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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IMF approves USD 206 million emergency funding for cyclone-hit Sri Lanka's recovery
Colombo (PTI): The IMF has approved an emergency funding of USD 206 million under its rapid finance instrument to help Sri Lanka “address the urgent needs arising from the catastrophic Cyclone Ditwah and preserve macroeconomic stability”.
The cyclone caused widespread destruction in the island nation and left over 643 people dead.
In a statement issued on Friday, the Washington-based International Monetary Fund (IMF) said the disaster has created urgent humanitarian and reconstruction needs, generating significant fiscal pressures and balance-of-payments needs.
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The emergency financial support provided by the IMF under the rapid finance instrument will help address these pressures, it said.
The IMF added that the cyclone devastation hit when the Fifth Review of Sri Lanka’s USD 2.9 billion bailout was nearing completion.
“Given the time needed to assess the economic impact of the cyclone and examine how an IMF-supported programme can best support Sri Lanka’s recovery and reconstruction efforts while preserving objectives and policy priorities, the Fifth Review has been deferred," it said.
"An IMF mission team will visit Sri Lanka in early 2026 to resume discussions,” it added.
The 48-month extended fund facility deal with the IMF in March 2023 carried hard reforms to Sri Lanka's welfare-based governance.
It was signed after Sri Lanka plunged into an unprecedented economic meltdown with its first-ever sovereign default.
Several hours before the IMF decision, the parliament here approved without a vote a supplementary estimate of LKR 500 billion, which the government said was required to restore the livelihoods of those affected by the disaster.
