KISF personnel to be trained in anti-terror ops

According to official sources, the CRPF will impart training to the personnel of the proposed KISF at Khanapur in Belgaum, where it will set up a Counter-Insurgency and Anti-terrorism School. The State government has agreed to give 408 acre of land free of cost at Khanapur for the purpose. The Cabinet, which is scheduled to meet on Thursday, is likely to approve the proposal.

The CRPF had approached the government seeking land in Khanapur early this year. The government had offered to give the land free of cost, but on a condition that training to the personnel of its proposed KISF be given at the school. And the CRPF has agreed, sources said.

The government wants to raise the KISF on the lines of Central Industrial Security Force (CISF). The aim is to have a separate commando force in the State to meet security challenges. Besides, the proposed force will be used for guarding vital installations across the State, sources said.

Land grabbing bill

The Revenue Department has, at last, revised the Karnataka Land Grabbing (Prohibition) Bill, 2007 by incorporating suggestions made by the Union Human Resources Development Ministry. The revised bill -- Karnataka Land Grabbing Prohibition Bill, 2011 - will be placed before the Cabinet for its approval. The Bill seeks to set up a special court for speedy inquiry into government land grabbing and land dispute cases.

The Human Resources Development  Ministry, which had kept the 2007 Bill pending for nearly four years, returned the bill to the State government in March this year with a suggestion to include immovable properties belonging to the Wakf Board and those included under Hindu Religious and Endowment Act, in the ambit of definition of government land.