Devotees throng temples in DK, Udupi after govt relaxes norms

Mangauru, Oct 18: An elderly husband and wife ended their life by suicide at Padekarya in Badagannur of Puttur taluk in Dakshina Kannada district. 

The deceased are Subrahmanya Bhat  (84) and Sharada Bhat (78). They were farmers.

The couple had slept in a room on the ground floor of the house while their children had slept on the first floor.

The suicide came to light when their son entered their room in the morning. 

It was said that Sharada Bhat was suffering from diabetes and age-related ailments. Both were worried about the same and took the extreme step to end their lives, said P Nagesh Bhat, son of the deceased in his complaint to the police. 

The jurisdictional Sampya Police have visited the spot.

Kolar, Oct 20: Karnataka Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar Wednesday vowed to send former Speaker and Congress leader Ramesh Kumar and others behind the bars on charge of using the Kolar-Chikkaballapur DCC bank for political gains.

"Nowhere in Karnataka the misuse of banks is taking place as it is happening at a very large scale in Kolar DCC Bank. Therefore, I urged for investigation into it. They (Ramesh Kumar and others) are not allowing investigation into the matter. They have approached the court and brought a stay on the probe," he said addressing a gathering at Jarabandahalli village in Kolar district here.

"From this, don't we know who the thieves are? If someone is not guilty he will be ready for any investigation. They know they will go to jail if the truth comes out. But, I will not leave them and will not stop, unless I achieve my goal," Sudhakar added.

He also labelled Ramesh Kumar as a ring master who wants to gain control of all the MLAs of the district and have his say.

"In Chikkaballapur and Kolar, there is a ringmaster for Govinde Gowda, who is just a mere actor. I do not know whether Ramesh Kumar directs Srinivas Gowda. Director and producer is Ramesh Kumar. In these two places, he wants to have his say and control MLAs of the district. This is the only desire of Ramesh Kumar. He is the reason for Srinivas Gowda to quit Congress and join JDS," he said.

Earlier in September, Sudhakar had warned Kolar-Chikkaballapur DCC Bank of action if it does not drop a particular regulation pertaining to loans.

He had questioned how the beneficiaries could avail the benefit of a loan when a 20 per cent share is secured from them.

Sudhakar also warned them to adhere to the government's regulation or face strict action.

Bengaluru, Oct 22: "It is a matter of pride for all of us that what, at one point of time, Lord Sri Ram and Sri Krishna did in Lanka and Mathura, the same was done by our forces in the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War," Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Friday here.

Elaborating the statement, Singh said the 1971 war was one of the few wars which was neither fought to gain control of the land and sky, nor to gain power in any way, but to hand over the power to an able ruler and return.

"This is what Sri Ram and Sri Krishna did, giving reigns of power to able people belonging to the defeated nations," Singh said.

The main objective behind the 1971 Bangladesh war was to protect the dignity of humanity and democracy, he said addressing the IAF conclave as part of the Swarnim Vijay Varsh celebrations here.

"What could be a better example of the great legacy of India's morality presented by our armies than the 1971 war, that our armies in Dhaka, even after ensuring complete victory, without causing any harm or imposing any kind of political control, handed them power and returned," Singh said.

After the World War II, the world saw the largest military surrender in which more than 93,000 soldiers surrendered simultaneously, he said.

"In just 14 days, Pakistan lost one-third of its army and 1/4th of its air force.

"This war proved to be historic in many ways and scholars and historians later called this war as a classic example of a 'Just War'," he said.

During the war, the Indian government's effort to join hands with the world's big countries and the Friendship Treaty with the Soviet Union also proved to be an important step, Singh said.

"When many powerful countries of the world directly refused to support India, Russia's support came in as a morale booster for the country and it was a great diplomatic achievement," he said.

This move created a framework in which the neighbouring opponents were neutralized and many difficulties in the path were eradicated, Singh said.