Karnataka cabinet sub-committee to examine sale of 2,000.58 acres of land to JSW Steel
Bengaluru, Nov 27: The Karnataka cabinet on Friday decided to constitute a cabinet sub-committee to examine the proposal on the sale of 2,000.58 acres land to JSW Steel in Ballari district and make a suitable recommendation.
"It was decided in 2005 to give 2,000.58 acres of government land at a Kurekuppa village near Toranagallu in Sandur taluk of Ballari to JSW.
To examine it, a cabinet sub-committee will be constituted," Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister J C Madhuswamy said.
Speaking to reporters here after a cabinet meeting, he said Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa has been authorised to constitute the sub-committee.
The previous Congress-JD(S) coalition government too had constituted a four-member cabinet sub-committee headed by the then Home Minister M B Patil to examine the proposal, as its decision to convert the lease of about 3,667 acres to JSW Steel at Ballari into sale, in accordance with the initial agreement, had created a row.
Accusing the Congress-JD(S) coalition government of selling the land to the company at a throwaway price (Rs 1.22 -1.50 lakh per acre), the BJP, then in opposition, had held a two-day round-the-clock sit-in.
Yediyurappa, who was then a state BJP president, had even accused the ruling Congress-JD(S) coalition of getting "kickbacks" for the sale of land.
In 2005, when Dharam Singh was the chief minister, the Cabinet had decided to give on lease-cum-sale arrangement 2,000.58 acres to JSW.
An order on this was issued by the JD(S)-BJP coalition government that came to power thereafter when Kumaraswamy was chief minister and B S Yeddyurappa was industries minister.
In 2007, another 1,666 acres were allotted.
In another decision, after giving in principle approval to create Vijayanagara as the state's 31st district, carving it out from the mine-rich Ballari, the cabinet today said it has identified taluks for the new district and will be issuing a notification.
Hosapet, Kudligi, Hagaribommanahalli, Kotturu, Huvina Hadagali and Harapanahalli will form part of the proposed Vijayanagara district, Madhuswamy said.
Six out of eleven taluks will be part of the new Vijayanagara district with Hospet as its headquarters, while remaining taluks will be in Ballari district, he added.
The cabinet has also approved a revised estimate of Rs 384 crore, enhancing it from the earlier Rs 220 crore for the development of Shivamogga airport.
Other decisions include, appointing three more members- Bengaluru Police Commissioner, Divisional Railway Manager, and Managing Director Rail Infrastructure Development Company(Karnataka) Limited 'KRIDE'- to the committee overseeing the implementation of Bangalore Metro Rail Project.
The committee already consists of Chief Secretary, Additional Chief Secretaries Urban Development, Finance, Revenue Department, among others.
It has also approved the setting up of centre of excellence for efficiency augmentation by Karnataka government along with Software Technology Parks of India (STPI), which may cost about Rs 26.77 crore, he said.
"It's a five year project, we are now releasing Rs 17.6 crore," the minister said.
The centre is aimed at drawing advantage from emerging technologies like artificial intelligence, machine learning, big data and internet of things. The idea is to increase industrial production, increase efficiency in government services, supporting startups and innovation, among others.
The minister said "under the labour department, till now remaining leave upto 30 days could have been carried forward to next year by workers, today we have made provision to carry forward up to 45 days."
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Three central armed police force personnel suspended for playing carrom in TMC office
Kolkata (PTI): The Election Commission suspended three central armed police force personnel after a purported video went viral showing them playing carrom inside a Trinamool Congress (TMC) office at Suri in West Bengal's Birbhum district, a senior official said on Sunday.
A departmental inquiry has been ordered into the matter, he said.
"As of now, these three personnel have been removed from poll duty. We have initiated an inquiry into the incident. The authenticity of the video recording is being checked thoroughly," the poll body official said.
The disciplinary action was triggered by a purported video which went viral on Saturday, showing one personnel playing carrom with three local youths, another standing, and a third seated on a chair inside the TMC office in Suri.
PTI, however, could not independently verify the authenticity of the video.
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This was the second such disciplinary action taken against the central forces deployed in Bengal in the run up to the to the state elections by the poll body in four days for violating commission's guidelines.
On March 25, the EC transferred seven paramilitary personnel deployed on election duty in Murshidabad district out of the state for allegedly attending an iftar party in violation of guidelines.
The jawans, along with two policemen, had allegedly attended an Iftar on March 8 hosted by local TMC leader Samim Sheikh, husband of Aliara Bibi, pradhan of Nimtita gram panchayat in the Samsergunj area of Murshidabad.
Responding to the latest development in Suri, BJP candidate for the segment, Jagannath Chatterjee, condemned the incident, calling it "extremely reprehensible and disappointing."
"It is unclear how and where the central forces are being deployed. If the local administration or police had a role in this carrom game, strict action should be taken against them as well," Chatterjee said.
Congress Birbhum district president Sanjay Adhikari expressed similar concern, saying, "Playing carrom is not a crime, but doing so inside a political party's office is inappropriate."
Responding to the controversy, TMC leader of Birbhum district Malay Mukherjee said, "Those who were working here understand that casually interacting with TMC is not a crime. That is probably why they were talking and playing carrom."
The EC had previously issued directives prohibiting the deployed CAPF from accepting any form of hospitality or participating in social and private gatherings during poll duty while putting in place strict monitoring mechanisms, including GPS tracking and body cameras, to oversee movement and activities of the forces.
