Sabarimala Row: Hurling of bombs, setting ablaze party offices continue in Kerala

Mangaluru, Jan 26: Minister for Muzrai, Inland Water Transport, Port and Fisheries Kota Srinivas Poojary in his Republic Day address praised the Dakshina Kannada district and Mangaluru city units of Karnataka police.

Poojary, also district in-charge minister, was speaking after unfurling the National flag as a part of 71st Republic Day celebrations held at Nehru Maidan in the city on Sunday.

He said that the police department had been successful in tackling the challenges posed by anti-social elements to the law and order situation from time to time.

He also lauded the police department for effectively handling the recent bomb threat incident at Mangalore International Airport.

He said, the state government is committed to protect the welfare of the oppressed and backward classes, minority, women, farmers, differently abled and the elderly.

“People from all these sections are guaranteed government benefits in one way or the other,’’ the minister said and called upon the people to strive towards social harmony and to help the departments concerned in keeping anti-social elements away.

The state government will release its share of Rs 4,000 to the farmers under Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Yojana, to which Central government has credited Rs 6,000 per eligible farmer. As many as 1,33,247 farmers are benefited by the scheme in the district, the minister said.

Stating that the coastal region of Karnataka has been placed in the ninth position in the country in fisheries, Poojary said that the coastal line of Karnataka, comprising backwaters and inland water, houses immense resource for fishes.

“Thrust will be laid on boat tourism and development of ports in the coastal districts,’’ he said.

The minister, meanwhile, said that the state government had implemented various programmes for the development of fishermen community.

“Loans to the tune of Rs 60.54 crore availed by 23,000 women belonging to fishing community will be waived. Diesel subsidies amounting to Rs 28.09 crore has been transferred to the bank accounts of owners of 954 mechanized boats during the year 2019-20. As many as 2,500 houses have been sanctioned under Matsyashraya scheme,’’ Poojary said.

Dakshina Kannada district has incurred a loss of Rs 893 crore during the recent floods. Financial assistance has been extended to 1,914 families affected by the floods to buy essential commodities, he said.

Services recognised

The minister thanked the Central government for announcing Padma Vibhushan awards to late Vishwesha Theertha Swami and George Fernandez and Padma Shri award to Harekala Hajabba.

‘’The selfless services to the nation by these stalwarts have been recognised,’’ he said. Educationist Harekala Hajabba was felicitated on the occasion.

Zilla Panchayat President Meenakshi Shanthigodu, MLAs D Vedavyas Kamath, Dr Y Bharat Shetty and U T Khader, MLCs Ivan D’Souza and S L Bhoje Gowda were present. Various troupes conducted march past on the occasion. Schoolchildren took part in cultural programmes.

Jan 6: A Thane resident lost a little over Rs 1 lakh in an online fraud involving popular payment gateways, police said on Saturday. The complainant, a resident of Patlipada, wanted to sell his furniture and posted an ad on Facebook on December 21, an official said.

On December 24, he received a call from one Rajendra Sharma who offered to buy the furniture and wanted to transfer the amount through payment gateways — Paytm and Google Pay, he said.

However, instead of the money getting credited to his account, the complainant found that Rs 1.01 lakh were debited from him during three transactions on two payment gateways, the official said.

The complainant realised that he had been cheated when the accused assured that he would return the money and asked him for another account number, he added.

An offense has been registered against the unidentified accused under section 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code and Information Technology Act and further investigations are underway, he said.

Bengaluru, Feb 10: The Rashtriya Swyamsevak Sangh (RSS) on Sunday conducted a route march (Pathsanchalan) in Ramanagara to express solidarity with the anti-Christian forces protesting against a project to install 114-feet tall Jesus Christ statue atop Kapalabetta in Harobele town in Kanakapura taluk in Ramanagara district.

Hindutva ideologue Kalladka Prabhakara Bhat, who had led a rally in Kanakapura last month against the project, also led the Sunday’s route march and addressed a public meeting following the march.

“The district name is Ramanagara, but they have not nurtured the culture of Ram here. They have developed a strong culture of Ravana, which we pledged to dislodge,” Bhat told the gathering.

He said the Sangh Parivar will never allow the statue to come up as he said it would foment religious conversion that is rampant in Harobele.

“The so called Kapalabetta is of stones, which are revered as Lord Muneswara by the Hindus. This hillock must be named as Muneswara Betta,” he added.

Referring to the ongoing protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), Bhat said the law was brought in to protect the Hindu minority in Pakistan and Bangla Desh.

“The Muslims living in India hail Pakistan. But when we ask them to go to Pakistan, they will never go,” he took a jibe at the minority community.

Reacting to the RSS route march, senior Congress functionary DK Shivakunar, who represents Kanakapura assembly seat, said the Sangah Parivar is trying to disturb the communal harmony in the district and they will never succeed in it.

“The BJP is operating through the Sangh Parivar in the Ramanagara district. The party has won as may as 26 Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka, still they are doing all these things to keep their support base. People of Ramanagara will never back them,” said Shivakumar.