KARNATAKA

Crimes against children up by 10-20%, says Karnataka govt

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The government revealed that crimes against children have shot up by between 10% and 20% inKarnataka.

Cases under Pocso in 2018 stood at 2,063 which rose to 3,097 in 2022, Jnanendra said. In less than two months in 2023, we have already registered 207 Pocso cases. This is largely due to an increase in awareness among the public to report such incidents and punish culprits. He said there has been a slight increase in the number of missing children cases. While data revealed a marginal drop in the number of missing girl children, the number of missing boys has seen a significant increase. In 2021, some 1,644 girl children went missing but that number has fallen to 1,443 in 2022, Janendra said.

Similarly, the number of missing boys, which was 488 in 2021, shot up to 742 in 2022. In both years, Bengaluru topped the list with the highest number of missing boys and girls. Jnanendra lauded efforts of the Police in swiftly detecting such cases and tracing the missing children successfully. The success rate of tracing missing boys and girls is 94% and 96 % respectively, he said.

Karnataka: 12th century inscriptions discovered in Udupi village

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Two Kannada inscriptions belonging to 12th-century Alupa era were found recently in Udupi district by a research team.

“We’ve confirmed that one inscription belongs to the period of Alupa King Kulasekhara I. The second inscription, discovered in less than a week from the same place, is also from the 12th century. Only a few alphabets were visible on it,” said HISTORY and archaeology research student Shruthesh Acharya Moodubelle, who led the team.

The inscriptions were found in Bannadi village coming under Vaddarse panchayat of Brahmavar taluk in Udupi district. The 18-line inscription is found engraved on a granite plaque that is 5ft tall and 2ft wide. It was found on an agricultural land belonging to B Kusha Acharya.

Another inscription was discovered at the Hebbarvolal, about 1km from the place where the first inscription was found, in Bannadi village. This inscription was discovered under the guidance of SA Krishnaiah, director of Oriental Archives Research Centre, Udupi; Raghavendra Shenoy, an English teacher at Indira Gandhi residential school, Siddapura; and Shruthesh.

Only a third of Karnataka women ever used internet, shows survey

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Only about a third ofKarnatakawomen have ever used the Internet, while not more than half of them spent over 10 years in school, the latest round of national family Health survey (NFHS-5) revealed, even as some other indicators in the state improved.

Analysis of statewise data shows that a best-case scenario in 10 of India’s most populous states – Uttar Pradesh,Maharashtra, Bihar, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh-,Madhya Pradesh,Tamil Nadu,Rajasthan, Karnataka and Gujarat – shows a similar trend.

In almost all these states, the Percentage of men using the internet is much higher, nearly double in some cases, than Women, while the gap between the genders when it comes to spending more than 10 years in school appears to be narrowing.

For instance, as per NFHS-5, around 35 per cent of women in Karnataka ever used the internet, compared to 62.4 per cent of men. In comparison, it is 38 per cent and 61.5 per cent, respectively in Maharashtra, and 30.8 per cent and 58.9 per cent in Gujarat.

Bihar, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra-Telangana (together) have less than 30 per cent of women using the internet, while more than half of the men barring in West Bengal (47 per cent) have used the same.

Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan performed slightly better; Tamil Nadu, on the other hand, tops the table among these states with 46.9 per cent (women) and 70.2 per cent (men) having used the internet.

Similarly, in Karnataka, 50.2 per cent of women spent more than 10 years in school as against 56.5 per cent of men. Comparatively, in Maharashtra, 50.4 per cent of women and 61 per cent of men have achieved this, while figures stand at 33.8 per cent and 45.6 per cent in Gujarat.
In Tamil Nadu, the numbers are 56.6 per cent (women) and 59.1 per cent (men), while West Bengal, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh pale in comparison. Andhra-Telangana (cumulative) numbers appear slightly better in this category.

Analysis of rural-urban data reiterates the lack of access for women and men from rural areas.
Of around 35 per cent of women in Karnataka using the internet, only 24.8 per cent are from rural areas and over 50 per cent from urban areas. Among men, 55.6 per cent from rural areas and 71.5 per cent from urban areas used the internet to take the overall state Average to 62.4 per cent.

The trend is more or less similar in the other 10 states.

Karnataka portfolios: Siddaramaiah keeps Finance, Shivakumar gets Irrigation, Bengaluru development

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Karnatakachief minister Siddaramaiah has allocated portfolios to ministers in his Cabinet, keeping the Finance department with himself while assigning theIrrigationand Bengaluru City Development departments to his deputyDK Shivakumar.

Siddaramaiah took the oath of office with Shivakumar and eight ministers on May 20. He subsequently expanded the Cabinet to its full strength by inducting 24 new ministers on Saturday after rounds of discussions with the Congress’ central Leadership.

