1 dies, 3 missing, 200 rescued after landslides in DK-Kodagu border village

Bengaluru, Jun 10: JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy on Monday expressed gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for appointing him as Minister of Steel and Heavy Industries in the union government.

The former Karnataka chief minister took oath as the Cabinet Minister in the NDA government headed by Modi on Sunday.

“I am deeply grateful to the Hon’ble Prime Minister, Shri @narendramodi , for appointing me as the Minister of Steel and Heavy Industries in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government, in its third consecutive term,” Kumaraswamy posted on ‘X’.

The 64-year-old Vokkaliga leader had earlier made no secret of his desire to become Agriculture Minister.

Kumaraswamy defeated Venkataramane Gowda of the Congress by a margin of 2,84,620 votes in the Mandya Lok Sabha segment.

Mangaluru: Former minister and KPCC vice-president B Ramanath Rai stated that the NEET-UG should be conducted again and a high-level probe guided by the Supreme Court should be initiated.

“Being a Congress leader from Dakshina Kannada, which is an educational hub with a large number of medical colleges, I have to raise concern towards students and parents.

While a few students were becoming toppers in the exam earlier, this time 67 students scored 720. The grace marks were awarded, though it was not in the NEET guidelines. The govt has been playing with the future of lakhs of students. There should be a transparent and unbiased probe. The Congress will launch a nationwide protest,” he told reporters on Monday.

Stating that the NEET-UG result, which was scheduled to be released on June 14, was released 10 days earlier on June 4, Rai said, “The govt may have announced the results of NEET-UG and the Lok Sabha polls on the same day with the calculations of diverting the people’s attention. While many have made suicide attempts, the issue also has reached the court. Congress demands a high-level probe guided by the Supreme Court.”

Stating that the CET was introduced in Karnataka during the tenure of then-chief minister M Veerappa Moily in 1984, Rai said that a large number of students from the state were able to get admission to medical seats. 

“The previous system of holding medical entrance at the state level should be reintroduced. There is a need for a united fight along with other states for the re-introduction of the CET at the state level. Meanwhile, a fresh NEET-UG exam should be conducted for this year,” he said.

Congress candidate Padmaraj R Poojary, who contested the recent Lok Sabha poll, said a mass protest will be held if the central govt does not respond. He added that none of the students’ unions, except the NSUI, has raised their voice against the NEET-UG controversy.

Mangaluru: The police have arrested five more persons in connection with the stabbing of two BJP workers at Boliyar in Konaje police station limits on June 9 night.

With this, the total arrests in the case have reached 11. According to commissioner of Police Anupam Agrawal, the arrested are Tajuddin alias Sadiq, Sarvan, Mubarak, Ashraf and Tallath. The police had booked a case against 20 persons in the stabbing incident.

Three special teams have been constituted to trace all the absconding. Efforts are on to apprehend the remaining suspects, said the commissioner.

The attack occurred on June 9 night when three BJP supporters were passing a masjid in Boliyar and allegedly shouted provocative slogans. They were apparently observing 'Vijayotsava' to celebrate the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the third term and were on their way home.

Three persons were also injured in the attack. The injured have been identified as Harish (41) and Nandakumar (24) who are undergoing treatment at a private hospital, another injured individual Krishna Kumar has been discharged from hospital.