Dharwad to host national theatre fest
The Times of India
Dharwad: Theatre lovers in North Karnataka will experience a feast of dramas thanks to the renowned amateur theatre troupe Abhinaya Bharati presenting the National Theatre Festival, Shanti Ranga Maitri-2005 from September 5-30.
The fest being organised as part of the Abhinaya Bharati’s silver jubilee celebration will feature plays in Kannada, Marathi. Hindi, Bengali, Malayalam, Sanskrit, Tulu and English.
Saturday, September 03, 2005
Karnataka panel submits memo to PM over Mahadayi water diversion
Karnataka panel submits memo to PM over Mahadayi water diversion
The Navhind Times
UNI New Delhi Sept 1: An all-party delegation of Karnataka today sought revoking of the order of the water resources ministry withholding the ‘in principle clearance’ given for the diversion of Mahadayi (Mhadei) river waters for fulfilling the drinking water needs of Hubli-Dharwad towns.The delegation, led by the Karnataka Chief Minister, Mr N Dharam Singh, said the diversion of a small portion of 7.5 tmc of water from the river by taking up Kalasa-Baduri Nala project to meet the drinking water needs will not affect the yield in the river which is known to yield 200 tmc of water every year. Presently almost all of this water goes to Arabian Sea and not used by any of the basin states — Karnataka, Maharashtra and Goa.
The memorandum, submitted to the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh by the delegation, said the people in Hubli and Dharwad towns were getting drinking water supply once in 10 days. The Karnataka government had proposed Kalasa Banduri Nala diversion to cater to the needs of these thirsty twin towns.
The CWC studies had revealed that the Mahadayi is a surplus basin with a yield of 200 tmc even after its utilisation by Goa. The National Environmental Engineering Research Institute, Nagpur had indicated that no adverse impact would be caused due to the project in the basin.
The delegation said its share of water in the river would be in the range of 40 to 45 tmc much higher than 7.5 tmc of water sought to be diverted.
The in principle clearance by the Central Water Commission should be revived as Goa was yet to communicate its objections or comments on the yield study. “This only implies that they have no comments of any kind but are only adopting delaying tactics to prevent Karnataka from taking up the project,” the delegation said.
The Navhind Times
UNI New Delhi Sept 1: An all-party delegation of Karnataka today sought revoking of the order of the water resources ministry withholding the ‘in principle clearance’ given for the diversion of Mahadayi (Mhadei) river waters for fulfilling the drinking water needs of Hubli-Dharwad towns.The delegation, led by the Karnataka Chief Minister, Mr N Dharam Singh, said the diversion of a small portion of 7.5 tmc of water from the river by taking up Kalasa-Baduri Nala project to meet the drinking water needs will not affect the yield in the river which is known to yield 200 tmc of water every year. Presently almost all of this water goes to Arabian Sea and not used by any of the basin states — Karnataka, Maharashtra and Goa.
The memorandum, submitted to the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh by the delegation, said the people in Hubli and Dharwad towns were getting drinking water supply once in 10 days. The Karnataka government had proposed Kalasa Banduri Nala diversion to cater to the needs of these thirsty twin towns.
The CWC studies had revealed that the Mahadayi is a surplus basin with a yield of 200 tmc even after its utilisation by Goa. The National Environmental Engineering Research Institute, Nagpur had indicated that no adverse impact would be caused due to the project in the basin.
The delegation said its share of water in the river would be in the range of 40 to 45 tmc much higher than 7.5 tmc of water sought to be diverted.
The in principle clearance by the Central Water Commission should be revived as Goa was yet to communicate its objections or comments on the yield study. “This only implies that they have no comments of any kind but are only adopting delaying tactics to prevent Karnataka from taking up the project,” the delegation said.
Sena will be a rallying forum for Hindutva forces: Mutalik
Sena will be a rallying forum for Hindutva forces: Mutalik
The Hindu
HUBLI: Pramod Mutalik, the president of the State unit of the Shiv Sena, which was launched in the State recently, is confident that the party will emerge a rallying point for the Hindutva forces in Karnataka.
Speaking to The Hindu Mr. Mutalik said his party will fill the void created by the straying away of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from the path of Hindutva. Since it is difficult to launch a new party, he considered it is better to make a beginning with an established political party such as the Shiv Sena.
Mr. Mutalik said he has been granted the authority to organise the party in Karnataka by the Sena supremo Bal Thackeray.
During Mr. Thackeray's visit to the State sometime next month, the members of the State unit as well the district set up will be announced, Mr. Mutalik added.
Mr. Mutalik is planning to go around the State in a month's time to organise the party and prepare for the impending visit of Mr. Thackeray.
He said he expects most of the office-bearers of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and the Bajrang Dal, of which he was a part of until recently, to join him in the new party.
