Dubai-based doctor who studied in Mangaluru gifted me the watch, says CM

[email protected] (CD Network)
February 26, 2016

Bengaluru, Feb 26: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who has decided to announce his luxury watch as a state asset, revealed that it was it was a “gift” from his Dubai-based doctor and friend Girish Chandra Varma.

siddaramaiahThe Chief Minister, who came under severe attack from the Opposition JD(S) and the BJP on the “expensive and imported” watch, said: “Dr. Varma gifted me the watch last July when he visited India. I have been a close friend of Dr. Varma since 1983.” Mr. Siddaramaiah said he would pay the gift tax for the watch and provide information to the Lokayukta before July-end during declaration of assets and liabilities.

“I received the gift in July (2015) and I will provide information to the Income Tax Department before March 15. I will not wear the watch, instead I will donate it to the government to preserve it,” the Chief Minister said.

Mr. Siddaramaiah said Dr. Varma studied MBBS in Davangere and completed his postgraduation in Mangaluru. He later practised in France and the U.S. He now resides in Dubai. When the doctor visited India in July 2015, he removed the watch from his wrist and gifted it to Mr. Siddaramaiah. The doctor will provide all details of the watch, including bill receipt and payment of taxes, when he visits India this July.

“The doctor meets me whenever he comes to India and Bengaluru,” the Chief Minister said. “Dr. Varma is a cardiac surgeon. He has been my friend for more than 30 years. He gave me the gift as a gesture of affection and friendship. According to Dr. Varma, the value of the watch is 75,000 dirham,” Mr. Siddaramaiah said, adding that JD(S) leader H.D. Kumaraswamy has been making the watch “a big issue without any basis”.

During the run-up to the elections to rural local bodies, Mr. Kumaraswamy had alleged that Mr. Siddaramaiah, who boasts of socialist credentials and pro-poor policies, was wearing a watch worth Rs. 50 to Rs. 60 lakh, and sunglasses valued at Rs. 2 lakh. In its petition to the Enforcement Directorate, the BJP had urged the ED to conduct an inquiry into the Rs. 70 lakh Swiss wrist watch.

Asked whether he would file a defamation case against the JD(S) leader, the Chief Minister said he would not indulge in such “low-level politics”.

Comments

Uday
 - 
Friday, 26 Feb 2016

Congratulations to Siddaramaiah for making the BJP's job easier. Hope he continues to lend his helping hand with his watch:)

Sumathi
 - 
Friday, 26 Feb 2016

It seems Siddaramaiah had said he wud sell his watch to anyone who paid him even Rs 5 lakh for it. Ready to beg, steal or borrow.

Suresh Vamanjoor
 - 
Friday, 26 Feb 2016

37 Chennai &38 Bangalore ranking is pretty bad. Siddaramaiah can utilise money from d auction of his watch to clean a mini area

Sidda
 - 
Friday, 26 Feb 2016

After Modi’s luxury suit, Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah’s Rs 70 lakh watch to be auctioned`

Ravi
 - 
Friday, 26 Feb 2016

Siddaramaiah Govt must stop fooling people & work for the State. If not time will run out even on his 70 lakhs watch

priyanka
 - 
Friday, 26 Feb 2016

Modi's few thousand worth suit becomes worth 10 lacs with nonstop coverage. But Siddaramaiah's 70 lacs watch doesn't get any coverage

reshma
 - 
Friday, 26 Feb 2016

It's a second hand watch gifted to me. I'll pay gift tax, won't wear it &will make a state asset

Vaman Rai
 - 
Friday, 26 Feb 2016

Will pay tax on Rs 70 lakh watch which was gifted to me but will not wear it, says Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah

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News Network
April 27,2020

Belgaum, Apr 27: A CRPF COBRA commando was thrashed and dragged to police station barefoot by police allegedly for violating lockdown norms here in Belgavi district.

Sachin Savant, the CRPF commando of 207 COBRA was arrested by police personnel of Sadalga Police Station on April 23 on the alleged charges of violating lockdown norms and assaulting/deterring public servant from discharging his duty. The incident took place when the commando was cleaning his motorcycle in front of his house at Examba.

Images of the jawan being tied up in chains and the video of the incident have created furore on social media.

Calling it an "unfortunate incident", CRPF Additional Director General (Operations) Sanjay Arora wrote to Karnataka DGP Praveen Sood.

"In an unfortunate incident, Ct Sachin Savant of 207 COBRA was arrested by police personnel of Sadalga Police Station, Distt Belagavi, on Apr 23, on the alleged charges of violating lockdown norms and assaulting/deterring public servant from discharging his duty. The individual was on extended leave and cleaning his motorcycle in front of his house, at Examba, when the incident took place," Arora said in a letter to DGP.

