Security personnel take a look at a vehicle that was damaged following clashes between two groups during a Ganesh Chaturthi procession, at Nagamangala in Mandya district of Karnataka, at night on September 11, 2024.

Prohibitory order has been clamped in Nagamangala town in Mandya district of Karnataka following group clashes during Ganesha immersion procession on September 11.

Deputy Commissioner of Mandya Dr. Kumar said that 40 persons have been taken into custody in connection with the incident, which took place on Wednesday night.

Security has been beefed up in the town and additional forces from Mysuru and Hassan were requisitioned and deployed at sensitive places. The situation is under control, he added.

Sources said there was stone pelting during the Ganesha immersion procession, which escalated into clashes, and several shops were set on fire.

Mandya district in-charge minister N. Cheluvarayaswamy learnt of the clashes between members of two communities and was constantly in touch with the local police to help diffuse the situation. He has apprised Home Minister G. Parameshwara of the developments, and stressed on the need to maintain peace and amity. Mr. Cheluvarayaswamy, who left Bengaluru for Nagamangala, said he would convene a peace meeting to bring the situation to normalcy.

Mandya MP and Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Steel H.D. Kumaraswamy took to X (formerly Twitter) to condemn the violence in Nagamangala.

He accused the local police of failing to ensure protection to the people and alleged that the situation was a fallout of the ‘appeasement policy’ of the Congress. Calling for restoring peace in the town, Mr.’Kumaraswamy cautioned the State Government and the police against using the incident to adopt a domineering approach towards leaders of opposition parties.

New Delhi:

Karnataka Cabinet on Thursday approved the ambitious project of the Bengaluru Skydeck, set to be South Asia’s tallest structure, at a staggering cost of Rs 500 crores. This project will be a major boost to the city’s infrastructure and will provide a 360 degree view of the Indian tech capital.

The tower will be approximately 250 meters high. For reference, the Qutub Minar monument in Delhi stands at 73 meters tall, so something that is 250 meters tall would be over 3 times taller than the Qutub Minar.

CNTC Presidential Tower, believed to be  Bengaluru’s tallest building, has an estimated height of over 160 meters.

“Karnataka government has approved South Asia’s tallest Skydeck. The Skydeck will be built in the city at a cost of Rs 500 crore, which will show a 360 degree view of India’s technology capital,” Karnataka’s minister of law, parliamentary affairs HK Patil said.

The Skydeck, set to be built on the NICE Road in outer Bengaluru, will have world class facilities for tourists and will be connected to the metro rail so that tourists do not face any inconvenience while trying to reach.

Apart from a lavish shopping complex, other facilities included inside the Sky Deck have not been confirmed as of now.

The government initially wanted to build the Skydeck in the middle of Bengaluru but two big challenges arose. First, it was difficult to find 25 acres of land in the middle of the city and second, there are establishments of the Defense Ministry in many areas of Bengaluru city, which raised their objection to such a high tower.

Having an extremely tall-tower in the middle of the city could have posed a threat to civilians, military airports. Therefore, the Skydeck project has been approved for outer Bengaluru.

The Karnataka cabinet has also cleared a two way tunnel from Hebbal to Silkboard Junction in Bangalore at the whopping cost of 1269 thousand crores

Bengaluru:

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has moved the Karnataka High Court against Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot’s decision to sanction his prosecution in an alleged land scam case. Siddaramaiah is facing charges of alleged irregularities in the compensatory site allotment to his wife by the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) during his tenure as chief minister.

While the BJP has been demanding his resignation over the allegations, the Congress has ruled out any such move. The chief minister has also termed the charges as “politically motivated”.

This marks yet another confrontation between a Governor and a state government led by a non-BJP party.

Mr Gehlot had given a go-ahead to the Lokayukta on Saturday to prosecute Siddaramaiah in the alleged land scam case. The Chief Minister filed a petition this morning challenging the decision.

The sanction was based on petitions by three activists – Pradeep Kumar, TJ Abraham, and Snehamayi Krishna. It followed a notice to the Chief Minister, in which the Governor had asked him to explain within seven days why he shouldn’t be prosecuted.

The state cabinet had termed the notice “gross misuse of the Constitutional office” and asked the Governor to withdraw it.

Udupi (Karnataka):

Two children of a family died after drowning in Nandrolli Lake in this district on Saturday. The parents who tried to save them, are undergoing treatment in hospital, police said.

