Under-19 and Under-16 cricketers selected for KSCA Academy coaching

Mangaluru, May 19: Officials at the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSNDMC) said that Dakshina Kannada, Udupi and Uttara Kannada along with Kodagu, Chikkamagaluru have been alerted about possible heavy rains.

Dr GS Srinivasa Reddy, Director, KSNDMC, said, “Coastal districts have already been witnessing heavy downpour since Monday morning. This will continue for another two days depending on the cyclonic movement along the east coast.”

Until last evening, Haleyangadi and Surathkal in Dakshina Kannada district had received 83 mm and 82.5 mm of rainfall, respectively. Several other areas in Udupi also witnessed heavy rainfall of about 60 to 70 mm rainfall.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) attributed the rain, which intensified on Monday, to a cyclonic circulation over parts of the Arabian Sea (Comorin area) off the coast of Kerala.

The weather department said the sudden convergence of wind over the peninsular region was due to Super Cyclone Amphan, which is set to barrel into the east coast. The IMD issued an Yellow Alert for coastal Karnataka and Malnad, warning of moderate to heavy rainfall in the next few days.

New Delhi, Feb 12: Cooking gas LPG price on Wednesday was hiked by a steep Rs 144.5 per cylinder due to spurt in benchmark global rates of the fuel.

But to insulate domestic users, the government almost doubled the subsidy it provides on the fuel to keep per cylinder outgo almost unchanged.

LPG price was increased to Rs 858.50 per 14.2 kg cylinder from Rs 714 previously, according to a price notification of state-owned oil firms.

This is the steepest hike in rates since January 2014 when prices had gone up by Rs 220 per cylinder to Rs 1,241.

Domestic LPG users, who are entitled to buy 12 bottles of 14.2-kg each at subsidised rates in a year, will get more subsidy.

The government subsidy payout to domestic users has been increased from Rs 153.86 per cylinder to Rs 291.48, industry officials said.

For Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) beneficiaries, the subsidy has increased from Rs 174.86 to Rs 312.48 per cylinder.

After accounting for the subsidy that is paid directly into the bank accounts of LPG users, a 14.2-kg cylinder would cost Rs 567.02 for domestic users and Rs 546.02 for PMUY users.

The government gave out 8 crore free LPG connections to poor women under PMUY to increase coverage of environment-friendly fuel in kitchens.

Normally, LPG rates are revised on 1st of every month but this time it took almost two weeks for the revision to take place - a phenomenon which industry officials said was due to approvals needed for such a big jump in subsidy outgo.

Others said the decision to defer the increase could have been because of assembly elections in Delhi. Delhi voted on February 8.

Udupi, Jan 9: State Revenue Minister R Ashoka said on Wednesday that the state government is embarking on a novel method to ensure that social security schemes were available to the beneficiaries at their doorsteps.

Speaking after inaugurating the Mini Vidhana Soudha here, he said government will look into the Aadhaar number and income certificates to decide the eligibility of the beneficiaries. The initiative will help the poor to access welfare schemes without any hassles.

The initiative will be launched as a pilot project in Udupi district. Later, the project will extend to other districts in a phased manner. In Udupi district, 30,000 beneficiaries have been identified. The government has set aside nearly Rs 7,000 crore for social security schemes. The initiative will not only eliminate middlemen menace but will help the government save Rs 1,000 crore.