Former Mangaluru Mayor Ashraf joins Congress party once again!

Dammam, Feb 3: Harish Bangera, 32, who was arrested in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia more than a month ago after offensive Facebook post went viral, has remained incommunicado.

Bangera, who hails from Goyadibettu in Bijadi village of Kundapur taluk, Udupi district, was an air-conditioning technician for a company in Dammam, capital of Saudi's eastern province.

He was arrested on December 20, 2019 after he posted derogatory messages on Facebook against crown prince Mohammad bin Salman and went on to claim that a Ram temple will be built in the holy city of Makkah too just like in Ayodhya where the Babri mosque was demolished.

Fearing legal action, he later posted a video pleading for forgiveness. “I have committed a mistake. Please forgive me. I will never upload any such posts again," he is seen saying in the video.

After his arrest, his roommate, who happens to be a Pakistani, has reportedly made several attempt to contact him, but in vain. He also has approached many Indian and Saudi authorities in his bid to get Bangera out of prison, sources said.

The Saudi authorities have not even responded to the messages of Indian Ministry of External Affairs. "We've made many efforts to contact the Saudi authorities but they haven't responded,” MEA sources said.

Bengaluru, Jun 5: Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Thursday said government employees and owners of tractors and other vehicles must return the BPL ration cards immediately, failing which stringent legal action would be initiated against them.

The CM issued directions in this regard to officials as he conducted a review meeting of the Food and Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs department today. Proper supply of ration must be ensured to eligible beneficiaries and action has to be taken to prevent misuse of the facility by those not eligible, Yediyurappa was quoted as saying by his office in a release.

Nearly 63,000 ration cards were cancelled before the COVID-19 outbreak, he noted and directed officials to initiate a campaign to cancel all illegal ration cards. "this campaign would help in curtailing the financial burden on the State's reserves," he added.

In the backdrop of coronavirus pandemic, both the Central and State governments have distributed sufficient quantities of ration, and about 95 percent ration cardholders have availed the benefit, the release said. Under the Chief Ministers Anila Bhagya Scheme, 98,079 beneficiaries have been given 3 gas cylinders free of cost, it said.

Bengaluru, Mar 12: Days after a video of an elephant being shot in Bandipur National Park went viral on social media, officials said that they have removed a staffer and initiated action against an employee of the Karnataka Forest Department in the matter.

According to officials, the incident took place on March 7.

"We have removed Rahim, temporary staffer, and initiated action against Umesh, a permanent employee of the Karnataka Forest Department, after an internal enquiry," Bandipur field director T Balchandra said.

While Rahim is said to have shot the charging elephant, Umesh reportedly made the video and shared it on social media.