Here are the big stories from Karnataka today

Karnataka Today newsletter: ‘40% commission culture continues under Congress’, and more

Karnataka State Contractors’ Association President D. Kempanna has alleged that 40% commission practice is continuing even in the Congress government due to which contractors are suffering. Unlike during the BJP regime, when MLAs were asking the money, officials themselves were collecting the cash now, he alleged.

However, he refused to name the officials as at least five officers have filed defamation cases against him for making allegations. When BJP government was in power, Mr. Kempanna had alleged that in several departments, contractors had to pay 40% kickback to bag tenders and to get bills cleared. The Congress had then picked up the issue as a major poll plank.

Green enthusiasts in Bengaluru have started a petition demanding that the proposed construction of a 10-storey building inside Cubbon Park be stopped. This move comes after the Public Works Department (PWD) proposed reviving an earlier project to build an annex to the High Court, in Cubbon Park. 

Back in 2019, Heritage Beku started a petition against the project. The petition had garnered over 22,000 signatures, and there was no development on the project after that. This time too, Heritage Beku has started a petition to stop the same project.

A delay is likely in the supply of textbooks to school children in Karnataka for the 2024-25 academic year as the Textbook Revision Committee, headed by Manjunath G. Hegade, is yet to submit its report to the State Government. The panel was appointed in September 2023 to re-examine textbooks revised by the earlier committee headed by Rohit Chakratheertha in 2022-23.

From the next academic year, steps have been taken to provide two books per year, divided into two parts — (Summative Assessment) SA-1 and SA-2. The Karnataka Text Book Society (KTBS) has to print about 12 crore textbooks. The delay in submission of the textbook revision committee report will delay the printing as well.

Pork prices have surged to ₹500 per kg in Karnataka over the past few months, primarily due to a shortage of supply in the market. The shortage has particularly hit Bengaluru, Kodagu, Dakshina Kannada and Udupi, where consumption is higher.