Expats advised to carry re-entry visa printouts

Bengaluru, Jan 28: Brace for hefty traffic penalties as the state government is all set to reverse a notification on revised fines which came into effect last September following pushback from road users and opposition parties.

The Karnataka government will implement traffic penalties as stipulated in the amended Motor Vehicles Act, 2019, in a phased manner following a diktat from the Centre. The government did not specify the timeline for it.

“At a recent meeting of transport ministers from various states, the Union government explained why it wanted to implement these huge fines. We found it convincing and will implement it in its original form,” said transport minister Laxman Savadi on Monday.

Savadi said India’s image globally has taken a beating due to the high number of road deaths and the Centre wants to change it at any cost. However, he said the entire set of hefty fines would not be reintroduced all at once.

BJP govt revised rates in Sept

The BJP government last September had revised fines on compoundable offences and those which are fined on the spot by traffic cops by 50%- 80%, barring drunken driving and racing.

As per the revised rates, helmetless riding attracted a penalty of Rs 500 against Rs 1,000 notified by the Centre. Driving without a licence attracted a fine of Rs 1,000 for

two- and three-wheelers and Rs 2,000 for light motor vehicles as against the earlier Rs 5,000 for all types of vehicles.

The central government recently told states and Union Territories they should enforce fines as per the amended Act and they cannot be rolled back. The road transport and highways ministry said fines cannot be reduced below the minimum amount fixed by law, unless the President gives his assent.

Bengaluru, Mar 3: Karnataka Health Minister B Sriramulu has called a meeting of top officials of his department on Tuesday following information that the man, who tested postive for novel coronavirus in Telangana had travelled from the city.

The minister in a tweet said people residing in the person's local address have been identified and are being monitored.

He also said state government has taken all precautionary measures to contain the spread of the virus.

The condition of the 24-year-old man, who tested positive for the coronavirus was stable and he was being treated in an isolated ward at the state-run Gandhi hospital in Hyderabad, the Telangana government had said on Monday.

The man, a software engineer who works here, had been to Dubai last month on an official visit, where he is suspected to have contracted the virus.

The man reached Bengaluru on February 19/20 and later travelled to Hyderabad in a bus.

Earlier, Sriramulu had said, the government has strengthened all surveillance and control measures against the spread of the virus in Karnataka.

Till date, 468 travellers from COVID 2019 affected countries have been identified and 284 are under home isolation while one admitted in selected isolation hospital, he had said.

The Karnataka Minister had also said that till date samples of symptomatic are sent for testing, out of which 240 samples were eligible for testing and 238 were reported as negative.

He added that 104 'arogya sahayavani' (health helpline) has reserved 2 seater for receiving calls and providing guidance over Coronavirus and 6,770 calls have been received and information provided.

Kochi, Jul 15: Alisha P Shaji, a commerce student from Kerala's Kochi scored 499 out of 500 in the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) class 12 results declared on Monday, wants to pursue a career in economics.

While talking to news agency on Tuesday, she said that she never joined coaching classes.

"I was surprised after knowing the unexpected result. I never expected this, I expected close to 98 per cent. I had five subjects to write but I could attempt only three as two were postponed. I am sad that I could not attempt them, but I am happy that I scored 100 in those subjects. In future, I want to pursue a degree in economics," she said.

"My friends, family and teachers are very supportive and I am thankful to them. I never went to tuitions. I used to study four to five hours a day," she added.

Alisha further said that she wants to give the message that it is okay to start late, but continuity is key to achieve good results.
CBSE on Monday had declared the results for Class 12 examinations 2020.

As per CBSE, with 88.78 per cent pass percentage this year for Class 12, the pass percentage has increased by 5.38 per cent. Last year, the pass percentage was 83.40 per cent.