The Hindu
HUBLI: Pramod Mutalik, the president of the State unit of the Shiv Sena, which was launched in the State recently, is confident that the party will emerge a rallying point for the Hindutva forces in Karnataka.
Speaking to The Hindu Mr. Mutalik said his party will fill the void created by the straying away of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from the path of Hindutva. Since it is difficult to launch a new party, he considered it is better to make a beginning with an established political party such as the Shiv Sena.
Mr. Mutalik said he has been granted the authority to organise the party in Karnataka by the Sena supremo Bal Thackeray.
During Mr. Thackeray's visit to the State sometime next month, the members of the State unit as well the district set up will be announced, Mr. Mutalik added.
Mr. Mutalik is planning to go around the State in a month's time to organise the party and prepare for the impending visit of Mr. Thackeray.
He said he expects most of the office-bearers of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and the Bajrang Dal, of which he was a part of until recently, to join him in the new party.
Dharwad stands first in coverage under Bima Gram Yojana
Dharwad stands first in coverage under Bima Gram Yojana
The Hindu
DHARWAD: Dharwad Division has occupied the first place in the entire south central zone of the Life Insurance Corporation of India for the coverage of villages under the Bima Gram Yojana, Nasaravadhani, senior divisional Manager of LIC, Dharwad, told presspersons here on Friday. Under the scheme, which was introduced during 2002-03 with a view to propagate the concept of insurance in rural areas, the LIC gives incentives to the villages. Only villages with less than 5,000 population, where a minimum of 75 per cent of the families have insurance and lapse of policies is less than 20 per cent, are considered for the incentive.
Accordingly, during 2004-05, 54 villages coming within the jurisdiction of the division were given an incentive of Rs. 13.50 lakhs. During the previous year, Mr. Narasavadhani said 70 villages were covered, involving a payment of incentive of Rs. 17.50 lakhs.
Fourteen schools in the division have been given an incentive of Rs. 35,000 under the Bima School Yojana, he said.
All 14 branches in the division located across the four districts of Dharwad, Gadag, Haveri, and Uttara Kannada, have been computerised, he said. The division had been able to sell 1.78 lakh policies during the previous financial year to mobilise the first premium income of Rs. 62.58 crores.
A total of 63,904 maturity claims involving an amount of Rs. 116.02 crores have been settled and the settlement of death claims stands at 99.81 per cent.
Mr. Narasavadhani said that the central office had sanctioned a loan of Rs. 45 crores to the Karnataka Niravari Nigam, Dharwad, which was routed through the divisional office.
The Hindu
DHARWAD: Dharwad Division has occupied the first place in the entire south central zone of the Life Insurance Corporation of India for the coverage of villages under the Bima Gram Yojana, Nasaravadhani, senior divisional Manager of LIC, Dharwad, told presspersons here on Friday. Under the scheme, which was introduced during 2002-03 with a view to propagate the concept of insurance in rural areas, the LIC gives incentives to the villages. Only villages with less than 5,000 population, where a minimum of 75 per cent of the families have insurance and lapse of policies is less than 20 per cent, are considered for the incentive.
Accordingly, during 2004-05, 54 villages coming within the jurisdiction of the division were given an incentive of Rs. 13.50 lakhs. During the previous year, Mr. Narasavadhani said 70 villages were covered, involving a payment of incentive of Rs. 17.50 lakhs.
Fourteen schools in the division have been given an incentive of Rs. 35,000 under the Bima School Yojana, he said.
All 14 branches in the division located across the four districts of Dharwad, Gadag, Haveri, and Uttara Kannada, have been computerised, he said. The division had been able to sell 1.78 lakh policies during the previous financial year to mobilise the first premium income of Rs. 62.58 crores.
A total of 63,904 maturity claims involving an amount of Rs. 116.02 crores have been settled and the settlement of death claims stands at 99.81 per cent.
Mr. Narasavadhani said that the central office had sanctioned a loan of Rs. 45 crores to the Karnataka Niravari Nigam, Dharwad, which was routed through the divisional office.
Councillors kept away during demolition drive
Councillors kept away during demolition drive
The Hindu
HUBLI: An interesting feature of the demolition drive in the city, which has just been concluded, has been the marginalised of peoples' representatives in general and the councillors of the Hubli-Dharwad Municipal Corporation in particular.
It was an operation that was planned meticulously by the corporation commissioner Manivannan and executed with fineness in three phases, in which as many as 72 major roads crisscrossing the twin cities, were rid of encroachments.
At no stage in the meticulous preparations were the councillors involved as a body. The councillors were merely informally consulted on an individual basis.
Corporation officials who were involved in the planning justify the approach saying that the work comes under the domain of administrative matters, which is under the exclusive purview of the Commissioner.
