Category: State Current Affairs

Emergency response vehicles

News –

• The Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) launched ‘Accident Emergency Response Vehicles’ aimed at providing swift assistance during road accidents and vehicle breakdowns involving State-run buses.

Emergency response vehicles

• Initially, two vehicles will be deployed at central locations in Bengaluru and Mysuru.
• The specially equipped vehicles will function as mobile workshops, enabling technical teams to quickly reach stranded buses with necessary tools, spare parts, and support to restore operations.

Karnataka State Disaster Management Authority

News –

• Karnataka State Disaster Management Authority has prepared the road map for a ‘disaster-resilient Karnataka’ to reduce mortalities, economic loss and casualties

Karnataka State Disaster Risk Reduction (KSDRR) Road Map 2025-30

• According to this report 80% of the State’s geographical area is prone to drought, 22% is prone to moderate earthquakes and 24% of the geographical area in the State is prone to cyclones, heavy winds, etc,.
• Human-induced disasters like road and industrial accidents too are considered for risk assessment and disaster mitigation.

Additional information – Karnataka State Disaster Management Authority

• Apex Body: It functions as the highest decision-making authority for disaster management in Karnataka.
• Leadership: The authority is headed by the Chief Minister of Karnataka.
• Facilitation & Monitoring: It facilitates, coordinates, reviews, and monitors all disaster-related activities in the state, including capacity building.
• Policy Formulation: It lays down the State Disaster Management policy and guidelines for various government departments to follow.
• Plan Approval: It approves the State Disaster Management Plan and individual Departmental plans, ensuring they align with guidelines from the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).

SHUCHI SCHEME

News

• yet to procure sanitary pads under Shuchi scheme

SHUCHI SCHEME

• Objective – to distribute free menstrual pads to school and college girls between the ages of 10 and 18 years.
• Launched in – 2013-14
• Aim – create awareness about menstrual hygiene among girls studying in government and aided schools and colleges across the state.

Additional Information – Shuchi–Nanna Maithri

• It was a pilot project launched in 2023
• It distributes Menstrual Cups instead of pads to pre-university students in select districts like Dakshina Kannada and Chamarajanagar to promote eco-friendly hygiene.

Cantonment Railway Colony heritage site tag withdrawn

News

• The state government has withdrawn the biodiversity heritage tag for the 8.61-acre wooded area near the Cantonment railway station.

Biodiversity Heritage Sites (BHS)

• Definition – They are specific locations with rich, unique, and ecologically fragile ecosystems, including terrestrial, coastal, inland, or marine areas.
• Notified by – These are areas notified by state governments under the Biological Diversity Act, 2002
• India’s first BHS was Nallur Tamarind Grove in Karnataka in 2007.
• Objective – It aims to improve local livelihoods and conserve biodiversity through community participation via Biodiversity Management Committees (BMCs).

Biodiversity Heritage Sites (BHS) of Karnataka

‘Karnataka is India’s services export powerhouse, Bengaluru is the main engine’

News –

• Bengaluru emerged as the leader in India’s service exports for 2024-25, contributing $78.64 billion, nearly 35% of the country’s total services exports.
• As per Vishvehsvarayya-trade-promotion-centre-( VTPC) — Karnataka’s export facilitation arm, the State contributed 41% of India’s services exports in FY2021–22, valued at $254.4 billion,
• Karnataka’s economy is profoundly services-driven. The Economic Survey of Karnataka records services at 68.1% of GSVA (2024–25), with Bengaluru Urban as the single largest contributor to GSDP.

Karnataka’s Hate Speech and Hate Crimes (Prevention) Bill

News –

• The State Cabinet approved the Karnataka Hate Speech and Hate Crimes (Prevention) Bill, 2025.
• Objective – to effectively curb, prevent, dissemination, publication or promotion of hate speech and hate crimes, which cause disharmony and hatred in society.

Key Features of the Bill

• Purpose and Scope: It seeks to prevent dissemination, publication, and promotion of hate speech and hate crimes.
• It aims to curb actions causing injury, disharmony, enmity, or hatred against individuals, groups, or organisations.
• It is applicable to both persons and institutions.
• Hate speech definition – It includes any expression which is made, published, or circulated in words, either spoken or written, or by signs or by visible representations or through electronic communication in public view, with an intention to cause injury, disharmony, or feelings of enmity or hatred or ill-will against a person alive or dead, a class or group of persons, or a community to meet any prejudicial interest.
• The prejudicial interest includes religion, race, caste or community, sex, gender, sexual orientation, place of birth, residence, language, disability or tribe.
• The punishment for hate crime includes imprisonment from one to seven years and a fine of ₹50,000.
• The offences are cognisable, non-bailable, and triable by the Judicial Magistrate First Class.
• Alignment with Central Laws: The Bill incorporates provisions of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023 for procedural uniformity.