The victims have been identified as Dhanraj Satish (13) and Chhaya Satish (7), who were studying in a school in Vandse, they said.

The incident happened under Kollur Police station limits in Kundapur taluka in Betala village in the district.

According to the police, their parents, Sheela and Satish Madiwala, who tried to rescue them and barely survived from drowning, are in critical condition in a local hospital.

Sheela is reported to be recovering, while Sathish is under critical care. They are undergoing treatment at Kundapur Hospital.

Both children accidentally slipped and fell into the lake. The parents got into the water to rescue their children but in vain, a police official said.

Local officials of the agriculture department also rushed to the spot but could not do much, he said.

The police have registered a case of unnatural death and are investigating.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Bidar:

A clash broke out between two groups of students at an engineering college here over playing a song from actor Prabhas-starrer ‘Adipurush‘ at a cultural event on Wednesday, police sources said.

Soon after the ‘Jai Sriram’ song was played, a section of students took objection to it and clashed with another group in the Guru Nanak Dev Engineering College in Bidar.

According to sources, one student was injured in the fight inside the college auditorium.

Upon learning about the incident, police rushed to the spot.

Later, Karnataka ministers Eshwar Khandre and Rahim Khan also visited the college to diffuse the situation.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Udupi (Karnataka):

A heartbreaking incident in Gopadi village, Kundapur taluk, Udupi district has exposed the vulnerability of families dealing with elderly parents and dependent children suffering from mental health issues.

On Thursday night, neighbours discovered a foul stench emanating from a house in Gopadi village. Concerned about the well-being of the residents, they attempted to contact Jayanthi Shetty, a 62-year-old woman living alone there with her 32-year-old daughter, Pragathi Shetty. However, the calls went unanswered, and they informed the police.

When the police arrived and forced open the door, they made a grim discovery.

Jayanthi Shetty had passed away three days earlier and was lying lifeless in her home.

Beside her, Pragathi Shetty, who suffers from mental illness, was found unconscious. She had spent those three days lying next to her deceased mother.

Jayanthi Shetty battled diabetes and blood pressure issues, while her daughter Pragathi also struggled with diabetes.

Pragathi’s condition had deteriorated to the point where one of her legs had been amputated months ago. The lack of proper care and support likely exacerbated her mental health condition.

Pragathi Shetty was given water to drink and immediately rushed to the hospital. Despite efforts to save her, she tragically passed away on Saturday.

A case has been registered at Kundapur police station.

Authorities are investigating the circumstances surrounding Jayanthi Shetty’s death and Pragathi’s suffering.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Bengaluru:

Four boys drowned to death while swimming in a lake in Karnataka’s Hassan district, an official said on Thursday.

The incident happened at Muttige village in Hassan district.

The victims were identified as Jeevan (13), Satvik (11), Vishwa (12), and Prithwi.

According to the police, the boys, who were playing together during summer vacation, had gone to the lake to swim.

While swimming, they attempted to catch fish in a deep section of the water and drowned.

One of the boys had first started drowning, and the other three who tried to rescue him also found a watery grave.

Ten-year-old Chirag, after seeing his friends drowning, somehow managed to swim to safety and survived.

However, by the time people rushed to the lake, the four boys had already drowned.

The bodies of two boys have been retrieved while a search was underway to trace the other two.
 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Tiptur in Tumakuru district and Arsikere in Hassan district are the prime coconut markets in Karnataka.
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Coconut growers in Karnataka are losing sleep over the continuous fall in copra prices. The prevailing price in the market, they claim, is insufficient even to meet the input cost.

In November 2022, the copra price was around ₹14,500 per quintal. The price started to fall in December 2022. For the last six months, the price has been around ₹8,000 per quintal. As of July 10, the ball copra was sold at ₹7,000 in Channarayapatna market in Hassan district, according to growers.

Ramachandra, a coconut grower from Valagerahalli in Channarayapatna taluk, tends to 500 coconut trees. “Given the cost of cultivation and human labour, farmers should get at least ₹25,000 per quintal of copra. But, human labour and the value of land are never taken into account. The prevailing price is insufficient to meet our regular expenses, forget being able to repay loans,” he said.

Coconut is grown on over 6.46 lakh hectares across Karnataka, and the production of ball copra is around 2.18 lakh metric tonnes per year. The fall in price came up for debate in the Legislature session as well. MLAs representing coconut-growing areas demanded financial incentives for growers in addition to the MSP of ₹11,750 per quintal.