In the video of the incident, the commando is seen standing near a bike, while multiple police personnel indulge in a verbal spat with him. A police personnel can be seen repeatedly pushing and shoving the jawan. The commando retaliates after he was attacked with a lathi by the police.

"Reportedly, a skirmish had taken place between the COBRA commando and the Beat police personnel over wearing of a mask, following which he was manhandled and ill-treated, before his family members, and paraded to the police station barefoot, where he was kept in chains and handcuff," CRPF ADG said.

He said the viral video shows that police personnel's conduct was not "citizen-centric".
Stressing that this "unpleasant situation" could have been avoided, if the Karnataka police had taken CRPF hierarchy into confidence before making the arrest, he said: "CRPF is a very reputed force, with high standards of discipline, and we have the institutionalized mechanism for taking care of such situations."
Arora asked that Karnataka DGP to get the matter inquired and provide justice.

Meanwhile, CRPF spokesperson M Dhinakaran said the bail plea of the commando will be taken up in the court on Tuesday.

"We have taken up the case with State Police Chief of Karnataka. On Tuesday, his bail plea case is coming before the court. The CRPF will be in court through a local officer. Thereafter, an investigation into the matter shall be followed up to take it to the logical conclusion," said Dhinakaran.

Giving clarification on the matter, Belgavi Superintendent of Police told media that the CRPF jawan was found roaming with friends, who ran away on seeing police. However, the jawan was caught without a mask.

"The jawan was standing without wearing a mask. When policemen on duty asked him why he is not wearing a mask, he started arguing asking them who are you to ask and I am from CRPF, thereby violating the orders promulgated by DC," he said.

The SP also claimed that the jawan lost his cool and kicked the stomach of one of the constables.

"The jawan held the collar of the police constable and started pushing him aggressively. Another head constable, who is old, came to the rescue of his fellow colleague. Later the jawan was taken to the police station and a case was registered under various sections of IPC and Section 3 of Epidemic Disease Act against him," he said.

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News Network
February 25,2020

Bengaluru, Feb 25: Infosys is all set to announce a cyber defence centre in Indianapolis to complement its technology and innovation centre inaugurated early last year.

This will be Infosys' seventh global cyber defence centre. According to its recent cybersecurity report titled 'Assuring Digital Trust,' 83 per cent of executives view cybersecurity as critical, yet 67 per cent are still struggling to have security embedded.

The cyber defence centre will provide end-to-end, real-time, 24x7 cyber security monitoring and protection services to support and guide American businesses in their digital transformation journey, it said.

The facility is dedicated and organised to prevent, detect, assess and respond to cybersecurity threats and breaches.

Client environment will be monitored round the clock, adopting a follow-the-sun model to deliver services like 24x7 security monitoring, management and remediation, threat hunting, security analytics, incident discovery and response, compliance reporting and malware analysis.

Vishal Salvi, Chief Information Security Officer and Head of Cyber Security Practice at Infosys, said the cyber defence centre is staffed with expert security analysts with niche skills around threat research and intelligence gathering to deliver best-in-class services to customers.

"Additionally, advanced data analytics and machine learning models are deployed to detect zero-day threats by unknown threat actors. This supports our commitment to helping our customers build a resilient cybersecurity programme that operates at scale while increasing operational efficiency and reducing costs," he said in a statement.

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News Network
March 31,2020

Mar 30: the UAE Cabinet approved a series of new initiatives, foremost among which was the automatic extension of residence permits expiring from March 1.

The residence visas would be extended for a renewable period of three months without any fees to ease the economic impact of the Covid-19 crisis on residents, official news agency WAM reported.

The Cabinet has also waived the administrative fines associated with infractions on the services provided by the Federal Authority of Identity and Citizenship, starting April 1 and lasting for a renewable period of three months.

The initiatives also entail granting a temporary license to use digital solutions for remotely notarising and completing judicial transactions.

Government services expiring from March 1 will also be extended from April 1 for a renewable period of three months. The decision applies to all federal government services, including documents, permits, licenses and commercial registers.

The UAE has introduced a slew of initiatives to control the spread of the Covid-19 virus, including the online renewal of driving licences and vehicle’s registration cards.

The country’s telecom regulator, Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA), also issued a directive that no mobile service with expired ID documents will be disconnected or suspended in the UAE.

The UAE has reported a total of 611 Covid-19 infections and five related deaths in the country.

A national sterilisation programme is underway that will continue until Saturday April 4, concluding on the morning of Sunday, April 5.

Carried out daily from 8pm until 6am the following morning, the programme will include the disinfection of private and public facilities.

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