BENGALURU: The ongoing legal battle in Supreme Court with Maharashtra over the Belagavi border dispute is burning a huge hole in the exchequer's pocket with Karnataka government spending Rs 60 lakh a day on professional fees for advocates engaged to fight the case.As per a government order issued by the state law department on January 18, the legal team led by senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi will get Rs 60 lakh per appearance before Supreme Court in fees and other expenses. The team comprises advocates Shyam Divan, Uday Holla, Maruti B Zirali, VN Raghupathy, and the state's advocate general Prabhuling Navadagi.The fees exclude expenses of the advocates' accommodations in star hotels and travel by air in business and executive classes. The order says hotel and air travel arrangements will be made by government or reimbursed on an actual basis.Rohatgi will be paid Rs 22 lakh per day to represent Karnataka before the Supreme Court, as per the order. He will be paid Rs 5.5 lakh per day for preparation of the case, including conferences and other work. Diwan will get Rs 6 lakh per day as fees and Rs 1.5 lakh per day for preparation and other work. He will also be paid Rs 10 lakh per day for outstation visits, which includes travel. Navadagi will be paid Rs 3 lakh a day for appearing before the top court. Aside from that, he will be paid Rs 1.2 lakh for case preparation and Rs 2 lakh for outstation visits. The hearing is expected to be taken up next month.
BENGALURU: The Karnataka government has fixed a professional fee of Rs 59.9 lakh a day for the team of senior lawyers, including Mukul Rohatgi to fight the case pertaining to border row with Maharashtra in Supreme Court. A Law department order said it has fixed the terms and conditions and professional fee to the legal team to represent Karnataka before the Supreme Court in an original suit (number 4/2004) filed by the government of Maharashtra against Karnataka on the border dispute. As per the January 18 order, senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi will be paid Rs 22 lakh per day for appearing before the apex court and Rs 5.5 lakh per day for conference and other works. Another lawyer Shyam Divan will be paid Rs six lakh a day for appearing before the court, Rs 1.5 lakh per day for preparation of the case and other works and Rs 10 lakh for outstation visits per day. The government will bear the expenses on hotel facilities and business class air travel. The Advocate General of Karnataka will be paid Rs three lakh a day for appearing in the SC, Rs 1.25 lakh per day for preparing cases and other works, Rs two lakh on outstation visits apart from bearing the ehotel and business class air travels. The state government has also hired senior lawyer Uday Holla, a former advocate general of Karnataka, who will be paid Rs two lakh per day for appearing in the apex court, Rs 75,000 per day for preparation of the case, Rs 1.5 lakh per day for settlement of pleadings and other works, and Rs 1.5 lakh per day for outstation visits apart from hotel and travel expenses. The boundary row had intensified late last year, with vehicles from either side being targeted, leaders from both the States weighing in, and pro-Kannada and Marathi activists being detained by police amid a tense atmosphere in Belagavi. The border issue dates back to 1957 after the reorganisation of States on linguistic lines. Maharashtra laid claim to Belagavi, which was part of the erstwhile Bombay Presidency, as it has a sizeable Marathi-speaking population. It also laid claim to over 800 Marathi-speaking villages which are currently part of Karnataka. Karnataka maintains the demarcation done on linguistic lines as per the States Reorganisation Act and the 1967 Mahajan Commission Report as final. And, as an assertion that Belagavi is an integral part of the State, Karnataka has built the 'Suvarna Vidhana Soudha', modelled on the 'Vidhana Soudha' here.
