The Karnataka legislative assembly on Tuesday passed bills enhancing the salaries and allowances of the chief minister, ministers and legislators.
Congress legislators spent the whole night inside the Karnataka Legislative Assembly and Council, escalating demand for the dismissal of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister K S Eshwarappa over his statement regarding the national flag.
The Congress may stand a better chance in the assembly polls if it followed the 'Himachal model', suggests N Sathiya Moorthy.
Jammu and Kashmir and Odisha on Tuesday recorded their first cases of the Omicron variant of COVID as the count of the new strain in 14 states and union territories crossed 200 even as the Centre said there is a need to 'activate' war rooms, take 'pro-active' action and consider night curfews.
He was the lone survivor of the crash in which Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat, his wife Madhulika and 11 armed forces personnel were killed.
A section of others raised objections as the news spread, leading to tension in the area. Those objecting, largely Marathi speaking, are opposed to the location where they want to install a statue of Maratha ruler Shivaji, after whom the circle is named.
According to official sources, there was stone pelting when the body of the deceased Harsha was being taken from District McGann Hospital in Shivamogga.
The Manipal Hospital where the 77-year-old leader is admitted said he was "doing well" and "clinically stable."
He maintained that the laws were for their benefit and then apologised to people of the country, adding that the government could not convince a section of farmers despite its clear heart and clean conscience.
The hijab-row triggered protests in Karnataka spread across the state on Tuesday, with campuses witnessing 'conflict-like' situations marked by stone-pelting incidents, use of force by police and the Muslim girls standing their ground for wearing the headscarves, prompting calls for peace and calm both by the government and the high court, which is now looking into the students' plea for their right to their hijab.
This divisiveness is upsetting social cohesion and can throw the bright young people thronging to Bengaluru with billion dollar ideas in their creative minds off balance, warns Shekhar Gupta.
A top CISF official said the device resembled a low-intensity IED. It was taken away from the airport in a bomb disposal unit vehicle and defused at Kenjaru ground in a controlled-explosion by keeping the unclaimed laptop bag in sand-packs.
The 'sex scandal' allegedly involving Bharatiya Janata Party MLA and former Minister Ramesh Jarkiholi rocked the Karnataka Assembly again on Tuesday, with the Opposition Congress protesting in the well of the house, demanding an inquiry monitored by the Chief Justice of the high court.
Among the ministers in the new cabinet are 8 Lingayats, 7 Vokkaligas, 7 OBCs, 3 SCs, 2 Brahmins, 1 ST and 1 Reddy, and a woman.
Amid the pandemonium and chaos, which many senior members termed as a "black mark" and "unprecedented" in the House's century old history, it was adjourned sine-die within minutes after it met for the day.
Police said the incident happened when officials along with medical staff were trying to shift the secondary contacts to the place identified for quarantine purpose.
Congress MP Karti Chidambaram and Communist Party of India-Marxist politburo member Mohammed Salim were among the prominent politicians who tested positive for COVID-19 as a rapid spike in cases took the tally in the country to over 18 lakh on Monday.
In the course of his various tenures, Yediyurappa made many adversaries. Bommai, by contrast, knows the Opposition well and has many friends, cutting across parties -- he is, after all, only a 2008 BJP entrant.
This is the first Cabinet expansion after he assumed office on July 26 and proved his government's majority on the floor of the assembly on July 29.
"Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Amit Shah (Home Minister) and our national President J P Nadda have a special love and faith towards me. You are aware that no position has been given to those who have crossed 75 years of age, but appreciating my work they have given me an opportunity despite me crossing 78 years," Yediyurappa said.
"Should this be the fate of the Speaker or the assembly," Kumar asked minister Priyank Kharge.
Karnataka Water Resources Minister Ramesh Jarkiholi on Wednesday resigned from the state cabinet, following allegations of sexual harassment against him.
"We have decided not to allow people from Gujarat, Maharashtra, Kerala and Tamil Nadu till May 31, but allowed in stages (staggered manner)," the CM said said.
During the Karnataka elections held in May this year, the average amount spent on the campaign by each candidate was Rs 7.43 lakh. Interestingly, this is just 46 per cent of the allotted budget of Rs 16 lakh per candidate.
Polling for three parliamentary seats and 29 assembly constituencies were held on October 30, an exercise being seen as a barometer of the political mood in the country ahead of assembly elections in politically critical Uttar Pradesh as well as other states.
'Because of the COVID-19 pandemic situation today, the revenues of the states have gone down, the GST money is not coming and all the states combined have lost more than Rs 365,000 crore in revenue.' 'To make it worse, the Government of India is not compensating us for the shortfall, which it must as per its Constitutional obligations.'
This will be the fourth stint for Yeddyurappa as the chief minister -- the last one was after the May 2018 assembly polls.
All eyes are now on Kumar who has to take a call on the resignations tendered by 13 MLAs of the Congress and the JD-S from the assembly.
Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Telangana have announced a lockdown of educational institutions, malls and other places that attract people in large numbers, even as some of them have been reporting increase in positive cases.
The speaker said he would take a decision on the remaining 14 cases in a "couple of days."
The apex court, however, made it clear that the swearing-in and the government formation in the state would be subject to the final outcome of the case before it.
'Teaching lessons is the objective behind every school.' 'For the moment, a state seems intent to teach a lesson -- that students of Classes 4, 5 and 6 can wage war against the mighty Indian nation,' says Krishna Prasad.
