KERC Hikes Power Tariff by 27.35 Paise Per Unit

B D Narayankar

Press Trust of India

Bangalore, Oct 28: Amid continuing energy crisis, the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) has ordered an average 27.35 paise hike on per unit of power used across the board.

The increase in power rates comes in the wake of public anger over long hours of scheduled and unscheduled outages across Karnataka.

"The Commission, on an average across all categories, has increased the power tariff by 27.35 paise and the orders comes into effect from today," KERC Chairman M R Srinivas Murthy told reporters here.

In domestic and All Electric Home (AEH) categories, for the first 30 units consumed in urban and rural areas, the consumer would be charged Rs 2.20 per unit which is 10 paise more than the existing Rs 2.10, Murthy said.

For the next 70 units (31-100 units), the consumer would be charged Rs 3.40 per unit which is 20 paise more than the existing Rs 3.20 per unit, he said.

For 101-200 units, the consumer would be charged Rs 4.50, which is 30 paise more than the existing Rs 4.20 per unit, Murthy said.

However, the hike would be 50 paise (from Rs 5 to Rs 5.50) for 201-300 units for domestic and AEH category users, he added.

In the Light Tension (LT) commercial category, for first 50 units the consumer would be charged Rs 6, which is 40 paise more than the existing Rs 5.60 per unit, Murthy said.

The hike would be 20 paise (from Rs 6.80 to Rs 7) for above 50 units for LT commercial category users, he said.

In Light Tension industrial category, for first 500 units the consumer would have to pay Rs 4 per unit, a hike of 40 paise from the existing Rs 3.60 per unit, Murthy said.

For next slab between 501-1,000 units, the consumer would have to pay 50 paise more than the existing Rs 4.50 per unit, he said.

Above 1,000 units, consumers would have to pay 30 paise more from the existing Rs 4.70 per unit, Murthy said.

Another complaint filed against minister Ashok

B D Narayankar

Press Trust Of India

Bangalore, Oct 27: Close on the heels of Lokayukta police filing an FIR against Home Minister R Ashok on charges of being involved in illegal denotification of government land, another complaint has been filed against him for unlawfully acquiring land reserved for the poor.

K N Jagadesh Kumar said in a statement he had filed a complaint on October 26 in Lokayukta against Ashok for "manipulating and acquiring land belonging to
Lokakalyana Prathistana Public Charitable Trust".

He alleged Ashok had manipulated the trust land at Kodigehalli village, measuring about seven acres and nine guntas, and later registered it in the names of his elder sister's children.

The land, worth Rs 175 crore at current market rates was resold to people as sites and apartments by Ashok and his family, he alleged.

Kumar also charged MLA Ramesh Kumar, one of the trustees, with being part of the scam. Kumar said he had filed a complaint on October 25, 2007, before the then Governor Triloki Nath Chaturvedi, Principal Secretary, Bangalore Deputy Commissioner, Yelahanka Tahsildar and Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagar Palike Commissioner but to no avail.

Kumar said he would lodge a complaint before the Special Lokayukta Court in a week if no action was taken on his complaint filed in the Lokayukta.

Team Anna diverting attention from saffron terrorism Digvijay

B D Narayankar

Press Trust Of India

Bangalore, Oct 27: Taking a swipe at Team Anna's fight against corruption, Congress leader Digvijay Singh today said the civil society members were diverting attention of the people from terror activities perpetrated by saffron outfits.

"I have always being saying from day one that this (Team Anna's fight against corruption) is a part of an overall plan of RSS-BJP combine to divert the attention from Sangh's involvement in Malegaon, Hyderabad, Ajmer Sharif and Samjhauta Express blasts," the AICC General Secretary told reporters at the Bangalore International Airport here.

Criticising BJP leader L K Advani's Jan Chethana Yatra, Singh said the party's record on charges of corruption was pathetic.

