Aboobaker faces allegations of 'lavish spending', says charges baseless

February 8, 2012

aboobaker

Mangalore, February 7: Chicken Biryani, Rs380, Mutton Biryani Rs 400, Chilly Chicken Boneless Rs 350, and Mineral Water Rs 80 —if you thought this is part of a five-star hotel menu, you could be wrong.

This was the bill the chairman of Karnataka Minorities Development Corporation chairman N. B. Aboobaker allegedly ran for a single meal at the Chicken Inn Restaurant at Pandara Road, New Delhi at the expense of taxpayers, according to a report in Kannada Prabha.

As president of the statutory body, Mr Aboobaker is entitled to spend maximum Rs 300 per day for his expenses towards meals and beverages and Rs. 700 per day towards TA and DA. However, according to information obtained through a query under Right to Information, he has been overshooting the limit quite frequently.

However, Mr. Aboobaker has dismissed the allegations as baseless.

According to documents in possession of Amir Khan, an RTI activist, Mr. Abooabker has travelled to Bangalore and back 76 times by flight over the last two and half years that he has been president of the board. House rent, telephone, entertainment, diesel, flight tickets and tourism are his major expenses during this period. He ran a whopping Rs 11,12,749 for the year 2009-10 and Rs. 12,65,809 for 2010-11. The bill that he ran for 2011-12 (upto October) it was Rs 5,57,147.

Every year crores of rupees are set aside in the budget for the development of minorities. But unfortunately the personal expenses of the chairmen and staff of the boards and corporations seems to be eating away a huge part of this allocation. Mr. Aboobaker has also flown to Delhi, Agra and Mumbai several times, according to the data provided in the official reply, claimed Mr. Khan. He has also submitted a memoranda to Governor H.R. Bharadwaj and chief minister Sadananda Gowda seeking a crackdown on Mr. Aboobaker's alleged extravagant expenditure.

Mr. Khan also alleges that he has been victimised for speaking out and a complaint has been filed against him in the Cubbon Park Police station, Bangalore. He has sought a CID inquiry into the squandering of public money by Mr. Aboobaker and urged the government to recover it from him, besides stripping him of his office.

Mr. Aboobaker, however, has strongly denied the allegations and urged chief minister to take action against Mr. Khan for misguiding the media by providing false information.

Speaking to media persons at the press club in Bangalore, Mr. Aboobaker said, the basis for Mr. Khan's allegation was the bill footed by the Corporation for the dinner provided to officers who attended a meeting of the National Minorities Development Corporation in New Delhi.

“He (Khan) is trying to give an impression that I am spending Rs. 1,000 on a day-to-day basis. It is a hobby for him to harass government employees,” he said.

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News Network
May 15,2020

Marriages will have to shed decadence as the state government, in an advisory, has restricted the number of guests to 50 and barred consumption of liquor at such events. 

The advisory was issued in anticipation that the COVID-19 lockdown will be eased in a phased manner. 

The advisory, issued by the Department of Health & Family Welfare, states that events can be held in a “suitable public place with good natural ventilation (no air condition).”

For latest updates on coronavirus outbreak, click here
All guests must have the Arogya Setu app on their phones and the contact details all marriage attendees should be maintained. 

No person from a containment zone will be allowed to attend the event, and persons aged above 65 years, pregnant women and children below 10 years are not permitted. 

Sanitizers are to be provided at the entry and at “appropriate” places. Thermal screening is a must at the entry point of the venue. The scanner should be held 3-15 cm away from a person’s forehead. “Anyone found having a fever (37.5 degree centigrade or 99.5 farenheit), cold, cough, difficulty in breathing shall not be permitted to attend the event and immediately referred to seek medical advice,” the advisory said. 

Besides prohibition on consumption of alcohol, the advisory said paan, gutka and tobacco will not be allowed. 

Face masks are compulsory and all persons should maintain a physical distance of more than one metre. The venue shall be clean and hygienic, with a prohibition on spitting in public places.

A nodal person should be identified to oversee the arrangements, the advisory said.

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News Network
March 28,2020

Kasaragod, Mar 28: A pregnant Bihari migrant woman in labour gave birth in an ambulance after the Karnataka police allegedly refused to allow the ambulance carrying her to cross the border road to Mangaluru to reach her hospital.

The border road was shut due to the lockdown. The woman used to consult a doctor in Mangaluru across the border.

As Karnataka police stopped the vehicle at the border in Talapady, saying no vehicle, including ambulances from Kerala, could be permitted to their state, the drivers decided to take the woman was taken to the general hospital here, but she went into labour and delivered a baby girl in the vehicle

Both the mother and baby are doing fine, authorities said.

Hailing from Patna in Bihar, 25-year-old Gowri Devi and her husband were working in a local plywood factory in this north Kerala district, from where the maximum number of coronavirus cases have been reported so far in the state.

Those living in the border towns and villages of Kasaragod are dependent on the hospitals in Mangaluru as it is nearer, local people said.

The ambulance drivers- Aslam and Musthafa- said they stopped the vehicle by the wayside, making it safe for the woman. The baby girl and the mother were soon shifted to the government general hospital here and both of them are safe and healthy, they said.

Local people complained that not only pregnant women, but even patients requiring daily dialysis and emergency cardiac and cancer treatment were being sent back by Karnataka.

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News Network
April 10,2020
Mangaluru, Apr 10: Eight people were arrested on Friday on charges of illegally arriving at Addur near the city through boat violating the lockdown.
 
Police said that Yakub and other seven in his group have been charged with criminal cases for entering the city illegally as the border between Kerala and Karnataka has been sealed and a ban on travel between the States is in effect.
 
The group had arrived through boat despite there was ban. Police are now investigating the existence of a gang who are illegally transporting people through the sea across State borders.

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