Karnataka Minister Patil calls BJP’s all-night agitation against MUDA 'scam' a 'political drama'
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H K Patil on Thursday slammed the opposition BJP over its all-night agitation in the Karnataka legislature after the party's demand to discuss the MUDA 'scam' was denied.
Patil said the BJP has used the ongoing legislative session for their political advantage despite explaining to them why the adjournment motion into the alternative site (plot) scam in the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) cannot be taken up.
He said Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has ordered an investigation into the irregularities in the MUDA by a retired judge of the High Court.
“The CM has formed a commission to investigate the allegations against him. Is there any example of a chief minister forming a commission of inquiry when there was an allegation against him?” Patil asked.
He sought to know from the opposition BJP and its ally JD(S) if there is any instance of former Chief Ministers H D Kumaraswamy, B S Yeddyurappa and Basavaraj Bommai setting up a commission.
ALSO READ: Former BJP MP Pratap Simha defends Siddaramaiah amid MUDA controversy
“ The opposition party should have appreciated the CM's stand. This (overnight agitation) is just a political drama,” the Minister said in a statement.
He reminded that the opposition is not ready to discuss the landslide at Shirur in the Uttara Kannada district.
Patil alleged that the BJP is also not keen on discussing the bills on One Nation One Election, Re-establishing Common Entrance Test (CET) against National Entrance-cum-Eligibility Test (NEET) and several others for the benefit of people.
It is alleged that alternative sites were allotted to Siddaramaiah's wife Parvathi in an upmarket area in Mysuru, which had higher property value as compared to the location of her land which had been "acquired" by the MUDA.
Several supporters of Siddaramaiah too have allegedly "benefitted this way," BJP leaders alleged.
The MUDA had allotted plots to Parvathi under a 50:50 ratio scheme in lieu of 3.16 acres of her land, where MUDA developed a residential layout.
The controversial scheme envisages allotting 50 per cent of developed land to the land loser in lieu of undeveloped land acquired for forming layouts.
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Farmer whose poultry business gave him wings to fly high gets invitation to talk at Oxford varsity
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Nagpur (PTI): A farmer in Maharashtra, who once could not afford to buy clothes but gradually built an empire of poultry business with an annual turnover running into crores, has been invited to share his insights as an agri-entrepreneur at the University of Oxford.
Ravindra Manikrao Metkar, 57, who belongs to Mhasala Anjangaon Bari village in Amravati district, has been invited to speak at the Global Research Conference to be hosted at the University of Oxford in the UK from May 1 to 5 with "AI for Every Mind" as its theme.
The conference is being organised by the Global Economic Forum (GEF) in collaboration with the university.
An invitation letter sent by the organisers to Metkar says, "Considering your experience and contributions as an Indian Agri Entrepreneur, your presence and insights will be highly valuable to the discussions and collaborative exchanges during the conference."
Metkar launched his poultry farming venture from the terrace of his house in 1984, when he was still studying in junior college. He started with Rs 3,000 that he received from his father, who served as a Class IV employee in the forest department. His humble poultry farm then had only 100 birds.
After completing his master's degree in commerce, his mother received four acres of land from her mother at Chandurbazar in Amravati. The family then sold that land and bought one acre of land at Badnera in the district.
Talking to PTI, Metkar said he took a loan of Rs 5 lakh from a bank and started a poultry farm with 4,000 birds. By 2006, the business grew by leaps and bounds, as there were 20,000 birds in the farm spread over an area of 10 acres in Mhasala Anjangaon Bari village.
However, he suffered a major setback that year as the bird flu hit several countries, including India, on a large scale, bringing his business to a standstill.
But notwithstanding the losses, he decided to start once again. In 2008, he dived into the business with a renewed vigour by taking a loan of Rs 25 lakh from a bank. His poultry farm then had 20,000 birds.
"There was no looking back after that as 10,000 birds started getting added to the farm annually," he said.
"At present, we do not have any bank loan, and there are now 1.8 lakh birds at our poultry farm spread over 50 acres of land with an annual turnover of Rs 15 crore," the farmer said.
He said that he was also involved in the cultivation of fruit crops such as banana, mango, orange, sweet lime, sapodilla and coconut, apart from wheat and corn.
"With innovative and natural farming methods that involve the use of organic fertilisers, we do farming with comparatively less input costs and earn high profits," he said.
His two brothers and his older son, who has studied agriculture business management and is now pursuing an MBA, help him in his poultry business and agriculture, while his youngest son has earned a master's degree in Computer Engineering from a foreign university.
Metkar said that he has now stopped increasing the number of his birds in his poultry farm and guides other farmers in allied farming activities, as he wants the members of the farming community to move forward.
He has been invited by various agriculture colleges across India and abroad to share his success story and guide agriculture students and farmers.
So far, he has delivered talks at Singapore University, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology in Jammu, Maharashtra Animal and Fishery Sciences University (MAFSU) in Nagpur, Indian Institute of Technology Bhilai, Dr Panjabrao Deshmukh Krishi Vidyapeeth, and Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), among others.
"At one time, I did not have proper clothes and used to wear torn clothes that were stitched at home, and did not have a bicycle to go to college," Metkar said.
"I had never imagined that I would get a chance to go to Oxford University and share my success story!" he added.
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