his father UT Fareed. Soon after completing BA (LLB), he started building rapo with the people of Mangaluru (Ullal) constituency and tried to address their problems.
In his 30-year political carreer, he held various responsibilities in the party and state government. Khader served as an elected member of Mangalore University Senate, district secretary of NSUI DK, President, State Vice President and Ullal Block Congress President, KPCC Secretary, Party North Karnataka in-charge, and trainer of the All India Seva dal, and as the chief organiser of the State Seva Dal.
Khader, after the death of his father UT Fareed, won the 2007 assembly elections from Ullal (Mangalore) constituency in the first attempt and continued winning even in 2008 and 2013 elections with a considerable margin. He served as health minister for three years and as Food and Civil Supplies Minister for two years in the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government. He was awarded the 'Sadanvira' award for asking the most questions in the House. UT Khader, the only minister from the minority community to serve for a five-year term in Siddaramaiah's government, has won two national-level achievement awards in both the ministerships he served.
He has an honour of being alone Congress MLA in 13 constituencies of undivided DK district in the recently held assembly polls. Khader, who has accepted the ministership in the JDS-Congress coalition government, is likely to get the district-incharge minister post for Udupi or Kodagu district. Earlier, Khader has also worked as a minister in the Kolar and Chamarajanagar districts.
UTK, who is a passionate bike rider, actively participated in Scouts and Guides in student life. He has a happy family consisting of wife Lamees Khader and the only daughter Hawa Naseem. Daughter Hawa Naseem, who is a Hafiza, is currently studying Class 9 at an Educational Institute in Kerala.
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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.
