The Hindu : Karnataka News : Briefly

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Tuesday, Mar 01, 2005

Karnataka

Karnataka

Briefly

Janapada Loka to stay open

BANGALORE FEB. 28. On the assurance of the Chief Minister, N. Dharam Singh, that the Government will extend financial assistance, the Karnataka Janapada Parishat has decided not to close down Janapada Loka, situated near Ramanagaram on the Bangalore-Mysore highway, from March 1. In a release here today, the secretary of Janapada Loka, Chakkere Shivashankar, said the Janapada Loka is open to the public from 9 a.m. to 5.30 p.m. on all weekdays, except Tuesdays.

UTI Bank to support B1

Bangalore Feb. 28. The Bangalore One project for a network of information and multiple-utility bill payment kiosks across Bangalore has got a boost with the State Government appointing UTI Bank as the banker for the project. An agreement was signed today by G. Sathyavathi, Deputy Secretary, e-Governance, and C.P. Rangarajan, Senior Vice-President, UTI Bank. Bangalore One, also called B1, is an attempt to upgrade public services for the city's residents by deploying tools of information and communication technology. Currently the facility is being deployed for paying the bills of seven utilities and public services: BWSSN, BESCOM, BSNL, BMP, Regional Transport Office and the Regional Passport Office. The information provided includes that on stamps and registration. Initially, 15 centres are to be set up. The number of utilities will be later expanded to 160 and the number of centres to 50. UTI Bank will partner the initiative in providing the facilities, setting up ATMs, point of sale for card swiping and an Internet payment gateway for card transactions through the bank's portal. The bank will also provide cash management services from all the centres set up for this purpose.

`Get receipt for passbooks'

Bangalore Feb. 28. The Principal Chief Postmaster-General (Karnataka Circle) has advised post office savings bank account-holders against handing over their passbooks to the post office staff or an authorised agent without obtaining a receipt, keeping specimen signatures in the passbooks and handing over of blank signed withdrawal forms to the post office staff or authorised agents They have also been advised to report the loss of passbooks to the post office concerned immediately.

Commandant of CMP Centre

Bangalore Feb. 28. Brigadier Enayathulla took over as the new Commandant of the Corps of Military Police Centre and School in Bangalore today. Brig. Enayathulla was commissioned in the Army in the 16 Dogra Regiment in 1973 and has commanded and served in various capacities during his career spanning 32 years. He has commanded the 8 Dogra Regiment and was the Head of the training team at the Officers Training Academy. Brig. Enayathulla is from Bangalore and studied in St. Joseph's College.

Coach withdrawn

BANGALORE FEB. 28. One first class coach attached to the 235/236 Mysore-Bangalore Passenger up to February 28, will be withdrawn with effect from March 1. The revised composition will have one second class sleeper coach, 10 general second class coaches and two second class cum luggage vans, according to a Railway press release.

Life sciences fest

Bangalore Feb. 28. The State Government's desire to promote biotechnology as the next major sunrise industry after information technology will get a boost with academia joining the effort. The Government wants more colleges offering applied life sciences courses established. The postgraduate Department of Life Sciences, Oxford College of Science, Bangalore, is organising on Wednesday and Thursday a national symposium on "Recent Trends in Life Sciences" along with a life science students' fest called `Janaranjana 2005,' on its Bommanahalli campus. The executive director of the Oxford institutions, N.R. Ramesh Raju, told reporters that the college's focus on continuously upgrading skills with recent information on technological advances will be behind the events. The symposium will be in two sessions. Day one will be a seminar and interactive session with a keynote address by a technical expert and four lectures. On the second day, there will be competitive events for students to test their skills and aptitude for careers in life sciences. The Chief Minister, N. Dharam Singh, will inaugurate the symposium and the UGC Vice-Chairman, V.N. Rajasekharan Pillai, will be guest of honour. The founder chairman of the Oxford group of institutions, S. Narasaraju will inaugurate the events for the students. The Bangalore University Vice-Chancellor, M.S. Thimmappa, will be the chief guest at the valedictory function.

JD(S) workers' meeting

Bidar Feb. 28. Senior Janata Dal (Secular) leaders Vaijanath Patil, A.K. Subbaiah, Kodandaraimah and Lakshmi Sagar will address a party workers' meeting here on March 12 as part of "Save Janata Dal (S) - adopt Lohia-JP ideology'' campaign.

The campaign is aimed at "ending the feudal rule of the former Prime Minister and party President, H.D. Deve Gowda,'' according to a press release Janata Dal (S) leader Kashinath Belure. Leaders such as Vishwanath and Hafiz Khan will participate in the meeting.

Rail roko planned

BELLARY Feb. 28. The Bellary District Railway Action Committee will stop two passenger trains here on March 3 to register its protest against the "step-motherly" treatment meted out by the Railways to the Hubli-Hospet-Bellary section.

A decision in this regard was taken at a meeting here on Sunday. K.M. Maheshwara Swamy, President of the committee, presided over the meeting. It was decided to stop the Bangalore-bound Hospet-Bangalore passenger train and also the Vijayawada-bound Hubli-Vijayawada Amaravathi Express at the Bellary Railway Station. The meeting appealed to the people to extend their cooperation to the struggle launched by the committee.

Minister to visit Bidar

Bidar Feb. 28. The Minister for Animal Husbandry and Waqf, Mirajuddin Patel, will felicitate pilgrims who have returned from Haj at Eden Garden Shadi Mahal here tomorrow.

