Bangalore

A local court has ordered framing of charges against French consular official Pascal Mazurier and his trial for the alleged sexual assault of his minor daughter.

“Session Court for Offences against Children judge Shubha Gowdar Monday ordered that there is sufficient material for framing charges against the accused (Mazurier) and to go for trial in the sexual assault case,” special public prosecutor B.T. Venkatesh told IANS Tuesday.

Gowdar posted the case Jan 24 for framing of charges against Mazurier.

Nova Specialty Surgery, a part of the city-based Nova Medical Centres, Monday re-branded as Nova Specialty Hospital to drive its next phase of growth.

“The re-branding of the 13 multi-specialty and short-stay surgical centres will consolidate us into a healthcare brand and facilitate our next growth phase, with each centre functioning as a fully-equipped, standalone hospital,” Nova chief executive Suresh Soni told reporters here.

The Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) supplied 13 types of riveted structural assemblies and seven types of welded fuel tanks, including the critical cryogenic stage, for the Indian space agency’s rocket launched successfully Sunday to inject an advanced communication satellite into orbit.

“Our aerospace division contributed significantly to the successful launch of the geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle (GSLV-D5) by integrating and delivering all the four booster rockets and the structure of the spacecraft (GSAT-14),” HAL chairman R.K. Tyagi said in a statement here Monday.

Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh Monday expressed displeasure over the working of several ministers in the party’s government in Karnataka and cautioned Chief Minister Siddaramaiah against landing the party in controversies by hasty decisions, party sources said.

Digvijaya Singh, who is in charge of party’s Karnataka affairs, expressed these views at a meeting of the party’s coordination committee here, the sources said.

He was upset that Bangalore roads continue to be pot-holed filled with no repair taking place even though monsoon is over, they said.

Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, has urged Indians not to neglect their ancient tradition, as it is a source of rich information about emotion and mind that the world needs.

The Dalai Lama suggested it should be a part of learning.

“While you are studying or learning or training, as an Indian you should not neglect about thousand-year-old your tradition. That is very-very important. Now it has become quite clear, ancient Indian thoughts is a source of rich information about emotion and about mind. That’s what whole world needs,” he said in the town of Bylakuppe on Friday.

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s image of a politician keen on keeping ‘tainted’ people out of his council of ministers has taken a beating with the induction D.K.Shivakumar and R. Roshan Baig in the cabinet early this week. Both face corruption charges.

Siddaramaiah, who took over as chief minister May 13 after the Congress returned to power defeating the Bharatiya Janata Party in the May assembly elections, has been on the defensive since Jan 1 when Shivakumar and Baig were made cabinet ministers as he had resisted pressure for over seven months to induct them in the cabinet.

The annual Travel and Tourism Trade Fair (TTF) began here Friday, with 175 participants from India and abroad showcasing top destinations for holidays and business travel.

As part of India’s biggest network of travel fairs, the three-day event has pavilions representing 19 Indian states and nine countries.

“The fair offers fascinating glimpses of tourist destinations across India and the world over,” Fairfest Media chief executive Sanjiv Agarwal said on the occasion.

The Karnataka government Friday decided to release Rs.300 crore as additional support price to sugarcane farmers for this fiscal.

“The support price of Rs.150 per tonne is in addition to the minimum price of Rs.2,500 per tonne the state government has fixed for sugar mills to pay farmers,” state Sugar Minister Prakash B. Hukkeri told reporters here.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah announced the support price in the 10-day winter session of the state legislative assembly, held last month at Belgaum in the northern region of the state, about 500 km away from here.

Scholarships worth more than Rs. 1 crore were distributed among nearly 1,200 meritorious students from three districts by the Karnataka Zakat and Charitable Trust (KZCT) here on Tuesday.

A total of 1,799 students — from Dakshina Kannada, Udupi and Uttara Kannada — studying in pre-university who have secured 70 per cent or more; degree students who have secured at least 65 per cent, and professional courses (medicine, nursing, pharmacy, engineering, law and postgraduate students) who scored at least 60 were chosen for the scholarship.

Karnataka BJP leaders late Thursday met former leader B.S. Yeddyurappa here and formally asked him to return to the party, over a year after he quit to head the Karnataka Janata Party.

State Bharatiya Janata Party president Pralhad Joshi, Bangalore South MP H.N. Ananth Kumar, former chief minister Jagadish Shettar and former state unit chief K. S. Eshwarappa and others met Yeddyurappa at a posh hotel and discussed details of the merger of KJP with BJP.

Joshi told reporters after the meeting that Yeddyurappa has agreed to merge KJP with BJP.

It was a thorough professional performance by Karnataka as they crushed hosts Delhi by eight wickets to end their Ranji Trophy group league engagements as table toppers with 38 points from eight games.

The visitors got some nice match practice ahead of their quarterfinal match, as they chased down a paltry victory target of 115 in 29 overs after dismissing Delhi for 201 in 77.4 overs. This was Karnataka’s fifth outright win this season.

Karnataka’s Congress Chief Minister Siddaramaiah Wednesday inducted party legislators D.K. Shivakumar and Roshan Baig to his ministry, ignoring corruption charges against the two and sparking dissatisfaction among many aspirants.

