KARNATAKA

Karnataka resubmits development scheme for Chamundi Hills

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After a central snub, the Karnataka government has resubmitted its interest to secure funds for developing the religious tourism centre ofChamundi Hillsin Mysuru under the Pilgrimage Rejuvenation And Spiritual, Heritage Augmentation Drive (Prashad) and suggested new tourism circuits under the Swadesh scheme of the Union Government.

At the recently concluded southern region tourism and cultural ministers conclave, central tourism minister G KishanReddyand state tourism minister Anand Singh found each other at opposite ends over the reasons for Karnataka not being accorded funds under the two tourism schemes for development of state circuits. While Reddy had termed it a failure of Karnataka to provide the report, Singh and the state tourism department had said it was a technical rejection.

With over Rs 100 crore of central government grants at stake, the schemes, if approved, are expected to help the Karnataka tourism sector, which is under distress due to the pandemic.

The department has proposed a Smart Heritage idea, which involves an interactive museum and interpretation centre narrating the HISTORY of Chamundi Hills and Mysuru with audio visual aid. The Narratorium will showcase the Wadiyars of Mysuru, souvenir collection stores and a childrens park with the theme ofMahishaandMahishasura Mardhini. It will also have interactive signages, smart parking and information and weather alert systems.

On the Swadesh scheme, the Karnataka government is waiting for the Centre to announce the Swadesh 2 programme under which it is likely to propose at least two to three new tourism circuits, including coastal, heritage and adventure Sports.

Karnataka high court second in country to livestream proceedings

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TheKarnataka became the second HC in the country, after Gujarat, to livestreamproceedings. On trial basis, the hearing in Court Hall No 1 of two PILs challenging the Karwar port expansion project was live streamed on YouTube close to an hour in the afternoon.

Livestreaming of court proceedings has been a long-standing demand of advocates. The matter had reached theSupreme Courtwhich said in 2018 that it is up to the chief justices of respective high courts. Recent comments by new Chief Justice of India NV Ramana that The Supreme Court is actively considering the option has further strengthened the demand.

With lockdowns becoming all too common in the pandemic, the judiciary has started hearing matters through video-conferencing.

KIMS is now a designated ICMR clinical trial centre

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TheKarnataka Institute of Medical Sciences(KIMS), Hubballi, has been selected by the Indian Council of Medical Research (Icmr) as a centre for clinical trials, making the institute the first and only government facility in Karnataka to be among the handful of such campuses across the country.

Clinical trials are done to study the impact of any medicine or vaccine.

ICMR had invited applications from medical colleges to start clinical trials after setting some conditions.

The opportunity to learn from clinical trials is limited in government colleges as most of them do not have clinical trial centres. The KIMSs selection could be a boon for medical students to learn and hone their skills in clinical trials and help the existing staff in medical colleges to upgrade their skills in the clinical trials, Kaulgud said.

Min vows to make Ktaka first in chip making

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The state will emerge as the topper in manufacturing of semiconductors and chips in the coming years, akill development minister Dr CN Ashwath Narayan said.

Ashwath Narayan said that currently Taiwan is the topper in manufacturing of semiconductors and chips. Now Karnataka is focused in that sector.Karnataka is the only state where Skill development training is being provided for non-technical students too, he said.

Karnataka govt to introduce new employment policy soon: CM Bommai

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Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Thursday announced his government’s decision to introduce a new EMPLOYMENT policy soon which will lay impetus on job creation and reduce Unemployment in the state.

Speaking after inaugurating the Jobs Fair at the Gogte Engineering College here held under the auspices of the Skills Development Corporation, the chief minister said the jobless youths were being given an honorary employment dole to encourage them to find employment. The government will, henceforth, encourage such institutions which are engaged in generating a higher number of employment opportunities, he said.

The chief minister also said that there is a need to upgrade higher Education and professional courses to global Learning standards and hence the Higher Education and Skills Development Departments are working in unison to this effect.

Private schools in K’taka seek to draft their own textbooks

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TheHigh Court of Karnatakahas reserved for judgment a 1995 petition challenging the various provisions of theKarnatakaEducation Act, 1983. The provisions challenged include the reservation for appointment of staff in unaided schools and prescription of syllabus by the .

