No decision taken on renaming Ramanagara district: CM Yediyurappa
Bengaluru, Jan 5: Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Sunday clarified that no decision has been taken regarding renaming the neighbouring Ramanagara district as Nava (New) Bengaluru, amid reports that his government was mulling over it.
The clarification from the Chief Minister came even as JD(S) leader and former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy, who represents the district in the assembly, threatening agitation if the government went ahead with the move.
"No such decision has been taken yet," Yediyurappa told reporters here in response to a question on renaming Ramanagara as Nava Bengaluru.
The plan to rename Ramanagara is aimed at using the brand Bengaluru to attract investment into the district located adjacent to the IT city, which has almost reached its saturation.
Ramanagra, about 58 km from here, was carved out of Bengaluru Rural district in 2007 by the then government headed by Kumaraswamy, comprising Ramanagara, Channapatna, Kanakapura and Magadi taluks.
Opposing any move to rename Ramanagara district, Kumaraswamy said it will be an insult to lord Rama, after whom the district was named, and warned of protest if government goes ahead.
"Ramanagara is surrounded by seven hills and at its centre is Ramadevara betta (hill named after lord Rama), and that's the reason the taluk and district were named as Ramanagara.
Despite this, if the name is changed it will be an insult to the philosophy propounded by the BJP itself. It will be an insult to Lord Rama's name," he tweeted.
In a series of tweets, Kumaraswamy alleged that renaming the district was with a pretext to sell fertile irrigated land next to the capital city to capitalists, and also as Yediyurappa wants to settle political scores with him.
He said, if Yediyurappa wants to develop Ramanagara, he should release the funds allocated by his government for the district.
"If you want to develop it further, you will find support from me and my people.
But, don't set fire to the district's culture and identity by changing its name," he further tweeted.
The former Chief Minister also questioned why we don't rename all other districts as Bengaluru, if name alone can bring in development.
Ramanagara was earlier known as Closepet, it was renamed as Ramanagara after Ramadevara betta, surrounding which the Bollywood classic Sholay was filmed.
Another senior politician, D K Shivakumar of Congress, who hails from the district, had earlier suggested renaming Ramanagara as Bengaluru South district.
ಬಿಎಸ್ವೈ ಅವರೇ, ರಾಮನಗರದ ಅಭಿವೃದ್ಧಿ ಮಾಡುವ ಇಚ್ಛೆ ನಿಮಗಿದ್ದರೆ, ಜಿಲ್ಲೆಗೆ ನಾನು ನನ್ನ ಬಜೆಟ್ನಲ್ಲಿ ಮೀಸಲಿಟ್ಟ ಹಣವನ್ನು ಪ್ರಾಮಾಣಿಕವಾಗಿ ಬಿಡುಗಡೆ ಮಾಡಿ ಸಾಕು. ಅದನ್ನೂ ಮೀರಿದ ಅಭಿವೃದ್ಧಿ ಮಾಡುವ ಮನಸ್ಸಿದ್ದರೆ ನಿಮಗೆ ನನ್ನ, ನನ್ನ ಜನರ ಸಹಕಾರ ಸದಾ ಇರಲಿದೆ. ಆದರೆ ಹೆಸರು ಬದಲಿಸಿ ಜಿಲ್ಲೆ ಸಂಸ್ಕೃತಿ, ಅಸ್ಮಿತೆಗೆ ಬೆಂಕಿ ಇಡಬೇಡಿ.
— H D Kumaraswamy (@hd_kumaraswamy) January 5, 2020
2/10
ಅಷ್ಟಕ್ಕೂ ಹೆಸರಲ್ಲಿ ಏನಿದೆ. ಬೆಂಗಳೂರು ಎಂದ ಮಾತ್ರಕ್ಕೆ ಅಭಿವೃದ್ಧಿ ಸಾಧ್ಯವೇ? ಹಾಗಿದ್ದರೆ ರಾಜ್ಯದ ಬೇರೆ ಜಿಲ್ಲೆಗಳಿಗೆ ಇದೇ ಹೆಸರಿಡಬಹುದಲ್ಲವೇ? ಅದು ನಿಮಗೆ ಸಾಧ್ಯವೇ? ರಾಮನಗರದ ಹೆಸರು ಬದಲಾಯಿಸಲು ಬರುವ ಬಿಎಸ್ವೈ ಅವರು ಶಿವಮೊಗ್ಗಕ್ಕೆ ಬೆಂಗಳೂರು ಎಂದು ಹೆಸರಿಡಬಲ್ಲರೇ? ದಕ್ಷಿಣ ಕನ್ನಡಕ್ಕೆ?#SaveRamanagara
— H D Kumaraswamy (@hd_kumaraswamy) January 5, 2020
5/10
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England sticking with Key, McCullum and Stokes despite Ashes humbling
London (AP): England is not sacking anybody following the 4-1 Ashes loss in Australia.
A review of the tour by the England and Wales Cricket Board, announced within hours of the final match in January, was concluded on Monday. Firing people would “be the easy thing to do,” ECB chief executive Richard Gould said but he insisted, "This is not the time to throw everything out."
Managing director Rob Key, coach Brendon McCullum and captain Ben Stokes kept their jobs after the best England side to go to Australia in 14 years lost the Ashes in 11 days with two games to spare.
“Moving people on can sometimes be the easy thing to do. That's not the route that we're going to take,” Gould said. “I've seen the driving ambition and determination that we're lucky enough to have within our leadership group to take the lessons from the Ashes and move forward.”
Gould previously was the chief executive of Bristol City soccer club and said the ECB would not follow the same route as soccer's hire-and-fire culture.
“Cricket is a very unique sport in that it takes a team of leadership ... it's not like football where there's a single point of failure or success with a manager," he said. He added the ECB would not “select or deselect management based on a popularity campaign.”
The main criticisms of England's tour were poor preparation, player misbehavior, and selection mistakes.
At a press conference at Lord's, Gould and Key said McCullum and Stokes have not had a “bust up,” they did not want McCullum to “completely change” but “to evolve,” the behavior of some players was “unprofessional,” there will be more consequences for underperforming, and a commitment to “better long-term planning” ahead of major test series.
Some changes were already implemented for the Twenty20 World Cup, where England reached the semifinals. Gould implied that performance saved McCullum.
Key acknowledged that England supporters would be disappointed to see the management team go unpunished.
“I know people want punishment and that people then should be sacked for that,” Key said. “That doesn't mean we don't feel like we've gone through some serious pain: Brendon, myself, Ben. It's been as tough a time as I think I've had.”
