Rs 50-cr grant to tide over water scarcity

Rs 50-cr grant to tide over water scarcity
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
19 Feb, 2007 0223hrs IST

HUBLI: The state government will soon release a "special grant" of Rs 50 crore to initiate work on the third phase of the Rs 195 crore Malaprabha Drinking Water Project to augment the drinking water supply in Hubli and Dharwad.

Speaking to reporters here on Sunday, deputy chief minister B S Yediyurappa said the state government will release the funds before the conclusion of the ongoing assembly session.

"In all probability, the work will commence within a month or two," he asserted. He said the special grant has been sanctioned keeping in view the acute drinking water shortage faced during the summer in the twin-cities.

"With immediate release of funds for the scheme, tenders will be floated to start the work. The project will also ensure that the twin-cities get drinking water supply daily, instead of twice a week as it does now," he said.

However,Yediyurappa remained non-committal on allocating funds for the project (Malaprabha Drinking Water Scheme) in the budget.

"Let the work start. Then we will see what best can be done to ensure the early competition of the project," he said.

Stating that the state government is committed to the development of Hubli-Dharwad, he also said a sum of Rs 12 crore has been sanctioned for the development of the historical Indira Glass House in Hubli and other parks and roads in the twin-cities.

Law varsity will begin from next year: Prakash

Law varsity will begin from next year: Prakash
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
19 Feb, 2007 0225hrs IST

HUBLI: The first ever law university in Karnataka will start functioning from the next academic year, home minister M P Prakash announced here on Sunday.

He told reporters that all hurdles pertaining to land acquisition have been cleared with a "compromise formula"between the stakeholders of law university and IT companies.

Prakash said the Karnataka Law University Bill, 2007, has already approved by the cabinet and it will now be placed before the both the Houses for discussion before obtaining the assent from the governor.

"We are optimistic that we will get the nod of both the houses and the governor soon and we the law university will be operational from the coming academic year 2007-08,"he asserted.

Lauding the efforts of opposition leader H K Patil, Prakash said the establishment of a separate law university in Karnataka is one of the main objectives of the policy and action plan prepared by the department of law, justice and human rights.

This was proposed by H K Patil when he was the law minister on the basis of recommendations of Dr D M Nanjundappa Committee report on regional imbalance.

Prof J S Patil of Gulbarga University has been appointed as special officer to establish law university.

KCCI demands setting up of IT SEZ in Hubli

KCCI demands setting up of IT SEZ in Hubli
TIMES NEWS NETWORK

18 Feb, 2007 0151hrs IST

HUBLI: The Karnataka Chamber of Commerce and Industry has demanded that the stage government should take immediate steps to establish a special economic zone for information technology sector in Hubli for the overall development of North Karnataka.

In a pre-budget consultation meeting with deputy chief minister and finance minister B S Yediyurappa held here on Saturday, KCCI president Shankaranna Munavalli stressed the need to create investor-friendly conditions to attract big industries to the region.

Munavalli also sought early acquisition of 650 acres of additional land for the development of Hubli airport, an open heart surgery facilities at Karnataka Institute of Medical Science, Hubli and construction of the much delayed Outer Ring Road to take care of infrastructure bottlenecks.

The KCCI president said apart from improving the general power supply situation in North Karnataka and irrigation facilities in the Krishna basin district, development of Karwar Port was also essential to boost trade and exports from the region in the longrun.

He lamented that despite huge investments to computerise tax administration in the country, the website of the empowered committee on VAT was either not operative or was not regularly updated.

As a result that traders remained ignorant about latest changes in tax laws. He demanded reduction in VAT rates from 12.5 per cent to 4 per cent on PVC pipes, CFL bulbs, dry grapes, biscuits and sweets, coconut oil, brass copper and stainless steel utensils, industrial inputs and ghee, and total VAT exemption for tamarind, chilli, school bags and husk of groundnut, paddy, and karadi.