Karnataka tops Niti Aayog's Innovation Index for second time in a row

Niti Aayog

The number of venture capital deals, registered GIs (Geographical Indications) and ICT (Information and Communication Technology) exports helped Karnataka secure the top spot.

PTI

For the second year in a row, Karnataka topped Niti Aayog's Innovation Index. Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu ranked in the second and third position in the innovation in Niti Aayog''s second Innovation Index released on Wednesday. The index, released by Aayog''s vice-chairman Rajiv Kumar and CEO Amitabh Kant, has been developed in the lines of Global Innovation Index. Telangana and Kerala ranked fourth and fifth respectively. While Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Bihar were ranked at the bottom of the Index. Karnataka topped the Index for the second year in a row. Among Union Territories, Delhi topped the chart, while in the North-Eastern and Hill States category Himachal Pradesh occupied the top spot. "Amongst major states, the average innovation score is 25.35. Karnataka tops at 42.5, which is attributable to its strong number of venture capital deals, registered GIs (Geographical Indications) and ICT (Information and Communication Technology) exports. Karnataka''s high FDI inflow has also enhanced the innovation capabilities of the state," the India Innovation Index 2020 said. Maharashtra was ranked second with an innovation score of 38, while Bihar finished last at 14.5. "The case for the southern states as the top performers has also become stronger as four of them occupy the top-five spots within the major states," it added. According to the index, the North-Eastern and Hill states achieved an average innovation score of 17.89, with Himachal Pradesh as the best performer with a score of 25, followed by Manipur (22.77) and Sikkim (22.28), respectively. "With 31.9 % of its total employment generated being knowledge-intensive, Himachal Pradesh benefits from a high number of knowledge workers," it said. The Index noted that the innovation score of Union Territories and city states averages at 26.01. Delhi was the best performer among all groups. Among UTs, after Delhi, "Chandigarh follows second with a score of 38.57, whereas Lakshadweep and Jammu and Kashmir occupy the last two positions in the group respectively," it said. Speaking at the event, Kumar said the office of the Principal Scientific Advisor and Niti Aayog are working closely to create a seamless interaction among institutions that are there in any city to improve India''s innovation ecosystem. He also said that with the partnership with the Principal Scientific Advisor K Vijay Raghavan, the Niti Aayog is working very hard to try and bring back and attract Indian talent from abroad. "There are some schemes (to bring back Indian talent) already, we want to sharpen them, we want to improve them," the Niti Aayog vice chairman said. "Maybe that will also become an indicator... Which state is able to attract a larger number of Indian talent back to the country, making our system more flexible, less red tape and by making our environment far more attractive," he added. The India Innovation Index 2020, ranks the states and union territories based on their relative performance of supporting innovation, and aims to empower them to improve their innovation policies by highlighting their strengths and weaknesses. The states and union territories have been divided into 17 ''major states'', 10 ''North-Eastern and hill states'', and 9 ''city states and Union Territories'', for effectively comparing their performance. Overall, the framework of India Innovation Index 2020, consists of 36 indicators, which include hard data (32 indicators) and four composite indicators.

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Biden’s Covid fight meets a big test: Red-state politics

Biden’s plan to encourage better masking, social distancing, testing and contact tracing could gain traction with governors whose states are overwhelmed.

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Karnataka Congress holds massive protest in Bengaluru against farm laws

Protest

Hundreds of Congress workers and farmers gathered at Sangolli Rayanna Railway Station in Bengaluru and marched till Freedom Park for a sit in protest on Wednesday.

TNM Staff

KPCC

The Karnataka Congress together with farmer groups carried out a protest march in Bengaluru on Wednesday.The protesters including Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee President DK Shivakumar gathered at Sangolli Rayanna Railway Station and began the ‘Raj Bhavan Chalo’ march, demanding the rollback of the three contentious farm laws. Congress leaders including former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, former Deputy Chief Minister Dr G Parameshwara and  former MP Mallikarjun Kharge were among those who took part in Wednesday’s protest march.  Hundreds of Congress party workers and farmers began their March via Seshadri Road and were stopped by the police from continuing further. They gathered at Freedom Park, where they held a sit-in protest. Speaking at Freedom Park, DK Shivakumar alleged that the ruling BJP government is using the police to clamp down on the farmers.  “The state government is misusing the  police force to suppress the voice of farmers. The police have detained many Congress party workers and farmers, who were slated to arrive from various districts to Bengaluru for the Raj Bhavan Chalo protest. This happened last night (Tuesday night) itself. Protesting is the lifeblood of democracy,” DK Shivakumar said.  Watch: Karnataka Congress leaders and party workers protest against farm laws in Bengaluru He appealed to the party workers and farmers to sit down on roads and protest if stopped by the police. “No one can take away your right to protest. I request you to sit down on the roads and protest if the police stop you from entering the city,” DK Shivakumar added. Read: Belagavi farmers stage protest against farm laws during Amit Shah's visit to state Siddaramaiah said that the party would stand by farmers and protest against the controversial laws, until they are withdrawn completely. “Yediyurappa wears a green shawl and says he lives to serve farmers. Wearing the shawl is not enough. The farmers are demanding that the three laws be withdrawn. We will stand by our farmers until their wish is realised,” Siddaramaiah said.  Farmers in Karnataka and those across the country have been protesting against the three controversial legislations since last year. The three legislations include The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020. The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020 and The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020.  Read: Explainer: The 'Farm Bills' controversy, and why farmers are protesting The Supreme Court had earlier this month issued an interim stay against the implementation of these legislations. The apex court also appointed a committee to help negotiate talks between the protesting farmers and the Union government. Farmers had refused to engage with the committee members, alleging that they were pro-government and have demanded that an independent committee look into the matter.

