Mangaluru: Muslims pray for rains, seek divine mercy; MLA Kamath attends

Tumakuru, Apr 12: Fearing the spread of COVID-19 in Muddenahalli village, the villagers shifted to living in tents in nearby fields with most of their belongings.

Kariyappa, one of the villagers said, "We were scared of the COVID-19 spread, so we came here."

Around 60 families of the village lived in tents for three days, before they returned to their houses on the advice of the Tehsildar.

So far, 214 COVID-19 cases, including six deaths, have been reported in the state of Karnataka.

With 34 deaths and 909 new positive COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, the total number of coronavirus cases in India on Sunday reached 8356, including 716 cured and discharged, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

With the steep hike in excise duty in the past couple of months, an average consumer of petrol now pays over 275% in taxes to centre and states on a litre of the fuel.  The base price of petrol is just about Rs 18. The taxes are close to Rs 50 and the pump price is over Rs 72.

India imports 85% of all its crude oil demand.  After a steep hike in excise duty in the past two months despite a hold on daily price revisions by the oil public sector undertakings (PSUs), Indian consumers now pay 275% collectively in excise duty to state and centre. 

The central government hiked excise on petrol and diesel by Rs 10 and Rs 13 respectively last month. The excise duty on petrol is taxed around Rs 33-a-litre while the same on diesel it is Rs 32.

The Value-Added Tax (VAT) on both petrol and diesel is Rs 16.44 and Rs 16.26 respectively. Both the taxes together are around Rs 49 while it is sold at petrol pumps at 73-per-litre.

These two taxes cumulatively account for 69% of tax which is higher than anywhere else in the world. The same is taxed at 19% in the US, 47% in Japan, UK 62% and 63% in France. The government does not pass on the benefit of lower crude oil prices to the customer.

It is to be noted that Indian consumers continued to pay Rs 70-a-litre even when crude oil prices hit a paltry US $ 20-a-barrel on April 12.

Former finance minister and Congress leader recently took a jab at the Centre over rising prices stating, “Fuel selling prices raised twice in two days, following tax hikes two weeks ago. This time to benefit oil companies. Government is poor, it needs more taxes. Oil companies are poor, they need better prices. Only the poor and middle class are not poor, so they will pay”.

Vijayapura, June 18: Shoukat Ali Sumbad, a local farmer, has donated land for the construction of Chennamma memorial, modelled on the Kittur fort, at Sindagi town in Vijayapura to celebrate the town's connect with the valorous Lingayat queen who fought the British in 1824.

Basava Jaya Mrutyunjaya Swamiji of Lingayat Panchamasali Peetha Kudala Sangam said Shoukat Ali came forward to donate his land adjacent to the state highway when local authorities failed to provide land for the memorial. 

"The committee led by Basava Jaya Mrutyunjaya Swamiji sought a 15x10 plot but when I went through their plan of constructing a model of Kittur fort, I decided to donate 425 sq ft," said the 61-year-old farmer. 

"Rani Chennamma is the pride of every Indian, irrespective of caste and creed, and my contribution is nothing compared to her sacrifice for the nation," he added.

Shoukat Ali, who lives in the neighbouring town of Almel, said he is a man of modest means but proud to make the contribution. "I own nine acres of land in Almel. I have six sons and two daughters. Two of my sons run small businesses in Mumbai. Ten of us live in a small house in Almel," he said.

“I also work as a broker to sell or buy sites. I had bought 15 guntas of land in Sindagi for my children some 15 years ago. When our MLA MC Managuli and Swamiji sought land for the memorial, my entire family agreed wholeheartedly” Shoukat Ali said.

“As Chennamma’s history is linked to Sindagi, there has been a demand for a memorial here since 2008, but the town municipal council failed to provide land due to political and technical reasons,” said Swamiji. 

“There were plans to observe a Sindagi bandh in the first week of June to protest the indifference of authorities. But then Sumbad gave us his land. We have formed a committee to construct a model of Kittur fort and a bronze statue of Chennamma at a cost of Rs 28 lakh,” he added.