Hundreds of farmers tried in vain to register their protest against the government on the Tumkur highway, even as MoUs of mega projects were being exchanged at the Bangalore International Exhibition Center, the venue for GIM 2012.

Over 500 farmers belonging to Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha and Karnataka Prantha Raitha Sangha raised slogans against the government’s initiative to attract investments to the State from large players.

The Supreme Court-appointed Central Empowered Committee (CEC) to probe illegal mining in Karnataka has ruled out resumption of mining operations in the state until mining plans in category A and B

The Centre is likely to sanction Rs 294 crore as grant for drought relief to Karnataka. This means that the State gets just eight per cent of the total relief of Rs 3,605 crore it had sought from the Union government.

Secretariat sources said the Centre had indicated to the State that a final decision would be taken at a high-level committee meeting in New Delhi, either on June 1 or 2.

The State government on Thursday informed the High Court that it would hold negotiations with Andhra Pradesh government with regard to providing drinking water to Pavagada taluk in Tumkur district from the pipeline, part of which passes through Pavagada, laid by the neighbouring State to supply water from Tungabhadra dam in Karnataka.

The government counsel made this submission during the hearing on a PIL plea filed by the Karnataka Rashtriya Kissan Sangha and other organisations from Pavagada taluk seeking supply of drinking water through this line to their taluk which is facing water shortage.

Drought and disease have devastated life of coconut growers in the district. Rubbing salt into their wounds is the slump in price of copra and coconut.

Various diseases, including pest attack and stem bleeding, have ravaged crops on thousands of acres. Coconut trees in the rain-fed regions of Madhugiri, Pavagad, Sira and Koratagere have withered, leaving the distraught farmers in debt trap. The diseases have destroyed crop in and around 15 acres of plantation at Baragur in Chikkanayakanahalli taluk and scores of acres in Hosakere, Nittur, CS Pur hoblis in Gubbi taluk

It will be a while before Karnataka can expect any grant from the Centre for drought relief.

The Central drought assessment team headed by Parvesh Sharma on Wednesday directed the State government to furnish detailed statistics within a week’s time. The officials, at a meeting presided over by Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda, expressed dissatisfaction over the information provided by the Gowda-led all-party delegation in its memorandum.

There is a direct link between unabated mining and the floods which devastated the North Karnataka region in 2009, said environmentalist and High Court Lok Adalat member Y N Yellappa Reddy.

Speaking with mediapersons here on Friday, he said mining activities in the Western Ghats region - the main source of rivers and lakes - has led to the deterioration of environment. Constant mining activities had led to the destruction of grassland.

The illegal mining scam has not deterred mining companies from making a beeline for Karnataka. Over 19,000 applications seeking permission to excavate ore in the State are pending with the government.

Data compiled by the Union Ministry of Mines shows that of the 42,535 pending applications seeking permission for mining in various mineral-rich states in the country, (as on April 19), more than 45 per cent (19,351) of them are pending in Karnataka alone — the highest in the country.

SC nod can lead to production of 6-7 mt from 49 category A, B mines

The shortage of iron ore in Karnataka is likely to ease by July, as regular mining is expected to resume in a couple of months from now. The Supreme Court-appointed authorities are preparing reclamation and rehabilitation (R&R) plans, stoking hopes of an end to the stalemate. Once the apex court approves the plans, mining can resume in 49 leases of 50-hectares and above falling under the A and B category mines in the districts of Bellary, Chitradurga and Tumkur.

New Delhi: While former Karnataka chief minister B S Yeddyurappa may have come under the scanner of Supreme Court’s Central Empowered Committee (CEC) in two specific cases of making financial gain