Constitutional Provisions

• Article 19(2) – It deals with the reasonable restrictions that can be placed on the fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression under Article 19(1)(a).
• Conditions under which speech can be restricted by the state: Security of the State, Public Order, Decency or Morality, Contempt of Court, Defamation, Incitement to Offense.

Steps taken  address hate speech

• Indian Penal Code (IPC) / Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023: Specific sections like Section 153A, Section 295A, etc in penal codes criminalize promoting enmity between groups (religion, race, language), outraging religious feelings, or inciting public fear/disorder.
• Representation of the People Act, 1951: Sec. 123(3), 123(3A): Prohibit political speech that promotes hatred or appeals to religion, caste, community during elections.
• The Supreme Court, in the case of Pravasi Bhalai Sangathan v. Union of India (2014), acknowledged the lack of specific legislation on hate speech and recommended that the Parliament enact a comprehensive law to address this issue
• In the case of Amish Devgan v. Union of India (2020) the Supreme Court of India addressed the balance between freedom of speech and expression (Article 19) and the need to restrict hate speech to maintain public order and communal harmony.

India-Taiwan Industrial Park to come up in State

News –

• The Allegiance International Co. Ltd. of Taiwan will establish an India-Taiwan Industrial Park (ITIP) in Karnataka with an investment of ₹1,000 crore.
• Significance of the move – this collaboration will strengthen Karnataka’s position as India’s leading destination for Electronics System Design and Manufacturing

Karnataka Digital Economy Mission (KDEM)

• It is a not-for-profit organization established in 2021 by the Government of Karnataka.
• It serves as a “knowledge bridge” between the state government and the technology industry to accelerate digital growth and investments.

Core Objectives

• Economic Impact: Aims to help Karnataka contribute $300 billion toward India’s goal of a $1 trillion digital economy by 2030.
• Startup Growth: Targets the creation of 10,000 startups in regional clusters (outside Bengaluru) by 2030.
• Employment: Focuses on creating 5 million skilled and semi-skilled jobs within the digital sector.

Key Focus Areas (Verticals)

• Innovation & Startups: Facilitating access to capital, mentorship, and networking for early-stage companies.
• Beyond Bengaluru: Decentralizing the tech industry by developing clusters in Mysuru, Mangaluru, Hubballi-Dharwad-Belagavi, Kalaburagi, Shivamogga, and Tumakuru.
• Electronics Systems Design and Manufacturing (ESDM): Promoting Karnataka as a global hub for semiconductor and electronics manufacturing.
• Talent Accelerator: Bridging the skill gap through initiatives like Future Digital Jobs and the Karnataka Skill Connect Portal.
• IT/ITeS, BPM & GCC: Attracting Global Capability Centers (GCCs) and mid-sized IT firms to establish operations across the state.

‘Digital Heritage Portal’

In News –

• State to develop ‘Digital Heritage Portal’ to preserve cultural legacy.

‘Digital Heritage Portal’:

• Vision : Karnataka is to become a national leader in digital heritage preservation with a proposal to create a unified Karnataka Digital Heritage Portal .
• Role : it will integrate manuscripts, rare printed works, archival records and other cultural resources on a single platform.
• Launched by : The initiative, led jointly by the Oriental Research Institute (ORI), Mysuru, and the Karnataka State Archives.
• It aligns with the Union government’s Digital India Mission and the National Mission for Manuscripts.

CFTRI to develop foods for astronauts, athletes, and ageing population

News –

• The Mysuru-based Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI) has now shifted its focus to developing advanced food technologies.
• These include foods for astronauts (space foods), endurance-enhancing foods for sportspersons (sports foods), and nutrition-rich foods for the elderly (geriatric foods).

Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI)

• It is a constituent laboratory of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), New Delhi.
• It is located in Mysuru, Karnataka.
• The institute was established on October 21, 1950.
• Mandate – It is a leading center for research and development in food science and technology

APMC to build state-of-the-art fruit and vegetable market

In news –

• ‘Hygiene on Go’, a Mobile sanitation vehicle for police personnel launched in Bengaluru.

About the ‘Hygiene on Go’:

• Aim : In a bid to improve the working conditions of the Bengaluru Traffic Police (BTP) personnel.
• Launched by : Department of Home Affairs. It’s a first-of-its-kind mobile sanitation vehicle exclusively for the Bengaluru City Police.
• Coverage area : The vehicles will run from 8.30 a.m. to 7 p.m. along three major traffic-heavy routes – Thanisandra, Adugodi, and Mysuru Road, covering 91 designated halting points to ensure timely and reliable access for personnel on duty.
• Components : The vehicles will feature separate washrooms for male and female police officers. They will also have exterior CCTV coverage, GPS tracking, and an LED display carrying road safety messages.
• Benefits :  Mobile sanitation arrangement is very beneficial, especially for women, because washrooms are much more easily accessible for men than for women.