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29.11.2009 Udupi

Udupi, Nov 29: State tourism minister G Janardhan Reddy inaugurated the newly-built ‘Anna Brahma’ dining facility at Sri Krishna Mutt on Sunday November 29.
Tirumala Tirupati temple managing trustee Adikeshavalu Naidu presided over the programme.
State home and district-in-charge minister Dr V S Acharya, MLAs Lalaji R Mendon and Raghupathi Bhat, former MP Vinay Kumar Sorake, city councillor Dinakar Shetty, entrepreneur Pramod Madwaraj, MP D V Sadananda Gowda, and Harshendra Kumar of Sri Kshetra Dharmasthala were present on the dais. More news/photos

Adiudupi-Malpe Road will be widened at Rs. 28 cr.: Minister

Staff Correspondent: The Hindu

Janardhan Reddy says a jetty will be built at St. Mary’s Island

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Yatri Nivas to be built in all pilgrimages of

Udupi district

60,000-km-long roads to be laid in the State under PPP method

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START: Tourism Minister G. Janardhan Reddy at the inauguration of the four-lane Adiudupi-Kadiyali Road in Udupi on Sunday. Home Minister V.S. Acharya is to his left.

Udupi: Tourism Minister G. Janardhan Reddy said on Sunday that the Tourism Department would widen the existing Adiudupi-Malpe Road into a four-lane one at a cost of Rs. 28 crore.

He was speaking at the inauguration of the four-lane Adiudupi-Kalsank Road here.

Mr. Reddy said that his department would give an impetus to tourism sector in Udupi district. It would invest Rs. 10 crore in various projects related to tourism in the district.

A jetty would be constructed at the St. Mary’s Island at a cost of Rs. 2 crore. Of this, Rs. 75 lakh had already been released, he said.

The Malpe beach would be developed at a cost of Rs. 85 lakh.

Yatri Nivas would be built at all pilgrimages in Udupi district. “In addition to promoting helicopter tourism, we will give importance to promoting heritage and coastal tourism,” he said.

The Government had decided to build the necessary infrastructure to promote tourism.

As many as 13 airports would be built in the State. Of them, 10 were in various stages of construction. As many as 10 airstrips, including the one at Udupi, would be constructed in the State. The Government had decided to construct 60,000-km-long roads under public-private partnership (PPP), Mr. Reddy said. Home Minister V.S. Acharya said that the Kadiyali-Manipal Road was being widened at a cost of Rs. 12 crore.

In the second phase, the Syndicate Circle-MIT Road would be upgraded, and the MIT-Athrady Road would be widened in the third phase. A ring-road would be developed in the city at a cost of Rs. 30 crore. The Kanakadasa Road would be widened. The Syndicate Circle-District Offices Complex Road would be upgraded, he said. MP D.V. Sadananda Gowda, MLAs K. Raghupati Bhat, Lalaji Mendon, Lakshminarayana and Gopal Bhandary, MLC Kota Srinivas Poojary, president of Udupi City Municipal Council Dinakar Shetty were among those present.

Udupi: Acharya against interference in temple affairs

Udupi, Nov 23: Home and muzrai minister, Dr V S Acharya, said here that the government plans to bring certain modifications in the rules and regulations governing the formation of the ‘Hindu Religious Endowments Institutions Committees’ to stop political interference in issues concerning the renovation and reconstruction of religious centres and the appointment of priests.
He was speaking after presiding over a function organized at Karamballi village near here, for laying the foundation for the second phase renovation works of the ancient Lord Venkatramana Temple on Sunday November 22.
“Several rounds of discussions have taken place about the constitution of the said committees. There is a proposal to give autonomy to temples that are run by particular castes of tribes. Relating to this issue, a High Court Judge will be the president of this committee at the state level, while at the district level, district judge and deputy commissioner will be in the committees. Several rounds of discussion with officials have been held. As the issue has not been tabled before the cabinet so far, no final decision has been taken as yet,” he explained. He also expressed his desire, having taken over the muzrai department, to make the department more proactive and give added impetus for developing the Hindu centres of faith.
“Our government has tried to help the priests, by increasing their monthly honorarium from the earlier Rs 500 to 1,000,” he noted.
Sri Vishwapriyateertha Swamiji of Admar Mutt, who laid foundation stones for the outer wall and flag post of the temple, said that the temples should remain just the centres of faith. People should come to temples only to prostrate to the Lord and to get their worries and problems solved by seeking divine intervention. In the recent past, we have been hearing about the centres of faith turning into storehouses of fire arms and ammunitions, which is a worrying development, he explained.
Raghupati Bhat said that a budget of Rs 1.75 crore has been prepared for the second phase of renovation of the temple, considered to be one of the most ancient in the region. He said that the renovation and construction of outer wall, flag post, shrines of Lord Anjaneya, Lord Ganapati and Lord Eshwara will be completed by May next year.
Temple managing trustee and MLA, K Raghupati Bhat, entrepreneur, G Shankar, trustees, K Anantaram Upadhya, Dr Ni Bi Vijay Ballal, Purushottam Shetty, Vittal Shetty and others were present. (Daiji)

Joke of the week!

Police Combing operation led to elephant menace at Hebri: reports Sanjevani!

