Latest news with #LegislativeCouncil
South China Morning Post
13 hours ago
- Business
- South China Morning Post
High marks for Hong Kong's hotels as student accommodation
Dormitories should be where university students live, study together and find plenty of new friends. Sadly, a shortage of such accommodation in Hong Kong stands in the way of such experiences and the city's hopes of becoming an international hub for education. So authorities deserve high marks for proposing a way forward by relaxing rules for converting hotels into university student accommodation. A government paper submitted to the Legislative Council on June 20 proposed expanding the definition of 'hotels' to include student hostels. They would also waive planning procedures and simplify applications, allowing private operators to build dorms on commercial land more easily. A pilot scheme is scheduled to be launched in the middle of next month. There is no time to lose. The Education Bureau says the city's eight publicly funded universities had about 103,400 students in the 2024-25 academic year. About 76,900 were Hongkongers and 26,500 non-locals in full-time undergraduate and postgraduate research.
NDTV
18 hours ago
- Politics
- NDTV
No Talk Of Change Of Chief Minister By High Command: Siddaramaiah's Son
Bengaluru: Amid mounting speculation over a potential leadership change in Karnataka, Yathindra Siddaramaiah, son of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, has strongly dismissed the rumours, asserting that his father has the full backing of both the party high command and legislators. He, a Member of the Legislative Council, underlined that his father will complete his five-year term as Chief Minister. Junior Siddaramaiah's statement comes amid repeated comments from Congress MLAs and ministers hinting at a political churn towards the end of the year. Minister KN Rajanna's recent statement has fuelled most of the speculation. "Between 2013 and 2018, there was just one power centre. Now there are one, two, three, several power centres. When power centres increase, the issues also increase. Most people have an opinion that they are not seeing the Siddaramaiah of 2013. Let September pass, then we will talk about all this," said Mr Rajanna. Adding to the speculation, Congress MLA Pradeep Eshwar, speaking during a Kempegowda Jayanti event on Friday, offered glowing praise for DK Shivakumar, Siddaramaiah's Deputy, "As I end my speech, I want to remember DK Shivakumar, the leader whom I trust and dream of. I wish that his future is bright, and he takes one more step forward in his political career." Yathindra Siddaramaiah's remarks are the most definitive rebuttal yet from the Siddaramaiah camp. "Repeated statements are being made because there are certain factions that want to become CM, so they keep trying to spread rumours," he said. "But from the time the government was formed, Siddaramaiah has had the support of the high command and will continue to do so. The legislators also support Siddaramaiah. Therefore, he will continue for five years. The high command has never said they will change the CM or given any hints in this regard," he added. Asked about Mr Rajanna's comments, the Chief Minister's son said, "Only the minister can explain the context of his statement." He noted that such rumours have been circulating since the formation of the government. "From the beginning, there had been talk that Siddaramaiah would be removed within six months. Later, it was said he would be replaced after the MUDA case came to light - but nothing of the sort has happened," he said. As Karnataka continues to witness a tug-of-war between factions backing Siddaramaiah and those supporting DK Shivakumar, the political spotlight now turns to September, the month increasingly being seen as a possible turning point.
