Karnataka legislative session to focus on leadership row, farmers’ issues, flood relief
Belagavi (PTI): The 10-day winter session of the Karnataka Legislature, starting December 8 here, is expected to focus on the Congress leadership tussle, farmers’ grievances, and flood relief.
The unified opposition of the BJP and JD(S) has drawn up a strategy to corner the ruling Congress on multiple issues.
BJP leaders have announced plans to move a no-confidence motion following the leadership row between Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy D K Shivakumar.
Siddaramaiah has asserted that he will complete the full five-year term, while Shivakumar has claimed he was promised the chief ministership midway through the Congress government’s tenure.
The power tussle intensified after the government completed two-and-a-half years on November 20.
Following a war of words on social media, the two leaders later presented a united front through ‘breakfast diplomacy’. However, the fight is far from over, as the party's high command held a meeting in New Delhi on Saturday to discuss the issue in detail.
Congress general secretary K C Venugopal told reporters in Delhi on Saturday that the party had discussed Karnataka and that further meetings are expected. Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H K Patil said on Thursday that the government has not received any notice of a no-confidence motion from the opposition.
Farmers’ protests have given the opposition additional ammunition to target the government.
About a month ago, sugarcane growers staged an unprecedented strike, blocking roads to demand Rs 3,500 per tonne against the state government’s offer of Rs 3,200 per tonne.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah sought the Centre’s intervention, citing flaws in the Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP), which remains frozen at Rs 31 per kilogram, leaving mills unable to pay farmers.
He urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to revise the sugar MSP, ensure mills can pay farmers, provide assured ethanol offtake for Karnataka distilleries, and issue a central notification for handling and transportation costs to enable transparent, farmer-friendly pricing.
To calm the agitating farmers, the state government offered an additional Rs 100 per tonne, shared equally by the state and mills, raising the net cane price to Rs 3,200-3,300 per tonne.
After the sugarcane strike, maize growers have also protested, demanding procurement at Rs 3,000 per quintal.
The current MSP is Rs 2,400 per quintal, and farmers are seeking a Rs 600 bonus. Ahead of the session, the state government announced increasing maize procurement from 20 quintals per farmer to 50 quintals at Rs 2,400 per quintal.
The session will also see the tabling of 21 bills, including measures to check hate speech and hatred crimes, a law against misinformation, the Daily Wage Employees Welfare (Amendment) Bill, and the Karnataka Social Boycott (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Bill.
Other key bills include the Karnataka Scheduled Castes (Sub-Categorisation in Reservation) Bill, the Karnataka Domestic Workers (Social Security and Welfare) (Amendment) Bill, and the Karnataka Apartment Ownership (Regulation) Bill.
Law and order issues may also come up during the session in light of recent incidents of robbery and dacoity across the state.
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Indian mobile hospital treats over 2,200 cyclone-hit people as New Delhi ramps up relief efforts in
Colombo (PTI): A mobile hospital set up by India in Sri Lanka has provided medical care to over 2,200 people affected by Cyclone Ditwah, as New Delhi ramped up its assistance to the flood-ravaged island nation with engineering support and delivery of fresh relief consignments, the Indian mission here said on Sunday.
Sri Lanka has been grappling with widespread flooding, landslides and severe infrastructure collapse triggered by the cyclone, leaving several districts isolated and severely straining the country's disaster-response capacity.
At least 627 people have been killed and 190 remain missing as of Sunday noon due to catastrophic floods and landslides caused by extreme weather conditions since November 16.
Sharing a social media post by the Ministry of External Affairs on its X handle, the Indian High Commission said a field hospital set up by India in Mahiyanganaya near Kandy has provided medical care to more than 2,200 people affected by the cyclone since December 5.
The hospital has also performed 67 minor procedures and three surgeries, it said. The field hospital was airlifted to Sri Lanka by an IAF C-17 aircraft along with a 78-member Indian medical team on Tuesday.
In another post, the mission said Indian Army engineers, working with Sri Lanka Army Engineers and the Road Development Authority, in Kilinochchi have begun removing a damaged bridge on the Paranthan–Karachchi–Mullaitivu (A35) road, a key route disrupted by the cyclone.
"This joint effort marks another step toward restoring vital connectivity for affected communities," it said.
India has additionally sent nearly 1,000 tonnes of food items and clothing contributed by the people of Tamil Nadu. Of these, about 300 tonnes reached Colombo on Sunday morning aboard three Indian Naval ships.
High Commissioner Santosh Jha handed over the supplies to Sri Lankan Minister for Trade, Commerce, Food Security and Cooperative Development Wasantha Samarasinghe.
India, on November 28, launched 'Operation Sagar Bandhu', a Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) initiative, to aid Sri Lanka in its recovery from the devastation caused by Cyclone Ditwah.
Since the launch of the operation, India has provided about 58 tonnes of relief material, including dry rations, tents, tarpaulins, hygiene kits, essential cloths, water purification kits and about 4.5 tonnes of medicines and surgical equipment, the Indian mission said in a press release on Sunday.
Another 60 tonnes of equipment, including generators, inflatable rescue boats, Outboard Motors, and excavators, have also been brought to Sri Lanka, it said, adding that 185 tonnes of Bailey Bridge units were airlifted to restore critical connectivity along with 44 engineers.
Two columns of the National Disaster Response Force, comprising 80 experts and K9 units with specially trained dogs, assisted with immediate rescue and relief efforts in Sri Lanka.
Besides the field hospital in Mahiyanganaya, medical centres have also been set up in the badly hit Ja-Ela region and in Negombo. INS Vikrant, INS Udaygiri, and INS Sukanya provided immediate rescue and relief assistance to Sri Lanka.
Apart from the two Chetak helicopters deployed from INS Vikrant, two heavy-lift, MI-17 helicopters of the Indian Air Force are actively involved in evacuations and airlifting relief material, the release said.
At the request of the Sri Lankan Disaster Management Centre, a virtual meeting was organised between DMC and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)'s National Remote Sensing Centre on Saturday.
Since the onset of the disaster, ISRO has been providing maps to assist DMC in its rescue efforts, the release said.
