KARNATAKA

New-age tech to track govt contract vendors

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Amid the kickbacks controversy, the government has decided to use new-age technology to ensure transparency in the tendering process. This is to track every authenticated vendor/contractor before allocating new projects.

Over the years, incomplete or pending public projects have resulted in several private firms being blacklisted from applying for government tenders. Yet, the same companies shift their base to other states to apply afresh for new projects and co

ntinue to misuse public funds without adequate expertise or track record, sources say.
Using crypto technology, theCentre for Smart Governancehas developed a vendor blockchain that will keep a chronological record of every vendor/contractor who has registered on theKarnatakae-procurement portal or in any other state, and intends to bid for a project.

The CSG will try to get on board other state governments and tender-inviting agencies across the country, so that more stakeholders will utilise the blockchain.

Karnataka: UG students may get Kannada policy relief

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TheKarnatakagovernment is likely to relax its stand that all degree students have to study four semesters of Kannada from the upcoming academic year. Students who have not learnt the language in school will have to learn Kannada only for two semesters, instead.

According to sources, students from other states and countries will have to study Kannada for two semesters. After the two semesters, they can opt for other languages for the next two semesters. Students who have learnt Kannada in school will have to pursue it for four semesters. However, the government is yet to issue an order to this effect, said officials.

As per the National Education Policy being implemented from 2021-22 for first-year degree courses, students must study Kannada for four semesters, apart from another language the college offers. Kannada in each semester has three credits.

Karnataka assembly passed 200 bills in 167 business days over 5 years: Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri

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With due later this year, the curtains came down on Karnatakas 15th legislative assembly on Friday, with speaker Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri revealing that the assembly had passed 200 bills in 167 days of sittings over five years from May 2018. This takes the number of bills passed to more than one per day on Average, although most were passed amid a din or without a debate. Yet, Kageri said Karnataka fared among the best in the country in terms of transitioning house business and passing legislations.

The lower house passed 61 bills in 2020 and 48 bills in 2021, the highest in these two years by any legislature in the country. The performance of theKarnataka legislative assemblyis regarded as the best in the country, Kageri said in his farewell address. This was possible because of the cooperation from members on both sides. However, while quantity has been substantive, quality remains debatable. For instance, 15 bills were passed in the 11-day budget session the last of this legislature even though attendance was extremely low. Even opposition leader Siddaramaiah attended the session for only three days. Among the bills passed were the Kannada Language Comprehensive Development Bill, 2022 that envages job reservation for Kannadigas even in the private sector besides Money bills. In all, the house received 1,382 questions, of which 135 were answered in the house and 134 by the government. Of the 1,240 unstarred questions, 979 were answered.

Karnataka set for Mhadei diversion with oversized tunnels, canals

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The may be running a high octave political pitch of saving the Mhadei and preparing itself for a legal battle, but across the border, Karnataka has long completed massive tunnels and oversized canals to divert water from Goas lifeline.

Despite Goas objections, Karnataka has surreptitiously and illegally gone ahead and constructed these tunnels and canals that can carry water almost double the amount allocated by the Mhadei Water Disputes Tribunal.
As per the allocation, Karnataka is to use 1.72 tmc ft of water under the Kalasa project. But the oversized tunnels and canals constructed have the capacity to carry 4tmc ft of water, more than twice the quantity allowed.

Charging stations for e-vehicles to come up across Karnataka

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One of the biggest barrier to electric vehicles has been the lack of charging stations, butKarnatakawill soon have an answer for this. The public sector electricity supply corporations have started work on opening EV charging centres at important government offices and other places like fuel stations, tourist spots among others.

One of the ambitious announcements made in the state budget 2021-22 is the setting up of 1,000 charging centres for electric vehicles that will be established under the public private PARTNERSHIP. Now, this initiative has been undertaken by the state electricity supply corporations (ESCOMs). For example, in five districts of its jurisdiction Mysuru,Hassan,Kodagu, Mandya, and Chamarajanagar Chamundeshwari Electricity Supply Corporation Ltd has proposed 150 such centres, while Mangalore Electricity Supply Company Limited, which has its jurisdictions over four districts i.e. Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Chikkamagalur, and Shivamogga, has proposed such centres in 170 locations.

