Madhu Bangarappa warns forest officials against forceful eviction of farmers citing court orders
Shivamogga: School Education and District In-charge Minister Madhu Bangarappa has instructed forest department officials not to forcibly evict farmers cultivating forest lands on the pretext of court orders. He warned that any harassment or assault on farmers during eviction drives would invite strict government action against the officials involved.
The minister was chairing a progress review meeting of the Forest, Public Works, KRIDL, and Irrigation departments at the District Administrative Office on Saturday.
Bangarappa said that many farmers have been cultivating forest land for generations, and their cases must be dealt with as per Supreme Court guidelines. “Do not issue unnecessary notices or use the court order as an excuse to trouble or evict them,” he told forest officials.
He further directed that new encroachments must not be allowed, but the government should take steps to regularise encroachments made before April 27, 1978. He asked officials to submit a report on the measures taken to exclude legally granted agricultural and residential lands from the proposed forest inclusion list.
“No arbitrary action against farmers will be tolerated,” the minister said, reiterating that the forest department should act within the framework of justice and compassion.
MLA Ayanur Manjunath demanded that officers provide written, document-based explanations regarding their actions. MLA Gopalakrishna Belur pointed out that notices are being served to farmers in parts of Malnad and urged the government to stop such harassment.
Chief Conservator of Forests (CCF) Hanumanthappa clarified that cases classified under PF and MF fall under minor forest categories and can be settled locally. He said 375 notifications have already been issued in this regard.
Speaking on irrigation works, Bangarappa instructed officials to begin construction of bridge-cum-barrages across the Gudavi, Yadagoppa, Dandavati, and Varada rivers in Sorab taluk at a cost of Rs 160 crore. He also urged them to take up culvert and minor bridge projects without delay. “Better coordination between departments will help speed up the work,” he added.
The minister reviewed the progress of regularising houses in declared slum areas across the district. He instructed officials to issue property rights for houses in rural slums and provide Form 94C and 94CC certificates for homes located in urban slums.
Municipal Commissioner Mayannagowda informed the meeting that 9,000 applications had been sent for regularising houses of poor families who have been living for over 40 years on municipal land within Shivamogga city limits.
District officials, including Deputy Commissioner Gurudatta Hegde, Zilla Panchayat CEO Hemant Kumar N, CCF Hanumanthappa, and DCF Prasanna Kumar Patagar, attended the meeting.
It was also revealed that Shivamogga ranks sixth in the state in the ongoing social, educational, and economic survey, with 96% of the work completed. Around 8,000 urban households and 15,000 rural households are yet to be surveyed. After completion, grievances related to Sharavathi rehabilitation will be addressed, followed by a review of reserved forest areas in December.
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Not UN’s role to regulate AI, says Guterres as world body plans annual global dialogue
United Nations (PTI): It is not the UN’s role to regulate AI, Secretary General Antonio Guterres has emphasised as he pointed to an annual global dialogue being planned at the international organisation on AI with participation from all countries, governments, private sector as well as civil society.
Guterres will soon be arriving in New Delhi to attend the India AI Impact Summit, the first-ever summit on Artificial Intelligence hosted in the Global South.
In an exclusive interview to PTI ahead of his visit to India for the Summit, Guterres outlined efforts by the international organisation aimed at global cooperation on Artificial Intelligence (AI), emphasising that these are “perfectly in line” with the strategy demonstrated by India in its leadership of the AI summit.
Guterres highlighted three key areas under the Global Digital Compact initiated at the UN to contribute towards the global AI architecture.
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The first is the creation of a new high-level Independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence comprising 40 experts from around the world.
The UN General Assembly last week appointed the 40 members recommended by Guterres to the independent panel.
Head of the Department of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence (DSAI) at IIT Madras Balaraman Ravindran is among the global group of 40 distinguished experts recommended by Guterres to serve on the panel for a three-year term from date of appointment.
Guterres said that through the panel, “We will have a totally independent and universal…scientific body (that will be) able to tell the world at each moment where are we in relation to AI? What are the advances that were made? What are the discoveries that were established? What are the risks of (various) mechanisms or instruments, and to do it in a totally independent way.”
He described this as a “fantastic source” of information for governments to take the right decisions in policies and measures in relation to AI and “for the people at large to know public opinions, in democratic countries like India that is very important.”
Guterres also pointed to an annual global dialogue being planned at the UN on AI with participation from all countries, governments, private sector as well as civil society.
Emphasising that it is not the UN’s role to regulate AI, Guterres said the global dialogue will be a “platform where everybody can come and everybody can discuss, and where we can learn with each other and eventually come to some possible consensus on the best way to maximise the opportunities of AI and minimise its risks.”
Lastly, he expressed hope that his proposal of a fund will be approved.
“There was an agreement in the General Assembly in order to support developing countries to build capacity to be able to benefit from AI. So these are three very important contributions of the UN and I believe that these contributions are perfectly in line with the strategy that India has demonstrated in the leadership in the preparation of the present Summit,” he said.
The UN chief has proposed a voluntary global fund of up to three billion dollars to support countries in the field of AI capacity building.
The Global Digital Compact, adopted at the 2024 Summit of the Future, had set out a shared vision for an open, safe and inclusive digital future.
Among its commitments was the creation of an Independent International Scientific Panel on AI to advance scientific understanding and ensure that international deliberations are informed by the best available evidence, the UN has said.
Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General, told reporters that Guterres is scheduled to participate in the Summit’s opening ceremony, a plenary with heads of state and government, as well as a session on the role of science in international AI governance.
The Secretary-General will have bilateral meetings with President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and will also meet with other global and tech leaders attending the Summit, as well as members of the International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence.
While in India, Guterres is also scheduled to take part in a roundtable organised by the UN to discuss renewable energy and energy transition.
"With India emerging as a global leader in renewable energy expansion, the discussion will bring together senior figures from industry, finance, policy and civil society to identify concrete steps to further accelerate renewable energy deployment, strengthen grids and storage, and mobilise investment at scale.
“This engagement is part of the Secretary-General’s continued efforts to advance a faster, fairer and more inclusive global energy transition, aligned with the Paris Agreement,” Dujarric said.
United Nations India said in a statement that over 30 events organised by the UN system are scheduled during the five-day summit, and will include sessions on AI for resilient agriculture, health systems innovation, ethical AI governance, women’s leadership in technology, digital capacity-building in the Global South and responsible business practices.
The statement by the UN in India said that discussions will focus on “how AI can accelerate progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals while safeguarding human rights and addressing emerging risks”.
At the Summit, Guterres will be joined by senior UN leaders, including UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk; Under-Secretary-General and UN Secretary-General’s Envoy on Technology Amandeep Singh Gill and Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction Kamal Kishore.
Also participating are Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund Kristalina Georgieva; Director-General of the International Labour Organisation Gilbert Houngbo and Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union Doreen Bogdan-Martin.
