KARNATAKA

To make students of Polytechnics across the state both employable and entrepreneurial, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was inked between the Department of Technical Education and the Bangalore Chamber of and Commerce (BCIC) on Friday.

As per the State Government‘s release, the PARTNERSHIP was signed in presence of Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister CN Ashwath Narayana, who is also the minister of Higher education.

This MoU will enable the development of a joint online portal for the seamless offering of internships, industry visits, projects, and placements for diploma students across the state besides facilitating to make use of the Learning Management system (LMS) effectively.

Highlighting the perils of , chief minister Siddaramaiah cautioned people.

“Humans are an integral part of nature. Destruction of nature is nothing but our own destruction and one day, we will face the consequences. All of us must grow and live with nature,” Siddaramaiah said at the World Environment Day celebrations organised by the department of environment, ECOLOGY and forest andKarnatakaState Pollution Control Board.

Recalling his previous decision to ban the usage of single-use plastic in 2016 much before the Centre’s ban, Siddaramaiah said, “Nature has given us everything. We should also give something back. The interest with which we axe trees is not seen when it comes to planting them. It’s not just the duty of the forest department to plant trees.”

Even as the second Covid-19 wave has shown early signs of ebbing, the spread of the disease into villages and ower vaccination numbers in rural areas points to a potential crisis there.

According to Health department officials, of 1.3 crore doses ofvaccineadministered in the state so far, only 35 percent have been given to the rural Population. Only those above 60 years have been given Vaccines in villages and around 60 per cent are yet to get the second dose. People in the 45-60 age are hardly covered.

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, It is expected that thermal power Plants to continue providing base-load power until there are some kind of energy storage devices, which may be developed and utilised,

Union minister of road transport and highwaysNitin Gadkariannounced that the much-awaited Shiradi Ghat tunnel road project, on the Mangaluru-Bengaluru National Highway, will be taken up at an estimated cost of Rs 14,000 crore.

Shiradi Ghat is a lifeline ofKarnatakaand I have given it my highest priority. The existing 26kms ghat stretch will be made four-lane as per plans and we have already prepared a detailed project report (DPR) to develop the proposed six-lane tunnel road. I assure that clearances from the forest department will be obtained with the support of chief minister Basavaraj Bommai, he said, adding that roads in India will be on par with America by the end of 2024.

Accordingly, instead of 50% to develop ring roads, the will have to spend just 25% of the cost. However, we have to give exemption in the state GST on the cost and waive the royalty of the project. Ring roads will be developed in many cities in Karnataka including one in Mangaluru.

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.

The Karnataka government withdrew the bills to set up six private universities owing to objections not only from the opposition Congress and JD(S) but also from the ruling BJP MLAs in the Karnataka Assembly. Higher Education Minister C N Ashwath Narayan tabled the GM University Bill, The Sapthagiri NPS University Bill, Rajya Vokkaligara Sangha University Bill, The T John University Bill, The Kishkinda University Bill and The Acharya University Bill.

As the GM University Bill came up for discussion today, Narayan said 40 per cent of the seats will be regulated, while the fees for the remaining 60 per cent will be based on the consensual agreement by the Fees Regulation Committee.

Two premier institutes of Bengaluru will play a key role in the rollout of the national tele-mental Health programme announced in theUnion Budget.

Though there were no big-ticket projects announced forKarnatakaset to go into assembly Elections next year, CM BasavarajBommaisaid the combined measures will help spur job Growth and achieve Sustainable Development.

With Covid-19 triggering an exponential rise of mental health issues among the vulnerable Population, the budget announced the tele-mental health programme that will operate under a Network of 23 mental health centres of excellence with Bengalurus Nimhans as a nodal centre and the Indian Institute of Information Technology, Bengaluru, providing technology support.

With a 35% increase in Capital Expenditure, CM Bommai said the state is expected to get an additional capital outlay of Rs 3,500 crore from the Centre in 2022-23. This is a forward-looking, post-Covid budget. This will help us boost the economic growth and invite private investments, he added.

The Centres move to allocate Rs 1 lakh crore to assist the states in catalysing overall Investment in the economy for 2022-23 has had mixed reviews since many felt it will not benefit the state because of the conditions tied to availing the 50-year interest-free loan.