Shobha, Udasi quit ministry; give jolt to BJP government

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January 23, 2013
Bangalore, Jan 23: In a development that could trigger fresh crisis for ruling BJP in Karnataka, two Ministers loyal to the B S Yeddyurappa-led Karnataka Janata Party today resigned from the Jagadish Shettar Ministry.

ministers
Public Works Minister C M Udasi and Energy Minister Shobha Karandlaje handed over their resignations to the Chief Minister this morning.

Official sources said the resignation letters have been sent to Governor H R Bhardwaj for acceptance.

Udasi said they have been hurt by the attitude of Shettar towards MLAs and Ministers supporting Yeddyurappa, adding, the time has come to build KJP.

"Though we had indicated that we are going to submit resignation, we are getting information that the Speaker (K G Bopaiah) is out of station", Udasi said, adding, he, Shobha and a few MLAs would submit their resignation from Assembly membership to the Speaker's office later today.

Haveri MLA Nehru Olekar, a staunch Yeddyurappa loyalist, termed the "foreign tour" of the Speaker as political "strategy" of the BJP to scuttle the plans of Yeddyurappa-supporting MLAs and Ministers (who wanted to resign).

He said in case the Speaker's office hesitates to accept the resignation letters, they would meet Bhardwaj.

A cloud of uncertainty has been hanging over the Shettar ministry ever since Yeddyurappa quit the party to float his KJP in December last. The former BJP strongman has repeatedly put the government on notice about their stability, claiming support of 20-30 BJP MLAs.

Yeddyurappa's party had set two deadlines earlier to unseat the government but they turned out to be a damp squib.

Brushing aside the threats to his government, Shettar had said he would present the state budget on February 8, the last ahead of assembly polls due in May.

Earlier:

Shobha Karandlaje to quit ministry

Bangalore, Jan 22: Ending weeks of speculation, Karnataka Minister for Energy Shobha Karandlaje, a loyalist of KJP chief B S Yeddyurappa, has decided to quit the BJP ministry tomorrow.

shobha
"I am proud and have satisfaction of performing well during my tenure as Energy Minster in the last two and a half years. I am leaving the Department. It is my last day, hopefully, in office", Shobha told reporters here.

Shobha, who had already dropped hints at resigning from the ministry and also BJP to support KJP activities ahead of the assembly polls, about three months away from now, thanked officials of Energy department.

"I am very emotional also. Official have done well. Even when Karnataka Power Corporation employees went on strike recently demanding wage hike, they only resorted to black badge protest and did not stall power generation", she said.

According to sources close to her, she would be tendering her resignation tomorrow and PWD Minister C M Udasi was expected to join her in quitting the Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar led ministry.

Outlining the achievements of the BJP government, Shobha said the government had honoured its promise of augmenting power supply by adding 4593 mws of energy into state's grid.

Kudgi super thermal power with 4,000 mw capacity, Edlapur (800 MW), Erramarus (1600 MW), Bidadi (700 MW), Bellary Thermal Power station (700 MW) and 4000 MW Chattisgarh plant are in the pipeline and when completed turn Karnataka not only a power surplus, but would be in a position to sell energy to neighbouring states, she said.

She said adequate arrangements have been put in place to ensure that there would be no load shedding in the coming summer season. The government has spent Rs 12,000 crore on improving power transmission system, which helped in reducing transmission and distribution losses from 23 per cent to 20 per cent.

Udasi, when reporters approached him, said "we will announce tomorrow every thing at a press conference". The veteran leader from Haveri district, who has identified with KJP, refused to answer queries on whether he would also be resigning his assembly membership.

In another development, Yeddyurappa has invited Ministers and MLAs supporting him to his residence for a meeting this Evening. Speculations are also ripe that some MLAs will alsO be resigning tomorrow.

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News Network
March 27,2024

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At least seven people have been killed when Israeli warplanes bombed an emergency center in southern Lebanon near the border with the 1948 Israeli-occupied territories with air-to-surface missiles, according to Lebanese security sources.

