Cong out to win over Lingayats, to push for separate religion tag

Bengaluru, Jan 28: Brace for hefty traffic penalties as the state government is all set to reverse a notification on revised fines which came into effect last September following pushback from road users and opposition parties.

The Karnataka government will implement traffic penalties as stipulated in the amended Motor Vehicles Act, 2019, in a phased manner following a diktat from the Centre. The government did not specify the timeline for it.

“At a recent meeting of transport ministers from various states, the Union government explained why it wanted to implement these huge fines. We found it convincing and will implement it in its original form,” said transport minister Laxman Savadi on Monday.

Savadi said India’s image globally has taken a beating due to the high number of road deaths and the Centre wants to change it at any cost. However, he said the entire set of hefty fines would not be reintroduced all at once.

BJP govt revised rates in Sept

The BJP government last September had revised fines on compoundable offences and those which are fined on the spot by traffic cops by 50%- 80%, barring drunken driving and racing.

As per the revised rates, helmetless riding attracted a penalty of Rs 500 against Rs 1,000 notified by the Centre. Driving without a licence attracted a fine of Rs 1,000 for

two- and three-wheelers and Rs 2,000 for light motor vehicles as against the earlier Rs 5,000 for all types of vehicles.

The central government recently told states and Union Territories they should enforce fines as per the amended Act and they cannot be rolled back. The road transport and highways ministry said fines cannot be reduced below the minimum amount fixed by law, unless the President gives his assent.

Kolkata, Feb 2: A protester at Park Circus, known as Shaheen Bagh of Kolkata, died last night after she fell ill during her agitation against CAA, NRC and NPR.

The woman has been identified as Sameeda Khatun (57) who was a resident of Entally area of the city. According to protesters, Khatun who was asthmatic patient died after suffering a cardiac arrest. She is survived by husband and eight children.

Around 250 women from Kolkata have been holding a peaceful sit-in at Park Circus Maidan since January 7 to protest against CAA, NRC and NPR and demanding the withdrawal of the new citizenship law.

Research Scholar at Rabindra Bharati University, Nousheen Baba Khan who has been spearheading the Park Circus protest since the beginning, told the newspaper, “Sameeda Khatun was a regular face at the protest and she was not well as she had asthma.

Last evening she came to me complaining that she is having trouble in breathing. We immediately took her to Chittaranjan Hospital where doctors said she had suffered a cardiac arrest. We later took her to Islamia Hospital where doctors declared her brought dead,” said Khan.

Bengaluru, June 23: A senior IAS officer allegedly, who had faced arrest in connection with I Monetary Advice (IMA) scam, today allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself at his residence in the city. 

The deceased is BM Vijay Shankar. He had been arrested by special investigation team (SIT) in the I Monetary Advice (IMA) case when he was deputy commissioner (DC) Urban Bengaluru. 

He had spent few days in the jail over his alleged involvement in the IMA scam and was released on bail. The IMA case is currently being probed by Central Bureau of Investigation.

Shankar was staying in Jayanagar near Ashoka Pillar along with his family members.

Shankar was accused of taking Rs 1.5 crore to approve a report on financial irregularities, and was accused of giving a clean chit to the main accused of IMA scam, Mohammed Mansoor Khan.

The incident came to light around 8 pm. It is alleged that Shankar ended his life around 7.00 pm, when he was alone in the house. Shankar was said to be under severe depression after his name surfaced in the scam, and his subsequent arrest.

However, the exact reason for his extreme step is yet to be identified. Tilak Nagar police have taken up the case of mysterious death under CrPc and are probing further. As of now the police officials have not found any death note. A senior officer said: "once we finish the procedures of investigating the spot his body will be shifted to Victoria hospital for post mortem. The report will find out exact cause of his death".

Police commissioner Bhaskar Rao said: "We have taken up the case of unnatural death with regard to Vijay Shankar's death. Further probe will reveal more details about it".