People have poor access to mental health care: Experts

BANGALORE: Access to mental health treatment is a serious issue. Almost 90% of people in rural and 50% in urban areas are deprived of the same, experts have said at a psychosocial meeting here on Thursday.
Inaugurating the 10th world congress of World Association of Psychosocial Rehabilitation (WAPR), home minister V S Acharya said: "Almost 20 million people suffer from mental illness. They find it difficult to fight for their rights because of the stigma attached with it.''
The minister had a solution to this: "Shortage of medical facilities and staff in villages to treat mental illness can be addressed by conducting a three-month course in mental health for general medical practitioners in rural areas. In north Karnataka, the Government Medical hospital will soon be made autonomous for treating mental illness.''
On the occasion, NIMHANS, Director, D Nagaraja, said: "Two per cent of population suffer from severe mental disorder. Unfortunately, even today the treatment gap is 50% in urban area and 90% in rural area. Government had sanctioned Rs 120 cr in the past budget and in present financial budget Rs 1000 cr is sanctioned but is not unable to increase the accessibility for treatment."
President, WAPR International, Dr Michael Madianos, said: "In more than 68 countries, 78% of the population have access to less than one psychiatrist. In South Asian and African countries, 89% of the population have less than one psychiatrist for one lakh population."
Psycho Social Rehabilitation, WHO 2002 report shows, globally, 154 million are affected with schizophrenia, 91 million by alchololism, 16 million by drugs, 25 to 50 million by Alzheimer and epilepsy and significant number of them suffer from depression and thousands of individuals commit suicide and majority of those who commit suicide are from developed countries. (TOI)

Cabinet Meeting: 11.11.2009

Revised scheme gives pension to newcomers
Express News Service

BANGALORE: The state government has evolved a new pension scheme for its employees appointed on or after April 1, 2006. The government had scrapped the pension scheme for its employees appointed on or after April 1, 2006, considering the burden it was putting on the state exchequer. The decision had caused lot of resentment among government employees and they had been putting pressure on the government to address the issue.
The state Cabinet on Tuesday approved the new scheme. According to the scheme, employees have to contribute some portion of their salary (not more than 10 percent) every month towards pension fund and the government would also contribute an equal share. At the time of retirement, the pension would be fixed for employees based on the amount accrued in their respective accounts. Home Minister V S Acharya said that the employees, if they wished, can also contribute the amount for the period between April 2006 till date and the government would provide matching contribution. The Cabinet also decided to provide bicycles to 6.7 lakh students studying in 8th standard. Students using free bus pass are not eligible for getting the cycles.
Other decisions of the Cabinet
* Government to take over the evening college in Chikkaballapur being run by town municipality and convert it into a day college for women.
* Permission for Belgaum and Mangalore corporations to outsource city cleaning and garbage collection in some wards, to private players
* Karnataka Leather Industry Development Corporation to be renamed as Dr Babu Jagjeevan Ram Leather Industry Development Corporation. However, the brand name Lidkar will continue.
* To construct 1,082 Anganavadi buildings at a cost of RS 40 crore
* To provide Rs 40 crore for B-Trac programme in Bangalore
* Approval for a Rs 24-crore project to provide Cauvery water to Male Mahadeshwara Hills
* To build a link road at a cost of Rs 14.2 crore at Hiriyuru to connect the Bidar-Srirangapatna state highway with national highway number 4.

Bangalore IT Biz 2009

Bangalore, Nov 11 (IANS): Global meltdown and the flash floods in north Karnataka have forced the organisers of BangaloreIT.Biz 2009, a premier IT event, to shift the venue to a hotel from the sprawling Bangalore Palace grounds and shorten it by two days.
"As a sympathetic gesture to the flood-hit people in the state, we have decided to keep the BangaloreIT.Biz 2009 low-profile," said Karnataka IT and biotechnology minister K. Subramanya Naidu Wednesday at the event's inaugural function.
"We are also aware of the difficulty the IT industry has been facing due to the impact of global recession on outsourcing," he said at the 12th edition of the event, which will now be held over three days.
State Home Minister V.S. Acharya substituted for Kamat and Naidu inaugurated the exhibition on behalf of Yeddyurappa.
Azim Premji of global software major Wipro and Cisco chief technology officer Padma Warrier were present at the opening ceremony .
The event's partner country, Chile is represented by its economic ministry head Mario Castillo, who is leading a delegation of that country's investment promotion board.
About 800 delegates, 100 exhibitors and 90 speakers from diverse industry verticals are participating in the three-day event, which has "ICT for a billion people" as its focal theme.
"Though the event has been kept simple in light of austere measures adopted by the state government for rehabilitating the flood-hit people, we have not diluted the importance of the IT industry," said state IT Secretary Ashok Kumar Manoli.
Besides Indian IT bellwethers Infosys, Wipro and TCS and multinationals such as IBM, Intel, Dell and Cisco, the governments of Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Assam and Tamil Nadu are also participating in the trade show.
"About 10 start-ups will showcase technologies and business ideas to venture capitalists and industries," Manoli said. Read more...

10.11.2009

09.11.2009

L K Advani:Birthday wishes

New Delhi: 6th November 2009

Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa visited Rajghat in New Delhi on Nov 6 and paid respects to father of the nation Mahatma Gandhi. Home minister Dr V S Acharya, State BJP president D V Sadananda Gowda were present.

Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa called on the senior BJP leader Murali Manohar Joshi in New Delhi on Nov 6. Dr V S Acharya, DV Sadananda Gowda, V Dhanajaya Kumar, Ganesh Karnik were also present.

Photos: Daijiworld

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