Mangaluru: AAP protesters ask MCC to form ward committees

Bengaluru, Mar 5: Karnataka chief minister BS Yediyurappa on Wednesday admitted in the legislative assembly that corruption was deep-rooted in government offices and held transfer racket as the root cause of the graft menace.

“Unless we root it out from the system, we can never uphold the spirit of the Constitution and ensure equitable justice to people. If legislators lend support (to this cause), then we can weed out this menace,” Yediyurappa said during a special discussion on the Constitution.

Successive governments have been accused by opposition parties of running a transfer racket, but there’s very little done to institute a probe or order a crackdown following the allegations.

The chief minister’s candid admission came after senior Congress MLA HK Patil, quoting a report from Amnesty International, said 63% of people in Karnataka give bribe to get their work done in government offices. The CM said he agreed with the report in toto.

New Delhi, Feb 2: Budget 2020 announcement that insurance behemoth LIC will be listed was well received by market participants who said this will be "IPO of the decade" akin to the Saudi Aramco listing.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday said Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) will be listed as part of the government disinvestment initiative.

A "highlight of the budget is the LIC IPO, which is akin to the Saudi Aramco listing for Indian capital markets, and will be IPO of the decade," Vijay Bhushan, President, Association of National Exchanges Members of India (ANMI) said.

According to Krishna Kumar Karwa, Managing Director, Emkay Global Financial Services, the LIC IPO will be a big positive for corporate governance and transparency and will open up one more avenue for fund raising for the government over the years.

Metropolitan Stock Exchange, Interim CEO, Balu Nair said: "The LIC listing will be eagerly awaited by investors and will provide huge fillip to capital raising through the primary market." The government proposes to sell a part of its holding in LIC through an initial public offer, Sitharaman said while presenting Budget 2020-21.

"The government will sell part of LIC through its listing in the stock market which is also a positive trigger for the market," Amit Gupta, CO-Founder and CEO, TradingBells.

Jaideep Hansraj, MD and CEO of Kotak Securities said listing of LIC would help bridge a gap in the Fiscal Deficit for FY21.

Currently, the government owns the entire 100 per cent stake in LIC.

Saudi Aramco shares were listed in December last year.

Thiruvananthapuram, Mar 18: Bindhu Sampath, the mother of Nimisha alias Fathima who travelled from Kerala to Afghanistan to join the Islamic State (IS), has sought the Central government's help to bring her daughter back to India.

"I saw a video of my daughter in which she was requesting her return to India. She has realised that India is her country, not Afghanistan. She is scared that she'll be put in jail over there. Responding to my mail, the Afghanistan government has said that the procedure will take time," said Bindhu Sampath.

"I believe in Indian laws. Let her be questioned and realise what is good or bad. I am waiting for the Central government's confirmation on the matter," added Sampath.

Around four years back, a team of 21 members which consisted of couples and children went to Syria from Kerala to join ISIS and lead an Islamic life. After they left, police registered a case against them, which has been handled by the National Investigation Agency.