Karnataka govt yet to decide on holding winter session of Assembly at Belagavi
Bengaluru, Sep 14: The Karnataka government appears to be in a quandary on holding the winter session of the Assembly in Belagavi as is the norm since the district has been ravaged by floods this year.
"The government has not decided yet. I will discuss with the Chief Minister whether to conduct the Assembly session in Belagavi. We will discuss the challenges of holding the session there," Revenue Minister R Ashoka told reporters on Saturday outside the residence of Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa.
Belagavi is considered to be the second capital city as it houses the Suvarna Soudha.
The Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister J C Madhu Swamy told PTI, no decision has been taken yet on where to hold the session.
"The decision has to be taken by the cabinet on the next Assembly session. Maybe in the next cabinet meeting the discussions will take place," he said.
According to BJP sources, the government is not keen on holding the session in Belagavi, as it was ravaged by floods recently.
The state has not yet received the funds it had anticipated from the Centre.
Belagavi bore the brunt of the severe floods as the swollen Krishna river and the tributaries wrecked havoc there submerging most parts of the north Karnataka district.
Other districts of North Karnataka such as Bagalkote, Bidar, Bijapur, Yadgir, Gadag, Koppal, Hubballi-Dharwad, Uttara Kannada and Davangere also suffered due to floods.
As many as 103 taluks of 22 districts were affected in the floods last month.
Approximately 7.5 lakh hectares of land was submerged in water and 82 people lost their lives.
The floods in August compelled the government to open 493 relief camps where about 2.10 lakh people were accommodated till the waters receded.
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Indian visa application centre suspended indefinitely in Bangladesh's Chattogram
Dhaka (PTI): India on Sunday suspended visa operations at its mission in Bangladeshi port city of Chattogram until further notice, according to media reports.
The move comes in the wake of a fresh wave of unrest witnessed in the country following the death of prominent youth leader Sharif Osman Hadi.
His death triggered attacks and vandalism across Bangladesh, including stone-hurling at the Assistant Indian High Commissioner's residence in Chattogram on Thursday.
Hadi, a prominent leader of the student-led protests last year that led to the ouster of the prime minister Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League government, was a candidate for the scheduled February 12 general elections.
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He was shot in the head on December 12 by masked gunmen at an election campaign in central Dhaka’s Bijoynagar area and died while undergoing treatment in Singapore on December 18.
“Due to the recent security incident at Assistant High Commission of India (AHCI) Chittagong, Indian visa operations at IVAC Chittagong (Chattogram) will remain suspended from 21/12/2025 until further notice,” the Indian Visa Application Centre (IVAC) said in a brief statement.
The announcement for reopening the visa centre will be made after reviewing the situation, the statement added. The decision came into effect on Sunday.
There are five IVAC facilities across Bangladesh at Dhaka, Khulna, Rajshahi, Chattogram and Sylhet. An IVAC official told PTI that the other four offices have remained operational as of Sunday.
India on Thursday resumed operations at its visa application centre in Dhaka, a day after closing it over escalated security concerns, but closed for a brief period two other identical facilities in Rajshahi and Khulna as anti-India protestors tried to march towards the Indian missions there.
On Saturday, security was strengthened at the Indian Assistant High Commission office and the visa application centre in Bangladesh's Sylhet city.
The enhanced security measures were put in place to ensure that “no third party can exploit the situation,” Additional Deputy Commissioner (Media) of the Sylhet Metropolitan Police Saiful Islam was quoted as saying by The Dhaka Tribune newspaper on Saturday.
Hadi, 32, was laid to rest on Saturday amid extra-tight security beside the grave of National Poet Kazi Nazrul Islam near the Dhaka University mosque.
Tens of thousands of people attended the funeral prayers, and ahead of the ritual, chanted anti-India slogans like “Delhi or Dhaka - Dhaka, Dhaka” and “brother Hadi’s blood will not be allowed to go in vain.”
Earlier on December 17, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) summoned Bangladesh envoy Riaz Hamidullah and conveyed its strong concern over certain extremist elements announcing plans to create a security situation around the Indian mission in Dhaka.
“We expect the interim government to ensure the safety of Missions and Posts in Bangladesh in keeping with its diplomatic obligations,” it said.
The envoy was apprised of India's strong concerns about the deteriorating security environment in Bangladesh, it added.