PM Modi will inaugurate two lines of the Mumbai MetroNew Delhi: As Prime Minister Narendra Modi is all set to visit Karnataka and Maharashtra to inaugurate and lay the foundation stone of various development projects, here, preparations are in full swing in both the states to welcome the PM.PM Modi will make a visit to the Yadgiri and Kalaburagi districts of Karnataka in the morning hours and lay the foundation stone and inaugurate various developmental projects related to irrigation, drinking water and a National Highway development project at Kodeka in the Yadgiri district.According to Prime Minister's Office (PMO), in an effort to provide safe and adequate drinking water through individual household tap connections to all households, the foundation stone of the Yadgir multi-village drinking water supply scheme under Jal Jeevan Mission would be laid at Kodekal, Yadgiri district. A Water Treatment Plant of 117 MLD will be built under the scheme.The project, which costs more than Rs 2,050 crore, will provide potable water to about 2.3 lakh households of more than 700 rural habitations and three towns in the Yadgiri district.During the programme, Prime Minister will also inaugurate Narayanpur Left Bank Canal - Extension Renovation and Modernisation Project (NLBC-ERM). The project, with canal carrying capacity of 10,000 cusecs, can irrigate 4.5 lakh hectares of command area. It will benefit more than three lakh farmers in 560 villages of Kalaburgi, Yadagir and Vijaypur districts. The total cost of the project is about Rs 4,700 crore, said the PMO statement.Ahead of the Prime Minister's programme in Karnataka, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai termed the modernisation of the Narayanpur Left Bank Canal (NLBC) as a model for the entire country and also an important milestone in the field of the irrigation sector.In line with the Prime Minister's vision of 100 per cent saturation of government schemes, about 1,475 unrecorded habitations have been declared as New Revenue villages in five districts of Kalaburagi, Yadgiri, Raichur, Bidar and Vijayapura.In the afternoon, PM Modi will reach Malkhed village of Kalaburagi district, where he will distribute title deeds (hakku patra) to the eligible beneficiaries of these newly declared revenue villages.The issuance of title deeds to more than 50,000 beneficiaries, who are largely from the marginalised and vulnerable communities from the SC, ST and OBC, is a step to provide formal recognition from the government for their land and will make them eligible for receiving government services like drinking water, electricity, roads etc.During the programme, Prime Minister will also lay the foundation stone of the 71 km section of NH-150C. This six-lane Greenfield road project is also part of Surat- Chennai Expressway. It is being built at a cost of more than Rs 2,100 crore.Surat-Chennai Expressway will pass through six states- Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu. It will reduce the existing route from 1,600 km to 1,270 km.Later in the day, PM Modi will reach Mumbai by the evening to inaugurate and lay the foundation stone of projects worth around Rs 38,800 crores. He will inaugurate two lines of the Mumbai Metro and also enjoy a metro ride.To provide seamless urban mobility, he will also dedicate to the nation Mumbai Metro Rail Lines 2A and 7, worth around Rs 12,600 crore. The metro line 2A connecting Dahisar E and DN Nagar (yellow line) is around 18.6 km long, while metro line 7 connecting Andheri E - Dahisar E (red line) is around 16.5 km long. The Prime Minister had laid the foundation stone of these lines in 2015.During the visit, PM Modi will also launch MUMBAI 1 Mobile App and National Common Mobility Card (Mumbai 1). The app will facilitate ease of travel, can be shown at the entry gates of metro stations and supports digital payment to buy tickets through UPI. The National Common Mobility Card (Mumbai 1) will initially be used in metro corridors and can be extended to other modes of mass public transit including local trains and buses as well. Commuters will not need to carry multiple cards or cash; the NCMC card will enable quick, contactless, digital transactions, thereby easing the process with a seamless experience, according to the PMO statement.The Prime Minister will further lay the foundation stone of seven sewage treatment plants, which will be built at a cost of around Rs 17,200 crore. These sewage treatment plants will be set up in Malad, Bhandup, Versova, Ghatkopar, Bandra, Dharavi and Worli. They will have a combined capacity of around 2,460 MLD.In an effort to strengthen health care infrastructure in Mumbai, PM would also inaugurate 20 Hinduhridaysamrat Balasaheb Thackeray Aapla Dawakhana.This initiative provides essential medical services like health checkups, medicines, investigations and diagnostics completely free, to the people, said PMO statement.Prime Minister will also lay the foundation stone for the redevelopment of three hospitals in Mumbai viz 360-bedded Bhandup Multispeciality Municipal Hospital, 306-bedded Siddharth Nagar Hospital, Goregaon (West) and 152-bedded Oshiwara Maternity Home.Prime Minister will start the road concretisation project for around 400 km roads of in Mumbai.This project will be developed at the cost of about Rs 6,100 crore. Of