A recent seminar conducted by the department to discuss the issue, after the High Court of Karnataka directed the department to consult all stakeholders, ended on a dismal note with some participants walking out.

However, the department is now in the process of compiling a report based on the seminar to be submitted to the High Court on May 29.

At the seminar, a section of the participants walked out alleging that the department officials were in cahoots with the private school lobby.

“The department officials were pre-empting the discussion at the seminar and it defeats the objective of the High Court order. It was neither inclusive nor representative,” said educationist V.P. Niranjan Aradhya.

At the other end of the spectrum, members of the joint action committee of private schools claimed that any move to monitor private schools would “curb their freedom”.

However, Commissioner for Public Instruction S.R. Umashankar claimed that there was no difference of opinion among the stakeholders. “The report is in the draft stage and we have received several recommendations and suggestions from the stakeholders concerned,” he added.

Regulatory mechanism

An official of the department on the condition of anonymity said that there was a need to establish a commission or a committee (consisting of various stakeholders) to monitor and regulate the fee structure and other issues related to private unaided schools.

“There is a powerful private school lobby and the schools have crossed all limits and are exploiting parents,” the official admitted. However, any decision on this would have to be taken by the High Court after the department submitted its report, based on the outcome of the seminar.

Meanwhile, L.R. Shivarame Gowda, chairperson of the Joint Action Committee of Private Schools, defended the need to increase the fees annually.

He said: “The increase in fees is routine as prices of all commodities such as stationery and diesel have increased. Moreover, salaries need to be revised annually and we need to renovate infrastructure from time to time.”

Suggesting a way to solve the issue, he said that there could be three or four categories of schools based on infrastructure and quality of schools and fee structure could be fixed accordingly.

He also said that “market forces would prevail” and parents were free to make their decision. “The department can take action on any violations,” he added.

Article source: http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/karnataka/report-on-exorbitant-fees-getting-ready/article4746829.ece

Training classes

Participating as the chief guest at the training classes for the TRS cadres at Banswada on Friday, Mr. Chandrasekhar Rao asked the cadres to introspect themselves whether the rule of Andhra parties was necessary in Telangana.

Calls for debate

He also suggested to them to raise this question in a big way in all villages to create a huge debate.

Focusing his criticism mainly on TDP he said, “Suppose if the TDP comes to power,will it make Telangana leader as Chief Minister of the State. If not the Chief Minister post, will it make a Telangana person as the party president”, he said. Chandrababu would never come to power even if he walked the entire State on his knees, he remarked.

Attacking the Congress the TRS chief said that it was used to a stereotype dialogue of “it is we who would give Telangana”, but it miserably failed to keep its promise. The Congress-led UPA Government had withdrawn its announcement on Telangana with a conspiratorial plan.

Coming down heavily on the media Mr. Chandrasekhar Rao said that the “Andhra media” was spewing venom on Telangana agitation and therefore as part of its plot they did not highlight the survey on electoral prospects of the TRS.

He said had the survey said that “Andhra parties” were going to fare good in coming elections they would have been put on the top of the front pages. MLA Pocharam Srinivas Reddy appealed to the people to give a thumping victory to the party. Telangana will be possible only with KCR and that was why he joined the TRS, he said.

K.V. Ramanachary, IAS (Rtd) officer, Sambaiah of Kakatiya University and MLA E. Ravinder Reddy also spoke.

Article source: http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/andhra-pradesh/kcr-dares-naidu-to-introduce-t-resolution-at-mahanadu/article4749780.ece

PG medical

With six days to go for the completion of admissions to postgraduate medical courses in the State, the government has decided to continue the consensual agreement entered into between the government and private unaided educational institutions for admissions in 2013-14.

The Supreme Court, in its order on May 13, said that the last date for admissions for PG medical courses will be May 31.

Seeking extension of the last date for admissions, the government has filed a petition and it would come up for hearing on Monday, according to Dr. Patil said.

Counselling for postgraduate medical and dental seats for candidates who have qualified in the Postgraduate Entrance Test (PGET) conducted by the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS) will begin on May 26.

On May 26, counselling will be held for PG dental seats and on May 27 and 28 for medical seats, Dr. Patil told presspersons.

Seat sharing, fee

As many as 7,548 candidates who wrote the PGET of RGUHS on March 3, qualified for counselling for medical courses, while 1,081 students qualified for dental counselling.

