World Kannada Conference at Belgaum in Jan or Feb 2011: CM

Source: http://www.daijiworld.com/news/news_disp.asp?n_id=88680

Bangalore, Nov 1: The long-delayed World Kannada Conference proposed to be held in the border district of Belgaum will be held in January or February next year, chief minister B S Yeddyurappa announced on Monday November 1.
     
Inaugurating the colourful Children’s festival and gala Kannada Rajyothsava celebrations organized by the State Education Department at the Kanteera Stadium in Bangalore, the chief minister said it was necessary to strive for the emotional integration of the state just as the geographical unification.

People of Karnataka must always be vigilant and ceaselessly work for the protection of state’s borders, language, water and culture. All sections of society must be allowed to have a share in the state’s progress and development, he said.
     
Yeddyurappa, who released balloons and pigeons to mark the celebrations of 54th Statehood, pointed out that the government’s developmental efforts during the last two and half years had helped Karnataka to earn the second rank over the country in the implementation of the 20-point economic programme.
     
''The government will continue its efforts to emerge as the number one state in the country,” he said emphasizing the need for all-round progress in the education department. It was necessary to ensure that the educated youth were able to stand on their own legs and become self-reliant, he said.
     
The chief minister said the Global Investors’ Meet organized by the government in the month of June had resulted in the signing of as many as 383 MoUs involving a total investment of Rs 3.93 lac crore. The GIM’s success was followed up with the signing of another 342 MoUs involving an additional investment of Rs 91,519 crore.

The total investments generated on account of GIM was Rs 4.85 lac crore, he said pointing out that as many as 137 companies involving an investment of Rs 2.43 lac crore had already started preliminary works on implementation of the projects. ''We are confident that the state will overtake all other states in industrial development in the coming years,” he claimed.
     
He said the districts in northern Karnataka, which were known as Hyderabad-Karnataka and Mumbai-Karnataka, were likely to be renamed as ''Kalyana Karnataka” and ''Swabhimani Karnataka” respectively to signify the self-respect in the state. Names of noted Kannada literatteurs and personalities would be given to some of the districts and prominent places, he indicated.
     
Though Kannada had been accorded its rightful status as a classical language, the chief minister lamented that the state’s official language was yet to get the facilities and benefits commensurate with its status. He said the patience of the state’s people should not be tested.
     
Primary and secondary education minister Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri, who presided over the function, said the government was committed to its policy of according primacy to Kannada and compulsory education in Kannada as the medium of instruction. The matter was pending before the Supreme Court.
While all languages must be respected and given due encouragement, Kannada should enjoy primacy in the state, he said urging teachers and education department officials must strive to inculcate the love of language among the students and also prevent brain drain.
     
Karnataka’s Planning Commission deputy chairman Ramachandra Gowda, former minister, and Public Instruction Department commissioner K R Shashidhar were among the dignitaries who participated in the function.
     
Over 1200 students from as many as 125 schools provided variety entertainment and cultural programmes. Students from 25 schools in the city staged a march-past.

Karnataka plans to develop 250 toll roads

Source: http://mangalorean.com/news.php?newstype=broadcast&broadcastid=125794

BANGALORE, May 22, 2009: Karnataka Government on Friday decided to develop more than 250 state highways and major district roads with private participation and levy toll on road users.

The State Cabinet meeting presided by Chief Minister B. S. Yeddyurappa fixed toll rates for the four-lane and two-lane roads for various category of motor vehicles.

Minister for Rural Development & Panchayat Raj Shobha Karandlaje told reporters here that the basic toll rate per kilometre on a four-lane road for cars, jeeps, light motor vehicles, vans would be 65 paise and on two-lane roads it would be fifty paise.

Mini-buses and mini goods vehicles will have to pay Rs 1.05 per km for using four-lane road and 75 paise for two-lane. The toll would be Rs 2.20 for buses and trucks on four-lane road and Re 1.50 on two-lane road, she said adding that heavy construction machinery vehicles would be charged Rs 3.45 per km on four-lane road and Rs 2.25 on two-lane roads. Toll will be collected on roads where more than 10,000 vehicles ply, she said.