the total roads extending to around 2050 km in Mumbai, more than 1,200 Km of roads are either concretized or are in the process of being concretized. However, the remaining roads of about 850 km length face challenges of potholes which severely impact transportation.The Prime Minister's Office said the road concretisation project is aimed to overcome this challenge. These concrete roads will ensure fast travel along with enhanced security, while also providing better drainage facilities and utility ducts will ensure regular digging of roads is avoided.PM will also lay the foundation stone for the redevelopment of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus. The redevelopment is planned with a view to decongesting the southern heritage node of the terminus, augmentation of facilities, better multi-modal integration and conserving and restoring the world-famous iconic structure to its past glory.The project will be done at a cost of over Rs 1,800 crore. Further, Prime Minister will also start the transfer of approved loans of over 1 lakh beneficiaries under PM SVANidhi Yojana.Notably, the Mumbai Police have banned drone, paragliders, remote control microlight aircraft flying activities in the jurisdiction of Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) PS, Andheri PS, Meghwadi PS, Jogeshwari Police Station today and added that the said order shall remain in force from 12:01 am to 11 pm today.PromotedListen to the latest songs, only on JioSaavn.comThe police have also deployed 4,500 of its personnel in the western suburbs as a part of security arrangement.The Mumbai Police has further announced the deployment of four State Reserve Police Force (SRPF), and one unit each of the Anti-Riot Squad and Rapid Action Force, ahead of the Prime Minister's visit to the state.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) Tuesday issued a showcause notice to Go First after its flight G8-116 from Bangalore to Delhi left behind 55 passengers in a coach at Bangalore airport.The aviation watchdog also found that “multiple mistakes” led to the incident.“… in the instant case, multiple mistakes such as lack of proper communication, co-ordination, reconciliation and confirmation have resulted in a highly avoidable situation,” DGCA said in a statement.As part of the notice, the regulator has given two weeks time to the Accountable Manager/ Chief Operation Officer of Go First to submit their reasons as to why actions should not be taken against them for showing a lackadaisical attitude towards their obligations.“However, to follow the principles of natural justice, they have been given two weeks time to submit their reply to DGCA and based on that further action will be taken,” the statement said.Go First apologised to passengers who were left behind in the coach and said an inadvertent oversight in the reconciliation of the flight to Delhi led to the incident.In a statement, the airline said, “We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience caused to the passengers due to an inadvertent oversight in the reconciliation of flight G8 116, from Bengaluru to Delhi.”It also said that passengers were accommodated on alternate airlines to Delhi and onward to other destinations. “The airline has decided to offer all affected passengers one free ticket for travel on any domestic sector in the next 12 months,” Go First said, adding it has also initiated an inquiry into the incident.Further, Go First said that all staff concerned have been taken off the roster till the inquiry is going on.(With inputs from PTI)
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) Tuesday issued a showcause notice to Go First after its flight G8-116 from Bangalore to Delhi left behind 55 passengers in a coach at Bangalore airport.The aviation watchdog also found that “multiple mistakes” led to the incident.“… in the instant case, multiple mistakes such as lack of proper communication, co-ordination, reconciliation and confirmation have resulted in a highly avoidable situation,” DGCA said in a statement.As part of the notice, the regulator has given two weeks time to the Accountable Manager/ Chief Operation Officer of Go First to submit their reasons as to why actions should not be taken against them for showing a lackadaisical attitude towards their obligations.“However, to follow the principles of natural justice, they have been given two weeks time to submit their reply to DGCA and based on that further action will be taken,” the statement said.Go First apologised to passengers who were left behind in the coach and said an inadvertent oversight in the reconciliation of the flight to Delhi led to the incident.In a statement, the airline said, “We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience caused to the passengers due to an inadvertent oversight in the reconciliation of flight G8 116, from Bengaluru to Delhi.”It also said that passengers were accommodated on alternate airlines to Delhi and onward to other destinations. “The airline has decided to offer all affected passengers one free ticket for travel on any domestic sector in the next 12 months,” Go First said, adding it has also initiated an inquiry into the incident.Further, Go First said that all staff concerned have been taken off the roster till the inquiry is going on.(With inputs from PTI)