Last year’s seat sharing ratio and fee would continue this year also, Dr. Patil said.

Dr. Patil said that the government would implement the Karnataka Professional Educational Institutions (Regulation of Admission and Fixation of Fee) Act, 2006, from 2014-15.

“It is difficult to implement the Act this year on account of shortage of time. We are going to implement the Act from next year,” Dr. Patil said. Under the 2006 Act, the government has to constitute a Fee Fixation Committee headed by a retired High Court judge and an Admission Regulatory Committee headed by a former vice-chancellor of a university, for fixation of fee and as well as monitoring admissions.

Both committees would be set up before December 31, 2013, to hear grievances of private college managements, Dr. Patil and Mr. Deshpande said.

Article source: http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/karnataka/counselling-for-pg-dental-and-medical-courses-from-may-26/article4746827.ece

Mr Patil (65), a Lingayat MLC for the third term, is a law graduate, whose present term will end in 2016. He is the only member from the Upper House to get a ministerial berth as of now. He had served as Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council during the former Bharatiya Janata Party Government.

With Mr Patil’s induction, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has complied with the rule of the Legislative Council that only a member of that House can be nominated as the leader of the ruling party in the Council. Although senior MLCs Veeranna Mathikatti and C.Motamma were also trying hard to get into the Ministry, Mr.Patil was the final choice.

Apart from the Chief Minister, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) President G.Parameshwara and senior congress leaders such as Veeranna Mathikatti, M.V.Rajashekaran, Union Minister Rehman Khan and a host of the newly inducted ministers were present at the ceremony. BJP MLCs Sadananda Gowda, who is also the former chief minister, and Lehar Singh were also present.

Following the induction of Mr.Patil, Mr.Siddaramaiah now has a 30-member cabinet, including himself. In the first round of the ministry formation, the chief minister had inducted 28 ministers, 20 of the Cabinet rank and eight of ministers of state rank, with independent charge. Under the provisions of the constitution, Mr. Siddaramaiah, including himself can have 34 members in his cabinet and following Mr. Patil’s induction there are four more vacancies.

Speaking to media persons after being sworn in, Mr. Patil said his priority was to expedite work on irrigation projects in the Krishna basin. “The Krishna river is the lifeline of Uttar Kannada and covers 105 taluks. Although Karnataka has an allocation of 130 tmc of Krishna water, we have not utilised even a single tmc so far,” he said.

Asserting that he was ready to accept any portfolio allotted to him by the chief minister, Mr. Patil said he would work towards fulfilling his party’s promises made in the manifesto.

Thanking the party high command and chief minister for including him in the ministry, Mr. Patil appealed to the high command to ensure more representation to MLCs in the cabinet.

Article source: http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/karnataka/siddaramaiah-inducts-srpatil-into-ministry/article4749794.ece

On a rainy and blustering evening in Manhattan, Ms. Barla, who has been described as the “Iron Lady of Jharkhand” for her fearless opposition to the infringement of adivasi rights was presented with the first ever Ellen L. Lutz Indigenous Rights Award by Cultural Survival, an indigenous peoples’ rights organisation.

After an eloquent address at the reception in her honour at New York’s National Museum of the American Indian, Ms. Barla told The Hindu that she doubted whether this international recognition would make a difference to the situation in Jharkhand, but added that those who opposed the adivasis’ struggle to preserve “jal, jungle, jameen” may now have pause to consider why the U.S. had thus honoured their cause.

The self-made scribe, who rose from humble beginnings to become the voice of the Munda tribe and other deprived communities, has reason to worry about the situation back home. In all Ms. Barla is said to have nine cases foisted on her by the government and people associated with the award indicated that she had faced obstacles in leaving Jharkhand for this event in the U.S.

On October 18 last year, she was jailed for two months for demanding job cards for the rural poor in Angada block under the NREGA scheme, a charge that stemmed from a 2006 case against her.

Although she got bail two days later, she was immediately re-arrested in relation to two other cases, where she was accused of disrupting law and order during a protest. Keeping up her journalistic mission, she wrote from her jail cell that the “looters of the state have become well-wishers in the eyes of the government.”

On that occasion Nagri residents and activists stepped up the demand for her release and prominent intellectuals, including Noam Chomsky, Aruna Roy and Nikhil Dey, signed a petition “strongly condemning [her] unjust incarceration… and demand that the false cases against her be dropped and that she be released immediately.”