"Why did not the BJP register a case against Bangaru Laxman under the Prevention of Corruption Act when he was caught accepting money on tape," he questioned. The BJP also failed to register a case against Jaya Jaitley when she was caught on tape striking an illegal arms deal in former union Defence Minister's (George Fernandes) house, Singh said.

"We took action against our allied members who were involved in corrupt practices or scams," he said. The UPA government had taken all possible steps under the leadership of AICC President Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to check corruption, Singh said. "The Right to Information Act was brought by us and Money Laundering Act was made stringent by us," he said.

Digvijays latest target Sri Sri Ravishankar

B D Narayankar

Press Trust Of India

Bangalore/New Delhi, Oct 27: After Anna Hazare and Ramdev, Sri Sri Ravishankar today become the target of Congress leader Digvijay Singh who alleged the Art of Living founder could be roped into the anti-corruption stir as part of RSS-BJP's plan to "divert" attention from Sangh's alleged terror links.


Hitting back at the Congress leader's remarks, Sri Sri Ravishankar quipped "is he (Digvijay Singh) in the business of making predictions nowadays" and vowed to continue his fight against corruption. I have always being saying from day one that this (Team Anna's fight against corruption) is a part of an overall plan of RSS-BJP combine to divert the attention from Sangh's involvement in Malegaon, Hyderabad, Ajmer Sharif and Samjhauta Express blasts," the AICC General Secretary told reporters in Bangalore.

Writing in microblogging site Twitter, Singh said while Ramdev and Hazare were plan A and B of the Sangh-BJP, Sri Sri Ravishankar is Plan C and asked the spiritual guru to be "wary" of the two organisations. "Plan A, B and C are of Sangh/ BJP to divert the minds of the people from their involvement in terror activities to corruption", he twitted.

He said Plan A of this over-all scheme has been Baba Ramdev, B is Anna and C is Sri Sri Ravishankar. Sri Sri Ravishankar, on the other hand, had a dig at Singh saying "Is he nowadays in the business of making predictions?" I will keep raising my voice against corruption. If speaking against graft is a crime, then I will go on committing that crime", the spiritual leader said.

Congress MP Anil Lads chopper makes emergency landing

B D Narayankar

Press Trust Of India

Bangalore, Oct 27: Congress Rajya Sabha MP Anil Lad's personal helicopter today made an emergency landing in Andhra Pradesh due to inclement weather while on his way here.

Lad told PTI that he was flying to Bangalore from Sandur in Bellary district when the weather suddenly turned bad following which his helicopter made an emergency landing at 4.10 pm in Dharmavaram.

"Emergency landing was carried out as I decided not to take any risk, especially in the wake of spate of chopper crashes involving some VIPs," he said.

However, the weather soon became clear following which the helicopter resumed the flight and landed in Bangalore at 6.10 pm, Lad said.

Dark Diwali for Yeddyurappa to be in jail during festival

B D Narayankar

Press Trust Of India

Bangalore, Oct 24: Former Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa is set to "celebrate" Diwali in jail as hearing on his bail plea was today adjourned to October 28 by the Karnataka High Court.


The 68-year-old BJP leader had sought bail in two of the five corruption cases against him following the Special Lokayukta Court remanding him to judicial custody -- first to October 22 and later extending it till November three.
When the case came up before Justice B V Pinto, Yeddyurappa's plea for interim bail was dismissed as "not pressed" by the judge, setting the stage for hearing on regular bail, as favoured by his counsel and that of complainant Sirajin Basha.
But the matter could not be taken up as the submission by the counsel for former Karnataka Minister S N Krishnaiah Setty, who was also remanded to judicial custody by the lower court on October 15, remained inconclusive as the court ended its proceedings for the day.
With court holidays tomorrow and Thursday, and no sitting on Wednesday, further hearing in the cases was adjourned to Friday.
Yeddyurappa is currently lodged in the Central prison at Parappana Agrahara on the city outskirts.