Hans India
a day ago
- Politics
- Hans India
CM urged to take all-party team to New Delhi to apprise PM on BC bill
Hyderabad: The BRS leaders on Friday demanded the Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy to take the all party delegation to New Delhi and take up local body elections only after providing 42 per cent reservations to the BCs. Addressing a press conference here at Telangana Bhavan along with party leaders Ch Rakesh, Kishore Goud and MP V Ravichandra, the Leader of Opposition in Legislative Council S Madhusudana Chari said that Revanth Reddy's is known for giving promises and later forgetting them. CM Revanth Reddy is acting contrary to the promise he gave in the Legislative Council on 42 per cent reservation for BCs in local elections. Revanth broke his word by promising to take an all-party delegation to Delhi for the approval of the BC Bill. Despite going to Delhi many times, CM Revanth Reddy did not discuss the BC bill with PM Modi. Revanth is going to Delhi only to give kick backs. It has become clear that he has no sincerity towards the BCs. He said that even Ponnam Prabhakar had made several comments on BC Reservations. Ponnam Prabhakar is being made a scapegoat by the CM. The Congress party has never loved BCs. The Congress has a history of setting up commissions for BCs but failed to implement their reports. Madhusudhana Chari alleged that the Congress made false statements in the Kamareddy Declaration just for the votes of BCs in the elections. The Congress has given nothing to BCs even after two budgets. They said that Rs 20,000 crore will be allocated to BCs in the budget every year. They did not keep that promise. They cheated them by saying that there will be 42 per cent reservation in six months. The Congress party has no sincerity in anything. The BJP also has no concern for BCs. The central government has done nothing for BCs in eleven years. The BC ministry has not even been set up. Allocations in the budgets have also been reduced. He said that the elections should be held only after giving 42 per cent reservation to BCs in local body elections. MP V Ravi Chandra said that the Congress made many promises to BCs for votes in the elections but after coming to power, it forgot to implement the promises made to BCs.
The Hindu
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
State govt. is not bothered about schools, education, children, says Horatti
Expressing concern over the sorry state of government school buildings, Chairman of Legislative Council Basavaraj Horatti has said that children are being forced to attend classes in such buildings as the State government has no concern towards school, education and children. He was speaking to presspersons after offering Ganga Puja and Bagina to the overflowing Unkal Lake in Hubballi on Friday. Mr. Horatti said that he has written letter to Minister for Primary and Secondary Education Madhu Bangarappa urging him to immediately take up repairs to school buildings, especially those which have become fragile due to lack of maintenance. Mr. Horatti said that while getting school buildings repaired and making alternative classroom arrangements are the responsibility of officials, 90% of the officials lacked understanding of the problem. 'They have become like the officials of Public Works and Revenue departments. Because of their foolishness, the problem is worsening. The district in-charge Minister should take note of this,' he said. He said that distributing eggs, milk and bananas in government schools is not the work of teachers. 'Barring the responsibility of teaching children, teachers should not have any other work. Exclusive staff should be appointed for other such work,' he said. Mr. Horatti said that those starting private schools and colleges should mandatorily follow the rules and regulations of the Education Department. However, they are not being followed. Instead, private schools are being established around government schools and colleges and this should be immediately acted upon, he said.
RTHK
2 days ago
- Politics
- RTHK
'Whole society must clean out security threats'
'Whole society must clean out security threats' Chris Tang says government cleaners, for example, need to report slogans they see that might violate national security laws. Photo: RTHK Secretary for Security Chris Tang said that while the number of people violating national security laws have been falling in recent years, society as a whole should always remain vigilant. He made the comment in an interview published on Friday marking three years into the current term of government. Tang stressed that officials will keep working to improve the laws, such as the recent additions of national security clauses governing eateries licence holders and trade unions. He said his bureau will soon publicise guidelines for civil servants – as required by law – to explain how all government workers need to safeguard security. For example, if cleaners encounter a potential national security risk, Tang said they should report it. "When a cleaner sees some slogans at work that could endanger national security, then there's a need to report the potential violation," he said. And citing the example of what civil servants who vet funding applications should do, he said: "When you find out that the background of a group is suspicious or it might be involved in something that endanger national security, then there's no reason to approve the funding." Tang said security officials will assess risks as part of efforts to ensure that the National Games and the Legislative Council elections this year will be held smoothly. Such work, he stressed, include patrolling the internet and monitoring to see if anyone might be using online tools to wreak havoc. In the past year, Tang said, 13 people had been identified as absconders under the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance and banned people from providing financial assistance to them or handling funds related to them. He said such work is effective as it sends a clear message that those who violate the security law could face a very steep price.
