Ambedkar statue: HC pulls up State

Bengaluru: Frowning on the state government’s failure to temporarily shift the statue of Dr B.R. Ambedkar from the Vidhana Soudha premises, the high court sought to know why this has not been done and also ordered issue of contempt notices to chief secretary S.V. Ranganath and BMRCL chief N. Sivasailam.
On December 12, the high court had directed the government to take immediate steps to shift the statue to a convenient place in the Soudha premises saying the delay was causing a heavy loss to BMRCL. Karna-taka Dalit Sangar-sha Samithi convenor, Mavalli Shankar and eight other Dalit leaders had approached the court alleging that they were never made a party to the case while objecting to the shifting of the statue. 
NICE probe: Stay extended
The high court on Monday extended a stay order on the probe against NICE and its sister companies on the alleged irregularities in the Bengaluru-Mysore expressway project, by another four weeks. Justice H. Billappa passed the orders and adjourned the matter to Tuesday for further hearing.
KSCA moves HC against KIC order
The high court has adjourned the hearing on the petition filed by Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) challenging a recent order passed against it by Karnataka Information Commission (KIC) declaring that it is a public authority and comes within the ambit of the Right to Information Act. The matter has been adjourned to January 17.
HC directs RBI
The high court has directed the Reserve Bank of India, to furnish the lists of non-banking institutions allowed to operate in the state.  The court was hearing a batch of PILs filed against finance firms, seeking directions to cancel their licenses for charging exorbitant rates of interest on gold loans. The petitioners allege that the firms are charging 12 to 30 per cent interest.