. The article will be attached to this email. Along with this, a few points that I’d like to mention for you to understand the brand are as follows
* FarmERP was recently nominated with 10 other brands on a global platform for Agri-Tech Excellence Awards 2021. It was the only Indian company amongst its global competitors.* FarmERP has expanded to over 30 countries by the year 2021.* FarmERP is a member of NASSCOM, GACSA, Sustainable Rice Platform, and GlobalGap.* FarmERP is a Microsoft Gold Partner.* FarmERP aims to target over 2M Acres of land in the coming 2 years.These happen to be a few out of many accomplishments that the brand has achieved over the years and I’m sure this has proved its credibility as a brand.

BENGALURU: The Bharatiya Janata Party will have to come up with something spectacular for an assured win in Hanagal and Sindagi, where the ground report is none too encouraging. While as a rule, bypolls almost always favour the ruling party, this time there is an underlying discomfort within the party, which is working doubly hard to pull off a win.

Former chief minister BS Yediyurappa, the star campaigner for the BJP, left for Chitradurga on Monday afternoon, and will halt in Shivamogga for the night. He is on a week-long campaign tour of the two constituencies. While his itinerary is not too clear, local leaders will decide on his day-to-day tour. He is to halt in Bagalkot on Tuesday night.

Yediyurappa will start his campaign in Sindagi, and the BJP is concerned about how effectively the veteran could be used in this constituency. He will then head to Hanagal. Former deputy CM Laxman Savadi is in charge in Sindagi, while Agriculture Minister BC Patil is in charge of Hanagal. Yediyurappa’s campaign will comprise mostly road shows and meetings, where big crowds are expected.

Though he is no longer the Chief Minister, the cadres at the ground level are still with him. Both the party leaders and rank and file will be watching him keenly, for any unspoken message he may attempt to send across. The tears that he shed when he celebrated two years in power are not likely to be forgotten anytime soon, say party insiders. It is also known that Yediyurappa is unhappy that the party has not accommodated son B Y Vijayendra in the ministry so far, but has not gone public about it.

“For over 40 years, Yediyurappa has been an ‘independent thinking’ politician, who has defied the party line and taken decisions independently, something Bommai is unable to do. Yediyurappa enjoyed a secular image, something not many other BJP politicians can boast of. He has a pro-farmer image, which is a plus,’’ said political analyst BS Murthy. “Surprisingly, it is this independent thinking politician whose words and actions will matter more than all BJP politicians put together.” 

BENGALURU: Lorry owners have threatened to go on an indefinite strike from October 24 if Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai does not intervene to reduce the price of diesel. GR Shanmukappa, president, Karnataka Federation of Lorry Owners and Agents Association, says that diesel prices have increased by more than Rs 26 per litre in the last year. 

“This has hit the transport industry to a great extent. Several of them have surrendered their permits and hundreds of private bus operators have cut operations by almost half since it is not economically viable to run a full fleet,” Shanmukappa added. 

“Of the nearly six lakh lorries in the state, 30% of them are off roads due to rising fuel prices. We just cannot manage. Covid-19 has taken away their livelihoods greatly. Now, with fuel prices soaring, how are we going to manage?” he asked.

Criticising the State Government and the Centre for not helping, he said that if the CM doesn’t reduce fuel prices, then they are planning to hold nationwide truckers strike. “We will meet on October 23 after which we will decide on the indefinite strike,” he added.

BENGALURU: Residents residing in the Cross roads of Kanakagiri, in Kalkere village, near Horamavu, struggle to step out of their houses. Stagnant sewage water outside their homes has made their lives miserable, an issue that they allege is completely manmade.

Residents in the 8th, 9th and 10th Cross, affected badly due to the sewage, spoke about their plight to TNIE but insisted on anonymity as they feared a backlash from influential individuals allegedly responsible for the mess.

According to them, a local landlord, K P Vinod Kumar, who is politically well connected, has allegedly diverted sewage flowing from a drain near his guest house to another drain which is unable to bear the discharge load and overflows causing problems to all residents here.

A resident explained the issue thus, “The untreated sewage from two apartment complexes here is let out into the Kanakagiri Main Road and the flow gets blocked near the guest house. It is diverted to the Krantivira Sangolli Rayanna Road via narrow drains and then flows to the Kalkere Lake.”

