No relief for Katta in KIADB scam, wife's plea dismissed

January 29, 2016

Bengaluru, Jan 29: The High Court on Thursday dismissed a petition filed by former minister Katta Subramanya Naidu’s wife K Sowbhagya questioning the constitutional validity of some sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, and subsequent amendments made to the law in 2005, 2009 and 2012.

kattasJustice Anand Byrareddy also dismissed her petition for quashing of an order issued by the Enforcement Directorate on September 25, 2012, pertaining to seizure of 141 documents related to the assets of Naidu’s family, Itasca Software Development Pvt Ltd and 23 others in connection with the multi-crore compensation scam in the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) land acquisition.

Sowbhagya had challenged several sections of the Act, contending that an accused can be tried under this law if they had harmed national security or were involved in terrorist activity.

As the petitioner and the family were not involved in any such activities, they must not be tried under the said Act and the High Court must quash the action taken by the directorate in seizing their property documents and transactions, she argued.

The bench in its order stated that the power of search, seize and arrest were important aspects of investigation and the matter related to economic offences was not unusual.

Similar procedures are followed with regard to the Customs Act, 1962, the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954, and the Railway Property (Unlawful Possession) Act, 1966.

As a Lokayukta enquiry is pending against the Naidu family, Katta’s wife also sought the court’s direction for a joint hearing.

Request rejected

But the bench rejected her prayer, saying the Lokayukta conducted the enquiry under a different law whereas the directorate was trying them under the Money Laundering Act, hence the two matters could not be heard together.

The bench dismissed the petitioner stating that it was not maintainable and the said sections of the Act were constitutionally valid.

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News Network
March 30,2020

Udupi, Mar 30: Karnataka Home Minister and Udupi district in-charge Basavaraj Bommai has urged citizens to stay indoors and help government prevent spread of Covid-19.

In a video released by the Minister on Monday, he said, ''Three patients have been cured and we are observing their situation. All the primary contacts of these patients have been quarantined.''

''In Dr TMA Pai Hospital a 100-bed COVID hospital has been set up and a 150-bed SDM hospital in Udyavara is ready to use as isolation facilities,'' he added.

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News Network
July 5,2020

Bengaluru, Jul 5: In the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic and the fear of layoffs lurking everywhere, the state government is holding a first-of-its-kind virtual job fair on July 10, to help people find jobs commensurate with their skill sets.

Co-ordinated by the Karnataka Skill Development Corporation (KSDC), the job fair will see participation of more than 40 companies for about 6,000 job openings.

The government will connect companies with job seekers who have registered on the recently-launched Skill Connect portal or on the Kaushalya Karnataka’s portal for migrant workers from the state who have returned home.

A candidate can either directly apply to a company, or await the portal to match their skills with available jobs. There is also a self-evaluation section on the website which will suggest whether a candidate needs to further skill oneself or whether they are eligible for jobs with their current set of skills. 

Firms such as Life Insurance Corporation, Barbeque Nation and Arvind Mills are among the participants.

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Sheela Anagolum
 - 
Friday, 10 Jul 2020

Looking to build literacy, numeracy and basic life skills for students in the ages of 14-19

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News Network
April 11,2020

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.

For latest updates on coronavirus outbreak, click  here

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.”

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