Shivakumar, a six-time member of the Karnataka assembly, is facing illegal mining charges and Baig, also a six-time lawmaker, is charged with land grab. Both have denied the allegations and accused their opponents of “conspiracy” to prevent them from becoming ministers.

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah Wednesday expanded his cabinet, inducting party legislators D.K. Shivakumar and R. Roshan Baig. For over seven months, the chief minister resisted pressure from them to be made ministers as they face corruption charges.

While Shivakumar faces charges of illegal mining, Baig is accused of land grabbing.

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah Wednesday expanded his cabinet, inducting party legislators D.K. Shivakumar and R. Roshan Baig. For over seven months, the chief minister resisted pressure from them to be made ministers as they face corruption charges.

While Shivakumar faces charges of illegal mining, Baig is accused of land grabbing.

Hundreds of Bangaloreans, particularly youth, thronged popular hangouts like Brigade Road, M.G. Road, Commercial Street and Church Street in city to bid bye to 2013 and cheer in 2014 singing, dancing and greeting each other on the occasion.

The hangouts were brightly lit to add colour to the celebrations while in many areas a burst of crackers greeted the new year.

Police had stopped vehicular movement in these roads since 8.00 p.m. to facilitate free movement of the crowd gathering in the area.

Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani is likely to become the first IT czar to contest Lok Sabha elections. He has told the Congress of his interest — and the party is considering his candidature.

Though there has been speculation for weeks that the Congress may field him from Karnataka, his home state, Nilekani has been coy about his intentions. The party was also reluctant to talk about it.

Now, the Karnataka Congress president, Parameshwara, has confirmed that Nilekani had met him and expressed his willingness to enter politics – and contest the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

The National Urban Health Mission will be launched in Bangalore in January to provide healthcare facilities to the urban poor, Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said Friday.

“The National Rural Health Mission will be extended to the urban poor in Bangalore next month under the Urban Health Mission, scheduled to be launched in January,” Azad told reporters here after discussing the centrally-sponsored scheme with state Health Minister U.T. Khader and state health officials here.

A controversy is brewing over the proposed trip to South America by 18 Karnataka lawmakers, ostensibly on a study tour when the Congress government is struggling to finance development works and its budgetary schemes this fiscal.

Though the foreign jaunt in January to Argentina, Brazil and Peru by the Karnataka legislature committee, with lawmakers of the three main political parties as its members, has not been finalised, the trip has come under severe criticism from all quarters, especially the public.

The Bengaluru International Film Festival (Biffes) opened on a glittering note here Monday, with hundreds of cine buffs thronging the venue for the inaugural event where Tollywood superstar Kamal Hassan was the cynosure of all.

Organised by the Karnataka Chalanachitra Academy in association with the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce and the state information department, the sixth edition of the fest is showcasing 152 films from 45 countries over the next seven days on nine screens, including multiplexes in the city centre.

Karnataka Monday sought Rs.1,719 crore from the central government toward drought relief to the affected people and farmers in the state’s 10 drought-hit districts, especially Tumkur.

“We have sought Rs.1,719 crore from the central government for relief works in the 10 drought-hit districts across the state where crops valued at crores of rupees were damaged due to scanty rainfall this year,” Chief Minister Siddaramaiah told reporters here.

Unfazed by criticism over its foreign jaunt at a time when the state is hit by drought, a Karnataka Legislature committee today insisted it would go ahead with the visit to Brazil, Argentina and Peru with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah also defending their tour.

As the jaunt by a contingent of about 18 MLAs planned for January stirred up a controversy, Siddaramaiah told reporters the trip was decided by the legislature committee and it was not as if they were going on the foreign tour this year for the first time.

The Karnataka government has decided to reform the agricultural marketing system for securing best price for farm produce across the state, a senior official said Wednesday.

“We are setting up a special purpose vehicle (SPV) with National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX) Spot Exchange Ltd to help farmers secure best price for their produce through a transparent auction process,” state Development Commissioner G.V. Krishna Rau told IANS here.

The maiden edition of Vodafone Cycling Marathon, over 60 kms, will be held here Feb 9 and is expected to see around 10,000 cyclists, including 150 top cyclists, from across India.

The event is recognised by the Cycling Federation of India (CFI) and is supported by Bengaluru City traffic police.

The resilient $270-billion plus Indian IT industry returned to the higher growth trajectory in 2013 and is hoping to gain momentum in the ensuing year for a greater share of the global multi-billion dollar outsourcing market.

Putting behind a turbulent 2012, the industry consolidated its presence in the software services sector, with its top four IT bellwethers – TCS, Infosys, Wipro and HCL – posting better results to register a healthy 12-14 percent growth thus far as against 10 percent last fiscal (2012-13).

The central government cleared Karnataka’s proposals to set up two more National Investment & Manufacturing Zones (NIMZ) in the northern region of the state, union Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma said Monday.

“We have approved two more NIMZs for Karnataka at Bidar and Gulbarga to attract investments and create jobs in the manufacturing sector,” Sharma told reporters here after reviewing projects with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and senior officials.