Secondly, it was also doubtful whether the corporation would have allowed any such resolution.
When the Commissioner began his work initially in the name of in-house improvements, hardly anybody took him seriously.
Even the steps initiated by him to introduce transparency in the system and the introduction of the corporation website did not cause much ripples.
A perusal of the proceedings of the past, wherein the Commissioner had been authorised to take any action to remove the encroachments, came in handy.
Pact
The first blow for the councillors came when the nexus between them and the contractors' lobby, which used to hold the corporation and the commissioner to ransom on occasions in the past, was quietly broken. The Commissioner signed a memorandum of understanding with the contractors on the rates to be quoted for the tender above the tendered amount and a ceiling of 12 per cent was fixed through discussion, to avoid any lobbying and jockeying for power.
Establishment of zonal offices with powers to meet the needs of the people as part of the decentralisation avoided crowding of the councillors in the head office and councillors interfering in the works of other wards.
The third most important step taken was the constitution of the agenda task groups to ensure private-public participation with a view to take people into confidence on the problems faced and plans proposed by the municipal corporation.
As many as seven agenda groups have been constituted with different tasks, which meet periodically with the corporation officials and discuss matters.
The corporation has also volunteered to provide information to the agenda group members. The commissioner had also opened a separate channel of communication with the people and this proved to be crucial during the demolition drive, when concerted efforts were made to derail the drive and the people refused to fall for it.
When the D-day came and as the JCBs rolled along the busy roads demolishing the encroachments on all major roads, one could notice that hardly any councillors came to the scene either for or against demolition.
Interestingly, when everyone thought the councillors would criticize the commissioner when the subject was broached at a recent meeting, they began singing praises.
The Hindu
HUBLI: An interesting feature of the demolition drive in the city, which has just been concluded, has been the marginalised of peoples' representatives in general and the councillors of the Hubli-Dharwad Municipal Corporation in particular.
It was an operation that was planned meticulously by the corporation commissioner Manivannan and executed with fineness in three phases, in which as many as 72 major roads crisscrossing the twin cities, were rid of encroachments.
At no stage in the meticulous preparations were the councillors involved as a body. The councillors were merely informally consulted on an individual basis.
Corporation officials who were involved in the planning justify the approach saying that the work comes under the domain of administrative matters, which is under the exclusive purview of the Commissioner.
Secondly, it was also doubtful whether the corporation would have allowed any such resolution.
When the Commissioner began his work initially in the name of in-house improvements, hardly anybody took him seriously.
Even the steps initiated by him to introduce transparency in the system and the introduction of the corporation website did not cause much ripples.
A perusal of the proceedings of the past, wherein the Commissioner had been authorised to take any action to remove the encroachments, came in handy.
Pact
The first blow for the councillors came when the nexus between them and the contractors' lobby, which used to hold the corporation and the commissioner to ransom on occasions in the past, was quietly broken. The Commissioner signed a memorandum of understanding with the contractors on the rates to be quoted for the tender above the tendered amount and a ceiling of 12 per cent was fixed through discussion, to avoid any lobbying and jockeying for power.
Establishment of zonal offices with powers to meet the needs of the people as part of the decentralisation avoided crowding of the councillors in the head office and councillors interfering in the works of other wards.
The third most important step taken was the constitution of the agenda task groups to ensure private-public participation with a view to take people into confidence on the problems faced and plans proposed by the municipal corporation.
As many as seven agenda groups have been constituted with different tasks, which meet periodically with the corporation officials and discuss matters.
The corporation has also volunteered to provide information to the agenda group members. The commissioner had also opened a separate channel of communication with the people and this proved to be crucial during the demolition drive, when concerted efforts were made to derail the drive and the people refused to fall for it.
When the D-day came and as the JCBs rolled along the busy roads demolishing the encroachments on all major roads, one could notice that hardly any councillors came to the scene either for or against demolition.
Interestingly, when everyone thought the councillors would criticize the commissioner when the subject was broached at a recent meeting, they began singing praises.
Unoccupied Ashraya houses sealed in Hubli
Unoccupied Ashraya houses sealed in Hubli
The Hindu
HUBLI: The officials of the Hubli-Dharwad Municipal Corporation have sealed 750 of the 1,035 Ashraya houses at Bidnal on Thursday.
The action follows the continued non-occupation of the houses, which had been completed with the beneficiaries paying hardly any heed to the repeated notices given to them by the corporation in this regard.
A number of beneficiaries rushed to the spot even as a team of officials descended at the locality early in the day. They started protesting against the action of the officials and said non-occupation was due to the failure on part of the corporation in providing basic amenities in the area.
Senior officials rejected the charge and said the corporation has taken steps to provide borewell and roads in the colony. The beneficiaries have to get electricity connections themselves by paying the requisite fees, as the Government has shelved the Kutir Jyothi scheme.
