News Scan 29/30 Nov 2008

UDUPI November 29, 2008: In the wake of the increase in crime rate, Karnataka’s Home Minister Dr. V.S. Acharya said policemen of the State would be given training in the Scotland Yard in Great Britain & Israel.
Addressing presspersons after the conclusion of the two-day workshop on “Protection of scene of crime” organised by the Udupi District Police, he said that the BJP Government led by the Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa would send a batch of policemen to Israel for commando training. He said as organized crimes had taken a new dimension with the use of sophisticated weapons the state police need to be well equipped and trained to meet these new challenges.
He said his Ministry has also decided to send another team of police to Scotland for training in maintaining law and order and to deal with conventional crimes in the state more efficiently. To tackle infrastructure bottlenecks in the State Capital, he said 31 traffic policemen from the State, including 19 from Bangalore will be sent to Singapore for studying effective traffic management.
After the training, services of 19 out of the 31 trained personnel would be utilised in Bangalore, while the remaining would be deputed to train other policemen on traffic duty in the state.
Dr. Acharya said that Mr Yedddyurappa would inaugurate the crime prevention drive in Bangalore on Monday.
He said a competition has been organized for police constables at the district level. For police personnel of the rank of SI and above, state-level competitions will he held, the Minister said.
A meeting of the Coastal Security Police and the police of the three districts was held in Mangalore a couple of days ago. The meeting discussed various steps to improve security measures in three coastal districts.

Udupi, Nov 30: State home minister Dr V S Acharya laid the foundation stone for the Rs 41 lac Jomlu Thirtha drinking water project, at Kalathur Santhekatte, on Saturday November 29. Addressing the gathering, he said the project would be complete within four months. Roads, drinking water, and electricity, are the first priority of the state government and people have to co-operate, urged Dr Acharya, who is also the district-in-charge minister. Meanwhile, Dr Acharya also laid the foundation stone for the playground at Zilla Panchayat Higher Primary school. He said that a branch of Syndicate Bank would be set up in Kalathur village. Prasanna Kumar, chief executive officer, zilla panchayat, members B N Shankar Poojary, Upendra Nayak, Dr Sunitha Shetty, member, taluk panchayat, philanthropist Albetta Vamana Kamth, and Vasanth Shetty, block education officer, Brahmavar, were present on the occasion.