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Tuesday, Feb 22, 2005

Karnataka

Karnataka

Briefly

State firm on VAT

Bangalore Feb. 21. Karnataka has reiterated its resolve to implement the value added tax (VAT) regime starting April 1, even as a few States have expressed reservations over switching to VAT. The Deputy Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah, who holds the Finance portfolio, told presspersons after a review meeting here today that there are no grounds for any State to oppose VAT. Mr. Siddaramaiah said the State is ready with the rules for the implementation of VAT and clarified that there is no confusion. Several trade bodies have highlighted certain lacunae in the VAT regime and want them sorted out. He said it will become clear by the end of the month or early March which States will be implementing VAT. The Central Empowered Committee on VAT is slated to meet during this period. As of now, only Uttar Pradesh has expressed its unwillingness to implement VAT. With regard to Tamil Nadu seeking the exemption of rice from VAT, he said that if it does so, Karnataka will also seek exemption to avoid diversion of trade.

Panel's report in a month

BANGALORE FEB. 21. The committee of the Legislative Council constituted to probe the MBBS marks scandal in the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS) has been given a month's time to submit its report. This was stated here today by the acting Chairman of the Council, V.R. Sudarshan, while addressing the first meeting of the committee. The committee, headed by K.C. Kondaiah of the Congress, has as its members M.P. Nadagouda, M.R. Tanga, a former professor of medicine, `Mukhyamantri' Chandru, B.A. Hasanabba, B.R. Gurudev and K.T. Srikante Gowda. Mr. Sudarshan said that as the examinations conducted by the university will commence in April/May, the panel has been given a month's time to submit the report. There were allegations that marks allotted in the MBBS examination had been tampered with. Today's meeting of the committee was attended by the Vice-Chancellor of the university R. Chandrashekar; the Registrars K.M. Srinivas Gowda and Y.J. Vishveshvar Reddy; the Secretary for Medical Education, D.V. Prasad; and the officiating Secretary to the Council, K. Jayashankaramurthy.

RTPS unit made operational

Raichur Feb. 21. Normal power generation from the Raichur Thermal Power Station (RTPS) has been restored with the synchronisation of its fifth unit today. The 210 MW unit was shut down on Saturday owing to a leak in a steam tube in the boiler section. The unit is expected to touch peak load on Tuesday, according to RTPS officials.

Plywood seized in raid

BANGALORE FEB. 21. With the assistance of the Jalahalli police, officials of the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) raided the premises of a dealer in plywood on M.E.S. Road at Bahubali Nagar here today and seized a huge quantity of plywood material for unauthorised use of the ISI mark. According to Sections 11 and 12, use of the ISI mark without valid licence and use of the expression as per the ISI are violations of the BIS Act, 1986. Action has been taken against the dealer under the Act, says a press release from the BIS. The bureau has appealed to the public to give information about any misuse of the ISI mark that comes to their notice by dialling 080- 28394955 or 28394956.

Karnataka handbook for sale

BANGALORE FEB. 21. The Karnataka Gazetteer Department has brought out "The Handbook of Karnataka" in English, and it will be available for sale from Wednesday onwards. The book, priced at Rs. 200, can be had from the office of the Chief Editor, Karnataka Gazetteer, 8th Floor, BWSSB Building, Cauvery Bhavan (ph: 22243293 and 22214474).

Summit on SMEs on March 5

BANGALORE FEB. 21. The Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FKCCI), in association with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), New Delhi, and the State Government, is organising a South Zone Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) Summit at The Leela Palace here on March 5. The Chief Minister, N. Dharam Singh, will inaugurate the summit. The Union Minister for Small-scale, Agro and Rural Industries, Mahavir Prasad; the Minster for Industries and Infrastructure, P.G.R. Sindhia; and Industries Ministers from the southern States will participate in the summit. The FKCCI President, Manandi N. Suresh, said that the major topics for discussion at the summit will be strategies and approach for technology and quality improvement in SMEs, financing and strengthening SMEs through strategic and market linkages and World Trade Organisation (WTO) implications on small and medium enterprises. The Deputy Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah, will be the chief guest at the valedictory function, Mr. Suresh said. For details and registration contact M.R. Deshpande, Secretary, FKCCI, Bangalore. (Ph: 080-22261524, 22262355.)

Students told

to work hard

BELLARY FEB. 21. The Veerashaiva Vidyavardhak Sangha's Vijayanagar Institute of Management organised its alumni meet, Nostalgia 2005, here today.

Vinod Nowal, Executive Director of Jindal Vijayanagar Steel Ltd., who inaugurated the event, said positive attitude and hard work would help students achieve success in academics. G. Pompanagouda, President of the sangha, who presided over the function, said students should face various challenges boldly.

Yajman Shantrudrappa, Chairman of the governing council; and N. Mooganagouda, Director of the institute, spoke.

S. Indushekar, Havinal Sharnappa, Gurusidda Swamy and Maheshwaraswamy, office bearers of the sangha; and Farooq Badami of JVSL, were present. C. Nirmala welcomed the gathering. Aritha Kumari proposed a vote of thanks.

Minister to

visit Bidar

Bidar Feb. 21. The Minister for Forests, Gurupadappa Nagamarapalli, will inaugurate the third anniversary celebrations of the Kannada daily, Rajole Sangharsh, at Teglur in Bhalki taluk on Tuesday. Later, he will participate in a meeting of the office-bearers of the District Central Co-operative Bank at Basavakalyan. He will inaugurate a rally of Bharat Scouts and Guides and participate in the inaugural function of the Kanaka Industrial Training Institute on Wednesday.

The Minister for Animal Husbandry and Waqf, Mirajuddin Patel, will attend the anniversary celebrations of the daily. He will visit Veterinary University on Thursday.

AIDS

awareness

BELLARY Feb. 21. Nearly 1,000 people, including senior citizens and students from 60 schools, participated in the run to create awareness on HIV/AIDS here today. The run was organised by Police Gymkhana.

Bheemappa, Assistant Commissioner; Ramanakumar, weight lifter and Vice-President of Sathavana Ispat; S.K.Sharma, Commanding Officer, NCC Group Bellary; flagged off the run.

Jayakumar, Coordinator, Bellary AIDS Prevention Society; Mushtak Ahmed, District Officer for Youth Services and Sports; Bheemaiah, Deputy Superintendent of Police; Arvind Patil and Mahendranath, President and Secretary of Police Gymkhana, gave away prizes to the winners of the run.

Two arrested

BELLARY Feb. 21. The police have arrested two persons and recovered 160 grams of gold ornaments valued at Rs. 92,060 from them.

The police said Mehatab Tyagi and Saleem Ahmed Tyagi of Umari village in Uttar Pradesh were arrested at Hospet bus stand on Saturday. They used to pose as passengers and steal ornaments kept in suitcases.

Murdered

HASSAN FEB. 21. A man was found murdered at Dasarakopplu here on Monday. The police gave the name of the victim as Purushottam, 25, of Dasarakopplu.

The police said Purushottam, who had gone to his sister's newly built house at Dasarkopplu on Sunday night, was found murdered on Monday morning. A case has been registered.

Elected

GULBARGA Feb. 21. F.F. Kale was elected Honorary President of the district unit of the Government Nurses' Association here today.

A press release issued here said Sheela Bansode was elected Chairperson of the association and Madiwalappa S. Nagarahalli as General Secretary.

The other office-bearers are Nirmala (Treasurer), Soubagya and Anusya Sadre (Vice-Presidents), Sulochana Choudhary (Organising Secretary), Nagamma and Easwari (joint secretaries), and Ganga Sinnur (representative, Central Association).

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