Was it necessary for you at this age, chief minister?asks Meti

December 15, 2016

Bengaluru, Dec 15: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is learnt to have pulled up H Y Meti, who quit as Excise minister, after his sexually explicit video became public on Wednesday.

siddumet copySoon after TV news channels started airing the video, 71-year-old Meti rushed to the chief minister's official residence “Cauvery” and offered to resign as minister.

He also tried to defend himself saying that it was a conspiracy and he had not done anything wrong, sources in the government said.

An angry Siddaramaiah, the sources said, asked him to shut up. “You have betrayed me. Was it necessary for you at this age?...You should be ashamed of yourself...We used to blame the BJP leaders on such unseemly activities. Now, we have lost the moral right to speak,” the sources quoted the chief minister having told Meti.

Different versions

There are different versions doing the rounds on where Meti's purported sexual escapade took place. According to one version it took place at Meti's residence in his hometown Bagalkot. The other version is that it happened in his ante-chambers in the Vidhana Soudha here.

The woman in the CD made a U-turn on Tuesday stating that it was indeed she in the video. On?Sunday, she had said that she had nothing to do with the video. She has also sought police protection stating that she is getting threat calls.

Meti, a fourth-time MLA from Bagalkot, is one of the close followers of Siddaramaiah. Like Siddaramaiah, Meti too belongs to the Kuruba community. He had served as Forest minister in the H?D?Deve Gowda government between 1994 and 1996 before he was elected to the Lok Sabha from Bagalkot constituency in 1996. Siddaramaiah inducted him into his Cabinet in June this year.

An embarassment

The Meti episode has come as an embarrassment to the government as it comes close on the heels of Primary and Secondary Education Minister Tanveer Sait being caught watching obscene photos on his mobile phone during government-organised Tipu Jayanti in Raichur.

Several ministers in the Siddaramaiah's Cabinet had come to Meti's support stating he should be given the “benefit of doubt” because of his age.

No parallel'

Siddaramaiah, however, said a parallel cannot be drawn between the two incidents. He said Sait was cleared of all charges by the CID. The chief minister also denied that he had prior knowledge of the Meti CD. “I would have taken action immediately, if I had known,” he said.

On RTI activist Rajashekar Mulali telling journalists in New?Delhi on Wednesday that he would release CDs of two more ministers involved in sex scandals, Siddaramaiah said, “Let him release...we will see”.

Third minister to resign

H?Y?Meti is the third minister in the council of ministers headed by Siddaramaiah to resign owing to controversies.

Santosh Lad, who is currently the Labour minister, was the first to resign. He was forced to quit in November 2013 following charges of his reported involvement in illegal mining. However, Siddaramaiah re-inducted him into the ministry in a reshuffle in June this year.

K J George was forced to resign as the Bengaluru Development Minister in July this year in connection with the suicide case of police officer M K Ganapathi. In an interview given to a TV news channel before committing suicide, Ganapathi had reportedly held George responsible for his death. George was re-inducted into the Cabinet within a few months, after the CID gave him a clean chit in the case.

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Mohammed musthafa
 - 
Thursday, 15 Dec 2016

He has a horse power at this age

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News Network
March 5,2020

Mar 5: The Karnataka government on Thursday proposed to increase rate of tax on petrol and diesel by three per cent which would make the fuel dearer by Rs 1.60 and Rs 1.59 per litre, respectively.

Presenting the 2020-21 budget in the Legislative Assembly, Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa proposed to increase rate of tax on petrol from 32 per cent to 35 per cent and diesel from 21 per cent to 24 per cent, as part of additional resource mobilisation measures.

Yediyurappa, who also holds the finance portfolio, increased excise duty on Indian Made Liquor (KML) across 18 slabs by six per cent.

However, to promote affordable housing, the government proposed to reduce stamp duty on first time registration of new apartments/flats costing less than Rs 20 lakh from existing five per cent to two per cent.

This is the first budget of the BJP government after coming to power last year; it's the seventh presented by Yediyurappa.

"For the year 2020-21, a total amount of Rs 55,732 crore is provided for stimulating economic growth sector", the Chief Minister said.

He said the revenue collection target for the Commercial Taxes department for the year 2020-21 is fixed at Rs 82,443 crore.

Stating the government had fixed a revenue target of Rs 20,950 crore for the excise department for the year 2019- 20, he said at the end of February Rs 19,701 crore had been collected.

"We hope to achieve the budget target."

