Praising the entrepreneurship of people from Mangaluru and the surrounding areas, the Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday said the Union government was keen to be an enabler for them.
Promising more steps to end the licence raj, she said industries and State governments were important stake-holders in improving the country’s growth rate.
The government will not be a regulator where industry inspections are carried our “every half an hour” she said while delivering a talk on commerce policy. It was organised by Mangaluru Initiative for Nationalist Dialogue.
Asserting that the country’s potential had to be utilised to “Make for India” with “Team India,” the Minister said small and medium enterprises, which provided about 60 million jobs though they contributed only 8 per cent to the GDP, would be encouraged.
Stressing the need for India to keep pace with the global trend where economic concerns play more important role in international relations rather than political considerations, she assured that India would however protect the unique realities of India. India had to ensure, for example, a course correction with regard to Bali Agreement of World Trade Organisation so that farmers’ interests are protected. There was a need shift workers from agriculture – the sector where 60 per cent of the people were still working, she said.
Productivity in agriculture also needed a boost.
Though service sector was contributing more to GDP, thrust was being given to manufacturing because it could contribute much better for the economy. But the Government would not ignore service sector and a conclave had been planned to address concerns of the sector in April.
Stating that revamping the Planning Commission was being criticised without looking into the huge groundwork that had gone into it.
With the changes made, the State Governments no longer needed to have “Bhikshandehi” (begging) attitude.
She said there was no application before the Government to increase Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail trade.
Earlier, she told presspersons that the Pakistan had given most favoured nation status despite ministerial level meetings in this regard.
The trade between the two countries is expected improve if the status is given. India had given such a status to Pakistan in 1996.
Objections have been invited to the draft policy on “intellectual property rights” (IPR) and the think tank constituted on the issue would consider the objections before the policy is finalised.
Four women rescued from drowning at Panambur Beach
Mangaluru: The lifeguards of Panambur Beach Tourism Development Project rescued four women, including one from Bengaluru from drowning on Saturday, in two separate incidents, at Someshwara beach.
Three teachers from Haveri had come to the city on vacation and had gone to the beach.
The women were washed away in the water while the woman from Bengaluru slipped and fell into the water from a rock.
The women who have been rescued are Poornima (32), Geetha (31), Sanjeevathi (22) and Shashi (19).
Udupi: Girl Drowns in well
Udupi: A girl died after she accidentally fell into the well here at Beernane in Nancharu in Kota.
According to police, the deceased is identified as Poornima aged 16. She fell into the well without walls, while drawing a pot of water. A case is registered in Kota police station.
Udupi ZP urges govt. to reject Kasturirangan report
Udupi: The Udupi Zilla Panchayat (ZP) requested the Union and State governments to reject the recommendations of the K. Kasturirangan panel on conservation of Western Ghats, at its general body meeting here on Saturday.
Raising the issue, Manjunath Poojary, member, said that 35 villages in Udupi district came under the ambit of the report. The report also proposed a buffer zone of 10 km from the boundary of Western Ghats, which would include another 38 villages. The people were against the recommendations of the report as it would hamper development in these villages, he said.
Babu Shetty, member, said that the district-level committee had not visited the villages and sought the opinion of the people.
Mamatha Adhikari, member, said that the Deputy Commissioner had sent a copy of the panel’s report a day before the committee members held a meeting in Udupi. “We did not get any time to prepare for the meeting,” she said.
Ananth Movady, member, said that all gram panchayats had to conduct gram sabhas and get the opinion of residents on the report, which could not be done due to the short notice.
Deputy Conservator of Forests (DCF) Ravishankar said that the district-level committee got just a month’s time to prepare for the State-level committee’s visit. It was not possible for his department or the district-level committee to prepare a report for the State Committee in such a short time.
The zilla panchayat passed a resolution urging the Union and State governments to reject the panel’s report as the opinion of residents had not been considered.
Uday Kotian, member, said that the ZP should pass a resolution urging the district administration to consider the opinion of the tahsildar and sub-inspector of the local police station regarding the conduct of Kambala in the district. He was backed by other members.
Savita Kotian, ZP president, and M. Kangavalli, ZP CEO, were present.
Mangaluru: Three persons escaped after the vehicle fell down
Mangaluru: Three persons in a car escaped after the vehicle fell down the road following a mechanical defect near Baikampady on Saturday. The Mangaluru North Traffic police said the driver of the car lost control and the car plunged down to the railway track. Shaukat, Ajmeer and Jamsheer were injured and they were admitted to a private hospital. They were on the way to Moideen mosque to celebrate Eid Milad, the police said.
Mangaluru: Woman dies of burns in Belthangady
Mangaluru: Mary (40) on Saturday succumbed to burns she suffered in her house in Gundibailu in Belthangady police station limits on Wednesday. The police said Mary’s husband Tony set his wife ablaze and ran away on December 31. Neighbours brought Mary to a hospital in Mangaluru where she died. The police have arrested Tony.
Udupi district achieved 100 percentage coverage under Jan Dhan Yojana
Udupi: The Udupi district administration announced 100 per cent coverage of households under the Prime Minister’s Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) in last week of December 2014.
The district has a total of 2.53 lakh households. Of them, banks in the district opened accounts for 1.51 lakh households from August 16 to December 29, 2014. With this, all the households in the district have been covered with banking facility. It should be noted that the PMJDY accounts opened after August 16 have a total balance of ?5.51 crore.
Banks in the district were allotted 170 sub-service areas in 146 village panchayats and 95 urban wards for the implementation of PMJDY.
Subbarao, Manager of the Lead Bank of the district, informed that every 3,234 persons in the district have a branch to cater to their banking needs.
It was informed that all the banks in the district have a total of 21.97 lakh savings accounts. Of them, 8.7 per cent of accounts are active. The bankers were insisted on to work for taking social security programmes of the government to the needy.
Udupi is a city and the headquarters of the Udupi District in the Indian state of Karnataka. The city is famous for the Krishna temple . It also lends its name to the Udupi cuisine which is famous across the world.
Temples of Udupi District in the Karnataka state are popular for the temple festivals and rituals. The Udupi district was created in August 1997. The three northern taluks, Udupi, Kundapur and Karkala, were separated from Dakshina Kannada District to form Udupi district.
Udupi is a famous pilgrimage, particularly for Asta Math, i.e. eight Matts and Sri Krishna Temple. Udupi is also one of oldest religious educational centers.
KSMBOA 