20 BJP MLAs ready to join Congress: KPCC chief

Kasaragod, Apr 3: Kerala reported nine new cases of coronavirus on Friday, with seven from the worst affected Kasaragod district, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said.

With this, the total number of coronavirus positive cases in the coastal district alone mounted to 136.

Besides, Kasaragod, one case each was detected from Thrissur and Idukki, he told reporters after a COVID-19 review meeting this evening.

Currently, 251 people are under treatment for the virus in the state and 14 were cured today, Vijayan said.

A total of 1.69 lakh people are under surveillence in the state and 706 are in various hospitals.

Two fatalities have been reported from the state so far.

Bengaluru, Feb 24: Wanted gangster Ravi Poojary, who was arrested in South Africa and brought to India, was on Monday sent to police custody till March 7 by a Bengaluru court.

First Additional City Magistrate V Jagdish, while sending Pujari to police custody, said that there should be no interference in the investigations.

The court also asked the police to record video and audio of the interrogation process.

Poojary, who was wanted in over 200 cases of serious crime including murder and extortion, was brought to India by a team of senior officials and arrived at the Kempegowda International Airport here.

Pujari was extradited from Senegal on February 22 pursuant to an extradition request made by India in early 2019.

"He is physically fit. Questioning will begin from tomorrow. He is supporting our investigation and answering questions," Additional Director-General of Police Amar Kumar Pandey told reporters here earlier today.

Poojary, who parted ways with underworld don Chhota Rajan had jumped bail after he was arrested in Senegal in 2019 and had escaped to South Africa, where he was involved in drug trafficking and extortion.

According to sources in the Indian intelligence, Ravi Pujari was hiding with a false identity of Anthony Fernandes, a Burkina Faso passport holder, in a remote village in South Africa.

Bengaluru, Jul 22: Karnataka Congress President DK Shivakumar on Wednesday urged Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa to waive all property taxes in urban local and rural panchayats for a period of one year as citizens are bearing a huge financial brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Taking to Twitter, Shivakumar wrote, "Citizens are bearing a huge financial brunt of the Corona Pandemic. It's imperative on the government to ease the financial burden on citizens. I urge CM B.S. Yediyurappa to waive all property taxes, in urban local bodies and rural panchayats, for a period of one year on humanitarian grounds."
In yet another demand, Shivakumar on Tuesday said the state government should give details of the amount it spent on migrants and labourers during the coronavirus crisis if it is transparent.

"The image of Karnataka has come to a very rotten position. We all know that Karnataka has failed in sorting out the problem. Let them (the state government) tell what has been the amount spent on the labour, migrants and food kits on the health department. We want an account (of the expenditure) if they are so transparent," Shivakumar said.

He said the state government should have approached the hospitals for treating COVID-19 patients and if any private hospital refused, a message should have been given that the government would take it over.

He also accused the state government of corruption.