A longtime resident on one of these Cross roads said, “Imagine our plight. We have spent between Rs 70 lakh to Rs 80 lakh for our homes here. And when we step out, the water outside is full of worms. It is clearly not rainwater but sewage.”

Another resident said, “The stench is unbearable. We dare not open our doors or windows. Daily life has become extremely tough. Imagine the impact this will have on the health of all of us.”

Vinod Kumar, the proprietor of Vinod Guest House, located at the junction of KSR Road and Kalkere Main Road, denies his role in all of it. He claimed, “I am a commoner like everyone. I did not use any political influence. BBMP on their own did this diversion recently when I brought the issue of water stagnant in front of my house to the attention of the local engineers here.” 

Vikram S, Assistant Engineer, BBMP, conceded that a drain had been diverted near the guest house. “It was only a diversion of 20 ft to 30 ft. After the gap it has been routed again to the drain it is supposed to go. It is not the reason for any problems.”

He also said that tenders have been called for by BBMP to create a drainage and road network across 110 villages, including Kalkere. “Work will begin on October 25 and within three or four months, residents will get some relief here,” he said.

A man shot his mother and sister dead for not cooking tasty sambar at Kodagodu in Karnataka’s Uttara Kannada district on Wednesday.

The accused, Manjunath Haslar (24), was arrested on Thursday. The deceased have been identified as Manjunath’s mother Parvathi Narayana Haslar (42) and sister Ramya Narayana Haslar (19).

Manjunath, who’s known to be an alcoholic, got into an argument with his mother over the sambar she had prepared, saying that it was not tasty enough. He also opposed his mother’s plan to buy a cellphone for his sister by taking a loan.

Parvathi had reportedly told Manjunath that he was no one to tell her whether to buy the cellphone for his sister. At this point, an enraged Manjunath shot her with a country-made gun that was lying at home. Later, he also shot his sister, the police said.

The incident came to light after the accused’s father returned home and lodged a complaint with the police against his son.

BENGALURU: The Congress on Wednesday suspended MA Saleem, media coordinator in Karnataka, and issued showcause notice to former Ballari MP V S Ugrappa, for making uncharitable remarks about KPCC President DK Shivakumar.

The conversation was about corruption when Shivakumar was water resources minister in the 14-month coalition government. Minutes before the press meet, Saleem says in a hushed voice, “Earlier, corruption was 8 per cent. He increased it to 12 per cent. These are all adjustments by DKS… Uppar and G Shankar, the one from Hosapete in Ballari, whom you know. Uppar is from Bengaluru…” Ugrappa interjects to say that Uppar is from Vijayapura, and Saleem says Uppar’s house is opposite former Chief Minister S M Krishna’s residence in upmarket Palace Orchards in Bengaluru.

Saleem continues, “Water resources is a massively corrupt department and if investigated properly, Shivakumar’s corruption will be revealed. Contractors made about Rs 50-100 crore, and if they made so much, imagine how much Shivakumar would have made. He is a collection giraaki.” 

Ugrappa responds, “I don’t know this. We all lobbied to make him State president. That’s why I am not saying anything. These are the reasons…” Saleem continues, ‘’DKS stutters when speaking, maybe because of low BP or some other reason, he drinks as he gets emotional these days.’’ He is then heard appreciating CLP leader Siddaramaiah for his “kadak” (strong) body language.

Responding to the media expose, Shivakumar said, “You have shown that they have spoken ill against me. I will not deny it. I am not connected to what they have spoken. I was never part of any ‘percentage’ (share in contracts) and I don’t need it.” 

This is the second time the Congress has found itself at the wrong end of the microphone. A few months ago, AICC General Secretary and Karnataka in-charge Randeep Surjewala had whispered to D K Shivakumar that former law minister T B Jayachandra should not be given the Sira ticket, which was picked up by media mikes, kicking up a huge controversy. These developments come about two weeks before the Sindagi and Hanagal bypolls. BJP state president Nalin Kateel demaned a probe by the Enforcement Directorate.  

MYSURU: Projecting himself as a victim of former chief minister Siddaramaiah’s political machinations which led to the fall of the coalition government, Janata Dal-Secular leader and former chief minister HD Kumaraswamy on Tuesday played emotional card again in Mysuru, stating that the 2023 Assembly polls would be his last political battle.

