College student dies as reckless garbage truck hits her scooter

Mangaluru, May 31: The bus services by private operators in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi Districts will begin from tomorrow (June 1) with 15 per cent hike in the fares, Canara Bus Owners Association president Rajavarma Ballal said on Sunday.

In a statement issued here, he said that the members of the Association have appealed for a 3-month tax break. ''We have received tax breaks for 2 months and have demanded for an additional month again,'' he added.

He said that the government has agreed to a 15 per cent hike in bus fares. All the passes issued already will be converted into cash cards and no discounts will be available till the end of the COVID-19 crisis.

An added attraction in private buses will be the option of paying travel fares through smart cards.

According to Dakshina Kannada Bus Operators Association president Dilraj Alva, 50 per cent of 325 private city buses will resume their services on Monday. It also meant that 50 per cent of buses will operate on the allotted routes.

The smart cards (or travel cards called Chalo Card) will not be introduced on all routes at a time. They will be introduced in a phased manner covering all routes from Monday.

Bengaluru, Jan 10: The Special Investigation Team (SIT), probing the murder case of journalist-activist Gauri, arrested absconding suspect Rushikesh Devdikar alias Murali (44) from Dhanbad district in Jharkhand on Thursday evening and is bringing him to the city.

Rushikesh is the 18th suspect arrested in the case, Chief Investigating Officer M N Anucheth said. The investigation has revealed that he was primarily involved in the conspiracy to murder Gauri.

Rushikesh, who was hiding in a house in Katras, Dhanbad, will be produced before the local Judicial Magistrate in Dhanbad on Friday, said Anucheth, adding that the SIT had searched his house for clues. "We will obtain a transit warrant from the court and then bring him to Bengaluru," the officer said.

Originally from Aurangabad in Maharashtra, Rushikesh's family still lives there.

Gauri Lankesh was shot dead near her residence at around 8.20 pm on September 5, 2017, by two bike-borne men.

Mangaluru: The Karnataka-Kerala border closure at Talapady amidst nationwide Covid-19 lockdown has not only prevented the movement of vehicles and people from Kasaragod to Mangaluru but also stopped the supply of life-saving drugs from Karnataka’s medical hub to its bordering district.

Hundreds of people from Kasaragod and Kannur districts who were treated in hospitals of Mangaluru for past several years are still dependent on some of the medicines that are available only in Mangaluru. Such medicines have become inaccessible for Keralites following the border closure. Every day, a number of people from Kerala call their acquaintances in Mangaluru to see if there is a way to get medicine.

In fact, Karnataka government has blocked all 23 roads that connect the state with Kerala. The reason given was, Kasaragod is the hotbed of coronavirus and allowing traffic even in emergency cases might lead to spread of Covid-19 in border districts of Dakshina Kannada, Kodagu and Mysuru. The attitude has resulted in the death of around a dozen people in Kasaragod district in last couple of weeks.

Even after the intervention of the Supreme Court a few days ago, the authorities in Karnataka are facing the allegation of being hostile either by blocking the way ahead or turning a deaf ear to the patients reaching their border. 

At this juncture, three Good Samaritans – P K G Anoop Kumar of Canara Engineering College, Mangaluru, Satheesh Shetty of Kasaragod Patla and P Jayaprakash of Ponnangala – have come to the aid of the Malayalee patients who are dependent on medicines from Mangaluru. 

The three activists who are currently staying (in fact stranded amidst lockdown) in Mangaluru, are delivering life-saving medicines to patients in Kerala through Kerala fire servicemen and policemen posted at the Talapady border. 

Anoop Kumar says that took the initiative after a woman, Maria Augustine from Chemberi (Taliparamba) Nellikkutty, contacted him for a medicine. He managed to buy it from a medical store in the port city and handed it over to a Kerala fire serviceman at Talapady border. 

All three are activists of Communist Party of India (Marxist). After moving to Mangaluru, they set up ‘We Donate Charitable Society’ to donate blood. The activists say that they are ready to dispatch medicines from Mangaluru to any person in Kerala. Those Keralites who are in need of medicines from may contact: 888471344 - Anoop, 9895135881 - Jayaprakash