Sons of Siddaramaiah, other ministers part of sand mafia: HDK

Udupi, Jan 16: The mandatory implementation of FASTag, across the country, was not enforced in the toll gates located in Udupi and Dakshina Kannada districts.

The toll gate personnel cited that they had not received any directions from the NHAI and hence vehicles were being allowed to ply as per the current practice.

As per government order, two gates each have to be reserved for locals, emergency entry and cash transactions. All other lanes are to be used for FASTag.

Mangaluru, Jun 23: A charter flight carrying as many as 166 people including a child stranded in United Arab Emirates today reached Mangaluru. 

The flight was chartered by M Friends Charitable Trust, Mangaluru and My Community Foundation with the sole intention of helping the repatriation of stranded passengers such as pregnant women, elderly people and those who are in need of emergency medical care. 

The flydubia flight FZ4617 took off from Dubai at 2 p.m. and landed at Mangaluru International Airport at 7:22 p.m.

The passengers who arrived from UAE hail from different parts of coastal Karnataka and passengers themselves had borne the ticket fare for their travel.

M Friends president Haneef Haji Goltamajalu has thanked representatives of My Community Foundation and M Friends Trusty Ashraf Abbas Kunjattur, M Friends NRI leader Haneef Puttur, general secretary Rasheed Vittla for their efforts in chartering the flight.

In the last three weeks, 13 special flights with around 2150 passengers from various Gulf countries had landed at Mangaluru airport. 

Already, throat swab samples of 1814 passengers, who had arrived in Mangaluru, have been tested and 239 people with international travel history have tested positive and the samples of 1,575 passengers have tested negative so far.

New Delhi, Feb 24: A book on the history of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will become a part of a course in the Islamic University of Indonesia, as the party’s two consecutive victories in India’s general elections has evoked interest among academicians, a faculty member said.

The book, titled Bhartiya Janata Party — Past, Present & Future, Story of World’s Largest Political Party and written by Shantanu Gupta, will become a part of the syllabus for undergraduate students of South Asian studies in the Department of International Relations.

Hadza Min Fadhli, a faculty member at the university, said there was a rising interest in the BJP’s rise among academicians in Indonesia, especially after the party won two general elections in India.

He said the book would be part of the syllabus for undergraduate courses in South Asian studies in the Department of International Relations.

Mr. Hadza said he got to know about the book during a recent visit to India as part of the Kautilya Fellowship programme, organised by the India Foundation. “We in Indonesia intend to further strengthen our relations with India. Therefore, it is important to understand its ruling party. We expect the BJP would also intend to do the same,” Mr. Hadza said.

When asked about the book being selected to be a part of a course in an Indonesian university, Mr. Gupta said global recognition of his work is immensely satisfying.

This book chronicles the history of the BJP which, Mr. Gupta said, described the saffron party as the latest political manifestation of the various nationalist movements that the country has seen.

Mr. Gupta has authored five other books, including a biography of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and a book on football in India.