The non-occupation of the Ashraya houses had figured in the recent meetings of the corporation.
The councillors had urged the commissioner to take action in this regard. The officials did not rule out the possibility of cancelling the allotment in case the beneficiaries continued to stay away. Some of the houses are likely to be re-allotted to those who were displaced during the corporation's demolition drive.
Sources said that one of the reasons for the non-occupation of the houses is that some of the beneficiaries had got the houses in violation of the rules and planned to rent them out. A complaint to this effect had been made during the visit of the Lokayukta N. Venkatachala to Hubli-Dharwad a few months ago.
The Hindu
HUBLI: The officials of the Hubli-Dharwad Municipal Corporation have sealed 750 of the 1,035 Ashraya houses at Bidnal on Thursday.
The action follows the continued non-occupation of the houses, which had been completed with the beneficiaries paying hardly any heed to the repeated notices given to them by the corporation in this regard.
A number of beneficiaries rushed to the spot even as a team of officials descended at the locality early in the day. They started protesting against the action of the officials and said non-occupation was due to the failure on part of the corporation in providing basic amenities in the area.
Senior officials rejected the charge and said the corporation has taken steps to provide borewell and roads in the colony. The beneficiaries have to get electricity connections themselves by paying the requisite fees, as the Government has shelved the Kutir Jyothi scheme.
The non-occupation of the Ashraya houses had figured in the recent meetings of the corporation.
The councillors had urged the commissioner to take action in this regard. The officials did not rule out the possibility of cancelling the allotment in case the beneficiaries continued to stay away. Some of the houses are likely to be re-allotted to those who were displaced during the corporation's demolition drive.
Sources said that one of the reasons for the non-occupation of the houses is that some of the beneficiaries had got the houses in violation of the rules and planned to rent them out. A complaint to this effect had been made during the visit of the Lokayukta N. Venkatachala to Hubli-Dharwad a few months ago.
University of Agriculture Sciences introduces seed village programme
University of Agriculture Sciences introduces seed village programme
The Hindu
DHARWAD: The University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad has introduced the concept of "seed village" (beeja grama), under which farmers in select villages are trained in the production of quality seeds required by the farming fraternity.
This is a sure way of involving farmers in the production of scientifically qualified seeds, with a view to meet the paucity of quality seeds, which is the bane of agriculture in India currently, said S. A. Patil, the Vice-Chancellor of UAS.
Dr. Patil was speaking at a workshop on the "seed village" programme and the field day for soya bean seed production, at the University of Agricultural Science here on Thursday.
Under the programme, Dr. Patil said, seed technologists and researchers will visit select villages and give training to the farmers in seed production not only to meet their needs but also those of farmers around him, Dr. Patil said. The "seed village" programme is in operation in eight villages of the Kalghatgi taluk presently, he said. The university will implement the programme in new villages every year to carry this concept to more villages, he added.
Dr. Patil said that the UAS had planned to ensure that 20,000 tonnes of quality seeds are produced in this season.
G. S. Chavan, Director of the National Research Centre on Soyabeans, said that there was a good demand for soyabean in the International market especially in Europe and America, and in demand it is second only to groundnut. Considerable research work has been done on the multifarious use of soya, which is known for its rich protein content.
Around 400 farmers from the district participated in the field day. Two farmers shared their experience on soyabean cultivation.
The Hindu
DHARWAD: The University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad has introduced the concept of "seed village" (beeja grama), under which farmers in select villages are trained in the production of quality seeds required by the farming fraternity.
This is a sure way of involving farmers in the production of scientifically qualified seeds, with a view to meet the paucity of quality seeds, which is the bane of agriculture in India currently, said S. A. Patil, the Vice-Chancellor of UAS.
Dr. Patil was speaking at a workshop on the "seed village" programme and the field day for soya bean seed production, at the University of Agricultural Science here on Thursday.
Under the programme, Dr. Patil said, seed technologists and researchers will visit select villages and give training to the farmers in seed production not only to meet their needs but also those of farmers around him, Dr. Patil said. The "seed village" programme is in operation in eight villages of the Kalghatgi taluk presently, he said. The university will implement the programme in new villages every year to carry this concept to more villages, he added.
Dr. Patil said that the UAS had planned to ensure that 20,000 tonnes of quality seeds are produced in this season.
G. S. Chavan, Director of the National Research Centre on Soyabeans, said that there was a good demand for soyabean in the International market especially in Europe and America, and in demand it is second only to groundnut. Considerable research work has been done on the multifarious use of soya, which is known for its rich protein content.
Around 400 farmers from the district participated in the field day. Two farmers shared their experience on soyabean cultivation.
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