Belagavi (PTI): Karnataka Legislative Council has adopted a resolution asking the central government to include the state's 56 per cent reservation decision in the ninth Schedule of the Constitution.

The resolution was adopted by the Council in the absence of the opposition members on Friday, as they had earlier staged a walkout dissatisfied with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's reply to the debate on North Karnataka's development.

The resolution urging for the inclusion of the state's notifications and orders, increasing the reservation in employment and education for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Backward Classes from 50 per cent to 56 per cent in Schedule-9 of the Constitution of India, was moved by Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H K Patil.

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According to official sources, the demand for inclusion in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution is aimed at providing legal protection from the 50 per cent cap on reservations, imposed by the Supreme Court in the Indra Sawhney case.

The House also adopted six resolutions urging the Centre to address long-pending issues, in the absence of opposition members.

The resolutions include: Urging the Government of India to immediately establish the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Raichur district; to transfer at least 25 per cent of the 73 national-level institutes currently in Bengaluru to the North Karnataka region; to immediately declare the Upper Krishna Project Phase-III (UKP-III) as a national project, release central funds and demand gazette notification of the final award of the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal-II (KWDT-II).

The resolutions demand the release of Rs 5,000 crore adjustment grant to the Kalyana Karnataka Regional Development Board from the Central Government on the Vidarbha development model; to protect farmers by fixing equal ethanol procurement quotas without discrimination, and, in accordance with the ethanol production capacity of Karnataka, based on the availability of sugarcane and other raw materials, were also passed.

A resolution was also adopted urging the Centre to expedite the necessary approvals from the Forest and Wildlife Boards for the ambitious Kalasa-Banduri Nala Diversion Project for drinking water supply, in accordance with the judgment of the Mahadayi Tribunal.

Similar resolutions were adopted in the Legislative Assembly on Thursday.

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Bengaluru (PTI): The Netherlands Prime Minister Dick Schoof arrived here on Thursday on an official visit, sources said.

Schoof, accompanied by a delegation, landed at Kempegowda International Airport, where he was received by Additional Chief Secretary Gaurav Gupta, who welcomed him with a bouquet, officials added.

Bengaluru Police Commissioner Seemant Kumar Singh and other senior officials were also present.

According to a statement, the Netherlands Prime Minister is scheduled to visit the Philips Innovation Campus in R T Nagar, the Bengaluru Traffic Police (BTP) Control Centre on Infantry Road, and the Indian Institute of Science on Friday.

He will also attend a luncheon with industrialists before departing the city by a special aircraft, the statement said.