Two sources, speaking on condition of anonymity said early on Wednesday that the strike targeted the Islamic Group’s emergency and relief center in Lebanon’s southern village of Habbariyeh.

Jamaa Islamiya, a Lebanese group closely linked to the Gaza-based Palestinian resistance movement Hamas, said in a statement that “a number” of people had been killed, and called the strike a “heinous crime.”

An official from the group said “seven rescuers” were killed in the aerial assault.

Another Jamaa Islamiya official, also requesting anonymity, said a dozen medical staff were in the emergency center at the time of the strike, adding that bodies were being pulled from the rubble.

Lebanese lawmaker Hassan Mrad said “the Israeli aggression on Habbariyeh adds to the long list of Israeli crimes.”

Israel has been launching air strikes against Lebanon since the beginning of its onslaught against the Gaza Strip in early October.

An Israeli strike knocked down part of a building in the southern Lebanese city of Nabatiyeh on February 14, killing seven members of the same family, including a child, Lebanon’s official National News Agency said. A boy initially reported missing was found alive under the rubble.

In a separate Israeli attack, a woman and her two children were killed in the village of as-Sawana in southern Lebanon.

The Israeli regime launched its devastating hostilities in the Gaza Strip on October 7 after the territory’s Hamas-led Palestinian resistance groups carried out a surprise retaliatory attack, dubbed Operation Al-Aqsa Storm, against the occupying entity.

Israel's raids have resulted in retaliatory strikes from Hezbollah in support of the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip.

The movement has vowed to keep up its retaliatory operations as long as the Tel Aviv regime continues its onslaught on Gaza.

The Israeli campaign in Gaza has killed at least 32,414 people, most of them women and children. Another 74,787 individuals have also been wounded.

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News Network
March 22,2024

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Bengaluru, Mar 22: An FIR has been registered against BJP MP Tejasvi Surya over a provocative hate post on social media, Election Commission officials said on Friday.

The move comes after a complaint filed by officials of the poll body and Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) that the Bengaluru South MP, who is also the President of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, had in a post apparently targeted a minority and spread enmity between two communities.

He also made a similar post on March 19 on X and YouTube which went viral. He has 1.3 million followers on X, thereby influencing the voters and disturbing the communal harmony between the communities, it further alleged.

Based on the complaint, an FIR was registered at Halasuru Gate police station on March 20 under sections 153 A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony), 295 A (Deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) of the Indian Penal Code and the Representation of the People Act, the officials said.

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News Network
March 28,2024

An Indian expatriate, hailing from Dakshina Kannada district in Karnataka, who was detained in Jeddah jail in an alleged cyber case, was set free recently. He is allowed to continue his work in the same company. 

The 49-year-old Mangalurean, has been working for a Maintenance company in Jeddah for more than 13 years. He is known for his efficiency and sincerity in the company with good experience in his field of work. 

His company usually assigned him on duty in Jeddah sea port to take the delivery of the goods consigned to his company. As a part of his duty, he normally takes pictures of the goods before the transportation. He did the same in February 2023 too. 

The security personnel informed the police about his act that amounts to be a violation of the port security rule. He was unaware of the rule as he was doing it normally in the port during the release of the goods. Since then, he was detained by the police on the charge of photographing inside the port premises. After more than 6 months detention, he was released and allowed to work in the same company. 

The detainee’s brother based in Jeddah was constantly pursuing the case.

P A Hameed Padubidri, a pro-bono NRI lawyer and social worker based in Riyadh, extended his socio-humanitarian help in this case upon the request of his family and relatives. 

He actively involved trying to set him free from the jail on humanitarian grounds with the coordination and help of the Consulate General of India (CGI) Jeddah. The CGI keenly followed up the case with the concerned Saudi authorities. He was released from the jail recently and shared his happiness with his family and thanked good samaritans. 

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