Terry Odendahl of Global Greengrants Fund, who nominated Ms. Barla for the award, reflected on the Jharkhand police’s attempts to silence her protests when she said, “Dayamani’s jailing was a reminder to civil rights activists across the nation of the unfriendly role the Jharkhand state is taking towards drivers of democratic change.”

Ms. Barla’s determination to keep the forces of India’s modern capitalist machine from eating into adivasi land clearly caught the eye of the award selection committee, which picked her out of a group of nearly 60 nominees.

Alongside her colleagues from the Adivasi Moolvasi Astitva Raksha Manch, Ms. Barla in 2008, succeeded in preventing global steel and mining industry behemoth ArcelorMittal, from proceeding with the establishment of a $8.79 billion steel plant based on the proposed seizure of 12,000 acres of land and the displacement of 40 villages, not to mention the likely ecosystem and indigenous livelihoods damage.

In an article written at the time she was quoted saying, “We will not allow the ArcelorMittal Company to enter into the villages because one cannot be rehabilitated once displaced. The lands which we cultivate belong to our ancestors; therefore we will not leave it.”

Since 2010, she has also led numerous protests in Nagri village, nearly 16 km from Ranchi, against the Jharkhand government’s efforts to acquire over 200 acres of farmland to set up IIM, IIT and National Law School campuses.

On Thursday, a captivated audience of human rights lawyers, academics, and members of indigenous communities from across the world listened as Ms. Barla said that in the span of 12 years, the Jharkhand government had signed 104 MoUs with corporate, 98 per cent of which were mining interests with a strong demand for natural resources in the region.

“If the government gives land for mining to all companies, Jharkhand will lose its environment and the land will become infertile,” Ms. Barla explained, adding that in 10 years, the population of displaced people would increase four-fold, permanently destroying indigenous habitats and livelihoods.

Article source: http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/world-listens-to-iron-lady-of-jharkhand-in-the-big-apple/article4747354.ece

Investors not confident

Political uncertainty, particularly in the backdrop of agitations over statehood issue, has kept away investors from participating in the projects in Andhra Pradesh.

It was bad time for the sector in Karnataka because of poor governance till recently, the national secretary general of ASSOCHAM D.S. Rawat told a press conference while releasing the study paper here on Friday. The investors were not confident and, hence, did not come forward to invest in both the States, Mr. Rawat said.

The study revealed that only 31 out of 62 port projects launched in the public private partnership (PPP) mode at a cost of Rs. 82,403 crore were in operation till April 30. There were 21 projects in construction stage, eight under bidding and one each were cancelled or merely had expression of interest from the proposed concessionaire.

No projects in Karnataka

While not a single project was completed or taken up for construction in Karnataka, there were three projects that were completed for Rs. 1,425 crore and three others under construction for Rs. 20,090 crore in Andhra Pradesh.

However, there were no more projects in Andhra Pradesh at the bidding stage, but Karnataka had three out of eight.

The study showed that live projects were high in Gujarat where 12 of them were already completed and four were under construction, but their implementation was not good. However, Odisha was the most happening State in the sector as it showed political will.

Odisha’s share in total cost of completed projects was 17 per cent though Gujarat topped the table with 52 per cent. Both the States achieved the expected addition in the capacity to handle cargo up to 2011.

Revamp of strategy

The ASSOCHAM suggested to the government to quickly revamp its strategy for development of ports to attract maximum private resources for road infrastructure, coastal shipping and inland waterways.

Article source: http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/andhra-pradesh/port-projects-lagging-behind-in-ap/article4747532.ece

The constituency with seven Assembly segments — Medchal, Secunderabad Cantonment (SC), Malkajgiri, Qutbullapur, Kukatpalli, Uppal and L.B. Nagar — is being eyed not only because it has a large chunk of middle class population from other regions of the State, a rough estimate putting it at about 70 percent, but its fairly cosmopolitan outlook.

If Congress, Telugu Desam and YSRC are looking at this large section of migrants, TRS appears to be banking on the natives. The Telangana party’s calculation is that it could cash in on this committed vote bank while the other parties would have to fight for the vote share of the migrant population, if they continue to dilly- dally on Telangana issue.