Private schools in Karnatakahave approached the High Court of Karnataka, seeking among other things, permission to draft textbooks on their own.

The Karnataka Unaided Schools Managements’ Association (KUSMA) in their petition have sought “the State government ought not to prescribe any particular publication or textbook as the sole and exclusive reading material in private unaided schools; and that, private unaided schools are free to choose a textbook of their choice so long as such textbooks adhere to the syllabus prescribed by the State government.”

The provisions of the Karnataka Education Act, 1983 in this regard has been challenged.

KUSMA has also challenged several other provisions of the Karnataka Education Act including Section 5 read with Section 41(3), which prescribes reservation in the matter of appointment of TEACHING and non-teaching staff in private unaided schools.

NGT fines Karnataka Rs 2,900 crore for lapses in waste management

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The NGT principal bench in New Delhi has been, for eight years, supervising compliance with earlier directions issued by The Supreme Court regarding the handling of solid waste and sewage management. In its order on Thursday, the tribunal noted that the steps taken by the Karnataka government in handling solid and liquid waste have been “inadequate”, which caused heavy damage to the Environment and public Health.

Assessing the extent of damage and estimating compensation on the ‘Polluter Pays’ principle for restoration of the environment, NGT initially estimated compensation payable at Rs 3,400 crore. But NGT chairperson Adarsh Kumar Goel ordered a deduction of Rs 500 crore levied on Monday for damage to the Chandapura Lake in Electronics City, Bengaluru.

Industrial estates in twin cities lack facilities

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Hubballi-Dharwad is possibly north Karnataka’s largest industrial hub, but its industrial estates are suffering from a lack of and a reduction in productivity.

Dharwad is geographically located in the centre of north Karnataka and has good connectivity. However, the industrial estates situated in Belur, Tarihal, Mummigatti, Kotur and Lakamanahalli are lacking basic infrastructure as a result of which the industries are unable to utilize their full capacity. The failure of the KIADB in handing over these estates to the local bodies since last two decades has added to the woes of the entrepreneurs.

The outbreak of Covid-19 and the subsequent lockdown have rubbed salt in the entrepreneurs wounds. The majority of industrial units in industrial estates are small-scale, auxiliary industries that supply accessories to big and medium-sized enterprises. Due to the fact that the large and medium enterprises that purchased the products of small units cut their production, the demand for auxiliary products decreased as well, according to an industrialist.

Karnataka authority to push govt to ensure official language status

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It has got the to table theKannadalanguage bill in the legislative assembly, the Kannada Development Authority (KDA) has set its sights even higher.

It is now seeking Official Language status for Kannada, besides other regional languages, at the national level and wants the state to take up the issue with the Union Government. KDA is exerting pressure on chief minister Basavaraj Bommai to pass a resolution, seeking official language status for Kannada and the 21 other languages listed under the 8th Schedule of the Constitution. Currently, onlyHindiand English have been identified as official languages, which means all communications and correspondences from the Centre are in these two languages.

The authority has already started work on a draft resolution with inputs of constitutional experts and languageluminaries. The government is apparently willing to take the initiative forward.

Karnataka to ink 3 MoUs with Infosys to achieve NEP objectives

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In order to give priority to Skill development among the students as per the National Education Policy (NEP-2020), the Department of Higher Education in Karnataka will soon ink three MoUs with IT major Infosys.

Narayan said, “These MoUs will be related to utilising the ‘Infosys Springboard’, which comprises over 3,000 courses of skill development for college students, ‘Campus Connect’ for digital Learning of college faculty and professional guidance for students and donation of 15,000 debonded computers to colleges from Infosys.”

Infosys Springboard is an integrated digital Literacy platform comprising effective digital learning solutions, technology-based life skill courses, gamification, live classes, certification, makers lab, carrer guidance etc.

Introduction of gesture computing and biometrics for smart classrooms, utilising virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) for training, linking learning data with performance outcome, utilising gamification and design principles to create healthy competition among students, utilising automation and robotic tools to create content will be part of the MoUs, he said.