Tuesday, January 4 2005 20:17 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Bangalore: Karnataka Chief Minister N Dharam Singh today (Jan 4, 2005) handed over a cheque of Rs 20 crore to the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh towards Tsunami Relief Fund, at New Delhi, according to an official statement in Bangalore.

He was accompanied by Deputy Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Water Resources and Transport Minister Mallikarjuna Kharge, Cooperation Minister R V Deshpande and senior officials of the State Government.

The Chief Minister requested the Prime Minister to release Rs 1,047 crore and 4.5 lakh tonnes of food grains to take up drought relief works in 83 taluks of the State where rains have failed.

Before calling on the Prime Minister, Singh met the Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar.

In the evening, the Chief Minister accompanied by Siddaramaiah and Kharge called on the Union Home Minister Shivaraj Patil and urged him to bring an amendment to the article 371 of the Indian Constitution to confer special status to the backward regions of Hyderabad-Karnataka.

He told the Union Home Minister that a Bill will be introduced to this effect in the coming Legislature session.

The Chief Minister also met the Union Human Resources Minister Arjun Singh and requested him to initiate action with regard to the introduction of Uniform law for admission to the professional courses.