Siddaramaiah rejects allegations of his govt funding Cong for Bihar polls
Mangaluru (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday rejected opposition BJP's allegation that the Congress government in the state was funding its party, in the upcoming Bihar polls.
Also, defending his government's decision making "prior permission" mandatory for private organisations to use public premises for their activities, the chief minister rejected that the move was only aimed at restricting RSS activities, and asserted that it was continuation of the decision taken by the earlier BJP regime.
He also clarified that the government's order mandating prior permission, does not mean that the permission has to be given, and that any such decision will depend on the law and order situation locally.
"We have not given even a 5 paise to any state election from Karnataka, we are not giving to Bihar also," Siddaramaiah said in response to a question.
Speaking to reporters here, in response to a question on BJP's allegations, he said, "They (BJP) were doing it, now they are accusing us of it."
He was reacting to BJP MPs B Y Raghavanedra and Jagadish Shettar's allegation that the Siddaramaiah-led government was involved in fundraising for the Congress party for the Bihar elections, a practice they claimed has led to increase in corruption in the state.
Bihar polls will be held over two phases on November 6 and 11. The votes will be counted on November 14.
"In 2013, the BJP government, when Jagadish Shettar was the CM, had issued an order through the education department, why did they do it? We have continued what they have done," he said.
To a question on BJP's circular not making any reference to any organisation such as RSS, Siddaramaiah said, "We too have not mentioned the name of any organisation (in our order). It is applicable to any organisation. We have not mentioned the RSS name."
The state government on Saturday had issued an order making "prior permission" mandatory for any private organisations, associations or a group of persons to use government property or premises for their activities.
While the government order does not specifically name RSS, the provisions of the order are said to be aimed at impacting the activities of the Hindu right wing organisation, including its route marches.
The order is based on a Cabinet decision on Thursday, prompted by Panchayat Raj and IT/BT Minister Priyank Kharge's letter to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah seeking a ban on RSS' activities in public places.
The Congress government is citing the 2013 circular by the education department, issued under the then BJP administration-led by Shettar, restricting the use of school premises and attached playgrounds for educational purposes only, to defend its order.
The circular was issued in response to a permission sought to organise a private event on the premises of the Fort High School at Chamarajpet in Bengaluru.
To a question on permission not being granted by authorities, despite seeking permissions as per the government order, the CM said, "the order says that prior permission has to be taken. There is nothing that the permission has to be given. It will depend upon the law and order situation."
Authorities in Chittapur, the home constituency of Minister Priyank Kharge, had denied permission for the RSS route march on Sunday, citing the possibility of disruption of peace and law and order.
The Tahsildar of Chittapur had cited that the Bhim Army organisation has also informed, through a letter, that they too will conduct a route march on the same route on October 19.
The Karnataka High Court on Sunday hearing RSS petition asked its representatives to file a fresh application seeking permission to hold its route march in Chittapur on November 2.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Illegal sand mining has created environmental crisis in National Chambal Gharial Sanctuary: SC
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Friday said rampant illegal riverbed sand mining has created an "environmental crisis" and wreaked "havoc" in the National Chambal Gharial Sanctuary, causing a grave risk to the gharial (long-snouted crocodile) preservation project.
Slamming the states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh for their utter failure in dealing with the issue, the apex court directed them to install high-resolution Wi-Fi-enabled CCTV cameras along all routes frequently used for illegal sand mining in the area.
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta directed that live feed of such surveillance cameras shall be placed under the direct control, supervision and operational oversight of the superintendent of police or the senior superintendent of police of the concerned district and the divisional forest officer.
It said these officers shall ensure continuous and effective monitoring of the CCTV feeds by designating appropriate officers.
"It can't be gainsaid that the issues involved are of great concern in as much as the rampant illegal mining activities in the river bed have created an environmental crisis and havoc in the National Chambal Gharial Sanctuary causing a grave risk to the very project of gharial preservation of which the state governments themselves were proponents and were under an obligation to foster and promote," Justice Mehta said while pronouncing the order.
The bench directed the authorities in these three states to initiate prompt and necessary action under law if any instance of illegal mining or allied activities comes to light.
It said the authorities shall ensure seizure of vehicles or machinery found involved in illegal sand mining and also initiate prosecution of persons involved in it.
The bench, which passed several other directions, posted the matter for hearing on May 11.
The top court passed the order in a suo motu case titled 'In Re: Illegal sand mining in the National Chambal Sanctuary and threat to endangered aquatic wildlife'.
The National Chambal Sanctuary, also called the National Chambal Gharial Wildlife Sanctuary, is a 5,400-sq km tri-state protected area.
Besides the endangered gharial, it is home to the red-crowned roof turtle and the endangered Ganges river Dolphin.
Located on the Chambal river near the tripoint of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, the sanctuary was first declared a protected area in Madhya Pradesh in 1978 and now constitutes a long and narrow eco-reserve co-administered by the three states.
On March 13, the top court took suo motu cognisance of news reports about rampant illegal sand mining on the banks of the Chambal river.
