KARNATAKA

Although chief minister Siddaramaiah had promised to roll out proposals of the contentious socio-economic caste survey report prepared by the Kantharaj commission, the government is likely to delay the process of accepting the report.

While multiple reasons, including legal hassles and political compulsions, are causing a delay, officials and senior Congress functionaries said the government is likely to wait till the completion of Lok Sabha , likely in April-May next year, before taking a final call on the issue.

In 2014, the then Siddaramaiah government had directedKarnatakaState Commission for Backward Classes (BC Commission) to conduct the survey, commonly known as the caste census. The briefwas to enumerate communities eligible for government welfare schemes.

Their contention was that the commission had miscalculated their Population, as a leaked version of the report suggested Lingayats account for 14% and Vokkaliga 11% of the population. The communities argued that it is much higher at 19% and 16%, respectively. Subsequent governments chose not to bite the bullet.

Under the Indo-Israel Agriculture-notes-for-state-psc-exams”>Agriculture Project, three Centres of Excellence (COE) were established in Karnataka.

The three COEs are as follows:

COE Kolar for Mango,

COE Bagalkote for Pomegranate,

COE Dharwad for Vegetables.

Centres of Excellence for the Indo-Israel Agricultural Project:

The Ministry of Agriculture, GOI, and Mashav (Israels International Development Cooperation Agency) are leading Israels largest G2G cooperation, with 29 operational centers of excellence (COE) in 12 Indian states.

They are implementing Advanced-Intensive Agriculture farms using Israeli Agro-Technology tailored to local conditions.

The Centers of Excellence generate knowledge, demonstrate best practises, and train farmers.

The has decided to cap thermal power production and not invest insuch plantshenceforth.

As per Government of India’s energy policy, power generation has been divided into three categories – base-load power, round-the-clock power and peak-load power. In Karnataka, thermal power Plants to continue providing base-load power until there are some kind of energy storage devices, which may be developed and utilised.

After dragging its feet over the issue, the government is now scrambling to spend as much as possible of the Rs 3,690 crore of districtmineral fund(DMF) it had collected from across the 31 districts in the past seven years. The fund was collected as part of a national policy and was to be used to restore regions ravaged bymining.
Of the Rs 3,690 crore (until November 2022) collected over the past seven years, the government has spent only Rs 1,671 crore (or 45%), although an action plan to spend Rs 3,759 crore was drawn up for all 31 districts.
The Centre decided to set up DMF in 2015-16 for reclamation and rehabilitation (R&R) of mining hit areas in every district. Accordingly, legislation was passed to implement the decision at the state-level andKarnatakabegan collecting funds from mine lease owners.

Of the 31 districts in Karnataka, the highest collection of DMF was in Ballari (Rs 1,741 cr), followed by Vijayanagara (Rs 439 cr) and Kalaburagi (Rs 475 cr).
The least collection was in Yadgir (Rs 1. 4 cr), Bidar (Rs 1. 9 cr) and Kodagu (Rs 1. 6 cr).

Bengaluru may not be able to shrug off the dubious distinction of being the most-congested city despite the expansion of several mass transit systems, if one goes by the recently releasedKarnataka Economic Survey2021-2022.

Even if phases I, II and III of Metro rail are fully completed and operational and BMTC bus fleet is doubled to 15,000, Bengalurus public transport share will drop from the present 50% to 30% by 2031, the report said. At present, Bengaluru witnesses 10 million trips (including public and private transport) per day, which will reach 23 million by 2031. Hence, the solution is to initiate a major overhaul of BMTC, especially electric buses (10,000 e-buses), the survey added.

There is an immediate need for introducing theBus Rapid Transit(BRT) system. It could be elevated or at-grade corridors if road width is available. Its advisable to build elevated BRT system for at least 200km in Bengaluru to immediately ease traffic.

The survey said theres a need to issues with first-and last-mile connectivity, which has the potential to enhance Metro ridership and reduce the use of personal vehicles

Karnataka’s first-everElephant Care Centrehas come up at Kajikallahalli vilage, near Kolar and 55km from Bengaluru, reports Ranganath K.

Set up by the forest department in association with Bengaluru-based NGO Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre, the Kolar centre will look after destitute, aged, diseased and injured elephants at its campus spread over 20 acres. The facility, located off Bengaluru-Chennai NH, currently houses four female elephants.

The injured and diseased elephants will be not only treated but also provided with environs that will enable them to recover and get back to their active selves again,V Yedukondalu, deputy conservator of forests, Kolar district, said.
According to him, many elephants attached to religious places are prone to Health issues as they are made to stand for long hours and fed plenty of bananas and other food stuff offered by devotees.

According to Transport Minister B Sriramulu, a new Skill and Development University has been is being planned in Kalyana-Karnataka region.

The Skill development University is being planned for inclusive development of the region.

This university will be opened because, new technology needs to be adopted in all fields and there is a need of result-oriented projects in backward region.

Skill development university is the need of hour in the region in order to equip new generation and youths with latest skills.

According to the minister, there is a norm of reserving 8 per centseats for the candidates from Kalyana-Karnataka region in recruitment and Education institutions across other parts of Karnataka. But this norm is not being followed strictly. Thus, government will take steps to implement it strictly. Officials have been given a one-month time for submitting the details of vacant posts and employees who are eligible for promotion under special status accorded to the region.

The Kalyana-Karnataka Region was formerly known as HyderabadKarnataka region. This region is in Karnataka, which was part of Hyderabad Kingdom ruled by the Nizams and the Madras presidency of British India. It comprised of Bidar, Raichur, Yadgir, Kalaburagi & Koppal regions of State of Hyderabad and, Bellary & Vijayanagara of Madras province, now present in State of Karnataka. This region is the second largest arid region in India. Largest city of the region is Kalaburagi. When Hyderabad State was officially merged into India in 1948, its some parts were incorporated into the State of Karnataka. Hyderabad-Karnataka region was officially renamed as Kalyana-Karnataka in 2019.

The Karnataka legislative assembly passed the long-pending Bengaluru Metropolitan Land Transport Authority Bill, 2022 that aims to streamline the ill-famed Bengaluru traffic and integrate public transport Services and civic agencies under one roof for effective coordination.

Piloting the bill on CM Basavaraj Bommai’s behalf, law and parliamentary affairs minister JC Madhuswamy said the bill has been drafted to supplement the Centre’s National Urban Transport Policy.