Drought-hit Karnataka seeks central funds for relief works
Bengaluru: Reeling under severe drought and delay in the onset of monsoon rains, Karnataka has sought Rs 1,500 crore from the Central government to fund relief works in the state, an official said on Sunday.
"Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Saturday to release Rs 1,500 crore to the state under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) scheme for the various relief works underway in the 26 drought-hit districts across the state," the official said.
In his first interaction with Modi after he returned to power with a thumping majority for the BJP in the recent Lok Sabha elections, Kumaraswamy told the Prime Minister that the state government had submitted a report on the grim situation in 160 of the 196 local bodies across the southern state due to 45 per cent deficit rains last year and weak pre-monsoon showers this year.
"Our revenue department has also sent a report to the Union Home Ministry in March with a copy to the Prime Minister's Office, seeking financial aid (Rs 2,064 crore) to pay drought-hit farmers and rural folk reeling under last year's drought and weak pre-monsoon spell in the last three months," the official recalled.
In this context, the Chief Minister also brought to Modi's notice his Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) and Congress coalition government's efforts to provide relief to thousands of farmers by waiving their crop loans and interest.
"The state is working on waiving Rs 12,830 of crop loans of 23 lakh farmers in the state, as part of the assurance the ruling allies gave in the pre-poll manifestoes ahead of the general elections," recalled the official in the Chief Minister's Office.
The Chief Minister also met Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and urged her to clear pending grants to the state from the Centre.
"Kumaraswamy has also requested Sitharaman to hire only local candidates for the regional rural banks in the state for ease of doing business in the native language (Kannada) in the state," added the official.
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'Someone must be held accountable': HC converts civil suit on Goa nightclub tragedy into PIL
Panaji (PTI): The Bombay High Court on Monday converted a civil suit against Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub into a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) saying "someone has to be held accountable" for the tragedy in which 25 people were killed.In a stern observation, Goa bench of the High Court of Justices Sarang Kotwal and Ashish Chavan said the local panchayat had "failed to take suo motu cognisance" of the club and had taken "no action despite complaints."
The division bench directed the Goa government to file a detailed reply on the permissions granted to the nightclub.
The High Court, while fixing January 8 as the next date of hearing, pointed out that commercial operations were continuing in the structure despite it having been served a demolition order.
The original petition was filed after the December 6 tragedy by Pradeep Ghadi Amonkar and Sunil Divkar, the owners of the land on which the nightclub was operating.
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Advocate Rohit Bras de Sa, the lawyer representing the petitioner, was made amicus curiae in the matter and has been asked to file a detailed affidavit in the matter.
In their petition, Amonkar and Divkar highlighted "the alarming pattern of statutory violations that have remained inadequately addressed despite multiple complaints, inspections, show-cause notices, and even a demolition order".
They contended that these violations posed "immediate threats to public safety, ecological integrity, and the rule of law in the state of Goa."
Investigations by multiple agencies into the nightclub fire have revealed various irregularities, including lack of permissions to operate the nightclub.
The Goa police arrested five managers and staff members of the club, while co-owners Gaurav Luthra and Saurabh Luthra have been detained in Thailand after they fled the country.
