ANF intensifies combing operations in Subramanya forests

Udupi, Jun 20: Movement of heavy vehicles on Agumbe Ghat section was banned till October 15, following heavy rain lashing due to onset of South West Monsoon.

The Agumbe Ghat connects Shivamogga with the Udupi district. There is a possibility of landslides on either side of the Ghat road if movement of heavy vehicles is allowed during the monsoon, said Udupi DC G Jagadeesh in statement issued here on Saturday.

The movement of all heavy vehicles above 12 tonnes has been banned on the road. Till end of monsoon all the heavy vehicles have to move via Udupi-Brahmavar-Barkur-Shankaranarayana; Siddapura-Hosangady-Hulikal Ghat-Hosanagara-Theerthahalli; Udupi-Karkala-Bajagoli-S K Border-Kerekatte-Sringeri- Shivamogga.

Hubli, Mar 9: A Hubli court on Monday rejected the bail application of three Kashmiri students, who were booked for sedition, after their video allegedly raising pro-Pakistan slogans went viral.

The plea was filed under Section 439 of CrPC.

This comes after the Hubli Bar Association earlier withdrew its resolution against representing the three Kashmiri students and said that advocates who wish to appear for them can approach Dharwad Principal District Court to file bail plea.

The three students are Basit Ashik Sophi (19), Talib Majid (19) and Amir Mohiuddin (23). They were booked under sedition charges for raising pro-Pakistan slogan in a video shared on social media.

They were earlier transferred to Belgaum Hindalga jail from Hubli sub-jail and the case, registered in Gokul Road police station, was also transferred to the rural police station because the video was recorded in the college hostel room, which is in its jurisdiction.

Dubai, Apr 11: An Indian expat in the UAE is facing police action for allegedly insulting Islam on social media in response to a Facebook post on the coronavirus, according to a media report.

Rakesh B Kitturmath, who worked as a team leader at Emrill Services, an integrated facilities management (FM) headquartered in Dubai, was sacked on Thursday after his post sparked outrage on social media, the Gulf News reported.

“Kitturmath’s employment stands terminated with immediate effect. He will be handed over to Dubai Police. We have a zero-tolerance policy towards such hate crimes,” said Stuart Harrison, CEO of Emrill Services.

"As an organisation, we have worked hard over the years to embrace diversity and create a culture of inclusion, where every nationality, religion and background is welcomed and celebrated. We have a strict social media policy for our employees to ensure they respect our values, both inside and outside of work," the newspaper quoted Harrison as saying.

Harrison said they are trying to find out if Kitturmath was still in the UAE, according to the report.

“We have over 8,500 employees so this may take a while. That said, we have fired him. If he’s still in the country, he will be handed over to Dubai Police,” he said.

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Originally from Ranebennuri, Karnataka, Kitturmath joins an ever-growing list of Indian ex-pats who have landed in trouble for alleged Islamophobic messages in recent days.

Earlier this week, Abu Dhabi resident Mitesh Udeshi was sacked for posting a cartoon mocking Islam on his Facebook page while a police complaint was filed against Sameer Bhandari of Future Vision Events & Weddings’ in Dubai after he asked a Muslim job seeker from India to go back to Pakistan.

The UAE outlaws all religious or racial discrimination under a legislation passed in 2015.

The anti-discrimination/anti-hatred law prohibits all acts “that stoke religious hatred and/or which insult religion through any form of expression, be it speech or the written word, books, pamphlets or via online media.”