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Video: Karnataka Agri Min BC Patil confronted by protesting Mysuru farmers

Protest

Farmers confronted the minister following his comments that farmer suicides are not due to government policies but due to a "weakness of mind".

TNM Staff

A group of protesting farmers surrounded Karnataka Agriculture Minister BC Patil in Mysuru on Wednesday in response to the minister's comments attributing farmer suicides to 'weakness of mind' rather than government policies. "If you have any responsibility, ensure the functioning of the government. What does the government mean by we are examining this issue?," a farmer, Basavaraju, said while directing his ire at BC Patil. To this, BC Patil asked the farmer his name and said, "Each department has its own work. You cannot talk like this." The farmer responded, "Why shouldn't we speak? You are the minister and you should call us and speak to us," Basavaraju added. The exchange took place at the Jaladarshini campus in Mysuru after BC Patil's comments about farmer suicides on Tuesday. He said that farmer suicides are not connected to government policies and also claimed that farmers who commit suicide are cowards. He described a momentary weakness as the reason for suicides and suggested that "when we have fallen in the water, we have to swim and win". He also added that among other initiatives, the one district one product (ODOP) scheme adopted by Karnataka to highlight one local product in each district will help farmers market their produce.  However, his comments attracted criticism from farmers with Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha's Hoskote representative Basavarju leading a group of farmers to confront BC Patil.  Even though Patil tried to defuse the tension by speaking to the farmers, tempers flared with Basavaraju pointing out that ministers have not come to meet and speak to farmers who are protesting in New Delhi for nearly two months.

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Karnataka vaccinates over 15k beneficiaries, achieves 47% of the target on Tuesday

Coronavirus

However, the coverage remained low in districts like Bengaluru, Kalburgi and Dharwad.

TNM Staff

Image for representation/PTI

Of the 32,205 targeted vaccine beneficiaries against COVID-19 across Karnataka, only 15,223 took the shot on Tuesday said the state Health Department. The department in their statement said that with 15,223 people getting vaccinated, 47% of the target was achieved during the course of the day. While the government had planned for 356 sessions to be carried out for the day across the state, only 346 were held. Tumkuru district had the highest coverage of 84% in the state. As many as 4,310 of the 5,117 beneficiaries listed took the injection. Chikkamagaluru followed with 70% coverage for the day as 552 of the 787 targeted were vaccinated. Meanwhile, the numbers remained low for districts like Bengaluru, Kalburgi and Dharwad. In Bengaluru, 4,288 of the 12,707 targeted took the vaccine, accounting for 34% of the target. In Kalburgi only 20 of the 100 targeted beneficiaries were vaccinated amounting to coverage of just 2%. Dharwad also had 20% coverage thus far.  Only 174 of the 851 healthcare workers were vaccinated in the district. Furthermore, the vaccination drive was not held in six districts—Chikkaballapur, Kolar, Mysuru, Uttara Kannada, Vijayapura and Yadgir – on Tuesday. The state has vaccinated 53,341 frontline and health workers since the inoculation drive was launched on January 16, achieving 49% coverage of the targeted beneficiaries said the health department in its report on Monday. The COVID-19 vaccination coverage report issued showed that in the last three days, the state had organised 1,324 vaccination sessions, of which 1,307 were held. Despite the setbacks, the state reported the highest number of healthcare workers being vaccinated across the country since the drive began. Reportedly, 80,686 healthcare workers in the state have been vaccinated. The data is in accordance with the interim report published by the government which includes the collective number of healthcare workers vaccinated as of 6 pm on Tuesday. (With IANS inputs)

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Karnataka govt to withdraw cases against cow vigilantes

Law

Animal Husbandry Minister Prabhu Chauhan further said that the government also has plans to set up a dedicated war room to protect the cattle in the state.

TNM Staff

Image for Representation/PTI

A day after the anti-cow slaughter ordinance came into effect in Karnataka, Animal Husbandry Minister Prabhu Chauhan said that the government is planning to withdraw cases filed against ‘gau rakshaks’ (cow vigilantes) in the state. Gau rakshak or cow vigilante is a term used for people who use physical force to police the transportation of cattle to slaughterhouses in the state. At a review meeting of the department held on Tuesday, MLAs Bharat Shetty and Vedavyas Kamath told Minister Prabhu Chauhan that their workers were being detained for opposing the transportation of allegedly stolen cattle. Addressing the media after the meeting, the minister said that a proposal is being mooted to withdraw cases against the cow vigilantes. “I will visit Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa and Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai with the proposal for the same. Will discuss it with them,” said Chauhan to the media. The Minister further said that the government also has plans to set up a dedicated war room to protect the cattle in the state. He also urged the officials to implement the Karnataka Prevention of Slaughter and Preservation of Cattle Ordinance, 2020, citing it would bring down illegal slaughter of cattle to a great extent. Chauhan additionally announced that more ‘gaushalas’ (cow shelters) will be built in the state. “Every taluk in the state should have one gaushala to protect the cattle. Sanctions to the existing gaushalas in the state will be increased depending on the expenses incurred in taking care of the cattle,” said the minister pointing out that India’s still a largely agrarian country and that cattle are worshipped as a part of the tradition. The state government will consider giving compensation to the farmers for maintenance of non-productive cattle, said Chauhan. He claimed that farmers have not sought any compensation or sent the non-productive cattle to gaushalas run by the state. Under the Karnataka Prevention of Slaughter and Preservation of Cattle Ordinance, 2020, individuals involved in the illegal sale of cattle meat or slaughtering of cows can either face a jail term up to seven years and (or) have to pay a fine up to Rs 10 lakhs. 

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U.S. coronavirus death toll passes 400,000 as Biden prepares to take office

The country recorded 100,000 deaths in roughly a month.

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