Tumakuru: Three killed, four injured as car crashes into lorry on NH-48
Tumakuru: Three people died on the spot and four others were seriously injured after a car crashed into a lorry on National Highway-48 near Nelahal village under the Kora police station limits in Tumakuru taluk around 6 am on Tuesday.
The deceased have been identified as Aniket (25) from Agra in Uttar Pradesh, Sanmukti (35) from Andhra Pradesh, and Abir (25) from Jalandhar in Punjab. All three were travelling in the car.
The injured have been identified as Viresh, a resident of Tirupali in Anekal, and Sinchita, Siddhartha and Kriti, all residents of West Bengal. They sustained serious injuries in the accident.
The injured were immediately shifted to Tumakuru District Hospital for treatment, police said.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
V.S. Ugrappa seeks inclusion of Karnataka Reservation Act, 2022 in the Ninth Schedule
Bengaluru: V.S. Ugrappa, president of the Karnataka Rajya Valmiki Samana Manaskara Vedike, on Sunday demanded that the Karnataka State Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes Reservation Act, 2022 be included in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution.
Addressing a press conference in Bengaluru, Ugrappa said the Act, which enhanced reservation to 56%, must be protected from judicial scrutiny by placing it in the Ninth Schedule. He said a letter has been written to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah urging the state government to press the Centre to include the Act in the Ninth Schedule and to amend Articles 15 and 16 to strengthen reservation provisions.
Ugrappa alleged that whenever Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits Karnataka, he misleads the public by promising inclusion of certain castes in the Scheduled Tribe category. He claimed this has led to a rise in fake caste certificates and said the BJP leadership and government are responsible for the situation.
Referring to the upcoming Union Budget, which he said may cross ₹4 lakh crore, Ugrappa alleged that funds earmarked for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes were being diverted for other purposes, despite legal provisions barring such diversion. He demanded that Union Ministers from Karnataka and former Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai take responsibility for safeguarding the interests of marginalised communities.
He pointed out that Tamil Nadu has successfully implemented a higher reservation percentage and criticised the Centre for introducing economic reservation for upper castes, stating that Dr B.R. Ambedkar had not envisaged economic criteria for reservation. He questioned the disparity in income limits for scholarships, noting that the limit for economically weaker sections among upper castes is ₹8.5 lakh, while it is only ₹2.5 lakh for SC and ST students.
Ugrappa recalled that during the previous BJP government, reservation was increased to 7% for Scheduled Tribes, 15% for Scheduled Castes and 32% for Other Backward Classes following sustained agitation. However, he said vested interests challenged the move in court, leading the Karnataka Administrative Tribunal to strike down the Act and the High Court to stay its implementation, effectively cancelling the enhanced reservation.
While welcoming the resolution passed in the Belagavi legislature session seeking inclusion of the Reservation Act, 2022 in the Ninth Schedule, Ugrappa expressed dissatisfaction that the Centre has not acted on it even after a month.
He also raised concern over the growing number of fake caste certificates in the state, stating that it was causing injustice to genuine beneficiaries. He demanded strict action against both those who obtained fake certificates and officials who issued them.
Several leaders and representatives of Valmiki community organisations and social groups were present at the press conference.