G Parameshwara, who has previously handled the Home department, has once again been allocated the portfolio, MB Patil is the new Large and Medium Industries minister while KJ Geroge has been given theEnergy departmentportfolio, the Karnataka government announced in a notification released late.

Apart from the Finance department, the chief minister, who has presented 13 state budgets, has kept Cabinet Affairs, Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms, Intelligence, Information, IT and BT, Development and all unallocated portfolios.

K’taka govt wi

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thdraws six pvt varsity bills owing to objections from ruling, oppn parties

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.

Panchayats Offer Mysuru Declaration Services

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On November 22, 2021, delegates from 16 states signed the “Mysuru Declaration” during a “National Consultative Workshop on Citizen Charter & Delivery of Services by Panchayats.”

Highlights:

These states agreed to implement Common Minimum Service Delivery by Panchayats in India beginning April 1, 2022.

The Mysuru Declaration seeks to acknowledge Citizen-Centric Services as the “Heart of Governance.”

The declaration includes critical inputs on different Elements of service delivery, which are either supplied directly by panchayats or supported by panchayats.

The Ministry of Panchayat Raj organised the National Consultative Workshop on Citizen Charter and Service Delivery by Panchayats in collaboration with the Abdul Nazir State Institute of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj, Mysuru, and the National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj, Hyderabad.

It is a system of local self-government used in communities throughout rural India. It consists of Institutions (PRIs), which enable villages to self-govern.

PRIs are responsible for “economic Growth, scheme execution, and improving social Justice, in addition to the 29 themes stated in the Eleventh Schedule.”

Karnataka banks on tech to plan MNREGA projects

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To ensure transparency and adopt a scientific approach to projects under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural EMPLOYMENT Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), the government has been using technology to avoid overlapping and unscientific projects.

While the Centre has decreed that 65% of annual MGNREGA work should be dedicated to water and conservation, theRDPRdepartment has made it mandatory for MGNREGA projects for the fiscal 2023-24 to be approved by a state core team.

This team will plan works based on data and approve those suited to a particular region. BesidesKarnatakas geographic information system and Geo MGNREGA for table-top planning, the NREGA commissionerate is using Composite Landscape Assessment & Restoration Tool, a mobile application developed byFoundation for Ecological Security(FES), a not-for-profit organization, for ground proofing.

Karnataka: Clamour for equal status to Kannada and Hindi

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hile chief minister Basavaraj Bommai on Monday reaffirmed his commitment to promote Kannada, stakeholders urged the to prevail upon the Centre to accord Official Language status toKannadaand other regional languages on a par withHindiand English.

The activists revived their demand of official status to all 23 scheduled languages in the central government administration through a constitutional amendment. They want a resolution passed in the legislature.

Meanwhile, the Kannada Development Authority (KDA) is preparing a draft of the Samagra Kannada Bhasha Masoode (Comprehensive Kannada Language Bill) envisaging a single-window agency to implement Kannada in the state administration and frame common rules for promoting it, including signages in public places and commercial establishments.

Article 343 of the Constitution states that the official language of the Union shall be Hindi along with English and theyre now being used for official purposes by the central government. Language activists want it to be amended to accommodate all scheduled languages, including Kannada. They want Article 351, which says its the duty of the Union Government to promote Hindi, to be repealed.

Karnataka: Coconut coop unit plans Rs 4.5 crore expansion, seeks funds

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The coconut processing centre set up by a cooperative Society at Munachanahalli in Chamarajanagar taluk will soon be extended at a cost of Rs 4.5 crore. A decision to this effect was taken by the board of directors of the unit at the recently held general meeting.

The unit, which has a capacity of processing 50,000 coconuts per day, provides jobs to around 250 people. Local growers formed a cooperative association and established this processing unit under Chamarajanagar Coconut Growers Association 20 years ago. More than 13,000 farmers of the district are cultivating coconut on 26,000 hectares using Irrigation pump sets in Hanur, Kollegal, Yelandur and Gundlupet taluks.
The had sanctioned Rs 3.5 crore for the unit in the 2010-11 budget to help the Association to set up their unit at Munanchanahalli village to ensure Marketing facilities for local coconut growers.

The Cauvery water management authority on Tuesday deferred KarnatakasMekedatudam plan following strong objections from theTamil Nadugovernment. The authority also deferred the Tamil Nadu governments Cauvery-Gundar interlinking project following objections fromKarnatakarepresentatives.

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While the bureaucrats of Nadu and Karnataka took part in the meeting convened by CWMA chairman S K Haldar in New Delhi, the representatives ofPuducherryandKeralajoined through video-conference. Mekedatu was included in the agenda and we wanted to discuss that.