Kerala temporarily bans trekking in forest areas after TN fire incident

Udupi, Mar 15: Sambratha Shetty, a resident of Udupi’s Kemmannu, has been chosen to participate in the ‘Leaders Lead on-Demand’ program organized by the US Federal government.

Sambratha Shetty, wife of Dr Roshan Shetty, is the daughter of businessman Sampathkumar Shetty and Mamatha Shetty. 

Currently she is the chief operating officer of Pinaji Foundation. She holds a patent for a nasal spray that she has developed. 

Apart from Sambratha, four other individuals from India would be participating in the program. 

The other selected candidates include Pranay Kotasthane from Bengaluru, two individuals from New Delhi, and one from Kolkata.

Former Rajya Sabha member and Congress leader Obaidullah Khan Azmi joined Janata Dal (Secular) at former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda’s residence in Padmanabhanagar, Bengaluru.

Azmi, a member of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board had served as a Rajya Sabha member from 1990-2008.

JDS state president CM Ibrahim was present during the occasion.

“Obaidullah Khan Azmi has joined JDS in the presence of HD Deve Gowda. Azmi has huge popularity and has gained a unique reputation in the Muslim community. He has worked with leaders like VP Singh, and Jayaprakash Narayan among others. He has appreciated the promises made by HD Kumaraswamy and has decided to work for the party by staying in Bengaluru till the elections are over. He has also assured to build JDS at the national level,” Ibrahim said.

Speaking at the event, 74-year-old Azmi said that when the Janata Dal government was there, it worked for the development of all religions.

“During the Janata Dal government, its character was to serve the poor and all sections of society. Later Janata Dal was divided. But, JDS is the only one which is not corrupt. Ibrahim was in touch with me for a few months. It was Deve Gowda who gave reservations for Muslims. Even today, if there is any hope for Muslims it is in Janata Dal,” Azmi said.

Meanwhile, Deve Gowda welcomed Azmi to the party and said that both have worked together in the past and thanked him for being part of the party during such ‘tough times.’

Since Ibrahim joined JDS last year, he has been making efforts to consolidate minority votes across the state.

JDS is preparing to release the second list of candidates for the upcoming elections. The party in December had released a list of 93 candidates.

Bengaluru, Mar 10: The Karnataka High Court has quashed the circular issued by the state government changing the method of assessment for class 5 and 8 students for the academic year 2022-23.

Justice Pradeep Singh Yerur said that the circular issued in this regard is not in consonance with section 38 (4) of the RTE Act which states that every rule or notification shall be placed before the state legislature as soon as possible.

The court also said that the order does not stop the state government from implementing the new method of assessment in accordance with the provisions under RTE Act. 

The petitioners had challenged the decision to conduct state level ‘board exams’ instead of school-level assessment. The petitions filed by the Organization for Unaided Recognized Schools, Registered Unaided Private Schools' Management Association and others had challenged the December 12, 2022 circular issued by the state government.

The petitioners claimed that the decision to change the assessment has come at a time when the students were preparing for their final examinations. They claimed the introduction of board exams would adversely affect the interest of both the students as well as the teachers.