Ktaka ranks second in number of Jan Aushadhi stores in India

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Karnatakaaccounts for the second-highest number of Jan Aushadhi stores that sell generic medicines and surgical tools at discounted prices.Keralahad the highest number of these stores till recently, but Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka have overtaken it now.

Health ministerK Sudhakarsaid on Saturday that 1,052 Jan Aushadhi stores have been opened in the state so far, and the plan is to add another 500 in the next six months. Since February this year, weve opened around 300 shops, he said.
He said there has been a huge demand for Jan Aushadhi stores, especially in rural areas, as pharmacy graduates are applying in large numbers. In Bengaluru, the minister said the department is considering opening 40 shops at BBMP hospitals. We have already sought permission from the Palike, he added.

Farmer suicides in Karnataka at 25-year low due to good rain

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The number of farmers dying by suicide inKarnatakais at a 25-year low with copious rain enough for good yield and not too much to cause floods coming to the rescue of farmers in the past couple of years. The government attributes the dip in deaths to complementary farmer-friendly policies by the Centre and state.

From 1997 to 2021, the state has seen 47,871 farmers deaths by suicide. Data from the Agriculture-notes-for-state-psc-exams”>Agriculture department shows that between 1997 and 2019, the number of deaths in a year has been more than 1,000, breaching the 1,400 mark barring one year.

In 2014, the state saw 768 such deaths. In 2020, the state recorded 766 deaths, of which the government has accepted 583 as genuine and some cases are under investigation. Up to October of 2021, there have been 202 deaths with 99 having been accepted and the remaining under investigation.

The government has 65 lakh farmers on its Database. Constant Communication is carried out through SMSes about schemes.

Karnataka lost 746 hectares of forest in three years

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Karnatakais one of the key states fast losing large swathes offorest landto mining and developmental projects.

And the most recent instance is the Hubballi-Ankola rail, clamour for which has reached a new crescendo, especially after the visit of an experts’ committee, even as conservationists oppose the proposed diversion of 595.6 hectares of forest land for the project.

The state has lost 746.1 hectares of forest land in just three years, including two pandemic years which saw minimal activity. According to data from the forest department, Ballari andUttara Kannadahave been the worst-affected districts losing much of the forest areas.

Karnataka to get three more material-recovery units

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Karnatakais all set to get three more materials-recoveryfacilities(MRFs) in the next one year through Rural Drinking Water and Sanitation Department. The first MRF of rural Karnataka has been operating since August this year at Nitte gram panchayat (GP) limits inKarkala.

The first facility is collecting nearly 2.5 tonnes of dry waste everyday, said Sharath Kumar, project coordinator of Saahas Zero Waste Management Pvt Ltd, which has facilitated the project. He said the work on three more projects are in progress. In Ballari and Ramnagar, the construction works are in progress, while in Dakshina Kannada, land-levelling work at Yedapadavu is being taken up. The government plans to set up about 100 such projects across the state in the next three years, he said.

IISc top university, three Karnataka colleges in NIRF top 100

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Continuing its good run for the third year in a row, IIT-Madras has topped the India Rankings 2021 released by the ministry of Education on Thursday, while Karnataka has improved its performance with one Mangaluru and two Bengaluru colleges breaking into the list of top 100 colleges.

The three colleges which have made the cut are Bengalurus MS Ramaiah College of Arts, Science and Commerce (No. 62) and St Josephs College of Commerce (74) and Mangalurus St Aloysius College (95).

This is the sixth edition of India Rankings instituted by theNational Institutional Ranking Framework(NIRF) by the ministry of education, which now ranks higher education institutions in 11 categories.

IIT-Madras retained top position in the engineering and overall categories. Among the universities, IISc-Bangalore is ranked number one, followed by JNU. In the research category introduced this year, IISc-Bangalore emerged topper and IIT-Madras second.

Region-wise, Nadu has 19 institutions in top 100 universities, followed by Maharashtra with 12 and 10 from Karnataka. Karnatakas star institutions aced their respective domains: In law,National Law School of India Universitycontinued to be no. 1 and IIM-Bangalore was ranked no. 2 in management.