KARNATAKA

Karnataka Bank’s twoDigital Banking Units(DBU) has started functioning as part of the 75 DBUs of various banks dedicated to the nation by Prime MinisterNarendra Modion Sunday, commemorating Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav.

The DBUs provide banking products and Services to customers in self service as well as assisted (digital) mode in an efficient, paperless, secured and connected Environment. The DBUs shall also promote and digital banking Literacy. The two DBUs of Karnataka Bank have started functioning at Airport Road,Yeyyadi, Mangaluru andVijayanagara Ist Stage, Mysuru.

Commemorating the 66th Kannada Rajyotsava, theKarnatakagovernment launched thedoorstep deliveryof 56 government Services in Bengaluru under the Janasevaka programme.

Chief ministerBasavaraj Bommaiinaugurated the Janasevaka programme in Malleswaram constituency and said the government will be expanding the same across Karnataka from January 26, 2022.

Launched on a pilot basis in 2019, the programme was expanded to four constituencies in the City Dasarahalli, Bommanahalli,Rajajinagarand Mahadevpura and then in Yeshwanthpura in January 2021.

The pilot project had alone seen 93,000 applications raised till date.

These departments include Revenue, BBMP, Karnataka building and other construction workers welfare board, Police verification by Karnataka Police, UIDAI (Aadhar card),Karnataka Arogyahealth card, senior citizens card and APL cards.

Launching the programme, CM Bommai said the Janasevaka concept has also been initiated towards delivering ration to the BPL families at their doorsteps to ensure citizen friendly Governance.

TheKarnataka governmenton Friday directed the Education department to submit a report on the activities of madrasas in the state, stirring a controversy.

The education department has taken up the exercise amid the demands to ban madrasas in the state by Hindu organisations, according to the sources.
It has been alleged that suspicious activities are going on in madrasas.

The government has asked the department to submit report about 960 madrasas in the state.

Stating that the tourism sector has suffered Rs 25,000 crore loss due to the pandemic, Singh said it would take two years for it to bounce back.

The government has taken several measures in this regard, which include 50% rebate on property tax for hotels/resorts besides cancelling licence fees. It also waived electricity bills of hotels for three months from April to June, he said.

Singh said the government aims to take the tourism sectors contribution to the states GDP to 20% by 2025.
To facilitate this target, we have already introduced a new policy which hopes to attract another Rs 5,000 crore and create 10 lakh jobs. The government has set aside Rs 500 crore to implement the policy by way of disbursing sops, he added.

He said a single-window system will be put in place where filmmakers will get permission from tourism, forest and archeological departments for shooting at a place.

He released a special stamp brought out by Indian Post on prominent tourist spots of the state, and distributed aid of Rs 5,000 among guides.

The government asked deputy commissioners and superintendents of Police of districts where the festival is celebrated in a grand way to hold meetings with organisers and chalk out plans. Sarvajanik Ganesh festivals are celebrated in a big way in major districts of northKarnataka, including Dharwad and Belagavi. “

The dairying and animal husbandry ministry will on Tuesday launch ‘One Health‘ pilot project in Bengaluru, bringing stakeholders from animal, human and Environment health on a common platform to come out with solutions to prevent outbreak of zoonotic disease (such as coronaviruses) in future.

The success of the pilot will help the Centre develop a national ‘One Health’ roadmap, equipped with better response mechanism and management while incorporating global best practices.

The pilot will be launched in collaboration with Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation andCIIas implementation partners. BesidesKarnataka, the department of animal husbandry & dairying is implementing the pilot projects inUttarakhandas well.

The new Model Tenancy Act (MTA), soon to be adopted by the , is expected to boost the real estate sector particularly in the rental space but its implementation may not be a cakewalk, say experts. Karnataka will be the first state in the country to adopt the new Act recently cleared by the Centre.

The model Act looks favourable for both tenants and landlords; however, there are certain areas of concern, said Suresh Hari, chairman, Credai Bengaluru. He said, the cap on the security deposit might turn out to be problematic for landlords, if the tenant defaults on rent payment or damages the property. In these cases, a two-month security deposit may not cover the landlords expenses of repair/losses due to non-payment of the rent, he added.

Despite the Karnataka Rent Control Act – 1999 being in place, both tenants and house owners in the city violated rules often. Landlords and tenants were not having written agreements and preferred cash payment to avoid taxes. There are many who are not ready to give PAN card details. The new law will make it compulsory for both parties to enter into a written agreement; they now need to inform the rent authority within two months of signing it. This might unsettle several landlords.

The new government will focus on strengthening the manufacturing industries in the state, said minister for major and medium industries MB Patil.

Interacting with media persons at his residence here, he saidKarnatakais on top in the country in the IT/BT sector. However, the manufacturing sector needs encouragement, he added.

An action plan is being prepared to develop the Industrial Sector in the state by studyingPunjabandTelanganamodels. In Punjab, the offices of energy, Environment and other related departments are in one location, which will make the industrialists’ job of obtaining clearances easier. In , the single-window system has helped industries immensely. However, in Karnataka, the so-called single window system has become a multi-window system and steps will be taken to ensure that all clearances are available to industries in one place by keeping only one window, the minister said.

Patil said it has come to his knowledge that some people are using the land allotted for setting up industries for real estate business. The industries department is committed to stopping this, he said.

TheKarnataka State Commission for Protection of Child Rights(KCPCR) chairmanNaganna Gowdaon Tuesday announced village level committees composed of social activists, representatives of NGOs, locals, etc to create a safe Environment for kids in the village level, which will be monitored bygram panchayatand district-level officials.

Meanwhile, a new observation Home for children in conflict with law is planned in Sathagalli area of the city. This home is coming up with all modern facilities.

RG Anand said the Monitoring App for Seamless Inspections (MASI) is helping the commission to follow the day to day activities at all the Child Care Centers. Now, based on the input we have collected about the observation homes in five states, we launched a field verification drive. This drive started from Mysuru, he added.

He stated that Karnataka is in the forefront of implementing pro-children policies. Anand said that the commission will look into all the matters pertaining to children from Mysuru along with the District Administration.

The prolonged closure of bars and on sales of alcoholic beverages in the immediate aftermath of the outbreak of Covid-19 in the beginning of the 2020-21 financial year had raised fears among officials in the excise department over their revenue targets being met.

However, sales have been anything but sluggish in some of the districts in North Karnataka.Haveridistrict, for instance, has registered record sales of beer across the state, with 96.1% of the stock being cleared in the recently concluded financial year. Kolar (94.4%), Chitradurga (90.7%) and Chikkaballapur (90%) have slotted in behind Haveri in second, third and fourth slots respectively.

However, the division topping the charts in terms of revenue generation is Kolar (125.8%), with Ballari (112.4%), Chikaballapur (109%), Chitradurga (106.3%) in close pursuit.

In South Karnataka, Mysuru, which had achieved 93.9% of the target and Bengaluru (90.3%) divisions have performed well, while Mangaluru, which had achieved 88.4% of its revenue target, has rung in cheer for the excise department along the coast.

Furthermore, sales of liquor in March 2021 have been robust, comparable to what was registered in the corresponding month in 2020. As on March 19, 53.2 lakh boxes of alcohol had been sold, against a total of 60 lakh boxes in the whole of March 2020. The three divisions in Bengaluru Urban south, north and west have registered the highest sales in March.