4 cops sacrifice their lives to prevent suicide bomber from entering Prophet's mosque

Bengaluru, Jan 3: The Karnataka high court on Thursday issued notices to the Railway Board and the South Western Railways on a petition seeking review of superfast surcharge being levied on passengers in Malgudi Express train.

Petitioner and Mysurubased advocate Mohammed Dastagir, in a public interest litigation claimed that as per the circular issued by the Railway Board on December 10, 2006, Malgudi Express — which runs from Mysuru to Yelehanka — is not designated as a superfast train and despite the same, the authorities are illegally collecting additional charges known as supplementary charges ranging from Rs 15 to Rs 75 from passengers.

A division bench headed by Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka posted the petition to second week of February.

New Delhi, Jan 27: Non-Muslim refugees from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan will have to provide proofs of their religious beliefs while applying for Indian citizenship under the controversial Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAA), officials said on Monday.

The applicants belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Christian, Buddhist, Jain or Parsi faiths will also have to furnish documents to prove that they entered India on or before December 31, 2014.

Those who will seek Indian citizenship under the CAA will have to provide proofs of their religious beliefs and this will be mentioned in the rules to be issued under the CAA, a government official said.

According to the CAA, members of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities who have come from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan till December 31, 2014, due to religious persecution there will not be treated as illegal immigrants and will be given Indian citizenship.

The central government is also likely to give a relatively smaller window of just three months to those who want to apply for Indian citizenship in Assam under the CAA, another official said.

Some Assam-specific provisions are expected to be incorporated in the rules to be issued for the implementation of the CAA.

Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal and his finance minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had made a request about a fortnight ago to keep a limited period window for applying under the CAA and also incorporate some other Assam-specific provisions in the CAA rules.

The move comes in view of continuing protests against the CAA in Assam that have been going on since the legislation was passed by Parliament in December last year.

There has been a growing feeling among the indigenous people of Assam that the newly enacted legislation will hurt their interests politically, culturally as well as socially.

The Assam Accord provides for detection and deportation of all illegal immigrants who have entered the country after 1971 and are living in the state, irrespective of their religion.

The protesters in Assam say that the CAA violates the provisions of the Assam Accord.

Bengaluru, Jun 3: Deputy Chief Minister CN Ashwath Narayan on Tuesday invited investors in the Electronics System and Design Manufacturing (ESDM) sector to Karnataka, as the state contributes 64 per cent to the sector's total exports from the nation.

During a video conference organised by Invest India for a few select states with leading ESDM players across the globe, Narayan said, "We are the largest chip design hub and home to 70 per cent of India's chip designers."

Karnataka has introduced industry-friendly policies from the beginning and it continues to be the leader in attracting technology-specific investments, he added.

"Karnataka has an estimated GSDP of almost USD 220 billion. We were the first to come out with IT, BT, ESDM, and AVGC (Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming, and Comics) policies to give a push to the growth of the technology sectors and innovation. We also have vibrant automobiles, agro, aerospace, textile and garment, and heavy engineering industries," Narayan explained.

"We have created sector-specific SEZs for key industries such as IT, biotechnology and engineering, food processing and aerospace,'' he said.

However, the state government is planning ahead as it has initiated talks with other countries.

"We have held multiple consultations with the private sector to seek inputs for returning to business as we ease the COVID-19 lockdown restrictions. We are also initiating dialogue with countries across the globe to understand future plans for their companies in the post COVID era and discuss how the Karnataka government can support that," the Deputy Chief Minister stated.

"Karnataka has attracted cumulative FDI inflows in the state from 2000 to 2019 which were recorded at USD 42.3 billion," he said.

Referring to the Karnataka ESDM policy 2017-2022, Narayan further said, "We aim to stimulate the growth of 2,000 ESDM start-ups during the policy period and create 20 lakh new jobs by 2025.