Some of the ticket aspirants such as A. Revanth Reddy of Telugu Desam have already started nurturing the constituency even while lobbying with the party president N. Chandrababu Naidu. Mr. Reddy, who now represents Kodangal, plans to leave this Assembly segment in Mahabubnagar district to his brother and switch over to Malkajgiri parliamentary constituency and try his luck.

An ambitious politician, he also made his mark as MLC before winning in Assembly elections in 2009. Besides the traditional vote bank of the party, he is also banking on the way Mr. Naidu appears to have managed to win back the hearts of the middle classes as an able administrator. Another TDP MLA from Medak, M. Hanumantha Rao, who is a native of Alwal, too is keen on throwing his hat in the ring, again citing the same reasons.

In Congress camp too there are many who are waiting in the wings, though the sitting MP and Union Minister, Sarvey Satyanarayana is unlikely to shift, having a strong base in the constituency.

Prominent among those who are in the race is Karthik Reddy, son of the Home Minister, P. Sabitha Indra Reddy. The young leader has already made forays into the constituency, although mired in controversy.

Not to be left behind, YSRC leaders like J. Pratap, vice-chairman of the Secunderabad Cantonment Board have also lined up. As elections come closer, Malkajgiri may not only turn out to be one of the most sought after Lok Sabha constituency but could witness a keen battle.

Article source: http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/andhra-pradesh/malkajgiri-ls-seat-a-hot-favourite-for-many/article4747525.ece

The party is indeed hard-pressed to find replacements for Manda Jagannath (Nagarkurnool), G. Vivekanand (Peddapalli) and S. Rajaiah (Warangal) after their crossover to the TRS in June first week. All the three seats, incidentally, are reserved for the SCs.

Leaders admit that it is not an easy task to find replacement given the sensitive divide between the Mala and Madiga sub-castes among the SCs. Interestingly, Madigas outnumber the Malas in the region.

They say defection of Dr. Vivekanand would be a setback to the Congress, as he has nurtured his constituency well. The party lacks a strong dalit leader to take on the sitting MP. The choice may fall either on former Karimnagar ZP Chairman Lakshman Kumar or Government Whip Arepalli Mohan. Mr. Mohan belongs to Karimnagar Parliamentary constituency and has developed a good rapport with the people.

In Warangal, the choice could be between former Minister B. Arogyam and Pulla couple –former MLC Pulla Padmavati or her husband and Congress leader Pulla Bhaskar.

The couple were with the YSR Congress for some time before returning to the Congress fold.

There is a speculation that Mr. Rajaiah, despite joining the TRS may not get the Warangal ticket as the TRS chief might choose Kadiyam Srihari for the Warangal Parliamentary constituency. Mr. Rajaiah may have to settle for Manakondur Assembly ticket as it is his native place.

In Nagarkurnool too, the task of choosing a suitable candidate is a difficult task. As of now, former MP Mallu Ravi is being considered as the Congress party’s candidate in place of Dr. Jagannath, who is expected to be the TRS nominee from the same seat.

Article source: http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/andhra-pradesh/congress-scouting-for-nominees-for-reserved-ls-seats-in-telangana/article4747523.ece

Even as the Army did not issue any statement about the firing on the LoC, Defence spokesman, Naresh Vig, confirmed exchange of small arms fire in Nowgam sector. “Small arms fire exchanged in Nowgam sector from 6.30 p.m to 7.30 p.m.”, he said when reached by telephone. He, however, denied that firing had taken place on the LoC in Uri sector.

Sources said that Lance Naik Rakesh Kumar of 3 Grenadiers was killed in an IED blast in Krishna Ghati sector of Poonch in Jammu division.

Article source: http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/brigadier-injured-in-pak-firing-at-loc-in-uri-sector/article4747095.ece

To clinch the title, Karnik correctly named Chimborazo as the mountain in Ecuador that represents the farthest point from the Earth’s centre.

Karnik, whose parents emigrated to the U.S. as software professionals from Karnataka, got all five questions right in his one-on-one contest with Conrad Oberhaus (13), the runner-up.

Karnik, a native of Norfolk, south of Boston, is a 7th grader at King Philip Regional Middle School.

The national competition this time round turned out to be dominated by the Indian-Americans even as in the finals held in Washington, eight of the 10 finalists, who competed among the four million participants for the competition, were Indian-Americans.

— PTI

Article source: http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/world/indianamerican-wins-national-geographic-bee/article4747075.ece