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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Imphal (PTI): Prolonged violence in Manipur with frequent internet shutdowns, curfews and general strikes is affecting the academic and career pursuits of students pursuing higher education in the northeastern state, many educationists said.

With frequent internet shutdowns, students are facing problems in having access to online resources and many recruiters are hesitant to visit campuses in Manipur for placement drive due to curfews and general strikes, they said.

Head of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering and also in charge of placement of National Institute of Technology (NIT) Manipur, K H Johnson Singh told PTI "We have witnessed a decline in recruitment drives after violence broke out in the state. At least 40 companies (online mode) came and 70 students have been selected this year. This is much less than what we were used to before the outbreak of violence. We had expected selection of some 100 students and some 50 companies."

He said, "Recruiters who prefer offline mode of interviews are much reluctant to visit for campus interviews. Despite our consistent assurance that the NIT campus is safe and just 20 minutes from the airport, the media images of tyres burning in the streets, mob violence and gunfights at peripheral areas seemed to have affected their psychology."

Eighty per cent of our students stay in hostels within the campus and have access to broadband 24 hours a day, he added.

Assistant Professor of Mass Communication at Manipur University, Natasha Elangbam told PTI "Our students in every department have limited access to online resources as the majority of them rely on mobile internet data. Curfews and general strikes have severely affected ongoing classes. Timely completion of assignments given to students are also affected as many students do not have broadbands at their homes."

Internet shutdown also has severely affected career counselling agencies with many senior counsellors unable to provide desired information flow to students seeking employment. Counsellors also said that submission of resumes to national companies has been affected.

Sapam Joychandra, Director of SS Career Counselling told PTI, "We are unable to conduct psychometric assessment of students that would help chart out a career route for the concerned student. Counselling through zoom, online mock tests and other tools have been affected. Students are unable to submit their resumes on time to outside companies. Those having broadband is very limited and the majority of the students rely on mobile data internet services for every form of update related to their education and career. For my organisation alone, there is a drastic change of 90 per cent in student guiding activities before and after the violence."

More than 250 people have been killed, and thousands rendered homeless in ethnic violence between Imphal Valley-based Meiteis and adjoining hills-based Kuki-Zo groups since May last year.

The violence between Imphal Valley-based Meiteis and adjoining hills-based Kuki-Zo groups, besides inflicting heavy casualties, rendered thousands of people homeless since May last year.

It started after a 'Tribal Solidarity March' was organised in the hill districts to protest against the Meitei community's demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.

Meiteis account for about 53 per cent of Manipur's population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley. Tribals -- Nagas and Kukis -- constitute little over 40 per cent and reside in the hill districts.