Government employees good news! 4th Saturdays to be government holiday in Karnataka
Bengaluru, June 6: Karnataka Cabinet Thursday decided to declare fourth Saturdays a holiday for state government employees in addition to second Saturdays.
The in principle decision was taken based on a recommendation of the state Pay Commission, Rural Development Minister Krishna Byre Gowda said.
The cabinet also decided to bring down the number of casual leaves from the existing 15 days to ten for the government employees, he told reporters here.
He said that in 2011 the Pay Commission had recommended five-day week and the recent paypanel also stuck to it.
Though the Cabinet discussed about reducing festival and other holidays such as on the occasion of 'jayantis', it felt such a move might hurt sentiments of certain sections.
It was decided to reduce the number of days of casual leave, he added.
He said whether the changes will be implemented immediately or from next year will be decided after discussions with the Chief Minister.
The cabinet also decided to go for counselling through computerised system for transfer of group C and D government employees to bring in transparency. A draft Bill to this effect was approved.
Among the other decisions, it resolved to outsource the maintenance of pure drinking water units by calling for tender.
As many as 16,000 pure drinking water units out of the 18,000 approved by the Rural Development department had been installed across the state at taluk levels, Gowda said adding there was no clear policy on their maintenance.
The cabinet asked the Chief Secretary to implement an ordinance promulgated to protect the interests of gazetted officers in 1998 in a way that it does not affect the promotions of officers recruited in subsequent years.
On whether the cabinet discussed about the opposition to its last week decision on sale of 3,667 acres of land to JSW Steel, Gowda said, the issue did not come up.
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Tahawwur Rana likely to be lodged in Delhi's Tihar jail after rreaching India
New Delhi (PTI): Mumbai terror attack case accused Tahawwur Hussain Rana, who is being extradited from the US, is likely to be lodged in a high-security ward in Tihar jail here when he reaches India, prison sources said.
All necessary preparations have been made in the jail, they said.
Rana, 64, is a Pakistan-born Canadian national and close associate of one of the main conspirators of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks David Coleman Headley alias Daood Gilani, a US citizen.
Rana is being brought to India after his last-ditch attempt to evade extradition failed as the US Supreme Court justices rejected his application.
According to officials, a multi-agency team had gone to the US to bring him to India.
On November 26, 2008, a group of 10 Pakistani terrorists went on a rampage, carrying out a coordinated attack on a railway station, two luxury hotels and a Jewish centre, after they sneaked into India's financial capital using the sea route in the Arabian Sea.
As many as 166 people were killed in the nearly 60-hour assault that sent shockwaves across the country and even brought India and Pakistan to the brink of war.
