Bengaluru (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be in poll bound Karnataka's northern districts of Yadgiri and Kalaburagi on Thursday to lay foundation stone and inaugurate projects worth more than Rs 10,800 crores.

This will be the second such visit by the Prime Minister to Karnataka this month. He was in Hubballi on January 12 to inaugurate the National Youth Festival, during which he had held a massive road show.

According to an official release, at around 12 noon, in Kodekal, Yadgiri district, the Prime Minister will lay the foundation stone and inaugurate various developmental projects related to irrigation, drinking water besides a National Highway development project.

Later, at around 2:15 PM, Modi will reach Malkhed, Kalaburagi District, where he will distribute title deeds (hakku patra) to the eligible beneficiaries of newly declared revenue villages and also lay the foundation stone for a National Highway project.

The visit also gains significance, as the ruling BJP prepares for assembly polls in Karnataka and has set a target of winning a minimum of 150 out of total 224 seats which will go for polls by May.

Aimed at providing safe and adequate drinking water through individual household tap connections to all households, Modi will lay the foundation stone for Yadgir multi-village drinking water supply scheme under Jal Jeevan Mission at Kodekal in Yadgiri District, also a Water Treatment Plant of 117 MLD will be built under the scheme.

The project, which costs more than Rs 2,050 crore, will provide potable water to about 2.3 lakh households of more than 700 rural habitations and three towns of Yadgiri district.

During the programme, the PM will also inaugurate Narayanpur Left Bank Canal Extension Renovation and Modernisation Project (NLBC ERM).

The project, with a canal carrying capacity of 10,000 cusecs, can irrigate 4.5 lakh hectares of command area. It will benefit more than three lakh farmers in 560 villages of Kalaburgi, Yadagir and Vijaypur districts. The total cost of the project is about Rs 4,700 crores.

Later, he will also lay the foundation stone of the 65.5 km section of NH-150C. This 6-lane Greenfield road project is part of Surat Chennai Expressway. It is being built at a cost of about Rs 2,000 crore.

Further pointing out that about 1,475 unrecorded habitations have been declared as New Revenue villages in five districts of Kalaburagi, Yadgiri, Raichur, Bidar and Vijayapura, the release said, at Malkhed village of Sedam Taluka of Kalaburagi district, the Prime Minister will distribute title deeds (hakku patra) to the eligible beneficiaries of these newly declared revenue villages.

The issuance of title deeds to more than 50,000 beneficiaries, who are largely from the marginalised and vulnerable communities from the SC, ST and OBC, is a step to provide a formal recognition from the government for their land, and will make them eligible for receiving government services like drinking water, electricity, roads etc.

During the programme, the Prime Minister will also lay the foundation stone of the 71 km section of NH-150C. This 6 lane Greenfield road project is also part of Surat Chennai Expressway. It is being built at a cost of more than Rs 2,100 crore.

Surat Chennai Expressway will pass through six states- Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu. It will reduce the existing route from 1,600 Kms to 1,270 Kms.

The PM after finishing with his engagements in Karnataka will leave for Mumbai.

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Seoul (AP/PTI): South Korean prosecutors on Sunday detained a former defence minister who allegedly recommended last week's brief but stunning martial law imposition to President Yoon Suk Yeol, making him the first figure detained over the case, news reports said.

The reported development came a day after Yoon avoided an opposition-led bid to impeach him in parliament, with most ruling party lawmakers boycotting a floor vote to prevent the two-thirds majority needed to suspend his presidential powers.

The main liberal opposition Democratic Party said it will prepare a new impeachment motion against Yoon.

On Sunday, ex-Defence Minister Kim Yong Hyun voluntarily appeared at a Seoul prosecutors' office, where he had his mobile phone confiscated and was detained, Yonhap news agency reported.

Other South Korean media carried similar reports, saying Kim was moved to a Seoul detention centre. The reports said police were searching Kim's former office and residence on Sunday.

Repeated calls to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office and the Supreme Prosecutors' Office were unanswered. An official at the detention facility in eastern Seoul hung up the phone when The Associated Press called.

Yoon accepted Kim's resignation offer on Thursday after opposition parties submitted a separate impeachment motion against him.

Kim is a central figure in Yoon's martial law enforcement, which led to special forces troops encircling the National Assembly building and army helicopters hovering over it. The military withdrew after the parliament unanimously voted to overturn Yoon's decree, forcing his Cabinet to lift it before daybreak Wednesday.

In Kim's impeachment motion document, the Democratic Party and other opposition parties accused him of proposing martial law to Yoon. Ruling party leader Han Dong-hun made a similar comment on Kim's role. Vice Defence Minister Kim Seon Ho told parliament that Kim Yong Hyun ordered the deployment of troops to the National Assembly.

The Democratic Party called Yoon's martial law imposition “unconstitutional, illegal rebellion or a coup”. It has filed complaints with police against at least nine people, including Yoon and Kim, over the alleged rebellion.

In a statement distributed by the Defence Ministry on Wednesday, Kim said that “all troops who performed duties related to martial law were acting on my instructions, and all responsibility lies with me”.

Prosecutor General Shim Woo Jung told reporters on Thursday the prosecution plans to investigate the rebellion charges against Yoon following complaints filed by the opposition.

While the president mostly has immunity from prosecution while in office, that does not extend to allegations of rebellion or treason. It wasn't immediately clear how the prosecution plans to proceed with an investigation into Yoon.

The Defence Ministry said it has suspended three top military commanders over their alleged involvement in the martial law imposition. They were among those facing the opposition-raised rebellion allegations.

On Saturday, Yoon issued an apology over the martial law decree, saying he won't shirk legal or political responsibility for the declaration and promising not to make another attempt to impose it. He said would leave it to his party to chart a course through the country's political turmoil, “including matters related to my term in office”.

Since taking office in 2022, Yoon has struggled to push his agenda through an opposition-controlled parliament and grappled with low approval ratings amid scandals involving himself and his wife.

In his martial law announcement on Tuesday night, Yoon called parliament a “den of criminals” bogging down state affairs and vowed to eliminate “shameless North Korea followers and anti-state forces”.

The declaration of martial law was the first of its kind in more than 40 years in South Korea. The turmoil has paralysed South Korean politics and sparked alarm among key diplomatic partners like the US and Japan.

The scrapping of Yoon's impeachment motion is expected to intensify protests calling for his ouster and deepen political chaos in South Korea, with a survey suggesting a majority of South Koreans support the president's impeachment.

Yoon's martial law declaration drew criticism from his own ruling conservative People Power Party, but it is determined to oppose Yoon's impeachment apparently because it fears losing the presidency to liberals.