Mangaluru, Feb 26: Customs officials at Mangalore International Airport on Wednesday arrested a man for trying to smuggle gold worth over Rs 26 lakh by concealing it in his rectum.
The accused has been identified as Moideen Arzan, a resident of Uppala, Kasaragod.
According to police, he arrived from Dubai by an Air India flight and was attempting to smuggle the gold which he had converted in the form of paste and concealed in rubber capsules inside his rectum.
Bengaluru, Mar 6: In the face of unprecedented economic difficulties, Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa has chosen to hike the prices of fuel and liquor to fund development in his 2020-21 Budget, which tries to offer something for everybody with the available resources.
Yediyurappa announced a 3% hike in the rate of tax on petrol and diesel. This will result in the prices of petrol going up by Rs 1.60 per litre and diesel by Rs 1.59 per litre. This is expected to fetch the government Rs 1,500 crore.
By hiking additional excise duty on Indian Made Liquor (IML) by 6%, the government hopes to mop up Rs 1,200 crore.
In essence, Yediyurappa, the finance minister, pointed fingers at the Centre for the state’s fiscal woes. He said Karnataka’s share in Central taxes has come down this fiscal by Rs 8,887 crore. Plus, Rs 3,000 crore GST compensation will also be reduced as collections from the GST cess are not on expected lines, he said in his Budget speech.
“It has become difficult to reach the 2019-20 Budget targets due to these reasons. To manage this situation within the bounds of the Karnataka Fiscal Responsibility Act, it has become inevitable this year to cut down the expenditure of many departments,” he said.
Under the 15th Finance Commission, Karnataka will see a reduction of Rs 11,215 crore in the state’s share of central taxes in 2020-21, Yediyurappa said. He also pointed out that expenditure on salaries, pensions and loan interest payments had risen by Rs 10,000 crore. “Serious difficulties are being faced in resource mobilisation efforts of the state. The state never faced economic difficulties of this magnitude in the previous years,” he said.
But in an attempt to please all, Yediyurappa made announcements across sectors and communities. Instead of the usual department-wise announcements, the CM chose to divide the Budget into six sectors: agriculture & allied activities; welfare & inclusive growth; stimulating economic growth; Bengaluru development; culture, heritage & natural resources and administrative reforms & public service delivery.
Farmers will get additional incentives under PM-KISAN costing Rs 2,600 crore and a waiver of interest on loans they have borrowed from cooperative banks worth Rs 466 crore.
The CM has earmarked Rs 500 crore to start work on the Kalasa-Banduri canals under the Mahadayi project. Also, Yediyurappa has given Rs 1,500 crore to commission the Yettinahole drinking water project.
This project will cater to the districts of Hassan, Chikkamagaluru, Tumakuru, Bengaluru Rural, Ramanagara, Chikkaballapur and Kolar.
For Bengaluru, the CM has made an allocation of Rs 8,772 crore. This includes Rs 500 crore for the suburban rail project, an electric bike taxi project and bus priority lanes.
Significantly, Yediyurappa has not made any allocation to mutts. However, the government will spend Rs 100 crore on the Anubhava Mantapa at Basavakalyan, Rs 66 crore for a 100 ft Kempegowda statue in Bengaluru and Rs 20 crore on a 325 ft statue of Basavanna at the Murugha Mutt in Chitradurga.
The CM has given Rs 305 crore for the development of various communities — Christians (Rs 200 crore), Upparas (Rs 10 crore), Vishwakarma (Rs 25 crore), Ambigara Chaudaiah (Rs 50 crore), Arya Vysya (Rs 10 crore) and Kumbara (Rs 10 crore).
Also, nearly 22.5 lakh government employees and their dependents will get cashless treatment facility for surgical treatment procedures at an estimated annual cost of Rs 50 crore under the Jyothi Sanjini scheme, the CM said.
Mar 11: Two activists of Sangh Parivar have been arrested by the police in Tamil Nadu’s Coimbatore for hurling a petrol bomb at a mosque in Ganapathy on March 5.
The miscreants had hurled petrol bombs at the front gate of Hidayathul Sunnath Jamath Mosque at Vedhambal Nagar near Ganapathy in Coimbatore around 1 am on March 5. Since the bomb did not explode, nobody was injured in the incident.
Following a complaint from the Secretary of the Jama’ath, the police had formed three separate teams to nab the miscreants.
Based on tip-offs, the police detained BJP member Pandi (41) and VHP member Akhil (23), both from Rathnapuri in Coimbatore for inquiry. The duo has also been remanded to judicial custody.
According to a statement by the Coimbatore police, the accused told the police that they hurled petrol bomb at the mosque to protest against the attack against Anand, a Hindu Munnani functionary a few days ago. The accused also reportedly told the police that they were planning to create more chaos.
Madukkarai Anand, the District Secretary of Hindu Munnani was attacked on March 4, while he was returning home after participating in a pro-CAA dharna organised by the BJP and allied parties in Gandhipuram.
He was allegedly followed by men on two motorbikes, who attacked him with rods. Anand suffered head injuries in the attack and was admitted to a hospital. The Podanur police registered a case for attempt to murder based on a complaint and had also formed special teams to nab the accused. However, no one has been apprehended in that case till now.
Based on the statements given by the accused, the police arrested the two men, seized the two-wheeler they used, two cell phones and the things they used to manufacture the petrol bomb.
Mangaluru, Mar 26: The district Wenlock hospital in
the city will be turned into a dedicated hospital for the treatment of COVID-19 patients, Dakshina Kannada district-in- charge Minister Kota Srinivas Poojary said on Thursday.
Addressing reporters here, he said the 250-bed super speciality wing at Wenlock would be converted to a dedicated hospital to treat coronavirus patients in view of the prevailing situation.
The 20-bed Ayush block will be used for the treatment of suspected cases.
The patients currently being treated for various other ailments at the hospital will be shifted to private hospitals within three days.
The expenses for their treatment will be borne by the government, he said.
The 705 beds available at the hospital wards will be used for coronavirus cases in a phased manner.
The patients visiting the outpatient ward will be directed to go to nearby medical colleges for treatment, he said.
A total of 140 children being treated at the regional advanced paediatric care centre at the hospital will be shifted to nearby medical college hospitals.
The centre will also be used for covid-19 treatment.
Poojary said at present five COVID-19 patients and 140 suspected cases are being treated at the Wenlock hospital.
Comments
"Get rich quick and by any means syndrome"
Those Economy Saboteurs/ Smugglers are very Desperate People whose means of livelihood depends Solely on their Criminal Activities.
WHAT is driving these people so crazily into CRIMINALITY?!
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