Indian expat stabs colleague to death in Saudi, burns body

Belthangady, Jun 26: Thieves broke into a house at Kalmanja village in Belthangady taluk of Dakshina Kannada during the wee hours on Friday and decamped with cash and valuables worth Rs 13 lakhs after tying the inmates of an areca merchant's house.

Police said the stolen valuables include 40 sovereigns gold, one kg silver and cash of Rs 25,000. The robbery took place in the house of Achyut Bhat who is an areca merchant in Ujire.

The house inmates opened the door after hearing dogs barking. Immediately the criminals, wearing masks, barged into the house and threatening to kill tied them before escaping with the booty.

Kalaburagi, Feb 24: Former Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah on Monday alleged that dissatisfaction and unhappiness are rising among the local Bharatiya Janata Party MLAs and the party might soon witness large scale defection.

Addressing the media, Mr. Siddaramaiah said many of the BJP MLAs have openly expressed their disappointment and unhappiness with the BJPs high command and also with Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa's attitude towards them and they have said that they want to join the Congress at the earliest.

Bengaluru, Jan 28: The state government is set to allow investors who bought farmland for industrial and other purposes to sell it off if they fail to use it within seven years. The new buyers, however, must utilise the land parcel for the same purpose for which it was allotted.

An amendment bill in this regard will be tabled during the joint session of the assembly, which begins on February 17.

Currently, investors remain tied to unused parcels. Law and parliamentary affairs minister JC Madhuswamy said the amendment to Section 109 of the Karnataka Land Reforms Act, which deals with the purchase of farmland for non-agricultural purposes, would remove hurdles for disposal of such plots. “To prevent misuse of land, the bill makes it mandatory for the new buyer to utilise it for the purpose for which the land was purchased by the first investor,” he said.

The government will also table a bill which seeks to regulate the affairs of religious and educational trusts. It will empower the government to intervene in the affairs of the trusts when irregularities come to light.

“Currently, the government has no role to play when allegations of irregularities and mismanagement crop up against trustees. The bill seeks to address this,” Madhuswamy said. He clarified the government didn’t want to interfere in trusts’ affairs. But some issues, he added, were of concern: trustees illegally selling off the trust property.