Karnataka coalition ministry to start working from Monday
Bengaluru, June 9: The fledgling JD-S-Congress coalition government in Karnataka would start working from Monday, as most of the cabinet ministers went to their constituencies for the week-end, said an official on Saturday.
"As government offices are closed on second Saturday and the support staff were also on leave at the state secretariat here, the 25 new cabinet ministers will work from Monday," the senior official told IANS, preferring anonymity.
Of the 25 ministers, 14 are from Congress and 9 from Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) and one each from Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Karnataka Pragnyavanta Janata Paksha (KPJP), which are allies of both the coalition partners.
Though all the cabinet ministers took oath on Wednesday, portfolios were allocated on Friday night, as many of them were vying for high-profile posts between the alliance partners.
"As portfolio allocation got delayed by 2 days and the ministers were unaware of them till Friday night, they decided to assume charge on Monday when offices re-open after the weekend break," said the official.
As per the agreement between the alliance partners, the cabinet posts and portfolios are shared in the ratio of 21:11, with the Congress getting 21, including the Deputy Chief Minister rank, as it has 78 legislators in the hung assembly, and the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-) 11, including Chief Minister rank, as it has 36 lawmakers.
JD-S leader H.D. Kumaraswamy and Congress state unit president G. Parameshwara were sworn-in as Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister on May 23.
The Congress has six more cabinet berths and the JD-S one more to fill in the 34-member ministry, which is 15 per cent of the 225-member assembly strength.
In a related development, Kumaraswamy advised his party ministers G.T. Devegowda and C.S. Puttaraju to work with the portfolios they were allocated than seeking change.
Devegowda, who studied only up to 8th standard, has been allocated Higher Education and Puttaraju Minior Irrigation though he wanted Transport.
"Even I have studied only up to degree (B.Sc). Yet, I am the Chief Minister. It is not education qualification or which portfolio that matters. All posts give same opportunity to work and serve the people. Is there a better department than Higher Education and Minor Irrigation to work?" Kumaraswamy told reporters here later.
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Online fraud: Hotel chef from Udupi cheated of over Rs 1 lakh by WhatsApp contact
Udupi: Udupi City Police have registered a case of online fraud after a 62-year-old hotel chef was allegedly cheated of Rs 1.13 lakh by a woman who befriended him on WhatsApp, claiming to be based in London.
The victim, identified as Pandu Kariappa Poojary, a resident of Kuthpadi in Udupi, was working at a hotel in Mangaluru.
He reportedly came into contact with a woman identifying herself as Emilda William on WhatsApp. During their interactions, she told Poojary that she planned to start a cosmetics and hotel business in India and would meet him during a visit to Mangaluru.
On April 7, Emilda sent Poojary a flight ticket from London to Delhi via WhatsApp. The following day, Poojary received a phone call from a woman who informed him that Emilda had arrived at Delhi airport carrying a demand draft worth Rs 5 crore along with other items. The caller allegedly asked him to pay Rs 70,000.
Subsequently, Poojary also received a call from Emilda, who was reportedly crying and spoke about the situation. Believing the claims, he transferred a total of Rs 1,13,300 in phases using a scanner. He later realised that he had been cheated.
