Watch row:?BJP plans legal fight against CM

Mar 30: the UAE Cabinet approved a series of new initiatives, foremost among which was the automatic extension of residence permits expiring from March 1.

The residence visas would be extended for a renewable period of three months without any fees to ease the economic impact of the Covid-19 crisis on residents, official news agency WAM reported.

The Cabinet has also waived the administrative fines associated with infractions on the services provided by the Federal Authority of Identity and Citizenship, starting April 1 and lasting for a renewable period of three months.

The initiatives also entail granting a temporary license to use digital solutions for remotely notarising and completing judicial transactions.

Government services expiring from March 1 will also be extended from April 1 for a renewable period of three months. The decision applies to all federal government services, including documents, permits, licenses and commercial registers.

The UAE has introduced a slew of initiatives to control the spread of the Covid-19 virus, including the online renewal of driving licences and vehicle’s registration cards.

The country’s telecom regulator, Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA), also issued a directive that no mobile service with expired ID documents will be disconnected or suspended in the UAE.

The UAE has reported a total of 611 Covid-19 infections and five related deaths in the country.

A national sterilisation programme is underway that will continue until Saturday April 4, concluding on the morning of Sunday, April 5.

Carried out daily from 8pm until 6am the following morning, the programme will include the disinfection of private and public facilities.

Bengaluru, Feb 7: The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) ordered the destruction of a tilted building in the city after evacuating about 150 people from 35 families in the vicinity, an official said on Thursday.

"The top portion of the building has been destroyed 70 per cent today (Thursday). Later, the destruction contractor will allow machines to be used," Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Yelahanka joint commissioner Ashok said.

Located on Vinayaknagar Street in Hebbal's Kempapura, the five-storey building being used as a hostel for boys got tilted on Wednesday morning, spreading panic in the neighbourhood.

Though the tilted building owned by one Rahul, a jeweller, was a sound structure, Ashok said a neighbour, Babu, hired a JCB excavator to dig deep beside the affected structure to build his own structure.

"Babu not only dug very deep but also damaged the foundation pillar of the tilted building, weakening the structure and leading to its slant," said Ashok.

Babu has been booked and arrested even as the police are on the look-out for the JCB owner and operator.

The titled building erected five floors unauthorisedly and falls into the B Khata category. It was constructed without the civic body's plan, said Ashok. 

A Khata and B Khata denote the two types of khatas that exist under BBMP. Khata is a document which shows a property owner having an account with the municipality to pay taxes. An A Khata denotes that the building owner has paid relevant property taxes and that the building conforms to building bylaws and government rules. A B Khata denotes that the building is in violation of government regulations regarding properties in Bengaluru, even when the civic charges for the property have been cleared by the owner.

"As per procedure, we issue notice, but such constructions are rampant in the city. Under the BBMP jurisdiction, there are 15 lakh B Khata structures," said Ashok.

For all B Khata sites, the civic body does not give any plan and there is no proper control on them, he said.

Ashok said the case to regularise the B Khata buildings to A Khata buildings is currently pending in the Supreme Court.

Luckily, no injury or loss of life has been reported from the tilted building.

The civic body arranged alternative accommodation for the affected families, but most of them chose to stay with their relatives, said Ashok.

Udupi, Jan 11: A case has been registered against Pune Billava president on the charges of issuing life threats to former Minister Vinay Kumar Sorake and Dinesh Amin Mattu at the Udupi Town Police station, police sources said on Saturday.

Former Minister Vinay Kumar Sorake along with like-minded Billawa organisations and the Udupi Muslim Federation jointly scheduled an inter-religious Billawa – Muslims Harmony meet on January 11, at the Town Hall.

Journalist Dinesh Amin Mattu was the speaker and Vinay Kumar Sorake was to preside over the programme.