H.R. Naveen Kumar, Hassan district president of Karnataka Prantha Raitha Sangha (KPRS), said the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation (NAFED) had stopped procuring copra. “Copra is not a seasonal crop. Growers sell copra throughout the year. Hence, the NAFED should procure copra,” he said.

In August 2022, the State Government had recommended to the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices to fix a minimum support price of ₹16,730 per quintal. “This price was recommended by the Horticulture Department. The State Government should fix the price at ₹16,730 per quintal for the benefit of farmers,” he said.

The Coconut Growers’ Struggle Committee of Channarayapatna has written to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in support of this demand. Besides that, the committee wants the government to fix the price of copra as per the Dr. M.S. Swaminathan Commission’s report, which suggested a MSP that is 50% more than the average cost of production, announce a special package for coconut growers, and take measures to stop corruption in the procurement of copra through NAFED.

The budget has proposed a revenue surplus of ₹402 crore, breaking the trend of revenue deficit budgets for the past two years

February 17, 2023 10:08 am | Updated 02:59 pm IST

Aided by a buoyant economy, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai presented a ‘please-all’ revenue surplus budget with no tax hike on February 17, less than 100 days ahead of Assembly elections in the State. The budget outlay has, for the first time, crossed the ₹3 lakh crore mark, and is pegged at ₹3,09,182 crore, up from ₹2,65,720 lakh crore in 2022-23.

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Fiscal deficit has been reined in at ₹60,581 crore, or 2.60% of Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP). With borrowings of ₹77,750 crore, the liabilities at the end of 2023-24 are pegged at ₹5,64,896 lakh crore, or 24.20% of GSDP, thereby satisfying all parameters of Karnataka Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2002.

The budget has proposed a revenue surplus of ₹402 crore, breaking the trend of revenue deficit budgets for the past two years, when the budgets did not comply with the Karnataka Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2002.

Also read: Ceiling for interest-free loans to farmers increased from ₹3 lakh to ₹5 lakh

The Budget speech is also being seen as a poll pitch for the ruling BJP and an exercise in “articulating the legacy” of Mr. Bommai. CM Bommai had earlier described the Budget as a “Budget for the voiceless”, with a focus on “farmers, working class, poor, and women”, setting its political tone.

Here are the latest updates:

If dry weather continues till April, then the yield is expected to be around 12 lakh metric tonnes this year
| Photo Credit: K. MURALI KUMAR

There seems to be some good news for mango lovers this season. After two ‘off’ years, this year there might be a good amount of yield, barring any weather variations.

Owing to erratic rains and blight disease, the quality and quantity of the fruit had reduced in the State over the last two years. Last year, it was only around 7-8 lakh metric tonnes, as against an average of 10 – 14 lakh metric tonnes every year.

If dry weather continues till April, then the yield might be around 12 lakh metric tonnes this year, according to senior officials of Karnataka State Mango Development and Marketing Corporation Limited (KSMDMCL). 

Critical factors

There are two factors which play a key role in flower initiation and fruit setting of mangoes, experts say — soil moisture and night temperature. “If there are cold conditions, then there would be good flower initiation. This year, so far, night temperature has been dropping and there has been no rain after December. If the same weather pattern continues, then this will hopefully be an ‘on’ year for mangoes,” said a senior official.

Usually, the fruits from Ramanagaram district, hit the markets first, but this year, the rain in the first week of December hampered flower initiation and hence, mangoes from there would only be available by May. By the end of April, mangoes from other parts of the State like Kolar, Chickballapur districts will be ready to eat. Senthoora, Raspuri and Badami (Alphonso) varieties will be the first ones available. 

Good production

In Karnataka, mangoes are cultivated on around 1.60 lakh hectares of land and Kolar district accounts for around 50% of the total production in the State. With ease of transportation, varieties from other States, like Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, are also expected to come to the markets this year. While the prices were fluctuating between ₹100 and ₹200 last year, this year, good production could also mean that mangoes will be easier on the consumers’ pockets.

Mango Board is also optimistic about conducting the famed Mango Mela in Lalbagh on a grand scale this year, if there is no rise in COVID-19 cases. By the first week of May, mangoes will also be available of Karsiri, the online portal of KSMDMCL where customers can place orders directly from farmers and get them delivered to their doorstep via India Post.