CM Siddaramaiah meets Shah; seeks early release of drought relief
New Delhi (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday called on Union Home Minister Amit Shah and requested him to sanction early drought relief of Rs 18,177.44 crore to the state.
Siddaramaiah, who met Shah in his office in Parliament complex, said a central meeting of the high-level committee should be convened at the earliest to approve the drought relief for Karnataka, an official statement said.
The CM informed in the meeting that the small and marginal farmers are more impacted because of the drought in 223 taluks out of 236 in the state. The crops sown in 48.19 lakh hectare of farm land have been impacted.
Siddaramaiah also said that the state government had submitted a memorandum seeking Rs 18,177.44 crore drought three month back and requested the Centre to expedite the matter.
While sanctioning the drought relief, the CM requested the Centre to consider the latest farmers' population data instead of the 2015-16 data, the statement added.
The state government had submitted its memorandum on September 22. Consequently, a central team visited the state in October and submitted a report.
Siddarmaiah had called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday on the same issue.
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