Kumaraswamy, who offered puja to Chamundeshwari at Chamundi Hills, appealed to the people to not let him down and to make him achieve the Mission 123 plan to bring JDS to power on its own strength. Making a scathing remark on Siddaramaiah on his home turf, Kumaraswamy said it was the Congress Legislature Party leader who conspired to send 23 MLAs from the coalition government to join BJP. 

“He has no gratitude to the party that groomed him as a leader. Me or Deve Gowda never betrayed Siddaramaiah, but he wanted to finish us off politically. I don’t want to be a chief minister for power, but to serve the people and implement pancha rathna formula assuring a job in a family, housing, free education and health and focussed welfare of farmers. I will go to every village to connect with people and appeal to the people to give JDS an absolute majority,” he added.

Claiming that Congress is nowhere in the picture in the Sindagi by-poll, he said that party has always finished third. It will be a keen contest between JDS and BJP, he claimed. “We have taken the by-polls at Sindagi and Hanagal seriously and will prove our mettle,” he added.

HYDERABAD: BJP MLA from Raichur in Karnataka, Shivaraj Patil, has demanded that Raichur district be merged with Telangana. Making a case for the same before Karnataka Minister Prabhu Chauhan during a meeting in Raichur, he said that while Hubli, Belagavi and Dharwad in Uttara Karnataka were being developed by the State government, Raichur was being neglected. 

He also raised the concerns faced by farmers in the region and said that Raichur would progress if it was merged with Telangana. A video of Patil’s speech at the meeting went viral on social media. Retweeting the video of the MLA, MAUD Minister KT Rama Rao said, “Validation for Telangana coming from across the border; Karnataka BJP MLA says Raichur should be merged in Telangana & the audience welcomes the suggestion [sic],” 

Previously, several villages in Maharashtra too had demanded that they be merged with Telangana.
Replying to KTR’s tweet, a netizen said that several people in Raichur wanted to be merged with Telangana, so that they would also get benefits under Rythu Bandhu, Rythu Bima, Aasara pension, Kalyana Lakshmi and other schemes. 

BENGALURU: Karnataka is staring at dark days ahead with only two days of coal left for generating power. In Bengaluru, the peak load has come down from 10,000-12,500 MW to 8,000-9,000 MW, while there has been a shortage of 300 MW over the last two days that is being managed with renewable energy, said a senior official from Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (BESCOM).

According to the Energy Department and Karnataka Power Corporation Ltd (KPCL) records, 12 rakes of coal stock are available at present, which will feed thermal power stations only for two days. To conserve coal, power generation at thermal stations has been limited and power cuts are being resorted to.

“We are running hand-to-mouth. But compared to other states, we are in a better position as our emphasis is more on hydro, solar and wind energy. We are getting eight to nine rakes of coal now, with each rake containing 3,900-4,000 metric tonnes of coal. We need stocks for 15 days, or at least one week, to be in a comfortable situation.

After Chief Minister (Basavaraj Bommai) and Energy Minister (Sunil Kumar) held discussions, the Central government has assured the State of 12 rakes. For the additional two rakes, we are talking to Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd (MCL). But that will come only next month. Until then, the situation is tight,” a senior KPCL official told The New Indian Express.

KPCL records at 6.30 pm on Monday showed that Raichur Thermal Power Station (RTPS) is able to generate only 444 MW of power as against its capacity of 1,720 MW from three grids, Ballari Thermal Power Station (BTPS) can generate 395 MW power against its capacity of 1,700 MW, and Yeramarus Thermal Power Station (YTPS), 678 MW against a capacity of 1,600 MW. Only one unit each of YTPS and BTPS are operating to conserve coal stocks. “Farmers are not using irrigation pump sets now because of monsoon. But once the rain stops, the problem will only get aggravated as IP sets consume around 20-30 per cent of power generated,” the official said.

‘Solar, wind energy being used during day’

“Now , the demand during the day is being met with solar and wind energy sources, and in the night, we are managing it with hydropower,” the official added. Energy Department officials said that knowing the situation, there are only two solutions — buy power from open market grids or purchase coal from the open international market — both of which are expensive. “Shortage of coal is not new.

The Centre and states faced a similar situation three years ago. But in the last two years, the problem was not felt because of the pandemic, lockdown and lesser number of industries functioning. But now with everything opening up, the problem has resurfaced. This is a clear lack of planning and foresight by the Central and state government officials,” an Energy Department official said.