1 more Karnataka minister faces Lokayukta probe

B D Narayankar

Press Trust Of India

Bangalore, October 25: Causing more embarrassment to the ruling BJP in Karnataka, a Lokayukta court on Monday ordered a probe into a complaint against industries minister Murugesh Nirani that he allegedly denotified government land for financial gain.

Admitting the complaint filed under the Prevention of Corruption Act, Lokayukta court judge NK Sudhindra Rao directed the superintendent of Lokayukta police to investigate the charges against Nirani and file a report on November 16.

The complaint alleged that Nirani, along with eight others, including his family members, “misused his position as industries minister” and floated non-existent companies.

He then allegedly denotified Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board land in Devanahalli and Dobbaspet to certain beneficiaries, causing over R130 crore loss to the exchequer.

Bangalore-based entrepreneur Alam Pasha, in his October 20 complaint, prayed that the court take cognisance of the matter and order a thorough investigation against the industries minister. He also alleged Nirani had “misused” the forum of Global Investors’ Meet held last year by the Karnataka government for his “own personal advantage”.

Deve Gowda blames BJP, Cong for power crisis

B D Narayankar

Press Trust Of India

Bangalore, Oct 24: Former Prime Minister and JD(S) chief H D Deve Gowda today blamed the ruling BJP and erstwhile Congress governments in Karnataka for the current power crisis in the state.


Addressing a protest rally organised by JD-S here, he said, "For the past three years power situation in the state has been worsening. Not only the present BJP government, but also the erstwhile Congress government are responsible for it," he said.
He said the government had plunged the state into darkness by failing to take adequate measures to continue power supply.

Karnataka Banking Ombudsman resolves 3,533 complaints in FY 11

B D Narayankar

Press Trust Of India

Bangalore, Oct 24: Banking Ombudsman for Karnataka has resolved 3,533 complaints against various banks during 2010-11.

We resolved a total of 3,533 complaints this year out of the total of 3,694 complaints received," Banking Ombudsman for Karnataka M Palanisamy told reporters here.

He said the number of complaints received this year has declined compared to 3,854 complaints received last year, giving a clear indication of his office's attempts to improve customer service in the banking sector.

There were only 161 complaints pending at the year end and only one award was passed against a bank which was duly implemented, Palanisamy said.

Category-wise, the number of complaints received were relatively higher in debit and credit card segment (776 complaints) followed by loans and advances (462) and deposit accounts (268), he said.

Maximum customer complaints were received against State Bank of India and ICICI Bank during 2010-11, Palanisamy said. "Of the total 3,694 complaints received this year, as many as 1,521 complaints were received against SBI and its associated banks. We received 404 complaints against ICICI Bank," he said.

However, complaints against new-generation bankers have dwindled because of their tighetning of internal grievance redressal systems and improvement in customer services, Palanisamy said.

Palanisamy said he was not satisfied with the number of complaints received as compared to the bank branches. "We want to spread awareness among urban and rural customers," he said adding it had been planned to spread awareness through television and radio.

BSY's judicial custody extended till Nov 3

B D Narayankar

Press Trust of India

Bangalore, Oct 22: The Lokayukta Court today extended till November 3 the judicial custody of former Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa in alleged land scam cases.

Judge N K Sudhindra Rao also extended the judicial custody of former minister and sitting MLA Krishnaiah Settty, another accused in the case relating to alleged irregularities in denotification of government lands.

The court had on October 15 remanded Yeddyurappa and Setty, to judicial custody till today after rejecting their bail pleas.
Except Yeddyurappa, all the other accused, including his sons B Y Raghavendra, a Lok Sabha member and B Y Vijayendra, who are on conditional bail, were present in the court.

Jail authorities in their warrant said Yeddyurappa was not being produced in the court due to his ill health.

Counsels for the other accused surrendered their passports to the court, which then directed the court office to keep them in sealed covers in safe custody.

The Lokayukta Court had issued summons to the accused in August on two of the five private complaints filed by advocate Sirajin Basha, regarding illegal denotification of government land for pecuniary gain. In both complaints, Yeddyurappa is the main accused.