First detention centre in Karnataka to house illegal immigrants
Bengaluru: Amid nation-wide protests over the controversial citizenship law, the first detention centre in Karnataka, reportedly meant to lodge illegal immigrants and migrants overstaying in the country, has been opened in Sondekoppa village near here.
The facility with several rooms, a kitchen and toilets has been kept ready on the directions of the government, a social welfare department official said. However, Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai objected to the term 'Detention Centre'.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, he had said, "In qualified terms, it is not a detention centre. There is no purpose per se to detain someone on the issue of citizenship." He ruled out that the centre has been operationalised.
".. please check with the social welfare department. At least I have no information that it has started. If at all it has been operationalised then there should be some detenue there? No one is there," he added.
According to Bommai, the purpose to keep the facility ready was to lodge African nationals overstaying in India and indulging in drug peddling.
He said their illegal activities create a law and order situation in the country. "It is only to keep them (African nationals) there and send them back to their nation," he added.
A social welfare department officer told PTI on condition of anonymity that they have got the direction to keep the 'Central Relief Centre' (CRC) ready before January 1.
The 20-year-old building was a hostel for more than 18 years for the poor and downtrodden community but as the number of students dwindled, it was lying vacant for almost two years waiting for the habitants.
Explaining the reason behind including the Social Welfare Department in this project, the officer said, "Food, accommodation and clothes will be provided to the detenus by our Social Welfare Department."
But, Foreign Regional Registration Officer Labhu Ram, said, "Please check with the Social Welfare Department. The detention centre is looked after by the social welfare department."
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England sticking with Key, McCullum and Stokes despite Ashes humbling
London (AP): England is not sacking anybody following the 4-1 Ashes loss in Australia.
A review of the tour by the England and Wales Cricket Board, announced within hours of the final match in January, was concluded on Monday. Firing people would “be the easy thing to do,” ECB chief executive Richard Gould said but he insisted, "This is not the time to throw everything out."
Managing director Rob Key, coach Brendon McCullum and captain Ben Stokes kept their jobs after the best England side to go to Australia in 14 years lost the Ashes in 11 days with two games to spare.
“Moving people on can sometimes be the easy thing to do. That's not the route that we're going to take,” Gould said. “I've seen the driving ambition and determination that we're lucky enough to have within our leadership group to take the lessons from the Ashes and move forward.”
Gould previously was the chief executive of Bristol City soccer club and said the ECB would not follow the same route as soccer's hire-and-fire culture.
“Cricket is a very unique sport in that it takes a team of leadership ... it's not like football where there's a single point of failure or success with a manager," he said. He added the ECB would not “select or deselect management based on a popularity campaign.”
The main criticisms of England's tour were poor preparation, player misbehavior, and selection mistakes.
At a press conference at Lord's, Gould and Key said McCullum and Stokes have not had a “bust up,” they did not want McCullum to “completely change” but “to evolve,” the behavior of some players was “unprofessional,” there will be more consequences for underperforming, and a commitment to “better long-term planning” ahead of major test series.
Some changes were already implemented for the Twenty20 World Cup, where England reached the semifinals. Gould implied that performance saved McCullum.
Key acknowledged that England supporters would be disappointed to see the management team go unpunished.
“I know people want punishment and that people then should be sacked for that,” Key said. “That doesn't mean we don't feel like we've gone through some serious pain: Brendon, myself, Ben. It's been as tough a time as I think I've had.”