He also hoped with the increase in rates and effective enforcement and regulatory measures, the Excise department would be achieving the target of Rs 22,700 crore fixed for the financial year 2020-21.

On the transport sector, Yediyurappa said it is proposed to levy motor vehicle tax on contract carriages having seating capacity to carry more than 12 passengers, but not more than 20 passengers at the rate of Rs 900 per seat per quarter.

He said it is also proposed to levy vehicle tax on new model sleeper coaches which are granted permits under section 88 (9) of MV Act 1988 at the rate of Rs 4,000 per sleeper per quarter.

Noting that a target of Rs 7,100 crore revenue collection is expected to be achieved in 2019-20 in transport sector, he said for 2020-21 revenue collection target has been fixed at Rs 7,115 crore.

He said the revenue collection target for 2019-20 under stamps and registration was fixed at Rs 11,828 crore and against this Rs 10,248 crore has been collected till the end of February 2020 which is 87 per cent of full year target.

While the revenue collection target for 2020-21 under stamps and registration is fixed at Rs 12,655 crore.

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News Network
April 12,2020

Mangaluru, Apr 12: Kanara Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) has appealed to the Additional Chief Secretary to Karnataka government Jawaid Akhtar to exclude Dakshina Kannada district from hotspot/ red zone area pertaining to coronavirus, saying that the district has not reported any new case since last five days.

KCCI president Isaac Vas said DK district has not reported any new case of COVID-19 in the last five days. Of the 12 cases reported in the district, six are from Kasargod and one from Bhatkal.

None of the patients suffering from coronavirus are in ICU or put on ventilator, he said in a statement.

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News Network
July 16,2020

New Delhi, Jul 16: India’s Covid-19 tally on Thursday jumped to 968,876 after the country reported highest-ever single-day spike in coronavirus cases registering 32,695 new infections in the last 24 hours. According to the government data, India’s Covid-19 death toll stands at 24,915 after 606 fresh fatalities were reported in the last 24 hours.

The number of recovered patients in India stands at 612,814. On Wednesday, the government said that a record 20,572 patients recuperated from Covid-19 disease in the last 24 hours (between Tuesday and Wednesday), taking the country’s recovery rate to 63.24 percent.

While the Covid-19 tally runs in lakhs in states like Maharashtra, Delhi and Tamil Nadu, other states have been reporting a surge in coronavirus infections. Karnataka has reported over 47,000 coronavirus cases till date but its active cases are more that of Delhi. It has overtaken Gujarat as the fourth worst-hit state in the country. Gujarat’s Covid-19 tally stands at 44,552.

Here’s taking a look at the Covid-19 situation across worst-affected states:

Maharashtra

The state Covid-19 tally jumped to 275,640 on Thursday. As many as 152,613 people have recovered from coronavirus in Maharashtra while 10,928 have died.

Tamil Nadu

With 151,820 coronavirus cases, Tamil Nadu is the state with second-highest coronavirus cases in the country and has witnessed 2,167 coronavirus fatalities. The number of patients who have recovered from coronavirus in the state stands at 102,310.

Delhi

The national capital is the third worst-hit in India with coronavirus cases jumping to 116,993 on Thursday. As many as 95,699 patients have recovered from Covid-19 in the national capital while 3,487 have succumbed to the infection.

Karnataka

The South Indian state has witnessed 47,253 coronavirus cases till date and is now the fourth worst-affected in the country. While 928 have lost their lives to the deadly contagion in the state. Nearly 18,466 patients have recovered from the disease in Karnataka.

Gujarat

Gujarat has seen Covid-19 cases reach 44,552 on Thursday. The state has seen 31,286 people recover from coronavirus while 2,079 people have died.

Uttar Pradesh

The Covid-19 tally in Uttar Pradesh has jumped to 41,383 while the number of recoveries has touched 25,743. The state’s death toll has crossed 1,000.

Telangana

The state’s Covid-19 tally stands at 39,342 coronavirus cases. While 25,999 people have recovered from the disease, the Covid-19 death toll has jumped to 386 in the state.

Andhra Pradesh

The state has reported 35,451 Covid-19 patients till date. While 18,378 people have recovered from the virus across the state, the death toll stands at 452.

West Bengal

As many as 34,427 people have contracted Covid-19 in West Bengal till date. The state has seen 20,680 recover from coronavirus while 1,000 people have been killed.

Rajasthan

The state has reported 26,437 Covid-19 cases till date. Covid-19 death toll in Rajasthan stands at 530 while 19,502 patients have recovered.

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