Late Cong minister’s widow helps daughter-in-law bag Rs 4-cr in alimony

Bengaluru, Jan 6: Chief minister BS Yediyurappa has plenty on his plate ahead of the 2020-21 state budget to be presented on March 5 what with the economic slowdown and a sizeable shortfall in revenue, but the biggest worry is the uncertainty surrounding Goods and Services Tax (GST) compensation from the Centre.

There is also uncertainty over the state’s share under devolution of funds as per the 14th Finance Commission recommendation.

Finance department officials say that while Rs 3,500 crore is expected as GST compensation for every two months, the devolution of funds would have yielded about Rs 7,000 crore for the current fiscal. But the economic slowdown appears to have hit the Centre’s finances and is likely to impact the state’s share of funds.

“The GST payment for August-September came only in December and we are unsure how much we will get for October-November and December-January,” an official said. Estimates suggest the state’s share under devolution of funds could be reduced by half.

At a meeting of finance department officials last week, Yediyurappa is said to have admitted that unlike those states where non-BJP parties are in power — they have threatened agitations and court cases — the government cannot go “against” Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s regime.

Instead, Yediyurappa has urged senior IAS finance department officials to lobby for funds with their counterparts in New Delhi. On his part, Yediyurappa is said to have already written to Modi and finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman to at least release the state’s share of GST compensation for the current calendar year of 2019. He is planning to personally meet the PM in Delhi to push the state’s case.

Madikeri, Jan 5: Frequent attacks by Tigers on their cattle in South Kodagu region has left the dairy farmers a worried lot and causing concern for their life.

Several farmers have been rearing cows to supplement their income when low prices of pepper and coffee affect their earnings. At least 13 cows have fallen prey to Tigers in the months of November and December last year.

The Forest Department provides a compensation of Rs 10,000 if a cattle is killed by a tiger or in the attack. The compensation amount is meagre when it comes to the loss incurred by the farmers.

Though the Forest Department has submitted a proposal to increase the compensation amount to the government, no action has been initiated in this regard.

Bengaluru, Apr 22: With seven more people tested positive for COVID-19, the total number of cases now stands at 425 as of date in Karnataka, informed state health department on Wednesday.

Out of the total COVID-19 cases, 17 people have died and 129 have been discharged.
These seven new cases came to light in the last 24 hours.

With 1383 more cases and 50 deaths reported in the last 24 hours, India's total number of positive COVID-19 cases stands at 19,984, said the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Wednesday.