However, toll will not be collected on existing roads, Karandlaje said.
At an investor’s meet held in January 28, 2009, the Government had decided to develop a Core Road Network (CRN) of 66,000 km at an estimated cost of Rs. 1,77,000 crore under the public-private partnership module in the next six years (2009-15).

In the first phase, it was decided to upgrade 10,000 km of State highways and major district roads (MDRs) apart from 12,600 km of village roads in the first phase. The estimated cost for development of 10,000 km of State highways and MDRs is Rs. 31,400 crore. About 40,000 km of roads will be developed in the second phase at an estimated cost of Rs. 1.08 lakh crore and 16,000 km in the third phase with an investment of Rs. 36,800 crore.

Officials said the 66,000-km CRN would connect Bangalore with other IT hubs such as Mysore, Hassan, Davangere, Hubli, Dharwad, and Mangalore. The objective of the CRN was to promote industrial and urban development and integrate economically backward and remote areas.
All these roads would be toll roads, and toll booths would be established every 50 km. The toll would be based on the rate fixed by the National Highways Authority of India, he said.

Agricultural non-transport vehicles, two and three-wheelers and local short-distance vehicles used only for passenger transport would be exempted from payment of toll. Service roads would be provided for local traffic, he said.

Mr. Yeddyurappa said at present the State had a road network of nearly 2.09 lakh km: 3,978 km of national highways, 20,738 km of State highways, 37,973 km of district roads and 1,47,212 km of village roads.

The CRN would be an all-weather, smooth road network with a minimum two-lane carriageway and feeder roads and four to six lanes near urban settlements.

The roads would be developed under various PPP models such as build operate, transfer; design, build, operate, transfer; and viability gap funding. The developer would be given one acre of land for every five km of road developed for business activities. Land acquisition and development would be undertaken by private entrepreneurs.

A State-level task force headed by the Chief Minister had been constituted to monitor the progress of roads, and committees headed by the deputy commissioners had been constituted for fixation of compensation rates for land acquired for roads.

Farmers to get credit at 3 pc from nationalised banks

BANGALORE: The Karnataka government on Friday decided to ensure credit to small and marginal farmers at three per cent interest rate through nationalised banks, but with a loan cap of Rs 50,000.

The state Cabinet chaired by Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa approved the extension of the subsidised interest rate scheme for farm credit to nationalised banks with effect from April 1 last and decided to earmark Rs 250 crore towards reimbursement of the difference interest amount to banks. The Government has decided to disburse crop loans at three per cent rate of interest in the State budget for 2009-10.

Addressing presspersons after the Cabinet meeting, Minister for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Shobha Karandlaje said that it has been estimated that about six to seven lakh farmers avail credit from nationalised banks in the state.

About 13 lakh farmers in the state who get credit from cooperative institutions already enjoy the low interest rate credit, she said.

Farmers’ loans up to Rs 50,000 would be eligible for the low interest rate. Continuing its populist schemes, the government decided to extend the scheme of awarding cash incentives to meritorious higher secondary boy students hailing from SC and ST communities, a benefit already given to their girl counterparts to enable them continue higher studies.

The Centre had instructed nationalised banks to grant crop loans at the interest rate of seven per cent. The State Government would reimburse to banks the difference of the amount which would be Rs. 1000 crore in 2009-10.The cooperative institutions would disburse crop loans at rate of interest of three per cent to small and marginal farmers. The cooperatives had disbursed Rs. 3,290.3 crore in 2008-09 for 13,17,983 farmers in the State. Cooperatives are expected to disburse Rs. 3,500 crore loans to farmers in 2009-10.

Cooperation Minister Laxman Savadi said elections to various cooperative bodies, including Karnataka Milk Federation, would be held between May 23 to July 27 in different phases.