About 70 % voting in repolling at 12 booths in Karnataka

Bangalore, Apr 29 (PTI) An estimated 70 per cent of the
electorate today cast their vote in the re-polling held at 12
polling stations across nine Lok Sabha constituencies in
Karnataka.
        "We have estimated 65 to 70 per cent voter turnout at
re-polling held in 12 polling stations today," Karnataka Chief
Electoral Officer Anil Kumar Jha told PTI.
        "Polling was normal and peaceful," he added.
        The CEO had recommended re-polling at 11 polling stations
due to technical problems in EVMs and polling station at
Turuvekere in Tumkur Lok Sabha constituency because of human
error committed by election officials.
        Re-polling took place in polling stations in Lok Sabha
constituencies of Tumkur, Haveri, Bagalkot, Bijapur, Gulbarga,
Raichur, Bidar, Shimoga and Hassan.
        All 28 Lok Sabha constituencies in Karnataka went to
polls on April 17 in a single phase, registering an overall
67.28 per cent polling.
        CEO had earlier suspended four election officials for
trying to handle the voting machine in violation of electoral
laws. PTI KSU 

Day-to-day review meetings to address drinking water crisis in Karnataka

B D Narayankar reports

Bangalore, Apr 28 (PTI) Karnataka Government would hold
day-to-day review meetings in districts to discuss the
preparedness of officials to tackle drinking water crisis,
Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Minister H K Patil said
today.
     The meetings would commence from tomorrow in various
districts including Haveri, Belgaum, Davangere, Tumkur,
Chitradurga, Koppala and others, Patil told reporters here.
     He said government had also formed committees to monitor
the situation and asked officials to ensure that no village
faced drinking water scarcity. About Rs 800 crore was
available with the government to tackle drinking water
scarcity. "Funds are not a constraint...," he said.
     He said officials will be held responsible and
disciplinary action initiated against them if they failed to
take immediate steps to ease drinking water problem.
     Patil also instructed higher officials to issue notices
to those officers who were on leave to immediately resume work
to address drinking water problem.
     He said government had pressed into service 702 tankers
in the state to tackle drinking water problem. The government
was also focused on recharging borewells and there were 3,487
borewells pending energising, Patil said.