He will also participate in the annual day celebrations of the Siddharoodha Public School in the evening. He will leave for Bijapur the next day, said a press release.

JD(S) leaders thank Minister

SHIMOGA Feb. 28. The district unit of the Janata Dal (Secular) has thanked the Railway Minister, Lalu Prasad, for allocating Rs. 10 crores in the Railway budget for gauge conversion between Shimoga and Talaguppa. In a pressnote, Kallur Megharaj, chairman of the party's Public Grievances Cell in the district, said here on Monday that the former Prime Minister and party president, H.D. Deve Gowda, could persuade Mr. Prasad to allocate more funds for gauge conversion. S.P. Seshadri, general secretary of the district unit of the party, has thanked Mr. Prasad Yadav for introducing the seven new passenger trains in the State and for offering several concessions to students hailing from rural areas.

Legal Aid Week

SHIMOGA Feb. 28. The National Women's Free Legal Aid Week-2005 will begin here from Wednesday under the joint auspices of the District Legal Services Authority and the Shimoga Bar Association.

Vijay Siriyannavar, Principal District and Sessions Judge and Chairman of the District Legal Services Authority, will inaugurate the programme at the court premises. K. Chidananda Gowda, Vice-Chancellor of Kuvempu University, will deliver a special lecture on "Globalisation, intellectual property rights, many ITs and One India".

Marikamba jatre

SHIMOGA Feb. 28. The stage is set for the 10-day Sri Marikamba Jatre at Sagar, about 70 km. from here.

The jatre, which is held once in three years, attracts a large number of devotees from far-off places. The former minister Kagodu Thimmappa, who hails from Sagar taluk, inaugurated the celebrations on Monday. He said the jatre will be held at the ground near the Ganapathi tank from next year to avoid the congestion in the town. The jatre is held according to religious rites and rituals.

Legend has it that the idol of Marikamba was installed by the Adi Sankaracharya. The temple was constructed subsequently in the heart of the town and the idol was shifted to the temple.

Cancer detection camp

Mysore Feb. 28. Canara Bank has organised a free cancer detection camp here on Sunday.

A press release issued here said the camp is one of the bank's social welfare programmes. People with common symptoms of cancer such as swelling, lump, hoarseness, change of voice, difficulty in swallowing and sore or ulcers that do not heal completely, may attended the camp to be held at the bank's regional office at Nazarbad between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.

Training for doctors

Mysore Feb. 28. BGS Apollo Hospital, in association with the American Heart Association and the Indian Institute of Emergency Medical Services, Trivandrum, conducted the advanced cardiac life support and basic life support programme for doctors recently.

A team of experts including Michael Murrow and Bernardo Gomez from the American Heart Association and Nagaraj and his team of doctors from Apollo Hospitals, Chennai, were the faculties for the course. More than 100 paramedics and doctors participated in the course. Hands on training was given to the participants, the release added.

Yoga course

Mysore Feb. 28. The Centre for Yoga, Meditation and Spirituality, University of Mysore, will offer a two-month integrated yoga education and therapy camp from Friday between 5.30 a.m. and 6.30 a.m. Special yogic techniques based on spiritual and scientific approaches will be taught by qualified and professional yoga teachers to individuals after considering their age, constitution and needs.

For registration, contact S. Jayakumar, yoga teacher, Department of Studies in Physical Education and Sports Sciences, Sports Pavillion, University of Mysore, between 5.30 a.m. and 6.30 a.m. (Ph: 2426883).

Consumer club opened

Mysore Feb. 28. The Consumer Club of Sri Kaginele Mahasamsthana Kanakagurupeetha College of Education, Kuvempunagar, was inaugurated by S.G. Vombatkere, Major General (retired) and president of the Mysore Grahakara Parishat, recently.

In a press release, the parishat said Sreemathi Hariprasad of the parishat explained how consumer clubs can help solve the problems faced by students.

C.V. Nagaraj of the parishat spoke on the public health hazard posed by food adulteration, and demonstrated various simple methods of detecting food adulteration.

M. Savitha Pande, principal of the college, and S. Sobana were present, the release added.

Question papers to be sent online

Bangalore Feb. 28. To do away with examination malpractice and leakage of question papers, the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS) will transmit the question papers of the MBBS, BDS, BAMS, BHMS, BUMS and BNYS examinations online to all examination centres on the day of the tests. The examinations start on March 2. According to Y.J. Visweswara Reddy, Registrar (Evaluation) of the RGUHS, all the 75 centres will get the question papers 30 minutes before the start of the examination and will be downloaded by a computer operator in the presence of the chief superintendent at the examination centre. Multiple copies will be made in the examination hall itself and distributed to the students. "We wanted to eliminate the human element so that there is no possibility of the question paper being leaked. The procedure is such that the question paper can be downloaded from the RGUHS website only half an hour before the examination starts and this can be done only once. We have given the chief superintendents a password to access this section of the website which will be activated at that particular time by the university authorities," he said. All the computer operators and chief superintendents have been trained for the purpose and trials conducted to rule out any problem on the examination day. "Even if there is some problem in downloading the question paper, a CD containing the papers will be given to the centres. Even if that fails, we will fax the question papers to them," Dr. Reddy said. Students have been asked to be in the examination hall 30 minutes before the exam. No student will be permitted to enter the hall after the start of the exam. The RGUHS has asked students to beware of touts selling fake question papers.

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