Decades-old Karnataka, Maharashtra boundary dispute flares up again
Belagavi (K'taka) (PTI): The decades-old boundary dispute between Karnataka and Maharashtra over Belagavi has again flared up as both the State governments are readying for a legal battle. On Monday, the Eknath Shinde government in Maharashtra appointed two Ministers to coordinate with the legal team regarding the court case on the dispute that is set to come up in the Supreme Court.
Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said the State, too, deployed a battery of lawyers, including Mukul Rohatgi and Shyam Diwan, to fight its case.
The dispute dates back to the 1960s after the reorganisation of States on linguistic lines.
Maharashtra laid claim on Belagavi, earlier known as Belgaum, which was part of the Bombay Presidency at the time of independence, on linguistic grounds.
Belagavi bordering Maharashtra has a significant population of Marathi-speaking people, and has for decades been a bone of contention between the two States
Karnataka repeatedly maintained that the Mahajan Commission report on the border issue is final, and, "there is no question of letting go even an inch of Karnataka's border".
Bommai reiterated this week that there is no example to show that what had been done under the States Reorganisation Act that was reviewed.
"The border dispute is a political tool used by all parties in Maharashtra. But they will never succeed," he had said, adding that Maharashtra's plea has not found maintainability in all these years and the State is prepared to argue that it is not maintainable.
Shinde said earlier this week: "Late Balasaheb Thackeray was always a supporter of the State's demand to make Belgaum a part of Maharashtra. We have concentrated our focus on solving the issue. If required, the number of lawyers will be increased".
Karnataka has sought to make Belagavi a second power centre after Bengaluru. The government constructed the 'Suvarna Vidhana Soudha' in this town bordering Maharashtra and held winter sessions of the State Legislature there from 2012.
The Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti (MES) and pro-Marathi groups have for decades been fighting for inclusion of Belagavi and Marathi-speaking villages of the region with the western State.
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Air hostess on ventilator in Gurugram hospital sexually assaulted by staff: Police
Gurugram, Apr 15 (PTI): An air hostess was allegedly sexually assaulted in a renowned private hospital here by a staff member while she was on the ventilator in the ICU, police said on Tuesday.
Police said they are examining CCTV footage of the hospital to identify the perpetrator.
According to police, the 46-year-old woman was admitted to the hospital after she fell ill following a swim in the pool of a hotel she was staying in.
On April 5, she was admitted to a private hospital in Gurugram, from where she was discharged this Sunday, she said in her complaint.
"On April 6, I was on a ventilator when some hospital staff sexually assaulted me," the complaint read.
After being discharged, she told her husband about the incident and then approached the police, the air hostess said.
Following the complaint, an FIR was registered against unidentified staff members of the hospital at Sadar police station on Monday, police said.
"The victim's statement has been recorded before the magistrate in the court. The police team is examining the footage of the hospital's CCTV cameras and will soon identify the accused," a Gurugram Police spokesperson said.
A probe is underway and the accused will be arrested soon, the spokesperson added.
